building a house

Not me but my aunt and uncle are!
Our house building future will wait until Lee returns from the sandbox.
Framing goes up tomorrow! Yeehaw!

new dress

I had the camera ready and in front of the mirror when my power went out this morning! I called our electric company and apparently a transformer blew out on the street behind me. It was a very loud BOOM. You should have seen me try to get the car out of the garage manually to get to work! I was dumbfounded for about 10 seconds. No joke.

Yes, I am in the bathroom at work in my new dress and belt. I know you love my awkwardness.

Dress Nordstrom. Belt 40% off at The Limited.
O and I stuck a cute dress slip underneathe. It's gorgeous and very 1940ish but what I love most is the pleated ruffle at the hem that sticks out. I thrifted it this past weekend for $1.

brass not gold

I'm jamming out to Pandora's Wicked Channel in my office today at work. Every now and then they throw in Rent or The Little Mermaid. You might not know how obsessed I am with theater but you would if your office was next door to mine. Don't feel pity on my neighbors. I'll be listening to rap tomorrow and maybe country the next.

ANYWAY. Today hasn't been too bad for a Monday. I've got my large Sonic drink with extra ice and managed to secure some spray for the shelving unit. I had a brief standstill in the aisle at Home Depot. I'm sure I looked ridic pondering over gold or brass spray paint. I could not remember what color the almost empty can of spray is in my garage that I adore. RUST-OLEUM's brass or gold?!
In comes Little Green Noteboook to the rescue.
I totally googled: Little Green Notebook brass or gold spray paint
And what do you know?! I DID find that she prefers their brass over their gold because the gold sometimes comes off as too pink. Ha!
Problem solved. Thanks, Jenny.

wknd deets

I hope I'm not the only one that can't get anything accomplished with the Olympics on TV. I'm either glued to the screen or happily snoozing on the couch while other countries play basketball.

I kicked off the weekend on Friday at Kristin's house for the Opening Ceremony. We were quick to judge all the apparel and decide which uniform we liked best. Fun night!

On Saturday I piddled around the mall and thrifted in the afternoon. I scored an awesome vintage swan vase. I'm not sure what I'll do with it quite yet. Right now it's where I left it by the sink to dry after I washed it. Kinda like a cute way to hide ugly dish washing sponges, etc too but I'm leaning towards putting it on this when I'm done hacking it.

That's right ladies and gents, I'm doing THIS hack. Our brown leaning bookshelf just isn't cutting the mustard against our RL brown suede painted walls in the living room. Taylor and Jacob stopped by Ikea (since the nearest one is 2+ hours away) for me on their weekend warrior road trip. They did a ton of driving in a short amount of time and then sweetly stopped by the house to deposit the monster of a box before heading home. I was surprised that all the pieces were in one really long box since Ikea usually sends you off with 5 different boxes for the one item and this box was so heavy. I'm glad I told Jake to set it in the living room because there's no way I could have moved that heavy box or put the unit together anywhere else in the house by myself. 8,000 tiny screws and Chinese-like instructions later, I put it all together by myself! It was too late to complete the hack last night but it's going gold after work today. My inspiration:

single girl no-no's

Funny read about how single ladies should NOT decorate their home. So does this mean my pink guestroom is OK becasue I am married? bahahahaha
Read Single Girl No-No's HERE

 

Today I am consumed with so many random thoughts. This is me:

Gosh I need to pee.
I wonder where I should buy exposed brass pipes.
I am so into brass fixtures these days...
Can't wait for Lee to come home so we can build a home.
And have a baby us.
I miss Lee so much.
This being apart thing sucks.
This sucks so so bad.
I wish I could skip ahead 9-12 months.
Erin! That is the most selfish thing you could say. There are people dying. Be thankful.
I'm so blessed. I have such great friends.
Can't wait till football season so everyone migrates back my way for the games!
I need to add some red to my wardrobe for game attire.
Texas Sucks.

Have a great weekend y'all and let the Olympic games begin!

double dare

I dare you to reach for my bone!

USA USA USA

Supa dupa pumped about the 2012 Olympics. USA! USA! Anyone else watching?!

I psyched to see if Bolt beats his record! I want to see him bolt to the finish line. Anyone else find it ironic that his last name is Bolt??? Awesome!

Here's some inspiration for a swell Opening Ceremony party you know you want to host:

o that tara shaw

I came across THIS Tara Shaw sconce on Layla Grayce yesterday and totally swooned. I need 2 at least 75% off. Please and thank you. Ha!

fan

Cool fan alert.

Pulp Design Studios

moments

I'm trying to create little moments around the house and how funny it is that I think the toilet should be one of them!

I bought "Unicorn Country" from a local shop (but you can get it HERE) and got it back from the framer yesterday. I love a bit of humor in decor anywhere I can get it...even in the toilet region. The naked peeps were my souvenir from Italy when I was there for Jacob and Taylor's fabulous wedding. The bowl is a vintage favorite that was originally owned by my dad's granny. It has a bold floral orange pattern on the inside that I just love. The polishes are a collection of favorites I like to have in hands reach since I keep all the others in a container under the sink. Anyway, I'm not done yet but I like where I'm going with it:

Go on and create your own little moments...or Precious Moments. Whatever your heart fancies.

stuff like this

When I see stuff like this on my computer screen I feel like I'm going to lose my breakfast.

tuesday rambling

I had dinner with my Dad after my mani/pedi appointment last night. My Dad is so great. He's a gentle giant and always makes me feel 100% better about everything. Speaking of giants in my family...I'm writing this down here so I can remember it later.

At the lake this past weekend we got to talking about my dad's relatives. My Grandpa's dad had 5 brothers and they were all over 6'5. Dad told a story about how my very petite Nina (what I call my dad's mom) almost dropped him right after he was born! Apparently Nina had not met all the brothers and as she was rocking dad one of the 6'8 brothers came into the house to visit and scared her so much that she almost dropped dad. She tells the story that the uncle  had to duck to get in the doorway because he was so tall and doorways were a lot shorter back then. She had never seen anyone so tall.

After dinner with dad I went home to finish my 3ft of wall decor I'm sending to Afghanistan with Lee. It's full of pix, quotes, snippets of famous speeches and lyrics. I'm finished and now it only needs to be laminated. Lee is coming home for that 4 day pass before they go overseas, remember? I'm going to roll up my creation to pack in a tube and give it to him during his pass. I've collected a TON of cards from family and friends in a large envelope to give him also. I'm going to secure them really well so he's not tempted to open them before he gets to the sandbox. I think by doing so it'll give him something new to see and lift him up when he's missing home. I know he has no time to read this blog right not so I'm not worried about posting this little peek.

weekend deets

I made a road trip to the lake house over the weekend and spent some much needed down time with my parents. We took it easy and relished every minute of the weekend together.

My grandparents came to the lake for dinner Saturday night. Mom made her new favorite appetizer.

(I'm not sure what the name is so I'm going to call it Mom's Bloom'n Bread)

Recipe:

King's Hawaiian loaf of bread sliced like a bloom'n onion (Checkerboard Style)

Monterey Jack slices in between each bread cut

A bunch of chopped green onions

Melted stick of butter drizzled all over (Healthy, right?)

Sprinkled with Poppy Seed

Cover in foil

Warm in the oven for ~20 mins or until cheese is completely melted

Lee text me a pic from a Sick Puppy concert that he and some other guys checked out on their way back to the barracks after dinner. I can't imagine ever wanting to listen to a band called Sick Puppies. Anyway note the old camo, the NEW stuff won't be worn until they are overseas.

I ordered a cute dress from Nordstrom. I'm going to wear it with a super-cute belt with nude heels this summer to work and when it gets cooler I'll wear my new old 3/4 100% leather jacket I scored at a thrift store for 10 beans. Be jealous. I'll get you a pic soon!

To me it's what Kate Spade's casual wear would be like.

dog house

In our next house I want to be sure and include Cooper when we plan the layout, etc. I mean he's practically human he's so dang smart! Checkout this doggy inspiration:

Have a good weekend, y'all! I'm headed to the lake house after I pick up Mr. Cooper from the house. xoxo

closet friday

I've had this image saved for a bit. I can't remember where I first discovered it but I could totally see me being a special ring stacker with my future bling.

colorado

My heart is with THOSE hurting in Colorado this morning. God bless you.

gadgets

Lee is an engineer in his civilian life. He can code or rig something like it’s nobody’s business. He’s quite the innovator.

My mama and I have a joke with Lee. Whenever we need him to fix something or we get an idea for a project we simply tell Lee that he should “just engineer something right up”.  

For the next month Lee is sharing a huge bay that is full of bunk beds with a ton of Soldiers. You can imagine being surrounded by people 24/7 would become quite the nuisance. So it was no surprise to me when Lee “engineered something right up” to remedy his loner requirements for his own space.

To create a wall around his bed he took the liner of his poncho and secured it to the bunk above him.

From Amazon he ordered a magnetic tripod that fastens to the metal springs above him and connects to a flashlight to give him light in his “room”.

He bought these from Amazon too:

And set them up to provide more reading light.  Note the electric fan and surge protector he packed to take with him just in case! Man thinks of everything.

He said last night everyone was giving him a hard time when they saw he received another box from Amazon. His new nickname with his buddies there is Lieutenant Gadget. Ha! 

southern hospitality

Before I jump to topic, I have to share a picture of my son. He really likes TV and he's usually more entertaining than what is onscreen. Ignore the unfinished styling of our dresser:

Sometime I feel like Lucy when I get a new idea for the house. At least this time it doesn't involve paint.

No. It's the dang coffee table. I can't make up my mind. Obviously. THIS isn't THE first POST.

Now that Wisteria's acrylic table is back in stock, I've realized I don't love it enough to bite the bullet on THIS price. Then I got to thinking that I'm not too sure I would even bite it if the table were on sale. I just haven't found exactly what I'm wanting. Sheesh. I must be the most indecisive coffee table buying person on the planet.  

My feet are my dilemma too!

I really like to prop my feet up. I'm a southern gal and I just can't see an acrylic table welcoming my feet in the most used space in our house. I think I could see myself totally putting acrylic in a den or office though...because I really do love that style. Like a smaller waterfall VERSION that's a lot easier on our wallets.

So you ask, "Erin, what the heck are you thinking about getting now?!" Glad you ask because I'm happy to tell you that I'm going to get a tulip coffee table with a marble top. It's a happy combination of everything I've been wanting. In the next month or so I plan on making the purchase. Girl Scout honor, I won't mention coffee tables until then.

Here's a mock up of what it should look like in our space.

I like the round table idea a lot since everything in our living room seems very spared off. AND I love it enough to make a commitment. 

he's a cowboy baby

My cousin had pictures taken of the tiniest cowboy in our family to create some super cute invites for his 1st birthday. MANY cute options. Here's a fav of mine so far:

framed

Look what arrived in the mail from the framer! I had THIS image from our pre-deployment kissy face shoot blown up. Memories of our pillow fight during the shoot make me laugh. I think the pic turned out really well. There is a thin brass trim along the interior of the frame if you can't tell. I'll take a better pic of the entire room soon. Cooper makes a pretty good prop though. He thinks the Kate Spade comforter is his.

look for less

I def dove into the owl decor trend. So why not dive into the octopus trend?

I think I can relate more to a sea critter anyway. I practicially grew up having my toes in the sand.

I really want a white ceramic octopus to have on my future coffee table. In the meantime I've found myself drooling over THIS $5K beauty.

I totally want to take this high resolution vintage clipart, invert the colors and do my own version MUCH cheaper.

I think my DIY will still be way less expensive then THIS look 4 less version I discovered on art.com and I'm not crazy about their color choice for our walls anyway.

cheesey

For a girl that loves-I mean really loves her cheese, THIS caught my attention:

wknd deets

Friday

A slew of symbols came on my dashboard on the way to work! Oil, brakes and tires...O' my! I was able to leave work a tad early so I stopped by to see a mechanic. I flipped through a mag while I waited. That moment you open the magazine and see something that looks familiar:

Lucky for me, I just needed an oil change and they said my brakes were only due for service (that's why my brake lamp came on) but they were still in good shape. They said nothing was wrong with my tires. I think they were just ready to close down for the day or completely forgot to address my tire issue. I knew something was up though because one tire had gotten down to 20 psi earlier that day.

That night I got a random pic of Lee. Gosh I love him so much.

Saturday

The color run was colorful...and hot! I sucked hot air the whole time. I should have drank more water prior to the run because I wasn't feeling too great running in the heat and the only drink station they offered was 1 after the halfway point. By the time we got to the drink station they didn't have any water iced down so they handed us mini HOT water bottles. mmmmmk. Not cool in this heat.

Nonetheless, I'd do the run again because it made for some super cute pix with my tiny tot bff, Taylor.

My pal Morgan sent me this false alarm.

I was bummed when she confirmed it was a premature announcement but at least I can always count on her radar for celebrity my tidbits.

That night we (Jacob, Taylor and I) met at Nick and Kristie's for game night. They made the best Indian tacos and we laughed at each other a lot. Like a lot-a lot. I heart game night with my friendamily.

Sunday

Since I drive a good 45 min to and fro work everyday, I was bound and determined to get a second opinion in regards to my tire. I went to our go-to neighborhood tire place and what do you know?! They found a huge nail in my tire. Womp womp womp...BUT they didn't charge for the patch since I buy my tires through them. Awesome!

By the time I left there it was time to meet my buddies Kimberly and Kristin for lunch and a movie. Kimberly is teaching at a new school this coming year so she's been busy decorating her classroom. I'll try and get a pic of her room when she's done! Kristin just got back from vacay so she still has that vacay glow. Post pix ASAP, Kristin!

i like color

Good thing because I'm doing this run tomorrow!

I'll give you the deets about it on Monday. Have a blessed weekend, y'all!

plastic surgery

Sorry. This post isn't what you think.

In the past year or so I have had the hardest time getting to sleep. (Thank you, Army...) This past week that has become all the more evident in the morning when my alarm goes off.

I know you can tell me to drink less caffeine, exercise more...blah blah blah.

I'm a girl that loves makeup so my obvious solution is to do some research on claiming a new concealer that will do the trick to keep my dark circles at bay! I came across makeup artist Kandee Johnson and she has so many helpful tips. Watch this if you need a circle fix too:

I am loving Makeup Forever's Finishing Powder.

Seriously it does wonders.

I'm waiting for my Benefit Erase Paste to be no more to purchase Laura Mercier's Camouflage Concealer. Maybe I'll post my own makeup tutorial video when I do. Not sure why I haven't already since I'm a bit obsessed with my face paint.

let there be art

Anyone else notice the new and improved art.com website? I've ordered from them in the past so when I saw THIS post on Design Love Fest, I had to check it out and you should too. It's def a fun improvement.

I had been going back and forth on which image to use, whether or not I wanted to put one of our pre-deployment kissy face shoot pix on canvas or frame, and over our bed or on the wall in our bedroom. After looking at my inspiration image once more:

...I decided I'd like our pillow fight framed. I just received tracking info from art.com that my framed and matted image will be delivered tomorrow. This pic make me laugh and I can't wait to see it framed above my bed. I hope it helps me sleep better!

hilarious

delivered

Isn't mail gold?! I just LOVE it when I find a box by my front door. Even more so when there's 2.

THIS pillow from CB2 and THIS pillow from Anthropologie arrived yesterday. I tore into those suckers like it was Christmas. Cooper had no problem filling in the empty space on the sofa. He's a great stand-in.

Really loving these new additions. The embroidery on the Anthro pillow is amaze balls. The buffalo check pillow is actually a dark chocolate if you can't tell...

I'm doubting the blue pillow I selected in my ORIGINAL plan. That blue will be too bright and I think we would prefer a softer blue that is more subdued. I'm not scared of color but I do have a limit. I'm also not crazy about the sheen I think that pillow will have. I really love the ruffle it has though dang it. STILL we have progressed!

Anyone else have a throw pillow obsession?

I'll take a better pic when I think about it but I have a side note for you now.

Lee and his dad used to frequent Mexico to enjoy some beach time together when Lee was growing up. They would get a place on the beach and sometimes sleep in the provided hammocks on their front porch to fall asleep to the sounds of the waves. The blanket draped on the sofa in the far right corner of the pic above was purchased for said slumbers on one of those trips. I found it in the attic recently and gave it a good wash. Since Lee's dad passed away, I know it's extra special for Lee to see it now and remember. He was pleasantly surprised to see it the last time he was home.