That moment you realize that life is, indeed, good.

"Let's paint the cabinets."

I told my sister my plan to do just that to my bathrooms, and her immediate and appropriate response was  "What color?"

When we were kids, our parents had this exact conversation laying in bed one night, which resulted in what is probably their worst home renovation project ever.  At least that's how it's discussed at the dinner table.

Anyway!  Inside jokes aside, I went to Home Depot where I picked up the necessary painting accoutrement and made a last minute decision based on the Paint Lady's recommendation to go with Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations rather than paint.

Best. Decision. EVER.

Seriously.

I will preface this with a disclaimer: it took me a lot longer than I originally thought (which was that I would be done after a 3-day weekend; I now laugh at myself for this).  Mainly due to drying times and only being able to do one side of the doors at a time...oops.

Still, a project I approached with patience, sticking to the directions (do NOT deviate), and acceptance that it would, indeed, take me until a week later after taping everything off to actually be completely finished to ensure everything had the proper drying time.  Plus handles.

Kinda hard to photograph, but if you'll refer to the before pictures, you can get the picture.  Aged Oak got it's butt kicked by Espresso Cabinet Transformations.  BAM.

I am also very proud of the fact that I took it all apart (cabinet doors are tricky, that TP roll holder was a biotch) by myself.  And put it back together by myself.  Except for handles.  Meke installed those after I mastered the Kurt Wetterling Template Technique (KWTT).

 This is before on the Master bathroom (recognize that shower curtain? thrifty...), and now:

 My dad made the recommendation of adding handles; such the fav.

Overall, I literally could not be happier with how the bathrooms turned out.  Oh!  And as an added bonus, spiffed up the toilet closet!

Just removed the doors and painted the white laminate shelf, backed it with a shower curtain, added baskets and voila!  Instant change.

In case you're wondering, here's an approximate breakdown on cost:

New light fixtures - $80 and $35
Cabinet Transformation kit (I used the one for furniture due to the relatively small square footage, and have just enough leftover to paint the wood frames I'll be adding): $35
Paint supplies not on hand (go with the Frog Tape, worth it): $30
6 handles: $11
Material for shelves: $4 shower curtain at Target
Baskets: $1 each at Dollar Tree
New rugs and towels were what I probably spent the most on (minus lighting!), except for the Guest bath, which were on sale for $3 at Target and unplanned.

Not bad for all new bathrooms, I tend to think!

Coach Mike

Nary a dry eye in the place as Mike says goodbye to the team he's had for two years.  Bitter.  Sweet.

Sunshine with a side of Cheese

Looked forward to this all day.

High Tea with Heidi

Heidi and I are beginning a new monthly tradition: meeting for High Tea around Denver!  We began in Louisville, at The Huckleberry.

 I so want one of these...

 Service was lovely, and the food was incredibly good!  Definitely a recommendation.

Next stop: The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse!

Too Late

8:30pm on Thursday on my way home from the hospital (volunteering):

Me: Hey, let's go to Baker St. Pub.

Mike: What are you wearing?

Not too old to stay out too late.

Dirty Dog

Keebs VS Car Wash

Keebs always wins.

Having a little work done

"I Am Bad Luck" -Keebler

He scoffs at danger.

Handy Dedah

Somebody replaced the guest bath light fixture all by her lonesome.

This is what happens when you run with scissors.  Parents know.

Tada!  More on the bathroom redos soon...I'm going to paint the cabinets (just like I said 3 years ago).  I switched out some towels and the shower curtain too, ones that we already had!  Makes a huge difference, though.  

DMD (Dog Mom Day)

Mike took me on a lovely drive on a beautiful Sunday up 287.  We stopped in quite a few places, flea markets, food goodness.  My favorite was Cheese Importers in Longmont!

 And he found a local Fuzzy's!!!  Soooooooo tasty...

What is not pictured is the Mother's Day card, complete with vintage bike on the front, "signed" by both dogs' paws.  It was lovingly paired with pancakes and strawberry rhubarb jam.  My fav.

Cinco de Hudson

Great times with great friends.