Life Lately

1) My favorite smoking slippers on the rug at the cabin
2) Hot chocolate at the Rustin Inn in Two Harbors
3) New carpet!!!!! (I'm still really excited)

This month has been crazy!  We had two weddings, school is back in full swing, we got new carpet, and went away for a weekend at the cabin.  Honestly, it's stressful being busy but I prefer it so much more to having too much time on my hands!  I still had time for some crafts, too, so I couldn't have been that busy, right? 

Stay tuned this week for the new book club pick and a spooky Halloween door hanging.

1) Inga and I have been getting up for early morning walks and runs.  The sunrises are always so pretty!
2) It's officially fall! I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season :)
3) My first time on a pedal pub- those things are hard!
4) A roof top view at the end of a bachelorette party

1) Cherry pie from my favorite local bakery, A Baker's Wife
2) Blades of dewy grass on a morning stroll
3) Cupcake tower!  I love cupcakes at weddings!

Don't forget to follow @goeslightly on Instagram!

Saturday Snapshot: Sunny Flowers

Don't these just look like little balls of sunshine?

Beg, Borrow, Steal

Nutella cookies from Tasty Kitchen YUM!

This month's Beg, Borrow, Steal is all about recipes!  You know I love something that is quick and easy, and these all fit the bill!

I took Are We There Yet's idea of a ready-to-go breakfast burrito and pared it down to super simple:
Refried beans, shredded cheese, and green chile peppers. 
Microwave and add hot sauce, and you're ready to go!

This peanut butter and banana grilled sandwich from All Recipes is perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Last month's Beg, Borrow, Steal

Book Shelf Makeover

I am so excited to show you all the new office we have upstairs, but first I wanted to show you a piece that I redid for the room.

I took an old bookshelf and painted it white!  I gave it a sanding, wiped it all down, and added a coat of white enamel primer.  Then, two coats of high gloss white paint later, I had a fresh looking bookshelf for my brand new office space!

Before...

Primed

1 Coat

2 Coats

Done!

A few tips to make it easier on you:
1) Don't make my mistake: do two coats of primer if you are covering a dark finish!
2) Use an enamel primer- it adheres better to a glossy finish, so the sanding part of your job is a little less difficult.
3) Don't forget that you'll be using this as a bookshelf!  If there are a few nicks and ugly spots, so what? Cover them up with a book! :)
4) Load up on personal details

I had a few of these big scrapes once I placed my shelves back in.  But no biggie! 
It's all covered up with books now

Scrapes? What scrapes?

A few of my personal touches: a piece of my great grandmother's pottery, along with a picture of her and her dog, Chiquita :)

Books for school

Books for fun

A few more books (it's a bookshelf, after all) and an old camera

How do you accessorize your bookshelves?

Sitting Room Redo

Last week, I showed you all the new carpet that we finally had installed in the upstairs of our house.  It literally feels like our home has doubled in size!  The rooms we never went in are now usable, and it is so nice!

Today, I want to share what we did with one of the rooms in particular.  It is a little nook off of the upstairs hallway, and has never really had a super specific purpose.  Now, it's a lovely little sitting area with books and all of John's African art (from his time in Ghana) on display.

This is the before... Old, ugly carpet and some Granny loveseats.

Same room, new carpet

Then, we added a sheepskin run, crushed blue velvet settee, and a bookshelf full of good reads

This loveseat was reupholstered by my grandparents, and I just love it! 
The painting is a watercolor from the MCAD art fair

And, last but not least, we added a grouping of art on the opposite wall.

I am so happy to have a room that we actually use now!  I can't wait to show you more :)  Have you had a room that you redid? 

Saturday Snapshot: Cheery Mushroom

Carpet and Paint

For a long time now, we have wanted to replace the carpet upstairs.  Some of our old carpet was from the sixties, some of it was from the seventies, and all of it was ugly.

The astute observer will also have noticed that not only is there a rainbow room, but the carpet AND the paneling in the stair well are green.  Green. Paneling.  The green had to go!!  So, we ripped out all the carpet:

And then we gave the whole upstairs a fresh coat of bright white paint

Finally, we got our amazing new carpet in!

It is SO much better!  The old carpet mat was literally so old it had disintegrated, bleh!  And now our whole upstairs is fresh and new.  I'm so excited to share with you what we've done with the rooms, too!  The only down side to getting new carpet upstairs?  It makes your main floor carpet look terrible by comparison! ;)

Have a happy weekend!

Anniversary Weekend

Hi all!  Sorry I've been a little absent posting on your blogs this weekend, but I was off the grid for an anniversary getaway to a cabin up north.  I can't believe we have been married for two years- the time has flown by!

It was so nice to just get away and relax!  We went on lots of hikes (Inga came with us, too), and we did a little exploring around the towns where we found a fabulous agate and mineral museum!  Here's some pictures of our weekend away:

The moon over Lake Superior

Sunrise on our first morning

John made these stacks of rocks while I hunted agates :)

We played a lot of backgammon... I'm not sure who ended up in the lead

Olives and cheese for dinner :)

Hot chocolate at the Rustic Inn

These are naturally florescent!

This is a calcified dragonfly!  Both this and the picture above were at Beaver Bay Agate Shop, an absolute must-stop if you're in the area.  We loved it :)

The traditional 2nd year gift is cotton.  John got me a Moby Dick tote bag and a library card pouch, both from Out of Print Clothing

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and a great start to your week!  I'll be busy catching up on all my blog reading :)