Show Me the Progress! (Party)

Welcome to the very first Show Me the Progress party! I'm going to experiment and leave this party open until 5 pm (ET) on Thursday.

I originally intended this to be a spot for Decorating Dilemmas participants to share updates they've made to their Dilemmas.

Then I changed my mind, which I can do because it's my blog, and thought that it might be fun to invite anyone in Blogland to link up and proudly display the Progress they've made in any area of their home or life. This party is all about encouraging other bloggers to reach their goals!

Progress can be a "Before" and "After" photo, a list of ideas you'd like to implement, or a post detailing the strides you've taken to reach a goal, whether it be for work, home, or personal reasons.

Anyone who links up with a (valid) post will be entered to win this:

*I do have a few requests before you link up.*

PLEASE take the time to read this because I will delete links that don't adhere to the rules. Don't make me be a meanie.

1. Please be sure to enter the link to your specific party post, NOT your blog's homepage.
2. Please include a link to THIS post somewhere within your own post. It's just good manners. I will have to delete your entry if I don't see a link to this post.
3. Please leave me a comment with your party link as well. This helps tremendously in case there are problems with the MckLinky system. Also, it's just plain nice to leave me a comment. (wink)
4. MINGLE. After going on and on about Blog Party Etiquette this morning, it seems that many of you agree that a party is not a party unless you visit! Please take a few minutes to visit at least one or two other links on the list and leave a thoughtful, genuine comment.

Really, I can't say enough about going out and visiting some of the other links. It will hopefully bring some traffic to your blog. It is totally okay if you need a day or two, but I'd like for each participant to visit at least one or two of the other blogs by the end of the week. I think that's a doable request.

Okay, that's enough...link up and have fun encouraging one another. I am excited to share my own Progress below!


Here's my Progress Report:
Some of you may remember me posting about my Family room Dilemma back in Round 5 of the Decorating Dilemmas series.

I received some excellent suggestions, and I chose to start by changing the window.

I don't have anything against toile or Waverly. I love them both. But I've been staring at the same window treatments since 2003. Um..yeah...

So here's the Before:

Here's the Progress I've made so far:

Come back on Monday, and I'll share with you how I did it with drop cloths!

I don't usually do this, but I also wanted to share some Progress made by my dear friend, L. She doesn't have a blog or a Flickr or anything and she soooo doesn't know I am doing this, but she recently lost 40 pounds and I am so proud of her. She worked her butt off and made the gym a real priority, and I so need to take a cue from her. (I repeat, these photos are NOT of ME! I look like someone who ate L's Before shot)

L, Before:

L, After (isn't she a hot mama?):

That's all, folks! Have a great time at the party!