colorful beds

I bought 8 more edging stones on my lunch break. I needed 33 after my haul last night so now I only need 25 more! Sheesh. I'm going to make a couple trips back to Home Depot after I get home to get 'er done tonight. Then I can start planting this weekend by taking super advantage of the Labor Day sales! I wish I knew someone that could just tell me exactly what I need to buy that is Erin proof. How amaze-balls would it be if this is what my front flowerbeds look like after this weekend?! Ha!

spending money

I have been spending someone else’s money all morning. The best kind to spend! I mentioned yesterday that I’m prepping for our big golf tournament. I just bought a lot of our giveaways and doorprizes. This year’s goodies include:

2 Ogio OGIO Straight Jacket Roller Travel Bags

1 Bushnell Neo Plus GPS Rangefinder Watch

1 Ogio 9800 Bag

125 Adidas Climalite Warm Layering Tops

3-5 Day Cruisefor 2, Destination of Choice

I still need to buy 125 hats, a TV and another gimme prize like a camera, etc. This is def the fun side of my job. It's my favorite event of the year and I get to coordinate the whole thing! Such an awesome charity that benefits from our donations too. Royal Family Kids, check them out! I raise money through sponsorships, silent auction, selling mulligans and kind donations. I still can't believe this is my 5th year to do this!

top of the mornin' to ya

I'm a cartoon this morning! Instead of pushing snooze, I turned my alarm off and overslept 1.5 hrs! Yes, I did that. Lee called late last night and we talked for a bit but not about anything personal since he was within earshot of a lot of people. There are so many things I want details about over there. I like details. Then Coop wasn't feeling good and woke me up. He was acting like he was going to be sick so we went outside and piddled in the backyard for 30 mins at 4am to avoid the floors in the house in case he did get sick. Coop is OK and mama is was tired obviously.

Back to my morning...before leaving the house I put the lid on my Pepsi and ice. When I did the liquid soaked my shirt like a squirt gun through the nozzle. Really??? (I like cold caffeine in the mornings.)

I got in the car and realized I needed to get gas before I started my journey to work. Boo hiss.

I was getting out of the car at the station and somehow managed to whack my head on the visor. Hard.

I was able to put gas on my company card since I've been running all kinds of errands to prepare for my company's 5th annual charity golf tournament. It's my 5th one to coordinate so it's a cakewalk and I absolutely love it but the printer wasn't working at the pump and I needed a receipt for my expense report. Dang.

Inside I found that only 1 register was working and the line was 8 people back...so I waited. But the girl behind me said she liked my outfit and we became friends. Ha!

Feels like a Monday but it's Friday eve and that's exciting!

score

After stalking the Jcrew outlet for days during my lunch hour, I finally found the mustard yellow wool pencil skirt in my size. $30 off too! Score. Thanks, Labor Day Sale!

Now I'm dreaming about all the ways I wanna wear it...

peep from lee

Finally heard from him! In an array of shorthand email but it's something, right?! He has moved into a 3-person room he describes as a shipping cargo container??? Ha! This is funny and sad. I do hope he's kidding and obviously I want details. He did say it's really cold in his room so of course I know he loves that. He said he's going to try to install his internet connection in his room before he's goes to bed if he has time today or...his yesterday? Whatever. He said communication will be better between us in a week or so. It's just incredibly good to hear a peep to smooth my nerves, ya know?

country dog

My first thought when pulling this catalog out of my mailbox yesterday, "My country westie is cuter than yours." Sorry Country Curtains, but I do like your ticking stripe bed skirt.

tick tock sparkle

Ladies and gents this is officially the longest I have gone not hearing from Lee since he got to Afghanistan. And I don't like it.
I did mail my 1st package to Lee on my lunch hour though! I was waiting until he got assigned to a room but heck, maybe by the time the package gets there he'll have a room. I was able to sneak his folder full of cards into his ruck sack before he left but THIS giant picture collage for his wall was a no-go. I shipped THIS picture collage and a pair of boxers I got on sale at Banana. Did I tell you the colonel thinks it'll be fun to have all the guys grow mustaches? Lee isn't thrilled but plans to go along for morale purposes. When I saw these boxers on the cheap, I knew I had to send them with my 1st package. I plan to send fun things like that throughout this deployment.

I found out what APO means! Army Post Office. Duh. Wish I had known prior to waiting until Sunday to mail the package at FedEx. Oh well. We all know now: Packages can only be shipped to Lee through the post office. (Womp. Womp. Womp.) Also, when mailing a letter to Lee, postage is the same as it is here! However, when sending a package you must complete a special form for customs. Oh! AND their $15 First Class box is $2 off for military and you can stuff it with as much as you want and the cost will be the same! Yeehaw!

Since my favorite color is sparkle (don't hate) I put a little on top of my shellac manicure last night for kicks. Ignore my dry fingers!

Oh guys...I hope Lee calls tonight. Every night I stay up super late just in case he gets a chance to call in the mornings his time. Timezones suck. And each night I don't hear from him I get into a horrible funk and think the worse. God bless our Soldiers and please O' please keep them safe.

acrylic shelves

stoned

After work I went to Home depot and loaded the car with more edging stones...only to get home and realize I had bought the wrong color! I went back but couldn't commit to a color now that my confidence was shot so I decided I would make a return and come back the the next day with a picture on my phone of the stone I have at home. I swear I've lost marbles. Forget baby brain, deployment brain def exists. 

I was told that I needed to take the cart of stones to the return desk inside. What?! I had already done a lot of loading and unloading for nothing. I quickly batted my eyelashes and asked if he couldn't just accept them at his register so  I didn't have to drag the heavy cart inside because it seemed really unnecessary. So he wrote me this note to take inside to the return desk:

weekend deets

I can breathe a little easier and sleep a bit tighter because I received word that Lee arrived safely in Afghanistan. I 100% hate not being able to talk to him everyday and going days without a peep even by email from him seems unjust but I totally understand. I had a small crybaby fest before bed last night but it didn't last long. I try not to dwell on the empty side of our bed for too long but it's more difficult when these timezones make you feel even further apart, ya know?

I did have a lengthy email from Lee yesterday when I woke up though. He says he's still not assigned to a room yet. They're in transition and trying to maneuver the guys they're replacing out, etc. He has his fingers crossed that he doesn't end up in a 3-person room but the odds aren't looking to be in his favor. Until he gets his room assignment, he's sharing a large tent full of bunk beds with a bunch of other guys. Sounds very MASH to me. Ha! Remember that show? Lee says Afghanistan is incredibly dusty and that is to be expected but it has still gotta be weird when it's not what you're used to breathing! I wonder if you ever feel clean?

Checkout the fun new skinnies I scored over the weekend. Super pumped about the crimson pair. The red looks a lot brighter than they really are in person. They're more crimson/burgundy and they'll be perfect for football season. Boomer Sooner! 1st game is this weekend. Sooooo excited. However, I won't be attending. I'm taking a road trip to see Lee's Nana. She'll be 95 years old this week! How awesome is that?!

I painted my yellow door black this past weekend. We had our realtor come to our house not too long ago and that's the only thing he wasn't keen on keeping when we go to sell our home when Lee gets back. This pic is after the 1st coat of paint. I finished the 2nd coat last night. I used a high gloss black:

Our porch is so weird. The door is inset and then there is a huge covered space out to one side. I can't decide what to do to it. I'm thinking about adding a porch swing and a potting bench to fill with succulents and florals. I think that would be amaze balls. A potting bench similar to this and I would expose the back so my brick would peek through.

I got a mani/pedi before working in the yard over the weekend too. Backwards, I know. It's been so hot here and our water was being rationed. With the sprinkler system turned off and my lack of a manual watering routine, my flower beds are a bit squirrely. I'm lucky when it comes to our yard though. We got a bit of rain over the weekend and the grass is already 50 shades greyer greener. I took advantage of the weather and got busy outside. It's going to take forever hauling 10 stones at a time in my car because I refuse to carry more than that in my car's trunk but I think the stone edging will be a big step forward in curb appeal. Ignore the black lining and unkempt bed. I told you it was squirrely. We have retired neighbors that spend hours each day on their yard and I know they miss Lee being home simply being that he ensures the yard gets watered! 

I really do enjoy working in the yard but have let it go big time. The yard def hasn't been a priority but I'm ready to make it one.

My aunt and uncle are building a house, REMEMBER? They have an open floor plan and my auntie wants hard wood floors but she's not crazy about having them in the kitchen. She's thinking about doing tile throughout the living room and kitchen only because she's worried about having 2 different types of flooring in an open floor plan. I found a way to easily marry the 2 and still keep the rustic feel she's wanting. She can do solid wood flooring in all open areas and then do a wood/tile combination in the kitchen. See design board below for some options I put together with the combo flooring:

 And random. I came across this beautiful picture on The Daybook and I'm obsessing over Sydney's outfit. That blue pleated maxi skirt is from Urban Outfitters. It's on sale now and they only have a small instock. I am NOT a small person.

AND Kate from Centsational Girl gave me a shoutout on Sunday for giving her an FYI that Design Oklahom wrote an article about her. Thanks, Kate!

Happy Monday!

light up

I'm a bit obsessed with THIS pendant. I was looking through my inspire files and found a pattern. At least I'm consistent. Ha!

mint condition

Simply put. Something about the color mint make me feel good. It's fresh and reminds me of shiny things from Tiffany's. Our guest bathroom is a deeper shade than the pic below but I'm really digging this BM paint color in creme de mint. Totally saving to my inspire file:

hello happy dance

The last 2 days I have started to write a post and then I'm not sure what happened. Writing about poopy deployment emotions drags me really down right now so I'm going to show you the pretty baby I scored for 9 beans at a new antique haunt I found around the corner from my office! Saweeeeeeeet!

I just couldn't pass up this blue and white garden seat. I don't think you can beat $9!

case of the mondays

Lee and I had an incredible 4 days together during his pass. We didn't do much because he obviously wanted to be a homebody as much as possible. We did have the friendamily over for dinner Friday night. We munched on a yummy salad, garlic cheesey bread and a 3 meat skettie dinner. Taylor darted to Braum's to fulfill every one's sweet tooth cravings for dessert. It was a good night with lots of laughs.

Taylor and Jacob dropped off a large batch of Lee's favorite chocolate chip cookies before we left the house for the airport. Lee's drop off at the airport was dramatically over dramatic but it's to be expected I guess. Thankfully, Kristie and Nick drove us to the airport so I wouldn't be alone.

Not keen on sharing much else right now but I wanted to check in.

cloud 9 & tory burch

Lee is home and all is right in our world now.  World meaning our house that is...but world peace would be better than great!

Remember my obsession with blue and white ceramics? I bought THIS candle holder while thrifting last weekend and THIS vase for our entry a bit ago. Well now I finally have inspiration for our dining table centerpiece. Once I build my blue and white collection I'm going to combine the 2 pieces mentioned above and do something like this but mine will be more centered/bunched up rather than spread out like this since we have an eight seat square table:

woot woot

Lee was able to get dismissed from mobilization early today and scored an earlier flight to get him home sooner. 6 hours sooner!!! Flexing my work schedule today to pick him up early. Excited doesn't begin to describe how pumped I am about seeing him!

Here's a few things I'm hiding in Lee's ruck sack when he leaves on Sunday:

Remember my ugly cry while getting his wall decor laminated this past weekend? The decor will hang on the wall beside his bed in Afghanistan...beside his OU flag of course. Boomer Sooner! I gave you a peek while I was working on it but here it is completed. It's quite large in person.

BIG thanks to all of our family and friends that responded to my request for cards. I know this will be a welcome surprise when Lee gets to Afghanistan and starts unpacking.

SPECIAL thanks to Mrs. Kimberly's kindergarten class for their adorable thank you cards to Lee. He'll love these too and they are incredibly sweet to read.

ginger jar like

Here's what I took home from my thrift trip that I mentioned yesterday. It's the only thing that I wanted... that would fit in my car. It's a ginger jar like candle holder. Anyone else crushing on blue and white ceramics? I've always loved them and I'm happy to add to my collection. Not bad for $2.

weekend deets

After getting a mani/pedi, I stocked up on groceries for Lee's upcoming pass. More than exciting to think he'll be home before the milk expires! I spent some time at Barnes and Noble this weekend. I brought home a couple lovely books to display on the "brass" Ikea hack. There's 3 more that I want on that shelf but 1 of them isn't on the market yet and the other 2 were out of stock so I'm going to order via Amazon.

Finally had Lee's wall collage laminated that I made to hang over his bed in Afghanistan. I ugly cried in front of the FedEx Office employees when I picked it up. Ha! I should have known better because when I dropped it off I got a little teary-eyed. At least I was able to laugh at myself when I got it home.

I had a hair appointment and then went thrifting on Saturday too. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of what I actually took home. I'll take a pic tonight and post tomorrow since I'm blogging from work now...

Here's what I regretfully passed up. I ever so desperately was wishing I had a larger vehicle to stow giant treasures to take home.

This $30 shelving unit is a lot like the one I bought from Ikea and made brass. What a steal this one would be?!

We have a card table but I could always use a backup. I liked this old school one. You know it's stood the test of time and still looks new. However, the thing was way overpriced for a card table!

This desk chair was very Restoration Hardware like but I didn't want to spend $80 on it. If I have to spend that much, I'd rather put $80 towards a new genuine one from Restoration Hardware.

look 4 less

Woot Woot!
I have been ogling the velvet drapes over at Pottery Barn and even more so when I received an email stating they are on sale today! Still, the length I need is $109 on sale and that's for one panel! Boo hiss.
Then I entered Lowe's during my lunch hour today.
I was zooming through the window treatment aisle on my way to the paint section (You take this detour too, right?) and what do you know?! A fabulous sample velvet-like drape was hanging in the aisle practically BEGGING me to touch it. And I did. And then I grabbed 2 packages to purchase and proceeded to make my way to the paint section.
Totally stoked.
What I love more is that these are blackout drapes at a GREAT price. I'm thinking about going back for more in another color since I'm in love with the texture they're going to add to our space. For those of you wanting to know, they had black, brown, a creamy white, a deep red and then this pewter grey color I snagged.

I'm not going to use the rod pocket though. I'm going to hang them with clip rings so my drapes look more like the Pottery Barn image.

x bench

Scouting ideas for my x-bench I mentioned HERE.
I think I'm leaning towards a double cushion with tufting like this:

I'm really digging the idea of mixing patterns too:

have nots @ ross

Earlier I mentioned my treasures I took home from Ross during lunch yesterday. Here's what I decided not to take home!

I really liked this chair but I can't imagine bringing another flag into our home that isn't our own. And Lee would prob "toss his lunch" if I did. We're very patriotic if you haven't caught on yet;)

Still cute to admire:

I don't practice Buddhism but isn't Buddha just the happiest looking fella? He's trying to raise the roof at a party here:

Even with the peeled off layer that I could fix and prob score at discount, I couldn't talk myself into buying this knockoff:

You know I'm a fan of dog art from my post HERE  and even though I passed on the price, I saw a funny version of a doggy profile dressed in armor that made me swoon this past weekend. Therefore, it should be no surprise that I lingered in front of this next gem. I almost bought it just to have on hand for someone or gift it to one of my hunt-loving family members with bird dogs but I passed. I totally would have bought if it were of Westies with no hesitation. Part of me wants to go back and get it.