everyone should have a yellow piano: a reveal

A few weeks ago on my Instagram I showed this super duper happy yellow paint. 

The name of the paint is Golden Mist by Valspar but I think it should be named Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. 

Because one that would be awesome and two it seriously is the happiest yellow paint ever. 

I was using it on a client's piano and I am now convinced that everyone needs a bright yellow piano. 

Glamor shot in the garage. Keeping it classy. 

And as a slide note, probably one of the most nerve racking moments of my life...(or at least in the top 37 moments) was,

moving the piano.

I made Jake drive 15 miles below the speed limit and I was convinced some bird was going to dive bomb it. 

But it made it safe and sound. 

I mean it's awesome right?! 

Especially in that room. The piano's owners made some seriously fantastic decorating choices.   

I even came up with a little poem while I was working on it. 

Ready...

Not a great poem, I'll give you that. :) 

The Great Pumpkin

When you watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" with your 3 year old...

and then take him to not one, but two pumpkin patches...

he WILL expect a present from the great pumpkin. 

"Mom the great pumpkin! I found it!" 

'Where's my present?!"

Possibly the cutest lama ever. 

So fuzzy!!

Hysterical, slightly terrified, laughter when meeting the animals.  

Fear overcome!

Rad will touch anything. 

Tattling on the cow for trying to eat his shirt.

The pumpkin was about the size of Rad's head...

And pumpkin patch round two. 

Still asking for that present. 

Gosh I love this little turkey!

The Great Pumpkin did deliver.

Lollipops for both the boys. 

Rad's reaction...

Nobody loves a lollipop like Rad does. :) 

Thank you Great Pumpkin!

OMG Delicious! Whipped Marshmallow Honey Butter

Butter makes everything better. 

But especially when it's whipped marshmallow honey butter. 

This stuff is no joke delicious. 

I have to remind myself not to lick the spoon because then I'm just eating straight butter. Which is a little much. 

Plus it's super super easy.

Here's what you'll need.

24oz pure butter (not margarine)

1 cup marshmallow fluff

3/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon vanilla 

Directions:

Get your butter to room temperature.

It doesn't take very long when the butter doesn't have many preservatives. 

Add your marshmallow fluff.

And the honey and vanilla. 

Whip until whipped and slightly stiff. (About 5 minutes.)

Refrigerate and enjoy!!* 

Try not to lick the spoon. :) 

*This butter is naturally really soft. If you leave it out, it will be really pretty soft. if you refrigerate it, it will harden, just make sure to cover it. 

I am grateful for my anxiety

Here's the thing.

I have anxiety.

Oh you do to? Cool. It's good for us not to know we're alone.

The other day I was more than burnt out. I was exhausted from my littlest not sleeping. Ever. I was overwhelmed with a to-do list and a 3 year old who need to touch me. all. the. time. And then I looked at the clock and realized it was only 11:47AM.

What the heck. It wasn't even noon.

So I tried to suck it up and go wipe the toothpaste of the mirror hoping that checking that of my list would lead to a feeling of control and stability. That's one way I manage my anxiety. I do something small, mundane, simple. It helps me see something become finished.

But this time it was too little too late. I stared at myself in the mirror and started to sob. My chest clenched up, my breathing became rapid, and I felt like I needed to throw up. To purge the anxiety from my chest. To stop the panic attack.

But I've learned my triggers. I've learned that throwing up doesn't help for more than a minute. So I yelled. I yelled at my reflection and I felt so frustrated and trapped that my feelings were having so much power over me.

I got through that panic attack. I loaded up the boys and went for a walk, so grateful for the Arizona sun.

That night and for days after I thought about my anxiety. Why I feel so controlled by it and why I hate dealing with it so much.

And I've decided that, yes I have anxiety, yes I hate it, but no, it's not a bad thing.

I love this thought.

I'm not going to say having anxiety is the best thing ever and than I hope I have it my whole life. 

Because that would be a big fat lie. 

But what I am learning is that I am stronger because I have anxiety. 

Because I have anxiety I...

Understand my limits.

Am learning to say no, rather than feel like I have to say yes to everything. 

Am really trying to be a good mom because I worry so much about being a bad mom.

Am really good at getting things done. 

Really love to bake and share it with others. 

Depend a lot on my husband. We are a good team. 

Don't want to pass this on to my kids. So I tell them they are wonderful. And that it's OK to make mistakes. 

Cry. And it is healing.

Love to be hugged. And give hugs. It helps me regroup. 

Try to make sure to tell people that they are awesome. Because I really appreciate a sincere compliment.

Am pretty darn good and budgeting and waiting till we can afford things. (Because money can make me anxious. Go figure.)

Pray. And I don't doubt that my prayers are heard. 

Try really hard to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Because when I am having a bad day I need that from others. 

When I am anxious I can become really critical. So I try to watch for that. 

Because I have anxiety I love to go for walks.

Because I have anxiety I refinish furniture as an outlet. 

Because I have anxiety I try to remember that being perfect is overrated. 

So. 

I have anxiety. 

Oh you do to? (Or depression, or OCD, etc)

Well that means you've got some kick butt-awesome traits. 

Go you! :)

a cheaper way to build IKEA built-ins

I love me a good IKEA hack.

Especially this one that Centsational Girl did, turning the famous Billy bookcase into seamless built-ins.  

We knew we needed a lot of storage for our playroom, but we also knew that it wouldn't be a playroom forever so we wanted something that could grow as our needs for the space changed. 

Enter the IKEA Billy Bookcase hack!

Depending on your wall size the price for this hack can range, but lets assume you need 4 bookshelves. That comes out to around $240, plus the cost of molding, wood to frame the shelves etc. 

So around $300 is probably a safe estimate.

$300 is a great price for custom-ish built-ins, but $300 is still a large chunk of change. 

We did our built-ins for a total of about $200. That included 3 full size Billy's and 2 Billy DVD shelves. This arrangement was the best way for us to utilize the wall space. 

  

The total cost would have been around $260 for the shelves alone, plus an additional $70ish for wood, molding etc, totaling around $330. 

Here's what we did to save some $$$.

Craigslist. 

No, really that's it! 

We originally went to IKEA, bought everything new and brought it home. 

That evening, I had a thought, I wonder if Craigslist has any IKEA bookshelves on it....?

And it totally did!! 

We scored 2 of the larger shelves for $30 total. 

There was nothing wrong with them other than a little dust and plus they were already assembled. 

Woot! Woot!

We returned the brand new shelves and started building the built-ins. 

Because we DIY a lot we did have most of the wood already on hand for the framing, but I've looked on Craigslist multiple times and found scrap wood, pretty much for free. 

So. If you want IKEA built-ins, check Craigslist first!! 

If I had thought ahead, I'm pretty sure we could have gotten a least one more shelving unit of off Craigslist. But I was wanting to get the project done, so I didn't want to wait around. :)

So there you go. Craigslist saves the day!