Tax-Free Weekend

I've always looked at tax holidays as a gimmick just to get people to flock to stores and buy a bunch of stuff they don't need.  I've done enough of that in my life, and 6.25% savings isn't enough of a reason to go out there and buy a TV for the sake of no sales tax.  However, this was the first time I actually was looking to purchase something and it coincided with that!  Happy to participate and stimulate the economy, Massachusetts.  It also didn't hurt that we had a 10% off our entire purchase at Lowe's, either.  That is one of the things that's great about moving to a new house, all these companies send you coupons and stuff.  In fact, I've got a 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond one that I may go out and use later!

So, the dishwasher in this house.  Absolutely HATE IT, it is so loud and it screams kind of like a woman.  We wait to run it at night as we're going to bed, it's so disruptive.  You can only turn up the TV so loud to drown it out before it wakes up the kids.  And the fridge...the freezer on the bottom is great and I love having an icemaker (when the ice isn't freezer burned...ugh that's gross) but the ice eats up a lot of room.  We'd been talking about getting a chest freezer for the garage.  So dishwasher and chest freezer:  PROCURED.  To be delivered in the next ten days.  Which is fine, because Brian spent a good amount of time clearing out the rest of the boxes in the garage while I was yarn-shopping yesterday.  (Have I said lately how awesome my husband is??)  

We were shopping kids-free, so it was kind of like being a kid in a candy shop.  We picked up a pot and pan rack for the kitchen cabinet, so now it's easy to put away pots and pans, instead of having to put some on the floor and counter while you are looking for which one you need.   We walked past the lighting department and this chandelier caught our eye.  Now, the chandelier in the dining room is functional, but kind of dated and ugly.  So why the heck not??  Brian installed it this morning, and it went quickly and smoothly.  

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

Lastly, the paint department.  I love looking at paint swatches and trying to decide on colors.  We picked an off-white for the boys' bathroom and I'm looking forward to painting hopefully in the next few weeks.  And we have swatches all over our bedroom, from purples and grays to ocean blue and even an accent red.  Not looking to start soon but it's never too early to start planning.