I like a good deal...

If you are in love with this Anthropologie dress like I am, but not in love with the price tag of $128.00....



...then check out this dress from LuLus for only 34.00 bones..

I like the savings here!

I'm going on a chair hunt..

THANK YOU, coco + kelley (don't ya just love her incredibly inspiring blog??) for your Style (E)scapes post today. First, it was definitely a glam garden, and second, it led me to this lovely website, Gardenhouse. Where I found this lovely chair (I promise, I'll be off my chair soap box soon).

I love this chair. It has the traditional lines and modern print. I will take two of these please for my living room. However, with the way too high price tag, I must move on. So, I'm on a hunt for the perfect chairs that I can give some love and new fabric to.

A few finds from Birmingham's Craigslist:

I like this chair, and it would be super easy to recover. But I'm looking for a little more comfort for when friends come over for "Game Night."



This is a neat chair, but the back sits pretty low.

This wingback chair has caught my eye, though.

A dark picture, but this is a retro chair. Great lines!

I have plenty of time to search, so I will start trekking around Birmingham, stalking all yard sales and flea markets for chairs that are calling my name. I know they're out there somewhere.

Birmingham ladies, if you happen to see some and don't need/want them for yourself.. please think of me =)

have a seat, please

Now, I know these chairs are completely out of our price range, but they are exactly what I have been searching for. I've needed some modern chairs to fit our modern couch, and with a touch of color/fabric. These are divine. Darn that price tag!



Mademoiselle Chair with Missoni Fabrics via AllModern.com

I wouldn't mind having a more traditional chair and have them re-upholstered in modern fabric. I just have to find the right ones. Ideas??

wishful thinking?

Excuse me dear husband, can we break our Shopping Hiatus for these adorable items, pretty please? With sugar on top?






Oh, and I thought my friend who wanted gray dresses for her wedding, could tie in this one, as well. Maybe add some trim to the bottom if it's too short?



all images via Anthropologie

House # 3

We are going to look at this house tonight. For those in Birmingham, it's located in Pelham. It's the farthest down I-65 we are willing to go, but this particular home has easy access to the interstate.







Looks like a townhome, but isn't attached.



Kitchen leads into the Living Room















This is a 2 Bedroom 2.5 Baths with a Laundry Room. Not too much, other than painting, that needs to be done. We like that part the best! It's adorable and all we would need really. We'll know more tonight!

Thank you again Brooke for hosting a lovely (and yummy) dinner last night!

manic monday...

Today feels scattered. Well, most of the past three weeks have been scattered. My thoughts haven't quite been on design as much as I like, and most of my house projects are on hold. So, I do apologize for no updates on those and a thank you for letting me use this blog as more of a personal diary at times!!

We had a great weekend with family, and more house hunting. I am also on the lookout for gray bridesmaid dresses for a friend... I really do love event planning!

{via J Crew}

I would love to see the bridesmaid wearing different dresses in the same shade (not all from David's Bridal either) as seen here:



{first seen at In Style}

Had I had bridesmaids at my wedding, I would have done something quirky like that. I really do need to do a post on our wedding. It was pretty non-traditional, and absolutely intimate. It was all I had wanted and more. Our wedding photographers did our wedding as a gift to us (we really were so blessed when it came to our wedding), and they recently had a baby, so we're still waiting on the edited pictures.

Ok, I'm off to go read your blogs to get my mind off of houses for now!

happy friday!

If/when we get our first home, I would like to hang something like this in our dining room:



{via Lamps Plus}

I had a glorious week spending time with my sisters (my older sister lives in Virginia and came in for a visit) but I am exhausted. Tonight will be a lazy night, as my husband will be off recording. I'm thinking a good book and some kettle corn popcorn.

Have a lovely weekend!!

House # 57,896

House hunting... boy am I tired emotionally, mentally and physically (we are having some hot and humid weather here in Alabama). BUT, it is so exciting as well. We are extremely fortunate to have friends to help us along in this process, offering advice and issues they had dealt with when they had purchased.

My husband and I always swore we would never purchase a "cookie-cutter" home. There is no character in these homes, and if you know me and my husband we are full of that...personality. However, a good friend offered up these wise words "It may look the same on the outside, but you can make it completely yours and unique on the inside." The house we are looking at is built really well, and another plus is we would know practically everyone who lived in the neighborhood.

Here are some pictures. We're waiting to hear back from the loan officer. (we were already approved with a different loan officer, but if we go through their realtor, we have to be approved through them)



We would end up painting our shutters a dark color





Dining area looking into kitchen and living room. We'd opt for the black appliances.. we actually prefer those over the stainless steel ones. I know, the terror. They also are offering a $3500 deco incentive, which would allow us to upgrade to hardwoods and other things, but we'd rather take that off the asking price. We know too many people who could get the job done for cheap later on.



This is actually an eat in kitchen, but plenty of space for us



Living area, so neat. To the left in that hallway is the place for the washer and dryer and to the right are the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms with a full bathroom



Master bathroom, and my cute husband being a camera hog



Tub and shower



Master walk in closet. This picture does not do it justice. We went by last night and it's bigger than I had remembered. You can fit a twin size mattress and still have room to wiggle!



The one downfall to this lot, are those giant green sewer things in the back yard. We like this lot the best for many reasons, but are wondering if there is anything they can do about those. If not, we may look at a different back yard. Those are such an eye sore and completely annoying. So, we'll see!

It's quite an adorable home and there is no doubt we'd start painting and changing things up right away. But, it has great bones and no major renovations needed!

And the winner is...

ME!! Remember this give-away I entered last week?? Well, you guessed it, I WON!!! I am extremely excited and grateful to go shopping over at Lola B's Boutique with 100 bucks, especially during my own Shopping Hiatus. It seems this is just perfect for me, since we are also house-hunting.

I am truly thankful to Katie at Sa Sea Boutique for my first win, and wow, what a way to start out, right?? Katie, you are such a lovely and talented blogger, and I congratulate you on your 100th post!


Speaking of house hunting, I have a few pictures to show you ladies later on today. My sweet husband and I took the day yesterday bouncing around neighborhoods, and I think we have found one we can't live without. EEE!!

Hope you ladies had a great weekend and Monday!

going green

I know the color white is so timeless and perfect for any room to brighten it up, whether it be curtains, pillows, vases or just odds and ends. However, I am more of an ivory color kind of gal. I love how the white looks in homes, and white trinkets are so available these days, but what about ivory trinkets?? They are a little harder to come by, or maybe this is just "not their season." Whatever the case, whenever I see adorable pieces I love in white, I just picture them in ivory and start a mad hunt to find them.

Such as these lovely textured white vessels:

I've done just a little more to the dining room (the big green painting is going to have a drastic make-over soon, meaning the color is going, but this picture had the table and shelves together. And those vases will have flowers in them soon, I hope)



If I could add more of these amazing vases to my green collection, I'd be one happy girl:

{vases via West Elm}

It's been such a busy week. I never knew how much time and energy went into the possibility of purchasing your first home could be! Hopefully we'll know more with that over the weekend.

Just a funny little picture to leave you with. My adorably kitty, Tigger, during his bath.

Have a great weekend!!

well of course...

I'm going to post about this fabulous give-away!! The ever so lovely, and beyond talented Katie, at Sa-Sea Boutique is celebrating her 100th post as a blogger. And in honor of that, she is giving away 100 buck-a-roos to one lucky reader, to go towards the equally talented, Lola B's Boutique.

How amazing, and generous is that?? Go on over, and enter your chance to win as well! With the shopping hiatus most of us are in, this would be a real treat!

This one makes me particularly happy:



Good luck and have a wonderful day!

Shopping Hiatus

Since we are looking to purchase a home this year, I am officially starting our Shopping Hiatus. We were told to save our pennies now, since we have been loose about that before. So ladies, I'm officially on the bandwagon and let me be honest here... I'm nervous. I am the spender of the family and my husband is the saver. So, this will be a very hard concept for me. Like any other hiatus, we have our exclusions.

*New contacts for me
*Supplies to refinish the dresser (still shouldn't cost that much)
*Husband is recording 2 songs for a new band him and a friend started, and since he knows friends in the recording business they're giving him a break, but I believe it will end up costing $100
*One cute outfit for my sweet niece who will be here in October
*CHEAP birthday and wedding gifts for those events coming up

That's really about it. We are going to stop eating out, unless he's on a business lunch and I'm out for a girl's night (about 3 times a month). Other than the dresser, no other house projects will go on.

Also, a friend gave me this website to help with coupons and deals for the day to get me started...after all, I am a newbie to all this. My time will now be spent clipping coupons. (how crazy that I'm excited about this??)

Lucky for me, I have a few gift cards left over from the wedding and birthday for when I am on the brink of pulling my hair out and my husband finds me rocking myself in a dark corner, ha. I am reminding myself of the bigger picture and know this will help me in so many ways.

Here's where the Shopping Hiatus began...

need a little...

empowerment?? Go on over to the inspiring blog, Perfect Sentiment, where the lovely Erin speaks some truthful and encouraging words.

Things have been quiet, yet busy here. I've been just busy enough that I haven't had time to tackle the dresser I've been dying to get my hands on. We live in an apartment, so it takes a lot more than being able to go to a garage to sand and paint. But, I'm working on that.

My husband and I have been toying around with the idea of purchasing a home this year. Over the weekend we went and looked at an adorable home. I know it could be possible we don't get this house, but just the possibility of getting into our very own home this year makes me absolutely giddy! I feel like a "big kid" now! And of course, I'm already daydreaming about colors I would use to paint and dinner parties we'd have on our back deck.

I would probably purchase some outdoor chairs like these because they are cheerful, like my mood:

{via cb2, of course}

Will keep you all updated!

feeling lucky?

Lucky Magazine just came out with their "Everything under $100 issue," and I am positively giddy with it. If you haven't gotten your copy ladies, I'd say it's a fashionistas dream magazine. Everything in this issue is truly under $100, and I'm not talking about things being $99. It gives a list of websites perfect for bargain hunters. I haven't officially begun my shopping hiatus, and I don't plan on going wild, but I do "need" a few more summer pieces.

Perfect for a summer wedding

{via LuLus}

Poolside with your man


{via Forever 21}

Lunch date with your girlfriends


{via Miss Me}


And of course, something for your home


{via cb2.com}

Hope you ladies had a great weekend. Mine was pretty eventful and I hope to share more of that soon!

a leap of faith

I think I'm officially in love with decorator, Jonathan Adler's interior design. I could post a hundred pictures to prove my point, but I will stick to the ones I saw in May's House Beautiful Mag. Adler designed most of these furnishings and accessories in fashion designer's Liz Lange's house in Westchester County, New York.









Holy kitchen, I am in love. The thing I love most about this are the bold patterns and colors he uses against an otherwise "stark" white kitchen.

And if money were no object, I'd like to buy this please.

I've been absent this week for a few reasons, most I won't bore you with. But, I am excited to report that I will be going down to working only 4 days a week starting in July. As I mentioned in this post, I have been wanting to pursue other dreams of mine, and after having a heart to heart with my boss, I've taken one small step toward making these happen. This one little day will free up so much time for me. I'm so giddy. And I wanted to thank you blogger friends for your kind words and encouragement. Y'all are extremely sweet and I truly appreciate the time you all spent by commenting!!

So, everyone raise your glasses and let's toast, to whatever you want, but I am toasting to taking a leap of faith...no matter where it may lead.

CHEERS!

black walls

The lovely Marianne from Haven & Home posed the question "Is Black the new Pink?" And then went on to show some lovely fabrics she scored with black as the main color. I would have to say YES! However, my husband wears nothing but black and I have a closet loaded down with it as well. If I'd let him, he'd probably have our living room painted like this, living up to his rockstar image, of course.



{image via House Beautiful}

Marianne also posted this picture of a black wall...



...and I could definitely see my husband and I being the odd couple to put this in our child's room. I love it!!

So, I pass the question along.. Would you be so daring as to put a black wall in your home?

daydream believer

Totally don't mean to be debbie downer today, but I'm having a very un-motivated Monday. That probably could be considered redundant by most. I'm not entirely sure why though. I had a relaxing and productive weekend, it's absolutely beautiful today, and I enjoy working (for the most part). However, lately I have this burning desire to dive into something new. Two of my dear friends are getting married this year and I have been asked to help plan/decorate/whatever they need for both. After planning my own wedding, it's like this new passion has come alive inside of me! I can multi-task like no other, and I know this is key to party planning. My friend Kimberly, whom I've mentioned before is a wonderful decorator, and we sort of team up for these events. We all went swimming last night (one of our Summer rituals we're picking back up) and we sort of joked about starting a business for couples planning a wedding on a t i g h t budget. I know that everywhere I turned, planners/venues/caterers/florists were expecting $10,000 minimum budget for the wedding. I know that's not a lot to some, but to those of us NOT wanting to spend that much (and use our money in other places), it is.


My point is, I'm daydreaming about this a lot today. Probably because this dream could easily be attained. I already know of several girls who would want our help. But, it would be a huge step and one that didn't make much money for a while. This is what is on my mind today. Just a lot of daydreaming and no motivation to sit behind this desk! So, thanks for listening. I'm off my soap box for now =)





{via Martha Stewart Weddings}

I fell in love with this picture when browsing ideas over the weekend. And I love that tea-length dress!