costume

Happy Eat All The Candy You Want Day!

For Halloween, Cooper is sporting a Kissing Booth.

Awe shux. I might be bias but isn't he precious? We're excited to pass out candy tonight!

Costume was free too. I used a printing paper box and lid. Cut a window in the lid, set the lid up vertical and decorated one side of the box with stuff I had around the house.

mancave reno

Our sweet friends just finished their mancave! Larissa and Eric did an awesome job. Larissa gets extra sweet points for giving Eric a room all to himself. Look what a change in paint color, new carpet and new lighting can do!

When they purchased their house:

And NOW:

Great progress, eh?!

weekend deets

O man. I had so much planned for this past weekend but my body had something else planned. I was hanging by a thread all weekend with my head in the toilet sick. Not cool. I missed tailgating, going to the OU v Notre Dame football game and a slumber party with my buddies. I really wanted needed to see them. Although we lost (boooooo), this awesome pic was posted online from the game and I shared it with Lee via email.

Over the weekend my buddy, Kimberly, sent me a picture of her classroom door for her school's Red Ribbon Week Decorate your Door Contest.

We Scare Away Drugs:

Cute huh?!

I had brunch with Taylor, Jacob and another couple at local place that serves Sunday brunch family style. I think I hit the ground running too fast after being sick the day before because I went home after brunch for a 4 hour nap!

Latest food haul for Lee:

Mailed 2 boxes to Lee during lunch and came back to my office with flowers on my desk from Lee:

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Last night I had dinner with my bff, Taylor. We gabbed over Mexican food and margaritas. It was a much needed gab session because it had been too too long!

Big weekend planned. Super excited to dart out of my office at 5! Anyone else have fab plans ahead?

I went to the grocery store and bought Lee $140 worth of groceries on my lunch hour today. Sheesh, I know. I loaded up since delivery times are changing to 6-8 weeks for the holidays soon and I didn't want him to do without his fav snacks. I already had a box ready to ship that held all of his thermal issued crap he can wear under his camo during the colder months so shipped that after I left the grocery store. I'll package the new goods I got today tonight and most likely drop them off to ship first thing in the morning. Maybe. Maybe I'll do that Monday. Like I said, big weekend planned!

He got a box full of snacks from his cousin Kristy's church. He emailed me a picture to forward them too!

clam shell

I've been looking for something to go in the center of our table and I finally found something. A clam. You're getting to see the same dark pic I sent to Lee. It's late at night in Oklahoma and early in the morning in Afghanistan when this pic was taken during a conversation with Lee.
Since our table is tall and the pendent hangs low, it's been tricky to find something that I like and is large enough for the scale of our 8 seat table. I have a lot of decor ideas with our new clam. I got the clam shell HERE if you want one too!

pelmet board redo

I haven't been happy with THIS fabric choice. The small pattern just wasn't doing it for me so I went bigger and bolder with a buffalo plaid.

Did you notice the chevron jar on the counter? New Nate Berkus score from his limited edition collection at Target. Here's a close up:

success

Beat our $20K record yesterday at my company's charity golf tournament that I have been coordinating. In fact, after wriiting this check and receiving payment for silent auction wins, our new total is $27,090.00! Woot Woot! Still can't believe this was my 5th one to host.

elephant side table

Color change for the better!

weekend deets

I'm late getting to my post today because I have been a crazy busy woman today. I just got home from a vendor banquet for work on the eve of our big charity golf tournament I'm coordinating tomorrow.

BUT about this past weekend!

My favorite redhead invited me over for a fun girl's night again! Kimberly picked me up and bought us ice cream to eat after dinner. I got pumpkin of course!

Kimberly showed us the blue prints of the house she and her hubby are building soon. You know I loved that part of girl's night!

We watched the 1st and 3rd Twilight movies. Kristin gave me notes on the 2nd. Ha! I'm a bit behind having not read the books are see the movies...

On Saturday I did some volunteer work for CASA with my sorority's alum chapter. We put together bags of toys/activities for CASA advocates to take on their visits to see their kids. Excited that I get to benefit from this since I'm an advocate too!

THEN....the best part of the weekend. I got a Skype date with my hubby. Hubba hubba.

early bird

Last night this girl went to happy hour and ordered sweet tea. Bazinga. I met a few girls from my sorority's alum chapter and we had a good time catching up. We're trying to meet once a month outside of our big chapter meetings to get the younger crowd together for networking, etc. I'm always up for a girl's night!

This morning I got up early to go pick up my very own Sequence board from a family friend.  I hated to leave and hurry to work. Mom's buddy is so warm and welcoming. Kinda wanted to just stay and hang out all day!

Now I just need a bottle of wine and another girl's night this wknd to play Sequence.

care pkg example

For other military spouses facing their 1st deployment.

Lee's most recent care package:

-Bean Bag Chair Cover

(His 200 liters of bean bag fill from Bed Bath and Beyond has been ordered and is shipping directly to him. It's cheaper that way.)

-Ramen w/ Shrimp

(He actually requested that. Gross.)

-Pringles

-Campbell's Soup Bowls

(Beef Stew and some other hearty soup.)

-Homestyle Mac & Cheese

-Large Albacore Packets

-Smoked Salmon Packets

-Tyson Cans of Chicken

-Tyson Chicken Salad Kits

-Dole Peaches

(Plastic jar. He's always buying peaches when he's home.)

-Salsa

(I wrapped this jar good and then put it in a plastic bag just in case. He LOVES Salsa. Hope he can find some Tositos!)

-Variety of Ben's Microwaveable Rice Bowls

(To eat with his fish and chicken.)

-Microwaveable Chopped BBQ Brisket & Pulled Pork

-Almonds, Jerky, Sunflower Seeds

I'll be sending him several packages with these type of things in the next 2 weeks since delivery time is about to increase dramatically for the holidays.

good juju

Be still my beating heart. TWO juju hats and chandeliers for bedside lamps. Yes, please.

This bedside chandy option isn't bad either!

{Images: The Decorista}

GUESS WHAT

I'm on cloud 9 today because the awesome Kirsten Krason from 6th Street Design School, a blog I follow religiously is showcasing my nursery dream board in her post today! Check it out HERE!

weekend in pictures

I took a pic of this little guy while my dad was staining my parent's deck on Friday.

My mom, grandma and I drove 4 hours south for my cousin's bridal shower. Melanie and Maggie are twins but you wouldn't know that by looking at them! Love the leather sleeves on my new shirt.

After the shower we drove a few hours north to meet my cousin and aunt for dinner and a little shopping. But not without changing into our OU gear first. Boomer Sooner! We creamed Texas on Saturday and I had fun telling all the sales clerks about it when they said something about my hat.

Brandi in her OSU garb and me in OU at HomeGoods:

We got back to my parent's house super late but in the morning mom and I had fun rearranging a few things before unpacking the goods she scored at HomeGoods. From the den, I moved this plaid chair into their master to go with the red floral RL comforter and new stripe curtains she got last weekend. We love mixing prints! The floral arrangement had been in their bathroom and I love the placement here. A lot of the same colors are used throughout the house so it was fun shopping around the house and making stuff feel new by placing it somewhere different. Not sure everything else on the dresser will stay. Sorry for the phone pic. I need to start taking my Nikon everywhere with me, huh?

Before heading home, I stopped to see the building progress of my aunt and uncle's new house. Walls are up and texture is complete! This is the living room:

Yesterday was a crazy day for me but Lee did have flowers delivered and waiting for me in my office when I got to work. Obviously I miss him everyday but yesterday that feeling was tenfold.

(shower) curtain reveal

We have a HUGE picture window in our dining room. We had been using the window coverings that were left for us when we bought the house since they're custom but even as thick as they are, heat and cold air still migrates through them. Remember I added my own flare to them HERE? 

I've been on a dining room curtain search for a bit but all the quality ikat fabric I would find was too much for my pocketbook. I wasn't giving up easily on having curtains with pizazz so you can imagine my excitement when the wheels in my head started rolling when I walked into a Bed Bath and Beyond shower curtain sale that had the prettiest blue ikat pattern.  I bought 4 to add length and width, added blackout fabric, ribbon trim and we came up with this:

Closer look?

Love them!

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I have been up to my eyeballs in crazy town this week. Nothing too abnormal, just really really busy. For example, who goes to photography class and forgets their camera? This girl. Luckily we didn't reference our cameras and shoot anything this week but I still felt like an idiot. Ha!
My busy schedule continues this weekend too. I'm even leaving the office early to get it started early so I can keep up. But not without leaving you a hair envy pic and telling you that Texas still sucks. Boomer Sooner! Love this chica and I might go bananas if her wedding pictures don't get leaked soon.

homework

Here's a smorgasbord of pictures I've turned in for homework recently in my photography class. Our assignment was to play with lighting. Brightness, shade, overcast days, etc.

Coop climbing a tree in our backyard to catch a squirrel:

Although it's a tad too bright, Coop is still cute:

My dad giving belly rubs to his doggies:

snap

Today I'm taking a software workshop for Photoshop cS5.1 and I'm stoked. Lee bought me this program almost a year ago and I swear it's like learning a new language! It's not at all as easy as my Adobe Photoshop Elements. I'm a very "show me" type learner whereas my hott but somewhat nerdy hubby can simply look at something and crack the code to get something to work. Not fair! I hope to wow him by getting a lot out of this workshop...I already wow'd myself by getting my company to pay for it by reiterating how much it will help with job related tasks, etc. Woot Woot!

I do know when I get done with this workshop I need to race home and take at least 6 quality pictures for my homework assignment in my photography class that is due tomorrow night. Each week I tell myself not to wait until last minute but it never fails. Just like college. Ha! Good thing I work well under pressure.

Speaking of pictures...since I'm in the organizing mode, I have removed big tubs of pictures from our guest room closets and I'm determined to sort through ALL the pix and put them ALL in albums. I have 5 piles: Pre Erin, Pre Lee, Dating, Wedding, After Wedding

I still have a lot of sorting to do but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and need to buy my albums soon. I hope to find some black and brown leather ones like I already have. Album organization envy:

wknd deets

When you take one step forward followed by one step back, that is not failure, that is a cha cha.

LOVE that^

I  heard from Lee yesterday morning but I hadn't heard from him since our Skype time (last Thursday)! I've gotten used to talking to him every other day so by day 3, I was in a slight panic. I know! Exactly what they tell you not to do...He said the network had been down so communication is lost when that happens. Nonetheless, I kept busy trying to focus on fun things. I went to a football watch party that Kristin's mom was hosting. We gobbled on her mom's yummy cooking and watched the kiddos make potato head pumpkin characters that Kristin's mama got at Target. Cute, huh?!

My mama and grandma came into town just in time for lunch yesterday. We had lunch and then shopped till we dropped. Mom found a super cute RL comforter for her and dad's master bedroom so the remainder of the day was spent on a scavenger hunt finding the perfect accessories. But only after I managed to find a cute outfit to wear to my cousin's bridal shower next weekend. Of course I'm wearing it to work today. White blouse with black leather short sleeves. BANANAS. I love leather. BUT loving the outfit even more so because I'm wearing it with a pleated polka dot chiffon skirt and red tights.

We stopped by Jo-ann Fabric and got fabric for grandma to make the youngest kiddos in our family these costumes!

We had dinner after shutting the stores down and headed home to raise my curtains since they were now too long after the seamstress added more length. We then giggled past bedtime. I LOVE having our home filled with conversation again. I mean...Cooper is great and all but teaching him not to bark doesn't provide much conversation between him and I.

I'm going to try and get a good picture of the curtains after work to show you...if I can get home before dark tonight.

I had such a good time with my family and Lee even said in his email I received this morning (in response to mine before I went to bed last night) that he could hear the happiness in my email and says that makes him happy and of course him being happy makes me happy sooooo I'm gald we're all happy!

friday ramble

I received THIS Mikasa haul! Loooooove the plates. BUT the flutes didn't measure up to what I was expecting. The rim was more copper than black like the image on the website appeared to be and I simply don't like it so back to Mikasa the flutes will go.

I exhibited at a trade show all day yesterday and it was frigid. I didn't think our cold front was hitting until nightfall. Wrong!  I wore a pencil skirt and was chill to the bone all day. I could not wait to put on my sweats and fuzzy socks when I got home. I even went to bed early when I got home because I was achy all over and starting to feel sickly. Feeling better today. Whew!

Found some pretties that are helping me get to 5pm today in the office.
Extra large art:

Navy + Mint:

Black and white marble tile:

Salvaged doors on tracks:

yipeeeeee

I had Skype time with Lee for the 1st time since he's been gone! I didn't know if I was going to cry happy tears or jump off the walls like a little school girl when we got off the phone. Cooper and I enjoyed seeing our hero very much! Hope this happens again and often!

luxury in afghanistan

Lee has asked for a "hand washing kit". I had to google this and what I found was extremely expensive. He explained that they have hand sanitizer everywhere but you very rarely have the opportunity to wash your hands and apparently it's a real luxury to be able to do so. Gross!
Once I was able to finally talk to him more about this "hand washing kit" he's wanting, he better described it as a bag you can hang and the bag dispenses water to wash your hands. Oooooooooo. I can do that. $5 from Academy plus a $2 collapsible bowl and a travel size soap bottle. Done!

4

Our baby is 4 years old today.
I think he's the cutest thing ever.
Ever.
Happy Birthday, Cooper!

on a personal note

Let us not forget that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

This thought hits close to home for me and is more meaningful than it ever has been in year's past. I have never shared this much publicly about the dark side of my childhood memories but on this particular day I feel like shouting on top of the rooftops, "I'm proud of you, Mom!" She has had to relocate to another state and get 2 jobs to survive but on more than one occasion she has told me that she is finally "living" after all these years. Amazing, huh?

My (biological) mom finalizes her divorce from her asshole of a husband at the end of this month. I can say that because he really is an abusive asshole. They have been married for 20 + years too many.

Erin's PSA: If you know someone that is being abused, help them. Too scared to tell my dad in Oklahoma or even my teachers at school in Florida (where I lived with my mom and the asshole before my dad was granted full custody), I would always run to our neighbor's house for help. They would turn their cheek on what was going on next door after giving me a cookie and a hug. This is not OK. Victims of abuse, whether they be an adult or child, don't always have the means to know how to get help safely. Be their voice.

If police had ever been called to the scene when I was little, I would hope that I would have a lot less dark to share. But don't get confused, I feel truly blessed. I hope to aspire other kids through CASA to not use their past as a crutch but to motivate them to be something different. Have a great week, y'all!

wknd deets

Coop and I headed south to see my family. We celebrated my cousin's 22nd birthday with a taco bar at Grandma and Pop's house Friday night. Yum!

Mom doesn't let Coop roam the house like he can at the lake house but I forgot his crate! I couldn't stand the thought of him sleeping in the garage all night without me so I stopped and got a crate when we got to town before heading to Grandma's...and then returned the crate when we got back home.

Got a mani/pedi on Sunday. I did red on both.

I saw some goodies at Target when I went to get groceries on Sunday. Liked this gold and black leather look. I don't have an immediate need to spend $40 to keep my magazine together but it would be cool to have. I'm going to watch when it goes on sale but I'm not going to cry a river if it doesn't come home with me.

These black and gold vases were cool too:

Great look for less end table?!

OMG, right? If you still prefer the pricey one, get it HERE. But that's silly.

I did walk away with something black and gold! These ankle booties that are currently on my feet hiding under my desk. They are incredibly comfortable and I can already tell by the running around I've been doing all morning that these are going to be used quite a bit in the upcoming colder months.

I planted 2 flats of pansies yesterday evening and they look great, sepecially since we've received so much rain lately. Everything is going green again!