The guesthouse: office drama

This is the look I was going for in my "office" after a friend asked why I had never used this space as my office I felt it was something I needed to do. 

My fear to never start this project was ALL the work involved in this renovation. 

1. remove wallpaper

2.install carpet

3. paint everything! walls, trim, cabinetry... EVERYTHING

4. completely overhaul the bathroom

5. install proper shelving in the closet.

And not to mention I don't really want to spend a bunch on this project.

Sooo I needed inspiration and BAD!

So I started painting... Antiqua Aqua by Ben Moore

Then I got crazy and thought it would look good to paint the trim high gloss grey.

NO... it umm looks bad... see... DIY fails happen.... you just never know when that Idea will be good or bad.

So then... I sat down to work on an applique in my new office and.... my children played in their "mini-playroom."

AC found some chapstick and I told her she could use it. She proceeded to go to the bathroom to see her pretty lips... She pulled on the sink... and it happened.

It a miracle she was not harmed. Only severely sprayed with water. 

The sink fell off the wall and the pipe bringing water from the main house proceeded to severely pour into the space. 

Here is the aftermath after the overly dramatic shutoff attempt.

yes... my nasty not unpacked yet garage flooded as well. and everything everything out here is ALL garage sale stuff!!! I am just thankful for boxes that were raised and unharmed.

The newly installed carpet has already endured a good soaking. Now just praying we dont have mildew issues. 

Now for the great story:

I grab the baby and run to the bathroom. Shreels people shreels as my 3 yr. old is being pelted with a forceful stream of water to the face straight from the wall!

I yell run, grab the embroidery machine in one hand and baby on the hip and we drop the machine in the kitchen and proceed to run across the street to see if the neighborhood handy man can help. 

The man who is always home isnt... Awesome!

Call my friend Ruth. "Is your husband home?"

Ruth says "NO! Whats wrong Jenny Beth are you okay?"

"NO!!! I SHOUT FLOOD IN THE GUESTHOUSE!!! HELP!!!"

she heads over. 

In the meantime I call casey and he hangs up on me... I run to the curb, baby on hip and 3 yr old screaming from trauma of the event. I open the plate cover to our water main and for the life of me cannot process how to turn the water main off. 

 Ruth pulls up...behind the crazy woman getting a flyer from my for sale sign.

And yes I did think this lady was a good samaratain doing a u turn to help me. No! She smiled at me calmly and said nothing while I am hysterically crying with 2 children and huddled over the water main shut off. 

Ruth runs around her and we are both looking in the hole going what do we do?? What do we do?

(hysterical people, hysterical!)

Out of nowhere this guy named Anthony comes running around the corner. 

Ruth shouts "Are you our guardian angel?"

He was in classes with Casey and happens to live 4 houses away. (who knew?) 

He also has the proper wrench to shut off the water. 

(Casey had hung up on me to call Anthony and see if he could come help me)

The water is shut off and we breathe a sigh of relief. I wipe the sweat and tears from my face to then formally introduce myself to Anthony.

Then all the pictures you saw are the aftermath my family came over to help me sift through until Casey could get home.

I am sooo thankful for sweet friends who come running to my rescue. 

And for others who stay until 11:45 at night helping my husband use shop vac's to sift out ALL the water standing in the guesthouse and garage. 

What a story for the book I hope to one day write. 

Happy Thursday Y'all!

An Annie Sloan love affair

Meet my vintage kitchen table I purchased from a local antiques store. 

She was only $100.00 but perfectly matched the Restoration Hardware table I had been dreaming of. 

When we purchased the table it was a muted sage green and I was wanting more of a distressed grey look. 

This table has been with us for about 3 years.  For far far too long it sat with a coat of white, and a very very grainy distressing of glaze that I applied with a dragging brush technique to "distress."

Seen on the left of the table in the pic below. It was ugly!

Didn't take me long to fall in love with Annie Sloan chalk paint. 

I also knew the paint would be an investment so I began to save and scheme what color I would use.

The 

Here is everything painted with the base color except the bottom of the legs.

We went to visit my husband's family in Mobile, Alabama and while there my mother-in-law and I 

discovered we both have been itching to buy AS paint. 

She looked up stores in the area and the sweetest lady at Heron House helped us determine what all we needed and even walked through the steps with us. She was amazing!

Here is the table with the basecoat and beginning to use the dark stain.

Added some more stain as I got more confident. 

In this picture you can see the dark stain on the left and not on the right. 

Had I thought this through more thoroughly I would have stained in the other direction so there are no lines meeting in the middle of the table. 

Oh well. Works for me, and I will know for my next project.

And the iphone pic of the finished result. 

We have been very very pleased with how beautifully it stained.

Six.5 months

I hope to actually print these stat pages and pictures one day soon for the kids. Oh the to do list.
C man,
It seems like in a mere 3 weeks you have changed and grown soo much! You have started to truly baby babble. Mainly da da da da... On Friday aug 3, you started army crawling. You are the absolutely
Happiest baby I have ever encountered. I am so incredibly thankful for such a happy healthy baby. We went to daddy's family reunion in Heber springs, Arkansas 2 weeks ago and you Loved the boat and the lake.

You are still in size 2 diapers and drinking a 6 ounce bottle. Right now we are eating a fruit in the morning and a food pouch medley at night. You go to sleep at 7:30 and almost on the nose sleep for 12 hours. Like I said. Dream baby! We love you Connor man!

Can't believe you will be 7 months old next week!

A Lilly Pulitzer Blog sale

These are just a few items that I have only worn maybe once or twice.

If you are interested in purchasing please write in the comments sold and the item and I can send you a paypal invoice and mail the garment to you. 

Everything has been kept in my closet and we are a smoke free home. 

I do have pets but they are not allowed on the garments, in closets or on the furniture for that matter.

This is a resort collection piece. Only worn one time to a Bridal Luncheon. 

Retailed for $495.00

Asking $75.00

It is a Medium and can easily fit a size 6, 8, or a 10.

This wrap dress is a fun pink and green leopard print. 

Size large and will fit an 8, 10, or even a 12. 

(I wore this after having #1 maybe twice)

Asking $45.00

This cute polo dress is a size Medium. 

Asking $25.00

It is a heavier cotton and isn't nearly as flimsy as most polo dresses are. 

I also have a Lilly window panel and some euro sham covers. 

Trying to decide if I can actually part with them. 

With just the right offer maybe I will... Thinking on it. 

Would anyone be interested in a classic Lilly A-line skirt? I have several but I personally dont think the cut is "in style" but then again almost everything lilly is uuber classic. 

Thoughts?

Checking in

I guess I unofficially took a break from the blog..
Sorry about that! I have been quite busy unpacking and purging out whole entire house!!!

Only have 4 more boxes to go!
Then... I can start sharing some of the fun things I have for you guys.

In the mean time here is some nook love!

Sunday inspiration

We are headed out on the boat for the day but I thought I would leave you with some inspiration before I do!

Are those precious bow drapes not to die for??

How will you be spending your Sunday??

6 months.. The Gear

Over the past few months I have had several moms either expecting or with a little one ask how I have done things differently with number two than number one. 

(I am by NO means an expert, but after years of nannying I have learned a few tricks over the years!)

Honestly not much has changed... except the gear. 

We try to be consistent with naps, feedings, and love. 

We try not to over react when baby falls over while sitting, etc. 

(trying to not promote inner drama queen/kings.. haha)

Gear wise we have not spent a fortune but Thoroughly enjoyed the things we ARE using!

Here are our "use daily" go to items.

Thought I would number this to make things easy.

1. Fischer Price Jumparoo- as of recently little bear is loving this thing! A dear friend is letting us          borrow it and I fear we may wear it out! haha

2. Oh my Momaroo! We are still going strong using this thing! Baby loves to sit in here every morning!

3. Baby Jogger City Select- Thankfully a local third party discount store had this incredible stroller for 1/3 of the retail price. I LOVE being able to transition from single to double stroller. Our 3 year old will still occassionally ride and that makes store manuevering easier for sure!

4. Baby Bjorn Bouncer- Said local discount retailer also had this bouncer for 90% off of the discounted  price. I snatched this sucker up for $9.00 and have used it for everything from a beach seat to a modified highchair.

5. Boppy- This thing is soo transitional great for new born baby bottle feeding or nursing and then supported proping and now nestled behind baby for our wobbly sitting. I tear when I have to put this up! At my mom's house we use my brothers 20 year old boppy and the family I predominately sat for gave me theirs. New cover and this sucker has been a champ with Connor being the 6th child to use it!

6. Sophie Teether- We have been drooling since 3 months and still no tooth in sight, this has been a great toy to satiate the need to gnaw.

7. Sophie the Giraffe- Well for starters she is absolutely adoreable. Every child who seems this toy or has one lights up! They are just great to carry around in the bag to keep baby occupied.

8. Aden and Anais Swaddle Blankets- I have now purchased 2 sets of these blankies and might head for more! My baby will ONLY sleep with them and I adore how light they are throughout these summer months.

9. Boon bottle drying rack- Last go around I had the Dr. Brown's rack. It was so ugly and bulky!! So glad I decided to purchase this one this time around. So... easy to drop various baby accessories in here.

10 Baby Bjorn Bib- For those ultra messy feedings at first this is awesome! Does a great job catching all the food!

11. Skip Hop Puppy Activity toy- This toy has like 4 in one. This has been the only toy we have bought for brother seeing as sister had lots of "first toys" and I thought he needed one of "his own" The rattle, squeeker, teether all of it keeps him engaged for quite some time. 

12.Plum Organics Baby Food- We have tried several brands from gerber, earth's best, Up and Up and ella's kitchen. The flavors and combos in this brands seems to be my baby's favorite. Helps that previous mentioned retailer has bulk of these items and I can get them for a great price!

13.Boon Attachable Spoon for Plum Organics- At like $4.00 this attachable spoon screws onto the pouch baby food. It has made a fidgety hungry baby situation soo much easier! I also love it comes with a storing case so I do not loose them!

14. Boon Fillable baby Spoon- Similar to the attachable spoon this spoon is hollow and made of silicone. At most retailers this is about $10.00 I found a plethora of them at TJ Maxx so I bought several  for $2.99. This is great if I have jars of food that I know will be messy when we are out to eat and I want to save the pouches for school. I just load up our pears, mangos, or homemade avocado's and off we go!!

(everything mentioned above can be found at Babies R Us, Target, or online at Amazon)

What are your favorite baby items? I love seeing how things change between kids and How you get to try out all new items!

Update and a Poll

Now that we are moving back into the house I have started to work on some back to school crafts/projects to share here on the blog. 

Trying to take a poll here of yall's interest in a few things.

If you would take a second and answer on the right tool bar I would really appreciate it. 

6 months old

How can it have been half a year since he was born. This sweet boy has his daddy's temperament. He is so laid back, so happy and soo living. He just makes my heart sing!


Happy six months baby boy! Hope to share pictures from the photographer when she gets them back to me

Impending Sale: A reason for no posts.

This will have been our first home we have ever sold. 

I am writing this post for myself primarily to remember all the drama the sale of this home has endured.

The story:

First we got on the market, all seemed well. Had a few minor hiccups (ie our listing photos are AWEFUL and our agent wont use my edited ones. but that doesnt matter now.)

So we went on vacation over memorial day. We had a few showings that weekend and got great reviews. Our open house was less than stellar but nonetheless we were encouraged.

After the second weekend on the market we only had one more showing. Then on friday night at 6 pm of our third weekend on the market I got a call to show in exactly one hour. 

Umm... our house looked like a bomb went off and Casey was working out of town. Naturally!

So I threw everything into drawers, the washing machine and the dishwasher and somehow made a miracle happen. 

By 9 pm that night we had an offer and they wanted to view again the next morning. 

We were shocked!! It was all happening so fast. Then the reality of everything set in. 

On Sunday our agent came over for us to sign the paperwork. They were asking for closing costs, a home warranty, us to get the termite letter, and our washer and dryer, recarpeting the guesthouse, and to close on July 9. Exactly 3 weeks later.

{internally I was freaking out. sign in the yard and moved out in less than 8 weeks!! YES!}

Seemed like about a typical asking of things with what we had gathered from others on the market or who had recently sold. 

We countered with our asking price and they countered by monday night with ALL the previous, our fridge, a fence, and all rotten wood on the house. 

We knew they would ask for more but this seemed like alot. 

Come to find out all the window sills in our home were rotten. AWESOME!

We countered for the second time with fixing the wood and giving the fridge only because our agent kept telling us the first offer is the best. 

Seemed like alot but we were excited.

Things began to drag... like for 2 weeks heard nothing drag...

The first of the two weeks we found out the buyer/buyer's agent forgot to contact the bank to begin processing a loan and fully approving this guy. 

So on friday 2 weeks ago he finally had the bank begin to move forward with things.

On monday they had the inspection set up for 10 am. I thought surely they would be done by the time they were out of school at 2:30. 

Well it seems my incredibly loud beagles who were locked in their cages were HIGHLY disturbed by 5 strangers plundering through their home. (wonder why??) And this made the inspector quite flustered.

The inspection revealed we had one reveresed polarity outlet, found out ALL our window sills were rotten, something was wrong with a vent to the roof and the plumbing leading to the guest house had quite a substantial leak.(btw this is the amount of repairs we were bound to fixing per the contract) Not everything. 

We are now looking at close to 9,000.00 in repairs, closing costs, and appliances. (the fridge in the guesthouse already stays)

So we questioned our agent saying are you sure?? and she encouraged us to move forward. 

The appraisal came on wednesday. 

The number was right no target and we were elated to be making a profit considering everything we were paying in fees between the two agents, repairs and etc. 

We made all necessary repairs per the inspection. By that friday we heard back from our agent saying the appraisor contacted her and the buyers FHA financing was requiring us to scrape and paint the whole guesthouse and install a new fence along the side of our property.

(apparently FHA rules change ALOT and very often!)

For THIS buyer we felt we had given enough..... but the buyer could not get financing without these things being fixed. I freaked!! I told our agent NO WAY JOSE!!

She said we had to and we were legally bound. So she sent out her contractor to repair the remainder of the rotten wood and scrape and paint the guesthouse.

Now we have given the potential buyer close to 12,000 in repairs, appliances, closing costs and fees.

I said no way in you know where on us paying to repair/replace the fence so I contacted a lady I know at the city's code enforcement. She was soo sweet and sent someone out immediately. I missed the gentleman who inspected the fence but he said these fences were the responsibility of Tenn. Dept. of Transportation. 

I contacted the person at the City again and she gave me the director's cell #. This gentleman also sent someone out promptly. He informed me these were the city's fences not the states. 

UGH>>>>>>

So after a few more phone calls turns out they are the state's fences and we CAN NOT install a privacy fence until these are properly reinforced. PRAISE JESUS!!!

So with that we sit and we wait. 

Then on friday of last week the bomb dropped. 

The check the buyer paid the appraiser and the inspector with were bounced!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING??????

At some point to the middle of this process (like July 3, I think) my husband and I got very overwhelmed and we contacted hubby's dad. He is one of those drop everything be there in a minute types. He so graciously took some vacation days and was here in no time to help us move the items that would least effect daily living. Well we got on a roll knowing our closing date was July 9th. So we went ahead and packed everything except beds, couch, and table and chairs, and our closets of course. 

So this past saturday afternoon we made a miserably painful decision of withdrawing from this buyer. The mortgage company determined he was incapable of gaining the loan on his own and the loan officers told our agent they were moving toward "creative financing." This process should take an average of 2 weeks. 

We were sick of waiting, being drawn on. And in the end all of these unexpected fees, repairs, costs really blindsided us. So today our home hit the MLS listings again.

We are praying for 2 things.

1. Peace if we are to stay in this house a little longer

2. Endurance to move forward for the next month and see if there is another buyer out there. 

(btw we had a second offer while we were working this contract and we contacted them and they had already offered on another property)

So here we sit... with a freshly painted guesthouse, repairs complete, knowing what our home appraises for, no buyer, and an offer on the table for another home. 

Think the lord might be teaching us something through all of this??

I am leaning toward patient endurance.

Till the next chapter unfolds I sit here in my empty home making trips to the storage unit to fluff this place for potential showings. 

Prayers would be greatly appreciated.