What Did We Ever Do Before Pinterest?

I don't know about you, but I adore Pinterest! It's been a lifesaver when it comes to gathering ideas for so many things but, especially for our renovations. I have spent many a sleepless night browsing and pinning to start putting together a story board for our new kitchen. I had the basic idea in my head but seeing other photos of what other people had done with their kitchens helped more than I can say. As for our kitchen, well it's coming along really nicely, but not after several major hiccups in the plan and having to rethink several things. Many of those things are things you would never know or figure out until you are smack dab in the middle of the project and then you are thrown a curve ball and you go onto a new plan of attack. We've had a few of those come up. Today the plumber comes to hook up my new sink which I am  so excited about. Then we have to wait until next week for the work to resume. Fingers crossed that maybe just maybe it might all be done within the next two weeks because I can't tell you how anxious I am to have my house back to normal again! Anyway, I am leaving you today with a little collage I put together of just some of the ideas I saw and loved on Pinterest! Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

Dawn

A New Look For the Website & Blog

With my house in complete chaos I just had to do something creative. I thought to myself. . .  "Well, the kitchen is getting a pretty serious upgrade, so why not upgrade the website as well!" At least this is something I have control over and that I can make look pretty that is while we are knee deep in destruction. Plus, I just need a project. I can't sew so being creative on my Mac is the next best thing. You'll notice a new header and a bunch of upgrades happening but with so much info on my website it's going to take a while to re-do every page. So please be patient with me. Also, if you experience any hiccups with the website please let me know so I can fix them right away. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I can't wait to start sharing updates with pics but, to be honest right now it's such a mess I can't even bare to take photos and it's going to get a lot worse this week, but after that things should start to look up.

Dawn

Holy Boxes Batman!!!

This morning my new kitchen arrived! 173 boxes worth, Oi! What were we thinking! Because I am such a huge Ikea fan we decided to redo our entire kitchen in Ikea. So, after days of planning and several trips back and forth up to DC, which is about a 2.5 hour trip one way, it's is all starting to come together. Currently my studio is kitchen building central as everything that was in there has been displaced to various other locations in our house. Can you say complete chaos! Ole and I will be very busy for the next few days while we try to make sense of all these gazillion boxes and put together all of our new cabinets. I just keep telling myself "think of it as Lego for grown ups". We are not completely insane, we have hired contractors to install it all and they are anxious to get started as soon as possible. So, after weeks of destruction things are really starting to happen now. It's going to be a very hectic and exciting week or so as my vision all starts to come together. This has been such an educational experience trying to coordinate everyone and everything to fall into place just perfectly and knock on wood it's all going perfectly so far. Maybe I should consider a new career...just kidding. Although this has been a lot of fun and stress, I don't think I would want to do this on a regular basis.

Wish us luck and stay tuned for more news and sneak peeks into our renovation.

Dawn

What's Behind Curtain No.1?

Lots and lots of changes going on here and we are all really curious as to what it's all going to look like when it's all done. Yesterday the drywall guys were here repairing all the damaged walls and helping us make a few changes. After we got over the initial shock of all the damage that had been done by our roof leak and we began to imagine the possibilities. We decided not only to do some upgrading but also to make some big changes in my office as well as in the kitchen. As you can see Abby and Henry were completely fascinated watching the workmen yesterday. They both stretched out on the floor and watched every step of the way. Yesterday's homeschool lesson "Drywall 101"! I have to say, we have been so fortunate to have a wonderful team of guys working on our house. They have been super with my kids and have been giving them the 411 on what they are doing. Last week they learned about framing and how to run electrical wiring and install outlets and move switches along with replacing insulation and drywalling. Oh and let's not forget "Watch mommy get angry with people at the appliance store" and "How to not get bullied by clueless sales people"! Next week will be even more exciting with lots of new lessons. It's all starting to come together and I cannot wait to see the final results. 

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Dawn

Shop Update

I just wanted to do a quick check in to let you know that both Sarah and Tess in print are now in the shop.  Everything here is fine and the construction has begun and I can't tell you how exciting it all is. Even though my house is a complete disaster I am managing quite well considering I don't usually do well in chaos. We are making all kinds of changes and I can't wait to show you all the improvements but it's going to be a while. All I can say is I can't wait for it all to be done so I can get back to sewing. I miss it so very much and I have had so many great ideas and each and every time I want to go "play" I remember that my studio is currently all packed up and that I have to wait. Oh, and patience isn't one of my stronger points either.

Dawn

MayDay. . . MayDay!

This afternoon Abby, Henry and I were all invited to attend a very special May Day party at our friend Tiffeni's house. As soon as we arrived our hostesses greeted us with beautiful ribbon sashes and garlands of spring ivy for our heads. After everyone had arrived we all gathered on the veranda of Miss Tiffeni's gorgeous house for a May Day craft as each of us made our own May Day baskets. After that we all enjoyed cake, ice cream and lemonade followed by a very sweet story told by our hostess. As a big surprise Abby and Nathan were each crowned as the King and Queen of May! As you can see Abby was overjoyed with her new title. Finally, the traditional dancing around the May pole which was  so much fun for moms and kids alike! I can't tell you how nice it was to have such a wonderful diversion. For the past week and a half I've been consumed with all the details surrounding the rebuilding of our house. Which thankfully, is all falling into place. We've made some changes to our original plan which slightly delayed the work but in the end will be so much better. So it's worth the wait. Construction begins next week and I can't wait to see it all coming together and for me to be able to put our house back together.

Dawn

Progress

I just wanted to check in for a quick update. Things are starting to fall into place amidst all this chaos. I have hired contractors and the work to rebuild begins this Friday! This is one of those times when I am really thankful that I am so freakishly organized. We have decided to take the plunge and re do our entire kitchen. Crazy I know, but after we started getting the "numbers" back from the insurance company for all the jobs that needed to be done we started thinking that we might as well take this opportunity to get what we really want instead of just fixing what we didn't like. Needless to say I can now add kitchen designer/planner to my list of accomplishments. Talk about getting an education with everything that's involved in a remodel and we are not even adding on or changing walls just putting in new cabinets, adding additional cabinets, new counter tops, and new flooring. It's all very exciting, but also stressful. Coordinating all the dry wall guys, painters, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and flooring people has become my life for the past week. The great news is that when it's done it's going to look really awesome, I hope! In my mind I love it but, I just hope it all turns out as I imagine it. A few more pieces still have to fall into place and fingers crossed I can find the flooring that I want. I have a meeting at the flooring store this afternoon and hopefully they have what I'm looking for and that it fits into the budget. My studio is also getting a make over with new floors and a fresh paint job. If all goes well they are telling me it "could" be all done in about three weeks! Which would be awesome because I hate that I'm falling behind schedule with everything I had planned for Olabelhe this Spring/Summer. Fingers crossed that it all goes as planned without any major hiccups! 

Dawn

What A Week It's Been!

Sorry no pretty pics to share, I just can't bare to take photos of this mess. I want to thank all of you for all of your kindness and encouragement with our home crisis. Now, for the update. The fans/dehumidifiers finally left yesterday, Thank goodness! They were so incredibly loud now maybe we can start talking in the house again instead of screaming at each other and maybe, just maybe I can get rid of this headache. We are still waiting to hear back from our insurance company and then once that happens the real fun begins. . . NOT! I just want my house back to normal and life to continue as it was, but I know it's going to be quite sometime before that happens. This weekend I am sure I will be packing up my sewing room and relocating everything to various other places in our house. Although, I'm not quite sure where it's all going to fit. Hopefully we can get the contractors in here early next week to start on the rebuilding of the walls and so on. I can't tell you how much I am itching to sew. It's always such great therapy for me and it's gets my mind off things and I relax but sadly that's not going to happen either. Honestly, at this point I just want to pack up everyone and run away. But. . . I know I have to pull myself together and put on my general contractor hat and start getting this all organized. Coordinating workers and picking out all the replacements. Sadly, it looks like they are not going to replace my cabinets only rebuild the ones that were here. I wont even tell you how unhappy I am about that and all the phone calls that have been made. Oi!!! Please someone tell me where the silver lining in all of this is?

Sorry for the rant, but I just had to vent as I'm beyond frustrated!

Dawn