name 5 things.

Packing.

2012-02-12T19:09:00.000-06:00

Hope y'all have had a wonderful weekend. Here's how things are looking around here . . .

I have to say, I am getting a ~~little~~ lot sad packing everything up. But we are looking forward to what's ahead!

Journals.

2012-02-07T23:08:00.000-06:00

As much as I love my iPhone, I am a huge note taker/list maker on paper. I always have a pad of paper or two in my bag for random notes, thoughts, to-dos, shopping lists, blog post ideas, etc. I recently came across the coolest personalized journals from minted and had to share them. Maybe I'm such a big fan of these because my current to-do list is so overwhelming!

Cute, right? Now if only they would actually complete all of the things on my to-do list for me, they'd be even better!

And how sweet is this one for Valentine's Day?

Go check 'em out -- there are tons more on the website. It's hard to pick a favorite! (And minted has no clue who I am. I just saw their journals and had to share them.)

Hope you're having a great week!

Options.

2012-01-30T21:38:00.001-06:00

Our house has been under contract for the last 12 days, but I didn't want to jinx anything by sharing the news on the blog. But as of 8:00 p.m. tonight, the option period expired! We will be closing in about 3 weeks. Yikes! To celebrate this evening, Justin picked up a bottle of champagne on his way home from work.

The whole process (offer, inspection, appraisal, etc.) has gone super well. And right now, I'm knocking on wood that I didn't just derail the process by saying that. In case you're wondering where we're moving, that makes two of us. We are going to find a short-term apartment by the weekend and be patient while we try find the perfect house for us. We've looked at a few recently, but nothing we want to make an offer on.

So if I my posts are more sporadic than normal (if that's even possible), just know I'm likely having a blast packing. Hope your Monday was equally as exciting!

Photos from the Iphone.

2012-01-25T00:09:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share a few random things from the last few days with you through the lens of my iphone . . .

I am certainly no fashion blogger, but I wore this outfit to work the other day and received a bunch of compliments on my top. While that in and of itself it not noteworthy, the the fact that the top was free is! I "bought" it with one of my Nordstrom Notes that was expiring soon. If you also are a fan of Nordstrom Notes, here's a little tip: you can get gift cards with them and those never expire. I always say it's "free money," and Justin rolls his eyes and says "oh yeah, it's real free."

Riley decided to make himself comfortable in Justin's desk chair. How sweet is that? (Please excuse the awesome mess of paperwork completely surrounding Justin's desk area. He decided to clean out his desk over the weekend, so I wasn't going to complain about the papers strewn about all over the floor!)

No joke, as I was drafting this post, this is what was going on behind me. Riley was sound asleep on his back while Zoey was giving him a the stare down. They both stayed like that for a while.

Justin has requested that I point out that the above photo is not from my iphone, but from his Galaxy Nexus phone. He's anti-iphone. He is also weird.

We went to a new construction open house this weekend. But the cool (and kind of sad) part is that we used to rent the house that they tore town to build the new house. So Justin is standing about where our old living room used to be. It was crazy to be back on that lot and standing in a different house. Oh memories.

And last but not least, one of the consultants Justin works with lives in NYC and commutes here every week. He offered to bring the people at work (and me) cookies from Levain Bakery. These cookies are seriously good. And they are 6 ounces a piece! 6 ounces of pure deliciousness.

Hope your week has been going great so far!

House Tour: Living Room.

2012-01-23T00:27:00.000-06:00

How was your weekend? I worked for a good part of the weekend (boo), but we got away today to go to some open houses. Nothing we loved, but at least got a feel for some things that are out there.

In the last installment of the home tour, I shared our kitchen. Next up is the living room, which will round out the rooms on the second floor (besides the powder room, which I am guessing you don't mind skipping over).

This is the view to the right as you come up the stairs. Our living room is open to the dining room.

You can read the details of the wallpapered bookshelves here. I didn't really think about it when we first bought the house, but I really love having the built-ins. Accessorizing them is a constant work in progress, but it's fun.

We completely redid the fireplace when we first moved in. It was seriously awful. Looking at it now, you would never know that at one point it was covered with ugly brown tile. And the ottomans are the solsta footstools (now on sale for $14.99) from Ikea that my mother-in-law recovered for us. You can read about that transformation here.

The color of the walls is Behr Country Club. As you can see, it totally changes color depending on the light.

You can see better shots of my Cocoa & Hearts painting in this post. I also recently got these Dwell Studio pillows from Joss & Main for the couch. Riley is helping me model them . . . such a ham.

I used to have a fabric covered canvas over on the wall where the frames are now, but I was in the mood for a little something different and thought it was a good opportunity to display some art that's been sitting in the closet. And speaking of hams, look at Zoey over there on the stairs.

Most of the art came from etsy, but a couple of them came from Homegoods and a local resale shop.

Next up will be the third floor! Hope y'all have a wonderful Monday!

Herringbone Floors.

2012-01-18T21:06:00.000-06:00

I have recently become obsessed with herringbone floors.

Source: haveninparis.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: c-o-a-s-t-i-n.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: haveninparis.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: neathome.net via Emily on Pinterest

Source: haveninparis.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: nordbydesignstudio.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

It's no surprise it looks fabulous in the bathroom.

Source: everythingleb.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

I'm not even sure I could put bath mats on top of this gorgeous tile.

Source: houzz.com via Marla on Pinterest

And my homeboy Tommy Smythe knows how to rock it in the kitchen.

Source: theamericanlegacy.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

I am looking to join Herringbone Floors Addicts Anonymous. What about you?

5 things . . .

2012-01-11T22:56:00.001-06:00

5 random things . . .

1. I'm reading the Happiness Project and the Marriage Plot. I've asked myself why I've decided to read two books at the same time. I really don't have a good answer for that -- maybe I'd be happier if I committed to less! If you've read either of these books, what did you think?

(photo: here)

2. Nine years ago this past Tuesday, Justin proposed to me. We were in college at the time and he proposed in front of the Capitol building in Austin. It's so fun to think back and remember the excitement of that night.

3. I apologize in advance to all of you who were good and made a new year's resolution to eat healthier, but it's not fair for me to keep this to myself. Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream is amazing. Try it. You'll thank me (your thighs are a different story).

(photo: here)

4. I scored a super deal on a coat from Lands End. Down in Texas, we don't have the need for a jacket like this except for maybe 1-2 days a year, so I hate to spend a lot of money something I'll hardly wear. But I got this coat -- regularly $139 -- for $65 (and free shipping)! It fits great and is super comfy and warm. Perfect for some snow . . .

(photo: lands end)

5. On a related note, we're headed to Breckenridge soon (hence the reason for the jacket)! Does anyone have any tips for places we have to see or things we have to do while we are there?

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

The Big 6-0.

2012-01-08T22:17:00.000-06:00

My mom turned 60 this past weekend, and we wanted to celebrate her. We had about 45 or so people over at our house to help celebrate her too! My mom has so many friends and family who love her so much.

Overall, we kept the decorations simple. We found this great string decoration that we zig-zagged across the living room ceiling.

We also bought some fabric from Ikea and used Heat n Bond to finish the edges to make runners. I liked the idea of having them run horizontally, rather than vertically.

(Oh, and you can see our "replacement" light fixture in this picture. It's from Home Depot.)

I kept the flowers simple -- I don't think you can't go wrong with white hydrangeas. And I like low arrangements on the table so they don't block your view of the person across from you. The confetti on the table was a mix of stars and the number "60".

After the party, when it was just family around, I gave my mom her gift. I borrowed this idea and compiled "Sixty Years of Memories" for her.

It was so fun watching her read through them all. It was late and everyone was tired after the party, but it was totally worth staying up to see her reaction and laugh about some of the stories (along with her sister, brother, and mom).

I already knew this about my mom, but so many of the stories had to do with her selflessness, kindness, and caring heart. My mom really is one of the most thoughtful people there is, and I'm so blessed to have her as my mom and friend.

(me, my mom, and my grandma)

Please note my mom is totally cheating in the picture by standing on our stairs (she is slightly height-challenged). But since it was her birthday, I let her get away with it! And if I can look like my grandma does when I'm 81, I will be a happy camper.

We had a fun time celebrating with her! Happy 60th, mom!

J Crew Shoes.

2012-01-06T00:33:00.000-06:00

It seemed like almost every day for the few leading up to Christmas, I was getting emails from J Crew with special deals -- free shipping, 15% off, 20% off, and then the amazing 30% off. I miss those days and the 27 tabs I had open in Firefox with various items to add to my cart.

I got an email earlier this week from J Crew with a different kind of excellent news. No there was no sale, but they do have the best pair of shoes ever again! J Crew used to have peep toes called the Joley, which they no longer sell. I have 2 pairs of them and wore my black ones all-the-dang-time. So much so that I wore them out. Sadsies. I couldn't fathom the thought of not having my go to basic black peep toe pumps, so while shamefully wearing shoes I clearly should have retired a while ago, I hunted on ebay and craigslist for a pair. I didn't have much luck and thought I would have to move on to a different, less-perfect, pair.

But the recent email had the following image:

Do you see it (look very very closely)? The bottom right chick. I saw her and thought "Hooray! It's a New Year Miracle -- the Joleys are back!" And then I went to the women's shoe section of the J Crew website in record time. Well, they're not the Joley peep toes, they're called the Drea now, but they are super close (if not identical) to my favorite pair of shoes. My store doesn't have them in stock, but I should be receiving my pair in the mail any day now. I can't hardly wait!

And like my other pair, I'm of the opinion that you really need more than one color. This blue color is speaking to me.

(all photos: jcrew)

Yep, that's right, I've officially dedicated an entire post to a pair of peep toes (say that 3 times fast). They are that good, people.

Have you ever had a product that was discontinued or a piece of clothing you missed out on and then it came back and made your week?

In non-shoe news, my mom is turning 60 on Saturday! We are hosting a party for her at our house with about 50 guests. I'll be back post-party! Have a wonderful weekend!

House Tour: Kitchen.

2012-01-02T23:10:00.001-06:00

It's been a very long time since I've done a home tour post, but I thought I'd start 2012 off right. So here's a tour of our kitchen and breakfast room. This area may be the part of the house I'll miss most when we move.

All of the lighting in the kitchen is from Restoration Hardware (even the light over the sink that I forgot to turn on).

The best part about the space is how the kitchen is open to a den/large breakfast room area. Everyone always congregates in the kitchen and it's wonderful to have a large space for people to mill about/keep you company while you cook.

It's funny seeing this next picture because I've gotten used to the new chandelier we hung up when we put our house on the market. The lighting over the breakfast room table is was from Z Gallerie. I guess because the area can be set up in any number of different ways, there was no lighting installed over the breakfast room area (except for the pot lights) when we moved in. We put in the light over the table and the pendants over the island. What a difference lighting makes -- the kitchen looked naked before (and believe me, no one wants a naked kitchen).

From this angle, you can see the little seating area in the "den" off the breakfast room and kitchen.

As much as we try to keep the dogs off the settee, they love lounging on it when we are in the kitchen. They usually start off following us around when we're cooking hoping that we will drop something, then they sit and beg from us, then they give up altogether and go lay on the settee. There's not much cuter than our dogs laying around on this couch.

We keep our bar ware and more "embarrassing" alcohol (i.e. handles, peppermint schnapps, sweet tea vodka) in that black cabinet. And the black box on top of the cabinet is a speaker -- I've got to have my sweet jams while I bake.

And of course, my favorite kitchen accessory -- the bar cart. Justin thought we may turn away buyers with our ~~excessive~~ impressive stash, so we've removed many of the bottles seen here from the cart and tucked them away along with the embarrassing alcohol bottles. I don't know why he thinks the large amount of wine bottles that line the pantry floor are any better; but hey, pick your battles, right?

Up next is the living room, which you can see as you walk out of the kitchen. Then we'll head upstairs to the third floor!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend ringing in the new year!

A New Year.

2011-12-28T23:30:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family and friends. We celebrated Christmas Eve at my mom's, then we hosted Christmas dinner for 11 people at our house, hosted our annual Christmas party on Monday evening, and celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday Tuesday night. I feel like I need a couple days just to recuperate from all the celebrating!

Can you believe 2011 is almost over? I certainly can't. Every year for work, I create a new spreadsheet to track my hours for the year (oh the joys of the billable hour). It really does seem like just yesterday I was starting a new year and creating my hours spreadsheet for 2011.

Speaking of work, I am taking the remainder of the week (and likely part of the weekend) to wrap up a pending, urgent work project. Otherwise, we don't have any big plans for ringing in the new year. Frankly, sipping champagne while watching Midnight in Paris sounds just about perfect to me.

What are your NYE plans? I hope they involve some sparkle!

Source: hopscotchandgrace.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: s3.amazonaws.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: smallshopstudio.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: ohhellofriendblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: thebridescafe.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: shelterinteriordesign.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: dishondesign.myncblogs.com via Emily on Pinterest

See you in 2012!

Merry Christmas.

2011-12-24T15:41:00.000-06:00

It's pretty easy to get Riley to pose . . .

It's not so easy to get them both to pose . . .

Unless you are holding a treat, in which case, they will only look at the treat . . .

I hope you have a wonderful holiday spending time with family and friends! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Roundup.

2011-12-18T17:04:00.000-06:00

Putting our house on the market really altered our Christmas decorating plans. We're a little (actually, a lot) behind schedule. This weekend, I am finally putting the finishing touches on our holiday decor.Better late than never, right? While I'm busy getting my act together, here's a roundup of some of my favorite Christmas pins.

Source: themeadowbrookblog.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: hollymathisinteriors.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: reverie-daydream.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: home-biba.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, have you seen this video about what girls say? It's too funny. I admit that I say the majority of these things on a regular basis.

(hat tip: meagan)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

2 things . . .

2011-12-14T01:11:00.000-06:00

There have been a couple of things going on here that have prevented me from blogging and keeping up with you guys as much as I've been wanting to. One thing is exciting and the other is not so exciting. Let's get the not so exciting thing out of the way first, so we can end on a happy note!

1) I've been feeling pretty crummy for the last two months. I've been getting lightheaded several times a day -- sometimes it lasts only a minute, other times I have to lay down for a while. It's been miserable, to put it mildly. After trips to several doctors and a variety of tests (for example, see here and here), a wonderful cardiologist was finally able to figure out what was going on. I won't bore you with all of the medical details, but evidently I have some form of an autonomic dysfunction, which has caused me to have low blood volume and for my heart to race. Hence, the lightheadedness. It was totally interrupting my life there for a while, and I was getting way past frustrated with not feeling normal. Thankfully, the treatment so far (which includes increasing my salt intake - yum!) has been helping to reduce the symptoms.

(photo: pinterest)

Now for the exciting news . . .

2) We are selling our house! Yep, you read that right -- we are selling our house. Can you believe it? Me neither. It's super exciting, but it's also sad at the same time. I came home from work the other day and started crying when I saw the For Sale sign in the yard. I love our home and it will always be special because it was our first home. But at the same time, I'm very excited about finding a new wonderful home for us.

So maybe you're wondering why we're moving and where we're moving. If not, just skip this part! :) It all started when we called our mortgage broker to refinance a few months ago since the interest rates are so low. He said it really only made financial sense for us to do so if we were going to stay in our house for at least 2 more years. We were kind of thinking we would be here for a maximum of 2 more years. So after thinking things through, and hearing about the current rates to buy something new, we decided now is the best time for us to sell.

(photo: here)

As a little background, we always knew our current home wasn't going to be our forever home for a couple of reasons -- it's a townhome, it's 3 stories, and it's not zoned to the best schools in town (and we aren't overly interested in paying for private school once we have kids). None of those things mattered when we bought it because we knew we wanted to wait several years before we even thought about having kiddos. Even though we still don't have any immediate plans to have kids, the time is at least getting closer and we are thinking about a more family-friendly house. As far as the house hunt, we haven't found anything yet, but we think we have narrowed our search down to a couple of areas, neither of which aren't too far away from our current home, which is great since we love the area.

So to round this out, we've been busy doing a bunch of little things around the house to get it ready to show. Our list wasn't too long, but things never go quite as planned! We took down all the chandeliers in the house and replaced them with fixtures I'd be willing to leave behind. We also did a bunch of paint touch ups and I've gone through so many Magic Erasers cleaning the cabinets and all those pesky scuff marks that inevitably happen. And if we weren't the ones doing to fixing up (there's no way I'm climbing up to clean our 3rd story windows!), we were meeting people at the house to do so. But thankfully, that part of it is done. Now we just have to remember to make the bed everyday in case we have a showing!

Is it poor form just to link to our online listing in my "home tour" tab? :)

Phew, that was a lot of info with fairly lame pictures! If you made it through, thanks for reading! I've totally missed blogging and definitely missed being an active reader of your blogs. I am hopeful that the hard part of both things is over and I can be around more. Thanks for bearing with me, friends!

Trip Recap: Greece.

2011-12-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

So remember that amazing trip to Europe we went on? Yeah, I barely do either thanks to my sporadic (at best) trip recaps. But this is the last and final installment. And it's Greece, which was too good not to recap! After Paris and Cinque Terre, and Rome, we headed to Milos and Santorini for a week.

Milos was easily my favorite island between the two. Not because Santorini wasn't one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen before (as you will see below), but because I liked the vibe better in Milos. Milos was a whole heck of lot less touristy (and cheaper). And it also has something like 70+ beaches, while Santorini isn't really a beach island and, of the ones it does have, most of them are only accessible by boat.

We spent 3 days in Milos and spent most of our time driving around exploring the various beaches. Every beach was totally different and many were an adventure just to get to (whether via driving or hiking). Many of the beaches were tucked away and not visible until you got right up to them, so we were filled with anticipation each time of what we would see. My favorite part was finally getting to see the beaches, and each and every time being totally surprised and amazed at how beautiful they all were. So with that build up . . .

The only disappointing part of the trip was the winds were too high to go sailing every day we were there, which we really wanted to do. We were both a little bummed, but as you can see, we still had an amazing time and saw some absolutely gorgeous beaches. Here are all of the sailboats docked due to the winds.

Since we couldn't do a boat tour, we rented a car instead. How amazing is this rental car? Don't you love how it's perched on the cliff-side overlooking the water? It totally highlights the dents, dings, and missing hubcab.

Oh, and here's the view from our hotel room.

Yeah, I could totally get used to that. In case you head to Milos, I loved our hotel. We stayed at the Melian and I would highly recommend it.

From Milos, we took a high-speed ferry over to Santorini. Santorini is beautiful and it's hard to believe someplace so stunning even exists (and its history is pretty cool too). The island is in the shape of the letter "C" and we stayed more in the middle part of the "C", making for some fantastic views. Many times we would just sit out on our balcony, relax, and take it all in (something we certainly don't do enough at home). Here's a view looking to the left and to the right.

And the view looking straight ahead.

Some more cool shots:

The sunsets and sunrises were absolutely incredible. From the view in Oia, it almost looked like the sun was sinking into the water.

You can see all the people watching the sunset in Oia.

Since we didn't get to go sailing in Milos, we decided to go in Santorini. It was a great way to see the island.

Well, that successfully completes the recap of our 2 week trip (that now seems like forever ago). I loved every single minute of it, and we were both depressed the day we had to come back (but the champagne on Air France help lessen the pain a bit on the flight back home). If you're planning to go to any of the places we visited, feel free to ask me questions!

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. I'll be back this week to share what's been going on here and hopefully turn my attention to some Christmas related posts. Somehow or another it is already the middle of December, can you believe it?!

Happy Birthday, Justin.

2011-12-04T23:43:00.000-06:00

Happy 30th birthday to my wonderful husband!

I am so thankful to have such a handsome, funny, kind, patient, and loving husband. We've been together since our sophomore year of high school, and I still love him more and more each and every day. I am confident that no one else could love me or make me laugh like he does. He definitely deserves to have the best birthday.

Happy 30th, Justin!

Eye Candy.

2011-11-30T22:49:00.000-06:00

Hope you're having a great week. I just wanted to pop in and share some beautiful inspiration pics I've come across recently via pinterest. Seriously, how amazing is that site?

Source: gallery.apartmenttherapy.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: livebreathedecor.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: ivillage.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: marcusdesigninc.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: cherishtoronto.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Oh so pretty, right?

Thankful.

2011-11-25T23:45:00.001-06:00

Hi friends. Long time no talk. There's a lot going on around here -- I'll save the details for another post, but I hope to get back to blogging regularly soon. I've missed it (and you)!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I had a stomach bug so I didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with the family and my dinner consisted of plain rice. Needless to say, it was not the best turkey day ever. Thankfully though, I started feeling back to normal this afternoon.

(photo: rifle paper co)

But to the real point of my post -- it's never too late to give thanks, right? I have so very much to be thankful for.

... my loving husband.

... my amazing mom.

... my great friends. And this year I am extra thankful for my best friend who is pregnant!

... my job.

... the two cutest dogs ever.

... our wonderful home.

... our recent trips.

(and some not so serious things, but things to be thankful for anyway.)

... UT's big win over A&T last night. Hook 'em.

... hot chocolate with marshmallows.

... pinterest.

... HGTV's Property Brothers.

... Tosh.0.

... sonic ice.

... Real Simple.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Home Tour: Dining Room.

2011-11-08T21:43:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I did a home tour post -- I know it's shocking, but there's actually more to our home than just the outside, the entryway, the first floor bathroom, and the office.

From the entryway post, you can see the staircase. As you walk up the stairs, this is the view:

(why hello, neighbor's roof)

If you look down, this is what you'd see:

You pretty much walk up into our dining room.

We painted the walls a red in a flat finish, marked off the lines with tape for the stripes, and then did a coat of gloss poly in every other stripe. The paint in this room is one of the first things people notice and they always love it. This room was one of the first rooms we painted when we moved in (and one of the few rooms I haven't wanted to repaint . . . yet)!

As I've mentioned before, I am nosy and am always curious where people get things. So if you're like me, here's where the big ticket items are from: the rug, wood table, chairs, buffet, and china cabinet are Pottery Barn; the upholstered chairs are from Ikea; the three large canvas prints are from High Fashion Home; the drum shade chandelier is from Restoration Hardware; the buffet lamps and mirror are from Z Gallerie.

Here's a better look at the buffet set up. {Random aside: I pronounce the word "buffet" as "boo-fay." I blame it on my mom (who pronounces "turquoise" as "ter-kwaz"). Anyone else out there say boo-fay? Anyone, no?}

To the right of the mirror, I found this awesome vintage Vogue cover from Etsy. I wanted something vintage-inspired and this cover had the cool blues from the fabric on the chairs, rug, and table runner and the red from the wall and rug. And my awesome husband cut a custom mat for it.

Isn't it perfect for that space?

So there's the dining room (and as a bonus, you can see a sneak peek of the living room in the mirror in the previous picture).

The kitchen is up next! And you can (finally) check out the rooms under the House Tour tab above.

Hope you guys are having a wonderful week. I am headed out of town for work, but will be back home in time for the weekend!

Truths and a Winner.

2011-11-03T07:49:00.001-05:00

I came across these "truths" on pinterest and loved them all.

Source: stumbleupon.com via Emily on Pinterest

A few that made me laugh a little louder than the others were 11, 13, 24, and 29. Are there any that crack you up?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And the winner of the Shabby Apple necklace is: Emilia. Congratulations! I will email you about the details.

Don't forget that Shabby Apple is still offering 10% off! Just use the coupon code: NAME5THINGS10OFF.

Trip Recap: Rome.

2011-10-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

I haven't forgotten about the trip recap. After Paris and Cinque Terre, we headed to Rome. We did all of the "touristy" things there. I really enjoyed Rome, but probably would never choose to go back there. I feel like I saw everything I needed to see (I would however go back just to enjoy the food!).

We got to Rome pretty late at night and just had time to grab some dinner. We had some of the best pizza we've ever had before, and we also had a nutella calzone for dessert. Yum! The place was called Pizzeria Dar Poeta, which was close to our hotel in Trastevere. Our hotel, Donna Camilla Savelli, was very cool. It was actually a restored 16th Century Monastery. Neat, right?

The next day at lunch, I had maybe one of my favorite meals on the trip. I had a simple spaghetti alla carbonara (they don't put cream in theirs, and who needs it when you have all of that pecorino on top?). I recreated the dish when I got home, roughly basing it on this recipe and it turned out great! (You can also see what's left of our cheese and honey plate.)

But we did do things besides just eating! We headed to the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. I took 4 years of Latin in high school and we learned a lot of Roman history, so seeing the things I learned about was definitely interesting. Of course Justin kept asking me what all of the things in Latin meant -- I had no clue for the most part!

Then we walked over to the Colosseum.

Some shots from the Colosseum.

And the Arch of Constantine, which is in between the Colosseum and Palatine Hill.

We then cruised over to the Pantheon. It is just amazing to think that it was built in about 126 AD.

How stunning is this church over by the Pantheon?

All of this walking and sightseeing made us hungry and in need of gelato. So we stopped at Giolitti, one of the most famous gelaterias in Rome. Ordering was an experience in and of itself. And the gelato (and the generous "scoop" of whipped cream on top) was to die for.

Now that we had the energy to continue, we walked to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. (If you look closely, you can see how Justin spilled gelato on his white shirt. I am sure he will love the fact that I pointed that out.)

We had a delicious dinner that night, but one of my favorite parts was the wall decor there. They put wine crates up on the wall. What a cool idea!

Our next day in Rome, which was also our last, was just as busy. We headed over to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica.

View of the city from the Vatican museum.

St. Peter's was incredible.

The inside is so elaborate. It really is hard to convey just how beautiful it is.

This is one of the coolest pictures from the trip. Look at the way the light is shining through the window right on the cross. Amazing.

After St. Peter's, we headed back to our hotel, grabbed gelato one last time, and headed to the airport. I should mention that the entire time we were in Italy, Justin said everything he could in an awesome Italian accent. It made me crack up every time he did it. But I was secretly glad we were off to Greece, where I knew he couldn't even pretend to do the accent!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple giveaway! It ends Wednesday.

Giveaway: Shabby Apple.

2011-10-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

I sure am glad it's the weekend! In case you're curious, I won my pro bono case on Thursday! I've successfully worked on another asylum case before, and winning these types of cases is so fulfilling. So to celebrate, I've got a great giveaway for you!

Shabby Apple is offering a beautiful necklace to a lucky reader! Isn't this vintage-inspired black cameo necklace (called "the duchess") just lovely?

And in case you need any further encouragement to enter the giveaway, the Zhush just had a post about how cameos are making a comeback.

To enter to win:

(1) Be a follower of Name 5 Things;

(2) "Like" Shabby Apple on facebook; and

(3) Leave a comment here saying you did so.

(Please note that the winner must have a US shipping address and there will be no exchanges for the winning piece of jewelry.)

The giveaway will end on Wednesday, November 2. The winner will be announced on Thursday, November 3. Good luck!

Even if you don't win, Shabby Apple is offering 10% off to N5T readers for the next 30 days! Just use the coupon code: NAME5THINGS10OFF.

Happy weekend, friends!

Cheap Art - Paris Print.

2011-10-25T21:34:00.003-05:00

Back in my office post, I mentioned that we needed something to hang over the daybed. Well, now I can cross that off my list! Check!

I love it for multiple reasons: (1) it's Paris related; and (2) it was done on the cheap.

The "print" is this wrapping paper from Paper Source. It was a whopping $3.95. The frame is the Ribba frame from Ikea, which is $24.99. So for less than $30.00, we got a large piece of art to fill the space (and remind us of our fabulous time in Paris). Thankfully, the paper fit perfectly in the frame. The colors work well in the room too.

This last picture of Riley and Zoey snuggling on my lap was too precious not to share -- and it shows part of the Paris print, so it's somewhat related!

Hope you're having a wonderful week. It's flying by for me -- I have a trial on Thursday for a pro bono client that I'm prepping for, and tomorrow is ice cream social day at the office. Jackpot!

5 things . . .

2011-10-18T22:45:00.000-05:00

Here are 5 things I would feel guilty about withholding from you any longer:

(1) Anthropologie-inspired spray painted paper mache letters. What a genius idea. I am always amazed at what you can spray paint. These would make a great gift!

Source: 346living.com via Emily on Pinterest

(2) Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies. Make these. Now. They are super easy to make and are some of the best cookies I've had in a while. Make sure you have a cold glass of milk handy.

Source: divine-baking.com via Emily on Pinterest

(3) Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner. Seriously, I can't tell you how many eyeliners I've tried -- they all end up either fading away or smudged under my eyes or on my eyelids (or both). I've even tried the fancy $18.00 ones that the folks at Sephora recommend (Too Faced and Urban Decay) with no luck.

So while at Target the other night, I decided I would try Revlon ColorStay. And for only $5.00, I wasn't going to be too bummed if it didn't work. But it works perfectly! I get home from work and my eyeliner is still exactly where it is supposed to be. I've even been going up to Justin and having him look too so that he can be impressed! Boy is he thrilled.

(photo: target)

(4) The Brazilian Peel (a glycolic acid facial peel -- not to be confused with the waxing)! I splurged on it a couple months ago and will definitely buy again, especially with Sephora's Friends & Family Sale starting soon.

I don't use it every week as recommended because that's just ridiculously expensive. Instead, I use it about every 3 weeks. It really does brighten my skin and makes it so soft. I have super sensitive skin too and I've had no problems.

(photo: sephora)

(5) Shellac. Specifically, the color Rock Royalty. I've been a Shellac fan for sometime now and this color is going to be one of my go to darker colors. Shellac is a gel manicure that lasts 14+ days with no chips, which is especially key with dark colors. In the picture, the color almost looks metallic-y, but it's not. My nails are just super shiny after coming home from the nail place.

And how funny is Riley? He saw me holding my phone taking a picture, and I swear he thought I was taking it of him! Too cute.

Have you discovered anything that's too good not to share?

Trip Recap: Cinque Terre.

2011-10-16T16:12:00.001-05:00

I'm back with another installment of our European vacation recap. After Paris, we headed to Cinque Terre, Italy.

We were originally supposed to fly into Genoa, but Air France cancelled our flight and re-booked us for two days later. Yeah, not cool. We found out that the day we were flying into Italy, there was a general strike there affecting flights, trains, and all other public transportation. Just our luck. We finally figured out a way to get to Italy on the day we were supposed to by flying into Pisa later in the day. Instead of getting to Cinque Terre in the afternoon, we got there at 9:30 at night. This incident was the only hang up with traveling during our entire trip, so not too bad.

It was pretty amazing in the morning to wake up to what our hotel overlooked that we couldn't see at night. I jumped out of bed and ran to our balcony to see this . . .

Beautiful, right?

We stayed in Manarola. As a little background, Cinque Terre is on the coast of the Italian Riviera. It translates to "The Five Lands" and is composed of five villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. (Thanks, wikipedia.)

(photo: here)

You can hike in between all of the towns. We hiked in between Manarola and Riomaggiora (the Via dell'Amore) and between Corniglia and Vernazza. The trail in between Manarola and Corniglia was closed because of a landslide. We went to all of the towns, and if we didn't hike to them we took the train. Then on the way back, we took a boat from Monterosso to Manarolo. From here on out, I will let the pictures do most of the talking and will just note which part of the trip they were from.

On the Via dell'Amore:

From Corniglia and Vernazza:

The view from the top of the hill overlooking the Corniglia train station, after we walked up 382 steps.

Looking back at Manarola on the hike. As you can tell, it was very cloudy in the morning. I guess I am thankful that the clouds kept it a little cooler during the hike, but some of the pictures look a little dreary as a result.

This is a shot of the town of Corniglia during the hike.

The trails were a little rough. You definitely had to watch were you were walking.

It took us about 2 hours to hike to Vernazza. We stopped a lot for pictures and took the time just to enjoy the view. The trail was steep in places and we were a little worn out by the end, likely because we are out of shape (and I also chalked it up to eating way too many macarons and crepes in Paris). But it was totally worth it. We saw some of the most incredible views.

Here's what we saw once we finally got there . . .

The Vernazza beach:

Then we went to Monterosso via train. I loved the umbrellas at the Monterossa beach. I didn't see Meagan had "tagged" me--or whatever it's called on pinterest--in this pin until after we got back. But this picture is pretty darn close to it!

I am so glad we took the boat back to Manarola. It was cool to see where we had hiked and you can't get the same views any other way. It was also great because the sun was shining by then! And of course, Justin repeatedly sang the song "I'm on a Boat" (previously blogged about here).

Back in Manarola:

And what do you reward yourself with after a hike? If you answered gelato, you would be correct!

Shortly after I polished off my gelato, we hopped on a train to Rome. We had a whirlwind day in Cinque Terre, but it was well worth it. I saw some of the most amazing sights I've ever seen before.

I was going to try to recap Italy in one post, but that's not going to happen. Ciao for now. I'll be back with my Rome recap.

Guest Posting.

2011-10-12T23:40:00.000-05:00

This was supposed to post this morning, but for some reason the scheduling function didn't work. Thanks, blogger. Any who . . .

~~I'll be guest posting~~ I guest posted over at Sadie + Stella on Wednesday as part of their "Favorite Room" series.

Go check out which room I picked! And while you're over there, take a look around their site -- it's great. Any blog named after dogs (complete with dog silhouettes) is an immediate winner in my book!

It's Raining, It's Pouring.

2011-10-09T23:47:00.000-05:00

We finally got some rain today! It was wonderful waking up this morning to the sound of rain (and thunder and lightning). I almost forgot what it was like, it's been so long. We got 3 inches of rain, which is the most it's rained in a single day since July 2, 2010!

(photo: here)

Did anything exciting happen in your neck of the woods this weekend?

5 things . . .

2011-10-02T08:27:00.015-05:00

Here are 5 Fall related things that I'm loving . . .

I feel slightly ridiculous posting about Fall when it is still in the 90s here, but maybe it will help cool things down a little!

(1) Scarves (and stripes).

Source: weardrobe.com via Emily on Pinterest

(2) Dark nail colors.

Source: polishchanges.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

(3) Sweaters. Bonus points if they have elbow patches.

(photo: nordstrom)

(4) Almost anything in the color burgundy (including wines from there).

Source: issuu.com via Emily on Pinterest

But it's not all fashion related . . .

(5) Using up some of the canned pumpkin in my reserves.

Source: lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Happy October, friends!

Trip Recap: Paris.

2011-09-27T22:34:00.001-05:00

We've waded our way through a lot of the pictures. Up first, the Paris pics!

Despite what it may look like based on the sheer number of pictures in this post, it really was so hard to choose my favorite photos to share with you -- I loved them all. I seriously loved every single second of Paris. I would go back tomorrow if I could. There was just so much about the city that captured me -- the people, the food, the architecture. It was all amazing. So without further ado . . .

We pretty much hit up all the major Paris "attractions." We ran out of time for Versailles and the Musee d'Orsay, but we just kept saying we will go there next time.

Other fun random pictures:

We frequently rode the Metro. Justin was the master of the train system and totally had it figured it out -- we didn't get on the wrong train once. Quite impressive.

But we also did our fair share of walking too -- and it was needed after all of the amazing food we had. It's hard to pick a favorite between the bread, cheese, macaroons, tasty glace (ice cream), and steak/frites, but the thing I still crave the most are the lemon and sugar crepes. Seriously, yum.

A pigeon had the nerve to beg from me as I enjoyed my delicious macaroon from Pierre Herme in front of St. Sulpice. The pigeons even know how good they are!

Don't worry, Justin enjoyed the food too. And the drinks. Our first night, we went to Harry's Bar (the oldest cocktail bar in Europe and where the Bloody Mary was created). You can read an interesting write up about it here.

And what's Paris without shopping? We checked out Merci -- I could have spent hours there. They had some amazing things for the house and beautiful jewelry. I picked up a couple of souvenirs.

We also went to Les Puces de Saint-Ouen (the huge flea market). I ended up with just a couple of things -- a letterpress H and some French vintage books. If I could have packed mirrors, chandeliers, and furniture, I would have left with a truckload. But I wasn't disappointed -- I loved walking around and just looking at all of the beautiful things.

One of my favorite parts of Paris was just walking the streets and being surrounded by the beautiful architecture.

I quickly became obsessed with the doors and now have the desire to paint our front door a glossy teal blue.

Of course a Paris trip recap wouldn't be complete without pictures of the Eiffel Tower.

The view from the top of the tower:

People always ask what my favorite part of the trip was. It's so hard to just pick one favorite, but Paris would definitely be up there at the top. I'm already thinking about our return trip there. Stay tuned for the remainder of the trip . . . Italy is up next!

Au revoir!

Trip Recap: Hotel La Belle Juliette (Paris).

2011-09-25T23:48:00.000-05:00

I mentioned that we took over 2,000 pics in my last post. Well, we miscounted -- there are over 3,000. We've sorted through the majority of the Paris ones, so I should be sharing those with you in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, I thought I would share my take on the fabulous hotel (La Belle Juliette) we stayed in that I previously blogged about here. I don't plan on sharing such detailed recaps of each hotel we stayed in, but if you're curious, please let me know and I will answer your questions and give you the deets!

The hotel was every bit as fabulous as I had hoped it would be. The sitting area on the main level was amazing. I mean seriously two pink couches? Yes, please.

This ornate gold mirror was one of my favorite things. Beautiful!!

The stairwell was also stunning. The top right picture is looking down; and the bottom left picture is looking up. They had little birds suspended the entire way up on the wires you see and the lighting was so dramatic.

On to our actual room . . . here's the hall leading up to it. Super dark and moody. Loved it.

And inside the room . . . the green color on the walls was so pretty. There was a small fridge, safe, electrical outlets, and hanging room in the built-ins on both sides of the bed. Oh, and that lamp in the foreground was baller. It was kind of chandelier-ish -- it had crystals under the shade (you can kind of see, if you look closely). It was lovely when it was lit up.

Across from our bed was the desk/tv area. The computer monitor also doubled as the tv (not that we had time to watch tv, but it was a cool space saving idea). I loved the desk and the soft green color.

We did take advantage of the internet to access maps, check store hours, and other things to fine-tune the last minute details of our day. It is amazing how using a slightly different keyboard that what you're used to can totally throw everything off!

A few other little areas around the room . . .

Our bathroom was small, but that's to be expected. However, it was still incredible. It has beautiful stained glass, hence the coloring of the following pictures.

Not sure how appropriate it is to post a picture of the potty room, but the walls were too cool not to share! I love how they totally jazzed up the small space with paint (and yep, it was paint and not wallpaper).

Justin and I are still talking about the shower and want to install something similar here! It was one of those car wash showers with plenty of jets (and super high water pressure).

And a few other little details that I loved. First, the gray color of the inside of our room's door.

The chevron trim on the pillows.

And last but not least, the door handle to the restroom (or toilette, as they would say).

In addition to the accommodations being fabulous, the hotel staff was also great. We mentioned that we were arriving early in the day and just wanted to ensure they could store our luggage while we hit the town to sight-see. When we checked in at 10:00 a.m., they had our room ready!! It was so nice to freshen up after nearly a 10 hour flight before walking around for a full day. They also provided excellent restaurant recommendations and spoke great English!

I'll be back soon with pictures from Paris! Thanks for your patience! Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

I'm Back (and Slightly Jet-Lagged).

2011-09-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

We just got back from our big Europe trip this weekend! We had an absolutely amazing time. It was so nice for Justin and me to take some time off of work and just relax together. Call me crazy (and/or slightly paranoid), but I didn't want to advertise to everyone that we would be away from our home for over 2 weeks.

Source: picasaweb.google.com via Emily on Pinterest

I can't wait to share the details of our trip and the pictures with you. We have over 2,000 pictures to sort through -- so it may take a little time! To give you a better idea of our vacation, this map shows the places we visited -- starting and ending in Paris. (Athens hardly counts because we got there super late and had to leave the next morning for Milos, but since we slept there, I included it!)

Since I don't have any pictures to share with you right now, I will share a hilarious message we received during the trip from our friend Kevin, who checked on things around the house while we were gone:

Justin and Emily, a brief update:

I'm well, thanks for asking. The house is good. The light over the front door went out. Do you know if you have any extra bulbs? If not, I can pick one up. Also, do you have any drywall patching compound? If not, I can pick that up as well. Oh, are there any special instructions for removing stains on the couches (are the instructions different depending on which couch?)? The cars are... well, you have had that Lexus for a long time, right? I found a guy on craigslist that will take it in its current condition (long story). I think it's only fair that you guys get almost all of the proceeds. Also, can you take the passenger seat out of the Infiniti? I couldn't find it in the instruction manual. I think I found the right tools, so I'll give it a shot. Other than that, everything is peachy. I accidentally left the water running on the soaker house for a few days, so someone posted a notice on your gate about water usage. The gate was locked (like you said!), so they couldn't actually put it on the house. I think that is legally relevant. I'll turn it off this weekend.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I... well... nevermind. I'll just tell you when you get back.

Miss you guys!
Kevin

Of course he was kidding about everything except the front door light. Too funny, right?

Between snuggling Riley and Zoey and catching up with work (which I am dreading), I am looking forward to seeing what all I've missed out on in blog land over the last couple of weeks.

Hotel La Belle Juliette.

2011-09-13T21:36:00.000-05:00

Remember the gorgeous Florence hotel I posted about? Well, I have another beauty to share with you. This one is the Hotel La Belle Juliette in Paris. The best part is that we are actually staying at this hotel!

Check out how amazing the place is. (I know, picture overload -- but I couldn't narrow it down. They were all too pretty not to share.)

(all photos: hotel la belle juliette)

I may never want to leave! Thankfully my firm has an office in Paris -- maybe I can just relocate and live here! (Just kidding, mom! Kind of.)

Remembering.

2011-09-11T08:43:00.001-05:00

(photo: 9/11 memorial)

Riley + Headbands = Cuteness.

2011-09-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

Riley recently had a growth on the side of his neck that ended up getting inflamed and had to be removed. Everything is fine now and it's not cancerous, so there shouldn't be anything that we need to worry about. Because he's ok, I don't feel so bad embarrassing him. We had to wrap up the spot for a few days before the vet removed it.

One thing is for sure, Riley sure knows how to rock a headband.

I swear this wrap looked red at Petco, but once I got it home, it was definitely more raspberry than red. Hopefully Riley didn't mind too much. I still think he looks super cute.

He would occasionally paw at the wrap, and a couple times he ended up pulling the band in front of his ears over his eyes. We tried so hard not to laugh at him, but it was pretty darn funny when he was trying to walk around without being able to see. I always felt so bad for him when it happened, I never had the heart to take a picture of it.

Once we ran out of the ~~pink~~ raspberry wrap, we went to Petsmart to see if they had more manly colors. Thankfully, they had some blue. See how much happier he looks?

And last up -- yellow, which is what the vet's office had. His face is so sweet! And I love it when his ears flop back when he looks up.

And one of the best looks, the cone after the surgery! Thankfully, he just got his stitches out and doesn't have to wear the cone anymore.

Am I a mean pet parent for exploiting Riley on the blog? :) The "headbands" were just too cute not to share!

Happy Labor Day.

2011-09-04T09:27:00.001-05:00

Hope y'all have a wonderful Labor Day enjoying your time with family and friends! I came across these interesting Labor Day travel stats on Pinterest (of course).

Source: visibletechnologies.com via Emily on Pinterest

What are your plans for the holiday weekend? Are you traveling anywhere?

Milos, Greece.

2011-08-30T21:59:00.000-05:00

3 words: I. Can't. Wait.

(photo: here)

Gorgeous Nursery: Round 2.

2011-08-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

Remember this fabulous nursery I recently blogged about? Well, I have another one to share with you. {Sidebar: Don't read anything into the increased postings on nurseries . . . I am not pregnant!}

My friends David and Emilia did an absolutely amazing job on their baby Bea's nursery. At the time they first posted pictures of Bea's room, she hadn't yet made her big debut. I am happy to report that sweet Beatrice Lolly made her grand appearance on Friday!

On to Bea's nursery, which I know she will love once she's home. I love how they went with blue paint on the wall for a girl's room. I wouldn't have ever thought to do that, but with all of the other feminine touches, this room is absolutely perfect for a girl. Emilia said her goal was to have a girly-vintage feel, and I think she totally achieved it.

The sweet sentimental touches of the pink frames on the gallery wall (which includes a valentine that Bea's great-grandfather gave her great-grandmother) and the precious dresses (which were Emilia's mom's) above the crib are perfection.

And how great are those stripes? Love that they pained the closet door too! Check out those fabulous Anthro knobs on the changing table/dresser. Aren't they fun?!

This corner of the room is one of my favorite parts. The vintage bookshelf was found at an estate sale and the adorable mirror was a Goodwill find! They are both perfect for that space!

And how amazing is this lamp that Emilia found? I love it! She bought two of them for when Bea and her big sister, Ruby, share a room. How sweet is that?

I'd say sweet Bea is one lucky little girl to have such a fabulous space. Go check out their blog where Emilia shares more details of the room. Oh, and you should also check it out because their other daughter, Ruby, is just about the cutest little girl I've ever seen.

Kindle Case + A Winner.

2011-08-23T22:11:00.000-05:00

I recently bought a Kindle and have spent the time I should be reading on it checking out potential case options! Here are some of my favorites:

I love that this one looks like a clutch rather than any type of electronics cover. And if I ever decide to stop using the Kindle, I can repurpose this baby in a heartbeat. Another positive -- it's reasonably priced.

(photos: etsy)

I am also a big fan of the classic style of the Dodo case. It's so simple and I'm digging the red (the inside also comes in a variety of other colors). And I like that it's made like a book -- seems appropriate for an e-reader!

(photos: dodo case)

And of course I love the Kate Spade covers. They are super cute, but I can't pay $85 for one of them!

(photo: here)

I am totally regretting over-thinking the whole Kindle case decision. I am flying last minute to Chicago for the day tomorrow and will be traveling case-less! Do you have a Kindle case that you would recommend?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Last but not least, the winner of the UPrinting giveaway is . . . Meggie!

Congratulations! I will email you about the details of the canvas print!

Home Tour: Office.

2011-08-22T00:56:00.000-05:00

In the last home tour post, I showed you the office bathroom. Well, now (finally) here is the office itself! Our office is definitely a multi-purpose room. We use if for an office (of course) and also as a guest room and home gym. Riley and Zoey stay in this room during the day too.

The room is pretty big -- 20' by 18'. We've really struggled to use the space in the best way. Frankly, it's almost too big. When we first moved in, this room was our main guest room and the office was on the third floor. We switched them a while back and like this set up much better. This room is still a work in progress (but what room isn't, really?).

To give you the lay of the land first . . . as you walk in, this is what you see over towards the right back corner.

This is the view over on the left side of the room. We definitely want to add another rug and either a comfy chair or a smaller couch for lounging. When we first looked at this house, the first thing I noticed was the terrible light fixture/ceiling fan. Since we bought the house, I've talked about changing it, but as you can see, it hasn't happened yet!

All of my favorite offices have the expedit shelves from Ikea, so I thought why not include them in ours. They really are a great storage solution! I'm still tweaking the styling, but it works for now.

From this picture over on the "daybed side" of the room, you can see where the door from the entryway is. We definitely need to add something above the daybed and over to the left of the TV. And don't worry -- the exercise bike is on wheels, so we can wheel it out in front of the TV when we use it. We don't torture ourselves by facing the corner while we work out!

And the doorway to the left of the clock is the bathroom and the door in front of the bike is a mini-closet that is under our staircase (just so you get an idea of the whole layout).

If you keep going around, you see the other corner of the office where the mail center is above the Ikea cabinet I jazzed up.

We each have a bin to keep magazines, ads, etc. There are also places for receipts, bills, and coupons up on the wall. It always seems like when I'm running out the door to shop, I know I have reward points or a coupon somewhere and it takes me a good 10 minutes to find where I put it. Now I know to check here first (assuming the system works correctly). And it's nice to have the recycle bin handy for all those ads we get!

Here's where we work when we're at home, which we both have seemed to be doing a lot of recently.

I like the desk set up where we are facing each other. We used to have the desks side by side, facing the wall, but this set up seems to work a little better for us. Riley and Zoey usually lay down by our feet under the desk. We can peek around our monitors when we are deep in conversation! And no matter how hard we try, the wires and cords on the desk always look so messy!

You can also check out a close up of the chevron boards in action. The color ties in nicely with the cabinet by the "mail center."

For those of you with an excellent memory ~~(since it was forever ago)~~, you will remember that I was debating what fabric to use for the drapes and roman blinds. It was a close call, but I ended up going with the theo fabric. I am happy I went with that choice.

Tonic Living made the drapes and the blinds. They were so easy to work with and did an excellent job. I would definitely recommend them.

I found the dresser on Craigslist. It isn't staying the yellow color forever, but oddly enough it doesn't seem too out of place. I hope one day soon to paint it a muted teal color.

And were back around to where we started. Phew -- that was quite the tour.

And because it's technically the dogs' room, since they stay here during the day, here they are in the room looking as cute as ever. Excuse the tripod in the back.

A lot of napping (by people and dogs alike) happens on the daybed.

Thanks for joining me for the grand tour! That wraps up the first floor. Now on to the second floor . . .

{And don't forget to enter the Uprinting canvas giveaway -- it ends today (Monday)!}

Giveaway: UPrinting.

2011-08-17T22:40:00.001-05:00

UPrinting is a cool site that does canvas printing. It couldn't be easier -- you simply upload your own image and they will print it on a rolled or stretch canvas in a variety of canvas sizes. What a great way to showcase a family portrait, your favorite photo from traveling, or any other digital image!

Uprinting is giving a lucky N5T reader one 16” x 20” rolled canvas print, with either a two inch border or no border, and one business day turnaround and free shipping.*

To enter, be a follower of Name 5 Things and leave a comment below. The giveaway ends on Monday, August 22. And the winner will be announced on August 23. Good luck!

*Sorry, this giveaway is limited to US residents 18 years old and above.

Disclaimer: This canvas printing giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given for hosting.

Gorgeous Nursery

2011-08-16T00:31:00.000-05:00

I came across this nursery the other day on Elements of Style and it was too good not to share. Gorgeous and nursery aren't two words I typically associate with each other. But this nursery is definitely gorgeous. It is really a beautifully decorated room that happens to have a crib in it.

I don't usually pay attention to nurseries because it's not a room I frequently (or even hardly) think about. But I have a little secret . . . no, I'm not pregnant . . . I have a folder saved on my desktop where I save pictures of lovely nurseries I've seen. There aren't too many of them in there, but this one definitely made the cut.

Hello fabulous rug. Oh, abstract painting above the bed . . . don't mind if I do. And aren't the dramatic dark gray walls totally unexpected, but amazing?!

I love the simple roman shades and the couch. I kind of want that couch for my office -- I'd even take the fun pillow fabric too!

(photos: elements of style)

This room is definitely inspiring. Don't get me wrong, I love a good traditional nursery too, but this space is right up my alley.

Florence Hotel.

2011-08-08T00:39:00.000-05:00

In looking for hotels in Florence, Italy, I came across the most stunning hotel -- JK Place Firenze. There is rarely a time when I say I would love for my home to look like a hotel, but this is one of them (and so is the place we are staying in Paris!!).

Every space in this hotel is absolutely beautiful.

(all photos: jk place)

Fabulous, right?

Sadly, we won't be staying there. Besides the hotel being out of our budget, we recently made the decision to cut Florence out of our itinerary because our schedule was just too rushed. It wasn't easy to do, but we will just have to go back another time (and maybe then we can stay at JK Place)!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

Sperry Top-Siders.

2011-08-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

First, thanks for all of the birthday wishes!

I was on the hunt for comfy, non-tennis shoes to wear during our upcoming trip to Europe. I love me some flats, but most pairs I own don't have a ton of support. My goal was to find something supportive and still somewhat fashionable.

These fit the bill perfectly! (And extra bonus -- I got double points during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale). I want to wear them everyday, but oddly enough, they don't look good with a suit! But seriously, I can't believe how comfortable they are. My flip flops have been enjoying a well-deserved break since these new shoes have been in the rotation. (If you order them, I would size down 1/2 a size.)

(photo: nordstrom)

And, I'm all about sharing the love . . . so I ~~made~~ strongly encouraged Justin to get a pair as well.

(photo: nordstrom)

He loves his too. Most times when he puts them on, he sings the Lonely Planet I'm On A Boat song (warning: there's lots of bad language in the video; but Justin keeps his rendition clean). Have you come across anything recently that was too good not to share?

Happy 1st Day of August.

2011-08-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

August 1st also happens to be my birthday! This will be my last year in my twenties (gulp).

(photo: here)

I had a wonderful weekend celebrating a little early with friends and my family. And, because there can never be too much celebrating, Justin is going to take me out to dinner tonight.

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Non-Slip Socks.

2011-07-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

I was searching on amazon* the other evening for some non-slip socks for my workout class. I was hoping to find some socks on the cheap since Define sells them for about $10 a pair, which I thought was a little on the steep side. But after looking into it, $10 isn't as outrageous as what I originally thought.

But the point of this post is not about pricey socks. It's about the amazing item Justin found when he was helping me look for the socks. Non-slip socks for dogs!

(photo: amazon)

Sadly, the item isn't available to purchase anymore -- they must have been hot sellers. But doesn't that picture just crack you up? Maybe Zoey and Riley want a pair for when they are running around like maniacs on our hard word floors.

* For the record, I'm not sure there isn't anything amazon doesn't have. We love having amazon prime and definitely get our money's worth. Our friend, Kev, feels the same way -- my favorite 2 things he's ever ordered from amazon are a salad spinner and a butter dish. Awesome.

Home Tour: Office Bathroom.

2011-07-25T21:32:00.000-05:00

In the last installment of the home tour, we took a look at the entryway. And I also mentioned that next up would be the office. Well, when I went to upload the office pictures, I noticed that the camera wasn't on the right setting, so the colors are way off and all the photos are super grainy. Oops. Hopefully pictures of the office bathroom are a sufficient substitute.

We hardly ever have guests, and if we do, they usually stay in our upstairs guestroom. So this bathroom isn't fully "done up." I hope to add a few more touches here and there, but it's cute and serves its purpose.

Both the shower curtain and the bath mat are from West Elm. I actually ordered the gray striped shower curtain at first, but it wasn't right with the color of the walls. I loved the striped look and decided I like the brightness of the citron color -- and it ties in well with the office too (how's that for a little teaser?).

The color is the same as our office -- Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray. The door to the right is a linen closet and the door straight ahead is a decent-sized walk in closet.

I purchased the vintage peony print from Etsy a while back. I think it's perfect for this space!

The bath accessories are the ones Justin and I registered for when we first got married. I still like their simplicity and think they work well. I just jazzed it up a bit with this tray from West Elm.

The office will be up next on the tour (assuming I can get the camera settings right this time around)!

5 things . . .

2011-07-19T20:13:00.000-05:00

5 things about my blogging break . . .

1. Our hotel was terrible. I usually stay in some very nice places when I travel for work, especially when a partner is around (much less 4). However, there were slim pickins and we wanted to be within walking distance of the courthouse and our local counsel's office.

I could dedicate a whole post to "funny" stories about the hotel, but I will just mention two. My hotel-provided hair dryer tripped the circuit breaker every time I used it. On the third day, I went to the public ladies room (that did not have A/C) to blow dry my hair. I learned that tip from a partner in our Chicago office who had to do the same thing. It became comical to "meet up" with wet hair in the public restroom in the morning before we headed to court. Good times.

This was the "closet" in my first room:

Literally, that was at the foot of my bed. Awesome.

2. I'm tired. In addition to not resting well because of the uncomfortable hotel, last week alone I billed over half what I normally bill in one month.

3. The weather there was crazy. This picture was taken about 30 minutes after a hail storm rolled through. Look at that sky. Crazy, huh? I am pretty sure Reed Timmer should have been there. If you look closely, you can see white patches on the ground -- that's the left over hail.

Our rental cars looked like someone took a hammer to them. Our client's back windshield shattered completely into the car. Oh, and the lights went out in the courtroom during the trial. That was a first for me.

4. I lost 5 pounds last week! I was so busy, some days I didn't have time for dinner (or breakfast). But our local counsel's office did have haagen-dazs single serve cups a couple days for dessert after lunch. They were one of the highlights of the trip. I'd never seen them before, but I am now slightly obsessed.

5. It's good to be home. I am still catching up on my sleep and spending time with Justin. I hope to be around more now that this massive trial is over! Thanks for bearing with me!

Blogging break.

2011-07-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid my blogging and following along with what's happening on your blogs will have to continue to be on the back burner. I am out of state for a week-long (maybe longer) trial. Dang work! At least it's someplace with cooler temps and lower humidity!

I will be back as soon as I can. I have an ever-growing list of posts I can't wait to share with you guys. Hope you all are doing well! Catch you later, friends!

Serenity Now + Guest Post.

2011-07-05T22:55:00.001-05:00

I just have time to say hello and share this beautiful image.

(photo: decorpad)

Things have been absolutely nuts at work and it's not slowing down any this week! I miss checking in on what's been going on with you guys, but will be back as quick as I can. In the meantime, I just keep reminding myself "serenity now."
________

And tomorrow (Wednesday), I'm over at Michaela's fabulous blog participating in her fun "She Love Me, She Loves Me Not" series. If you don't already read Michaela's blog, you're missing out. She is a super talented blogger -- her design boards and her outfits are always amazing and inspiring!

Happy Fourth.

2011-07-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Fourth of July!

(photo: pinterest)

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Home Tour: Entryway.

2011-06-28T00:19:00.000-05:00

First, thanks so much for all your great recommendations in response to my post about our big travel plans. I could literally spend all of my waking hours researching hotels and things to do on the internet, but the folks at work probably wouldn't appreciate that.

On to the next part of the home tour . . . Last week I showed you the updates to the landscaping. So next up is the entryway. Here's the view when you first walk in:

(This picture reminds me that I need to hide the lamp cord, and that Zoey is a ham and loves helping me take pictures of the house!)

Here's a close up of what's going on on the entryway table.

I always like knowing where people get things so . . . the little teal dish is this one from West Elm. The lamp is from Z Gallerie. The framed "art" is a napkin from World Market. I just loved the colors and they coordinated well with the rug. I got the brass shell on sale from a near by thrift store. And how cute is that little brass figurine of a dog that looks very similar to Riley and Zoey? I smile every time I see it. (Thanks, Mom!) The tray is from tillymaison -- it also makes me happy. Gold, lucite, and chevron -- I mean, what's not to love? And, it's painted hot pink on the underside. Yep. Pure awesomeness. Oh, and the glass jar is filled with antique keys.

You may have noticed the chair canvas. You can get it here at Pottery Barn (and bonus: it's now on sale). It's the perfect size for that space over there in front of the stairs, and I love the various chairs on it. If it looks familiar, Kirsten over at Sixth Street Design School recently blogged about it too.

And as you turn to head up the stairs:

(Yep, should probably find something to display on that table, which is this one from West Elm in case you were curious.)

So that's the entryway. Next up on the home tour, the office!

And on a totally unrelated note, I started reading Bossy Pants by Tina Fey late last week and just finished it. It is definitely laugh out loud funny. I am sure Justin got sick of me reading various portions of it to him over the last several days. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Exciting (Travel) News!

2011-06-26T22:50:00.000-05:00

{I always feel like I have to clarify when I tell people that I have exciting news. I guess being almost 30 and being married for 7 years causes people to jump to the conclusion that I'm pregnant. Well, I'm not. But I do have exciting travel-related news.}

We have planned a 2-week trip for later this year. Can you guess where we are going based on these songs?

If you guessed France, Italy, and Greece, then you would be correct! We could not be more excited. Neither one of us have ever been to Europe before, so we are thrilled to see a part of the world we have wanted to see for a while now. And one of the best parts of the trip is that for the second week, we are meeting up with my best friend, Lauren, and her husband (who live in California). What could be better than hanging with your hubby on the beach in Greece? . . . Hanging with your husband AND you best friend and her awesome husband on the beach in Greece!

We are still finalizing the details of the trip once we get there, but we know we are going to Paris, Rome, Cinque Terre, and two islands in Greece. If you've been and have any tips or recommendations on things we have to do while we're there, please let me know!!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

Kitchen Perfection.

2011-06-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

I spied this kitchen today. Um, yes please.

The kitchen isn't overly large, but it's beauty more than makes up for it.

And my favorite shot . . .

(photos: decorpad)

What's not to love about the space? I can't decide what I like more -- the chandelier, the pendant lighting, the tufted chairs, the nail head trim on the bar chairs, the bar chairs, the white carrara marble subway tiles, the glass hardware, or the simple (but chic) look of the gray and white. It's all lovely.

Landscaping.

2011-06-20T23:18:00.000-05:00

I realized we've made a few improvements around the house that I haven't shared with you yet! We recently did some landscaping in our front yard, side yard, and back yard. Keep in mind that we live in a townhome, so I use the term "yard" loosely!

After having a couple of great landscapers come over and give us estimates, we ultimately decided we could do the planning ourselves and hire someone to do the labor on the cheap. I am glad we went that route. One of the quotes was over $10,000 and, while the design would have been amazing, we just didn't feel like it was worth it. This isn't our forever home, so we didn't want to make a lot of structural changes to the yard (and it's so darn hot here, we don't spend a huge amount of time outside anyway).

Anywho, we saved a bunch of money going the route we did, but I will say I that planning it out was one of the more stressful projects we've decided to undertake. I don't really know why, other than I guess it could have something to do with neither of us having any experience whatsoever with landscape design or knowing anything at all about plants. Thankfully my mom and Buchanan's were extremely helpful.

With that intro, here's the backyard now . . .

My favorite part has got to be the meyer lemon tree! After a massive hunt around the city, we finally found one! I can't wait for those babies to ripen! You may have also spied the pink hydrangeas -- they are looking a little droopy above, but they are looking better now. One of my least favorite parts of our backyard that you probably noticed is the awful siding on the house behind us. Hopefully, the lemon tree will grow nice and big and help hide the ugliness.

After we were well into the project, I realized that I never took proper before pictures. I found this picture below that gives you an idea of the sad state of our backyard before the facelift. It's embarrassing, but look how cute Zoey is sitting in our chairs enjoying being outside (despite the ugly surroundings)!

And a close up of the after. Much better, if I do say so myself!

While we were sprucing things up back there, I picked up some new cushions from HomeGoods to freshen up some old chairs. As you could see above, Zoey likes them!

Now for the side "yard," we have a walkway along the side of our house to get to our front door. It is actually one of my least favorite parts of the house because of the gas meter. Really, could it be any more in the way and obnoxious?

But hopefully now our guests will be distracted by the pretty flowers and not notice the gas meter (ok, wishful thinking, I know!).

Before the new set up, we had jasmine on trellises that lined the fence. While it smelled beautiful and looked lush, it was too bulky for the already narrow walkway. Taking them out really made the space feel a lot bigger. Now we have pencil plants, pentas, and watermelon coleus (my fave) lining the walkway.

We also added a container up by the front door to add some color. This particular planter came from Crate and Barrel.

As I was uploading the pictures, I realized I never took pictures of the front yard! Fail! But the good news is, it's the area that looks the least different. We tore out the sad looking azalea bushes and added in pink salvia and lime coleus. Nothing too crazy, just enough to make it look polished and like people who care about their home and yard live here!

If all goes as planned (which is a big "if" since we are going to trial in 2 weeks out of state in a huge class action lawsuit), I hope to continue the home tour next Tuesday and show you the updates to our entryway!

5 things . . .

2011-06-14T23:21:00.000-05:00

5 things I'm currently digging . . .

1. That Sarah 101 will air on HGTV in the US starting July 9th!

(photo: here)

2. These J. Crew flats.

3. This song by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.

4. This shirt from Nordstrom. (If you order it, get one size smaller than what you usually wear.)

5. These Stabilo 88 pens. They are life-changing.

Weekend Recap.

2011-06-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

This weekend has gone by so incredibly fast. I can't believe it's already over! We had our 11 year high school reunion this weekend. No, 11 is not a typo -- we didn't have a 10 year reunion, so we had an 11 year instead. Yep, I guess that's how we roll. Anyway, since a bunch of friends were in town, we had a pre-reunion reunion party at our house on Friday night, which was a blast. Then we went to the reunion on Saturday night, which was not as much of a blast but still fun. I'll be back with pictures from the weekend (and some awesome pictures back from high school as well).

And today is our 7 year wedding anniversary. Given all of the festivities this weekend, we plan to officially celebrate next weekend. We did have a tasty brunch this morning and have enjoyed taking it easy today. I can't believe it has already been 7 years. But even more surprising is how much more I love Justin each day. When we got married, I would have never thought that would even be possible. I truly have the best husband in the entire world, and there is not a doubt in my mind that we were meant for each other.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Happy Monday!

House & Home Eye Candy.

2011-06-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

I was browsing around Canadian House and Home's website and came across some pretty amazing rooms. I have to say, I'm a little jealous of our neighbors to the north -- they get Canadian House and Home, Samantha Pynn, Sarah Richardson, Tommy Smythe, and Candice Olson. Lucky! (said in my best Napoleon Dynamite voice).

This last picture is the living room of Tommy Smythe (Sarah Richardson's sidekick). Uh-maz-ing.

(all photos: canadian house and home)

And last but not least, my friend Courtney over at a Thoughtful Place has a fabulous series going on right now -- 5 days of 5 minute projects. How genius is that idea? Anyway, I was thrilled when she asked me to contribute. Stop by and check out all of the wonderful ideas she's featured this week.

I sure am glad it's almost Friday!

Guest Posting X 2.

2011-06-07T06:11:00.016-05:00

I was delighted to be over at Bright, Bold, and Beautiful yesterday sharing some images that represent what is bright, bold, and beautiful to me. I could spend all day looking around Laura's fabulous blog (and her Etsy shop too)!

And just in case one guest post wasn't enough . . .

Today I'll be over at Aubrey's awesome blog All Things Bright and Beautiful. I am pumped to be participating in her great series "How to Make Your Home Your Own." Aubrey's blog is always full of inspiration and humor!

Go check them out!

Update: Cocoa & Hearts Painting.

2011-06-05T23:26:00.000-05:00

Remember how I mentioned we got a fabulous painting from Cocoa & Hearts here? We hung it in our living room behind the couch. In case you're curious, click here to see what we had hanging on the wall before the painting.

Here's the new and improved living room wall . . .

(How sweet is Zoey posing for the picture?)

I love it against the darker wall color. It really just shines in there. I may have to turn the couch around so I can sit and stare at the painting instead of facing the TV!

The colors and movement of the painting are simply stunning. I love the gold streaks in it that shimmer. When I received it in the mail, that was the first thing I noticed.

It's definitely my favorite part of the room now.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I'm glad to be back home, although there aren't any cookies on my nightstand here!

Kitchen Crush.

2011-06-01T22:15:00.000-05:00

I was recently cruising around decorpad and came across a stunning kitchen that was just too good not to share. It has such a classic sophisticated vintage vibe to it.

(photos: decorpad)

After seeing those pictures, I really wanted a more straight on picture so I could get more of that awesome chandelier action I saw teasing me in the first couple of pictures. I hunted around decorpad to no avail and then came across it via my mad googling skills at House of Turquoise.

Here she is in all of her glory.

(photo: house of turquoise)

Wow. Simple, yet so beautiful.

A few of my favorite parts of the room are the windows, the cabinet color (of course), the hidden appliances, the gold on the stove, the farmhouse sink, the cararra marble, the green crown molding, the faucet, the chandelier (obviously), and the suzani rug.

What's your favorite part?

P.S. I'm currently in Cincinnati for work. How can it be 90 degrees here? I thought I would head north and enjoy some cooler temps! But on the bright side, at least the humidity is extremely low. And when I got back to my hotel room tonight (after eating a tasty steak dinner), I had a chocolate chip cookie waiting for me on my nightstand!

Sarah's Summer House.

2011-05-31T01:29:00.000-05:00

It's no secret I'm a big fan of Sarah Richardson. I know I'm a little behind on blogging about it, but I was thrilled when I heard that Sarah's Summer House was going to be on HGTV.

How amazing is the living room? It's almost like you are sitting out in the middle of the water with all of those windows overlooking the fantastic views.

I love that she used a bunch of different shades of blue in all different patterns. I was thinking it may be too busy, but of course, it wasn't. It all came together so beautifully (as usual for Sarah's rooms). Those blue Chiang Mai Dragon ottomans are amazing! I would love to put a little Chiang Mai Dragon fabric somewhere in our house.

(photos: sarah richardson)

I couldn't post about the CMD in Sarah's living room without mentioning this fab powder room makeover over at Hazardous Design where the blue Chiang Mai Dragon wallpaper is a showstopper. Seriously, this may be one of my favorite powder rooms ever. Every detail is just perfection (the lighting, the mirror, the floors, the beadboard, the monogrammed towel, the hardware, the pink flower). Stunning, isn't it?

And speaking of great bathrooms, the one on Sarah's Summer House was fabulous too. It has such a clean fresh feeling.

(photo: hgtv)

(photo: sarah richardson)

Are you watching the show? Are you as obsessed with Sarah and Tommy as I am?

P.S. Hope y'all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. We headed to New Orleans on Friday with a group of friends. We spent part of Monday recovering and part of it grilling and hanging out by the pool.

Happy Long Weekend.

2011-05-27T00:21:00.000-05:00

Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend.

(photo: decorpad)

Yogurtland.

2011-05-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

The party is over; the brief is filed! I have a life again (at least for a few days!). Yippee! It feels good to be blogging and catching up on all I've been missing! Thanks for being understanding!

Yogurtland, yet another yogurt shop, opened up not too long ago by our house. I figured it was like the other 15 yogurt shops we have around the area so didn't really make it a point to stop by and check things out. After seeing a bunch of positive reviews on yelp (and hearing people talk about the red velvet cake batter flavor), I finally decided to check it out. I had no clue what I was missing out on!

Yogurtland's yogurt is so much better than all of the other yogurt joints around. They have tons of flavors, it's all self serve, and the best part is . . . it's fat free! With the near-gallon sized bowl they give you and with me at the helm of those soft-serve dispensers, I usually end up with about 4 servings worth. So while it may be fat free, I'm probably consuming a day's worth of calories. But I put fresh fruit on top, so that cancels it out right?

The yogurt really does taste so good, I seriously question whether it really is fat free. Of course that reminds me of a great Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine also question whether allegedly non-fat yogurt truly is fat free. They even take a sample to a lab to have it tested out after they start gaining weight (and the tests determine it wasn't really fat free). View part of the episode here and the wikipedia page about the episode here. And a funny blooper at the yogurt shop here:

Maybe if I didn't have such a sweet tooth, I wouldn't have such a hard time doing all the exercises at my new workout class (Define Body) with my awesome work out buddy, Elz.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Coming up for air.

2011-05-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

So the tiny break I expected to take has now turned into a rather extended break. I've been working pretty much non-stop (as in almost 30 hours just this weekend) since the party ended on Wednesday on a brief that's due Tuesday. But the good news is that the party was a success (and Tuesday is almost here)!

Over the weekend, Justin sent me pictures while I was at the office of our precious dogs. Since I don't have time for much else, here are sweet Riley and Zoey enjoying the backyard this weekend.

I really have missed blogging and seeing what you all have been up to. I can't wait to get this thing filed on Tuesday and sit down Wednesday to catch up!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

Tiny Break.

2011-05-14T08:41:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I haven't mentioned it before, but I am hosting a party for my office this Wednesday to welcome our summer associates. Needless to say, we are busy around here making sure everything is just perfect. I am going to sign off for a bit and focus on things around the house.

So in honor of the office party, here are some pretty amazing offices (which sadly look nothing like my office at work).

(photos: decorpad)

The good news is that we've made some little changes that I can't wait to share with you! I will be back to blogging and visiting your blogs shortly. In the meantime, have a fabulous weekend!

Cocoa & Hearts.

2011-05-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Cocoa & Hearts, the new shop of Jen Ramos (of Made by Girl), where she sells her amazing original paintings? If not, head on over there now and check out all of her beautiful work.

I have always wanted an original piece of art, but wasn't willing to settle for just anything. I've admired Jen's work for a while, and when I heard she was opening up an online store, I was giddy! It was very hard narrowing down a favorite, but I am thrilled that we were able to score a painting of hers. So which one did we get? . . .

This one!

(photos: cocoa & hearts)

Gorgeous, right? I'm not 100% sure yet where I am going to hang it. I love all the great colors in the painting, so I have a few options in mind. Of course, I will show you pics of the painting once she's hung in her new home!

Chevron Boards - Round 2.

2011-05-09T01:16:00.000-05:00

Remember my first attempt at inspiration boards for the office? After making them, which of course is the perfect time, I decided I needed something that was not a blue-gray so they wouldn't be so blah against the wall. Here's what they looked like the first time around:

After reading all of your helpful comments, I really considered leaving them the way they were. I figured once they had pictures, notes, etc. on them, you wouldn't notice as much. But at the end of the day, I really wanted a little more color. I loved the look of the chevron, so when I saw the turquoise chevron at High Fashion Home, I knew it was the winner. It's a Premier Fabric Print, but I don't see the fabric in this color online.

Because I used spray adhesive to attach the first fabric to the cork board, I knew that if I tried to remove the fabric, it would pull up the cork with it. So I just put the new fabric right on top. If you look closely, you can barely make out the fabric underneath, but it is almost completely unnoticeable.

Clearly both Justin and I need some more inspiration on our boards! But don't worry, I actually completed these a while back, and they are looking more filled (and inspirational) at this point.

I am much happier with the new fabric! And ultimately am glad I made the relatively easy change.

The office is really coming along. I can't wait to show you how the rest of the room is coming together. Happy Monday!

Guest Blogging.

2011-05-04T08:10:00.008-05:00

I'm guest posting today over at Simple Dwellings as part of Amber's If My Blog Was a Room series. Stop by and see what I think the room would look like (and be sure to check out some of Amber's design boards -- they are always beautiful)!

Lip Reading.

2011-05-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

I didn't wake up early to watch the royal wedding, but I did read about it (and of course found some pictures of Kate's and Pippa's dresses). One of the things I enjoyed reading about was the lip readers who let us in on some of the sweet moments between William and Kate. Does that make me super nosey? If so, oh well. I think part of it is being nosey, but the other part of it is because I actually enjoy trying to read people's lips. Not in a weird way -- but I find myself doing it a lot during sporting events to see what the coaches and players are saying to each other (or when they are cursing out the refs). I am not bad at it, if I do say so myself. I especially get a kick out of it when there is an f-bomb or two.

But back to the wedding . . . this was when, according to the lip readers, William told Kate that she looked beautiful. So sweet, right?

(photo: here)

Seeing that reminded me of our wedding. I'm not sure if there were any expert lip readers at our wedding, but Justin said one of the sweetest things ever to me towards the end of our ceremony. As it was wrapping up, I told him that "it was almost over." His response was that "it was just the beginning."

Speaking of my wonderful husband, we had our first date on May 2, 1998. 13 years ago! Do you celebrate your "dating" anniversary?

San Diego Trip Recap.

2011-04-29T00:49:00.000-05:00

We try to head out to San Diego on a fairly regular basis (you can read about two of our previous trips here and here) to visit Justin's brother and our soon to be sister-in-law:

and my bestest friend in the whole world and her hubby (fun fact: I have known both of them since elementary school).

It's no secret that I am obsessed with Trader Joe's and In-N-out, so you better believe we made both of those happen. We also stopped by the flower fields in Carlsbad, which were absolutely stunning.

Aww, Justin and his brother, Jason, posing in the flowers. Precious.

No, Justin and I did not wear coordinating outfits on purpose. But also precious.

The ranunculus were ridiculous. Like off the hizzy.

Alright, that's enough of my awesome sayings. Moving along . . . we had dinner and drinks at Starlite. Super cool vibe there.

Since it was dark, our picture of the bar didn't turn out too well. This pic below shows how cool the place is.

(photo: starlite)

After dinner, we went to the Aero Club. Frankly, the only reason I mention the place is because it had a boat-load of bottles. I spent some of the time trying to figure out if there were multiple bottles of the same thing and if they only poured from that lower tier. Yep, I'm one of those nerds at the bar.

I wonder how many pictures just like this (well not necessarily at a bar) we've taken over the years. Hundreds probably.

On Saturday, we cruised to Laguna Beach. I secretly wanted to see Brody (but would've settled for LC, Lo, or Audrina). Sadly, I didn't see any of them. However, I did get to meet a celebrity . . . the super sweet and talented Courtney from A Thoughtful Place. I could have sat by the beach with her all day and chatted! Thanks for meeting me out there friend!

You extra-observant readers may notice my sunglasses are different in the picture below. I picked up a little souvenir while we were there. I figured some Tom Ford sunglasses would be a nice way to remember the sunny day we spent in Laguna.

Justin and Jacob were totally twinsies in Laguna. Light blue shirt and navy sweater. Check check.

Jeans and brown leather sneakers. Check check. So cute.

Laguna really is such a beautiful place. I would love to go back during our next trip to San Diego.

As always, our time out there went way too fast. I am already thinking about our next trip back!

Happy Friday!

Eye Candy.

2011-04-25T23:35:00.000-05:00

I'm sorting through San Diego pictures, but in the meantime, I thought I would share pictures of some fabulous rooms (and point out one thing I am loving in each room).

This couch = nothing short of fabulous. The color, the tufting. Lovely.

I am generally not a fan of skirted tables (don't know why), but am loving the simple look of this nightstand with the trim.

This next room just makes me happy. I couldn't decide which I liked better -- the chandelier or the nightstand . . . or the lucite on the chair. All of it's amazing!

I am totally digging the gray with the dark wood tones and the fancy molding above the door in this dining room.

For this bedroom, it's a toss up between the grasscloth wallpaper and the greek key nightstands.

(all photos: decor pad)

So picking out one thing in each room was more difficult than what I thought it would be!

San Diego Trip.

2011-04-24T23:13:00.000-05:00

We just returned from a four-day trip to San Diego, which explains the lack of posting and me being totally out of the loop on what's happening in the blog world. While it's nice to be home, I am already missing our friends and family and the amazing weather (the Texas humidity hit us like a ton of bricks when we walked out of the airport this evening).

(I haven't uploaded pictures from our trip yet, so this one from another one of our San Diego visits will have to do in the meantime!)

During the trip, I was able to meet up with Courtney from A Thoughtful Place! It was so nice meeting her in person, and she is just as sweet as what you'd imagine!

I'll be back soon with pictures and a trip recap. Hope you had a great Easter!

Vintage Bar Cart Score.

2011-04-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

Back in October, I blogged about wanting a bar cart and my fruitless Craigslist searching. Well the fruitless searching continued up until a few weeks ago. And I'm not talking about the occasionally-remembering-to-search-Craigslist kind of searching. I'm talking about the every-day-compulsively-searching-holding-out-hope-that-I-would-find-something kind of searching, with this image always in the back of my mind:

(photo: Habitually Chic)

I was searching Austin's Craigslist for a friend and came across the perfect bar cart, which was listed for $125 in Lockhart, Texas (a small town about 2 hours and 45 minutes away). Thankfully, Lockhart just so happens to be the BBQ Capital of Texas so it was an easy sell to convince Justin to make it "on our way" to Austin.

We showed up and walked around the antique shop, which had a bunch of gorgeous pieces in perfect condition at great prices. The owner pointed us in the direction of the bar cart and told me no matter the price marked, he would honor the Craigslist price. He asked what it was and I told him $125; he said he had it marked for $120, but that he would take $100. Sold!! I didn't even have to negotiate -- he knocked down the price without me even asking! (Although, for the record, I thought I was already getting a heck of a deal for $125.) Check out this ebay auction, which has ended. They look pretty similar right? That one was listed for $695.

So with all that build up, here she is in all of her bar-cart glory. Amazing, right?

And all styled up.

In case you're curious, those frames above the cart contain hand-written recipes from our family.

I love the look of displayed glassware, but I have an aversion to storing glasses out in the open. It's easier for them to get dusty and ours would probably end up with puppy noses on them!

And see those fun stripey straws? Justin bought them for me (without any hints) for Christmas. They are perfect to display on the bar cart!

One of my favorite parts of the cart are its neat little casters.

And just in case you want to take a gander at our liquor selection (which I always like to do), here you go.

The more embarrassing ones (peppermint schnapps) and the ones in not so pretty ~~handles~~ bottles (Firefly sweet tea vodka) are still stored in our cabinet with the glassware and related bar tools. I love seeing the bottles displayed now. And yes, I bought that tequila just because the bottle was in the shape of Texas.

So the moral of the story is: ~~obsessive Craigslist searching (even in different cities)~~ persistence pays off! Cheers!

Trips to Austin.

2011-04-17T00:39:00.000-05:00

Two out of the past three weekends we have headed up to Austin. Our first trip was for Sawyer's first birthday party! On the way to Austin that trip, we stopped off in Lockhart for two things: (1) Barbecue at Kruez Market (one of the top 5 places in Texas for BBQ); and (2) a little antique shopping. I ended up scoring one of my favorite finds ever -- here's a not-so-subtle hint. It's so swoon-worthy, it deserves its own post!

We went back to Austin last weekend for a friend's wedding. The wedding was early in the day on Saturday, which left us the rest of the weekend to enjoy a city that we love so much (and to try out some great eats too). We went to dinner at La Traviata, which was wonderful.

(photo: la traviata)

It was such a nice night, so we took a stroll down to the Capitol after dinner.

Of course, the Capitol itself is amazing, but it's also special to us because we got engaged there. Justin proposed right by the rose garden (over 8 years ago).

After our romatical (yep, that's a word) walk around the Capitol, we were in the mood for something sweet. Actually, I was the one craving dessert, and Justin knows it's better just to go along with it rather than fight it. So he was up for getting something too. After some quick searching for the best place, we ended up at Gourdough's.

I'm almost too embarrassed to admit that they serve massive donuts loaded up with more super unhealthy things like icing, bacon, brownie batter, cake batter, candy, etc. (not all on the same donut though -- please, let's not get carried away here). Check out their menu.

(photo: gourdough's)

The next morning, we walked around UT's campus and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was so fun to cruise around and reminisce with Justin (and to see all of the changes around campus).

(note: the water in the fountain is usually not green!)

After our campus tour, we stopped by Uncommon Objects, which is a pretty amazing vintage store. I could've spent hours in there browsing around, but I knew Justin had cookies on his mind. . . . When we were in college, we ordered tasty chocolate chip cookies from Tiff's Treats, a place that would deliver warm freshly-baked cookies to your door (with milk too), which is nothing short of heavenly when you live in a dorm room. So before we headed home, we stopped by to enjoy them for old times' sake.

We've been having beautiful weather here! Hope you have too. I'll be back with my fab find!

Organized Kitchen Pantry.

2011-04-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a while back that Megan from Honey We're Home came over to help me get my mess of a pantry in order. I have no excuse on why it took me so long to post the after-pictures, other than I just flat out forgot to! But I'm happy to report that the pantry looks the same today as it does in the after-photos below!

I think the pictures speak for themselves on what an amazing job she did! Sadly, I never knew how bad it really was until looking at these before pictures. {Shudder} Prepare yourselves.

And after Megan worked her magic . . .

Seriously, what a difference! Through the organizing process, I learned that I have a problem buying canned pumpkin (I won't disclose how many cans I had; but there was a time when there was a pumpkin shortage and I felt that I needed to "stock up"). Megan probably thinks I'm a little loony! I also learned that Justin has a problem buying baggies in bulk in various sizes, freezer bags, non-freezer bags, etc. Now that we can actually see what all we have, it's a lot easier not to buy things that we don't need.

Look at all of that empty space! We threw some things away and there were some things that did not belong in the pantry, but it's amazing how having things organized gives you some more usable space that you never knew you had. (Perfect for storing more Trader Joe's goodies that I will get on our upcoming San Diego trip!) It really is nice now that everything has its place. Before, that was clearly not the case -- as the pictures above demonstrate!

We were able to add some additional wine storage in our pantry, which was greatly needed. It also freed up some space for us to put a recycle bin in there.

Now that things are organized, it's so much easier to keep it nice and neat. So a big thanks to Megan for being so sweet and helping me tackle the pantry!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend! We headed to Austin. I'll be back with a recap!

Office Fabric.

2011-04-06T00:05:00.000-05:00

I was all ready to make a decision for fabric for window treatments in our office. After a couple of weeks of having the samples hung, I am no more certain today of which one I like better (possibly even less so) than I was on day one. I keep waffling back and forth between two choices, but I'm ready to pull the trigger and get this show on the road! So I thought I would ask my awesome readers for a little input. Here are the two options . . .

Option 1:

Theo (in citrine) by P. Kaufman

Option 2:

Premier Prints Chipper

We will do drapes on this window and roman shades on the french doors that lead out to our back porch (which obviously aren't pictured here).

And not to get sidetracked, but see the wooden "at" symbol below? It's my latest HomeGoods find -- I couldn't pass it up for $12.99!

I think there are some pros and cons for each fabric, but I will keep those to myself so I don't sway any votes! And one final picture . . .

So which fabric do you like the best?

Or if you have other ideas, feel free to let me know -- I'm all ears! Thanks in advance for your input!

Guild Shop Chandelier.

2011-04-03T23:18:00.000-05:00

Remember the chandelier from the Guild Shop I previously blogged about here and here? Justin hung it this weekend! I originally was going to hang it in our entry way, but after thinking about it some more, decided there may be better places where it would be more visible. So we cruised around the house looking for other options. Justin actually came up with the idea to hang it where we did. And he was totally right -- he's a keeper! He hung it on our second floor in the little area between our kitchen and dining room (and right outside of the powder room). Here's the view of it as you get on the second floor.

I love the touch of glam it adds to an otherwise boring hallway. In case you're curious, that archway over there to the left is where the powder room is.

This is the view from the opposite direction looking into the dining and living room from the kitchen. If you look closely you can see Justin lounging in the living room admiring his handiwork. (It's like a game of Where's Waldo without the red stripes and glasses!) And for the record, our kitchen is not sherbet green -- the lighting wasn't ideal.

We ended up just replacing the candle covers and adding some more crystal prisms (there were quite a few missing). There's now a mix of the old crystals and new ones, but since I was able to find nearly identical crystals online, you can't tell the difference.

{Side note: see those flowers in the background by the mirror? I recently went to the dentist to get my first-ever cavity filled and was pretty nervous thanks to a terrible wisdom teeth removal experience. Justin had a gorgeous bouquet of tulips, hydrangeas, roses and lilies delivered to my office before I went to help calm my nerves. Super sweet!}

But back to the chandy . . . as Justin said, "it's pretty baller to have a chandelier in your hallway." And I couldn't agree more!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Houston Home Crush.

2011-03-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

Remember this fabulous Houston home that I ~~was~~ still am slightly obsessed with? Well, I recently came across another amazing Houston home, via the Newlywed Diaries, which was featured in Lonny last year. Like the previous house, this one is also a perfect example of mixing traditional and modern.

I just want to sit down in the perfectly worn leather chair and read a book (or just admire the space).

The pops of pink work beautifully in this room!

See that gorgeous antique secretary back there? They repurposed it as a bar! Genius! I love that the stemware is displayed behind the glass. And I spy gray and white stripey straws!

How stunning is the dining room? What an unexpected color, but it works so well with the white. The table and chairs are lovely. I am totally digging that chandelier.

What a fabulous view looking back into the living room. I would always want to sit on that side of the table! How fun are the rug and the lamp globe in the entry way? Everything works together so seamlessly.

Of course, the kitchen is great too. Love the open shelving and all of the natural light. And check out the floor!

The bedroom is just fabulous. The bedding is so pretty with the scalloped edging. I'm also loving the gallery wall above the bed.

Who doesn't want a fireplace in the bedroom? This one is styled just beautifully.

The wallpaper just screams glamorous! And the glossy black door is a showstopper.

One thing I noticed in nearly every room were well-styled vignettes (and fantastic gallery walls). How pretty are these?

(photos: lonny)

It is so fun to get to peak inside some local homes that are absolutely gorgeous. This house makes me want to put up several gallery walls, as well as scour craigslist and thrift stores for some antiques!

West Elm.

2011-03-27T22:38:00.000-05:00

How amazing has West Elm been recently? There was a period of time when nothing really did anything for me there. I am pretty sure the exact opposite is true now! And it looks like I'm not the only one . . . Elsa, Michelle, and Cassie all did posts this last week on their West Elm favorites. I have had my post in the works for a while now and thought it was so funny to see their posts too -- I guess great minds think alike. (I thought about not doing my post any more after seeing theirs, but I enjoyed seeing what things catch everyone's eye.)

Here are some of the things that rock my world:

striped shower curtain

modernist mugs and bowls (these are very anthropologie-ie)

Some of these things have made their way into our house! I'm excited to show you them to you!