What's up???!?!?!!??

Oh my goodness. Where to start??

How do I put into words my happiness...??

Saying I'm happy and this place is Paradise just 

doesn't feel like it does it justice!! 

We found our hearts in Carpinteria, California :)

It's a small sweet beach town that has made us feel like

we're right where we should be:)

The beach here is dog friendly, too bad Little Bully isn't:(

He can be such a jerk around other dogs!!

I keep threatening a stint with Caesar Milan and then I remember

how Caesar says he trains the people more than the dogs...and I'm 

like oh forget it then. 

Ok so let's get down to business.

I know you are all wanting to know where in the world we landed.

Sadly. Not here.

Not here either.... :(

Nope. 

Apparently EVERYONE in Carp knows they live in Paradise and they don't want to 

ever leave... :(

I don't blame them. 

Ok, that's a lie. 

I do blame them. I blame them for loving this sweet town so much that there's

hardly anything on the market for sale!!! Waaaaaa!!!

So until someone has a moment of insanity and decides to sell me their

adorable little beach house...

I'm content to rent:)

When we sold our house I just kept praying... Lord find us the perfect place.

Is this green house the cutest??

But it's not mine.

This is:) 

Doesn't God have a hilarious sense of humor??!!

That green one is my neighbors house.

I had to laugh:)

We were soooo lucky to snatch up this place!! It's a 3 story townhouse built in 2007.

The best part? It's pet friendly.

Seriously people, you have no idea how hard it is to find a rental that accepts 

1 adorable frenchie and 2 cats!!?? (yes I'm playing favorites)

So when I said 3 stories, I should have mentioned that's it's 1500 sq. ft. TOTAL!!

That means a mere 500 sq. ft of actual living on the main floor.

Sooo, that means I can't hoard stuff.

That's a foreign concept I'm just beginning to grasp.

I'm not ashamed to admit- I LOVE stuff!!! 

The garage is only 1 car, and by that I mean no car.

It's full of surfboards, wetsuits, and bikes.

And ok, by bins...

Bins full of seasonal decor that I just can't part with!!! (shakes fists in air)

So here's the front room from the front door:)

Why yes! my Halloween has been out for over 2 weeks- duh!!

The couch is from IKEA. It folds out into a bed and that chaise lifts up

for storage under it...perfect!!

The chair is from Pottery Barn and I love it! 

Rio painted me the whale and turtle pics:)

Just to the right of the couch is the dining area.

The green cabinet I had in my laundry room of the old house, and the chunky leg

table I bought from FOUND yeeears ago. The chairs are from

World Market:)

This is the other side.

That sideboard is another FOUND piece. It houses all my

kitchen overflow:)

The door just to the left is a fabulous closet and the other is

a tiny powder room.

The kitchen is just on the other side of that counter.

This place is  perfect for us right now:)

I mean come on, I just have to walk or hop on my bike and look what

I see at the end of the street... :)

uh huh.

Paradise:)

For now.... :)

Oh wow oh wow!!

Thaaaank you to all of you who came out early

Saturday morning to the sale.

It was such a crazy whirlwind! We opened at

7, and were cleaned out by 8.

You've truly made our move sooo much easier and my

entire family thanks you:)

So as you can imagine it's a little hectic around here.

You'd think we would have this moving thing down to a science,

but moving out of state is a whole different animal.

So I'm thinking I'm going to need to take a little break from

this lil ol' blog:)

I just need to take some time to get settled in my new

adorable town:)

I'm beyond excited for the adventure ahead of us:)

And what an adventure it will be!

Did I mention we are moving yet again into a place sight unseen??

Butterflies.... :)

Tell me you'll be here when I return??

Boxes and boxes and boxes.... :)

It's on.

Whyyyyy didn't I plan better???

Like sell my house in December??

It's honestly hotter that Hades here.

I sweat just looking at what has to go in these boxes....

Like SOMEBODY'S topiary hoard.

Honestly Dorie. How many topiaries do  you need?

All of them.

ALL. OF. THEM.

So quit yer complainin' and git 'em in that box!

It's about this time in every move where discouragement always 

sets in with me. I can't see the end of all the endless packing,

and I just want to cry:(

And then I say to myself,

Suck it up buttercup!

Remember where you're going....????

Ohhhh yeeeeah!!! That dreamy little town called Carpinteria:)

And then I'm all better.... :)

Hope to see you all this weekend where I'll be 

selling the stuff that doesn't make it into

those boxes.... 

Saturday 7am-10am

The purge.... :)

Seriously. That's where I'm at.

It certainly doesn't help that I'm moving during inferno season:(

I have about 20 days left to get my you know what together.

EEEEEEEK!!

So the purging begins...

I'm gonna throw my stuff out on the back porch on

Saturday August 2nd from 7am-10am

It's hot here people. So let's get 'er done early!!

I'll post pics next week of some of the goods up for grabs:)

Hope to see you there!

email me for  the address-

understiller@cox.net

This is really happening.... :)

Oh wow. That was fast!

She's sold! And I couldn't be happier about 

her new family:) 

I've been praying for the perfect people to love and cherish 

this old gal...

and then there they were!

Just like that. I probably should have asked the Lord for

a little more time? hahaha!! but as we all know..

it's in HIS time:)

When we left for Cali, the bathroom was not yet finished.

Like we were driving away while the plumber was there installing the

faucet! So Rio sent me these pics last night so I could

see the finished product.

Who are we kidding here.

I needed something to blog about!!

I'm loving how this turned out! 

The mini subway is adorable:)

You want to see this house up close and personal?

Well now is your chance.

Even though she's sold we are going to go ahead

and do the open house!

And yes of course! the sweet ladies at Waffle Love

will be there selling their ridiculously

delicious waffles:)

And hey! the waffles are going to be 50% off!

Courtesy of all of us here at Project Beautify:)

You're sooo welcome!!

This Friday the 18th from 9am-1pm

142 W. 2nd St.

Mesa, AZ 85201

Hope to see you there!!!

Bathroom update.... :)

Oh boy. 

This bathroom has come a long way baby!

We started by moving the bathtub to the other side of the room.

With it being where it was before, the water from the shower was

completely rotting the window trim:(

So moving it to the other side made waaay more sense! 

Just white simple subway tile, it's my favorite:)

With the window being in the middle of the wall, and the sink centering

under it,we needed to get

creative with the mirrors.

We did these shallow medicine cabinets that go from 

counter top to ceiling, and did a mirrored window

looking door:)

We kept the old door of course!

The back splash, sink faucet and hardware get installed tomorrow!

And you know what else happens tomorrow?

We get to head out for a two month vacay/house hunt in Ventura!!

I got butterflies.... :)

We will come back for the weekend of July 18th though..

Why you say?

Because we're going to have an open house here with our

friends from Waffle Luv!!

Yep, waffles and a house tour!

Are you coming??

July 18th 9am-1pm

Fun and games... :)

It's crazy town over here.

It's been a houseful of painters, electricians, AC guys, 

and peeing like a ninja because the roofer guys are working

just outside your only working bathroom's

(with no curtain!!) window!!

So not fun.

In stressful times like these, I find myself wanting to completely

escape reality and spend copious amounts of time playing

ridiculous games on my iPad.

My newest guilty pleasure?

 The Kardashians.

Yeah you read that right.

Come on!! I said I need an escape!!

And hey, you have no idea how much laser beam focus

this takes to concentrate while generators, nail guns and

Mexican music (which I love btw) are blaring 

around you!! hee hee hee

I found these old pics of the house on my iPad
and thought we could play a game of our own!
A game called-

You crazy.

You crazy for buying that place, and even
crazier for selling it.

Before:

Bars on the porch, two front doors, cracked and stained concrete,

4!! yes 4 layers of roof, and somewhere behind that overgrown

bush is a window. 

YIKES.

 After:)

Before:

After:)

Yes. That is in fact where they kept their trash cans.

Lovely.

After:)

Before:

After:)

Before:

That tree is actually a very old pittosporum!!

After:)

Before:

After:)

Let's play another game!
Let's see who can send me a buyer for this place the fastest!!
Ready! Set!! Go!!!