Dining Room Inspiration

Our Dining room is a work in progress.  I would say that it's in the middle of being transformed to what we would like...just not quite there yet!  Here are a few pics of the fabrics, furniture, and such that is the room now. 

I would REALLY love to paint that piece of furniture a dark teal color.  I think it would be really different, so it would be a major stretch.  I'll have to get the guts up to do it.  What do y'all think?  Just in case you can't tell, the walls are yellow.

(only difference is that I spray painted the chandalier)

This table was my dad's when he was a kid and the chairs were my mom's when she was a kid.  I recovered the chairs in a black and cream colored ticking strip.  I wanted to sand down the sides of the table to give it a rustic look, but when I tried it didn't go so well. 

As I was looking at one of my favorite blogs I saw this pic.

It is absolutely gorgeous.  I realized (nothing to do with the colors) that this is the style I want my dining room to be.  I realize my style is ALL over the place today, but I just can't quite figure out how to do my dining room!!  Soo tough!!!  I am at a loss :( 

I know I have to keep my table and chairs at the moment.  So all of the changes will have to be like painting furniture, what to put on the wall, and accessories.  HELP a girl out here.  Tell me what you think I should do!

My small sense of fashion

I don't claim to be a great fashionista.  I have other friends for that.  But, I do appreciate and love nice, clean fashion.  Nothing too trendy for me please.  In saying that, there are a few things I bought over the last year that have made me feel that I have WAY more clothes than I actually do.

Thick brown braided belt - I got mine from T.J. Maxx for $15 - total steal in my book!

(lands end)

I know sometimes its easier to just buy something you see in the store for full price.  But in the case of accessories I think its totally worth it to wait and find exactly what you want at the price you are willing to pay. 

My brown belt has really changed up a TON of my clothes. 

 High wasted skirt  - I got a navy high wasted skirt from the J.Crew outlet for $30.

(J.Crew)

I have been so surprised that I could wear almost everything I own with it!  I can throw on my jean jacket with it and some cute flats.  I can use my brown belt to add a little style to it.  I just LOVE the high wasted skirt these days.  It can be dressy and even casual.  It's a nice little addition to my wardrobe. 

Alright, so lastly I think that jewelry is a HUGE addition to my wardrobe.  I have never had fun jewelry that would spice up anything I was wearing.  It really makes your clothes go farther.  Jewelry even makes me feel like I have MORE clothes than I really do.

These are my favs that I have worn non stop lately!

(Byblos Chandelier Necklace)

This really takes on any color you are wearing!

(Sofia Pearl Bib Necklace)

And this one can go with anything as well.  I wore it with a t-shirt the other day.  It just really makes me feel put together!  Then to church I wore it with a dress.  I also think that it would look beautiful with a simple wedding dress or rehearsal dinner dress.  My friend Bonnie is going to possibly get it for her wedding this coming summer!

So, when it comes down to it, I like for my clothes and accessories to work with me.  I don't go for all the trends.  But, I do like simple little things that make my wardrobe stretch a little farther!  Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Wine Tasting!

This weekend was so much fun!  Friday night we went to see my little sister in a play at her high school.  She was a towns person in the play Music Man!

(sorry, it's a little blurry!)

Then Saturday morning I had a bridal show at the Carl House with my friend Melanie.  If you are looking to book a wedding this is a wonderful place to look into!  The ladies who run the place were great and I really enjoyed meeting them.  They would be very easy to work with!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Here's the table. 

We gave out bags to brides who wanted to schedule shows in order to purchase their jewelry for their big day.  No one had ever heard of Stella & Dot so it was really fun showing it off and watching everyone get excited about it!

At the end of a long, but fun day!

Then Matt and I both had fun nights planned...Matt had a guys night out and I was having a girls night in.  Well, the guys night got postponed at the last minute, so I rescheduled with my fun girls!  Thankfully, we were able to join some sweet friends on a wine tasting adventure!  I had never done that before, but it was oh so fun!  We headed to Frogtown Winery in Dahlonega, GA.  If you've never been you should definitely visit.  It was such a pretty view to take in!

(MR.P & Mike)

The guys in their "matching" clothes.  Definitely not planned...I guess these are a staple in a guys wardrobe ;)

The guys tried the red wines.  They said they really enjoyed the selection.

(Beth & Lauren)

Lauren and I tried the sweet selection.  There were some red wines that were sweet and I was so glad to be introduced to them!  We will definitely be going back there to visit!

We sat outside on the porch and looked over this view.  It was almost the perfect weather. 

Then once we finished there we headed to a mexican restaurant for dinner.  Fun stories shared by all!

Sunday we had a potluck brunch and then spent the day at home enjoying some down time.  We LOVE the show the O.C.  MR.P got me the first season for my bday, so we watched a few of those episodes.  Don't you love those kind of weekends!  Busy on the front end and then taking it easy before you start your week back up?  That's the way it should always be :)  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Happy Monday!

$5 transformation!

So sorry for not getting this project done sooner!  This week has been quite busy.  So like I said.  I went and bought some Rustoleum Spraypaint and went to town on my green vase and my empty lemonade bottle. 

Not going to lie though.  I did go to Pottery Barn before I did this project to check out those beautiful urns again.  And you know what?  I found out that it was doable.  The $89 one is WAY too big.  So I could have done 2 for around $50.  I held off though bc I thought it was important to see what I thought of the end result. 

( I use our garage for all my spraypainting projects, so my extra beadboard comes in handy ALL the time!)

So this is the end result!  $5 later and I think they actually look good!  The shape, size, everything works for this space.  The flowers are from Pottery Barn as well.  We got them with a gift card from my little sister Rachel a few years ago.  They really add some depth to our bedroom! 

This is the view from one side of the room.  That dresser is very old, but VERY durable.  I plan to paint it and give it new hardware.  I just haven't gotten the guts to do it yet :)

And now the other side of the room.  Those green drapes are being replaced by the beautiful ones from World Market (which I already blogged about...twice!!!) 

So sometimes its worth it to spend a little and sometimes its worth it to spend more.  This time, I think spending $5 instead of $50 was totally worth it ;)  I have the same affect for way less!

Getting Inspiration from Pottery Barn...

I like Pottery Barn, but I don't like their prices.  Sometimes they are just too much for what they are selling.  Anyway, I found these beautiful Tuscan Urns and I fell in love. 

 I have been looking for something similar for MR.P and I's room.  They would complete our room and look wonderful!  Absolutely perfect on our dresser.  But, at $89 and $30 each (because you need 2 to make it look complete) I can't do that.  Especially not on accessories ;)  So I started brainstorming and thinking about what I have.  I have a green vase that is beautiful, but doesn't really go with our decor.  Then I just cleaned out a lemonade bottle from trader joe's because I thought it was a cute shape and big enough to keep.  So I decided I will use a textured rustoleum spraypaint on them.   Don't use regular spraypaint on them because of what happened last time.  Even if they don't have the right color, I will use a light colored texture as the first coat, then I will use the right color over it.  I sure hope this works out!  I'll let you know how it goes.  Cross your fingers for me!  I'd like to keep this project under $10 (2 things of spraypaint).

Adoption!

Good morning Blogging World!  If you don't follow me on twitter then you don't know this already, so I am sharing :)  MR.P and I decided it was time to start a family.  So after talking and praying about it for a while, we decided that adoption was the way to go for our family!  We couldn't be more excited/scared to death about it!!  We sort of started the process last night by filling out the preliminary application.  This will only get us approved to move forward.  Plus, we found out there is a waiting list for the Country we want.  So hopefully we can get put on that quickly.  We can't really start the process until July.  They have requirements about being married for 3 years for the countries we are looking into...and July 13th is our 3 year anniversary!  But, its ok.  We are fine with the timing of everything.  It will give us more time to prepare and get ready for the next phase in life.  We are hoping to take a trip for our 3 year anniversary.  We will enjoy our time together and the process of adoption.  I don't want it to be more stressful than it already is.   

Quick story on how we decided it was time to start thinking about adoption. 
On Valetine's day MR.P took me out for a special lunch after church.  We started talking about the fact that in one year we wanted to be farther along in our little family.  At least farther along in the process.  So right then and there (inside Macaroni Grill) we decided we would start praying about adoption.  It was a special lunch and I will always remember it!  Well, I had this fear that adoption was just something that I wanted...not necessarily something that God wanted for us.  But, I wasn't sure.  So later that night I got an email from my sweet friend Lyndie asking us if we wanted to either babysit for them to go to this adoption meeting or to actually go with them!!   I was in awe!!  My mouth dropped open and I asked MR.P if he wanted to go.  So we quickly emailed back and said we would babysit at another time, but REALLY wanted to go with them to this meeting.  I am so thankful for times when God shows me something to affirm what my heart already desires.  He doesn't have to do that, but I sure do appreciate it when he does!!

So in sharing this exciting news I just want y'all to know this blog will start having a few updates on our process.  I will still share all of my normal projects and such, don't you worry.  But, if the process and what's going on with us bores you, then I am so sorry! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  I am headed to lunch with my sister and 2 nieces today.  Always a bright time in my day!

It's great having wise people in my life!

Last night I went to spend some time with my old discipleship group leader.  She is a wealth of knowledge a wisdom!  She told me to be a wise woman and learn from OTHER people's mistakes.   Then she gave me this piece of info.  "Don't live right now as if your life hasn't started...life doesn't start when you have kids.  It has already started!!!  Take advantage of this time alone with your husband and live life to the fullest!"

I am going to listen to her.  MR.P and I want to take some vacations.  Any tips on some less expensive places to go?

We Finally Did It!!

After months of going back and forth about installing a microwave above the stove or not we finally did it!!!  We didn't want to spend $250 on an electrician so we asked around.  We had one friend who said he could use a kitchen fork and get it done (not without a few zaps).  So that was one option ;)   Then during dinner one night our friend Daniel said he could do it.  So we offered his wife Anna and him dinner one night to come and help us out!  So they did!

MR.P and Daniel getting ready to tear the kitchen apart :)

This is the before shot.  I fell in love with our house because of the beadboard in the kitchen :)

They started out by putting the electrical outlet in.  Daniel and MR.P made this look easy...like it was no big deal.  But if electricians charge $100-$250 to do this, then it must be somewhat difficult/dangerous to do.

The guys working diligently :)  You wonder what Anna and I were doing?

Well, we couldn't cook dinner (oh, sad face) so we did the pizza run!  Then since we were of no help, we ate our dinner and watched some episodes of the O.C. (first season).   We were soo helpful!

So the guys just kept on working through!  They put some of our extra beadboard up and installed the wall mount.  That thing is no joke.  The microwave is NOT coming down.

Now for the finishing touches!!  YAY!  Just putting the final screws in to keep it up.  Doesn't it look GREAT??  (You can see my reflection in the microwave...does that show you how excited I was??)

Looks like its always been there, right?  It's so nice to have a microwave again.

We couldn't be more thankful for the help that Daniel and Anna gave us.  We are thankful for their knowledge in the DIY category as well as their sweet friendship!  Now MR.P knows how to do all of this, so let us know if you need any help!!

Blogger Meet Up!

Last Fall I posted this post and randomly became friends with Abby @ Tales and Trials.  We found out we had tons of the same friends!  Me to myself, "Ok, she's safe...I can be friends with her."  Oh, and we just so happen to only be 45 min away from each other!  We became fast friends and talk about pretty much anything!  We decided it was time to meet up so we did.  We planned to meet at Buckhead Pizza, but of course there was a TERRIBLE wreck right where Abby was coming from.  So we broke the ice quickly by talking on the phone trying to get her to our destination.  Once we got her safely to the restaurant we enjoyed a great lunch.  Then we headed to Queen of Hearts Antiques!  We had a blast walking around finding our favorite things!  I look forward to our next hang out time. 

Decorating our Room + Cox & Cox

When MR.P and I moved into our house I decided I wanted to decorate one room at a time.  I knew that my brain couldn't handle more than one BIG project at a time.  So now that our living room is done, I am moving onto our room!  When we got married I let MR.P pick out the duvet.  I wanted him to feel like the room wasn't super girly.  He picked out the perfect one!  It's a darker sage green that looks solid, but its not.  It's made up of large circles intertwined together.  Perfect for us!  Not too girl, not too masculine.  I don't usually like bed in a bag sets, so we just bought the duvet.  Then we picked out some pillows from Pottery Barn.  I wanted to include some stripes, some different colors, and some depth to the room.  After a few trips we found the perfect pillows :)  For the last few years our room was paired with dark wood and green curtains.  It worked while living in an apartment.  Now that our room is a little larger than a 4x5 the room needs a little more depth.  I decided I wanted to add some vintage looking frames and accessories.  I felt that would be an inexpensive way to make the room more what I am looking for.  It's amazing what accessories can do!

I also decided to add these drapes.  They were a bday present given to me by my wonderful sisters-in-law!  I couldn't have been more excited about them!

So the bedroom is coming together slowly, but surely.  I'll definitely share pictures soon.  BUT, I did want to share this awesome site with y'all.  As I was reading Brunch at Saks I came across Cox & Cox.  I am so sad, BUT SOO excited to say I am in love with this new find. If only I lived in the UK.  Oh well.  I'll just get some inspiration.  Here are a few things I hope to find similar for our room.

This shadow box would look perfect with all of our wedding stuff in it.  My sweet younger sister made me one with our wedding invitation, program, my headband I wore, pearls, and a picture of us.  I want to switch it out of the black frame and put it in this one.  We have a "P" in gold next to it that would look great!

These frames would look great on the opposite wall in our room.  I've been at a loss for what to do with that wall until I saw these.  I just LOVE them!!

 

Just love this site and the inspiration it helped me with.  I really do promise to share pics of our room soon.  It's just not really clean at the moment ;)

Candles + Mason Jars

Alrighty!  It's Wednesday!!  I am pretty excited about that.  MR.P and I have nothing to do tonight and I couldn't be more excited!  We are actually going to cook dinner and take it easy tonight.  Not something we've gotten to do in a while.

So onto this cool idea.  I was over at my friend's house the other night and I noticed her candle (sorry, no picture).  It was in a mason jar and had super cute layers.  I asked her where she got it and she said she made it!  She said every time she has a candle thats getting low she just throws it into the mason jar!  Isn't that soo smart!!  And cute too!!  I will definitely be starting this project soon.

It's pretty much a free project since we all have candles laying around.  And you can probably find an inexpensive mason jar at Hobby Lobby or somewhere similar.  It would even be cute with twine or ribbon tied around the top :)  Even a cute label you could print out yourself!

Are you stinkin' kidding me?!?!

Ok, I admit it.  I watch the Bachelor.  I am not an avid season watcher, but this season caught my attention (ok, it caught MR.P's attention too, but we'll keep that on the DL).  I thought Jake was different, but I guess not! 

My sweet friend Pollye and I put together a Stella & Dot Bachelor Trunk Show. 

(she's wearing) (I'm wearing)

We had a blast setting up, talking, and catching up on life.

We both thought that Jake would dump both girls and get back together with Alli.  I mean seriously...did you see their looks back and forth at the Women Tell All??  No?  Ok, I guess I am a little to into this show.  Sadly I was proven wrong when he picked VIENNA!!  I couldn't believe it.  I mean to be honest, he doesn't deserve Tenley, but still.  Come on Jake.  I am sure Vienna is sweet, but its a HUGE red flag when a girl can't along with other girls.  And the physical attraction you have now is going to get you no where in 20 years...you'll have nothing to talk about!!

This is the before we knew the outcome picture.

Everyone was calm and intently watching.

This was Pollye's response to the whole matter.

Then me busy trying to take a picture of how rediculous his decision was :)

Anyway, now I am stuck and will have to watch Alli on the Bachelorette.  I will NOT be watching Jake on Dancing with the Stars.  He's not a star...a least not in my book!

Anyway, ATL is getting a snow storm.  CRAZY!!

Birthday Weekend!

This weekend couldn't have been more beautiful!  The weather was absolutely perfect...minus a little wind.  I couldn't have felt more special or spoiled.  All my sisters took me out to eat for lunch and then to the outlets for a little shopping.  We even got to bring baby Lizzie along!  Sadly I didn't get her in the pic.

(Laura, Rachel, Dani, and Claire)

I appreciate my sisters so much.  They are not only fun, but they love me and give me Godly wisdom even when I don't want it.  Thankful to have them in my life!

Claire gave me Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.  I am really excited about reading it!

On Sunday MR.P made plans to take me to Athens (where we went to college) and have brunch at The Last Resort.  It was soo yummy!  We spent the rest of the day walking around Athens and enjoying the shops Athens has to offer.  We also took a nice walk on North Campus and read The Red and Black.  Good old times!

Once we were done shopping around we had time before we went to dinner with friends.  We decided to head to Home Depot and purchase our Microwave!!!!  Well, we had them hold it at another store because it wasn't available in Athens.  We are soooo excited about this.  We have some friends who are coming over on Friday to help us do the electrical wiring AND mount it!  I couldn't be more excited about this.  We decided to go with the GE CleanSteel Over-the-Range.  We liked it because it can't get fingerprints all over it :)  That makes me really happy!

Once we were done at Home Depot we headed to Mellow Mushroom with these friends!!  They also happen to be the friends that are coming to help out with the Mircrowave.  Nice huh??

It was a lovely 26th Birthday celebration.  I felt loved and celebrated by friends and family :)  Thanks for all the wonderful wishes!