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Today's post has nothing to do with DIY (nope, not a lick), but I thought maybe some of you might be able to relate to our worst date night ever. At least I hope we're not alone!

Eric and I love the band Fun. We saw them last summer at a tiny concert before they were crazy popular- it was awesome! This summer they were coming back to Philly, so months ago- the day they went on sale, we bought really good tickets. Saturday night was the big night! So here's how it all went down… 4:30pm leaving our house to head to Philly. Now, I never like to take Eric's car- it's 9 years old and kind of a beater. But, since it was a date night and I know he really likes to take his car because it's economical, I decided to be a good wife and suggested we take it. Wife of the year, I know right!
5:00pm arrive at Chipotle for dinner We enjoyed an awesome dinner- do you know that I went to Chipotle for this first time ever a month ago?!? I'm a pretty picky eater, so I never was too interested in it. BUT… I stinkin' love it! Anyhow, we ate really fast and were headed back to the car in about 20 minutes.

5:20pm Beater car has a dead battery and won't start! Are you kidding me? The one time I agreed to take the beater. Ugh. We called a tow service and had the car jumped within 30 mins. Okay, not too bad, we still have tons of time before the concert started at 7:30pm.

6:30pm Arrive in Philly and are super excited for the concert We were so thankful for a smooth drive into the city and we were getting excited about hearing the opening band Tegan and Sara. We had to get off this exit and then go 1 mile to the Mann Center.

6:30pm-9:05pm We Sat and Sat and Sat In 95 minutes we moved 400 feet. Literally, my GPS told us we moved only 400 feet. We couldn't get out and walk because we were on Rt 76, there was no alternate route, and get this… it was 99 degrees outside and we couldn't use the air because of the dead battery. Can it get any better?? Oh wait it can, we thought we'd have our own mini car concert and popped in our FUN. cd… ERROR. Yup, randomly the CD player stopped working. It was Amazeballs!

9:05pm Turn around and head home. #DateNightFail After seeing via Instagram that Fun. was already playing and we had only moved 400 feet and had 1.2 miles to go we made the crappy decision to cut our losses and head home. We knew we wouldn't get there until around 10:30pm- three hours late and just in time to get back into traffic.
So, 100% certifiably, it was the worst date night ever. We got home around10:30pm and the only thing we'd accomplished was a fast food dinner and about 6 hours spent in a car without air conditioning. The thing is, five years ago in our marriage that kind of epic fail would have had both Eric and me completely annoyed and upset and most likely testy at each other. Thankfully, neither one of us was in a bad mood. We both kind of laughed it off, and felt like why get upset when we can't change it. I don't know if it's a sign of getting older and wiser, or being further along in our relationship (I promise you year 2 or 3 of our marriage I would have ripped him a new one about his crappy car- lol), but we were just happy to hang out together. (This blurry instagram pic was after 75 minutes of traffic and 99 degree heat, but we're still smiling)

I'd love to know if you've ever had an epic date night fail… Can you top our date night?? I should also mention the total cost for the night (not including the new battery we had to buy the next day) was like $350! Fun times I tell ya.
So, thanks for letting me share, we'll be back later this week with projects from our tiny kitchen makeover. Don't miss it- there are some awesome ones!!

PS- If you happen to be in the band FUN. or you have awesome connections, I'd be totally fine with you hooking us up with some kind of private concert or something. Just tossing it out there- never know who reads DIY blogs right?!?

This is a t-shirt that I actually own, made for me by one of our good friends. Not completely true, but still so funny.
My hubs says we're in a"passing phase". The kind where life is crazy trying to manage our jobs and home and raise two, well-adjusted kids. We often feel like we are two people who coexist, doing what needs to be done to make our children's lives happy and secure, but without connecting with each other. While we are totally in love with our kids, and soooo grateful for the blessings in our lives, we miss spending time with one another. I'm telling you all of this because we truly WANT to spend more time together, but we're realizing this is just one more thing we need to be intentional about. (Want to know more about my motto for the year: be intentional? See here, here and here.) Anyway, I'm sure you all can agree that building a strong marriage is, next to having a saving faith, the most important thing we can do for our families. So, I've been on a quest to find fun, cheap and easy date ideas to reconnect and just enjoy each other.

This idea is brilliant and such a fun gift idea for the hubs. Make 12 envelopes and fill them with a pre-paid date idea for that month. At the beginning of each month, sit down and plan a night for your date and you're set. This definitely requires a lot of planning, but once it's done, you have NO excuses not to go out on a date!

Source: shannonbrown.typepad.com via Jessica on Pinterest

The The Dating Divas are a group of women whose blog's sole goal is to provide all sorts of different date ideas. From Quick and Easy Romance Ideas, to Anniversary Ideas, to Date Nights Out on the Town, to Family Fun Nights, they've got it covered! I was impressed with how many fun, romantic and inexpensive dates they thought of.

Source: thedatingdivas.com via Janenifer on Pinterest

I found this fun list of unique date ideas on Pinterest. Some of them actually made me giggle just envisioning the hubs and me doing them (see numbers 3, 5 and 6), and others made me wish upon a star that they would happen in my lifetime (see number 8).

Source: 9gag.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

And finally, did you know that Groupon now offers special deals on getaways? I'm loving getting them in my inbox every week, and I actually convinced the hubs to book this one:

I'm so excited, but we still need to set a date. That's the tricky part, but we'll keep trying until we find one that works. And here's the pep talk for the day: Make sure you do whatever it takes to strengthen your marriage. It's worth it!
So, fill me in. What do you do to keep the spark alive?

Good morning to you all. Long time no see.

It's early August and the temperature has gone down to 10 degrees Celsius. Christmas is only four months away. ;-)

Glorious news this morning. California is finally allowing gay marriages.  The case is probably going to wind up in the Supreme Court but still, it's a step in the right direction. Both sides have until Friday to submit their answer to the decision.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in five U.S. states and in the District of Columbia, while civil unions are permitted in New Jersey. The five states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Oh, and another thing: how cool is this ?

T his Matisse nude hangs in my office. It's a perfect example of how sometimes, due to my antique frame addiction, a piece of art comes together backwards. In other words, I found a print to go with the frame....instead of vice versa.
I believe this frame was the very first in my collection, which began while I was a college student in Maine. My love for both art and antiques found the perfect marriage in a passion for antique frames.

I've always admired the design detail and profile of this particular frame. It's also a good size at 16-1/2 x 22 inches.
For years, the frame was paired with a landscape print. But over time, I found that the soft, ambient colors of the print somehow took away from the drama of the frame itself. A few months ago, I decided to replace the landscape with a simple drawing of a female nude. I really adore this one by Matisse, a piece whose traditional lines and monochrome palette are unique compared to his more famous work.

I also recently framed a still life by Matisse for the kitchen. It is likewise paired with an antique gold frame, though the frame is much simpler in detail. Both pieces share the same aesthetic, which combines a finely made frame with a simple but delicately beautiful drawing.
I purchased both prints here.

Ahhhhhh…I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Well, kinda. Our kitchen renovation that I've chronicled here, here, here and here, is done…for now! You may remember that it all started like this:

Ugh. That's a sad picture, people. It's not sad anymore, though, just look at it now in all it's *almost* finished glory!

Seriously, that is one big difference! I am absolutely crazy about our open shelves, new kitchen layout and big opening to the dining room. (Although I REALLY wish I made some sort of effort to clean up our dining room before snapping pics! Bad blogger!) I've been decorating and undecorating the shelves for weeks now, and I'm pretty happy with them, so I figured it was about time I shared. This is how they look right now, but I can absolutely guarantee you that they won't stay this way forever, since I crave change after about 4 days of anything staying the same.

The blue and green add just the right pop to my otherwise serene color scheme. I really do love the contrast of the fancy stencil with the trendy aqua blue accents. So fun! Those two round pie plates were wedding gifts, but they're only hanging out there until I can find a tray or something that I love- the blues just aren't perfectly spot on.

Up close and personal:

You've already seen the printable I made, but the plate right next to it is from the Pottery Barn Outlet. Can't get enough of that thing. That and the bird (from Joann's) are the only new things I bought for the shelves. Everything else was gathered from around the house- you got to work with what you have sometimes, right? Ok, I lied. I forgot that I bought this blue vase at a flea market this weekend for $4, and the mugs came from Ikea.

I have been scouring the stores to find dish towels that I liked and that matched the kitchen, and couldn't find anything that wasn't chevron (no offense to all you chevron-lovers out there, but I'm just not on that bandwagon!), but I found this one at Kmart! Yes, I was shocked too.: ) Cute, cute, cute!

I'm showing you this picture of all our mail for two reasons: 1) I just got this mail sorter from Kmart and it's a lifesaver. Really. All that stuff used to just lay on my counter making my already frazzled brain even more frazzled (if that's possible), and 2) See that uncovered outlet? I didn't even realize it didn't have a cover on it until I looked at this picture. It's so ridiculous what you get used to living with, and then start to ignore. *Fingers crossed that that baby EVER gets a cover.*

Here's a view of the other side of the kitchen:

We finally cut and hung two more open shelves to house our microwave. I gotta tell you, I so enjoy the extra space on the counters now that thing is off of it. So roomy! And if you're wondering about that crack in the counter, it's there because we moved a cabinet and it's counter from it's original spot on the other side of the fridge. It'll stay like that until we upgrade our countertops, and then it'll be seamless. Technically, I could hide the seam using a painting method a friend told me about, but, honestly, there are so many other things I'd rather be doing with my time.; )

I'm thrilled that, after 8 years of marriage, I can finally easily access my china. What a nice surprise to see that it actually works really well with my damask stencil and the colors in the kitchen. Woohoo for happy accidents!

Oh yes! I almost forgot that we installed this new light fixture above the window, and it's stinkin' awesome. Forget about all the additional light it gives off, it's adorable!

***Update: Several people have asked where I got this light. It's Allen + Roth from Lowes.

And finally, a view from the hall. I'm contemplating adding simple, wooden blinds to the window because it seems a bit bare. Anyone have thoughts about that? Should I or shouldn't I?

So now I've promised my husband that I'll tackle only really easy projects that don't involve him for a while.: ) I think this room has come a long way, and it just feels so much more like me. After a few annoying touchups on paint, fixing some broken tile and installing one more light switch, this pretty baby will be complete. Phew! Next week I'll show you what I finally decided about the curtain situation on the other side of the room.

Next on my agenda? A dining room redesign! I can't wait to show you what I have up my sleeve.

So, what's your favorite part about my new kitchen? Color scheme, open shelving, white cabinets, something else entirely?

Linking up to: Tutorials & Tips

Good ole Valentine's Day… Love it or hate it it's coming! Well, you can thank me later, but I have the perfect gift for your hubs! This gift started over ten years ago on our very first anniversary… we were broke, still in school, and oh so in love. Let me tell you it was a hit! So much so, that I just gave the same gift for our 10 year anniversary back in November. **Disclaimer- This post is written totally from the perspective of a married woman that adores her husband. I'm being honest here ladies, so you've been warned. Also, if you are my mother, STOP reading right now. Thanks!**
The Perfect Valentine's Gift- The Game of Love Imagine with me for a moment… It's been a long day, you and the hubs are headed to bed. You've put on your favorite comfy, frumpy sweats and a tee for bed. Once your hubs sees your bedtime wardrobe choice he knows there's no shot of romance for the night. He pulls back the covers to hop in bed and… what's this??

You've just pulled off the best Valentine's Day surprise ever. It's time to play The Game of Love! It's a game your hubs will love even more than the Superbowl!
All you'll need for this DIY is some time without your hubby around, some markers, some kind of shape template, and a fitted bed sheet…Seriously mom, if you're reading- Stop!

Ok, you can kind of see where this is going, and I must make a public confession… yes, I used one of my bff's birth announcement as my template! It was an adorable shape- Sorry Mandi!

I spent a lot of time ironing my sheet and then had an idea… I could have just washed and dried it. That would be easier.

Pop on your still wrinkly ironed sheet and you're ready to start making your game board.

If you want nice, straight lines, you can use some masking tape and your template to help with your spacing.

It doesn't have to be perfect (trust me he won't be too focused on your straight lines!) Start tracing your template. Trace it over and over again. Darn that I couldn't really have a friend come and help me with this DIY… awkward: )

Before removing the masking tape, I added some cute little dashes along the top.

You can add your game's title across the top. Don't you love my cheesy name? The Game of Love… still makes me laugh! Feel free to use it or come up with a less cheesy one!

Now it's time to get creative. I included a few presents, snacks, wardrobe changes, and lots more!

Here are a few of my squares… (if you really want to know what else I added, you can try and read the teeny writing! Ha!) I had a few gifts wrapped and ready to go and a few yummy romantic snacks as well.

Put your mattress back and it's ready to go! (Okay, I have some limits, so I pulled a little censored for your protection action!)

In case you're wondering, here are The Official Game of Love Rules: 1. The player will roll a die, but the highest number can be 3 (so divide by 2 or the game goes too fast!) 2. Each square has a 1 1/2 minute time limit 3. No getting carried away- you have to stop at 90 seconds and roll again (the hubs might fight you on that one) 4. Only one person"plays" your role is just the game"facilitator" 5. The Final square is"Score" and you can't skip ahead (if ya know what I mean)
Okay, now my rationale for posting this. No, it's not my life's aspiration for my personal life to be all over Pinterest (don't worry, I am cool with you pinning it though). I just know that marriage is tough. It takes effort each and every day, not just Valentine's Day. I don't know your situation, but I know that 4 kids takes a toll on the love life. As a woman, I have to be intentional about connecting with my husband and making him a priority (FYI"connecting" is a code word! lol). I wanted to encourage woman to have FUN with their husbands… it's really okay- you're married! I call this the"Perfect Valentine's Gift" because for me, it meant so much to Eric that I took the time to think through this, plan out the surprise, and then have an unexpected evening dedicated to us.

So, will you be using The Game of Love to attempt to"Connect" with your husband this Valentine's Day?

Psssst! We came up with a new version of this game this year. Click here for the Game of Love: Travel Edition!
Linking to: TT&J, Stories of A to Z i heart naptime

Ok, Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season has officially begun in our house. One of my favorite things about the month of December is receiving loads of Christmas cards from our friends and family- some who we see weekly and some who we haven't seen in a year (or years!). There's something so special about getting real mail (vs. email, facebook messages etc.) and it's even better when it includes pictures of beautiful families or gorgeous Christmas cards. But, what do you do with all those cards? I loathe the idea of throwing them out (and no, I am not a hoarder! Not in the least, I just LOVE pictures). In years past, we've put all of our cards in a cheesy little mailbox that my hubs and I made early in our marriage.

Don't judge. We were young, dumb, and had not tapped into our creative sides yet.
This year, I decided to do something different.

I am so happy that I can put these christmas card"books" out in our living room so that people can browse through them when hanging out. I originally saw this idea by Allen Designs here, but all I did was to buy binder clips or rings, and used my hole punch to punch two holes in the cards. Then, just slip the cards on the binder rings and voila! Your cards are ready to display, don't take up a lot of space, and can be kept year after year. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm going to be sure to write the year on the back of each card so I can keep track. You just can't beat a project that is easy and cheap. I think that's going to be my tagline from now on. Just stop me if you're tired of hearing it. On second thought, there's no stopping me. Simple is my middle name.
Believe it or not, I had a really hard time finding other great Christmas card display ideas, but I was able to scrounge up a few cool ideas that are not cheesy and look elegant!

Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Leave it to Martha, to come up with something amazing. I couldn't stop drooling over that card tree.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Have an old shutter laying around? If not, you might just want to go find one, because this is a.dor.a.ble.

Source: prettyhandygirl.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: tatertotsandjello.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Ooh, and I might just have found another use for my old ladder.
It's your turn: Share your great Christmas card display ideas! Feel free to upload a pic to facebook and tag RHBC so we can see what you do!

Living in New England we're blessed with many things, one being antique shops. One serendipitous find and my favorite is a place called Red Chair Antiques owned and operated by Jocie Sinauer since 1997.

Frequent trips abroad to Europe as well along the Eastern seaboard she's able to stock her shop with French, Swedish and American furniture as well as some amazing smalls.

You'll find stacks of linen sheets, hemp runners and grain sacks....

Stacks of pillows made from grain sacks and linens brought back from France....

and artful displays and vignettes. Pictured above is a French mirror paired with a Hungarian bread cabinet and small zinc finds....love it!

Jocie and her husband Dave Chicane, who's an amazing chef and restaurant owner, have had their home photographed for numerous publications. Pictured above and below are two shots from their home, look how calm and soothing the rooms are, Dave has a great eye too!

Look above the window there on the left, don't you love how Jocie hung an antique curtain rod without a curtain! Would you believe those amazing swing arm lights aren't antiques but from pottery barn and those chairs....free from their local recycling center.

Since it was a long holiday weekend I decided to get out and do a little browsing. A few things caught my eye like this burlap covered chair.

This amazing French hutch that Jocie had flown over from France really wanted to come home with me but the husband was there and I like living but isn't it GORGEOUS?

So in the interest of a happy marriage and the fact I had been looking for a reasonably price French bistro table in black this one came home with me. I'm not quite sure where it's going yet but at least the husband liked it too. If you see anything pictured that caught your eye, not my bistro table, give Jocie a call since she does ship. Be sure to visit her website as well.
Red Chair Antiques 14 Depot Street Peterborough, NH 03458 603-924-5953 http://www.redchair-antiques.com/

So… how's it going getting everything done in time for Thanksgiving you ask? Well, I'll just tell you that it's 12:14AM as I start writing this post and there is a pile of laundry approximately 8 loads high waiting for some folding action (not.gonna.happen.) Anyhow, all things considered I think we're in good shape with all the madness. The one awesome and tricky thing is that my family is all arriving a day early from Boston. I'm SO thrilled!! I just need to finish my dining room (oh and clean the whole house) by about 7pm Tuesday… yikes, technically that's today already!
All that aside, I'm excited to give you a peek into our progress!! This weekend was a wallpaper party!! (Actually, it was nothing like a party. My father-in-law and I just wallpapered. He sort of hates doing it, but he's good at it, and was nice enough not to say no when I asked. Calling it a party just makes it sound more fun and exciting!) You probably remember that I had ordered Graham and Brown's Frames wallpaper.

The paper was a dream to work with because the repeat didn't matter (I wanted a random look) and the pattern didn't go off the roll. Seriously, this saved us hours!

If you haven't wallpapered before, you should totally try it. It's not as hard as people make it seem. Seriously, some people make it sound worse than a root canal without Novocaine! Here were some of my supplies.

I'm not going to give a wallpaper tutorial because there are about a million online, but I'll tell you my one must-have item… a folding table. I use this to do all the pasting (this paper wasn't pre-pasted, but even if it was I usually add extra paste).

You just slap the paste on with a brush, then I went over it with a mini roller. Just to be sure it was nice and pasty (reminds me of a certain vampire I love!)

So wanna see what it looks like?? Here you go… Drum roll please…

I REALLY, REALLY love it. Not just a little, a whole lot.

Once the paper was up it was time for moulding! Remember I mentioned some cool idea using PVC pipe? Well, here are a few ideas we toyed with…

Single row of PVC between some shoe moulding…

Double row of PVC sort of Olympic-style…

In the end it was time for a hubby to DIYer heart to heart. Eric was willing to do the PVC if I was in love with it. He admitted he thought it was a cool concept etc, but he talked me out of fantasy DIY land and back into mom of four kids with less than 72 hours before company arrives land. We calculated that it would take approximately 7 Billion PVC circles and would probably end up being a detriment to our marriage, so…

Very simple, plain Jane, clean lined moulding it was. In the end I think we made a very wise choice and I will just plan to use my PVC moulding elsewhere (soon!) Oh, and BTW… if you didn't know already, I'm a dork sometimes. I totally didn't think ahead and look where I divided the wallpaper and paint… Hellooo light switch!

Sweet huh? Oh well, it is what it is. A tad quirky, just like us: ) Ok, so this novel of a post is almost over, but I have one more thing to share… We needed to paint over the navy stripe in the crown moulding. It matched perfectly for The Nate Show, but now looked pretty out of place. So what color?? Hmm?? Let's try 'em all!

Thought the yellow might be fun… Nope, made the wall seem all choppy. White to look like monsterous moulding… Nope, made the paper seem too off white. Grey, because can you ever go wrong with grey… Perfect!

We're almost done! Tomorrow we need to touch up the trim where it was nailed, add the enormous mirror I repainted and repurposed for over the buffet, and then accessorize! I can't wait to see the finished product!! Here's where it's at right now…

You'd never guess I have tons of family arriving in less than (Oh.my.word.) 20 hours! It's okay, we're good under pressure. I'll be revealing the finished product on Turkey day, so be sure to check back between football and food!

Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.
E.B. Browning

I have great parents. I mean, really great, Totally in love and fully committed to each other, God and their three daughters. Not only that, they are tons of fun.

In early September, my sisters and I threw a 40th wedding anniversary celebration for them and it was so much fun to plan! The party was held at the country club my parents belong to, Saucon Valley Country Club, which is absolutely breathtaking. My wedding reception was also there, and I have pics of my hubs and me in that very courtyard above in all of our wedding finery (do people say"finery" anymore, or have I been working with the elderly a bit too much lately?). They do a top-notch job on all their events, and this was no exception! My sisters took care of the order of events for the evening, which included a roast of my parents by one of my uncles (stinkin' hilarious, I tell you), a special song sung for them by David Felty, a family friend and broadway musician, and a dance to their wedding song played by Lou Lanza and his band. They got the hard part (at which they are amazing!), but I got to do the fun stuff: the decorations!

The welcome table housed an old window on which I wrote the guest's names and seating arrangements. I absolutely loved the way this turned out and added just the right touch of vintage. I also included three cute photos on canvas from different decades in their marriage, a guest book where each guest was encouraged to leave a note or a memory, their wedding album, and a bouquet of dried lavender.

I used this method for making the canvases and they turned out awesome. My only wish was that I used matte Mod Podge, instead of glossy, but I just didn't have time to run out and buy it. If you're going to attempt this, buy the matte kind!

The invitations were Tiffany blue and chocolate brown, so I wanted to use that color scheme in the centerpieces. My sister, Chrissie, and I toyed around with a bunch of different centerpiece ideas, but finally settled on using dried lavender from the Peace Valley Lavender Farm. We loved the subtle light blue color, the rustic, organic texture of the stalks and the smell, which was heavenly! We placed coffee beans in the bottom of simple vases, cut the stems of the lavender to the appropriate height and then placed the bouquet in the vase. Finally, I wrapped the vase with a brown grosgrain ribbon. We bought round mirror chargers form Michael's that reflected the light of the votive candles we placed around the vase. The centerpieces were very simple, but oh so pretty, and we were thrilled that we could incorporate a local Bucks County product into the decor!

Some of the fun details…

Mmmm…sangria. I prefer the white wine sangria, in case you were wondering.

We told our guests that they should expect heavy hors d' oeuvres, but we ended up having a pasta bar which was a blast and so delicious! Guests could choose their pasta, alfredo or marinara sauce and a variety of toppings like crabmeat, scallops, chicken, green peppers, onions, artichokes, olives and more. Perfect!

Because of all the miserable rain we had prior to the party, we weren't able to use the courtyard, so most of the party was held on the terrace where the band played and the guests danced.

Can't forget the cake!

All in all, it was a beautiful night of celebrating an inspiring couple. Here's to 40 more!

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Please don't forget to head over to Sew Dang Cute to place your vote for the best fabric project. We are only one step away from the final round, so we need every vote we can get!
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Happy Monday!

*Thanks to Steph and Ammon Perry,, for taking the photos for us!

First things first:

Today, Mo and Eric are celebrating 10 crazy years of marriage! I can't believe we're old enough to be able to say they've been married for 10 years, and I'll deny it until I'm blue in the face. Go ahead. Try me. Anyway, these two are such a great couple- generous, open, hospitable, fun and talented. Plus, they have four adorable kids to show for those 10 years. Congrats, guys! Love you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, it's business time. (Haha- that reminded me of the Flight of the Conchords song. Hilarious. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?) You may have noticed that Monica and I have taken this week to catch our breath, so you're not seeing many new projects (trust me, we have tons up our sleeves!). We've been downright exhausted after the Crafting with the Stars contest, and our most recent Nate Show makeover. But let me take this time to share an opportunity with you:

Do you or someone you know have a business or product you want to have advertised? We are looking for great shops or products that are representative of who we are and what we would buy or do.We really want to promote other creative people out there! Or, do you have a blog and want to increase traffic? This would be a great way to do that! We have grown by leaps and bounds the past few months, and it doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon (crossing our fingers!: ) Seriously though, now is the time to partner with us!You can see our current rates here, and if you'd like more info, we'd be happy to send you our media kit that is chock full of all the juicy good stuff, like our detailed stats, who are readers are and what we're all about. We so look forward to hearing from you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And finally, I promised you a bathroom reveal this week, but I'll be honest, this has me stumped:

Notice anything? Yup, those ugly, exposed pipes under the sink are just killing me. My beautiful antique table turned vanity is being marred by the pipe's disgustingess.

We are trying to figure out a solution that doesn't include redoing all the plumbing (not happening- my hubs does have his limits).

Our first thought was to wrap the pipes in rope to make it a decorative feature, but I'm not sold on that idea. We're also toying around with the idea of building a small, removeable box, painting it the wall color, and then sliding it over the pipes. Ahhh, decisions, decisions! Thoughts? Until I figure this one out, we'll be saving the big reveal… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a great day and Happy Thursday!

If you're new around here, let me catch you up a bit… We're partnering with Stone Depot and EP Henry and building a patio DIY style-we're crazy and we know it…(sing to the tune of LMFAO). You can catch up on the progress posts here, here, and here.

So, here's where we were when we left off last week…

We had finished the base wall and we could finally move onto the patio pavers and the sitting wall. Speaking of the sitting wall…Take a look at that beauty! We're waiting on a few more wall blocks to be in stock and then it will be finished.

Okay, so after the base wall was done it was time to get moving on the patio itself. This post is going to be chock full of DIY Patio tips, because we learned a lot along the way! We laid down the geofabric and then we needed to fill the entire patio with stone.

See all that stone? Well, multiply it times four! We needed over 35 TONS of stone and yes, we carried it one wheelbarrow at a time.

I had thought Eric dropped a pile of stone on the grass and the wall, until he explained this little trick. Worked like a charm!

When you need to work on a patio for 5 weeks and you have to move 35 tons of stone, it's important to have help…

This picture gives you an idea of what the stone was used for. We needed to apply it two inches at a time, run the tamp, and repeat until we raised it up the 20ish inches that we needed.

This is more than a tip, it's a must. There's no way a patio of this size can be done by hand. Time for the heavy equipment!

The stone needed to be 3" below the height of the wall caps. That's tricky to do everywhere, but there's a trick that works really well… although it is tedious!
(**Please ignore the spelling error below! I do know how to spell achieve. Thanks!**)

I also should mention that we had to be creative with ways to entertain the kids while we spent so many hours working… The"tractor"-waterfall-rides were a huge hit. Let me just tell you that never in my life did I imagine I'd own anything made by John Deere and I especially didn't foresee having kids that love driving it around the yard! lol

Alright, back to business. I thought this was a great idea and it helped keep all the leveled stone in place while we moved to the sand.

Leveling the sand it a two person job, but it was quick and easy using this pro method. You lay down 1 inch pipes, fill the area with sand, drag a leveled board across the pipes, and it smoothly levels the area between the pipes.

Look at that smooth sand! Nice work boys! (and yes, I still refer to my hubs as a boy even after 10yrs of marriage)

After the sand, it was the moment we'd all been waiting for and I was ready with camera in hand!

I'll be back next week with our final update before the grand reveal, but until then, I need some help in the lighting department. I plan to have two lights flanking the door and then I need four pillar lights as well. I definitely want an industrial feel. So, can you help a sister out and leave any recommendations in the comments? THANKS!

Wondering about the flowers on the steps? They're wildflowers that my kiddos had picked for me as a surprise when I got home from the Haven Conference. I'm a lucky gal.

The patio is so close to being finished, I can almost taste it (or perhaps that's just the black lung from all the stone and dust!) Can't wait to show you the finished product!

P.S. If you missed our Haven Conference Recap you can check it out HERE- it was awesome!

Can you believe it's Monday already? I (Monica) had an awesome weekend with lots of family time and a whole day with my BFF as well! Today we have a special guest that we're super excited about, but first let me tell you about an event you should attend tonight!

Jess and I will be at the Chick-Fil-A in Quakertown Monday night supporting an amazing cause. Our friends are starting a ministry called Worthwhile Wear and its mission to to stop human trafficking and free girls from the sex slave trade. We'll be sharing all about this ministry on the blog soon, but for now, we'd love for you to join us at Chick-Fil-A Monday night anywhere from 5-7pm. Just let the cashier know you'd like to support Worthwhile Wear and 15% of your sale will go to the ministry.
We'd love to see a whole bunch of EC2 readers come out!
Monday, September 17th 5-7pm
Chick-Fil-A Quakertown PA
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Now, onto our awesome guest for today. Erika is part of the Dating Divas team. We've been huge fans for ages… Before Jess and I even considered starting a blog, we visited theirs to get awesome date night ideas. If you haven't checked it out before, you really should. Being a married gal isn't always a cake walk and they have so many ideas that can help bring you and your hubs closer together. We're truly honored to have Erika here today! Take it away…
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I'm so excited to be here at East Coast Creative sharing a fun family idea with you. I found this amazing site while I was browsing Pinterest for a fun Valentines idea and came across their Game of Love. So much fun! After seeing that post, I was hooked. I'm Erika and I'm one of the gals visiting today from The Dating Divas. We are a group of gals sharing ideas to strengthen marriages. Each week we share creative date ideas, marriage tips, quick and easy romance ideas, and SO much more. Often times we have everything ready for you, all you have to do is print off the free printables and go on the date.

Today, let's talk about some HOT TOPICS!

Today I want to share with you a fun family idea Corie came up with. We all cherish the time we spend eating dinner with our family each night. It is a great opportunity to sit, eat, and talk with your kids and husband. One night a week, you pull out a box of"Hot Topics." Pass the box around and each person takes out several questions. As you eat dinner, ask each other these unusual, fun, or interesting questions. You'll never believe that dinner could be SO MUCH FUN. Pick a night to pull out the box each week, and soon you'll have a fun family tradition to look forward to each week. You'll need to add to the questions each month (to keep them going,) but I have included a list to get your family started! These 15 questions will be the perfect start to the"Hot Topics" discussion at your dinner table. Your"Hot Topic" box can be made out of anything you have in your house. It is super easy and can be pulled together in a matter of minutes. Let me show you how… To make your"Hot Topic" box…

1. Find a box.
2. Decorate the box with scrapbook paper.
3. Download the"Hot Topic" list and cut out each question and place in the box.

4. Bring your box to dinner and start passing out the questions. To download your list of"Hot Topics" head over to our site and print away. What family traditions does your family enjoy during dinner? Thanks again for having me!
-Erika

Last week we mentioned that we've been really busy working on this Pepto Bismol pink room. Trust me, I love me some Pepto once in a while, but on the walls… not so much.
Does this guest room make you want to come and visit? I mean, look, it has it's own personal gym, cable TV, and extra pillows! What more could you want? We're talking 5 Stars Baby!

Ha! It's okay, I know the anonymous homeowners of this guest room and they don't mind a little teasing. Trust me, with how awesome the room is looking, last night Jess and I told them that we definitely want a sleepover once it's all finished!
The grand reveal with come on April 24th, but until then here are some major spoilers!
Drool-worthy hardware We are sooo crushing on the furniture upscale we did. It was incredibly simple, but makes a BIG impact!

Perfect Colors Have you ever walked into the paint department and felt like certain colors were just screaming for you to notice them? That's completely how this pallette came together. Jess and I met at Home Depot one night and honestly within 3 minutes we had our minds made up.

Umm Gears? Just wait and see. We're actually not 100% sure about all the details for this project, but we know it's going to be awesome. As we told the homeowners…"Trust Us"

Industrial Flair Notice a trend? One of the coolest things about this room is the awesome juxtaposition of styles. We're pairing some funky modern pieces with an amazing 18th Century find. Can't wait to see it all come together!

Honoring Service The homeowners really wanted to incorporate this picture of their grandfather, who served our country. I'm totally a non-emotional gal, but this picture sort of gets to me. One of my good friends Jane, would be so proud of me (she's uber emotional and loves all things military)!

Did We Mention Juxtaposition? Haha! From Army to Blue Birds in a single bound. Don't worry, we're not crazy (okay, maybe a tad) and this will all work out nicely!

Examples of Love & Commitment We have a very cool gallery project for the room. The homeowners (which btw it's really weird to refer to them as"the homeowners" and not just Connie and Mark… Oops! Did I just accidentally reveal their secret identity!) Anyhow… The homeowners had a collection of old wedding pictures from both sides of their parents and grandparents. They've had some amazing examples of what it takes to make a marriage work for the long run. They're going to have a special place to recognize that commitment and how God has blessed those couples in awesome ways.

Have you heard Jason Mraz's new song? I Won't Give Up is one of my top ten favorites right now and it's a great reminder that the road isn't always easy, but it's always worth it. Go listen to it and I'll warn you right now, that it will be stuck in your head, but it's a pretty good thing to be singing all day!
So how's that for some spoilers? What do you think of the direction we're headed in? Did you love the Song as much as I did?

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