Say what? "No Soliciting" Signs are Tacky?

Apparently some people think this. Apparently these people don't get solicitors at their doors! lol I just picked up a small sticker that fits in my screen door. But it must be minuscule (or invisible) because my door bell continues to ring.

After the following conversation, I decided to make my own sign.

Ding! Dong!
Me: Yes?
Solicitor: I'd like to show you my cleaning products and get your opinion.
Me: (pointing to sign) Isn't that soliciting?
Solicitor: No, I don't consider it to be soliciting.
Me: Well, I do.
Solicitor: No, I don't think it is.
Me: Can I buy your products if I'm impressed with them?
Solicitor: Yes.
Me: (closes door)

My new sign:

No Soliciting

Solicitation so·lic'i·ta'tion n. [suh-lis-i-tey-shuhn]
1. To petition persistently; importune: solicited the neighbors for donations.
2. This means selling something.
3. Requesting donations.
4. Advertising
5. Surveys
6. Viewing my phone bill to see where you can save me money.

7. Saving my soul.
8. And yes, YOU too. If you don't know my first name, then don't ring my doorbell. TIA!

I'm taking votes on how long it will be before my house gets egged. By the way, for those of you in need of a nice unobtrusive sign, I found these.

The Final Reveal

I know I promised this months ago! But what can I say? Life happens. :)

Here is what I was blessed with when we bought the house:






First things first: new paint, carpet, and light fixture.



Life was hunky-dory. Until we got a great deal on a king mattress and a new bedroom set. The new bedroom set is a warm cherry color, which looked awful with the gray walls. I wasn't ready to give up the gray yet so I moved that color to the Man Room. Then I was off to find a new paint color that would complement the furniture and carpet. It turns out that those two items are mutually exclusive.



Eventually I decided on Sherwin William's Kilim beige. After a couple months, I HATED it. Well, hated it with the carpet. Other than that, it's a good color so I moved it to the hallway.

And the new color I chose? Ralph Lauren's Natural Gray. The same color that is in my living room.

A quick reminder of the before:



And now the After... Tada!

(Inspiration for earring organization from Making it Lovely.)

I was ready to give up the plum accents, thinking it wouldn't work with the wall color or furniture. (It didn't look so hot with the beige wall color.) But it turns out I was wrong! Yea!

Project Cost Breakdown:
Paint: $26
Carpet: $216
Installation: $75 (family friend)

Ceiling light: $40

Light switches and electrical outlets: $15
Duvet: $80
Sheet set: $60 (originally $180)
Quilt: $35 (originally $70)

Curtains and rods: $72
Wall decor: $70

Knickknacks: $20 (All bought on clearance.)
Total cost: $709

I know I didn't include the cost of the new mattress and furniture but I strongly believe you can make over a room without purchasing new everything.

Still left to do: buy lamps for the nightstands, actual artwork for above the bed, a classier alarm clock, replace the recycled curtains, and a couple more decor items. Maybe some more exciting sheets. But for the most part, it is done! Done! What do you think?

Ahem! (tap tap) Is this thing on?

I'm back from my hiatus. I know it's been a while. I wasn't in the house-renovation mood for a while. Then I found some more interesting things to take care of...

Introducing Linus and Lucy:



The night we adopted them, we had no intentions of bringing home a cat, much less two! We only went to get information on the adoption process. But Matt and I came across these two 6 month old kittens and couldn't say no. The two littermates were found in a local warehouse. They were starving and underweight. The foster mom, Rose, was at the shelter so it was great that we had the chance to ask a lot of questions about their personalities and needs.

I completed the adoption paperwork that asked the standard questions like:

1. How long will you give the adjustment process? (Duh! As long as it takes!)
2. Do you have any current pets?
3. If not, what happened to them?
4. Can we contact your vet for references?

I just answered very vaguely that I had a cat that was recently put to sleep. I didn't mention Fatty by name. The vet was xx Animal Hospital. The foster mom was reviewing the paperwork and looked up to ask, "Was Fatty yours?" I just looked at her bewildered, wondering how she knew. She said she works at that vet and knew about Fatty. I knew then that these two kittens were meant to be.



However, I really do have some house updates. Whoohoo! I finally got a paint color picked out for the master bedroom. (And painted!) I bought some new bedding and spray painted a bunch of decor. I was really happy I was able to reuse some of the previous decor. Initially, I didn't think the plum and lavender would work with the new furniture.

So here is a taste of what's to come:



I need to clean the bedroom of cat toys and clutter before taking more pictures. Then I'll give a full before/after update. I'm so excited. This room has done a complete turn-around, if you'll remember:



Scary stuff!!

Goodbye my Sweetie-pie, I love you.

The last 24 hours have been very painful for me and Matt. I had to say goodbye to my cat, Fatty, of ten years. My best friend of ten years, my cuddlebug of ten years, my baby.



After the long-awaited diagnosis of a food allergy, we thought all was well. Then Fatty started losing weight in the last year that couldn't be diagnosed despite multiple vet visits and blood tests. Overall, he was still himself but with a little less energy. But Thursday night, he began a swift decline in health. He would not eat and refused to drink any water. He was having trouble even standing. I took him into the vet first thing Friday morning to find out that he was in renal failure, his heart murmur had progressed, had an enlarged liver, and was anemic. The vet wasn't optimistic with treatment because of his severe weight loss.



The decision to put Fatty to sleep wasn't easy but I was completely at peace with it. It wasn't fair to make him suffer like he did Thursday night and Friday morning. It was horrible seeing him like that. Matt and I were with him until the end and I'm so very glad that I was. I was there to comfort him, tell him I loved him, and give him kisses.



But Fatty was more than this ball of medical problems. He was a sweetheart. Fatty would be at the door to greet me when I got home. He would follow me from room to room. Cry outside the bathroom door until I came out. Sleep on my lap while I was watching TV or on the laptop. He would sleep on me (under the covers) the entire night and only get up when my alarm clock went off. If he wasn't next to me, he was either eating or in his litter box. That was it. Fatty was a very vocal kitty. If you said something to him, he would answer back with a meow. It was never a quiet household. He was a source of constant amusement and Matt and I often made up Fatty responses...

Matt: Why is Fatty looking at me like that?
Me: He's imagining what you'd taste like with a little salt and pepper.



Even his name is a silly story. We adopted Fatty and Skinny when they were kittens. Those weren't their original names though. We couldn't really decide on names. Skinny was noted as underweight at his first vet visit. We referred to him as "the skinny one" and Fatty became "Fatty" by default. :) I had to put Skinny down about 5 years ago. Enough time to have distanced myself from the pain of losing a pet.



I think the worst part of it is adjusting to life at home without him. I never realized how much our lives really revolved around him. I don't hear the clickity-clack of his nails on the floor. I wait for him to jump up on the couch with me. I don't have him laying on my legs as I type this. He's not sprinting to the faucet as I turn on the water. He's not running into the bathtub as soon as I step out of the shower. My bed is very lonely.



But I was blessed with the best cat possible. The most affectionate cat ever and one that was FULL of personality. He will be missed greatly. Do me a favor and hug your pet extra tight tonight.

Hallway is Done!

I posted previously regarding the need to repaint my hallway. It had a flat finish that two adults managed to get really dirty, really fast. I used the reject color from the master bedroom. Similar to the previous hallway color but in a satin finish. (New color: Sherwin William's Kilim Beige)

Before:


After:



Did you catch that?

Before:


After:


lol It DOES make a difference. But apparently not one that is picked up by the camera. But I love it!

So about that reject bedroom color... I finally have a paint color picked out for the master bedroom! In fact, I already have a coat on the walls. (I'll save the color announcement for when it's done.) It's looking fabulous. But it needs a second coat and my legs hurt too bad from painting the hallway, bathroom, and bedroom yesterday. It will have to wait until I can move like a normal person and stop needing assistance getting up from the couch. In the meantime, back to my cabernet.

DIY Snow

(Fixed the video link. Sorry! Not that making snow is ALL that exciting.)

It has been cold in Indiana lately. Very cold. I woke up this morning to a negative 15 degrees (Fahrenheit). -35 degrees F when considering the wind chill factor. Ladies and gentlemen, that is COLD!

Apparently when it's this cold, you can turn boiling or near boiling water into snow in less than 1 second flat. Here's how:

1. Fill a cup with near boiling water.
2. Throw the water (without the cup) as high as you can in the air.
3. Poof! It's snow!

This works best when the temperature is around 0 degrees F and it is a very dry day. We tried it at -7 and -1. It worked much better at -7 F.

We (my coworkers and I) spent a considerable amount of time this morning filling up multiple cups of water and quickly running outside to toss it in the air. This didn't get old for quite some time. lol My friend texted me a video of her office trying the experiment as well. Out of her 4th floor office! Hilarious!

I Know I'm a Tease

Just a preview of what's coming up for the master bedroom!

Here is the before, the temporary, the I-thought-it-was-finalized-color, and the new contenders.







You can see the dark chocolate color (with red undertones) of the new furniture. It looked awful with the gray paint and plum accents so that's why it needed to change. The beige I used afterwards is too light for the space and clashes with the whitish-gray speckled carpet. Although the color picks could change as I haven't bought the paint yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?