We’ve been getting requests for some sort of monthly roundup or recap when it comes to all of our undertakings (just so it’s easier to hunt posts down and see what we’ve recently conquered at a glance). And because we wanted to put our own weird little spin on it, while we were out to dinner alone (for the first time since Clara was born, mind you) we started chatting about how cheeky little nominations and titles for certain projects might be funny (or not, you decide)… and so the idea of monthly superlatives was born! As was the conviction that we have to get a life and stop talking about the blog while on our first date in 14 months.
Oh and since we’re on the subject of superlatives, you should know that John was voted “Friendliest Male” (three years in a row, actually – by his high school marching band) while I was awarded the title of “Best Friends” in the back of the yearbook (with Jenny Czajkowski, who helped me highlight my hair in her sink with mustache bleach). But enough about us. On with the July superlatives:
Most Cheerful: Painting The Laundry Room A (Pretty Darn Happy) Greeny Yellow Color
Most Improved: Adding Some Laundry Room Built-Ins (then painting them and filling them with stuff we already had)
Nicest Legs: ORBing Those Parsons Chair Legs
Most Likely NOT To Succeed (At Least The First Time Around): The Guest Room Light Switcheroo (And ReSwitcheroo)
Runner Up, Most Likely NOT To Succeed (At Least The First Time Around): Framing Our Anniversary Note Cards (And Then Reframing Them Without Borders)
Most Likely To Please The Queen: Tea Dying Some Pillow Covers (<–not only pleasing to the royals, but free).
Most Likely To Result In A Crack Joke: Filling The Patio Cracks With Polymeric Sand
Runner Up, Most Likely To Result In A Crack Joke: Caulking The Laundry Room Ceiling (Slash Kicking Off Some Other Laundry Projects)
Most Outdoorsy: Spray Painting The Patio Furniture (you guessed it, ORB).
Runner Up, Most Outdoorsy: Our Mini Porch Spruce Up
Class Nerd: Coding A Room Gallery
Most Boob-Centric: My Breastfeeding Post (who would’ve thought that little diary entry of sorts would get almost 1,000 comments?!)
Most Free Spirited: My Unironed Ribbon Chandelier (which shockingly still remains unironed, and I’m usually so anal…)
Most Controversial: Priming & Painting Our Laundry Cabinets, Switching Out The Hardware, and Hanging Our Ironing Board (which resulted in quite the directional debate).
Most Glamorous: Painting Clara’s Closet Pink & Playing Around With Champagne “Stencils” (update: I played around with some more homemade stamps/stencils and have completed around 20% of the closet – I’m hoping to finish this weekend and have a post for ya early next week).
Most Embarrassing: The Pinterest Challenge Video. By far.
Most Spontaneous: We didn’t really post about it because it happened sort of gradually, but around the beginning of July, Clara just decided to walk (after lots of funny one-legged crawling like this). And just like that she’s too cool for us. See it here if you can’t below.
Most Immature: The Whole Twig & Berries Thing (Spraying Painting Frames & Mats & Losing Our Duvet)
So there you have it. July at a glance. And yes, this was more fun than we probably should admit. Dorks for life.
Anyway, what have you guys been up to this month? Have you ever made a list of accomplishments to look back on? We’re so used to adding things to the to-do list that stopping to see what we already did is kind of nice. And it’s interesting to look back and pick out the super cheap stuff (tea dying our pillows, painting our laundry room, painting Clara’s closet, and making that ribbon chandelier were under $2 total) and the more major stuff (like creating custom built-ins and adding an inspiration gallery) along with all the other stuff in between. We were all over the place, huh? Just the way (uh-huh, uh-huh) we like it.
That video was hilarious! My youngest does that too! She will do it by herself when we are not around though. Then she starts screaming because she can’t open it. Fun times! :) Seriously though, this is the best age!!
I love the round-up idea. I must admit I am a wee bit tired thinking of all the things you have done this past month. Let me list my home improvements…………hmmmmm……..0!
I promise I will do more in August. I am going to start with my ironing board:) susan
Literally LOL at Clara shutting the door on you. Good luck in those teenage years.
Love this idea BTW.
The most touching/personal tearjerker post – The Breastfeeding post! I loved it!
You, I wish you could make it a tradition to write at least one Clara related post each month for all Clara lovers!
I loved the video of Clara by the way, so funny and cute!
Aw, thanks! We definitely try to work in Clara and Burger whenever we can. They put the Love in YHL. Haha.
xo,
s
You guys are totally whacked. . . but inspiring. I started painting my boys bathroom because of you guys. I started last week. So far I’ve finished cutting in. That’s it. My dog ate the sand paper. It took 3 trips to paint shop. You guys have 20 years on me. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
Haha- we can totally relate to certain projects taking waaay longer than you expected! Hope the dog’s ok. Burger has a taste for lotion (he tries to lick my legs after I put it on) but not sandpaper.
xo,
s
My cat does that Sherry! Which is so weird because my cat’s kind of … well, a crank-a$$. And witchy … ahem.
But she’ll lick my arms after I get out of the shower, or if I put lotion on.
That’s so funny! Burger tries to lick John’s legs after a run too. Crazy dog.
xo,
s
my dog does that too! it drives me crazy!
Clara walking is precious!! and the fact that she’s already shutting the door in your face…yikes! but it did make me laugh out loud at work and everyone stare at me :) tGIF
Clara is so cute! My daughter is going to be 13 next week (it’s like a knife through my heart. My baby!!) and spends a lot of time in her room with the door shut. Mostly, she sings Katy Perry and Lady Gaga songs at the top of her lungs, slightly off-key, with her headphones on. It’s too funny!
My big project for July was moving six boxes of CD’s, that have yet to be unpacked from a year ago, down to the basement. They had been in our living room all this time. I don’t know what else to say about that. I also started a blog and am amazed at how much we’ve done to our house in the past year. It’s forced me to really take stock of where we’ve been, where we’re at and where we’re going. I feel kind of proud of us. I found your blog about a year ago and you have provided me with all kinds of inspiration. Thanks for all the hard work!
I set that video to load and was looking at other internet screens and nearly jumped out of my chair when the audio of John and Clara kicked in…scared the bejeezus out of me!
As for what I got done this month…I finally recovered all my dining chairs with this fabulous fabric I bought MONTHS ago. So easy once I actually pulled everything out and got started, don’t know why I kept putting it off. Electric staple gun and cordless drill FTW!
Love that little Clara video!! Let’s hope she doesn’t take to slamming that door when she’s a teenager. :)
I *love* your laundry room makeover. Just proves how much can be done in a tiny space that’s reserved for the most dreaded chores.
This is completely unrelated to this post, but I saw someone back their U-Haul into a ditch this morning on a busy road and I thought of you guys! You’re not alone!
Oh man do we feel their pain!!!
xo,
s
LOL! Those titles are so funny! You guys have done a lot in the past month!
Oh my gosh… I LOVE this idea and those superlative titles cracked me up! I can’t believe some of those posts were in July – they feel like so long ago.
Clara is too cute shutting that door on the camera! Congrats on her walking :)
I love the video of Clara shutting the door. It totally made me laugh to think that that is a preview of the teens years (although, then the door will most likely be slammed with some sort of “I didn’t ask to be born!” accompaniment, unfortunately!).
I have a 13-month-old son, and every time I see stuff about your little gal it makes me want to go smoosh on my babe :) Thanks for the glimpse into your life.
I love this! It’s such a cute idea. And it’s great it see a round up of sorts at the end of each month.
I hope your dinner was amazing. I assume it was, since it was blog worthy. ;) Hehe.
Mmm sushi. It was awesome.
xo,
s
Nice to see a summary of whats been happening this month – also I saw one post and thought “oh yeah, what was the result of that anyhow?” (Clara’s closet) — and you noted on there that you’d be posting next week of conclusion.
Thanks! Great to see you both so active and living life
In regards to your ribbon chandelier, I saw an idea on pinterest where you can use your straightening iron to iron your ribbons! Brilliant!
Clara closing the door cracked me up! lol
Here is the link:http://www.realsimple.com/new-uses-for-old-things/new-uses-bathroom-items/use-a-hair-iron-to-smooth-ribbon-10000001193286/index.html
Thanks! Such a good tip.
xo,
s
A roundup is such a great idea, and you made it so fun.
Even though you can do more than the rest of us in a month, I think rounding up even the small things can remind all of us of our accomplishments and the many fun things we’ve done each month.
I’m not sure if you’re a flatiron kind of girl, Sherry, but if you are… you could always use your hair straightener to iron the ribbons. You wouldn’t even need to take down the chandy, just plug it it, drag over each iron individually, and voila! Done!
Ironing hair ribbons with hair straighteners is a little trick I picked up during my sorority days :)
Thanks for all the flat iron tips everyone! So smart.
xo,
s
A regular curling iron works too. I just “ironed” my hubby’s sleeves where they were crinkled up at the ends before work the other day. His idea!
Thanks hilarious! Tip noted for future crinkly sleeve mornings…
-John
a couple of funny things:
– upon first glance today i thought the tea pillow picture was about wonton soup and wondered when i missed that post.
– i rewatched the pinterest video and i laughed so hard at the “omg burger” part again and again that i got choked up…and now have to use my inhaler. seriously laughed that hard. and the inhaler part – see, y’all aren’t the only dorks around here! :)
Haha, someone else thought the tea pic was dumplings. Too funny. So sorry to choke you up in the video. That part just makes me cringe and hide my head in my hands.
xo,
s
Ahhh love the video of Clara walking! Just a question–I noticed you have brass doorknobs (or at least one on the door in the video)–is this an intentional style choice, or something you haven’t fixed/replaced yet? The house I just bought has them throughout and I was thinking they need to be replaced or painted at some point, but you guys are much more stylish than me so I’m curious about your thoughts!
Oh no, definitely not an intentional choice – just haven’t gotten there yet! We’ll keep you posted when we tackle them!
xo,
s
You guys are so great.
Sherry, I had a dream that I flew to see you and Katie, and in the airport you called and told John you “weren’t ready for guests,” so we sat there waiting, and I was like, “Hey, can I hold Clara?” John looked at me for like 5 seconds and said, “mmmNo.” Aw-kward.
Anyway.
I’m in for the Pintrest Challenge, chalking up a win in the kitchen (hint, hint), can’t wait to share it with you all!
Love the superlatives, they are super funny and it’s great to look back and see all the accomplishments! You guys should go on a date night once a month and keep this up! :)
I don’t know if it’s the diaper or the fact that Clara is so long and lanky, but seeing her walk made me laugh out loud. She is adorable.
xo
Haha, that does sound awkwaaaaard. I promise I’m not that much of a diva. And we let people hold Clara. Well, if she lets them. Haha.
xo,
s
Love the video of Clara walking! Such a cute little wobbly, baby walk! Made me think back to when my babies were tinier :(
Also, we have those exact same horrid gold door knobs!! Can’t wait to get rid of mine, but have to build up the funds first…we have a gazillion doors in our house. Unless you have any cheap DIY ideas for those…ORB paint, maybe?? :)
Ya never know… haha. I definitely plan to try a thing or two before tossing them and buying new stuff. Just because it can’t hurt to try to repurpose the old before giving up on it. Might be a trainwreck though!
xo,
s
I LOVE this post! So creative. You guys are the best!!
Happy Friday! :)
Monthly summary is v. excellent idea! And oh my stars that video of Clara is SO great!! I love how much personality she has!
And speaking of ORB, you have totally infected me with the spray paint love! The other day I audaciously took our toaster apart, down to the circuit board, in order to spray paint the outside to go from bright red (we did our first kitchen, before our current one, in red) to ORB! It looks so gorgeous and coordinated now, and husband was v. surprised. (and sidenote, I made sure that I only did the outer metal that is far enough away from heating coils that doesn’t get hot, and waited 24+ hours to use, so we didn’t have any flammability issues)
I have to agree with one other poster that every time I see the berries/flowers frames, I want to raise them up so they’re not overlapping with the lamps. But hey, can’t be unanimous on everything, and I hadn’t thought about their not being too much higher than the ram’s head. Good point.
I love what you’re doing with your new house – keep up all the lovely inspiration!! :)
Just got an email from West Elm about their new Parsons Media System….. it would look amazing in your family room! :)
Ooh – we’ll have to check it out!
xo,
s
Of course I love the laundry room posts…we finally got our w/d back after 5 weeks of laundromat visits. Granted, the rest of our renovation will take us another 2-3 weeks, but as long as I have my clean laundry I am happy. Check out the progress http://www.smallhousbigplans.com
Haha! I love the pinterest video. So funny!
OMG love this post!! :) Brilliant! :)
Love the recap. Btw, which way is the ironing board’s final resting place? Your blog is the best by far. You two may call yourselves nerds, but all of you have charisma oozing out of your pores!(including Clara & Burger.) My inspiration via your blog had me adding shades of turquoise to the living room. Spray painted a table, two mirrors, found fabulous pillows.Spray painted a tray on coffee table raspberry holding turquoise glassware. My fav was a sunburst type mirror I found at a thrift for $14. Painted it aqua.Put it above sofa. All I spent for everything was $40! What fun! Thanks for your great ideas & humor.
Right now we’re having ironing board wars (we switch it back and forth when the other one isn’t looking). Haha.
xo,
s
Oh Sherry, I love it. You guys are so real! This is TOTALLY what my husband & I would do!
And I think we’re right behind you in the baby-walking department! My girl is almost 11 months and she’s definitely thinking about it. You can see it in her eyes when she pulls up, “Hmmm, I want to get over *there*”
Oh, and she’s crawled across the room just to shut the door in my face. Fun times :-p
Have you guys thought about making a post with all the things you’ve learned about using your Nikon D3000? I would be interested in reading about the tips and tricks you’ve discovered in the last year or so!
I wish we were more well-versed with our camera but we’re still definitely learning! A few tips are that we shoot on the A setting and avoid the flash whenever we can. We also adjust the exposure and aperture to help lighten things up or get more (or less) depth of field. It’s honestly just a whole bunch of picture taking and lots of trial and error! We still have lots to learn…
xo,
s
I’ve been reading your blog before Clara was born, and it’s weird to think she’s walking now. But I bet it’s even stranger for you guys. :-)
I’m working on the Pinterest Challenge! Namely, trying to decide what to make this weekend:
http://finalclothesout.blogspot.com/2011/07/pinterest-challenge.html
Before that I re-worked a bookshelf.
Can’t wait to see what you pick!
xo,
s
This is great, you guys are awesome! I made it my summer goal to get my daughter’s room in tip top shape, and actually made a written out goals list for July just last week.
http://applesforolive.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/olives-bedroom-progress/
P.S. I can’t wait to get home from work today and get started on the pinterst challenge!!!
I bet someone has already shown yall this but look — your dining room curtains are a chair from urban outfitters:
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=80&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=17995671&parentid=A_FURN_FURNITURE&sortProperties=+subCategoryPosition,+product.marketingPriority&navCount=10&navAction=jump&color=&pushId=A_FURN_FURNITURE&popId=APARTMENT&prepushId=&selectedProductSize=
…i hope the link works, if not you can just check their website to find it. crazy stuff!
Isn’t that so funny? Such a small world.
xo,
s
Aww, I love Clara’s tentative baby walk. So cute. And I can just picture her saying “Stay out dad!” or something to that effect (even before I noticed what you titled the video. :)). They grow up so fast!
You get so much done in a month! Amazing.
easiest way to iron those ribbons? hair straightener. works like a charm :) and oh so easy!
Wow — what a busy, productive month it’s been. I’m really sad that Sherry’s pale legs/black painting socks didn’t get at least an honorable mention. Because that was hilarious.
Haha- that could also have been under Most Embarrassing.
xo,
s
My best friend and I were happily voted “Most Likely to Replace Beavis and Butthead on MTV” in the eighth grade. I’m still rather proud of my Cornholio impression.
Hahahaha. Best category ever.
xo,
s
The twig and berries is my favorite. When I first saw the pictures, I wasn’t sure how they’d look in your room, but they totally do. Its an interesting mix of contemporary and a little old-fashion. Not to mention an opportunity for an immature joke, which I always appreciate. Yay for making my first comment on a blog I’ve been stalking for months!
Cutest.. funniest video of Clara ever..
Clara is so cute!!!! That video reminded me of the sims.. Where the toddlers toddle around lol.
That’s a huge load of acomplishments last month!
I can’t wait to start a list of things to tackle once my wedding has been and gone in september, :( excited but want to get my home looking like a home! U guys give me to many ideas! Agh.
Loved your superlative titles. Unfortunately, I didn’t win any special title in my senior yearbook, but every single person I ended up voting for did. I glad I didn’t win for certain categories though, like “Biggest Mooch” “Most Likely to Be Late to Their Own Wedding” and “Most Pessimistic”. Who wants to be remembered for that?
You should totally iron that chandelier with a hair straightener. It would probably be less of a pain. Or maybe that’s just my thinking.
P.S. That video of Clara is amazing. Love it!
Thanks for all the straightening iron tips guys! Someday I just might get ‘er done. Haha.
xo,
s
http://i51.tinypic.com/2iruu15.jpg
I had to pause the video because my husband interrupted & this was where it paused. LOLOL! His reaction? “What the heck are you watching?”
Bwahahahahaha. Hilarious.
xo,
s
Most unabashedly witty… John & Sherry Petersik
I love the twigs and berries paintings. I bet Clara will have fun looking at all the details in both pieces.
P.S. I look forward to reading your blog and looking at new pics and videos everyday! :-)
I have trouble loading the images on your page. I’ve cleaned out the cache, do you know of anything else I can try?
So sorry! We’ve heard that some anti-virus software can randomly block them, so maybe try going into your preferences and entering our url (or picture url) to set them to “approved photos.” We have heard from a few folks who did that and refreshed and all the pics came back. Hope it helps!
xo,
s