Fourth of July recap and office progress

Hello everyone! I hope you had a fantastic Fourth of July weekend -- we did for sure!

I spent some time at one of my favorite Maine beaches...

...Caught a great Main Street parade...

...Enjoyed some yummy gelato -- that's half peanut butter cup, half mocha s'mores in case y'all are curious :)

...And capped it with some of the hubs' famous chicken wings.

Famous because we love them!

If you're a fan of Heart Maine Home on Facebook, you already know that I went strawberry picking last week. Look at those tasty, juicy berries! Pretty sure I could eat strawberries until I exploded...

This weekend, I turned those strawberries (and some rhubarb) into this...

I'd never made a strawberry-rhubarb pie before, and I thought it came out pretty good!

I also made some jam for the first time. It wasn't very hard. I haven't tasted it yet, so I hope it's edible good.

All in all, a perfect Independence Day weekend!

I have to apologize to you guys -- I haven't been doing much crafting lately. Summer fun has just been too tempting for me! But, I do have an office addition that I've been way overdue in showing you. We finally got our new desk for the office!

We bought it months ago from Staples, and the hubs spent about two hours putting it together before he discovered a giant chip in the top. We decided this office rehab is just cursed, considering our purple-paint fiasco, and now a damaged desk.

Luckily, the company that makes the desk (Sauder) makes it super simple to order replacement parts on their website. I expected the part to come UPS, but instead, I got a call from some trucking company asking to arrange a delivery, since the part was coming via 18-wheeler! A truck that size wouldn't make it out of our little dead-end road, so instead they asked me where in our rural Maine town a truck that size could meet me. The only place I could think of that could accommodate a truck like that? The fire station.

So, one morning I drove to the fire station and met this giant truck just to pick up a new top for our desk. The box was nearly six feet long and more than 50 pounds (thank goodness for the nice truck driver who put it in my car for me!).

Proof that this actually happened...

 

Excuse the crummy phone photos...

With the new piece in hand, the hubs was able to finish putting the desk together. Et voila!

I know it doesn't look it in this otherwise empty room, but it's biiiig. 

We picked this one because it was in our budget and it had everything we wanted: a keyboard tray...

lots of storage (look! Two whole drawers for filing, and even one is empty!)...

and lots of work space for the hubs while he's paying bills and planning his brewing recipes...

Don't mind the changing computer background...

Now keep in mind that it's still very incomplete...it needs a lamp, some better office accessories on top and a little electronic organization (i.e., ways to hide all those cords, routers, receivers, etc.). But it's definitely an improvement over what we had. Remember that?

And now...

As much as I'd love a cute little office chair, the hubs is all about practicality -- and since this is mainly his work space, I suppose he should get to pick what he sits in. :) 

Finally, our office overhaul is making some very slow progress. We've already painted the walls from pretty pink to moody gray, and now we've got an actual desk. But there's still lots on our list:

• Accessorize the desk with a much-needed lamp and other necessities (the hubs has already authorized a lamp purchase...yessss!)
• Refinish that free bookcase we nabbed
• Switch out the ceiling fan for a snazzy new fixture
• Take down those roman shades and get some curtains (I'm thinking I'll DIY them)
• DIY some floating shelves for extra storage
• Finish with some wall art

The not-fun stuff will be organizing all the papers and stuff that hasn't made it to the desk yet, and cleaning out the crazy-messy closet. Do you blame me for putting this off?

Scary!

Once again, here's a look at my mood board for the office...

This has already evolved since I first put it together, so stay tuned to see what happens! (But don't hold your breath...it might be a while...).

Linking up!

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After party