Be Mused Shenine Joon

Be| Mused Shenine Joon Movin' over to Wordpres

2017-04-30T07:31:00.003-07:00

Hi Friends and loyal followers,

I've moved my little space over to Wordpress...I'm still trying to figure out if this was the best move, but neverthless, that's where I am. Please follow the link to my new little corner.

https://bemusedsheninejoon.wordpress.com/

Wedding Planning: Things I'm excited for

2016-01-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

On my first installment of Wedding Planning I talked about some of my woes thus far.

I have to say that now that we have the venue, photographer and DJ booked, I feel much better.

I'm such a planner by nature that I want to rush through all of the planning but need to remind myself that I have lots of time.

Some of the things I most excited for:

{Engagement shots}

We are planning on taking these at the end of February, hopefully when everything is blossoming and beautiful. I was trying to rush to get these done and I was totally bummed because the scenery around here is not pretty right now. Then I realized that save the dates don't need to go out until mid-March. So, I slowed my roll and spoke with our photographer and we are going to do end of February shots and I can't wait! What am I going to wear? Help!

{Save the Dates)

I see all you blogger ladies out there raving about Minted and I am so excited to finally get to use their site and create my own! When I first visited Minted was doing a promotion that if you set up a wedding website through them you would get a $50 credit. Sold. As I searched around their website, I saw all the fantastic things that minted included like addressing your save the dates for you. They give you a wonderful form to download your guest list and addresses and you just have to upload it and go. Genius I tell you. Also, if you prefer, you can have your guest RSVP through your wedding site. They also will send you this beautiful sample pack showcasing all of their beautiful papers, fonts, envelopes, foiling, etc. Get this for sure.

{Registering}

As you all know, Scott and I already have a home and it is full of almost everything we could ever need. I'm still so excited to register. There are so many things that we wouldn't buy for ourselves but would love as gifts. We won't go over the top and we may even do an Amazon registry to include some not so standard registry items. Anyone ever done an amazon registry?

{Invitations}

See "Save the Dates"

Pretty much excited about this for all the same reason. Oh...also! Back in December Home Sweet Ruby was doing a Minted giveaway for $150 and I WON!!! I've NEVER won a giveaway before and this one was EVERYTHING!! So a special thank you to Cait for that giveaway and for helping us with our Wedding Invitations...every little bit helps!

{Bachelorette and Bridal Festivities}
The other day my bestie asked me about where and when we should do the bachelorette. I started to get really excited about all of the fun festivities to come. We also just attended a bridal shower for my cousin and it was so fun to get some shower ideas and imagine what my shower will be like.

{The Wedding}
Obviously.
It's easy to get wrapped up in the planning and the details, but its important to remember that in the end its all about me and Scott and our love; past present and future.

Netflix Orinigal: Grace and Frankie - A Must Watch

2016-01-12T01:00:00.001-08:00

If you are looking for a feel good binge watching session THIS is your show!

Ever since 9 to 5, I've loved these two! When I saw this show come up on the "recommended for you" page I was sold. I knew I would like it but ladies, I LOVED IT! I was hooked in the first 5 minutes and laughing out loud on the couch.

The show is about Grace(Fonda) and Frankie (Tomlin), their husbands have been business partners for more than 20 years. In the first scene the ladies are meeting at a restaurant (they clearly don't like each other much) and waiting for their husbands to arrive. Once the men arrive they proceed to tell Grace and Frankie that they are leaving them and that they are gay...together.

There are definitely moments where your heart strings are pulled for Grace and Frankie, but for the most part the show is pure comical feel good genius. I want to hang out with these two.

Here are a few gifs to get you excited!

You know you want to go watch it!! Half hour episodes, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. I can't wait for seasons 2 and 3!

Enjoy!

Netflix Orinigal: Grace and Frankie - A Must Watch

2016-01-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a feel good binge watching session THIS is your show!

There are definitely moments where your heart strings are pulled for Grace and Frankie, but for the most part the show is pure comical feel good genius. I want to hang out with these two.

Here are a few gifs to get you excited!

You know you want to go watch it!! Half hour episodes, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. I can't wait for seasons 2 and 3!

Enjoy!

Best and Worst Eyeliners-IMO

2016-01-07T01:00:00.001-08:00

I have been wearing eyeliner since I was about 15. I was inspired by a woman I worked with who would line her eyes perfectly with a nice crisp line, similar to how Adele does hers. I'm pretty sure she used an expensive liner but being 15 I headed to Longs (local drugstore/pharmacy) and bought my first liquid eyeliner.

Revlon Color Stay Liquid Liner

I used this liner for most high school and college and I can't recall having too many complaints. I do remember feeling like my lines weren't black enough. I used the blackest black, but the lines tended to look dull and my cat-eye tails would always smear off. I was on a budget and this was good for budget.

After college another coworker introduced me to my next love affair liner. Learning to apply it with a brush took some time, but after a few days I was in love. I would recommend getting a longer brush, it makes application a lot easier but it's nice that they give you one for travel purposes. I wore this creme liner for years but eventually I started noticing that by midday my lines weren't as crisp. Apparently I have sweaty eyelids or something because my cat-eye tails were smearing/disappearing.

Clinique Brush on Creme Liner

I decided to try another drug store creme liner...why not right? Wrong. I will say that this was the second time I tried this gel liner. I couldn't remember if I had tried the waterproof version the first time, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. This one was not great at all. I swear I would have barely anything on by the end of the day. And I'm sorry, I think $10 for drugstore liner is a rip off, especially if I could pay $6 more for Clinique. I like Maybelline but this liner is not good.

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner

After that disaster I went to Sephora for some new liner recommendations. I had super high hopes because the girls in there have killer eye liner. First recommendation was Tarte Claypot Waterproof Eyeliner. I'd heard of this eyeliner before so I was excited to have a "professional" recommendation. I scooped it up and went home to try it out. It was waterproof, it was from Sephora, good recommendations, it had to be good. Not so much. Again, by the end of the day this stuff wasn't crisp and my little tails were either fading or non existent. I was shocked, for being waterproof I thought it would be better. Again, maybe I just have sweaty eyelids or something.

Tarte Clay pot Waterproof Eyeliner

Bridesmaid to the rescue! I was at my girlfriends house for dinner one night and she was raving about her Stila eyeliner and that it stayed on all day and she loved it. I took myself back to Sephora and exchanged the above product for this liner. Now I was back to a more liquid application, with a new application style. This thing looks like a grinch finger and at first is a little intimidating, I definitely had to pull out the q-tips the first couple of days. After wearing it for 2 weeks, I love it. I feel like my lines are super crisp an stay on all day. It is waterproof, but it comes off so easily with my makeup wipes, which I love.

Stile All Day Waterproof Eyeliner

If you are looking for a liner, here are my top 3 recommendations starting with the best.
#1 Stila
#2 Clinique
#3 Tarte

I would love to find a drugstore version so once this runs out, I'll be on the hunt and report back, but for now I'm super happy to have found a fantastic liner from Stila.

Best and Worst Eyeliners-IMO

2016-01-07T01:00:00.000-08:00

Revlon Color Stay Liquid Liner

Clinique Brush on Creme Liner

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner

Tarte Clay pot Waterproof Eyeliner

Stile All Day Waterproof Eyeliner

Wedding Planning : The Venue

2016-01-05T01:00:00.001-08:00

I really thought that wedding planning was going to be the best thing ever.
When my friends would get engaged and talk about how much they were spending I was secretly thinking, "I'm going to find a way to get that cheaper when I'm planning my wedding" or I look at all the little details and think, "I don't need that, I'll just skip that part."
What a wakeup call it was when I started actually planning a wedding.
This is work and it's not exactly fun all the time.

For about the last 7 years, when I would think about getting married one day, I always knew that I wanted my husband to be and I to pay for the majority of the wedding. Sure, we'd ask for a little bit of help from our parents but I wasn't going to burden them with the full cost of a wedding. And now at 32 years old, I feel even stronger about it.
Maybe this is why the planning process is a little less fun...because we really need to think about where the money is going because it's coming straight out of our bank accounts.

After we got engaged, we kept getting asked if we had set a date.
Umm...we've been engaged for all of a minute, no we haven't picked date. I immediately started feeling the pressure to find a venue, so I started looking around on Here Comes the Guide and TheKnot. Within a week we had our first venue tour and it was everything I had ever dreamed of.
A grassy outdoor ceremony space with a vineyard backdrop and a swoon worthy white tented reception space with crystal chandeliers. I fell in love and Scott watched me as I tumbled. The coordinator promised she'd have a proposal to us by Tuesday but left us with a price list. As I ran the numbers in my head I knew it would be over our budget. Scott said that he saw the look in my eyes when we walked in that tent and if wanted it, we'd make it work. Do you see why I'm marrying this guy?!
Over the next few week we toured about 6 more sites and none of them compared to the first. We had two runner up sites and both were only a few thousand dollars cheaper than "the one". After lots of discussions, 6 ititerations of the proposal from the coordinator and Scott's persistence (because he knew I loved it), we booked our venue and the dream was now a reality. Here is it, Chardonnay Golf Club, Napa Valley.

via: stylemepretty

The Ceremony Site

via

This oak tree for photos

via: stylemepretty

Wedding Planning : The Venue

2016-01-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

via: stylemepretty

The Ceremony Site

via

This oak tree for photos

via: stylemepretty

Happy New Year!

2016-01-04T01:00:00.001-08:00

2015 was a wonderful year and as we embark on 2016 I just know it is going to be fabulous!

Looking forward to being back here more often with you all!

Happy New Year!

2016-01-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

2015 was a wonderful year and as we embark on 2016 I just know it is going to be fabulous!

Looking forward to being back here more often with you all!

The Proposal - 9.27.15

2015-12-14T01:00:00.001-08:00

Scott and I had planned a long weekend getaway to our favorite beach destination of Laguna. We've been going to Laguna Beach once or twice a year for the past 3 years and every time we visit we love it even more. When Scott originally booked this trip, my initial thought was that this is where we would get engaged.

The weekend before our trip we went to hang out with some friends and that night one of the boys confessed that he would be proposing to his girlfriend in the coming months. Scott's reaction was shocking. He was disappointed and upset. In a quiet moment, just us two, he admitted that he was shocked that they would be getting engaged before us. I told him it was ok, that we were on our own timeline and it didn't matter. His performance was so believable that I called my girlfriends and told them not to get their hopes up for a proposal because I was positive it wasn't coming. What an actor this guy is!!

The first day of our Laguna trip we went to our favorite spot to watch the sunset and in a fleeting moment I thought to myself, if he was going to do it, it would be here and it would be perfect. The sun set without a proposal and I was completely content, I'm serious when I say that I was 100% convinced that the proposal wasn't happening this weekend. The next day (planned proposal day), we went to a bar to watch the Florida /Tennessee game (Go Gators- this one was a nail biter), we spent most of the day inside and by the end of the game I was pouting.

I had wanted to go to the beach and was bummed that we hadn't gone because the game had gone so long. We ended up heading to the beach early in the evening and were met by hundreds of people...duh... it was a Saturday in Laguna. My mood didn't improve and I was a grumpy bear all night. Scott's mood eventually matched my own when he realized I had singlehandedly ruined his proposal day, it just didn't feel right anymore.

Sunday we woke up in great spirits. We took a beach side walk into town for breakfast, headed to the beach and spent most of the day there basking in the sun and swimming in the ocean. At around 2 we got a text from his dad saying "Blood moon tonight, sounds romantic". For a moment, I thought the "sounds romantic" part sounded odd, but I didn't think anything of it. Neither of us knew anything about it, but were excited that'd we'd get to see it in our favorite place. After the beach we decided to head to happy hour at our favorite local bar, followed by dinner at our favorite spot as well. Ok, I need to rewind.

...When we were getting ready to leave the hotel, Scott put on some shorts and my favorite t-shirt of his. A few minutes later he was changing saying that his shorts were too tight. I responded with, "you just wore those last week!" He said they were uncomfortable so he put on a different pair and I didn't think much of that either. Little did I know that the quick change was because the ring box was way too obvious in that pair of shorts.

After dinner we headed to the same sunset spot, our spot. Scott was completely calm and I had no thoughts of a proposal on my mind. Not a SINGLE thought. I ran up to the hotel for a quick visit to the girls room and when I sat back down on the cliff he turned to me and said "So, I've been wanting to ask you this question for 4-1/2 years." My eyes went wide and my mouth dropped open. He proceeded to talk about the first night we met and as I realized what was coming my mind went blank. I have no idea what he said after his opening line and before he asked me to marry him. Complete blackout. I've never been so shocked in my entire laugh. As we stood up so that he could ask me, a couple walked onto the cliff. Scott turned to them and handed him his phone and asked them to video. He got down on a knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes to the perfect man, on a perfect day, on a perfect beach, on the night of the blood moon, an event that wont happen again for another 30 years. The sun and the moon literally aligned for us. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect proposal. Although, I wish I didn't black out during it and had heard the speech!

The Proposal - 9.27.15

2015-12-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

"Hello....It's Me" - Are you still there?

2015-11-24T01:00:00.001-08:00

Hello lovely blogging friends.
I'm back...sort of. I can't guarantee the frequency of my posts but I will say, I miss this space. Apparently I've been gone for 3 months, even though it feels like 6 and that's probably because my posting schedule (if you can even call it that) was sporadic at best.

Since I've been gone, my biggest and most exciting new is...
We're engaged!!
Proposal story to come....hopefully you'll come back to read it because I think it's great!

And now I feel like I might be one of those ~~annoying~~ wonderful bloggers that does a ton of posts about her upcoming nuptials...will you still read if I do that? I swear I wont do it all the time, but as many of you know after getting engaged you basically live and breathe wedding stuff. There are some things that I'd love to document here as I go so feel free to read and if weddings aren't your thing, I totally get it.

If you are still coming back when you see me on your feed, THANK YOU! I really do love the blogging community, but like just got so hectic, that I fell off the wagon...again. But thank you for reading whenever I do pop in.

PS Tell me you LOVE Adele's new song...I can't get enough.

"Hello....It's Me" - Are you still there?

2015-11-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

PS Tell me you LOVE Adele's new song...I can't get enough.

DIY: Tufted Headboard

2015-08-19T01:00:00.001-07:00

I'm really excited to share my most recent and probably favorite ever DIY with you today.

When I started I wasn't even sure I could pull this off, but I knew I had to try. I used a bunch of coupons and got all my supplies for about $110. It's worth the saving to make a couple of trips

What you need:

1/2" Plywood cut to 62"x 34"
(1) 2x4 cut to 62"
(2) 2x3's cut to 56" - these are your legs measure the height of your mattress to make sure this isn't too tall. My headboard sits perfectly at the top of the mattress, but if you want it below or above, measure for that.
2-1/2" or 3" nails or screws (with the 3" they come all the way through the plywood. The 2-1/2"should work just fine)
Batting
3" Foam - If you have a coupon go to Joann's instead
Spray adhesive or gorilla glue
Button making kit - number of buttons depends on your tufting
3/4" #8 screws - for tufting
1/4" #8 washers - for tufting
3 yards of Fabric of your choice (I only got 2-1/2 and I could have used the extra) - don't forget your Joann's coupons
Nailhead trim

Alright first things first, head on over to you local Home Depot for your wood, screws and washers. You can get your foam and adhesive here too but if you have coupons for craft stores I'd get it there. Have your Home Depot helper cut all the wood down for you...its FREE!

Screw or nail the 2x4 to the top of the plywood. I used (2) at each corner and (2) in the center

Next nail the 2x3's to the sides - (3) spread equally

Now you have your frame!

Please excuse the pictures, I did a lot at night time in the backyard.

I should mention that protective gear is probably a good idea...don't follow my lead here.

I screwed up a little bit at this corner but I forged on...as I was nailing the board shifted. Also, my 3" nails were too long so on either the front or back you need to bend them. Go ahead and just use 2-1/2" nails instead.

Next, glue the foam to the frame. One piece of foam will just barely fit a queen size headboard.

Now its time to mark your tufting pattern. Since I work on cad for a good part of the day, I was able to easily layout my pattern so it was ready to measure out when I got home.

First row - 4" from each side and then 8" segments across. (if your measurements are different than mine you'll need to check your outside widths)

Second row - 8" segments all the way across

From the top going down - 4" from the frame, 7" segments all the way down.

I fudged up a little bit and had to correct, but you can see the diamond pattern

This part is pretty important, you want to cut out a 1-1/2" diameter circle around your markers. Make sure you are cutting at an angle, your hand is pretty much touching the foam as you are cutting. This is going to help you find where your tufts will go and it will help your buttons sink into them.

Next, cover the whole thing with batting and staple to the back side of the frame...sometimes I wonder if I needed this step because I had fairly thick fabric. If you have thin fabric definitely do this, it smooths out the foam underneath. With scissors, find your holes and poke through the fabric.

Alright, with 3" foam you have pretty deep tufts, hence the 3 yards of fabric. Drape the fabric over and be sure you have lots of extra at the sides and bottom. I started at the top so I didn't need a ton of extra fabric up there but I'd say leave about 14" to be safe. The first couple of tufts are trial and error.

Here is the hack, instead of actually tufting/sewing the buttons, I used screws and an electric drill and I'm so glad I did. Start at the top of the frame and in the center. Find the "center of you hole, put a washer in between the screw and the fabric (this will stop the fabric from catching on the screw) and drill in your 1/2" screw.You can see the diamond shape takes form even on the first one!

First row complete

Start in the center again and work your way to each side. Don't pull the fabric too tight either, remember the tufts are deep.

All the tufts are done!!

Now its time to make the buttons. Use your button making kit...duh. I used hammer to help get the button into the button holder and to put the backs on. Just a little tip. I gotta be honest, I did not glue in my buttons...haha! The tufts are so deep that they hold the buttons just fine. You probably should glue them in, but I decided that I didn't want to mess with glue and getting it on the fabric, so until one falls out they are just tucked in there. shhhhhh

I slacked on photographing the finishing touches friends....I'm sorry.

Next step is to pull the fabric tight and stable to the back of the plywood. Another tip that I learned after the fact...while you are pulling the fabric tight, at each tuft, make a straight fold toward the outside like this. For me it was hard to get this at each one, but next time I'll be sure to do it correctly. I could go back and redo it but I'm just not going to do that because I don't want to ruin the fabric.

Once the fabric is stapled to the back you can go ahead and add your nailhead trim.

Also, don't forget to wrap the legs of your frame with the excess fabric.

I'll admit that it's not perfect, but I love it! I learned so much on this first one and I know my next one will be even better!

And that is it my friends!

What do you think?

Will you make yourself a tufted headboard!?

DIY: Tufted Headboard

2015-08-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to share my most recent and probably favorite ever DIY with you today.

When I started I wasn't even sure I could pull this off, but I knew I had to try. I used a bunch of coupons and got all my supplies for about $110. It's worth the saving to make a couple of trips

What you need:

1/2" Plywood cut to 62"x 34"
(1) 2x4 cut to 62"
(2) 2x3's cut to 56" - these are your legs measure the height of your mattress to make sure this isn't too tall. My headboard sits perfectly at the top of the mattress, but if you want it below or above, measure for that.
2-1/2" or 3" nails or screws (with the 3" they come all the way through the plywood. The 2-1/2"should work just fine)
Batting
3" Foam - If you have a coupon go to Joann's instead
Spray adhesive or gorilla glue
Button making kit - number of buttons depends on your tufting
3/4" #8 screws - for tufting
1/4" #8 washers - for tufting
3 yards of Fabric of your choice (I only got 2-1/2 and I could have used the extra) - don't forget your Joann's coupons
Nailhead trim

Screw or nail the 2x4 to the top of the plywood. I used (2) at each corner and (2) in the center

Next nail the 2x3's to the sides - (3) spread equally

Now you have your frame!

Please excuse the pictures, I did a lot at night time in the backyard.

I should mention that protective gear is probably a good idea...don't follow my lead here.

Next, glue the foam to the frame. One piece of foam will just barely fit a queen size headboard.

Now its time to mark your tufting pattern. Since I work on cad for a good part of the day, I was able to easily layout my pattern so it was ready to measure out when I got home.

First row - 4" from each side and then 8" segments across. (if your measurements are different than mine you'll need to check your outside widths)

Second row - 8" segments all the way across

From the top going down - 4" from the frame, 7" segments all the way down.

I fudged up a little bit and had to correct, but you can see the diamond pattern

First row complete

Start in the center again and work your way to each side. Don't pull the fabric too tight either, remember the tufts are deep.

All the tufts are done!!

I slacked on photographing the finishing touches friends....I'm sorry.

Once the fabric is stapled to the back you can go ahead and add your nailhead trim.

Also, don't forget to wrap the legs of your frame with the excess fabric.

I'll admit that it's not perfect, but I love it! I learned so much on this first one and I know my next one will be even better!

And that is it my friends!

What do you think?

Will you make yourself a tufted headboard!?

Confessions

2015-08-12T01:00:00.001-07:00

Happy HUMP day!

All day yesterday I was thinking it was Wednesday, you know its going to be a tough week when you keep thinking you're a day ahead and you aren't.

If you saw my post yesterday you know that I did a little dresser refresh this past weekend. Well guess what, all my clothes are still sprawled out on the bed in the guest bedroom and it appears that they will stay there until at least Thursday when I have a night at home. It's amazing how efficient I was painting it and putting on the hardware but as soon as I was done, I was done. And for the next two days I wont have to dig through the drawers cause it's all laid out.

I may or may not have kinda sorta lied under oath...

I had jury duty last week and when they asked us to raise our hands if we had an excuse I did and the judge brought me into his chambers....a shit ton of other people did too, it wasn't just me. Here's how the conversation went:

Judge: What is your excuse?

Me: I have a mortgage and my company does not pay me for jury duty (truth)

Judge: Most large companies do...

Me: I wish mine did (giggles from the attorneys) (truth)

Judge: Do you have savings you could live off while serving jury duty?

I'm pretty sure my eyes jumped out of my head a little but I didn't miss a beat

Me: Umm....No (Half Lie...I do have savings...it's not for serving on a jury...)

Judge: I'll excuse you.

Me: Thank you very much

Happy that its hump day, even though I though yesterday was hump day.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

Confessions

2015-08-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

Happy HUMP day!

All day yesterday I was thinking it was Wednesday, you know its going to be a tough week when you keep thinking you're a day ahead and you aren't.

I may or may not have kinda sorta lied under oath...

Judge: What is your excuse?

Me: I have a mortgage and my company does not pay me for jury duty (truth)

Judge: Most large companies do...

Me: I wish mine did (giggles from the attorneys) (truth)

Judge: Do you have savings you could live off while serving jury duty?

I'm pretty sure my eyes jumped out of my head a little but I didn't miss a beat

Me: Umm....No (Half Lie...I do have savings...it's not for serving on a jury...)

Judge: I'll excuse you.

Me: Thank you very much

Happy that its hump day, even though I though yesterday was hump day.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

DIY: Ikea Malm Dresser Refresh

2015-08-11T01:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Tuesday!

This past weekend I decided it was time to give my ugly Ikea Malm dresser a little face lift.

I had originally thought about jumping on the Chalky paint bandwagon, but once I got to the paint store I decided that this piece wasn't the right one to apply a vintage feel. And plus I just wanted a plain crisp white dresser. I talked to the paint tech and he pointed me in the direction of the fabulous spray primer and my white gloss paint.

Since the Ikea furniture is just laminate there was no sanding required. I literally hauled the dresser outside (with Scott's help of course) and started spraying it with the primer. Spray primer is the way to go that is for sure. This is what I used (pretty sure everyone else does too). It dries incredibly fast too.

Next step was painting...I used a brush but after I finished, I started reading posts about people using a furniture roller...maybe I'll try that on the next project I tackle.

My favorite part of the refresh was the hardware. As you can see in my before photos, the malm dressers don't have pulls so I would need to drill the hardware holes myself. I actually went to Hobby Lobby first and found a bunch of pulls that I loved, but they started to be a bit pricey and they didn't have 6 of the ones I wanted. (At this point I didn't know I was going to use 2 different pulls). I woke up Sunday thinking I'd go back to Hobby Lobby to get some pulls only to find out they were closed on Sunday! DOH! So I took myself to the place that I pay my second mortgage, the trusty, Home Depot. I found two sets of pulls that I liked, a crystal knob and vintagey pull, I grabbed 6 of both and headed home. Once I got home I laid them out and decided I'd use both and I'm so happy with my choices!

Here are some close-ups of the hardware

Drilling your holes takes some time, so make sure to measure them out and check your measurements before drilling your holes. You only have one shot at this part or else you'll need to putty and repaint...double check those measurements.

All in all, I'd say this was a really simply DIY and I'm so happy with how my room looks now!

Next project...

Tufted Headboard!

DIY: Ikea Malm Dresser Refresh

2015-08-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday!

This past weekend I decided it was time to give my ugly Ikea Malm dresser a little face lift.

Next step was painting...I used a brush but after I finished, I started reading posts about people using a furniture roller...maybe I'll try that on the next project I tackle.

Here are some close-ups of the hardware

All in all, I'd say this was a really simply DIY and I'm so happy with how my room looks now!

Next project...

Tufted Headboard!

Weekending...the start of our backyard Oasis

2015-08-04T01:00:00.001-07:00

Hi There! Remember me, I used to blog here at this little space.

I'm back for a little backyard updated.

Scott and I have been working so hard on our house since we bought it back in November and I can hardly believe that we've already been here 8 months.

I've been really bad about sharing our progress around here, but I fully intend to do so at some point.

This past weekend we finished our back yard patio, complete with gazebo, fountain and candle chandelier.

Scott and I (mostly Scott) decided that we'd do all of our backyard improvements ourselves. He really enjoys gardening and working in the yard and for the most part I do too. It's nice to look in your yard and feel proud that you did the work yourselves.

We have a decent size yard and it was already separated by some concrete pathways that we figured we'd leave for now because bringing in a jack hammer just isn't something we want to do right now. The previous owner had a garden at the back part of the yard where we wanted to have a patio. As we looked at youtube videos we decided we could lay a pavers patio ourselves. Little did we know that leveling our sloping backyard would be nothing short of a nightmare. We spent hours moving dirt around and trying to get the slope out of the pad area and at the same time making sure it was completely level. Rough to say the least, but all of our hard work paid off because our little backyard oasis is coming along.

This is what our yard looked like, shortly after moving in. Over grown "garden" area.

After we de-weeded

After we laid the pavers

After we built the retaining wall

After we built the gazebo and placed the fountain

Scott surprised me with the fountain after we finished he gazebo

If anyone needs any pointers on building a pavers patio, we are your people.

Hope you enjoyed our little backyard update.

Weekending...the start of our backyard Oasis

2015-08-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hi There! Remember me, I used to blog here at this little space.

I'm back for a little backyard updated.

Scott and I have been working so hard on our house since we bought it back in November and I can hardly believe that we've already been here 8 months.

I've been really bad about sharing our progress around here, but I fully intend to do so at some point.

This past weekend we finished our back yard patio, complete with gazebo, fountain and candle chandelier.

This is what our yard looked like, shortly after moving in. Over grown "garden" area.

After we de-weeded

After we laid the pavers

After we built the retaining wall

After we built the gazebo and placed the fountain

Scott surprised me with the fountain after we finished he gazebo

If anyone needs any pointers on building a pavers patio, we are your people.

Hope you enjoyed our little backyard update.

Short Confession Session

2015-06-10T01:00:00.001-07:00

I confess, last night we extended a last minute invite to my dad and uncle to watch the Warriors game and the house was a shit show.

Thank God I did the dishes yesterday morning but otherwise, my crap was everywhere....my clean clothes were piled in one of my reading/blogging chairs in the living room. My gallery wall stuff was sprawled out all over the floor, my bed wasn't made, the bathroom wasn't clean. Legit pig sty.

Scott was going to run home to clean up (my crap) a tad before they got here but he got stuck in traffic and they arrived before we did and were watching the game before either of us got home. I'm pretty sure my dad did a quick clean up as best he good so thank G for him but....

Hello Embarrassment!

After a few shots and a few beers we noticed that our tree in the front yard had semi-fallen over into the neighbors yard so at half time we decided it we should go try to take care of it.

Uncle, who was a few shots in, decided he wanted to move his car out of the line of fire and while doing so may or may not have bumped one of the POS cars as he was parallel parking across the street.

Dude walked back across the street and acted like nothing happened.

Love that guy! No damage was done to any cars so worry not.

Short confession today and to be honest I might not be back for at least a week with this whole Chicago trip, so until then I'll be reading up on our blogs and I hope you have a great week ahead!

Short Confession Session

2015-06-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

I confess, last night we extended a last minute invite to my dad and uncle to watch the Warriors game and the house was a shit show.

Hello Embarrassment!

After a few shots and a few beers we noticed that our tree in the front yard had semi-fallen over into the neighbors yard so at half time we decided it we should go try to take care of it.

Dude walked back across the street and acted like nothing happened.

Love that guy! No damage was done to any cars so worry not.

Short confession today and to be honest I might not be back for at least a week with this whole Chicago trip, so until then I'll be reading up on our blogs and I hope you have a great week ahead!

Reasons to see the Entourage Movie

2015-06-09T01:00:00.001-07:00

Scott and I went to see the Entourage movie this weekend and I loved it.
Scott wasn't blown away but I enjoyed every minute. It really is like an extended episode and that is exactly what I was hoping for.
Here are your top reasons to see Entourage.

{Ari Gold}
Honestly, I could probably stop right here because Ari Gold is one of my favorite characters EVER.
All the best gifs out there are from this guy. And most of my reasons will probably include him. Entourage would be nothing without Ari Gold.

{Cameo's}

Probably the best and most cameo's I've ever seen pulled off in a movie. Sometime cameo's really suck and they are just annoying but they pulled it off here.

{"I see dead people"}

Ever wonder what happened to that kid from the Sixth Sense?

Kid is now 27 years old! Mind blown. Apparently he's been waiting 15 years to be in this movie. He's a little shit, but when you are staring at him on screen and wondering how you know him, he's the one who scared the shit out of us all when he said "I see dead people"

{The Series}

Let's be honest the series was overall pretty great and ended on a high note. Sex and the City did the same thing and the movies were fantastic. I don't think Entourage compares to Sex and the City but I'm also a woman so I lean more towards SATC. Except for Ari's character, like I said, he is a pivotal character to the series and movie.

{Naked People}

I'm pretty sure I have few, if any, male followers but there is a bit of nudity in this film. So if you need to convince your other half to go see it then tell him there are beautiful naked people in it.

Hope you enjoy the movie if you go see it!