I'm having total project a.d.d. right now. I've got so many irons in the fire my head is spinning. This weekend alone we painted the laundry room, playroom, and family room. I also made curtains for the playroom and family room.

Playroom sneak peek 

The powder room is coming along, the pump for the latrine is going in tomorrow and then the hole in the floor can be filled back in. Tile should go down Wednesday and then the whole project will be complete by the end of the week. Before that I have to finish stripping the wall paper. I can't wait to share with you the finished space!

Blogging from bed this morning. I think I found my new guilty pleasure. My favorite contractor Stan and his crew are tearing out the 1970's wet bar from the lower level so me and little L are hanging out where it's  a little quieter. I'm so excited this project is under way. In the first hour they had already torn out the bar, the cabinets.

Here is a sneaky peak of the impressively awful before:

The glass front cabinets are the only things being saved. They will find a new home hanging in the laundry room. 

I especially love the beautiful textured wallpaper and the matching faux finished up lights.

In other exciting news we got cable yesterday for the first time in almost two years. In the old house we were able to get quite a few channels with out it with our receiver box but since we moved and are under sooo many trees those days are over. I'm not even gonna lie and say "we never watch TV" or "we don't believe in lot's of TV." I love my stories. I missed HGTV and I was sick to death of  missing out on "Sarah's House." So I told Nick I have lot's of junk TV to catch up on this weekend so we won't be making any plans that involve leaving the house which is just as well anyway because it's downright steamy outside. 

Last night we hosted Linda and Daniel who are here in the states road tripping from Chicago to the East Coast winding down in Boston. Linda's mom and my dad are cousins and Linda is Finnish and her husband Daniel is Swedish. It was so much fun to play 20 questions with them. We picked one another's brains over dinner and then some post dinner wine. I learned a lot!

In Sweden there is really no such thing as a "Stay at home mom." Day care is affordable and everyone works. Mothers are given paid maternity through the government for 1 year and after that time is over the father receives 2 months paternity leave. 

It is illegal for you to install your own dimmer switch! (or any other electrical projects) You must hire a licenced electrician. If you don't and your house burns down insurance won't cover it. 

At Easter little girls dress up like witches and children go door to door to ask for Easter candy. Daniel said it's a lot like Halloween. 

It's standard for everyone to have between 5 and 6 weeks paid vacation every year. And your salary is based on age not on seniority. 

It's pronounced "Ick-ea" people. 

I think my brain exploded all over the table when Daniel mentioned Helsinki having the best white chocolate ice cream. I showed them the swedish blogs I read and had them translate a little of it for me, that was really cool! I'm so glad they made a stop at our house, this morning they were headed off to Amish Country and then Linda was determined to find a great Outlet Mall. ( a girl after my own heart- le sigh)

Holy shirts and pants I'm late to the party. Yes it's true we've talked about it for years but just never got around to it until today. It was so blazing hot out (again) and we knew we'd go stir crazy if we stayed home all day so it seemed like the perfect time to finally make the pilgrimage to IKEA in Cincinnati. I'm embarrassed to say I was an IKEA virgin until today. I had seen things I loved on countless other blogs and had a running list on their website.

So we packed little L up in the car for her first road trip and headed out. The goal was to pick up the mighty Expedit and a rug for the playroom plus a few other things for here and there. I was on total sensory overload. It was like the first time I sashayed into Anthro x's like a thousand. All in all it was a success and Lucy was a trooper. We'll go back soon but maybe leave little L with grandma so we can really dig in.

Now it's time to switch gears and prepare to host dinner for my Swedish relatives Tuesday night. On the way home from IKEA today Nick asked if they could maybe help put together the Expedit. ; )

Playroom rug

The Expedit. Ours will more likely be filled with toys, books, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs but you get the idea.

This is very pretty! That is all I wanted to say...