Shiny Dreams and a Dark Gray Funk of a Mood

https://www.kittydeschanel.com/2019/07/decorating-ideas-blog.html

Our house has been sitting for what seems like months (come to think of it, it may literally be months) while we wait for the weather to improve. The construction crew was unable to get the roof on before the first snowfall, so everything is a soggy mess. Outside, the mud is so thick and deep, construction equipment can't make it past the street.

It's depressing.

Our house is filled with water, but there's also some ice, so watch where you step!

Is this a normal part of the building process? I have family members who work in the construction industry in Arizona. They said building in the winter isn't a big deal as long as you wrap the house, otherwise water soaks into the wood and it swells, causing major problems. Our builder isn't concerned (at least, he isn't letting on if he is), but I can't shake the feeling that everything is going to be a mildewy nightmare and that our house is ruined forever.

Construction woes aren't the only thing messing up my mood right now. I think my boss may have gotten my identity stolen, which I'm not mad about because it wasn't intentional, but she doesn't think this is something she should tell me, which makes me furious.

Rather than allow myself to sink lower, I've been trying to occupy my thoughts with things I enjoy. It has been a weekend of cooking and Sailor Moon! I'm also focused on the fact that we've chosen the best builder in New Mexico and that one day we will finally, finally be living in our new home with all the charming special touches we've purchased and created, such as:

Bambi artwork

This is the only animal head you'll ever see mounted on the walls of our mountain home.

Wine Bottle Chiller

Oh, this is so much more gorgeous in person than on the website. If you're looking for the best housewarming present or perfect wedding present, this is it! I customized ours with the address of our new home (blurred out in the photo above because it's possible for my blog readers to know me a tad too well) and the year we'll be moving in.

I'm not sure what I'll do with it if our house isn't completed until 2018. Surely it will be finished this year, right? Surely. I can already picture the email I'll send our builder in November. "You have to get things wrapped up or else our wine bottle chiller will be a lie."

My Woolly Fox Family

These are the cutest things, all woolly and soft and bundled up. Hate foxes? (You monster.) It's not much of a stretch to pretend they're badgers.

Come to think of it, this might actually be a woolly badger family.

Clawfoot Tub with Talons

I ordered a Randolph Morris clawfoot tub from vintagetub.com months ago and it has been sitting in our dining room ever since, along with an enormous, unassembled sauna that overstayed its welcome more than a year ago. The site has vague photos of what you'll be receiving and the reviews online are mixed, but I took a risk because the price couldn't be beat.

Well, it turns out the Randolph Morris tubs from vintagetub.com are AMAZING. I was worried the feet would be piddly and cheap, but they're heavy and detailed. I can't wait to get this tub installed and really show it off here on my site.

Now, if we can just reach a decision on what color to paint the clawfoot tub...or whether to paint it at all. I'm thinking dark bluish...grayish...purpleish....yellow. Green? Or Cherry Cobbler red from Behr.

Artwork

Oh, I have collected so much "artwork" for our new home. (True art collectors will scoff, hence the quotations, but I like it.) I have no idea where any of it is going to go, but we're going to have so many walls and each is going to be more beautiful than the last. Sexy Nerd says he's going to scream if I bring home any more artwork.

Funny enough, we have more artwork than I'd intended. I recently received a piece in the mail I'd ordered on clearance. The oversized box it was packaged inside seemed wasteful for an 8"x10". Why such a large box? Because another piece of artwork had accidentally been sent along with it!

Sexy Nerd really can't blame me for that one.

Rustic Moravian Star Lights

My dream was to line our hallway with 8 of these lights, but they're expensive, especially the large ones I had my eye on. Well, my Sexy Nerd (AKA the best husband ever) is going to build the lights for me! The photo above is his first attempt, which I thought looked great but he thought was an abomination. He spent more than two hours staring at it, occasionally taking measurements and coloring a diagram he'd painstakingly created on cardboard. Supposedly, each of the new lights will be made out of a single piece of metal.

As for the prototype that didn't live up to Sexy Nerd's demanding standards? It will hang in Pica and Biscuit's bedroom. They're so fancy.

Fruit. And vegetables!

Just kidding. I haven't been stocking up on fresh produce for our new home, not yet at least. The blue and white bowl holding everything is destined to be the sink in my new vanity...which Sexy Nerd is also building from scratch.

Did I mention how great he is?

Focus on the positive. Focus on the positive. Focus on the positive.

Cake Mix Pancakes with No Eggs

When making Cake Mix pancakes , the scrumptious possibilities are endless. Red Velvet cake mix pancakes. Chocolate cake mix pancakes. Butter Pecan cake mix pancakes. Funfetti cake mix pancakes. (Yes, Funfetti cake mix pancakes!) With this 2-ingredient recipe, you can turn your favorite cake mix into your favorite pancakes. Pancake making at its finest. Cake Mix Pancakes with No Eggs Personally, I think my funny napkin is the icing on the (pan)cake. It's Sunday morning and you're planning to do all the things today - scrub those grody baseboards, polish your quartz countertop that was supposed to be low maintenance but actually isn't at all, sort through the disaster that is the freezer. While on your superhuman kick, you think I'm going to make my family pancakes for breakfast. Not just any pancakes - the best pancakes ever. I may even serve them as breakfast in bed! You pull out your favorite pancakes pan. Yeah, you're awesome sauce. But oh

10 Canned Cinnamon Roll Hacks

You're in for a treat. Today I'm sharing my best canned cinnamon roll hacks and improvements for turning store-bought cinnamon rolls, like the Pillsbury Grands ones or even the store brand, into something special. Dry cinnamon rolls? No thank you. They need to be OOEY and GOOEY. That's just Cinnamon Roll 101. All of these ideas keep Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls soft, company-worthy, and delicious. These are also great for taking homemade cinnamon rolls up a notch, but what a pain that is. With these better-than-homemade canned cinnamon roll hacks, you'll never bother to bake them from scratch again. Test out some of these ideas tomorrow. Won't it be nice to dig into a mouthwatering cinnamon roll for breakfast? You can't get a better start to your day than that. 10 Canned Cinnamon Roll Hacks No Eggs Needed! Actually, make that 11 easy ways to improve store-bought cinnamon rolls: you can top them with homemade coffee whipped cream . Yum! Nope, make that

Chemical Peel Before & After

This article has been updated! My new chemical peel post, which includes pricing, Jessner peel before and after photos, product recommendations, and a helpful timeline for scheduling your treatments, is at the bottom. My original Jessner peel post (one of the most popular on my site of all time) is at the beginning. Original Chemical Peel Article Considering a chemical peel? I recently underwent my first Jessner peel and thought I'd share my results, post a Jessner peel review, and answer some frequently asked chemical peel questions. (I'm guessing that "Does a chemical peel hurt?" is a biggie!) I'd been planning to order an over-the-counter peel when we were in Iceland , but my computer led me a different direction. I decided to do this on a whim after Groupon greeted me one morning with a great $40 chemical peel deal. Now, I can read your mind. You just gasped in horror and thought You trusted your face to a discount chemical peel?! You're wondering w

How to Move a Mattress

My site is popular for reviewing memory foam mattresses. With today's bed-in-a-box options lasting much longer than the traditional 7 years of a spring mattress, there's a good chance you'll eventually need to move one. But how? This is how to move a mattress without damaging it - even by yourself! When we were faced with the challenge of moving our beloved Amerisleep AS3 to our new home, it seemed like my readers would enjoy the details. This handy tip should work for any memory foam bed, including Casper, Leesa, and Nectar. I'm happy to report there is an extremely simple way to do it. Apartment and dorm dwellers rejoice! How to Move a Mattress At first, I wasn't sure how to move our king-size mattress down a flight of stairs. It's a problem we've dreaded solving ever since we made the decision to build a new house. The answer? It was right in the back of our truck. Ratchet straps . This solution could also serve as a 'How To' for returning

Hello Fresh Complaints

Hello, my bloggy friends. I have a HelloFresh complaint and believe they are pulling a scam. Yours truly came *this close* to falling for it. Maybe scam is too harsh of a word. Sneaky? You can decide for yourself. The fact that there are so many Hello Fresh complaints online does seem suspicious. My main complaint about Hello Fresh has to do with their promotional rate, which seems like it is set up to be intentionally misleading (more on this below). Despite so many people complaining about being charged more than they thought they'd agreed to, Hello Fresh maintains this as part of their business model and continues to mislead. So it's intentional, right? I do not recommend Hello Fresh. For starters, the service is just ingredients-by-mail with recipes, not meals. You can buy your own ingredients for much less, especially now that most grocery stores conveniently offer pickup and delivery. Excellent recipes are easy to find. Click here for a list of top-rated, reader-favorit

Window Seat Idea - Dream Home Inspiration of the Day

See it? Waaay at the back of the photo? I like how the window seat extends past the window all the way to the wall. How about you? If that's not your style, how about one of these lovely window seats? I'll seat you, my pretty, and your little dog too. How perfect would this be in a home office? I'd swap out that wimpy rug with a larger one.

Christmas Memes and More

Inspired by the popularity of my other memes posts, Funny Memes and Dog Memes , I have a new collection of memes for you to enjoy. I waste my life on the internet so you don't have to. Bookmark this post because I'll be adding to it as I find new memes for Xmas. Christmas Memes and More Fair warning that some of these are in poor taste. Isn't that usually the funniest meme?

My Instant Pot Explosion!

Like many new Instant Pot owners, I've wondered, How many Instant Pots have exploded? (Eeek!) I'm happy to report that my research on Snopes and other sites has shown that these do not explode, at least not when used properly. There is a lawsuit between a woman in Texas and the Instant Pot manufacturer, but she admits she had thrown a towel over the steam vent. Do NOT do this. Still concerned? Consider that on Prime Day of 2018, Amazon sold more than 300,000 Instant Pots. That's more than a quarter of a million sales in only 1 day! If these things were not safe, you would see news stories every day about someone being injured. Still, things can go wrong. We love our Instant Pot, the digital pressure cooker that seems to suddenly be in every home. You can't mess up - just throw in random ingredients and you'll get something yummy every time. It's foolproof. At least, that's how I used to feel about our Instant Pot, until the explosion... Inst

3 Minute Toaster/Convection Oven Smores

These are perfect when you're craving a quick, sugary treat. They work equally well in a toaster oven and a convection oven. Best of all, compared to eating an entire bag of Oreos (something I have never done), they're quite healthy. What's that, you say? You already know how to make s'mores in the toaster oven? Well then, sit back and enjoy the ooey-gooey marshmallowy photos. (And if you're someone who works with me, please keep the "I've seen her polish off an entire bag of Oreo cookies" nonsense to yourself.) Step 1: Put desired amount of graham crackers on a toaster oven/convection oven-safe pan. Looks like it's time to clean this pan, Sexy Nerd Optional 1st step, which is Sexy Nerd's favorite: Spread peanut butter on each graham cracker (I'm not much of a peanut butter fan - WHAT?!? - so I skip this step.) Cover with yummy marshmallows. Top with chocolate chips. Place in the toaster o

Reuzel: Grooming Tonic Industry Review

I'm looking out for you, my bloggy friends. At my last haircut, the hairdresser shared his favorite hair product of all time, REUZEL (which I'd never heard of), with me and I had enough sense to get the details to share with you. He didn't even have a bottle of it to sell me. It was a genuine, honest review. Also, are they still called hairdressers? Is this the equivalent of calling your flight attendant a stewardess? Stylist? Barber? Reuzel Grooming Tonic Review You know those men who have the softest, most perfect hair and it seems so unfair because most men don't even care about their hair? (Or so they say.) I think this is their secret. While you're here, be sure to read my funny haircut story . Geez, I'm awkward. The fact that I was brave enough to ask to take this photo at the salon is proof I love my blog readers. Never heard of it? That's probably because Reuzel Grooming Tonic is marketed toward men. From reading their endless 5-star reviews, men

Kitty Deschanel

Search This Blog