Style Inspiration: Halloween Decor

Decorating for the holidays can feel like a chore. For some reason it was easier before I was a mom. I simply pulled out the bin for the appropriate season and moved ahead from there.

Easy as 1-2-3. Or something.

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Alphabet Photography ~ Product Review

I'm so excited to have the opportunity to receive an original Alphabet Photography product to review and enjoy.

If you have not yet heard about Alphabet Photography, let me give you a little introduction. Alphabet Photography is a very cool artform that allows you to create any word by using images taken that resemble letters. These images exist in a library where you go through and decide on letters that mesh together best to create the word of your choice.

While many friends reviewing this product decided to create beautiful and inspiring words, others of us chose to display family names. First, last, combined, whatever works for you they will create it out of pictures of things you see around you every day that *look* like letters.

Surely you know how it is? You see something and think, that looks like ...  fill in the blank! Well, these photographers have captured the "looks like" and enabled us to turn them into complete words of our choosing.

The artwork came bubble wrapped in a strong cardboard box. Once opened I saw that the frame was packaged carefully and beautifully as shown here:

The completed artwork reflected a variety of images from the Alphabet Photography library of choices. I must have arranged and rearranged the possibilities a dozen times before I finalized my decision.  I decided to make us a piece displaying our last name.

My mom was visiting when this arrived and she thought it was beautiful. We discussed what a perfect gift it would be for someone's new home, new baby (beautiful for the baby's room!) or as a holiday gift for someone special. Like your parents or in-laws, maybe? [Wink, nudge!]

I'm not normally of the mindset to buy myself something so seemingly extravagant, because I often feel like my home is a mish-mash of pictures and frames and more. But as elegant as this artwork is, it also blends right in with the rest of my home.

I was so pleased with my choice that my husband hung it up over our mantle the evening we opened it. Which is crazy fast in this household! It fits perfectly with our decor, and with the color scheme of our downstairs. It kind of ties the room together in a way that I didn't expect, but truly appreciate.

Each official Alphabet Photography piece is a true original as chosen by you for someone special and is a perfect display of originality, class and style.

The perfect customized gift that includes photographs from all over the world, this is the original Alphabet Photography. Celebrity owners include: Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate, Tyra Banks, Ryan Seacrest, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, John Schneider, Nelly Furtado and many more!


*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Alphabet Photography. The opinions, photographs and text are all mine. 

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I don't even know what to title this post.

So we noticed a water spot on our kitchen ceiling the other day. It seemed to appear over night. It sure felt like it did. And I looked at it and it was brownish/blackish definitely mold-ish.

Fast forward to yesterday when we had a friend who is a contractor come out, and he did a quick assessment and told us what the next steps would be.

So after he left I called a plumber - they were out in a few hours. Guy cuts a square hole in our ceiling, pulls out the drywall and it's so nasty you wouldn't want to see it on TV. Ew.

Determines the leak is definitely from our upstairs toilet (in our master bath). Great. Takes up our toilet, wax seal is like shredded or something. Well, there you go. It appears that the toilet has been removed before, and there's a definite leak on at least one side. It's really gross, but the leak is fixed so we're done with step one, at least.

He recommends we call a mold guy. Mold guy is in the area and comes out a few hours later. Checks kitchen ceiling. It's definitely mold. He's going to have to cut more out of the ceiling. Probably do a mold treatment. Did I mention yesterday was our 10yr anniversary? Happy anniversary to us!

Checks the ceiling and it's bad, but it's not like the whole ceiling, which is great news, thank goodness. We don't have to move to a hotel, kennel the dogs and hide the cats. ;) We DO have to live with a loud fan and a plastic wrapped section of our kitchen. I'll live. It's all good. No dishwasher? I won't cook. We're all set.

BUT.

He goes upstairs to cut up some of the bathroom floor and it is so freakin' gross there are NO WORDS. NO WORDS, people. It's nasty. It's rotted. It's a Stage 3 or whatever that means. It's likely that the bottom of the toilet has been leaking into the bathroom floor forEVER. Probably since before we bought our house 5 years ago. WTH? How is that even possible?

Note to self, and to everyone you know in this world ... if you ever buy a house (first house, second, again and again), make sure you have a water detector person come and check all your bathrooms, walls, floors, and laundry room, too, while you're at it. Heck, throw in the kitchen to be safe.  There was so much moisture and water in the bathroom floor that it was off the charts. Ew.

So right now we have our upstairs bath cordoned off. It's a biohazard. Seriously. The plumber had to come back out and take our toilet off again and it's in our master bathtub. What? Yes. That is my life right now.

My daughter even drew a picture of it.

Toilet - meet bathtub. Redneck much?

Happy anniversary to us. Oy.

On a positive note, we're getting a new bathroom floor. And have to paint the kitchen ceiling. Maybe I'll go yellow or something. That could be fun. Or cheesy. Or both. We'll see.

Thanks for listening. I wish you a household-stress-free-weekend ahead.

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A New Look!

So, what do you think? It's a whole new me!

I had the fortunate pleasure of being a total pain in the a$$ to Dionne over at Homesick Cajun as she revamped my 'hood for me. Poor girl didn't know what she was getting herself into!

Anyway - I decided I wanted some pinks, browns and a little bit of blue, too. So she gave me that and then some. And then I decided it was too pink. And then she made some more changes for me. And then I realized I'd have to have a signature. My standard signature always has those two asterisks before my name, and she creatively incorporated the flowers in there.

And so, here I am. Good Girl Gone Redneck in a whole new 'hood. It's still me, underneath the pretty flowers, the light colors and the funky fonts, I'm just that New York girl who relocated, found a whole new Redneck side to myself and started livin' it up here in Blognia.

It feels really good to have my own space, as for the entire time I've been blogging I've been floating around, grabbing free backgrounds and just testing them out, looking for that perfect fit. That perfect way to look at my site and say, hey, whattup? It's really me. It still feels weird to see myself in these colors. It still feels as though - hey, wait - did *I* say that? But I love it. It feels like home. I have to thank her for that, and thank all of you, as YOU are a huge part of what makes this feel like home to me, as well.

Hope you all like the look, and if you don't - well - just lie to me. I can't take it. I'm pretty fragile right now. ;-) Or not. Whatever.

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Black Friday Made Over My Living Room

So, not exactly made over completely, but made over a little bit.

See, some months ago hubby got a little extra spending money that we used to pay off some bills. And in doing so we kind of promised ourselves we would wait til Black Friday and buy ourselves a new (read = bigger) TV.

He went out this morning [Friday AM], checked out a few places, came home. Decided to try another quick pit stop about 5 minutes from us and called me, saying, "Are you going to kill me?" I had to laugh. Why would I kill him? We all benefit from this fantastic thing that now graces our TV Stand in the corner of our living room. Plus, in making the change, he did some heavy cleaning behind there. A spot that hadn't been touched in over four years. Hallelujah! (Don't you dare go back there, kitties!)

And in getting this new item up on it's stand, we had to move some stuff (read = toys) around. I totally want to do some more intense cleaning now. Definitely. And I am assessing where I can hang up some pictures. Again, it's been over four years. Shouldn't we have some pictures hanging on our living room walls? I think so ...

Then we head to the other side of the living room, and I think that it's time to bring out the holiday decor. I've gotta dig through the garage for my Chanukah items, and the rare Christmas-season fare I might have, as well. Usually I stick to snowmen. I mean, who can resist them, right? And with Chanukah rapidly approaching, I'm going to have to get a move on, and fast.
Anyway, now I totally want to do more. I want to buy some counter height stools for my kitchen island. I actually kind of like these but I'm not sure I'm ready to spend $100 (as we would need two, after all) on them right now. Plus I'm not sure I'm ready to have my child constantly climbing them. Which we know (you know, right? It's not just me ...) she would totally be doing. And I'd lose my mind. Or just get swallowed up with anxiety. So yeah, I'll skip them for the time being!

And I want to turn our dining room into an actual dining room. We have the furniture, it's just that our old loveseat, couch and recliner are in there (playroom style) AND the hutch and the dining room table, which was pushed into a corner. What to do with that space, eh?

Anyway, that's where I'm at today. In the meantime I'm lazy, watching Pumpkin Chunkin' and "posting" - or writing this post. But I probably won't post it until tomorrow. Or the next day. Cause I'm just not in the mood to overdo the posting. After all, it's the long holiday weekend. We should be relaxing and thankful, not reading what everyone else is up to or wants to be doing.

Have I mentioned we haven't hit the IKEA in Charlotte, yet? Hmmmn. Wonder what time they open tomorrow?

Note: We didn't go to IKEA yesterday, we went grocery shopping after hitting The Diner for lunch. Today we will go swimming and pretend it's a regular Sunday. And yes, I literally mean The Diner - as that is it's name, and it's like the only pseudo-diner around. Ah, how I miss NYC sometimes!

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Rolling a 2!!!

So I'm a total dork and I can't believe I have 222 followers. I'm a big fan of these kinds of numbers, and it's perfect timing, as I was just contacted about hosting a giveaway, and I figured, why the heck not? I'll do it when I hit 222, which happened tonight. So here we are.

I figured you readers like freebies, or at least if you don't, I know I usually do, so maybe some of you will be convinced to go for it? Who knows!?!

But, anywhynotgivesomethingawayifIcanthaveitformyself? ;)

The giveaway is for a book (go figure!). But it's not your typical Good Girl Gone Redneck kind of read. It's called Slob Proof! Real-Life Home Decorating Solutions, by Debbie Weiner.
Debbie is an interior designer, with a focus on keeping your home a perfect mesh with your style, while at the same time ensuring that you purchase the kinds of items that you'll be able to keep clean for years to come. And who doesn't want that? I mean, make an investment in your decor you'd rather not have to change it down the line after the milk has been spilled or the cat knocks over a bowl of Spaghetti-Os all over your couch (true story, but thank goodness NOT my couch, our kitchen island - yeah, thanks, hubby) because you walked out of the room, turned your back for just a minute ... well, you get the picture!
Apparently Debbie has created some crazy amazing furniture line. Unfortunately, we're not giving away the couch you'll see here on their website, but it's cute, isn't it? Imagine having that kind of fabric and ability to avoid concerns about various items your kids get their hands into and make their way to your furniture with? Ah, the dream of it. (Debbie, are you out there? I'd love to test run your new line against my 3-year-old daughter. She'd have a blast, and so would we!)

So, let me tell you how to enter if you want to win a copy of this book.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me about the WORST mess/spill experience you've ever had. Come on, fess up. Whether it was at home, or out and about, what happened?

Extra entries (please leave separate comments for each):

* Follow Good Girl Gone Redneck
* Follow me on Twitter @Goodgirlgonered and leave your twitter handle so I know it's you
* Tweet about it (and please leave your URL)
* Follow @DebbieWeiner on twitter if you're that intrigued
* Get someone to tell me you referred them in their own entry here (ie: when they leave their mandatory entry, tell them to say you sent them in that same comment)

The winner will be drawn on Saturday, July 17th.

Simple enough, right? I mean, what the heck, it's a free decorating book, and the reviews on Amazon seem pretty favorable. By no means am I the best at home decor, which is why you're not getting a book written by me on the same subject matter.

Have a slob at home? Enter today!

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Redecorating ...?

Did you know it's Friday Follow Day? I figured what better kind of post than this to show any new friends how much I like to talk. And streamline my thoughts when I post. Head on over by clicking the airplane button above for more info and to meet new friends!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming:

** I originally wrote this post a few weeks ago, which is obvious, as our possible yard sale is now TOMORROW. I just got overwhelmed with the ups and downs of bloggy world, and held back from posting until today. I'm still itching to redecorate, though, so we'll see what happens this weekend!**

Ah, Redecorating ... Nope, not the blog this time. My house.

We got a flier in our mailbox yesterday telling us that our community yard sale is going to be held on June 6th. Or the 5th. Whatever - it's two weeks away. That's better notice than the usual 1 week they've given us. And no, I'm not kidding.

Anyway, hubby and I have been talking about ridding our lives of these ... OK, so I was supposed to post a picture of DVD holders here, but I am too damned lazy to do that for this post. They're skinny and tall, and shake whenever the child goes near them. Preemptive damage control has us wanting to get rid of them, asap.

And I mentioned to him that maybe we could sell them at the yard sale. But for how much? I said we charge two for $20, and let them haggle us down to $10. He said start at $10. Maybe we'll meet in the middle at $15? We want them gone because the child has regressed, and is attracted to DVDs again, but now she goes for her own, and these things are so not stable. At all.

Anyway, where the heck would we then put our DVDs? We have a flatscreen, and it's on a Corner TV Stand, from IKEA. I think ... it's pretty old, so I forget where it's from. It's not as low as the one in the link, but it has a door on it, and a section that *should* be shelves, but they're missing, so we have a small table in there that holds the cable box and the DVD/VHS player. So, where are your DVDs? Do you have shelves? I'd love something like this but for DVDs! It's almost like artwork! And yet, there is no way in heck I'd be climbing over things and stretching up to the wall to reach my entertainment options. Who am I kidding?

I also really want to bring some of the toys that are in this same living room and get them upstairs into what is currently our office, and turn that into a playroom. I've been saying that for months, now, but the office is now our laundry room since our dryer isn't working (and hasn't been for months, anyone have a dryer you absolutely LOVE and think I must purchase? Tell me now!) and so the drying rack is in the office. And what to do with hubby's desk that's up there, as well? Maybe it stays in the "playroom," who knows?

And I can't exactly relocate our laundry to the guest room just yet, considering my friends and I are dismantling our business, and so I've been using that room to sort through inventory out of the reach of tiny little furry paws. But maybe June will be the month of cleaning and organizing? And then maybe we'll even tackle half of the garage. Yeah, just half. One half has shelves and whatnot that I can barely get to. The other half has our boat. Hubby did mention putting a huge tag on that, as well, but I'm thinking nobody's going to be carrying that kind of cash on a Saturday morning!

Lastly, should I get something like this bookshelf for the supposed-future-playroom? Or should I get my daughter a kids' picnic table instead? We already have a bookshelf that my in-laws made for her, but the kid has so many books it's beyond being remotely funny. Think I'm bad? Yeah, well, I am. I'm just worse when it comes to her! Maybe instead of the bookshelf thing I'll go with the picnic table (anyone have one from Little Tikes? Like this one? Do you love it?) and try to get these rain gutter bookshelves that my friend Gabby has for her lil man done someday. I'd SO love to, but think hubby would be ready to kill me! They're super cute, though, aren't they?

Anyway, that's that. I'm all over the place, but felt like rambling. Take any question I've asked here and feel free to answer in the comments, or answer them all, whatever suits you. Thanks for listening. And I'll keep you posted on my decorating dilemmas.

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