Lovely Little Weekend

Why do weekends go by so fast? I mean, seriously. I blink and suddenly I'm in bed, it's Sunday, and we're already half way through a new episode of The Killing. WTF. When is POTUS going to make the weekends three days long? That should be every presidential hopeful's platform. I would vote for anyone who could promise me a three day weekend; forget all the other stuff like health care and unemployment. Three day weekends will get anyone the job in my book. Even Donald Trump. 

Our weekend was so nice and relaxing. The weather was absolute crap but that meant for leisurely days spent on the couch and low-key nights out with friends.

Friday night we went to my parents' house to celebrate my mom's birthday

My parents' dog, Sailor. This dog is nuts. She has more anxiety than most humans I know.

My parents' dog, Shelby and my not-such-a-puppy anymore chillin by the fire. It was so cold!

 

 

 

Saturday afternoon we met up with my future sister-in-law to discuss her upcoming wedding to my brother-in-law. They're going to have a winter wedding and I love being apart of the planning process! 

I didn't read this book when I was planning but I gave it to my SIL and she said she's enjoying it so far!

Saturday night we went out with some friends and tried two new restaurants. One for cocktails ( verdict = delish cocktails) and one for small plates (verdict = delish food). 

Corvus Punch. It had cinnamon in it! It was soooo good! 

I wore my  hair up on Saturday night. I NEVER wear my hair up. My husband was weirded out by my new hairstyle and proceeded to make fun of my bun all night. True love, right there. 

I hope your weekend was lovely and your week is off to a great start! I'm about to head out on my weekly Monday night walk with one of my friends. Love these walks, they are much needed.

Etsy Love

I have a major obsessions with Etsy prints and would cover my entire apartment in them if my husband and wallet would allow it. Today, I want to showcase a few prints I do have hanging in my home because the prints themselves are awesome and so are the sellers. Its always good to support small businesses and being a dreamer of owning my own business one day, it feels necessary for me to support those who are already doing so.

First up, I have a set of three prints in my bathroom from Art Shark Designs by Megan Nolton. These were the first purchases I made when G and I moved in together. I absolutely love adore the red umbrellas they add such punch to our otherwise drab bathroom. I put them in simple Ikea Ribba frames in black and hung them in my bathroom.  I went with prints from the two cities we'd visited together at that point and the city we were moving to together. I put the city we live in in the center and flanked it with the two we'd visited. 

 
(From left: Chicago, Baltimore, NYC)

Second, I have one of the blogger prints from Lady Lee & Drew Jones. I chose  Molly Rigoloso's Celebrate print to hang in our bedroom. I love the message it sends and read it often.  I just purchased another one for a friend who is getting married and moving to NYC with her husband. G and I love living in Baltimore and love going out and celebrating anything we can so this print is perfect for us.  I also love the punchy color and hope to tie it into my bedroom makeover via the headboard. The picture below if from the Etsy shop but mine looks identical hanging in our bedroom.

I also have a print floating around my house that says, "If you want to know how much I love you, count the waves" but I can't seem to find the seller on Etsy. Its a beautiful light gold background with sand dollars and waves on it. I also can't seem to find a place to hang it. Perhaps over one of our bedside tables?

Do you love Etsy? Have any favorites? Please share, I enjoy feeding my addictions!

NYC Recap Photographically

We have a lovely weekend in NYC. The weather was beyond perfect. It was great to see catch up with some friends that we haven't seen in awhile. We didn't really have any set plans and it was nice to just see where each day took us. Below  is a recap via both iPhone and real camera photos.

 

All in all, a delicious weekend of friends and food:)

Friday, Bullet Point Style

• I've spent years convinced that I didn't love Thai food. I'd go to a Thai restaurant reluctantly and then order garlic shrimp, which could fall under any food umbrella. So here I was being a dispassionate Thai food liker. Then, last week my friend convinced me (after a few Skinnygirl margs) to go to the local Thai restaurant and I obliged because well, I'd had a few drinks. She did all the ordering and it was AWESOME. I'm now begging my husband to get Thai food with me like every other hour day. So yeah, I love Thai food.
• I just discovered that Houzz has an iPhone app. When I told my sister that I just found out there was iPhone app she pretty much gave me the "have you been living under a rock?" look (via text message). Thanks, Houzz. Like I really need another time suck during my planning period.
• We're going to NYC this afternoon. We decided this last week. There will probably be very little sightseeing but I am determined to find myself here and here at some point during the weekend.
• Word on the street is that the last day of the school year is June 7th. This means less than 2 months to go. Approximately 40 wake-ups between now and 12 weeks of sleeping in.
• I feel like I'm in a make-up rut. I don't wear make-up during the week but I do on the weekends. I'm tired of my current line-up. I've been using Bare Minerals for about 3 years now and while I'd be willing to stick with it, I'd still like to explore other options. Please share with me any make-up that you swear by, I'd love to hear suggestions!

        Happy Friday!

Spring Break Goals Update

Today is the last day of my spring break. Major sad face over here. I love being home with the puppy all day and doing things around the house. Have to figure out a way to convince my husband to let me do this full time. Although I'm dreading going back tomorrow, I did have a pretty productive break and am happy to have today to finish tidying up around here! Let's revisit the goals I posted last week:

Spring Break goals:

1. Brunch at Blue Moon Cafe

2. Ikea

3. Consolidate student loans

4. Finish organizing our bedroom

5. Start repainting the dresser in our bedroom

6. Make a table runner for the chest in our living room

7. Apply for a summer job

8. Put furniture up on Craigslist

9. Go to opening day of the city's baseball team

 

I did get the paint for the dresser but just ran out of time to actually get the project started. I'm not sure if I still want to make a runner for the chest or if I want to repaint it. I never got around to applying for summer jobs but have some ideas that hopefully I can get the ball rolling on this week. All in all, I'm happy with what I accomplished. I really enjoyed having goals and I'm thinking I need to have a list of small goals for each week/weekend. I think that will make the week so much better for me and force me to do things around the house that I constantly neglect.

Happy Monday! If you were also on spring break this week, I hope you can avoid the Monday Night Scaries that I am sure to have tonight!

Apartment Redecorating

We are in the process of redecorating around here. Seriously, this apartment is so mismatched it looks like a frat house. We are in desperate need of new couches, which when G suggested we buy them now spurred this whole redecorating venture. As you know, redecorating is a process. We've decided on things here and there and added things here and there and I'm really hoping it all comes together soon.

We live in a one bedroom which means we have two rooms total. I am trying to be budget friendly on this endeavor so this means a lot of Ikea, repainting/purposing furniture, and accepting some hand-me-downs from my mother and making them work. We also can't paint so I'm tried to add life to the rooms in other ways.

Here's what we've got going on for the living room:

 
Ikea Karlstad couch in Isunda Gray

Ikea Lack Coffee Table in White with some brass corners added

 
Ikea Expedit Shelving unit that is going to act as a tv stand (hopefully!)

I need to find a good 11 x 17 print to go in our living room as well. I'm hoping to do gold accents in there with throw pillows and such. We debated over white vs. dark furniture in the living room and ultimately decided white because we live in the basement and get very little natural light. Seriously, sometimes I think its sunny and its actually cloudy and vice versa.

We've got some things going on in our bedroom, too:

My mom gave us the Pottery Barn Pick Stitch quilt in the green color. Not my first choice but better than what we had before.  (image via)

 
I'm going to use this Sheron & Lewis Ikat Multi fabric in Jewel to make a headboard.

We also have two white bookshelves in our bedroom (again, to lighten the place up) and I'm currently contemplating what to paint the rest of the furniture in there. I'm thinking I might paint our dresser a light blue to go with the blue in the fabric. As for our bedside tables, my mother is adamant that I don't paint them as she says my grandmother paid a lot of money to have them dipped years ago. So that makes me feel guilty about wanting to paint them so I might not but dipped or not they look outdated! Any tips on how to make something look more modern without painting??

I can't wait to share before/after photos with you when everything is finally completed. Hopefully that is sometime before summer gets here!

Spring Break

I am on Spring Break this week! I am so pumped as both us teachers and the kiddos really needed a break. I'm hoping to get a lot of things accomplished and go back to school feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the school year. Here is my Spring Break goals list:

Spring Break goals

1. Brunch at blue moon cafe

2. Ikea

3. consolidate student loans

4. Finish organizing our bedroom

5. start repainting the dresser in our bedroom

6. Make a table runner for the chest in our living room

7. apply for a summer job

8. put furniture up on craigslist

9. go to opening day of the city's baseball team

ready, set, go!