I feel like it’s been a while since I wrote a proper weekending post and given that last weekend was sort of a perfect summer weekend, well, now seems like the time to share one.

On Thursday evening we went to Plymouth. We visited the Farmer’s Market that’s held weekly at Plymouth Plantation and I bought some cucumbers, beets, and a blueberry pie. The market was smaller than I expected but there were some interesting vendors and I’m glad we checked it out.

We then headed to the waterfront for some refreshment. We had cocktails at a restaurant by the marina. There were loads of boats and it was a beautiful evening. We also visited another restaurant where we heard some live music and then had ice cream before heading home.

Friday. Well, honestly, I don’t know what happened to Friday. We had talked about the beach or maybe doing some reorganizing of our rooms upstairs but Hannah came over and wedding stuff was discussed and then we decided to visit Jackie and honestly the next thing I knew it was 4:30 pm and we hadn’t even had lunch! We fixed that with burgers on the grill and then settled under the pergola for the evening. There was Mexican Train (Dale truly kicked my ass this time!).

And marshmallows cooked over our mini fire pit. So easy and so fun! It was a great way to end a day that felt very discombobulated.

On Saturday morning we got up and took a walk to the center of town (and the cemetery) and then back home. We then hit up our new local coffee joint, Restoration Coffee, for some refreshment. I had a Double Chocolate Iced with avocado toast and Dale had a hot coffee with an apple turnover. This totally hip place is owned by friends of ours and it is becoming wildly popular and I couldn’t be happier about that.

Dale had to work with the band in the afternoon so I stayed home and spent my time knitting and watching season two of Big Little Lies. So good. When Dale got home we went to Sean’s for a wonderful dinner with a Spanish theme.  As usual at Sean’s, everything was fantastic! The special ham with figs and melon, the almonds, the Spanish goat cheese with quince paste . . . not to mention the entree of Spanish chicken and rice and homemade ice cream (along with that blueberry pie I bought) for dessert. The company was great and the food was stupendous.

On Sunday we did a little pre vacation shopping, getting some fresh shirts for Dale and a couple of things for me. We then headed over to the waterfront in Onset for a little afternoon relaxation at the Quahog Republic where we had margaritas and the raw deal, a terrific combo of oysters, littlenecks and cocktail shrimp. There was live music and warm air and it was a really awesome late afternoon.

We came home and watched a few episodes of Breaking Bad (we’ve only just now started this series) and then headed to bed, content with the way we spent our weekend together.

I bet you forgot all about our bedroom redo but today I’m bringing you up to date – finally! I will say, this project seemed to drag on and on and on. And not for any particular reason although I think the installation of the closet door nearly killed Dale. One thing I want to point out: because I’m a bad blogger there aren’t great before photos. That’s partially my fault as I didn’t make the time to take any myself. It’s mostly, though, because Dale’s iPhone died earlier last spring and he lost all his photos. I’m pretty sure the ones of the bedroom weren’t the ones he was truly upset about (goodbye, thousands of photos) but it’s a bummer that all his progress shots of the work he did in the bedroom were part of the Great Photo Loss of 2019.

In any case, I do have a few before photos. This is our triple dresser before we had it painted.

And the chest on chest, again, before we had it painted.

Now, before all you wood lovers come at me, I want to point out that this furniture is from 1987. The oak is lovely but I was looking for something fresh and updated. We actually went furniture shopping but let me tell you, all we saw were these really big pieces and those just don’t work in a house like ours that’s somewhere around 150 years old. And also, the bedroom sets we saw were pretty expensive and I just didn’t like anything all that much.

Here’s the bedroom after the wallpaper had been stripped. Goodbye outdated blue and yellow flowered wallpaper. Those curtains went, too.

And here we are with a fresh coat of primer. I was already happier! We didn’t change the rug as we had just replaced that a few years ago so Dale covered it carefully when he started painting. I should point out that during this project we moved to our upstairs guest bedroom. At first it was fun – almost like being on vacation and the slanted ceilings up there made it cozy and like being in a tent. But after a while that double bed got smaller and smaller and I sure was glad to move back into our room when we came back from New York City after our trip in April. I think all told we lived in the upstairs room for about 3 weeks.

Okay, are you ready for the big reveal? Let’s start with the furniture. Here’s the triple dresser:

And here’s the chest on chest:

I contacted Jen, of ReJenerated Finds, a local woman who paints and refinishes furniture, and she did a wonderful job with our furniture. Both pieces have white chalk paint with espresso stained tops. All the hardware is new and updated and I’m totally in love with how they came out.

And here’s the shot of the bed with it’s new neutral bedding – it’s gray and white ticking although I don’t know if you can see that very well. You might try clickety bigety to see the stripes better. You can also see the closet door, painted black to match all of our other interior doors, and to say that I’m excited to have a door on our closet would be a pretty huge understatement. (Prior to this we’ve always just had a curtain there.)

The lights are new, too, and you can also see a new nightstand for me (on the right) and a table for Dale (on the left) that we moved from another room in the house temporarily. The nightstand for me was one I found at the ReStore and it was refinished and painted to match the other two pieces by Jen. We’re still on the look out for something for Dale but I know we’ll find something perfect eventually. I’ll be adding more throw pillows (Dale is probably not excited at all to hear that news) but for now these work. The yellow one was on the bed before and the love one was in the living room. I really enjoy “shopping” my house to move pillows and curtains and artwork around.

Speaking of artwork, you may notice that there isn’t any up on the walls yet. We’re still debating what we want to hang and, much to Dale’s annoyance, I have not given the go ahead to hang anything.

Here’s a slightly closer shot of the bed with the lights and closet door in the background. That mirror over the dresser is one we got ages ago at a yard sale – no need to change it at all as it went perfectly with our new look.

We had a new TV put on the wall (Dale thinks it’s too high and I tend to agree but I’m not in favor of making more wholes in the wall to fix it) and the curtains I got you’ve seen before. They are like dotted swiss on steroids and they are perfect for summer as they let in loads of light and I can see the window boxes through them but I’ll be swapping them out for something heavier when the fall and winter arrives.

The paint is Urban Sunrise by Valspar and it’s a gloriously neutral gray. It doesn’t look blue or green or lavender, it’s just truly gray. And I love how neutral everything is, it’s exactly what I wanted because it means I can swap out curtains and bedding, pillows and more. I plan to have loads of red in here when Christmas comes and I’m really excited about that prospect!

And there you have it. Our multi-month bedroom redo!

One week ago tonight my daughter Hannah got engaged to her long time boyfriend, Mikey. It was the culmination of weeks of planning (plus years of dating and living together!) that started at the beginning of June when Mikey came to see Dale and I seeking our permission to ask Hannah to marry him. He brought us chocolate mousse and chocolate covered strawberries and biscotti but we would have said yes and given him our blessing even without the bribe.

While chatting with us that night Mikey laid out his plan: he wanted to propose in the center of our town on July 3rd. I was perplexed and asked him why there and why on that date and he explained that the first time they ever saw each other was in the center on July 3rd 8 years ago.  On that night Hannah was riding in Dale’s truck and Mikey was walking home from working his job at a local restaurant and Mikey wanted to recreate that moment in time. He told us that after proposing he wanted to bring Hannah to our house and have a little celebration with us and a few other close family members and friends.

So that’s what he (and we) did. And it all came together perfectly! Hannah had absolutely no idea this was all in the works and he completely surprised her. I’m told that when he got down on one knee she asked him if it was a joke. (Mikey said at least one car drove by while he was on his knee and the guy started beeping the horn like crazy and giving them the thumb’s up!) Eventually Hannah realized he was serious and she said yes and then said she needed to sit down – I think she was pretty overwhelmed – so they sat on the stone wall in the center for a few minutes and then they came to us.

My little girlie was shaking like a leaf when she looked at me and said, “Momma, I’m engaged!” And then she looked around at everyone assembled and said, “wait – what are you all doing here? did you all know?!”

And then we celebrated! We had wine and beer, some champagne that Mikey’s mom brought, plenty of good food and really great fellowship.

We took photos, of course!

This is my favorite.

And this is my other favorite just because of the way she’s looking at him.

Here’s the ring.

And here’s our dinner under the pergola.

And the awesome cake that my friend Caroline baked because nothing says best wishes like four layers of chocolate with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles!

It was a really special and beautiful evening and Dale and I feel so fortunate to have been included in this moment in our daughter’s life.

And now we have a wedding to plan!