A fresh coat of paint

It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint and a couple new accessories can do to transform a room.  My dad came over on Saturday to help me re-paint our bedroom.  I took on my first painting project about a year ago when I decided that our bedroom, bathroom, and dining room all needed to be painted.  Instead of taking on one room at a time, I decided, "why not do them all at once?"  Brilliant plan!  I was so exhausted, and Paul and I ended up sleeping on the sleeper sofa for 3 nights until finally deciding to hire a painter to finish the job.  It was WELL worth the money spent.  The worst part about it was that the bedroom never really ended up like I envisioned.  So, this time I had some reservations about painting the room myself.  But, with my expert paint edger, my dad, and my quick rolling skills, we had the job done in no time!  We managed to only use 1 coat of paint with a few touch ups.  Dads are the BEST! (Paul's poor dad volunteered to help me with my first paint project, and I am sure I wore him out, but a BIG thank you to you too George.  I love our bathroom and dining room :))

When Paul moved into the house the room was originally red, and I mean BRIGHT red.  He had decorated the room with a lovely denim (I'm not joking) comforter.  I despised that denim comforter, and Paul knew it.  So one of my first tasks when I moved in was to get rid of that denim comforter and paint the room. Here is the best picture I could find of the original room.  It was obviously in disarray, because this is right before we painted it the first time, but you get the idea.

(note the denim comforter)

Here are the pictures after the first paint job:

Much better, right??  While it was definitely a step in the right direction from the red and denim, it was still not exactly what I wanted.  I decided that I should go with a more neutral wall color, that way if I get bored with the decor, I can easily change it up.  So, here is the finished product:

I LOVE IT!  I think it looks so clean and classy.  Y'all know I love my aqua blue color, so I still wanted to incorporate that into the room.  I bought the quilt, blue pillow, and valences at target.  The bedside table is the original that matches my furniture set.  (Side note- Paul and I had a little difference of opinion when it came to whose furniture should be used in the master bedroom, so the compromise was his bed frame (which I love), and his bedside table would stay, and we would use my dressers simply because they had much more drawer space.)  So anyway, I pulled out my old bedside table, and I got the lamp (my favorite part!) at Pier One.  I was still able to use our original duvet and pillows.  It feels like a whole new room! My second paint project turned out a success. Thanks again Dad, it is perfect!

145 days...

...until summer! That's right, not SPRING, SUMMER! I am soooo over the cold. I would prefer a blazing hot, 100 degree July day in Columbia, SC ANYTIME over a windy, cold, rainy/snowy winter day. I find myself day dreaming about a hot summer day in a bathing suit, on the beach, with a good book, and a cold drink. Ahh, THAT would be perfect right about now. I posted this picture from our honeymoon to pretty much sum up my absolute bliss- white sand on my toes, tan skin (ok for me not so much), staring out into the clear blue water with not a worry in the world.

Ok, but back to reality. To try to cure my winter blues, I have made my first attempt at cooking a recipe out of one of my cook books, and it was a SUCCESS! I made brussel sprout and bacon hash. It may not sound so appetizing, but believe me, it was delicious. Upon Paul's request, I have made it again since this picture. It contains brussel sprouts, bacon, fingerling potatoes, and some secret spices (not really- just ask for the recipe if you are interested). I like it because it pretty much covers all food groups. We paired it with a NY Strip (yes from our MONSTER cut of meat Paul purchased when we were "snowed in"). It was SO GOOD. So, for all of those who doubt my cooking abilities, just ask Paul, I CAN cook. I am looking forward to trying out some more recipes soon!

Apart from the snow and gearing up for another year, life is pretty uneventful at the DuRant household. I sure hope that the ground hog does not see his shadow, and Spring will come soon. Until then, I will keep thinking warm thoughts...

Monday Funday

When I was a little kid I would dream of waking up to a white winter wonderland outside. Oh the delight of getting bundled up, going out to the golf course with friends, and sledding down the steep hills. The weather man would always get us excited, and 90% of the time...let us down. Well this Monday- the weather man did not lie. If anything, he underestimated the effects of this winter storm. I went to bed like an excited kid hoping for school to be cancelled the next day. To my delight, I woke up early Monday morning to a coat of pretty white powder all around. To top it off I got the e-mail: OFFICE IS CLOSED, yes! We cooked a big breakfast and enjoyed looking out the window, snuggled in our blankets, at the snow falling outside.

Our street.

Riley was not too sure about the snow at first. When I first let him out, he tried to step on the little piece of grass right beside the house. But, he eventually ventured out into the yard and had fun running around in the snow.

Me and my love.

Daddy and doggy.

And in case anyone was concerned the we would go hungry in this winter storm. Have no fear. Paul loves a good piece of meat, and even more a good deal. We picked up this MONSTER NY strip on Sunday afternoon at Kroger. I think it is safe to say that we could be snowed in for a couple months and survive...

It was fun to have a snow day. But, there is a reason I live in the south. I would prefer the hot summers in Columbia to months of snow up north ANY DAY. I went outside briefly, but most of the day I stayed inside in the heat. Riley was very happy to have me home all day, and made sure to keep my lap warm all day long.

New Year's Resolutions

I am posting this not because anyone really cares what my new year's resolutions are, but because I figured maybe if I post them publicly I will be more likely to follow through. So here it goes.

1. Read more. I really enjoy reading, but it is a rare event that I sit down to read a book. I always feel like if I have time to sit here and read a book that I should be doing something else. But, somehow there is always time to watch crappy TV. I am going to try to trade in some of that TV time to dive into a good book.
2. Get back into the gym. I still go to the gym, but it has dwindled down to A LOT less than I used to. It seems lately that I am only making to the gym about 2 times a week. I need to get back to going 4-5 days a week. There is NO reason not to. Along with this I am going to make a very good effort to get up and go in the morning AT LEAST once a week. I am not a morning person, but once I am up, I am fine. I just need to set my alarm and get RIGHT up when it goes off, throw on some clothes, and hit the gym.
3. Get up earlier. I am always rushing around in the morning to get ready, why? If I could just get up about 30 minutes earlier, I could leisurely get ready, eat breakfast, have some coffee, and watch the news instead of running out the door and eating a bagel in the car. A couple weeks of this, and it would just become routine.
4. Start cooking. Notice I did not say, "learn how to cook", because I really don't think this is something I need to learn how to do. Cooking is really not that hard, and I don't give myself enough credit on this chore. Cooking at our house is a joint effort. We all know Paul is the master chef, but I make a pretty good assistant. It is not like I am sitting on the couch while he is in the kitchen for an hour (most of the time anyway...). But, I want to start cooking as more of a hobby. I always read recipes and think, "that sounds yummy." I am going to start trying to cook some of these yummy recipes and see how it goes!
5. Get organized. I try to stay somewhat organized, but it gets hard to do sometimes. In a house with little storage space, organization is key! I am going to make it a point to get our house organized. I need to attack one room at a time, and get rid of clutter and stuff we do not need.

These are all pretty attainable goals that I hope I can look back on at the end of 2011 and say that I have accomplished them. 2010 was a good year, but I have a feeling that 2011 is going to be even better. Can anyone believe that it is 2011??