Tile, tile, and more tile...

Tile selection, by far, has been one of the most difficult parts of the interior design process that I am working through for our personal house. Not only are there a bajillion choices in color, size, and thickness, but there are also varying degrees of price ranges and that makes it incredibly hard.

I really had to start narrowing down.

For me, that process meant finding an inspiration room and I have looked at probably 1,000 or more bathroom pics online and came up with this one as the inspiration for our master bath.

Because I have been searching for tile and perusing types online, I feel like I am now surrounded by it. Every ad, article, and targeting marketing strategy is now aimed at getting me to buy their tile... nice try. I cannot be coerced, it has to be perfect!

The trick with tile is to have a few pattens and colors for visual interest, varying degrees of sizes for the type of application (floor, wall, shower, etc.), and just a little bit of the really expensive stuff for that wow factor. And don't forget that it all needs to coordinate!

I have an appointment with my favorite tile person in a few days... we shall see what I come up with! 

ALS Ice Bucket

I do want to start this post by saying that I love all the attention that is being brought to ALS lately due to the viral fad of the ice bucket challenge. It is a horribly debilitating disease, and bringing awareness to the world about it along with raising money and having a little fun are all good things.

That being said - I really don’t get the ALS bucket challenge. The concept is great! But, I think people are doing it wrong? 

Let me explain… the idea is to give money to the charity, or spread the word by posting a video of yourself dumping ice on your head as punishment. Right? Why would people donate money AND throw ice water on their head?

I have seen in some videos where the pre-wet individual states the names they are calling out and a statement that they must donate $100 or dump the ice water… so by posting that video, are they saying that they did NOT donate? Or that they did donate, but just not $100 so they still dumped the water?

I don’t make a big deal out of my yearly donations, and I certainly don’t tell the world that I did NOT donate, so I am not sure if the challenge is for me. However, I haven’t been “called out” yet. Either way, ALS has now had MILLIONS of dollars given to their cause, so in the end, I guess it worked!

Here's a tip, Miami

I just got back from a 40^th birthday trip with my older sister to Miami, FL. We had a great time! But there was something I had rarely experienced before, and it seemed to be the norm in Miami.

Tips were included. Like everywhere.

Normally, I get it. People suck and they don’t know how to tip… but what about bad service? Isn’t the WHOLE idea behind tipping in the service industry is that they work extra hard and give you better service and thus their tip can be more or less depending on the quality?

We had HORRIBLE service one day during lunch and 18% gratuity was included automatically… just seems to go against the entire idea behind tipping if you ask me.

All in all, I typically tip more than 18%, but in the case of the lunch that took 2 hours, she would have only gotten a couple of bucks.

Either way, Miami is fun and beautiful and we had great weather, as indicated by the below.

40th Birthday Cups!

My sister and her friend are turning 40 this month, so we are headed to Miami for some girl fun this weekend! I am trying to be budget friendly as of late because of our house build, but I still really wanted to do some special things to make the trip as memorable as possible.

While perusing the fun cup section at a local craft store, I was drawn to these cheetah print and pink insulated tumblers and thought they would be fun to have on the beach! But they were $10.00 a piece! and kind of plain if I'm being honest, so I would want to decorate them which equals more money.

Putting them back and feeling defeated I went next door to the Dollar Tree just to see what they had and low and behold, the perfect drink cup for the beach! For a dollar. That means I bought up the four pink ones that I needed and headed BACK to the craft store to pick up some ribbon, jewels, and initials.

Here they are! A little hot glue to affix the ribbon and $4 a piece later and now we have blinged out birthday cups perfect for the beach. Tip: Have a light hand and use the hot glue sparingly... I accidentally cracked one where I puddled the glue up, good thing it was mine!

House Update

Here we are! Windows, doors, and roof that you can see, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing that you can't... It is moving along quite well! :)

Stereotypes

I can't tell if this makes me laugh out of anger or comedy. Sometimes I wish stereotypes wouldn't be proven right! That is so like a North Charleston police officer to be caught doing something wrong while the damn Mt. Pleasant officer rescues a deer. Disgusted.

#Reckless in Charleston

Being that Charleston is on the opposite side of the country from Los Angeles, it is kind of a big deal when we get to see or hear of a movie or show being filmed here. There is a new show called Reckless that has been on for a few weeks and I thought I would share my view on their take of Charleston below!

• The accent that they portray Charlestonians to have is a bit too southern. The people that I have met who were actually born and raised in the Charleston area (including my husband) don’t really have a southern accent at all! …except for a few phrases and using “y’all.”
• In one of the first scenes of one of the first episodes, a girl is using a handheld fan on herself while in the courthouse as if the AC was broke. Let me tell you, if there is one thing that places in Charleston know how to do, it is to blast you with air conditioning! She would not need that fan, but she may need a sweater!
• The police station is actually on the other side of the peninsula from where they are filming. The building that they are using as the station is actually for shops and bars and boat tours leave from there… still looks great in the show though!
• One of the lines from the most recent episodes was to “go drink some beer and count the fireflies”…  I wonder what number they would get to if they actually counted? My bet is on 0.
• The route that Cam Gigandet (Roy Rader) takes to get to downtown from his home on John’s Island by boat is kind of funny. I borrowed this map from Charleston City Paper (below) and it shows the route that he would take based on the scenery that you get from his boat ride. Seems like he got a little lost!

I really am enjoying the show though! I have been trying to see if it is because I am living here or if it is because it is actually good. I will tell you one thing... Cam Gigandet is easy on the eyes either way!