I Will (probably) Survive

Remember how I was going to be away for a while due to Fall Cleaning? I had a momentary spark of ambition to organize my house again and seem to have become lost in the process. Somewhere between emptying closets and deciding what to donate, what to sell, and what to keep we decided to buy a house and move.

We've been on the lookout for a house we would want to live in at a price we would want to pay for a long time. We've been particularly interested in short sales because we weren't in a huge hurry to move. We found a house - and everything has just taken off at lightening speed since then.

For those who don't know, the term "short sale" is misleading. There is nothing fast or speedy about purchasing a home that is worth less than what the bank loaned to purchase it. There are hoops and red tape and offers and counter offers and waiting and bidding. It usually takes 6-9 months and sometimes longer for these sorts of deals to go through.

But not in our case. We made an offer on the house, and the bank approved it about a week and a half later. And they want to close within 30 days. We sure did get lucky!! The difference between this house and other short sales is that this one is owned by the State's housing authority and the price had already been approved by the bank, so we didn't have to execute our mad hoop jumping skills.
I am still busy organizing my house. The task just exploded into being everything in every room, rather than just a cupboard and a few closets. We're organizing everything into boxes. J doesn't seem to appreciate this. He unpacks things as I pack them. He does appreciate the packing peanuts. I don't appreciate him trying to eat them. My house is a disaster - it looks like a whirlwind went through and undid everything. We are ( I am) staying up late each night to be productive with packing. I am also trying to fill some Etsy orders for hats and duvet covers. Plus I took some more family pictures. The moving thing happened when I wasn't ready for it, and it will probably be over before I get my head wrapped around the fact that it is happening. I haven't had enough sleep and my brain is as jumbled up as my house is. Trying to manage a very curious toddler while packing on my own, finding my way through a mountain of ruffles, learning how to dye fabric, editing and critiquing my pictures, thinking about inspections, planning renovations, trying to find renters for our condo, trying to come up with an insane amount of money, worried about getting financing....oy. I am very overwhelmed right now,  but know it will all be over soon and that I just might survive! And when it is all said and done, I'll have a single family dwelling with a private yard and a two car garage and I will get to do all of the fall-ish crafty things I've been desperate to try. By then, maybe all of the supplies for my projects will be on sale. yay!

Mondays are Saturdays

What a weekend!

I did my first family photo shoot.

It was exciting to be able to take pictures for someone else. This family is really a ton of fun to hang out with, so taking pictures for them was a great experience.

We went to the BYU football game. BYU won. In the last few seconds of the game. The fourth quarter was so very exciting. I don't remember having cheer-screamed that much in my entire life. Seriously. My jaw hurt. I'm surprised I didn't wear my voice out. We had SO much fun! Thank you friends who gave us free tickets!! 

My husband spent the weekend fixing cars. Mine has been acting up more than usual lately. It seems that we have problems with it every fall. They are usually minor, but still costly in mechanic fees to repair. This year we were concerned that there was something majorly wrong. Roxy has been running a bit rough. Hubbie ran his little gadget & found out that the 5th cylinder of the engine was misfiring. Yikes! to whatever that means. He was determined to figure the problem out himself, with some advice from a friend. And figure it out he did. He's so smart! He moved the spark plug casing from the 5th cylinder to another one, ran his little tester gadget again, and found that the problem had moved. Ta-dah! He just replaced the casing stuff and voila! it was fixed. It was under $100 to fix, for which we are very grateful!!

Here we are on Monday, and it feels more like a Saturday. I'm still in PJ's as I write this. I always wear PJ's when I have to clean. And since I was busy this weekend...I didn't really clean. No wonder it feels like Saturday!

Fall Stripes

Sometimes I can't sleep. Trying to figure out how to reorganize everything, thinking about where all of these random bits of stuff and junk we have should go, wondering about what would be the best fit keeps my brain buzzing at night. The other night, my mind was playing this mental Tetris game - Olympian style, and I was up all night. So, to take my mind off organizing, I decided to crochet while watching some show I had never heard of on Netflix. This is the creation that came out of my insomnia.

I like it! In my stash o'yarn I had this orange color. I am not usually a big fan of orange. I can handle it in small doses. I think the brown and the ecru really help mute the orange a little bit and make it not overwhelming. I think it looks just right for fall.

Muy Saucy

At the moment, cooking is impossible. My kitchen has been swallowed by the contents of our closet stashes of junk while we slowly sort it out into piles of keep, sell, and donate. For dinner last night, I sent Hubbie to Del Taco to pick up some tasty Amexican cuisine. Our order included 6 taco items. This is how much salsa Del Taco sent him home with.

We counted it up & the grand total is 45 packets. 45!!!! For 6 tacos! That is mucho salsa.

 Thanks for some food storage, Del Taco.

I am working on organizing my house. Again. We just have too much stuff and too little space. So we've pulled everything out of our hiding places to sort through it. We're deciding which stuff to keep, which stuff to sell, and which stuff to throw away.

My house looks like a tornado went through it...and not the cleaning kind! That kind of weather will have to wait to come until this mess has cleared out. My sewing desk is currently burried under two sewing machines, 10 pairs of pants that need to be hemmed, Modge Podge, knitting needles, a sheet, and some other stuff I can't identify. My craft table is somewhere beneath a mountain of boxes, old printers, a sleeping bag and gift wrapping stuff. Even my kitchen table has been consumed! 

I should totally take a picture. You'd be amazed at my mad organizing skills after having seen this mess and the wonderfully organized home it will be.

Where's my camera?

Petit Lambie is Having a Sweet Sale!

I am putting several items in my Etsy shop on sale. Items on sale have been marked down 20%-40%.

Urban Outfitters Inspird Tuxedo Ruffle Baby Duvet - Sale! $65



Nightcap Hat - Sale! $12.00. Buy the set including diaper cover for $20



Newsboy Hat - Sale! $12.00

Remember: I am able, willing, and happy to create a custom order for you. See something you like, but want it in a different color? No problem! Just send me an email to find out how to get a creation made and reserved for you.

All prices are a marked, and do not include shipping and handling charges. Visit my sweet little Etsy for further details.

An Old Desk and Mackinac Island

Have you ever been to the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel? I haven't been there, yet. Mackinac Island is one of several locations on my dream vacation list. I have heard that life on the island is simple and peaceful and that visiting the island is like going back in time. I have seen pictures of Mackinac Island, and the Grand Hotel. It has this wonderfully long and lovely porch.

Source

And the porch has a painted ceiling. Look at that beautiful greenish blue color. I just love it! That color has inspired me to attempt my first furniture makeover.

I found this little desk through our local classified ads for $10. It is the perfect size for a sewing desk, and it had some drawers for storing sewing stuff. Sweet!

The color? Not so sweet. Ug, in fact. So I went shopping for some paint to give this desk a facelift. Valspar makes a color that matches the porch ceiling of the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel. It is part of the National Trust Historic Paint Colors line and is called Hotel Mackinac Blue (#5007-9). Perfect!

Here is what my desk looks like now.

Ahhhh. Much much better! I love love love it. Replacing the handles made a big difference & really helped bring this peice out of being lost in the 70's and turned it into something contemporary. They were on sale for 99 cents, wohoo! I'm glad I have a ton of this color leftover. I have big plans for giving my entire craft corner a makeover. I have to acquire all of the necessary furnishings first, and do a little bit of rearranging (which means I get to do more furniture facelifts for S&J's room), and then I can get to creating my crafty space. I think my first attempt at refinishing went pretty well. It definately got me hooked and excited to do more!