Housewifing on a Budget

the best thing that ever happened to me.

2012-09-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

little miss lydia jane is here. she's 2 weeks old today and i really can't believe that.

here she is 1 day old in the hospital.

she was born wednesday, august 22nd at about 3 pm. she weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and she's the most beautiful little baby in the world.

on thursday, august 16th i went in to my obgyn for my 39 week appointment. i had extremely high blood pressure at 140/100 and protein in my urine (which is apparently really bad). i had also gained 3 lbs in one week, which is also bad and may be a sign of pre-eclampsia. they sent me straight to the hospital for monitoring throughout the day. if my blood pressure remained that high they would have induced me that day. it thankfully went back down a bit so my midwife felt comfortable letting me go home. i had been having issues with blood pressure throughout the second half of my pregnancy, so we decided i would have the weekend to let her get a little bit more ready for life outside, then we would induce labor monday night.

we went to the hospital monday evening around 7 pm. they started me on cervidil at about 8 pm. i was only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced, so they needed to soften my cervix before they could start me on pitocin. i had the cervidil in for 12 hours and it was removed the next morning to start pitocin. i started contracting on my own before pitocin was started, so i was optimistic about the day. throughout the day though i was maxed out on pitocin and my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart, but they weren't intense enough to bring miss lydia out. they were pretty wimpy and i knew it. i was able to talk and laugh with my family all day without any issues, so i had a bad feeling she wasn't coming that day.

by 4 pm they stopped the pitocin so i could eat and shower. i wasn't allowed to eat anything while in "labor" so i was actually relieved when they stopped everything. the frustrating part was that even if it wasn't intense, i had been in labor all day and when they checked me i was only 2 cm and 70%. even so, it was nice to stop everything and get a break and prepare for the next, most horrible of experiences.

that evening my midwife told me they could do another round of cervidil (which i didn't think would do much so i didn't love that option) or we could use some sort of foley catheter bulb to manually dilate me. she thought that was the best option, so i agreed. this was a mistake. well, in the end it worked and helped me deliver my little girl, but oh. my. gosh. was it horrible. basically they stuck a tube through my cervix, then they inflate it with a solution to artificially dilate me. it wouldn't have been so bad except that my cervix is so high and far back that i thought she was going to push the baby up through my face. it was completely terrible. i had to leave it in all night and it was horribly uncomfortable and kind of painful. not to mention awkward because there were tubes coming out and taped to my leg. it was quite an experience.

by morning i got a new midwife. michael. i was surprised at seeing a male midwife, but all i wanted was for him to take the terrible tubes out. when he did that and checked me, i was 6 cm dilated. the only problem is that since it was done manually, there was no guarantee my body would respond with real contractions, even on pitocin. michael decided to break my water in order to help the process, then pitocin was started. that's where it all started to progress super fast.

this all happened about 10 am i think. the nurse started me on pitocin and i started feeling contractions. like, real ones. legit make you want to punch people in the face for asking you questions kind of contractions. i knew these were the real deal. they were no joke. i had planned on having an epidural, so when the nurse told me she wanted me to have a "few" regular contractions before calling for the epidural i was a little annoyed. i was particularly annoyed after a "few" turned into a lot and instead of calling for my epidural, the nurse was emptying the trash cans in my room..... um, no. i am told at this point i became kind of a handful. i don't remember much except the pain. apparently i asked the nurse how much longer it would be and she said she was just about to call until my husband asked her a question, which i have been told earned him a death glare from me. i don't recall this, but i totally believe it.

after the epidural things got a little fuzzy for me. and everything happened so fast. suddenly i was given a mask for oxygen because the baby was in distress. every time i had a contraction her heart rate would get messed up. i don't really fully understand what was happening because i was sort of in a fog. the nurse was telling my family about the problem instead of telling me. i was confused and in pain and i felt like the mask was kind of a barrier. i know it was necessary, but it didn't allow me to ask any questions or try to figure out what was going on.

the nurse started preparing for a c section. she was trying to take blood, calling people and basically running around kind of panicked. then whenever i had a contraction she was glued to the monitor, worrying about the baby. my family all came around to pray that lydia would come out on her own and that we wouldn't need a c section. it was a scary few minutes, and i didn't fully realize how scary. i didn't really care what had to happen though, i just wanted her safe. i was feeling so much fear for her, then suddenly i was in so much pain. i was feeling enormous pressure and pain, and when they checked they realized lydia had come down on her own, i was fully dilated, and i was just about ready to push. they gave her a little more time to see if she'd come down any more on her own so i wouldn't have to push as long.

michael came back to deliver her and i swear i love that man. i barely had a chance to talk to him or get to know him at all, but i love him for taking such good care of us. i pushed for about 35 minutes or so, and then she was out!

i really can't describe that first moment when i knew she was here in the world. i suddenly just burst into tears because i was so happy and relieved. he set her on my stomach for a minute and she was still kind of yucky and she was a grey-green kind of color, but she was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen. she was wiggling around and i immediately loved her.

i needed a lot of stitches and she needed to be cleaned and looked at. apparently when she came out the cord was wrapped around her neck twice. i didn't know that until much later and it makes me cry just thinking about it. phil said they told him that was probably the reason for her distress, but everything was perfect and her apgar score was a 9. the nurse said she was shocked at how quickly things turned around and she was sure i would be having a c section. i know it was because i had so many people praying for me and the Lord was looking out for me and baby Lydia.

the induction was such a long process. i am still not sure if it was the best decision or not. phil thinks it was because if we would have waited longer to go into labor naturally, the cord situation could have gotten even worse. that's what the people at the hospital told him anyway. in the end our beautiful, perfect baby girl was born so i really can't say it was the wrong decision. it was just a very trying and difficult process that maybe could have been avoided if my blood pressure hadn't been so crazy. either way, labor is hard so i'm not sure we'll ever know if there was a "best option". i just thank God for this crazy little munchkin he put in our lives.

she is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. i'm so excited to watch her grow and find out the person she is going to become. she truly is a little miracle baby that God has put in our lives and i'm so blessed and thankful that i get to be her mom.

an important post.

2012-07-26T11:47:00.001-07:00

i was on facebook today and stumbled across a link to this post about the magic mike movie. i was so happy to read what mrs. gore had to say. thank God there are people that are standing up for Godly principles and marriages.

i agree with her that there are real men out there who need to be admired and praised for who they are. i do not know the actors personally (obviously), but i don't think being handsome and muscular is all that makes a guy a man. everything she said about what she believes makes a man a man are things i have seen in my own husband. i know it exists because i am married to it : ).

i truly believe that we are getting too relaxed in what we find entertaining. i want to be careful about everything i watch and read. my husband and i were just discussing the other day that a "fantasy guy" can be just as dangerous in a marriage as a man viewing pornography. if i build up a perfect man in my mind (whether he is a fictional character or a real person i build up and idolize in my head) then i will compare my husband to him just as i would be afraid he would compare pornographic images to me. and i think in both instances we would find the other lacking. that's just asking for trouble. i do not want any other men in my head that i consciously or unconsciously compare my husband to that may prove him to be lacking. those characters and figures aren't real, just as many women who pose nude are airbrushed and digitally enhanced to look perfect. it's the same thing. both images are left in the mind and leave real people looking pale in comparison.

i love my husband for being a real man and i wouldn't want to have a fake image of a "man" in my head to compare him to that would tarnish the way i see him. i am not going to see magic mike or read fifty shades of grey for the same reason i would not want my husband looking at other women. i don't want to have romantic or sexual thoughts about any man other than phil buben. i expect the same out of him. i love and respect him as the head of our household, and what kind of disrespect would that be to regard other men higher than him? the man who loves me, takes care of me, and provides for our household deserves my highest respect. so i don't consider it a big sacrifice to avoid certain books or movies. in the end i am getting something much better; an accurate and Godly view of the man i married. that's worth so much more than being "entertained" for a matter of a couple hours.

i don't judge people who like certain books or movies. i feel it's important to say this is how I FEEL and i believe every person has different convictions. if reading about edward cullen doesn't make you look at your husband and wish he was more this or that, then go ahead and read. i just realize certain characters have done a little damage to my view of my husband as i unconsciously compared him to them, so this is me saying i am going to be more intentional about what i read, watch and what i think about other men. the only man who matters is my husband and i plan to have the best view of him possible.

lydia's nursery.

2012-07-16T12:35:00.003-07:00

okay, it is finally done. it feels like it's been foreverrrr but the nursery is finished! now i am anxious for lydia to get here so she can use it. well also so i might be able to breathe again and not get heartburn from bending over... but the point is i just want her here! i hope these last few weeks go by quickly.

almost everything in this nursery is diy or handmade. i kept a budget going for the room and i expected to spend probably around $1000 by the end of it. i figured with furniture, decor, paint, bedding, and everything else a baby needs that was a good estimate. well, in the end we spent $390. that's all. people have been so generous and we have just found so many ways to save money (mostly by making everything ourselves).

so let me show you how this room started.

before:

this is the only angle i have of this room. basically because nothing else was done. we had phil's office in the corner... and that's it. oh and his bike was on the other side of the room. so i never took any pictures. and occasionally it was a huge mess because he likes to be able to spread out all his school papers. so because of that, i decided to never really work on it. and it was a sad room to be in. and i basically never went in there.

but now it is a lovely nursery. so i am basically just gonna post a ton of pictures now.

after:

and just because they are adorable, here are some shots of her bumgenius diapers and little clothes!

i love her little jammies!

so needless to say, i like this room a little better now. i can't wait for lydia to use it. it's probably my favorite room now. sometimes i just go sit in there and rock and enjoy all the work that was done. only another month until i can rock lydia! well, on the outside of my body anyway : ).

Linking up to thrifty decor chick's before and after party!

surviving pregnancy.

2012-07-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

this right here is a list of my top 10 favorite things that have helped me this far in my pregnancy. i like top ten lists. actually i just like lists. in fact, making lists might be number 11. so there's a bonus for you. i have made more lists in the last 8 months than probably ever in my life. and i love it. lists are the best. okay. here we go.

10.

i should probably mention here and now, this list is not in order of importance. it's in my random brain order. if you get pregnant, get this book. this is basically everything you need/want/didn't want to know about pregnancy. i know, it's an obvious one but i have looked to this book countless times to help me through stuff. and there is so much random stuff that happens to your body that nobody bothered to mention, so whenever you freak out it's nice to open the book and read that you're not dying and your random crazy pain symptoms are normal. helpful. get it.

yah. this is a baby boppy pillow. we found one (the exact one on our registry, actually) for $10. they sell for like, $40 or some crazy thing. but even at full price, totally worth it. do yourself a favor and get this pillow before baby comes and test it out. i have been sleeping with this pillow on and off for the last 15 weeks or so and it helps so much. and is cheaper than a full body pillow. and you'll use it for baby. and it won't make your husband feel like he is on the other side of the great wall of china. i love it.

these old navy shorts. i love them. one of the best purchases i made this pregnancy. i seriously wear them almost every day. they are so comfortable and the band covers my whole belly and pretty much stays put, so i'm not always pulling my shorts up. plus they don't cost you your first born child. and old navy has sales all the time, which is when i got these for about $20. i tell you what, i am excited for pregnancy to be almost over, but i will be sad to see these shorts go. i might shed a little tear when i pack them away... so comfy... sigh

this water bottle is awesome. i use it every. day. i take it everywhere. we sort of have a love/hate relationship now that i am constantly having to pee, so it makes me want to punch water in the face, but it is still awesome. apparently i was not drinking enough water before pregnancy. they say you should drink 8 glasses or some crazy stuff, i don't know. my doctor told me 2 liters a day while pregnant. this seemed impossible and nuts to me at first. i could only picture those big bottles of soda and thinking i would explode if i had that much liquid in me. then i found out the water helps keep you from swelling up like mad, keeps you and baby healthy, and it cleans out and replenishes the baby's fluid that she lives in. i mean, if i would keep a fish bowl clean and i find it super gross when one is dirty then.... well, you get it. this bottle has markings along the side of how much fluid is in it. it takes out all guess work and math, which is awesome because i hate math. i just refill it a couple times a day and keep it close by and magically it helps me stay hydrated.

oh which i have to say, i had to go to the hospital a couple times so far because of my gallstones. when i first got there, the nurses were determined to tell me it was because i was dehydrated (we didn't know about the stones then) and i was like, "nuh uh. my awesome water bottle wouldn't let that happen!" and they were like, "oh everyone gets dehydrated..." and i was like, "well not me! not with the way i've been drinking!" and guess what. they were shocked to find i was NOT dehydrated. so me and my water bottle showed them. i'm telling you. i love this water bottle.

this swimsuit is awesome. i found it at motherhood maternity. it's so cute, it was about $28 on sale, and it is comfortable. it covers and supports everything. i was wondering if i needed a suit at all because i thought i might not feel like going to a public pool all giant and pregnant. um the answer is yes. i love being in the pool. the water carries the baby for awhile and gives my back and every other sore joints a break. it's awesome. get a bathing suit if you're pregnant. don't worry about what you might look like. who cares? you're growing a human. that is a free pass.

i never had heartburn in my life. never ever. when i read in the pregnant girl book that i will most likely have it i was like, nah not me. i never have. i wouldn't even know what it was if i did get it. um. no. yesterday i got heartburn from eating yogurt. not cool. everything is all jammed together in your body so there is basically no room for your digestive system. or anything else. just baby. so most likely most women will get it. and it's terrible. but you can take these magic pills (i try not to take them often.. only if i am having a lot of trouble or it keeps me from sleeping) and then heartburn goes away. and then you can feel like you have a little control over what happens in your body. even though you really don't.

slow cookers. even during the summer. during this pregnancy this little guy has helped me feel like i am still an okay wife. i have a lot more energy in the morning than i do in the evenings. by evening all i want to do is sit with my feet up and drink tea. and talk to my husband. and not cook. or do dishes. so this little baby helps me do that and not make my husband make dinner every night. and not spend a fortune going out because i can't possibly gather the energy to make it myself. i love it. there are so many awesome recipes where you basically just throw a bunch of stuff in during the morning and by evening it's magically dinner. and then phil thinks i'm awesome. and i feel awesome for being 34 weeks pregnant and still making him dinner every night. well okay, not every night. but.. quite a few anyway...

this is apparently the part where i talk about food. which is important to a pregnant girl. i love tortillas. i would eat milk and cereal in a tortilla if i could. it makes anything a meal. i could chop a bunch of vegetables, throw them in a tortilla with some dressing or cream cheese and bam, dinner. i could brown some beef, throw in some taco seasoning, then throw it in a tortilla. we have them on hand all the time. seriously. at all times. come over and look in my fridge. you will see tortillas. and i just realized they probably don't need to be in the fridge.... but that's just where we always keep them... anyway, they have made dinners during this pregnancy way easier. and lunch. and the occasional breakfast burrito.

for some unknown reason i crave these like nuts. i really try to limit myself. i certainly don't have one every day or even every week. but when i'm out grocery shopping with phil i pick one up as a treat. or sometimes phil will just stop and get one and bring it home to surprise me. i know that doesn't sound like that great of a surprise, but it is. when there is one thing in life you crave and a person surprises you with it, it is like winning the lottery. i love these things. probably too much. like, as in it makes me sad when i take the last bite. pregnancy does weird things to a person. i have never been so sad about candy being gone in my life haha.

granny smith apples. whoa. i loved these before i was pregnant. now i want to live in an apple house with apple pets. which would actually be sad because i would want to eat them... so maybe i just want to have them in my fridge. all the time. this is another thing we always have. they are crisp, juicy, sour, a little sweet, and so yummy. and they are everything i want in a food since probably the day we conceived. i love them. these would have been number 2 and the candy would be number 1 if i'm being honest, but i wanted to seem like i care about being healthy. well, maybe they are tied. i don't know. don't ask me to choose.

so these are my favorite things that helped me be pregnant with so much success. actually i am not sure how to measure success during pregnancy, but it probably has to do with still being able to feel good and be happy most of the time. and if i'm going to be completely honest, i couldn't make it through any of it without this guy

not only because i couldn't have made the baby without him since these things take 2, but because he helps me in so many ways every single day. he supports me, listens to me, buys me 3 musketeers, he stays up with me when i have terrible gallstone pain and can't sleep, he rushed me to the hospital twice without ever complaining or even thinking about it, he helped me make a nursery for our baby, he went to three baby showers with me so i wouldn't have to be there as the center of attention by myself (since i hate that!), he reads the what to expect book so he knows and understands what's going on with me, and most importantly he prays for me all the time. he has done countless other things to help me get through this pregnancy, and i love him so much more for it because i see him being an amazing husband and becoming a great dad. this is what i hope everyone has when they go through a pregnancy. i don't know how i'd do it any other way.

so i guess that's actually 12 things, if you count lists and phil as things. so i maybe should have said this is my top 12 list, but 10 sounds better. and shorter. top 10 it is. : )

34 weeks.

2012-07-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

hey guys! it's been awhile. about 15 weeks actually... but i thought a little update on life would be good.

i've been gone from the blog for awhile mainly because i haven't been doing many projects. the only project i've been working on (besides growing this little girl!) is the nursery. it has been slooowwww going. we started it when i was about 16 weeks and we still aren't finished! it's mostly because money. blech. stupid money. i had a small budget each month to work with, so once i spent my allowance i had to wait until the next month to do more projects. it has been so hard to wait all this time!

i originally wanted to be done with everything by the time i was 30 weeks... well that has clearly come and gone! so the new goal is 35 weeks. and.... in case you didn't notice... that's next week. right now all we are waiting on is stuff to get shipped here. we are waiting for the crib and bedding both to ship here. then i can finish up 2 little projects i have left... then WE'RE DONE! i can't wait! i will definitely take some pics and show you guys.

besides the nursery going slower than Slow Slowerson, pregnancy has been pretty good to me. even though it's been pretty great and i love carrying our daughter, it is not without its bad points. i have discovered an organ that i pretty much forgot even existed call mister gallbladder. apparently he was mad that i haven't thanked him for all his hard work of storing bile over the years because he came after me with a vengeance. seriously. i have had 7+ gallstone attacks since right about the 24th week. they are pretty horrible and basically feel like the worst stabbing back pain that ever existed, followed by the feeling that i swallowed rocks that are being thrown around by my organs. for real. call me crazy, but i didn't realize that when people have stones it literally feels like rocks moving around in your body. worst. feeling. ever.

this crazy gallbladder guy has caused 2 late night trips to the hospital with back pain which, in case you didn't know, "back pain" is one of those pregnant girl terms that basically means get to the hospital right away because it could be labor. scary. thank God it wasn't labor, but we finally did an ultrasound and found out i have stones. i met with a nice surgeon who politely told me i was "too big" to operate on now (haha) and that i would have to schedule the surgery about a month after i give birth. so in case having a newborn baby isn't enough, i get to have surgery too. apparently the surgery is "no big deal". that's what i keep being told.... all i know is that either way, i'm kicking this gallbladder out. he has become ornery and isn't doing his job. so he's fired.

and no i'm not sure why my gallbladder is male.

another small complication in recent times has been my blood pressure. i had pretty good bp up until last week. suddenly it went up and the doctors got a little worried. blood was drawn and they set up another appointment for this week to keep an eye on me. my body just can't seem to figure this stuff out. my organs and blood are all rebelling. it's chaos in here. sheesh.

despite all that and the super hot weather we've been having, i'm doing pretty good i'd say. so good in fact, i finally took a picture of my pregnant self for you. i know, you've all been waiting and hoping and praying i would. well, fear not. here it is

even though i felt like a fool taking pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror (in stripes no less..) i promised some people a picture like, weeks ago. also i figure some day i might want at least a few pictures to document this pregnancy. so here is the proof.

and just because it was so exciting to me that i changed the number to "6" today, i took a picture to document that too : )

this countdown started at 18 weeks. now we're down to 6!!! well, until my due date at least. and also you guys get a bonus announcement in there too. our baby girl's name is Lydia. Lydia Jane. she's totally a pride and prejudice themed baby. thankfully i don't know any female who doesn't love that book, so i don't think she'll be too upset about it.

i can't wait to meet her!!!!!

now if only her crib would get here.....

sugar and spice, or snips, snails, and puppy dog tails?

2012-04-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

hey all!! here's a little update about us and the baby!

last sunday, april 1st was our baby shower in indianapolis! phil's family lives in that area, so we joined them for an extended weekend for a shower and fun family times : ). it was such a good time and the shower was lovely. i am so grateful that we have so many people in our lives who love us and our little baby!

speaking of loving our baby, i love HER so much more now! i loved the baby, even when she was an "it", but on thursday, march 29th our ultrasound confirmed that we are expecting a little girl in late august! I'M SO EXCITED!!!! she is beautiful and they said everything looks perfect. her little spine, brain, stomach, bladder, heart... everything! everything looks so good! we are just so happy about it! she's getting big and strong too, i feel her movements all the time now! i can't wait to meet her! just look at this face!

i also made one with labels since some people have had a hard time knowing exactly what they see:

she's so cute!!

i mean, okay. i know i'm her mother. so i know i am a teeny tiny bit biased... but look at that face! her beautiful little lips and big eyes and little nose!!! i could cry i love her little face so much!

okay. enough of gushing about her. even though i could carry on forever. but onto serious matters. like paint, ; )

which is what phil and i have been doing a LOT of. we painted the nursery a lovely light blue-green color. it's sherwin williams' aloe here on their website. i will certainly show pictures when i get a few more things done.

we are also in the process of converting this desk into a dresser/changing table/storage area for the baby

we already painted it sherwin williams overt green and we're going to install some shelving on the right side for more storage. we are also adding a little purple to the room in just a few accents. here is my color scheme

i want it to feel kind of like being outside.. i want it to be light and reflect the colors out her window. i am even thinking of adding some natural elements to add to the feeling... we'll see ; )

and here is a little sneak peek ; )

i am thinking i might spray paint the knobs white instead of silver... i love the shine of silver but bright white knobs on that green would be so cute. i am terribly undecided : )

so those are some fun updates for you! right now the living room is taken over by baby things that have yet to be washed and/or put away, but i wanted to finish the dresser first. lots of things have changed around here, so once i have the place a little more straightened up i'll let you in on everything. until then i'm just gonna keep wishing time would move faster so i can meet my little girl!

rearranging is my game.

2012-03-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

well i'm at it again. and by "it" i mean rearranging my furniture. well, sort of. basically we are trying to fit about 8 rooms into 1. we have to fit a living room, family room, office, dining room, cat furniture and soon lots of baby things all into our living space. our apartment basically has 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms and the kitchen/living room/sunroom/dining room are all one big space.

so it has become my mission to fit all those rooms into one space and still make it look pretty. and make it functional because i have 3 cats who use their big scratching post and cat tree every day. plus i will soon have baby furniture, like a swing, pack n play, jumperoo, bouncer and all sorts of things that will also need space. so that is what i have been up to lately. every weekend phil and i sort through just STUFF. i cannot believe after a move only 2 years ago and going through our clothing every year we still have so. much. stuff.

we really donate boxes full of stuff every year and end up throwing away bags of stuff that nobody in this world has need of.. and yet we are still going through our closets and taking loads of trash to the dumpster and boxes upon boxes to donation centers. it's pretty outrageous. in fact, our latest project was trying to get at least one side of the closet in the office emptied so once it becomes the nursery, that can be the baby's side of the closet. we succeeded, but now all my christmas boxes are sitting in my living room until we figure something out...... i don't love it.

soon i will show you guys some of my solutions. once i figure out what they are.. but for now i have something a little more fun.

after christmas i decided i really liked having a bright color with all the neutral and cool tones in my living room.. however, i didn't want red. so i went pink:

all this really cost me was the price of the pillow covers i found on etsy for around $30 for both and purchased with christmas money, a can of spray paint, and then my mom found that picture at garden ridge which happened to be so perfect for my apartment. i think it was also about $30.. it just so happened to have blue, green, pink and obviously i loved the bird. it ties all the colors together in here and i love it. you will have to forgive the cardboard on the corners. i was trying to decide if i was going to keep it.. you know how that goes : ).

so besides my abdomen and the growing baby, those are the major changes happening around here lately. and in case you were wondering, i am 18 weeks along and the baby is now apparently the size of a sweet potato. we find out next week (a week from today!! eek!!!) whether we will be welcoming a girl or boy into our crazy little family, and of course we will be thrilled with either (come on girl!!). okay, yes. i want a girl.. but i'll be happy as long as our little baby is healthy like a good little mommy : ).

come on girl!! ; )

Evelyn's Shoppe.

2012-03-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

recently my good friend megan opened up a shop on etsy. it's called Evelyn's Shoppe and here is what she says about it:

"Welcome to Evelyn's Shoppe! I am a newly stay at home mom who wants to spend as much time with her daughter as humanly possible. I just recently left my job and I'm now trying new things to bring in a little income. I have always had a love for fashion and hope that I can share some of my inspirations with you! I would love your business so please check things out!"

i love her shop! she has the cutest scarves that she hand makes! and for being good quality, lovely and handmade scarves, the prices are pretty reasonable. of course i am a scarf addict. i love them! i mean, you can change any outfit just by adding a scarf. come on. what a great way to save money! just buy different scarves to change up your outfits instead of buying new outfits all the time! it works wonders.

my favorite thing to do is just throw on a cardigan over a tee or plain shirt, then add a scarf. there you have it! cute outfit! and her scarves are lovely! plus there is the added benefit of knowing you're helping a woman be able to spend more time with her little baby! i mean, basically a win-win : ).

here is one of her adorable scarves that works way into the spring and cool summer nights.

here is another adorable pattern. she has such good taste.

and this is the one i ordered from her.

i ordered the two tone eternity scarf, but i wanted different colors. well, megan can custom make them to order so you can really get any color you want!

this is me, hobbes and the baby showing off my scarf that i ordered. : )

i wanted white and tan to be able to go with lots of different outfits. actually i wanted something neutral, and megan suggested the colors. and i love my scarf! it is sooo soft and cozy. it has the feeling of a really soft tee that you wear around your neck. i have never had a cozier scarf, and i have been looking for something like this for so long!

i obviously love this scarf.

seriously. order a scarf from megan's shop. you won't regret it.

so. much. fun.

2012-03-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

okay. i love color. i mean, even neutrals are colors. i love picking out color schemes and seeing new palettes put together. in fact, my idea of a fun afternoon is to browse the paint chips at home depot, lowes or wherever and think about what colors i might put together. since a lot of you guys who read this are into decorating and design, i think you know what i'm talking about.

i am unsure if i am just late to the game or something, but holy cow i found the most fun thing in the world for a person who loves color schemes. do not laugh at me if i'm just out-of-my-mind late to the show here, but i found this incredible website on this woman's awesome blog. it's called design-seeds.com and when i saw it my mouth dropped open and i thought, "where has this been all my life?".

okay. what they do, if you were unaware like me until now, they take beautiful inspiration photos and pull colors from them to create gorgeous color schemes. like. for real. beautiful. i went there to see if i could find inspiration for our nursery. i realize this has become baby central any time i blog lately, but what can i say? when a baby hijacks your body, it kind of takes over your brain also. but this doesn't have to be about babies for you guys! you can use this website for anything you want!

the point is, i was having real trouble focusing on what i want. i love everything. all different styles and color schemes... my focus is nonexistent right now. but this website helped SO. MUCH. just looks at these gorgeous works of art.

design-seeds.com

i am in love. for real. i am already so inspired. and the good news is i am inspired with a girl's color scheme and a boy's color scheme. i really love the spring brights for a girl's room. i don't think i would do any purple textiles, but i would bring it in with some art and accessories. for a boy i really like the springtime hues. it's interesting to me because both images have a lot of the same colors and cool green and blue tones. i wouldn't have figured that out or realized my focus so easily if it hadn't been for this amazing website. seriously go there if you haven't. but make sure you've got some time. it's so fun and addicting. and the pictures are dreamy. do it. : )

get ready. i'm going to be an annoying expecting mom who brags about her fetus.

2012-02-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

i warned you. : )

i just got back from my 12 week appointment.. baby is doing so perfect! we couldn't hear a heartbeat because apparently a certain organ of mine where my baby lives is tilted back towards my back instead of tilting forward.. sheesh. so they did an ultrasound again to check on the baby and make sure it's still doing okay.

well it's doing great! i had an itty bitty scare not being able to hear it in there, but the doctor said its little heart is beating at 170 beats per minute. i think that's probably the best heart beating any baby has ever done ; ). so they gave me a picture and at first i was like, uhhhh.. my baby has gone from a little embryo to a blob.. but then they showed me that the baby is facing forward with its little baby hands by its face. so i saw those cute adorable little hands!! they are seriously the cutest hands any fetus has ever had. trust me. the picture is so fuzzy that i think if i put it up here you would all be like, "huh, a black and white blurry blob..." and i wouldn't blame you. but it's the cutest black and white blurry blob ever.

everything else is on track too! i'm growing at a good rate, but not exactly showing yet. and the good news is, i haven't gained any weight yet. so i'm almost in the second trimester with no weight gain, so i was pretty excited about that! most people need to gain at least a few pounds in the first trimester, but i am in need of no such thing. so hopefully this is a pattern i can keep up and the only weight i gain will be all baby related... haha not the most likely but here's hoping : ).

i feel so incredibly happy and full every time i see my baby.. it's such a miracle. i can't even imagine how i'll feel when i actually hold the baby and hold its perfect little hands with my own.. i'm so excited!! i can't wait!

best christmas present i ever got.

2012-01-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

hey all! i hope everybody had a wonderful holiday! i sure did!

i got so many wonderful gifts! i got almost everything i was hoping for this year! including one HUGE gift that i have been hoping to get for a long time....

yes you guessed it.

here is our tiny little baby!!!!!! : )

we found out december 17th that God was giving us the gift we had been praying for : ).

basically i felt very moody and i cried about every 17 seconds. i thought this was odd. i had taken many pregnancy tests hoping for a good result and seeing a big ugly "not pregnant" in the little window, so i was kinda nervous to take another one. but i figured that it's not about me, if there's a little baby in there i need to know. so i put my fear of disappointment aside and took the test.

phil walked in right after i set it down out the counter. i said something to him then we looked down and it was already positive!!!

YAY!!!

i think i said something like, "oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH!" then i said, "sooo.. are you sure you want a baby??" then we laughed and cried and hugged and stood there kind of in shock. it's so unreal when that test reads positive!

this is us so happy but completely in shock. haha i think we're displaying that pretty well here.

i took another one the next morning to be sure

YAY AGAIN!!!

yesterday was the first doctor's appointment.. i am 8 1/2 weeks along and as far as they can tell, i'm due august 23rd. we're so excited!!! the doctors said that everything looks perfect so i figured it was safe to share with the world now : ). i know a lot of people wait until the second trimester to tell everyone and i probably would too, but after seeing my little baby yesterday... well i couldn't keep it in anymore!!! there's nothing in the world like seeing your little baby's heart beating. it's seriously a miracle : ).

in case you're wondering i am feeling pretty good. i am extremely lucky i realize to only have mild nausea. i am tired a lot and i cry about 700 times a day (happy and sad tears) but i just thank God i'm not super sick. and i'm pretty sure any sickness i feel is now ignored as i look at my little baby's first picture : ). i just love our tiny little baby! i realize it looks like a nothing blob to most, but to me it's the cutest little fetus i ever did see. i can't wait until the day i get to meet our little guy or gal. SO EXCITED!!!

CHRISTMAS WEEK!

2011-12-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

whoa. it's already here! christmas eve is this saturday... crazy! i feel like there is still so much to be done! i have about half my wrapping left to do. we have some laundry and packing to do for our trip to indy to visit phil's family, and we still have our christmas traditions to do! we haven't even looked at christmas lights yet! sheesh. and i work tuesday through friday.. so not a whole lotta time either. i can't wait until christmas gets here and i can just enjoy family and be lazy : ).

so in true christmas spirit i am going to tell you what i hope i'm getting for christmas.. haha. well really christmas spirit is about giving, but i can't tell you what i'm giving people yet since many of them will read this before they open their gifts. plus it's more fun to look at the things i want. don't judge me, i know you will all want this stuff too ; )

these boots are just what i've been looking for. plus i don't have any cute boots like this. aaaand i am fairly certain these are under my tree because i went with phil so he could make sure he was getting the right ones. so unless he took them back, they will be making an appearance on my feet soon : )

i don't think these soft vs tees will be making an appearance under the tree, but if i have any christmas money i will be sure to buy some of these for sleeping. soft sleep tees are necessary in life.

i love scarves. i love buying them, receiving them, wearing them, looking at them.. i always want a new scarf at christmas time. this is just to represent that fact, although i do really like this scarf.

okay. i have been in love with cameos forever. even before the whole craze started going on. it reminds me of jane austen and sense and sensibility and just old fashioned charm. and i love this necklace. it's not available on etsy anymore. i wish it was because i was opening it on christmas... : )

this one however is still available *wink* *wink*

(now don't any of you go ahead and buy this for yourselves because if i didn't get one i am getting this. i mean it. don't make me come over there.)

slippers are a must. i always want more slippers. i like to be old fashioned and think of them as house shoes. and i mean, a girl needs more than one pair of shoes, right?

i also love being super dorky and wearing hats like this. go ahead and judge. i don't mind : )

i have wanted some blue topaz something or other for a long time. i wouldn't be mad if i found some of this on christmas morning... ; )

of course i like to have fun and getting presents sure is fun, but i know and you know that is not the reason we all love christmas. even though there will be lots of gifts to be had, let's all remember the true gift. the gift of God's son that He so freely and gladly gave us so He could rescue us and show His abounding love for us. that's what we are really celebrating. a gift so amazing that all these wish they could be so good : ).

i love you guys and i hope you have the merriest christmas. i probably won't be around until next year, so happy new year!! i hope the end of this year is just perfect for you all and that you spend it doing whatever you love doing most.

Merry Christmas!

source

*all links to products and product info can be found here on my pinterest christmas list. all questions about sizes and/or my address so you can send me those presents will be answered ASAP. ; )

tell me if i'm wrong. for real.

2011-12-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

okay. here is a story. now it's kind of a "haha that was kind of funny/i can't believe that happened" story.. but when it happened it was a "i am so mad right now i want to never enter this godless hole again" situation. here is what happened.

okay wait. no, it needs a tiny bit of back story. this deals with walmart. yes. they have amazing prices on everything. and yes. i can go there and buy my makeup, a tv, pick up some dvds, cat food, and some milk and apples on my way out. however i do not love walmart.

i hate how crowded it is. i hate shopping with crazy people (i am not trying to be mean or judgmental. you know the people i'm talking about. you don't believe me then visit this little website. but i warn you.. you can never un-see these things...). okay back to my point. i also hate that it's so impersonal there. down here we have publix as one of the big grocery chains. people there are so nice and helpful. they always talk to you and are friendly. they even offer to take your groceries out to your car for you. okay. i am lucky if the people at walmart even acknowledge i'm there. and it's an amazing day at walmart if they dont smash your loaf of bread with cans of tomatoes. you know what i'm talking about. and when i need help it's like i'm totally inconveniencing miss walmart employee who would rather flirt with mister walmart employee. or sometimes they don't have teeth and i don't know what they are saying. or this one time, this really happened, i asked a woman for help and she said, "this is my lunch break." and it was like, 8 pm..... whatever. it's not good customer service.

now, i was willing to overlook all this because i needed to save money. oh and also their produce is really not up to par. but anyway, like i said i was being all overlooking and rising above all that just so i could have more money in my bank account at the end of the month. and i shopped there throughout college and the 3 and a half years i've been married. okay? that's 7 and a half years. of buying everything there. okay, that adds up to thousands of dollars people.

so okay. what happened. so i am buying some little stocking stuffers for my husband. now, we share a credit card with his name on it. i went through dave ramsey's financial peace university and i try to be really careful with money. i don't trust myself with a credit card. i just know i'll buy more than i do now, so whenever i need it (for grocery shopping, gas or marshalls (haha)) i borrow it from phil. and it has worked so well for us.

so i swiped my credit card and the girl asked for id and card, so i handed it to her. this is where it gets bad. she says, "who is philip??" like i stole this card. so i say, "oh that's my husband. we share a card. i always use his card here." and she starts telling me she can't take it. so i say, "look. i always use it here. i have never heard of this policy. i don't even have my own card. i'm obviously married" while holding up my ring finger. so she calls a superior. she tells me she won't take it. somebody used a card with the same last name the week before and it turns out she was stealing. we won't take it. so i get mad. this is ridiculous. i have used this card a billion times. then she proceeds to tell me i need my husband with me in order to use the card.

so now i'm mad and thinking, okay. so because i'm being responsible with my money and not carrying my own credit card i can't make a purchase here. plus it's only $40 worth of stuff. it's not like i was buying an entertainment system for crying out loud. and now i am also thinking of how much business i have given them. and now they are treating me like i may have stolen this credit card. so i ask to speak to somebody else.

another woman comes over and starts to treat me like i'm out of control. okay, for being as annoyed and shocked and mad as i was, i was surprisingly calm. so i tell her my problem. she again says, we won't take that card. it's our policy. even though i've used it there a million times. and THEN she says she is just trying to protect my husband, the man who is on the card......

protect him? from his wife? thanks walmart. thank you for protecting my husband from me. the big bad wife who was spending $40... yah. that was gonna break him. me buying stuff for his stocking. how awful.

so then i say, okay i'm sorry i'm not trying to cause trouble i just don't know why you would suddenly decide not to take this card when i've used it here a million times before. and they are all looking at me like i'm that mean horrible woman who is making a giant scene over not having the right kind of cranberry sauce or something, you know what i mean? but i am standing here with no way to pay for my groceries and upset about it. and i think i had a right to be. and you know what would have fixed this? if they said, "you know what.. since you didn't know about this you can use the card, but this is the last time. we can never take it again." and if i was stealing, they could take the loss of $40 to make a customer happy. you know, like CUSTOMER SERVICE?? but they absolutely refused. so i had to call phil at work to ask him if i could use my debit card instead. i can't always just use it because sometimes, if he just paid a lot of bills, he doesn't feel comfortable using the money from our account until the bills all go through so we never overdraw.

so i used my debit card but i was m. a. d. and they did nothing to resolve it. and on my way out i thought, you know why didn't i just leave my groceries and go to target? a store that will take my money because they don't automatically assume everyone is most likely a criminal who stole a credit card of somebody who just happened to have the same last name.

so that day i said, no more. walmart does nothing to show me they appreciate my business. they treat me like i am most likely a credit card thief. their produce is mediocre. their customer service is nothing short of awful. or maybe nonexistant. and i hate it there anyway. and NOW i cant do any sort of grocery shopping unless i get my own credit card (which i don't want) or take my husband with me. like i'm a child and i need my daddy. or like this is the middle east and i'll be stoned if i'm out without a male to accompany me.

so this is the big problem. phil loves walmart. he used to work there in high school and college. he has discovered great customer service there (yah he must have run into the one friendly associate.. i can't figure it out) and he loves saving money. so he thinks i need to give them another chance. i say no. he says, pleeease? and is looking for any possible way we can still go to walmart so we can keep saving money. he is convinced kroger and publix will be too expensive for us.

what do you guys think? seriously, i want to know. what would you do in this situation? am i overreacting? was i too quick to say buh-bye to walmart? or would you also stop giving a store like that your money? i need your help!

christmas trees and presents! my two favorite things!

2011-12-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

hi guys! i told you i would blog again this week! i can't believe you would doubt me... haha okay, i doubted me too. but here i am! this is my favorite time of year and i am in love with christmas trees, so that may have helped me in the making myself blog process... whatever it takes, right? : )

so i wanted to show my tree since the tree is always the main event of christmas. i have to be completely honest, i think my tree is pretty because i mean, hello it's sparkly and glittery and has at least 600 lights on it... but i'm not in love with it. but since i decided i was just going to enjoy this holiday season and not worry about things like that, it does just fine for us : ). plus i am willing to overlook the whole effect and focus on the little details i love.

my tree is special because almost every ornament on it (besides cheap walmart filler ones) is my favorite. my stepdad bought my sister and i small christmas trees when we were still living at home, and every year he bought us an ornament for it. that way when we moved out, we would already have a good headstart. pretty awesome, right? and ever since then, every year my sister and i have bought each other some more special ornaments. and now my husband has joined in on the fun and he lets me pick out an ornament to buy me every year : ) it's so fun! and every ornament i have is so special to me! so of course i couldn't resist taking pictures of lots of ornaments... so be prepared. : )

it's funny to me that many people are choosing to do white and red this year. i decided to change from gold to white just because i liked it better. then i realized everybody was doing it... so maybe i was following a trend without realizing..?? haha i do not know, but as soon as i decorated it i noticed everyone changing their color scheme to red and white. it makes me feel like a boring ol' follower, but that's okay. at least i'm in style, right? : )

i also opted out of a tree topper. and ribbon. of course this tree is the old kind with all the individual branches on pegs that you pop into the holes on the tree stand. which also means i have to put my own lights on every year... so after all that hassle all i want to do is just hang ornaments and be done with it. i like it though. it's simple and no fuss.... except for all the fuss that goes into assembling it.... and wrapping 80 strands of lights on every branch..... but besides all that, it's no fuss.....

okay, so here come all my favorite ornaments. be prepared. these. are. awesome. and you will want them for yourself. haha okay well, i think you'll like them anyway ; )

this ornament may be hard to see so you may not be able to fully appreciate it. it's a giant crystal gem with sparkly leaves and berries on top. it. is. awesome. it's probably one of the most expensive ornaments i own but holy cow. when i saw it i said, holycowineedthis!! so my wonderful husband bought it for me : )

love these mini chandies from my sister

i am so in love with birds. this little girl is from target from my sister and i am seriously in love with her. she sits front and center. love. it!

and look at this little cutie! i love the beads and feathers.. so! cute!

this is quite possibly my favorite ornament ever. it's perfect. i love everything about it. i've had it for years and every time i pull it out i still sigh and say, ohhhh i love this onnneee.. : )

and since i'm in love with deer and birds these cheap little ornaments fill up the rest of the tree. but i love them too. and so does emily... she showed me by pulling lots of them off the tree to play with. so they get lots of love around here, fear not.

and now, since i've already gotten some wrapping done i can show you my tree with presents! well, only half the presents... i'm not that on the ball...

i decided to go old school and use brown packaging paper... and then i realized everyone was doing that too. but i guess once again, that just makes me oh-so-trendy : ). i bought some more cheap ornaments from walmart to add some sparkle and prettiness to the packages.

i chose the old school wrapping because it reminds me of when people used to walk along main street and go from little shop to little shop buying christmas presents. and then they wrapped all your packages in brown paper for you in the store. and then you walked home with all your packages in your adorable heels and stockings and of course a cute dress. then you still had pot roast on the table for dinner. of course i wasn't alive for any of this, but it sure seems like a lovely time : ).

i bought the paper from lowe's for like, $7. the string was also from lowe's but i forget how much it cost... i bought it all at the beginning of november.. gimme a break.

i hope you enjoyed my tour d'ornaments. i certainly did. every time i take them out of the box and unwrap them it's like christmas morning.. so fun! i plan to keep these ornaments forever. then maybe i can pass them on and then they'll just be around forever and ever.. or, more realistically, once i have kids half of them will get broken and/or lost and they'll think the other ones are old and boring so we'll replace them with penguins and snowmen. hmm. i see now why people need about 3 christmas trees in their homes... ; )

speaking of 3 trees, linking up with thrifty decor chick's christmas tree party!

decking my mantel.

2011-12-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

hey all! i hope everyone's holiday season is going so well! we're having a good one around here. this past weekend we finished almost all our shopping. 1 more person and that's it! so needless to say, there is wrapping to be done. major wrapping.

the good news is i already got a big chunk done.. but at this rate i might just be handing some people their presents in the store's shopping bag... maybe i'll put some tissue paper in there too.. nooo, i would never do that! it's tempting though. especially for those weird shaped items that don't fit easily in the boxes i bought. what do you do about that?! they take so much extra time to figure out how to wrap nicely... *sigh*... wrapping isn't my favorite part of the holiday if you didn't notice : ).

i realized i quickly showed you my christmas decor, but i didn't really show details or talk much about it, so i figured i'd do that for you. i'll start with the mantel, my favorite part!

this mantel was NOT my favorite part to do, however. it took for. ever.

i decided i wanted my garland to swag this year. the stuff i've been using every year (i literally take it off the mantel and stuff it in a box for next year) wasn't long enough to swag. so i had to take it all apart first. i had 2 walmart garlands wrapped together and some pretty fancy garland on top of that. i decided to go a little more natural so i bought 2 more simple 9 ft garland strands from michaels and one of their decorative ones.

since the michaels garland was a little different from the walmart garland, i took 1 of each and wrapped them together. then i just twisted the ends together. it's a little fatter at that section, but it just so happened to be right where the stockings go so it was perfect!

the decorative strand is gor. geous.

isn't is pretty?! i love it!!

it has all different kinds of needles, which i wanted for added texture. it also had those gorgeous pinecones on there (big fat ones!), red berries scattered about, and there are these random little twigs that stick out too. it's so beautiful! i added the red ornaments for a little extra color in there.

to save money, the decorative piece only goes over the center. it was half off at michaels, but it was still way too much to buy numerous pieces. maybe if they have this stuff again next year or at the end of the season i can get a couple more.

the pointsettias are felt. i made them using this tutorial from centsational girl. it was very time consuming for me, but i ended up making 15 of them... which is a lot... 6 of them were for my mom then i made the rest for me. but they add so much so it was worth it.. at least that's what i'm telling myself.

so pretty, right? tell me it was worth it. : )

the rest of the mantel is very different from last year. i didn't have enough space for much on the mantel last year since the garland took up all the space. however, since i met mister swag this year i had so much room i wondered what to do with it all!

on one side i wanted something tall and kind of greenery-ish.

i just realized this mantel is basically brought to you by michaels. i saw that vase at michael's and i fell in LOVE with it. for real. i did that thing where you leave and all you think about for 2 weeks is that perfect vase that you just have to have. well then my husband went to michaels with me one day (i know. he's awesome.) and i saw it half off! and i said, ohmygosh!it'shalfoff!!! and phil said, oh i'll buy that for you.... : )

isn't it beautiful?

so i stuck a pick i found at michaels, also half off and i actually took the sparkly leaves off a present i got from my brother and his girlfriend for christmas. she wraps presents so beautifully and i loved those leaves so much i used them on my mantel haha. i just wired them right to the pick. done. the sparkly bird was like, $1 at michaels one day. easy.

i knew what would be on the other side since october. i bought a gorgeous reindeer at homegoods in early october because well, it was so different and beautiful. plus i have a thing for deer. and birds.

sorry for the fuzzy picture. i swear i have about 50 pictures of this guy and not one is perfect. they are all blurry or too dark. hmm. but he's beautiful and you can still tell : )

the wreath is the same grapevine wreath i've had up since the fall. i just took out the white pumpkins and added red hydrangeas and some cheap walmart ornaments. i was so lazy i didn't even take it down to do it. i just put red felt over the pink ribbon that holds the wreath up. la. zy.

across the room i pulled out my old red pillows and put out my new pottery barn pillow!!! i got it as a gift from my brother and his girlfriend.. you know, the gift i borrowed the sparkly leaves from? i LOVE it so much!

isn't it the cutest??!!!

i also put a pick in my coffee filter flower arrangement. i like it so much, i wish i could keep it like that all the time...

so simple but it's one of my favorite things i did for christmas.

so that's the living room. hopefully if i can get myself together i'll show you the rest of the details later this week. i just love my home all dressed up!

cats and mounatin climbing.

2011-12-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

so a couple weeks ago i was watching some snl clips. sometimes that show can be a little too inappropriate for me to enjoy, but i usually enjoy the weekend updates. well, in this clip seth was making fun of people who put their pets in costumes for halloween. he said something to the effect of pet costume sales are equal to the number of couples who can't have children... i thought this was totally mean and uncalled for because these days pets are just as much members of the family as anyone else. especially our pets. both phil and i are animal lovers. i am pretty sure i've wanted to live on a farm with as many animals as possible since i knew what a farm was.

all of this is just an excuse to show you pictures of our cute cats : ) i realize that means i'm a crazy cat lady, but they're so cute! i want you to see just how cute they are too!

this is how our sofa usually looks. pillows and cats everywhere. this is otis, emily and hobbes. : )

they like to steal all the attention and make my pictures about them. here emily is doing a good job of that.

trying so hard not to pull off an ornament because she knows she will be in big trouble.

she decided it was okay to just swipe them now instead of actually yanking them off. progress.

this cracked me up. hobbes just went over and sat here like he wanted his picture taken. he wanted to say merry christmas to you all : )

i have absolutely no problem saying he is the favorite. but how can you resist that cute, big, fat furry face?

this is what they do most of the day. you know, whenever they're not eating, fighting, pulling my christmas decor down, or trying to escape from the apartment....

even though they have a way of making me want to lock them in a closet about 7 times a day, i love our cats. they are the perfect pets for us and each one has its own crazy personality. now if only we could figure out how to stop emily from running out the door every chance she gets. sheesh.

well, this past weekend phil and i decided to just have fun and enjoy each other. we didn't care about christmas shopping, baking, parties or anything. we climbed kennessaw mountain together and picnic'ed at the top. it was so fun. it was really hard work, but somehow it was still relaxing and we just enjoyed being out together.

isn't it beautiful?

if you look really hard you can see atlanta in the background along the horizon.

it was such a beautiful clear and cool day.

okay, now get ready for the ridiculousness of us trying to take a picture of ourselves.

whoa. camera was way zoomed in hahaha.. i left this one small so you didn't have a close up of our faces across your whole screen. you're welcome : )

jessica: "yuck! i don't like that one! gimme that camera.."

phil: "you cut off my head! now i look completely bald! i mean, i know i have some hair.."

jessica: "hahahahahaha! hmm... i think it's cute... hahahaha"

me reaching as high as i can and both of us just laughing at this point..

phil and jessica: "good enough."

strangers watching us: laughter. : )

end ridiculous pictures of ourselves.

kennessaw mountain is also a civil war battlefield. they have cannons up at the top that the southern army dragged all the way up the mountain to try to stop sherman's troops from reaching atlanta. after climbing this mountain i have no. idea. how. they did this. it's a mystery to me because those cannons must weigh a ton and i mean, it's no everest or anything, but it's still a mountain! geesh.

at the very top are these rocks that we sat on to eat lunch. people carved their initials into them.. i liked this one because it's a heart with the initials inside and i just thought it was so cute.

here are the feet that made this all possible.. just enjoying the view : )

notice how phil's shoes get a lot more use than mine? haha... i won't tell you how long i've had these perfectly white gym shoes.. just forget it.

i loved doing this together. like i said, it was challenging but it was so fun and relaxing. i loved just being able to get away from everything and just do something fun together. i think hiking will have to be a regular thing that we do. it's free, anyone can do it, and we can put away all distractions and just be together. so! fun!

the only downside is that now the pressure is on to get the christmas shopping done. we're going to go on a christmas shopping date this saturday instead of a hiking date. i'm not sure which will be more fun!

christmas time is here!!!

2011-11-29T08:50:00.000-08:00

*cue charlie brown song*

my goodness i love this time of year. also i realize i have been absent like mad... i have been a busy little cookie lately. i worked every day last week. i am so totally jealous of those people bragging about their awesome black friday finds. i went to sleep at midnight and i got up at 4:00 a.m. for work... i left at 4:30 a.m. and didn't get back until about 4:30 p.m. .... so..... i spent almost 12 hours straight working at the mall... that's nuts people! it was semi-horrible. well, actually the first 6ish hours weren't so bad... it was the next 6 that will really getchya. i'm not really a big black friday shopper anyway, so to work all day was kind of shocking to me. but i guess i made lots of money instead of spending lots... so i guess that's the good thing about it.

anyway, so i have been so busy with work, shopping, decorating and thanksgiving-ing. i had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family. my parents hosted it, and we had a yummy breakfast bake together, then later we had probably the BEST turkey i ever had. it was so juicy and yummy.... i wish we had thanksgiving twice a year! or maybe 3 times.... or maybe like, once a month.... i love it : )

so anyway, the good news is i have this whole week off! i don't know how that happened, but apparently this week is a slow one for our store usually since everybody spends all their money over the weekend. whatever, i don't care the reason.. i'm gonna get all my shopping done and just take some time to be lazy and enjoy the season. so. excited. : )

i'm mostly done with my christmas decorating actually. i figured i would just show you a few pieces here and there considering i took about a bagillion pictures... so enjoy some christmas pictures : )

have a very happy holiday season!! take time to relax and enjoy it. but don't relax too much.. i want to see everyone's home decorated for the holidays! : )

linked up to rhoda's mantel party

don't tell me it's not.

2011-11-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

it's officially the holiday season!!!!! only a few short weeks until thanksgiving! and then christmas!!! then new years!! whoa. the excitement, people! i cannot believe it's holiday time again. it feels surreal. i keep thinking, nooo it's early yet. i'm just over excited.. then i realize it's 23 days till thanksgiving.. my favorite day of the year!!

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. i'll tell you why. it kicks off the holidays. when christmas comes it seems over so soon. but thanksgiving comes and you know that everything is about to get christmas-y and wonderful. and shopping! oh the shopping... : ) i don't dread christmas shopping. i enjoy it. i wait for a time when phil and i can go together and we just enjoy ourselves. we don't pressure ourselves, we just look for the right gifts, we might eat out together, get some starbucks or something.. and just have fun enjoying the christmas-filled stores. it's so fun. we start now though, because i think trying to fit all the christmas shopping into december, along with parties, baking, decorating, wrapping and our christmas traditions we have to do every year.. it's too busy, and i don't enjoy being that busy. and listen. the holidays are to enjoy people!!! : )

okay. so i already did a fall mantel.. and i told you i changed it again, so i guess this is my thanksgiving mantel. i know, you don't believe me. but i really think i can leave it this way until i do my christmas mantel! i hope... : )

much more simple than my fall mantel i did earlier this year.

i painted my pumpkins white too... they were super cute before but i felt like the orange and yellow were clashing with the blue wall and there was just something i didn't love about it.

i know i'm crazy for changing my mantel again, especially when i have to change it again for christmas.. but i didn't love it. i liked it, and it was okay... and there were certain aspects of it i loved, but i didn't love it as a whole. so i changed it. because if there's anything i know, it's that i should love the space i live in. if i don't love it, i need to change it or i need to change me. this time i changed it, and it turned out lovely : ) it's a lot more feminine and romantic than the fall mantel i did earlier, but that's what i like! so oh well : )

i am determined it will stay this way until thanksgiving.... i really do love it this way so i'll proably make it. probably...... ; )

please no judging.

2011-10-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

okay. i am doing something ridiculous and crazy right now. i turned on my pandora christmas station... i couldn't wait any longer! here is my defense:

1. stores have had christmas stuff out since september
2. i was shopping around for christmas stuff yesterday
3. i consider november 1st to be the beginning of the christmas season, so i almost made it..
4. i have no kids, so halloween isn't really a holiday we celebrate around here with much excitement
5. i was listening to the adele station but they were playing dumb stuff, so what was a girl to do?!

so i think it's reasonable.. ...... ish. okay, i'm a nut but i don't care. i try my hardest to wait until november 1st every year, and i've made it quite a few times. and to be honest, i made it further this year than i have in the past... haha okay, you can judge. i'll allow it. at least you can rest assured i feel totally ridiculous listening to christmas music when it's going to be 75 degrees here today. but in 5 days it's going to be holiday city up in here. i love the holidays!!! thanksgiving is my very favorite day of the year. yay!!!

so, if you judged me for the christmas music you can't judge me for this. only one judgment per blog entry please. i changed up my mantel again... but it was for a reason people! this makes the third time this fall.. but i couldn't help it. okay here is my story...

i live in an apartment with windows facing the south. plus there are trees all around, which is great. but that means i have zero light up in here. plus the fact that it's somewhat small. so what works for making rooms appear larger and brighter? mirrors. plus, since christmas is on the brain i knew i needed a mirror on my mantel by christmas. all my favorite pictures of mantels had mirrors on them. so i knew it was necessary.

i took my mom and myself to homegoods a couple weeks ago and decided to buy a mirror while i was there. the only one i liked that i thought was a good price was this one

emily is fascinated with herself

i really liked the detail on the frame

and i just thought this was too cute not to show you : )

the only problem was that i didn't want a black mirror. so of course the only logical thing to do was to buy a $40 mirror that was the wrong color and paint it. clearly. so that's what i did. i wanted a silver mirror, but i also liked the look of a white mirror. so i decided to paint it white and brush over the detailing with silver craft paint.

i decided to just use a paint brush instead of spray paint... i'm not sure if it was the right decision or not. i didn't want to mess with trying to get the mirror out of the frame to paint it, and i also didn't want to spend days covering and taping off the mirror. plus not having a yard really limits my spray painting abilities. so i painted it by hand.. it took about 4 coats. i didn't use primer... when will i learn that lesson? probably never.

don't worry. the mirror is taped around the edges; all i had was clear packing tape.

so i waited a long time for all these coats to dry, but i got impatient and i'm really glad i did.

i decided to brush some martha stewart metallic craft paint over the edges

as i started brushing the silver on i realized some paint was still a little wet, so the white paint mixed with the silver and dulled it a little. i was actually happy about it because without the mixing of the two, the silver seemed a little too bright and harsh on the white. i really wanted it to show up, but i didn't want it to look to grey on the white. i was glad once they mixed because it was a little more subtle.

see? you can definitely see the silver, but it's blended instead of being so harsh.

i really really love it. i think it's better than any mirror i've found in the store. it's almost exactly what i wanted. and it looks beautiful on the mantel. i'll show it in all its glory and beauty.... another time : )

working girl.

2011-10-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

oh dear me.. sorry once AGAIN for being so absent. my husband was out of town last week so i went to stay with my family since i am scared of murderers trying to come in and get me... you know, since they all know our schedules and they know exactly when my husband isn't in town to protect me.... so i know it sounds silly, but i feel safer not staying alone at my apartment. plus whenever i get an excuse to stay at their beautiful house well, i take advantage.

so this is a big day. well, actually sunday was a big day for me, but this is a big day for the blog. i have a little announcement that will hopefully help this blog out a lot. ready?

i am officially a working girl.

yep. i had my first day of work at bath and body works on sunday. i think i'm gonna be really happy working there. my shifts are great hours (i don't work past 4 on the weekdays) and i mean, hello? who doesn't LOVE the product at bath and body? come on. i'm a little scared i will spend my entire paycheck there though. the one i work at is connected to a white barn candle co. so you know what that means.. have you seen the scents they have??!! yesterday i smelled a candle called oatmeal raisin and i seriously thought i might eat it. their candles smell absoutely delicious. which is what you want this time of year so you can have that "fresh baked cookie" smell without baking and without the calories. score.

seriously go to that link and read some of these, will you? i see things like salty caramel, pumpkin caramel latte, and another one i smelled yesterday dark chocolate mint. i am serious. go to your local store and smell these things, you will NOT be sorry.

and don't even get me started on the beautiful sleeves they have for your new candle. this giant ceramic sleeve caught my eye immediately and i said, oh i MUST have that! and it's on a fabulous sale right now! geesh. this is what i'm talking about! i already want to spend every dollar i made on candles and sleeves. i seriously want like, every single one. i wonder if that will be over doing it.... maybe a tad?..

also i made a big discovery about myself. it was really exciting for me actually.. bath and body works has different scent lines. they have scents for the sexy girl, the fresh girl, the cuddler girl and the sweet girl. sexy is bold and sensual scents. fresh is light and bright scents. cuddler scents are warm, somewhat sweet and inviting. sweet scents are well, exactly what they sound like. light, sweet and airy kind of scents.

okay, i ALWAYS thought i was a "fresh" kind of girl. i always look for things like their white citrus or sea island cotton. i always thought i NEEDED to have these scents because i'm very sensitive to scents on my own skin. i used to get horrible headaches from wearing certain lotions or perfumes, so i figured the light fresh ones would be better for me. well, as part of our taining we were supposed to try out a scent from each catergory and see which we liked the best. this is where i made a shocking discovery. the "freshies" were not my favorite. i never even thought to try other scents because i figured they would be too strong! i found out the "cuddlers" were my favorite! the warm sweet smell agreed with me and didn't bother my head at all!

i was so excited about that because it opened up a whole new big chunk of great fragrance. it was fun to learn that about myself and i know it sounds weird, but it was kind of freeing. i realized i have more options than i thought when it comes to fragrance and working at bath and body works is what made me figure that out! so i have a new favorite scent. it's called twilight woods and i sprayed it on before i left work at 2:30 and i could smell it the rest of the day. it's a lovely sweet, warm smell but it's not quite as sweet as something like sweet pea. i just love it and i already have decided i need to buy some spray, lotion, a candle, body cream and pretty much whatever else i can get my hands on. i'm excited about this people!!

the MOST exciting thing is that we're getting all the holiday stuff out now. the holiday candles, candle sleeves, soaps and fragrances are all being put out for the season. i'm so excited!! and if you want to stock up on fall scents for thanksgiving and for next year, i know a lot of stores are having their big fall sale right now. so go out and get some good deals!! our fall stuff is up to 50% off so we can make room for holiday, so go get it! like i said, you will not be sorry : )

by the way, bath and body works does not pay me to write this stuff. they pay me to come in and help people in the store; i just love that they've helped me already learn a lot about fragrance and what i like, and so maybe they'll help you too! it's worth a try at least. : )

chilli weather- part 1.

2011-10-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

so big day for this gal. i am starting a series! i've never really done a series before, and i didn't set out to start one.. it just kind of happened. it started when i got this issue of bhg

if you don't have it, you should get it. it's a good one. it's the october 2011 issue.

there is an entire section of different kinds of chili and i thought to myself, "i wonder if anybody will make all these... i would like to but i know me and cooking... i would only be able to stick to it if i had to." then the thought hit me. i should do a series about chili on my blog. and i'll call it chilli weather because it's a play on "chili" and "chilly". i am oh so clever. : ) stop laughing.

so here is the start of my series. it's finally getting cooler down here in georgia, so i think it's time to start cooking chili. there are 8 different kinds of chili in this issue, so i figured over the course of this fall/early winter i would choose one each time i go grocery shopping. i go about every 2 to 3 weeks, so i guess you can expect another "chilli weather" entry every couple weeks. or maybe less than that.. i don't know. maybe i'll pick 2 next time i go shopping. hey i am allowed to be unorganized about this. it's only the first entry. you're totally allowed to be unorganized for at least the first few types of chili... or 8... whatever.

this is what the section looks like. i'm so excited! don't these all look so good??

so i started at the best place to start. the beginning. (sound of music reference. bonus.) the first chili is a basic beef and bean chili. there are a few things that made it a little different than your basic ol' run-of-the-mill chili, but i was familiar with all the ingredients at least... which means it is basic my friends : )

looks so good right?

so i didn't want to share the recipe here because well, i wasn't sure if that was legal or not. i mean, it's not mine to share. plus, even if it is legal, it's not really fair to bhg. if you don't have the magazine you can find it here on bhg's website. i had to log in to see it... but it's worth it. trust me. and it's not like i get zillions of e-mails from bhg for having a membership on their webiste. i hardly get any. so have no fear.

anyway. so here are my ingredients

i think i forgot to put my jalapeno in this picture.. but i had one of those too. and of course ground beef, but i get really weird about beef being out and i don't know... i didn't want it out with my produce and stuff. whatever. you don't care.

the thing that really stood out to me about this chili was the addition of semi sweet chocolate. umm, hello. anything with chocolate deserves a chance. come on.

i followed the recipe almost exactly except for a couple little things; it called for 2 to 4 jalapenos.. uh. what am i? i do have a tongue that i'd like to keep, thanks. i can't handle that much, so i cut it down to 1. it was one extra spicy one if that counts, and the magazine says they vary in spice and to adjust according to taste. so technically i was still following the recipe. also it called for 2 large onions. while chopping 1 we had this much

which seemed like a lot to me.. surely enough. and it was. and if you look closely you can see my jalapeno in this picture! told you it existed.

also, almost always when a recipe calls for minced cloves of garlic, i used the pre-minced stuff. all the time. i'm sorry. i am not spending my time peeling and mincing those tiny little cloves. i like to keep my fingers. and also i have other things to do.

the only other difference was that i am not sure how much chocolate i used. it calls for 1 oz. i just used some mini chocolate chips. it was probably between 1-2 oz. i can't really say, i didn't have a way to measure. so this may or may not be different than the recipe. i have no way of knowing haha.

so when it was all done it looked a lot like the picture!

yummy.

so i made poor phil tell me what he thought so i could take notes. of course i share my opinion too. overall we really liked this chili. as far as chili goes, on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best chili we've ever had) i gave it a generous 7. phil gave it a 5.5. phil really liked it a lot, but he didn't like the sweetness of the chocolate as much as i did. i think he likes a spicier and more savory chili. i liked the sweetness. it was different than other chili i've had. so here is a run-down of the things we liked:

-the taste of the cilantro was a different and refreshing element

-very thick texture

-the added texture and saltiness of the corn chips

-super easy to make

-fast to cook; doesn't need a slow cooker

-very hearty and filling

-typical chili; what i think of when i think of chili, but with a twist

-thickness provided by melted chocolate

-makes a LOT of chili

on a spicy scale out of 10, i gave it a 5. phil gave it a 3. clearly he likes spicy things because i'll tell you, i needed an entire glass of water while eating this.

on a sweetness scale i gave it a 4 and phil gave it a 5. like i said, he really liked the chili but i don't think the sweetness of it was his favorite element. but we would definitely eat this chili again.

the next chili on the list is called "two tomato stew chili" and it sounds fabulous. i'm excited for this one. i'll be honest though, finding this last chili to be so spicy with just 1 jalapeno in it makes me nervous for some of the others. some sound just downright on. fire. forget milk. i'll be eating those babies with a gallon of ice cream..... hmm... actually.. that a good excuse to eat ice cream : ).

thanks for joining me in my "chilli weather" series! i hope you will make these along with me too and tell me what you think!

martha rocks my world.

2011-10-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

martha stewart. who does not love her? i mean, yes we all hated her when she went to jail and all that.. but it seems like everyone has forgotten all about that because she has made a terrific comeback. i mean, martha taught me how to entertain for thanksgiving, gave me the perfect cookie recipes, showed me endless recipe, decor, and craft ideas... and now she's done it again. she has managed to make some of the cutest and most adorable craft stencils i have ever seen. so i totally bought them from michael's when they were on sale last week.

i liked these the best because some of the patterns reminded me of lace.

it came with 2 pages of lovely stencils. minus the butterflies... i don't know, it just seems weird to have insects on things i own.

so i bought these and 2 little bottles of craft paint and it was about $10. not too shabby. i knew where i was going to use them. i've had this lamp shade for about a year now that i've been meaning to do something with

see? kinda boring.

i thought of lots of different updates for it, but when i saw these stencils i knew i wanted to paint them on the shade. promblem = solved. so first i made little lint rollers out of loops of tape to make sure i got any cat hairs off the lamp so it wouldn't ruin my paint job. then i just kind of picked a starting point and taped the stencil to the shade

look how cute these things are! i am a sucker for anything this color blue...

i have been adding green into my living space lately, so i decided to use martha stewart's scottish highlands craft paint.

i liked the look of two colors overlapping so i used some paint i had already mixed myself using behr's harbor and martha stewart's picket fence.

the stenciling was super easy, obviously. the only thing i would do differently is keep some paper on hand to put under the other stencils not being used on the page, and along the edges. i find i am not the most patient or careful, so i made a couple mistakes by accidentally going over the edge or getting paint in the stencil i wasn't using.... oops. but other than that, easy as pie. if pie is easy.. i'm not sure what that saying is supposed to mean.

see? can you tell where i accidentally went a little over the edge there? like i said, oops.

still so cute though, right?

so i basically just kept adding stencils until i was satisfied. and i may have had to add at least one to cover up a big mistake i made.... but that's neither here nor there. : )

so i got it to this point and i liked it. and i thought it was finished. but once i put it on the lamp it seemed like i had left so much of the shade empty. the lesson here is, try out your stenciled project where it's gonna go before you clean everything up.. and put it away.. and wash out your brush.... i'm not saying that I did those things, i'm just saying make sure you don't. that's all. : )

i really like the look of the stencils on the edges like the pattern continues off the shade

so after ~~getting all my stuff back out and~~ painting on two more stencils i tried it out on the lamp and i really liked it this time.

i really like it. i love the pattern and fun it brought into the room. so so so super easy.

before

after

easy. cheap. fast. all words i like when it comes to doing a project. i seriously recommend these stencils. get yourself a 40% off any item coupon for michael's and go in and get some and stencil to your heart's content. "it's a good thing" - martha stewart. : )

pumpkins galore.

2011-10-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

basically blogland is pumpkins galore right now. and since i am in love with fall and everything associated with it, you can guess how i feel about it. yah, i kind of love it. and i am positive you all have seen this picture out there

well, obviously i pinned it right away. okay. i mean, i had put candles in my fireplace before.. and i had put pumpkins all around the fireplace.. but i had NEVER thought to use the actual place of fire to decorate. i mean, after seeing a picture i feel like it should have been so obvious to me. what a shame... now that i have seen the light the possibilities are endless. and i am also left wondering what other places are just sitting around my home not being used that just happen to be totally perfect for decorating without me knowing. seriously, tell me if you know.

so anyway. so i saw that picture and i was clearly like, i am so doing that. well, sadly my poor apartment fireplace is nowhere near as lovely as this one. and i don't really have the mulah to buy 50 pumpkins. and i also don't feel like spending 50 hours painting said pumpkins. but i decided to create my own version.. kind of. (don't laugh. it's nothing like it. other than the fact that there are pumpkins in the fireplace. give me a break.)

so i may have 47 less pumpkins than the other picture... but i like my cute little pumpkins : )

i said i was inspired by the picture. i didn't say i copied it exactly.. right?

well, anyway. so it started by me buying those pumpkins at the apple orchard. and i just put them in the fireplace.. but i missed having some sort of warmth in there. so i added candles to get that glow-y warmth. and then i liked it : )

i love this little beauty. my sister gave it to me. i also have a green one. i know, you're jealous.

i was happy about this because the pumpkins didn't seem like enough, but i didn't want to buy more pumpkins because then we'll just throw them away once the season is over and that feels like such a waste to me. i considered fake ones mixed in there, but in the end i didn't want to buy anything else. so i shopped my apartment and put together some candles that looked fall-ish enough. and then i was totally happy with it. thank goodness i didn't just run right out and buy a bunch more stuff. my husband is thankful too : )

also, i've been working on 3 projects lately and i can't wait to show them!! 2 are completely fabulous and the other well... it's still being worked on let's just say..... : )

house-sitting.

2011-09-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

for the rest of this week i am enjoying staying at my parents' beautiful house. as i speak.. er.. type.. i am being completely spoiled with a king size bed and hgtv. the unsellables is on and i am shocked by what people do to their poor homes... sheesh.

anyway, i thought this would be a good opportunity to show you my mom's beautiful decorating. any sort of sense of decorating i may have comes from my mom. i have watched her be amazing since i was little and it has pretty much taught me all i know. she does a gorgeous job. especially since i'm here to tell her what to do... ha joking : ). so i am just gonna show you everything. and this is only part of the first floor. just like all of us, my mom is always improving, changing and redecorating.

her latest project is her beautiful bedroom. which is still being worked on. i know she has plans to make a headboard, window treatments and artwork over the bed. but it's already so beautiful so i'm going to show you anyway : )

she recently bought new bedding, which was the jumping off point for the rest of the room. we recovered the bench at the end of the bed to match the new color scheme. she also chose paint chips from the colors in her new comforter that she loved, then of course we bribed my stepdad into installing all the board and batten.

the armoire across from the bed used to be black. my mom painted it herself and it's just beautiful. it totally lightened up the whole room and i mean, come on. look at that beautiful blue color. it adds so much to the room. can you tell i am in love with it? and i'm also totally jealous of the gorgeous painting she found. i should have found it first. dang it.

perfect. love the texture with the glass and color. so jealous.

love this table. and the lamp. and the blue throw. geesh.

are y'all as jealous as i am right now?

so let's move to the living room.

my mom likes natural, warm tones. she has more traditional style than i do, but i completely love it. even if i do try to talk her into more color occasionally : ) oh and that big orange guy is our dog dallas. he adds to the warmness of the room, don't you think?

love this chair. my parents made the artwork on the wall by framing wallpaper with molding. then they added the swing arm sconces. so pretty and clever, right?

i love the fireplace. it was one of my favorite parts of the house when i first saw it. i love the stone and the giant white mantel. it's all dressed up for fall right now. i helped my mom do the mantel this year, but all the best parts were her ideas. we decided to go somewhat simple and natural-ish. then she added hydrangeas and the pumpkins. then we found those awesome white pinecone things at michaels and she decided she just needed them.. i agree : )

beautiful, right? i bet i've used the word beautiful more times in this post than any other. if i kept track of things like that...

okay. and i just had to show you this detail.

okay. i love that painting going up the stairs. so lovely, right? but okay. look at this wallpaper. the gold catches the light and reflects it so beautifully. my mom wallpapered this wall because it kept getting marked up. it's a high traffic area and it was driving her nuts. well i guess this was a gorgeous solution.

ugh. need wallpaper that reflects light like this when i buy a home. must remember.

i found that ceramic urn with a flower arrangement in it in the basement. we took it apart and just stuck leaves under the pumpkin. cute right?

hmm. i think i did a good job. : ) and those are my cute little parents in that picture. yah they're all happy and cute and annoying.

right off the living room is the eating area off the kitchen. yep, they've got that enviable open floor plan. but look. look at this view from their eating area

love the light fixture. love the furniture. but look. i'm serious. they have woods behind them that lead to a lake. which you can see perfectly in the winter once the leaves fall. it's so. gorgeous. phil and i ate dinner at this table last night and just enjoyed each other and the view : )

so i also want to show the entry way and dining room.

i took this picture to show how the entry way is to the left of the picture, the dark doorway is a bathroom straight ahead, the light doorway right of that is the master, and i took this from the dining room. also, check out the beautiful blue ceiling. love.

so here is the entry

love. love the mirror. love the lamp. love the table. love the little blue bird. love the pot arrangement. love. it. all.

tell me you love it too. i know you do.

the adorable little half bath. the walls are a gorgeous blue and the ceiling is a few shades lighter. i love it.

don't you love this? my mom hasn't decided she likes this bathroom yet. so leave her some love and tell her how it's beautiful.

and this is the beautiful dining room. another one of my favorite places in the house.

i had to show the centerpiece i helped my mom create. we just took strands of leaf garland and sort of wove them around the candle in the center over top of a table runner. then my mom added the tiny pumpkin-y gourd things. my sister bought the mercury glass for my mom for her birthday, so she added them to the table. simple and lovely.

yep. my sister has good taste too.

the dining room hutch. i love it. my mom bought all the dishes over time from marshalls. they are white and blue. oh, and gorgeous. also i am totally envious of those artichokes.

i love this thing. i gave it to my mom for her birthday. but now i want it back.

okay. i realize i am breaking blog records here with pictures. and it's quickly becoming the longest post maybe ever. but we're almost done. but come on. you're enjoying the beauty so quit complaining.

i basically had to show this guy because it's my mom's favorite thing. she loves it. it's always out and it always has tall grasses coming out of it. it's awesome. and beautiful.

the last space i want to show off is the deck right off the kitchen. it feels like a little oasis.

this rocker in the corner here is my favorite chair. we all fight over it. especially when we go out to the fire pit : )

and lastly, here is the reason i am here

our golden retriever dallas

and

golden doodle cheyenne. she clearly needs a bath haha.. she's kind of a tomboy : )

so i obviously love my parents' house and i knew you'd love it too. and if anybody is really bored and feels like counting how many times i said things like "beautiful" and "love" then let me know the count. it may be somewhere in the cajillions though... count at your own risk : )

fall wreath and other stuff.

2011-09-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

sorry it's been so long pals. honestly my only excuse is that i have literally done zero projects. i've been enjoying fall, spending time with my family, celebrating birthdays and trying not to spend any money. so basically that stuff doesn't really equal tons of great projects. i may have had a little money to spend but any hopes of that were dashed when this little rascal came into our lives

this is emily. she came into our lives about a week and a half ago. literally. she came right into our apartment. my husband had been out for the evening and as he walked into our apartment he said, "uuummmm... jess! you better come here...." which really is not something you wanna hear. so i came to see what the commotion was all about and found this little kitten just wandering around, you know, just checkin us out. then she curled up on my rug and went to sleep. so clearly we couldn't kick her out! she is so tiny and of course cute, so the next day we took her to the vet. and named her emily. and she was officially ours. i guess. she is a pest. and a rascal. and always moving and doing everything she isn't supposed to. but somehow we love her anyway.

i mean, come on. would you have had the heart to send this little face back out on the streets?

i doubt it.

so since we spent money we weren't planning to on getting her shots and flea medications and all that, i pretty much had to say no to any and all spending on projects. problem was i needed a fall wreath for my front door. it has been officially fall for like, a week people! or something like that... maybe... when is the first day of fall again??... but i had yet to put a fall wreath up. dear me. so it had to be free. basically using what i have. and that's it. problem was i was completely inspired by this picture

so cute, right?

i thought that would be so pretty for fall and i loved the numbers on the wreath... but zero dollars = no fancy numbers. no new wreath form. and no new flowers. so i did the best i could with what i had.

i took out this wreath i had made for spring

i figured the brown yarn would look fall-ish enough. so i just ripped off the flowers and luckily for me the bird was a clip-on, so i still have the cute little guy for another year. then my project was stalled...... i won't say by whom..

i really have no idea why this would be a good spot to sleep... mind boggling.

so after i found a new spot for hobbes to sleep, i was left with a poor scarred wreath form

so i gathered anything fall-ish i had and pulled out some old hydrangeas. i liked the big full flowers in the picture and i knew i would get that from the hydrangeas

i hot glued the pumpkins on first, then i started gluing.. the word gluing looks so wrong to me right now... but i know it's not glueing... but what the heck. what a weird word.. so as i was saying, i glued the hydrangeas around them to fill in the spaces. i just ripped the heads off the stems and globbed hot glue on em and stuck em. easy. and it started to look like this

this is about 3 hydrangea stems and a couple little bunches i pulled off

after i ~~used up all the hydrangeas i had~~ finished i was left with this little cutie

i really liked it, but i loved the idea of house numbers on the wreath. it added so much charm and character. sadly i had no such numbers to speak of, so i had to make some. this is where it got a little too crafty for me, but it was worth it in the end.

i don't have one of those awesome cricuts or whatever they are called that just print out whatever shape you need, so i had to print out some numbers.

then i used mod podge to put them onto a cardboard box so i would have more substantial numbers

haha it looks ridiculous.

i cut out my numbers (which was annoying and honestly kind of painful for my hands) and i decided to decoupage dictionary pages to my numbers to make them look all homey and cool. i like the look of book pages and for some reason they remind me of fall, so i figured it would be cooler than just spray painting them or something. so i was left with these cozy little numbers

no they're totally not perfect. but come on. cardboard is hard to cut people.

and of course i tried to use words that reminded me of fall from the dictionary

i hot glued the numbers on and i have to say, i was pretty pleased. especially once i hung it on the door

i really like it. and it was free. and it didn't even take that long, considering i made all the numbers. if i liked everything i made as much as i like this, i would make things much more often. unfortunately things don't always turn out this well... but of course y'all know how that goes.

i am trusting that no murderers or killers will be able to see this and figure out where i live... so if you are a killer or some kind of weird stalker (hey i am very stalk-able) please forget my apartment number. thanks so much. : )

Linking up to rhoda's door decor linky party and thrifty decor chick's fall outdoor spaces party!