Regaining focus...

It took me a few days, but I'm getting back on track. It's been here-and-there the last week. I finally have my to-do list in order from the randomness of the holidays, so I feel more in control.

This was one house that we looked at last week - while pretty on the outside, it went into the NO pile. Its only living room was in the basement and we're not big fans of that. The house sure looks big enough to have one on the main floor, so we were quite surprised to see that the garage ate it and left us with a big wall to look at. NEXT!


Friday night Dan and I went out for dinner at Olive Garden and a small trip to the mall for Mandy's bachelorette items. I had also read on Ali's blog about a cardboard Moleskine book and wanted to stop by the bookstore, which led to a Staples stop next door for some new pen/maker utensils (see above). I was so excited when I found THREE different sizes of the cardboard cashier Moleskines, and had instant confusion deciding which size I wanted. So I bought two different sizes. I'll show you what I'm doing with one of the larger ones next time.

Need for kraft/cardboard products pacified for now - check!


We got home from our date night and I put together these naughty goody bags for Mandy's party planned for Saturday. The design matched the invites.


Saturday - Dan worked one of his 20 jobs (the manual labor one with a co-worker). He's been a super duper trooper lately working all hours on a client's website and filling up the "house down payment" piggy bank. I pulled in some overtime last week, but I still don't compare. He's the man. I worked from home for an hour or so, and then got ready for the par-tay. I straightened my hair - which is rare for me to even dry my hair anymore - and I realized (I think) this is the longest my hair has ever been. And it's really not that long.

Mandy's party started out with dinner and drinks (and trying to mark items off of her party shirt to-do list) at Bar Louie. Then, we went back to her place for a fun party and some pina coladas... and I do mean "fun" party...AHEM. You can read about the night on her blog. I left around midnight so I could make my way back over the river and through the woods, and she went out to the bar with another friend. I hear she was horribly ill, so I guess the night was a success. ;)

Monday - after work Dan and I met up with our realtor to look at more houses. We looked at five more houses or so, and again found two that we really like. One had lime green walls in the entry way that was very cool looking. It also had four bedrooms, but they were a little on the smaller side because of an open entry that I loved. The other one we liked had a huge great room, a finished basement, a gorgeous kitchen, and tons of details throughout. Of course, in the basement there was a desk with scrapbooking products on it, so I wasn't surprised. I'd love to have that great room. We also saw a foreclosure property that was really nice except for some stains and mold we saw - it had an open entry and loft (love that), good-sized rooms, and an awesome master suite. The search continues.

Sheri asked if I have pictures of the houses we've seen, and all we have are the MLS links and some pictures they provide. We took the camera last week, but it wasn't the easiest thing to stop and try to take decent shots of everything - so we didn't bother.

Right now - it's time for bed. Tomorrow's hump day, I get to pick up my dress from alterations, and have another go at a daily routine. Let's roll.