Good Bye Rent!

Our last rent payment came out 15 days ago...and it feels pretty good. To know we'll have that extra $800 for December, to use on kitchen stuff. It is nice to not have to worry about rent anymoe...although there is that similarly pesky thing, called a mortgage we do have to worry about. At least that is getting us somewhere though.
 As I was sitting in my livingroom yesterday, half boiling, because they have the heat cranked - and we have no in unit controlls - and half freezing, becuase we had to door open trying to cool the room down; I got to thinking about all the things that I would definitely NOT miss after we've moved out. As I was thinking, someone, somewhere started to smoke, and it was wafting in through our open window. So, close the window, go back to boiling, and add another dislike to my list!
  Here are 10 things we will gladly say goodbye to in about a month.

10. Having to jockey for a covered parking spot in the winter - I park down there year round, so I feel it is my right to have whatever pull through spot - other people apparently don't feel the same. The trick is, if you have a spot, DON'T LEAVE, becuase if you do, your spot will be gone. (hello garage)

9. After you finally do manage to find a spot, it is a bit of a walk into the apartment - not so far that you're needing a rest, but far enough that there's plenty of time to slip and fall on your ass, spilling your grocery bags all over the parking lot, injuring your pride for a good 10 minutes, becuase that's how long it takes you to pick up your groceries. (Not that I would know from experience or anything) (Hello short walk from garage to house)

8. Now that you've picked yourself (and your groceries) of the ground, and continue to do that stupid slip, slide, shuffle (you know the one I'm talking about) to the door, it takes you two keys to get in. You have to put all your groceries down, then open the door. That's why places like Price Chopper/No Frills are good, becuase then you can just kick the box down the hall to your home, where you use the second key to get inside. (Bringing groceries in sucks no matter where you live, that's why you make your big stong husband go with you on "big" shopping days, so he can "prove he's a man" and carry in all the bags himself.)

7. As I mentioned earlier, having no heat control in the unit. They turned the heat on bright and early, and we have been slowing cooking ever since. They turned the heat on when we still had the airconditioner running! (Hello heat/cooling controll)

6. I order stuff online. I find a ton of great deals, so instead of buying something in some store, I be reclusive and order from the comfort of my home. While these packages would fit in a normal mailbox, they do not fit in our impossibly small mailslot, so I have to make an extra trip (if I'm not home to let them in - which I'm usually not) to go pick up my package. Something sort of trivial, but something that bothers me all the same. (Hello "no need to sign" sticker going on my window, so packages can just be left on the porch)

5. Being on the mainfloor has it's own, unique set of issues. For instance...no one uses your front door. If we didn't use it to keep out the miscreants, then really it would serve no purpose. Becuase every one just hops our pathetic little shrub fence, and comes in our patio door. That erks me...but Jason likes that he doesn't have to get up to let someone in. Ummm...hello?! Yes you do. Our door is unlocked, they buzz my cell and I let them in vs. knock, knock, knock, at the patio...get up, take out the stupid stick, unlock the door, then open it. The latter is a lot more moving if you ask me! He probably doens't seem to mind, because it's alwasy me getting up to open it haha. (Hello front door that gets used - and we even get a doorbell, what what!?)

4. Not being able to leave windows open when we're not home...it sucks. We had a number of days this summer that were nice and breezy, and dind't need to have the air conditioner running...but since we're right off the parking lot, easy to break into, we couldn't leave our windows open to air out the place. We didn't have to pay for the use of the air conditioner so it wasn't as big a deal, just more of a pain in the butt. (Hello central air and back yard windows)

3. On a few of those nice days that I was home, you can't leave the windows open for too long, becuase some person with a death wish starts smoking above us, and it gets sucked in, and I start choking, and it's not a pretty sight. I put up with second hand smoke enough with my dad, I don't need it from you random stranger, thank you very much! (Hello neighbours that are far enough away!)

2. Speaking of neighbours, the ones we have upstairs should be nominated for worlds loudest, everything. I don't think they realize they live in an apartment. If my broom handle was long enough, and not made out of flimsy plastic I totally would have banged on the ceiling almost daily. They are loud walkers, droppers, music players, talkers, pee-ers, love makers. They have an annoying 8(ish) year old son, and two giant dogs, that just about catapult themselves over the balcony when anyone walks by. Good friggin' rittance! (Hello no upstairs neighbours - no upstairs at all really haha)

It was a toss up between the McLouderson's upstairs and what won out for the #1 thing we're looking forward to saying bye bye too. It was a close race, but in the end, we just couldn't wait to escape... 

1. OUTLETS THAT OUR PLUGS FALL OUT OF!!! (We have two in the whole place that we are confident we can plug something in and leave it alone - one is in the bathroom, and the other is behind the couch, so clearly not very practical) Jason's phone charger has to be plugged into the bottom in the bedroom becuase it's lighter, then mine above it, so when mine falls out a bit it can rest against his charger and still charge haha...but be careful not to search to fiercly for the end that goes in your phone, because then it might fall outta the wall :S I have also been happily cooking something in the crok-pot, when I bump the stove, and the cord falls out. Twice that's happend without me realizing it - then we have to wait hours longer for our food to be ready. I am done wiggling, and jiggling, and taping and praying until it works. (Hello new recepticals! Also, hello enough outlets in a room!) 

I don't really think there is anything I'll miss about renting, and our apartment in general. It was a good experience (for Jason especially) getting used to paying bills and taking care of ourselves...you know being an "adult" in general. But we are definitely ready to move on to bigger and better things. 

Update: Jason doesn't feel as though he is being properly represented here. He says he could care less about packages and letting people in the patio (told ya) what he is most looking forward to is more space. Not so we will feel less cramped, but becasue that way he can "party" while I "sleep" and it won't bother me. You see I have been known to turn all wicked witch from the west when it's 2am and I am trying to sleep, but he has friends out in the livingroom making noise & being boisterous & partaking in all sorts of shenanigans. He doesn't like that I come out yelling...I don't like that he is disturbing my sleep. It was an impasse if you will. When we move, he has plenty of options...I can go to bed upstairs and he can be pretty much anywhere (other than the livingroom, right below) making noise, that I shouldn't hear. That is Jason's #1 thankful to be moving reason...although he says he is equally excited (ok, maybe not EQUALLY...but I count anything he admits any sort of happiness to a victory) about the better quality outlets haha.

Mood Board Monday: Celebrity Inspiration

I want to start making the mood boards a more regular appearance around here, because searching out things is fun...and I end up finding lots of things that I want to add to our house as we redo things (which I suppose may not be a good thing haha - end up costing me lots of moolah!) Although, considering we're using Jennifer Aniston's clothes for inspiration (which she was wearing on set of her movie Wanderlust) this whole room probably costs a third of what just that jacket costs! Lets take a look at the celebrity inspiration for today:

 

The thick leather jacket, swede cowboy boots, bold black rimmed glasses...I love it...wish I could pull it off...but alas, I have not the style, or the money, or the legs :( It's a pretty basic outfit, doesn't really come with a bunch of embellishments, but it is a great jumping off point for a room. Out of my "magic room decider hat" I pulled living room. HA! Perfect, although it would've been nice for something like bathroom to pop up, just to make it a bit harder haha. I'll take living room though...leather & swede, pretty traditional living room pairings. Here's what I came up with:

So, whatcha think? It's fairly manly, it'd look pretty good in a mancave too eh? I wanted to go with the black and white colour scheme, while still trying to keep the feel of the room warm & cozy. Paint the walls white, and go with black for the trim...gasp, what? Black trim? Yes, black trim...its works, check out how it looks here and here if you don't believe me.

1. First up, the spot to house the TV. This is a great stand, with covered storage, which is a bonus. You can get the complete plans to make it yourself from ana-white.com. You can make it yourself, save a ton of money, and can brag to everyone that you're the bees knees becuase you make your own shiznat! Obviously, to fit in with the black and white "theme" we've got going on, paint it a nice glossy black.

2. Break up the dark, heavy couch & TV stand with two white armless chairs, like this one from Target. It gets bonus points for being called Becca! I would not be above buying a chair just because it's named after me. (3)Accessorize the chair with a brown suede pillow like this one from Etsy, and a nice cozy throw, like this brown & white reversible one. Swap out some of the dark pillows on the couch with some lighter, white ones. If you want to make this room a little less "manly" than pillows are a great way to do it, because you can add some ruffles, or a bold pattern, to instantly, girly it up a bit!

4. To break up some of the monotony of the black and white (and to tie into a different part of Jen's outfit) a fun recycled denim rug adds some colour, and a nice feeling for your feet. Plus, think of all the jeans that are being saved from a long, sad, lonely life at a landfill...and since it's from the kids department it's a LOT cheaper than you'd normally pay - for something in the same size.

5. I love this coffee table, it has modern, coppery coloured metal legs (drawing from the copper coloured zippers on Jen's jacket) and the reclaimed wood top is more on the rustic side - and also has the added bonus of helping the environment. Reclaimed = happy earth. The top can be stained a dark colour, left light, or even painted white.

6 & 7. This side table, and round light (both from West Elm) are fun, and with the wood tones, help to balance out all the black and white (much like Jen's boots). Plus the long, lean shade is a lot like the long, lean Jen.

8. The couch...it can't really be called a living room without having some sort of a couch can you? This couch from Teppermans, fits this room perfectly, the base is black leather, and the cushions are a micro-suede...nifty. The cushion colour options also include black, so even more perfect. PLUS (and this is my favourite part) it's a sectional with a chaise lounger. I.Love! I would like a sectional with a chaise in every room of the house. Can't you just imagine getting out of the shower and toweling off while sitting on a chaise? It takes all the danger out of drying yourself when standing! Hehe, ok, so maybe I wouldn't put one in the bathroom, but I really do love sectionals.

9. Last up, we have a bold piece of metal art that will hang over the couch, and is again pulled from Jen's zippers, and ties in with the base of the coffee table. One last piece to to help tie different aspects of the room together.

So there we go. Thank you Ms. Anniston for some room makeover inspiration.

Kitchen Files: Inspiration

Since we have officially been approved for everything now, and just have to “patiently” wait until December 22 for our closing date to come, to do our first (of many) happy dances in our new house, I thought it would be a great time to share with you some inspiration for our kitchen.  I knew what I wanted to do before I even started looking for inspiration, (can it even be called inspiration then? I think so) so it made it a bit easier for me to find things to draw from haha. We are going for a clean look, with straight lines, and crisp finishes, and a light airy feeling.



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At first glimpse that last picture looks more like a swimming pool than a sink, but it has counter space on either side of it. It makes me nauseous just thinking about how much something like this would cost :S

Aside from the stainless pool in the kitchen, you can see, there’s a pretty common theme…white cabinets, black counter tops, darker wood floors, stainless appliances, etc. What I learned from all my “inspiration” pictures is, I want the cabinets to go to the ceiling (and since we don’t have any sort of bulkhead it makes sense to go all the way babay!), and I want an apron front sink. Other than those new revelations, my “research” just proved to me that what I was thinking makes sense. Three cheers for when things work out in your favour! Now research is great fun, because you get to pour over pretty pictures, and pick images for your ultimate dream kitchen, it’s fun to dream, I love it. I spent hours at a time for a few days, trying to find pictures of things that I was dreaming up in my head. Who needs TV when there’s sites like Pinterest around!? The difficulty lies in trying to take your visions, and dreams and turn them into reality. I also noticed that I liked the look of the darker floors better, but didn’t really like the idea of putting in hardwood, mainly because it’s so expensive. I toyed around with the idea of using reclaimed wood, but then the whole, “where the hell do we get 250sq ft of reclaimed wood” stopped me in my tracks. I had come across cork flooring in my research and really liked the idea. It seemed like a better choice for a kitchen floor because it has a little bit of cushion to it, so when you’re standing on it for long periods of time there isn’t as much strain to your back & knees (and since my knees & back are already that of an 80 year old, bring on the cushion!) and as a nice added bonus, it’s a green product, because it’s made with recycled material.  That was our first reality check. So here are some ideas we have for making our dreams into a "reality". In my research to find cork flooring I like, I realized that it can be VERY expensive...a few places I looked were over $10/sq.ft. YIKES! that would cost waaaaaay too much. In the end the one I liked best ended up being one of the cheapest.

Molta cork in Moka was my favourite. For a few reasons, I liked the darker colour of it, and it was more "mottled", but the best thing about it was that each "tile" was a rectangle, and looked like wood planks. At $5.40/sq.ft. it's still fairly expensive, so we're hoping to be able to find it on sale, but even if we can't we feel confident that is a perfectly worthwhile investment. Not to mention the only things we found cheaper were this ugly (and hard) tile, or laminate - and we're not about to put laminate in the kitchen. (It isn't good to put a floating floor in a space like a kitchen)

Next, we'll move to appliances, becuase those are the easiest to shop for, you can get them pretty much anywhre...I still find it odd you can buy appliances from Future Shop & Best Buy. We new right off the bat that we didn't want a side by side fridge (the freezer space & layout was our issue), so we decided that it was the french door style that would best suit us. Moving on from there, we knew we didn't want to have a water or ice dispenser in the door, becuase they eat up a ton of room  - plus we're not that lazy that we can't make our own ice haha. So, our two favourites were the GE 22.1 c.ft stainless model;



And the next is the LG 22.7 model.

 The pictures are both from the Home Depot website. Yeah, I know they look pretty much the same...but they do have some subtle differences. Colour is the first, you wouldn't really think that buying different brands of stainless would matter, but it does, because each brand has a slightly different colour to them...so if we can get all the same brand of appliances it would be ideal. The other difference lies in the freezer...the GE version has wire shelves in the freezer, whereas the LG one has solid shelves - which I would prefer, that way if you have an accident on the top shelf it isn't going to be dripping down below, and they're easier to clean. The biggest difference is in their price...the GE one is $400 cheaper than the LG one - and I think I like the handles better anyway haha.

Next up the stove. Not that Jason ever does any cooking, but he agreed that we should get a gas range. I have alwasy wanted a gas stove, so I didn't really care what he said, I was going to get one anyway haha. Again we both like what GE & LG had to offer the best;

(GE stainless slide-in model)

(LG stainless model)

(Again both pictures are from the Depot) Jason prefers the look of the slide in model, becuase it has more of a "built-in" look to it. I don't really care either way, although the little tower part will help with splashes and what not, which will block some of the splashes from going on the wall haha. If you go back up to one of the inspiration pictures it show a stainless slide in with a stainless "backsplash" going up to the hood, maybe we could do something like that? Other than they're pretty much the same.

While any dishwasher would be a 1000% imrpovement over our current dishwasherless situation, we aren't going for a simple "traditional" dishwasher. Jason came home raving about this three drawer dishwasher, and I thought he was crazy, we argued over the fact that if there was three drawers there was no way in hell any plates would fit unless it was super tall, but he kept saying that's what he'd just installed somewhere. What -EVER! So, then last week when we were appliance window shopping at Lowes, I discovered this:

It was a dishwasher that pulled out like a drawer, instead of flipped down like usual. AND each drawer could be controlled independantly, which means if you only have a half load, you can just do the top drawer. So, Steph and I excitedly ran over to Jason and Mike, and pulled them over to show them this awesome new invention we'd discovered. To which Jason says, "that's exactly what I was telling you about before!" "OHHHH" - lightbulb moment...learly he needs to work on explaining things better haha. It is beautiful...and we both want it...so this will probably be one of our biggest splurges...because this little baby got us hook, line & sinker!

I'll leave off (becuase this post is getting a bit out of controll in length haha - plus there'll be seperate posts on cabinets & counter top) with our paint choice.

It is called "Stormy Monday" by Benjamin Moore. Since we are wanting black counter tops and white cabnitry, this milky gray colour is a great choice to tie the two together, and keep the kitchen light feeling. Since I got a Kitchen-Aid artisan mixer (in apple red) as a shower gift, and it will be displayed on the counters, we're going to have red accents.

The first house tour

OK, in a bid to tide all those over who haven’t seen the house yet, and won’t get to see the house until we get possession, I have set up a sort of virtual tour for you. Floorplaner.com is a site that makes it easy to design the floor plan of your house (or whatever dream house you have in your head), and it allows you to easily visualize the changes you want to make. Dragging a line to see where a wall can go is a heck of a lot easier than taking a sledge to said wall haha. I used floor planner with every house we went through to help me visualize how I would make changes – and Jason made fun of me every step of the way – he’s just jealous that he’s not as cool as me. Now that we actually have a house that we’ll be moving into, it was even more fun to plan out our changes.

First up, we have the main floor as it currently is. As you can see, there are two front doors…the door into the living room is the original front door to the house, and where the small front porch is, the front door into the family room (the converted garage) is the main front door. The colours on the floors are the best representation I can get of what the lovely carpets look like…yes, there is that much blue! The opening from the family room into the kitchen is actually some crazy half ramp, half step combination, which just begs the question of, “WHY?” Why choose to make a ramp at all, why not just do a step? Or the opposite, a ramp and no step? I just don’t know why you’d want to attempt both haha. The kitchen really is that small, which again brings up the question of why??? Why only have a kitchen take up 6ft x 5.5ft in a room that is 10ft x 20ft? The fridge & stove were sized somewhere in between trailer & apartment size, and you wouldn’t be able to get appliances even close to that size now. (They also have some ugly, random built-in thing goin’ on in there.) The bathroom is very small and poorly laid out, which is unfortunate because it’s the only 3pc bathroom in the house. (there isn’t double sinks, that was merely to show the size of the vanity). You have about 9in of space between the tub and the vanity, which I suppose would help with our ballerina style spins that we’ve been trying so hard to master.  The door to the basement is at the end of the stairs close to the back door (but it confused me when I put the door beside the stairs – I kept wanting to think it was some fun magical transportation door halfway up the stairs. There isn’t really too much else on this floor that is noteworthy…the bedrooms are fairly small, while the laundry room is ridiculously large.

I’m not going to bother showing the basement, because it’s the same as the main floor, but unfinished, so there’s no walls up (with the exception of the main support down the middle)
  

 

The upstairs was an addition they added over the converted garage, and it just houses the master bedroom and a random 2pc bathroom. Everyone say it with me now, “WHY???” Why, when you were building an addition, would you only put a 2pc bathroom in, why not splurge on the extra $300 to add (even a crappy) corner shower? I can’t complain too much though, because at least I won’t have to attempt to go down the (fairly steep, and turny) stairs the 9 times I need to pee in the middle of the night. (this rendering of the bathroom is being slightly generous on size…there isn’t quite that much room between the toilet and the vanity.) Not too much going on here at the moment, but it is a good size, so that is a plus.

I hope that helps some people see what it looks like, and what we have to do, to make it ours. Kitchen is obviously first on that list of ours, because it is not only not functional in it’s current state (we’ve asked them to remove the appliances, and our plates won’t even fit in the upper cupboards!), but it’s bloody ugly haha. To quote my favourite, feisty, red-head, Ginny Weasley, “I’m not wearing that, it’s ghastly”…and no, I’m not being ridiculous when I say I want to wear my kitchen. I’m going to be spending more time in there than I will in most my of my clothes, so I think it’s a perfectly logical jump. I’ll take all the cricket chirps I hear as my cue to leave, tomorrow I’ll show you the altered layouts of all the changes we want to make.

 

Our first moving goal: 100 things

As Sherry, from Young House Love stated here and did here, I am going to attempt to get rid of 100 things before we move! Either by selling on kijiji, or donating, or just plain garbage, we will get rid of 100 things. When I told Jason my plan he didn't think we (and by we I mean, I - because everyone knows he won't help haha) could do it. So, I told him that I could get rid of 100 things without even having to leave his closet hehe...he didn't really like that idea, (maybe that's how I could get him to help hehe, threaten to throw out his shirts haha)
 I already took a bunch of Goodwill stuff (clothes) with us when we went to Cuba, so I won't be able to use those, but I'm sure we will be able to come up with 100 things (if not more) before our closing date of Dec 22. Wish me luck! Anyone is welcome to come over at anytime to help me with my goal, I am not above asking for help haha...hint hint Mer ;)

We have lift off!

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week (I know all 5 of you that read, were wondering what was up) but we were busy buying a house!!!!!! We put an offer in, they countered, we countered, and they ACCEPTED! WAHOOOOO! So, now all that comes in the waiting to hear if we’re able to get a gigantic pile of money, putting us into crazy amounts of debt, that we really don’t even get to hold in our clammy little hands, to even pretend it’s ours! That is what’s causing us the most tummy flips, is just thinking about the debt that we’ll be in. But, it’s a good sort of debt, a “you’re moving up in the world” sort of debt…debt that is easy straightforward to pay off. (which we plan on doing in under 20 years.) On the flip side of gloom and doom debt, comes the extremely exciting task of updating our little diamond in the rough...and believe you me we have a loooooooooong list of things that we plan to do with it. Some right away (like the kitchen), some within the first year (like the bathroom/bedroom upsize), and a lot that will be done as we have the time and money to do them. So, here's an idea of all that we have planned for our special little place.

  (Note, that these are in no order of which we want to get them done...just as I could think of things hah)

The House "want to-do" List

INSIDE:

• completely redo the kitchen (to be completed by my birthday)
• add a half wall in the living room - to define a proper entry space (when we're doing kitchen)
•  move the laundry room to the basement
•  bump out bathroom and bedroom 1 to make them both larger (to be completed by the end of summer)
•  get rid of linen closet to make closet in bedroom 2 larger (we'll be adding significantly more storage in the bathroom when we redo it)
•  replace the grody carpet in each room (probably with laminate)
•  close off "old" front door in dining room
•  replace all windows (some will need to be done soon, but most appear to be on the newer side)
•  rip up carpet on the stairs & refinish (however we may have to) - needs to be done for both sets of stairs
•  Redo master "suite" to make it more sweet (hehe)
•  Replace furnace (this needs to be done right away) - and the forced air needs to be added upstairs at this stage
•  move water heater (& softener) over to where furnace & electrical panel are (so they're all in one space for the "utility room" down the line) - Jase also wants to get out of the lease for the water heater & install our own (which apparently has to happen right away haha - good thing he's a plumber eh?)
•  Finish basement (adding "utility" room, "mancave", playroom, 3pc bathroom, 4th bedroom & family room)
•  Fix cold air return vents, by making them flush to the wall
•  Blow spray insulation into the attic & basement  

 

OUTSIDE:

•  Fill the few small foundational cracks
• Get rid of out of control bushes at front & back of house
• Prune tree in front yard so it doesn't block so much of the house
• Power wash front patio
• Take off awful awnings
• Tear down tiny, crappy, astro-turfed porch off dining room
• Fix the converted garage so it blends better with the rest of the house
• Build a larger porch off entry (as opposed to opposite end of house where it is now)
• Redo driveway (pave it? instead of the patio stones)
• Remove old, rusted TV antenna & dilapidated laundry umbrella
• Make the raised garden bed usable again (and perhaps even grow a few things, har-har)
• Put up a fence at the end of yard (possibly on other side also)
• New roof (shouldn't have to be done for around 5 yrs) (garage will also need new roof)
• Put remote opener on garage door

So, as you can see we have some big, big plans for this place (and I even gave you the Cole's Notes version hehe). We plan on this being either our forever home - or until we outgrow it home. So, all that we have planned will be for over the course of a number of years. We are SOOOOOOOOO excited to get started, and can't wait to keep everyone updated with our reno's, demo's, diy's and just all around fun (and probably a lot more not so fun) stuff we're doing!

P.S. We get possession Dec 22, so everyone is more than welcome to come to our "trash-the-kitchen" party! 
 

Etsy Six-Pack

Alrighty, round two of the Etsy Six-Pack is a collection of some of my favourite shops. Most of which I have ordered from and totally recommend. So, here's this weeks eye candy...enjoy!

First up we have Ananya. She makes the most delightful dresses and skirts...and the best part? They're cheap. Not in the Oprah's favourite things cheap - you know, where she says it's cheap, but costs a bajillion dollars - actual people cheap! Like those dresses with the  adorable ruffled neck line & pockets, are only $60!

Woodstorming is a great little shop that specializes in hand made wooden goodies. I ordered a ring box from them, and it unfortunately got broke in the mail, and they shipped me a new one! It was excellent! I think the reason I love this shop so much, is because it reminds me of all the things my Papa used make, and I will no longer get to receive & enjoy, since he has no shop :(

Harry Potter fans (or those lucky enough to know any hard core HP fans like me) Celeste Fritatta is a great place to get your notebooks for all those Hogwarts classes you'll be taking. I think potions might be my favourite...because really, Professor Snape is a hard ass, so a pretty book will help take my mind off him.

I could seriously buy just about everything from quality covers...I have already ordered that ruffled laptop bag in gray, I cannot wait until it shows up! I'm gonna start toting that laptop everywhere I go, just to look cute hehe. They have covers for just about anything, in just about every colour and style. I want one for my phone. (hint, hint for Christmas hehe)

Cyberoptix is who we ordered the guys ties from for our wedding. And they were SUCH a hit. Everyone loved the crazy funky designs of them. Ties are such a fun way to add some drama to an outfit. Jason - who everyone knows hates getting dressed up like a fat kid hates veggies - loved them so much he actually voluntarily ordered two more for other weddings we had. You can trick your man into dressing up by distracting them with punchy designs, it's flippin' amazing!

Taking it in a completely different direction (you know, not so homemade - and more old) LaPomme somehow manages to find uniquely sweet antiques that would look good in any room, no matter what your decor. I love the "love" pears, which come in 3 different sizes...I have many ideas on how to incorporate them into our home haha.