Movin' on Up

I am so excited to report that we officially have a contract on a new house!!! After a little back and forth with the sellers, we have a contract in place!!! (insert lots of exclamation points here) I'll have to pull some pictures off the web and post them later, but I just wanted to share our exciting news. The house is in Riverchase, only about 5 minutes from where we live now. Assuming everything goes well, we will be closing on May 13th, and moving in on the 15th! My parents just so happen to be planning to be in town that weekend for a wedding...so perfect!!

Thanks to everyone who said a prayer for us during the search/offer process! I'm am so beyond thrilled about starting a new chapter in our lives in our new house!!!

As promised, here are all the bags I was working on last week!

and my favorite......

Condo Update #1

So we conquered framing mirror number 1 in the guest bathroom this weekend! I don't have a great picture of the before or after, but hopefully these will work for all you curious folks.

Before:


After:


We are hoping to finish up the mirror in the master bath over the next day or two. Due to the size of the mirror in there, it's a little more difficult. But the finished product will totally be work the effort!!

I also have pictures of all the bags I monogrammed last week.....those are coming this week!!

Whew!

So my little embroidery machine has been put to good use lately. I think I've become a personal monogrammer to everyone I work with! Not that I'm complaining.....I love it! I love getting to create the monogram or applique and see the finished product. Here are a few of my latest and greatest.....

Monogrammed Burp Cloth (had a matching monogogrammed receiving blanket...but no picture)

My sister-in-law, Meg, brought me these 4 onesies to monogram for a few baby showers she has coming up. They were precious before....but I just love how they turned out with the monogram.

It's kind of a pain loading all the pictures into the blog...so they tote bags I've done will have to wait until the next post.

Designed to Sell!!!

I watch too much HGTV. One of my favorite shows is Designed to Sell. On the show, a designer comes in with $2000 and shows sellers little changes they make to help set their house apart and hopefully sale it quickly. I'm taking a note from the show and trying to make a few "adjustments" to the condo to help set it apart. There are a couple of ideas that I've found that I'm hoping to put into place over the next week or two.

The first idea I'm stealing from my friend Julie over at The Baggetts. We are going to frame our bathroom mirrors like she did to her guest bathroom. Click on the link and you'll see her finished product. We are going to both our guest and master baths. I think it's going to make a huge difference in the look and feel of the bathroom.

The second idea I saw on a blog called Grosgrain today. You can click on the link to see a picture, but basically she just took a vinyl roller shade and added some grosgrain ribbon as a detail. Such an economical and cute idea! The shade is only about $7 at Home Depot and they'll cut them down to the size you need. You can also find grosgrain ribbon for pretty cheap...so my guess would be about $10-$12 for this precious window dressing! I think I'm going to try this out in our guest bedroom/sewing room.

I'm hoping to get the mirrors framed this weekend, then turn my attention to the shade. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the final products!

On a side note, If you know anyone looking for a great condo in the Hoover area at a GREAT price...send them my way!!

Cole Mathes Gentry

My cousin Lauren and her husband, Corey, had a baby boy last week. I had been planning a post to show you pictures of the couple of things I made for little Cole, but before I had time to post them, Lauren had seizure and they had to take the baby at just 26 weeks. She was showing symptoms of preclampsia and HELLP syndrome. They were able to give Cole about a week of steroids to develop his lungs quickly before they had to take him. He was born on March 1st and weighed in at 2lbs 3ozs and was 14 1/2 inches long. Luckily, Cole is doing great considering all the circumstances. He is off the ventilator and is no longer on the photo therapy lights. Lauren has been able to go home, but most likely, Cole will be in the hospital until what would have been 40 weeks. Lauren was able to hold Cole for the first time today and they are increasing his feedings, so things are gradually improving.

Two receiving blankets that I made for Cole.

Applique Onesie

Sweet little man. I think he's gonna be tall like his Granddaddy!

While things are looking up for this sweet little guy, please keep them in your prayers. I can't imagine how hard it is to have to go home and leave this little thing at the hospital. I can't wait to get home to get my hands on him!!! Needless to say, I'll be making a few new things for him before I get home to meet him!!

I've Been Tagged

Due to my lack of posting lately, Julie informed me that I needed to check her blog because I had been tagged and I need to be polite and respond!

So, in light of the Oscars last weekend, several people in blog land have posted their favorite movies and then tagged others bloggers so they will do the same.

Julie tagged me, so now I get to post my five favorite movies!

(1) Childhood Must: Home Alone
(2) Chick Flick: Steel Magnolias
(3) Husband Approved: The Hangover
(4) True Story: The Blind Side
(5) Holiday: Elf

Now I'm tagging Jaime, Jessica, and Leah!

I promise to have a post of some more stuff that I've made/monogrammed this week! Be sure to check back!!