Crafting mania and other things!

Hello friends!
So recently I have been all about crafting! I think this current obsession started with me getting a sewing/ embroidery machine for my birthday, and is only compounded by the fact that I am hosting a party in a week.

I am currently dying for a Cricut! I'm sure y'all have heard of this amazing machine, but if you haven't, here's the deal: its like a printer, except instead of printing, it cuts the paper. This may not sound that appealing to everybody (if it doesn't, you're crazy...only kidding... kind of), but I can think of MILLIONS of things I would use it for. One big one would be making cute gift tags because sometimes I want to add a cute little tag instead of using my enclosures.

I need one of these!

I also have some cute projects i'm making for my sister's bachelorette party next weekend and the Cricut would be really helpful! They're all surprises for my sister so I will have to share after the party!

Does anyone have a cricut? I need to know how people like them!

In other news, school started back this week. I think its funny really dislike the fact that everyone says 1L is the hardest year of law school. They all lie. I feel like I have had to work my tail off so far and i'm only 1 week in! I might have also brought some of this hardship upon myself, considering I signed up to have class on Wednesdays basically from 9am to 9pm. The upside to that? I only have a half day on Thursdays and no school on Fridays!! I'll take a 3 day weekend any day!

Since I had the afternoon off today, I started doing a little crafting and also hit up my favorite store, Homegoods! I finally bought some apothecary jars which I have wanted FOREVER but really never had a use for them. But, since i'm having people over next weekend, I figured they would provide a cute way to tie in my sister's wedding colors, pink and navy. I tried to get some different shapes and sizes but I kept them all pretty small. I love the huge ones, but I had no idea what I would fill them with! I glad I snagged them at HG, because I thought about going to get them at Michaels and they were WAY more expensive there and didn't have the same variety.

Sort of hard to see, sorry!

Do y'all love apothecary jars as much as I do? I really love when people get really small ones to use for q-tips and such in a bathroom!

I also got some new running shoes today from Road Runner Sports. If y'all have one of these where you live you need to go and get fitted for some good shoes! We have several different local running stores in atlanta but the fit process and help I got today was superb! Although it is a little pricy (especially with the custom insoles they make for you on the spot) I think it will be worth it and hopefully prevent my shin splints from worsening. Also, it was pretty interesting. They showed you everything about your gait as well as how your feet are shaped with your arch and whatnot.

That's all for today! I hope y'all are having a great week!!

ERK

So... it's been a while!

Hello world! I cannot believe how long it has been since I blogged! Y'all probably thought I had given up on the old blog. Not so fast!!! I am back, and hopefully not just for one post (I know I say this every time, at least i'm trying?)

So, whats going on in my world?

I am on summer vacay!! Woohoo!! Spring exams ended and 4 days later summer classes started so I felt like there was NO break! Talk about burnout! But summer exams are over and I don't have to think about school for another 2 weeks, so nice!

So what have I done this summer (other than school)? Well...

I went to Colorado for one of my college best friend's weddings. It was such a wonderful weekend and all of our college friends had a BLAST getting to see each other!

Here are the four best friends that anyone could have! Not the most flattering pic of me, but check out that view!!

And... thats about it! This has been a super boring summer. School took up a ton of time and its so dang hot that any outside activity is a no-go (including laying out, unless you're in the pool)

What else is going on in my world?

I am was training for my first marathon, but unfortunately I had an injury. I don't think my doctor really knew what it was but i've been on rest for the past month and it has been PAINFUL!! Not only the injury, the fact that I can't do any running or exercising that "pounds" on the legs. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the go ahead to start running again and I can get back into training and bootcamp! I'm training with Team in Training, if y'all haven't heard of this program it is AMAZING! If all goes well, I will be running the Savannah Rock 'n Roll Marathon in November. Looking forward to it? Yes. Scared? YES!

Cupie is sick:( She has aspiration pneumonia, which she also had last year about this same time. See here. Poor baby is so sad. But she is on meds and I thinks she's on the up and up!

My family is going to VA next week for a party for my sister and her fiancee. I can't believe they are getting married so soon. It is going to be fun to get everyone together and spend time in the town where my dad grew up!

Thats about all that is going on here.

What is up with y'all!! Let me know!

ERK

Happy Spring!

Hello all!

HAPPY SPRING!! We are certainly feeling it down here in Atlanta with a pollen count over 9,000. woof! But, the weather here has been beautiful and I really can't complaint about 80 degrees and sunshine, so YAY!

I hope everybody enjoyed the first official day of Spring!

ERK

Wednesday Randoms

Hello all!

Sorry I haven't posted any of the millions of photos I have been promising. Soon? I don't know, life is hectic right now!

So, here are some random thoughts because I am feeling super scatter-brained!

We are starting renovation part deux this week... oh how I have missed the dumpster, dust and strange men in my house! HA NOT But it will totally be worth it in the end when we have a finished basement!!

So I know wearing leggings as pants is def a faux pas, but I admit I do it. Normally only when I am exercising (and I try to cover my large rear end with a large t-shirt so its not too revealing) but I can't lie, I sometimes wear them to school with an oversized t. What can I say, there is still a little sorority girl in me! (Any other schools make a dress code out of leggings and oversized frat t's? Mine sure did)

Speaking of exercising, I have been doing a bootcamp for 4 days a week for the past 6 months and I am starting to feel it! I don't get sore any more but my body is just starting to ache. I should probably cut it down to 2 or 3 days a week but I know that won't happen.

And on a similar exercise not, I am running a 10k this weekend! It is the Shamrock 'N Roll race hosted by the Junior League of Atlanta. It should be fun and hopefully go well. I surprised myself by running 6 miles a few weeks ago so I think I can do it! Next up, a half? Who knows!

This weekend is the famous Scotts Antique Market (i've written about it several times before) and I am excited to go! It feels like we used to go every single month, but we have been in a while. I'm on the lookout for several different vintage corkscrews for a little DIY project for the new bar in my basement. Hopefully we won't come home empty handed.

I am on a new "diet" these days. I have been tracking my calories and exercise with the Livestrong app according to their directions for me to lose 2 lbs. a week. They need to work on their science a bit because I haven't lost ONE OUNCE! So I have decided to stick to 1200 calories a day (what my doctor said to do) and it is TOUGH! One thing that is automatically cut out? Any beverages other than water. Wasted cals.

I ordered 2 monogrammed water bottles from Tervis Tumbler today and I can't wait to get them! I saw they are now making water bottles and I pretty much constantly have a Nalgene or Camelback with me so I though what the heck not? I saw some plain ones as well as some NFL ones at Bed, Bath, and Beyond today but those aren't my style. Monogrammed? Now thats my style. (BTW, my brother told me I am narcistic because I monogram EVERYTHING, including my car. I beg to differ, sir) Also, I am a little upset Tervis doesn't make ice buckets any more. I really need an ice bucket for my bar and thought that would be a great casual one, but they no longer make them. Wah!

I am in the market for a new purse. Kate Spade is always a go to, but there are several Dooney & Bourke bags that are super cute this season. I have never bought a D&B bag, but they seem really well made and the leather is soft and most bags come in a myriad of colors. Thoughts?

I'm loving this one

I think that is just about all the random comments anyone can handle. I hope y'all are doing fabulously!

ERK

Back to the grind

I'm back from sunny SoCal and we had a wonderful trip! We went to vineyards, biking and ate tons of great food! I will update y'all for real later, but here are a few iPhone pictures!!

ERK

A little help, si vous plait!!

So, since I'm flying across the country tomorrow I need to put a book or 2 on my Nook. This is where you come in, I need some suggestions!! I am thinking about the Hunger Fames series, but I'm not sure.

Thoughts?

Please let me know!!

ERK

Quick post!

I am on Spring break this week and am so excited to be heading to sunny California tomorrow! I promise to update y'all on the trip and life in general when I return! 

I hope y'all are doing well!!

ERK

Brightly Colored Spring!

Hello ladies! Sorry I have yet to post a recap of my valentines party, this weekend was pretty busy because we had an auction for school, but hopefully I will get it up here soon! As well as the rest of the house tour! Uploading pictures with my good camera is such an ordeal that I have been avoiding it... I promise to get on it soon!

Anywho, have y'all been to the mall/ checked out any style reports/ mags recently? Oh, hello there bright colors!! I am so glad that brights are back in and could not resist this darling pink ponte dress I saw at Ann Taylor last weekend. I have to admit, I always love Ann, but this season she has got it GOING ON!! P.S. They are having a BOGO 50% off sale right now, so hurry on over!!

I wore this to church on Sunday and got lots of compliments on the color

J.Crew is also impressing me this Spring with some brights, including great new colors in the Cafe capri (an all time favorite of mine!) I bought the fuchsia ones for my valentines party and they are amazing. And lets not forget about their seriously cute shoes this season!! I am in need of some new flats these days...

Love this color!! This will be my next pair, I do believe!

Oh, and i'll take these darling paisley ones as well. Welcome back J.Crew of yesteryear!

Are y'all loving the bright colors this season? I admit they don't hold a flame to my beloved Lilly since they lack patterns with cute things, but hey, it works for me!

Any trends y'all can't live without this Spring? Do tell!

ERK

Erin Condren Goodies!!

Hello ladies!
I got a cute little brown and white envelope from FedEx Friday and it was the address labels from Erin Condren! First of all, the packaging was darling and they so kindly included some personalized gift stickers with my order! Um, I love them so much I am thinking I might have to order some more (of the gift labels, that is)! What do y'all think, fab or fab?

Blacked out my address and last name... don't want that info out on the interwebs.

I got 10 of these little cuties as a special gift!

I am so pleased with my first experience with EC and will definitely be ordering from them again!!

ERK

Tuesday Thoughts

I know you're all so interested to know whats been on my mind, so here ya go! (Warning: may be random)

I learned last week never to put on hand lotion before opening a jar. I finally got it open, got some honey out and put the lid back on. I was putting it back in the pantry, holding it by the lid when the bottom came off and crashed to the floor. I thought it was tight enough, but I guess not. And THEN, while I was cleaning it up, I cut the bejeezus out of my finger! Lesson learned.

I have a serious addiction to salty food. A few days ago I decided to treat myself to a cupcake from Piece of Cake (amazing!!!) but for some reason i pulled into chick-fil-a and got fries instead. I don't know why, because I was thinking about that cupcake all friggin day!

I am digging blogging more often.

Im pretty sure my dog is the most precious thing on this planet, and I am not at all bias. I mean, check this nugget out!

Obvi she needed an outfit for our party last weekend!

I need a new wardrobe, pronto! I am not saying this because I am bored with my closet. I actually love so many things in there, I just can't fit my large back side in them! Ok, its not that large, but too large to fit into a lot of my clothes. I have refused to give away several items that are collecting dust because I hope to get back into them some day.  I just see them as motivation! (should have thought of that when I swung through Chick-fil-a the other day)

My iPhone 3gs is about to bite the dust and I am dreading having to get a new phone. Y'all, I love the features on the iPhone but dang they are pricy on my limited budget. Cupie's gotta eat, ya know?

I have a major problem with magazines. As in I subscribe to too many, look at them once and pile em up. The stacks I have going now are getting pretty high so I think I need to go through them and tear out anything I like (workouts, recipes) and recycle all the rest. I didn't resubscribe to Glamour this year, so thats a start (although I did subscribe to Shape instead, woof).

I am pretty much obsessed with the gel nail polish trend. I love that it doesn't chip (for the most part) for 2 weeks! However, I am kind of scared it does bad things to your nails and I have how it looks when my nails have grown out for 2 weeks (the gap between the cuticle and the polish). Despite those minor downturns, my nails have looked pretty fab for the past few months with very little effort.

I need to start liking healthy foods more, but anything fried or with butter just tastes so much better!

Looking for a summer job is hard...

I just started volunteering with Girls on the Run, Atlanta and it is so much fun! The girls are mostly in 3rd grade and are so stink in cute!

Thats all I've got for today, check back in tomorrow because I am going to do a lil recap of my valentines party!

ERK

Address labeling to the Extreme!

I think I explained here about my affinity towards paper products, but I may or may not have gone a little overboard yesterday and today.

It all started when I was sending a valentine to my bff Lauren (if you're reading this I guess you and Lu know your surprise now!) and I realized I didn't have any sort of address sticker/ stamp/ embosser to put my return address on. No biggie, I just wrote it, but it got me thinking. I have always wanted a PSA Essentials address stamp and was just waiting until I had a more permanent address to order one. Well, hello, I have had a pretty permanent address for months now and have completely forgotten about it. So, I went on Rossomer Square's website and ordered the Cipher Deluxe stamp. Done and done.

I just got my monogram in the middle and my address around the outside, I didn't end up putting my name on it.

The only problem is, yesterday I bought a deal for some Erin Condren address labels on One Kings Lane. (my first purchase from them, it was a pretty good deal. I used to be obsessed with Gilt until it started to be like "will ship in 9 years"... slight exaggeration, but you get it. That being said, I may be back on the flash sale site bandwagon. The only thing I thought was weird was that I paid on OKL for the "deal" but then I had to pay separately on the Erin Condren website for shipping Even so, it was a steal!) I got the rectangle candy lace pink and lime label. I may be WAY behind the bandwagon, but I had never heard of Erin Condren before. However,  I am pretty sure when my old August-to-August planner (anybody else use those bad boys?) runs out I will be purchasing one of their adorable planners!

So now here I am with not 1, but 2 forms of address labeling coming to my front door. And the crazy thing? Almost all of my stationery already has the address printed or embossed on the envelope. I'm a nut.

Anywho, I got an awesome deal on Rossomer Square, a stamp that usually costs $40 was only $27, not bad eh? Head on over there if you are in the market for a stamp because that deal is too hard to pass up! Or head over to OKL and purchase some Erin Condren goodies.

Anybody else paper-obsessed? Don't even get me started on cocktail napkins... oy!

I hope y'all have had a lovely day! I know I have! (It did involve checking out a few more Marshalls/ TJs/ HomeGoods... Beyond ridiculous, I know)

ERK

Valentines Party!

Last year I had a really fun Valentines day party, so I decided I would just make it a tradition and have another one this year. Who doesn't love an excuse to have a party, right?

Anyway, I have been working like a madwoman and hitting every TJs/ HomeGoods/Marshalls in the metro Atlanta area looking for cute little items to make it extra special and I think I have gotten just about everything! One thing that I had to get was more flat wear and plates/ bowls, because as I think I mentioned, I am having 18 people over for a sit down dinner, am I crazy?!?

But I know we'll have a blast and some of my older friends are going to come along with my law school friends so they can all meet!

So, plan for the evening:

Apps-- Spinach and artichoke dip and a cheese platter.

Dinner-- crock pot coconut chicken curry with brown rice, salad, and possibly another veggie. The problem is that I know curry is one of those things that you either love or hate. I love it, but I don't want to serve something people don't like. The predicament is that I need to fix ALOT and that is pretty easy (throw it in the ole crock pot for a few hours and as Emerald says, bam!)

So, any suggestions for other easy-to-make-in-mass-quantities dishes? I need some help ladies!!

Dessert-- cupcakes with valentines sprinkles.

This year I am doing the mini champagne bottles with the red striped straws again because they were a hit last year! (Look here to read all about last year's soiree)

I want to do favors, but last year I did cookies and I just don't think I can make that many decorated sugar cookies. Maybe just some little candies or something in a cello bag. I ordered some cute V-Day gift tags last year that I would like to reuse.

Here is some of the decor and such we have so far, but I will definitely share with y'all the tablescape and all that jazz after the party! One thing I really want to do (this idea is TOTALLY taken from Kappa Prep, she is so stinkin creative!) is get apothecary jars and fill them with candies. Take a look at how cute hers are!

One of the 3 tables I am going to have. I have a pink toile tablecloth my mom had made for my dining room table at some point that I will use on that one and I still need another for the 3rd "table" (aka 2 card tables pushed together)

Red wine glasses from Pier 1 and cocktail napkins.

Pretty little wreath for the back door

Festive serving bowls and platter

A whole jumble of valentines day swag. Isn't that cupid napkin so cute?!? My mom always has the best napkins for every occasion!

Is anybody else having a heart day get together? If so I'd love to hear your plans!!! Also, please give me suggestions on what to serve for dinner!!

ERK

Oh, and my outfit for Saturday night? I know I will be rocking these hot pink pants from J.Crew and probably just a black turtleneck and flats. I had to order the pants online and I hope they are more pink than purple when they get here, I can never tell the true colors on their website!

House Tour Part Two: Beds and Baths

I'm back with another round of house pictures! These are of the two bedrooms in the house, my room and the guest room. As you'll be able to tell, striped walls were definitely a must!

I hope y'all enjoy!

Guest room and bath:

The guest bath is a little small and the blue tile is BAD, but after replacing the vanity and at least changing the tile on the floor from that blue to white, I think it looks pretty good! It was originally r.e.t.r.o. The entire bath was that shade of blue and the shower still is.

A monogrammed shower curtain is an absolute necessity!

The lighting in this picture is terrible, but the twin beds were my dad and his brother's when they were little and we also my brother's when he was little. I think a lot of people aren't into the whole twin bed thing (I was pretty much the only one of my friends to have them when I was little) but I find them fairly useful. Also, the shams are a little granny (the quilts match on the other side) but we looked everywhere for something to match that yellow that wouldn't break the bank. One day I want to have shams and duvet covers made from a really pretty fabric we found that is yellow with purple/ blue hydrangeas.

Better lighting. That chair was a find from my mom and dad's attic and the fabric on it is really pretty blue embroidered linen.

Since the bath is so small, we put this bathroom cabinet (I don't know what is its called) just inside the bedroom to stash extra towels, etc.

The chest is from Tarjay that I have had since sophomore year of college. I put it together myself! haha It is very sturdy, though, and currently houses all of my winter sweaters.

Some Paris prints, another find from mom and dad's attic, add a little snaz to the striped walls.


Master bedroom and bath:

My bedroom! Sometimes it feels a little pre-teeny bopper with all the pink but I love it!!

Y'all have seen this little "lady's sofa" in this post. The only lady who sits on it is little Miss. Cupie. And do you see her Andy Warhol-esq picture on the wall behind it? What a diva!

I wrote about this in the "what I'm Lovin" tab above, but this is a lamp I got while I was in college from The Pink Giraffe and it goes perfectly with my pink and green theme! It's hard to see, but its monogrammed (duh!) haha Oh, and the light switches behind it, lets just say the lights in my house are pretty confusing so I went CRAZY with the label maker. Obsessive compulsive right there...

My chest, a find from Scott's (it is really bothering me that the bottom drawer isn't all the way closed!!!)

My closet, which is pretty big but I can't seem to fit all of my junk in, and my tiny t.v. The table the tv is on was my grandparents and its a sewing table so it has some cool drawers and such. Also, the top has a sea shell design in a lighter wood that is so cute! And the corner chair didn't end up in a corner and is usually covered in clothes that have been taken off, but it has a cute green toile fabric.

My bath! This looks so much better than it did before we gutted it! (See picture below, the bath used to be 2 rooms) It is great and has plenty of room for all of my cosmetic and beauty products because y'all know I tend to hoard that stuff! And I like the privacy wall in from of the toilet so its hidden away a bit.

Pre-renovation

This cabinet used to be in my bathroom at my parents and I love it! It gives extra storage space and I like the look of a real piece of furniture in the bathroom. (the top blue towels are flooded wonky and are totally bothering me!! haha)

Shower

Vanity

Whoa, that was a long post! What do y'all think? I hope you enjoyed!

I hope to have the rest of the house for you soon!

ERK

Mobile Blogging!

Hello All!
Sorry I haven't posted any more house pictures, last week was crazy at school but this week should be easier so hopefully I'll have time to straighten up a bit and take some more pictures! I have to really clean up anyway because I'm having a valentines party next Saturday so I want my house nice and clean!!

Anywho, I am trying out the blogger app so maybe I will be able to blog more on the go!! I know posts without pictures are boring, so I'll leave y'all with some recent iPhone pictures of Cupie!

I'll be back tomorrow to let y'all know about my party next weekend, I'm expecting 18 people at my house! Oy!!

ERK

House Pictures!

Ok, so it is only 2 rooms, but I did take some pictures to share of my new(ish) home this weekend.

I was planning on cleaning up (aka a deep clean so it would look nicer) this weekend but my sister and her fiancé were hear which meant 2 big dogs running around and 3 people's worth of mess instead of 1, so it didn't happen. I was going to at least clean the kitchen today until i figured out that the drain pipe under my kitchen sink came unhooked this morning... while I was washing dishes! It was not pretty, but I cleaned up the water that spilled and decided to wait until tomorrow to was the the rest or put anything down the sink. However, I did decide that I would run the dishwasher since it was full. HUGE mistake! Apparently, the drain for a dishwasher is connected to the drain for the sink. I hope this isn't a wide known fact because I feel like such an idiot!!

I ran out to Costco after I turned it on (when I did, some water started coming out from under the sink so I put a small bowl to catch any drips) and when I returned there was water EVERYWHERE in my kitchen!!! I mean everywhere. It was bad. I ended up taking a mop and pushing most of it out the back door and it took me a good 45 minutes to clean up.

Needless to say, I did not feel like doing the rest of the tidying I needed to do before I can take the pictures. So these few will have to do for now!

This is the front hall, and I am obsessed with the wall paper and the tile floors!!! I love toile and what better than pink and green, am I right? And the black and white floor is so classic for a front entry way that I couldn't pass it up!

Here is the living room. The walls are VERY lime! I think I explained before that the painters came in while we were at the beach for 2 weeks so we never saw a sample. It is bright but I have gotten used to them and I think the darker rug tones them down. The arm chairs were a Scotts purchase for super cheap, and we got them recovered. The corner cabinet is probably one of my favorite pieces of furniture in the house and it currently houses some plates that we got at Replacements years ago that are so pretty!

I love this!! It hangs on the wall like a picture and is a place to keep pretty little trinkets!

I hope y'all enjoyed this short tour! I may break the rest of the house (there isn't much left to begin with, haha) into smaller posts as well because its easier.

I hope y'all have had a fab weekend! I am off to study, boo!!

ERK

What I'm loving these days!

Sorry it's been a while, I started school I have been a wee bit busy. Anyway, I thought I would share some things that I am loving right now because it has been a little while since I've done one of these posts. So, without further adieu:

Gell polish manicures. Ok, so apparently I am the last on this bandwagon since I got my first one just a month or so ago, but mama likes. My nails literally look perfect for at least 2 weeks! The only downside? I am a freak about my cuticles and I hate how it looks toward then end of the second week when they are all grown out, ew. And, I am not sure how good it is for your nails. Even so, I am obsessed.

The livestrong.com app for the iPhone. I purchased this app and it has been amazing! I am so bad about realizing how bad some of the foods I eat are and this app lets me look up every food and track it all on my phone! Love it!

Conair Big Curls Rollers... enough said?

TJ Maxx/ Marshalls/ Home Goods! I have gotten some great things recently, including these gems:

Faux crystal wine glasses, you can never have enough glass wear!

These Blue and White Ralph Lauren pillows go so well on the blue and yellow chairs in my den!

And of course, Cupie!

Precious baby!

I hope y'all have been well! I hope to get pictures taken of my house (finally!!!) this weekend so I can show y'all!

ERK