It's been a crazy day, let me tell you. From getting woken up on this snowy morning before 7:00 am by firetrucks attending to the building across the street, to a jam packed day at work, I've been hanging on since I sleepily rolled out of bed. At least it looks like the building is okay.

But just a few minutes ago we received a nice little surprise and uplifting feeling by way of a nomination for the 2013 Apartment Therapy Homies! If you're not aware, the Homies are a reader driven nomination and voting "Best of the Web" contest for bloggers. They have several categories including one near and dear to our hearts, DIY. Though there's a modest $50 prize for the winners, the real win is bragging rights and getting our name out there so more DIY enthusiasts like you know we even exist. 

We can't tell you how great it makes us feel that a reader of our blog would take the time to nominate us, let alone have other people vote for us! And we'd absolutely LOVE it if you take a second to vote for us and any of your other favorites (we put a step by step guide on how to vote at the bottom of this post). Maybe if we get enough votes we can convince Lulu to do a backflip, or better yet, maybe she and Mel will work together to finish our storm windows.

Last year we were completely shocked by the voting when we finished in ninth place overall. I'm serious, we were completely and totally shocked! But the best part about the Homies is that we were able to find several new blogs that we now love to follow, and lots of new readers were able to find us. In the age of online dating and match making, finding a good home blog shouldn't be quite so difficult.

Anyhow, we just have this brief post today because we're gearing up for a fun event tomorrow that we'll be covering here and on Twitter, Instagram, and probably Vine (I'm a little bit addicted to Vine). We'll be headed to the George Washington Masonic Temple bright and early to attend the 2013 Boutique Warehouse Sale.

This event, put on by the Old Town Boutique District, is a one day shopping extravaganza. Typically you can score deals 70-80% off retail on fashion and decor from various local merchants here in Old Town, the thought of which makes Wendy's heart beat a little faster. Keep your fingers crossed for us that our shopping mojo is in full effect, and we'll be sure to post pics of our finds tomorrow. If you're a local, we hope to see you there.

Speaking of Vine, we made a little Vine Vid that we feel captures...how do we say...Mel's "essence." 

Our little man has been conjuring up some of the grumpiest looks around since his partial tail amputation last summer. Good grief, if looks could kill. We hope his sour mood will inspire a smile on your end, and be a good start to a great weekend.

Here are the details on easy voting for The Homies:

Since you need to login or sign up, follow this link. You'll get a login form but if you don't already have an Apartment Therapy account, you can sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account. Once your sign in is complete, it will redirect you back to the DIY Homies page where you'll be able to vote. Thank you!