Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market – Tomorrow!

If you live in the greater Phoenix-area, hopefully you’ve heard about the Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market. If not, well, now you know.

There is one tomorrow (Saturday, September 15th) at WestWorld in Scottsdale and I am SO EXCITED. I’ll be there with a group of girlfriends, Starbucks in hand, ready to find some great decor items for the Dream. Here’s what I’ve found in the past:

The iron wall hanging that is in our family room was the one and only item I purchased at my first Junk in the Trunk sale more than a year ago. It was about $40, which I thought was a great deal. Initially, I bought it to hang on our entry wall…

You can see the bottom of it in this shot of Kenton when he was four months old. MY BABY! Where has the time gone?! Seriously, they are only babies for approximately one nanosecond. WAH!!!!

Anyway, it’s now in the family room and I like it there for now.

Eventually, I’d like to get the four photos around it printed on 16×20 canvases. Currently, they are 8×10 photos in 16×20 frames. I think that size adjustment will look better on that wall.

Bowdoin the Bulldog, however, is not impressed. Shocker. Oh, and ignore the hot mess over there on the right – more on that in a minute.

So, at the last Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market a few months ago, I scored a few more sweet things for the Dream. I blogged about that here.

Fun. Fun.

Tomorrow, I’m on the hunt for at least three things. (The at least is a disclaimer for Mr. Dreamer – just so he knows if I find more than three things, I’m not breaking any promises. It’s only at least three… I’m actually hoping to find more.)

Back to the hot mess…

The wall where our TV is mounted is arguably the most boring wall in the entire house. Again, Bowdoin is not impressed – and no one can blame him. At the JITVM, I’ll be searching for some kind of shelf/mantle to mount over the TV – and possibly some fun things to display on it. Ideally, I want something nearly as long as that wall, kinda chunky, and the same stain as the TV stand – I know, it’s a very specific list.

I’m also looking for a table to go under my gallery wall. A few weeks ago, the gals behind JITVM posted THE PERFECT table on Instagram and I commented that I had to have it! Well, I was just a couple of hours too late. Someone beat me to it. Boo Hoo! So, I’m hoping there’s something at tomorrow’s sale that’s even better.

Finally (but not literally finally – see disclaimer above), I’d like to get a chalkboard to put on the bottom half of this wall – so Kenton can color on it. He’s a tad obsessed with his sidewalk chalk for the back patio, that he’s not allowed to bring inside. So, I thought that might be a practical and fun thing to add here. The chalkboard at the adult level we purchased in France right after we bought the Dream. Yes, that number is correct – 33 days to baby. I KNOW. Too fast, too fast.

See the Boy vs. Girl poll? Don’t worry, you’ll have a chance to cast your vote next week during PREGNANCY WEEK here on Our Dream Foreclosure.

So, anyone else heading to the Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market tomorrow? If so, comment and let me know! If you see me, say hi! I’ll be the one with the permagrin and beach ball tucked under my shirt. 🙂

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“Junk” in the Dream

So, last weekend, I ventured out to the Junk in the Trunk Trio’s Vintage Market. It’s basically a big craft sale, but with really cool stuff. They had about 60 vendors – all selling “junk” and/or treasures, depending on your view. I took a girlfriend and wisely left the hubby behind. We both scored some great treasures.

Here’s my loot:

More on that in a minute. First, let’s check out what my friend, Kristen nabbed:

How adorable is that chevron bench?! She also got that cool sconce, a couple of vintage clutches, and some sweet subway signs.

I got a major coup with this $12 vintage dish display rack that I’ll transform into diaper storage for the playroom:

I plan to paint it to match another piece in that (yet to be revealed) room. The top shelf will display pictures, the bottom will hold diapers and I’ll hang some mini-baskets with diapering-essentials from the bottom.  That’s the plan anyway. I’m EXCITED.

I also scored this sweet pillow for the playroom:

Awe, it just makes me, well, happy! And “happy” is exactly the mood for a playroom. Amen?

I also snagged a couple of pieces for the new gallery wall in the Kitchen/Family Room:

I’ll paint the distressed piece solid white and display some fabric in it. These two items will be among several on this new display wall… where we’re kissing goodbye to our wedding wall:

It’s just time, you know? The wedding was so pre-Kenton and pre-baby in my belly. Time to update things!

So, I got enough “junk” to keep me busy for a while. I’m definitely looking forward to the next Junk in the Trunk event in September!

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Dreamful

What a week! This is the first week in the history of this blog (nearly three years!) where I’ve put up a post every day. I’m not going to promise I’ll do that forever, but it sure is fun for now! It seems like you like it – at least by the numbers. I appreciate everyone stopping by and commenting. You know, they say you figure out who your true friends are during the difficult times and that is certainly true for me. Some people have really (pleasantly) surprised me with sweet words of encouragement and hope. That is such a blessing to me!

Now, on to the weekend plans!

If you live in the Phoenix area, make sure you stop by the Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market tomorrow! I went last year and got a fabulous iron wall piece that I have yet to blog about… can’t wait to see what treasures I find tomorrow. I’m also going in support of my girl, Carrie. We were MOH’s in each other’s weddings…

(Carrie, if you don’t like the picture choice, post better options on Facebook. kaythanksIloveyoubye)

Now, she is the proud mama of three gorgeous kiddos and just started a brand new business, Red Dutch Door. She and her friend Genevieve make SUPER cute crafty things. I’m excited to see what they’ve cooked up! They are just one of dozens of sellers at Junk in the Trunk. Check out the full list of vendors here.

Also tomorrow, my monthly home improvement post for Her View From Home goes live. And… speaking of weddings… I’m talking about giving a goodbye kiss to the “wedding wall” in the Dream.

I found some fantastic FREE art online to put up instead. Make sure you check out Her View From Home mañana.

With that, enjoy your weekend and thanks again for such a FANTASTIC first week as a SAHM. (Still feels really weird to say that.)

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Dream Thrifting: Fabric!

I stopped by my local thrift store to browse – primarily searching for a changing table for the new downstairs playroom (update coming soon) – but I happened to walk by the fabric aisle.  FABRIC!  They have fabric at the thrift store? People donate unused fabric? What? Look what I scored…

I’ve got yards of each for just $2.99 each. Seriously. I couldn’t believe it either. Actually, when I got to the register, I found out it was on sale because I also picked up a $2.99 frame and my grand total came to $6.52.

YES.PLEASE.THANKYOU.VERYMUCH.

The gray fabric is for our bedroom, where I’m going to attempt this Pinterest project.

Still not sure what I’m going to do with this vintage chevron upholstery fabric, but I could not pass it up! ($2.99!)

Any ideas for me?

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Post-Christmas Dreams

Ahh… the day after Christmas SALES!  Do you love them as much as I do?  I love them more than Black Friday.

Here’s what we scored this year:

bonus points if you can spot some Bulldog wrinkles sneaking into the shot

We snagged these Alegra Hicks chairs from West Elm for 70% off.  SWEET!  Retail price = $499 each.  We got these puppies (brand new, still in the box) for $125 each!  They’re going to go in the living room with our brown leather couch once we get our couch swapping finalized.   Here’s another look:

Also at West Elm, we scored these sweet little handmade initial ornaments:

Jason, Michelle, Kenton, Bowdoin

At just $.90 each, we also picked up a couple of initials for possible future bebe’s names.  No, we’re not sharing what those are.  (We’ve got to hide these, I know a few people -ehem-cough-grandma-cough- will try to find them.)

At good ol’ Tarjhey, we found some cool vintage-y Christmas decorations for next year.  We brought home all of this for less than $10:

And, finally, we hit up Crate & Barrel for a whole pile of next-Christmas goodies:

We spent about $50 on this loot, which includes garland, candles, mini-cupcake papers, tea light holders, and the one thing I really wanted – Christmas pillows!  I snuck past two ladies who thought they were fighting over the last Christmas tree pillow and found a whole box full of them.  So, I snagged two!

Baby Gap also got some of our business for a few baby closet essentials…

Anyone else score some great deals this week?

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Rainy Day Dreams

It’s been unusually rainy and dreary here in the “Valley of the Sun.”  In fact, we’ve been drenched with seven months worth of rain in the last 66 days.  Crazy!  So, what’s Dreamer to do when the weather is abysmal?

We do what we do best… Dream!

The Dreamers, along with some dreamy in-laws, trekked over to Glendale’s University of Phoenix Stadium – home of the Cardinals – and joined hundreds of fellow homeowners at the Phoenix Home and Garden Show.

Let’s be real here.  What ACTUALLY happened?  Actually, we willingly handed over cold, hard cash to subject ourselves to timeshare salesmen, satellite TV pitches, nagging posture assessment hagglers (posture assessment?  Really?  At a home show?), and took home a bag full of fliers that look oddly similar to junk mail we toss out on a daily basis.

But, we did have FUN.  Honestly.

We had a very simple reason for attending this event.  Our landscaping is a NIGHTMARE.  Need proof?  Alrighty then…

(BTW – Don’t let the gray day fool you – our front and back yards ARE this dreary.)

a midget-tree with not enough room to grow

awful brick pavers surrounding a half-planted area with a sad shrub

grass that looks like bad hair plugs (thanks, rain!)

eucalyptus trees that are in desperate need of a trim – or they will, apparently, fall on our Dream

random brick wall with railroad ties (?) apparently driven into the ground during a monsoon. (what else can explain that choice?)

Remember how pretty our front walk looked before our Open Dream Party?

this is what it looks like now… those mums didn’t last a week

Think that’s bad?… that’s just what our neighbors have to look at every day.  The Dream residents (including our Bulldog-babies) also have to deal with the BACK yard…

no plugs here... this grass is downright balding!

more random railroad ties (seriously?!)

random collection of small trees and an overgrown aloe plant (thanks, rain!)

dirt patches (which are now mud – say it with me, “Thanks, rain!”)

a glimmer of hope (rosemary plant) next to a shadow of despair (wall in desperate need of paint - can't exactly blame that on the rain)

See?  We need help.

even Miss Paris doesn't stay out a minute longer than she needs to

So… we braved the solar panel pushy sales team and clean water system pitches to scope out some ideas on what we could do with our little spot of land (which is actually not so “little” – we’re on a fifth of an acre on a corner lot!  Sweet!).  We were not disappointed…

we checked out desert landscaping… (easier to maintain than hair-plug-style-grass)

we even tested out Astroturf… (a step up from hair plugs… more like a toupee!)

we priced some plants. this pretty lady goes for $300. yikes!

we signed up for about 487 giveaways… including this one.

we admired a nice alternative to the brick wall/railroad tie monstrosity we inherited

we drooled over pretty iron doors that our HOA would surely frown upon

we considered the pros/cons of a raised flower bed

we found a perfect solution to our sorry little front walkway

We scored discounts and coupons for several area nurseries.  We also made appointments for free estimates with several landscape professionals.  We’re excited to see what they’ll suggest about making our nightmare nicer for our Dream.

So, there it is – our next project: DIY landscaping!  Anybody willing to buckle up their overalls and come on over?!  Anybody?  Anybody… ?

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Dream Date

January 20, 2008

That’s our “dream date” — our wedding day.

Recently, we browsed through one of Mrs. Dreamer’s favorite stores – Anthropologie – and found something fun to commemorate that date:

01/20/08

These little spice jars called our name – especially when we saw they had our necessary number makeup.  But the PRICE made the purchase a no-brainer…

just $12 for the set! score!

We thought they’d be perfect on the window sill behind our dreamcet.

However, once we got them back to the Dream and pulled them out of their tissue paper – they seemed much more country-bumpkin than they did in-store.  Hmm… we are NOT knick-knack people and are now truly on the fence with these little numbers.  Sooooo…..

Can’t wait to see what you think.  BTW – We are working on that last point… trust us.  DIY landscaping, here we come (hopefully before the AZ summer hits!).

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Dream Family (Room)

Nope.  No exciting announcements.  (As if the blog is the place we’d first announce a dream in the oven?!)

Just another little Then & Now action for you… the Dream Family room.  As we’ve mentioned before, the family room is an extension of our kitchen – a lovely feature that was on our “must” list while Dream shopping.  We’ve already told you how we had a design challenge on our hands with our color schemes and how we’ve tied the rooms together with some A-list-Pottery-Barn-esque fabric.  So, here is what we were working with…

then

now

Everything is different, except for the flooring.  Which wasn’t hard because the house was empty and the walls were white!  The hubs did a great job installing a new ceiling fan that actually matches our decor…

you can see the box valances found their way into this room as well...

ah, yes, the cork collection grows. but do you notice anything different?

We opted to switch out the white frames you previously saw for brown so these photos tie in better with…

this collection of photos from our France trip that flank our tv

All of these frames are from Ikea — steals for $5 (5×7) and $10 (8×10).  We’re sticklers for cohesiveness and flow… while these may not be the best quality, nobody’s going to get too close… they perfectly serve their purpose for now.

And now for the rest of the highlights:

There’s still a lot to do…

• Clearly, we’re in need of a “real” coffee table!
• We’d love to put an area rug under said coffee table – but two smelly, drooly Bulldogs make that seem unlikely
• Eventually, we’ll replace the off-white leather (hand-me-downs-of-which-we-are-so-grateful) furniture with brown leather — easier to keep clean and will better match our aesthetic tastes
• Next up: painting the ceilings the same color as the walls (Colonial Buff by Sherwin Williams) and adding CROWN MOLDING!  Can’t wait!  We think that’s going to take the room to a whole new level.

We did not pay full price for ONE thing in this room (YAY!). Most of it we had before and moved with us into the Dream, but here’s a rundown so you can see where we spend our time NOT paying full price:

• Couch, love seat, chair, ottoman – hand-me-downs from the parents
• Media cabinet – consignment store (My Sister’s Attic)
• TV – gift
• Bar – Craig’s List
• Lamps by couch – from a woman who is dealer for a big-furniture-chain – she advertised on Craig’s List and now we’re on her “list” (!)  More exciting finds to come from that… 🙂
• Lamp behind chair – we’ve had the stand forever, but scored a new shade at a charity auction for $5
• C&B Wicker side table – charity auction (retails for $90, we got it for $12)
• Tile side table – My Sister’s Attic
• Frames – Ikea
• Photos in frames – taken ourselves on our trip to France
• Clock – Holland Boone, using a gift certificate from our wedding
• Globe – Marshall’s/Home Goods
• Black vases – Costco (with a coupon)
• Throw – TJ Maxx
• Pillow – self-made
• Valance – self-made
• Blinds – Home Depot (with coupon)
• Curtains and rod – Ikea

Oh yeah, we feel g-o-o-d about that!

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McDreamy is at it again!

Like most foreclosed homes, ours came sans appliances.  Well, it did have “appliances” – that we’re pretty sure the bank found along the curb on bulk trash day and threw them in so the kitchen appeared “applianced.”  We were not fooled and promptly purchased new kitchen appliances.  However, there was one pesky “mini-appliance” that had to wait.  The garbage disposal.

Have you ever lived without a garbage disposal?  We don’t recommend it.  But, for the last five months, we’ve survived.  Not anymore.

Cue: McDreamy…

inspecting the first of many instruction sheets

a curious bulldog assesses the "before"

Here is where we get really vulnerable with you.  Our kitchen was a DISASTER throughout the duration of this project.  First up, the contents of our under-the-sink cabinet:

how does all this stuff fit under there anyway?!

After “prepping” the area, Mr. Dreamer went to work switching the pipes so the new garbage disposal could be under the right sink – something Mrs. Dreamer really wanted, but cannot explain why.

no pipes - just a gaping hole, but that's a good thing at this point

with a little more fanagling... amidst the mess...

the drain is switched! brilliant!

Now, we ready for it…

the holy grail of garbage disposals.

If you have to install one yourself – you might as well go for the gold.

which is exactly what McDreamy did!

and that's reason to celebrate. cheers!

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Dream Appetit!

We are happy to report that Christmas dinner at the Dream was a success!

cheers!

We hosted our parents and served up a healthy dose of Boeuf Bourguignon.  It was our first attempt at making that dish – something we savored while traveling through the Bourgogne wine region in France this summer.  We were able to host Christmas dinner — our first in the Dream — thanks to our new table!  We’ve had our eye on the Napa dining table from Cost Plus World Market for months.  We pulled the trigger after getting a 25% coupon via email — while it was already on sale!  Score.

Our Christmas dinner adventure started on 12/24…

raw meat. lovely.

we chopped the meat into 2-inch cubes and set aside the grizzle for a pup treat later... because...

...raw meat may seem gross to you... but our pups drool over it (literally!). don't worry, we'll cook the meat before they get it.

next up: veggies, spices and wine (from the Bourgogne region, of course!)

we chopped up the veggies and added them to the meat

then we added the best part... the wine! we let this mixture marinate in the fridge for 24 hours.

While this fine concoction marinates… we enjoy…

...Christmas morning!

carrying on the Christmas quiche tradition in the Dream

bowdoin found what santa brought him (paris slept in, smart girl)

After opening some fabulous presents – that may or may not involve improving the Dream (!)… we were back at work…

our marinated concoction must be separated... into three parts...

veggies... marinade... meat.

now we have to put a bunch of stuff in our new dutch oven... cook it... take it out... cook something else... take it out... you get the picture... so we'll save you all the pictures (but yes, we took them). this is us cooking bacon and leaving behind the fat. YUM!

so much yumminess in one 7-quart pot

We leave that to set while we take off for another Christmas tradition…

a hike! clearly, we are not the only people with this tradition.

this is Christmas in Arizona, folks. awesome.

After burning a few calories… it was time to go home and EAT!

before our guests arrive... we set the table...

...get the hors de'voures and champagne ready...

bon appetit! (how much do you love the name cards? srsly.)

after filling our bellies... it's present (and family photo) time... consider this the before...

...and this the after! kinda messy for 6 adults and 2 dogs... but what will it look like when mini-dreamers are running around?! yikes.

So, that was our Christmas Day 2009.  Thanks for “sharing” it with us!  Now, we’re off to get ready for our NYE party.  We love having a house to entertain in!  HAPPY 2010!

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