DIY Diva in Training....new series!

I think the Little Red Hen had a little bit of DIY-er in her when she said "I'll do it myself!"  I want my home to look like something out of a magazine, decor-wise.  But getting it to look that way is craaaaaaazy expensive. If you go the ready-made route, good for you!  Since this momma is low on funds and trying to pinch her pennies, I'm going the DIY route.  So, introducing the "DIY diva in training" series!

Each week, I'll be transforming a piece of furniture or adding character to my home by doing it myself and saving money.  Here's a preview of all the furniture pieces that I have around my house that need a little TLC.

From top left, going clockwise: 

1.  Corner table (yard sale find: $15). 

2.  Adorable little table with cubbies (yard sale find:  $10). 

3.  Your guess is as good as mine (yard sale: $1)

4.  Really flipping awesome desk (antique store in Bardstown:  $40)

5.  Octagon side table (consignment store in Bardstown: $12)

From top, going clockwise:

 

1.  Chest of drawers (from Marty's childhood bedroom)

2.  Dresser (from Marty's childhood bedroom)

3.  Side table (yard sale find:  $15)

 

I'm going to breathe new life into these tired little pieces.  Give them a fresh coat of paint and some TLC.  But I'm also going to share some other little tips and tricks to decorate your house for as cheaply as you can get away with.  I'll be doing one big project or renovation every week, so be looking for them!  Maybe I will post them on Tuesdays for the Twitter hashtag #transformationtuesday (Or is it Transformation Thursday and Throwback Tuesday?  Whatev).  I will gladly welcome any and all ideas or pins that you think would be fitting for these pieces (particularly that little cubby hole table...can't figure out what I'm doing with that little dude just yet).  Hopefully big ideas and big reveals will be happening!  So stay tuuuuuuned :)



It's Potty Time!

We have entered the "potty training" zone in the Gaddie Household this week.  I'm not planning on pushing potty training for awhile, but I did want to go ahead and get Avery her very own potty so she could get used to it and we could be talking about it long before the official potty training began.  So Avery and I made a quick trip to Walmart this week to pick out her "big girl potty."  It was almost sad how ridiculously excited my child was about a toilet.  I let her choose between a Minnie Mouse and a Disney Princess potty (she picked Princesses....when did we cross into an alternate universe where my Minnie-loving daughter is suddenly obsessed with the Princesses???)  After adding it to our cart, she would randomly burst into giggles and announce to shoppers around us that we were carrying a potty around.  Yeah, that's real life.

I have a potty!!!!!!

Are you seeing my potty?!?

Seriously!!  It's RIGHT HERE!! 

Looks like my baby isn't much of a baby anymore.

Also, with potty training, I solemnly swear that you will never see a "Look!  Here's my kid sitting on the toilet" picture because:  1.  I don't think they're cute.  2.  I do want my child to eventually like me one day and know that I didn't take a picture of her on the toilet and share it with the entire world.  Just sayin'

Sweet Sheets.

Since I made an embarrassing confession yesterday for my lack of tennis shoe ownership, I thought I would share another confession:

I've done NOTHING to our master bedroom since we've moved in.  

Literally.  I've unpacked our clothes.  I've put books and a lamp on our side table.  The end!  

Our bedroom is the biggest cluster of crap that needs to be put away, rugs that don't have a home, two chairs that don't match my current living room decor, a giant container of clothes that don't fit me that I'm too emotionally attached to get rid of.......it's a MESS.  Mess is probably an understatement.  It's horrible.  I don't like being in there, but I'm trying to decorate one room at a time and this room hasn't been high on the priority list.  Wanna see why?

Holy moley.........this is super embarrassing y'all.  I am a little bit of a comforter addict.  I LOVE comforters.  It's such an easy way to switch out decor without spending a ridiculous amount of money.  Our old house's master bedroom was decorated in black, white and red.  Fun fact about me:  I love black and white.  So every room in our home was a variation of black, white and one other color.  Kitchen:  black, white and red.  Avery's room:  black, white and purple.  Office:  black, white and teal.  Bedroom:  black, white and red.  So, in the new house, I'm trying to push myself out of my black and white comfort zone and introduce this amazing concept called color!  Our living room is grey and navy (which I'm planning to add some yellow pops of color).  Then there's our bedroom.  The walls are grey and I've been on the hunt for a grey and yellow bedspread for practically forever.  In the meantime, I was using an eclectic mix of every comforter set we've ever owned (basically because I can't find a complete set anywhere...).  Black and white comforter, Better Homes and Gardens quilted shams, green pillowcases and flat sheet, grey fitted sheet.  Do you see why I wanted to avoid this room completely??

My style dilemma came to an end this weekend at TJ Maxx in the form of this gorgeous Cynthia Rowley (didn't pay anywhere near that price that's on the link, btw) comforter and sham set (shout out to my sister Dayna for finding it for me).

 Do you hear the Hallelujah Chorus?  Because I totally did when she pointed it out.  It's perfect.  EXACTLY what I've been looking for.  Plus, I found these fabulous sheets at Target that just make my heart happy.

They're grey gingam sheets .  Another fun fact about me:  gingham is my second favorite pattern (anyone know my first favorite??).  I've had my eye on these beauties at Target for a hot second.  Literally months.  Any time I needed to go to Target, I'd walk over to the bedding section and admire them.  But I never had a comforter to match them and would tell myself I didn't need them.  Then I'd sadly walk away.  That ended this weekend!  As soon as I bought the comforter, I KNEW I'd be buying these sheets.  When I visited Target yesterday, these sheets were on sale (regular $43.99 for a Queen set, marked down to $38.99) AND I had a coupon for 15% Threshold bedding.  It was fate.

Side note:  while we're talking about bedding, you NEED one of these.

I was having HORRIBLE back pain most days.  I would wake up in complete pain and it would continue throughout the day.  One day, after being close to tears with lower back pain, I told my husband we needed to do something drastic to help me...whether that meant a new mattress, visiting a specialist, whatever.  He brought home a memory foam mattress topper for us to try out before I went and spent a ton of money at a chiropractor's office.  Honest to goodness haven't had a single day of back pain in the 4 months we've had it on our bed. {Similar options}

Back to the post:  Now that I have pretty sheets and an actual completed look to my bedding, I'm ready to start decorating the rest of my room.  Also at TJ Maxx, I picked up a wooden ampersand symbol (&), thinking that I could find a "D" and a "M" to put together and put on our dresser (sweet, right?).  It's a minty green and I think the color combination is gorgeous.

Now I'm on the hunt for mint green and yellow and grey!  Further inspiration:

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Yes.  I know these are pictures of baby nurseries.  No, I'm not having a baby.  It's called inspiration people.

Other small snippets of decoration in our house:

Rug in the dining room.  It's tiny.  I want a bigger one, but I love the design of this one.  I'll deal.

Our couch FINALLY came in!  When we bought it, the frame was bent, so Corvin's very graciously told us about it and ordered us a brand spanking new one for the clearance price we bought it at.  Pumped.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted pictures on Facebook on my living room walls and asked for advice on what kind of rug to get...what color, what pattern, etc.

Navy in the dining room and on a very long wall into the living room and grey on the rest.  I like red, but couldn't find any red rugs that just screamed "Buy me!  I'll look fabulous in your living room!"
Instead, I found this rug on Target's website.  Gasped a little.  Fell in love.  Bought it.  Just got an email that it shipped out today!  Cross your fingers it looks good with my decor!!

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That's all I have done so far.  Maybe in five years, my house will finally be decorated how I want it to be......maybe.

Confession.

**Confession time**  I haven't started my Couch-to-5K training for the Color Run yet.  Because.......**super embarrassing confession time** I didn't own a pair of tennis shoes.  Wait, clarification:  I owned a pair of tennis shoes, but they were a boy's pair and were very tight and I hadn't worn them in years.  Not even really sure where they're located right now.  I LOATHE tennis shoes.  They're ugly with jeans, I would never wear them in public to just go shopping, and I didn't see the point in owning a pair. When I vowed to start my workouts, I realized this meant I would have to go buy a pair of tennis shoes.  Gag.  I tried to pump myself up and had visions of cute pairs of sneakers dancing through my head. With that idea, I walked into a local shoe store.  After looking at 3 pairs, I walked right back out.  Holy Super Expensive Rubber Shoes Batman!!  Tennis shoes are like $80+!  Who knew this information and didn't tell me?!  I could buy a rug for that much.  Heck, I could buy a one day pass to Disney World for that much.  No thank you.  After that, I kind of gave up on my shoe hunt and put working out on the back burner.  Until my mom so kindly pointed out yesterday that I hadn't started the Couch-to-5K  Yikes.  Nothing like your mother calling you out on a commitment you made and haven't done yet.  Less than an hour later, I was a proud owner of a pair of purple Ryka tennis shoes (don't worry...never heard of them either) from TJ Maxx for a whole $35 (God bless you TJ Maxx with your ridiculously marked down name branded merchandise). These suckers are comfortable too...they basically have an Orthopaedic sole (because I'm secretly 90 years old and have terrible back and knee problems).

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Couch-to-5K, watch out!  Because here I come (now that I finally have the appropriate footwear *blush*)

Gluten Free, Woe is Me.

If you're a reader that's been here since my blog's "Life Inspired By Audrey" inception--first of all, thank you for sticking around and reading my random dribble for this long (That's like 4 years of reading my stuff.  You rock.)--you may remember that a couple of summers ago, I was having a lot of stomach problems.  We didn't really know what was going on, but I was in a lot of pain most of my waking hours...but more so after I ate.  After a gallbladder test, endoscopy, colonoscopy and multiple visits to multiple doctors, I still didn't have a definitive answer to what was causing all the pain.  But my surgical specialist felt pretty sure that I had IBS, some ulcerative colitis and, what could be a "touch" of Celiac's Disease...basically meaning I had a gluten sensitivity, or intolerance.  Per the doctor's suggestion, I went on a "semi gluten free with IBS" diet.  I quickly recognized which foods would trigger my pain--whole wheat, pizza, salads, some cereals--and stayed far away from them.  I did really well for awhile, and then I got pregnant with Avery.  I'm not sure if it was the pregnancy hormones or what, but I suddenly had very little problems with anything I ate.  I no longer had any stomach pain.  This continued on until....well, last month.  My stomach problems, have not just reared their ugly head again but, have come back with an unbelievable vengeance.  Things that contained gluten that never bothered me before are suddenly keeping me awake at night with a heating pad to dull the pain.  Tums and Gas-X have become my best friends. 

Why am I telling you about all my tummy troubles?  To let you know that my weekly menus are going to be getting a makeover.  A gluten-free makeover, to be exact.  I've got to start cutting out all the foods that are making me completely miserable:  cereal, bread, pasta, chips and *sob* Cokes. 

I've always had a tiny bit of a caffeine addiction.  I must have at least a can sized serving of Pepsi or Dr. Pepper a day to avoid what will become a massive headache later in the day.  Lately though, I get horrible headaches AFTER I take a couple of drinks of my Coke.  Shortly after, I'm in a lot of stomach pain.  To my knowledge, sodas don't contain gluten....but there is something in there that my tummy is vehemently protesting.  So, no more Cokes. 
Side note:  if I know you personally and will be seeing you in the next couple of days, I'm really not a hateful person.  I'm just experiencing the effects of a caffeine withdrawal.  *sigh*

So, there you have it.  No more gluten.  I hope that this helps me also lose weight in my quest to be a Hot Mama, but that's not the priority at the moment.  It's more about getting my stomach under control so I can be a Happy Mama that's pain-free.

Anyone have any kick-butt gluten free recipes (or restaurant orders) you wanna pass my way??  The whole "going COMPLETELY gluten free" is going to be a new and foreign experience to me!

It's Okay. Brag on Yourself.

I make it no secret that I want to be a "supermommy."  I want to be able to do it all, cook it all, clean it all, DIY it all.  When I don't meet those ridiculously high expectations that I've set for myself, I usually feel pretty down.  Make myself feel like a failure.  Focus on all the things that I'm not good at.  I have terrible self-confidence.  Before Avery, I thought little of it.  It's just "how I was."  Now that I have a daughter, I don't want her to grow up like that.  Focusing on her faults and things she can't do, rather than empowering herself and focusing on her assets and things she has to offer.  As a result, I'm going to list a few things that I know I do well.  Normally, I'd think this was bragging.  But why shouldn't I be able to point out all the things that I do really well instead of pointing out the times I fail?

• I can do almost anything one handed.  Put my kid in one hand and ask me to do anything with the other.  I'll amaze you. 
• I'm pretty creative.
• I can remember Disney movie quotes like it's nobody's business.  Try me. 
• I can be really witty when I wanna be. 
• I'm organized (just not at the moment in our new home).
• I think I have a talent for party planning.  Hope to make a career out of it someday. 
• I have a knack for finding super cute planners.  
• I am very tender-hearted and want to help people when I know they need it.
• I can spot carrots in a meal or in an ingredient list from a mile away.  It's a gift, really (or I have a carrot allergy and it makes it necessary.  Tomato, tamato).
• I make some kick-butt Kraft macaroni and cheese.

I didn't list these things for you to hate me or think that I'm bragging about anything (because I know you're super jealous of the carrot-spotting skill).  I did it because I want all of us supermommy wannabes to start thinking about all of the great things we do.  We're amazing women!  We carried our babies for 9 months and then endured hours of labor to bring our babies into this world and then went back to work a mere 6 weeks later (whose idea was that??)!  Or maybe you've been foster mommies or adoptive mommies and dealt with drama and legal systems and biological parents and lived to tell the story!  We've lived through terrible twos and spilled milk and burnt dinner and didn't break down and lose our minds!  We're Supermommies!  Why not focus on all the things we do amazingly?  Why not brag on ourselves a little bit.  Why shouldn't we pump each other up instead of tearing each other down?   Challenge for you:  make a list.  Right now.  Write down 10 things that you do really, really well that makes you the person that you are.  Then focus on that the rest of the day.  Stop thinking about all the things that are going wrong or you're not doing right.  See if that doesn't make a difference in your self-confidence and your attitude the rest of the day. 

Negative Nancys Not Needed.

The other day, I received my very first negative comment here on the blog.  From what I understand, it's a "badge of honor" of sorts among bloggers.  It MUST mean I've arrived!  But it got me to thinking:  what makes people feel the need to leave negative comments?  Is it because they are "anonymous" behind their computer in their home and they feel like they can say whatever they want?  They insult people and say anything they want that they would never dream of saying to someone face-to-face?  Don't get me wrong, I didn't take it personally.  I wasn't crushed when I was reading through my comments and came up on that one.  I didn't take it to heart, by any means.  I just couldn't believe that people go through life, cutting other people down, for absolutely no reason.  Does it make them feel superior?  Does it show how intelligent they are?  I have trouble understanding where people are coming from when they leave anonymous hateful comments.  Would you ever dream of walking up to a woman in a dressing room and tell her that the new dress she's trying on looks hideous?  So what makes it any different over the Internet?  Goodness people.  Just be nice!  We have enough negative bull-hockey going on in this world, why feel the need to cut each other down? 

Here's my advice...if you feel the need to be mean to someone (Internet or otherwise) for absolutely no reason, do these things:


1.  Go to Olive Garden.  Eat a breadstick and gorge yourself on Italian. 

2.  Find a Westie puppy**.  Pet it.

**If you can't find a Westie, a Goldendoodle will do in a pinch.

3.  Go to Orange Leaf.  Get a large cup, fill it with frozen yogurt and top it with whatever your heart desires (might I suggest Fruity Pebbles and Cap'n Crunch?).  Inhale.

4.  Get in your car.  Pop "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey into your CD player.  Roll your windows down and cruise some backroads, rocking out. 

5.  Come home.  Choose a Disney movie.  Pop some popcorn (may I recommend kettle corn?  or popcorn with Buncha Crunch mixed in?).  I don't care what Disney movie you pick (except "Dinosaurs."  Please for the love of all things good, don't watch that). 

6.  Open your computer.  Get on Twitter.  Follow Kid President. 

Last but not least (and how freaking appropriate???)....

Now, feel better?  If you still feel the urge to be negative, then I guess you're just a natural meanie and the rest of us will have to deal.  Just please, try to work on it.