Dogs Don't Eat Pizza's Year in Review
Is it really almost 2013? I was just getting used to writing 2012 as the date!
2012 was my first year of blogging...and it has been a blast. I have learned so much and had so much fun writing this blog and sharing it with you.
To cap off an amazing year of projects and stories, I thought I'd review what's been going on at Dogs Don't Eat Pizza HQ this year. If you're new to Dogs Don't Eat Pizza, here's a way to catch up on the highlights of the year in one shebang. If you're a Dogs Don't Eat Pizza regular, sit back and reminisce with me.
January: I started this blog. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved writing it. My big project that month was redesigning and reorganizing part of our finished basement into a playroom for the kids.
February: Not a good month at Dogs Don't Eat Pizza HQ. I broke my leg in two places and ended up on crutches for seven weeks. The good news: all the miracles that happened on that day. I still marvel at my good fortune, given the circumstances. (Later, I talk about how I have guardian angels and how thankful I am for them in this post.)
March was about getting back to normal after finally being off crutches. By the end of the month, I was ready for spring cleaning and organizing and purging, and wrote this post about tips for organizing.
April brought spring and my musings about Passover and spring. I also decided to move the playroom from the basement into the dining room and move the dining room table into our great room/living room. This turned out to be Phase Two of the saga that is the playroom. It's funny looking back now at how many times I moved around this playroom!
In June, we started on the kitchen renovation, but the big news was my daughter's green room.
To date, her room has to be my favorite project of the year. It turned out exactly the way I planned it in my head, and I didn't have to paint the entire room Kermit the Frog green.
In July, I finished my other child's bedroom. He wanted his room painted Duke blue, but again I had to forge a compromise. This was the result:
The curtains are drop cloths I painted. Never done that before, but I am fairly certain I'm going to do it again!
I also moved the playroom AGAIN. I reclaimed my dining room and put the kids' toys back in the basement. Everything was better after that, and we haven't moved the playroom again since then!
In August, I got my own domain name and was sorta' getting the hang of blogging. While we continued the kitchen reno, I created this family command center in our breakfast room. It has come in quite handy since then and has kept us neat and organized.
The kitchen was finished in September! Wahoo!
Every day, I am thankful for this kitchen! I love, love, love it.
I also decided that month to pull the nasty carpet off the stairs. The carpet was so dirty and gross, and the wood looks so much better (it was in near-perfect condition). Aside from the dogs getting used to the wood stairs, this was an easy project and I'm so glad I did it.
October was busy, with lots of little projects. For example, I had this genius idea to use velcro to keep our bedskirt in place. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I got lots of feedback from you amazing readers that you were going to try this, too. (Did you? Did it work?)
In November, I had the Thirty Days of Gratitude Project. I invited you all to come along and join in, and you did. I loved writing the posts about for what I'm grateful and reading the posts about for what you are grateful. My favorite post this month was about guardian angels. I am proud that I blogged every day that month except two (I announced the things I was thankful for on the other two days via Facebook, because they were crazy days!). I loved doing this project and will do it again next year.
I also started decorating for Christmas and Hanukkah. I made this easy and inexpensive wreath out of old sweaters and scarves. And I gave you some easy and inexpensive holiday gift and decor ideas.
And, last but not least, there was December...with Hanukkah and Christmas finally here. I decorated for both holidays in our home and showed you how I made a garland for our front entry railing with free trimmings from Christmas trees being sold at our local market.
And now, we're here. What a year it has been. I have loved writing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. I have more projects in store for 2013, so please stay tuned!
For now, Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you for reading my blog and for giving me support and encouragement and inspiration. I wish you all peace and blessings in the new year.
I've linked this post at:
2012 was my first year of blogging...and it has been a blast. I have learned so much and had so much fun writing this blog and sharing it with you.
To cap off an amazing year of projects and stories, I thought I'd review what's been going on at Dogs Don't Eat Pizza HQ this year. If you're new to Dogs Don't Eat Pizza, here's a way to catch up on the highlights of the year in one shebang. If you're a Dogs Don't Eat Pizza regular, sit back and reminisce with me.
February: Not a good month at Dogs Don't Eat Pizza HQ. I broke my leg in two places and ended up on crutches for seven weeks. The good news: all the miracles that happened on that day. I still marvel at my good fortune, given the circumstances. (Later, I talk about how I have guardian angels and how thankful I am for them in this post.)
March was about getting back to normal after finally being off crutches. By the end of the month, I was ready for spring cleaning and organizing and purging, and wrote this post about tips for organizing.
April brought spring and my musings about Passover and spring. I also decided to move the playroom from the basement into the dining room and move the dining room table into our great room/living room. This turned out to be Phase Two of the saga that is the playroom. It's funny looking back now at how many times I moved around this playroom!
By May, I knew that we were about to embark on our total kitchen remodel. Included in that renovation was closing off the storage room at the back of the garage and opening it up in our breakfast room to make the Best. Pantry. Ever.
To do that, I needed to clean out and organize the garage. Here's the final reveal of the clean and organized garage.
In June, we started on the kitchen renovation, but the big news was my daughter's green room.
To date, her room has to be my favorite project of the year. It turned out exactly the way I planned it in my head, and I didn't have to paint the entire room Kermit the Frog green.
In July, I finished my other child's bedroom. He wanted his room painted Duke blue, but again I had to forge a compromise. This was the result:
The curtains are drop cloths I painted. Never done that before, but I am fairly certain I'm going to do it again!
I also moved the playroom AGAIN. I reclaimed my dining room and put the kids' toys back in the basement. Everything was better after that, and we haven't moved the playroom again since then!
In August, I got my own domain name and was sorta' getting the hang of blogging. While we continued the kitchen reno, I created this family command center in our breakfast room. It has come in quite handy since then and has kept us neat and organized.
The kitchen was finished in September! Wahoo!
Every day, I am thankful for this kitchen! I love, love, love it.
I also decided that month to pull the nasty carpet off the stairs. The carpet was so dirty and gross, and the wood looks so much better (it was in near-perfect condition). Aside from the dogs getting used to the wood stairs, this was an easy project and I'm so glad I did it.
October was busy, with lots of little projects. For example, I had this genius idea to use velcro to keep our bedskirt in place. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I got lots of feedback from you amazing readers that you were going to try this, too. (Did you? Did it work?)
In November, I had the Thirty Days of Gratitude Project. I invited you all to come along and join in, and you did. I loved writing the posts about for what I'm grateful and reading the posts about for what you are grateful. My favorite post this month was about guardian angels. I am proud that I blogged every day that month except two (I announced the things I was thankful for on the other two days via Facebook, because they were crazy days!). I loved doing this project and will do it again next year.
I also started decorating for Christmas and Hanukkah. I made this easy and inexpensive wreath out of old sweaters and scarves. And I gave you some easy and inexpensive holiday gift and decor ideas.
And, last but not least, there was December...with Hanukkah and Christmas finally here. I decorated for both holidays in our home and showed you how I made a garland for our front entry railing with free trimmings from Christmas trees being sold at our local market.
And now, we're here. What a year it has been. I have loved writing this blog and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. I have more projects in store for 2013, so please stay tuned!
For now, Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you for reading my blog and for giving me support and encouragement and inspiration. I wish you all peace and blessings in the new year.
I've linked this post at:
What a fabulous year Karen! I LOVE your daughter's bedroom too and I cannot believe you painted the Duke curtains. Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve in 2013.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great 2012, except for the broken leg and crutches part! Your projects are awesome. Looking forward to what you do in 2013! Happy new year! ~ Angie
ReplyDeleteSuch great projects!! Love the green bedroom and I love your kitchen ... that's the backsplash I want. And I really want to rip the carpet off my stairs but the wood underneath stinks ... your makeover looks great!
ReplyDeletesounds like a great year ill be following you in 2013 wishing you all the best
ReplyDeleteSo many great projects! I love all the green and blue....and the awesome Kitchen Aide Mixer! Thanks for sharing at the Humble Brag.
ReplyDelete