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The time has come for me to put down my goals for the year on paper, or uh screen, so that I am held accountable come December 31. If I don't put them out there for y'all to read I won't have the fear of judgement as my motivation. And really, isn't that what gets us all out of bed in the morning? Right. So I spent the weekend shaking my magic eight ball and I've narrowed down my list to these five challenges, in no particular order. In honor of the Golden Globes...may I have the envelope please.

1. Fix the backyard.
I've whined discussed my backyard as long as this blog has been around (and even before that). And each year I talk about working on some privacy, but this is the year. And here's the reason - I can't look at my neighbors any more. They really are lovely people, but I just can't. While our side yard is vast and relatively private, our backyard, the space right past our deck and patio is rather close to our neighbors. And over the years our neighbors have added on to their homes, making our breathing room even smaller. And with the addition of a new neighbor and his many outdoor apparatuses, this is the year damn it.

Pinterest

 And while I'd love a tall ivy covered stone wall and boxwood hedges,

Almbacken

we are probably looking at something more economical. I know, economical and landscaping never really go together, but I'm going to try my best. We were able to redo our deck on a budget, so who knows what we will come up with. Maybe we'll find more $5 trees.

2. Organize closets
I have something that is a rarity in a house this age and size - two walk in closets. But I'm ashamed to say that I don't use them to their full potential. And in a house this size, that just isn't cool.

Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti's amazing closet

So I've got painting, construction, elbow grease and a lot of DIYs up my sleeve for these suckers. Note - I can not guarantee they can stay organized. (Do I hear a goal for 2015?)

3. Find a dishwasher that doesn't suck and a vacuum that does.
I told you how much my Maytag sucks and this is the year I'm doing something about it. There has got to be a high performance dishwasher out there and I am on the hunt.

Zoey cleans better than my Maytag does

I also have a vacuum on its last suck. Hmm, I need a new dishwasher and vacuum. Maybe it would just be cheaper to get a maid.

4. Focus on the details.
I find myself looking at different things these days. Table linens, candle sticks, picture frames, vases. The cherries on top of the sundae. The things that take a room from done to complete. And a hard, and dangerous rule for me this year - only permanent pieces. I'm not getting something just because it was cheap. I have a basement full of those purchases. Quality, unique and long term are the key this year.

Lesley Glotzl

5. Post more.
I really do have the best time getting to know you all and I think we have a really good time together. And well, we've been dating for a few years now, so I think it's time to take our relationship to the next level. Do I sound like The Bachelor?

I've got a lot to say, a whole backlog in fact, of things that I just don't get around to. So this year I'm going to make a hard effort to work four posts a week into my schedule. Gulp. And I want you all sharing more on here with me as well. You all are the best and I want to give more. 4 days a week. There I said it.

So ta-da, there she blows. My list for the year. What do you think? Do you make yourself a guideline for the year? Did you think Tina and Amy did a good job last night? Can you believe that Jordan Catalano won an Golden Globe?!

Gardeners, l need your sage advice. I think the soil in my front beds is...unsavory. And I don't know why.

Let's take a walk outside and I'll show you.


I used to have nice healthy plants.  We planted all of this our first spring in the house (7 years ago) and  for a long time they grew like champions. (tear)

We always had a problem with that big bush on the far left - it would start to die, we'd transplant the half dead bush to the backyard and replace it with something new. The new bush would be fine and the half dead bush would perk right up and grow like crazy in the back. Very weird.

Then last summer we had a wicked drought and a crazy number of days of 100+ temps. All my bushes started to look a bit sad and I tried my best to keep them watered and happy but they went down hill fast. By the end of the summer there were firewood.

We dug them up, had a moment of silence to honor their years of service and waited for spring to plant something new.

I planted some lovely hydrangeas and for most of the summer they did pretty well. They didn't flourish as I had hoped but they were happy, alive and blooming. All you can ask for with a first year planting.


Then I came home from vacation to see this. Not good people.

They were starting to look a little funny right before we left but I thought they would hang in there. Our dear house sitter did her best to keep them watered but these suckers look worse than Amanda Bynes.  Look at that poor little thing, you can hardly tell it was even a hydrangea plant at one time.

What's weird is that they still have lots of green leaves on them. It's almost like they were burned or something? I have no idea what has happened to them or what to do. Gardening is not my strong suit and I can ill afford to have this yard looking like poo. Some things are going down at Chez Baumgartner and dead plants are not apart of the plan.

Any ideas? Are they salvageable? Anyone?

We've been spending a lot of time outside this week. One of the benefits to potty training in the summer  is enjoying the privacy of your own backyard in your underwear. We get a lot of fresh air and accidents are a lot easier to take on the grass than on my rug. Too much information first thing? Moving on.

So with all of this outside time, we've been using the deck like crazy. In fact, we've used the deck more this spring/summer than we have the whole time we've lived here. And since I still get questions weekly about our deck makeover (read about it here), I thought I would give a progress report.


This is how the deck looked when we finished it exactly one year ago this week.


And this is how the deck looked yesterday. I took my flower boxes down during the last storm and haven't put them back up, and we have an umbrella now, but otherwise these shots are just like the Olsen twins - identical...and a bit boho.

Oh, and one side note - I failed to sweep sufficiently before I took these pictures so enjoy the real life shots. And if you are disgusted by my lack of sweeping, the public flogging is tomorrow at noon.

I am happy to report that we are thrilled with our decision to use Restore Deck Liquid Armor Resurfacer.  (I see that this is a Rustoleum product which might explain why it is so awesome. Rustoleum, I'm happy to become your spokeswoman and I'm not above wearing a spray paint costume on the streets to sing your praises.)

Our deck is pummeled on an hourly basis by several 100+ year old oak trees, a small sanctuary full of birds (thanks to my neighbor and his damn bird feeder) and at least a pound of sidewalk chalk. And it is as if we just painted yesterday.


The color is gray for the many that have asked. And yes, it is just 'gray'. I even double checked the box to make sure. I guess I have gotten used to Benjamin Moore and their snazzy paint names, I'm not used to such a straight forward paint color.


Many have also asked how the texture feels on bare feet. I will tell you that initially there was a bit of a pebbly feel to the floor but quickly that hard texture softened and over time it has just gotten more and more comfortable. As someone who is barefoot as much as the law allows from March to October, I would never allow something that I walk on several times a day to be scratchy or uncomfortable. And Eve has spent a fair amount of time with her bare bum on that floor this week (again, potty training) and has been nothing but smiles. How's that for a ringing endorsement.

That texture is also a help in the rain and ice as it gives you just enough traction to prevent slipping. And it also stays nice and cool to the touch. A very big deal in a place where we have 90+ temps for months on end.

That hard candy shell also does a great job of protecting the finish. Over the past year we've had a few hard storms that have sent pretty big branches straight onto our deck and there is not one mark to show for it. We also kept our table on it throughout the winter and when we picked it up to move it for the party there was not one mark on the deck. Super durable is an understatement. There has been no chipping, peeling, bubbling or any other 'ing'.

The only negative I can come up with is that it does seem to trap dirt a bit in high traffic areas. But it is nothing that a strong hose can't handle. We've power washed it twice and both times the dirt came up with no problems. In fact, when I was at Home Depot the other day I noticed Restore now has a cleaning solution. Fancy. I haven't tried that out yet but I have plans to over the holiday. Do I know how to celebrate America or what?

Oh, and for all of those that were crazed over the fact that we didn't put the stair railings back up...


happy now?

We got that up right before the hospital stay/party. The other side of the railing will come, someday.

So to recap - Restore Liquid Deck Armor is aces. I give it two thumbs up and I would recommend it to any and all of you.

Have you tried any new products lately? Any plans to update your deck? Any ideas on how to hide my neighbors bird feeder?

Happy Monday to all! Anything exciting to report? We had rain, with a side of rain and large helping of humidity. Summer in St. Louis y'all.

So I blabbed long enough about this anniversary party I thought I should at least share a few pictures with you. My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage and in my book, 50 years of anything deserves a party. And party we did.


Now a (long) side note - I have had lists upon lists over the past few months to keep things organized for this shindig and we were on schedule. The hubs was on board and the weekend before the party he and I sat down and made a list of what we needed to get done each day that week to be ready for the party on Saturday. Teamwork is our middle name.

Then Monday night the hubs got sick. Tuesday morning I had to take him to the ER and by Tuesday night he had an emergency appendectomy. Which was kind of weird because I didn't remember 'surgery' anywhere on our to-do list.

Que increased stress level.

And to add to the fun, surgery was followed by an infection which kept him in the hospital until late Friday. Coupled with a mystery plumbing leak, a surprise tree removal and a daily increased threat of rain, my stress level runneth over.

I will save all of the gory details for cocktail hour, but needless to say by the time Saturday arrived I was just happy to have showered and brushed my hair. I didn't get as many pictures taken as I would have liked, and some are with my iPhone so they aren't the best quality but you'll get the idea. And we were lucky enough to have the talented Jeremy Keltner there during the party and he got some great shots as well.

Lesson learned. As my great-grandfather always said - don't bother worrying because you will always be worrying about the wrong thing.

So with all of that said, a great time was had by all and the party was a success. We did end up with a downpour shortly after the cake was cut but the fun just moved inside and we didn't skip a beat.

Now enough talk, let's look at some pictures.


Almost ready to go.


The welcome wreath that greeted everyone at the gate as they entered.


Would have been awesome if I had gotten a picture of these things filled out with the drink labels filled in but this will have to do.


I made the menu using the same monogram that appeared on the invitation and the cake.



Each table was decked out in ribbons in my mom's colors, blue, green and yellow, and pictures of the happy couple through the years. The frames were a DIY project I'll share at some point.




They were a pain to hang, but the lanterns were great. All the lanterns were battery operated and worked off of one universal remote which was heaven. Thanks Pier 1.



Inside was a table full of wedding pictures and albums.


And the yummy cake.


Which we cut just in time to move inside before the monsoon hit.


It was a late night but a great time.

Happy Anniversary mom and dad!

Have you thrown any parties lately? Any great outdoor celebrations on your calendar? Wanna come over for a drink? The house is clean.

Ding dong, the deck is done! I mentioned...what, 4 weeks ago, that we'd started some repair work to the deck. Well, as with any reno project, replacing two boards turned into 11 and a new wider staircase and stain and hell, let's just throw in some new furniture while we're at it!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's remember how this all began. (picture me with my best 'thinking back' soap opera face)

Here is the deck on the day we bought the house. Glorious to people with new house googles on. They're like beer googles, only they last longer than just one night. Our inspector had told us at the time that the stairs were rotting and should be replaced within the year. That was six years ago. (Don't you wish you had bought a flesh colored house?)


Every spring and every fall we would put the deck on our to-do list. And every summer and every winter would go by with the same wobbly stairs and rotting boards.
We used the space less and less until it just became a place for the girls to use their sidewalk chalk. Finally after sitting outside with the girls, drawing yet another hopscotch, I noticed our dog (a 22 pound beagle) going down the stairs. You would have thought there was an earthquake on those suckers.

If the stairs couldn't support 22 pounds...well you get where I'm going with that. So the project moved up to the top of the list. 

While getting supplies at Home Depot the fatal words were uttered, "If we're going to replace the stairs let's just replace those two boards on the floor as well." Now I'm not going to point fingers or name names, but this suggestion was made by someone who's name rhymes with suke (Luke, that's you.)

When the two boards came up they gave a lovely view of 9 more boards that needed to be replaced as well. I swear I hear the deck laugh at us. Nieve suckers. Good times. So back to Home Depot, which brings us back to the here and now.

After only mild cussing and grunting the handy hubs got to work and replaced all the offending boards in pretty quick order.

Which ment we could finally get to the part of the project that we were supposed to be doing in the first place - the stairs. Mid stair progress though I realized I liked how nice and wide(r) the deck felt with some of the railing removed.

Deck work makes the whole yard messy

"My dear, I know you already made the frame for the stairs, but...could we make the stairs wider?"
"Sure, no problem."
I love a man who gives me the right answer.

Proof that he was almost done laying the stairs when I asked him to make it bigger

With the deck and stairs repaired and in great shape, it was time to stain and protect all of our his hard work. We had done a lot of research on various stains and decided to go with a new product at Home Depot, Restore Deck Liquid Armor.

Restore Deck Liquid Armor

Our deck is surrounded by 100+ year old oak trees and the poor thing gets pummeled all year around by whatever those trees feel like dropping on it. So we were intrigued by this stain as it adds a bit of coverage from the elements in addition to just sealing the wood. All of the reviews we read online were positive and at such a great price point, we figured it was worth a try.

And I'm happy to tell you that this stuff rocks! There are several colors to pick from and we found the color to be a true match to the chips.

It's important to note though that this stuff is like peanut butter so a standard wood paint stirrer thing isn't going to cut it.


You've got to pull out the big guns and get yourself a mixer attachment for your drill. Happy Father's Day!

Once mixed you just roll it on like a regular stain.

There is a great deal of splash that happens so make sure to wear long pants as this stuff takes a bit of elbow grease to get off your skin.


One coat on and it was time to turn our attention to those horrible railings. Although that wood was in good shape, the ugly color was bringing down my pretty new gray. So we settled into a very long day of painting. every. freakin. spindle. three. times.

But, it was worth it. We now have a brighter, tougher deck who is ready to party.

The thing that started it all, the stairs. We are liking how open it is without the railings but obviously will need to add those...someday.

A little before and after action for you. Before...


And after. We went ahead and painted the french doors to match our front door (black) and added some lanterns from Home Goods to act as sconces. I'd love to have some real sconces out there someday. I tell ya, I could keep an electrician busy for weeks around this joint. (We painted the house a few years back)


With all of the work done to the deck, and a weed-free patio (thanks to the sawdust) I figured the adirondack chairs needed a spruce as well.

We got them several years back at ACE Hardware for $19 each (in the dead of winter) and although we had to assemble them ourselves, they have been great little chairs. We picked up the two foot stool things off the side of the road. The wrong color but in perfectly good shape.

More cans of RustOleum than I care to think about and they look brand new. My finger still hurts thinking about all that spray painting. Luckily my nails are no longer blue. When will I learn to wear gloves?


And with that, I'm done outside. There is still a million and one things to do out there, but they will have to wait for fall because the only thing I plan to do is enjoy my deck and patio. Who's ready for a drink?


Have you tackled any outdoor projects lately? Do you wish for a pool after a hot day of work like I do? Know of any massage techniques for my spray paint finger?

My house is currently a reverse mullet. 
But its OK, because even if I could step out onto my deck, I'd have no way of walking down the stairs.

This adds a new level of fun to letting the dog outside, let me tell ya. However, the hubs has been hard at work and hopefully this will all be done by the end of the week.

So to counter the chaos in the back of the house, I added some party to my front. You know, to complete the mullet. Thanks to Linda, for the flower box inspiration.