DIY Summer Display

It's time to bring a little summer into our house!

We have a couple of shelves in our family room that I try to change out to go with the different seasons and holidays.

Here's a look at what I did for spring:

You can find the prints over at Jones Design Company :)

For the summer display, I knew that I wanted to kind of go for the nautical look but couldn't quite find what I was looking for. I created both of the prints and I love them!



I had planned on going out to get a few fun accesories but I ended up finding all of these items around my house. Score! I turned the little pot into a "beach pail". Does it look like that? I hope :) Stole the driftwood from our fireplace and the shell from a cabinet. The shell is actually from our honeymoon. We found it on the beach in the Dominican!

Click on either of the images to download the prints!

Some of my favorite things!

Happy Friday everyone!!!! 3-day weekend....bring it on! Thought I'd share some of my absolute favorite "things" right now :)

1. Aviator Ray Ban's

Great sunglasses-goes with so many things!

2. This girl

My seester, so freakin proud of her for getting her cosmetology liscense! She is such an amazing fun girl, very lucky to have such a great sister :)

3. Michael Kors Watch


 An absolute great splurge. I could wear this almost everyday! Something I have no guilt about buying :)

4. Sock Buns

Oh yes, watch out for sock buns! I love them and thought I couldn't wear them because of my thin hair. Well, I figured out how to do it and I'll share a tutorial soon!

5. Carmel by the Sea

My favorite place, hands down. It abolutely has everything I love. Let me just name a few things....beautiful scenery, amazing food, charming family owned restaurants, decadent window shopping, friendly people, pet friendly....I could go on an on!

I'm so excited because we just planned a SURPRISE trip for my mom at the end of June for her birthday. She's going to love it and so SHHHHHH! 

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! Feels like the kick-off to summer to me!

DIY Lace trimmed denim shorts (no sew)!

Anyone else have an obsession with lace??? Ummm....I do!!

I've been seeing cute denim cut-off shorts with lace detail all over Pinterest and just had to see if I could work some magic. Here's a super simple step by step tututorial to add a little flair to those jeans!

1. Get Supplies

    -Iron & scissors
   -Fusible web (fabric supply store)
   -Lace (fabric supply store)
   -Cut-off denim shorts

2. Mark jeans and Cut

On each side of the shorts draw a triangle exactly on the seam of the shorts. Cut out the first triangle. Repeat this step on the other side. Make sure to check that the triangle cut-out area is relatively the same size.

3. Line with fusible web and iron on lace

Turn shorts inside out first. Cut strips of fusible web and place two (side by side) on each side of the triangle cut out area. Now, cut your lace to just cover the area. With the iron (on high heat), gently press on the lace to bond the lace and the web to the jeans. Based on the lace you might want to add another layer. I added one more layer slightly shorter than the first layer. Again, lay fusible bonding strips on each side and iron lace to shorts.

4. Ta-da! Lace trimmed summer shorts!

The shorts can go in the wash but I would do this sparingly and opt to handwash. This is no sew and all!

A little tan, cowboy boots and a summer concert will be the perfect combo for these shorts!

Refreshing Sundays

Sunday mornings are good for the mind, body and soul.

In our house, it's usually a quiet, slow morning. We sip our coffee, stay in our pajammas and just gently start our day.

It's also a day where I feel more reflective than others. I think about the past week. The highs and the lows and what this next week will bring.

While I'm not a regular church goer, I'm certainly a Christian and talk to God daily. Sundays for obvious reasons I feel closer to him. There is a sense of peace on these days and I'm filled with a greater joy.

It's been a tradition in our house that on these beautiful mornings, I awake my husband singing "Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory..." I think many of us could finish this song. My mom would sing this to us as kids and now this is apart of my little family.

You could imagine my excitement when one of my favorite bloggers introduced this printable!

 I promptly bought it and I can't wait to one day hang it in our future child's room. Check out all her other printables too! They are very cute and have great messages.

I hope everyone have a wonderful wonderful Sunday and feels renewed for the week ahead!

I Have a Disease

It’s called No Telephone Skills-itus. My case is severe.

I really don't like talking on the phone. This goes back a looooonnng time. I don't even know how it started or why. I just prefer email or text.

But that is just soooo sad I know! For my friends that live in the same town, I think they would all say I am a good friend and they generally know what's going on with me. We're regular emailers/facebookers. We get together frequently and are close.  For those friends that live far away, BLESS YOU for putting up with me.

The funny thing is that I think about all of my friends constantly. I wish I was the person that just picked up the phone to check-in. It's always "this wekeend when I have time" or "well, i only have 20 min. to talk and so I don't want to cut them off." It's like I make excuses for the PERFECT time, which never comes. Others can be feeding/changing a diaper and still talking to me! Not to say I never just call to chit chat but it is certainly not enough. There are many girlfriends I wished I talked to multiple days a week. I know my life would be richer and fuller because every time I get off the phone with them I feel sooo good. There's definitely been some laughs, maybe a heart to heart, and just a general feeling of closeness with someone.

Sooooo what is the cure? I've wondered this for a very. long. time. All I can say is that I am just going to try harder. I'm going to try harder because I want to be as close as possible with all of you. And most importantly, I want all my friends for a lifetime.

In an effort to find a cure for my disease, I actually ran accross something that kind of made me think that maybe I didn't have a disease but I was actually the smart one...no, not really but it made me laugh!

*Disclaimer- Some of this is a little crude, I typically would never put anything in here about mens private parts! ;)

This is from The Oatmeal blog: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/phone

A Perfect Summer Dinner Menu

There's nothing I appreciate more than a perfectly planned out dinner menu. I strive to be that host that pairs together each dish and course perfectly. I have many friends that do this beautifully! And I get to reap the rewards :)

Last weekend we went to our friends house for dinner and we had the best time! The recipe was simple....great people, summer night, cocktails and of course this menu!

It so perfectly blends a quintessential casual summer dinner with a level of sophistication that still makes you feel like you are dining out.

Oh, and probably the best part for me, you can make so much of this ahead!! Since we are having company over on a Friday and having to work, it was so nice that I could prep nearly all of this the night before.

1. Appetizer- Chevre with Pistachios and Honey
Here is the link!

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chvre-with-pistachios-honey-10000001873417/

2. Main- Lamb Burgers with Indian Spices and Yogurt-Mint Sauce

Here is the link!

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lamb-burgers-with-indian-spices-yogurt-mint-sauce-10000001995708/

3. Sides

Melon Salad-easy peasy!

 1 cantaloupe (or can use watermelon if you prefer)

 3/4 container feta cheese

 2-3 T chopped fresh mint

 few turns of pepper grinder

Bean salad

 fresh green beans steamed

 2 cobs of corn steamed

 1 can low salt garbanzo beans

 1 can low salt kidney beans

 2 tomatoes chopped

 dressing:

 1/4 cup lemon juice

 1/4 cup olive oil
 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (Indian spice mix you can find in the spice aisle)

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 1 T goat cheese (add if you want, I think it added a bit of creaminess)
 If you need more spice or salt, add it!

4. Dessert

 Vanilla Ice Cream- Rich and creamy!

 Caramel (lavendar if you can find some)

 Candied Pecans (buy or make yourself!)

 Cinnamon Phyllo Crumbles (sprinkle cinnamon on phyllo dough, bake for 15min. or so and crumble)

There you have it; an absolutely delicious meal that will be a crowd pleaser!

YAY that summer is almost here!!!

Dining Room Makeover

We've been our house a little over two years and I don't think we've finished one room yet! I can't believe how long it takes.  Well, I thought I would share some of the progress we have made on our dining room. Probably the most blood, sweat and tears have gone into this room.

It started with this picture....

I loved the mix of antiques and neutrals. My biggest love would have to be the chandelier (ummm still waiting....husband, are you reading?). So from here the hunt began, I was looking for an antique dining room set. After a couple months of perusing Craigslist, I found this!

For $300 bucks it was mine (dining room table, 6 chairs, a buffet and a hutch). My husband really did think I was losing my mind when we picked this up....bless him for just trusting me!

I started with the buffet and hutch. I knew I wanted these to be white. I popped over to Centsational girl's blog for some furniture painting tips. This is a process and if I had one piece of advice for you guys I'd say "DONT rush it." Know that it is going to take time....don't wait until the day before a dinner party to try to finish it. Trust me, nothing is more embarrasing then the handles falling off the hutch in the middle of dinner. Oh yeah, true craftsmanship right here.

After this, it was on to the chairs. I tried really hard to use white slip covers. But after a year, they just weren't working. Too drapey and not a snug enought fit. So then the hunt for chairs was back on. I wanted parson, rolled back chairs in a neutral color. Not to specific right? Wrong! Could NOT find anything in a reasonable price range. But ALAS, we found our chairs that were all of the above, but tufted as well. Score! Oh, and they were at Costco thank you very much.

Before the final picture, I should also share that I decided to also stain the table a darker color. Centsational girl has some good tutorials as well.

So here is the before and after!

!

 I LOVE it! Still have some special things here and there but overall it is done.

Color Combos

Here are some of my favorite color combos right now!

Which ones do you love?

What would we do without our Moms

I hope everyone had a wonderful day celebrating Moms. I cannot wait to celebrate being a mother myself (I know, I'm a dog mom...good first step, right?). But today it was about our Mom's and I just felt so incredibly lucky to have what we have.

John's Mom always wants to go out on the boat on Mother's day. It has actually kicked off the boating season in his family for years now. So this is what we did. Cathy can no longer ski due to a very bad back and so to see all her sons ski so beautifully totally made her day. Here's a picture taken just recently of John, his mom and grandma. Very sweet.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see my Mom today. We are going to celebrate probably next weekend. My parents were just getting back into town today and after spending all day away from our dog who is injured, my mom could hear it in my voice that I wasn't up to leaving the house. That's what you got to love about Mom's, they know what you need and are so understanding. Here is a pic of my Mom and I last year :)

Wishing everyone a special day!

For the Love of a Dog

Over the last year we have been fighting an awful no good tumor on our dog Ruby's leg. It has been a roller coaster, sometimes good news but more often bad news. We have done everything we possibly can do to help our little girl. She's had two surgeries and radiation treatment- both of which have been very painful for her. Through it all she has remained so very sweet and just looks at us with those eyes that seem to be saying "please help me."  Unfortunately, there is nothing more we can do and very soon she will lose her leg.

It's funny because before we got her, John and I were never dog people. We couldn't even pet a dog without washing our hands. We liked dogs but could never understand why people would spend so much money on their pets. So before we got her, we set a limit- 1K MAX, or get rid of them. Sounds so heartless now, right? Well, we certainly did not hold to that.

From the second this little thing was put in our arms, we just loved her....

Every maternal/paternal instinct we had was immediately turned on. There are so many things great about her.  One being that she is just the biggest love bug and always has to be with us. Especially when she sleeps...

We've had so many great memories over the last two and a half years. Lots of trips and fun outdoors.



We are not losing our girl but things are going to change. She won't be chasing turkeys, or going on long runs with us, or racing around the house.....it's hard and we are very sad. I know that dogs actually do much better than humans with amputation and so going forward I will be very positive about this. But for today, I am sad for her and all the things she won't do again.

It's okay Rubes, your going to be okay and we will take good care of you....

Mother's Day Gift Idea

Mother’s day is on Sunday! Ahhh, that snuck up fast. If you haven’t figured out what to get yet, here is a quick and super easy gift that I think is darn cute.

What you need:

-Twine (or some type of string)

-2-sticks

-Glue 

-Succulents

-Pot

-Mother's Day Printable (click here)

1. Get your supplies. Most everything you can get at somewhere like Home Depot or Lowes.

2. Plant the succulents.

3. Make your little flag!  

-Print Mother's Day Printable and cut out each of the flags and triangles.

-Fold the Ikat print and glue the triangles on to each flag.

-Tie your twine to your two sticks. Glue each flag on the twine.

- Let it dry and then place it in the pot. TA-DA!

30th Birthday Bash!

A couple of weekends ago we celebrated my husband's 30th birthday. We had sooooo much fun!

I knew I wanted to send him into his 30's with a bang and so the planning began a few months before. Here are some pics and highlights from the party!

1. Custom Invitations- I knew I wanted to use a Guiness beer label and change the wording. Sadly, I don't have adobe photoshop and am limited by microsoft publisher. So to Etsy I went and found someone that did this with a Guiness label (uhhhmazing). My friend helped me create the back of the invite. How stinkin cute is my husband? I know, what happened? ;)

2. Framed Chalkboard Sign- Now this was one of my favorite finds! We moved into our house a couple years ago and there was this ugly painting behind the water heater in the garage.

For some reason though I hung onto it. Good thing I did! With a little spray paint on the frame and a couple of coats of chalkboard paint over the picture, it had earned it's stay!

3. Chalkboard labeled glasses- I wanted everyone to have something to take home from the party. So I began collecting Pilsner glasses a couple months back. Every weekend I would stop into a Marshalls/Ross/ Home Goods and clean them out of pilsner glasses! I really wanted to add chalkboard labels to them and you can definitely do this with chalkboard paint but the drawback is that they are not dishwasher safe. Soooo to Etsy again! A quick search for "chalkboard labels" lead me to the ones you see on the glasses. They have just the right amount of detail. LOVE them!

4. Make your own cake stands- This was fun too! You can google "cake stand tutorial" and get lots of instructions on how to do this. First, I went to the local thrift store and got different plates and candle holders. The total was $20 but I just happened to be there on 50% off day, ohhhh yeah. I epoxyed the candle holders to the bottom of the plates, let them dry overnight, and then spray painted them all black. TA-DA!

5. Photo booth props- The last highlight from the party I think was the photo booth props. I wanted to set up an area for pics with the props but ended up not having a great place to do this. I kind of just put them to the side and wasn't going to use them. About half way through the party I thought "what the heck, let's pull them out!" My friend was walking around with these taking pics and it was the perfect ice breaker for people. These things let everybody be a little silly! Again, Etsy!

I'll leave with you a few fun pics. Needless to say, we slept in the next morning :)

Revamping the wardrobe for Spring/Summer 2012.

“I have nuuuuuthing to wear”! If my husband had a dime for every time he
heard me say this as I’m trying to get ready for somewhere we are going……

Of course he thinks I am ridiculous when I say this and I can totally see why. My clothing outnumbers his at least 10:1…at least. I’m sure you can all relate to me on this. I try to put myself in his shoes.  I imagine the feelings would be similar if I was standing in Carrie Bradshaw’s closet and she said this exact same thing to me. Bitch please.

I am no fashionista. I am a total wannabe. But, one thing I love to do is to trickle in a few trendy things each season. All in hopes of avoiding that dreaded phrase.   So here you go ladies…this is what they are saying we should all be wearing this Spring/Summer!

Pastels are in. Mint green to be exact. At first when I read this I was in complete in opposition. But, I quickly realized this knocks out two trends in one shot –colored jeans and pastel colors. DONE! Yes, I’m treating fashion like a to-do list.

Crochet is back. This one is sooo interesting to me! What a contrast between bright colors and crochet.  BIG props to one of my friends for rocking the crochet a couple of weeks ago! Literally she was rocking it.

BRIGHT colors all around. No surprise here, for the last year the clothes section at Target has given me a headache. But, as it seems to always go, the trends have really grown on me. And the hot color for Spring/Summer is ……..Orange! Don’t all cheer at one time. This is one where I will probably implement a little bit more subtlety; like jewelry or a clutch.

Stripes are hanging on. Thank the Lord almighty! I LOVE stripes.  They are a classic.

Let's throw another wrench in here- Black and white combos are hot. Maybe it's to balance out the rainbow trend seen everywhere else.

Print, print, print! Swap print with shots and I get a similar feeling in my stomach when I see this trend. Well, I should say I used to feel this way. For the last couple of seasons I just hunkered down and hoped this trend would pass. So why the change of heart? Brainwashing, I think. Yup, going to blame it on the bombardment of advertisements to this breakdown.  It’s a strike contrast to my natural muted tone wardrobe but I’m kind of digging it. 

Well folks there you have it, this what a google search on fashion trends for this year will get you :) But now the fun part, seeing how I can incorporate some of these things. Did a little shopping this weekend and have some stuff on order- stay tuned!