Life Lately From my iPhone

Today marks one month until our wedding!  People in my office think it's so funny that I can rattle of excatly how many days until the wedding.  :-)  It's a combnation of sheer excitement, knowing what all needs to be finished between now an then, and then taking a vacation that has me counting down the days.

Friday I took  half day off so we could go to our last tasting for the reception food.  Then Adam and I went to get his wedding band.  We decided he looks quite grown up with a ring on his finger!

{Getting a caffeiene fix and showing off our latest purchase}

Next we looked at a tux to rent.  They want you to pick a vest color from a two-inch square of fabric.  Ha.  Thankfully they offered to order a few options for AMP to try on, which meant another trip to Al's on Tuesday.  We finally got it figured out, and he will look quite handsome on our wedding day!

We also looked at a rental house on Friday and spent less than five minutes in there.  Yikes.  We need to be moved in somewhere by November 1, so we're kind of in that time of 30 to 60 day notices being up.  It would make me feel a lot better if I was able to picture where we're going to be next, but that's just part of the process.  I know it will work out.  Patience just has never been my strongsuit in these types of situations!

{Bachelor Pad--before}

I am really glad to know that we will live in Adam's apartment for the month of October.  To make it more "ours," he's really working hard to clean stuff out and make room for me.  He's always had a clean place, which I appreciate, so it's nothing gross or anything.  We took down the framed posters that I helped him hang last August. 

We spent a good chunk of Friday night trying to find studs in the wall and hanging these shelves up.  I watched a lot and helped when needed.  :-)  I've had them since college, and they've lived under my bed for two years.  I was really excited to have a place to hang them again! 

{After}

Saturday we met the Wharton boys up at church to ask them to be in our wedding and practice walking down the aisle.  They will be so great on the wedding day in front of a big group of people, but they were just all over the place on Saturday!  It didn't bother me at all, because I know it won't be perfect, but that'll be what's so cute!

We had our Couple's Shower on Saturday night, which was loads of fun. Adam and I felt so honored and loved.  I'll have to do a separate post on that because it was just so fabulous!

Yesterday, I lost my wallet.  {Turns out it had fallen out at home.}

I wear my hair in a pony tail to work about half the time these days {A sign that I'm too tired to fix it}

My room looks like clothes exploded,

and until yesterday when Adam cleaned it out, my car looked similar.  {Thanks, AMP!}

Thankfully I have a lot of help with wedding planning and with life in general, becuase I need it!  :-)



Summer Weekend Four: Penguins, Parties and Parents

Have you seen Mr. Popper's Penguins yet?  AMP and I went to see it last Friday, and we both really enjoyed it!  We're not usually go-to-the-theater kind of people (we've only been to three movies together!), but I really wanted to see this, and I'm so glad we went.  Next up on our list is Cars 2, and we also want to see Larry Crowne.  Maybe we can hit some of these up while we're at the lake and it doesn't cost $20 to go to the theater!  :-)

Saturday, Mary Ellen came back in town, and she brought Lindsey with her, too!  It was fun to catch up and see them.  They drove up for Jordan's wedding (another Tri Delt) here in Dallas and stayed with me.  I borrowed my parents' air mattress and set it up in our third room/office.  It was a great excuse for me to clean that out and get it organized.  I'm not looking forward to packing this place come September!  {I don't think AMP realizes how much stuff I actually have.  Oh well!}

{Mary Ellen, Me, Jordan (the bride) and Lindsey at Baylor Homecoming last year}

While they were at the wedding, I went to a surprise birthday party for a friend from church.  It was fun to see them!  I didn't know it was going to be on the patio of a restaurant & was SO HOT.  But next time I'll know not to wear jeans there. :-)

I was waiting for them to come home and was already in bed when Claire and SMoo walked in to the apartment.  They came in my room and crawled in bed with me for about 30 minutes.  We had a great mini-slumber party.  I told them that I will definitely still need my girls' nights after I get married!

Sunday night, AMP and I went to hear the 86:12 Home Concert.  The kids sang all their songs and we got to hear some great stories from their week in NYC.  My favorite part was watching the parents of the kids as they were speaking or singing solos.  You could just see how proud they were.  

At the end when they were recognizing the music minister and youth pastor and saying thank you, the kids also stopped to thank Mom for all her planning.  She does a great job of delegating, but she is pretty much the logistical master-mind behind the trip.  She got a standing ovation and all the kids started saying, "Sheri!  Sheri!  Sheri!" from the choir loft.  The sweetest part to me, though, was watching Papa, who came with Jonita and the Flaggs.  He had tears in his eyes at this moment.  You're never too old to be proud of your kids!

We ate at Houlihan's for dinner that night afterwards.  Everyone was in rare form that night (as you can see from Mom's glasses), and I laughed extra-hard.  One of my favorite things is spending time with my family, and I love how Adam just fits right in.  It always makes my little heart so happy.  :-)

Adventures Make Great Friendships

Not many things can silence the combo of Claire and Shay, unless you're talking about severe weather. 

Typically we will talk about anything and everything from the moment we see each other until we go to bed.  We email during the day, even, and  when we're together, there's always a running commentary about life, usually with Gilmore Girls in the background.

I used to laugh at the tornado sirens going off around us.  But after the last few weeks of tornado weather hitting the U.S., that laughter came to a halt. 

After dinner at Uncle Julio's to catch up (we always have to plan a date!), we went back to our apartment and began watching Biggest Loser, only to be interrupted by countless weather reports.  I could hear the sirens going off at this point, too. 

I told Claire I thought we should go to our gym's bathrooms at the apartment complex, since we don't live on the first floor.  When the weather reports showed we should really take cover, I looked at Claire and said, "Grab anything you think is important to you,"  and we were out the door in three minutes flat. 

We each had a bag--Claire with her Bible and her school stuff, an umbrella and a snack. (Man, she was so prepared!)  Me with my Bible, computer, my wedding planning notebook and an Iowa sweatshirt I stole from Adam.  It was kind of freeing to know that we could leave most everything else and be just fine.  (And it also made me question the reason why I have so much stuff...but that's another thought all together. )

The sky wasn't too dark yet, and on our way walking to the gym, passing by our rather unfriendly/creepy neighbor, I asked Claire if she just wanted to go over to my parents' house.  We thought that might be a more cozy option than the bathroom floor of an apartment gym, and it looked as if we still had some time before the storm got really bad.

The five-minute drive was nearly silent, the sky turning greener by the second.  The rain wasn't too bad, but there was a sense of urgency.  It seemed like every car I passed was in my way.  The silence was accompanied by my own pounding heart, racing to get us to a safe place.

The only other time we've been that silent was when we drove out in the ice in February.  Now that I'm writing this, I'm sort of questioning my sanity, as I choose the oddest time to drive places. But those are what make them adventures, and it's going through instances like this that make you friends. 

Happy Day to you, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.  To the Mom who, as Troy said, "Can always make things work."  Seriously, you have a way of figuring out all sorts of solutions to things.

Mom, you...

• are a great hostess
• are great at making things feel homey and put-together all at the same time
• love us unconditionally.  I'm sure we make it hard sometimes.  :-)
• are great at balancing a zillion projects at once
• are a wonderful example of what it means to be a great wife, mom, sister and daughter.
• are LOVED!

Excited to celebrate you tonight.

Love,

Shay 

Decisions, Decisions.

  

Yesterday, had you been a fly on the wall in Dillard's, you might have heard a conversation like this...

Shay:  Do you like this yellow dinner plate?  I can't imagine eating roast off a cream plate.  I think I would get bored, and it wouldn't taste as good.

Adam:  {Laughing}Sure, but I 'm pretty sure roast would taste good either way.

Shay: Ok, how big of a bowl do you think you'll need for cereal?

Adam: Um, I think I'll need about three bowls for all the cereal I eat.  Let's go with the big bowls.

Shay: True.  But can we register for Shay-sized bowls, too?  {There are smaller bowls and bigger bowls. Read: too many decisions.  We registered for both.}

Adam: Who knew that getting married meant we'd have these kinds of conversations?? 

 

In case you haven't noticed, Adam is incredibly patient with me.  {And I'm so grateful.}  I have about a two-hour window before I hit a wall when it comes to making wedding decisions.  This usually means that we either stop what we're doing and eat, or just stop all together.  

This is also the second department store we've registered in.  I couldn't find dishes I liked at Macy's or Bed, Bath & Beyond, so Adam was such a trooper, and we went and registered there instead.  {Again, grateful!}

I realize that there are much bigger and more important decisions to be made than dishes.  Someday, though, we will look back and laugh at that experience.  Yesterday we tried a new church and continued our search for a place to live after we're married.  Indeed, those are much bigger decisions.  I know we'll figure it all out, and we'll have a place to go each Sunday that's more our size, and a roof over our head.  But if dishes are the most challenging of our decisions we're making this weekend, I'm totally ok with that right now.  :-)   

Our New Project

When SMoo and I shopped at a consignment store a while back, I saw this piece of furniture and told her all about how I would re-do it if I had the chance.  Well, later I asked Adam if he'd be interested in refinishing it with me, and then we could sell it.  The man likes a project, so we went and bought it and loaded it in AMP's new truck.

Side note:  Adam has recently discovered that I have a thing for guys and pick-up trucks.  Oh my word.  And he has all the pullies and bungee cords and everything to keep stuff in place.  Love it.  Perfect for projects, right??

Here's the "BEFORE" photo.  

It's actually two separate pieces.  My favorite part is the chicken wire on the two top outside doors.  We keep it in Adam's garage and have worked on it two Sunday afternoons.  

Home Depot has quickly become Adam's new hangout.  If you're ever looking for him, that might be your best bet!  :-)  He researched how to strip wood and what was the safest chemical to use.  We bought a spray can  three spray cans of Citristrip, and it has a nice little orange scent to it.  You spray it on there and then let it work its magic for about 30 minutes.   {Insert running break here}

Next we used plastic scrapers to get the wood stain off.  Turns out some of this is actually veneer and with plywood underneath, but a lot of it has real wood, so I'm hopeful that the paint will go on and still look pretty.  

This is the top piece of the cabinet we worked on this past Sunday.  In the past two weeks, Adam has perfected the art of wood-stripping, making several more trips to Home Depot.  One of the most important tools, we've learned, are wire brushes.  They are really good for small crevices and the layers of wood on certain spots, like the doors on the bottom piece.

Adam loooves this so stinkin' much.  Can't you tell??

But in all seriousness, he's really quite good at it!  He gets in all the little nooks and crannies that I sort of gloss over.  He needs projects and I need creativity, so I think we make a good team.  :-)  I'm looking forward to painting it and distressing it next.  I'll keep you posted on our progress!

Help a Sister

I realized that all my fun facts have to do with a Tri Delta "sister."  So today, I bring you
The Sister Edition.

Last Friday, Amanda came into town, and we got to sit face-to-face for an hour and a half dinner & catch up.  It was there we realized that we hadn't actually hung out since July.  We talk all the time at work, so it doesn't feel that long, but we just couldn't believe it!  We spent Saturday at Home Goods and eating at Cafe Express...two things she can't do in Waco!  It was such a treat having her here and catching up.

Molly and I get to work together these days, and it's so much fun.  She insisted that I have a photo of me working at my desk, because one day I'm going to wish I had it.  Without further adieu, here I am, Sonic drink and all...

And are a few other posts that made me smile recently...

Molly wrote about "living with a boy" (that would be her husband...).  It's hilarious.

Elizabeth posted a video from four years ago when she got engaged and "passed candle" at the end of our Tri Delt meeting.  Everyone loves Staples (that was her maiden name & what we all called her), so the "oohs" and "ahhs" were from genuine excitement for her and Mark and just simply because we're girls!  This made me giggle.

And Anna tells us why she loves Twitter now.  Oh my gosh.  I was dying laughing.  Please read.  {And please pray for her as she spends her Spring Break week in Honduras on a mission trip!}

I also blame Anna for introducing me to Anthropologie.  It provides lots of inspiration and could be detrimental to my wallet if I went into the store.  I think I'll just stick to the catalogue that came in the mail today...

"Nimbus" Bedding                                                               "Rivulets" Bedding

Tonight, I'm heading to dinner with SMoo to celebrate her birthday!  Her fam is in town from Fayetteville, and it will be so much fun to catch up with all of them.

And that's the latest on The Sister Edition.  Happy Weekend!

Inspiration Folder Peek 2

A few Saturdays ago, SMoo and I ventured out for lunch and some consignment store browsing.  I bought my purple couch there when Claire and I moved to our a-p-t a while ago, and I like to frequent it every so often.  We stayed in there for a good hour and a half, just looking around.  It was lovely.  I bought a few little things and so did SMoo.  Then, we headed over to HomeGoods {Like TJMaxx & Ross, except for, well...home goods.} Not to worry, I did not purchase all (or any) of these things, but this is just stuff that caught my eye.  Enjoy!

{one} I still have half a mind to call up the shop and ask them if this chair is still there.  By now, it would have gone down in price big time.  The fabric and nail-head details had me at hello.  Mom pointed out that it doesn't really go with the purple couch.  (But who says I can't recover that, right?) 

{two} Noritaki china.  They had several complete (or almost complete) sets of dishes.  This reminded me of my grandmother's that my mom has now.  It's simple and silver, and I like it.  

{three} This cute little bench has a lid that lifts up for storage.  I could see it in an entryway or a mud room.  

{four} At this point, I began to notice that painted furniture was all over the place.  This buffet table was really cool looking.  

{five} Now we're headed to HomeGoods.  I love that these pillows look like they stepped right out of a Pottery Barn catalogue.  I went back to check on them yesterday, and I have no bright ideas on how to use them yet.  But I'm still thinking.  

{six} More painted furniture.  I thought this was a sweet little side table.  It would totally go with the bedding I have right now.

{seven} Doesn't this buffet table look similar to the one above it?  Not quite as ornate, but I did like the painted doors and drawers. 

{eight}  See?  I told you painted furniture was in. 

{nine} This piece had crackled paint and looked very Pottery Barn to me, too. 

This made for a fun Saturday, and it let my mind be creative.  Here's to more of that!   

Ice, Fire & Dynamite

We've had the TV on a lot around here the last 48 hours, glued to the weather station and then moving on to other shows.  Parenthood still is at the top of my list of favorite shows, and it's really the only thing I've liked so far.  However, Biggest Loser is pretty cool, if you think about how people are really making a lifestyle change in the way they lose all that weight.  Kinda neat to watch.  

I've found a new group that I really like, thanks to Annie's blog.  Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors' new album comes out next week, and I can't wait.  I'd never heard of them until last night, but they are touring with Marc Broussard and Ben Rector.  This video of their song "Fire and Dynamite" makes me happy.  Check 'em out on iTunes.

We're on Day 2 of being snowed  iced in, and it's just peachy.  I'm thankful I went to the grocery store on Monday after work, because otherwise who knows what we would've scrounged up to eat around here.  Claire is well-stocked on Lean Cuisines, but I'm not so sure about those frozen lunchables.  :-)  I'm working from home and spend the majority of yesterday in my jammers, but after a workout today at our apartment gym, Claire and I decided to at least look presentable.  It's a nice feeling, even when you're not really seeing much of anyone! 

SMoo ended up driving over for our Turkey Chili dinner last night, and once she arrived (quite frazzled), she announced, "That was probably the stupidest thing I've done in a long time."  She lives just about a mile from us, but the road between us was basically a sheet of ice.  She ended up staying the night, and we stayed up 'til midnight and had a little slumber party.  She stayed well into the morning, and we all had breakfast and hung out together.  It was like we all lived together!  So fun.

Who knows what the roads will look like tomorrow--it's not getting any warmer here, so I'm not sure about the ice.  I think it's fine on all the major roadways (from what I can tell on the news), but it's the little side streets that are still sheets of ice.  We shall see...

Hope you're staying warm and have power on this chilly day!

Just Call me Betty Crocker

This weekend, I think I'm getting things back in order from the holidays, and it feels really good.  Granted, it's the end of January, but that's ok.

This morning, I made room in our kitchen for this:

I made a chocolate-chocolate-chip cake this morning with my new mixer.  

Let me just tell you it smells divine.  

I have a few "go to" meals that I cook, and I get tired of the same old stuff.  But desserts?  I can do that.  I'm so excited about this mixer!  The book has several recipes in it, and you can make pizza dough with it, which I've made before, but not with a stand-up mixer.  I loved how effortless it was to use.  (I guess that's the point, right?)  So yes, you can just call me Betty.

Now, moving on to another domestic item...

Socks.

Terribly exciting, right?  

Last night, SMoo and I went to dinner at Pei Wei and had every intention of coming back and watching Gilmore Girls.  We got as far as the couches, and proceeded to talk until 1:30 a.m.  Claire came in around 10:30 and joined in the fun.  We covered an incredibly wide-array of topics, per usual.  It was fabulous.

If I invite you over some time, I promise I won't start folding my laundry in front of you.  But I had a basket full of clean clothes and good friends to talk to, so I made a chore into less of one, and started in on the mound of clothes.  {Clearly I'm quite comfortable around this girls.}

As I got to my socks, Claire observed that I "folded" my socks funny.  Now, I've lived with Claire and Smoo at one point or another for two years, and we've never discussed the art of sock folding.  What ensued was a sock-folding demonstration.

In the above photo, the purple socks are mine--I fold them over each other.  I threw SMoo a pair to see what she'd do, and she did this tuck-one-sock-into-another business.  That's her mom does it.  Claire does some sort of roll-then-tuck action, which is...you guessed it...how her mom does the laundry.  Oh, the things you learn! 

Hope your weekend has been one of laughter, fun and friends.  It definitely made mine sweet.

Inspiration Folder

It's no secret I enjoy reading blogs.  I just find so many little bits of inspiration--lots of things I just tuck away mentally, and some stuff I can actually incorporate into everyday life.  I thought I'd share a few snippits from my new folder on my desktop called "Inspiration," because that's just what it is...

First, I just found this from The Pioneer Woman this morning.  At Polyvore, you can make design boards of actual clothes, accessories and even interior decorating.  It's a cool visual tool, and you can actually purchase what you make...although it would definitely be detrimental to your pocket book, PW points out!  {Does anyone else call it that?  My very southern grandmother always called it a pocket book.}

Over at Kelly's Korner, she shared this really cool vinyl monogram that you can put on a mirror.  I thought this was really cool.  Her final product {left} came from inspiration on the right, which my mom and I decided was a really warm, fun, non-baby nursery.  {Take out the baby bed, and I'd totally move in with all those pinks and browns.  Yum.}

Finally, I came across a really cool way to keep stacks of Christmas cards over at The Poe Fam.  I don't have that  many Christmas cards quite yet, but I thought it was a really neat idea to be able to look through them and get them out around Christmas.  

So that's what's in my folder today.  Please share more...I love adding things.  :-)

A December to Remember

As if posting eight times in seven days isn't a dead giveaway, I've had all but one day off from work, which I worked in my jammies.  This time has been amazing.  {And if I could blog for a living, I totally would.}  I've spent lots of time sleeping, some of it running, a lot with the roomdog, and hanging out with friends I don't get to see all the time, catching Adam when he's not working, and cleaning out and organizing a lot.

Can you say g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s?!  

Besides hanging out with Claire, recently I've celebrated Mom's Birthday, Cheered on the Hogs & the Bears with Smoo, Recapped our Family Trip to Mexico, said goodbye to the most loved dog--Skip, Covered Christmas Eve with the whole fam, then Christmas Day, and relived our date to hear Mannheim Steamroller at the Meyerson Symphony Hall.  

I spent some of my Christmas money on Blog-it Boards from MCP Actions, which is why a lot of my posts now have photos that look like this...

And this...

{These were pics I found on my phone from our first few hours in Iowa.  How much fun can YOU have in an airport in Iowa?  The camo is from when we stopped at The Great Outdoors with Adam's brother to get some shotgun shells for hunting the next day.}

I also found a new FREE app for my iPhone called Instagram that has several different filters and borders that can give you the look of the photos above.

The MCP Actions let you choose several different layouts depending on the number of openings and the arrangement of them.  You can add color boxes and text as well.  I'm loving it!  If you have Photoshop, you can try a sample blog-it board for free.  It's just one, and it got me hooked.

It's been a full two weeks away from work in real life and on this blog, and I am so thankful for every minute.  Hope you've had a wonderful break as well, and Happy Monday, my friends!

Thrifting

This summer, I was craving a project like nobody's business.  I needed to do something creative. 

I searched and searched, but didn't know what I wanted to do, and I knew I didn't want or need to spend a lot. 

Sometimes I wander through this consignment shop that's either hit or miss. I found my purple couch there back in September of 2009 on the day I got my job.  A random purchase, but it works great in our apartment!

For $25, I found this little blue shelf with drawers at the consignment store.

Hooray for a project.  And a piece of furniture.   

Here it is minus the drawers.  I cleaned it up with warm water and dusted it off. 

And then I got my black paint out and went to town.

Now this little piece sits in our entry way. 

It was going to be a great spot for me to put my ever-disappearing keys. 

{What a great theory.  In practice, that's another story.}

The Nester's Secret to Thrifting reminded me that I never shared this little project.   I thought she gave great tips on shopping at Thrift stores and Consignment shops for furniture.

"When it comes to shopping thrift, the biggest secret to finding great stuff is persistence. Are you willing to pass by a ton of junk that you would never buy to find that one gem?" --The Nester

THREE Trees

I got into the holiday spirit very quickly last weekend and put up three trees in about 36 hours.  Crazy, right?

I started Friday morning after Thanksgiving with my mom.  (And by morning, I totally mean around noon...)  I walked downstairs, and my parents had already pulled all the Christmas stuff down from the attic and the big tree was in place in the den.

The past few years, we've done two 3-foot trees, which are just smaller and more manageable, so imagine my surprise to see the big tree ready and waiting for decorations!  Mom and I had a great time listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree.

We have this fun tradition of getting an ornament anytime we travel, so it was fun to remember the trips we've been on.  The oldest ornament might be the "ALOHA" one cross-stitched from when my parents went to Hawaii when they were first married.  Pretty cute!

Friday afternoon, I headed to Adam's.  We ran, and the weather was beautiful!  We were passing this one spot on the lake about sunset, and tons of ducks and geese were gathered at the edge.  We went over to look, and a van pulled up soon after.  Apparently Charles works for the city, and he comes every day to feed them, and these birds know it.  (So smart.)  We learned all about the African geese, the Chinese geese and the newest additions, the two Canadian geese that had just arrived (My personal faves).  They ate bread out of our hands.  It was kind of surreal, and definitely one of my favorite memories.  

After dinner at Chili's, a Starbucks stop and putting the Christmas music on, we got out the tree!  It was so fun.  I loved this day.

There really are ornaments on the tree, but they're just a bit hard to see in this pic...

 

Saturday, Claire and I came back to our apartment after spending the weekend with our families.  It was so fun to catch up and hear what went on.  I was reminded again how much I love living with her!  

We pulled out our tree, and this year, Claire was able to add LOTS of ornaments!  Last year, she started out with six, and by the end of the holidays, she'd been given lots more by her adoring students.  It was so fun to pull them all out and remember how we got them.

My mom's mom, "Nanny," used to give us an ornament each year, so that when we grew up and had a tree of our own, we'd have lots to hang up.  Well, her plan worked, because I have 24 year's worth of ornaments now!  I also started collecting them when I travel, and I have one from almost every country I visited in Europe.  It was really funny to try and find ornaments in some places, but always and adventure! 

Surprisingly, I'm not tired of trees or Christmas music yet!  Good thing, since it's the beginning of December.  This truly is one of my favorite times of the year.  I'm loving it!

A Letter

source

Dear AMP, my first stop back in Dallas was to see you.  Thanks for a fun-filled day again.  A ten-mile bike ride around the lake wasn't on my list of things I knew I could do.  It was lots of fun, and as always, you were quite entertaining.  And I loved finishing at sunset.  Dear Claire, Lynds, and Tins: I'm really excited about our girls' night out tonight.  I've missed you guys.  Dear Lady A Christmas Music,  listening to you definitely helped me clean my desk faster.  Dear Roomdog, thanks for being so excited about our new Christmas Stockings, and for jumping up and down as much as I did when you walked in the door.  Dear Brown Boots, I'm glad to have you back.  Here's to another season of keeping me warm in style.  Adam, have I mentioned lately that I'm proud of your mad running skillz?  Way to run Sunday's half marathon so super fast.

This is the Day

While I love looking back at Baylor, I couldn't help but be reminded that I'm not there anymore.  I'm here.  And here is really great, too.  So this is what I'm doing right here, right now.  And I'm grateful.

This is my friend Taylor.  We get together every so often and chat about life.  She's an incredible dancer and is looking to go to college to do what she loves.  It's pretty awesome.  I saw her Sunday, when I got to go back to the church I grew up in and sing.  It's so nice to come back every once in a while and see people I've known forever.  And I always love singing.  Always.  

Apparently booties are in style this season!!

Sunday night, Adam and I carved a watermelon and a pumpkin, respectively.  Adam decided that a watermelon would be much better smelling.  I must agree, it wasn't nearly as goopy as my pumpkin!  I haven't carved a pumpkin in so long.  And I've certainly never carved a watermelon!  It was so fun.

And tonight I came in from a day-trip to San Antonio, and Claire was making dinner.  It was SO worth documenting!  She made stir fry, and it was really yummy.  What a treat to walk in the door to a fabulous dinner!  We ate in front of the TV and watched Gilmore Girls, and now we've switched to the Ranger game.  {Pretty awesome that we're in the playoffs!}  Life is good.

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

Show Us Your Life Friday

"No matter where I serve my guests,  

it seems they like my kitchen best!"

This saying is cross-stitched on some decorative towels of my grandmother's that now hang off the oven handle at the lake.  And I believe it's such a true statement!  We've had a few parties here at the apartment and lots of friends over this past year, and it seems that we always congregate in the kitchen.  And I love it.  

Today at Kelly's Korner is Show Us Your Life Friday, specifically the Dining Room.  We don't have a "formal" Dining Room, but we do have a breakfast room/kitchen area.  Last year, from May to September, I looked at 17 apartments.  (I shouldn't admit that, probably.  Mind you, I was bored and job hunting until mid-September.  And it was a way of coping with my "in between" life stage, ha!)  

All that to say, when Claire and I walked into this apartment, we turned the corner around the fireplace and gasped.  Or squealed.  Or maybe both...I don't really remember.  But I know that we fell in love with the kitchen.

See the pot rack?  That's one of my favorite things.  

And here it is with furniture.  I've always wanted a red kitchen since I was little.  I remember antique shopping with my mom and running across a kitchen with all these red accents and thinking that it was so cool.  So here I am, a grown up, and I actually have a red kitchen.  Love it.

The table was my grandmother's, who we called Nanny.  The chairs used to be white with a blue and white check.  When I moved into my favorite college apartment junior year, I repainted and stained them (with a lot of help from my mom and aunt!) and got the chairs recovered.  Pretty much everything in that room was given to me.  It pays to have a mom as a decorator!

This October, there are eight bloggers that are doing "31 Days of..."  I like this because it means that I'll have lots of blogs to read this month!  Today on My First Kitchen, Kendra began her month of "31 Days to An Inspired Table."  

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect.  I thought it would be more on how to decorate a table, but I was pleasantly surprised today when she charged her readers to do this:

"Make a list of what you want your friends and family to expect when it's time for dinner. Call it your Family Food Culture. How do you want everyone to feel around the table? What kinds of memories do you want to create? What expectations to do you have of yourself as a cook and an entertainer? Are all of them authentic to you and your family?"

While I don't really feel the need to make a "Family Food Culture" for where I am in life, it does seem like a really cool idea.  My schedule and Claire's is so different right now, that we've gone at least five days without seeing each other more than once last month!  Crazy that you can live in the same place and not see each other.  But we do always get to catch up, and I love it!  Hence why we don't have regular meals at our table.

(And I have to brag a bit...)  Last night, I did eat dinner at the kitchen table, because Adam made the most delicious pork chops.  He's a great cook, and I think we've made lots of memories in our kitchens--it's definitely a place of a lot of laughter! 

So welcome to our little apartment's dining area.  Come and stay awhile...we guarantee you'll smile.      

Cozy On Up

I just looked through the Pottery Barn catalogue today, and it is so cozy.  Here are a few of my favorites. {All images are from PB}

This store always inspires me and makes me want to emulate it.  I would just prefer not to imitate the price! So I get my ideas from here and dream away.  If I'm lucky, I find something similar in a consignment store.  But I need more furniture like I need a hole in my head, so I just look.  :-)

Doesn't this one just scream "Hello Fall, please come right in!"

I don't think I would get out of bed all day if I slept here.  

Did anyone else dream of a canopy bed as a little girl?  

And look at these sheets!  They have French Calligraphy on them.  How cool is that?

Happy Friday.  Have a cozy weekend!