weekend deets

Good Morning!

This weekend was a busy one. I had dinner with Taylor at a new place where everything they serve is locally grown. The experience was under par but the girly fellowship was much needed.
I didn't get nearly as much done this weekend as I wanted to do. I really wanted to clean the bathrooms, dust etc before Lee gets home but I have 3 more days...Ha!
I had a hair appointment, got a mani/pedi, ran a marathon, did a grocery run, did some thrifting, stopped by the mall, and got us a room at the hotel for the upcoming photo shoot!

Do you know how incredibly awkward it is to  request a room for a photo shoot?! Any mention of prorating a room just sounds naughty. Anyway...I wanted it for free! I reiterated deployment and complimented their lighting. AND it worked. I left our very legit photographer's name next to mine too. So excited. I picked up some RL hot pink socks from Dillard's for Lee to wear in the shoot too. Are you curious about my plans for the shoot yet? (While there, I also got him a purple pocket square for our NYC trip if you need to know...)

Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon (April 19, 1995 OKC Bombing)
The run! No, I didn't run an entire marathon but this morning it feels like I did. I haven't been training because I was only planning on doing a 5K and that's just a little farther than I run with Cooper. Easy peasy, right?! Wrong.

I did a relay and my leg to run was a 5K. I parked at the end and a coworker that was running the same leg but on another team agreed to park at the beginning so we wouldn't have to walk back, etc.
I'm not too familiar with the area we were to start and on top of that I have no sense of direction without my GPS so I trusted my coworker knew where he was going. Wrong again.
We parked way farther than we should have. This was realized while we were walking alongside other runners in the direction of what we thought our start would be, I heard my name being yelled really loud. It was Brian-the person I was to exchange at my starting line! Out of reflex, I started running so fast to get to the finish thinking, "Surely the exchange is just around the corner". Wrong. Brian yelled for me to stop and slow down because I had another 3.5 miles to go on his leg before starting my own leg!!! Holy moly.
I finished Brian's leg shortly after he did and just kept going.
I went through so many phases during my run. I went from mad from not taking control over the parking situation. (I like to be in control.) To, "O man I should have stretched...and p'd". To, "Hey this isn't too bad". To "Where the heck is the finish line?" To "I need carbs". To "Praise the Lord I see my exchange buddy at the finish line!!!"
All the while victims' families, survivors and volunteers yelled your name to cheer you on your way to the finish. It was incredible and I want to do it again.

angel wings

I have a small project I'm going to attempt this weekend. It involves angel wings and this:

I bought some very large wings a few weeks ago and I've been staring at them. Literally. I have them parked in our hallway. I stop and stare at them as I go by and debate what to do with them. I know I for sure don't like them as is.
Inspiration and my motivation:

Have a blessed weekend, Y'all. I'll report back on Monday!

picture day

I'm getting ready for THIS picture day. I bought myself a pair of Hunter rain boots (I've wanted a pair for quite sometime!) and Lee some Frye boots for us to wear in pix. I felt silly buying him boots.
For 1-He's only wearing them 1 time before he deploys and that's for this shoot. It will be too hot to wear them otherwise. For 2-It's just plain silly.
BUT he needed a new pair and they will be waiting for him when he comes back home!
Yes, we are wearing boots for location 1. Any idea where it might be?
Location hint: Outside
Location 2 wardrobe is still undecided. I'm thinking white.
Location hint: Hotel
Our boots:

 

lee jumps out of planes

I was looking through old pix on my computer and transferring them to a hard drive last night when I found some real gems.  I stumbled upon tons of videos I took at Lee's Airborne graduation in 2009. Here's a snippet of my impressive boy jumping out of a plane at his graduation:

only in oklahoma

I don't think I'm going to be going to our building across the street anytime soon to check the mail in our Administration Department...I almost died when I saw this before lunch. Literally - squealed like a 2 year old and ran in the other direction in heels. Only in Oklahoma...

But what I WAS going to tell you is that I'm really digging my new pearl smelly beads I bought on campus for my fragrance bag yesterday during my "volunteering". A lot of people have them in their vehicle around here. Do you or is this another only in Oklahoma thing?
My scent this time is Gardenia and I like it.

yesterday

One of our big international customers/distributors is in town this week...and he brought his 20 year old daughter. I was volunteered to show her around town this week...
I took her all over the place yesterday. For starters, we walked all over OU's campus.
We tiptoed in the Great Reading Room of the University's library, took pictures in the red phone booths, bought memorabilia in the campus store inside the Student Union, had lunch on Campus Corner, gawked at our A-mazing football stadium, went into about 20 cute boutiques, chased squirrels, and I took her to a historic local favorite for a drive in styled fountain drink. I made her try my favorite: Cherry limeade with Skittles.
One of the boutiques had a ton of cute coffee table books. I looked up my bday horoscope in one of the books:

I also took her to my favorite pretty spot in town that I've talked about recently. The place where I get my flowers, etc? She was in awe over the chickens simply wandering around like no one's business. Did I mention that she had never seen a cow?
By the end of the day she had opened up a bit more and wasn't answering my questions in one word or responding with, "That's so weird..."

I was ready to get horizontal on the couch by the end of the day. And I did.

some days

I swear. Some days I'm just bleh thinking about deployment.
My heart hurts so much thinking about it. I get to pondering "what if" thoughts and "what will that day or that day be like when he's not home" questions, etc.
I know these lay-your-heart-out-on-the-table posts are becoming few and far between...I think it's because I'm doing my best to live in denial. But soon and I'm almost 100% sure you'll be hearing more Army related crap.
I guess I got all stirred up after reading something about how disappointed a military couple was that a deployment had been canceled. Crazy say what?!
Their reasoning was because they needed a break from one another and the extra money would help them financially. OK...a break? It's called a vacation, Crazy! Not: Risk your life so I can get away from you! OMG. Go stay with your mama.
The money part I can almost see if your a military careerist. But for me? Me that has a Soldier simply fulfilling his patriotic pull? I would MUCH rather yell at him over the grocery bill in person. Maybe I'm still learning...but I'm still calling her crazy.

blue & white

New blue and white ceramic vase in the entry to hold my pretty pink peonies. Say that real fast.

pelmet box - part 2

Supplies:
-3 foam core boards( I only used 2 but bought 3 just in case. The 3rd helped to trace straight lines before cutting my pieces.)
-staple gun (Power Shot ~$20)
-staples (1/4 inch)
-box cutter
-duck tape
-fabric
-batting
-wall hangers
-glue gun

Determine your length and depth. I traced my lines to cut instead of eyeballing the measurement from the measuring tape. You should have 3 pieces for each window with 2 being the exact same measurements.

Grab your duct tape and get to work making your 90 degree angles. Doesn't have to be pretty because no one will see it!

I did 2 layers of batting to give extra thickness and then wrapped my fabric over the batting.
Staple your "hospital corners" first and then fold over everything else AND pull tight.

I hot glued the back of a wall hanger to each side of the box and simply hung the boxes with a small nail since the whole thing is incredibly light.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to leave my finished product as is or add piping, ribbon or some sort of embellishment.
I know I need to add moulding to the window's side in the master bathroom and a shade in the guest bathroom. Baby steps people!

It was really quite easy. I followed Jenny's tutorial from LGN to a T. Please do this very easy DIY pelmet box aka cornice board and show me your finished product. Let me know if you have any questions!!! xoxo

weekend deets

Friday
I made the PELMET BOXES! They really add a little something extra to the windows. I'll post pix and deets in a separate post in a bit on that.

Saturday
I was recently nominated and voted in favor of an officer position for my sorority's alumni chapter. The formal transition is tonight but the previous VP of Membership won't be able to attend so we met at Starbucks Saturday morning for coffee so she could give me the skinny on my responsibilities and load my trunk with a box of info. Well, if I'm being completely honest-I had a Passion Tea Lemonade:/
After the "coffee" I had all sorts of planned stops and scratched them all after having to make a detour due to the tornado cleanup. The detour led me to the Salvation Army where I found a jackpot of things.
Sneak peek at a framed piece I scored for $3. I think Lee will get a kick out of this old school battle field. He's so lucky to not have to wear a white wig under his helmet;)
I'll show you the full Monty mantle when styling is complete.

Brass Heron, Stork or Crane for 99 cents. Whatever it is-I like it.

Wooden catch all tray for $2 beans:

Obsessed with this vintage lamp I grabbed for $9! It's huge and lovely. I'm debating whether I want to makeover the lamp with a fun fabric or spray the base a fun color. I kinda like it as is. The base has a cool wood and brass finish.

After I loaded up my car, I headed over to the greenhouse I visited LAST WEEKEND. It was just around the corner and I couldn't resist. I didn't see chickens this wknd but there were bunnies hopping everywhere. Love that place.

Later that afternoon I met up with my favorite redhead for a movie. Kristin and I saw The Lucky One. I thought it was really good. Despite what the reviews are reading-I loved it and Zac Efron isn't bad to look at either! It's a sweet love story and a great feel good movie.

I swung by the house after the movie to grab the fur baby. We headed to Jacob and Taylor's for a cookout. Gosh. Taylor is the bomb.com cook. Seriously. It's a must to wear stretchy pants when you go over there because everything she cooks is drool worthy. It was about midnight around the fire pit before anyone started to even think about going home.

Sunday
Grocery day. Bleh.
I stopped by TJ's on my way to get groceries and found a venetian beauty to set on my new VANITY. The top compartment holds all my eye shadows. The bottom is to be determined. Right now it holds about 20 eyeliners.

That evening I booked a hotel in NYC for our upcoming trip. I also bought tickets to see Broadway musical productions of Chicago and Wicked. AND booked a reservation at a special place on our last night in the city at The River Cafe. It has the most beautiful view (that I've seen anyway) of NYC from under the Brooklyn Bridge. My aunt and UNCLE treated me to dinner there in college when I got to accompany them and my cousin for Thanksgiving in NY. I'm really excited to take Lee there and romance his pants off. Ha! I guess literally and figuratively!

it's on

Scored this baby @ Home Depot (+ Military Discount) on my lunch hour. Pelmet box project is officially on when I get home tonight.

Hugs. Have a good weekend, y'all.

office rug

Office update with our new rug. Yay progress!

coffe table retry

Get Excited: New image of rug in office to be posted in an itty bit!

I think I found another coffee table after THIS disaster of a find. This is a bigger project so it will be a project I start after Lee deploys. We have too many other  big things to prioritize right now. AND time will give me time to stare at my idea to see if I'm still in love with it after 5 seconds.
I frick'n love the greek key pattern and claw feet on this booger:

wanted

I want a face for a tree in our backyard. My parents have a couple and they always remind me of the Wizard of Oz.

tickled pink

We got our nephew's high school graduation invitation in the mail last night. I'm excited for this event and even more so that Lee will be home to see him graduate. Kristian admires Lee a lot so I know it will mean the world to him to see Lee there.

FedEx tracking says that THIS rug is on the truck to be delivered today!!!

My buddies (Mal & Caroline) and I are starting a new trilogy to read together. We hear it's kinda naughty but apparently it's pretty good because A) It's making HEADLINES and B) They are zooming through it and I haven't even started it yet!

I found fabric for my PELMET BOXES. I have just enough of the fabric used on my master bedroom drapes to use in the master bathroom and I bought some black and white fabric at Joann last night for the guest bathroom. What pattern? Gingham. You know I love it...

I fixed it! Lee sang his praise to me last night and it felt so good.

The dumb guest bathroom toilet was running and running and would not stop! I jingled the little devil to pieces and it wouldn't stop running. In despair, I called Dad (Lee was still in class) but he didn't answer. I turned to the internet and Google doctored my toilet. Long story a little bit shorter, my rubber stopper is deteriorating. Both toilets are probably the originals installed when our house was built. We've been talking about replacing them...Back to the story-I plugged the drain real good, watched the tank fill back up with water and the toilet stopped running. YAY! Happy dance. Dad called me back when he left the gym and said I just need to take the stopper to Lowe's and they will find me a replacement. Nah. I just won't use that toilet until Lee gets home and then he can replace both toilets in the house...Just in case they both go kaput while he's gone for a year! And that's how I do.

pelmet box - part 1

I plan to make cornice boards aka pelmet boxes for each (qty 2) bathroom window in our home this weekend. Right now I'm gathering my supplies and narrowing down fabric ideas.
Swooning over inspiration too:

viscious

Ladies & Gentlemen...kids of all ages...I bring to you Creeping Coopie the Great White Chicken Hunter!

creeping coopie the great white chicken hunter from Erin on Vimeo.

lake house

Welcome! My mom and dad have been busybees overseeing a new project at our family's lake house.

They have extended the roof of the house:

And had a big covered porch/deck built for shade on those hot Summer Oklahoma days.

We love to be outside at the lake. Whether we're eating or playing dominoes-outside is where it's at when you're at the lake. Can't wait to see and smell the cedar goodness in person! Mom says their next project is to install can lights and a big fan on the ceiling of the porch.

weekend deets

Friday
I nearly got blown away by a tornado. Maybe that was a little dramatic of a statement. I'll back up...

We were doomed for bad weather a week in advance. As soon a I returned from Alabama, I was preparing for the bad weather expected for Friday evening. As soon as it started raining near my office, I took note and headed home early for my 45 minute drive. As I was getting close, a tornado warning signaled and I heard that a tornado was minutes away from MY house. Yes, a tornado had made contact with the ground. I panicked and made a detour to the most local covering I could find-the airport garage.
I waited it out to see what the tornado was going to do and then finally headed home in blankets of rain.
I was up pretty late watching the news and "on-go" (as many Oklahomans are during tornado season) until the wee hours of the night and into the morning. So I ordered the rug mentioned HERE.

Saturday

I woke up early to get Coop to the groomer. I then headed home to unload the 4 bags of soil that I didn't unload the night before. I pulled weeds, trimmed rose bushes and pruned dead branches, etc. I went to Lowes to buy 7 more bags of soil. When I got home I spread all 11 bags of soil in our front flowerbed on the side of the house. Dumb wheel on the wheelbarrow was flat so I had to carry those extra big bagged suckers. I then jumped in the shower and waited for the wife of one our salesmen (that is international right now) to pick up his commission check. (And it wasn't even 10am yet!)
After "making the drop" with the check I raced to Target to gather groceries but only because I was completely out and picked up Cooper on my way home. When we got home I went mama bear crazy when I saw blood on Cooper's paw!

Needless to say a call was made to the groomer...I would have felt much better if it had been brought to my attention upon passing my baby back to me rather than discovering the wound myself. His claw had been cut to short. I cleaned it up and he was happy as a clam.

After not getting much sleep the night before and knowing we would be up late with bad weather again-We took a 4 hour nap.
Good thing because we were up till 5am watching the weather with a bag packed near the door if we should need to seek underground shelter. Fortunately we only had thunderstorms that night but in other areas lives were lost do to tornadoes dropping down. Look at the size of hail one of my friends posted on FB!

Sunday
I slept in! When I woke up I slapped on a hat and went to my favorite place in town. It's a local garden center/greenhouse feels like home with chickens running around at my feet. You gather flowers on a little red wagon and drag it to the front to checkout when your happy with your selection. It's so peaceful and beautiful there. Love it. I bought 4 white Bombshell Hydrangeas and 2 perennial filler plants that I love and can't remember the name of...
Bombshells look like this:

After finishing up in the yard (for now) I headed to the nail place and got a mani/pedi.

Lee and I Skype-churched and I remained horizontal on the couch for the rest of the evening.

Today? I'm shopping for storm shelters.