Rubber Ducky, Your the One

The third and final bathroom is more than half way done. I love before and after pictures and I can not wait till its completely done to share the progress we have made. So here is a little spoiler from our master bath. The rest of the project could take months considering most of the finances are allotted to the upcoming wedding, and the antique mirror that I want in the bathroom is very expensive. Good things come to those who wait.

Before:

After:

I painted the entire room BM Rockport gray and the vanity an expresso color. After having my heart broken over some fabric I fell in love with and could absolutely not afford we finally settled on these curtains from Ikea. Pottery from Paul Michael's and my art from Picasso depicting my favorite literary character Don Quixote. Its a great start, don't you agree????

To Do List: Save money to get that gorgeous mirror at the antique shop, convert fixtures to brushed bronze, new towels to replace the stinky mildew ones Britt uses now, get that asian stool from Kayu furniture I have been eyeing for months, new vent, hardware, and rug.

You Are What You Eat

Yesterday the Oprah show shed some much needed light on the truth of where our food comes from. In response I wanted to share with you a little excerpt from Tyler Florence's cookbook "Dinner at My Place." Warning: you will want to become organic after reading this post....My man Tyler Florence has done it again, captured and wooed me!! I received the cookbook as a christmas present from my future in-laws (how cool are they!!). I made his carrot cake for a football party last weekend and the crowd gave it two thumbs up. So many more great recipes in the book that I can not wait to try. Go get yourself a copy - it is well worth the money. No lie I have read this cookbook from cover to cover on a six hour drive back from Dallas. The second chapter is an awesome chicken recipe, but what caught my attention was how he explained so eloquently the difference between all these confusing food labels and what they actually mean.

(The information below is not my own its straight out of Tyler's book which can be found here.)

"All Natural - You know better than to eat a rubber chicken, right? That's basically what this label promises you - that this chicken is not rubber. The USDA prohibits the use of hormones in raising poultry and most preservatives. But besides that, the chicken can be injected with just about anything else - from salt-water solutions to seaweed extract - and still be called "all natural." These solutions up your salt intake, change the chicken's flavor, and end up costing you more because they add weight to the chicken."

"Free Range - Sounds good, right? Vivacious white hens freely roaming sunny, grassy fields with fluffy yellow chicks in tow. Not so much. The USDA allows this label for any chicken that is allowed some access to an outdoor space. Said chicken may never see that outdoor space, and this designation doesn't address what's out on that yard - the conditions, the food, or the cleanliness. So it's a good start, but free range isn't the be-all and end-all we used to think it was."

"Certified Organic - I know there are those of you out there who think that organic is some kind of Hippie thing. But get that out of your head and start paying attention to organics-because they're here to stay. The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 set forth requirements for products labeled as "organic" that ensure your chicken has lived a life dictated by government-mandated standards. It will have been fed only pesticide and chemical-free feeds of grains and soybeans, not animal byproducts. It also will have lived a life free of antibiotics and medicines. But guess what? It probably wouldn't have needed those antibiotics because organic chickens generally live a life free of the stress and contamination that can make other chickens sick. And of course, all organic chickens are both free range and all natural. See how that works? Whenever I can, I will definitely choose certified organic over the other options."

I don't know about you but that has cleared up years of confusion on the question we all get stuck with at the grocery store "which one should I buy?" I feel like I have been lied to with what all these nutrition labels aren't telling me. Yes organic is more money but by golly I am worth it!!! I feel like a paid advertiser here but on the Oprah show they highlighted a documentary called Food Inc. I just purchased my copy on Amazon, they are running a special on it till Friday at midnight only $9.99, and you can watch it instantly by download. You think this little post has stirred up some truth on the food we buy wait till you see the documentary (I actually cried). So lean into this adventure of organics with me and take a stand for your body and your family!!! I am now gently stepping off my soap box now before I fall off.

Picture Perfect: Window

Just wanted to leave you with this image for the day. It's so beautiful and very "spring like" outside today. I am stuck in the office but would love to be "stuck" in this kitchen instead. I am dreaming of new windows in my soon to be house and a lush courtyard!!! Have a wonderful hump day!!

Going to the Chapel

I have just created my first photo collage in Microsoft paint program. It was fairly easy and very free considering most if not all pc's have this program standard. I gathered all my pictures I wanted to use for the collage and put them in a separate folder. Open the paint program (start, programs, accessories, paint) and you should have a blank page staring at you. All you have to do is click edit, paste from, and choose your folder and a picture. You will have to play around with sizing the different photo which was kinda fun and a little irritating at times. Below is my final project, and yes it's all about the wedding (deal with it). A picture of the church we are getting married in is on the top left, my invitations, and a picture of the style I would love my cake to be - fingers crossed. I want pale blush pink flower to go with the graphite gray bridesmaids dresses from jcrew. On the bottom left is the cake topper for the grooms cake, my beautiful ring, and the reception hall right near the church. I am proud of my newly created collage and I am sure this will only be the start of many more to come. We could do fashion by putting together some cute outfits, or my favorite put together an idea for an entire room!!!

All You Need is Love

Today Britt and I celebrate one complete entire year of dating, or 365 days of falling head over heels in love with each other. It's been a whirlwind of fun, adventure, and surprise. I wanted to capture all the things we have done this past year so I surprised him with a photobook of our first year together. Looking back so much has happened in just one year. We did a lot of traveling, we "survived" all the holidays together, ran in a few races, and celebrated good times with some amazingly fabulous friends.

So back to my book.... I loved making this photo book. I spend hours putting this little thing together, collecting pictures, editing pictures, uploading and organizing them just perfectly. It was so worth it and I was so proud to give him this book of our first memories together. A huge tilt of the hat to Snapfish for printing the book in such high quality. Hopefully, this is the first book of many more milestones to a long wonderful life together. Next edition: The Wedding!!! (then maybe a baby carriage??!!??)

Cover

First Page

Trip to Vegas

Mardi Gras

Jump Jump

Back Cover

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

I am worried about my little plants, we had a few days of freeze here in South Louisiana and everyone is feeling the effects. I took this picture back in October of my beautiful Ixora plant but now she looks sick with no blooms left in site and brown spots on her leaves. All my other 'babies' are wilted and cold but I am hoping the warmer weather will bring them slowly back to life. Just dreaming of the days I will be able to enjoy these beautiful blooms again.

Have a great weekend!!!

Ixora, Maui Orange

Holy Crap

Those are the words that came out of my mouth when I clicked on the link that sent me here to this amazing online art store. I have been eyeing the print "Keep Calm And Carry On" and their are tons different versions but this has to be my favorite thus far.

It's from Red Letter Words and once I started looking through her gallery I found way to many pieces of art that I had to have. Many are faith inspired and they hit you right in the heart. I have searched for years to find a stylish piece of art for the bible verse from Joshua 24:15, "As For Me And My House We Will Serve The Lord." My dad had a little wooden block with this quote on it and he lived by those words. Britt has a little magnet on his refrigerator with this bible verse, but I want something grand and stylish. I did not find it in the gallery of prints but I think she creates special orders!!!!

Here are a few of my favorites from the site. Look how freaking cute....

Perfect for nurseries!!!

Perfect for wedding gifts!!!

Great bible verse and cute Christmas decor!!!

Let the "FUN" Begin

Already feeling completely overwhelmed and completely productive. My organized, obsessive, get her done personality has reared her ugly head this week. I love this side of myself but it is also very exhausting. I have started my binder of ideas and information for our wedding, created a budget spreadsheet, a guest list spreadsheet, found invitations, the perfect location, and found my dress. Did you get that last part? By some crazy amazing miracle I have found the perfect wedding dress and it is now in my closet as we speak!!! I am going to leave you with a few pictures of my favorite wedding ideas today. No fear my fellow design buddies after this week is over I will be back to my "do it yourself" projects around the house.

Of Course I Said Yes

You ever meet someone who almost immediately feels like you have know them for years? Britt feels like that for me and its delightful. The night I met him almost immediately I was struck by the eerie feeling that I had just found Mr. Right. But that was way to crazy for my level headed feet on the ground way of living, or was is it?

New Years Eve (almost one year after I laid eyes on him) Britt asked me to marry him. It was perfect and a fantastic surprise. He brought me back to the place where we met, and with 20 of our close friends and family he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I squealed a barely audible "YES!!!" As I type this story my little fingers are still numb from the reality of it all and wait....... ahhh there are the tears whaling up in my eyes. To have finally found that one true love that all the poets write about, the musicians sing about, and people sacrifice their life for. I feel so blessed. After the proposal our dear friend Eric made a beautiful comment that has stayed in my heart. Eric is a very wise man partly because he leans on God for direction and answers in his life. He has been married for over 20 years and said that marriage is a wonderful commitment and one of the most amazing things he has been apart of in his life. Excitement fills my every being. Thank you God for giving me this man, for creating him in your image and likeness, and for making me a suitable partner for him.

"And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one's dreams would have no meaning." -Paulo Coelho

Cheers to a New Year and a new chapter in our lives. Britt, thanks for showing me that fairy tales are real.

Dear Ikea,

Please make yourself available to us Southern folk who live in the beautiful state of Louisiana. Pretty please!!!! We spent a few days in Houston over the holidays and I got to take a little trip to Ikea. I fell in love all over again, and here are a few Ikea/cheaper alternatives to those expensive designer pieces. Fingers crossed I think the mirror may be coming home with us in the near future!!!

Norden glass-door cabinet $399 (Right image via emmas desgin blog)

Ikea Mongstad mirror $99 (Right image via apartment therapy)

Ikea Ektorp: chair $199, footstool cover $69, sofa $399, and Egeby rug $149

Image from the movie set "The Holiday"

Merry Christmas

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is please!"

Luke 2:4-14

Happiness is Homemade

Thanks once again to ebay for getting me one step closer to finishing Britt's master bed room. Who am I kidding I will never really be "finished." I found 10 yards of this amazing fabric on ebay for only $75 dollars. Amazing because of the simple fact that 1 yard would have cost me that much if I had purchased it in the stores. I emailed the seller and she sent me a sample of the fabric, the second I got it in my hands I knew it would be perfect. It's a deep rich Robin's Egg blue color with threads of chocolate brown running through the fabric. It arrived in the mail in less than a week.

A few weeks (or maybe months) later they are hanging up!!! Over the thanksgiving holidays I took my sewing machine out and finally finished one of my many sewing projects. They came out perfect, and Britt loves to pull them closed on the weekends so he can sleep late. I am still throwing around ideas for throw pillows (ha ha) but this is what it looks like for now.

We are making great progress considering 10 months ago this room had a 42" TV hanging on the wall and the mattress was on the floor (everyone scream with me "bachelor pad"). And 6 months ago it looked like this...

Don't you think with all the money I saved him on curtains we should take a trip to Zgallerie to purchase some art work for the room??? Pleassseeee

It's Not That Complicated

Nancy Meyer is a writer, producer, director and frankly a pure genius. Her movie set designs have graced many a design blogs, and all of them are sheer eye candy. Christmas Day she is going to do it again with Meryl Streep in the new movie "It's Complicated." Can I go see a movie just to get design ideas? I know you have seen some of her movies: The Parent Trap, Something's Gotta Give, The Holiday, and Father of the Bride. Each of those movie sets could be an entirely different blog post in itself. Saturday was a much needed lazy day, I got to watch two of her movies, and I fell in love with them all over again. Today I leave you with her latest and greatest set from "It's Complicated." Thanks to Traditional Home for giving us these fab photos (click on the link to check out the rest of the design set), and Jon Hutman the production designer!!

Love the color scheme in this room, very stylish and calming.

I adore this kitchen, it looks like someone really cooks in here!!

Very fitting that the star of the movie (Meryl) owns a bakery.

What a great mix of bright colors in this living room.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

I know, I thought about licking the picture on my computer screen also, but trust me it does not taste good. This has become Britt's new favorite desert, and it's so easy to make I feel guilty. My man is a simple man. I have spent hours squeezing juice out of tiny little key limes to have enough to make a pie completely from scratch, but he would not even touch it. But mix some cream cheese in a box with sugar and dinner rolls and he is the happiest man alive. I love my simple man.

We had a Mexican theme party last weekend and I was called to make desert. I have lived in Mexico for a few years off and on and admit they are not know for their amazing deserts. So I hit the internet and found this recipe, and of course had to put my personal spin on it. I was very nervous about how it would turn out but it was a major hit, and I made it again last night for another party. The only thing I want to try is next time putting an egg in the cream cheese filling, I think it will add that last star to make it a 5 star desert. But for now here is the recipe.....

2 (8 oz) cans of original crescent rolls

2 (8 oz ) packages cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

honey

Preheat oven 350 degrees and grease 13x9 pan.

Mix cream cheese at room temperature, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla until smooth (be careful I burnt my hand mixer out trying to do this, make sure your cream cheese is soft)

Unroll one pack of dinner rolls and pinch the seams together, use a rolling pin to shape it into one 9x13 shape. Press into the bottom of the pan.

Spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the dough in the pan. Unroll remaining pack of crescent dough and shape the same way as other piece and cover the cream cheese filling.

With a pastry brush gently brush melted butter over the top layer of crescent dough.

In a small bowl mix white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon and spread evenly over entire dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. After about 20 minutes check the dough and using your pastry brush spread the butter out to the sides of the dish. (I find that the butter tends to pool in the middle and does not allow to cook evenly). Bake until the dough has puffed up and turned a nice golden brown.

Right when you take it out of the oven drizzle the entire pan with honey.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. If by some miracle you have any leftovers store in refrigerator, and those little squares are even amazingly tasty when cold.

Hey, Soul Sister

I just had to share this picture with you guys (Sorry Ray, if you get in front of my camera chances are you'll end up here!!) I took it with my Nikon D40. This photo is straight out of the camera (SOOC), no photoshop, no cropping, no enhancing, just perfection. Confession - I did play around with the picture in photoshop but nothing I did to it look as good as the original. I love when that happens......

When most people get in front of the camera they have no idea what to do. I'm by no means a professional, and when you mix and non-professional behind the camera, and a not professional in front of the camera you get tons of silly pictures. "Should I smile or be serious? What do I do with my hands?" To which I answered "I don't know." My motto on taking pictures is to take as many as possible and you are bound to get one great pic. After we got through the silliness (i.e. sticking a tennis racket in your face), she looked to the side to see a car turning down the driveway, and my camera captured the natural movement. I love this picture of her, it reflects the essence of who she is - fit, sporty, and beautiful.

This is my cousin Rachel, our mothers are sisters, she grew up with three brothers, so I have adopted her as my little sister (and best friend). She came to me a few weeks ago in need of a picture of herself doing something kinda sporty. We looked through some old photos I had taken of us playing volleyball on the beach last summer, but nothing really worked. I suggested we take new pictures, and what some may call a photo-shoot emerged. We had fun and as always laughed alot.

I also wanted to share some new "Actions" that I downloaded on the internet from some smart people who know a hell of alot more about photoshop than I do. It's been really fun playing around with different pictures and different actions.

Left picture is a boost action and on right a vintage action

Left picture is a heartland action and seventies action on the right