What I’m Loving Wednesday

{1} Electricity! 

In my last post, I mentioned that we were in the midst of Hurricane Sandy here in CT.  Well, about 2 hours after typing that, we did lose power - from Monday to Friday.  The first few days weren’t so horrible, but then the temperatures dropped and I started to get really scared.  We were helped by so many generous friends with generators and made it through the dark week!  As I type this post, “Storm Athena” is swirling around outside but I’m not as scared of it {although honestly I still think we’ll lose power again}. Currently, though, my house is warm and cozy and lit and I am SO thankful for it while it lasts!

So today I’m baking and making sure all our laundry is caught up.  Last year my mom traded me this bread machine for a big basket I was selling at my yard sale.  This thing is literally about 20 years old {we used it when I was a kid} but it still works great!  Today I’m trying a new recipe – Cinnamon Raisin Bread – and I can’t wait to eat it!  Hoping I have power tomorrow so I can have cinnamon raisin toast for breakfast!  Yum. 

 

{2} Deals and Steals

Does anyone else get super excited about Target holiday clearances?  I LOVE them.  Stuff gets to 90% off just because it was branded for the holiday and you can get great deals on stuff if you look beyond the packaging!  I’ve been shopping these sales for years and don’t plan on stopping soon. ;)

For instance, these Butterfinger pumpkins {one of Chris’s faves} were only 10 cents a package, as were the M&M packs – which will be perfect for making pretzel kisses over the holidays.

I also found these items at a different Target for 30 cents each – cute little brown bags, adorable baker’s twine {for holiday wrapping!} and cute apple tissue paper to use for Luke’s teacher gifts.  Love!

 

{3} Apples

I normally like eating apples, but this pregnancy I just can’t get enough of them!  We have a local orchard about 10 minutes from the house and today I stopped into their store to pick up some so we’d have fruit to eat during the storm.  These were some of the last of the Macs they had for the season {my faves!}.  I love them plain or dipped in a little natural peanut butter.  Delish.  There is SUCH a difference in local, fresh fruit as compared to fruit from the supermarket!

 

{4} Paint decision- done!

I finally decided on a paint color for Livi’s room!  The color is called “London Fog” by Benjamin Moore.  It’s the one on the left in that super creepy photo below.  lol  It’s hard to describe – it’s a little beige, a little gray, with almost a faint hint of sparkle and purple mixed in (I sound crazy, I know). 

    

I was inspired to use it after seeing it used on the blog Dear Lillie.  I think it will be perfect for my girl’s neutral room – Chris is going to paint the weekend before Thanksgiving and I can’t wait to get in there and get decorating!! :)

There’s my scatterbrained list for this week!  Even though I’m not loving what happened last night – I really believed that Governor Romney would have been the perfect person to turn our country around fiscally – I’m loving that I serve a great God who is above all!

Have a wonderful rest of your week, everyone!

Linking up with Jamie today!

And On the Third Day, There was Primer.

Hey guys!  Just popping in to give another update.  You saw what we started on Monday, and here’s what’s done as of last night.  (We took Wednesday off to give Luke a normal night at home with us, so this is really after our 3rd day of working on the house). 

The dining room wall is now completely down.  Whoo hoo!!

Here it is, with its 3 different looks this week:

                                                                    

Obviously, there is a lot of trim work that needs to be done, and my handy husband is going to run the wire through the attic so we can actually have lights again (definitely a perk of a one-level ranch!).  We are totally loving the great space that it will be now and how much light it adds to the kitchen (and vice versa). 

Besides unpacking lots of our stuff and starting to organize the most pressing kitchen and bathroom items, we’ve mostly been priming…and priming….and more priming.  Yuck.  It’s a necessary evil, but that doesn’t make it any more fun. 

Our master bedroom started out with royal blue trim around the door, windows, and baseboards.  After 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of “Swiss Coffee”* later, we are finished with the trim and the bedroom is ready to get paint on the walls tonight!  Sweeeet. 

    

Here were my choices of paint: 

I’m actually going with the one allll the way on the far right (sorry the picture is so dark!).  It’s called “Crisp Linen” by Sherwin Williams (color-matched at Lowe’s). 

In the living room we’ve also been busy priming the yellow walls:

  

I knew the kind of blue I wanted, and got 4 choices to decide.  I may or may not have gone crazy looking at the ridiculously similar choices finally picked two that I liked!

The 2nd one from the left is “Palladian Blue” by Benjamin Moore.  It will be the living room color.  The 2nd one from the right is “Sea Salt” by Sherwin Williams” and it will be used for the hallway and bathroom.  I think they look super complimentary, so I hope they look good together.  I totally have to give a shout-out to the site Favorite Paint Colors.  It’s what gave me every single one of my color choices!  You can search by room and by color.  It’s fabulous!  

Again, sorry it’s so dark (I took these pictures right before we left and we’d already turned some lights off).  Taking pictures was actually what helped me to seal the deal with the colors – maybe it will work for you, too, next time you can’t decide!

So, that’s where we’re at for now!  Tonight we paint the master and possibly get started on the living room if there’s time.  Tomorrow our friends and family are movin’ us in!  So excited! :) 

Have an awesome weekend!

*Swiss Coffee is in the white family and it’s a Valspar (Lowe’s) color.  We used it in our last house on all the ceilings and trim.  It’s a nice, sliiiiightly off-white white.  We like using the Olympic Low-Odor paint (also Lowe’s), so all of our paints are color-matched to that brand. 

P.S. My sponsor, Darlene, is having a giveaway on her blog! One person will be picked to receive their choice of the latest Prima Marketing flowers (Whisper or Regent Collection). It ends at midnight TONIGHT so go hurry! :)