Pfister Park Avenue Faucet

Don’t you hate when bloggers do teaser posts about the big projects they are working on?  Yeah.  Me, too.

Oh, hey!  Look at our pretty new faucets in our almost finished bathroom that I can’t show until a week or two.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Right?

We are so stinking close on the world’s longest bathroom project.  Just a little touch up paint and some styling and we’re good to go.

In the mean time, let’s discuss our new faucets.  The ever generous folks over at Pfister sent us these Park Avenue Faucets.  We feel all fancy now when we wash our hands.  As I was washing my face last night I told Nate that this must be how the other half lives.  The only way they could be better is if they turned on themselves or gave Ike a bath.

The faucet was easy to install. We previously had some inexpensive faucets.  Nate tells me that the install on these guys was much easier.  No swear words.  No threats of divorce.  Beautiful.

The faucet is a single control.  The flow is great.  And it’s drool worth.  All very important in Michelle-land.

We chose the polished nickel.  I am madly in love with the polished nickel.  I just wouldn’t recommend others following in my difficult footsteps.  There aren’t many options for the polished nickel finish in mirrors, faucets or hardware.  I love the options that we found for all but it was a challenge.  Also, we just installed these babies but I can already tell that keeping the polished nickel clean may send me over the edge.  (Not a far push.)

Thanks to Pfister for sending us these beauties.  They have gone to a happy home!

Have you ever fallen hard for a faucet?  What big DIY projects did you work on this weekend?

I wasn’t compensated for this post.  Pfister supplied us these beautiful faucets.  I wasn’t required to review them.  We just love them so we thought we would!

July Recap + Michelle’s Crazy Thoughts

Oh hey. It’s almost the end of August.  Time for the July recap. 

First. I must share the crazy thoughts going through my head.

1. I want camo skinny jeans.  It’s a new obsession.  Someone find me some cheap ones. JCrew has a beautiful pair but camo probably isn’t one of those closet staples that I should splurge on.  Nate doesn’t get it.  I think those Duck Dynasty boys are wearing off on me. 

2. I don’t know what is more embarrassing for me.  The fact that I watch Duck Dynasty or the Kardashians.  At least neither is on a regular basis.  I really don’t watch that much tv.  I clearly make good decisions when I do.

3. Someone send me a way to get rid of moles.  They are destroying our yard.  I might sprain my ankle.  This is serious stuff.  Nate has been fighting them for 4 years and he refuses to hire someone to get the job done. I’m going to make it my mission.  Or publicly humiliate him into it.  Probably the latter.

4.  Don’t Google nude scarf.  Don’t.  This and #1 are good reasons for me to stick to DIY projects and not fashion.

5. Ike lodged a complaint with me.  He needs a dog bed in the sewing room.  He told me to put a rush order into Sew Midwestern.  Poor thing.

Happy July recap!  Happy weekend!

July 4th Projects Exploring the Caves New Arrival Bathroom Progress Vintage Washboards Creative Copper Projects Craft Night Pottery Our Stuff on Other Sites Dream House Shiny Bathroom

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Catch up on the rest of 2013 here:  January February March April May June

Being Fit on the Cheap

I often post pictures like this on Instagram.

I then get comments questioning how I don’t weigh 500 pounds.

Turns out that I don’t eat delicious donuts every day.  I only wish that I ate donuts topped in bacon every morning.  My usually egg and whole grain English muffin doesn’t look nearly as awesome.  Even with a filter.

I also like to exercise.  You read that right.  I like it.  I’m not a crazy P90x’er but I move.  A lot.  I’m a big believer in finding an exercise that you like and hop to it.  Exercise doesn’t need to be expensive.  (I sound all preachy pharmacist like right now.  I had a patient call awhile back and they asked for “the tiny one that likes to give advice”.  I think he meant it in a good way.)  There are so many free videos on-line.  I’m also a big believer in “cost per use”.  I “pay off” my exercise videos quite fast.

Today I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite exercise videos/sites.  (I always find this information fascinating on other blogs.  Pretend you do too.)  I promise to have house related things soon…ish.  As all good medical professionals recommend, check with your doctor before beginning an exercise routine.

I will start with my most expensive piece of exercise equipment.

This dude needs a lot of exercise.  He’s 6 1/2 going on puppy.  He definitely doesn’t let us skip our nightly walk.  We walk him at least 45 minutes (usually 1 hour) at least 6 days per week.

In addition to walking, I do some form of strength activities at least 3 times per week.

I’m a huge fan of kettle bells.  Strength training and huge calorie burn in a short period of time.  My favorite video set is the Kettlebody by Brook.  Cardio, strength and yoga DVDs in one set.  Highly recommend it.  She’s only slightly cheesy and I have seen good results with this set.  The three DVDs kept me from getting bored for a good few months.  I purchased my kettle bell on mega sale at the beginning of the year.  I hear Walmart has a super cheap set. (I can’t verify this because that place terrifies me.)  I started with the 7lb.  I currently use either a 10 or 15 lb for the exercises.

I’ve recently enjoyed this free 15 minute kettle bell workout.  Lots of calorie burning in 15 minutes.  And you get buff.  Boo-yah.

I’m a big fan of this free fitsugar arm workout from Cameron Diaz’s trainer.  It’s starts all nice and slow and by the end my arms are screaming.  Feel the burn.

One of my all time favorite yoga DVDs is MTV Yoga.  I’ve had this yoga DVD since undergrad.  So like 10 years.  Wow, that’s depressing.  But good for the video.  I like this DVD for stretching and going to my happy place.  Plus it burns the arms and thighs.

I talked Nate into picking up a free weight bench from my brother’s neighbor.  He fell for it.  Off to test it out and be beast like.

My newest addiction is the free app myfitnesspal.  I’ll probably be bored with it in a week but you never know.  You can use it as a food and exercise journal.  I like that it breaks down the amount of each nutrient you eat.  The food data base is huge making it easy to track calories.

Any favorite exercise DVDs?  What’s your favorite form of exercise?  Who wants a donut?