TGIF

After a long week puppy-sitting and Chris being on call for work this picture (that reminds me WAY too much of Parker) couldn't be anymore accurate.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

House "Before" Pictures

I think I've mentioned before that when Chris and I purchased our house it was a foreclosure. The previous owners used it as a litter box. As in, they allowed their cats to use the carpets as their toilet. Lovely really. 

I've promised some "before and after" pictures of the house so today I'll start with "before". Some of the pictures don't look THAT bad. But remember you cant smell over the internet. 

I think the stairs were the cats favorite spot

As you can see there are a lot of stellar paint colors/techniques as well as awesome brass light fixtures. 

Don't get me wrong, we did luck out with some pretty great kitchen applicances, but the majority of the house definitely needed some cleaning up and updating. When we first got the keys Chris and his dad got to work ripping the carpets and baseboards out, scrubbing the walls, and bleaching the subfloor before sealing it with Killz (I totally would have helped but I was on my bachelorette party - bad timing or good timing? you be the judge). We then had new carpets installed and all the walls, doors, ceilings and trim painted.. Stay tuned for some "after" pics. Maybe it would be more accurate to say "in progress" pics as I don't think I'll ever feel like a room is finished!

A few house updates

Well, looks like I've done it again. Completely neglected my blog, for all of you who have been checking for updates I apologize, and for those who haven't, you've obviously not missed anything. During my little blogging hiatus I have made a few updates to the house, or at least made purchases for the updates. 

As you may remember from my Home To Do List a few items that I've been meaning to get to are:

Making a wreath for my front door - I love the look of the fluffy burlap wreaths that people have been making, but being the cheap-o that I am, I just couldn't stomach the steep price tag. Enter Hobby Lobby and the 50% off sales. All of my supplies (minus the $2.99 metal base which I used a 40% off coupon for) were 50% off making the total price of this wreath project $18.

Definitely not an exact replica of my inspiration wreaths but not a far cry, and MUCH MUCH easier on my wallet.

Another project scratched off my to-do list; picking a fabric for curtains. I took the pillows I currently have in my living room to the fabric store to make sure everything would coordinate. I decided on the Khanjali Glacier and was pleasantly surprised with how everything came together. I ordered enough fabric for (2) 96" curtain panels and (2) 18x18 pillows, about 6.5 yards. I cant wait for the fabric to come in - thanks in advance to my mother in law for helping me with the sewing portion of this project

I've also been working on sprucing up our back patio. 

I've added a few plants as well as a little herb garden/lattice thingy

I also decided it was time to replace our current outdoor light

Isn't she a beaut? Just image more rust and way more bugs in the jar

with a more substantial updated light

Fingers crossed it looks good! I just happen to think its the little upgrades that make a world of difference!

While I haven't gotten to everything on my list I am definitely making progress! I will post pictures of the finished curtains (once my MIL makes them) and installed light fixture (once Chris installs it) - hey, I have the ideas not necessarily the skill :)

Happy Birthday CRS!

Chris celebrated his 29th birthday last week. Its hard to believe this is the last year of his twenties and even harder to believe that I met him when he was just 15! Time sure does fly!

Friday night we went out to our favorite sushi restaurant, and then capped off the evening with cupcakes from our favorite bakery Cake & All Things Yummy. 

We got our wedding cake from this bakery and we have yet to be disappointed. Our wedding cake was fantastic and these cupcakes taste even better than they look!

Saturday morning I made Chris one of our favorite breakfast recipes Jamie Deen's Breakfast Casserole. It takes a little prep work but its oh so worth it! I recommend giving this recipe a try!

(and then... we ate another cupcake.)

The day was so beautiful, and after all our food consumption we took the dog and headed to the park for a morning run. We then spent the rest of the afternoon celebrating in a different way, our friends Jared and Megan's wedding!

The wedding and the bride were beautiful and we are so happy we could share in their special day. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Hardison!

Sunday was spent planting flowers and playing with the pups.

They are best friends already, all that was missing was Tucker and Boags!

It was such a nice and relaxing weekend. Birthday celebrations have definitely changed over the past decade, but we had a great time celebrating!

Photo a day April: Day 16, 17 and 18

Day 16: Flower

Scratching off PART of one of the items on my to do list, these are the flowers I planted this weekend to spruce up our back patio. Its not complete but every bit helps!

Day 17: Something you don't like

The Boston Marathon Bombings - Something I definitely DON'T like. I don't like the hate that is behind these tragedies, and I don't like the assumptions and accusations that people immediately jump to following these tragedies. My heart and prayers are with everyone involved. Just remember there IS good in this world and it outweighs the bad.

Day 18: Hair

I love the look of this casual up-do. It would be a perfect way to glam up a lazy hair day. Now if only I could figure out how to braid my own hair.

Photo a day April: Day 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Okay so clearly I'm behind seeing as I am now posting 5 at a time. At least I'm sticking with it just maybe not in a timely fashion

Day 11: Where you ate breakfast

 No surprise here, running late as usual and ate my breakfast on the way to work

Day 12: Stairs

 How gorgeous are these stairs in Greece. I have the itch to travel right now and Chris would love to go to Europe, Greece just might need to be one of our stops.

Day 13: Something you found

Found these at Target and bought them, does that count as something found? Either way they are much cuter in person and a perfect addition to my summer wardrobe.

Day 14: How you feel today

If you cant tell the feeling is happy! how could I not be happy on such a beautiful weekend!

Day 15: Sunset

Gorgeous sunset on our run the other night at Bur-Mil Park

Photo a Day April: Day 10

Day 10: Cold

I love that I can show frozen yogurt as my "cold" instead of the weather. It has finally warmed up and I couldn't be more thankful! I love the warmer temps, they are perfect for porch sitting, ice cold cocktails and of course a frozen yogurt masterpiece.