Daily Dose of Style

September 12, 2012

Gracie’s Story

I wasn’t always a dog lover. Anyone who knows me now will find that hard to believe. Growing up, all we had was a cat. Now I didn’t dislike dogs, I just didn’t like walking into someone’s home and being jumped on, having my legs clawed up and getting showered in slobber. Plus there’s the fact that I’m allergic to them.

When I married my husband he wanted a dog. I told him no way. I had lots of excuses: my allergies, the jumping, not enough room, the slobber. So for years we just had cats.

Back when I was working, one weekend we were setting up a booth at the Wichita Women’s Fair. It just happened to be a weekend there was a massive blizzard. My dear hubby was helping trek loads of clothes from my store to this convention in 2 foot drifts.

It was absolutely miserable.

After it was over and we thawed out, I told him the next day we could do whatever he wanted. And of course, he wanted to go look at puppies. Ugh! But how could I say no after what he just helped me do.

So I said “Fine, but we are just looking”. It seemed he had done some research and found out which dogs were hypo-allergenic, so that is what he took me to see. We went to the breeder’s house the next day, and the room he brought us in was wall-to-wall puppies. One adorable face after another. Maltese, shi tzus, malti-poos, bichon-poos. Lots of fuzzy little babies. Of course the breeder sticks them right in our arms and my defenses are weakening. I’m actually thinking about taking one home. This is not at all what I was planning.

My daughter found this little apricot bichon-poo, and she fell instantly in love. It was crawling all over her, and my hubby. It was hopping all over the floor. My husband is pleading his case: we just bought a new house with a big yard; it’s good for kids to have a dog; I have always had cats so why couldn’t he have a dog. Dang it!

So next thing I know, we are dog owners. How did this happen? I didn’t want a dog.

We went out and spent a fortune on dog supplies. That night we stuck her in her kennel and went to bed. Ten minutes later all hell broke loose. Gracie (that’s what we named her) was screaming bloody murder. I jump up thinking she must have ripped off her arm … or worse.

In a panic, I pull the blanket off the kennel, and there she sits, wagging her cute little tail. What was that? She’s not bleeding, her paw isn’t caught in the kennel door.

Then my hubby informs me that they just do this the first week or so because they don’t like being separated from their litter mates or you. Are you kidding me? He failed to mention this when he was pleading his case.

So needless to say we got ZERO sleep for three days. After that she was fine. Thank God!

Well Gracie started out as all of ours but she has turned out to be mine. She follows me everywhere. I can’t even go to the bathroom by myself! She is such a great dog though. Yes, she hates all other dogs but she loves all people.

She is now seven years old and if anything ever happened to her you would have to lock me away forever.

Now looking back I would never again get a dog from a breeder. Back then I didn’t know any better. I now volunteer at my local humane society, and there are so many dogs there that need homes, why would you intentionally bring anymore into the world?

So needless to say I am now a converted dog lover. I think until you have your own dog, you can’t truly understand how fantastic dogs can be. The unconditional love they give you can change your life. Someday I will have to go over some of the crazy stories about my dogs.

September 11, 2012

Garage sale grief

Last Thursday through Saturday, I had a garage sale. It’s a lot more fun going to them then it is having them.

First of all, in Kansas you never know when to have a sale. Is it going to be freezing in in May? Or will you roast in September?

I, it turns out, roasted on Thursday, endured torrential rain on Friday, and then had a pretty day Saturday. I must say I’m pretty proud of myself for setting up and running the sale while my hubby was out of town.

I did encounter some odd ducks during the sale though. There was the man that made me hold his one-eyed chihuahua while he shopped; there was the guy who I’m pretty sure was buying my mom’s clothes for himself; there was a woman who had been shopping for 4 or 5 minutes and turned to speak to me and smoke came out her nostrils even though she wasn’t smoking; and of course all of the people who let their kids run completely wild in my garage.

Garage sale money is that hardest money you will ever make.

Last g-sale I had, a woman bought a ton of my daughter’s clothes. It took me awhile to total her up but I went over the numbers 3 times and my husband went over it twice also to make sure it was right. I even let the woman look at it and she seemed satisfied. She left with tons of stuff she got for a steal.

Three hours later she came back and said we over charged her by $15. How would she know this since we removed the tags as we totaled her up?

Anyway, we took out the sheet we totaled her up with and tried to show her. She then got right in my face and literally screamed “I AM NOT A LIAR!!!”.

What the heck is her deal? Who does that? Now I have had a lot of garage sales throughout the years, but never have I had anyone scream in my face. Then she turned and ran to her car. Wow.

So fast forward to this sale, and guess who my first customer was? Just guess? Yep, the insane screaming woman. So naturally I’m really nervous when she walks up to my house. She starts shopping, and I’m bracing myself to duck and looking around for something to use as a weapon if it came down to it.

She acted sweet as could be though, like she never saw me before, like she had never scared the bejeebies out of me. I held my breath the whole time. Then she left and I counted my blessings. Why would she come back to my house after she thought we had screwed her over before? Or does she do this type of thing so often she just didn’t remember.

Now I know there are a lot of nutty people anywhere you go, but I feel like I met more than my share the last three days. I did get rid of a bunch of stuff and made some decent money in the process. It did, slow me down on my furniture projects though.

Tomorrow I have a TV console to distress and glaze, a side table to glaze, and two end tables to finish painting. I will get you some new photos on those ASAP.

I found this two tiered table from the 60’s laying on the curb for trash pick up. Super excited, I loaded it up in the back of my car (my daughter would die if she knew I did that!)

I roughed it up a bit, used a really bright turquoise on it, distressed, glazed and waxed it. Good as new, actually better!

I took this table that was somebody’s trash and turned into a nice lady’s treasure (who probably has never once screamed at a garage sale hostess).

September 8, 2012

Please remember to vote for my sucky basement!!!

Ok guys, I really need your votes for the next five days (until 9/14).

I entered the contest below for a chance for Mandi, the owner of Vintage Revivals, to come make over my boring beige basement.

All you need to do is click on the banner below. Once there, scroll to the bottom where you will see all 140 entries.

I am number 125.

You will see my name and right below it, it will say vote. Click that and you’re done. Easy peasy.

If you want to see what I entered just click on my name. I’m warning you, it’s not pretty.

You can vote once a day for the next 5 days. The top four with the most votes are then guaranteed a spot in the top 10. The other 6 are chosen by Mandi herself. Thank you to any of you who are voting and to everyone who is being so supportive about this blog in general. I promise it will get better as I go along!

Have a great weekend!!
Shanna

September 7, 2012

Time marches on….right across your face

I’m starting to look old.

Maybe I’m not starting to, maybe I have been and no one has told me. Because really, who’s going to tell you? Not your friends because they want to remain your friend. Not your coworkers because they have to continue working with you. Definitely not your husband because even said lovingly it’s a sure fire way to be in the dog house for a long time.

I know I’m vain to even be talking about this but things are definitely going down hill fast. I’m hollowing out under my eyes, I’m getting marionette lines around my mouth, little crows feet around my eyes, my lips seem to be disappearing and my skin just looks dull. What the heck?

I used to be able to run errands without putting on makeup and knowing I didn’t look great but not too bad. Now those days are gone. Now when I pass by a mirror bare faced I scare myself. Who is this exhausted looking woman looking back at me? I try buying the newest lotions and potions, but time still keeps marching right across my face. I think my face needs some plumping up. A little Botox around my eyes, some restalyn around my lips or at the very least, a good facial and some microdermabrasion.

Unfortunately we don’t have an unlimited budget. We have our daughter’s Invisalign to pay off, we are saving for a car for the child, would someday like to take a vacation, and grooming 3 dogs every five weeks is pricey. Now I could get the facial and microderm for my birthday or I could have a weekend in Kansas City with my hubby going to all of my favorite vintage shops. The latter will probably win out.

It’s kind of hard when your daughter keeps getting more beautiful and looks fantastic without a stitch of makeup and your own face is shriveling up. Trust me I’m not writing fishing for complements (I hate people who do that).

I’m not asking people to write and say “no Shanna your really not so shriveled”. I’m just stating the facts people and the facts suck. I know growing older is a fact of life and it’s better than the alternative, but my friends, I don’t have to like it.

Speaking of old, I found this little telephone stand/side table in some pretty sad shape. I’m not sure if it had been left outside for awhile, but it needed some serious sprucing up. I sanded it down a bit (something I only do if completely necessary).

When I painted it this pretty aqua I got from Lowe’s the remains of the stain underneath kept bleeding through the paint. After several coats of paint and it still bleeding through I put on a coat of Kills primer and then continued painting. Problem solved. It turned out to be a cute piece!

September 6, 2012

Boring Beige Basement

Hi Everybody! I want to introduce you to my best friend Mandi.

Well I guess she’s not actually my bestfriend per se, and I guess er, friend might be pushing it a bit seeing how I’ve never um, technically met her. I really, really, want to though, and we could be best friends — you never know. Mandi’s was the first DIY blog I ever read. I saw her on the Nate Show, and I was hooked. She is a DIY legend! Mandi is giving away an Epic Room Makeover, so I entered and I really, really want to win. Sept 7th-14th you can go to Mandi’s blog and vote for me daily. Don’t worry, I will be sending you daily reminders asking(begging) you to vote. Beneath is where you will see me pleading to Mandi. Thanks!

Hi Mandi! I’m Shanna Gilbert from Wichita, Kans and this is Charlie:

I know Wichita doesn’t sound like the most fun place to visit, but I promise we would make it fun.We need your help!

We are drowning in a sea of beige! When we bought our house I didn’t know what color to paint the upper level since all of the rooms flowed together.

So I painted the whole upper level beige.

I thought I would get my color in when I did the basement. Well, the upper level walls flowed into the lower level walls, so where do you stop one paint color and start the next without making it look odd? I didn’t know what to do so I painted the basement beige too. I know, I know sooo boring.

Two months ago, we bought this giant sectional which we love. It is super comfortable and seats a lot of people.

The only problem is, it’s brown. Beige room, brown couch,

brown end tables

brown tv console

and you guessed it: brown blinds.

To quote you Mandi this is “an Epic Fail”. This room needs some serious color — I just don’t know what color to use or where to put it.

What I love about your rooms, Mandi, is is all of the bold colors and interesting pieces and fixtures. My room has nada. Here’s the sad thing (besides this room), I redo vintage furniture bright fun colors for a living. I can create all these fun pieces for other people but I don’t know how to incorporate them into my own home.(ps I learned a lot of my furniture tips from you Mandi).

I also have shelves of unique decorative pieces I have bought at flea markets and yard sales and they just sit in storage because I don’t know what to do with them. (Could you tell my hubby that just because I haven’t used them YET doesn’t mean I’m a hoarder?)

Problem number 2) this room is a big rectangle. If this space is where you relax and watch tv, what the heck is this side used for? There is nothing over here. Looking at these pictures I would like to tell you we just moved in, but we have lived here for SIX YEARS! Ugh!

I bought these neat bookshelves off of craigslist the other day because A) they take up space over here and B) I wanted to paint them to look like built ins which I can’t afford. Only I cant paint them, because again, I don’t know what colors to use.

See Mandi, I admit it, I’m stuck. Not knowing what color or style I’m going for has paralyzed me. I’m on a tight budget and I don’t want to screw things up because I can’t afford to fix them.

I need some guidance. I need some Mandi magic sprinkled on this room. You need to tell me “Shanna this goes here” or “don’t use that color, that would be stupid”. You have the fantastic vision that I clearly lack.

Your blog is my absolute favorite. I read it religiously and I even watched you on Craft Wars. Who wants a dumb birdhouse anyway?

Charlie and I are hard workers. We think it would be great fun if you would come to Wichita! Maybe we could go to yard sales together, that would be fantastic!

We need your amazing creativity and playful personality all over this room. I think this room has potential, and you and I together, this room could be amazing! (ps I had a dream I answered the door and you were here. I think it’s a sign don’t you?)

Plus today is my birthday, if you came here that would be the best birthday gift ever! Please come to Wichita Mandi!

September 4, 2012

A good night’s sleep

A couple of months ago we purchased a giant, super comfy sectional for our basement. It is seriously comfortable. One of my daughter’s friends comes over just to sit on this couch.

My husband and I have a queen size-bed. Stay with me here…this will all come together I promise. In this bed sleeps the two of us,

Charlie,

Gracie,

Lulu,

and sometimes Kitten (we will discuss the reason for Kitten’s name another day).

That is too many bodies! My hubby and I sleep in little balls at the edge of the bed so not to disturb the pack. Throughout the night, we roll over to have a tiny little face staring back at us on out pillow. We have paws pushing into our ribs, and the occasional brawl at two in the morning when a fight breaks out over a bone.

During the summer my daughter and I would stay up late watching old movies. One night we decided we were so tired we were going to sleep on the sectional. My daughter, myself, Charlie, Gracie, and Lulu all slept down there with plenty of extra room. Guess what? I slept great! The next morning, I went upstairs to talk to my husband and he slept great too. Feeling rested, what a concept! We weren’t in pain from contorting our bodies to make room for dogs, I didn’t have to threaten him with bodily harm if he didn’t stop snoring, and we genuinely felt a little more human.

So now that’s how we sleep now — unless my daughter has a sleepover, and then I’m back with the pack in the bed and nobody is excited about that. Is it sad that my hubby and I have to have a few getaway weekends a year just to get a little snuggle time?

Now, I know a lot of people would just say to kick the dogs out. When it’s all said and done, we (I) love having our babies close to us. God knows our biological baby wants us far, far away (unless she needs money or a ride). Does anyone else let their pooch sleep with them?

Speaking of bedrooms, I got this cute table at a garage sale for $10. Can you believe it? I remembered to take a before picture! Yay me!

It had great bones but was a bit scratched up. Just how I like them. So I stepped out of the box and painted it an extremely bright lime. I did decide to glaze it brown just to tone down the color a bit. A friend at the salon I go to bought it to go beside her bed. Hope you’re enjoying it Megan!