Gallery wall update

So it's been a busy few weeks but I've been slowly tweaking my gallery wall along the way and I am finally to a point where I think I like it and might let the wall have a rest.
Here is the before:

And the afters:

I moved a few things around and made space for Mr. M! YAY It's really one of those things that just happens over time I think. It's hard to find the PERFECT arrangement the first time around. And, who knows- i might still add a few things- I have been wondering about putting something small on the right side down low by P's childhood picture. . .might throw something up to see.  I might even move Mr. M down there- I still haven't decided if I love him where he is or not. What do you think about Mr M's location? Opinions are always welcome, although not always followed ;)

There is no wrong way to go about it and it is so easy to fix if you decide you don't like it, so there are no excuses! Go try it for yourself!

breakfast room drapes

We are getting breakfast room drapes folks!!! Get excited. I've been looking for a while and after searching for just the right thing-I realized I was going to have to order the fabric and have drapes made. So I took the plunge- I ordered my fabric (through http://www.fabric.com/) and it should be on it's way shortly! YAY!

If you haven't already noticed, our whole house is pretty much blues, tans and browns of some shade with some other accent colors thrown in different rooms. I was looking for a lighter blue/ aqua color for these drapes since this whole area is painted a light sandy color. This is what I decided on:

 Premier Prints fabric- Osborn print in robin

I WAS planning on having these made seeing as i don't know how to sew ( I KNOW- really want to learn though, maybe sometime this year) but then I saw this great tutorial on Young House Love about making your own curtain panels with self adhesive hem tape! So I have already picked up my Heat 'n Bond ultra hold tape from Hobby Lobby and the fabric has come in:

Isn't the color pretty??

And look how nicely it goes with the fabric I picked out to be the seat cushion for my breakfast room table bench:

 I am hoping to start working on the curtains this weekend! I will let you know how it goes and if I am capable enough to iron on my hem tape STRAIGHT!!!

paint chips

Our room is blue. Baby blue. . . baby boy electric blue! I LOVE blue- it's my favorite color by far and I actually want a blue room. Well a blue- grey room. What I have come to find is that if i like the blue on the paint swatch its probably going to look something like a baby boy's room. So now I look for paint chips that are grey but have a blue-ish tone. So I went in search of what I thought was a good blue-grey and came back with a sample of this:

Woodlawn Silver Brook from Valspar

I really had high hopes for this one- and even though it has a bit of a green tinge in the picture, it really doesn't in real life. So I slapped a bit up on the wall to see what it was like, SURE this would be the one. I don't have a good picture of it up on the wall but let's just say this- it was much darker than I was expecting. I really tried to like it- I did, but it just wasn't working for my vision of the bedroom

So I started reading up on blogs about people's favorite paint colors and just looked at colors people had used and I came across Misty by Sherwin Williams (its 2nd from the top):

So I decided to try some of that, and then just for some variety I went ahead and got a sample of another color too. Also SW but I can't remember the name. It was too purpley anyways so it was out. But anyways, here is what I haven ended up with:

The whole bottom area is the Valspar color. The top right is Misty and the top left is the mysterious SW color. Also you can see the original color blue in the foreground on the very left side of the picture. Its hard to tell from this angle but it really is too blue.

So now our room has now been sitting like this for over a month. It is hardly noticable though because of it's location behind the bathroom door and on the side of my closet (that's why the pictures are so bad- hard to get good lighting there!)

Anyways- I am 99% sure the bedroom is going to become SW Misty and the bathroom might end up being Valspar's Woodlawn Silver- the lower color- it is darker than I wanted for the bedroom but I think it would be nice in the bath with the beadboard and the big window. (It too has the same baby boy blue paint) and I like the idea of the bathroom being a shade darker than the bedroom!

I'll let you know when I finally get off my rumpus and try to paint this enormous space. It's really not THAT big (14 X 15) but its bigger than any of the other room's we've painted ourselves AND we have a hallway you walk though inside the bedroom door before you get to the main part. It creates this very long wall that I am NOT looking forward to tackling, yet. One of these days, I'll do it though- and you'll be the first to know!

Going to the chapel!

My sister is getting married. TOMORROW!!!

I'm so stinking excited I could cry, and laugh, and smile, then probably cry again! I have been working with her new sisters in law to put a slide show together for tonight and it's been so fun reminiscing.

Without spoiling it for anyone coming to the party- who is actually reading this today (Anyone, anyone??)

 I have to post some wonderful pictures of my sister, in honor of her big day!

weeks old with my dad and brother!

Christmas day- trying on her ballet costume

happy as could be

with my dad

after singing and dancing to Barry Manilow for my parents wedding anniversary (yes- we actually did that!)

Always making me laugh- ALWAYS

because her laughter is contagious and you can't help but laugh with along with her

and with her Fiance and my soon to be brother in law

I'm so happy for you both and I can't wait to have you in the family.

 I am so lucky to have such an amazing sister. I'm so glad we got past stealing each other's cassette tapes and clothes and became the best of friends. We don't get to pick our sisters but God sure picked the perfect one for me!

I love you Carolina!!!