Busy Bees

As I mentioned briefly before, I am hosting my sister's bachelorette party this weekend.  The bash is going to start at my apartment for appetizers, cocktails, and presents, and then the gaggle of girls is going to head downtown for dinner at my favorite locale, Dos Rios, and then stay out for dancing and debauchery the remainder of the night.

Because we're starting at the apartment, however, The Boy and I decided we needed to do a major deep-clean.  Well, deciding to vacuum and dust turned into us deciding to rearrange the entire layout of our digs, quite a larger project than we had initially anticipated.  And we decided this Wednesday when I got home from school around 1:00.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take before photos.  So...you'll just have to imagine what it looked like before when you are amazed by our after photos.

We started in the dining room and moved the huge kitchen cart from in front of our windows toward the wall that separates the dining room from the kitchen.

While we took away the cats' perch to look at the front yard, it really opens up the rest of the room.  We also took the skinny hutch that I inherited from my nana and put it in the corner of the dining room with some minimalist decorations displayed.

We then started in on the living room and decided to make a HUGE transformation there.  We moved our huge, uncomfortable couch from its original locale to the opposite wall.  We then took the dresser that my mom and I refinished when I went to college and moved it from the corner and put it opposite the couch, using it as our TV stand.  We put our open-back bookshelf next to the TV and are using it for components (Playstation 3) and DVDs.  Then, we put our cheap-o chair in the corner with a reading lamp over it.

I call this one "Chloe Photo Bomb"

We put a bin of random electronic stuff (and whatever else The Boy) wanted to keep upstairs between the couch and the wall and covered it with a blanket to make it look a little nicer.  Finally, we put the round end table that my great grandpa built on the other side of the couch and flanked it with the chair that The Boy bought me for Christmas (along with the storage cube that serves as its ottoman).

And this one?  "Charlie Photo Bomb"

We then bought a new five-shelf bookcase to put in the corner of the living room next to the door and moved our three-shelf bookcase to where the skinny hutch used to be.

Now we just need a few more things: a picture to go above the dresser in the bottom right corner of the above photo (or frames for artwork we already have), and all new stuff for the bathroom.  I have had a purple bathroom since my college graduation eight years ago, and it's time for a makeover.  Right now The Boy and I are leaning toward a yellow and gray bathroom, likely focusing on this shower curtain from Target.  (Now that I see this one, though, I kind of like it, too.  Thoughts?)  But, we'll need to buy a new shower curtain, a new liner, a new trashcan, a new toothbrush holder, and new towels.  So, we'll see when/if this makeover actually happens.  Eventually (and hopefully in the near future), I'd like to get a new bed and a new couch as well.

I know that much of this information was completely irrelevant due to having no before pictures, but suffice it to say, it was a heck of a lot of work.  My back is killing me today, likely because it's been messed up from Farrell's for months, and I further agitated it by moving super heavy objects for the past two days.  My arms feel like they got a crazy-hard workout, despite me skipping upper-body bands yesterday and kickboxing today.

Yeah: I skipped two workouts this week.  I feel like absolute poop.  It has a lot to do with lady issues, which in turn cause me to get ferocious migraines.  As soon as I'm done with this post, in fact, I'm off to crash in my cool, dark, and super clean and seemingly new apartment.

Stay tuned next week for a recap of a sure-to-be-super-fun party!