320 * Sycamore

$100 Olive Garden gift card giveaway!

2012-01-30T07:38:00.001-06:00

Well, that got your attention, didn’t it? Do you love Olive Garden as much as we do? With 5 kids, we hardly ever go out to eat. It costs a small fortune, and honestly, it just makes more sense for us to stay at home and order pizza. When the opportunity came through BlogHer for us all to go to Olive Garden, we were super excited. My kids: “You mean a real restaurant?”

I love that Olive Garden is very family-friendly but nice enough to feel “special.”

What should we eat??

Thank goodness for fun children’s menus to keep little ones entertained while we’re waiting for the best part: salad and breadsticks!!

Another trick I learned from my skinny friends: when the meal comes, ask for a box right away. Divide your portion in half and put half in the box so you won’t be tempted to eat the whole gosh darn thing. I loved the feeling of being satisfied, not stuffed.

I’m gonna use that trick again! I ordered the Grilled Shrimp Caprese and loved it. My husband really liked his Chicken Scampi.

This isn't the school’s chocolate milk! They said it was like melted creamsicles :) I love restaurants that give kids cups with lids. Do you think it’s more for the moms or the clean-up staff? Probably both, huh?

The pizza was a big hit from the children’s menu and so was the ravioli.

We ALL had leftovers, so thank you, Olive Garden, for lunch on Saturday as well!

Do you know what I did though?? I was so good about setting half my dinner aside, and guess who forgot her box on the table?

I was so ready the next day; my mouth was watering for Shrimp Caprese, and I started opening all the boxes and was SO sad. Don’t forget your box on the table, even though your 3 year old is throwing a tantrum, and you're trying to quickly distract him out to the parking lot.

If this post made you hungry, then you should check out Olive Garden's new 3 Course Italian Dinner special. For $12.95 you get three courses, the first course is soup or salad, followed by a choice of one of five new entrees and the third course is one of five Dolcini desserts! Check out the details here.

What could be better than enjoying a dinner out? Enjoying it for free, of course! Olive Garden and BlogHer are giving one lucky reader a $100 Olive Garden gift card. To be entered for a chance to win, just make our mouth water and tell us: what is your favorite thing to eat at Olive Garden?

Good Luck!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/23/12 - 3/18/12.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment (see question above in bold)

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

Also, visit the Olive Garden page on BlogHer.com to check out the other blogger reviews and more chances to win!

courage for the week 1.29.11

2012-01-29T00:02:00.000-06:00

I loved these questions from Margaret S. Lifferth…full talk found here.

health journal: target heart rate & exercising

2012-01-26T09:28:00.001-06:00

Well hello, health journal. Here I am again to deeply ponder and analyze the previous week. If you’re new, I’m participating in BlogHer’s Inspiration to Fitness Program. You can read all of my previous posts here.

The goals for this week that I made with my heart health trainer, Alysa were:

1. Find my target heart rate zone, and be aware how my body feels at different levels while exercising.

2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes, 6 days a week.

For the first one, you can got to lots of different websites to find your target heart rate. I like WebMd~and my target heart rate zone is between 93 and 140 beats in a minute while I’m exercising, not to exceed 193. I have the coolest gadget I will share with you next week that helps me track this while I’m working out, but basically it’s good to be aware of how you are feeling when you are exercising, so you can know when to push harder, or take it down a notch.

I just hear Jillian’s voice in my head: “you’ve got to PUSH your body to adapt to change…it’s mind over matter…” or whatever it is she says. If I’m just la-la-laing my way through exercise and my heart rate isn’t being pushed up, I know my body isn’t changing. If I’m not feeling sore at all this week when I wake up, I know I need to change things up a bit. It has really helped me be aware of how my body is feeling and hard it’s being challenged during the workouts.

I made the exercise goal, but with a little “adaptation.” One of the days, I woke up late (we stayed up way too late catching up on some Downton Abbey), the kids were out of school and we had stuff planned, then it was too dark to go running, and then I was too darn tired to do an exercise video and didn’t feel like facing Jillian, so….I skipped that day and ate 4 peanut butter oatmeal cookies my daughter made for family night to round everything off. Bad Melissa.

he tries to do Jillian with me~my favorite is when we do high knees!!

I was feeling extra guilty, so I fit in 2 the next day~I went running in the morning and then did an exercise video in the afternoon. That’s basically what I do for exercise: run or do a dvd, because it can happen anytime: in the morning, afternoon, or at night. No excuses, right? I love getting out to run and that is my first choice, but winter weather can be tricky, so it’s good to have Jillian as my back-up. I’m actually kind of getting to the point where I miss exercise if I don’t fit it in. I *love* the feeling afterward, isn’t the hardest part just getting your buns up to go? It is for me…

So, my question for you this week is: what is your favorite workout dvd? I’m ready to switch things up a bit, and I would love to know which ones you LOVE and have had good success with.

The Perfect Portions Food Scale Giveaway is still going on here!

Perfect Portions Food Scale Giveaway

2012-01-25T10:26:00.001-06:00

So by now, you all know I’m on a journey to better health and well being. Take the pledge and join me!

For me, that includes tracking what I’m eating. Now, some of my friends have said, “Track every calorie/thing I eat? I could never do that!”

And I was one of them. But, it really shines light on your habits and portion sizes and has helped me see where I need change. It’s very educational, and it helps you make choices like, do I want this Almond Joy that will leave me feeling empty in half an hour or that big sweet potato that will last me for the afternoon and is loaded with vitamins?

A lot of my skinny friends say it was key to helping them at the beginning. It’s not something I’m planning to do hard core my whole life, because once you get the hang of it, you know things like that a fistful of almonds is around 160 calories, and you don’t have to weigh and measure everything (or so I’m told!)

Please meet my best friend in helping me with this: thePerfect Portions - Food Scale with Nutritional Calculator from Best Buy ~ Instantly adjust your food's nutritional facts to your portion size with this food scale and nutritional calculator in one. A touch of a button shows you how many calories are in food and also tracks the sugar content.

Here is what came with the Perfect Portions scale: 3 things, that’s all! I love simplicity.

I also love that it fits neatly into a skinny kitchen drawer:

and that it nicely hides my stash. :) Like I’m going to cut out chocolate!! I'm just trying to eat better chocolate and less of it.

Back to the scale~

First, you turn on the side button, then place the bowl, cup, etc that will hold the food (if you are using one) on the scale and press ZERO. Not the number 0 but the word ZERO. I was cursing this scale, pushing 0, wondering why it didn’t work, and then I finally saw that darn ZERO button.

Duh. You’ll be way smarter than me.

I am making sweet potato chips today. Well, they are supposed to be sweet potato fries, but let’s just say I’m not sophisticated with a knife, so I do slices because they are easier for me. (We love the OBB recipe!)

Once I figured out the zero thing, I have zero complaints. Honestly, I think it’s worth every penny of the $50 price tag if it lasts a good long time.

AND it’s entertainment; my kids love to throw random things on there to see what they weigh. In case you wanted to know, Rory weighs 136 grams.

And they told me I can’t eat him.

Of course, we’re giving one away! To be entered for a chance to win, just leave me a comment and tell me why you would love this scale.

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment (see above)
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will .be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 1/25 - 1/31

Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also click on the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Good luck!

Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

courage for the week 1.22.12

2012-01-22T00:02:00.000-06:00

Southern Living Style book

2012-01-20T14:26:00.001-06:00

When I was contacted to see if I would like to review the new Southern Living Style book, I had to think about it for about 2 seconds. Yes, (ma’am!!) You know that I’m completely smitten with a previous Southern Living before & after magazine that was the inspiration for my living room tablescape.

Speaking of which, do you think they left that beautiful piece out?? Of course not:

It’s full of tips and quotes from homeowners and designers,

But the PICTURES is where it’s at!

Bedrooms,

(you just may be seeing my version of this orange dresser and driftwood mirror in my boys’ room…love.)

kitchens, dining rooms, and offices.

and great ideas for artwork.

do you like to take the dust jackets off of books to see what’s underneath??

I do.

Pinterest is awesome, but there is just something about having your own book on your nightstand or coffee table you can look through and pore over page after page of loveliness. And the best part? Bookmarking pages of ideas with stickies that no one else will see.

You can buy it on Amazon, or most bookstores.

health journal: water & emotional eating

2012-01-19T13:04:00.001-06:00

I’m participating in BlogHer’s Inspiration to Fitness Program! You can see more about it at the blue bar at the very top of my blog.

My two goals for this past week were:

1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day

2. Write down everything I eat

The water was no problem, once I set up a little system. My glasses hold 16 oz, so I drink one in the morning, one at lunch, one in the afternoon when the kids get home, and one at dinner. Easy peasy. I’ve always loved water, never been a soda girl, and I can feel a difference with the way I feel already with that one. Half the time I’m hungry, I’m thinking I may be thirsty. Go water!

The next goal. THE NEXT GOAL.

yikes.

I. eat. a lot.

Without even realizing it. This has been such an eye opener for me. I was thinking to myself in December when I agreed to do the New Year, New Year thing: I don’t eat that much! I don’t know why I’m gaining weight. I need to exercise more. But it all adds up and as my body gets older, it’s not going to be forgiving about it as it has been. I eat as I’m making the kids’ lunches in the morning. I eat when I’m cleaning up breakfast. When I’m making/cleaning up lunch. Same with dinner. I got embarrassed at how many things I would have to write down if I hadn’t caught myself because of this little goal. Awareness is going to be a huge step for me.

And do you want to talk about emotional eating? Oh, wow.

It was Wednesday night, the laundry was piled up by the kitchen table ready to be folded, I was helping my daughter on her project, prodding my boys’ to clean up their room before they went out to play, my husband called and reminded me of something we had later on that night, which meant dinner had to be in half an hour. BLAST. What are we even having for dinner?? I headed right for the pantry~not to start dinner, but to soothe myself with food. I stopped myself (because of this goal) and foraged through my purse for an old, crumb filled piece of sweet mint gum. I feel a bit like a druggie.

It happened lots: a text with some sad, sad news about a dear friend. I headed for the pantry as I thought about the text.

I got an awesome email with some good news from a fellow blogger. To the pantry!

I forgot to write in my son’s journal for school and as he got ready I was thinking of something clever to write. I went to the pantry..I guess food helps my creativity??

I remember watching an Oprah where they were talking about emotional eating and someone in the audience asked: why can’t it just be about the food? What if I just love food and that’s why I’m fat? And the expert lady answered, “it’s never about the food. Otherwise, you would be at your ideal weight, because you would only eat when you were hungry.” Probably not the exact words, but you get the idea. And I thought, “what a bunch of crock. I’m not an emotional eater, and I’m overweight.”

Really, Melissa?

So, thanks to my younger sister, I’ve invested in some of the Extra dessert gum to tide me over when I head to deal with things with food. I’ve gone through 3 packs this week. I would love to get to a point where I don’t need anything in my mouth, but for now it’s a good alternative.

So that’s where I’m at right now~a little disgusted with myself, but kind of relieved that this may be a big part of the puzzle. We’ll see. I’m tracking my food online at sparkpeople.com because I don’t have a smart phone, but I know there is lots of cool apps out there to just track what you’re eating. There are lots of things I simply didn’t want to eat because I didn’t want to write it down. It’s a HUGE first step for me.

My next 2 goals I’ve made with my heart health expert, Alysa :

1. Find my target heart rate zone, and be aware how my body feels at different levels while exercising.

2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes, 6 days a week. Sundays are off! I don’t keep track of my eating either.

What about you: are you an emotional eater? How did you confront it? How are your goals coming?

I love your tips and suggestions~you’re keeping me going!

p.s. the Withings Smart Body Scale giveaway (measures % body fat, bmi, and weight and sends it wirelessly to you!) is still going on here.

The winner of the Zeo Sleep Manager is Heather @ Sunshine and Some Tea ! Congrats!!

Withings Smart Body Scale giveaway

2012-01-18T08:54:00.001-06:00

On the second week of New Year, New You my true love sent to me: a Withings Smart Body Scale!

Look at how sleek and slim and pretty it is:

Kind of makes you want to be sleek and slim yourself, doesn’t it??

I was sure it was going to be a beast to set up since it’s all up to-do date and techy, but not at all. Put the batteries (came with it) in the back, attach the feet if you will be using it in carpet, then take it to your computer, iPhone, iPad, whatever wireless device you use, and connect it with the USB.

From there, you will set up an account on the Withings website, complete with a username and password. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. Here’s the cool thing: every time you weigh yourself, you simply step on the scale. You don’t have to push on, tap it once to get to zero, etc.

In a few seconds, your weight will come up, Uhhhh, obviously this is not me~it’s my handy assistant!

then your BMI, then your % body fat. It’s sending it to your wireless device!

You’ll see the little bar fill up and you’ll know that it’s sent to your wireless device where it’s stored safely. Then, it goes dark and no one will ever know your weight if you don’t want them too. If you see one of these scales at a friend’s house, don’t step on it when you are in the bathroom! Because your weight will be sent to the owner’s online account. It will show up as an unknown user.

BUT if you’ve always wanted to know how much your skinny friend weighs, ask her to test your scale to see if it’s accurate. bwahahaha :) My friends are making a mental note to never come near it at my house.

My favorite things

It graphs your weight so you can see your progress and determine what’s working and what may not be. You can choose to have it emailed to you. Whether you weight yourself weekly or daily, you can see the little trends and try to think about what may have influenced them? Tuxedo cheesecake? Lots of water that day? Maybe that exercise is finally starting to pay off in the weight department? If the weight is beginning to creep up, you can make changes that day: a salad for lunch may be in order.

I love how it looks.

It is so simple, and it tracks my BMI and % body fat as well.

Everyone who uses the scale can set up a separate account where they can track their progress as well.

Drawbacks?

The price. It’s a healthy investment at $160. I would have never given it a second glance at that price, but now that I’ve used it, I’m thinking that it would be a fantastic gift for anyone that loves health/body stuff.

I don’t see how any scale can accurately test your % body fat from your bare feet? I’m tempted to take a real body fat test at my doctor’s and compare.

But, of course the best part is that we’re giving one away!!

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post: why would the Withings Smart Body Scale be a good thing for you?
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 1/18 - 1/24
Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also roll over the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Good luck!
Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

Good luck!

how to install diy subway tile backsplash

2012-01-17T17:33:00.001-06:00

Previously, our backsplash was just your basic beige laminate. We googled installing a tile backsplash over laminate and the recommendations were mixed. Some said not to do it, others said you should be fine if the laminate was in good shape and you roughed it up real good. When our over-the-stove microwave was installed, we could see that the laminate went up quite a way behind the cabinets. We figured it was going nowhere. So..guess which one we went with?? We are DIY rebels.

1. Turn off the electricity to the outlets! Then double check to make sure they are off. Did you double and triple check? Okay, thank you.

2. Then, we roughed up the backsplash with some heavy duty, 60 grit sandpaper to prepare the surface for the tile.

Next comes the mastic. You just buy this in a bucket at your home improvement store.

Apply a layer with a notched trowel to get yourself some nice grooves.

And then start applying the tile. Watch a bunch of youtube video tutorials and you’ll get a good idea of what you’re going to do. It’s basically a big puzzle~we worked from the bottom middle up and you just go along placing your tiles with little spacers in between.

When you come to the outlets (are you SURE your power is off?? double check.) just unscrew them slightly so you can get the tiles behind the metal things on the top and bottom of the outlet.

We bought this trusty little tile saw at the Home Depot over 4 years ago and it’s never let us down for our little tile jobs.

You’re going to run into some tricky cuts around outlets and corners, so this is how we do it: make the cut for both sides for where the outlet will go

then, make a bunch more cuts in between,

so they will be easier to break off with tile nippers (that’s what they’re really called!)

and there it fits. Those cuts don’t have to be perfect because the outlet cover will be hiding most of it.

and just keep moving down the line. Let the mastic dry overnight, then you can apply your grout. I like the look of unsanded grout better, but you’ll want to use sanded if your spaces are bigger. They also sell pre-mixed grout, so you don’t even have to worry about mixing it up.

I didn’t take pictures, but basically you apply the grout with a rubber floatlike Katie from Bower Power!

until you fill all of the tile joints, then you wipe the tiles with a sponge, smoothing over the grout. Let it dry for about 20 minutes and when a haze forms on the tile, you polish the surface with the sponge, being careful not to rub the grout out of the joints. It’s really not bad, I promise!

Listen to Rocky.

courage for the week 1.15.12

2012-01-15T00:02:00.000-06:00

a new year, new you

2012-01-12T09:34:00.001-06:00

In December, BlogHer approached me about doing a New Year, New You initiative with Best Buy and participating in the Inspiration to Fitness program. I was in the midst of scarfing down treats from the neighbors, white fudge oreos, and coconut almond chex mix. I hadn’t exercised in at least 3 weeks. My first thought was that you’ve got the wrong girl. I’m not a fitness girl, gym girl, or count every calorie, always order a salad when we go out to eat girl. Not even close.

I’ve always loved food and loved to eat and have honestly never really dieted. Well, I tried once in college with my roommates: we did the cabbage soup diet and lasted 1.5 days? I didn’t even know how to diet, or really how much I weighed, or counting calories, which is a credit to my mom. She never focused on that kind of stuff (even though looking back at some pictures…uhhh….maybe she should have said something, but I love her more because she didn’t)

1995 with my baby sister Kerri my senior year in high school

I got married when I was 22, got pregnant soon after and actually started dropping weight. Maybe it was because we were poor and couldn’t afford junk food, or maybe the whole emotional roller coaster of dating and college life was over, I don’t know.1999 in my first maternity outfit with my first baby!

I stayed fairly slim~not crazy skinny, but nothing I ever worried about. 2006

When we lived in Idaho, I was friends with some runner girls and they got me going. They would be waiting outside my door at 6 a.m. and wouldn’t let me fail. We all ran a half marathon in 2006 and was in the best shape of my life running about 3 miles a day with long runs on the weekends. My husband said he’d do it too and I hated him because he barely trained and totally schooled me. I tried to eat healthy, but I wasn’t obsessive about it. It felt so good. 2006 my husband and I ran the Great Potato Half Marathon

Fast forward 6 years, some major thyroid issues, 2 babies later and wow, things have changed. I’ve gained about 15 pounds, I haven’t run over 1.5 miles in a loooong time, and I’ve got a blogger belly. That’s where I gain my weight (my mid-section: I’m a total apple) and it’s not pretty. Doing projects around the house and sitting on a chair at a computer is not so productive in the calorie burning department. And I’m realizing that I can’t wolf down 6 chocolate chip cookies anymore without some consequences. I know I eat emotionally…a lot. I’ve seen a few pictures of myself in the past couple of months that have made me want to cry. I’ve been asked twice when I am due when I’ve been in Lowes. (really…Lowes??) It’s time for me to put my health back on my priority list. My husband and kids deserve the very best Melissa, and my well-being affects everything in the home.

Every week I’ll post a journal-type post about my progress, what I’m doing and I’ll have some fun giveaways along the way from Best Buy! The cool part is that you can join us! I'm following registered dietician, Alysa's Heart Health Track exercises and challenges. Are you ready to begin the journey to new health?

My first assignment is to set 2 specific goals for the week and schedule in exercise for 30 minutes, 6 times a week.

My first goals:

1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day

2. Write down everything I eat

I can do this…right?? I’ve got to admit: part of me is scared to death to be doing this publicly on the blog, but it’s going to be a good thing for me. What about you? Will you join us?

Have you been successful at taking more steps to be healthy/lose weight? Do you have any tips for me? I need all the help and motivation I can get.

Here we go…

* If you roll over the Best Buy image at the top of my blog, you can view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content.

You can enter to win the first giveaway here: a Zeo sleep manager!

sleep? oh yeah, the thing I used to do before kids…

2012-01-11T10:07:00.001-06:00

I used to have a wish that I would never need sleep, that I could stay up all the time and get things done while everyone else slept. I would never be behind.

My laundry would be neatly folded in the drawers. I would leave sweet notes everywhere for my kids and husband. I could learn new instruments and languages. I would be ripped because I surely would exercise for at least 2 hours a day. My legs would be shaved every day, my toenails freshly painted, and I would grow all of our food and store it like Ma.

My projects would all be caught up, and my emails would all have thoughtful responses the minute they showed up in my inbox. I would put cinnamon rolls out for the garbage men.

Pah!

I’ve decided there is a reason God made us NEED sleep. I think He wants us to slow down, to rest, to look back on the day, and to have a fresh start the next morning.

To decide how to spend our precious 16 hours of awake time.

To look at those sweet sleeping angels who love you no matter how much you messed up today.

To be forced to choose the best things for you and your family among all the choices in life.

For the next 7 weeks, I am joining BlogHer and Best Buy for a New Year, New You program. They will send me a new product every week to review and to give one away to one of you as well. I will also be journaling in a weekly post how my health/fitness goals are going.

So…what does this have to do with sleep?!

This was my first surprise in the mail:

A Zeo Sleep Manager: get a full picture of your sleep habits with this mobile sleep manager that features an adjustable SoftWave sensor headband to track sleep stages and measure REM and deep sleep. The SmartWake alarm helps you wake up refreshed and ready for your day.

In Melissa terms: charge the sensor, snap it into the head band, turn on your smart phone (this is my husband’s), download the free app. It should recognize the sensor. Put the headband on, and your phone will tell you when it picks up the signal (about 20 seconds for me) and then it tells you to go to sleep.

The Zeo Sleep Manager shows you not only how much sleep you get, but what kind of sleep your body is getting and breaks your night into quarters.

This was a bad night: my 3 yr old woke up a bunch with a stuffy nose and coughing. In this quarter, I only got 9 minutes of deep sleep. Not good, Melissa!

The cool thing? It will gently wake you up in a window when it’s the best time for your body to wake, instead of being jolted out of a deep sleep.

We all know sleep can make or break your next day, so it’s helpful to track the nights you are getting good deep sleep and then thinking about what made it happen.

Does caffeine make a difference? What time you exercise? A hot bath or shower?

For me, it comes down to this: I can sleep like a rock if my kids do. They think my headband is hot, too.

I do have to say I’ve become a bit ~~obsessed~~ enamored with this Zeo. It’s something that I probably never would have purchased on my own, but I love to wake up and see how many minutes of deep sleep I got and when I got it. My husband laughs at me positioning my headband before bed, but it’s quite fascinating to me~it makes such a big difference when I get more deep sleep.

AND of course...we’re giving one away!

Just let me know in the comments: do you have any tricks or tips for a good night’s sleep?

Good luck!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment (see above)

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/11/ 2012 - 1/17/2012.

Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.

how to paint kitchen cabinets

2012-01-10T11:43:00.004-06:00

Goodness gracious this is going to be long, so let’s go!

Set your time you’re going to do it. There will never be a perfect time with nothing going on, you’ve just got to block it off the calendar and GO! We chose to do it in the spring when my husband could give me 2 full days when he had some time off for spring break.

Then, you’ve got to set up shop. Cover any surfaces you don’t want to get paint on. Most of our work was done in the garage, and we used the kitchen counter as well.

1. Remove all doors and hardware and let your handy, super strong assistant separate them into bags.

Number all doors and drawers with numbers and leave a number back where you got them from so there is no confusion and they will hang correctly when you re-attach them.

while we were painting, we kept the number right above the door. It got hit with the sprayer, but you can still see the number, right?

We spray painted our hinges with brushed nickel spray paint, so my boys put the screws in a piece of styrofoam to get them ready for spray paint.

If you have lots of build-up on your cabinets you may have to clean first with a degreaser. The Zinsser primer we used said specifically to avoid TSP cleaner, so we skipped that and just used Fantastik spray degreaser. Sand all the doors and drawers with an electric palm sander. If you don’t have one, it is well worth the $30 investment!! Fill in any big scrapes or holes with wood filler, let it dry then sand them down nice and smooth.

For the cabinet bases, we used a liquid sandpaper to get them ready for paint:

Then the real fun begins. We had a paint sprayer we used to stain our fence, so we used it to apply the primer. We did a trial run on my daughter’s furniture~you can read more about that here. We used Zinsser’s oil based primer, and since it’s fairly thin, it worked in the sprayer like a dream mixed with some Penetrol.

We didn’t use the sprayer for the paint though because it was too thick. If you don’t have a sprayer, the small foam rollers and a quality brush (you can’t go wrong with Wooster or Purdy brand!)will work just fine.

Don’t I look HAPPY?!

Apply 2 coats of primer, then sand lightly with a super fine sanding block to get them super smooth and ready for paint.

and then wipe them down to get all of the dust off. Let dry.

Then, the real painting begins! First, I have to tell you a little back story on the paint. When we did our trial run in my daughter’s room, we used Benjamin Moore Impervo paint in white dove. I had done my research online as far as what people had used and been happy with and BM Impervo paint came highly recommended. The only problem is that it takes forever to dry(okay, when I say forever, for us it was 24 hours per coat and I’m not patient) We were on our second day, my husband had some deadlines and we were going to go out of town for the second half of spring break, so we decided to go with something that was quicker drying since we wanted to do 2 coats and be done with it. I was sick of trying to keep the kids out of the kitchen.

So, I ran to Lowes and got their kitchen & bath paint that they mixed in white dove (most stores have Benjamin Moore colors in their computers)

And it dried much faster and we finished the painting for the most part that second day. Let me say that this is not bad paint. But the areas we used the Impervo paint on, including my daughter’s furniture, is rock hard and I love the satin enamel finish the impervo settles into after a few weeks. I try to scratch it with my nail and it’s really, really hard to do. I don’t have to work too hard to scratch the Lowes paint. Looking back, I wish I would have been patient and just gone with the Impervo as much of a pain it would have been for it to dry. My advice would be to go into Benjamin Moore and tell them that you are painting your kitchen cabinets and see what they recommend. I give the Impervo two thumbs up, once it’s dried and cured. John & Sherry at Young House Love are using BM’s Advance Paint and seem to love that, so check them both out. And that is Melissa’s take on things…back to the painting process.

It works best if you can have one (or more) painting bases on the inside, while the doors and drawers are being painted in the garage.

A few more things:

We wanted to bulk the moulding at the top of the cabinets up, so we added a small piece of trim, painted over it all,

then ran some caulk along the top:

When we painted the drawers with the small foam rollers and a quality paint brush, we let them hang slightly over the counter edge and that worked well. Also a tip: even though your drawers will seem dry, they may stick when you put them back in and they sit against the cabinet bases for awhile. Apply a thin coat of vaseline where the drawer meets the base to prevent sticking and ripping off the paint. You can wipe it off after a week or so when everyone is complaining that ewwww, the inside edges of the drawers are sliiiimy!

The best part is putting the hardware back on and re-attach the doors. It looks sooo much better. It was worth it…right?? :)

(More after pictures and sources here.)

Let’s put this crazy long post into simple, to the point steps:

1. Prepare to set up shop~you’ll need lots of room to work. Protect areas you don’t want to get splattered with paint. Read a bunch of tutorials online to see what worked for them, then decide what’s best for you.

2.Remove cabinets, hardware, spray paint hinges. Number them so you can put them back in the right spot.

3. Sand everything down including bases, then wipe them down.

4. Use two coats of Zinsser oil based primer on all visible wood surfaces (we didn’t paint the inside of the cabinets, except for one where the glass doors were installed), letting them dry in between coats. Lightly sand and remove dust.

5. Use two coats of Benjmain Moore Impervo (color: white dove) letting them dry between coats.

6. Replace hardware

7. Re-hang and LOVE!

If you have any questions, ask in the comments! There have been some great questions, and I’ll follow up with one more follow up post to answer them all in one spot. I have no affiliation with any of these products or brands~thisis just our experience. Thanks for sticking with me~happy Tuesday!

courage for the week 1.8.11

2012-01-08T00:09:00.000-06:00

full talk found here

lurking in aisles at a Target near you.

2012-01-05T14:18:00.001-06:00

Well, I should say maybe lurking. Every Target is different, but mine went 90% off this morning for holiday stuff. I’m telling you: the calendar works! It was the same day last year for this store as well.

So, they will have the mumbo jumbo of holiday leftover stuff all crammed in the back corner of the store, but sometimes there are goodies in the regular aisles that are holiday, but the awesome employees (our best friends!) may not know they are holiday and there they sit at 90% off waiting for you to find them.

Here are some treasures I found. Spritz plates, napkins, tablecovers, and foil tissue paper in the regular paper goods aisle on the end cap.

About .20 each:

I stock up on tape every year at Target! These all rang up for .20 each, you just have to be friends with the red scanners and scan, scan, scan to see which ones are on clearance.

This pillow was mixed in with the regular throw pillows~look for anything that looks slightly holiday-ish. In the past, I’ve scored on soap, paper plates, holiday goldfish, etc. It’s a fun hunt.

Anything in those red boxes was with the holiday stuff~LOVE these clocks, I picked up a few at 70% because I was afraid they would be gone. Is this serendipitous or what: Kate showed one today on her daughter’s nightstand. Mine are going in the bathrooms…

Every store is different, but if you are headed there anyway, you may want to go treasure hunting! There are wicked clearance sales in the shoe dept and Smith & Hawken aisles too ~good luck! Will you let us know if you find anything great?

kitchen breakdown: sources and prices

2012-01-04T22:00:00.001-06:00

I promised we’d talk about price and what we did in the kitchen, so here we go!

I loved the open-ness of the kitchen right into the family room. The cabinets were in great shape and had some nice features, they were just orange oak. Painting was the least expensive route. Do you remember how I got some quotes to have a professional paint it? They came in for around $2500, so we decided to diy.

Here are the price breakdowns:

Cabinet hardware: Martha Stewart at Home Depot here and here. Total: $200 We spray painted the hinges with a brushed nickel. Who cares about hinges? I guess I don’t.

Now, you could save a lot of money on pulls for your cabinets by purchasing them on Ebay, but I LOVED these and figured since we were painting ourselves, I was totally justified in the hardware…right??

That sweet topiary was a fun surprise from my friend, Robyn! The paint and primer for the cabinets was about $100~I’ll give a tutorial on painting kitchen cabinets coming up.

You can read more about the kitchen shelf here with the beadboard wallpaper backing. The containers are from Target, but I scored one at a yard sale. The silver platter was a wedding gift, the plates and crock are also old Target purchases. Total: $22

We kept the sink, and you can read more about the faucet here. $100

The milk glass and white glassware are mostly from Goodwill (that white pitcher is from Target), total about $20

diy schoolhouse light here $35

curtain fabric info here about $15

the baskets were from my cut up coffee table turned bench! (free), the dishwasher was a crazy deal last year, a kitchen aid marked down from $1589 to $589 (remember?)

That fridge came with us from Texas, so I’m not including it. I would love a different style, but we’re waiting on that one. The microwave ($149)and stove ($598) were black Friday deals last year.

green chair at the desk was about $15, diy roman shades were about $20

The subway tile is the good old .24 cent tile in store at H.Depot or Lowes. $20 total. I don’t think you can get more bang for your buck if you need a classic update in your kitchen or bath. (tutorial coming~I did it!!)

the corbels are from Home Depot, $8 each=$24. they are hot glued on there….shhhhhhh. They haven’t moved! I first saw them at The Lettered Cottage and loved.

The bowl is TJMaxx $17

Glass in cabinet doors (see tutorial here) $18

Penny tile cabinet back $150

I saw the idea for this in PB magazine and pinned it, then copied it. The hooks are from summer garden clearance at Lowes $3 each = $6

The pitcher is from TJ Maxx $9, and the lantern is from Real Deals in Missoula, Montana when I was there visiting. $20

The table refinish was about $50, the chairs from Craigslist were $100, the diy drum lights were $120.

We kept the laminate counters, because we’re trying to meet some financial goals and new solid surface isn’t in the budget right now. But at least they are nice and neutral.

Neither are hardwood floors…but, someday? I hope. The previous owners put brand, spanking new linoleum in right before we saw the house for the first time. I saw the bill for it on the counter (I ain’t nosy) and they paid $2800. Gulp. Of course I think of what that could have gone towards flooring wise, but can’t really change that now, can I? It’s not bad at all though.

And there you have it.

TOTAL: $2397, for EVERYTHING including the appliances we purchased. It feels like a new kitchen! I love that we would have paid a painter more than that just to paint the cabinets. Awesome.

So…NOW it feels good, now that the work is all over, but I’m not gonna lie, it’s not a fun process.

I know I probably missed something~let me know if you have ???

quick & easy job chart

2012-01-03T14:38:00.001-06:00

Well, of course it snowed.

Because Christmas is over, and it would make too much sense to snow before Christmas??

I’m a little bitter today…because it’s BITTER cold outside, I’m still trying to get Christmas down, my new years resolutions aren’t going so hot, and we started on the upstairs’ bathrooms over the break and they are just sitting waiting for me to finish peeling the wallpaper borders.

Blasted projects~who thought they were a good idea anyway?

But this little profile?? How can you be bitter when you see that?

Kids were fighting about whose turn it was to set what on the table last night and I yelled, “enough!”

and right then and there made the kind of chore chart my mom had when we were young with the little wheel.

Except ours was yellow and red back then.

Before dinner and then after dinner jobs. For the whole month, then we turn the wheel. Anyone complaining will have to….to…..well I’ll think of something really BAD. Like fishing pieces of plastic fork out of the disposal when there’s slimy noodles and vegetables in there.

Easy as pie (get it?):

Print off a pie chart onto cardstock: here is a blank one I uploaded.

Write jobs in fun markers.

Take another piece of paper and write names on outside paper around the wheel.

put a brad through the middle. This was a cute one I had left over from my scrapbooking days, but I’m sure your kids have an art project from school you could snag one from?

And that’s it. I laminated mine (I have this laminator from Amazon’s gold box deals a few years back), but of course you don’t have to.

Go get ‘em.

I’m going to go release myself from bitter bondage~

courage for the week 1.1.12

2012-01-01T01:02:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! The first courage for the week in 2012:

my favorite posts from 2011

2011-12-31T12:58:00.001-06:00

They may not have the most comments or hits, but here the ones that are near and dear to my heart:

1. Spring On My Door : my oldest daughter was home sick that day and we had the crazy notion to write this post in cave man talk. We were laughing so hard and google searching for a cave woman to sign the post with. Most of you probably thoughy I was off my rocker as you read, except for Amy at a Nest For All Seasons who simply wrote: “like much.” She has a special place in my heart!

2. A letter to myself: I need to read this more often…

3. A politically correct golden book: loved the comments on this one.

4. DIY Reality: I don’t know why it’s so FREEing to let you know that things aren’t even close to perfect around here?

5. Blueberries and Bridges: loved this day

6. A living room: love these boys.

7. Courage for the week 1.30.11: one of my all-time favorite quotes

8. Mom questions: this was a guest post about being a mom.

9. Gluttony and the holidays: again, love the comments on this one.

10. The story of why we have a washer and dryer in our family room: love remembering that day and the look on my husband’s face…

Okay, this is the last post of looking back at 2011. I promise we’ll look ahead tomorrow, when it’s 2012.

Thanks for looking back with me~I so wish I could meet you all in person.

Happy New Year!

state of the blog 2011

2011-12-30T14:28:00.001-06:00

My posts with the most hits

according to the number of hits via google Analytics (along with my commentary!)

1. The $3 W.Sonoma knockoff glass hurricane (this was the favorite last year as well)

2. Some awesome tips (this was a random, quick Friday post. I have a blog notebook that I scribble down blog post ideas in, and these were a few I picked. Who knew??)

3. Inspire Me (you love BLOGS?)

4. Parade of Homes 2011 (you love snooping in people’s homes?)

5. Autumn wreath (you love another WS knockoff?)

6. Monogram plate (do you remember that I broke these and had to re-make them?)

7. Schoolhouse Light Pendant (you like lights made from canning rings?)

8. DIY Drum shade pendant (you love hearing how I totally messed these up and had to string them up with florist wire?)

9. Penny tile cabinet backs (my thrifty readers prefer pennies over quarters?)

10. Valentine Vignette (Evelin Nat lives on!!)

Posts with the most hits from Pinterest

you can’t ignore the P word. It’s now my #1 referrer. Here’s what Pinterest loves at 320 Sycamore:

1. Kitchen Before & After

2. Homemade Granite Cleaner

3. Halloween signs

4. THE Dollar Store version of the Williams Sonoma knock off hurricane

5. bobby pin tip

6. Two and a Half

7. Schoolhouse Light

8. Under $10 Under 1 Hour Party

9. Kitchen Table Re-do

10. Gallery Wall

My Top Referrers from 2011

This is what my blog traffic looked like this year. I basically make a bunch of M’s every month, except for that day back in January when I almost accidentally deleted my blog…that’s a story for another day.

These are wonderful people that send people over here from their blogs. If you like it here, chances are you’ll love it over at any one of these blogs. Thank you so much to each one of you:

1. Thrifty Décor Chick {thank you, Sarah}

2. Centsational Girl {thank you, Kate}

3. Clover Lane {thank you, Sarah}

4. Miss Mustard Seed {thank you, Marian}

5. All Things Thrifty {thank you, Brooke}

6. Just a Girl {thank you, Chris}

7. Southern Hospitality {thank you, Rhoda}

8. Isabella & Max Rooms {thank you, Janell}

9. The Inspired Room {thank you, Melissa}

10. Beneath My Heart {thank you, Traci}

11. Brooklyn Limestone {thank you, Mrs. Limestone}

12. Our Suburban Cottage {thank you, AnNicole}

13. The Lettered Cottage {thank you Kevin & Layla}

14. Nesting Place {thank you, Nester}

15. Sew Many Ways {thank you, Karen}

16. Favorite Paint Colors {thanks, KRISHIN}

17. Home Stories from A to Z {thank you, Beth}

18. Tatertots and Jello {thank you, Jen}

19. Tidy Mom {thank you, Cheryl}

20. House of Smiths {thank you, Shelley}

Most of all, thanks to each of you for reading~I appreciate you so much and I wish you the very best in 2012.

lampshades at lowes : $3!

2011-12-29T10:23:00.001-06:00

In the lamp section at Lowes they have medium holiday lampshades (these would fit all of my lamps in my living room) on sale for $5.98, which is a great deal, BUT…their holiday clearance is 50%, so my nice cashier gave me them for $3 each. I bet you could talk yours into half price as well.

Just remove the holiday ribbon, and you’ve got yourself a new shade to work with! Isn’t that the most expensive part of getting lamps at thrift stores: buying new shades?

I stocked up.

You can call your store and ask them if they have any item # 0362226 in stock.

Good luck!!

Top 10 Projects of 2011

2011-12-28T12:38:00.001-06:00

It’s the end of the year, which means it’s time for Rhoda’s Top Projects Party!

Here are 10 favorites at 320 Sycamore in 2011:

10. I have the best readers ever. You helped me collect all 50 license plates for our license plate wall in the playroom!

9. A $5 Entryway Light

8. Our Downstairs Bath

7. Lauren’s Room

6. Putting a Room Together Series

5. Front Porch Makeover

4. Garage Door Makeover

3. Kitchen Table Makeover

2. Front Foyer/Entryway Gallery Wall

1. Our Kitchen Makeover!

It’s fun to look back! Do you have a favorite? I think the gallery wall is mine…

thanks for taking this crazy journey with me~here’s to many more projects in 2012!

courage for the week 12.25.11

2011-12-25T00:02:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Christmas hymns~

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T05:43:00.000-06:00

Have a wonderful, blessed holiday~

a wonderful life village

2011-12-22T23:25:00.001-06:00

From 1994-1998 Target stores sold the It’s a Wonderful Life village during Christmas. I was home on Christmas break and so what does any freshman/sophomore/junior in college do on the morning after Christmas? Go to Target to buy half price It’s a Wonderful Life houses with your mom, of course!

Even then I was cool…

My mom and I would buy a few pieces each year to add to our collections~they were $7.50 after Christmas.

My Grandma and my mom taught me to write memories on things, otherwise they are just things…

Apparently, Kristin wasn’t interested in buying IAWL houses, she just wanted to come to lunch…

and then I would store them in a green rubbermaid bin under my Dad’s pool table where they stayed until I was married.

But then, an awful thing happened! Without any warning, in 1999 they stopped selling the collection at Target. The nerve!

It was so sad…if we would have known we probably would have bought the store out in 1998…

Walgreens sold a line later around 2003, 2004? This Gower Drug was from there, but they just weren’t the same….

Then, last year, some kind reader told me that Lowes had a line of It’s a Wonderful Life houses and I added the bridge and the Bailey Park sign to my collection. It’s probably good that Target stopped selling them when they did, because I really don’t have room for a whole, big village.

This is what the back of the boxes looked like, with all the different buildings and figures in the collection.

If you ever see these at thrift stores or yard sales, get them!! They sell really well on Ebay. The following are especially hard to find and sell for big bucks! I’m including links so you can see what they look like (I have no affiliation with these sellers or Ebay)

Bedford Falls Police Station

Uncle Billy’s House

Mary’s house (this is one that was sold at Walgreens)

Mr. Potter’s Mill

Mr. Potter’s Mansion

Knickerbocker Inn

Ma Bailey’s Boarding House

Thanks for letting me share~it was fun taking a walk down memory lane. I love pulling out the memories with this set every year…

do you have a Christmas village? Do you remember the IAWL line at Target?