Friday, July 31, 2009

WORKING...

So I just got back from CHA in Orlando. They moved it from Chicago to Orlando. Which is good and bad. I loved having a fabulous excuse to go to Chicago - one of my very favorite cities - at least once a year. But it was awesome to go visit my brother in Orlando (and lay by the pool by myself and soak up the sun! - even if it felt like a sauna!!)

CHA was very productive. I felt like I got a lot of great deals this time and will have lots of cool things to offer up to my customers in the coming months!

After a few late nights staying up to get all the calculating, figuring, ordering taken care of, I had a chance to have some fun at the show.

My favorite booth is the Doodlebug Designs booth. It's always set up like a little candy house. It would be the type of place you would love to have as a playhouse for your kids (or yourself!). Here are some shots of it with one of me 'in the kitchen, baking cookies'!









Also, the one and only shot from the night I went out with my brother and friends....


Unless you consider these two 'photos from the night...' (First is the front cover of a great newspaper in the Orlando area. Second is a shot of my brother's friend, Brendan, which may have been manipulated to look as if it was in the newspaper. I don't know. You'll have to ask Bennie / Brendan for the truth...)

Monday, July 20, 2009

NEW KITCHEN!!!

Yes... it's my quarterly blog entry.... I know that I need to be better about this, but this summer has been crazy with a capital C! Along with several vacation trips we made in June, my grandmother passed away. So I had an unexpected trip to Viriginia in early July as well. On top of all that, the kids were home and we were spending time doing fun things AND we were getting our kitchen remodels.

Seven short, stress-filled, fun-filled weeks later, we have three small things that need to be done in order to completely finish the kitchen (dimmers put on two lights, a valence put over the cooktop, and to get that darn oven actually working.) Aside from that, things are put away, organized, and we're absolutely loving it! Dave and I spend time in the kitchen in the evenings just enjoying it. We're looking forward to having people over to break it in!!

For now, here's the before and after shots!!!

BEFORE #1


AFTER #1


BEFORE #2


AFTER #2


BEFORE #3


AFTER #3


BEFORE #4


AFTER #4


BEFORE #5


AFTER #5


BEFORE #6


AFTER #6



So there it is!! Who wants to come over??