Faux Bricks

last year during my spring break i decided to do a little "curb appeal" to the entrance way... I have all these "I want" projects but i really needed to keep it budget friendly. 
Every time i would walk up the front walkway i would get these visions of flagstones or pavers and then reality would creep it's ugly little head.. Budget!! Budget!!.....

Then one day.... I got this idea, "what if" ... yep.. what if i just painted the concrete. 

so, off i go to visit the "orange apron" guys.. for advice on this little vision of mine.. it was much more simple than i thought, concrete paint and sealer.. tada!!!! 
In one weekend my daughter and i taped off our design and transformed the "ugly" slab into a brick lined pathway.. then on to the steps.... tape, paint & seal...

we were on a roll... it started me thinking.. maybe the "slab" patio next.. I had added some privacy fencing and SOME stones to extend the patio... and in a previous post i had posted my "dream patio" ... so instead of paying someone to lay all the stone work... "why not paint & seal"... so ...



add a few terra cotta pots.. a lounger.. and our little patio was finished for less than $25.00...

a "room with a view"... i am so excited, the patio is now an added outdoor room..

I hope you guys enjoy your weekend... i am hosting a birthday dinner tonight for 14, so i am off to start prepping....
Enjoy your weekend.
Till next
Sandy



I get by with a little help from my friends.......

I get by with a little help from my friends.... and this week is a testimony to that.
actually my post has absolutely nothing to do with the Beatles... but, you just gotta love this pic.. :)

after the week i have had.. i have sang that song for the past 2 days... first my furnace went out... 30 degrees no heat .. nil, nada. cold. very cold.  i called a dear friend of mine 3 days later.. i didn't want to interupt his weekend with his family... but, i needed help. Now, to tell you the truth, that is something i have always had a problem with. admitting i can't do something and i need help.

When i became a single mom of (3 daughters), i put on this "i can do anything byself exterior)... i don't know why, but i do believe i couldn't admit it to myself. I had to be strong, in a super woman sort of way. I didn't want to fail, or ever appear weak, even when i couldn't do something.. i just kept trying until i at least accomplished what needed to be done.  Sad but true. But, this furnace thing got the best of me. I replaced the internal fuse, i checked the thermostat and nada.. i knew it was electrical, but i didn't want to burn my house down with my "i'll fix it by myself" attitude.

My friend Eric was at my house in 30 minutes... sure enough electrical.. he had it up and running in 40 minutes... he has been in the business for 20 years... so he is kinda "super knowledgeable"... he was so sweet. stopped what he was doing and reminded me that is what friends are for... am i blessed or what.  Thanks Eric.. sincerely.

Then ... thrilled that we now had heat again... i decided to start some laundry..our laundry room is downstairs ... so... not having any heat, i have avoided going downstairs... it was too cold.  I opened the laundry room doors and there it was..

WATER!!!!! running down the walls and the ceiling... yep!!!! a busted water pipe!!!!!
i ran back upstairs and turned off the water. Came back to the laundry room, and stood in the doorway.. not one tear! i wanted to cry, i really wanted to cry. But... I didn't i glared at this wall, i stood there for 10 minutes just staring at the face of another BIG disaster... i pressed on the sheetrock and it was a soggy mushy blob.. that came off of the 2x4's.. the pipe must have been leaking for a couple of days.  Now, no water.  no bath. no laundry, no toilets.....  i drained the pipes and grabbed as much water for the furry man of the house (Rocky) and enough to wash my face. 
The next morning i text messaged another friend Reggie, (he had done some plumbing work for me before)...he was at my house in an hour.. tore out the wall, climbed through and fixed the leaking pipe.... and i cried this time, not out of sadness or frustration but, because in 2 days 2 dear people said... that is what friends are for. 

this is my laundry room now :(   ... but, i HAVE WATER AND HEAT!!!!!!! :)
and... when i posted this pic on my facebook.... another new friend Gary (who installed my new kitchen floor) saw it and responded right away with... i can come by this weekend.  He and his sweet wife Bridget have become friends... so, i guess i can't do everything... but, i do get by with a little lot of help from my friends... I am so blessed. Thank you guys... xoxo
Sandy

urban living

my childhood was spent living in the city...Atlanta..with all the beautiful southern charm, & sweet neighbors that became part of our extended family.. some of those sweet neighbors actually became part of our family.. love you carol & vickie...

isn't it amazing, when you take a walk down memory lane,  how much we realize we are the same (unchanged), how our personalities started developing at such a young age... I haven't changed very much at all... my likes and dislikes are  much the same... i suppose that is what our childhood is ...  a time of discovering those personal choices.

or maybe my childhood experiences and exposure helped to form my opinions... none the less.. it is fun to go back.. and revisit history.. and remember.. the place i still refer to as home...

i still envy urban life. we had the most amazing sidewalks. In all directions we could walk to our market, the schools, the theatres, the neighborhood drugstore not to mention my grandparents, aunts & uncles homes, everything &everyone was within walking distance. 

this is my childhoold home... isn't it beautiful? I love the colors, the mailbox on the front porch..the 6" molding throughout, the beautiful floors, and the sidewalk... gosh i love city sidewalks.

sidewalks and streets lined with painted houses... front porches.. city parks..

and the neighborhood coffee & smoothie shops...

and the urban art....

and all the beauty that comes from urban living....



I guess i will always be a city girl at heart... now living in the sub's my perfect afternoon is spent going back into the city for a day of city parks, sidewalks & sidewalk coffee shops and the streets filled with the creative energy of the people... we had a beautiful day!

till next time,

Sandy

family time around the najour house......

weekends around our house usually consist of saturday things, you know ..grocery shopping, catching up on the laundry, de-furring the house from our furry man of the house "Rocky"... and on occasion when the girls come home, we get to do girl things together... lots of laughing, shopping, baking & movies... this weekend was suppose to be getting tax papers organized... ewwww... but, that was the plan. I had a wonderful surprise when Cori came home...honestly, that sweet girl is so full of life and movie day becomes an event.. the food has to coordinate with the theme of the movie.. the last visit was French day....midnight in Paris (crepes)..julie & julia (croque monsieur)

this weekend she & Erin did a little shopping and came home with movies & sugary sprinkles & pink frosting.... my girls love all things "pink"!!!!

perfect girls day.... and,

I definitely have a strong affection for garlic and cheese biscuits,.... love them..... this morning i decided.. a spicey omelette with garlic & cheese biscuts would somehow motivate me to start organizing files for the dreaded tax season.... 

and i couldn't resist using the new $5.00 thrifted bunny platter... Score!!! a steal of a deal...

now.... off to organize those dreaded files.

till next time..

Sandy

Every January

It's that time of year again... the time right after all the twinkling lights and beautiful sparkle of Christmas has been removed... i start thinking and dreaming of spring.  My mind does this every year. I am very predictable. I love the winter until the middle of January.... then it's like.. where's the color, where's the flowers & the green grass.. . With that in mind last night i didn't sleep well at all... and while lying in my bed thinking i started thinking about my next big
Project.......

.... The Patio..

currently it has all the charm of a bowling alley... seriously. awful. terrible.

A couple of years ago i saved saw this photo on a blog... I can't remember where.. but, i kept it... dreamed of it... drooled over it...

Isn't it beautiful... I WANT it! I started my planning at 2 a.m. seriously i did.  I am going to make this happen with my own 2 little hands.  (plus a handyman) with the privacy fencing and a little stone work..:)

I already have the tile stones, I just need a lot little help finishing the layout. 
Hopefully, this little project will be done in time for "spring"...& i can start the planting.
I can just see my happy self drinking coffee and reading in this little space. Now if only the weather will cooperate for the stone work & privacy fencing..

till next time,
Sandy

Not an "Airbrushed" life......

Thank goodness for the weekend. I had a exhausting week (second semester started Monday).

Anyway, with work, family and following my new and improved (organization) New Year's resolution... I would not be telling the truth if i posted pictures of a perfectly kept home (suitable for a fifi O'Neal photo shoot), dressed in a cute well coordinated accessorized outfit, and 20 something year old daughters who never "rock my boat"... truth is... our life is not perfect... it's real, it's life. It's not always picture worthy........

Our life is more like....

pj's until noon on saturday, laundry (as we speak), grocery shopping,vacuming (we have a large dog) constantly cleaning floors...he is our Man of the house, and i try to do a phone catch-up with friends on saturday afternoon's. (they live out of state)....

Yep, and budgets... This family has a budget.. :)  no unlimited resources in this house!
We lay on our sofa's with big fluffy pillows & quilts... we cook & bake in our little kitchen, and we eat in our family room while watching "chick flicks".. that is how we roll.
We have "family discussions" about my daughters and their choices!!! hmmmm. Truth is some  of their "dater boys" are definitely not this mothers idea of "oh he is so sweet", and I have been trying "really hard" , at letting them figure things out on their own... but, gosh it is sOoo hard ... i just keep biting my tongue.

So, in the meantime... I am learning to pick my battles, and loving on them when they are home from school.

No airbrushed life in the Najour House... just lots of love. :)

Blessings
Sandy





~my new year's resolution~

okay, i will be the first to admit, making new year's resolutions are usually not something i will adhere to past the 3rd week of January.  It has never really worked for me. I have great intentions when i think of "fresh new beginnings", and "starting a whole new year" and start off with a bang and slowly the enthusiasm just fizzles. This year something was majorly different. I had already made some mental changes out of frustration, changes that would actually make my life a little better, simplified.  Organization is a quality i revere & need in my life. 

Piles of receipts, warranties, files, appointments, bills & clutter.... Has made my life much more complicated and frustrating.  I am pretty fanantical about keeping things clean & orderly.... but, PAPER... hmmmm not so much. I just stick them in a basket, or ontop of my desk and before i know it i have stuffed them into drawers or loosely tossed them into the file cabinet, vowing to go thru them.  It hasn't happened. :(

This little gem of a book has totally won me over. It's inspirational, motivating & helpful.

 My next project will be "minimalism", yeah right... I love my "stuff" to much for that. However, I am working on "only keeping what i love" and "use" and "wear", & not to mention my garage currently looks like I am a "hoarder" with all of the totes stacked on the floor, gallons of paint I will never use (dark colors), furniture that needs painted, left over wood planks from the new floor... I really need to start "purging" .  But, for now I am starting with page 1 and working my way thru the book.... wish me luck...   

Have a super week.

Sandy