Rainbow Shelves and Tap To Clean

 Do you guys have today off too?! Three day weekends are so glorious, I would love to have three days off every weekend! Over the course of the weekend I got a ton of things done around the house which was great. Nothing too exciting of course... we are still mid-way through the fence project and haven't started or completed any other projects lately. I had a long list of to-dos and managed to get through about half of them. 

Have you seen the "tap to clean" trend on instagram? I am so obsessed with it and like to do them on my own instagram (@balancingonmytoes).

Here is one I did last week...

I love when I get through a chore like dishes or laundry, it's so satisfying to me!

I also made a rainbow bookshelf in our office a la The Home Edit. If you haven't watched The Home Edit show on Netflix yet you definitely need to! I love the rainbow color coded shelves, it's so esthetically pleasing. 

Isn't it funny how your home never truly feels "done" and you can continually find areas to update, things to buy, etc... I am constantly finding areas where I want to move things around or where I could buy something new for the area. It's definitely a never-ending feat!

What have you been doing around your house lately?

Book Reviews: Love Your Life Not Theirs and One Day In December

Lately I've been trying to make it a point to read a little bit more and not just constantly re-read the same books (I'm looking at you Harry Potter!). I always end up just re-reading Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or a Sarah Dessen book...and don't get me wrong I love all of those books but sometimes I need to branch out a bit. 

So far this year I have read two new books and wanted to share them with you. The first was a money related book called Love Your Life Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze.

I thought this was a great book! Rachel Cruse is the daughter Dave Ramsey who is a financial expert. Although they are a little more religious then I normally can deal with I really liked her tips on money. The concept of this book is that you shouldn't be trying to keep up with the Joneses because they are probably broke! It was a good reminder that no one can have everything without going into debt and that you need to prioritize what works for your life. Since Tim and I are working on getting out of debt it was a great reminder that we need to focus on our goal and not get sidetracked. 

I would definitely recommend it if you are trying to get out of debt or get control of your finances!

The next book I read was a novel called One Day in December by Josie Silver. This novel came highly recommended and I thought it was so cute! It was an adorable story of a girl who while riding a bus in London falls in love at first sight with a guy at the bus stop. She ends up meeting him later on, but not in the way she expected. 

If you are looking for a quick read definitely check this one out! It was quick, easy and worth the read. 

I have a few books that I know I want to read next but since we will be heading off on our honeymoon cruise in less than a month I will need a few books to read during that. Please let me know in the comments what books you have read lately and loved!

Ladder Bookshelf

Today I'm going to be sharing the decor I have done on my ladder bookshelf. It sits behind our couch right near the front door and I'm absolutely obsessed with it! 

I purchased this shelf via Kohls.com and it was one that had to be put together but it was fairly simple to assemble.

I thought I would share the decor specifics and where I purchased everything but I'm very proud of how I styled this bookshelf.

Top Shelf: 
               Beach Sign- Kohls
              White Lantern- Kohls

Second Shelf:
               Succulent Plant- CVS
               White Frame- Pier 1
              Shell Jar- Made from shells at the beach and a mason jar

Third Shelf:
                Teal Bowl- HomeGoods
                Shell in Candle Holder- Homemade from shells found in France and a taillight holder
                Picture Frame- Not sure
                Tim's Rock- Rock that Tim contributed after picking it up on Charlestown Beach

Fourth Shelf:
               By The Sea Sign- Not sure, it was a gift
               Coral- Found on Florida vacation at the beach
               Shell- Found on Florida vacation at the beach
               Books: Spark Joy, Young House Love and Style- Amazon

Bottom Shelf:
               Twilight Collectors Edition Box Set- Amazon
               Candle- Not sure, it was a gift
               Gray and White Basket- TJ Maxx
               Cards Against Humanity, Uno, Decks of Cards, and Bananagrams- Various Stores

Doesn't it look pretty?! My favorite piece is the bowl from HomeGoods! Tim and I found it one night while wandering around and I knew I had to have it :)

The Heir by Kiera Cass

From the moment I discovered Kiera Cass, I was hooked! Her novels in The Selection series had me enthralled from beginning to end. In case you haven't read The Selection or any of the books in the series they are about a post-apocalyptic that centers around a royal family. The royal family holds a "selection" so their son can find a wife in a Bachelor-like world. America Singer is one of the lucky few sent to the castle and eventually after three novels (SPOILER) wins Prince Maxon's heart.

This novel, The Heir, centers around their daughter Eadlyn. Princess Eadlyn agrees to host a selection for her own heart just as a distraction for the kingdom and quickly learns that having a selection was not as easy as she thought it would be. 

I love that these novels remind me of the show The Bachelor. If you've been reading for awhile you know that the Bachelor is one of my guilty pleasure tv shows. I think it's a very cool concept and anything to do with love and royalty will instantly capture my attention!

I found Eadlyn to be a more annoying main character then America was in the first three books. While America was headstrong she never was pompous which I found Eadlyn to be, maybe simply because she grew up as royalty where America grew up in the lower class. 

I really did enjoy this novel and while I was surprised to learn that there was a fourth book in this series, so I was shocked that this book finished on a cliffhanger. I hope that means that another book will be coming out in the not too distant future!

Have you read any great books lately?!

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

A few months ago I saw that Sarah Dessen was releasing a new book in May and knew that I needed to pre-order it to my kindle! On May 5th it was delivered and I had it read by the end of the day on May 6th! 

Although Sarah Dessen's books are considered "young adult" I enjoy every second of them. Her novels are easily relatable and make you feel like a high schooler again. There is so much complexity to that age that is hard to describe and Sarah always makes you feel understood. 

This book revolves around Sydney a girl who has consistently lived in the shadow of her older brother and not in a good way. Sydney's brother Peyton has been in trouble with the law and because of that her parents have always been involved in his life and not cared as much about hers. Sydney switches schools, makes new friends, and enters in a relationship that changes her world for the better.

This book was one of my favorites that Sarah Dessen has written and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has read even a single book by her in the past!

Have you read any great books lately? I have a list that I've read recently to review so make sure you stay tuned for more book reviews! 

A Few Book Reviews

During my lunch hour I have been spending quite a bit of time reading! I was going to do three different review posts but decided to just keep them all together in this one blog post to keep things simple! 

The first book I downloaded on my Kindle is If I Stay by Gayle Forman. This novel chronicles Mia as she is in the hospital after a car accident. Her parents and brother were all killed before making it to the hospital but Mia is in a coma and is fighting for survival. She has an out-of-body experience and gets to decide if she wants to stay and fight for her life or if she would prefer to pass on and be with her family. 

Mia is a musician and plays the cello which causes her to deeply connect with her boyfriend Adam. Her memories are mostly of him as she fights for her life and Adam fights to be able to help her.

I found this book to be quite the quick read but I enjoyed it immensely. I really want to watch the movie and it is on my to-watch list for the near future!

After finishing If I Stay, I knew I needed to read Where She Went which is Adam's (Mia's boyfriend) story from after her accident and recovery. Apparently Mia went to Julliard and left him behind without any explanation and he is in pain himself. Reading Adam's story wasn't quite as captivating as Mia's in the first book but I did enjoy it and finished the book rather quickly. If you have read If I Stay I would highly recommend reading Where She Went so you can see the continuation of Mia and Adam's story.

Of course being a big Bachelor fan I needed to read Sean Lowe's book For The Right Reasons. (If I'm being honest I think I'm a bigger fan of his sister Shay then I am of Sean) I really liked that Sean's book contained so much behind the scenes information from the Bachelor and showed how it truly works. There were many religious mentions which aren't really my thing- but most of the book was truly enjoyable and I found myself excited to find out new things that I didn't know about Sean and the show.

What books have you been reading lately?

50 Shades...

It took me almost two years to muster up the courage to read the 50 Shades of Grey series. I had heard so many things that encouraged me not to read them. I heard from people who were uncomfortable while reading them and many who told me not to read them. However, a few people continually told me to read them..so eventually curiosity took over and I decided to read the series.

I expected the series to be absolutely disgusting, filled to the brim with sexual scenes and no plot line. That's not what I discovered. I found myself addicted to the plot, wondering what in the world could have happened to Christian Grey in order to get so screwed up.  I read books one and two in two days and then waited a couple of weeks before reading book three. 

Although the writing itself was pretty poor- the concept that the book was originally based on Twilight's Edward and Bella kept me looking for similarities in their characters. I really did enjoy the story and wanted to know what had happened in Christians life. There was also a nice air of mystery as Christian's foes attempted to take him down and he dealt with life in his childlike manner. 

These are not books I would ever need to read again- but I'm glad that I did read them and understand the concept and backstory behind them. As for seeing the movie- it's something I would like to see although I'm not sure I want to see it in theaters! =)

Have you read 50 Shades of Grey? What did you think of it?

A Functional and Pretty Bookshelf Nook

If you don't remember my room was originally two rooms when we started renovating the house. There is a small nook in my room, just big enough for my little bookshelf which I styled in my typical beachy look. I also included a few new pieces of decor so I thought I would share how I organize my bookshelf and show you what I've used to decorate it. 

On the top shelf I keep my sand jar which holds sand from multiple beaches on two continents. I love the idea of bringing back a free souvenir from each trip I go on.
I also have a small container with rocks from the Mediterranean Sea, a plastic champagne glass that says "MOH" from Rachel's wedding, a teal candle, two frames, and a lantern from Ikea.

The first actual shelf of books holds a variety of novels. I have most of the Nicholas Sparks books, some Jodi Picoult, Lauren Conrad, and Kiera Cass on this shelf.
I also have a few shells and a starfish which came out of a wedding centerpiece. I bought the glass wave from a local glass artisan, and then the beach-y sign at a local shop.

My second shelf holds mostly paperbacks. I keep a cute candle I received as a gift and a few shells on this shelf as well. These shells were picked off the beach in Florida!
The bottom shelf holds my Twilight and Harry Potter books, along with two frames, and a beach chair candle holder which I love!

Next to my bookshelf I have all the magazines I haven't read yet in this pretty bin that I found at TJmaxx. 

Someday I will have a library in my house to store all my books- but for now this bookshelf will do!

Do you have a huge book collection? Where do you store your books?

Do you want to build a bookcase?

I just had to throw a little reference to Frozen in here somewhere =)

If you want to build a bookcase then I think you are nuts, because putting together this bookcase was so unbelievably stressful and difficult for me! Picture me lying on the floor throwing a mini temper tantrum on the verge of tears. Yeahhh I'm a treat.

Here's what happened:

The Better Home and Gardens 8 cube bookcase arrived in a huge box. I'm talking bigger then my 5'1" self and super super heavy. I cartwheeled it to the staircase and had to have help bringing it upstairs. My original plan to drag it up the stairs didn't pan out so well.

Once upstairs I pulled out all the pieces and got to work. The pain in the butt part was connecting all the pieces together. Once I would get two pieces together another one would pop apart. It was so frustrating!!!

Finally, I managed to get it to look like this...

and as of right now...this what it looks like!

I am looking for bins to put in here. The ones meant for it aren't in stock online or in any stores I can find. I can only find two or so on other websites and I want to grab eight. Even though I won't use all eight right now, I want to be able to put the same sort of bin in all of the cubbies. So now I'm on the lookout for things that will work. I will let you know as soon as I find something! =)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Bookshelf Before and After!

I'm popping on here quick today to show you before and afters of my bookshelf- which is officially done! So here we go!

I arranged the bookshelf in exactly the same way as before, but it's amazing what a little paint will do! I think it looks absolutely gorgeous and I love staring at that side of my bedroom!

Got to go finishing re-reading Catching Fire....since I'm going to see it at 10 tonight! =)

Weekend Recap and More Projects...

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

I had self-proclaimed this weekend as one where I wouldn't do much of anything, have lots of time to myself and be able to relax a little bit...well we all know how that goes! Despite having a busy weekend, it was still a pretty good one!

On Saturday I went to see About Time with Rachel (TheShorelineBride) which was a strange, but really good movie. If you haven't seen it and are looking for a chick flick/date night movie then definitely check this one out! It was definitely a tear-jerker at times, but I managed to control myself =)

Sunday, we were hit with some sad news, my papa's girlfriend Vivian had a mini-stroke. Luckily she is okay but is going for testing and hopefully they will find out something that will help.
We were able to have some family time on Sunday, to celebrate my Uncle Craig's birthday at Mystic Pizza.

It was nice to get together with Papa and Uncle Craig and the kids. Especially since I haven't seen them in so long!

What else did I complete this weekend? Well after finishing up my dresser last week, it was clear that I had the painting bug...so I moved on to the next piece of furniture...my bookshelf!

This is what it looked like before. I love the look of my shelves right now..the arrangement of the books is orderly, yet pretty. I know exactly where the book I'm looking for is located, but they are arranged by height as well which makes it visually appealing.

I took a close up picture of each shelf so I will know how to put these shelves back together after I'm done with this project...

I really have been making quite a mess of my room lately. I still haven't finished my dresser project and now I'm adding the mess from my bookshelf project to the floor!

One coat later and a streaky mess. It always looks so disappointing after one coat of paint...

After two coats, I laid the bookshelf on it's side so I could get to the underneath parts of the shelf a little bit easier...

After three coats, it looks so much better!

I used the same white Behr Martha Stewart paint to re-paint this bookshelf and think it looks great! I now have half the furniture in my room white and half is wood. I'm hoping to eventually have all white bedroom furniture since that is a look I absolutely love.

My desk will not be painted because eventually one day I will have an office and the desk will no longer be in my bedroom =)

I have to wait a few days (or a week) to put all my books and items back on my bookshelf because I really don't want to ruin any of my books! So for now, my room is a complete disaster...and I have more projects on my mind...

What projects are you working on lately? Any painting going on where you are?