total bookworm

photo credit

Yes friends, I'm at it again... I started and finished Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin  last week on my flights to and from Vegas and I LOVED it- shocker!  I might even go as far as to say that I enjoyed it more than Something Borrowed; however, when I gave some thought as to why that might be, I came to the conclusion that the element of suspense was greater for me in Love the One You're With.

I don't want my post to spoil it for you, so like my other "reviews" I'll just give you an overview of what its about and you can decide whether it should make your summer reading list yourself!

We learn early on that Ellen Graham has the perfect husband, the perfect job, the perfect life... or so she thought.  One afternoon, Ellen unexpectedly runs into Leo, her ex from years ago. Leo, who was her first true love and the one who left her heartbroken with no explanation- the one she could never forget. When his reappearance ignites  emotions, Ellen begins to question whether the life she’s living is the one she’s meant to live and how perfect it really is.  It's a powerful story about one woman at the crossroads of true love and real life.

Read it.

Coolest Space in Your Place Photo Contest

It’s that time again and my company is sponsoring their annual consumer contest.  Trust me when I say that I only promote work when I think it’s relevant to friends and family, so you can rest assured that this contest has already passed that test.

To make a long description short, ForRent.com and Homes.com have teamed up to present “The Coolest Space in Your Place” photo contest.   All you have to do is upload a photo of one of your favorite spaces in your home here.  It’s that easy.  The winner will receive $2,500. 

Whether you own your home or are renting like me, this is the perfect opportunity to show off your favorite decorated rooms!  If I could enter, I would... so since you can, you should!  Good luck and if you have your own blog, feel free to spread the word... unless you're feeling especially competitive already!

There is a limit of three (3) photos per entrant- official contest rules and details can be found here.

something borrowed... and something blue

So far my summer reading is off to a good start- In a matter of days I finished Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin  and LOVED them both!  In the scheme of things though, I'm sort of behind my one book a month goal and am hoping the summer months help me make up for it.

To start, BOTH books were quick and easy reads and were quite entertaining.  With sequels I feel like its easy to have a favorite, but I genuinely liked them equally.  I don't want to go into too much detail in case you haven't read them, so I'll simply share the storyline for both so you can decide whether you want to read it yourself!

Emily's Bookshelf

Something Borrowed (which is now a motion picture) tells the story of Rachel, a Manhattan lawyer and average people pleaser, who ends up sleeping with her best friend, Darcy's fiance after her surprise 30th birthday party.

Despite wanting to put the whole thing behind her, Rachel realizes she has genuine feelings for Dex (the fiance) and spends the entire book trying to decide what to do about it.  The choice of ignoring her true love for him to spare her best friend's feelings torments her daily.  The more you learn about Darcy and Dex's relationship 
as well as Darcy and Rachel's you'll understand why the answer isn't so black and white.

Emily Giffin's site

Something Blue switches things up, revealing Darcy's perspective on things; including Rachel's betrayal, an unexpected pregnancy, and her sudden move to London .  Readers learn the truth behind Darcy's seemingly perfect life as the novel takes you through her ups and downs and her struggle to discover who she really wants to be.

My suggestion is to read them both by the end of summer... if of course, you haven't already!!!

  

all done

I'm happy to report that the table I blogged about renovating last month is done, and considering  it was my first attempt at refinishing a piece of furniture I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Additionally, in light of being a first for me, the rule was that I couldn't spend a lot of money on it.  Which was fair because based on my history there was no guarantee that I would actually start the project or use the table when and if I ever finished it.  In keeping with the rules, the only items I purchased were sanding blocks (around $9) and glass knobs ($10).  The "butter" paint I borrowed from our neighbor and the rest came from my own blood, sweat, and tears... well just sweat, but still.

Here is a reminder of how the table looked when I found it:

And this is the finished product:

things gone wrong

I had wanted to title this post, "Move Mishaps" but realized that some of the things that have gone wrong aren't as much mishaps as they are just plain unfortunate.  So, without further delay I'm going to share a few things that have gone wrong as a result of the the big move.

First, one of our place settings didn't make the trip to our new place.  Why?  Well, because we simply couldn't find it.  Jake told me I miscounted how many we'd gotten after the wedding, but I know myself and I would never have asked for nine place settings instead of eight or ten (everyone knows you're supposed to get them in even increments).  But just in case perhaps we hadn't received the even number we'd asked for, I went ahead and checked our registry online and I was right- we asked for ten place settings and that's how many we got.  Once I confirmed that one was missing for sure, I emailed Jake to  let him know that we needed to search our place again.  His response:

"I'm pretty sure if we've gotten by this long without using it we'll be OK.  Plus, now that I think about it, I remember that place setting walking off awhile ago... it was fed up."

I mean how am I suppose to take him seriously when this is how he reacts to big issues like missing place settings?  Needless to say, we never did find it.

While we're on the topic of wedding gift being broken, two other items fell victim to our move.  The first was one of my Mikasa goblets (I only had four to begin with) and the second was my matching Mikasa swirl pitcher.  The goblet broke in transit and can easily be replaced, but the pitcher shattered after being cleaned.  I think it had something to do with being washed with too hot of water and rinsed with water too cold... but I can't be sure.  I am sure though that it is no longer available (in the clear) to buy so its gone for good.

We've also had a few pairs of shoes get chewed while they waited for a more permanent home; our kitchen table has water marks from being rained on while in transit; and one of the feet on our TV stand broke off completely.  The shoes were tossed, the table's stains can be covered with a tablecloth, and we've positioned TV stand perfectly to remain in tact... it just can't be easily moved.  All in all, I'd say it was a successful move. Nothing extremely valuable got  ruined and I really love our new place... so it was worth it.

one room done

The kitchen in our new place is the only room I'd say is 100% done, and by done I mean livable and decorated.  All of the other rooms are still lacking in the decor department; they need pictures to be hung and items to find their permanent home... you know, last minute touches.

I'm happy though that the kitchen was the first room to be checked off our list since we spend so much time there and I really do love how it turned out.  Our color choice, "Pitter Patter" was a good compromise since Jake likes everything 3 shades darker than I do.  Judge for yourself.

Before

 

After