I’m still in the middle of going through all of my pictures (and catching up on a backlogged inbox), so for now, I’ll just share a small handful of highlights from my trip to Hilton Head Island, SC.  If you follow along on Instagram, you’ve seen a few of these already.  I had such a wonderful time!  Looking forward to sharing more about it next week!

• I’ve shared this before, and I can’t help myself.  I love singing in the car.  Loudly.  And this was a five-hour trip of my favorite beach-inspired tunes to get me in the island mood.
• My hotel was in an amazing location.  I’ve never had such a short walk to the pool and beach.  Although it threatened to rain all over the forecast, I saw clear, sunny skies for the majority of my stay.  And best of all, there was a nice, cool breeze that made soaking up the sun all the more enjoyable.
• When I hit the beach, it’s rum and pineapple all. the. way.
• Coconut ice cream is my new favorite flavor.  It even tastes amazing with my old favorite, chocolate chip cookie dough.  YUM!
• I hardly ever put product in my hair when I go on vacation.  I slather it in a protective heat oil and let it do its thing.  I absolutely love that breezy, carefree beach hair thing when the saltwater works its magic.  I don’t, however, love the angle of the photo I snapped – my schnoz looks strangely huge.
• Did you know that Hilton Head (HHI) is dog-friendly?  I didn’t.  I missed Charlie like crazy when I saw this pooch (lower left) having a ball and biting the ocean waves.
• There was a large shopping plaza within walking distance of my hotel, with tons of restaurants and little shops.  I hit the jackpot in this mineral store and can’t wait to share the two projects I’m creating with my finds.
• TIKI BAR.  ’Nuff said.

Finally, there is a local radio station (you Atlanta folks know The Bert Show) that is running a campaign that I think is pretty neat.  As most women know (and probably you fellas, too), women dread bathing suit season.  No matter your size, shape, or age, body image issues affect nearly everyone at some point.  I’m no stranger to this self-consciousness, and strapping on a few thin pieces of Lycra doesn’t exactly make me want to turn on the catwalk.

Don’t get me wrong; I actually LOVE my curves, and feel blessed that I have a body that lets me leap through fire.  But if you asked for a laundry list of my flaws, I could do it in a heartbeat.  I hate the shape of my arms.  I constantly analyze angles of my face in photographs and rarely post pictures of myself online unless I’ve put on a comfortable amount of makeup to hide behind (or sunglasses).  I even criticized myself earlier in this post.  So even though I rarely (um, never) post about things like this, I decided to go for it and joined the #suityourself campaign with this picture.

In the last year, I’ve braved things I wasn’t sure I could do, and feel stronger and more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have before.  So even though I still think there’s plenty of room for improvement, the point of this campaign is to simply embrace your body the way it is.  Right now.  The way to a bikini body is to put your body in a bikini.  That’s all it takes.  Want to see more photos and offer words of encouragement?  Check out the others on Instagram here.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

The post Back from the beach, and the #suityourself challenge appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.Psst, Google Reader peeps: As of July 1st, our beloved GR will be no more. I've been looking for a good alternative, and Bloglovin' seems like a good fit. To sign up and continue following The Ugly Duckling House (it's easy to import your current GR feed), just click here.

I swept out all of the junk in the upstairs hallway, cleaned off the baseboards, and whipped out the paint.

Sure, I could have used more light, and still wished the power was on (those smoke detectors run on both power and a backup battery, so that’s why you still see the light on there).

But before long, I was making progress on the first coat and the hallway was looking much brighter, with power or without.  Exactly the way I intended when I first picked the new paint color.

I’m sure that the coat isn’t quite up to the usual standards thanks to a lack of appropriate light to see mistakes, but I’ve often learned with this house that done is often better than perfect.  Because there are still 199 more unfinished projects to go.  And this little unexpected snafu in my morning plans didn’t mean that I had to stop making progress in the house altogether.

Have you ever worked on a project with no power?  What was it?  Maybe I should make a list of things that can be done for the next time this happens!

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Every year, there are a number of home decor trends.  Some are a revival of a trend from yesteryear (hello, subway tile).  Some are just fun to sprinkle around the house for a season (provided it can be done inexpensively or with minimal effort, like arrows on a pillow or your preschooler’s handiwork on a a cheap picture frame that you call “ikat” because it kind of looks like that when you squint really hard).  And some simply leave us scratching our heads as to how in the hell they are so damn popular.  Take for example, my least favorite trend last time is still true today:  the sunburst mirror.  With rare exception (like the one below made from vintage Barbies), there isn’t much I find impressive about them.  They’re easy to DIY, and I suppose that’s one of the reasons why I’m not a fan.  They seemed to overtake the blogosphere before I got the chance to like them, so I was soon thinking sheesh, another sunburst mirror?

The rare exception to my sunburst mirror rule.

So, how about we have a little fun like that again?  Considering that it was more than two years ago when I first asked this question (and I’m not even on Formspring anymore), there may be a few new readers who would love to throw in their two cents this time around.  Like last time, I’ll start:

This one’s hard to confess, because I used to be strongly considering it for my own kitchen, and I still admire what a few other bloggers have done with this trend.  But for my own home, I’m 99% percent sure I’m over the whole chalkboard paint thing and want to go in a different direction.  If you’re at all on the fence like I am, a wall decal (like this one I spotted from Urban Outfitters) might be the way to go.

Again, I think it’s because of the frequency of seeing it.  I’m sure there are plenty of you who also still admire it, too.  But just like the shabby chic look, not everyone is going to have the same opinion, and that’s what makes a post like this all the more fun!

Ok, now, it’s your turn!

What popular home decor trend do you just not get?

(Remember, we’re talking opinions, not trashing someone else’s project or going overboard.  So please be careful not to be “that commenter” who gets immediately deleted.)

The post Reader Remarks: So Over! 2013 Edition appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.Psst, Google Reader peeps: As of July 1st, our beloved GR will be no more. I've been looking for a good alternative, and Bloglovin' seems like a good fit. To sign up and continue following The Ugly Duckling House (it's easy to import your current GR feed), just click here.

As some of you (might) know, I love this whole blog design thing. I taught myself how to do HTML, CSS, and have been learning how to do the more complicated stuff so that you can get the most out of navigating this site (I’m just like you; I get frustrated trying to navigate cumbersome websites too, even when they are my own!).

Truth be told, I love the challenge, and I’m pretty darn proud of myself when I’m victorious.  Which brings me to the latest: after three years and a transfer of this blog to self-hosting, things have gotten jumbled, old formatting was replaced with newer stuff, and I’m on an endless game of playing catch-up to get the older posts to match the new.  But more importantly, the time it takes to get all three years compiled into a workable, user-friendly project gallery will take more time (it’s in the works – I started with one that I’m ok with, but it’s not working exactly as I’d like, so I’ll be changing things up in the next month or so).

And all the while, I’m still trying to add new tutorials!  For now, I’ve created a better, customized organized Archives page for you with plenty of links to help you find your way around.  You can find items by date, by category, and also a list of some of my favorite tutorials.

And speaking of small victories, just a few weeks ago, I snapped this quick picture of my front garden and mentioned that the snapdragons hadn’t bloomed again yet:

They’re not doing as strongly as the petunias yet, but they are definitely showing more color!

And the pots in the back yard took a beating a few weeks ago thanks to the rain, but are still growing strong and hopefully will re-bloom soon:

Given my notorious black thumb, I am pretty proud of myself for keeping these guys alive.  I know more of it has to do with simply choosing the right plants for the area, the season, and my ability (or lack of) to care for them, and they sort of do the rest.  But I’ve tried growing things for years, and managed to kill most things (even succulents!).  Funny to me that neglect is probably the best thing I can do for most of the plants around the house (considering that I pick them for exactly that reason).

How about you?  What are you proud of this week?

(Psst: To create the new page, I used a combination of several tutorials like this one, but I had to further customize it for my site.  If you’re on a WordPress blog – using the Genesis framework – and are interested in getting your own similar Archives page but aren’t comfortable attempting this yourself, feel free to reach out to me through the contact page – choose “Blog Help/Design” in the drop-down menu.  I’ll charge a small fee for the file, but this takes the guesswork out of it.  With the file, I’ll also include instructions for how to add it to your child theme and how to add posts to the Favorites section).

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Yum.  It has summer snack written all over it.

I mentioned before that I managed to book myself a vacation this month, and I’m really looking forward to hitting the road for a few days.  We recently lost two people on my team at work (one quit, one went on leave), which means the three people who were once handling our clients is now down to one… as in, me.  I like being busy, and also consider it a compliment when someone says, “I don’t know how you do all of that!”, but this latest development has me feeling a little dizzy.  “Challenge” seems to be an insufficient word to describe what it’s like.  Hence the even spottier than usual posting these last couple of weeks.  I’m also still waiting on a new tool to arrive in the mail, which is preventing me from sanding down the dining room walls.  I suppose I could sand them down the way that I always have, but this promises to be far less messy, and based on the reviews I read, it will be well worth the wait.  So, I’m waiting.  But during lunch today, I’m planning on picking up more molding for the windows and doorways, so I’ll at least have a few items to attack with a saw.  It’s the best kind of stress relief.

But, back to the eyes-bugging-out thing.  I found a tutorial for what appears to be exactly the kind of lighting I want for the dining room:

It’s modern, and brass, and nerdy… and now I know how to make it myself.  Sweet.  I’m already hunting down all of the components to make it.

And one last item that I can’t help but want: these bookends from Anthro.  I think it’s the nerdy thing.  Bookends just always seem to catch my eye.

What has your eyes wide open (great song by Gotye, btw) lately?

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We arrived to the race early, and hopped in line soon after registration (waiting for the heat we were supposed to be in meant spending another half hour potentially psyching ourselves out, so sometimes it’s better just to jump right in an get the adrenaline flowing).  The first obstacle (I lost count, but there were at least 15) is called the Shriveled Richard.  Awesome name for something that is pure torture.  It’s an ice bath that requires diving under wooden boards to navigate to the next ice chamber.  My muscles were so shocked, my brain couldn’t process what I needed to do to get out of it for a second.  I was a little terrified that if I dove under, I’d find no room on the other side (from competitors who jumped in before me), and I’d be stuck underneath with nowhere to go.  Obviously that didn’t happen, but this obstacle was definitely more about sensory overload than a true physical challenge.

On the race website, the site mentions that the course is “5+ miles”.  The plus being another two whole miles, as we found out on the morning of the race.  By “race”, at least in my case, I mean “get through alive without breaking something”.  Because yes, there were people who broke things.  I witnessed one guy land on his wrist diving under the Tazed obstacle.   What’s the Tazed obstacle, you ask?  Oh, just this:

Those are hanging electrified wires.  It’s kind of like the jellyfish scene in Finding Nemo, without the cute fish.  I got shocked.  In the EAR, like Fight Club.  I was definitely dazed.  And then I realized we had to leap over a fire line (which wasn’t so bad) and then we had to crawl under another set.

A large majority of the race isn’t really the obstacles – it’s running up and down wooded terrain.  My lungs definitely reached their limitations at a few points, but I was lucky to have a few friends in the race with me to keep me moving.  Because eventually, after you get through the hills to another obstacle, you get to do something fun, too.  Like after climbing the rope wall from Davy Jones’ Locker (aren’t these obstacle names fun?), you get to face your fear of heights and jump into a water pit a couple of stories below.

This isn’t a race you should do alone.  Friends encouraging each other are the best part.  I brought my friend Brian along, who had done similar races like this in the past.  I told myself not to push too hard, and just getting through the race without severe injury was enough, considering I’ve never run 7 miles of anything ever.  Now I wish I had pushed myself a little harder, and was in awe of some of the other hardcore athletes competing in the race.

Speaking of the other runners, in my past experiences with M.O.B. (mud, obstacles, beer) courses, groups often dressed up in costumes and used gimmicks (Warrior Dash was full of entertaining characters, including people dressed up for a wedding, full body suits, and Oompa Loompas.  Wasn’t really popular in this race.  Most of the people who showed up were ready for a serious obstacle challenge!

The very last obstacle was a barbed wire crawl through a very long stretch of mud.  It was like trying to make my way through peanut butter.  Or you know when you have those dreams where you’re running but don’t really get anywhere?  Like that.  Every inch was a struggle.  And then we all got to cross the finish line and rinse off in the lake.  As usual, there was mud everywhere, and then it was time to change and grab a beer (the first one is complementary with finishing the race, as well as a t-shirt and medal).  Because my phone was packaged with my clean gear, I didn’t snag a muddy pic before we were cleaned off (my advice – pack something loose and comfy, and something you don’t mind getting mud on; no matter what, you’ll won’t get everything off before you change).  Oh well – I’m still a savage anyway!

I have barbed wire scratches, injuries from landing on rocks, and bruises from hoisting myself over walls.  Rolling out of bed has been a chore for the last two days.  So has laughing, putting a cup of coffee to my lips, crossing my legs, etc.  And holy hell, going down stairs.  Wow.  Ow.  Hobbling down them is more like it!  As you can imagine, not much in terms of DIY was done after putting my muscles through this kind of torture, but I have big plans for this week!

P.S. I am totally doing it again next year.

(Images that aren’t from my iPhone are from the Savage Race website.  The race day pics aren’t available yet, but I’ll snag some if there is one of me I like!)

The post Sore from head to toe. I should probably train for this. appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.Psst, Google Reader peeps: As of July 1st, our beloved GR will be no more. I've been looking for a good alternative, and Bloglovin' seems like a good fit. To sign up and continue following The Ugly Duckling House (it's easy to import your current GR feed), just click here.

This is the one I’m doing this weekend:

It’s going to be the longest and hardest one I’ve ever done.  This time around, I’m going to buy some gloves.  Because I don’t think I can handle this without ‘em:

As always, I’m not doing it for time.  Just to prove to myself that I’m a badass and can finish a race as hard as this.  I think finishing is accomplishment enough.  And the obvious super-hot look of a gal exhausted, dehydrated, and covered in mud, right?

My sister Em and I – after Warrior Dash

Want to see a few more of the obstacles?  (these are also from the race website)

This one’s called the “Nutt Smasher”

Then, once I’m done, I’ll get a beer to celebrate.

I would probably write more today, but I’m too busy conserving my energy.  I think I’m going to start “hydrating” (why did we switch to calling it this when “drinking water” was perfectly acceptable?) now!  Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

(P.S. Images that aren’t from my iPhone from previous races are from the Savage Race website)

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Well, technically I guess that’s not true.  I’m still working around them.  But in a way that actually makes them an appealing feature of the back yard instead of an eyesore that’s too expensive to remove (there is no room for the trees to fall without damage to someone’s house or taking out a fence, so in order to cut them down, I would have to hire someone who would cut them in pieces from the top, and then haul away each heavy chunk – we’re talking major $$$ and hiring a licensed/insured professional and then spending even more money on creating the back yard entertainment area; dough that I’d rather spend on the kitchen).  Check out my inspiration:

The idea is simple enough: create a floating deck that has space for each tree.  Sure, there’s a lot of work that will need to be done between now and then (so much yard cleanup to do!), but the floating deck idea appeals to me because 1) I probably don’t have to dig near the house, and worry as much about utilities and 2) I make use of an area that would otherwise stay completely neglected.  This is the first time in a long, long while that I’ve gotten so excited about the back yard that I am really looking forward to getting started.  Of course, this isn’t going to replace the current priority list of exterior projects, but it’s certainly something that’s making me seal clap over the thought.  Can you imagine how awesome it will be to have a large platform, with lights wrapped around the trunks?  I’ve found some basic plans and have already started doodling the layout.  I can’t wait!

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But let’s back up for one quick sec.  My doors have trim (aka “casing”).  My windows and some of the interior door frames don’t.  While this may not bother most some people, it bothers me.  It’s like my house played with a chemistry set and blew its eyebrows off.  It’s odd-looking.  Not odd enough that you notice right away… but something is definitely off.

From seeing pictures of others doing this, I already know that adding trim to windows has a pretty big payoff without spending a lot of dough.  For example (from Pretty Handy Girl):

See how light and bright that looks?  So much better.  So, last night, I spent a little while looking around my sad, unpainted dining room and realized that with the chair rail in place, I wouldn’t be able to properly fit trim around the large window.  Simple problem, simple fix: I marked off the area that would fit the new trim (which is very simple trim; for the neighborhood I live in, nothing needs to be too fancy for this house, and the type I bought matches the existing trim around the doorways).

Then, I used an oscillating tool to separate the piece I don’t need from the rest of the existing molding (which prevents me from having to take down, cut, and put the chair rail back up).

Then, it was a few blows of a hammer and a small pry bar to get the piece off the wall.

And the new window casing will fit quite nicely.

I haven’t yet nailed the new pieces up since the rest of the drywall still needs to be sanded a little (and I’m waiting on a new helper tool to arrive in the mail before I can finish it off).  But prepping all of these pieces ahead of time will make the entire room come together that much quicker.  P.S. Those blinds are the very last in this house original to the day I moved in.  They will be trashed soon (yuck!).

I’m told that adding trim around things can be very addicting.  Luckily, I have about a billion bare windows in this house, so it will be a while before anyone needs to host an intervention.  Onward!

The post Casing the Joint: The Dining Room, Part 1 appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.Psst, Google Reader peeps: As of July 1st, our beloved GR will be no more. I've been looking for a good alternative, and Bloglovin' seems like a good fit. To sign up and continue following The Ugly Duckling House (it's easy to import your current GR feed), just click here.

Well, the weekend didn’t turn out quite like I’d planned.  It was mostly because of the rain (pouring all. weekend. long. with big, fat, chilly droplets that only made me want to curl up in bed).  But my Dad and our neighborhood handyman, Tony, also had to cancel their trip over to the house, so all of my outdoor improvement plans have to wait another week or so.  No matter, though.  I spent a long time simply standing in my dining room and contemplating the order of my to-do list.

Do you ever do that?  Standing around the unfinished room doesn’t really feel like much is being accomplished, but it helps me to get my thoughts together.  I was gathering a full list of activities:

• add casing/molding around the doorways that lead to the kitchen and living rooms
• add casing around the large picture window
• repair any draft/old caulk issues from the same window
• add picture frame molding to the lower half of the walls (below the chair rail that already sits in place)
• find a light fixture for the room
• switch out the old dimmer
• switch out the old thermostat (can anyone tell me more about the Nest thermostats?  I’m a bit of a review freak)
• hang plastic sheeting around the doors and sand down the walls (I’m sort of dreading this, sort of excited about it)
• paint the walls
• move the furniture back in
• hang the 2″ white blinds and curtains
• etc. etc.

Not in the correct order, of course.  But during that time, I also managed to re-organize all of the furniture so that the living room couch, chairs, and dining room table/chairs fit into the living room (since everything has to go somewhere while I finish the dining room).  For the longest time, I’ve simply been walking around the poor placement (under the false assumption that this would be a quick makeover), but now that I know I have to hang plastic sheeting and clear the doorways in order to sand down the walls, I got my butt into gear.

I’m diving back into the dining room project mainly for two reasons: in order to go any further with the living room repainting, I have to get all of the dining room furniture out of the way, and there simply isn’t anywhere else to put it.  I don’t want to move it back into its rightful place until the room is ready to finish because I know myself too well; if I just move it back, the room will never get done.  And since I’d really like to have my graduation celebration this December at my home (reason #2), the dining room has to be finished by then in order to welcome guests.  Besides, I have a break off from school this month, and it seems like exactly the kind of motivation I need to get home tonight and hang that sheeting:  a deadline.

I guess getting rained out isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you already have too much to do for one weekend.  How was yours?

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