A Good Bet

Mike's sister is pregnant (YAY!!) and I made a bet with my father-in-law and my other sister-in-law that the baby was going to be a boy.  Well they're having a girl (YAY!!!) and I can't think of a better bet to lose.  I paid up with a pizza party on Sunday and I thought it would be a great opportunity to put my new table linens to use.  I registered for Lenox Simply Fine placemats and napkins in ivory. 

Cute right?  I also registered for the napkin rings at Crate and Barrel.  I liked that they we're simple and could easily  be casual or formal.  The best part about the placemats and napkins is that they are spill proof so no harm no foul.  Here's the dining room table set with the new linens and ready for a pizza party...

A Masterful Transformation

When we moved into our house, we knew every room was going to need some serious attention.  Almost every room in the house was covered with dated, thick carpet.  Fortunately, two of our bedrooms didn't have carpet, including the master.  But all was not well.  The floor had seen better days and the walls were covered with PAINTED wallpaper...

The trim was a dark brown and the closet doors' louvred style was definitely not our style.  So we decided to refinish the floors in a darker, more contemporary stain and paint all of the trim white

We painted the walls a light blue and I changed out all the dirty, beige outlets and switches with new white ones (about $1 a piece). 

Next were the closet doors.  They were a dark brown louvred style.  For about $50, I bought a new set of primed, MDF doors and two brushed nickel knobs at Home Depot.  A coat of white paint and they really completed the room

So now that we had our beautiful, grown up room, we needed some beautiful, grown up furniture.  This is where we splurged.  We always wanted a king bed, and saw one on sale at Basset Furniture.  Two dressers, two nighstands and a mattress later, we had the bedroom of our dreams

Let me tell you, last night was one of the best nights sleep I have had in a long time.  Sweet Dreams..

Same Old Jets

The Jets played the Steelers for a chance to go to the Super Bowl on Sunday night.  Unfortunately, they lost.  The night wasn't a total bust though.  I made some home made pizzas for the game.  I bought two Whole Wheat Stop and Shop pizza Crusts.  $5 for a pack of two:

I made one with Organic Pizza Sauce, Fat Free Mozzarella and Turkey Pepperoni

I made the second one with Reduced Fat Pesto, Artichoke Hearts and Fat Free Mozzarella

While the pre-made crusts weren't the best I've had, I was able to make two pizzas for about $10 and around 350 calories per serving.  MUCH better than ordering out.







Getting There...

When we bought our house a year and half ago a kicthen remodel was a must.  After what seems like eternity we're finally getting there.  We hired a contractor, picked out a faucet, bickered over granite (still haven't made a final decision there) and after much hemming and hawwing we're upgrading our black appliances to stainless steel.  I actually really like our current appliances, with our home purchase we inherited a double oven and a nice, big hood microwave.  But since we won't be using them in our new kitchen we're selling them on craiglist, know anyone looking for a previously loved stove and microwave?!?!

http://hartford.craigslist.org/app/2175433740.html

Kelly's Shelves

Kelly has been wanting these shelves for ages.  We put them on our registry at Crate & Barrel, so got 20% off the price.  They were really easy to put together, and the boxes even fit in our sedan.

$40 goes a long way

We got this mirror at Anne and Hope for 40 bucks.  Very easy to put up and it looks great.  We were very impressed with ourselves

Two Feet and Counting....

We're having a tough winter.  Around two feet of snow has been dumped on us the past few weeks and there's more on the way...

Our backs are not happy.  It may be time for a snow blower..