Massachusetts Travelathon

All of our Massachusetts Stops

We recently traveled to Osterville, Massachusetts for a good friend's wedding. We decided to make a mini-vacation out of it and packed in as many things as we could do.

Starting with a 6:25am flight from the happiest hottest place on earth we traveled to the center of Yankee haters. After about an hour of trying to get our GPS and iPhone Maps App to "locate" itself and stop recalculating, we found parking near Boston Common. We spent the day in Boston walking the Freedom Trail. All that walking made us hungry so we stopped by Nico and filled up on gnocchi sorrentina, wine and a humungous fettuccine seafood pot. For dessert we went on a Ghost Tour. Yep, more walking. I am guestimating we walked about 7 miles that day.

We had some time to kill on Saturday before the wedding so before heading to our Bed and Breakfast in Hyannis we stopped into LA Fitness in Walpole because we apparently didn't get enough exercise in the day before.

We left with plenty of time to spare but hit horrendous traffic on the way to the Cape Cod area. This will be the first of many times we get slowed down. Thank goodness we made in just in time to see Keri and Dave say "I Do" and then we ate lots of lobster and danced to Michael Jackson's Thriller. I vowed to myself to never dance in heels again after busting my arse on the dance floor. I wasn't even drinking ... that much.

Day three was a day spent in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. We read online that biking was the way to go so we rented two bikes and with our trusty map we set out for a leisurely ride across the island. I must of misheard the guy when he said "8 miles" because we soon found out it was more like 8 miles each way. I mapped our route out and we did 18 mile since we took the wrong road in the beginning. To make matters a wee worse, we really had to huff it back since our ferry to Martha's Vineyard was leaving shortly. We made it back in time and spent the remainder of the day in the "Vineyard". I indulged in a Lobster Mac and Cheese Entree at the Sidecar Cafe and Bar in Oak Bluffs. It was heavenly.

The Not So Leisurely Bike Ride

Our last day was a rainy one but we were able to squeeze in a stop at the Pilgrim Hill Museum in Plymouth and the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston before we headed to the airport to fly home.

So we flew 1,100 miles, drove 391, biked 18 and walked about 8. I think I need a vacation from this vacation.

Whimsical Peacocks

I was on the hunt for fun curtains for our bedroom which I soon discovered was a daunting task. I looked online, at Ikea, Ross, TJ Maxx and Target but I didn't find "it". After looking through the window coverings section of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and feeling quite defeated, I strolled through the Shower Curtains. I actually found something I kinda liked. Selling this idea to my Manly Husband was going to be tricky though especially when I hung the shower curtain up. Totally girly? I sure thought so but the Man comes home and I show him the damage and he says "I like it. It's whimsical." The Whimsical Peacocks were here to stay.

Our first night with the Peacocks were lovely until the sun came up. I soon enlisted the help of my Mama, her trusty Sewing Machine named Sue, and for decorating support, my Auntie Ann. We went on the hunt for something to sew behind the Peacock, like real a curtain. Our hunt ended in the Shower section of good ol' Bed, Bath and Beyond where we found a fabric liner that did the job.

Mama and Sue hard at work

Installing the tie backs was a family affair as well. I measured, my Dad installed the hook, Chad was there for moral support and my Mom supervised.

Whimsical Peacocks in all her glory

The Old Boudoir

The New Boudoir

The Table That Keeps On Giving

Goldie

This is another of the pieces of furniture my Dad purchased for me when I moved into my first home. The table is sturdy as heck but the gold was awful, not to mention the floral pattern. Barf. I had hoped to replace it one day when I found something that I loved so I planned to keep it the way it was, in all of its Goldie goodness. A few years back a friend of mine gave me the idea of spray painting it and recovering the chairs. Here enters Brownie ...

Brownie

In my recent re-deco overhaul of Family Room, I realized I still hated Goldie Brownie and the brown color didn't really go with anything in the kitchen since the color scheme is Red, Black and White.

So here is what I did:

 

Meet Blackie

Drag Out The Paint Brushes, Again

It took me 8 years to get sick of our old bedroom set but only 8 days to get sick of the dark wall in our bedroom and decide to re-paint. I had put up a bunch of color swatches on the wall and we narrowed it down to blues and purples. I thought the purple would go better with the color tones in the wood so I pulled the trigger and painted the wall. I then had painters remorse. I didn't want to have a girly master bedroom and I think I just made it even more girly than it was before. Crapola. Strangely enough Chad likes it. I'll run with it for now. It's just paint anyway, right?

Before

After

Out With The Old And In With The New

My Dear Ol' Dad was kind enough to buy me some furniture when I moved to Orlando. I wasn't a huge fan of this bedroom set but it was free and more importantly, a really good quality of furniture. I wasn't going to replace this with some cheap-o pressed wood set so I did my best to make it work.

Then the time came when I could stand it no longer. That took about 8 years. I used the money that I made selling the old set to go towards the new set set I picked out but I am all about deals and Ashley Furniture Home Store didn't have any at the time. So we slept and lived in bedroom disarray for about 5 months.

Just about when I was really loosing my patience and having to go into three separate rooms (closet, guest bedroom, junk room) to get dressed, Ashley had a sale. Say hello to our new friend, Porter. Mmm, I love him.