Home Improvements - Doorbell

After we got done painting the hallway I realized I couldn't stand our ugly plastic doorbell... Sadly this is the best picture I can find... the red arrow is pointing to it.
Sure it didn't look too bad in this ugly, bland hallway... but with the new sleek purple hallway it looked outdated and just plain yucky...

So we updated to this shiny more modern model.
I really like the difference it made. Chad was able to install it all himself (without my help.) We also got a new button for the doorbell since we were already having problems with it. Both parts cost us under $35. Isn't it pretty?

Home Improvements - Hallway Paint

I am finally catching up on posting pictures of some recent home updates we've done. I told you awhile back that I had no camera to take pictures. Shortly after that blog Chad found my old camera. Tonight I finally got around to taking the pictures for this post.

First up - We finally got our hallway painted.

Back for my birthday my mom bought me paint for the hallway - We got that Behr paint with the primer in the color 'A Touch of Lilac' (review below)

As a reminder this is what our hallways looked like before... boring, bland and completely uninteresting... not to mention I hated the chalky feeling they had... gross
.

It's amazing what a little paint can do... check out the difference! I also need to give some major thanks to my sister Lindsey who so graciously spent the Saturday and helped me paint. She really did a great job helping me out... she did 75% of the rolling... and when I did the last 25% I realized what a feat it was to do the first 75%... so GO LINNY!!

I'm envisioning a vase filled with some swirly things on the table with the electronic picture frame we have... or keeping that special box my mom gave us as an engagement present. How beautiful does that mirror look as well... I'm in love.
Chad recently hung that black blanket (or is it a towel?) on the door for some reason. I'm actually really wanting a new front door... I sometimes like the window but mostly I'm not liking it at all... I guess when I'm home alone and someone comes to the door I don't want them to know I'm home...


I'm really happy with the look of yellow and light purple together... it really ties in the rug we have as well.
So what do we think? Nice update?

As for my review on Behr's Paint with Primer... it. is. AMAZING. I was able to paint my entire hallway with less than one gallon of paint... and the absolute BEST part is we only had to do one coat. It covered well, it looks and feels great. I will be buying this paint in the future. It saved so much time and effort and I'm all for less time painting and more importantly less effort :)

New Orleans - Day 3

Our Final Day!!

The walking and the heat and the humidity really got to us on Saturday.

We walked around trying to find a good place to eat. We ended up at Oceana right off Bourbon St. where we each had Mimosas for breakfast. Crazy enough the ONLY alcohol we drank all trip.
We checked out the Pharmacology Museum.

We saw lots of street performers.
The above picture is from around Jackson Square. There were SO many artists with their art out. There were some awesome pieces and if I had the money there's a a bunch I would have gotten.

Next we took a Steamboat ride... it was relaxing... but hot at times.
After the boat ride we ended up back at the hotel to take a little nap and then we met up with some of my mom's friend that are from New Orleans. It was very nice hanging out with them. We got to hear them talk a lot of about Hurricane Katrina... it made it feel more real I guess. Sadly this is the best picture I've got
They took us to their local spot for Po-Boys with this awesome crusty french bread. It was a very nice way to end our New Orleans trip. They tried to convince us to come back for Mardi Gras and I will say it's a very tempting proposition so we will see.

I had a great time spending time with my mom... it was fun to bond and see a brand new place. I really hope to visit NOLA again!! Thanks mom for an awesome trip!!

New Orleans - Day 2

We woke up early on Friday and had breakfast at the hotel since the air boat people were picking us up pretty early. After breakfast we were off to take our swamp tour.

While waiting for our boat we posed next to the goofy gator.

Then we boarded our boat.

And we were off
The guides coax out gators by feeding them marshmallows which they refer to as "swamp crack"
And the gators came out.
We got to see cool moss that grows on trees
We got some good picture opportunities.
And got to hold a small gator... check out my goofy smile
And we got to see a 12-foot gator.
That about wraps up our air boat swamp tour. When we got back to the city we decided to tour Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World where they make 80% of the floats for the parades.
We got to put on crazy heads.
I got to snuggle up with the king
while the queen laid in waiting...
I also got to put on a funky hat and eat some king cake... sadly I didn't find the baby...
They had all sorts of statues and floats and everything
After Mardi Gras world we checked out the RiverWalk
Then we checked out the farmer's market
And then we walked down aaaaalllllllllllllllllllll the way down Bourbon Street... sadly this is the best picture I have.
We ended up eating at Huck Finn's. I had a Po-Boy... it was tasty!!
After all the walking and the loooooong day we headed back to the hotel and watched another $14.99 movie (Shutter Island which was pretty good.)

New Orleans - Day 1

A few weeks ago I had a conference in New Orleans. When my mom found out I was going to be down there we decided to take a va-cay. Neither of us had been to New Orleans before so we were both excited to see what all the fuss was about... and boy was everyone right, it is quite a town. At times it feels like a European city. We did a crap-ton of walking (I don't think I could ever convey exactly how much walking we did) and it was pretty hot and humid out. We kept joking that if it were this hot in St. Louis there's no way we'd be out walking in it...

Anyway onto the pictures.

Since I worked that morning I was WAY hungry by the time my mom and I hit the streets. So our first dining out experience was at tourist place. Bubba Gump Shrimp. The food was tasty and it was nice to have something in my belly other than pastries from the free conference refreshments that morning.
When we were finished it was pouring down rain. Luckily we were right next to a National Historic Park Site so we popped in there until the rain stopped.
After the rain stopped we started our way toward Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral. On our way there we decided to take a horse and carriage tour.
Next we walked through Jackson Square.
We walked through St. Louis Cathedral... what beautiful stained glass! (which you can't really see in the picture, but trust me on that one)
Then we ate beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde.
We also learned that the waiters actually pay for the food first and then you pay the waiter back... very interesting.
After we were full with beignets we walked around a bunch and ended up walking down Bourbon Street. And then decided to ride the St. Charles Street cars. We rode the entire track, and it was a looooong ride, but we got to see the beautiful garden district.
After our long ride we headed back to the hotel. We cuddled up to a $14.99 movie on our hotel TV (The Bounty Hunter... it was okay). But overall we had a great first day!!

promise

I know I've been a little MIA... but I'm trying to play catch up... so here's my guarantee to everyone.... over the next 3 days (at the very least) you'll have three brand new blog entries.

There's the possibility of more but that much I can guarantee you!!

9/25

My first Jodi Picoult book... and it did not disappoint. It was a very easy read, although you knew the entire time the ending would probably be sad. I really enjoyed the fast it was told from different perspectives. This helped with telling a story that has no right or wrong answer. It's a difficult topic, but well told to understand how challenging of an issue it is. Toward the end (last 200 pages or so) I couldn't put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen. I will definitively be reading another Picoult book. I kind of want to watch the movie, but I heard it has a different ending.