Sunshine, Summertime, and a Paintbrush

Wow! Where have the last few weeks gone?? The end of the year school year was bittersweet as always! I always get so emotional the last few weeks of school. I dread saying good-bye, but definitely welcome the break! Not setting an alarm for 5am? Check. Not thinking about school 24/7? Check. Taking some time for me? Check! Check and Check!

 Since the day we moved into our first home I knew I wanted white trim. We live in a subdivision where all of the homes are built by the same builder. This builder apparently likes OAK. Lots and lots of beautiful builders grade oak! YUCK! Doesn't said builder know that every single home I have pinned on Pinterest has WHITE trim?!

Cheesy engagement photo in front of our house! 

 I knew it was going to be a HUGE job to paint all of our trim. I have learned to deal with it the last year and a half. I really wanted to tackle the project last summer, but with our wedding in the middle of July it just wasn't in the cards. So the first week of summer I decided to commit.

After a ton of blog stalking and pinterest research I found a blog with a wealth of information:

LiveLoveDIY

Photo Credit: LiveLoveDIY.com

The girl knows what's up! I did a few things differently. Due to the angles of our trim, I decided the foam roller step was not working. One of our friends introduced me to a life changing tool and I discovered another tool that saved me HOURS. Maybe even days! Weeks?! Seriously though, if you plan to paint ANYTHING in your home, I cannot speak highly enough of Shur-Line products; namely the edgers and the trim pads!

This is the trim brush. No brushstrokes, smooth application, and super cheap! Love this thing! 

This edger is a game changer! This thing almost seems too good to be true. Think PERFECT OCD paint lines!

After three solid weeks of painting, I am finished with our first floor and the stairs going to the second floor. I am forcing myself to stop so I can enjoy some of my summer! Although the process was beyond painful, both literally and figuratively (think painting on the floor for 3 weeks!) it was actually kinda fun. I just wish it would've happened in a 30 minute HGTV episode like it does on TV!

So without further ado here are some before and afters: 

Goodbye UGLY oak trim! 

During... not the neatest painter in the world! ;-)
 

What a difference 5,000 coats of primer/paint make! 

After. LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

Finished Living room! New furniture will be here on Friday! Cannot wait! 

Moving on to the kitchen/dining room! 

After

Boring white coat closet 

And because I thought painting trim wasn't enough work, I decided to add a pop of color to our entry way by painting the inside of the coat closet and the inside of the front door. Such a cheap way to add a pop of color. The hubs was a bit nervous when he saw the color, but he loves it just as much as I do!

First thing you see when you walk in the door.

Perfect pop of color. 

Front door before. 

After 

Love the new rug from my mama! 

The last big project was painting the stairs. Way tricky due to our high pile shag carpet. Thank goodness the Midwest Mr. came through for me and did all of the taping. By that point I was losing my mind and no amount of Moscato was going to help me through that amount of taping. If it were up to me at this point I think the paint job would have resulted in something like this

Is this for real?? Wow...

Summer is going too fast and I am definitely taking some time for ME! After a fantastic 4th of July weekend I am excited to start some not so daunting projects around the house and for my classroom! 

Stay tuned for some more summer projects! 

Working for the Weekend

This weekend may have been one of the more productive weekends to date. Let me preface this with the fact there was wine and shopping involved. Not to mention the benefits of our hard work definitely outweigh my serious case of the Mondays.

I hosted my first ever garage sale on Friday and Saturday. My mom had her share of yearly garage sales all through my childhood, so I am no garage sale virgin; but this was the first one in our home. I didn't really know what to expect. I was told that our citywide garage sales bring pretty good traffic. My main goal wasn't to make a ton of dollhairs, but rather clean out the clutter from our house. I still had jeans from my early college years. Sorry size 4 jeans... this booty is never going to fit in you again.

My mom showed up Thursday afternoon and we got to work setting up. I was pretty surprised with how much stuff we had. But then again, I really shouldn't have been, we are both shopaholics! Here are a few photos taken Thursday night in the midst of setting up.

I think it's safe to say  change my wall decor often. 

I promise I still have a full closet! 

Did I mention I love dresses?!

Apparently I really like bags and swim suits too! 

At least books are a justifiable expense... right sweet husband??

When it was all said and done we made just under $1000! Not too shabby for clothes we don't wear any more, some small furniture and home decor. We still had a good amount left at noon on Saturday but we decided to donate what was left. The best part is there isn't a thing in our house we don't currently use! AHHH! It's like a breath of fresh air!

Saturday my mom and I went to some local greenhouses. My parents birthday gift to me was purchasing plants/flowers for around the house and teaching me how to rid myself of a black thumb for good!

We spent all day Sunday planting and weeding while my amazing husband laid mulch and did other various home improvement things in the yard! I absolutely love how the planters turned out! They are so ME, and just the pop of color our yard needed.

I am still so clueless about gardening but I feel a bit more confident with the basics. I took the photos at sunset. I love the soft lighting! Note to self... take more photos outside at this time of day!

Check out our progress:

We took out an ugly evergreen bush under the front windows. Looks so different and so much less dated! 

New planters thank to my mama!

In place of the bushes we planted boxwood plants in the back and purple phlox in front of it. I plan to grab some annuals to add pops of color tomorrow after school. This gardening thing may just become a hobby yet! 

Can't wait for my hydrangeas to bloom on the side of the house! 

The Midwest Manor (HA!)

New mulch! 

Hunky Husband. Not impressed that I wanted to take his picture after almost 12 hours of yardwork. 

My favorite tree... a non-fruit bearing pear tree! So pretty! 

You'll find me here in June, July and August! 

Bucky Badger weather vane from my parents. 

A HUGE thank you to my mom for helping me weed the back of our yard. It doesn't seem big until you are on your hands and knees pulling weeds!

Flowers and Herbs... Mint for mojitos and moscow mules, and cilantro for summer salsa!

Little sitting area on the deck. 

Next up... a bunch of our friends are coming to stay with us for Memorial Day weekend! I am super excited to relax and have some good fun with them! 4 more days until the weekend! Did I mention there are only 13 school days left?! Can I get an AMEN??

One More Year Until 30!

How is it that every year seems to go faster than the last? Twenty-eight is going to be pretty hard to beat! It was the year I married my best friend, started a new amazing job, traveled to so many fun places, and met some incredible people! 

I was having a bit of an internal struggle with turning 29 the past few weeks. For some reason that number just sounds so much older than 28; silly I know! 

Luckily I had some pretty fantastic birthday celebrations to ease me into the last year of my twenties!

Yesterday my friend Darcy and I took an early morning road trip to a flea market in Dalton, Wisconsin. Never heard of it?? Us either! We had never been to a flea market before, but honestly, I was just excited to spend time with Darc without our husbands! It was a fun morning and I even picked up this gem...

This summer I plan to revamp our entryway, and this will be the perfect pop of color. I plan to add a heart for my husband's hometown and a heart in Windsor, where we currently live.

Last night we met some friends out for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Madison, DLux. It's a swanky little burger joint with some creative drinks and the BEST fries! 

My birthday is always a super busy time of year with graduations, end of the school year events and Mother's day. I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends that took time out of their busy lives to join us for dinner, send video messages, phone calls, and cards. They sure know how to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world! 

Every year I find myself setting new goals around my birthday. I made an entire list this year, but it all comes back to making the most of every day. This seems all too appropriate...

 I'll leave you with a few photos from the birthday celebrations! 

The Midwest Mr. and I before heading to our friend's gender reveal party on Saturday afternoon. 

Ready to head out on the town!

Darcy and I at my favorite bar, The Merchant. Do yourself a favor and order a Moscow Mule.

Katie and I. This girl makes me job infinitely more manageable on a daily basis. Loved meeting her cutie hubby!

Abby and I. She is a riot and also has a hunk of a boyfriend. Our boys enjoyed chatting all things golf over dinner 

Sunday Morning Bloodies! 

The perfect birthday afternoon! Iced chai, a magazine and The Happiness Project.

Here's to an amazing 28th year of life!