Turning 50 in Florida

Today is my birthday.  For the past 30 minutes, after a too long absence from my blog, I have been writing out my story of how this weekend has been one of the best weekends of my life.  But all around me the boys are starting to get up one by one, and Hubs is packing the cooler and folding the beach towels to get to the beach.  I should get ready too and load up the dishwasher at my brother/sister-in-laws house by the beach, south of the Space Center.

Last week was one of the hardest work weeks ever.  Yet it was sweet.  Every year, the whole year long, I look forward to the week in June where Hubs takes the boys to Florida ahead of me and I get to be in charge of the TV, I barely cook, I run one load in the dishwasher and clothes washer and do what I want in my own house.

It is always heaven.  This year I am at a job that I like but it is also very demanding with announcements every day, processes changing, new clients to figure out, trainings to always take and more.  So I worked day and night to be ready for a week off.  By the way, Hubs took the laptop which has the bathroom redo photos so the photos of the rest of the bathroom will be posted in July.

A couple of months ago when asked what I wanted to do for my big birthday I said, oh nothing much--I just want to be at the beach and do things with my sister-in-laws as well.

Well, I had no idea what a plan that was in the works.  I knew that as typical my birthday is a day apart from Father's Day so I knew that some of the big family was going to be gathered and some gold guy plans were being made as well as surfing.  As for us women, I had no idea what was going on but 3 weeks ago, the sister-in-law whose house I am at now, came to Atlanta (with Hubs' bro) on their way to NC.  That is when she started to weaver her story that was going to grow and grow and be used successfully to surprise the sandals off of me this weekend.

But all I knew three weeks ago is I was told that most of the sister in laws could make it but not all (there are 6 of us plus a mother in law) but that I was to think of an item that I loved and buy 6 of them (under $10  each) and we were going to share our favorite things such as a small lotion or fave nail polish, etc.

Readers, I was blown away by the celebration that awaited me....a few days before actually turning 50.  The plan worked--turns out that my sister-in-law was a hidden actress and it was a great plan to have me drive 8 hours, great with with a glass of wine and that evening there was laughing and crying.  It was incredible.  I promise....more to come!

Talking in the New Bathroom

Now that it is summer, Hubs and I are still spending an hour at night talking about our day or The Boys.  Lately we talk about how the time is flying and how in two short years we will have a high school grad.  And how if we thought in the past only as far as getting through high school, how it won't stop--we will be thinking now and talking about how will our Oldest get through the next stage--learning to be on his own.

I realized last night that I need to have a chaise lounge or chair or at least a bench in our bathroom because Hubs gets this second wind after watching TV at night and me doing other things, we then start chatting away in the bathroom and I end up standing by my sink while he showers and I just keep standing there and I told him last night we needed a chair for me.

And then I realized that  I never shared photos of the bathroom redo.

The first and biggest impact is the entry.  We have a large bedroom and the doorway to the bathroom was ridiculously narrow.  To the right of the doorway was our closet, which was large and had a built in, narrow shelf area.  You can see in this photo if you look at the ceiling that is where the wall used to be.  you can also see the crazy, ugly gold-striped wall paper.

On the floor of the bathroom there used to be carpeting up till the sink area and then it was an off-white smallish tile.  Our bathroom of 6 years (for us) was a sight of crazy twists and turns and placement to everyone who ever saw it.  Here is the entry now:

The wallpaper was glued to drywall and so every wall came down and was replaced by new drywall.  The French doors into the bathroom were painted a brownish paint by Hubs.  He was tired of using stain on some other doors and the door trims.  So, no more skinny entry up to the double sink.

On the right side of the entry is still the closet but is smaller now but still a large walk-in and it is Hubs' closet.  One of my sister-in-laws was aghast to hear his closet is bigger than mine but it is all good because he shares.  Hubs is very proud of the closet doors that he stained and his idea to use pocket doors now.  Here's his:

I am most amazed at the sink area.  I didn't take a before photo.  Trust me, it was hideous.  The double sinks and counter were yellowish and the counter was some old, manmade material.  The vanity was solid wood and so Hubs took it to the garage and stained it much darker.  Then we looked into a granite top and decided a less expensive and faster solution was marble tile and trim.  The sinks were simple and just $35 from Home Depot.  The mirror stayed put but wood, decorative trim was found at Home Deport and Hubs painted it various metallic shades.

Here is our new sink and you can see the frame around the mirror:

Believe me, the sink top in 4 x 4 squares of marble took our handyman only a couple of hours to do and the materials were under $100.  The edges themselves cost another $100:

Below is the 28 yr old vanity transformed with some sanding, stain and new hardware, sitting on top of 16 x 16 tiles.

My side of the sink is on the left and now that we have a wide entry leading to the sink area, this is where I need a chair or soft bench.  To the right of the vanity is the shower where Hubs gets talkative and I am left standing by the sink engaging in conversation.  Next up is the shower and bathtub.