All The Delightful Things

Two Month Hiatus!

2011-11-29T16:46:00.000Z

Wow! I know I've been neglecting my blog, but I never thought I would go two months without a single update. The usual is to blame. LIFE! My job is going well. The HR world is much more exciting then I ever thought it would be.

Mason and I just got back from Ohio for Thanksgiving. We had a nice trip visiting with family and meeting new babies! My cousin Jenny had a boy in September. His name is Perry. And my dear friend Emily had a little girl a few days after. Her name is Romy. Both are absolutely precious!!

We finally finished the staircase (well almost) and I owe you final photos for sure. All we have left for the stairs is the trim and we still plan on putting up the wanes-coating. Hopefully this winter we'll get both done.

What else is new! Well, the in-laws are moving in...

The usual reaction I get is WHAT?! Wow! They sold their house just last week. They will be living with us until March or April until they leave for Scotland. They will be trained at a ministry called ELLEL. Their plan is to come back to the states after to open up a B&B / "quiet place" up in the mountains. It's bitter sweet for sure! We're excited for them to start a new adventure, since they've been parents their entire adult life and every job they had was out of necessity. But we'll miss having them around. They are literally the "glue" to the John family. I'm sure having them live with us will be an adjustment at first, but they pretty much have the entire upstairs aka "in-law suite" to spread out. We have this weekend to empty out the purple room and the bonus room. Their bringing some furniture so they don't have to put everything in storage while they are away. Fortunately this will force us to clean out some things that we shoved into the walk-out attic space, etc. Lord give me patience:-)

Our in-laws also were gracious enough to bring us our Christmas tree this year. Scott & Erika's neighbors, up at their mountain house, have a Christmas tree farm. All trees $40! They picked out a beauty. I wanted a chubby one this year. It was the most fresh and fragrant tree we've ever had! Do you like??

In other news, some have asked if I'm still selling Stella & Dot. The answer is yes! I haven't really done many trunk shows since starting my new job, but I'm still a stylist. I'm also co-hosting a Holiday Trunk Show this weekend in fact!! This is a joint event with Thirty-One, Miche, Scentsy, Pampered Chef and Mary Kay. Please stop by if you can. If you can't make it you can place your order online at www.stelladot.com/michellejohn. They will ship to you directly and in time for Christmas. Have any questions, please reach out!

Good Morning, Good Evening, Good Night

2011-09-22T14:50:00.000+01:00

Hola! So what is new...

Not a whole lot, I feel as though I've neglected my blog for way too long now. Probably because when I have time to sit and meander on the computer I'm PINNING!! Do they have pinning anonymous?

So over the weekend Mason and I decided to jump right into our latest home project...

THE FOYER

We decided to pull up the plastic-y low grade carpet off the stairs and we're going to sand and restain the treds and railing to a dark brown/black stain. The treds are already a lovely oak, hidden by ugliness:-) We are then going to continue the wanes-coating that stops at the foot of the stairs to continue up the stairs and across the back wall.

As soon as we embark on the simple project in our heads, it always ends up being a little bit more challenging then expected. Once the carpet was pulled-up, which took oh a whole15 minutes, there were several staples and carpet spikes we had to remove. That took about 2 hours to get those all pulled up and removed. I started to get blisters by the time we were done with that step. Yuck!

This weekend is all about sanding and staining. We tested a few spots to see what we were in for...since our lovely builder barely put a coat of stain or poly, that stuff came off like butta! Below are a couple pics of our inspiration. I'll show the after once we finish! Happy Thursday!

I Heart Pinterest

2011-08-26T02:42:00.000+01:00

Alright kids...so I'm officially ADDICTED to....

'Tis true. I can spend hours or just a quick 5 minutes and my inspiration meter is on overload. Every. Time:-)

Have you pinned???!

Once you start...you won't be able to stop!!

When I look at the collection of my pins and those of my friends its really amazing to see their tastes. The collection of things that are pinned really do reflect who they are, it's pretty neat to see! A friend used to say a girl's wedding truly reflects their true taste, which I still very much agree, but I think pinning does too:-)

Here are a couple things I'm pinning these days!!

Happy Pinning!!

Building a Dream

2011-08-02T22:00:00.000+01:00

{Our Dream Home}

So Mason and I having been dreammmmming! So Sunday afternoon, we decided to take a drive to look at homes and property over in Gaston county near Lake Wylie.

We currently live in a neighborhood on Lake Wylie in Charlotte. We are just a couple miles from the border of Charlotte and Belmont and we have grown to love this area. We were at first apprehensive of moving even further away from Charlotte, but after further "research" there are plans to build a turnpike called the "Garden Parkway" that would go from that area of Belmont (near the Botantical Gardens) to I-485. So that clears-up that concern! We'll see if that actually happens...gotta love gov't BIG plans;-)

With that said, we would love to build our next home. Since we're not in any rush to move out of our current place (room to grow), we figured it may not be a bad idea to see how much land would cost to purchase especially now. Well, you can find an acre of land between $50k up to $350k. Lake front...you're pushing the $300k mark just for the land, ouch! But if we're going to compare to other lakes in this area, that's peanuts! We also love the idea of really building it ourselves via UBuildIt or something similar. We like the idea of a custom home without the custom price tag:-)

While driving we stumbled upon Cramer Mountain Country Club and Properties. It is a gated community and the area is wooded and hilly, it almost feels like you're in the mountains. It's an older community and some of the homes started going in around the '80s. The country club opened in 1986. However, there are still properties available and the best part you can bring in your own builder. There is an HOA and architecture governance, but we view that as a good thing so some ugly thing won't be going up next door. We're definitely keeping that one in mind.

From there we headed over to Paradise Point. There is a house for sale now that I just LOVE, some lots for sale, and a foreclosure that's lake front! Gorgeous, but still ~$600k:-) We are also liking the idea of not having to deal with a neighborhood or an HOA and this area would be like that.

We started a wish list of sorts of the must-haves for the next house, some of those are:

Huge laundry/mud room...I'm talking HUGE place to wash the dog, fold and iron clothes, etc.
Butler Pantry
Woodshop for my carpenter
Large Master Closet
Place where the kids can go play and you don't hear them...how bad does that sound?! haha
Huge sliding doors in the living room out to the patio to give you that lanai feel
Tons of custom finishings like moldings, coffer ceilings, etc
Library (floor to ceiling bookshelves)

As far as the look and feel of the exterior, we both LOVE a mix between the cape cod and craftsman style home. Not the typical shape but more the finishings, like the shingled siding and stone...Enjoy! xx

Wedding of the Year: Recap

2011-07-28T03:35:00.000+01:00

Hola Amigas! I really don't have an excuse for the lack of blogging other then I'm no longer painfully bored at work to take up my time:-) That's the truth, sorry, nothing life altering and exciting other then I'm a busy girl between 9 and 5!

Now shall we get on with it...the broham's wedding in CALIFORNIA!! Wow, what an amazing trip!! We flew into San Diego on Friday and arrived around noon. From there we made our way over to our abode where we'd be ruffing it for the next 8 days...

After bags were dropped we made our way up to Fallbrook to meet up with the Bride and the other maids to hang out pool-side in our private cabana! What fun:-) From there we made our way back to La Jolla for dinner with my parents, my Aunt Karin and my cousin Justin and the groom-to-be...

Saturday was the rehearsal luncheon...we met at the venue around 10am. Following that my parent's hosted a luncheon...

Obviously, I save the best for last...the Wedding DAY!! Woot Woot!! Let me preface by saying that this was by far one of the most intimate, emotional and touching weddings I've ever had the honor in being apart of, including my own. To give you all a background. Christopher (my brother) and Amber were high school sweethearts. They have been through A LOT. I've seen them grow and mature over the 10 years they've been together (minus the 2 when they were broken-up). For those that don't know, but Amber's father has ALS. A horrible disease that no one should ever have to endure. But Mr. Butler is not just anyone. He's an amazing man! Words can't even describe. Every time I see him. he's wearing a smile and is laughing about this or that. He's more concerned about you, before he's concerned about himself. He's genuinely interested in you and getting to know you. So to be able to see Mr. Butler walk Amber down the aisle....no words! I won't even get into the toasts!! I don't think I stopped crying!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Wilson!! We love you so much and pray the Lord bless your marriage together!! xx

Friday, Friday!!!

2011-07-01T01:00:00.003+01:00

Yeah its FRIDAY!!! I'm leaving on a jet plane at quarter-past way too early to go celebrate the marriage of these two ugly people!! YAY!!

Not to fret my friends! I've left you with some awesome Friday jams!!!

Enjoy!!

Happy Weekend AND Happy 4th of July!! AMERICA RULES!! xx

To Buy or Not to Buy...

2011-06-28T20:15:00.002+01:00

I want one...well actually I'd like one of these...

But we're just not ready to drop $1500 on one yet. Maybe once the babies come and we'll be taking a crap load of pics and video...

Anyway so back to the pad...What do you love about it? Hate about it? Wish was different? Be sure to include any limitations or does it basically do everything you need it to and more! That would be nice:-)

Mason and I would get it to share...I would want white, but I'm sure he'll want black. I guess I could compromise if he lets me get the tan leather smart cover.

What accessories are a must? I know the smart cover makes sense but what other adapters, plugs, etc. would be a good idea to get? Do you have to get the camera connection kit to load photos?

Ok so that is all...discuss!

Monday, Monday, Monday and 4 Days till Cali!

2011-06-27T22:52:00.000+01:00

Word to the wise...

The big count-down is O-N!! We fly out Friday at the butt crack of dawn. We've got our trusty house/dog sitter coming Thursday night (Thanks Lo!) I'm going to find something super CALI cool for you! So all you stalker people who want to come rob us, don't! We've taught her how to use the gun;-)

So this will be all about our big trip to San Diego, CA!!! My brother Christopher and his future bride Amber will be married Sunday, July 3rd in Fallbrook at the lovely Los Willows.

Festivities start on Friday at the Pala Resort and Spa. We'll be cabana side as soon as we land! Saturday is the rehersal in the afternoon, followed by a luncheon hosted by my parents at Pala Mesa Resort.

We're taking advantage of the trip and staying in a house in La Jolla for the whole week! I cannot wait! It has a pool, close to the beach, shopping, etc.

I just want to soak up everything CA for the week its been about 7 years(??) since I've been out west...I've never been to La Jolla or San Diego for that matter. Furthest south I've been was Orange County.

I'll be sure to share all about the trip!! Yay!! xx

Summer Wedding Season

2011-06-16T02:44:00.000+01:00

Mason and I have loads of weddings this year...one this weekend and the granddaddy of them all is in July for my little brother and Amber. Its also going to be in...wait for it...going, going back, back to CALI CALI!! SO excited:-) But I wanted to go ahead and document the ones we've attended thus far...

Charlie & Whitney Wallin

Jonathan & Leigha Sink

Mr. Ben's Birthday and a Day at the Beach!!

2011-06-06T15:11:00.000+01:00

My weekend was super duper fun!! I had decided to make the quick three hour trip to Charleston to celebrate one of my dear friend's son's 1st Birthday on Saturday. I got up early, headed out around 8am, and got there just in time. I haven't been able to spend a good chunk of time with them in awhile and wanted to see them before wedding season really kicked in. We have three weddings back to back in June and a wedding every month after that through October! Seriously!! That's a whole 'nother post! Goodness gracious!!

Mason wasn't able to join since he had previously committed to going to a Bachelor party for one of his buddies. He was a tad bit jealous after I told him I'd be spending the rest of the afternoon at the beach. What a fun day! They had a barbeque in their back yard. Mr. Ben got to swing in his new swing, eat yummy food, try his best to eat his smash cake, but the boy was not having it! He was super hot and everyone was staring at him. I'd cry too if everyone just stared and laughed at me! hehe After he (aka Dadda) opened his gifts, we headed to the beach!

Oh the beach was just perfection!! It was a hot day in Chuck-town, but the beach was just lovely. Warm with a nice breeze and the water was like a bath. I had originally planned to stay till 6pm and head back to Charlotte, but my dear friends insisted I'd stay over, so I could go to dinner with them and spend more time together. I didn't want to even suggest it since they had both their families in town, etc. But since it was just moi, they had plenty of room for me to crash. I did pack a small bag just in case! Honestly, three hours to the beach is not bad AT ALL!! We need to do that more often, even if its just for the day! xx

Long Time No See AND Happy Anniversary!!

2011-05-26T16:44:00.001+01:00

I know...MIA for almost a month...I know!!

Wow. Where to begin!! I started a new job which is one of the main reasons for the lack of posting. I've actually been busy!! I love my new job! For those that don't know, I switched companies and careers (pretty much). I'm now in HR, but I'm leveraging my accounting/finance background to perform reporting and analytics for HR and not finance data. Yay! Its very exciting b/c there is a lot of opportunity to bring best practices and to implement a more robust process related to data, analytics and reporting. Its exciting! And the company I now work for is WONDERFUL! Holy cow! The people, the culture, everything is really different but a good different. I'm slowly getting the hang of the acronyms, the structure and just the way things work around here. But I have no regrets and know this is one of the best decisions I have ever made regarding my career:-)

Mason is busy too! He's got a steady stream of clients and has some really unique cases. I'm so proud of him!! What a journey we've been through thus far! We also recently celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on the 23rd!!! I can't believe its been 2 years already!! This year we decided to go somewhere vs. buying gifts. Mason planned the whole trip and wanted it to be a surprise. We ended up heading to one of our places CHARLESTON!! We stayed at Middleton Place Inn. I really loved it!! Its one of those places you either like it or you don't b/c its kinda random. The inn is really a modern/retro architectural building. Which is not what you expect when staying at an Inn on an old Plantation, right?! The rooms were older then expected, but had a really purposeful design.

The Plantation property was gorgeous. We had dinner at the restaurant on the property Friday night, we went horseback riding Saturday morning, strolled the gardens and then made our way to downtown Charleston for dinner at Carolina's Saturday night. Love Carolina's!! The frisee and fig salad (below) YUM!! It's kinda off the beaten path and not as popular which we like:-) It was a really relaxing and peaceful weekend!!

Happy Anniversary, Mason!! The past two years being married to you has been the most humbling and exciting time of my life! You are the funniest guy I know. SO smart, genius even;-) You're super cuddly, caring, charming, hard working, manly, romantic, clever, creative and handsome! I love living life with you and I'm excited to what the next minutes, days, weeks, months, and years bring! I love you! xx

Royal Wedding: The Dress

2011-04-29T15:46:00.000+01:00

No words! Just gorgeous!!

Grace Kelly is iconic in her own right and when you hear about the speculations around this wedding, it was undeniable Kate would stay true to herself. Being 29 years old, she's a grown woman who can make her own decisions. So it doesn't surprise me to see striking comparisons to the lovely Grace Kelly. Absolutely LOVE her gown. It's classic with modern twists. Love the bustle on the back! Have you seen it?!

Summer Lovin'

2011-04-14T21:59:00.001+01:00

There are so many things on my want list right now...I mean having to save, save, save means little left to shop, shop, shop...sad face! But that doesn't mean I can't save, save, save so I can eventually shop, shop, shop...happy face!

Jack Rogers "Georgica" Sandal in Platinum

Michael Kors Oversized Gold Watch

Tory Burch Kaftan in Pink

New Work Bag...

Tory Burch 'Jaden' Nylon Tote in Tory Navy

Toms Silver Glitters

Golden Days Bikini in Taupe

Love me some fun tops to go with my leggings...

Trinity Braided Chain Dress

Sundresses for day...

Marc by Marc Jacobs Plumage Print Jersey Dress

For Your Momma!

2011-04-12T13:39:00.002+01:00

{ Order Today! stelladot.com/michellejohn }

Charlotte's 25 Most Stylish People

2011-04-08T14:52:00.001+01:00

Are you going? I'll be there! What are you wearing? Mine will most likely be a last minute decision or I'll end-up changing my mind and shopping my sister's closet;-)

On-line Mags

2011-04-07T21:11:00.001+01:00

So I'm beginning to warm-up to the on-line magazines or eMags for inspiration. These are a couple I like to check out pretty regularly...

{click image for link}

Oy! Finances

2011-04-07T15:15:00.000+01:00

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

Where is Dave Ramsey when we need him? I mean seriously. When things seemed as though we got it all figured out and its a well oiled machine and then BAM! No, you can't go out every night of the weekend for dinner/drinks, reupholster furniture, shop for new work clothes, take a trip to Charleston, spend, spend, spend and expect to pay off debt! Huh? What? You mean the huge law school loan debt, that is more then our mortgage, won't pay for itself? Sad face:-(

We need a jolt to our spending system, so we decided to sell a car. We're going to sell the big 'ole SUV, the gas guzzler that also is having warranty issues that they can't seem to resolve. So instead of dumping more money into a vehicle we don't actually LOVE, we may as well cut it out now while it still has value! We do plan on replacing it, but with something that has very low payments and gives us a ton of MPGs, especially when gas will most likely hit $5/gallon by the summer!

This phase in our life has been very interesting. I've never had to rely on the Lord more for His guidance and ultimately give our struggle all to Him to control. I know He'll provide and He does over and over again. I was talking to my Mom about this, she was encouraging me telling me to give it up to the Lord, b/c, "You know Chelle, He will provide." Like it wasn't even a question or a doubt. I, in turn said, "Well it doesn't take away the stress of it all." I've been thinking about that comment I made. I basically said, yeah I hear you, but I still CHOOSE to stress over this. To me, I feel as if I let it go, it some how doesn't become a big deal anymore and we'll just fall back into our bad spending habits. Some faith, huh?! Again, I want control over it, rather then handing it over to the Lord. Instead of constantly thinking about IT ("it" being debt, money, etc), I need to be thinking about HIM asking for patience, encouragment, guidance, etc!

Yes, we like nice things, yes I have a great job and will have an even better job come the end of the month. My husband is an attorney! I mean come on! But who do we think we are?! Do we put our faith in money or in our Lord? Psalm 62:10 says "...if riches increase, do not set your heart on them." This is all His, all of it!

It's Official...

2011-04-01T19:12:00.001+01:00

I'll begin working for this company starting the end of April!!! I cannot wait!! I'll give you details on the process in a separate post. It's been quite the journey and undeniably a plan that the One and Only could write! It's a good one;-)

Almost Friday Post...

2011-03-31T14:12:00.000+01:00

I'm one happy girl!! I can't come right out and tell y'all yet. And before you go there...its not a bun in the oven;-) Just sayin'!

But one thing I can share with you is that this opens TODAY!!!

I may or may not be skipping out on my lunch-time workout to check it out! I'm kinda hoping they have bathing suits. I need a couple for California! And I'm hoping the crowds are not insane. I've been stalking Twitter to see if anyone has been yet to give me the DL. I'll let you know how it goes!! xo

I Heart Amazon

2011-03-23T15:02:00.006Z

Random post of the day...I kinda love Amazon. I mean all of this for $40 and FREE shipping...

I just bought this book...I was reading about it over at Fly Through Our Window. All she had to say was Chapter 8 was about stress...SOLD!

This potholder for when we cook steaks in the oven...Mason and I have both scorched our hands forgetting that we just cooked two filets in a 450 degree oven...HELLO?! This will save our hands from burnage.

And an egg poacher? My favorite kind of eggs are poached eggs. Our friends on the Cape have this little pan and they have poached eggs every day. So excited:-)

Weekend Deals

2011-03-21T16:12:00.001Z

The hubs and I took a much needed mini-vacay away to Charleston this weekend. It was SO much fun! We got to relax and enjoy our time eating good food, shopping, and enjoying each other's company. It was like we were dating all over again. Just a lot of fun! With all the chaos in our lives lately, it was good to just focus on us. Since we knew we'd be spending a good amount on a hotel and eating out, we tried to avoid shopping too much. But we found some good buys!

Mason found a new pair of jeans at Quiksilver. He would never go for the skinny jeans dudes are wearing now a days, but he settled on a nice straight leg pair that are less baggy then what he typically wears. They were also on sale. Yay!

I found a cute dress from Oops! store...Have you ever been? I usually find some great staples there, shorts, tees, etc. But came accross a cute one strap dress that is a tangerine and white pattern. It fit like a glove and the quality was excellent. As soon as I find a pic, I'll post it...

I also ventured into Forever21 while we were waiting to meet up with an old friend, Kim and her little man Ben. Ok so this store on King Street was enormous! I ended up finding a cute tunic, flats and a few headbands...I forget about this store, only b/c it really is a hit or miss...you can really find stuff that just looks cheap. But I usually go for the monochromatic prints and go for a more classic styling then getting too trendy...

I was also able to find a little something for the house...we poked our head into Urban Outfitters and found these cuties, both for $12

Happy St. Patty's: Get Your Green On

2011-03-17T13:38:00.001Z

I LOVE these earrings...they are the one piece of S&D I find I can wear with a lot!! Today would be a great day to wear some green!! Cheers xo

Room Re-Do: Inspiration Board

2011-03-11T20:56:00.001Z

Yo, peeps! I got the funnest email today! My inspiration board from Caitlin...As soon as I saw it I knew the girl got me! This was exactly what I had in mind for that room right down to the yellow lamp and the white garden stool! Wha Wha!!

For real, just the other day on One King's Lane they had the garden stools on sale. I should have jumped on one while I had a chance...and yesterday I was designing that identical yellow lamp over at Mottega.

Oh and that fun fabric she shows in yellow or grey is waiting for me over at Mary Jo's...

I gave her a bit of feedback since I forgot to tell her that we'd be totally up for repainting that room, but she kinda went with the green, which I'm warming up to...saves me from painting! And then the hubs sent me this and told me he'd like to do this wainscoating in there. Yes, PLEASE! It's called "recessed panel wainscoating" whatever...it's plain awesome-coating!! I love having a handy carpenter husband:-)

The other thing I'd like to purchase if our budget allows is one of these babies...I found one over at Amazon for $110 bones! I just think these ghost chairs are the perfect traditional/modern twist, which I just LOVE!!

The other fun piece she shows is the LOVE print from Made by Girl. I'm not sure if I'll go with the grapefruit color or maybe tangerine or teal:-)

She plans on sending a second version once she sees my feedback, since I wasn't totally sold of the florals. OH and if you haven't seen her signature pillows...I also want to see how I can get a couple of those! Happy FRIDAY!! xo

Brain Dump: Decor

2011-03-09T21:05:00.000Z

{all images from shades of light and home decorators}

Guest Room Re-Do: Before

2011-03-07T14:46:00.002Z

Alright, so I finally took some photos of the lame-o room for you all to see and got those sent off to Caitlin over the weekend. I guess I never realized how lame it really was until I started taking pics of it. It has nothing in it! lol My poor guests;-) Look how bare those walls are! That's a lot of green!! Those naked windows also need some help...now that I know how to make curtains (thanks Din), we'll definitely get some pretties up there...

The TV and filing cabinent will also go...somewhere:-)

It's a great sized room, so we definitely need to get some furniture to fill the space...which is why I think this chair below would work well and the cabinent...

This black cabinent currently sits in our master...Mason uses it for sweaters, etc...But we also have plans to redo our closet...more on that later...

I'm excited to see what Caitin suggests!! I'll be sure to share once I hear back from her. xo