Giveaways worth trying for!

Hey, friends.

I have been eyeing the infamous Annie Sloan Chalk Paint all over blogland lady, and am dying to get my hands on some.  I've been resilient about forking out the dough for it (around $30/ quart), but finally ready to cave in.  I simply must have it to finish the sexy legs on my dining table set I'm working on.  Since it's a piece I hope to keep for a long time, I want it to look perfect.  I think this paint really is the way to go.

source

I was thrilled to read the post by Kim at Savvy Southern Style featuring several current giveaways, and decided to spend the hour trying my luck with them all.  If I don't get the lucky winner card, I am breaking down and buying the paint this week at my local Utah distributor.

Southern Hospitality is hosting a fabulous $100 giveaway to Home Goods.  YES PLEASE!


Molly Susan Strong is giving away 3 quarts of chalk paint (please please please let me win!)

 

Blue Creek Home is also giving away chalk paint, along with clear and dark wax, a book and darling pillow.

 



Source



Screaming Meme is also giving away two quarts of that heavenly paint.  I am dying to get my hands on the old white and paris gray.

So there you have it.  Run on over and enter your cute little selves for these awesome giveaways.  All that I ask is that you share with me if you win.  Or at least, show me the amazing projects you make so that I can cry over them with envy.  :)  Good luck, friends!

Xoxo

~PW

Front yard transformation

Hello, friends.  I am so sorry for my cyber absence lately.  We had our year end recital at the dance studio where I teach on Friday, and you can't imagine the amount of work and time that went into making this weekend a success.  I am so pleased to say that it really was such a success.  I am so proud of all of my students, and how much they have grown as dancers and individuals this year.  I felt like a proud momma bear when I watched them each take the stage on Friday.  I feel so blessed to have found the best kept secret of the county where I live. 

On top of preparing for that recital, my sweets and I have been hard at work over the past few weeks in our yard.  The home where we live is our first, and we built it so we have been cursed so fortunate to landscape it all ourselves.  I never really grasped how much work is involved in creating and maintaining a nice yard, especially for the DIY'ers like ourselves with small pocket books and big dreams.  OY!

Last summer, we successfully installed a rock wall, did all of our trenching and sprinkler installation, laid sod, poured the rest of our driveway and RV pad, had curbing laid, planted trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. etc etc.  We made huge progress last summer, but there were lots of finishing touches that still needed to be made.  Also, several of our trees and shrubs died this winter, so we had to replace almost all of them.  I can happily now say that we transformed the front yard from this:

to this:

The finishing touches we've been working hard on lately of adding flowers, colored mulch, shrubs, and beautiful trees have really made the yard pop over the past few weeks.

 My goal as of lately has been to beautify our front porch area.  I used some chalk paint to spice up a plain Jane Terra cotta planter, and a few hits of my fave cream spray paints on a $5 planter I found at the DI to add some color with pretty flowers to the front steps. 

 I think they turned out pretty cute.  They share the steps with my gorgeous arrangement of begonias that my sweets gave me for Mothers Day (from Costco).

I am working on repairs to a free bench I picked up last summer that will adorn the front porch with some darling outdoor canvas pillows I just sewed together.  Here's a sneak peak...

 

Do you get as excited and overwhelmed as we do about yard work?  Does it ever get to the point where you feel like you can truly say it is "finished" and you get to just sit back and relax in your yard?  If not, please, pretty please, just lie to me.

We are currently preparing to trench, lay sprinkling and sod for the back yard of our 1/2 acre lot.  If you don't hear from me for a year, hopefully you'll know why :)

xoxo

sharing this transformation here:

Ethan Allen Armoire

My sister in law, the lovely owner of the latest Penny Wenny Frenchy Dresser re-do is selling her gorgeous Ethan Allen Tuscany Jackson Armoire.  If you are local to the area (Salt Lake City and surrounding areas) and are interested in this beauty, please send me an email and I will put you in touch with Willow.  She is asking $2,200 and it is still sold in stores for $3,449.

There is nothing wrong with the piece; it's in pristine condition but just feels too large for her space.  You can view all of the dimensions and details on Ethan Allen's site HERE.

xoxo

PW

Goodbye Paradise (and bugs)

Hello friends!  I must quickly report that my mini vacation to St. Lucia was amazing.  My mom and I stayed at the StoneField Estate Villa Resort in St. Lucia in our own private villa (which was more like a house with 3 bedrooms and a private pool).  My mom has a sweet gig where she gets to travel for virtually no cost, and happened to win this particular hotel stay.  I was lucky enough to be her plus one.  We laughed our heads off when we got there and discovered that the whole resort (and the island for the most part) catered to honeymooners, and that we definitely were not.

Despite the romantic setting, we still had a great time.  It was so nice to get away and try to force ourselves to just do nothing.  With these kind of views from our resort nestled between the world famous Pitons, it wasn't too difficult to do.

The only part about St. Lucia that was NOT so great was the bugs.  The villas are basically open to all critters with only louvres (similar looking to shutters) with screens on some of the windows.  The resort is literally right in the jungle so we were serenaded to sleep by our own personal sound machine of crickets and who knows what else.  I laughed my head off after the first night when my mom recounted the fact that the bug she thought she had flicked off her bed the night before was sitting on the pillow next to her when she woke up.  EEEK!  We are talking a big cockroach style bug... not a little house fly.

Of course I lucked out to find something very similar to this creature in my closet the next day. 

I wish I was in the right frame of mind at the time to take a picture but I was seriously just too terrified to think of anything but running away and getting that disgusting, huge, furry thing out!  A little gardener man was outside our villa and I asked him to help us, so he of course casually walks in, goes right up to the fist sized fur ball and picks him up with a black garbage bag the way you pick up your dog's poop!  We almost died!

Needless to say, we both took sleeping pills the next night to get some rest. 

I have to show you some pictures of another resort we toured, the Jalousie Beach Resort.  If I had all the money in the world, here is where I would stay.  The decor and architecture of the resort were to die for.  I had to stop and take pictures in one of the lounge areas that led up to their formal dining room.  I wish my entire house was decorated like this.

 This antique pewter framed mirror looked perfect against the modern white vases and aged table.

 Check out the black and white checkered marble tiles.  Need I say more?  They are also lined in the corners of the room with dark walnut wood floors.  Swoon.

 I fell in love with this bookcase/ armoire!  The wood had a natural weathered look with cream linen fabric lining the glass panes. 

They had hanging beds in the lounge with the most unbelievable views overlooking the ocean.  Loveee the caning on this bed and the chairs in the lounge.

In my next life I will be a billionaire who has a house that is decorated like the Jalousie Beach Hotel, and a view from my back yard that looks like this:

Until then, I will enjoy all the free trips I can get with my momma.  She is amazing (and not just because of the travel perks).  I love you, mom!

Hello, Paradise

I am currently sitting in a lounge chair at the edge of a cliff overlooking the carribean sea below and gazing up at the petit piton to my left. If someone told me I was in fact dead and made it to heaven, I'd believe them. If you are unfamiliar with the Piton's as I was before we arrived, they are two huge mountains on the carribean island of St. Lucia. My sweet momma and I are here on a short 3 night getaway staying in an amazing little resort in our own private villa (surrounded by fresh mango and lime trees that we've been picking from).


I am realizing here how insanely busy and chaotic our lives in the USA are. It's been tough for me to just sit back and relax. I think we all need to be reminded somtimes to stop what we are doing, sit back, and just relax... Take a mental check of our selves and how we are doing. Heaven knows I need to! It took me traveling across the world to be reminded of that. Perhaps you have already learned this secret yourself.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Xoxo

Pw