Pretty in pink.

I love pink. I've always loved pink. Almost all shades of pink, but not mauve. Remember mauve?



Mauve was popular many years ago & I officially got mauve'd out. No mauve here. Just pretty pinks.

But first, I got this bright idea (pun intended) to paint this green lamp shade. I'm not fond of green. Not for my decorating, anyway. I have a forest green (& gold - wallpaper) 'formal' (hate that word) dining room. Seems every color I don't like to decorate with is in this house. And we bought it anyway! Here's my green lamp shade. Love the base, hate the shade.



I had some white paint, so I sprayed it. What a fiasco! This lamp shade is not the typical lamp shade fabric & I had an icky, gooey, freaky mess. I'm going to buy a new one, but for now, as kanked up as it is, I like it better than the green!

A long time ago, I picked up this gold LOVE sign. I don't even remember where I got it - Goodwill, I think. It's just been hanging around because I never knew what color I wanted it.



Until today. How cute would it be pink? So I painted it, too. I'm going to put it in my black, white, gray & pink living room.



Perfect!

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Project Dream International!

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Life is beautiful.

We've already determined (way too many times...ha) that I am redecorating our entire downstairs (& bathrooms) in the colors black, white & gray, with different pops of color in each room. All this is being done on a budget. Pretty much a non-existent budget. It's also been determined that I don't like much art on my walls. I am very, very picky & I don't do 'pictures'. I do photos of my kids, their art work & words. Words. Simple, lovely words. So imagine my delight when I recently spotted these decals while at the dollar store!



Oh yes, sweet little sayings for $1. One dollar! I only bought one to start with & I applied it tonight. Love, love, love!



I can't wait to go back & purchase gobs more. More for me, more for my kids' rooms. More for happiness.

Because I was searching the dollar store (Dollar Tree, to be exact) for a specific back-to-school item, I had to go to several different Dollar Trees. And I noticed something. The bigger the store, the bigger selection of wall decals they have! Yip!

So there you have it. Go get some! Liven up your walls! Express yourself & your life with words! On the cheap, to boot! Winning!!

And have you heard?

Life is beautiful!

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Linking up: Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Shabby Nest

I MADE IT TO IKEA!!

That deserves all caps because I have waited a very long time to get there! Ours is about an hour away, so even though I've wanted to go, I just never got around to it. Instead, I lived vicariously (drooling) through everyone else's Ikea posts! Until, until, this weekend! My husband needed bunk beds for a photo shoot he has this week & we exhausted all Craigs List ads, all online garage sale ads & just had no luck. So, out of the blue & on a whim, we made our way to Ikea! Now that I'm incorportating black, white & gray into our entire home, I could not wait to see all the beauty!!

By the way, Ikea is, um, very crowded on a Saturday afternoon. So we made our way in & we made our way up & walked the complete opposite way of the provided arrows. I'm a rebel like that. :) I loved everything! And the prices were amazing! But where are the dishes? The linens? You know, the fun stuff? It wasn't there & I was very disappointed. Sadly, I even vowed not to return. Sigh.

Then, we had to go downstairs to pay for the bunk beds & a twin bed I bought my oldest son. We hopped on the elevator & exited out the back & not the front that we had come in. What? I am easily confused, I was new to the store & at this point, I was just wondering if I would ever see my home again. But wait. The elevator went down & when the doors opened - what to my wonderous eyes did I see????????



WAHOOOOOO!! Another level with all my heart's desires!! I think I may have done a few cartwheels, as my husband passed out because he thought we were through. Bwahahaha! Oh no no no we weren't through! I, was just beginning!!



But alas, it had been a long day, the kids were tired, so I made a mental note to return & get "this & this & this & that & this & that & this & this & this..." & I picked up a few things along the way. I couldn't leave with nothing!



(No bags. I didn't really like that part. But, ok. Next time I'll buy a $.60 Ikea bag. :)

First time I have purchased a pillow insert, too. I really like the concept, though, of simply changing out pillow covers so I think I'll get quite a few more. I just happened to have another 20x20 pillow here at home that didn't sell at the garage sale, so I shoved that in another new cover. Winning!!



I haven't distributed the beautiful, broken, decorative glass yet (my OCD kicked in & I couldn't decide which color to buy, so I got all three. Black, gray & white! Gorgeous!).

I put my new, delish stuff in the front living room, which is really 'my' room, & this room is going to be black, gray, white & PINK. Heck yeah! Pink, baby! Why not? I love pink! And it goes swimmingly (ahem) with black, gray & white. And after all, it is my house! Rules schmules!! As I make more progress - & get all the school supplies you can't see delivered to their appropriate schools - I'll be showing the entire room.

This, is JUST, the beginning!!

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Baby steps to black!

Transitioning our home from browns to blacks is pretty much happening at a snail's pace! With all 4 of my children starting/returning to school in a week or so (sniff sniff), I'm going to have a lot more time to work on projects. Which is good, because I have way too many! But I did get one more thing painted a few weeks ago.

This clock sits above my desk (those walls will be a beautimous shade of gray some day soon, I hope), so I yanked this puppy down & gave a her a nice, glossy black finish.



I didn't want to have to tape it off, but ultimately, to keep the paint nice & clean, I had no other choice. Was a bit monotonous, but worked great!



And here is the finished product! Love it! Love all this pretty, pretty black!



Two little paint projects down, 50 to go! I have yet to return to thrifting since I decided to change colors. Cannot wait to return to see what I can find in my new colors! Maybe I can squeeze some thrifting in tomorrow? That would be good! Heck, that would be great! Does thrifting excite you like it does me? I LOVE IT!

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Work from home! Work at home! Be your own boss!

I got paid today! I LOVE payday! I love working from home!! :)

In between working, I play games with my kids, we read books, we clean, they bicker (ha), I referee, we bake, we converse, we shop, we laugh (a lot), I make lists of things I need to do, we prepare for school starting, blah, blah, blah. I am self-employed, so I work whenever I want! Some weeks I work more than others. And I still get paid!!

Tonight, from 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. central time, is Project Dream Business Model Overview. It's a free webinar, that explains exactly what I do & who I do it with. This business opportunity is open to anyone! The absolute best work from home opportunity available. Income potential limitless!! Ethical work with a very reputable company. And truly, so much fun!

Join us tonight! Register now & you will be sent a confirmation email. Click here to register!

These are just some of the girls I work with! Yes, we are real people, real moms, real ladies, real professionals!! This photo was taken just a few weeks ago! Next year, I'll be in this photo! And you can be, too!



Joining Project Dream is one of the best decisions I have ever made. For even more information about Project Dream International - click here!

Hope to 'see' you tonight! :)

Target - offering a few inappropriate clothing choices for little girls.

And they really think these are appropriate for 4 & 5 year olds? Really? Who, exactly, is approving these clothes? Per-verts? Pedo-philes? This is 100% unacceptable, plain & simple. I'm not sure what's worse - that these are available or that there are almost no other options for little girl shorts. ‪#‎disgusting‬ ‪#‎truth‬ ‪#‎clothes‬ ‪#‎fashion‬ ‪#‎unacceptable‬

*I broke the icky words above so no one can find my blog by searching those particular words. Ew!

The above photo & statement is what I posted to Instagram (& my Facebook page) after stumbling across these doozies while shopping at Target. The pair in the photo is an XS, which means, they typically fit a 4-5 year old little girl. What. The. Heck. Gotta love the cheetah print next to them - s-exy kitten, anyone? Yuck! These articles of clothing for little girls is so wrong on so many levels. Why is Target even carrying such nonsense? And I'm kind of afraid to ask, but do parents actually purchase these trashy things for their little girls?

When I posted this photo to my Facebook page, it ended up being my most popular post yet. This Facebook post was seen by over 800 people. Which is a lot for my tiny page. And let me tell you, not one person had anything nice to say about these shorts!

If we desire to raise strong, successful, confident, young ladies who possess high standards & self-respect, then it starts with the adults. It starts when they are very little & it is an ongoing lesson. It starts at home, with responsible, caring parents & should be supported & encouraged by society. Selling inappropriate, suggestive clothing for such little girls is not the way to do it. Very disappointing, indeed.

Shame on you, Target. Shame on you for supporting, advertising & making inappropriate clothing available to such young, innocent, impressionable girls. Shame on you for sending the message that these are acceptable & that dressing in little to no clothing is ok. It is not ok. In all honesty, you provide some really cute clothing. Step up & stop offering unnecessary & inexcusable apparel. Keep your reputation for being one of the good guys & hopefully you won't take on the title of being one of the bad.

Kudos to all the stores that do not offer & do not support such derogatory and/or provocative clothing for little girls.

(I assume Target isn't the only store selling clothing like this for this age group, but Target is where I saw them, so it's Target I'm addressing.)

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