Things that I am thankful for! Part 2

Well here we go...

-movies. I love how they can make you feel so many different things. Especially the romantic ones.
-my cousin, Amber. She was the genius that set up me and Kurtis! :)
-my aunt Belle. She was an incredibly woman that left a huge impact on my life. I miss her everyday. I wish she was still on this earth and could have met Kurtis.
-cameras. I love pictures and how we can look back on our lives and see life's special moments. I don't think you can ever take enough pictures!
-nieces and nephews. (This a new thing for me with Kurtis' family) They are such a joy and I love spending time with them.
-friends that I can always count on even if we haven't talked in forever
-quiet Saturday mornings when my husband and I have coffee and read magazines together
-step-parents. they are always so helpful and would do anything for us!
-Living in Texas. I love the warm weather and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
-grandparents. they have always been loving and supportive and we have great memories with them as kids
-being able to take a hot shower everyday
-for Christmas lights/tree. my husband loves them like a little kid does. It makes me smile! I'm sure if I said yes we would have them up all year round.
-shopping for clothes and shoes etc.
-grocery shopping with my husband. I know this sounds lame but I love that we are team and I don't have to do most things by myself.
-my jetta. It the first thing I bought when I graduated from college.

Our First Christmas Tree

This year we purchased our first Christmas tree! Since I knew that pretty Christmas skirts are hard to come by I decided to use a pin I found on Pinterest awhile back. Here it is.
To me this was not as easy as it sounds but worth every bit of my time! I sewed mine because I did not want the glue melting in the Texas heat while in storage. It cost around $30 in supplies. I also bought some ribbon at Michaels and made some bows.

First Picture

Finished!

Things that I am thankful for! Part 1

This time of year is always a favorite of mine. The weather is changing which I will be freezing later but I am enjoying it for the moment. November is a great month. It is my Dads, husbands and my dog Gretchens birthday! As well at Thanksgiving! I decided I would split up my month of things that I am thankful for.

In no certain order

-my sweet husband who I can't imagine life ever without him. We always joke around saying why the heck did we not meet each other earlier in life. Oh well I found him and that is all that matters. He loves me unconditional and is my best friend. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him and have tons of fun adventures!
-my little furry child, Gretchen. I love that no matter what I do she loves me all the time :)
-my relationship with Jesus and knowing that I am always forgiven and that I am going to heaven when I leave this beautiful earth.
-my education. I was very blessed to have graduated from a great art school and I couldn't have done it without my parents financial support.
-the right to vote.
-my iPad.  I love it! It is my favorite toy which has pretty much taken over using my computer. Which doesn't help with my typing skills but I can always work on that later.
-my parents. They raised me in a great environment and taught me many things/lessons that I will continue to use when we have our own children. I love that I was taught how to manage money. That is a rare thing in today's society. I love that my mom stayed home with us and was always creative with what we did everyday.
-my brother. I can't ever express how proud I am of him and his accomplishments and everything he has overcome and surpassed. Even though we are total opposites we always learned how to share and get along.
-my health. No one has perfect health but I am very grateful that my problems are very very small compared to some people in this world.
-my mother-in-law, Mary. I admire her in many ways. She raised the best son that I had the pleasure of marrying! She also has amazing faith that shines all the time.
-traveling. I am so blessed to have traveled many places since I have been a young child.
-family. majority of my family is here in Dallas which is rare. I love being able to see my parents all the time and now my grandma lives next door to my mom. Also Christmas Eve with Kurtis' family is a great new tradition for me.
-coffee. it is fairly new to my life but i couldn't live without it now. I hate to say but a day without coffee isn't the same!
-my job. Working with family is great. I love my flexibility and the causal environment is a nice change. I have an awesome boss that isn't a jerk. I have known him forever :) I also love my part time job which gives me the opportunity to fill my creative brain. Who doesn't love weddings?! I am a sucker for romance.
-my heater blanket. It keeps me warm at night and warmth in the winter is very essential!

To be continued in Part 2...

Fair Day- aka eating fattening foods

This year we went to the Texas State Fair as a family which I think my husband benefited from more. Typically we both just pick one thing we want and we are content.

Well we took a picture of all most every food they tried. I think it would have made me sick. Apparently the food that won this year was fried jambalaya. No, we didn't wait in the mile long line!

Fletcher's corny dogs

My choice- Funnel Cake

Sweet Potato Tornado

Fried Chocolate Strawberry 

Fried Oreos

Fried Pecan Pie 

Sausage crazy sandwich

Belgium waffle 

It was a cold day for Dallas but we managed to have alot of fun. I'm pretty sure no one went home hungry!!

Nightstands: Statement or Understatement?

Here is one of the first shots of our bedroom when we moved into our apartment. I love these nightstands I purchased from Currey and Co. I feel that they can be very versatile, no matter how often I decide to change our bedding. :)

Nightstands: Statement or Understatement?
I think it just depends on which piece you fall in love with first. Besides the nightstands this can include art, the headboard or the bedding.

Here are a few bedrooms that I could definitely live in that have some great nightstands!

Painted Nightstand- looks like a DIY project with the pretty turquoise blue

     

Wood Nightstand- could possibly use an antique or reproduction chest and add a painted finish

Painted White Nightstand which would always be great to throw in a guest room at a later time. Changing the knobs can spruce it up, as well.

Nailhead Nightstand- slightly subtle but great texture and pattern to add to any bedroom

Find the piece, possibly refinish and update the fabric! A great way to add a pop of color.

A side table can always be a great "nightstand" if you dont need the storage.

For a unique nightstand that would be unexpected. 

 Or for the bedroom that always comes last... :)

Gallery Wall is Complete!

I'm back! Yes, it was has been way too long. I am a bad blogger, but I am going to try :)

Gallery walls... I have always wanted to create one so I took on the challenge. So I found a lot of pictures on Pinterest which looked easy but I have come to realize that nothing I do is particularly easy. I am perfectionist which means this took a long time.

First I went to Ikea which has amazing pricing on frames but of course that were not the right color for my scheme. I needed a warmer color than just black or white. I also went to Ross and Marshalls and picked up a few more. The challenge was laying them out. I ended up with 38 frames! I got some craft paper and made it the size of my wall and then layed out the frames traced where I wanted them to go and then figured out where the nails should go.

 

Laying out the frames

Hanging the craft paper

Next I spray painted the 39 frames.

And the final result...

 Sorry for the direction of my pictures! If anyone knows how to fix it please let me know. :)

My Wedding Dress Story!

Today at lunch we were discussing my wedding dress story again and I thought I would relive it and show some before pictures that I found. First, to all those brides out there that haven't looked for a dress yet. Please figure out your budget and have a plan! Don't do what you are about to read. I still can't believe it worked out so perfectly!
I was engaged only a week and I already wanted to start planning. I'm not sure why I was in such a hurry since I did have one year to plan but if you know the feeling you feel the eagerness I had inside. So my Mom and I started with bridesmaids dresses. The first place we went had the bridesmaids dresses downstairs and the bride's dresses upstairs. Yes, looking up was tempting me but I wasn't planning on going up the stairway to heaven. (It was shiny and white.) We found several bridesmaids dresses and received pricing. Next, I am going to blame this on my Mom but she said let's go upstairs and "look". I thought, well it can't hurt. I wasn't sure what I wanted and this would help me think about my dream dress. I looked around and everything was okay but then there was this one dress that was on a manikin. It was beautiful but I didn't think it was "the" dress. Well I decided to try it on for fun. BIG mistake. I put it on and the sales lady clipped me up and made it fit like a glove. Wow! I couldn't believe I was trying on a wedding dress for one and that this one was so perfect. Now I didn't have one of those moments where I cried which really surprised me. I think my Mom got a little teary eyed. The lady said okay do you want to order the dress? Another mistake- we never looked at the price tag. This dress was 6 times my budget!! I looked at the name of the designer and told the lady I would think about it. The sales lady probably hated me thinking she was going to make a big commission.
On the way home from the dress shop, I'm crushed. Yes, I like to get my way and it was the perfect dress and I couldn't have imagined anything else that would top this dress. I told my Mom on the way home I had to have it and I would get married in the backyard so I could wear that darn dress. (Not literally) My next idea was that I would find it on Ebay. My Mom thought I was nuts and told me I needed to give it up.
I got home and looked it up and found it!! Darn, the auction was over about a month prior but it was did not sell! I emailed the guy and he still had it!! I sent him the money (a way smaller price then listed above, I promise) and my dress was mailed to us from Romania!
We received the dress and it was in great condition but next problem size 12. (I was aware of this) The funny thing about this whole story is I am the biggest planner and I do not do things spur of the moment and I would have never thought in a million years I would buy a dress on Ebay and have it basically remade to fit me. Also thanks to Margo West. She is a miracle worker! I think she thought I was nuts but she made it perfect!

Before Photos

Each ruffle piece on the bottom had to be taken off and sewn back higher to make it proportion with my body.

And the final result........

And my favorite part of this story is the ending! This dress was a Pronovias and it was made in Spain. For our honeymoon we went to Spain and Portugal.
Look what I found in Spain!!!