Book Review: The Hunger Games Series

I just finished reading the 3-book series of the Hunger Games. Knowing the book series is geared toward teens, I originally only purchased the first book for my Nook not knowing if I'd like it.

I finished the first book in two nights and quickly purchased the other two and had all three read in less than a week.

I enjoyed the series and it was a quick read that kept you interested, I'm a little surprised that the books are geared toward teens though. Some of the content if you really sit and think about it is a little disturbing. I think the ending in book 3 was a tad bit rushed but all-in-all a good purchase and I recommend reading them!

Looking forward to the first movie, coming out on March 23rd! I assume there will be 3 movies to mimic the book series.

On to other news, I'm going to make an honest attempt to start blogging at least one a week. Progress on the house has been slow, but I'm meeting with a contractor this week to talk about the remodel! Super excited for that and once it gets going I think it'll kick me in high gear about getting a few more things accomplished. The living room as been on total hold waiting for the remodel which is driving me nuts. I did purchase some furniture and a wall hanging for in there.

The master & guest bathrooms are the almost complete. Still need to get the crown molding hung, the hardwood floors sanded and re-stained, floor molding installed and get pictures/wall decorations purchased and hung. As for the rest of the house, well..... In my own defense, I haven't been twiddling my thumbs since my last post (when ever that was). My photography business has picked up, YAY!! This is both good news and bad - I still work my full-time job so my spare time/house time has been drastically cut or you could say non-existent which is also what I'm going to blame my lack of blog posts on too :)

I've pretty much stopped decorating weddings - takes up too much time. I have 3 scheduled for this year which are pretty much just for family. I'll photograph weddings but don't think I'll be decorating any more if I can avoid it.

This past weekend I did a fund raiser for our local Relay for Life. I shoot 20 minute mini photo sessions with the proceeds of the session cost going to the American Cancer Society. The Relay for Life team set up all the appointments. We had 50 sessions! I was pooped Sunday night when we finally finished. I'm not use to standing on concrete for 10 hours a day. I enjoyed the weekend and look forward to getting the edits done.

Bathroom Tile

I've been having issues determining what I want to do for the tub/shower surround in my bathroom. I made a trip to Lowes and purchased this tile (looks a little darker in real life). I was happy with my purchase and had convinced myself this was what I wanted.

Then my brother informed my that a tile that heavy (these are stone tiles) has to have a backer hung, it can't be hung on the sheet rock. So they'll have to tear out the sheet rock they just installed.

I stopped that quickly and decided to take the tile back (actually it's still sitting in my bedroom - that stuff is HEAVY, need to get it back to Lowe's soon). Now once again I need to decide what to do in my bathroom!

If you know me very well and have been in my bathroom at different times through the year you know that I typically change my bathroom 2-3 times a year. So I'm thinking to keep it as simple as possible I'll just put up white 4" ceramic tiles. My sink/vanity is white and the tub is white so white tiles on the tub surround will fit in nicely. As an added bonus I can change the wall color and accessories in the room to just about any color I desire and my tile won't clash with it!! Isn't what I originally thought about doing but the more I think about it the more I come back to white tiles..........

I'm not sure I'll have time to tile the bathroom next week but everything else should be complete. Before and after pictures of this room coming soon.

To tile or paint?

Hopefully we'll get to start on my bathroom next week (when the ball games are wrapping up for the summer season). I'm pretty good at visualizing a room as I want it to be, not as it is (or in the case hasn't even been constructed yet).

But I'll admit I'm having issues deciding what to do in my bathroom and the guest bathroom. I think my biggest problem is that currently I change my bathroom about every 4-5 months - have to admit, it's the cheapest room in the house to redecorate. My two bathrooms will only be about 9x6 so my options on placement of tub, toilet and vanity are a bit limited and I'm not sure I want to mess with tile. But of course if I do want to do tile, it'll be so much easier doing it before the other stuff is put in there....decisions, decisions.

I think I'd possibly like to use slate in the guest bathroom or a grey toned glass tile mosaic, both are shown below. I'm using the existing tub that was present when I purchased the house. Question is what to do to enclose it for a shower??? Tile or a tub/shower fiberglass style enclosure......

.....I'm thinking this will be the sink/vanity in the guest bathroom. The slate tile would look great with this - don't you think?

My only concern is that it will be too dark for such a small space. I'd thought about painting the walls a pale yellow and only using the tile around the tub and maybe some type of back splash for the vanity.

I have an addiction to the look of metal right now and found this tile below. It's a combination of glass, natural stone and polished metal. I think either the copper or the darker pattern with pewter would also go great with the vanity.

And if I paint the walls yellow these tiles would look great. I love the tile pattern with the different sizes & shades of browns. Of course the black vanity will still look great in there!

Or a white one like this will also look great with the walls painted a pale yellow or light tan.

This just looks like a bathroom that belongs in a country home.....don't you think? I'm not all that hip for the tile though and both bathrooms already have oak hardwood flooring that will stay put. But I love the wainscoting in the bathroom.

Love the teal/turquoise tile wall but does this look like it goes in a country home?

This tile could be used for a similar look - just worried that in a few years I won't be as hip to brown & blue combo and then what? Replace the tile? And how will I decorate the bathroom at Christmas if it's blue & brown? I know it can be done - just involves a little more effort in finding just the right accessories to color coordinate with the tile.
While I'm using the existing tub for the guest bathroom, do I want to get a tub for my bathroom or just do the ever popular tile shower stall? I haven't taken a 'bath' in years so do I really need a bathtub? I can always use the guest bathroom if I so desire and/or find the time to soak in a hot tub. Next issue is that I love shower curtains. Will a shower curtain look stupid on the custom tile shower stalls?

Oh the decisions......

Red dot bathroom

From Red Bathroom

This Christmas I found a new shower curtain that I thought was really cute. My nephew was less than impressed with the red dots. I redecorate my bathroom all of the time because it the cheapest room to do when I'm in the mood for a change. It's a really small room with tile floor and I painted the walls a pail yellow (which goes with just about anything). I think I have about 6 complete decorating sets to change it up when the mood hits.

I redecorated into the red while he was at school and when he came home and first walked by it he just stood there. He asked me where the shower curtain came from and I told him, he continued to stand there and turned around and said hmmmmm. That was it. I don't think he likes the red or the dots. Prior to this it was blue & brown.....his favorite colors.

This towel set was on sale at Sears on black Friday which made my new shower curtain & decor a little more festive! It's a little more outdoorsey than I am, but I liked the look all the same. I'm going to take the green Christmas towels out soon but plan to stick with the red/brown combo for a little while. In part I must admit to aggravate my nephew!

From Red Bathroom