So, it's my birthday today.

ByKristen
74 Comments

And I have some stuff to share, so I'm not completely neglecting my blog today. 😉

Mr. FG couldn't stay home from work today, so he declared Monday as the day he would devote to doing whatever I wanted. So, I slept in and he brought me breakfast in bed. While I was thinking about what I wanted to spend the day doing, my brother called to see if we wanted him to come over and install some moulding for us.

Mr. FG didn't think this was maybe what I'd want to schedule for the day, but I totally did. Yay!

My brother is very fabulous at installing crown moulding. In fact, he is quite fabulous at most any sort of building/construction kind of thing.

Crown moulding is obviously not a necessary sort of thing, but we've been wanting to put some up in our living room and dining room for a while now. The drywall corners between the wall and ceiling are old and bumpy and it made it very difficult to get a nice clean paint line, and besides, crown moulding is just so beautiful.

I took a few quick before pictures, of course.

And here are some sort-of-done pictures....in these photos the moulding still needs to be caulked and painted and the nail holes aren't filled (though Mr. FG did that yesterday).

But in spite of that, I can easily see how pretty it's going to look when it's all finished off.

Because my brother installed it, our only costs were the materials. So, my beautiful moulding only cost us $50, plus $7 for some hole filler and caulk (we already have the paint we need).

Of course, this kind of frugal plan only works out if you happen to have the same big brother I do. Lucky me. 🙂

I also got to go out to dinner with Mr. FG that night. We had a $25 Groupon to use for a BBQ restaurant and that covered our whole meal except tax and tip.

In other happy news, the oak flowers are beginning to fall off of the trees.

That's really good news for this little person, because dead oak flowers are much better than pollen-producing oak flowers.

Oh, and my azalea bush is beginning to bloom.

My birthday is always such a beautiful time of year...azaleas are blooming, the dogwoods are covered in flowers, and the trees are decked out in light green new leaves.

Doesn't it just make you happy just to look at this stuff? Yay for spring!

I got a lovely card and a small present from Mr. FG this morning (he has two more for me too!), there's a little pile of gifts for me on top of the piano from Mr. FG and the kids, and I get to have my usual birthday ice cream cake tonight too.

I think it'll be a good day. 😉

Today's 365 post: You never know when you might need a frying pan in the tub.

Joshua's 365 post: Joshua got a little behind, so he's got three new posts up. Click on over to his blog to see them all.

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74 Comments

  4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

    1) I have the same swirly candle holder on my wall.
    2) I ADORE the crown molding. I think it looks fabulous. Im slightly jealous and now I want my husband so put some up in our livingroom =)

    Reply

  8. Happy (belated) birthday! My ds's 12th birthday is this Friday and I agree...it's a lovely time of year for a birthday. Unfortunately, here in Michigan, we are a few weeks behind you in the "things blooming" department...but it still beats snow!

    Reply

  9. Happy, Happy Birthday!!!!! It sounds like you've had and are still going to have a great celebration of you!

    Reply

  12. What a beautiful living room! Thanks for the wonderful blog--I check in daily and always learn something. Happy birthday!

    Reply

  13. Could you please subscribe me to your feed on the email address above. For some reason the feed shows up on my work computer which is a no-no. Not sure how to change this.

    Reply

    1. You can just click on the "unsubscribe" button on the bottom of the email that arrives at your work and then you can re-subscribe using your personal email. I don't think I can unsubscribe you myself, unfortunately!

      Reply

  14. Happy Birthday Kristen! I hope you have a lovely day!

    Two of us have birthdays at the end of March and I agree, Spring is a lovely time of year to celebrate a birthday. Having said that, I'm sure most people think the same ;-). I imagine those born in December/January are a bit more divided.

    Reply

  16. Happy Birthday!!

    And, you're right - your big brother is full of awesomeness. The crown moulding is beautiful.

    Reply

  18. Happy birthday! I think crown moulding and those beautiful flowers are a great birthday gift! It's been so hot here in Georgia already that a lot of flowers are already gone. Our living cross on Easter was not as beautiful as it is some years which is sad beacause it's one of my favorite Easter things!

    Reply

  22. I have the same giant clock as you! Actually, I have two of these 😛
    Mostly, so that when I wake up and am not wearing glasses, I can still look up and be able to see the time 🙂

    Happy birthday Kristen ! You've brought me a lot of joy this year, its been a pleasure knowing you through your blog 🙂

    Reply

  25. Happy Birthday!

    And I'm so glad the oak flowers are finally falling off - they were my nemesis growing up, just like Sonia. Sometimes one does grow out of them.

    Reply

    1. Gosh, I hope she does. The poor girl just doesn't look like herself these days, and she seems to be a little more cranky and irritable than usual.

      Reply

  27. Happy birthday!
    I love the crown molding! We installed a chair rail in our house (SUCH a pain but I love it!) and had the help of a friend who has access to her brother-in-law's tools, so it was cheap too (aside from the materials!) Yay for having friends/family help for projects like that!
    What did Mr. FG give you?

    Reply

    1. Well, he gave me the option of a small, medium, or large gift, and I chose the small (gotta save the bigger ones for later!). It was a ribbon and pewter bookmark from a company called Oberon Designs.

      I think it'll replace the scrap of paper I'm currently using. lol

      Reply

  31. What an awesome gift - crown moulding installed! Happy birthday.

    We're also having the spring explosion right now in Southern Cali, with flowers and green all over. It feels great, doesn't it!

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  32. Happy Birthday, Kristen! May you be richly blessed today and this year -- you are such a blessing to so many of us!

    Reply

  33. Happy Day, Kirsten! My brother-in-law's birthday was yesterday (the 26th) and today is my youngest son's 8th birthday so you're in good company! 🙂

    Reply

  34. Happy Birthday!! Happy Spring!! and Happy Crown Moulding!! The crown moulding is beautiful, and so are you flowers. Spring time is the best. Every day some little green tendril is poking up out of the ground. It will be so much easier to hang the laundry up to dry now that it can hang outside (nothing is more sublime, than the smell of sheets dried in the sun). My kid's are getting tired of taking all the shirts and dresses off the curtain rod in the bathroom before they can take their bathes! 😉

    Reply

  35. Oh Kristen, a very merry birthday to you ! Yippee Skippy I love birthdays !
    May all your wishes come true.
    Best,
    Elise

    Reply

  36. Wishing you a fantastic day full of warmth and laughter! Thanks for sharing these bits of your life with us. : )

    Reply

  38. (I'm singing this to you): Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Kristen, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

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  40. Happy Birthday Kristen!! We are all glad that you were born so this day must be celebrated!!!!! You are a wonderful blessing and we just can't get enough of you and your beautiful family!!!!! Also an big thank you to your mom and dad!!!

    Reply

  44. Happy Birthday!! Yay! Sounds like a wonderful one - your crown molding is beautiful. Enjoy that ice cream cake - YUM! 🙂

    Reply

  47. Happy b-day! I think that I'll adopt your strategy of having a day of whatever I want for my birthday next year. It'll make February brighter.

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  49. Happy birthday!! That is a seriously good deal on crown moulding!!! Awesome! Have a great day and enjoy!

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  51. ohmygosh, your yard is so beautiful, i want to live there!!!
    do you live in SC? my parents live there and it is just GORGEOUS in the Spring. nothing more beautiful than spring in the south!

    Reply

  54. Hi Kristen, I've just discovered your blog via Katy @ The Non-Consumer Advocate. And I just had to comment because yesterday was also my birthday. I don't know many people who share the same birthday so wanted to say hello. Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday!!! (Jealous of your new moulding ~ I do NOT have a brother likes yours!)

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  55. Happy Birthday Kristen!!
    Your birthday sounds perfect, and the crown molding looks great. So do the flowers and trees! I feel the same way about spring and love having a spring birthday. To me, it always meant fresh strawberries for dessert.

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  63. Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a wonderful day! The crown moldings look amazing. Your brother did a wonderful job. I love the look of lots of moldings in houses.
    Lucky you!

    Reply

  67. Happy Birthday, Kristen! What a lovely present--crown molding installed!! Your part of the country is looking beautiful! We have some fruit trees blooming, my grass is very green, and the bulbs are flowering here in the Midwest. Wish we could grow those beautiful azaleas here! Here's a little tune to liven up your birthday!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztoSUhbNntQ

    Reply

  69. Happy, happy birthday to you! I hope it was great... it's still your birthday here in my part of the country (lol..) so happy day to you!

    Reply

  70. is that brother single?! 🙂
    looks great - your house looks very nice and comfortable! and clean LOL! happy belated birthday!

    Reply

  71. Happy Birthday! What a fabulous time of year to be celebrating life.
    May you feel blessed, loved and cherished.

    Reply