Sayonara 2009

Haven't posted much recently but have lots of new projects lined up for 2010.

First up, I've been spending the past week celebrating the holidays,

our friends,

and life in general.

Unfortunately, our Christmas was a bit scaled back due to the 10+ inches of snow we received. So, we had to settle for enjoying all our sweet cards we received from family and friends rather than actually celebrating the day with them.


The boys loved the snow...

...our neighbors who got stuck on our street did not. You can spot J helping out some stranded folks below-

With our Christmas plans cancelled, we spent the day watching movies and enjoying some wine-

(yep, 4 bottles between the 2 of us in 1 day...desperate times call for lots of wine)
and playing with our favorite furry kids-

J and my dad surprised me with a lovely gift that's been on my wishlist for awhile. I'll be posting about it this weekend after it's installed. (hint, hint)
I finally ventured out on Sunday and picked up some things for my dining room redo. I cannot wait to get started. Here's a sneak peak-

Hope everyone has a lovely, healthy, prosperous and beautiful 2010. There's going to be lots of changes coming to SaW, and my #1 resolution is to become a better blogger! Here's to a fresh start and taking the New Year one perfectly decorated space at a time.
love, S

Centerpiece on the Cheap

I have a confession.


I put up our Christmas trees and then completely loss steam and never decorated our dining room table or mantel. Since I knew I would be hosting a cookie exchange for my Junior League girls last week, I knew I had to come up with an awesome tablescape and fast too. I hate spending a lot of money on holiday/seasonal decor since it's only up for a few weeks. So, I went shopping in our basement.

This is what I came up with-

Last year, I hit up Target's after-holiday sale and got this huge package of ornaments for $2.

I dug out some mercury glass candle holders and crystal candlestick holders and placed some ornaments on top-

I reused the DollarTree candle holder/vases from my Fall tablescape and filled them up with various ornaments-

The large box of silver goodness also came with these awesome metal icicles-

Aren't they interesting? Very modern and chic.

So, I grabbed some branches from our yard and strung away-

Here's the finished room-

I love how it came out. It doesn't get any better than $0 and just mere minutes of time.

Happy Holiday week everyone! love, S

1st Project for 2010

Does 2010 sound so incredibly futuristic to anyone else? Can't believe it's just a few weeks away. It doesn't seem possible that Y2K was 10 years ago! Anyways, I'm excited for the holidays, but I'm looking forward to January even more now that my dad has agreed to help me install wainscoting in our dining room. I'm now motivated to tackle the entire room makeover.

I'm using this as my main inspiration pic:

I just adore that wall color. I'm also thinking about hanging some decorative plates like this-

and a more dramatic chandelier like this-

I'm considering black bean (seen below) but am nervous about going so dark. Our dining room is pretty open and with the addition of the creamy wainscoting, I think we could pull it off. Besides, it's only paint right? :)

On an unrelated note, today is my Charlie's 4th birthday! I got him when he was just a few weeks old and now can't imagine life without him. Happy Birthday to the best and cutest pups in the whole world!

Hope everyone's having a fabulous week-S

2 down, 3 to go...

holiday parties that is. I just left one party and am on my way out to another but all I really want to do is stay home in my warm bed with a glass of wine and watch Elf. sigh.

Oh and listen to this-



Is that not just a gorgeous song?! I recently discovered Jim Brickman and have fallen in love. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. love, s

Chalk it up...

There's a project that I've been wanting to do for awhile and after a snow day (or two) this week, I finally had some free time on my hands to get it done.

1. I purchased Rust-oleum's Chalkboard Paint at Home Depot.

2. Got the wall next to our pantry ready for paint (took down shelf and covered trim with painter's tape)


3. Covered the wall with 2 thick coats of paint.
Viola-A new chalkboard wall in the kitchen! Please excuse J's doodling. He thought I was crazy for doing this but when I came home from work today, he had wrote all over it and seems to be a fan now:)

I still need to do some touch up but after 2 coats of paint, we have a great spot to write down the grocery list, reminders and fun little notes.

Our mail/key organizer is back up, so this wall is very multi-functional. No more scrounging around trying to find a Post-It to write down what we need at the store or what the weekend plans are.

*If you plan on using this paint, a few things to consider- You must wait a minimum of 4 hours between the 1st and 2nd coat. You may not write on the space for 3 days after you apply your 2nd coat. This paint can be tinted to a variety of colors suitable for playrooms, laundry rooms, kitchens etc. I kept the original black color, as it's perfect for our black and tan kitchen. Also, you can use the Rust-oleum's Magnetic Primer under the Chalkboard Paint. The primer is dark gray, so it would only work with black chalkboard paint.

Stay warm everyone-S

This sounds about right...

The only Christmas song that I want to hear on a day like this-


Ahhh...