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Tuesday, January 30, 2024

So... How Do I SAG This Race? - 11th Annual Celebration Half-Marathon 2024

You guys, buckle up for this one... I have a sad tale of woe to tell you. 

On Saturday, I slept in until about 9, then set about packing and relaxing. We grabbed lunch at McDonalds, around 11:30 and got to Celebration around 3. I walked over to Packet Pickup and got my bib, shirt, and swag, then we drove over to our hotel. We were staying at Melia Orlando again, via VRBO this time. Does it make a difference? Besides price, no, it made no difference. And this may be a two strikes and you're out scenario. 

When we got there the lobby was relatively empty, except for one irate woman who was pissed off about something. As I waited and waited, I overheard that their Key Card System was down. They couldn't issue keys, so employees were walking guests to their rooms individually, and telling them that staff will bring them their keys later. Oh boy. It took about 20 minutes for me to check in, and then another 20 for someone to realize that I was still waiting for my escort to our room. Even though our room was right around the corner from the lobby, the staff instructed me to go park our car first. Brainiacs that we are, we didn't think to bring our stupid luggage with us! And since we needed a key to get into the building and again at our door, we couldn't unload the car, because we wouldn't be able to get back in! Nor could I even go get ice, because that room needed a key as well. So we just sat around staring each other... got very boring. We got one phone call to check if we got into our room, and when I asked when keys would be ready, the clerk kind of just mumbled something and hung up! We gave up at 5:30 and decided to go to dinner. We checked with the front desk about keys, and thankfully, they were ready! So we moved our luggage up to the room, then came back down. As we drove by it, Hubby asked what Maple Street Biscuit Company was, and I told him it was an amazing restaurant full of love and biscuits. I pulled up the menu for him and he said we should go there... Unfortunately, they're more of a brunch place, and they'd closed at 3pm. Maybe we'll do this on Monday. 

We popped over to tried-and-true Cracker Barrel, but not the one we typically go to - Garmin pointed us to one that was closer to the hotel instead. It wasn't super busy, but our service was still pretty slow. I got my typical pancakes with bacon and scrambled eggs, and hubby ordered chicken fingers. I'd like to point out, that when our waitress came by, she told us all about a special they were having with pork chops. We kind of made an "ooh, that sounds good," kind of noncommittal noise, but I gotta say... his chicken fingers did NOT taste like chicken, nor did they look like chicken. They were breaded in panko instead of flour breading, and they were very... firm? Bless his heart, he was too nice of a guy to return them, so he just ate his fries and some of my pancakes. After this very mediocre dinner, we ended up getting in a discussion with one of the employees as we stood in the Bottled Beverage section of the gift area. We ended up purchasing two bottles of root beer to try later. 

We stopped at Publix for some post-run supplies: Chocolate milk, Gatorade, and cupcakes. Yeah, those are supplies! Back at the hotel I squeezed my fat ass into their tiny bathtub for a soak, then laid down on their hard-as-a-rock bed and tried to get my frazzled brain to shut up long enough to sleep. 

Up way too early on Sunday morning, I felt nauseated, but not able to poo (typical before races, honestly). I drank my OJ, woke Hubby up, and we were out the door, late as usual, around 6:30 (yes, for a 7am race). We parked at Celebration School and hoofed it over to the start line. My ear, which had stuffed up last night, was still stuffed up. I kissed Hubby goodbye, set up my LiveTrack, and chugged a bottle of water as I stuffed my pockets with all of my random run supplies (seriously, we got there really late!) I met Hubby past the start line, and we walked together to the corner, where he then headed over to meet me at Mile 2. 

Now, I need to be honest here... 2023, as much as it sucked, was simply the excuse I used - repeatedly - to ignore my training. Every time shit went south, I'd dramatically throw up my hands (mentally) and think, well, fuck, I can't go to the gym now! and I'd let it derail me for a week or so. There were sometimes weeks where I didn't do ANYTHING. No gym, no stretching, no parkrun, nothing. And so you can imagine how much I'm going to suck today... The longest I've even walked has been a 5k, and that was months ago... My ONLY goal was to finish, but I soon realized I was pacing these three older ladies, so I decided to follow them and make sure they were always within my line of sight (or right behind me). I'm happy to report that these three ladies all finished with a respectable time of 4:59! The lady in purple is over 80! Good for her!!!  

 
I was feeling okay as I made it to Mile 1, and I began to think that I was going to be fine... The first mile is always a warm up for me anyway, right? I met Hubby at the corner, finished my bottle of water as we walked, then left him at the entrance to the hotel. I was still feeling good as I heard peals of screams coming from the area of the hospital, around Mile 3. There was a group of volunteers there, and one of them seemed to think that blood-curdling screams of encouragement at 7:30 in the morning was a good idea. I felt so bad for the people IN the hospital who had to listen to this for hours. I was feeling okay at this point, and even made a little video about how I was going to have Hubby call me at Mile 9 (the Motherfucker Mile™) to cheer me on, or how I was going to call him at Mile 12 and brag about finishing. 

I ate a Quaker Granola Bar as I walked, to make up for no breakfast, and noticed that there were two runners in front of me; one looked to be a coach of some sort, who was encouraging a second guy, who seemed to be special in some way. The special guy was having a hard time and so the coach would encourage him to run a little, then walk a little I'm happy to say that they finished with a time of 4:24. 

Something about a Quaker Chewy Granola Bar always works for me...
Around Mile 4, once we left the hospital, I noticed that my left foot was starting to hurt. I'd been dealing with Plantar Fasciitis over the past few months, so this wasn't a big surprise. It wasn't a lot of pain, so I kept going. By Mile 5, though, I started to realize there was no way I could keep going. My entire foot was in pain, to the point where I just knew that I was walking weirdly to accommodate the pain. I stopped near McDonald's to stretch my calves, which felt good, but then my legs began to immediately hurt again when I began walking again. I think about this point I started doing little video check ins on my phone. Of all the issues I thought I'd have to overcome, I didn't think it was PF that was going to be my biggest problem! 

Oh but wait... 

It's raining now. 

Well, at least it's warm rain (lookin' at you, 2019 Celebration)

At one point, a lady I'd been passing, and being passed by, passed me again; she said that she was hitting every single potty stop (no idea why) and that she didn't think she'd be able to finish (she didn't, unfortunately). Interestingly, when I look at that photo up there with the three older ladies, Potty Patty is right there!

So, at about Mile 5.5, I knew for sure that I had to stop, and decided that I could tough it out until Mile 6, because that's where the high school is, and there'd be a lot of people there who could probably assist me. I was getting emotional at this point, because I didn't want to quit, I was frustrated, and I hurt really bad. I passed a runner wearing a knee brace who said she was also in a lot of pain; I told her I was quitting and she said that she was going to try to finish (she did! Yay for her!) 

1451 finished, good for her! Oh look, there's me over there...
I texted Hubby that I was quitting, to allow him time to walk back over to the Finish Line (ugh, why did I do that? He could have stayed there, and I could have driven myself home... Run Brain at its best), and asked one of the volunteers how to sag, what I needed to do, and she didn't know. She called her coordinator, who told me that there was no actual Sag Wagon and that anyone who quit had to get a ride to the finish line. Her golf cart had a flat tire, and suggested that I get a ride from the EMTs over by the boardwalk (whom I'd passed 10 minutes earlier). I told her that was fine, I wasn't in BIG PAIN type pain, so I started walking (and crying), but then she caught up with me and told me that she found a volunteer (an amazing kid, Skylar, from the local church) who was going to give me a ride in his car. So I walked over to Skylar, having another pity-cry about how much of a loser I was.

EDIT _085718 AND _090023 INTO ONE VIDEO (WLL NEED TO UPLOD TO YT TO BE ABLE TO INSERT INTO BLOGGER)

I got out of the car right before the finish line so he didn't have to deal with traffic, and started walking toward the medal area. My hope was that I could tell them what happened, explain that I wanted to finish the other 7 miles at home (when my foot had healed) and get a medal. 

Instead, I did something I wasn't all that proud of. I slipped on to the sidewalk between the finish line and the businesses, and walked all the way up to where Bag Check was (i.e. where finish line people couldn't see me), and I slipped on to the course with everyone else wh
o was finishing. Yeah, the healthy, pain-free, fast, deserving-to-get-their-medals people. I stayed over to the side as I attempted to at least jog, all the while everyone cheering me on looked distorted. They were cheering for everyone else, but they were all pointing and laughing at me.

I 'ran it in', and got my medal like I actually finished this, and got a food card. I plopped myself at a table in a little alcove near the DJ truck and waited for hubby to come get me. I cried more, trying not to look like a complete idiot.
 
At least the rain stopped...
Only got chowder this year; it's all I deserve
The face of an Unhappy Quitter
Feet, Y U Do Dis?
Again... why did I not just limp my way over to the car, instead of making Hubby walk almost 2 miles to come and get me?!? Bu as soon as I saw him, I was so glad he was there... I just freakin' lost it all over him. He saw it coming before I even knew it was coming. He curled me in his arms and just let me go. Once I got myself back together, we walked over and got some chowder, which I ate on the way back to the car. Back at the hotel, I soaked myself in a hot bubble bath, taking stock of where my pain was. It was my feet, my shins, and even the tops of my feet, along the metatarsals. 

I crawled back in bed after and snuggled him for a while, which - of course - let to naughty snuggling. Now, this is TMI, but after my first orgasm, I got in my own head and I just absolutely shut down... I felt like a loser, a quitter, I was fat, I was lazy, I took the easy way out... all of these horrid negative thoughts swirling around my brain, and I had to practically throw his hands off of me as I curled back into him and just freaking SOBBED all over him. It honestly felt like a bit of a mental breakdown... I've never felt this completely wrong before. 

Yes, I know that quitting was the smart thing to do. 
Yes, I know that I could have hurt myself if I'd kept goin. 
Yes, I know that I was smart for listening to my body instead of ignoring it. 

But it still sure feels like I just gave up. 

Me and my mental breakdown took a nap for a few hours then did an early dinner at Sickie's Garage. I had the Wild Hog burger, Rusty Bucket fries and some nacho cheese for dipping. Hubby got chicken fingers, fries, and cheese. We kicked around the idea of ice cream, but we were way too full, so after a side quest to get earwax removal supplies at CVS, we went back to the hotel. I took another bath to baby my muscles and feet (which were feeling a smidge better), then dealt with the ear wax blockage, then crawled into bed for more snuggling and well-needed sleep. 

Much better chicken than Cracker Barrel!
Terrible photo of a delicious burger
The next morning, he woke me up with more naughty-snuggling until I couldn't stand it anymore; he said that I needed it more than he did. (In my head, I want to call it a Pity Fuck, but I know that's not what it was... it truly is his way of taking care of me and making me feel better and getting me out of my own head.). 

Eventually, though, we had to put on clothes and vacate the room. We hit up Maple Street Biscuit Company for brunch. We each got the Maple Sticky Chicken, and I got a side of Smashbrowns to try. As we were sitting and waiting for our order, the manager brought over an iced cinnamon biscuit for us to try (woo hoo, free food!) Oh man, if you haven't had one of those, what are you waiting for? It was heavenly. But even more heavenly was the Sticky Chicken! Hubby's eyes about fell out of his head when he saw it - he wasn't expecting such a big sandwich. He tried a bite and fell in love (and he's not even a huge biscuit kinda guy). He said that the cinnamon biscuit was dangerous, it was so tasty. If you can get one fresh while you're at the store, do it... it's amazing. The Smashbrowns however, were disappointing. I don't know what I was expecting, but these weren't it. 

He was only able to eat about 2/3 of his while I ate about half of mine. I got a box, as well as two additional biscuits to go for eating at home tonight. We hit up Wawa for gas and soda, made our way up to Wildwood for a Russell Stover pitstop, and finally, that ice cream we kept thinking about. Hubby got some sort of peanut butter scoop; I got a single scoop sugar cone of Cookie Dough, which was roughly the size of my head! There was no way I could drive and eat this monstrosity, so we relaxed in the car instead, at least until it was a bit more manageable. 

Once it was safe to drive, we pointed the Garmin to a place called Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop in Ocala. We couldn't find it in the Garmin, but I knew it was downtown, so we just kind of drove around looking for it... We kept overlooking it, though it was in plain sight, right next to Harry's. Inside, it wasn't as "look at this amazing wall of candy" like I was expecting, but more of a "look at all of these packages of candy and toys and socks and stuff." The company brags about their $5 Candy Buffet, but (at least at this location) there were only about 30 options, and most of it was stuff you could find anywhere, so we skipped that. 

However, they also have a massive wall of bottled sodas! Probably 200 different flavors and brands, different types of sodas. Plus a cooler with some of the more popular ones pre-chilled so you can drink them immediately. We picked up a dozen to try next week (they were Buy 5, Get 1 Free, too!). You can find that video on YouTube, or watch it below. 

We also picked up some candy and two Chinese varieties of Doritos to try. Those bags were $6 each, so they better be good! 

Back on the road, we headed home, and my ass was in bed with snacks by 6pm. I just wanted to wallow and pity myself. I typed up this post, watched some of Bosch: Legacy, and then eventually fell asleep. 

On Tuesday, I emailed the Run Director and told them what I'd done (cutting the course, getting a medal anyway) because I didn't want to get credit for a 2:45 finish when I damn sure didn't do the work - I didn't want to take that slot away from someone who'd earned it. Luckily, the Results Processor had already removed me, due to lack of splits, and I wasn't in the final results at all. The Run Director replied back to me that he was sorry I'd had a rough day, there were no issues, and hoped that I'd be back in 2025. Also at this point, I realized... I lost my Streak. I'd run this every single year since its inception, in 2014. Even during Covid, I ran the virtual. I was so proud to be this slow, fat, old broad, who could say proudly, I've run this every single year since it began! And now that's gone. 

I looked over the rest of the results, because I'm a dork like that. There were 1,898 registered participants for the Half-Marathon, and 1,701 finishers. This means that there were 196 other people besides me who also DNF. It wasn't just me. Hell, the last Half-Marathon finisher came in at 6:00 hours, so even if I'd finished, in my hobbled state, I still wouldn't have been last, either. It didn't really make me feel any better, but it was nice to see the hard numbers anyway.  
 
So... now what? I have Gasparilla in less than a month, and Gate River Run just days after that. I can't just not go (okay, yeah, I know I CAN just not go, but then I would be wasting hundreds of dollars)... At this point, I am going to talk to my Massage Lady and see what she suggests for dealing with this. I'm going to 'cram' for Gasparilla by doing as much cardio as possible over the next 4 weeks, using the Elliptical to get a good calf stretch while not impacting my foot much more. And finally, I'll plan to KT Tape the hell out of my feet and wear calf sleeves while at Gasparilla. I guess we'll see what happens next month... 

Friday, January 26, 2024

Living Room Re-Do

We bought our home in 2005, after renting for 18 months, and when we moved in, we painted every single room. Most rooms were a light blue that skewed "baby blue," although it didn't look that way when we picked out the paint. My husband's home office (his Man Cave, if you choose to call it that) is a gorgeous Crown Royal Purple. My home office is a warm beige. The living room was a bold blue, like the blue on an American flag. The hallway was just a neutral warm off-white/ivory. 

Fast forward twenty years (to 2021), and all of the rooms are still the same color! You just get used to what you have, and making changes becomes harder and harder as you live in, and fill up, your spaces. But at some point last year, I decided that I wanted to paint the living room and buy a new couch, an honest-to-God Living Room Set so that the loveseat matched the couch and it looked like a magazine. A little Donna Reed? Maybe... but we got more than 15 years out of our slouchy Big Lots couch and I wanted a new one! 

So I started looking, narrowed it down to a few choices, then dragged Hubby to both Badcock and Ashley to sit on the finalists. As we sat on our choice, we began to talk logistics... when did we want to get them? How much would they cost? Should we paint first? And then... He suggested that since we were moving furniture anyway, we should get new carpet. 

And damn, he was right, but what a can of worms this became! See, a few years ago, we had to get a new AC system and new ducts, which meant that we had to drop the entire ceiling of the house in the hallway. We never really finished repairing it, just putting up the drywall and mudding the seams. A new AC vent had to be cut into the living room ceiling, and the old vent (in the living room wall) had to be closed up. We got as far as closing the old one, but the new one is still just a hole in the ceiling. 

So as I realized that, if we were going to paint, if we were going to get carpet, I needed to fix all the other little things in the main house! Just off the top of my head, we had to:
  • Get rid of the old stinky loveseat (Clover had some recent incontinence issues) 
  • Texturize and paint the hallway ceiling
  • Patch over the old AC vent
  • Remove crown molding in the living room
  • Paint the hallway and trim
  • Paint the living room and trim
  • Paint the dining room and trim
  • Paint the ceilings in living room, dining room, and hallway
  • Mount the TV and install cable management
  • New carpet in living room, dining room, and hallway
  • New furniture (couch, loveseat, and ottoman)
  • New window dressings
  • New entertainment center / storage / tv area
Now, to do this, I needed the use of my daughter's old bedroom. The plan was to move a lot of the old accent furniture (like side tables and such) into her room, to reuse it as a Guest Bedroom. However, Hubby decided that he also wanted to re-do his home office (I did mine a few years ago), so he started moving stuff out of his room and into the guest bedroom - his idea was to move everything out, re-do his office, sort everything in the guest room and bring it back in. My idea (and how I did my re-do) was to sort as I moved so that when I was ready to put my office back together, everything I didn't want was already gone, either in the trash or donated. Basically, he created extra work for himself and completely blocked me from doing what I needed to do. After nagging him about it for months, he realized that my way was better, BUT DIDN'T MOVE HIS STUFF, le sigh. So now, I have a guest room that is full of my daughter's old furniture, and Hubby's office stuff, with no room for me to do what I need to do! I gave up on the original plan by June and just barreled ahead with getting done whatever I could get done. 

We took the stinky loveseat out to the curb, and repurposed the loveseat that was currently in my home office, moving it to the living room for extra seating.  I spent a day finishing and texturing the ceiling of the hallway. I spray painted the old, weirdly-sized AC return vent a nice bright white so that it looked clean and new. I used some spackling compound to texturize the classic 70s wood paneling on the AC closet (you can see where I over-texturized the grooves in the paneling, but it still looks better than before). 

AC Closet Wall and Repurposed Shelf
I spent way too much time trying to decide what wall color I wanted... It had to be the same color in all three rooms, to tie the areas together. I wanted it to be bright to make the interior look bigger. It had to match the gorgeous Pecky Cypress walls in the living and dining rooms. Eventually I settled on a color called "Online," by Valspar. I thought it was an apropos name, seeing as though both of us are computer nerds! 

Old Hallway w/Old Carpet, testing Paint Colors (we chose the 2nd one)
(Hubby's Office to the Left, Guest Room Center)
Once I got the paint, I spent the next day or so absolutely transforming this hallway. It was a small area, so it was easy to do, and the payoff was inspiring. I was able to camouflage a lot of dings and dents in the walls, and I used a tiny brush to paint straight lines where there was no crown molding, giving me a crisp delineation between ceiling and wall. I repainted an old shelf that I had in my bedroom with leftover tester paint (the top color in the photo, above), put on some Contact Paper to hide some damage, and it fit perfectly in the little nook by the AC closet. then I hung up a new coat rack, and two picture ledges from IKEA and filled it with photos. These shelves also do a good job of hiding the old doorbell chime box, which doesn't work any more. 

It already looks so much better, even with this nasty carpet!
The AC closet has a louvered bi-fold door, and I still need to paint that, as well as the two bedroom doors and the bathroom door; I plan to do the same color as the walls, with white trim, similar to the door you see a few photos above. 

That skinny bit of wall is just begging for some photos!
The hallway stayed as the only thing done, as summer turned into fall, and I was just running out of energy. I wanted it done, but life (and his stuff) was getting in the way. 

Around my birthday, I had some time - and some energy - so it was time to work on the Living Room. I decided to just completely remove the crown molding from the wall that used to have the AC vent in it. It was the only wall that had molding anyway, and when they installed the vent (back in the 19-whatevers), they cut into the molding, and there was no way I could fix it. So, I pulled it out and patched up the damage. I pulled down the 20-year old mini-blinds. And then I worked my magic with this gorgeous blue-grey paint. It just felt so refreshing and transformative! I spilled a bunch on the carpet, but fortunately, we would have new carpet soon, so who cared! Again, I went around the edges of the wall with a small brush to really cut in and create that clean separation between the wall and ceiling. (Update: Over the past few months I'm realizing that I never did a second coat of paint, lol! Some of the dark blue is starting to show through, and I'll probably have to run a roller over the walls again in a year or so... Lesson learned, don't be lazy!)

The following weekend, I did the dining room wall (only one wall is paint; the other three are wood panels) and all the baseboards and trim work in the whole space. That is what made me feel old... I'm not flexible enough to sit on the floor for hours painting baseboards, you guys! The weekend after that, I painted the ceilings, and WOW!! Either they previous owners never painted the ceilings, or it wasn't white to begin with, but the contrast between the old ceiling and the new ceiling was drastic! Between the new walls and new ceiling, I was beginning to get my "Magazine Cover" feeling. 

The difference in ceiling color is amazing (left is old, right is new)
At this point, I realized that if we wanted to have everything done by Christmas (which was the original plan), we had to get moving. I went out in the beginning of November to shop and settled on a local company. They guaranteed me that they'd be able to have it installed before Thanksgiving. That didn't quite happen, but we had finished just a few days after. So, I had to pack up everything in the Living and Dining rooms, including taking everything off shelves - and as many of you know, my dining room is basically an extension of my kitchen; it's a huge pantry, and place where we drop our stuff. So for a week, we just had boxes of dry food in our bedroom, lol! The installers were absolute beasts. They moved everything out of the living room first and put it in the dining room so that they could install the living room and hallway. Then they moved everything from the dining room back into the living room, putting it right where I told them to put it (I didn't have to move it again). When they finished the dining room, they put everything back where it belonged. I'd estimate they were there for about 6 hours. And you guys... the difference was ah-mah-zing. Going from 20+ year old Berber carpet to this thick and luscious carpet just made my whole body sigh. Why didn't we do this sooner? I just wanted to lay down and make snow angels. When hubby got home and felt it, we knew immediately that we need to save up to do the rest of the house! So that's a big project for 2023 or 2024... Maybe after he finishes his own DIY project! (Future Lazy Lady here, in June 2024, to report that nothing has changed, with regards to his project...)

For the three spaces (carpet & padding), including removal of old carpet, moving furniture, and installation of new carpet, we paid $3500. Good deal? I don't know. Am I happy with my carpet? Absolutely!

So, finally, FINALLY, after a year, I could finally order my new living room set! I got a couch, a loveseat, and an ottoman. I paid for the expensive delivery service, but it turns out that that didn't mean that the guys would take our old stuff! We still had to take out our old stuff. Pissed me off, because that was the whole damn reason we paid extra! I'm too old to be moving furniture, lol. But we got it out with no strained muscles or stubbed toes. Delivery and 'installation' of the new furniture was very easy, and we were chillin' on our new couches within an hour. They're less "schlumpy" than our older couches, but that's what I wanted. Nothing a throw pillow can't fix! I wanted a cleaner, modern line, and I think these fit the bill nicely. And they're a dark grey slate color, so if we spill food on them (and we will), it won't show. And when Clover scratches the hell out of (which she will), we also got the Protection Plan so we can get it fixed. 

But we're not done yet! Now it's time to address the windows. I ordered some custom-sized black-out roller blind shades, and picked up some sheers and valance curtains from Amazon. I originally bought some "mod" looking curtain rods, too, but I couldn't install them all the way to the ceiling like I wanted (not enough room to slide onto the mount), so I spent way too much at Home Depot for some curtain rods (in the end, though, these feel much sturdier, and they're much prettier). We did the blinds first, which was both easier and harder than expected. We kept getting the measurements wrong, and having to take the brackets down and fix the spacing. Then we realized we put one of them on upside down, so we had to take it down, flip it around, and put it back up. Doing this screwed something up and it didn't roll anymore! (We reached out to Blindster after Christmas and got a replacement). After that, we hung up the curtain rods, and put on the curtains, and damn if our living room didn't look GOOD! We plopped onto the new couch, put our feet on the new ottoman, and called it a night!

Even Clover agrees that everything looks good!
My big hope was to show off all my hard work to both the Kiddo and to my mom when they visited for Christmas. We ordered our new living room set and it was delivered just a few days before the holiday. Unfortunately, mom never came over (there was some DRAH-MA attached to that...), but the Kiddo loved all the changes! 

After the new year (now in 2023), we got the new blind from Blindster delivered and installed, and I picked up a few Kallax shelves from IKEA. I wanted to do a 1x4, a2x4, and a 1x4, but when I bought them I ended up with three 2x4s. 


Original plan - room for TV to wall-mount in the middle

I think it worked out, though, because it makes the TV area a little less symmetrical and interesting. The additional 2x4 (since it wouldn't fit on the LR wall, which was the whole reason I was using 1x4s to begin with!) now lives in our bedroom, holding random stuff. Back in the living room, I got some drawers for the Kallax, as well as some big bins, and (when they're back in stock), I'll pick up some shelf inserts. I have tons of storage that I honestly don't know what to do with! Two bins hold throw blankets, one bin holds DVDs, one for cat toys, one for a little carpet cleaner (a must!) Probably half of the drawers are still empty, which is great. 

There's a planter next to the hallway now, as well as some fake flowers on the shelf
I found a great round tray at Pop Shelf to hold some fake flowers, and to soften all of the angles of the living room, and I've discovered that I can keep plants alive! I have a handful right now that I'm keeping alive, despite being nibbled on repeatedly by Clover. 

At this point, it's just a matter of "floofing" the place... We need to hang up pictures and art, and put up a few more lights. I bought a big pendant lamp from IKEA but I need to call an electrician to fix the outlet that doesn't seem to work (it's always something around here...) Maybe a few more picture ledges from Ikea?

Until then, here's some Before and After photos! 

BEFORE: Dark, heavy, cave-like
AFTER: Bright, airy, calming (even with fewer lamps)

BEFORE: Bright blue, beat up, sad
AFTER: Serene blue, fresh, cheerful