Redecorate

So tired.
Life just got super hectic with school and work and everything in between.  

I took this past weekend and began purging our home of more junk.  Could I possibly be addicted to that?  I love love love throwing stuff out.  You just wouldn't be able to tell from the state of our home right now.  Read: messy.

Jarred and I have yet to begin working on our computer desk.  I'm sure it's something we'll be able to slowly work on soon, but I want to make sure the computer room is all spick and span before we begin sanding and painting.

While we are redoing our computer room, I also wanted to begin work on our bathroom.  I have a vision, but I just can't really describe it and can't even draw it really.  I just see it in my mind.  And love the ideas I have.  Along with the extra money to pay credit cards and student loans, my paycheck will go towards buying new home items.  We figure taking it room by room would be best in the end.  We won't lose focus as easily!

I bought a new shower curtain last week and it finally arrived, though I had it delivered to my parents' house.  I greatly recommend West Elm for anyone looking for some nice home items.  With much contemplation, Jarred and I originally decided on this curtain:

...and then I saw the backorder date of November 15.  No thank you.  So I bought us this one:

Happy happy.  I have dreams of glass canisters and a cute gray striped dish for jewelery/etc.  And a cheap white bathmat.  Can't wait for it all to come together!

This will probably be it for the rest of the week.  Mom and I have some fun planned to begin the weekend and I'll be back here to report!

Beginning of the Inspiration

Alright, so as I wrote about around this time last week, Jarred took some vacation days that coincided with my fall break.  While we went to fun places like the distillery, we also hung out around town.  Meaning, we went to the mall and Barnes and Noble.  Favorite. 

Though we like going to the bookstore, we never actually buy anything.  First, we don't have enough room, and second, we don't have enough room.  Get it?

This trip was different.  I had a plan of action.  If you'll see in my sidebar, I'm a pretty huge fan of Design*Sponge.  Huge.  And thank goodness Grace Bonney, in all her glory, came out with a book.  When I heard about it, I nearly peed myself.  But only nearly.  I had been eyeing the book since it came out in September, but wasn't sure whether I wanted to buy it justyet.  But then I thought about it before we went out that afternoon and was all "Heck yeah I'll buy it!".  And I never looked back.  Best purchase ever.  I spent the rest of the afternoon rifling through the book and having my child-like vivaciousness moment of "Wows!". 

Then I started walking around our home looking at what I could do.  And thus I began costing Jarred money.  Sorry Sweets!  We promptly went to Lowe's and bough the supplies needed for my redesign project.  I was giddy with excitement. 

Too bad I had to wait a week to actually begin...

Yesterday while over at my parents' house, I finally got to finish the first project:  filing cabinet redo.  My parents bought me a little metal one right before I went off to college.  It proved very useful, especially in storing valuables away from questionable roommates.  I spent one evening drawing all over the filing cabinet with Sharpies and pasted wallpaper cutouts of cats on it. 

Fast forward to rightnow and the cabinet was still in the exact same state.  I figured the metal cabinet could be something easy to repaint and update.  How right I was.

Just for reference, we went to Lowe's and bought Valspar Premium Enamel spray paint in Primer White (65054), Gloss Exotic Sea (65201), and Gloss Clear topcoat (65058). 

Jarred and I buff off some of the Sharpie marks I had made and peeled off the wallpaper cats.  After sanding, I took some wet paper towels and wiped clean.  Just yesterday, I sprayed the cabinet.  The primer wasn't as great as I thought, but the color and sealant were tops.

I think it turned out great, don't you?

Soon, our computer room will be looking as updated as the cabinet.  I have some other projects to start soon.  The desk you can barely see in the second photo?  Yeah, that's getting painted.  Major.  I spilled polish remover all over the top a few weeks ago, so I'll be glad to cover that spot.  This project may take longer, but I hope to have photos up within the next month. 

Have a happy next week!

Planes and Plans

 Jarred informed me last night that a week ago he was taking some vacation days and we would have been heading to the distillery.  I hate it when he does that!  Just like on August 15th (the day after our anniversary) when he told me "Remember back this time last year?  We were at Hilton Head Island on our honeymoon!" 

Yes.  And we're not at the beach this year.  Thanks for reminding me dude.

Ever since last Friday when I posted pictures of our bourbon trip, Jarred's been bugging me to post photos of our side trip to our town's aviation park.  I had no real interest in the airplanes, but Jarred on the other hand... let's just say that I'm glad I married a man that never lost that child-like vivacity when it comes to everything.  Everything is "Cool!" or "Wow!" or "Look at this!"  So you can only guess that old war planes got extra "Whoas!"  Totes presh.  Yes.  I said totes presh.

I'm not really sure what to say about them.  Maybe I should have gotten Jarred to write this post....

 Super happy to be there.

This weekend will be spent relaxing a bit and doing some DIY projects.  My plans are to spray paint our metal filing cabinet and paint our computer desk as well as make some table cloths.  I won't get done all in one weekend, but I wasn't expecting to anyway.  I don't want to share too many details about what I'm doing because I just want everyone to be impressed at the end result.  Yup.

I've got to get this stuff done quick however because I am starting a new job!  I didn't mention anything during the interview process because I didn't want to jinx it.  I'm pretty excited to be working again, at least part time.  Considering I am still in school, I won't be getting a ton of hours, but whatever extra money we can get will help us out immensely.  

I just might be posting photos of my DIY projects as they're coming along, so be on the look out for a post of two this weekend!

BourbonTown

Day trips are the best. While they still cost money, day trips seem to be just enough for both our wallets and our minds. We're able to get away for a few hours and have fun. Just what the doctor ordered.

Okay, so Jarred and I aren't too unconventional, but we don't make a huge deal out of things like anniversaries or birthdays/holidays. The reason I say this is because for our 1 year wedding anniversary, we had originally planned to take a day trip to some bourbon distilleries. 

Yeah...

But that trip never actually happened.  Of course, Jarred took me to a botanical garden and art museum and the best friggin' restaurant ever in Nashville.  Germantowne Cafe, if you're interested...

Ahem.  Anyway, we finally took the trip to the Bourbon capital of the world, Bardstown, today.  How marvelous it was.  Aside from the fact that the tour was free, the plant wasn't busy and we got our very own private tour. 

Behold, Barton 1792 Distillery!  I wasn't aware at the beginning of the tour that we could use our cameras and I am not displaying photos of the actual distillery or bottling plant.  We went into those too, but I dunno, I just feel weird about showing them.

Outside one of the rickhouses.  Huge!  And there were so many scattered along the property.

 

Inside the rickhouse looking up the elevator shaft.  No one can use it -- gotta climb the stairs to the top!

Huge barrels full of bourbon! Some are aged for 10 years!

Inside the rickhouse was so cool. I think Jarred wanted to skip through it touching all the barrels!

This huge barrel was made by a local high school shop class as a monument to be placed at the welcome sign to Bardstown.  Officials thought it was politically incorrect.  How?  I dunno.  So Barton got it.  Pretty neat!

Jarred was happy!

Yes, of course I had to get a shirt.  Duh.



Totally recommend Barton's or just Bardstown in general.  Very cool and informative tour.  Did you know that there are more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than there are residents?  Yes.  Be blown away.

Font:  Western Swagger

Pugly Pixel:  Staples and Tape

Sun Tricks

Welcome welcome welcome to our updated home!  It's quite cozy isn't it?  Fall weather has me in such a good creative mood that I just got the itch yesterday to change things up.

Aside from the pretty exterior of this blog, there are going to be a few format changes.  I'm not going to be blogging everyday (or more like, feeling guilty for not blogging everyday... ahem) and I will instead be focusing on giving this blog some depth.  Expect more photos to be added and more craftiness.  I hope I've got it in me!

Some quick details -- my new navigation bar under my header will be changing frequently.  My 'About' tab gives more detail about where you can find cool clip art, fonts, and tutorials.  My 'Contact' tab contains a link to e-mail me.  My 'Art' tab is still under construction, and I am currently working on creating an in-depth catalog for my 'Archives' tab. 

Now then, let's get back to it!

This weekend pretty much summed up why I love fall.  Saturday morning was spent lounging at home.  We used our patio for the first time while Jarred smoked a cigar and drank some coffee. I was just bundled up tight in a hoodie and coat.  The sun was out, but our patio was in the shade and the wind was a bit strong.  Still, I could smell fall and hear the neighborhood high school band warming up before a competition.  I'm sure Jarred would say it simply feels like football weather.  Oh boys :-)

Sunday was spent at my parents' house and whatdoyouknow, I remembered to bring my camera along.  And tripod.  I was on a roll.

I don't take too many pictures of the two of us together.  But then again, maybe I do and my Facebook-addled brain is getting the best of me.  In this age of social networking, I feel like I need to always keep up by taking photos.  While some momtographers (synonymous with this) have their cameras surgically implanted to their hand, I only get mildly concerned when my profile picture gets to be over 3 months old.  Is that too long to go without taking a picture of myself?  Will bloggies forget what I look like?

Outside we went for about 15 minutes.  It was windy and cold and my Dumbo ears were throbbing.  But it looked beautiful outside.  Perfect view for photos.

Except, we took most of our photos with our sunglasses on.  Jarred pointed out that quite a few of our recent photos together have been with glasses.  Whoops.

Jarred is very patient with my camera experimentation.  I took one photo of him where the sun rays were hitting him juuust right.  And that was that.  I was hooked and we spent the rest of our time shooting ourselves wearing the sun as a hat.

Can I just say, Jarred takes beautiful photos.  Without any real guidance.  He's just a natural.

He's pretty cute too.

We wanted to make another attempt at a photo, so we made the decision to take some without our sunglasses on.  It was difficult.

It just didn't feel right.

I'll be back Thursday or Friday!

Handsome Man

There are few things I'd rather do on a fall day than sit out on our patio with this handsome man while he enjoys a cigar.  I know he's disappointed we weren't going to the football game this afternoon, but I've got major cleaning and a test to study for.

I'm super excited for fall break coming up soon.  It will be so good to have a few days off and have some adventures with J.  I'll make sure to take my camera with me this time!

Tomorrow I hope to get some time to craft a bit.  I have a super idea for Halloween that I hope to share here sometime next week.  I just have my test on Tuesday and then I'm home free for almost a week for break.  I'm not exactly sure for this bunting/banner will turn out, but I will report back either way, possibly with instructions if I like it well enough.

I still am in the process of writing a review of the Clarisonic.  I've now had it for 2 weeks, so I feel like I can give a good overall first-time review.  Maybe that will be up tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day full of sunshine, breezy air, and football!