$10 Credit at Rue La La!!

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you have surely seen my love affair with Rue La La online boutique!

Well, guess what!!  Right now, if you join - Rue La La will give you a $10 credit to use on your first purchase!!!!  All you have to do is join (for FREE!) by February 14, 2012!!  I didn't even get that deal - how can you miss out on this???

Go ahead, don't miss out - click HERE!!! 

I have purchased clothing, shoes, beauty/makeup products, household items....endless possibilities..just have to wait to see what sales are upcoming.

Here is how it works:  You get a Rue La La daily email, showing what the sales are today.  If nothing hits your fancy, delete that email and wait for tomorrow.  At the bottom of each email shows the future few days and what upcoming sales are on their way.  You can then put a notice in your calendar to not forget - hate to miss out on those deals!  For me, I purchase things I normally buy somewhere else, except I get HUGE savings with Rue La La!

You'll thank me later!

Happy Birthday Honey

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Engineerhubby!!

I look forward to seeing him again when the house is finished.  HA!

Hardwood-Look Tile

Have you seen some of the new products that are actually ceramic or porcelain tile made to look like hardwood?  EngineerHubby has a colleague at work who just installed this in their home, so we went to check it out.  I had read online that it does have grout lines, so I was curious if it looked like tile or hardwood in person.  It was dark when we made it to their house, so my photos could be better.

They purchased an Emser Tile product called Heritage.

Color they chose was Golden Oak.

PDF Brochure for Product

If you look closely, you can see some texture...mimicking hand-scraped hardwood.  They said they were given a choice on grout color.

In the end, we decided against this product for ourselves....EngineerHubby would have gone for it (in the darker Walnut color) but I could not imagine what color grout would be needed to virtually eliminate those grout lines visually...chocolate brown?  (Hardwood flooring has no grout lines...the wood abuts each other.....)  I wonder if the tile could be closer together, making the grout lines less noticeable?

After a client put in a dark tile with chocolate grout, I knew without a doubt that is not for me.

Back to the hardwood look tile......

This couple has 2 huge dogs and they had just run through the house when we got there.  I didn't focus on those areas on the floor, but their wet paw prints were very noticeable...but easily wiped up, I'm sure.

She said a co-worker used her same installer and put in upgraded engineered hardwood...the tile product was more expensive.  That surprised me.

Would this "fool" you in to thinking it was hardwood?  I have looked online and a few other brands do a better job of mimicking the hardwood look, I think, but it is hard to tell just by photos.  With our builder,  this was our only option.  I am very glad I was able to go see this in person.

Anyone else have this in their home or has seen it in person?

Footing is Poured

Lot Progress

Well,  here come some exciting photos.....HA!  This is simply to keep our long-distance family updated..not because I find this incredibly stunning photography.  LOL

Since it is taking forever for our land to dry out, a block and fill foundation was decided on.  (Normally monolithic...).  Digging the footing now.

Post holes are dug in to reach solid ground to support the footing.  Ours are 3 to 10 feet deep.

This is concrete that has been poured into some of the post holes.  The footing will be laid on top of this.

I accompanied my husband to see him at lunch, but can't say I had a thrilled experience.  He, on the other hand, did.  lol

In other news, we have 62 more hour long episodes of Star Trek:  Enterprise and I'm actually enjoying it now.   Would never have guessed.  lol

P.S.  I am back to drinking "green" smoothies....but I am doing a better job of mixing it up and having different flavors.  I put "green" in parentheses because these are mostly NOT green....purple, red....lots of colors!    I am feeling FANTASTIC!  Also adding Acai powder, Cacao Nibs and Chia Seeds....whoa, talk about feeling full!





 

Could it be???

It has been snowing....freezing....never thought the ground would dry out enough to start.....

Yay!!

Flower Arranging

Years ago, I made my sister some floral arrangements...you remember, jewel tones?  She mentioned in the fall that it might be time for an update....

How to make a floral arrangement:

Get some green foam and a container, cut the foam down to fit, use glue to hold it in to the container firmly.

Gather some silk florals...I always go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels on 50% off days...never pay full price....same with containers....

Here they are individually....

Start with your center flower...

Use wire cutters to cut to size....

Play around with height....trying things in different areas until you are happy.....

I went on to make 2 more arrangements....

Enjoy!

P.S. How to make mosaic photos? Go to BigHugeLabs.com!

Linking up to these parties: (Click "Read More" for rest of post.)

Ready for Footing...

Things are quite different....

Getting excited...now if it will just stop raining!

Inspirational Words

Profound!

"We are not responding to this instant, if we are judging any aspect of it.  The ego looks for what to criticize.  This always involves comparing with the past.  But love looks upon the world peacefully and accepts.  The ego searches for short comings and weaknesses.  Love watches for any sign of strength.  It sees how far each one has come, and not how far he has to go.  How simple it is to love, and exhausting it is always to find fault, for every time we see a fault we think something needs to be done about it.  Love knows that nothing is ever needed but more love.  It is what we all do with our hearts that affects others most deeply.  It is not the movements of our body or the words within our minds that transmit love.  We love from heart to heart."


 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,

Monday Randoms

Today is my "Saturday"...since I went full-time....see, I forgot to even mention here that I've gone full-time at my job.......I will work most weekends.  So Monday and Tuesday (most weeks) will be "my weekend".

I'm loving working...just opened the new model home...that allowed them to take me full-time...have sold 3 houses so far...more in the works... so fun.

Our home is chugging along....still just dirt...ground is so wet, they are switching to a "block and fill" foundation.....that is making EngineerHubby happy..

Speaking of EngineerHubby....he has discovered some old Star Trek series on Netflix  (Star Trek : Enterprise) and it is ALL ( and I do mean ALLLLLLLL) we have been watching.....  So, I'm mostly listening to Captain Archer (I rarely WATCH TV....I have things I do on the computer and I listen....) and something is saying, "who is this guy....." over and over and finally last night, I GOT IT!!

He's the failed TV wanna be dude off "Men of a Certain Age"!!!

Silly trivia...but my goodness, honestly....how much Star Trek can one man ingest?????  (This one originally aired between 2001 and 2005...)

Took WEEKS to choose our flooring for the new house.  EngineerHubby said, "It is 100% YOUR choice, honey....pick whatever you want" and then proceeded to "have an opinion" on every single choice.....despite me reminding him what he said...it never clicked. Starting 25 years ago during the wedding planning, EngineerHubby has had to have a say in every single itty bitty detail over every single thing in our life........I just accept it nowadays.  When he assured me it was all MY choice after he had the 92 tweaks and changes to the house, I knew better than to believe him.....

So, the tile we finally decide on TOGETHER  (cough cough) is discontinued.  Of course it is.  So we go look at the tile I have wanted all along.....the tile EngineerHubby not only did not like but recruited other clients who were visiting the showroom to agree how awful it would be...ganging up on me despite it being in MANY homes....it IS neutral and lovely.....so yesterday, guess who now loves this tile and claims to have always loved it and what am I talking about????????????

Seriously.  Losing my molars here........  grind....grind.....

To balance things, In "Wonderful EngineerHubby" news, we ran back to SteinMart to return an item he bought me for Christmas and as I was browsing, he called me over to a rack of the PERFECT shirt for me....Dolman sleeves, drapey, gorgeous bright colors and even one print......these shirts are so comfy and perfect for work and......$14.99!!  His attention to detail that sometimes drives me crazy also brings wonderful "like having my very own personal shopper" benefits!   Woo Hoo!!

I am seriously addicted to House of Turquoise and wish I had the guts to paint my home in these gorgeous shades.....too bad I'm the only girl......maybe one room, one of these days......

If you haven't tried that $2.97 mascara from Walgreens I mentioned, you MUST.    Jordana Best Lash Extreme...found to the left or right of the beauty counter register.   I sent one to my mother and she loved it....couldn't believe it was under $3!!

Oh, "fancy granite" has been secured with a massive deposit and will be in our new home....here is a photo if the final slab of Yellow River Granite we  (*cough cough*) chose:

Source: Uploaded by user via Cheri on Pinterest

We will get to choose how they lay out the cabinets...and will definitely be "booking" the countertop with the full granite backsplash...I cannot wait....I WILL be laying on this granite with tears of joy...this was the one thing I was able to add (after all EngineerHubby's tweaks and changes, we had a little room for something I might want that was "extra"....lol)  This will go in kitchen and all bathrooms except powder room.

See how this granite veining continues up the backsplash???  This is called "Booking".

Think that about covers it....Hope you have a great week!

How True Is This?

Source

"Actually, we have no problems, we have opportunities for which we should give thanks.  An error we refuse to correct has many lives.  It takes courage to face one's own shortcomings and wisdom to do something about them."

 - Edgar Cayce

Lot Clearing Update

With so much rain, the land has been much too wet to clear.  The last few days the crew has finally been able to work on it.  Here are the recent photos:

Andy spent all day yesterday out at the site....fascinated watching the dozers....I think he has a new career plan.....lol.  After everyone left, he went out and continued clearing the brush into the piles that will be removed.  Whatever floats his boat!  lol