I accept the challenge!  That is, the Pinterest Challenge set forth by two of my favorite bloggers, Sherry from Young House Love and Katie from Bower Power.  For the “official” rules, click HERE or HERE, but the basic gist is 1) pin something you like on Pinterest then 2) get your DIY on while putting your own spin on it. 

 If for some reason you don’t know what Pinterest is and you are wondering what on Earth “pinning” is, take Pinning 101.

So, down to business…

With the holiday season upon us, the Pinterest stream has been flowing with exciting and unique wreath options.  Here are the two that I managed to pin multiple times. 

I tracked the blue wreath back to its original creator, Etsy seller ItzFitz and the white wreath is originally from Better Homes and Garden.  My “twist” isn’t so exciting, I just decided that since I still most of November before the Christmas decor goes up I’d go for a Fall theme.  Enter Joann’s sale on seasonal items for seasons that have yet to pass…

 

Here’s to actually completing a project! 

(Que the canned applause)

So, what have you been pinning lately?  I want to see what you are making!

Check out Sherry’s finished project over on Young House Love and Katie’s finished project over on Bower Power!  Go take a look, it’s a crazy link party over there!

It’s I’ve-got-the-keys-in-my-hand official!  I am a home owner!!!

Okay, I’ll admit it.  That would have been a much more exciting sentence if this was being posted in June when I closed on the house.  Oh well.  LIFE HAPPENS.

Buying a house was easily the biggest commitment I’ve ever made in my entire life but I’m actually excited instead of scared.  Guess that’s what happens when you bide your time and wait for the right one.

Here it is… the reveal you’ve all been waiting for… unless of course:

1. I already forced you multiple times to look at the pictures from my first showing
2. I’ve already enticed you over with promises of food and frivolity
3. I’ve made you work at my house in order to consume said food
4. You helped take care of me after my foot surgery
5. You haven’t been waiting at all because you know me too well and you guessed it would take at least 6 months to get pictures online…

Take that Es! I’ve got you beat by two months!  

So that’s pretty much the at-a-glance tour of the place! More to come as I start digging into the decoration process.  I’ll leave you with a few favorite “moments” I love (or find hilarious). 

If you like the band Jars of Clay AND can’t pass up free music this is your lucky day!  Take a second during your morning break and snatch up the FREE Jars of Clay album Gather and Build: A Collection over on NOISETRADE.  Don’t forget to tip your waiters and waitresses…

P.S. Like Noisetrade.com on Facebook  HERE and get their 30-song Fall 2011 Sampler for FREE!!!

I hopped in my car, late as usual this morning, and what was the first song on the radio?  None other than my favorite song, Friday I’m in Love by The Cure.  I’ve alluded to this song love HERE but in case I wasn’t clear the first time, this song is the stuff that singing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-whilst-driving is made of so I’m sharing

But seriously, it’s Friday and I’m in LOVE with:

• Cooler weather
• Fridays in general
• New jeans
• My "Chicago" scarf
• Friends and family that continue to surprise me
• My squidgy dogs
• The fact that I can vaguely hear the high school’s marching band from my back yard on game nights
• My so-cute-it-hurts godchildren
• Orlando radio stations for getting it right this morning
• Pinterest… ’nuff said

But that’s enough of all this over-cheerful blah-di-blah.  I’ll leave you with one more ditty that made the commute so much better….

Happy Friday!

Some of you may know that I’ve been playing around with creating digital art (read “Mariah plays with fonts”) for a while now.  With the upcoming craft fair season, I thought I would venture into selling some of the prints I’ve created.  After much research of printing companies, I was left super discouraged.  Nothing was cost friendly enough to convince this non-committal artsy-fart. 

Then, I had a thought (I do that occasionally).   What if I just buy a good quality printer and do the printing myself.  Enter the HP Officejet 7500A Wide Format e-All-in-One Printer!  It’s a printer, scanner, copier combo that does professional quality color and photo printer… 

… and THEN I noticed the price!

Regularly $249.99 (plus tax and shipping), this model is eligible for an instant rebate of $100.  Score!  Add. To. Cart.

… and THEN I find it qualified for free shipping.  Nice!

… and THEN my eye is drawn a box in the bottom right corner that tells this model is ALSO eligible for a free $30 gift card.  Yes please!

Why stop there?  I Googled around for all of 2 minutes and found a coupon code [SAVE15HP] for $15 off a $75 purchase!  Shut the front door!

Check out!  Check out NOW before they realize I’m skating away with a sweet deal!  Here’s the details:

SO, that’s a $249 printer delivered to my door for $143.77 PLUS a hot $30 gift card in my pocket that will be perfect for buying replacement cartridges down the line.  (Although, I won’t need replacements for a while since the printer comes with a black cartridge good for up to 900 pages and color cartridges for up to 300 pages!)

Okay… phew.  I’m calming down a little.  I apologize for all those exclamation points but seriously, who doesn’t get bat crazy over a good deal? 

[crickets]