2 Party Pics: Restore & After

Last month’s Restore & After event benefiting Habitat for Humanity was a blast and my camera whiz pal, Cara Beth Buie, was on site snapping photos of all the fun. An event centered around rehabbing furniture, it’s no surprise that I'm completely onboard with this unique fundraising concept…it also gives me an excellent excuse to whip up a few extra furniture flips of my own to donate to a great cause.

A fun time for sure, I’m already looking forward to next year!

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1 Gut(ter) Wrenching Fun

What are a few of my most favorite around-the-house activities to do on a Thursday afternoon off work?

#1	Watch my June Bug chase squirrels around the backyard.
#2	Clean gutters.
#3	Lie about favorite activity #2.

Happy Thursday, y’all!

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2 At Home in Arkansas: October Guest Blog Sneak Peek

The October Before & After with Cara Wilkerson guest post for the wonderful blog of At Home in Arkansas magazine will be up and running soon, but because we are friends, I’ll give you a hint as to what this month’s post has up its sleeve.



A little of this…



…paired with a little of that…



…and topped off with a little something special.

Am I the just best hint giver in all the land or what?

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4 A Dangerous Duo

If I ever feel the urge to lose myself in hours of mindless fun, I turn to my dangerous duo: Google and Pinterest. And when I really feel like pushing myself over the edge? I throw two of my favorite words into the Google Images search engine: White Rooms. Holy moly. Wake me up when supper is ready, because I’ll be dreaming in shades of white.

Those of you who’ve had the chance romp around my construction site, either in person or on LTHL, will clearly notice that not a single white room exists in my house. Some 5 years ago when I had my very first house fresh out of college, I gave a white room a whirl…and it was dreadful. Painfully plain. Ridiculously sterile.

Now older, wiser and a bit more knowledgeable in the world of home decor, my mind is already in overdrive thinking of all the fun I could have with a white room, take 2…in my next house. I’m not moving quite yet, but when I do, rest assured inspiration will be pulled from my arsenal of white room obsessions.

Note: While I do love the look, I have a very hard time coping with painted hardwoods. Unless they are stained beyond repair and simply refinishing wouldn’t do much good, I couldn’t bring myself to touch such pretty planks with a paintbrush. Am I alone on this?

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6 Just a Thought: There’s no way I’m alone on this one…

Normally, Martha Stewart can do no wrong in my book. Jail time? Her soufflé makes up for it. Neglectful mother? Possibly, but she (and that killer kitchen of hers) wins my heart over every time…but when I got around to reading her Oct 2011 issue, my own personal Martha fan club took a hit.

Don’t get me wrong, the recipes looked fabulous and her pumpkin carving party made me want to hop back into second grade…

…but when page 21 rolled around and Martha’s taxidermy collection took center stage, my Martha-worship took a beating. Somehow I just can’t stomach the thought of a smattering of birds perched next to my chicken dish, a porcupine in my liquor cabinet and a brown bear in my bed snuggled up with my latest loaner from the library.



Thanks for the nightmares, Martha.

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2 Feeling the Love

A big Friday thank you to all of the wonderful bloggers that have linked to LTHL. Be sure to pay them a visit while you’re watching that clock inch its way to 5:00…

A Touch of Arkansas
AJW Design Co
At Home in Arkansas
Bellatina Creations
Brixton Nole
Bubbles and Money
Building Moxie
Cara Beth Photography
Casa Sugar
Charlotte John Real Estate Co.
Custard By Design
Dabe to Dream
Details Weddings & Events
East Goes West
eHow
Five Little Rules
For the Love of Painting
From the Front Porch
Frugal with a Flourish
Home Decor News
Home Sweet Home
I design, you DIY…e-decorating
Jessica’s Journey
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Life Lessons
Live the Life You Love
Lovely Tonight
Modern Maizy
My Life as a Mrs
Oh The Place I Want To Go
Our Family
Our Happy Family
Providence Ltd Interior Design
Quaint Oaks
Rachael Jones’ Blog
Rambles with Reese
Remodel This House
Re-Nest
Renovation Rants
Show Home Staging & Design
Simple Tips for Life
Splendid Twenties
Sweet Tea Magnolia
Take Life with a Grain of Chocolate
Tearing Up Houses
That’s What She Said
The Buies
The Cape on the Corner
The Dooses
The Deacons
The Divine Mrs. EM
The Flipping Couple
The Good Life
The Hopper House
The Jones Family
The Lowe Down
The Married Life Diaries
The McNulty Family
The Muddy Truth
The Phillips Pham
The Road to Delightful
The Rich Hard Life & Sons
Two Dogs & a House
Two Poms and a House
UAMesSing It Up
Well Nested Home
Zesty Nest

And the top 5 most interesting Google searches that led readers to Live the Home Life last month…

#1. A picture of a dirty old wooden ladder
#2. No one likes me or cares about me
#3. Scary decals for inside toilet bowl
#4. House flies hum in the key of?

#5. Nosy stalker

…really makes me wonder what in the world I’ve been posting that would boost me to the top of these search phrases.

Happy Friday, y’all!

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4 Just a Thought: To Mr. Jobs…

With the passing of a visionary mastermind, Steve Jobs, I want to take a moment to get a bit more serious than usual on this normally light hearted blog of mine. Don’t worry. It won’t last long.

Last night after finding out about Mr. Jobs’ passing on my iPhone, the very device he created, I took a moment to read his enormously powerful commencement speech to Stanford University’s graduating class of 2005. (If you haven’t had the honor of reading it, stop what you are doing and click here. Your boss will understand.) In his speech, Mr. Jobs harps on two main points: everything happens for a reason and find what you love and do it. I’ve always been a big believer in the first point, and as for the second, I want to take up one smidge of your day to thank you for letting me do what I love every single day. Not only do I get to help my client-friends find their perfect home while simultaneously tearing apart and reconstructing my own, but I have the wonderful opportunity to write about it every step of the way…and even more than that? You actually show up to read the adventures I’ve thrown into the blog-o-sphere. My biggest thank you and an enormous hug goes out to all of you reading this right now on Live the Home Life, the wonderful At Home in Arkansas magazine crew for taking my ramblings from my own casa to the rest of the state, and my friends at eHow.com for somehow buying into the notion that I actually know what I’m talking about. Not only do you let me spend my days creating and writing, but you enable me with open arms.

And the biggest thank you to  Mr. Jobs for all he’s done for the worlds of technology and mass communications. We blog nerds are more grateful than our keyboards can possibly express.

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