Guest Room Update

I have been struggling with what to do with the second bedroom in our home since we moved in. 

 It has once been a bedroom, then a storage room, then an office, again a storage room, and finally a bedroom again.   

Here are some photos of the room as an office...which I had the best intentions to use...however...I never...literally not once...never did

I spent all last weekend revamping the room and I am so in love with it now...so much so that I seriously considered sleeping in the room last night...

I flipped the Ikea dresser on its side so that you can sit and put make up on and have a surface for perfumes...makeup...and jewelry

I used a nightstand {small chest of drawers} from my mom's house...I accented it with an Ikea lamp...hardback books...a mint julep cup with a sunflower, a favorite piece of art...and a clay bowl for rings or a glass of water..

I hung an antique light fixture that I got years ago for my future child's room...yes you read that right...I bought a light for my unborn child's room...and I believe I was 25 at the time...talk about planning ahead, but I just had to have it and couldn't risk loosing it!

I have the dresser in the same spot as before, but styled it with a gold mirror that once belonged to my great grandmother...a bronze tray...a book...and flowers placed in a silver goblet that my grandfather won at a skeet shooting competition

Most of the items in the room I already had...it is so nice to see these items displayed instead of sitting in a closet collecting dust.

I got the daybed {in white} as a Christmas gift...I had the dresser, desk chair, and the Ikea bookshelf in the office...and I gathered the rest of the items in the room for less than $350!!  

Here is the run down...

1. Duvet Cover: Ikea $30 

2. Duvet insert: Ikea  $25

2. headboard...thrifted for $10

3. Lamp: Ikea $20

4. Rug...not yet arrived...so not yet shown...Overstock $141

5. Mirror: Ikea $50 

6. Fabric for pillow: $16 from local fabric store

7. Quilt: Marshals $30

Now there are a few things that I still need to do...

1. Paint

2. Add in amazing rug that I have already purchased

3. Sew Pillow case using mint fabric...and perhaps monogram it??

4. recover chair cushion with mint fabric

So, it was a busy and fun weekend of redecorating...now to pick out the perfect paint color...suggestions?

My love...

Happy two year anniversary to my love...

Thank you for letting me be me and making me feel amazing about who I am

Thank you for making me laugh even when I don't want to and knowing when to let me be...

Thank you for working so hard for our family

Thank you for loving the kitties as much as I do and for pretending with all sincerity to love hearing me talk about design, fashion, celebrity gossip, and all things girly

Thank you for loving my family as your own....

Thank you for being you and for being the amazing man I fell in love with....

I love you more than diet coke, more than flowers, more than chocolate cake and more than DVR....

basically...you are beyond amazing...or as we like to say...you are the bee's knees, man oh man mississippi!

XOXOXO

Weekly Weigh-in

This week...I was down 2.4 lbs on Saturday morning...but then a celebration happened and I gained 2 lbs...so by Sunday morning at my meeting I was only down 0.4 lbs.  

The celebration was a date night with my hubby to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary, which is actually Tuesday....We went to this amazing restaurant...

ARIA! We got to dress up...I even wore heels...which is very rare for me...{I'm more of a flip-flops, ballet flats, or bare feet kind of girl}

The interior of the restaurant was beautiful...wainscoting painted in high-gloss white...white table cloths, candle light, accents of black, white and cream...and two really spectacular sculptures...

We sipped on Rose and a dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed olives...I'll let you guess who had what...

We dined on ficaccia bread...and by dined I mean we ate two plates full...this stuff was amazing...melt in your mouth, salty,  buttery and warm...totally worth the 2 lbs alone!

We had crab cakes with thai coleslaw as a starter and then I had scallops with bacon, parmesan, and corn risotto...Max had brazed pork shoulder with succotash...it was sweet and savory...as I like to say "a party in your mouth"

We topped off the meal with homemade cheesecake..which they served warm...I loved the fact that it was served warm...Max: not so much.

So...I did not lose as much as I could have....but it was totally worth it...and it's not like I eat like that all the time....although I definitely would if I could get away with it!

Yard Art

With the flowers blooming and the cool breeze blowing all I want to do is spend time outside.  

Now, I love all things art and outside, so I thought...why not combine the two?

I came across these great outdoor art pieces and instantly fell in love...

But here is my favorite!

When pigs fly!!

This little guy just had to come home with me!!

How do you add art to your yard??

Shrinky-Dink

I found my newest love!  SHRINKY-DINK...also more typically known as...

I came across this lovely material in art class at work!  I am pretty sure that I was more excited than the class to see this project!  So, I used the opportunity to create three Mother's Day gifts for my three mothers....here is the run down...

Step one...sketch a practice drawing

Step two...lightly sand one side of the shrinky-dink...lay the shrinky-dink over the drawing with the sanded side up

Step three...draw on the shrinky-dink with markers, sharpies, or colored pencils...I used colored pencils

Step four...follow the heating instructions on the shrinky-dink packaging...when you see the material shrink and curl...don't panic...it will flatten out in the end.

Step five...remove from oven, or in our case the toaster oven and let it cool

I decided to go one step further and frame mine using an Ikea frame, scrap wall-paper, and card board to raise the shrinky-dink off of the background, but you can also do other things like attach a magnet to the back.

{please excuse the shadow...oops}

Here is the finished product....

An Eiffel tower to commemorate a trip to Paris

A sunflower...to highlight a favorite flower

A bird perched on a flower because a great mother watches over her children like a mama bird

This project is fun, easy, and perfect for all ages!  I highly recommend it!

HAPPY SHRINKING!

Weekly Weigh-In...and A Wedding!

I barely {and by barely I mean knocked on the closed doors and luckly someone let me in to use the scale} made it to Weight Watchers Sunday Morning...

I was running on fumes, so much so I briefly thought it was Saturday morning instead of Sunday morning, but I just had to weigh in....and I am glad I did!

Last week I pledged to not let my typical Thursday, Friday, Saturday routine of eating poorly re-occur!  Well...I did it...and it paid off!  I lost 1.6 lbs!  Yippee....now I just have to do the same thing this week!

Now...the reason for all of the exhaustion!

Saturday Night Everbest had the honor of catering an old friends wedding reception...or wedding party...the couple eloped in Hawaii a few weeks ago and then came back to town to throw a huge party to celebrate!   

It was an great night...the crowd cheered, laughed and cried during toasts...they danced until the late night hours, and they celebrated in a truly fabulous fashion!

The bride decorated with aquas, turquoises, greens, and pinks...she was amazing...she literally had everything done to the "T" which made set up effortless and fun!  

The groom obsessively loves chicken wings, so without question we had two flavors...Buffalo and Pineapple-habanero...we also severed beef brisket, fresh fruit, garlic green beans, and Mac-N-Cheese...and of course no southern wedding is complete without lemonade and sweet tea!

Congrats to the happy couple and thank you for including us in your celebration!

Sip's-N-Strokes

This week has been super busy and super exhausting...much like this weekend coming up will be, but it in a good and exciting way.  

To start the weekend off my cousin, Brayton and I treated our mothers to an evening out!  That's right...a full on girls night out with surprises around every corner.  

We started the evening off with dinner at a neighborhood pizza joint....we sipped on drinks and caught up with conversation.  Our mothers were curious as to what was in store for the night, but my cousin and I kept quiet....we couldn't ruin the surprise.  

After dinner, we hopped in the car and went to our final destination....

 That's right folks...the four of us gals hit up Sip's-N-Strokes....we had the best time...laughing at our painting skills...and just enjoying the evening.  I mean...friends, fun, painting and wine...a girl could get used to this!

How did everyone else start off their weekend?