sean has promised to call victor in the next few weeks to have him out to look at the kitchen. we really have no idea what something like this will cost. or if it's even possible. we'll be working around a few windows and the french doors in the dining room. and plumbing from the upstairs bathroom that runs down the corner of the kitchen. (is that normal?) so we really need a professional to tell us what's up.

but in the meantime, i'm gathering lots of inspiration.

1.  i love the gray counters.  and the white cabinets.  and the subway tile.  i also love the appliances but we've got brand new ones and no room for industrial size stoves.  not a huge fan of the light fixtures.

Source: decorpad.com via erin on Pinterest

2.  i'm in love with these pendants.  i've had this pinned for a looong time.  so pretty!  i also like marble but let's be real- it's not affordable or practical in a kitchen (for us).

Source: style-files.com via erin on Pinterest

3.  this one is pretty close to what i picture in our house- material-wise.  white cabinets, gray counters, awesome pendants.  i'd just switch out the paint color. 

Source: lincolnbarbour.com via erin on Pinterest

here's to hoping it's do-able!

it's really hard to follow that dramatic stenciled wall up with...painted door edges.  but we can't all be the star of the show so...

lindsay actually gave me the idea (she saw it here) a while ago.  i've been wanting to paint the closet door edges in our bedroom since but it's really hard to drag the primer out for one inch of space.  and keep basil from knocking the door closed while they dry.

finally, i got around to slapping some of my favorite vintage gold paint on each closet door. 

and this is like the worst reveal photo ever. i swear it looks cool in person! it's even shiny!

it makes my closet full of target clothes feel much more glamorous. sean's too. except his clothes actually are glamorous- dude has some fancy threads.  (except for those ugly brown pants.  the ones that elicit UPS man comments from your coworkers? not those.)

i've been dying to hop on the fluorescent color trend and thought about hot pink instead of the gold.  but in the end, gold won.  gold always wins. (as do i.)

*this post was not sponsored by martha stewart. she totally would not approve of my messy closet.

between brunching and visiting the cutest niece ever, i broke out my stencil and got to work.  this was not as easy as i'd hoped.  i did not have spray adhesive, which is recommended, and i'd definitely pick some up before i stencil something else.  or just never stencil again.  that works too.

no matter how much or how little paint, pressure or tape i used, the results were a mix of perfect edges and lots of smudges.  as you can see below.  there was a lot of touching up.

pre-touch up

like, a lot.

luckily, my little sponge brush worked really well to sharpen up the lines and i'm happy with the final results.   but it took forever. and it's still not perfect (gasp!).  i probably shouldn't have used such contrasting colors.  and ran to the store to get some damn spray adhesive.  oh well.

the smonas: owners of the tiniest bedside lamp

there is still so much to do in here.  like, get a new bed, some new bed linens and hang something up on the walls.

the wall is a tad overwhelming (if you stare at it long enough you will see a monkey riding a unicorn) but i think once we get a new headboard and hang up the map, it'll tone down.  right?

i made my map!  this might be the official smona slogan:



sean and i always say we are awesome at vacationing together. we like to plan a few activities, wing it the rest of the time and (most importantly!) schedule a late-afternoon nap/downtime before dinner.  i always plan the day and sean always navigates.  i take photos and sean poses in said photos.  he even carries my purse if it gets too heavy.  see?  we are awesome vacationers.

so when i saw this poster, i knew how i wanted to change it.

{via}

i used my silhouette (electronic cutter) to make the stencil on some card stock.  i ironed (err, attempted to) the creases out of the old map.  and then i painted the stencil with a navy-ish benjamin moore sample pot.  it seemed easier than finding a craft store for paint.



when i finished i said to sean "i should have used a larger font". and he said "or a smaller map".  wompppp.  but i like it and i think once the bedroom is put together (uh, ever?) it'll look great on the wall.  or not, and i've only wasted about $5 and a few hours.

i was going for a stamped effect so i didn't worry about perfect lines.  and i hope to hang it by mocking up one of those cool roll-down maps.  more vintage map, less poster-taped-to-my-dorm-room-wall, you know?

and now, i just need a vacation.  or at least a late-afternoon nap.

first off, thank you so much for all your nice comments.  sometimes i think blogging is dumb-- people don't care what color my bedroom is painted-- maybe i should spend my spare time doing something more worthwhile?  but then something like this happens and people are just so nice and well, i really appreciate it.  (and of course, i think you guys are funny and creative and love getting your opinions and reading your blogs, too)

sean and i are doing ok.  it's so weird to not have lola around.  she was my buddy and i always joked that she was me in dog-form.  (just like my brother-in-law is the boy version of me and that's why my sister married him)  basil is doing great so far and seems to be seeking out the simbacat.  we've been taking him for long walks together and it's nice.

things might be a bit slow around here with fewer weekends at home (i'm traveling a lot over the next couple months) but hopefully i can get some things checked off the list here and there.

i did manage to keep up with my photo a day challenge for the whole month of february.  wait, now that i look, i only have 27 photos.  close enough!

i thought it was way more fun than annoying and plan to do it in march as well (link to prompts here!).

and i am really looking forward to march.  february is just an icky month and march brings warmer weather!  iceland!  my birthday!  it has to be better than february.

lola died today.  i feel like such a goober blasting this news all over facebook and twitter and the blog but it's strangely therapeutic.  i also feel like a goober for using the word goober.

i woke up at 5 to lola peeing on the bedroom floor.  she was just standing there, right next to the bed (my side!).  i got up, cleaned it up and went downstairs with her.  she was acting very weird.  almost non-responsive and breathing funny.  we waited to see if she would snap out of it but she didn't.

sean called the vet and we took her in.  they took her vitals and reported back that everything seemed fine.  but since she was acting so weird, they wanted to keep her for testing.  they'd run a blood test first and go from there.

so we ran home to grab her food (she has, had, allergies) and i dropped it at the front desk.  the receptionists had just changed shifts and didn't know who i was (and that we were just there).  she asked if i wanted to see lola and i said "no, i mean, we just left her 5 minutes ago. it's not like i don't want to see my dog!  ha."

we grabbed bagels and coffee and i expressed a few times how i wasn't really worried about lola.  i just hoped they'd find something to explain the behavior.

a few hours later sean got the call.  all i heard was "is she gone"?

i immediately felt guilt. i should have gone to see her. we should have taken her in earlier.  we rushed to the vet's office, where they were performing CPR.  i walked in and saw her through the glass door, surrounded by at least 5 people.  they put us in a room and we waited for the dr.  she eventually came in and told us they were going to try a few more things but i knew lola was gone.

i wanted to see her, sean didn't.  i said goodbye.  the vet told us she might have had cancer or maybe a heart condition.  we got a nice clay impression of her paw, paid our bill and left.

is there anything more depressing than baking your dead dog's clay paw impression in the oven?  it stuck to the pan.  i probably would have had a nervous breakdown had i broken it. (i didn't!)

we've been alternating between crying and making bad jokes.  basil doesn't really know what's going on, as far as we can tell.  the house feels empty.  our hearts feel empty.

she will always be our first dog, our lolaface, lolita bonita, sugar puff and basil's favorite playmate.  we miss her so much.

that stencil i blogged about a few weeks ago?  it's sitting in a box in the middle bedroom.  i have sort of a crazy travel schedule for the next 6 weeks or so (iceland!  the beach!  ithaca! wait...) but stenciling the bedroom is on my weekend to-do list.  this weekend.  it shouldn't take long, right?  ha.

also on my list (more of a stretch goal though) is some artwork for the bedroom walls.  i want to combine this map: 

Source: designismine.blogspot.com via erin on Pinterest

with this poster:

{via}

i have tons of maps leftover from my sister's shower and i plan to modify the text on the poster.   would it be weird to have the f-word hanging on our bedroom wall?  sean doesn't think so.  i don't really think so either. 

but we are both a little inappropriate and crass.

and also, if ever a room is appropriate for the f-word, it's the bedroom right?

(my mom is totally shaking her head about all of this)