It's the little things

Home improvement project #4,964,154. Get mops and brooms off the floor. DONE!

This looks like an easy task to accomplish, but it took me almost an hour. Why? Because I had no clue how to get an anchor in the wall. I'm sure that's a simple home maintenance/repair piece of information, but I honestly couldn't figure out how I was going to use a screwdriver to get a plastic anchor in the wall. Then the light bulb (compact fluorescent, of course) went off and I realized why I own, but have never used, a set of drill bits. Out came the cordless drill, the drill bits and viola! done!

This looks so much more put together than how it was. All these things were propped up against the dryer and every time I wanted to clean the floors I had to either clean around this stuff or move it entirely. Being that I'm lazy to the 2nd power, I usually cleaned around these. Not longer! Now they are off the floor and hidden behind the pantry door.

I am SO patting myself on the back right now.

A new place to rest my head. I mean my ass.

Here's a tale of a sofa. Or several sofas actually.

My first ever sofa that I owned as a grown up was this ugly dark grey sectional monstrosity that my then husband and I got at a garage sale for $100. It was hideous and ended up, after several months, being chucked into the dump. I was not sad one bit to see that sofa go. An interesting, and embarrassing, fact about that sofa, or rather the check we wrote for that sofa. It bounced. Like a rubber ball on cement. $100 was A LOT of money 13 years ago. My paychecks were maybe $150 a week and that was a stretch. I didn't mean to bounce the check it just happened. But don't worry about the dude we wrote the check to. He promptly turned the check over to the D.A.'s office and I was treated like a common criminal. Dude got paid his $100. I'm classy, I know.

The next couch we had was this awful maroon sofa bed that had stripes of other fugly colors. It was a very preppy sofa that was handed down from my Aunt to me. It was stiff and ugly and HEAVY. That sofa followed me in 2 apartments and into my first rental house. It was in good condition but it was so not my style. I ended up passing the sofa along to my then boyfriend when he moved away. I'll have to ask him what ever happened to it.

To replace the maroon sofa I actually bought a REAL! NEW! PRETTY! sofa. The boyfriend who acquired the maroon sofa came with me to locate the perfect place to sit my rear on. We went to, the now defunct, Montgomery Ward and I spotted the sofa of my dreams in less than 2 minutes. I'm so embarrassed to even post a picture of it now, because, well, it's really really IN YOUR FACE with color. See here:

That's my Derick, then 10 and one of my cats, Honey.

See? It's really really bright. And covered with flowers. Which was my thing for a long time. If it was covered with sunflowers and/or red, it must reside in my home. I KNOW. It's bad. But I will say, that sofa was the most comfortable sofa I've ever had. I took many a nap on it and it treated me well. That sofa was left behind when I bought my first house and my brother moved into the house I was renting. He thought so highly of the sofa that he stuck it in the garage and his friend's sat on it when they went to smoke and drink. It was eventually given away to some person on Freecycle.

I actually purchased the matching sunflower chair and ottoman at the same time I got the sofa. I just sold that chair on Saturday at a garage sale for $65. I asked $125 and people practically rolled on the ground laughing at me for asking such a ridiculously high amount of money. I'll have to do a post on that later.

To replace the 'in your face' sofa, I purchased this:

I got this sofa at Ikea. I LOVED it at first sight. When I sat on it, it was super comfy and it looked so much more grown up then my sunflower sofa. It was over $900 so I had to buy the pieces at different times. This was about 3 years ago and $900 was still a lot of money, but I could manage to save up by now. I got the chaise part of the sofa first and everyone who sat on it just love it. It was so comfortable and cute. Then I got the actual sofa part. And my world came crashing down. It was like sitting on a brick. HORRIBLE. I hated my sofa that I had spent so much money on. I know exactly what happened, too. When I went to sit on it in the store I was so excited to get a new, stylish sofa that my brain turned my ass feelers off and told me it was comfortable even though it wasn't. The chaise part of the sofa really wasn't bad, but overall it was a total waste of money. When my parent's got new furniture and offered me their old stuff I promptly sold the Ikea couch on Craigslist for $300. I was never happier to see a sofa go.

Up next, the parental sofa. It's beige, leather and OH SO 80'S. It even has a tiered back rest. It served its purpose very nicely, even if it is ugly. I took a few nice naps here and it resisted baby spit up and preteen messes. It was free so I just can't complain too much. Sometime this week it's being picked up by a former co worker that just moved into her first apartment with her new husband of 3 days. They are young and don't have much of anything. So I'm glad it will find a home. But I'm even more glad that it won't be in my home.

And now, finally, the moment I've been leading up to. I've been searching for a sofa for several weeks now. I decided I'd look online to find the style I wanted and then see if I could find an actual sofa in the area I could go and sit on for a long time to make absolutely sure it was comfortable. I was getting so discouraged at the selection. I've picked a style recently that I just love and I knew I'd just know when I found the perfect sofa. I'd hear angels singing or something. Late Saturday night I was browsing the vast Internet looking at a million more sites with sofas and I found THE ONE. (It's about time I found THE ONE. Even if it isn't a man.) I swear, I heard angels singing and harps and Jesus spoke, too. I'm sure of it.

This morning I made my way to Macy's of all places and bought a new sofa and chair. Don't worry, I sat in the sofa for a long time and I even laid down on it to make sure I could nap comfortably. I took pillows from a neighboring sofa to see what this sofa would look like with a throw pillow, or two. I walked away and came back to make absolutely sure that I was in love with this new sofa. I sat on a bunch of other sofas and knew it was THE ONE. I got the matching chair, too. It's the perfect style and super comfortable. It looks nice and the price was right. And I got 6 months no interest. I'm a tad excited, can you tell?

I can't get a very good picture of the sofa and chair because the way the site it set up, but here's a small photo.

The sofa and the chair are both in the 'Pear' color. The chair I got was the one on the right, in brown. I liked the brown chair, but I don't have a single thing in brown and I didn't want to redecorate the whole living room for one piece of furniture.

I can't wait to get my new grown up, gorgeous sofa and chair in a few weeks. I'm so looking forward to many nights watching tv and just sitting.

Here's to comfy sofas and finally finding a good, stylish one that I love.

Happy Momma's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there. Today is your day, and I hope you enjoy it and are able to relax and be pampered a little.

I really want to write a another bitchy post.

Here's a list of things that are making me happy right now. I so need to do this to keep myself from writing a post about STILL BEING SICK and why I cried all day Sunday.

• My new entry way 'sideboard'. It's beautiful.
• Vacation time. Next Friday I get almost a month off. I won't even know what to do with myself.
• My herb garden. I have yet to take a single picture, but I intend to. Eventually. I'm growing cilantro, rosemary, Italian parsley, oregano and mint. It's totally awesome to cook with fresh herbs that don't cost an arm and a leg.
• My lunch for today. Leftover homemade baked fish sticks.
• And lastly, my Oleander plant that didn't die and is slowly coming back to life.

(Add this post to the lamest of all posts in the entire history of blogging.)

Saturday night dinner

Two heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, good quality olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and a touch of sea salt = Perfection

It's like a huge light bulb just went off in my head.

I check out Apartment Therapy every few days or so. I love seeing what people do with their homes and getting tips and information. Since I've been home all week with the crud, I've had some more time to peruse the vast Internet.

As I was going through the above website I came across a set of Flickr pictures and this person had posted pictures of her before and after living room. She had just completed something called a 'Cure'. After some quick research it seems that a 'Cure' is an 8 week long venture into investing into your home. Here's what it actually says:

The goal? To invest in our own homes through either elbow grease, money or both and make our own homes beautiful, healthy and organized.

What a concept!!! I swear, this 'Cure' thing has opened my eyes up. I've seen a bunch of photos on Flickr of before and after shots and WOWZA! it amazes me what people can do in 8 weeks. But ya know what, I bet I can do the same thing.

Remember that piece of furniture I found? I'm starting there with my entryway hallway. It's boring and plain and I hate it. It needs color and pizzaz and a function. On Saturday I plan to go look at some Mid Century Modern furniture and I hope to find something for the entryway. It might be the piece of furniture on Craigslist, or it might be something else. But I must LOVE it, otherwise I'll pass.

That's my big problem. I have too much crap. If I liked something I would buy it and then I'd get bored with it. I need to find things I truly love and can't live without. Things that will make me happy to come home.

It sounds so odd but I really feel like a light bulb went off and I finally get HOW to do a home improvement project. It only took me almost 3 years of being a homeowner to figure it out. Sheesh!

Oh, and I think I finally have a furniture style that I adore. Mid Century Modern. I didn't mean to like it, I swear! I kept coming across the style and really enjoyed the way it looks. It's obviously retro but with clean lines. I think I'm in love.

Edited to add:
Turns out that during the 'Cure' you buy yourself flowers once a week, I think. I suppose that's to make you feel more alive in your home. AND! And you make a new recipe once a week, too. How awesome is that! I love this concept. Make your home a place you LOVE to be in, reward yourself with fresh flowers and a home cooked meal. I've ordered the book that talks all about this and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Then I can start talking before and after photos!

I know I sound like a crazed lunatic. I blame it on not being able to sleep beau's of the drugs. I'm totally wired and it's 1am and WAAAY past my bedtime.

Tell me what you think.

I'm on the prowl for a credenza or some sort of entry way table that has room for storage. Currently I have a sofa table that's not doing any storage duties save for the one crappy drawer that holds random screwdrivers and misc junk.

I looked on a ton of websites like IKEA and Walmart and CB2 and Target and even Freecycle. I finally ended up on Craigslist and I think I found it and I want to know what you think.

Click here to see the listing.

I love the unfussiness of it and the color is so warm. I'd probably change the pulls, though. It's just about the perfect length for my large entry way.

What do you think? Worth $275? Or should I pass?