rug in the hizzzouse

LOVE the new rug. I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with this space. I only need to finish the leaning book shelf, figure out the pillow dilemma and decide on a coffee/cocktail table.

You can see that I still had a bit of a curl when I took this pic but at least you get a visual despite my eagerness to take a pic. I took some pix with my DSLR but didn't find the time last night to upload them so you get a camera pic for now:

I'm thinking about painitng the brown frames on the wall a color that will pop...suggestions?

Lee just got home for a wee bit of R&R and he sent me a text to tell me the house looks amazing. He must like the new rug too!

To keep the room from getting too eclectic I need to add a bit of modern glam and I'm hoping to do all that in my accessories in the finishing touches I mentioned earlier. I keep going back and forth. Here's the top 3 tables I've been eyeball'n...

A mirrored table:

This would be painted on the bottom and topped with a carrera marble:

This is my top choice but I would love it more if it had brass corners. Do you think I can add the hardware??

I think some acrylic is just the ticket I need:

Note the brass corners!

If you see a lucite/clear/acrylic table with brass hardware somewhere online that won't cost me an appendage-PLEASE tell me!

Gosh how awesome it would be to find one on Craigslist...I need a large rectangle, square or circle to fit the space appropriately. I know I could get sets but I'm not a big fan of that. Ideas appreciated!

confession

Rugs USA had a big Summer Sale and had most of their rugs 75% off! I made an executive decision and bought the over-dyed rug rather than waiting for the drop mentioned HERE. This big red thing will be here today!
Ha! I don't have this pouf yet either and these aren't exact replicas of my furniture but it'll help you get the idea of where I'm going with the living room:

i wear my sunglasses

Unlike the song, I don't wear them at night but I do love wearing my shades during the day.

I never invest in a quality pair because the only glasses I've ever kept up with are my prescription glasses. My sunshades always seem to get lost, crunched or scratched. I have multiple cheapies and mostly aviators but lately I've been crushing these Ray Ban shades:

And how stink'n cute they would be for football season. Boomer Sooner, it will be here soon! but not soon enough

I created an Erin football outfit to wear with my sunnies that I don't own...yet.

kiddo

We don't have any of our own quite yet but I love kids. They are so stink'n cute and say the funniest things. I love to spoil them rotten and then send them on their way. I love to cuddle and love on them and then pass them over when they have a crying fit or poopy diaper.

One of the twins (Friends since childhood and they're both teachers!) has started decorating her classroom for the next school year. Here's a sneek peek of what she's doing:

Crazy bold and fun, right?! She teaches Kindergarten by the way.

I love the idea of stimulating a child's brain with creativity and visual interest in their room. With the deployment coming up, I hope to see no kids in our very near future. Don't hate-I would totally welcome any surprise blessing sent our way. The timing would just be a really scary surprise...

However, I do have quite the inspiration stock pile for when that blessed day comes. I can't wait to decorate for a mini Lee or Erin. You better bet your bottom dollar our tiny tot will be hoot, a ham and have a well dressed room to boot. Here's some of my favorites:

weekend deets

Friday

The Hibiscus mom and dad got me for my birthday finally bloomed!

I left work a bit early to get my 3.5 hour drive over in enough time to be at my destination by the time Lee finished training since it was his birthday. Lee had told me he would be done at set time. Set time came, passed and I waited some more-then he finally made it. I regret using some of my PTO time at work but I doubt the Army will bid me an apology for changing their minds for Friday's agenda...

When Lee finally got to Nana's we warmed up his food, opened presents and ate dessert. Fast. He then scurried to bed since his alarm needed to go off at 4:30am. Yikes! Late night family pic before bed on Lee's birthday and the wrapping of Lee's new combat boots his mama and Nana gifted him:

(I gifted him a pocket size Nikon camera to take with him on his upcoming adventures.)

Saturday

I spent the day antiquing with my MIL. Before heading home we grabbed a pick-me-up at Braum's. We were nice and got some ice cream for Nana and a large chocolate shake (his favorite) for Lee too. Lee's went into the freezer of course.

When he finally came home, Coop was right by his side resting his head on Lee's lap while he devoured the shake:

Sunday

Lee left before 6am. I couldn't go back to sleep so I gathered up Coop and left too.  I was out of the house by 6:10am and on my way home. Nothing exciting to report other than my little cousin Kaylor's unicorn birthday cake. Her birthday is the day before Lee's. Super cute:

rug that helps

Not that I don't shop now but when the Army thing starts to get to me, I find that shopping makes me feel a lot better. Retail therapy. Duh.

On a serious note, I very recently started to understand the impact of the kind of communication I can and cannot have with Lee while his focus needs to be on the bad guys. I can't come to him with drama and stress. He needs to know that I have the home front covered. Can you imagine not ranting to your spouse about something?!

On a more fun note, I've got eyes on my next shopped victim. It's no wonder I like a more bohemian eclectic-glam decor style as I add pieces to our home. I mean gosh-My style oohs and awes always go to these celebrity pretties:

So consequently (I think it's obvious) I would obsess over images like these:

I think it's only fitting that I have an overdyed rug to go with my home decor wardrobe. Sounds silly I'm sure but I don't care, I plan to order this before I drop Lee off at the bus so I have something to look forward to in the mail shortly after the drop:

good idea fairy

When I get project ideas that involve Lee, he always smirks and says that I got hit by the good idea fairy again. BUT this really is a good idea that I had no idea about. Excuse my ignorance if this is super old news. Ha! Def going in my idea Rolodex for when we move next:

ceiling patch done

I have finished patching the ceiling! The tiny nail in the center is where the wires are located to cut the hole to size for the chandelier if you can see it. I'm kinda impressed with myself. Ha! The next step is to hang the chandy. Yeh!

It should look something like this in 2 weeks:

Lee sent me a pic from his briefing this morning. Did you know camel spiders existed? Me neither.



lovely

Love, Lee

weekend deets

Friday
I went wild Friday night. I got a mani/pedi and had a sno cone for dinner. Because I can.

Saturday
I not so patiently waited for Lee to call and let me know he was on his way home. The bug man came and sprayed the house, I got groceries and stopped by Lowe's to get items needed to patch the big hole in the ceiling of our master bathroom.
Remember, we removed the vent/fan/heater thing so we can hang the new CHANDELIER? I found THIS diy tutorial went for it. I mean the hole was pretty significant so I could just use a little mesh patch and texture it. I had to get an actual square of sheet rock. Wish I had taken a pic before the hole was covered.
When Lee got home, I had him cut the sheet rock to size and screw it into the studs in the ceiling as advised in the tutorial. I took my joint compound and tried to smooth out the ceiling and the square so it appeared flush. (I like this particular joint compound not because it's pink, but because you know it's dry when it turns white.)

When it dried, I placed the self-adhesive mesh tape over the studs to prepare my surface for another coat of compound.

I spread another layer of compound and let that dry. I'm going to paint it tonight and cross my fingers that it looks good. If not, no biggie. I'll just add a thin layer of compound again and blend.
When Lee comes home for R&R before he deploys, he gets to hang the light. He left the small screw in the center so he knows where the center is to cut the hole and that's where the wires are too.

Kristi, Nick and little Kaden came over for pizza. Taylor made THIS salad the last time she us all over for dinner and I absolutely loved it so I had her send me the recipe. I made it to accompany our pizza night and it was a hit.

Sunday
We went to our favorite breakfast hangout and Best Buy after that. I picked out a camera for Lee's birthday and he got an internal hard drive that has larger storage than the one that came with his Mac. I wanted to get him a nice camera so he doesn't get any wild hairs and take mine. Ha! We spent the rest of the day being lazy and Lee piddled with out network setup so he can log in from a remote server and check-in etc. I married a really cute nerd that thinks of everything that I don't. Love him! I stole this from my pal Larissa on FB and sent it to Lee.

Today
Lee wanted to stay another night so he had to leave super early this morning to make it to formation at 5:30am. His alarm went off at 2:30am. I hope he keeps coffee in his veins all day!

this just in

Lee was given Sunday off so he's driving home mid-Saturday to have his toes at home for a very wee little bit. Nonetheless-I'm super excited! Also, we found out that once he officially deploys and arrives at his mobilization site-he'll be given a 4 day pass before they head to the sandbox!!! (He's at pre-mob now. Who knew there was a difference b/w pre-mob and mob?!) WooHoo! I don't know when exactly that will be and he can't come home but duh-I'm going there. Wherever there will be.

This is Coop's "Mama, please let me out so I can chase squirrels" face.

wedding bells

Childhood friend since 3rd grade invited me to dinner last night to ask me to be her bridesmaid. Of course I ecstatically told Chelsie, "Yes!"
I mean we survived high school together:

We were roommates in college: (It was so incredibly hot at this game. It rained on us and then scorched us.)

And she was a bridesmaid in my wedding:

I am truly honored to be in her wedding...and if it's not obvious, she is the level-headed one. There seems to be a pattern when I take pictures, no?

oooook

Morale is really high in Oklahoma right now. We're so proud of our Thunder boys. It's really neat to see our state come together like this. AND I feel like this boost is going to do wonders for our communities. Image taken before the 1st game of the NBA Finals:

And on that note, speaking of state...I got a couple of awards (Yes, 2!) in the mail from our grand State of Oklahoma. I was unable to attend an event/ceremony I was invited to last week because I had my toes in the sand. However, when I checked my mail yesterday-I struck gold when Sender name read, "The State of Oklahoma". I was so excited to see that I was honored. I felt simply appreciated. Lee told me he is incredibly proud that I'm his wife and admires my selfless acts. You would have thought he moved a mountain the way my mouth dropped and eyes watered. I said, "Thanks, Soldier." I mean come on...The gallery wall in our office is Lee, Lee, Lee. And then my college diploma. I'm humbled to add to the selfless family wall.

The awards honored my advocacy for CASA vaguely mentioned HERE, stuff I do during the holidays mentioned HERE and the RFK fundraising events I coordinate that was blogged about HERE. All for children. I have a big heart for kids in need. I was one. And it's better than good to give back.

mallory

She makes me laugh.

(email from Mallory this morning regarding the cover of People magazine)

Mallory: Why do you think he is pointing at her?  Did someone just ask him who he married?  Does he want her to pull it?

McConaughey is so goofy acting but I am a sucker for his southern accent. AND I'm looking forward to seeing Magic Mike when it comes out since he's costarring with Matt Bomer...

obsessed

Obsessing over the color and texture of these drapes:

dinglehopper

I ended up taking Coop to the vet after work. Poor little guy. Doc checked him out and she thinks he played in the hay meadow a bit too much and may have had a seedling probe his foot. A seedling can best be described as a sting ray tail. It's sharp on the end and then feathers out when inside so it gets stuck. The abrasion then gets infected causes the swelling that I noticed. Anyway, Coop was sent home with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. He'll be taking these in addition to his children's Claritin for his Summer allergies. High maintenance little dude! I was really busy last night doing stuff around the house but he wanted his mommy so I held him while I ironed. Spoiled rotten but I can't resist that little face. Especially when he clings to my like a little kid. I'm ridiculous, I know.

I gave him a bath this morning before I left for work to clean his owie. As I was getting ready, I noticed him chilling on his favorite rug. I couldn't help but to think he resembles Scuttle from The Little Mermaid. When he's wet his hair looks permed. Like he's been using a "dinglehopper" or something. So funny. He has a hair appointment next week!

a box

I meant to tell you before I left for FL that the light fixture arrived for the bathroom! Remember, THIS one? It's still in the same spot as shown in the pic below. There it will sit until I figured out who, how and when I can do something about it.