The Hunt for a New Couch

I have started the exhaustive search for a new couch. As much as I love the ones I have now, they won't be lasting too much longer. The couch is broken and is currently being held up in the middle by a small coke bottle. So yes, I need a new one!! I have seriously been considering getting a sectional from Pottery Barn. But I can't decide if I want to go with the upholstered one or the slipcovered one. I know the slipcovered one has the advantage of being able to come off to be washed, but I'm just not sure. Or am I even a sectional kind of gal? But I guess if Candace Olson is a big fan of them, who am I to question her wonderful taste?

Slipcovered

Upholstered

Then the question begins on what color do I go with? Twill or brushed canvas? Suede or herringbone? White or cream? Tan or caramel? It goes on and on. I do know that I want it to be a neutral color. I would love to have a white couch, but I know that we are not the we-can-have-white-furniture-and-not-get-it-dirty type people. I have requested some swatches from Pottery Barn, so I guess I will be better able to decide what fabric/color to go with!! I have to be able to see and feel the fabric. I'm not the kind to drop a small fortune on a piece of furniture sight unseen! Like yesterday, I ran over to Haverty's just to check out what they had. I saw a sectional from across the showroom and thought it looked nice. Then I got up close. Bad. Very bad. I don't know what kind of crazy fabric the manufacturer had picked out to use. It was hideous. It was like a cross between a herringbone, chenille, popcorn-y type hot mess. I said no with a quickness. So...the search continues!!

Cute or [candy] Corny?

Now that it is "officially" fall, I thought it would be a good time to start decorating for the season. Okay, that's a lie. I was really in the dollar store and found some decorations and thought that I would get some stuff to put on my porch. No preplanning done whatsoever. So with the stuff that I got at the good ol' Dollar General and Big Lots, I made a dorky, sad little display. But it was cheap and I knew I had to act fast. Which brings me to one of my BIGGEST pet peeves with stores. It. Is. September. NOT December, NOT even November, and NOT even October for goodness sake!! Funny, Halloween is still a month away and I would have been hard pressed to really find any Halloween stuff. They were moving out the Halloween and Fall stuff already and had Christmas stuff up. I guess if you need Halloween stuff, you need to get it in July or August and don't even worry about Thanksgiving. Stores might display Thanksgiving decorations for like 3 days in early September. So that is my MEMO to stores, try to not go too psycho crazy and start making us think about Christmas before Halloween has even passed!
[JUMP]

That was me getting off my soapbox if you were wondering.

So here are some pictures of the stuff that I scored.

I love these pumpkins. Go Dollar General!

I got these little leaf plates for cheap and the Give Thanks thingie at Big Lots.

My little display at the door.

Sad wreath. But it is Orange and Red without a bunch of fake leaves on it!So what do you think? This stuff a Trick or a Treat?

If I Were a Rich Girl....

While I was on my daily house plan hunt, I decided to "just take a peek" at some of the larger homes. This house plan that I was looking at was a whopping 8,200 sq. feet. But I did get some really cool ideas from this take a look!



Aside from this just being fabulous, I love, love, love the idea of having his and her bathrooms!! How fantastic would that be? So I am going to keep this in mind and see if there is anyway that I might can incorporate this on a smaller scale into our home!! And did you notice the fireplace in the "her" bath. AWESOME!

And if by chance, you are wondering about what those dots are around the perimeter, that is a wrap around porch. This is the second floor. The house kinda looks like it should be on the beach somewhere.

The Jamesbrook

Here is another house plan that I liked from the website www.historicaldesigns.com. This is the Jamesbrook plan. It is a little large, but I like it.

It is nasty, nasty weather here in Tallahassee at the moment. So I will have plenty of time being stuck indoors to find more house plans!! And I apologize if this is boring, but I really don't have that much going on at the moment with the new babies. Hopefully soon I can start my Master Bedroom makeover!!

To Thine Own Self Be True

I have finally decided to start posting some more house plans. We had a very promising showing of our house this week, so it got me back on the house plan hunt. Most of the house plans that I have posted have been fairly traditional in style. I did throw in a few cottage type houses in for good measure. But I have decided to be true to my nature and post some houses in the style that I just adore. I love, love, love low-country/Louisiana style houses. Here are a few pictures of some variations that I have been looking at.These are pictures from a great website called Authentic Historical Designs (http://www.historicaldesigns.com/) I just love the dormers and the large porch on the front with pretty columns. Here is one house plan that I like.

I don't know what is up with the drawing for this house plans when there are dormers on the plans them self...whatever. Maybe you can read the plans. They didn't do too well when I saved them. What do you think? Like it? Hate it?

For my Facebook Friends

I came across some links to some pretty good stuff about Facebook from another blog that I follow. I'm sure that I will get some good entertainment at work going through all of these posts. So if you are like me and wonder why some people post every small detail of their lives or post some stuff that no one needs to read, you know where I am coming from!! So check out these websites if you have some free time on your hands!!

Lamebook

STFU, Marrieds


STFU, Parents

Here is a little preview in the meantime. And I didn't choose Krazy Kathy due to my mother, if that is what she is thinking!! Might not be able to read it, though.

The Stork Finally Arrives

I apologize for not posting about our new babies this weekend. I left my USB cord to my camera at the office, so I had to wait until I came back to work to post some pictures. On Friday, Joseph and I traveled three hours down to St. Augustine to go pick up the boys. I want to give a big thanks to Nicole over at Ocean Breeze Dachshunds for giving us these amazing two little boys. (http://www.oceanbreezedachshunds.com/) If you are looking for some great puppies, check out her website. Couldn't be happier!! My main concern with getting the new puppies would be how Oscar would react to them. Yes, he has pouted and wanted nothing to do with them. But he is slowly coming around to them now that he realizes that they aren't leaving. He even curled up on the couch with them last night and even LET one of them lay his little head on him while they were snoozing. He also plays with them when he thinks that we aren't watching. It will take some time, but I'm sure that Big Brother will love them as much as we do.

We did end up changing Brock's name. The more we said it, the more it was sounding like Barrack and we didn't want any confusion on that one. As I predicted before we met the boys, I said just by the pictures I could tell that "Brock" was going to be just like Oscar. I just had that feeling. And boy was I correct! So we ended up changing his name to Junior or J.R. as in Oscar Jr. (Mom is still lobbying for us to change both their names to Oliver and Otis, like we had originally planned to do, but J is still wanting Brutus, so what can you do?) It is so funny watching JR and just how alike he and Oscar are. NOTHING stands in the way of nap time. They just have the same mannerisms. Brutus on the other hand is our little dare devil. He never slows down and wants to check out everything! And on a funny note, they LOVE it underneath my coffee table. It is the perfect little spot for them to ambush the other one, or our toes. Last night they discovered underneath the couch, but I am going to have to stop that one because the couch skirt is way too tempting not to chew on!

Ok...enough of the puppy love. Here are some pictures of the precious ones! To tell the two apart, Brutus is the puppy whose fur is darker. He also looks like he is kinda wearing a mask in comparison with JR who is lighter.

On Sunday, we drove over to Blountstown for the day. My little nephew, Barrett really enjoyed playing with the puppies. And the babies got to meet their Mimi. (and Papa who claims they are cuter than Oscar was. He knows how to get me going!)

NOTE: I had two videos posted but they aren't showing up when I publish them. I will try and get them posted tomorrow.