Summertime...and the Living is Easy

Woo BABY! It's SUMMER!!

This means I'll be spending some time on a lake, maybe doing a little of this:

 and a little of this: 

Maybe spending time doing nothing but looking at these:

and these:

Definitely spending time wearing this:

Absolutely enjoying this with friends and family:

and soaking up lots and lots of this:

I have a few projects to work on too...if I have any spare time with my very full calendar...you'll be the first to see if any get done. Don't expect much from me for the next six weeks...

May your summer be just as relaxing and fun too; and don't hate me for being a very, very lucky and grateful woman!

The Mudroom Reveal

Hey guess what? This project that was so exciting to work on...in the beginning...and had become my personal stumbling block...is finished (well, finished except for some decorating tweaks).

Hallelujah and thank the powers that be. And good riddance. Let me tell you why I feel that way now.

I started with this corner, where we come in from the garage.

Nice and bright!

We needed a 'landing pad' for shoes, coats, purses, etc when we come in. Something other than the kitchen table and chairs. We needed a mudroom, but a corner will do.

The inspiration came from where else? Pinterest! This particular industrial looking shelving done with pipes caught my eye and sparked my imagination.

via

This pipe and flange look was inspired by the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.

Since the need for some kind of bench/hangar situation was needed, Ana White's site was the first place I looked for plans. Working with wood doesn't intimidate me. I found a couple of nice plans for benches/cubbies and came up with something that would work...or so I thought.

Here's where things get a little messy...

     1) Never go off plan. Especially for your first big build.

     2) Measure at least ten times, cut once. 

     3) Remember which side is up, which side is the back...before screwing it in place.

     4) Think about the finished look...before you start painting.

     5) Never go off plan.
     6) Try to screw in the piping to the same depth for a more level look. (Not easy, trust me.)

     7) And finally; never, ever go off plan. Carpenter Jill, I am not.

Without further ado, my Ace Hotel inspired mudroom bench/shelf corner:

the 2 extra pipes on the right side may be used once I get to decorating; or they may get nixed

**Update** Well, for 'decorating tweaks', I've come up with stencils on the galvanized buckets. I had some chalk paint mixed up (1-2 T baking soda dissolved in a bit of water to 1-ish cups any paint) and had the stencil...nothing more exciting than that, but the new look works for me!

The garage entry door got the chalkboard treatment and is now very functional as a shopping list and calendar and place for notes.

The bench was featured on Apartment Therapy, and on Hometalk!

The little boxes were from the closing of The Great Indoors around the corner from me - $2! I should've gotten a few more.

I painted the inside a gray to tie into the living room color, and did a little reverse stencil on them. They'll hold the sunglasses, keys, lip balm, hair elastics, etc that we need as we're heading out the door.

Looking back, this would have been easier if I'd spent just a skootch more time planning it instead of diving in. With adding a second shelf, making the whole thing longer, not using mdf (as per the PLAN), and other assorted roadblocks, this project has kept me from moving forward on anything else because my other plan is to do One Thing At A Time.  It's not perfect, but I do like the look of it and it'll serve it's purpose. Good enough for me. Calling this one done.

This should've taken me 2-3 days tops, but 6 weeks later, it's mostly done. There are some decorating tweaks to do on it, but honestly I just want to move on and do something else for a bit. I'll come back to this as inspiration strikes, but for now no more forcing it. Next up is getting something on those beautiful Jamaican Aqua walls!

This is part of the Bloggy Olympics that Hating Martha and a bunch of other cool bloggers have thought up. This week is decorating; be sure to check out all the tutorials and linky parties, maybe participate in a few :)

Sharing at parties on sidebar and here: Funky Junky Interiors SNS #139 and I Should Be Mopping The Floor and You're Talking Too Much

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Well hello there, where have you been? Oh yeah, it's me that's been AWOL :) 

I've been taking it easy on my latest project due to lack of motivation and inspiration. It's all well and good until a project doesn't come together and then it's just meh. 

In the meantime, I got it into my head to do some freezer make-ahead meals. Armed with a shopping list and recipes, it was time to get some healthy dinners in the freezer. 

I don't usually show you my escapades in the kitchen, but it was my most productive day this week. Cooking is not my specialty; choosing yummy stuff off a menu is. Occasionally though, I do throw some stuff together for a home-cooked meal. All the recipes are found on Pinterest by searching 'easy crock pot meals' or 'freeze ahead'.

I tend to customize my recipes, and won't be listing them. Plus they may not turn out and I don't want the blame for a crock pot debacle.

This is after shopping and pulling my spices out of the cupboard:

Yes, I carried that aqua into the kitchen. One day I'll show you more than a peek.

The menus are printed out, the bags are labeled, and I'm ready to prep!

It's not completely full, but there are 20 make ahead meals in there. Some grilling meat that's sitting in marinade, but mostly crock pot meals. Easy.

Oh, and most of the meals are just the sauce and meat and spices; the recipes call for adding veggies within the last 30 min or so. Otherwise, they turn to mush so say the experts. Makes prep that much easier to just worry about veggies/sides at dinner time.

While I was cruising around Pinterest, I found a site for healthy desserts. Ok, I'll bite ;)

What does this...

...and these have in common?

It whips up a delicious and healthy bowl of yummy goodness!

Cookie Dough Dip via Chocolate Covered Katie.com

Honestly - I had about two spoonfuls before dinner and it's sitting in the fridge waiting for dessert. Even my husband (who's a bit picky and suspicious when I say, 'Try this') thought this was yummy. Until I told him it was made with beans. Now it's all mine!!

 Check out Chocolate Covered Katie and her site of yummy goodness - the recipe for Cookie Dough Dip and much more is all there. I can't wait to try a few more...oh who am I kidding? ...most all of her recipes!

The Slow Boat to China

It's time for another round of Friday's Letters...and what is basically a post that's the equivalent of blurting out the first thing that pops into my head.


Dear Dr. Sports Medicine/Gait Anaylzer,

When you analyzed my gait and pronounced, "You'll never be a long-distance runner", I almost believed you. Then me, myself and I went out and did 3 sprint triathlons and 2 half-marathons. Good thing my middle name is Contrary. Trying is always an option and while I'll never be a fast long-distance runner, I am a Triathlete and a Half-Marathoner. So there *sticks tongue out at Dr.* I might just be a little bit immature too.


Dear Mud Room Bench,

It wasn't your fault that I didn't follow a plan. It wasn't your fault it's taking me so long to finish you. It's not even your fault that some of your boards are warping just a little bit. It's all me and my silly 'Plans? I don't need no stinkin' plans' attitude. Now that you're basically done except for the decorating, I'm not 100% sure I like you. Or that you'll function as *ahem* planned. But you're mine and soon you'll be shown to the world. Just as soon as I figure out how to outfit your shelves with something useful. Like baskets, or boxes. And figure out what color they should be. And what to do about the wonky top shelf. This might take a while.

Dear Pinterest,

I love you. I love searching for inspiration and having you come back with pretty pictures of just what I was looking for. I love the validation received when someone follows me or repins something I repinned from something someone else repinned from...you get the picture. I love having an easy way to remember cool sites, or projects and being able to organize them. And believing that having them organized in some way translates to my very all-over-the-place life. The thought that maybe one day I'll be as cool and as stylish and as awesome as my boards makes me all warm and fuzzy. I'll just disregard all the horrible copyright infringement problems and your distinct disavowing of any responsibility for said infringement. Delusion is preferable to the alternative.

Dear Self,

Any day now you're going to realize that an entire week has gone by and you've only done 1/2 hour of yoga and seriously, that's long enough to recuperate from your Slow Boat to China half marathon. There's only so much you can get away with before you're in full-blown couch potato mode again. Get. That. Butt. In. Gear.

Dear Reader(s),

Thank you for sticking with me as I slowly work on my house. I suffer from CDI (Chronic Design Indecision), and therefore everything takes about 20x longer for me to finish than what you'll normally see in blogland. And I'm not really a passionate DIY-er; if I could get away with it, everything would get hired out. I'm the idea person, not really the executor. But the process is fun as long as it's not rushed, and since I'm getting tired of the room I'm working on, chances are I'll knock it out a little faster just so I can move on :)