Have you met my new BFF?

Sorry, Jennelle. There's a new act in town. Meet Daisy. She's the true girl's best friend. Who needs Tiffany & Co.?

I've coveted the never-loses-suction power of a Dyson for several, several years. My obsession began when my $50 Dirt Devil of college days behaved more like an Angel. Then one of my friends actually registered for one for her wedding back in 2005. Then our Sears model left behind way too many dust bunnies in its wake. Then my friend Dave declared of his Dyson, "Believe the hype." Many a friend has acquired one of these beasts in the past and I've quietly tried to save my pennies for my very own. After borrowing Dirk the Dyson Animal from Chris and Melissa and showing Mike the power behind it, he was sold. One 10% off Lowe's coupon, $25 Lowe's gift card and 18 months no interest Lowe's card offer later, our Bungalow had Daisy. She has been impressive from the get-go and Lilo's fur is running scared.

Mike has yet to turn her on (insert joke here). But I don't care. I like hanging out with my new BFF.

Dos!

Hey, remember this? We almost didn't. I rushed downstairs to a brushing-his-teeth Mike and exclaimed "Do you know what we forgot about?!" to a toothpaste covered, confused face.

January 29, 2011, made two years in the Bungalow. Mike was in Cincinnati. I went to Target. We completely let the day pass without reflection. But hey, at least we remembered at some point.

Is it bad that we easily forgot such a monumentous day in our life together? Or is it good that we are so comfortable with the flow of things that every day is a celebration of us and our first home? Maybe it's a little bit of both.

But look back at that "Firsts" blog post. I think it's fun to laugh at our horrible mess of boxes and loads of stuff. And the kitchen still amazes me because the extra cabinetry we added looks like it was always there. I constantly forget what it looked like when we moved in. We still have the plant given to us by the former owners and it still resides happily in the kitchen. Our first house guests, Alex and Jack, are still in our lives though we don't get to see them as much. Jack no longer needs a baby carrier to move around and Alex is probably a foot taller. Diane and Jason, who helped with the big brown couch, now live in our neighborhood and Rachel and Jay have started their own home together and will be married in October. The other Jay, who was a big help, has moved across town and is still adding to his small empire of property in Morgantown. The "peaceful corner" Mike was seated in is now frequently occupied by our darling Lilo, who we can't imagine living without. It's nice to look back and see how far we've come in two years. Thank goodness we've chronicled some of it here at A Short Story!

Happy monograms to me, happy monograms to me ...

Pottery Barn's White Sale just happened to be close enough to my birthday to pull the ol' "I'll treat myself to birthday goodies" trick. Lucky for the Bungalow.

Everyone knows a good Southern Belle loves a good monogram. This Southern Belle is no exception. It was sad to walk through the Bungalow and not find one tiny monogram anywhere. Oh, there are always plans in the works, but the ones featuring monograms have yet to come to fruition. The Pottery Barn White Sale has taken care of this calamity.

Our new boudoir pillow:

It's actually more customary to put the lady's initial first. But I bucked tradition and went the other way. I liked mCe better than eCm. I don't know why. So there is the only reason we weren't quite as traditional with our monogramming.

And check out what the "Outer Banks Bathroom" downstairs is rockin' these days. Two of these lovelies:

Both additions make me want to sit on my front porch and drink the sweetest of iced teas.

Just sayin'

Remember that long list of to-dos I'm constantly adding to? I stumbled onto a blog titled "Dreamy Whites" and found a picture of what has been floating around in my head for over a year for our guest room.

I want this tin ceiling and a smaller version of this chandelier. And I want crown moulding to go with it. Just sayin'.



Click here for entire post at Dreamy Whites. Don't you just love her room?

Resolved.

Since writing it down might make me actually do it, my resolutions include finishing the small projects I've been putting off. I resolve to finish these Bungalow projects in 2011:

• Put glass knobs on hallway wall and hang framed monograms with ribbon from them
• Paint the paneling/hang artwork of some type in the stairwell
• Paint/fix up the stairwell to the basement. This includes stripping and staining the bottom flight of steps
• Paint upstairs hall
• Hang artwork in upstairs hall
• Find/DIY a piece of furniture for upstairs hall

And now for the big projects we hope to accomplish at some point. 2011 would be nice:

• Fix our living room ceiling
• Build a deck
• Save for/install IKEA wardrobe wall in bedroom
• Spruce up laundry side of basement
• Organize gross part of basement
• Save for/buy new washer and dryer

Not too ambitious, right? C'mon 2011! We're ready!

100 chapters down ... and Pier One is all around

Oh happy day, it's the 100th post on A Short Story! But who's counting? That doesn't really matter to me right now because I scored some Pier One gift cards!

Back in July I had the urge to buy a particular chest, rug and bowl for the bungalow from Pier One. These urges for things from Pier One happen often and there really is no cash flow in the Bungalow for extraneous beauty from the Pier. But then a little thing called Christmas happened and Devon and Rachel gave Pier One gift cards to me. Thank you ladies!

My gift cards fulfilled one urge and added a little extra bonus. Behold, the bowl I wanted is now sitting right where I wanted it to sit. It currently holds Christmas cards (I'm SO SORRY we didn't send any out this year. New Year's cards may be out soon). I think I can have some fun finding things to brighten up my beloved new bowl. Oh, and big thank yous to Mama Marie for picking out the new placemats and napkins dressing the table.

And here are the added bonuses. Two glass stars that hold candles. These will hang on the front porch in the summer along with the hanging votive holder Devon gifted me with. I want to create a whimsical look with hangy things like these for breezy summer nights on the porch. These stars work just fine in the vision in my head.

I also hit up Pier One's 50% off Christmas items sale. I picked up some fun things for Mike's office decor and for our gold-and-blue-themed upstairs. You'll have to wait until the 2011 holiday season to get a peek!

Fine china and Chinese takeout -- holiday must haves

When Mike and I got married we didn't really need/want china. But we decided we would use Christmas china. We (I) envisioned large holiday dinners with family around our table and the perfect place settings and serveware setting the scene (setting, get it?). So we continue to recieve this lovely pattern in various forms and we insist on using it.



I should mention the placemats are from Aunt Pat and Uncle Lou from last year. They match perfectly!

For the past two years, Mike and I have sat down to a fancy meal during the holiday season. I couldn't tell you what we've eaten off our fancy service, but I do remember doing it. He has been out of town a lot and the holidays have flown by, but I insist on keeping the tradition. We travel to parents' houses for holiday meals and I don't transport the china. So I set the table Monday night and put out all the serving dishes for an inpromptu Chinese takeout dinner on the fine china. Courtney, Tara, and Melissa helped and came to eat dinner with me. It was beautiful!


Lennox's "Holiday" is a fine complement to good friends.