home decor and garden are very famous in the world

Hmmm.... life is going to feel pretty quiet around here, the day Ghetto goes back down to Nice!

From Joel Sherman:

The Yankees didn’t get Ryan Dempster at the trade deadline, but they did make a deal.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman obtained versatile infielder Casey McGehee from the Pirates for reliever Chad Qualls, sources told The Post. In the short term with Mark Teixeira out (wrist), McGehee can play some first base and he can also fill the third-base void left by Alex Rodriguez (broken hand) with a power bat.

The Yankees are getting $225,000 as part of the trade to cover some of about $1 million left on McGehee's deal.

McGehee hit .230/.297/.377 with 8 HR and 35 RBI in 92 games with the Pirates.

I was so excited to be contacted by the folks at Waste Management (WM)!  You're thinking, Lindsay.......you have lost your mind.  But no, I haven't......not entirely.  My husband and I have been talking about getting a dumpster for a home renovation project for awhile.  Renting a dumpster can be pretty pricey, so that's probably the main reason we've been putting it off in addition to being so busy with our three little kiddos.  So when WM emailed me asking if they could 'give' us one of their new The Bagster Bags to try, I said 'sign us up!

My business is pretty much taking over the house.  Yes, I have my studio where I do most of my creating, but what takes up even more space is my inventory.  There are boxes and boxes of my printed sewing patterns, bolts of fabrics for custom orders, shipping and packaging supplies, read-to-ship clothing, photography props and tools and the list goes on.


Right now we have somewhat converted our loft space into a storage area.  One side is pretty well organized, but the other side could be used much more efficiently.  There are still a bunch more boxes that we need to move from our mud room either up into the loft or possibly out into our coach house.  Now the coach house......it sounds a lot more lovely than it really is.

When we bought our 1934 cottage, the previous owners had just let the coach house go (as well as a lot of other things in this house).  It was really sad because it used to be a studio apartment with a brick fireplace, kitchen, bathroom and hardwood floors, but now..........it's nothing close.  Basically it's just sort of falling down.  My dream is to someday convert the coach house into a two story studio / guest house, but that's not happening any time soon.  In the meantime, we need to clear out some of the debris in there (i.e. falling down drywall, construction material, ect.) so that we can at least use the space for additional storage.  Most of the things we need to clear out of there aren't able to be picked up curb side during our regular trash service.


So WM and The Bagster Bag to the rescue!  Over the next month the hubby and I (and perhaps a few extra helpers) will attempt to clean out the coach house and work on some of our other spaces to make our storage of all my inventory a little more organized and user friendly.


So how does The Bagster Bag work?  It's a pretty neat idea.  You purchase one of the large bags at your local hardware or home improvement store for about $29.95 (click HERE to find a store in your area).  You unfold it, load it up with all your junk and then call to have WM come pick it up.  Now don't be fooled, the whole process is not $29.95, you have to pay for the pickup which varies from area to are from between $79-$249.  But it's still far less than renting your own full dumpster and having to wait for them to deliver it.  This way you can start your project whenever you want, keep the bag out for as long as you want and have it picked up whenever you want.......definitely more freedom and more cost savings!

The Bagster Bag is supposed to hold up to 3,300 pounds and be made of a really durable woven material.  You can throw out most things but there is a list of approved materials that can be thrown away in a Bagster.  Here is the list:


You pretty much can't throw away things that you can't throw away in your normal trash.......paint, batteries, chemicals, ect, that should be disposed of in the proper place anyways.

I'm excited to try out this new product.  I'll let you know what I think. Wish us luck.  I'll be back with a follow-up post and a $100 Amex Giftcard Giveaway.  I'm glad WM gave us the push we needed to take on this project.  Not sure my husband is super-glad.......but I am!!

PS:  I would never share a product on this blog that I didn't think was a neat idea or one that I didn't intend on using wholeheartedly.......just so you know :).  But one of the perks of being a blogger is that I do get to try really cool things out for free and sometimes I get paid for doing so.

From David Kaplan:

Baseball sources have confirmed to me that three teams are in play for Ryan Dempster and he will approve a deal to any of the three teams if the Cubs can agree on a suitable return in exchange for the veteran right-hander who is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have long been Dempster's preferred destination will have to increase their offer as the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees have stepped up their pursuit over the last 48 hours. With Roy Oswalt having another poor performance on Monday evening, the Rangers have decided to upgrade their rotation and are looking at all available options including Dempster and Matt Garza.

"Texas is serious about adding a starter and Dempster isn't as expensive to trade for as Garza would be, but after finishing as runners-up in the last two World Series and seeing the Angels add Zach Greinke, Texas management has decided to make a run at adding pitching, a baseball source told me. "However, with three teams seriously involved, it won't be cheap to acquire him even though it is potentially a three-month rental."

"Dempster has made it clear to Cubs management that he would like to play in Los Angeles but he also understands that Epstein and Hoyer have a job to do and he will not stand in their way if it means that the best deal is somewhere else," a source with knowledge of the discussions told me this morning. "He never told them he would only go to LA, he only said that he wanted time to make the best decision for him and his family and that is his right as a 10/5 [10 years in the majors, the last five with your current team] man. Ryan is serious about wanting to win a World Series and he will approve a deal if it gives him that chance. People who have been critical of him about the Atlanta deal don't have all of the facts."

While he wants to go to LA, the one thing the Yankees have going for them is that he's familiar with pitching coach Larry Rothschild and Jim Hendry from their days in with the Cubs. Dempster is 5-5 with a 2.25 ERA this season for the Cubs, easily his best season so far.

From Chad Jennings:

Turns out, Mark Teixeira actually hurt himself last night. He was trying to play through it tonight, and landing awkwardly on his glove wasn’t part of the plan.

“Yesterday, third at-bat against Doubront, swung through a pitch and it just didn’t feel right,” Teixeira explained. “Played through it yesterday. Got a lot of treatment last night. I had treatment today. It just didn’t feel good again today. And then when I dove, I landed right on my glove and I just tweaked it even more. I went back in the dugout, in the clubhouse, tried to swing the bat and just couldn’t do it.”

Teixeira will go for an MRI tomorrow. He said he’ll almost certainly miss tomorrow night’s game, but his concern is “low” that this is a significant injury.

“Not crazy concerned because like I said, I tried to play through it,” he said. “It’s one of those things if you really hurt yourself bad, you’re out and you can’t do much. I was kind of nursing it today when I was swinging so hopefully it’s just a couple of days and I can get back out there. … More achy and sore than major pain. That’s why I feel okay about it. Hopefully it’s not too bad.”

...

“It’s a big concern,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s a huge part of our lineup and hopefully it’s only a couple of days, but we’ll find out more tomorrow.”

Let's just hope that MRI comes back clean because this team cannot afford another key injury.

This past weekend my family gathered for a niece’s wedding and a brief reunion.  As part of our reunions, we always have a family raffle.  Several people contribute items, and tickets are $1/each.  The proceeds go to help defray expenses for the next reunion.

This was my contribution this year.  I had seen a similar sign a couple of months ago, and I wanted to recreate it.

Most of my family members are AMAZING cooks—especially of homemade bread!  So it was perfect.

I used a recycled cupboard door for mine, with a little bit of a crackle finish and lots of distressing to make it look like it had been around since grandma was doing the baking!

This went home with another of my newly-wedded nieces!  It couldn’t have been more perfect—she and her new husband actually do love to bake together!

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	The CSI Project
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time	All-Star Block Party
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

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From WFAN:

The 40-year-old, who threw off flat ground in Oakland during the Yankees’ West Coast swing, said he’s “laying low” after doing “a little too much in Seattle.”

“In Seattle it swelled up,” he said.

But Yankees general manager Brian Cashman insisted there are “no issues with Pettitte.”

“With rehab, you have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks,” Cashman told the New York Daily News. “He’s coming back in September, which is what we’ve said all along.”

Cashman doesn’t have much time to go shopping for rotation help with Tuesday’s trade deadline fast approaching. He sounded confident that the veteran would be able to return for the Yankees’ stretch run.

“He’ll be back; that’s the bottom line,” Cashman said. “It’s no different than it was before.”

There are two possible things going on here:

1) Pettitte didn't suffer a setback and he should return without a problem.

2) The Yankees are in damage control mode and don't want potential trade partners to realize how desperate they may in fact be.

I'm hoping it's the former, but I believe it's the latter. But hey, I'm a natural pessimist so of course that's what I believe.

Last Friday I started painting a couple of chairs that I bought a long time ago.

You see, when I go to thrift stores I keep finding furniture pieces that scream to me, "buy me, and fix me up!" Although, there is absolutely NO room for any more furniture in my house and I have way too many sewing or jewelry projects that I want to do anyways. I can't bring them home.

I have been having an urge to paint some furniture lately. I decided to work on the ones that I have in my house. In the middle of prepping the chairs by sanding them I was already regretting even starting the project. I forgot how much I don't like the prepping part. I really enjoy the actual painting part and the end results. In fact, I am near complete with the chairs. I will share the picture of them soon!

Although my body was achy all over and I was so tired after painting the chairs, I keep thinking about painting the dining tables and the other 6 chairs (6! Ugh, I don't even want to think about sanding them all). Once I start it I have to finish it. My family might not have a table and chairs for a week or so though...

Do you like painting furniture? Are there special tricks and short cuts that you do to prep the furniture? If you do have something up your sleeves, please do share! I am very much interested. :)

I just finished reading books 1 and 2 from the Divergent Trilogy, and it was AMAZING. I'm still thinking about them weeks after I read them. Really good read,people.





Thanks Jess, always fun having a local blogging friend guest post. Love that area rug under your bag too! Thanks for spillin' the goods!