What I'm Loving

I'm too busy for a real post - but here's what I'm loving right now:

1. Kitchen is coming along. Heating and Air guy coming out tomorrow to vent our dryer!
2. Going out dancing this weekend for a girlfriend's birthday - soooooo excited!
3. Had my performance review yesterday at work. It went alright (I'm a perfectionist so it wasn't good enough for my standards...) but I might be getting a work laptop - yes!!!
4. Walmart had veggies trays for $4.88 this weekend with carrots, celery, snap peas, broccoli, and MINI PEPPERS! Those things are SO cute! And it came with yummy buttermilk ranch dip. We bought 2. :)Mmmmm!

5. We took those veggies and some PB&Js out to Piedmont Park this past weekend and had a picnic and took the doggies to the dog park - so much fun!

Ready for the weekend!

Monday...you suck.

I had a crazy-busy weekend and now I'm exhausted. Not really feeling work today. I wish I could take a little nap at my desk. The only good thing in this miserable Monday is that I have a doctors appointment at 2. Which means I should prob leave around 1:30. And it also means I prob won't come back to the office once it's over. So yay for a half day!!

Oh yeah - and Happy Valentines Day! Too bad my hubby is working super late tonight and I won't get to spend any time with him. Boo.

Man, I'm whiny today. I need to go re-read my "be positive post." I promise I'll be better the rest of the week! :)

Break it Down Now!

Now that we are nearing the END of the kitchen renovation (which I still can't believe we're so close to being DONE!!!) I figured I would break out the costs. I'm actually a little scared to see how much over budget we went...here goes!



Demo: FREE!
Dumpster rental: $215 BGI Waste Services
Cabinets: $3411.58 Ikea
Extra stuff: $103.63 (Drawers that were out of stock when we purchased the cabinets, plus dish drawer organizers and spice drawer organizers) Ikea
Cabinet installation: FREE!
Cabinet pulls: $161.59 Ikea
Cabinet dividers: $38.83 Ikea
Countertops: $1,280.40 (Including installation – awesome deal!!!)
Faucet for sink: $147.66 Lowes
Fridge: $1622.98 ($1593.10 plus $29.88 for delivery) - We splurged. :) Brandsmart
Oven: $754.32
Microwave: $234.20 Over-the-range venting microwaves are expensive! Brandsmart
Stovetop: FREE! (We kept our old one)
Materials for new wall: $100.06 Home Depot
Labor for new wall: FREE!
New door for pantry: $83.51 Home Depot
Pantry shelving: $161.98 Ikea
Installation for pantry shelving: FREE!
Paint for pantry: $37.64 (Including supplies and chalkboard paint for the door.)
Plumbing: $550
Appliance electric work: $140
Flooring: $638.27
Flooring installation: FREE!
Misc charges: $153.96 (random things like nails, paint rollers, caulk, hacksaw, etc.)
Grand Total: $9,835.60

Wow! I really thought we'd be more like $12,000 in right now!

Of course, we still have the following to do:
Lighting electric work: ??
Backsplash: ??
Backsplash installation: FREE!
Labor to vent dryer: ??
Lighting: ??
Ceiling patchwork: FREE!
Ceiling paint: FREE! (A gift from our real estate agent)
Labor to paint the ceiling: ??

So I know we're not going to come in under our $10,000 budget. But I'm still pretty impressed!

When we met with a contractor, his quote was $8,071 for labor alone. Then, when you add the rest of stuff we would have paid for separately (the cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances, etc.) to the $8,071 - it comes to around $16,600! So I think we've saved about $6000 doing the kitchen ourselves. Sweet!!
Josh's dad is coming down tomorrow to help us finish up some stuff. Woo hoo!

I'm so ready for my kitchen to be DONE!

I love you like pickles and chocolate milk

No I'm not pregnant.

But I do like pickles with a glass of chocolate milk. Something about the combo of sweet and sour - yum! I think my mom ate pickles and chocolate ice cream when she was pregnant with me...maybe that explains it.

Anyways, last night I went to Taco Mac for dinner with the hubs and some friends. (French fries and homemade ranch...yum....) I was saving my pickle until the end of the meal and when I was finally ready to eat it, I went to pick it up...............and I dropped the WHOLE pickle on the floor!!! I didn't even get one bite! :(

I. Was. Devastated.

"MY PICKLE!!!" :( *sniff*

Well, life went on and we started talking about other stuff and having a good time.

But then the waiter came over. And my SWEET hubby asked him to bring me another pickle! I mean, he just asked him! Without me even saying anything or telling him I wanted another pickle - nothing!!!

It was so sweet! I almost cried!!

And the waiter was so nice that he brought us all another pickle.

I love pickles...but I love my hubby more!

Athens!

Last Friday, we drove up to Athens to visit with some friends. I LOVE going back to Athens...even if I do feel a little old compared to all the college kids. :)

We ate at a yummy sushi place called Shokitini and then did some bar hopping. I made the mistake of ordering a drink other than my usual rum and diet. We basically told the bartender to make us something and since there was blueberry vodka on the shelf, we said make us something with that. Not the smartest idea... He made a "blueberry muffin" which wasn't terrible...but not very tasty. And it was super strong!

But we had a great time!

Yummy!



Silly Aubree! :)

Those are fried oreos - yum!

Blueberry muffins - not recommended.