Happy October!

Can you believe we've made it this far into the year so fast!?! This is about the time where I start to sweat and hyperventilate... I am so far behind in my preparations for the Holiday Boutique Season! I don't know where the days go! I'm waiting on a shipment of dress forms... are you as excited as I am to see them?!!?
I had this great idea a few weeks ago: I decided to switch up the room-usage situation here and it has resulted in a bit of disarray. I thought the boys would like to have a larger bedroom, ( okay, I REALLY wanted my studio/craft room back) so I swapped the toy/playroom/craft closet for the boys bedroom/toy room. The first step in this process was to pick a new paint color of course! The room now boasts a blue called "Acapulco Sky", and its absolutely refreshing! Two coats and then a quick trim touch-up and it's beautiful! This endeavor also required emptying two closets (one walk-in), 12 bins of toys, two cabinets worth of books, an entire 5x5' cubby unit, and lugging around about ten FULL large Rubbermaid storage containers. Then it came to a screeching halt as I stood ready to dismantle the crib with a screwdriver... Why not get bunk beds?!?!? I am still coming up with reasons why not to... can't trust 'the three year old' to not jump off the top, can't trust 'the squish' not to try to climb it...etc. But the Pros outweighed the Con's: stacked twin beds take up less room than a crib and a full size bed, Kleven's favorite color is black (like the bunk we like), more room for playing, tons of closet space, and a chance to re-do a room (like I would pass that up) and Kleven is totally stoked to have a bed like his friend Gunner.
It's no surprise that I'm a Potterybarn junkie, and I fell hard for a sweet little number in the catalog, but I REFUSE!!!!! to pay retail after being spoiled with a 40% discount as an employee. The quality is hard to beat, so I held my standards high as I shopped around town. If you live around here, perhaps you've heard of Potato Barn? I LOVE their stuff, but was a little miffed when they wouldn't even ask their manufacturer about the possibility of getting a bunk bed in. Actually, the crazy lady just looked at me like I was asking her to give me her arm. There's also a place out here in No Man's Land called San Tan Furnishings. The owner seems to REALLY like southwestern and cowboy type decor, but they have TONS of catalogs to order from and I ended up finding the perfect bed there. It was less expensive than PB, not across the state on Craigslist, and better quality than the "assemble yourself" places, so I was satisfied. BUT THEN- I was talking to a friend and telling her about my experience and suddenly found myself in a very exciting situation!! Her dad offered to help us build our own bunk bed! He has built a few in his time and they are simple but extremely sturdy. So now I'm DOUBLY excited because we'll be able to make it for considerably less and I can DESIGN IT! We might even be able to afford the mattresses when its done! :)
On another note: did anyone else notice that there's an extra paycheck in October?!? Maybe it's because we're new to the whole 'regular pay-period' thing, but seriously!! What do YOU do with it? Put it away for Christmas? Catch up on bills? Treat yourself to some retail therapy? AND~
When do you start decorating for Fall? Do you decorate for Halloween? Real pumpkins or fake? It's confusing when you're trying to make it feel like Fall, but its 100 degrees out!
HAPPY OCTOBER!