I LOVE Pretty, Pretty Flowers!

Yesterday was my 8th wedding anniversary! Boy, the years have flown by! My wonderful husband bought me the gorgeous roses in the above photo and I had to share them with you! I always tell him that if he is going to buy me flowers, to buy them in bunches and not arranged because I LOVE to arrange them myself! I even arranged one of my best friend's wedding flowers and bouquets! I'm an amateur, but practice makes perfect, right?

We had a lovely day with the kids and dinner out with my best friend & her hubby, as our wedding day is also her birthday! At our wedding, I had a small cake made to match my wedding cake and presented it to her later in the night and all of the wedding guests sang her Happy Birthday! We have been best friends since junior high school, and I am lucky to have her.
Here are some roses I arranged for her when her 2nd baby girl was born last year!

Late in the day yesterday, we received some BIG news! We found out that an offer we made on another home was accepted by the bank! (This is not the house we currently live in...so we will be moving AGAIN in 3-4 weeks!) I'll tell you more about the house later, but it will be a project so get ready for some fun remodeling posts next month! It is in a beautiful kid-friendly community and we are so excited to get to work on it and get settled finally!

The photo of my anniversary flowers was taken in my favorite little corner of "The TomKat Studio" in our current house. There's a long story behind my new fabulous pink & orange chair...
I'll be telling you about it soon!

Isn't it gorgeous?!

Moving: Going to Miss Our Backyard...

Well, we're moved! Our previous home closed today!
Moving is so not fun, but we did it and it's time to start unpacking and get settled in...at least for a little while!
Many of you have asked that I share additional before/after photos of the our previous home, so I will start posting more for all of you who love to see good makeover!

Today, I'm sharing our (their) backyard!

I will miss it. Tremendously.

{PHOTO: AFTER THE REMODEL}

{BEFORE THE REMODEL}
Doesn't even look like the same backyard, right?

Stay tuned....next up....Master Bathroom....a major transformation!

Move Update: Two Weeks...We're Out.

{my fireplace, see it here at christmas time}

This is real. The panic has set in. Inspections are done and repairs are agreed upon. This is happening. We are moving in approximately two weeks, and I am freaking out.

I won't get into all the details, but we do have a place to go. We are renting temporarily until we find out about the offer we made on the short sale that we hope to call home. Short sales are typically taking weeks, if not months to get negotiated with the bank, so we could be in limbo for awhile. I don't like limbo. I like a nice, fully decorated HOME. Ask my friends...whenever I move, within a week the entire house is unpacked and fully decorated. It's my OCD, type-A, decorating-loving self...it's how I roll. This is different, very different from any other move we've made. For several reasons, but most importantly because we sold the house fully furnished! I keep picturing the new big, empty house with our mattresses on the floor...and it's not a comfortable feeling. What will my kids be thinking? But...as I explained...this is for the best. And, I really am getting excited about redecorating! My OCD self will have the new house fully furnished within.......hmmm....I would guess, six months? maybe three?

It will be okay! I'm on the deal.

Have any of these I can borrow?

{image via thefindblog}

It must be those thoughts of mattresses on the floor, that prompted me to do some searching online. I bought a master bedroom bed & night stands today from Craigs List! It's used, but in great condition and it's from one of my favorite local furniture stores (or barns, I should say), Potato Barn. Potato Barn is in Gilbert and is literally housed in an old potato barn. The furniture is well-made, heavy wood....often that great distressed look, very Pottery Barn-ish, and very affordable. We actually stopped in there last weekend to start looking, but I couldn't focus because I was sick to my stomach after seeing that they are selling my frames, made by someone else (copykat?). Ugh, more on that later.

{Potato Barn ~ Gilbert, AZ photo via flickr}

Anyway, the next day I was over it and moved on. Nothing makes me feel better than a quick trip to HomeGoods, so Tommy & I stopped in and found two pictures that I think will be great inspiration for his room. I love that he was with me to approve. And he really approved. He's actually quite excited about yellow? He's more of a red fan (not me), so I was surprised he liked them so much. I'm thinking modern, hip miami style.....white, and these yellow & turquoise colors.
Cool, huh? Send me your finds! :)No more complaining for me...this going to be fun! Come along for the ride and help me decorate the big, empty house! And keep your fingers crossed that one day soon, it will be ours!