What I Did For My Summer Vacation...

I remember way, way, way, way, way back in the 70's when I was a kid, my cousins had a Cheech and Chong comedy album (looking back- that was completely inappropriate for 9 year-olds to be listening to. What were my aunt and uncle thinking?) Anyhoo, there was this bit where this teenage stoner kid had to write a report about what he did for his summer vacation. It went something like this (imagine this being said by teenage stoner boy): "What I did for my summer vacation- I got up, then I got some breakfast, then I went downtown to look for a job, then I hung out on the corner. For the next day of my summer vacation, I got up, had some breakfast, then I went downtown to look for a job, then I hung out on the corner." Repeat ad nauseum. Hilarious to a bunch of 9 year-olds.

So what does that have to do with anything? Nothing, really. It's just a random memory that popped into my head this morning, and I thought I'd share.....

Anyway, last week on MY vacation, besides finally reading through all of my magazines and reading 1 1/2 fiction books (which I never do, because I have a hard time sitting still to finish a book), I worked on an upcoming magazine project, I will let you know when and where it will be coming out.

And we worked on finishing up another bedroom at the beach house. This is my favorite so far. Here are the before shots:

For all of the other rooms we have re-done, we have basically re-painted and re-purposed all of the furniture. I have used a lot of paint in those other rooms to paint bed frames, lamps, tables, dressers, etc. We have now done all of the bedrooms (bathroom is next). But for this room, we splurged and bought new furniture. I still need bedside tables, I am looking at flea markets, etc, but just can't seem to find the right thing. Also, I have a few more pictures to hang on either side of the mirror. It's hard to see because of the glare, but there is a lovely view of the bay from the bedroom window. The after photos:

The inspiration piece for the room was my Nantucket Quilt (pattern available here). I am so glad that I can put this quilt to good use, because it has always been one of my favorites. It is hand appliqued with starfish and sand dollars. On the left in the photo below, you can see the grouping of 4 prints that I matted and framed (see my post from a few weeks ago showing how to cover photo mats to jazz up inexpensive prints). It's not a great photo of them, but they look awesome.

The ones we saw at the furniture store were $80 each, I did 4 of these for less than $120, including the frames and prints. (Prints were $10 each from art.com). I got the rug from Target- the colors are perfect.

I also splurged on pillows from Pottery Barn, but I LOVE them. Really, I do. I saw them in the store and thought they would go perfectly with the quilt, and everything in the room was built around that. I found the bedside lamps at Marshall's for only $40 each (including the shade!) They go perfectly in the room.

We are also installing new flooring from Ikea, room by room. It's a big job.
Speaking of big jobs, we are helping my mom and dad move this weekend (they officially moved 2 months ago, but they have been living between the 2 houses.... we are hoping to finish ALL of the moving this weekend.) I will be taking the maximum dosage on Advil.

What are YOU doing for your summer vacation??