Let's just skip lunch

Well, hello there!  How's everyone's New Year treating them?  We've had a good few weeks.  I just loved having us all home together.  I was in mourning yesterday when I had to send my sweet Rosie back to school.  I just really loved not having anywhere to go or be and spending extra snuggle time with my girlies.  It was so refreshing.  But we are back to the grind and back to the bane of my existence...making school lunches.  The first one I made at the beginning of the school year was super!  I loved every second of it.  I enjoyed making sure it was delicious and nutritious and experimenting with different kinds of foods for varieties in color and textures.  It all felt very crafty and fun.  I would cut shapes out of cheeses and fruits.  I purchased all kinds of tiny little containers to hold the different items.  Now?  Let's just say there is no cheese shaping going on.  It only took about a week for me to realize that making school lunches is for the birds.

It just hit me that I never posted pictures of Rosie's first day of school!  Here are a few back from August.

Haha!  As I was uploading these pics I realized how terrible of a school mom I am.  For like the first two weeks, I curled Rosie's hair everyday.  EVERY DAY!  Then, I started braiding it.  Now, I feel pretty good if I get a brush through it before she's out the door.  I'm deteriorating fast, people!  Poor Kiki doesn't have much to look forward to:)

I've been busy over the last few days redoing my craft room.  It was one of the areas of the house that got whatever piece of furniture was left over, if you know what I mean.  I really didn't love going in there and it didn't seem well utilized.  After Mark finished up his "man space" in the basement, I noticed that I liked his space so much better than mine and I needed to do something about it.  I didn't want to spend hardly any money so I allowed myself just a bit and decided to try and sell the furniture that was in there to finance the rest.  The first thing I did was paint the room.  I found some leftover gray paint from another project and I really love it.  It made a big impact on changing the feel of the room.  I painted one piece (my bookcase) white and got rid of pretty much everything else.  I found a chair at Goodwill for $5 and decided to take my chances on a Pinterest idea of painting upholstery.  I also found a cheap vanity/desk on Craigslist.  I've ALWAYS wanted a vanity and the priced on this one was so good, I wondered if it was too good to be true.  When I got to the house to pick it up, I realized it was exactly that.  It had been living in an outdoor open shed, was covered in dirt and grime, needed repairs and, upon further investigation I found so much mouse /unknown larger animal poop when I took the drawers out, I almost put it to the curb.  I couldn't bring myself to not buy it, because the lady selling it seemed to really need the money.  I'm glad I got it.  It's amazing what a vacuum, a bottle of clorox water, a few tools and some paint can do.  I ordered some new drawer pulls but they haven't arrived yet.  It's my favorite piece and will now house my sewing machine.  

When Mark and I were dating, he made me a foot stool that I had in the girls' playroom.  I decided to recover it with some leftover fabric I had from another project and that is what I'm using as the vanity seat.  I was able to sell an old basket shelf unit and found a piece at my favorite store Southern Chicks Market today for almost the same price as I got for the one I sold.  I was so excited.  I changed a few of the art pieces out and with things I had around the house and I would say, it's almost done!  I LOVE it!  It's very me and I find it very calming.  In fact, I'm sitting here in my newly painted chair, as I blog this.  There's something about redoing a space that really gets my blood flowing.  It was this time last year that I redid my bedroom furniture.  I am still really happy with that room.  

So, please stay tuned for pictures of my finished craft room, hopefully in the next day or two.  I kind of want to wait until it's all done before I show you a final reveal.  Here's a picture of the chair before and after.