I LOVE THESE HILARIOUS CARDS...but obviously I'VE had too much to drink 'cause I can't remember where I right-clicked the pictures from! Anyone know where I can find these cards?

Chandelier Questions Answered!

I had so many of you leave kind comments about my dining room chandelier after my New Year's Party post that I thought I'd do a post on where to buy, what to buy, etc.



The picture above is one from New Year's Eve. The chandelier was decorated with silver beads so it looks a little more ornate than it really is. The picture below is just a "regular day in the Sippycups dining room" shot.



What I can say about my chandelier is this: I love, love, love it. Wouldn't trade it for the world, brought it to this house from the other house, etc. I'm very attached to this chandelier. What I will also say (in regard to lighting in general...)is that you get what you pay for. MOST OF THE TIME.

I found my chandelier on the Great Chandelierswebsite. This was the picture online.



It looks to be kind of a copper color, right?

I actually called the company before purchasing the chandelier and asked very specific questions. You see, I wanted wrought iron, but I wanted it to be a patina'd copper color, not black. In addition, I wanted glass crystals, not the plastic or lucite ones that often come with these website "deals". I was assured that this chandelier was exactly what I wanted. There would be some "minor" assembly involved. Oh, and by the way...NO RETURNS. But you see, by this time I had searched and searched and I was ready to be DONE. I had a very particular look that I wanted. I loved the look of this chandelier from Shades of Light but had seen it too many times in too many magazines, etc.



I also LOVE these chandeliers from Vaughan Designs that I had seen in many a Christopher Peacock kitchen and in many of Betty Lou Phillips' books. However, they were a bit more of an investment than I intended to make at the time. Hindsight, baby, hindsight.






I got my chandelier in the mail SIX weeks after I ordered it. It literally came from Mexico. It was packaged in a box the size of a shoe box. A child's shoe box. I began taking out piece after piece of BLACK wrought iron and electrical cording. There were crystals everywhere, but atleast they were glass. Dr. Daddy was laughing his little ass off. He gleefully reminded me that he was NOT going to help assemble the thing and that he had suggested going to Lowe's to buy a "light". Hah. I was not deterred. I put that thing together in about 45 minutes (good thing I took Spanish in high school, as the directions were NOT in English). I then went to the basement and found some old wood stain in a dark cherry color. I sponged it on pretty heavily and then let it dry until it was semi-tacky. Then I went over it again with some watered down gold craft paint. Lots of smudging and wiping later, I had the exact look I had wanted. Not bad. I was so irritated, though! I called the company to tell them that it was NOT as pictured or described. Let's just say they were less than sympathetic.
Now again, I have to say I love my chandelier. I do wish it hadn't been such a pain to finally find and get assembled, but it makes for a good dinner story!

If you love the chandelier but don't want to go through all that hassle, try some of these options. Murray Feiss is a great company. I've purchased several things from them in the past and have been very happy.






Both available from Lighting Showrooms.

Bra-le-who-ya?

Bra-llelujah, that's what! Having been surgically ahem, "enhanced" years ago, I'm always in search of a good bra. I've always had the "self propelled" bust, as I've loved to call it, but after two pregnancies and a 20 pound up and down for the past several years, these girls are in need of a wrastlin'.
I've finally found the perfect bra. And I bought it in two sizes. One for my "fancy clothes" (that would be the slightly smaller, pusher upper size) and one for my "everyday" (the one that's comfy and probably just a tad too big). Either way, they're both the Bra-llelujah from Spanx. This bra is so, so comfy! Soft, flexible cups, stretchy straps (no adjusting, which is great!) and a flexible back with NO HOOKS. I LOVE THIS BRA! The non adjusting straps are probably the only thing that I might change about this bra. Otherwise...it's so amazing. You can get it here. It's not the cheapest bra you'll ever buy, but it is certainly the best! Oh, and LOVE the front closure...

Spring Shopping Already?

Are you ready? I'm not sure I'm quite ready for Spring just yet...but I do love the new looks in the Boden catalog I received today. Some of my faves...







and I must, must have this jacket :)

Ye Olde Christmas

This past weekend I schlepped the kids four hours to Williamsburg so we could spend some quality time with Mimi and Papa at a time share. I was a little hesitant to take the kids (ie: tried every imaginable way possible to pawn them off on someone else) but had no luck finding any childcare relief. Soooo...off to Williamsburg we went.
The four hour ride there was completely perfect. I NEVER thought I would be able to say that about my kids in a car but they were truly angels. BabyGirl even SLEPT part of the way. (for all you people out there who have kids that sleep in cars I'm happy for you...really (fingers and toes crossed) but my kids just don't ever seem to be willing to cut me a break)
We got there around 8pm on Friday and the kids (very begrudgingly) went to sleep. Saturday morning BabyGirl woke up at 6am (TOTALLY out of the ordinary for her...girl can SLEEP IN when she wants to) after not having gone to sleep the night before until 11 pm. Hmmm...this can't be good. Seems she was so excited to get up and make the gingerbread houses we had purchased the day before that she just couldn't sleep. Lucky me.
So, we got started. I think our effort paid off pretty well...








By the time we finished it was 11pm and BabyGirl was fading. I was seriously worried that we were in for a LOOONG day. Mimi and I packed them up in the car and headed over to Colonial Williamsburg. We had lunch and waited for Papa to arrive. (his arrival was slightly delayed by the fact that he locked his keys in his car in Richmond)
While we waited we shopped around and the kids LOVED petting the many dogs they met. BabyBoy also loved seeing all the babies. The kid LOVES babies. It's hilarious.





Finally, Papa arrived. Yay!



We set off in search of hot cider and Christmas eye candy. We weren't disappointed!








Despite BabyGirl's exhaustion she persevered in her attempts to get us to take her to the indoor pool after our tour of Old Williamsburg. We picked up some Barbeque from my FAVORITE place, Pierce's, and headed back to the timeshare. We scarfed our dinner, spent an hour and a half at the pool and finished the evening off with bedtime stories read by the "elves" at the resort. Too cute. BabyGirl didn't quite make it through the storytelling. Once we got back to the condo her eyes were closed as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Overall, the perfect end to a perfect weekend!

Shhh...

Don't tell Dr. Daddy but I just got these for BabyGirl's stocking!




She had her ears pierced (after endless nagging) a few weeks ago. She was so brave and didn't even flinch. Quite proud of her accomplishment, she informed me that she would then be rummaging through my earrings to find some she wants to wear. Hah! Maybe these will solve the problem. Too cute! Available at Tiffany & Co. Besides, it's free shipping and who can argue with that?

Fit For a Princess

I've FINALLY finished BabyGirl's room and took pictures. It's all decorated for Christmas, so you'll have to use your imagination and assume that the big a** tree isn't there the rest of the year! We also made a little banner that says "Peace On Earth". She was none too happy with this little development, telling me "What's that? I don't like that! I don't like Peace On Earth". I think she was wanting something more along the lines of "Ho, Ho, Ho!". Oh, well.









The details...as many as I can remember!

Bedding: The fabric was purchased from The Fabric Finder (no longer available). The trim is from a local store. The quilt is from Garnet Hill.

Curtains: See above.

Kitchen set: Pottery Barn Kids

Side table: Land of Nod

Rug: Schumacher

Tree: Target

Doll Shelf: Purchased from an unfinished wood store and painted in antique white.

Paint colors: Walls, ceiling...Benjamin Mooore Frosty Pink. Trim 1/2 antique white and 1/2 Navajo white mix (Benjamin Moore)

Bed: Purchased from a seller on Ebay who claimed to make the same bed for Posh Tots, but I can't recommend him because the bed is a disaster!

Lamp: Target

Chandelier: Shades of Light

Let me know if you have any other questions!!!

Let's Get This Party Started

The wrapping party, that is. I've got my wrapping/craft room all set up and ready to show off. Here's the deal. I've always wanted a "wrapping room". You see them in magazines and showhomes and they are so amazing. I love to wrap gifts. I love even more the idea of having everything organized and in one place. The problem is...who has the space (or time) to get something like this together?
Since we moved into our house last summer the unfinished part of the basement has been a disaster. Crap everywhere with no end in sight. I finally decided that if I was going to wade through the mess and get organized I'd have to have a pay off in the end. I'm all about the "what's in it for me?". So, I promised myself that after getting the area organized I'd make it into a fun room for ME. I allowed Dr. Daddy to know that once the room was cleaned up he had no claims to it. (it would be just like him to walk in, see the room totally cleaned and organized by MOI and start in on how happy he was to have a clean space for all his "collectibles" (read: old Playboys, record albums, random crap, etc.))
It took an entire day to get the mess cleaned up. I was lucky that there were already shelves and cabinets built and a peg board on the wall. All I needed were some hooks and dowels from Home Depot, some cheap shelves from Michael's and voila! Wrapping room. I put a cork contact paper on top of the cabinet. This allows me to use my hole punch and eyelet setter without worrying about destroying the cabinet. (which is kind of a joke since it's all beat up anyway) I took the shelves from Michael's, drilled holes in the sides, inserted a wooden dowel, and had ready made ribbon holders. My bows and ribbon and tape, etc. are organized in glass jars from Wal-Mart. The whole deal cost about $50. Not bad!
I eventually would love to paint this room the same color as the finished part of the basement and refinish the cabinets but that would be about twenty other projects down the line!
As you can see from the last picture...I've got quite a bit of wrapping to do!