All Things Loved In June

At the top of the list? The Sex & The City movie of course! I loved it so much I've seen it twice already. It was everything I hoped it would be--the clothes, the shoes, the hair--all oh so glamorous! And the scene (no spoilers, no worries!) with Charlotte & Carrie in the street--whomigawd, chills! And how weird was it to hear Carrie call Big, "John"? I laughed, I cried, and that 2 1/2 hours went by in a flash. I already can't wait to see it again!



And then of course, there's my gorgeous new handbag, which I already posted about earlier this month, but have no problem showing off again. The Dooney & Bourke Medium Logo Lock Satchel--love it.



I also recently picked up this super cute canvas clutch from Nine West--perfect for nights out on the town:



And then there's purse hooks--another new love. The answer to my question, "Where should I put my bag?" when I'm at my favorite Mexican restaurant dive. I got mine at The Limited, but a quick google search will send you to some online stores like PurseHook.com. It's pretty compact, and barely takes up any room in my bag. When I need it I just whip it out, hang it over the edge of a table, counter, or bar, and voila! Instant hook for my bag. It's quite the conversation piece, too. I've gotten lots of compliments and remarks on it. And surprisingly enough--mostly from guys.

As for clothes, I got this cute shirt dress and 3 tops from NY & Co. Love that orange! But I think I might have enough of it...for now anyway.





And then one day I wandered into Payless while they were having their BOGO sale, and got 4 pairs of shoes for what I would typically pay for 1 pair! If you haven't checked out a Payless lately, you might want to look again. They had a lot of cute (and cheap!) shoes. Here are my finds:





And in addition to Duffy's song "Mercy" which I blogged about in April, but is finally just now getting some air play (thanks to the fabulous SATC movie!) another song I can't get enough of right now is "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock. I blast it up and sing along at the top of my lungs whenever I hear it. Sure I've gotten a few strange looks from small children and sidewalk cafe diners, but what can I say? It's my summer anthem!

And last but not least--my favorite guilty pleasure this month has got to be "The Bachelorette". Who, oh who, will DeAnna choose?? Will it be Jason--the 31 year old account executive, down to earth, single father of the cutest kid to hit TV since the Gerber baby? And speaking of babies, I cried like one watching Jason and Ty reunite on the hometown date last week. Or will it be Jesse--the 26 year old professional snowboarder in desperate need of a haircut, but all around good guy? Or Jeremy--30 year old real estate attorney with the cutest freckles I've ever seen, and seemingly perfect in a way that makes you wonder if he's really a serial killer? Who will she choose? The suspense is crippling!



Related Posts:
I'm With Mr. Big
Handbag Hunting
All Things Loved In May

My Summer Vacation--Day 2

I started out strong in meeting my summer vacation goals yesterday, doing my part--once again--to save the enviroment (goal E) by recycling the sea of beer cans & bottles lining the kitchen counter from our night of heavy drinking with friends. But alas, Day 2 was not the raging success I'd hoped it would be. F (go on a 9-day bender) & G (update blog daily) continue to dominate the list, as yesterday all I accomplished was updating my blog (2 entries!) and drinking 2 margaritas at dinner. Hey--Day 2 was the day of 2's it seems. Maybe tonight I'll have 3 margaritas?

I fully recognize that F (bender) and D (commit to eating fruit and dropping that last 5 pounds) are in direct conflict with each other. I mention this to G (my husband, not the blog updating goal) this morning as I decide I will NOT spend today (Day 3) laying on the couch eating Nerds like I did yesterday. He replies, "Well..you could drink fruity beer." Genius! I love this man.

Related Posts:
My Summer Vacation--Day 3
My Summer Vacation--Day 1
I've Been Tagged!

I've Been Tagged!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled update of me saving the world, losing 5 pounds, and drinking like I'm auditioning for the Rolling Stones to bring you my answers to this very essential cyberspace questionnaire. Thanks to the fabulous Freckles Chick for inviting me to the party--sorry I was so late in RSVPing! I was tagged on June 11th and just now saw it. Blame the booze.

Here Are the Rules: Answer the following questions about yourself. At the end of the post you pass on the questions to 6 other bloggers and list their names. Then write them a comment telling them that they've been tagged and ask them to read your blog. (Following Freckles Chick's lead, I'm also breaking this rule and just listing the people I'll tag in hopes the bloggers I've picked will read this post and know they've been tagged.)

1. What did you do 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I had just finished up a successful freshman year of college. I spent most of the summer keeping in touch with my new college friends I was convinced I would die without seeing all summer, and re-connecting with my high school friends. We won't mention anything about alcohol since I was only 18 at the time and I want to keep my future Presidential aspirations open.

2. Five items on your to-do list today:
Well, in addition to my summer vacation goals, my goals exclusive to today are:

1. Recover from hangover.
2. Lay on the couch all day, catching up on my Google Reader.
3. Watch about 10 episodes of Sex & The City.
4. Pet Chase.
5. Breathe.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
Nerds candy is one of my biggest joys in life.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Ooh! Ooh! Save the environment and end world hunger so I could cross E off my list!!

5. Places I would live:
I love living in Madison, WI so I have a hard time with picturing myself in other places. I guess I could see myself living pretty much anywhere on the East Coast.

6. Bloggers I am passing the challenge onto are:
Kari, Kelly, Emily (A little somethin' somethin' to get that blog going, girl!), This Is Me, and my good friend Janny.

Related Posts:
My Summer Vacation Is Here!
Meet Chase
My BFF & Her Beautiful Family

My Summer Vacation--Day 1

So I was talking to my sister Brittny, making plans for her to come down for the 4th, and I mention she could drive down any day next week because I have the week off. She replies in shock, "What?!?! You have the whole week off?? You suck!!" To which I reply, "Um. You're a teacher. You have all summer off." Silly girl.

Anyway, Day 1 of my summer vacation was not half bad. So far A, F, & G are getting the most attention. Yesterday I gave the main floor of our house a nice deep cleaning (A). Only 2 more floors to go. I'm updating my blog for the second day in a row, which is keeping G in the running. And as for F--we went to Outback with our friends Andy & Deb last night for some cheesy fries and steaks. YUM! And lots of alcohol. Followed by more alcohol back at our house while the girls whooped the boys at Taboo. There may or may not have been some euchre in there too, but I think I blocked it out.

Ooh! And I did chip away at E (saving the environment) a bit yesterday as we all carpooled to Outback.

As for the start of Day 2--it's been a slow morning. If "getting up before noon" and "combing my hair" had been on my original list, I'd be winning. But unfortunatly they're not.

Related Posts:
My Summer Vacation Is Here!
My Summer Vacation--Day 2
My Sister's Kitchen Transformation

My Summer Vacation Is Here!

Sweet Baby Jesus--my summer vacation is here! I left my office yesterday at 4:30pm, and won't be returning until July 7th--WooHOO!! My brilliant plan for a summer vacation started two years ago. We had recently moved into our house, my to-do list was keeping me up at night, and work was driving me to drink (more than usual). So I decided to take the week of 4th of July off--the entire week--just to regain my sanity. It was the first time I'd ever taken that much time off work without having a big vacay getaway planned. And you know what? It was the best time off I'd ever taken! No stress of traveling, no loss of sleep, no running around doing touristy things. Just relaxing at home, doing whatever I wanted. It was so re-energizing I decided to make it a tradition and do it every year. So today is Day 1 (of 9 days total) that I have nothing planned, nothing scheduled, no commitments--nothing--and I couldn't be happier! Now my only question is--what should I do with all this glorious time?

A. Give my house the spring cleaning it never got?
B. Work on various home projects I haven't seemed to find the time for?
C. Shop my ass off until I can't fit another pair of shoes into my closet?
D. Commit to eating fruit and dropping that last 5 pounds?
E. Save the environment and end world hunger?
F. Go on a 9 day bender, drinking and eating whatever I want?
G. Update my blog daily?

All ideas I've been tossing around. All equally important. All equally self-fulfilling. So far I've gotten a jump start on F after staying out all night last night, drinking uncountable pitchers of beer, topped off by a dinner of potato chips and waffle fries. And G is getting some air play too, as I am currently updating my blog. D was my top priority at 1:00am last night as I examined my ginormous stomach/food baby in the mirror. Although...those cheese fries at Outback are calling my name today. And I do have a bucket of margaritas chilling in the freezer that's going to demand my attention. And that Limited coupon is burning a hole in my--hey I need a new wallet!

You know what? I think I'll shoot for accomplishing all these things. Nine days is practically a lifetime--I can do it. Just after I go back to bed to sleep off the rest of this hangover...

Related Posts:
My Summer Vacation--Day 1
My Summer Vacation--Day 2
My Summer Vacation--Day 3

And The Winner Is...

...the red Dooney & Bourke!

I love this bag, and it loves me back! It's so pretty I had to slap on some matching red lipstick and strike a pose (and this girl never wears lipstick)!

I have to admit, I had a really tough time choosing between the red or yellow. The yellow is just gorgeous, but in the end I decided the red went better with my coloring, and I could use is all year round.

As for the other bags in the running--I couldn't get past the big circle logo on the front of the lime green Michael Kors, and the orange Furla was beautiful but a little too plain for what I was looking for.

And as for the Kate Spade? Well...it's not out of the running yet.


Related Posts:
Handbag Hunting
Another Handbag To Consider
All Things Loved In June

My Spice Cupboard

Time for another organization post--this time it's my spices. This little cupboard is just to the right of our stove so it's a perfect location for spices. However, it's narrow and deep, and wasn't convenient to find what I was looking for.

So I decided to paint the inside of the cupboard door with magnetic paint (it took several coats to get the magnetization strong enough). I then bought little magnetic spice tins at Bed Bath & Beyond and made labels for them on my computer. I now have my most frequently used spices right on the door--so convenient! I also added a small lazy susan turntable on the middle shelf for my lesser-used spices, making them even easier to find.

Related Posts:
A Lot of Wine Went Into This Kitchen
My Sister's Kitchen Transformation
DIY Tufted Upholstered Headboard

Another Handbag To Consider

This gorgeous Kate Spade bag might be giving the green Michael Kors bag from my last post a run for it's money. I love it! Less structured than the MK but that makes it look a little more "summery" to me, which is what I'm looking for. Decisions! Decisions! Any thoughts?

Here it is! The Kate Spade Belle Haven Malva:

And in related handbag news--the yellow Dooney & Bourke satchel arrived on Friday and I love it! Gorgeous bag. Perfect size, love the shape and structure. Now I just need to decide on a color--the yellow or the red? I wish all decisions in life were this much fun!!

Related Posts:
My Kate Spade Bag Has Arrived!
Vegas, 4 Aces, & Kate Spade
And The Winner Is...

Handbag Hunting

Want to help me with my handbag hunt? All my current bags are pretty neutral so I'm itching to add a little color to the mix. Here's what I've narrowed it down to so far:

#1: Dooney & Bourke Medium Logo Lock Satchel in Red
I can't seem to take my eyes off this bag. I bookmarked it in my favorites several months ago and I just keep coming back to it. I love it's shape and structure.



#2: Dooney & Bourke Medium Logo Lock Satchel in Yellow
Same bag as above, only in yellow. I love the yellow (especially after seeing it on Samantha in every other scene in SATC--swoon!) but I think the red might be more my style.



#3: Furla Sirio East/West Shopper
Shown here in red, but I'm interested in the dalia (orange) version of this bag. Orange is my favorite color so I've been keeping my eye out for it, but I couldn't find a pic of this in the orange unfortunately.

#4: Michael Kors Millbrook Canvas Satchel in Ecru/Lime
Another beauty. I'm a huge fan of Michael Kors and this bag looks like it could take a beating--which I sometimes like to subject my bags to. But only when they're naughty. Or when they go on clearance after I've bought them.



So, what do you think? Which one do you like best?

Related Posts:
Another Handbag To Consider
And The Winner Is...
This Bag Needs Me

A Bed That Could Break My Arm

Our master bedroom, unlike the rest of the rooms in our house, was pretty low on the priority list. (Two before photos to the right.)

A fairly sad state of affairs, G and I had been using our childhood bedroom furniture ever since we'd been living together (about 5 years at this point). But in 2007 we finally decided to buy new "grown up" furniture with our tax returns--oh happy day!

Shopping for new bedroom furniture was a bit of a pain (as most furniture shopping is in my opinion). I knew exactly what I wanted, but couldn't find it anywhere. One thing I told G I wanted was a really REALLY big bed. I believe my exact words were, "I want a bed so big that if I fell out of it I'd break my arm." I also wanted something that didn't require a bed skirt. My tastes are pretty contemporary and G likes more of a traditional style. Once we saw this set (pictured below) at American (it's the Lifestyle Furniture line) we were sold. We both loved the size and dark wood finish, I loved the drop ring drawer pulls, G loved the price, and it was a perfect mix of nice clean lines with some traditional elements.

Once we had our furniture ordered, it was time to paint. And for the first time in this house, my initial choice of a paint color was actually something other than green! I decided to do the bedroom in browns and creams--not too girly, and not too masculine. Since the furniture was so large and dark, I wanted to keep the wall color as light as possible. And since I'm easily swayed by paint color names, I chose Sensible Hue by Behr. G was convinced the before and after wall color was exactly the same, so I took this picture (below) which shows the new ivory color on the window wall, and the previous white color on the right wall. Completely different colors--am I right? And I'd like to add--I only had to paint this room once which luckily brought my overall painting average down.


Next up--window treatments. I got these beautiful brown and ivory silk dupioni panels at Linens & Things and the hardware at Bed Bath & Beyond. I had the panels cover the majority of the wall for drama, and then end at the outsides of the window frame to make the window appear larger. The bamboo roman shade, which I thought added some nice texture, is from Target.


I found this gorgeous brown and cream paisley bedding at Crate & Barrel, which tied everything together.







For accent lighting, I decided to do these wall-mounted swing arm sconces from Pottery Barn. They are perfect for reading in bed (which we both like to do) and they don't take up any room on the top of the night stands, which I like.


And last but not least, I jumped on the Empire West ceiling tile craze that hit The Nest in 2007. I got the 3 tiles above the bed for under $10 total. They're a lightweight plastic, but you can't even tell unless you're touching them. They're perfect for that spot--and you can't beat that price!

G still plans to put up crown molding, and I want to change out the overhead light and maybe add a throw rug, but we've come a long way from our hodge-podge of childhood furniture. This room is so comfortable and relaxing, and is now my favorite room in our house!




Related Posts:
The Circle Room
Finishing Up The Kitchen
Parade of Homes--Gorgeous Traditional Style Home

Check out MoreBunkBeds.com for their great selection of children's bunk beds!