To Do Lists

Shep and I are big fans of to-do lists.  We have apartment to-do lists, life to-do lists, vacation to-do lists, hurricane prep to-do lists, and even weekend to-do lists.  For some reason, it seems more fun to spend our free time doing things we don't necessarily want to be doing when we get to check them off a piece of paper as we go.  {Wait a minute, that doesn't sound very fun at all.  We've been duped!}

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Last weekend we accomplished a LOT.  We:

• Wrote a letter to Visa customer service
• Replaced chandelier bulbs
• Took photos of defective/damaged items bought online for Christmas
• Took down all our Christmas decorations and our tree  :(
• Purchased 2 large bins to store additional Christmas decorations received this year (on clearance at Walmart = score!)
• Visited our storage unit to put all decorations away and get humidifier out
• Replaced our HVAC filters
• Looked up some crock pot recipes
• Researched (aka stared at pinterest for hours) chaise & settee chairs for fireplace area
• Looked at some potential entertainment center units to replace our current one
• Bought tea lights
• Bought chalk
• Took our car for oil change/check-up
• Contacted our realtor to renew the lease for our old apartment
• Applied some wood polish on some scratches on our wood floors (don't ask!)
• Purchased a gift for an upcoming event
• Did 4 loads of laundry (gulp!)
• Returned some Christmas gift clothing + shoes that didn't fit
• Laid down new rug purchased for fireplace area
• Went on a dinner + movie date night!  :)

Phew!  What a busy weekend!  No wonder it flew by.  ;) 

Whatever we don't accomplish one weekend, gets moved to the list for the next weekend.  Hopefully one day our list will look like this:

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Until then, a girl can dream!  ;)

Now it's your turn.  What's on YOUR to-do list?

Splurge or Save?

The hubby and I have been searching for a rug for our master bedroom for a while now.  We definitely want something blue, and soft, but other than that we're stuck.  We're trying to avoid super-detailed patterns (a la oriental rugs) but also don't want anything too plain since the room is big and right now in serious need of some eye candy.  One day while searching I came across this beauty...

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It was nice, but I wasn't looking to commit to a rug that was $763! (Even if the so-called "list price" on Amazon was $1187!).  Then, I came across this one from Home Decorators Collection:

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Look familiar?  Yep -- same pattern but slightly lower price.  HDC charges shipping, but it's also relatively easily find coupons for that site, so I could've probably saved $100-$200 compared to the Surya on the Amazon website.  I still wasn't satisfied though.  But when I saw this beauty, I knew I'd found "the one"...

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Could it be???  The exact same pattern on Overstock.com for a fraction of the price?!?!  The regular price was $362, but the item was on sale for $308.  I quickly found an online coupon for $30 off, plus free shipping, bringing the total down to $278!

Now whether all 3 of these rugs are from the same manufacturer, I cannot say for sure.  However, when it comes to rugs I prefer to judge a book my its cover and not its author, so to speak.  ;)  As long as it looks great in the room and feels cozy, I'll take it!

New Floors!!!

As Nicole already reported, we decided to refinish our hardwood floors before moving into the new apartment. We were pretty nervous about the whole process since one contractor we met with for an estimate said he didn't like refinishing the type of floors we have because "they never come out good". Gulp. Needless to say, we didn't choose that company, but that we were pretty nervous after meeting with Mr. Doom-and-Gloom that the finished product wouldn't meet our expectations regardless of which contractor we hired. Worse yet, we were worried that we'd have to replace all of the floors entirely if the sanding caused more trouble than it cured. Well, I'm happy to report that wasn't the case...

Our new floors are done thanks to KBD floors, and they look great! KBD sanded and then refinished all of our floors, so all of the dings, nicks, stains, scratches and faded coloring are gone.

Here are just a few glimpses of the before & after views...

Before (Floors damages from old water leakage)

After (Looks brand new!)

*****

Before (Paint or something sticky on floors)

After (No more paint or sticky!)

*****

Before (Kitchen)

After (Kitchen)

Check out more before, during and after pictures here! Hooray - we can FINALLY cross an item off of our to-do list!

Floors!

Our floors in the new unit are being sanded as we speak!!!  The crew showed up this morning and expect to be working through the weekend to complete the job.  They tested a small area in the hall closet and, although the cherry wood will be refinished slightly lighter than it currently is, Hubby saw the sample patch area and said it will look better than the currently scratched, damaged, and otherwise banged-up floors.  We hope it will turn out well!  Wish us luck!!!

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