A little bit more Gwynnie Bee Goodness

Yeah I'm a little obsessed I think.  But I do love new clothes and how they make me feel!  Especially these dresses that I got in my Gwynnie Bee Box this week!!!

 Dress One: Winona Hi-Lo Wrap Dress by Kiyonna
I put a pink cami under the wrap so I wasn't totally hanging out and used this for my Easter dress - it is so comfy it's like hanging out in my PJ's!

 Dress Two: Boat neck printed shift dress by INC
I feel SO good and SO sexy in this dress!  I have it marked to go with me for my post-run dinner dress. Now to find the right shoes...

Dress Three: Striped Sheath Dress by Eloquii
Don't love this one - it makes me feel very round - horizontal stripes and my shape just don't mix.  I bet it would be cute with a blazer or a sweater but I think this one is going to go back - that's the beauty of it! Another dress will be on its way by the end of the week!!!

I have two more weeks of my free 30 day trial and I have loved almost everything that has been sent to me and I feel so much better having nice clothes to wear to church and work and out with friends.  HIGHLY recommend the Gwynnie Bee!

Click on the link below to get your own 30 day free trial! This is an indulgence I will DEFINITELY be continuing!

Rainy Day - Scrappy Day

It's a rainy day in the Potratz household - what better time to get a little bit of scrapping done! Kind of happy to be back on my table again!  All kits are from The Scrap Room.

#22 - Classy Core Four 2012

JANUARY 2013 - PINK PAISLEE PORTFOLIO

My annual Kansas City trip with the Core Four December 2012

Check out my custom embellies, personally absconded at each of our drinking establishments.

#23 - Afternoon Walk

FEBRUARY 2012 WRMK GOOD DAY SUNSHINE

 Walking the Dog with Joey September 2012

Basement Family Room Reboot

Wow - I had totally forgotten how disgusting this room was when we first saw it last year.  My nose can still smell the cigarette smoke smell that permeated everything in this place.  The carpet was tragically stained, the brick and ceiling were yellow and the vents were all clogged with dust and insect parts.  Gross....

 So we took out the smelly carpet, James and Josh put Killz up on the walls and floor and we had a serviceable family room...not stylish but functional.

My next step was to get some warm nice color on the walls.  We went with Hotel St Francis Fawn for the beige and Valspar French Quarter for the brick.  Here are a couple of photos of the new paint and the vinyl laminate floor put down! 

We finished it off by moving our sofas back over to the family room, added a TV stand that we got from my little brother, got a coffee table and end table and a new lampshade from Target and this AWESOME afro-shag rug from the Habitat for Humanity Re-store and VOILA - FAMILY ROOM!!!

Basement Bathroom Reboot

FINALLY! The basement bathroom saga is ending.  We have had the supplies since January, and the deconstruction has been in progress since before then and we now have a weekend off, James home from college for Spring Break and my father in law to come help so progress is finally being made!

Here is how it was when we moved in:

This is how it was after I tried to clean out the caulk and the surround fell in on me.

First we had to get rid of all of the moldy, disgusting drywall that was up wrong in the first place.  So I called on my handy helpers with their hammers...

 

They used all of their "man muscles" and got all of that nastiness taken out so we could put up the new cement board after redoing all of the pipes and valves for our new hardware.  At the end of the first day we had a great foundation for the tile to come!!!

Day two: Chad and James were spreading mortar and setting tiles on the inside while Grandpa Potratz and the tile saw got the cuts done out in the garage.  Me? I split my time between running tile up and down the stairs (talk about buns of steel) and cleaning and organizing the garage and taking care of the boys! The results speak for themselves!  The end of Day Two left us with all of the tile in place and drying and waiting for grout! The new faucets were put in too but I didn't get a photo of that ;)

 

24 hours later the grout was in!  My husband is an awesome grouter!

And for the final act I came home today to find the flooring completely put in, the messes completely cleaned up (including my paint brush cleaning sink) and even a new sprayer installed on the sink.  Whoa am I ever a happy girl!  The group effort paid off! No more grossness, grime and mold, hello elegant bathroom fit for company and kids!

A new obsession

Do I need more craft supplies?  The answer is categorically NO!
Do I love getting kits in the mail from The Scrap Room ?  ABSOLUTELY!

But I also have another pair of related problems.
1. I am losing weight (not a problem per se) - but -
2. I am shrinking out of my clothes.

So: after some negotiation with my hubby, I swapped out the spending currently earmarked for my kits for a new experiment with a clothing subscription service called Gwynnie Bee.

My bestest friendest introduced me to the concept of subscription boxes and the joy of getting new clothing and accessories in the mail every month - the problem is that I am still currently in above average sizing for my wardrobe and the standard services didn't cater to anything above a 12.  Enter Gwynnie Bee.  Their sizing goes from 10 and up and, much like netflix or gamefly, you can send back clothes after wearing them for as long as you want and then swap them out for new ones when you are ready to freshen up your look.

The best part about this service is the fact that - as I shrink - all I have to do is adjust the sizes of the items in my virtual closet and Gwynnie Bee sends me the next size down all the way down to size 10!  That should get me to my first goal when I would feel comfortable buying clothes in the smaller sizes and I don't have a whole closet full of way too expensive "Fat Clothes" laying around.

I received my first box today - During my trial period I started out with a 2 garments out a time plan but I think I'm going to move up to a bigger plan as soon as fiscally possible!

Here is my first result.  The closet picked out the
Printed - Pintucked top by Charter Club
and
Faux Leather Pencil Skirt by Eloquii

What's the buzz on this combo? I felt awesome in the top - its light weight and kind of sheer so I put on a white cami underneath and  paired it with an antique necklace from my grandmother and gold hoop earrings for a more elegant look.  This would look great with jeans or khakis too...so I might look into buying it at some point...

The skirt is a pleather material with suede panels on the side.  It's cute and fits great but I don't have many occasions to wear that type of pencil skirt.  I'm keeping it until after some meetings I have come up and then its going back for another selection.

I can't wait to see what the next boxes bring!

Just a note here: I am not getting compensated for this review but if you decide to try the service please click on the link below to get a full 30 days to try it out for FREE!

Note: I am not being compensated for this review.

Proud momma moments

My little boy (well he's a big boy now but a momma can dream right) is now an orange belt from Triumph Martial Arts.  I was nervous - really nervous about whether he was ready for this test.  He started Tae Kwon Do two weeks into the term but man was I proud watching him go through his forms!

And then he got to break boards as well!  One kick and that board was toast!



The end of the basement project is near! Last weekend we got all of the supplies to finish our bathroom as well as flooring for the family room so this coming weekend is the end of it!  I had two really good helpers to get the last of the drywall busted out.  The ceiling paint is done and I got the stacks of junk all ready to go up to the dump!  Can you tell I'm a little excited to be finally finished??

And then I got a little scrappy in the midst of it all - can you believe I felt really lazy all weekend? Using up some kits from previous shipments at The Scrap Room

#20 Ahoy Matey

FEBRUARY 2013 STUDIO CALICO DARLING DEAR

Joey from Halloween 2012 ain't he just the sweetest little pirate?

#21 Joey and Jackson Do the Fair

FEBRUARY 2013 STUDIO CALICO DARLING DEAR

The Iowa State Fair 2012 - too much fun!

A week full of scrappy goodness

Somehow I have found some time to scrap this week going through some kits from the Scrap Room

I love the way things turn out when they are all coordinated and ready to go! 

#13 - It's a Good Life! 

FEBRUARY 2013 - PEBBLES FAMILY TIES

Jackson outside the school before his orientation being a ham!

  

#14 - Visit from Mom

FEBRUARY 2013 - PEBBLES FAMILY TIES

From our visit with Chad's mom last July

#15 - Snowfall (home sweet home) 

FEBRUARY 2013 - PEBBLES FAMILY TIES

Our house after the first snow fall of the season

#16 - Untitled (self explanatory)

DECEMBER 2012 - ECHO PARK PAPER "THIS-N-THAT CHRISTMAS"

Our first Christmas in the new house - I loved our decorations

#17 - the Morning After

FEBRUARY 2013 - CRATE PAPER FOURTEEN 

Core Four Christmas 2011 at First Watch in NKC.

#18 - Just Dance

FEBRUARY 2013 - CRATE PAPER FOURTEEN 

Sorry boys - my parents found my old dance costumes and - well - the boys had a little fashion show for me.  I loved every second.

 #19 - I mustache you a Question

OCTOBER 2011  - BELLA BLVD. FINALLY FALL

The boys and their spoon mustaches - too funny!! (not my favorite layout but its done you know!)