Today went by sogoshdarnfast and I only just realized – I’ve been blogging for a year… today.

 

So anti-climactic, ‘cause yes – I’ve been sick for over 3 weeks {Big Frowny Face}

It’ll be late, but I want to celebrate {when I’m feeling better} 

or maybe

I’ll just take an extra big dose of my codeine cough syrup and *Par-tay% anyway!  You know it – the way only codeine can {Don’t do drugs; stay in school ;)}

 

Anyway.  Sorry for being such a wet blanket, but what do you guys think will make a fun party?

 

A giveaway {maybe I’ll make a tripod lamp for some lucky person?}

A DIY decor post {like if I ever finish my… well anything ?}

A guest post {me likey ;)}

 

Well – I’m off to take my codeine and go to bed (yep 8:30 – I’m tired, peeps… and tomorrow is a new day!)New to Pregnant with power tools? Don't miss a post and subscribe here or

 

 

Hey friends, I am hoping to start building the doors for my built-in bookcases {finally!}

 

but I am having some trouble deciding which style I like best…

 

Can you take a look and let me know what you like?

 

I am most partial to #1 and #3 to be honest…

and these doors will be very narrow – 9”x35” (right case), 12”x35” (left case)

installed in pairs on the bottom half of the bookcase.

 

Please excuse the bad drawing – in a rush you know…

 

P.S.  Went to the doc yesterday {still sick!} and some cough syrup with codeine and amoxicillin is going to have me right as rain in no time ;) {I hope I hope I hope}

 

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comment #49

 

 

Congratulations!!!  Liz, I’m emailing you now with the deets!

 

I loved reading everyone’s comments and living in my fantasy office space for a few weeks.

 

Anyway, now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

 

Oh, and extending the deadline gave 4 more people a chance to win and that’s worth it to me ;)

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Since there have been less than 65 entries to win $65 CSN Gift Certificate, I’m extending the deadline til midnight EST… yep 1 measly extra hour…

 

But if you are cruising through your reader or internets and see this in time (here’s hoping), add your quick comment here!

 

Good Luck, and I’ll announce the winner is 1.49 hours.

 

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Your chances of winning a $65 CSN gift certificate are still amazingly good…

 

and did you know there are over 200 CSN stores you can spend your happy $65 at, not just http://www.csnofficefurniture.com/

so you can buy (almost ;) anything!

 

You have the rest of today to add your comment to this post, and I cannot wait to pick a winner!

 

I’m feeling a lot better today – maybe I’ll build a router table?

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means your chances of winning are very high!

 

Now I wish I could give everyone a $65 CSN gift certificate, but like immortal beings who chop each other’s heads off, there can be only one.

 

The drawing takes place 11pm EST tomorrow!

 

Go here and leave a comment for your chance to win!

 

P.S.  Spending a 3-day weekend sick in bed instead of building in the garage is driving me crazy!  But getting better is priority one, cause taking care of the house and kids by himself has my hubby ready to jump off a pier!

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I am loving all the office furniture you guys are sharing and commenting about for the CSN giveaway! (If you haven’t already, add yours – there’s 6 days left to win!!!)

Some of you inspired souls have found the best pieces!

OMG! I am loving this (lots of you gals love the Coastal Living bookcases),


and this (Katy loves all things Coastal Living – now I do too!!) 
 
and this one (shared by Danielle)…
 

oh, and this (from Vonda).  This room is yummy, Vonda.


Speaking of CSN… I’m excited about a new exclusive private sale site – Joss & Main.  Top brands and designers for the home go on 72-hour private sale (you know that means awesome deal)… up to 70% off retail.  There are new sales starting every day!
You gotta check out Joss & Main!

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Ahh, the things we do for love, right?

Like mint ice cream, which my favorite sweetheart doesn’t like (he says it’s like brushing your teeth with dessert LOL), so I gave it up too.

A small price to pay when you love someone.  For me he’s given up gluten.  Yep, food made with wheat – like take-out pizza, Chinese, most pasta and bread – hamburger buns!

I am so lucky.  My sweet hubs cooks all those things for us using gluten-free flour mixes.  He is always making waffles, biscuits, pizza, bread, buns, pies, cakes and cookies.  All gluten-free!
This is serious folks.  Can you imagine? 
Weekend mornings are always full of home-baked goodness covered in maple syrup.  Weekdays are peppered with healthy gluten-free meals – I think we’re having pesto pizza tonite!

This stuff takes time to make, and Mr. Gorgeous does it without complaint, almost every. single. day. 
A sign I made for my home says it perfectly!
It’s true that we would not eat so well if I was in charge of food.  But my sweetie works – I don’t (right now).  So why does he do it?

Because he’s the most wonderful man.  He loves his family very much.  And we love him too.  Who needs mint ice cream?

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!




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What did I do before this?  Oh wait… I have a picture.

 

 

Messy, no?

Here’s what it looks like now.

It’s simply a coupla boxes on the wall, a calendar, and a corkboard, hung over my DIY recycling center, but it has changed my life!

 

Here’s a quick run down of my returning home (with kiddos) after … let’s say… picking up Bamm-Bamm from preschool.

 

I have grabbed the mail on the way in and also have Bamm-Bamm lunch box.  Bamm-Bamm strips off his jacket and shoes (and sometimes his pants and underwear) and Little Man looks for toys and/or cheerios to put in his mouth.

I head over to the recycling Family Command Center and drop off my keys, toss trash, wrappers from the lunchbox and junk mail, open the mail, post coupons, write down appointments, and place bills in the inbox –all before the kids get bored and start begging for (food, candy, TV, clean diaper, fill-in-the-blank). 

  

Life is good better.

 

The mail bins were cheapo, quick coat of paint, thrift store transformations. 

The board is an old calendar holder-thing that I flipped upside down and glued some corkboard to. 

The calendar is just a piece of construction paper I drew a 5x7 grid on. 

Over this I wedged a piece of acrylic (instant dry erase board), glass would have worked too. Add some pretty ribbon to hide the edge - viola.

 

Easy, peasy – so why didn’t I do it sooner?

The family is so much more “commanded” now ;)

 

Sometimes I think I just don’t know what I am missing. 

This wall-o-organization only cost me $2 (hand-me-down frame, old corkboard and acrylic I had, $2 letter bins-thingy!!!).  Oh, well, I guess I did spend $5 on some new dry erase markers ;)

 

What do you think?  Do you have one of these?  Do you love yours too?

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I’ve received 2 (two!) Stylish Blogger Awards (thanks so much Vonda @ Newlyweds & The Old House and Katy @ Mom and Her Drill!!)

 

That means it’s time to share some stuff about myself and pass on the award to a “new crop” of stylish blogs.

 

I’m a little surprised to receive a “stylish” award since I’m usually NOT -stylish that is (yes my sister, who is stylish, is nodding and laughing right now).

 

1. I often have paint in my hair and sawdust on my clothes when I pick my son up from preschool (they never say a thing).  Not stylish!
2. I check out mystery novels and woodworking books from the library.
3. I love working with all molding except crown against a ceiling (crown as a shelf is awesome though).
4. I’m a “low-tide food” lover… oysters, shellfish, mackerel, sardines, herring (not lutefisk, though, blech!)…
5. In college, I asked a cute guy to show me how to change my oil.  Yeah I already knew how, but look how well that turned out – we’ve been married 7.5 years!
6. I used to be crazy, crawling on the ground, afraid terrified of heights.  Now I’m just weak-kneed, hate standing on a chair, don’t make me look, afraid of heights.
7. Our last little guy was a surprise.  We love him and wanted him as soon as we found out – but wow – surprise!
8. I’m not “always” happy, but I never ever forget how blessed I am.

 

Here is another post with 10 other “surprising things about me”.

 

Some bloggers I think are stylish (in no particular order):

Surviving a Two Year Old

The Flipping Couple

The Thrifty Chicks

The Trials of Big J & Little J

The Punk Rock Mom

Sweet Bee Hollow

Random Acts of Flair

 

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I’ve been working on posts, projects and project posts, but then I came down with my kids’ cold.

I know… bummer.

 

I’ve been looking around the internets at office furniture for inspiration to reinvent my office/guest room –

I’ll be building my furniture, but the rooms are so beautifully staged  - I can’t help looking and wishing. I seriously need to build myself some file cabinets.

 

(wouldn’t this look good in an office?)

Anywho, I am not going to leave you guys hanging while I recover, so here’s another awesome $65 CSN giveaway!!!

 

I’m going to make it really simple this time (‘cause I’m sick)!

 

Just leave me a comment below telling me what office furniture (from the above link) you’d be buying if you could! 

I know, I know… all of it!!

 

Hope you win!!!  Contest ends Feb. 22!

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I LOVE mysteries.

 

You know… whodunits, detective stories, crime novels… Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, the famous Sherlock Holmes, and now…

 

Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree, the intrepid DIYer and amateur sleuth in Sarah Graves’ Home Repair is Homicide mystery series.

 

They are the best kind of books if you love mysteries (with names like Trapdoor, Tool & Die, and Wicked Fix) and even more fun if you also love DIY home renovating.

 

Peppered throughout are useful home repair and renovating tips, hilarious reminders of how an 1823 federal-style house needs constant upkeep and repair, and a sense at the end that you should have somehow figured out who-dun-it and wouldn’t a paint sprayer be a good investment.

 

Sarah Graves’ novels have become my latest obsession, and I want to read them all!

 

Sarah, may I call you Sarah… if you don’t already have a fan club on my street, consider it done!!

Anyone else love mystery novels or TV shows (-I love those too!)?

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When does that ever happen?  Being done I mean (and the well done part too since I’m asking anyway).

 

Some nice weather (65 degrees, baby! Yes I am rubbing it in) allowed me to “finish” edging my front lawn…

(Yes, the grass was even growing out of the layer of dirt on the sidewalk in some many places.)

I have gained inches on the width of my walkways (and those inches look like I will be spending the weekend scrubbing them with bleach).

but now I feel like I should weed a little lot, mow the lawn, trim back the flowers (they are starting to take over), and buy some new plants to replace what didn’t survive the winter.

It’s so true that a gardener’s job is never done.

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.  ~Author Unknown

 

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My hope chest has a curvy figure… I love it, but lamps fall off.

I needed to provide a stable surface for a lamp and reading materials

but the chest is a beautiful heirloom, and I really did not want to drill holes in it.

The super-easy solution is a pair of 1x2s painted black and screwed to a sheet of Plexiglas (drill holes slightly larger than the screws through the Plexiglas first). 

DIY Tip: use a small propane torch (I have one for cooking) gently on the edges of the Plexiglas for a smooth glass-like finish.

The kids mess with it and it slides around, so I think I have a idea to fix that… coming soon!

There’s no reason not to use something you love (even if it takes a little adaptation), right?

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