Who wants an addition/renovation/construction update? O.k., for the two people who raised their hands, here we go. I feel like not much has happened lately. Things were moving right along and then they stagnated. I guess that is the case with all construction projects. If you cannot tell from my tone – I.am.over.it.
If you are new here, we added 560 square feet onto the back of our brick ranch house. This includes a mudroom off of the kitchen and a master bedroom with his and hers walk in closets. Our current bedroom will become the master bath. We are turning current master bath which is tiny into the hall bath along with the current hall bath to make it double the size. We are also remodeling the kitchen that the mudroom will lead into.
First of all, the exterior. We have a pretty hard brick to match. I originally thought we should pick one of our brick colors and just go with a uniform brick on the exterior. Hub thought he found a match but after getting it laid I was not happy with the look.
Original brick on left and addition brick on right of this photo. This side of the house is really the only place you see it together.
Then, the brick people said they could do something to help it match better. I think they white washed the random selected bricks below. I do think it looks better. And, keep in mind we will do some sort of landscaping on this side of the house.
This week was the final visit from the electricians so we now have lights. Photos taken after dark – sorry. This is the mudroom below. The box you see will be tiled and will be a dog wash. Next to it will be the washer and dryer and the remaining area will be shelves and cabinets for storage but we have not figured out the exact configuration yet. This leads into our current kitchen which we will be remodeling last.
Mudroom door to the future patio.
Master with lighting.
Master window that will be behind the bed.
My dream closet
His closet
Paint color decisions:
Egret white is what I am considering for master bedroom, kitchen, and maybe mudroom.
Sea Salt is my top choice for master bath right now. Agreeable gray is in the running for new hall bath.
Well, that is about it! I hope that the next time I do an update I will have clothes in my closet and be sleeping in my new room!
The weather has been so nice lately! We have had 50s in the morning and highs of 70s most days. Today it will not get out of the 50s. Also, I am linking up with The Style Six. Please check those ladies out here!
Here is an outfit from last week. This is my new TJ Maxx linen top.
Here is another one. This is my Target Universal Thread mustard top that I also bought in charcoal. Do you buy multiples? I only do if it is a staple piece.
I finally wore a dress. I have several knit swing dresses with 3/4 sleeves or long sleeves.
This past weekend I went to Dees craft store next to my Steinmart. They sold me my beloved Myra bag (look them up on Amazon, too!). They carry the line called Simply Southern. This rack of leggings was super tempting. $15 for super soft leggings in really cute prints is a great deal.
Give me all the camo!
I did not buy anything, but they also had a leopard section that I cannot stop thinking about. Stay tuned…
If you are interested in Simply Southern, they have a website and you can also see who sells this line in your area. The stuff was super cute and the prices were not bad at all.
And, finally yesterday the temps were almost 80 for the highs so I wore my new Steinmart leopard blouse (only $17) with a light cardigan.
What did you wear this week? Do you switch out seasonal clothing? I use a spare closet and put things under the bed but I am hoping with my new closet that I can keep everything in one closet! If I cannot, it might mean I have too many clothes!
How was your Monday? I actually like Mondays because I can go home right after school. Tuesday is the day I dread because I have after school meetings, son has theatre and tonight we also have a Europe trip meeting at the late hour of 7:00! These people must not know that my evening routine starts at 7:00! Oh well. My son leaves for Europe next month with his humanities class so it is very important! I am going to miss him so much but I am so excited for him.
Lately I have been talking about my Matilda Jane pants collection, but I have also written before about my love for the brand Hue. I like quality brands and Hue is another one of those that has stood the test of time for me. First of all – who would like pants that slip on like leggings but look like pants? I know! Genius!
This is a dark denim pair that I got on major sale at Macys last year. They were seriously like $12. It was maybe in March at the end of the winter season. End of season is a good time to look and I would try your major department stores. I have also bought a pair at the store store DSW.
They are normally located in the accessory section; not in the clothing section.
These were from a consignment store. They look just like black jeans. They even have back pockets.
Another consignment store find. Olive green is such a great color to have in your closet for fall.
I am only 5’4 so these cropped versions look more like ankle length on me. I found these grey on major sale at Macys at the end of the summer season a few years ago for around $12, too.
Fall trick: Wear cropped with long boots because no one will ever know and they stay nice and tucked in for you! Grey is another color that is a surprising work horse for your closet.
And, last but not least – the pair that started it all for me. These are the ones I found in the check out line at DSW while I was purchasing shoes. I had wanted light denim and these appeared.
I also have a white cropped pair but they are packed away now. In addition I have the Hue black and charcoal grey regular leggings that were recommended by Sheaffer Told Me To many years ago. They still look brand new!
Do you own any Hue? What are your quality go to brands? I would love to know!
How was your weekend? Ours was busy! Linking up with Heather etc. right here!
Friday after school I made a cocktail and read on my patio for a bit.
Jack went to a play and Tom, Mason, and I ate at The Caspian Grill. I had falafel. Mason and Tom had gyros but I didn’t get a photo. Mason had started getting a cough the day before so he was fine to lay low this weekend.
Remember my teen post last week? I knew as soon as I posted that I would be tested and I was. Friday morning Jack didn’t want to go to school because he didn’t sleep well Thursday night. We told him if he didn’t go to school he didn’t get to go to the play. Well, he made it through the school day just fine, went to his gaming club after school, and then went to his play. He argued so much with us Friday morning and he really put me in a bad mood as I headed to school.
Saturday morning I went to a neighborhood yard sale. I only made it to maybe 5 because I was having no luck and it was so cold outside! Oh well.
I finished my last book and started this. I really like the story but it is rated R!
Saturday afternoon Tom and I headed to the monthly Flea Off Market.
I got a Kentucky mule.
I wore my new Target poncho with my camo leggings and my bee glasses. Tom does not like them.
We saw this cool mural.
Then, we checked out this new market with booths for food, drink, and arts and crafts type stuff.
We bought honey and bee pollen. (You are supposed to eat a few pieces of pollen to keep allergies at bay. It must be local pollen.) Guess who liked my bee sunglasses? Yup, the beekeeper really liked them! Take that, Tom!
And, for dinner I picked up Blaze. Do you have a Blaze? It is really thin crust pizza that you order up like a Subway sandwich and it is ready in 3 minutes!
At Blaze, I had my first blog sighting! Meaning, my sweet reader Laura came up to me and said hi and that she reads my blog! Hi Laura! I’m so glad you spoke to me! I once saw a blogger and I was too shy to say anything.
Since Mason was sick, he and I started watching The Politician on Netflix. I’m not sure what I think yet. It only has one season and eight episodes.
And, Sunday was grocery, meal prep, Goodwill shopping with Jack, and then watching our friend in his third Ironman. They had to cancel the swim portion due to algae in the water but it was a beautiful day for the bike and run portions.
Look at that view of our walking bridge across the river to Indiana!
How was your week? Mine was nice with only 3 days with students and a parent teacher conference day. Now I go back to 5 day weeks for awhile, but I do have a field trip on one of the weeks so that will be nice.
My favorites this week have to include the cooler fall weather! And, tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 60! Wow!
I had wondered when I would see the next season of these Kroger 79 cent hand soaps and I finally did. Look at these great combos for fall!
I really want to add some leopard shoes to my closet. I used to have some but they were uncomfortable so off they went. Look at these cute Toms!
I really want to buy all the new fall clothes and shoes but I am trying to be good and inventory what I have and make a wish list. By the time I need the clothes they will be on sale, you know?
And, finally this mix is really good! I make mini muffins for my boys with this.
Fall is in the air! I am switching to my more Fall-like jewelry! I am wearing orange, olive, mustard, brown, and all the fall colors!
Look at me trying to get more artsy with my photos! Ha!
My favorites are bracelets and earrings. I almost always wear a bracelet. In the fall it just feels right to wear brown beads or a leather cuff. A couple of these came from consignment shops over the years and others were gifts (the more colorful nut bracelet is from my sister when she went to China!) and a few were purchased for less than $10. The tortoise shell cuff is from Michaels craft store and I put my own monogram sticker on it. The leopard leather cuff is from ADVdesigns on Etsy which I will talk about below.
In the fall, I love my lightweight leather earrings. Look at this fall three pack! I may get it with upcoming birthday money.
The 3 pack is from ADVdesigns on Etsy and the sweet shop owner will give you 20% off! The prices are already so reasonable, too. Think gifts, too! I know I would love to receive these earrings! Use code AMY20! If you do purchase anything, I would love to see what you pick. Leave me a message or send me a photo to my email scott_amy@bellsouth.net. Once you try these earrings, you will be hooked. I personally like the large ones, but you can pick from a variety of sizes and styles for that matter. She has over 400 different designs.
Happy hump day, faithful readers! Thank you for the response to my post yesterday on dealing with teens. I had been wanting to write it for some time and I am happy that it resonated with some of you!
Here is a outfit from last week when it was still 90 degrees. I am wearing my consignment blouse by Democracy and green Matilda Jane pants which were also consignment. I am wearing my Target Universal Thread slides that have really been great for school!
And, here is a end of the week outfit – Matilda Jane pants, pumpkin spice graphic tee, and a LulaRoe consignment kimono with my Rothys. I start wearing flats again in October and wear them when I can until April or May! I really do love my Rothys and they look brand new. I wish I had not washed them because I feel that they shrank just a bit in the washer. But, they are not uncomfortable. I love the color I chose – mink. It is a brownish with purple undertones. Anyone else out there have Rothys? They have some new styles but I cannot justify the cost of another pair.
And, finally my college visit outfit is below. I wore Matilda Jane pants, my MIA Sofia clogs, my Walmart blouse and a consignment cardigan. Did you notice that all of my outfits this week involve at least one consignment piece?
Speaking of consignment, I popped into one of my favorite consignment shops,Sassy Fox, and found this leather cuff for $8 and have already worn it every day since! I love it!
I also popped into TJ Maxx to get a birthday gift and found this nice coral/orangey linen? top for for me for only $16 and bought it. It is a perfect fall color but lightweight top like I talked about here. I also thought the sleeve detail was super pretty. I did have to wear a nude cami underneath but it did not make it too hot. It looked like a much more expensive top so I was so happy to get it for such a good price.
Are there teens in your life? I have been thinking about writing this post for awhile because I am with teens close to 24/7! Why am I qualified to write this? I am not! But, I have 17 year old twin boys and I have been a high school teacher for 26 years.
I personally love teenagers! I think they are fun, funny, sharp, caring, open-minded, but they are also scared, in a state of limbo, dealing with new responsibilities and emotions. I would say that being a teen today may just be harder than ever before. There is so much pressure on them to already know what they want to study, to get the highest test scores possible, to play all the sports and be in all the activities. And, on top of that, think about the social media aspect of their lives. So, before you deal with a teen, I think it’s important to think about these things and come to them with a little more understanding. Now, do I always practice what I preach? No. I have my share of head butting with my kids and my students.
First of all, as a parent, set boundaries. They are not grown up yet and still need you. I might argue that they need you more now than ever. Set age requirements and parameters for social media usage. The kids want boundaries and they like to be able to blame you the parents so they don’t look uncool.
It’s too hard to do school and work a part time job for many kids. Their primary job is student right now. Most of them say they have to work to pay for college, but my bet is that the $100 or so a week is not going to savings and the loss of sleep and time to work on school isn’t worth it. If a teen can put that time towards getting those high grades, the scholarships will pay off far more than the part time job. I am all for summer employment, though!
One of the biggest issues I see with teens is lack of sleep. The teen brain is not ready to go to sleep too early but school start times work against them. The majority of my teens in class and my own kids can’t get more than 6 hours of sleep a night and we all know that isn’t enough at this age. Also, I am amazed at how many kids are allowed to go to concerts or other late night events (sometimes even out of town!) on a school night and then they are allowed to sleep in or just miss the entire next day. That is not an excused absence and the parents lie and say they were sick.
Speaking on this topic, you are not your kids’ friend. They have plenty of friends(hopefully) but they only have two parents. It sucks to say “no” and be the bad guy but you have to sometimes. One of my sons was recently mad at me for not letting him go to a party that started at 9:30 when he had theatre and choral auditions early the next day. Come on parents, why did the party need to start that late? Because I said “no” he was upset and it spurred a long conversation. The next time he asked to do something with that group it was a 9:00 p.m. movie on a Friday that didn’t get out until 11:30. I was able to say “yes” to that.
Listen more than you talk – Gosh this is so hard for me. I have found that if I let my boys come to me and if I don’t throw 20 questions at them they will tell me more. I think teens are like cats – do not approach; let them come to you. Ha! Just kidding, but many of the best conversations occur in the car when you don’t have to make eye contact,too. Look for ways to be one on one with your teen. Also, always start with a positive before a negative comment. I do this in my parent teacher conferences, too. Example: “I really love ____’s enthusiasm, however he needs to save it for the pep rally. In my class, I expect him to act like a civilized human.”
Pick your battles. Does that horrible shirt really matter that much? Does it really matter that he wore that shirt two days ago? Teens are figuring out their style and they have favorites and it’s probably not that big of a deal. Say yes when you can say yes.
Let them email the teachers with questions and take care of their own business. Let them call to make their own hair appointments. In college, you aren’t allowed to contact professors anymore. They need to learn how to do this when they are under your roof. Do not rescue them every time they forget something at home. They have to figure out how to deal with the consequences.
Don’t create roadblocks for success. I have already touched on this but I cannot tell you how hard it is to miss school at the high school level. We have 7 classes a day and so that could mean 7 assignments. If they miss 2 days, that becomes 14 assignments. Help your kids to be at school on time almost every day. Sometimes the school calendar isn’t convenient but I have had many students tell me that their parents are insisting they miss school and they don’t want to. I have also had kids have to miss school to babysit for siblings.
Understand the teen brain and their chemistry to some degree. Teens are very implusive. Sometimes they don’t know why they act the way they do. Remember that they are not fully formed yet.
Keep saying I love yous even when they don’t say it back. I have one son who tells me he loves me multiple times a day. The other finds it much harder. I will often text the I love yous or the I am so proud of yous. Remember that teen language is through texting. I have heard one student talk about the funny gifs their parent sends them and how it makes them feel loved.
Find things to praise and laugh with your teens. They are really fun at this age. They can watch the same movies now and get the more mature humor. Look for stand up comedians on t.v. or take them to a comedy show. They really love music at this age. They are in a constant state of earbuds in ears. Remember how much music helped you as a teen? I wrote lyrics out on all of notebooks.
Try to keep some shred of self esteem for yourself! I almost think there should be workshops for parents of teens or maybe even support groups. I really miss my sweet little boys and the simple days we had. But, I love the men they are becoming. I love my students, too, and cherish keeping in touch with them after they graduate.
Did you notice the exclamation point is back? It’s because I am out of school today! I was also out Friday! Actually, I worked these days already through my professional development this summer. I am linking up with Heather, etc. so go right here!
So, Friday morning I had probably the second best donut of my life. I am not a big donut person but the best donut is from my hometown and it has white icing and tiny chocolate chips. This donut was on the way to our first college visit of senior year. It was a glazed donut with decadent chocolate on top and the donut itself was amazing. I could only eat half; don’t worry I ate the other half later.
College visit selfie.
This was a full circle moment. We visited the college where our wedding reception was held (the building below with the columns)! Neither of us went to college there but I am from a small town without many options for receptions.
Both boys really liked it, but Mason LOVED it. It hit me this weekend how hard this is to do with twins. They have different interests and different wants in a school. I can’t recommend enough to visit when kids are on campus and to let your kids sit in on a class. They also got to meet the professor afterwards. Mason went to an English class with only 15 students where he got to participate in the discussion and then the professor talked to him after the class for over an hour and gave him a book to keep! What a great experience even if this isn’t going to be his college.
When we got home, I made dinner and then Jack went to a 9:00 showing of The Joker.
Saturday Mason went to The Joker with his friends. I made my first pot of chili!
I had some errands and also treated myself to Starbuck’s
I finally changed after 5 weeks to Malaga Wine dip by OPI.
Saturday was gorgeous. The morning was really cool but then it got up to 80. Sunroof, baby!
Tom and I went back to 3rd Turn brewery in the old greenhouse for their Octoberfest.
The “German” food was not good. I could lie and tell you it was, but it was bad. I’m glad we split this plate. I only took 4 bites.
My beer was really good, though. It was number 2 on the menu above.
We left pretty early and just watched some new fall sitcoms on the DVR.
Sunday was lazy and I made pumpkin bread.
My yard was starting to get the fall memo!
I ate a bowl of chili and a slice of pumpkin bread on the patio. My chili recipe is coming soon. I think it’s really good and super easy!
And, finally, we don’t usually go out on Sunday nights but we had an early dinner reservation with our good friends and their daughter (their other daughter is away at college) and our boys. This Day of the Dead themed Mexican restaurant just opened in a renovated church.
Mason got the ribs. He said they were super spicy with Mexican seasonings.
I got a blackberry drink.
and fish tacos. It was a great atmosphere and great food!
It was a fun way to spend a Sunday night with no school the next day!
Happy Friday all! This is a special Friday for us because we don’t have school today – or Monday or Tuesday! But, I do work on Tuesday because it is Parent Teacher Conference Day. The students get a nice 5 day weekend. Also, our 90+ degree weather is supposed to change to 70s today!
I am linking up today with Andrea, etc. so go here for more posts.
Here are some random favorites for you! Please leave me a comment and let me know what your favorites were this week!
I have not tried this on yet, but I saw this on the internet and thought it was gorgeous. It is a poncho and looks like great quality – Target A New Day. Here is a link for it. I thought the price was reasonable and I plan to try it with black skinny jeans. I love the combo of black and camel.
Aren’t they so cute? These are my twin niece and nephew. I love them so much!
I am a baby when it comes to my sleep. We had our bedroom window cut out to lead to the addition and then our drywall was done in the addition. We had an industrial fan running one night and the smell of drywall was bad. I didn’t sleep well that night. The next night there was no fan but still the smell, so…
I plugged in this Bath and Body wallflower in Mahagony Teakwood next to my side and it smelled amazing and really kept the drywall smell away for me.
Here’s what the opening looks like now:
So, our current bedroom will be our master bath and this opening leads to his and hers walk in closets and our new bedroom. Construction update coming soon but I don’t want to bore anyone!
My favorites then would be the wallflower and the amazing mahogany teakwood scent! And, I guess progress on the renovation, but it is moving very slowly like I knew it would. My husband is managing the project. We didn’t hire a general contractor.
I love these non-slip hangers so much. They are 2 for 1.00 at my Dollar Tree right now so I picked up 8 more. I need to do a good closet clean out and inventory my fall clothes.
When my boys were in elementary school, a mom said that grape juice can prevent stomach viruses – Hi A! My boys don’t drink soft drinks but they love grape juice. I think it might work but I know it does have many of the same benefits of red wine?
I really want this sweater! I don’t often think of Aerie but I want to look into them. I know their stuff is ridiculously soft and I love the quality of American Eagle.
I picked this up on a whim. It is really good! I have a Keurig at home and at school and lately I have been drinking two cups a morning.
The nail saga continues: I was too lazy to make an appointment this week so now these are 5 week old nails tomorrow!
Did you read my pet peeve post yesterday? I hope it didn’t come off as too snarky!
We have a college visit for my senior twins, I would like to see Downton Abbey, I want to go to a brewery for their Octoberfest, I need to clean, and I’m very excited about trying a new Mexican restaurant in an old church with our friends B and B!
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 