michael and jana

2012 Bucket List

2012-02-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

I'm definitely one of those people that loves lists and has a list for literally everything. Funny thing is, most of the time I don't even finish my lists...I just start new ones. I guess that may be what I'm doing here, as I did do a 2012 goals post just two months ago. This list was started on my pinterest, but I realized I need to start blogging my pinterest lists in hopes that I'll actually start doing a few of them. I guess I can justify this new list because our plans just a few months ago has drastically changed course.

So here it goes, these are the things I would love for us to do/accomplish/achieve in this new year:

Move Into Our New Home
Our current home is going on the market this weekend (yay!), so things are moving along, but the reality is, something might happen to where we won't get our dream home that we are anxiously waiting to build. (The design appointment is this Friday, SO excited for that!) But, we're praying a lot about it and have faith that this is the way we are meant to go with things.

Take Day/Weekend Trips Around Arizona

Since we cancelled our Europe Trip (small sad face), I definitely want to try to do some more local day or weekend trips this summer and fall. I've recently become very interested in discovering the beauty of the state we live in and traveling throughout it this year. Back in 2006 I worked as a design intern for Arizona Highways and if you've ever seen it, you know how beautiful the photography is in that magazine. Ever since then, I've had a small interest in traveling around our great state, but just haven't done it. I feel like this is the year for that. :)

One place I'd love to go to is Antelope Canyon up north. It would definitely have to be more of a weekend trip, but look how absolutely gorgeous those canyons are! And since I now know how to use my fancy dslr camera (definitely still learning, but I can manage my way around in manual mode!), I can get some pretty pictures. Image Source

On the far opposite spectrum of vacations, I'd really like to take advantage of the great summer deals at the local resorts. In particular, I'd love to stay at the Montelucia and visit the spa. I have a friend who's husband treated her to a night and day at the spa there and it sounds divine! Since we'll be living with both of our parents over about a three month time period this summer (split half and half), that may be the perfect time for us to have a mini get-away. Image Source

Learn to Knit

This one maybe isn't logical (I don't have that kind of time!), but I've always wanted to learn to knit. My mom isn't a big fan of knitting, so I may have to teach myself...and I may hate it too, but I want to try. I'm thinking a scarf would be a fun first project. :) Image Source

Visit a Winery

I would say visit a local Arizona winery, but I have a friend getting married in May at a winery in Temecula. I'd love to go to the wedding, but it just might not work out with my work schedule and financially. So, hopefully we can make it to one of the wineries up in northern Arizona. Image Source

Learn to Run

Ok, how many times have I put this on my goal/bucket/need to do list?? And how long will it take me to just start doing it and learn to love it? Back in January when my aunt was here to run the PF Chang's half marathon, I was really inspired. I'm in my 20's I should be able to do that! Now I won't go as far as saying I will ever run a marathon (maybe a 5k would be more my pace?), but I want to get in shape this year and get my body healthy (No plans for a baby yet, but I want my body to be in tip top shape for when that does happen and I hear it helps with labor...seriously, anything to help with that would be great). After dumping money into a gym for years, I learned that I just will not go to a gym. It just does not happen for me! At home workouts are the best and what's better than running? It's free and is the best way to get yourself in shape! Ok, I need to get moving now... Image Source

Host Dinner Parties

A small group of friends starting getting together about once a month for game night and its been really fun to have those little get togethers. Once we get into our new house I am definitely wanting to host a few dinner parties...with big groups and small groups. I love cooking, hosting parties and making events special, so I need to take the time to do that every once in a while. One thing we need to get better at is inviting our family over...so we're going to make a conscious effort to extend the invites out to our parents and siblings for more gatherings. Image Source

Be a Better Blogger

I think this one is on my list every year too. But, now that I have a nice camera and know how to take some ok pictures, I need to do that more often and blog about our everyday lives (beyond our picture a day challenge). For some reason I get really timid and shy to take pictures in public. Does anyone else get that way? I feel like people are judging me because I have a big professional camera and they think I'm trying to be something I'm not. I seriously just need to get over that.

The Past Month

2012-02-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

Or this post could also be titled "I've slacked on blogging." I can't believe its been over a month and a half since I last posted over here, oops. We have been keeping up pretty well with our picture a day blog though, I think that is quite an accomplishment (only missed two days so far)! So, I figure I'll do one post about all the things that have happened over the past month...there's actually been a lot and I am really narrowing it down here.

I took a photography class for the entire month of January. I can't believe how much I learned, even in the very first class! I can now use our dslr in manual mode and I know what all the numbers mean and how to get a decent picture. I definitely need more practice (something I haven't had much time for lately), but I'm thrilled to at least know the basics. If you're looking to take a photography class, I'd highly recommend Nicole's Classes. The above picture was one I took for one of my homework assignments. It's taken in manual setting and no photoshopping was done! I'm so proud of myself. Note: the next images were taken with my iphone, so please don't judge the quality! :)

Mid-January, my aunt came into town from Minnesota to run in the PF Chang's half marathon. She stayed out our house the first night, it was so fun to have an out-of-town visitor and spend time with her! She had a great time too...getting out of the freezing January weather in Minnesota. My mom has five sisters and last August her youngest sister had moved here, so it was really fun to see half the sisters here together this past month.

Our business has been very successful so far and we are booked up for the next few months with wedding, birthday and shower invitations. It's been really fun working with so many wonderful brides and we're really looking forward to the future of our business. We started reworking our website, but we've been so busy with custom jobs, that we haven't had time to finish it or get better photography of our recent work. I'll be sure to link to posts of our recent work once its up!

The most exciting/life-changing/stressful thing that has happened in the past month is over this piece of dirt! We decided to cancel our Europe trip and build our dream house instead. I thought I would be more sad and upset about not doing our trip, but I am actually a-ok with it...guess I'm a grown up now? :) Everything seems to be just right with the timing of things with the market, our current home and the move. We're beyond excited, but everything has to keep falling into place for it to happen, so I guess you could say there's no guarantee, but things are looking pretty good.

Maybe this is a bit strange, but we do frequent drive-bys of this house in the neighborhood because its the same elevation and colors that we chose. We just had to take a picture of what our house will look like since the model is completely different. That will be my office in the front with a whopping six windows, three of which look out to the front yard over the porch. I can see myself even working on that front porch with a chai tea in hand. We absolutely can't wait to move into our new home. We plan on living there for quite a while and raising our family there, so this is huge for us!

Along with buying a new house means that we will be selling our current one, so the past week we have been very busy getting it ready to show and touching up small things here and there. Say a prayer for us that all goes smoothly with the new home and a nice happy little family falls in love with our current home.

Finding Happiness in Small Things

2012-01-09T10:08:00.001-07:00

I usually don't repin or particularly enjoy images like this on pinterest, but today I find this one particularly inspiring, and the colors of the image make me happy. This week is already turning out to be a rough one. And of course it's Monday so everyone on my facebook is posting about how horrible their day is already. I hate reading posts like that, so I decided its time to be positive instead of posting another negative thought for the day. So instead of writing about all the frustrating, stressful and annoying things going on this week, I'll post a list of all the things I am happy, thankful and excited for, even if they are small things.

- Being married to my best friend. He always makes me happy when I have a bad day or week.
- Getting my hair chopped off on Tuesday, yay!
- My second photography lesson. I learned SO much from the first lesson already!
- A family member coming to town from Minnesota and staying with us Friday night. I love having out of town guests!
- The beautiful 70 degree weather we are having.
- The progress we are making with the rebranding and reformatting of our company (the website is still under construction, so please excuse the incompleteness).
- The fact that I have a job that normally let's me work from home (this week I am going in every day).
- Being able to have a business with my sister and do what I love.
- Prayer. Lots of people I know have emotional, sad or difficult things going on in their lives right now and it's comforting knowing that I can be there and support them with prayer.
- Chai Lattes. I think I need to pick one of those up every day on my way into the office this week. :)
- The possibilities of our future (yes, I'm going to keep this one vague!)

Image Source

2012 Goals

2011-12-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

It seems like the end of December is the time to start thinking about things we want to do differently and resolutions for the new year. This past year was so wonderful for us, but it was also filled with adjustments and learning more about each other and marriage. And while it was a great year, we definitely have a few things we'd like to get better at and work into our life. I guess rather than calling them resolutions though, I'd like to call them goals.

House: First, I'd like to come up with a quick daily cleaning schedule. I figure if we clean one small thing every weekday, the house will stay maintained and pretty much clean all the time. The second part of this is getting our house organized. I love being organized so it has drove me crazy for almost three years that the closets are a complete mess full of things we probably don't need and my office is not the most efficient space right now. I'd like to start by taking on one closet or space per weekend and focusing on cleaning it out, getting rid of things we don't need and fitting everything back in a nice and organized way. As far as my office goes, I'd like to convert it into more of a guest room/office with plenty of space for storing business items. I'd also like to use some of the wall space to keep things tidy rather than having it all over my desk.

Business: This is a big one, but it is extremely exciting! My sister-in-law and I launched our business in September of this year with a clear vision of what we wanted to do, but a somewhat unclear vision of how to do that. We spent a lot of time and energy on one route and have figured out that we are better to go in another (but very similar) route. We are working on making changes to our website and Etsy shop, so there will definitely be more to come on that throughout this year. Even though I feel like my design skills with invitations and other paper items has tremendously improved in the past year, I want to keep growing as a designer and learn even more as a business owner. We have had some great success over the past few months, so we want to keep growing that success as we go into the new year and explore other avenues in the event design business. I know that's completely vague, but I promise there will be more details soon!

Routine: I probably talk about this one nearly every week (just ask Mike), so I want to reach this goal more than anything this year. Working from home is absolutely fantastic and I wouldn't trade it for any other working situation, but it can definitely be challenging at times. I seem to go up and down on keeping up a great routine for my weekday, but it could be better. I'd like to wake up earlier than I do now, make sure I get outside to either run/walk/bike/hike for a bit every day and stay on task with work items. There are days that just slip by me and afterwards, I get mad at myself for letting that happen. There are other days that I skip breakfast or wait so long to eat a meal that I am absolutely starving and get extremely frustrated. So in 2012, I will be better at keeping a routine because in the end when I do that, I feel better physically and mentally.

Fitness: Isn't this one on everyone's list for the new year? And doesn't everyone forget about this by about early March? Probably, but I have been saying for a long time that its actually time to get serious about this. We're going on a trip to Europe in May and I'd really like to not be dead at the end of every day because I'm so out of shape. I also finally figured out some health issues with my body and have learned that I am gluten intolerant. I am now gluten free (this is my 4th week!) and have already lost some weight by doing that. Even though I have lost less than ten pounds, my body feels like I have lost 30+ pounds! I feel like a completely new person and really believe I can be healthy and in shape now.

Pictures: As I was designing the back of our Christmas cards, we were realizing that we couldn't think of the small and big things that happened throughout the year. I looked through my facebook pictures and there weren't a ton of pictures from the year - mostly from the wedding. We both realized we should probably be taking more pictures, so this year we are going to take one picture every day. We started a new site just for these pictures and my hope is that at the end of the year we will be able to make a bound book of all these pictures and notes from every day. Maybe it will challenge us to get out and try some new things or maybe it will make us realize we have some wonderful and beautiful things in our ever day life.

Well those are the big things, I hope we can stick to them! Happy 2012 everyone!

Married Christmas

2011-12-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

We're a few days early on this, but in the rush of the holiday season, I didn't want to forget to share our first Christmas card together. The back of the card had a fun graphic layout of different events from our year (getting married, my new business, Mike being full time with a new band, our new nephew on the way, etc). It sure has been a great year!

We hope you all have a happy and joyous Christmas!

Happy Birthday PJ!

2011-11-16T15:54:00.001-07:00

Happy 2nd birthday to our nephew (and my Godson) Preston! I can't believe he was this tiny only two years ago from today. He's been such a joy and blessing in our lives - we're so lucky to have such a special little nephew! We're excited to celebrate with him at a family birthday party on Sunday. I guarantee we will have pictures to show from that. The theme is western cowboy!

Nesting

2011-11-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

It took us a few months, but lately we have been really excited and motivated to decorate our house. You may remember from a previous post that we bought a gorgeous mirror. Well, we just now got it on the wall. We were pretty nervous because its so heavy, but Mike spent a lot of time measuring and securing the screws.

Trust me, the mirror is on the wall straight, it was just hard to get the right angle without getting myself in the picture. I also need to work on styling the buffet with some taller and more interesting objects. For now I'm collecting and creating Christmas items to place on the buffet.

The details are just beautiful on this mirror. It gives our great room some character!

And here it is with the rest of the room. We ordered some wedding pictures to start our frame collage to the right of the mirror (behind the sofa). I also just ordered a framed wire holder for cards, pictures, etc for our hallway and am gathering some great ideas and items for our Christmas decorations. It's so difficult to wait until after Thanksgiving to set them all up. :)

Chai Tea

2011-11-16T11:51:00.001-07:00

I'm not a coffee drinker (too much caffeine), but I absolutely love chai tea! I know, it still has caffeine in it, but a cup of it doesn't do much damage to me, so I'm ok with it. What really got me started drinking chai tea is when I went on my month-long study abroad trip to India. They love chai tea there and drink it all throughout the day...even in the 100 degree weather (they don't ice it)!

While we were there, our professor's wife, who was living and teaching there at the time, showed us how real authentic chai tea is made. I wish now that I would have written it down, but I can still remember a bit how to make it. Of course, they use buffalo's milk which would be pretty hard to find here, but the basis of the spices would be the same.

{Image via Viva Bailey}
Since then I have been trying to figure out how to make chai tea to taste just like we had it in India (and we had a lot when we were there...every stop we made included a cup of chai tea). Ok, when I say "figuring it out" though I mean I've been thinking about it. I've tried different chai teas and lattes, but haven't really tried making my own until recently. I found a great recipe and decided to try it, but since I'm eating dairy-free right now, I used almond milk.

{Image Source}
This is my second day of having this tea and it is delicious! It is definitely the closest thing I've had to real Indian chai tea, but its still not exactly the same. From what I remember, they used quite a bit of ginger, so I may try using more next time. Either way, I love this stuff and the best part is its gluten and dairy free! Find the recipe here.

P.S. I was looking through all my India pictures for the one above (I have pics from everyone on the trip, so that is quite a few pictures!) and reminiscing about our adventurous trip there. I may have to post a few of those pictures on here or facebook soon.

I miss you cheese!

2011-11-11T10:55:00.001-07:00

You may remember a few months ago when I tried out clean eating. Obviously I didn't keep that up and/or it didn't help with my 'symptoms' or I wouldn't be writing a post titled "I miss you cheese!" Since the symptoms I explained in that previous post just aren't going away, I decided I needed to take action.

A couple months ago I went to the doctor and had a test for celiac disease (and a few other things), but all came back negative. I was relieved since that would have meant no pizza or pasta in Italy for me, but at the same time, I was frustrated. We still didn't know what the cause of all this 'sickness' was from. I got really irritated trying to figure it out, so I just gave up and ate whatever I wanted regardless of the consequences (I seem to go through cycles like that). I finally got fed up with feeling extremely bloated, stomach cramps and...well...you know. So I decided to strip my diet of gluten, dairy and sugar like my doctor had recommended.

Its day five of my new eating plan and I feel absolutely fantastic! No more bloating, cramping, running to the bathroom (other than because I have been drinking so much water!) or headaches. To make it even better, I actually have way more energy and focus during the day and to top it all off, I've already lost about 3.5 pounds!

This is all great and I am loving how I feel, but I really truly deeply miss my cheese. Anyone who knows me knows that I love cheese, so this has really been the hardest part for me. Most people would think the no gluten is the hardest part and when I tell them my new eating plan, they say "what's left to eat, broccoli?!" (No joke, I have heard this from multiple people). I'm finding that there are so many substitutes for gluten though - quinoa pasta, rice crackers, lettuce instead of bread for sandwiches.

So the plan is to continue this for nine more days (two weeks total) and then start to reintroduce dairy for a week, see how I feel, and then gluten the following week so I can figure out the offender.

I so appreciate all the support in this test, I really do need it since nighttime snacking is the absolute hardest thing for me. Not to mention, my favorite restaurant is based around authentic Italian pizzas and cheese plates.

More to come on this, hopefully some results will be found at the end of it!

Image via Sprouted Kitchen

P.S. My mom sent me the link to this blog. Her story is truly inspiring!

Happiness

2011-11-10T12:08:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how bad I've been at blogging over here lately! It's been almost a month since I posted anything and about two months since I've posted anything thats been going on with us. I have a reason for all that. Starting a business is hard work and time consuming. I've spent most of my time lately designing invites, cards and parties and coming up with ideas for our blog. I love it and hope that things keep going with it! It really is what I believe I am meant to do and can't wait to see where our business goes.

The hardest part about working full time at my current job and having a business is time management and remembering to relax and have fun. There are so many stresses with starting your own business that no one tells you about. Stress about how to handle the business side of things (thank goodness for my business partner Brooke!), anxiety about wondering if people will like what you've made, figuring out how to organize everything and most of all, how to step away and call it a day. I've never really understood that last one until recently. I handle the social media part of our business too, so there's also the thoughts of "what if I post too much and people get annoyed?", "why is no one commenting?" and "why won't people 'like' us on our page?" (If you're reading this and follow our business as well, it truly does make our day when people comment or like our posts and pictures!)

Over the past few weeks, I've had to learn to shut all that off and just relax and be. Enjoy family, focus on my health and spend quality (non-business talk) time with my husband. It's a tough thing to balance and I'm still learning.

That brings me to this picture. Last weekend our family took my Grandma out to lunch at Joe's BBQ, one of her favorite places. She can't drive so she doesn't get out much, so we thought it would be a nice treat for her. My mom captured this picture of my nephew with my dad and Mike as we were walking back to our cars. I love Preston's face in this picture and it reminds me of why its so important to slow down and enjoy the little moments in life. So, here is my list of non-business things I want to do in the next few months:

- Make bracelets with my niece
- Decorate our house for Christmas (picked up a few items last night)
- Get healthy (this is my first week without gluten, sugar or dairy - more to come on that)
- Make a wreath (I'd like to make this one, which means I need to drink more wine!)
- Frame pictures & hang things on the walls in our home (ordered wedding pics already)
- Make our honeymoon and wedding albums

Exciting news!

2011-10-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to finally announce what I have been working on with my sister-in-law for the last few months. We are officially opening an event design business called Heirloom Event Design! We are SO excited about this and are thrilled to finally be announcing our venture to everyone. Please visit our site (still working on some formatting issues), read more about the type of work we do, the concept behind the business and shop our vintage, paper and handmade items in our etsy shop.

Stay tuned to our blog as this week we feature recipes, paper items and ideas for the fall season. We'll have lots to come on weddings, showers, parties, birthdays, holidays and more! There are so many amazing things in the works, I can't wait to share them all!

One of the more exciting things about what we are doing is that we are now official dealers for Envelopments, the brand of paper that I have been using for all custom invitations for our own personal invites and for friends and family. Heirloom offers custom invitations and can also sell blank stocks for you to DIY. The ideas are endless with this line of paper, it is very inspiring!

To keep up to date with all of Heirloom's happenings, follow us on facebook. There we'll be posting the latest blog posts, updates and the newest items to our etsy shop.

I'll try to keep up better with this blog and focus it more on personal happenings, but bear with me while we are still getting Heirloom up and running. :)

Thanks to our friends and family for all the support so far!

photoshoot in the park

2011-09-15T16:46:00.001-07:00

We just got a new dslr camera this week, so I went over to my brother's house and had a mini photo session with his family. Honestly, I had the setting on auto the entire time. But, the pictures turned out pretty nice! (I did, however, do some light editing to them in photoshop.) Also, isn't my niece beautiful?!

busy berrellezas

2011-09-13T14:45:00.001-07:00

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post? We've been pretty busy the past few weeks. Mike with working and playing shows and me with a special project that I can't quite announce yet. :)

The weather has suddenly changed this week though and its putting me in the mood for an outdoor event. I came across this picture on Pinterest and I fell in love with it. It makes me want to have an outdoor garden party! Even though I don't have an event to host with this, soon we can sit outside and not be drenched in sweat. I love AZ fall and winters.

Image via Pinterest

wisconsin family history & memories

2011-08-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, we were in the midwest for my grandparents' 60th anniversary celebration. We actually flew in a few days earlier and headed over to the Manitowoc, WI area and visited with my aunt, uncle and their family. This is the area our entire family is from on my dad's side, so there is quite a bit of our family's history there. One of our ancestors actually founded the Manitowoc County. I love family history, so I asked if we could see the farm my grandma grew up on, where my dad grew up and a few of the places we always hear stories about.

Unfortunately the cheese factory that my great-grandpa owned is no longer there and the building where the liquor store was that my grandpa owned isn't there either. We did, however, get to see the farm my grandma grew up on.

I can't even begin to tell you how many stories she has told about the farm she grew up on, the school she went to and how long the walk was to school. It was so great to see it all in person! Here is the school she went to. We drove from the house they lived in, to the school...what a walk to make everyday!

Then we saw the church our grandparents got married at in 1943.

Then we headed to the beach at Lake Michigan. I remember growing up and coming to visit this area and going to the beach and the park with the rocks. It was so fun to see my niece and nephew enjoying and seeing the places we grew up with. I can't wait to take our kids to these places someday too!

Hmm...I remember these rocks in this park being bigger...

And this is where we stayed, at my aunt and uncle's dairy farm just outside the city. Preston loved seeing all the "moo's" and Leila got to see her favorite dog, Rocky. I couldn't help but remember the different trips my family would take to WI and our stays on the farm. I was always scared of the dogs and my brother got his head stuck in the hay barrels (classic family joke).

Thanks so much to my aunt and uncle who were fantastic hosts and my aunt who cooked delicious meals for us. :) I hope we'll be back soon!

weekend highlights

2011-08-15T12:33:00.001-07:00

- Bike riding every morning around the neighborhood. I definitely don't dress that cute and my bike isn't as fun as that one, but that is how I want my legs to look eventually...lean and muscular. Being thrown off by the time change when we got back from our trip really helped me get in a better routine to wake up earlier and do this. This is the first step in getting in shape...baby steps....

- Unpacking and laundry (so not fun)

- Lunch with the parents and shopping at Sur La Table (so fun!)

- Cooked some delicious corn from Sprouts (10 for $2 this week...seriously go buy some, its good!)

- Catching up on my shows. We had a ton of recorded shows to watch from the week or so that we were gone. Last night was the finale of the Next Food Network Star. I'm so sad Susie lost. She was my favorite the entire time. She reminded me of a hispanic Giada and I was really anxious to watch her show and learn some new Mexican recipes!

That is pretty much it. Mike was busy working and learning new material, but I had a really quiet weekend. It was nice just to get back in the swing of things and relax after a big trip last week.

Image Source

wisconsin family reunion

2011-08-12T17:01:00.001-07:00

This last weekend our entire family headed up to Wisconsin to celebrate my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary and we had ourselves a little family reunion. Well, I guess it wouldn't be considered "little", there were about 40 people there...and we were still missing a few people!

I had designed t-shirts for the weekend (with the help of my Aunt Deb) along with a card for my grandparents. I also compiled pictures from everyone and created a picture slideshow that was shown after the vow renewal. Everything turned out so great and we had so much fun that we wish we could have stayed longer!

I just thought my nephew was so cute in these shirts! Oh and this is the face he makes when you ask him to show you his teeth. :) On the back we listed everyone...what a family!

And here are nearly all the cousins and their significant others. I believe we were missing six cousins in this picture. And yes my eyes are closed...its bound to happen with that many people in one picture!

Even the youngest of family members had matching outfits (thanks to my talented Aunt Deb who screen printed the onesies)!

More pictures to come from our other parts of the trip!

living room progress (a coffee table, ekk!)

2011-07-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

We are so excited, yesterday our new coffee table came in and we couldn't be happier with how it looks and fits! I promised a while ago to post pics of the new sofa, but I was kind of waiting for this table. Honestly, neither of us has ever had a real coffee table before. We were using two small square Ikea tables pushed together as our coffee table/dinner table. They were so ugly, it was embarrassing.

In the below pic you can really see the details in the finish of the coffee table. The entire table is made of reclaimed wood, we absolutely love it!

Although the living room is coming together now, we still have a long ways to go. But it all takes time as my mother-in-law says. :) Above I've listed the more immediate (as in the next few months) plans for this space.

- Sofa Pillows: We're getting close to deciding on a color scheme so I can go pick out some pillows...or fabric to make pillows. Thinking of doing lighter colors in the spring/summer with dusty turquoise (like the blanket), yellow, terra cotta and neutrals like ivory and tan. Hoping to get some deep red pillows for fall/winter.

- Hang Mirror: The beautiful mirror we bought last month still needs to be hung up above the buffet.

- Carpet: We are still using an old carpet/rug that my parents had bound and used in their old house and that I have been using for a few years. Its not really the right color and has a ton of stains on it now. We're hoping to get something a bit darker and less gold.

- Collage of Frames: So far we have two starter frames for the collage so now we just need to order some wedding pictures. This wall will be devoted to professional pictures (engagement, wedding, family).

- Coffee Table Centerpiece: Possibly a low vase with some dried or very real looking fake flowers in it? Definitely needs to be low though.

More pics to come as projects get completed!

DIY house projects

2011-07-25T16:06:00.001-07:00

This weekend we started to get serious about the projects we want to do to the house and actually started looking at the supplies to get them done at Lowe's. It was pretty overwhelming so we went home and had to make a list categorized by each room. I'm such a list person, so I'm hoping this will help us tackle one project at a time.

So one of the things I have been seeing on different decor blogs lately is how to paint metal fixtures in an oil-rubbed bronze finish. Our master bathroom layout is very similar to the one in the pic below.

On this site, the designer goes through very detailed steps in painting anything to be oil-rubbed bronze. I may have found my new obsession (if it looks good in person)! I think we'll try this out first on a silver lamp we have from Ikea. No loss there if we mess up on it or don't like it, but eventually we'd love to have this finish on all our door handles, showers and faucets. See the tutorial here.

Another project we want to try is paneling on the walls. We live in Arizona, our home is about five years old and while we love it, it doesn't have many interesting architectural details or wall treatments (beige everywhere!). We looked at the paneling and moldings at Lowe's and Mike was pretty confident he could figure out how to do this. I would love to do a wall of moldings and paneling on the large wall behind our bed like in the below pic...maybe even add in some textured wallpaper in the openings.

My brother has done crown molding in his house and has warned us that it is a lot harder than it looks, so we're thinking of trying some basic wall paneling and molding in the spare room first. Image Source

Another DIY project I've seen on blogs is using molding to create a frame around builder grade bathroom mirrors (which we have in all three bathrooms).

I LOVE this idea because taking those big mirrors down scare me...and mirrors with frames are crazy expensive. You could paint the frame any color you want too. This project is so great, I want to try it asap! Maybe on a smaller bathroom mirror first? Image Source

I'm crossing my fingers these projects can work for us. You all probably know Mike is really good at drawing, but he's also really talented in sculpting and woodwork. I'm hoping between his skills with that and my skills I learned in design school (I'm a pro with an exacto knife!), we can make these projects happen and look gorgeous.

Any tips out there or anyone tried any of these projects??

weekend highlights

2011-07-25T13:52:00.003-07:00

- Celebrated my mom's birthday (two weeks early)

- My mom finally got her iPad for her birthday

(which is why we celebrated early, we wanted to give her time to learn how to use it before our trip!)

- Had a girls outing which included pedicures and shopping for mint tinted lip gloss

-Swapped makeup tips and products with my sister-in-law :)

- Watched Mike and his band play at an outdoor venue (it was hot out!)

and ate sushi with my parents (they had pizza, I had sushi)

- Lunch with Mike's parents at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants

- Scoped model homes and Lowe's for home design ideas

- Started a list of what seems like a million things to do to the house...still figuring out where to start

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

tacos for dinner

2011-07-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

This week I tried a different method for our meal plans. I made a list of all the possible meals, lunches and snacks we could make based on what we had in the house (plus shopping for a few items) and hung it up on the fridge. So far it's worked great! It's really cut down on how much wasted food we've had or things that just have gone bad because plans changed throughout the week.

One of our favorite dinner meals (besides this...which we are having tonight), is tacos. The best thing about tacos is that you can basically throw anything you have in your fridge in them and it tastes good. Just be sure to have the basics for ultimate flavor – cilantro and lime. We've also found a corn/wheat mix tortilla at Sprouts that is delicious and just the right size. You have to heat them on a skillet though or else they taste a bit doughy.

The first is your basic carne asada tacos. Now the ones in the picture include corn and some sort of green salsa, but we keep it simple. Just guacamole (with lots of lime in it), carne asada meat (you can find it raw and pre-marinated at Sprouts, Costco or Fry's) and a splash of hot sauce on top. This is really the quickest and easiest meal, but oh so delicious. Sprouts also has pollo asada meat which is just as good as the steak. Image Source

Another of our favorites are these shrimp fajita tacos. I'm pretty sure these are Mike's favorite as they have onions and peppers in them. We use crushed chipotle chiles instead of the powder. Find the recipe here.

Another of our favorites is fish tacos. We've used mahi, halibut and ahi tuna in the past. I've searched for a simple yet delicious fish taco recipe, but haven't been able to find one. Usually we just improvise and make it up. Shredded cabbage is our topping of choice in fish tacos and I like to sprinkle the fish with some cayenne pepper before grilling. I also will mix together a mayo/sour cream sauce for these. Using a lot of lime and cilantro is key here! Image Source

Today I came across a new taco recipe that I really want to try. They have charred corn in them with a zucchini-relish slaw...and of course cheese. Sounds so refreshing doesn't it?

Now I'm hungry....is it time for dinner yet?

new coffee table!

2011-07-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

We have been needing a new coffee table for a while now...actually, we never really had one. We have been using two ugly square Ikea tables pushed together as a coffee table since, well, I had an apartment in Scottsdale. The Ikea tables are in really bad shape and I'm pretty embarrassed of them, especially now that we have such a beautiful sofa next to them.

We knew we wanted something round, a certain size and something we can still sit at to eat dinner (yes we do this nearly every night). I wanted something unique and worn looking. I love the reclaimed wood look, so after seeing this beauty from Pottery Barn, I knew we had to have it. It is made of reclaimed acacia wood and is everything we wanted in a coffee table. Well, last week we did it, we went in and ordered it! We still haven't seen it in person, so we're not 100% sure we will be keeping it, but from what we can see in the pictures it is perfect. Its just that right color where you can still coordinate dark woods with it. Plus the style fits in nicely with our refined/classic style of the sofa and the rustic/worn look of this mirror (which we still have to hang up).

I promised I'd post a picture of the new sofa and I haven't yet...mostly because I'm not the best at taking pictures of things in the house, but once we get this in I definitely will. :)

nyc love

2011-07-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

Last night my niece told me that when she grows up, she wants to move to New York City and become a famous fashion designer. It reminded me so much of the dream that I always had of moving there to work for a big time magazine. Sometimes I think about that and regret not trying or even spending a summer there as an intern while still in college. We are so settled into living in Arizona now that I doubt we will move anywhere as extremely different (and non kid-friendly) like NYC, but it made me miss that dream from when I was younger. I'm hoping she follows all her dreams and sticks to doing what she loves. :)

And someone, please, remind me why we love Arizona? Its pretty miserable here right now and just feeling a little bit like we need to get out. I'll glady trade for a little bit of culture and walkable city right now.

Image Source

bringing paper back

2011-07-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I used to be a good writer and I enjoyed it. Years ago I kept a journal. It was something I looked forward to doing at the end of a long or emotional day (because high school is pretty emotional for everyone, isn't it?). I never really stayed consistent with writing or journaling though because I would get so critical of my handwriting or the book itself and on a few occasions, I even rewrote entries in a nicer handwriting...which kind of makes no sense at all, but I guess that was the designer in me.

Lately I've been finding myself writing long intense blog posts only to delete them and not publish them because I realize I don't want all those thoughts out there for everyone to read (such a tease, aren't I?). So, I'm going to start writing and journaling again. I think it will feel so refreshing to get a pen to paper since now all I do is sit in front of a computer screen all day. No one can judge what I say, how I say it or critique my writing style. Just me and my thoughts.

So now I have to find just the right journal to write in. Sounds like an easy task, but I'm a little crazy when it comes to paper, books, pens and such....this kind of relates to the rewriting I used to do. A true designer would make their own book, but I'm not THAT crazy. ;) Any recommendations for nice blank books?

Oh and I wouldn't mind writing at a desk like in the picture above....with a gorgeous view like that. Doesn't it just look so homey?
Image Source

love21

2011-07-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Seriously, this stuff is from Forever 21?! I've been trying to find clothes that go beyond my everyday denim shorts/capris/pants and basic top. I love the look of the blousy top tucked into a skirt, maybe with a chunky belt. I found a skirt at Loft (actually my mom found it) for a whopping $3! Just looking for a top to go with it...and a place to wear it. I'm definitely going to have to go check out this stuff in the store though...if I can find it.

Images: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

happy!

2011-07-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend was so wonderful! Tonight I feel happy, motivated and inspired to have a great week. I haven't felt this way in a while and I hope it lasts! I think a lot of it has to do with us talking and dreaming about our future and figuring out how we are going to get there. Its so fun and motivating to come up with new ideas for our house or talk about our future kids or upcoming vacations or just enjoy relaxing and joking around with eachother. Oh how we love married life.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

(sorry, no pictures from the weekend to share...I know, this post is visually a bit boring)