Happy Monday! Can you believe school starts around these parts this week? It’s so crazy to me! I was hoping to publish the Kitchen FAQ post late last week, but real life got in the way. But, I’ll plan to post it tomorrow with all the info you guys were asking about. If there are any remaining comments, let me know and I’ll try and get them added before the post goes live tomorrow!
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Home Updates & Projects
Kurtis was in Chicago Monday thru Wednesday last week, so I had to go to the inspection for our new rental property on my own Monday. A little scary when the house you just bought looks a little something like this:
We close on the property on Friday and then we’re going to hit the demo and clean-up side of things pretty hard for the next few weeks. But, it should make for a great before and after! This is totally new territory for us, so we’re obviously a bit nervous. But, mostly I’m just excited to do a full gut job!
I got a second coat of paint up in the dining room. It’s amazing how much brighter it gets with each coat! The second coat is on the left (below). I still plan to do one more coat, because I feel like coverage is best on white paint colors with three coats. But I’ll be sharing the new look soon!
Our hydrangeas are blooming now like crazy! I measured some of the blooms (limelight hydrangeas) on the west side of our house and some are nearly 18″ long! I think we have close to 30 hydrangea bushes (different varieties) throughout our yard, but I could plant a hundred more and still be so excited about each and every one of them!
Around Town & For Fun
Thursday was Kurtis’ work event. We had about 35 people here, some who had flown in from the west coast. We hired a bbq food truck (the same one we used last year) and it’s totally the way to go! It was super affordable and they provide the plates, utensils, meat and sides. So much easier when you’re hosting!
The party was a lot of fun, and we even had people at our house well after 9 pm!
I started Orangetheory last Wednesday and went again Friday. I’m enjoying it so far even though it has totally kicked my butt (in a good way)! The plan is to go 3-4 days a week with my friend Mandy. It definitely helps going with a friend. I’ll continue to keep you posted about the journey! But, I was shocked I burned nearly 600 calories each of the days I went!
We had dinner at Jill and Nick’s on Saturday night. BLTs and corn on the cob from the farmers market. Then, when we discovered Friday was National S’Mores Day and we missed it, we went all out with a chocolate chip cookie, Nutella, and roasted marshmallows. Any other day it would have been way too sweet, but it ended up being perfect! All my work at Orangetheory probably went down the drain with this bad boy 😉
It has been super hazy in Omaha this past week because we’re getting a lot of smoke from fires in Canada. The air quality has been questionable, but it did make for a beautiful sunset Saturday night! As a result, I either have really bad allergies from the smoke or I’ve gotten a killer summer cold. No fun either way!
Sunday we spent a few hours at the pool. The haze had cleared some and it was nice and hot – a perfect pool day! The rabbit seems to have lost interest in our yard, because my potato vines are finally started to grow again, back from the nubs that were left behind!
Umbrella | Chaise Lounge | Striped Pillow | Planters
Speaking of our lounge chairs, the cushions on our have all but completely disintegrated over the past few weeks. I’ve searched all over online for new cushions (these are rather large), and they run $250-350 EACH! I have some terry cloth covers that fit them well, so we use those now when people are over. We’re going to try and finish the season out with these as is, and then decide what to do next year. It’s just frustrating because the frames are still in excellent shape, so we don’t want to buy all new chairs – but it’s insane that the cushions are so expensive!
I read this book last week. It was very well written and I really enjoyed it. It definitely makes you stop and think along the way, but I couldn’t put it down!
Recent Buys & Sales
Following are some sales that carried over from the weekend!
- J CREW is offering 30% off back-to-campus picks (fall clothes) with code FRESHSTART. See the eligible items here.
- J CREW FACTORY is offering 50% off sitewide, and an extra 60% off clearance items with code PARTY. Shop the sale here.
- ONE KINGS LANE is offering 20% off furniture with code OKLXTRA20! You can shop their sale here.
- POTTERY BARN is has tons of sales going on right now, including 20% off leather, up to 60% off outdoor, and up to 50% off furniture, bedding, decor and more! Shop all the included items here.
- WEST ELM is offering up to 40% off sofas, sectionals, benches, chairs and more! Shop the sale here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA HOME is offering 20% off your entire purchase with code SAVENOW! You can shop the sale here.
- WORLD MARKET is offering 30% off all full-priced furniture with code FURN30. That includes our office desks that we love so much! Shop the sale here.
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I feel your pain with replacement cushions! Please keep us posted if you find any at a good price, because I have looked everywhere!
My friend went to fabric .com and got sunbtella material and had hers recovered . That’s the best fabric . Will last a long time .
I feel you on the cushions. We have 3 patio sets, a dining set and 2 conversation sets, under our covered patio all the cushions need replaced. The cushions are $200+ a set (back and seat) per chair – at that price I feel like I could buy a new patio set; which seems so wasteful. I am hoping that I can score some end of season sale, but probably not because of course they are custom orders. 🙁
Agree with above to have new ones made. I have done this for several outside cushions . Its super fun to pick out your own fabric too!
I believe we have same lounge chairs as you. After a year or two we needed new cushions and found ones that matched almost exactly what we had (same gray as yours), maybe a tiny bit thinner, but still really nice and thick at Costco for super cheap. Less then $100. Try them once summer stuff goes out next year, or even online if you don’t see in store.
If the cushions are still in good shape, have them reupholstered with a quality outdoor fabric. I’ve done that and it is much better than buying all new and you have the choice on colors and pattern.
I would try reupholstering. Maybe try doing it yourself to save money..if you can sew a pillow cover, I bet you can tackle a cushion cover, Sarah! That’s a bummer they didn’t last longer. Good luck!
The back cushions seem fine. Do you think it is the chorine from the pool that ruined them?