No more Backabro.... :(

I bought this couch from Ikea almost exactly one year ago. It had just come

out, and when I went to the store they hadn't even received their floor

model yet. This one is called the Backabro, and what I really like about

it is that it's a pull out bed which works great when we have family

come visit. And that chaise? it lifts up for blanket storage:)

Well Mr. Backabro was starting to show some wear.

No biggie right?

I'll just order another slipcover!

Yeah no.

They freaking DISCONTINUED it!!!!!

You can imagine my face...

staring at the computer screen excessively blinking

as if I wasn't really reading it right.

I mean who the?

what the??

WHY????

The thing that came to mind at that time was this little ditty
 from a Mr. Kenny Rogers....

You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille.

So after a mild break down, I typed the Backabro model number into google
hoping to find a slipcover somewhere,

and whaddya know...

Ebay! and brand new! for $65!!

Boom:)

The thing that came to mind after I bought it
was this little ditty from a Ms. Donna Fargo...

I'm the happiest girl in the whole USA!!!

Elizabeth June.... :)

I love houses. All shapes and sizes of houses.

If I believed in past lives I'd swear I WAS a house!!

Today I'm going to tell you about our next Project Beautify house that we

have "in the hopper" as the hubby would say:)

Looook at that driveway people! When we first pulled up it

I was in love:)

When we turned the corner at the top of the drive and saw the house,

I couldn't help but think hmmm...

it's GREEN... I'm feeling good about this one:)

I remember when I was little I couldn't WAIT for Halloween.

Not because of the candy though. But because I couldn't wait to 

take a peek inside people's houses just beyond the front door!!

Yes. I was a weirdo.

Well that same feeling still comes up every single time we look at 

a new property. (I'm still a weirdo:)

 I'm telling you- houses have a story to tell.

They have a "feeling". We've actually passed up properties

because the hubby and I just thought the house had

a bad "feeling"!!

(We're both weirdos:)

 Well wait till you step inside this one....

The second I walked in this house I could feel the love. I don't know

how else to describe it, but I sat in that yellow club chair and took it all

in... the home that once belonged to 

Elizabeth June Kristofferson Rohrer Pickarts.

Everything was spotless, perfectly matched and perfectly placed.

And see that cool floral thing above the fireplace? Oh how I wish

it would have stayed with the property. It lit up and was on a dimmer

and was just the coolest thing!

I love love love that brick fireplace:)

The more I walked around this house, the more I felt a sisterhood

with Elizabeth June. This pic doesn't do the paint color justice on this 

built-in in the hallway but,

it's the prettiest shade of green:)

I pulled this little green book off her shelf and thought

how much that girl on the cover looked like the Holly

Hobbie doll I had when I was little:)

All over the property you could see a love of birds:)

-and you all know my love of birds.

On one side of the backyard is this little hidden staircase...

When you get to the top of that staircase...

you see this...

green, green and more green:)

Look at that view of avocado orchards and the ocean beyond that, and on

a clear day the channel islands beyond that.

Wow right??

 In the garage was something under a white blanket.

So because I'm one of those that reads the end of a book because

I can't stand the suspense, I had to look underneath...

Well I'll be.

I love you Elizabeth June. 

And if I believed in past lives I'd swear we were twins:)

Thank you, thank you Elizabeth June for the 37 years of love
you poured into this house.

I'm truly honored to get the chance to love on it next:)

Project Trinity.... :)

So this week I thought I'd give you a little looky at our current Project Beautify

house. This little cutie was a 3 bedroom 2 bath house when we got

her. She's now a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom! Sooo much left to do, but

I'll show you what I see every time I look at her!

I see her as an all white house. Benjamin Moore swiss coffee to be exact. So the whole

body and all the trim will be white. That red brick

has to go:( it's no where else on the house and it just looks kinda weird.

Source

At the eaves all around the house is wood siding, well...we found out that some

termites have been feasting on it so it has to go too.

We're going to be replacing all that with cedar shingle siding.

The natural wood color will really warm up all the white paint:)

We're also adding a simple natural wood pergola over

the garage door.

The garden window on the front is going to go too.

We'll be replacing it with a regular window and

some stained shutters like these:)

Source

And then the front door...

I fell instantly in love with this pic!

Duh! Of course I did!!

So the front door is going to be

Churlish Green by Farrow and Ball:)

Source

The kitchen is starting to shape up!

Cabs are in, and tomorrow I'm going to go pick

out the counter tops. I'm thinking quartz? I'm kind

of liking the sleekness of it:)

All the hardware, door hinges, door handles and plumbing fixtures are 

going to be black:)

But guess what I'm most excited about???

Squeeeeel!!! These lights!!!

They're all from Schoolhouse Electric.

Upper left- Master bath

Upper right- Downstairs hall bath

Lower left- Dining room

Lower right- Kitchen sink

So this is the most current house I'm pretending is going to be mine...

I swear it's the Lord's way of keeping my creative juices flowing since

I can't do it in my own house... :)

He's awesome like that:)

Say what??..... :)

 So as some of you may or may not know, Little Bully

LOVES him some toys.

To death. 

Like they don't last very long AT ALL.

He also LOVES him some ball playing.

He will sacrifice life and limb to get that tennis ball I'm telling you!

He's always been a very active little guy.

But lately I was noticing that he wasn't acting like his normal self.

He couldn't jump on the couch anymore, and just seemed

like he wasn't interested in playing so much.

So I did what any crazy dog loving person would do!

I called the vet and ordered X-rays because I was certain he

had something wrong with his hips or his knees.

Well $300 later...

 guess what the Dr. said...

He's FAT.

Yep. Absolutely nothing wrong with his knees or hips.

He's just FAT.

I was like huh??

What do you mean???

You can't be serious????

Here he is begging THROUGH THE WINDOW!!!

So the beggar of the year is officially cut off.

Yep you heard me right Wallace!!

No longer will you lure me in with those beautiful brown

hungry eyes.

As a preventative, the Dr. put him on some fish oil and glucosamine.

 I was trying not to laugh when she said that even though LB (fitting initials)

weighs 30 lbs, that I could go ahead and give him the lower dose because

he's going to be losing weight...

I'm thinking yoga just might not be doing enough...

He might need to add in some cardio...

So Mr. hunk of love is going to be slimming down if it kills me.

And it will.

Just scroll back up and look at those eyes!!!!