It's Warming Up and So Are My April 2013 Mini Goals!

Greeting April means a plethora of things; warmer weather, opened toe shoes, opened windows, and more mini goals!! I really can't believe we are saying hello to the month of April! It seems just like yesterday we were celebrating New Years! I am beyond excited to see what this month has in store for the hubby and myself, hopefully a list full of completed goals!!

Via

1. Complete at least one Pinterest project that I posted about here! I'm hoping painting the front door will happen this month, however, I have some serious crafting to accomplish for my cousin's Bachelorette festivities at the end of the month. I know I will be busy trying to complete that, so I may work on something a bit smaller that will be easier to tackle and finish! I certainly do not want to set myself up for failure before I even get out of the starting gate!

2. Arrive on time to work, every morning. Y'all know about this goal, so no need to explain! If you are new to the blog you can read about it from March, February, and January! At least I know I'll get there on time this week as it is Spring Break and traffic was a breeze this morning!

3. Buy a scale. We have not had a workable weighing scale in our home since we moved into this house over 3.5 years ago! I don't like weighing myself because I am usually very disappointed by what it tells me! However, I've been working on my fitness since January and I really wish I would have started keeping track of my weight at that point. Now that I have added running into my fitness routine, I really am hoping to see a drop in weight and the only way to track that correctly would be through using a scale! It's not something I hope to use every day, maybe just once a week so I can see a significant change! Anyone recommend a good scale? I haven't done my research yet and would love recommendations!

4. Host at least one family lunch, dinner or activity. I have said it more times than I can count, how hard it is to divide time between all of our families. We don't do a lot of random, just because get togethers because there are often birthday celebrations or holiday's traditions we participate in! I wouldn't mind hosting a dinner or lunch for some of the family or even an activity of some sort, like visiting the local zoo! I'll have to get creative on the activity but you get the point!

5. Accomplish the 30 Miles in 30 Days workout plan. Nikki over at The Pink Growl did this last month and I think it's a BRILLIANT idea!! The point is to clock at least a mile a day, whether it's running, biking, walking or the doing the elliptical. If you miss a day or two, you have to make it up in another day! I am reeeeeeally excited about doing this and hope adding this to my fitness routine will help me see more good results with my body, energy levels, and stamina! I've already started clocking miles with running a few days a week but I love the option to use other methods to clock miles as well! I plan on hitting the bike or elliptical after my Pilates class tonight to clock my first mile!



6. Figure out if blogging is really something I want to do and stick with! I'm not going to lie, blogging is exhausting me. I stay up incredibly late creating posts the night before. I mean like midnight to 1 a.m. which has really taken a toll on me! I don't feel like I'm forming solid relationships either, because I can't seem to show many readers and other bloggers the attention they deserve! It's hard to juggle this with a full time job and an active home life! Seriously, I'm dying to know how some of you do it, especially those of you with children!! I hope to really reflect on this for April. I don't necessarily want to leave the blogging world, because I do love it, but if I don't learn how to juggle it correctly, I'm going to end up dropping balls in other aspects of my life and I just can't sacrifice those things for this little piece of the Internet world.

7. Start working on renovations in the kitchen. Being that we've been in our home for so long now, I have no idea why we really haven't tried harder to complete the kitchen! It really is the one room in the house where we haven't done ANYTHING, except for replacing the dishwasher and the oven. Our goal is to replace the flooring, refurbish the cabinets, add new hardware, paint the walls, add back splash, install new faucet, purchase a new refrigerator and replace the counter tops! It seems like a lot reading it but our kitchen is small enough that it's not going to be a crazy project to take on, as long as we do one step at time! First step?! Take the hideous 80's wall paper border down!

8. Try harder to prepare better for birthdays and other special events! I will always promise that I will never show up empty handed for a birthday or other special occasion celebration! However, I am HORRIBLE at waiting until the last minute to buy a gift! I would loooove it if I could think so far in advance that we can purchase something more sentimental and personal! I'm a lover of ANYTHING personalized, but I never seem to treat anyone to those kinds of gifts because I'm a crazy procrastinator! I also want to utilize Etsy for more unique and thoughtful gifts as well, which also involves thinking far in advance! I just need to reference my planner more frequently! What's the point of having that if I don't use it?!

9. Develop the attitude of "It is what it is". Here's your shout out Taylor! My little sister and the hubby have this mindset which is very different from my own! I tend to worry about everything, to over analyze everything, and to try and fix everything and sometimes that adds an unnecessary amount of emotional stress to my life! I don't want to adopt this attitude completely, because I feel that my personality allows me to express my compassion on a greater level, but I do want to rid myself of emotional stress beyond my control. It is what it is, there is nothing I can do to change it, therefore I must accept it.

10. Secret goal! As much as I want to share this, for my well being I can't. If things change from this goal I will, without a doubt, publicly tell you about it, but at this moment I have to protect myself and certain parts of my life. I'm including it on this list, because if I write it down, I tend to stick to it!! If your curiosity is getting the best of you and you would like to know what it is, shoot me a comment or email, I'm totally okay with sharing it privately!

As always, some of these are a bit easier than others! I brought a few over from last month but I am really excited to have added some new ones to the list! Any of you trying new goals for the month of April?! I'm looking forward to what this month will bring, including warmer weather, though the forecast for this week isn't looking too swell in the warmth department!

Be sure to check out my April Sponsors to your left in my sidebar!!! I am beyond thrilled to add them to TRYHOSOVA Family!

XoXo!

Crafts on the To Do List!

Thanks to Pinterest, I am forever adding crafts to my To Do list! Have I done any of them?! I'm pretty sure I haven't, but let's be real for a moment. The point of Pinterest is to inspire us and give us ideas on new meals to cook, new outfit combinations to try, new home decorations to create, and do-it-yourself gifts and projects to make. There really is an unlimited  amount of ideas you can pin and draw inspiration from!

Since I haven't really followed through with any of my DIY crafts or home decor pins, I'm making it a point to, hopefully, in the coming months work on creating some pieces I've added to my boards! I don't want to set myself up for failure so I'm not going to try anything that will be too intense or expensive {I'm on a super severe spending freeze at the moment}. Those big projects will have to wait, however, the ones that are easy on the pocket and time are what I'm hoping to accomplish! 

Via

I really would like a new front door, however to extend the life of the one we have for a wee bit longer I think painting it may be a better alternative! I love this mint color and think it would look great with our contrasting black shutters! I may just paint it black though, as to keep it all cohesive!

Via

These are burlap covered canvases with the initials drawn on with a black sharpie marker!  

Via 

I am dying to make this Acrylic Tray!!! And I think with how inexpensive it is, I may have to make one for every room!!!

Via

I would love to do this with me, the hubby, and Baby Reef and hang them as a part of our gallery wall I am planning to put up in our hallway!

Via

I definitely would like to do this with one of our home keys as a part of the gallery wall as well! 

These are all pretty simplistic, wouldn't y'all agree?! I'm looking forward to accomplishing some of these sooner than later! There is A LOT going on in our home right now! I may even "bare it all" to you soon and share how imperfect the inside of our home is! Lots of projects going on at once and never enough time to finish them! 

Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend!! We had snow yesterday! Yes, snow at the end of March! Where is Spring?!?! I hope it's closer than it appears!!! Have a lovely Monday my darling's and don't forget to enter my Give Away here!! It ends on Friday! XoXo!

Friday's Letters!

Friday is here! Hallelujah! I feel really repetitive when I say this has been the longest week ever, but really, this one has! Not so much long in time, just crazy emotionally draining days that make the week seem to last for forever!  I need this all girls slumber party I'm attending tonight and I have no doubt it will offer copious amounts of wine too, which is quite therapeutic in my humble opinion!

Via

Dear PMS, You are a Bitch. Plain and Simple. You make me behave in ways that are shameful. You would think by now I'd know how to handle you, but seriously, you are different every month and I can't keep up! You make me a horrible person and I hate you! Dear Memorial Service I Am Attending Today, Please know I will be an emotional wreck. Not only is this my boss's second family loss in two weeks but it's also her teenage daughters! I can remember, like it was yesterday, losing my grandparents in high school and I was around her age. It was difficult and I was sad for so long! I'm not sure I can bare to see either my boss or her daughter this afternoon, but I hope they know how much they are loved! Dear Harris Teeter, You really make my grocery shopping experience so much fun!!! Your produce section may be my favorite part of the entire store {next to the wine aisle, of course}. You carry the most vegetables I have ever seen and some I have never even heard of! I am always eager to browse what you are offering and try new things! Tonight I grabbed some brussel sprouts along with our normal veggie staples. The hubby and I have had them before but they are not a common vegetable in our home and I've never tried actually cooking them. I'm really excited to add a new vegetable to our meal plans... that is if they come out tasting well! Dear Ballard Designs, You make my life complete! I love everything in your catalog and wish I had an unlimited budget to buy EVERYTHING and fill my home with all your wonderful goodies! I definitely hope to revamp our outside patio this summer and include some items from your outdoor collection! Dear Dancing with the Stars Season 16, I'm going to be honest with you, the only reason I will be watching you, is to support my Brit Love, Lisa Vanderpump!  She really is breaking out from The Real Housewife franchise and making a name for herself outside of the wives! With Vanderpump Rules and now Dancing with the Stars under her belt, that woman really can do it all! I am always in complete awe of her {and her closet} and I am beyond excited to see her dance her booty off!!

Enjoy your weekends, darlings!!!! See you Monday! XoXo!

Spring is Near & March 2013 Mini Goals are Here!

March is always an exciting and LUCKY month to me because it means Spring is right around the corner!! Warmer days will be here before we know it {at least in my area of the world} and I'll be able to enjoy driving around with the sunroof open and the warmish breeze in me hair! Ohhh it's so close I can almost reach out and touch it! As usual, with a new month comes new goals and new sponsors, so be sure to check out the side bar {if you are interested in sponsoring I am currently booking for April and May for FREE}! I really excelled last month and have to say I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish! Some goals were carried over in hopes to continue improving upon them! I hope March is just as stellar and productive as February.

Via

1. Continue to purge and organize the house, one room at a time and donate all to Goodwill. As I've said since January, this is a continuous task throughout our home! I hope to pack up a car load and drop off quite a few things to Goodwill Thursday evening! Our dinning room is a bit junkie since I have a HUGE donation pile building in there! I'd like to have my dinning room table and room back to normal!

2. Finish reconstructing my resume. This should really be a top priority to me and I hope to finalize it as much as possible, but also, to design it so that I can easily change information to fit specific career applications. I know once I finish this, I'll be more eager to search and apply to job opportunities that fit what I would like to do for the rest of my life!

3. Arrive on time to work, every morning! This will be continuous until I learn to get up on time, get myself moving and out the door and to work on time! I'll be honest, it has turned into a joke at my office but I enjoy going out for my hour lunch break and when I'm late for work I usually don't take that hour to leave. I'd like to power walk more during the week on my break or even sit in my car and read a book just to regroup and get out of the office for some personal time.

4. Stay off of the phone and computer on evenings we are both home. It is so easy to be distracted with the computer and our cell phones when we are sitting down and relaxing in the evenings together. I really want us to give one another 100% of our attention in the evenings when we are talking about our day's events, our schedule for the upcoming week, or plans for the weekend! It gives us time to unwind and connect daily without outside distractions. We can use cell phones and computers all we want when the other person is not home, is sleeping, or is not in the same room, however, when we are sitting together, talking in the same room, technology is off limits!

5. Update our iPhones. To say we are techno- illiterate is an understatement! I try to keep up, teach myself, and learn the ins and outs of the technology products we use regularly, however, for the most part it's all completely over my head! We both have had our iPhones for over a year and a half and while I did update mine once, about a year ago, the hubby has not updated his, AT ALL! He can't even access the Twitter App on his phone because it needs to be updated! I've been apprehensive to do the updates because I hear people always complaining about losing their contacts! That makes me more paranoid than it probably should! Seriously, if anyone knows how to update the iPhone without losing contacts, I'm going to need you to give me a play by play on how to perform the update! Please and Thankyou!

6. Keep a better track of our expenses. I used to be really good about keeping up with my bank account and account register but then I started using online banking and realized I could have my balance at my fingertips. When I started utilizing the online banking {and opened joint checking with the hubby}, I slowing stopped using my register, therefore I stopped keeping track of all the money I was spending. I'd like to get back to writing it all down and keeping track of it, penny for penny. It may sound a bit particular, but it'll give me a better idea on how much is going out, on what it's going out to, and what we may could cut back on to save more! I hope we can save all our receipts and I can log what we have spent daily. By the end of March we should be able to tell more about our spending habits and how to control the frivolous unneeded purchases!

7. Work on my own reactions when others are rude to me. I don't know about you but it seems here lately we've run into really rude people. People who push through doorways when you are trying to walk through the same door {and they don't say excuse me}, people who don't hold doors open for you when your hands are full or you are a few feet behind them, people who bump into you and don't say excuse me, folks who are blatantly rude and sarcastic in emails or other forms of communication, folks who cut you off in traffic and don't get the thankyou wave and when people are rude when first meeting you to the point that my husband even makes a comment at how rude the person was. Yes, the last one was definitely personal. If my husband says something about the rudeness of the person... well then... you're freaking rude! Normally when I feel I've been slighted or disrespected I am quick to make a sarcastic comment like "Really? There are 5 other doors and you want to walk through the one I am walking through?" very loudly so I know the person hears me. It's not totally nice on my part, however I think it should be brought to the attention of the person that they are, in fact, being rude! Because I know my reactions aren't always nice, I am working on not reacting and keeping a smile on my face! It keeps me from sweating the small stuff, like the person's rudeness. I do believe today will welcome my first test, wish me luck!

8. Find a cobbler/shoe repair shop to spruce up some of my damaged heels and to put life back into my Tory Burch's. For some reason I am extremely hard on my shoes. I plan to show y'all this in a post all it's own of how damaged the majority of my shoes are! My TB's are no exception. I've had them a little over a year and it looks as though they are ten years old! The leather is worn off on the toes, on the sides and on the heels, the insoles are starting to lift, and I have a tear on the inside heel of one shoe! I've loved them and worn them to death! Considering the price tag they come with it's not an option to just to go buy a new pair so I'm hoping to have them repaired and looking like new sooner rather than later! Hopefully some of my shoes aren't too far gone and they can be saved including my Tory's.

9. Keep writing honest and true posts for my readers! Last month I noticed a lot of bloggers posting about how they needed to get back to posting "real.honest.true-to-themselves-posts". While, I feel I haven't strayed from this, I do feel the need to share more of these kinds of posts! From the ones I have written and shared I have received some great feedback and support and I have made some great connections because of it! I want to continue those connections, those friendships and the support! It is inspiring to me and I hope my honest posts and ramblings are inspiring to others too!

10. Try to arrange at least one family lunch/dinner. Our family is huge! As I've shared before we both come from divorced parents where everyone has been remarried. Therefore, instead of four immediate families, we have close to eight! To have Sunday family dinner's is not something I could host, but I would love to have at least one or two families over a few times a month for dinner or afternoon lunch, starting this month! We aren't promised tomorrow and that is becoming more and more evident to me every day! I want us to spend as much time with our families as possible for we never know what the future will bring and how much time we have left with all of them!

I am really excited to have added some new goals to my list this month! I hope I haven't set myself up to fail as some of these are a bit harder than others, but I feel with my persistence and determination I can really accomplish these! Positive thoughts lead to positive results right?!

Hope you darlings are having a fantastic start to the week {I'm not going to say the dreaded "M" word}  and if you have goals for the month of March, please feel free to share!!! I'd love to form a little cheerleading group for one another!!  I am finalizing details on my Favorite Things give-away! It will be occurring this month so stay tuned! XoXo!

Weekend Recap!

Happy Monday, Darlings! I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful weekend! As I mentioned on Friday here, we didn't have any huge plans which was more than welcoming considering we have some jammed packed weekends coming up! It was nice to sleep in, lay around, and just soak in the laziness for a bit!

Friday evening we attended a beer tasting at Bon Vivant Market, a wine and beer shop, in nearby Smithfield {home of Gwaltney bacon}. Now, this was our first beer tasting and visit to this location. Bon Vivant also has a location in nearby Suffolk, which is closer but they weren't having any activities for the evening! As I had made a priority here, I've really wanted the hubby and I to have more adventurous-outside-of-the-box date nights and stray away from the typical dinner dates we are known to have! I thought the beer tasting would be a great first outside-of-the-box date, especially since the guest speaker was Kevin O'Connor from the local O'Connor Brewing Company, which the hubby's employer distributes and to which I just picked up a six pack of, for the hubby, at the beginning of last week! Coincidence? I think not!

Our beer glasses! 

The hubby was on board for the tasting so I made the final decision to attend. I was home by six {the wine tasting started at seven and the location was thirty minutes away}but of course I had to change clothes, touch up my makeup, and tend to the dog. We left the house at 6:30 and made it to Bon Vivant at 7:10 {ten minutes late} and from there I knew why they said arrive promptly at seven. The parking lot was full and this store looked smaller than my old 700 square foot apartment. We walked in to about 25 people staring at us in a area we could barely squeeze through! We were given our complimentary glasses and a pour and stood cramped and close as we listened to Kevin O'Connor explain his different beers, the types of hops used in each one, and how he immensely enjoys his beer craft. We also learned the story of how IPA got it's name! If you don't know definitely check it out here!! It's very interesting and being that Im not a huge beer drinker, I enjoyed learning something new! After some more tastings and Q&A, we picked out some beers to purchase and headed out! We ate dinner at a Thai/Asian Fusion restaurant close by and continued on home! Once home we headed to bed as the hubby had the sniffles and wasn't feeling well, not to mention he was exhausted from his work week! Waking up at 3 a.m. every morning, working till 1 p.m., and then coaching baseball the rest of the afternoon until 6 p.m. can wear a man out! To say I worry about him getting enough sleep is an understatement!

Saturday we spent much of the day catching up on sleep and relaxation! We woke up/ rolled out bed at... noon... yes, call us pathetic, but it was raining and we didn't have plans! What else was there to really do?! Once we were out of bed, we plopped our tushies down on the couch and recliner for more laziness! I did give myself my weekly manicure and the hubby ended up napping some more! After a few more hours of all that laziness we had to get ready for dinner with his family. The hubby's Uncle and Aunt had some slight renovations done on their home and wanted to show us as well as have the family all together for a nice meal and conversation. His Aunt made chicken curry which was heavenly and apparently his grandmother's recipe, which I am going to need to add to my recipe book and so we can continue to pass it down through the family! The wine was flowing, the conversation going, and the food spectacular! It really was an incredibly fun evening! While enjoying the fire after dinner, I noticed that Pippa, one of the house kitties was enjoying staring into the smoldering fire. I HAD to snap a photo of her just sitting there, so sweet and still, just staring!

Sweet kitty Pippa staring into the fire!  

I felt like taking a selfie! 

Yesterday, we slept in a bit and then enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The hubby had baseball practice at noon so after he headed out I decided I would get myself together and venture out on an area rug hunt! I've been looking for an area rug for the office/library since I began redecorating and haven't had much luck! I knew I wanted a lighter colored rug to offset the dark browns of the furniture, the curtains, and the floors but I hadn't been able to find one within my budget or taste. At the recommendation of Todd's Uncle and Aunt at dinner the night before, I decided to check out Ollie's Bargain Outlet, which is on the same spectrum as Big Lots, but BIGGER! I had never been but, after they told me of their massive area rug selection, I decided I didn't have much to lose! I am beyond glad I went, because I found a rug! I actually found five and had to make a decision on just one! The best part?! It was under $100!!! I'm unsure if I am going to keep this one as I think a few of the others that I picked out would look better but regardless I now know where to go when I need an area rug or runner!

Please don't mind the quality of the majority of the photos as some are Iphone photos! And don't mind the mess of this room either! It's still in the works! 

Laying out the new rug! 

View from the front door. 

When I left to head out to Ollie's I noticed the owners of the town home next to us were cleaning it out and had a few pieces of furniture sitting by the side of the road. One piece was a really great looking antique hunter green upholstered chair and the other was a a light mintish green velvet tufted bench! I immediately fell in love with the bench but noticed it was stained in some areas and needed some tlc. So, I did what any blogger would do... I snapped a photo on Instagram and asked my followers if I should snag it up! I had fourteen YES comments and twenty-one "likes" and considering I couldn't get the bench out of my head as I was looking for the rug, I knew I had to have it! I came home praying it would still be there {you'd be surprised at how quickly things go when they are on the side of the road} and when I saw that it was, I quickly scooped it up and carried it into the house! After rolling out the rug and having my neighbor Catherine's opinion, I set the bench up as a coffee table and displayed a few books and other decorative pieces on it! I have to say I love it! I need to work on cleaning the stains but for now it doesn't look terribly bad!

Bench and Chair being trashed! 

Now it has a perfect place in our home!

Close up. 

Details

Top view

So honestly, what do you think of the new additions?! I'm digging the bench 100% but I'm still unsure on the rug. I have 30 days to return it so I may give it a week OR I may even go purchase the other two , bring them home, and see which one looks best! No harm in that right?!

Any of you do any home decorating or serious sleeping this weekend?! Enjoy your Monday! If you stayed up late watching the Oscars like myself, you're probably walking around half awake today!! I've got to give myself a legit bed time!! XoXo!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

As I type this I have had a mind splitting headache for over 24 hours! This is nothing new. I get them every 3.5 weeks and they always occur on a Tuesday and last through Wednesday! It's absolutely debilitating but I have to trump through an eight hour work day, 2 hours of rush hour, and all my day to day responsibilities! Nothing relieves them either, no Excedrin, no midol, no hot relaxing showers, no dark rooms, no silent surroundings, NOTHING! I won't lie, I am miserable and so desperate for relief that the pain can cause me to suffer a break down! The constant pain is enough to make anyone go bat shit crazy! Since I'm in a horrible mood, I HAVE to talk about what I'm loving today and this week to give me some sense of positivity!

1. The Vine Iphone App! Have y'all seen this?! It's a bit over the top but it is pretty fun! Twitter has status updates, Instagram has photo updates, Vine ...Vine has VIDEO updates! Six seconds of video fun! It was only a matter of time before someone figured videos would be the next big thing! I'm not sure if it will be as popular as Twitter and Instagram but none-the-less it's a new social media outlet folks can add to their list! Bloggers are no exception.

2. This blog. Holy Moly I have found my home decor redesign heaven! The complete look I am going for in our home is ALL here! This gal has inspired me big time now that I can visualize everything! I have finally decided on what to do in our kitchen! Let the renovations begin!

3. My mom's new yorkie, TinkerBelle. My mom got a new eight month old yorkie puppy last week! She already has Duchess, who is a yorkie mix and is my mom's little best friend. but mom received an opportunity last week that she couldn't pass up and now Duchess and my mom have a new pal! TinkerBelle is the sweetest little gal ever! She loves to spend time and sleep in your lap and she isn't timid around anyone! Very much a social butterfly! I can not wait for Baby Reef to meet her! I'm just hoping he doesn't think she is a stuffed animal!


TinkerBelle with Momma at work!

4. Plumbing issues being fixed! We've been have some issues with the drain pipe of our washing machine recently! About six months ago we had someone come and snake the line because water was overflowing out of it! Well a month or so later the problem came back! Not severe, but add a few months to that and it ended up being a dern water fall every time we did laundry! After a few days of checking drains and trying to find the issue, we had to call a plumber again! Luckily they found the problem, fixed us up and now we are back to normal! It's amazing how little things can wreck havoc! I couldn't use the washing machine OR dishwasher for a week! It was driving me bonkers!

5. Supporting others! I like to think I'm a natural born cheerleader, especially when it comes to others! There are so many people in my life {Real Life and Blog Land} who are trying to achieve their goals and dreams and I couldn't be happier for them! It's really uplifting to me when I see people being supportive of one another! It's how the world should be! I hope the people in my life continue to feel inspired and reach their dreams, no matter what they are and I promise to continue supporting and cheering them on!!

 

 

Hope all of you are having a stellar day and an even better week! I hope to be as good as new tomorrow! Until then, I'll be the chick at her desk with her sunglasses on in the dark with her office door shut to block out ALL the noise! Here's to hoping my lunch time power walk will help me feel better! XoXo! 

Four Favorites - Valentine's Day!

As much as I love having my normal go to blog posts throughout the week I've been wanting to mix things up for a bit to prevent myself and my readers from getting bored with my content! Last week I was asked to join in this week's Link Up with Fancy Things and Let It Be Beautiful and I am quite excited! Each Week these ladies host a Link Up showing four of their favorite items pertaining to a certain category! This week is Valentine's day and these are my Four Favorites! 

I am drooling over the rustic yet classic valentine decor! I love the simplistic romantic feel and the silhouettes are an added bonus! You can't go wrong with a classic pale pink nail polish! I own several shades of pale pinks; mattes, shimmers, sparkles, you name it, I probably have it! Something about pale pink screams girly and Essie supplies many many girly pink shades! My next manicure will most definitely consist of pale pink in honor of Valentine's Day! Kate Spade is one of my all time favorite classic designers! All of her details are simple, clean, and concise and can be worn for years to come. I considered her pieces an investment! These Karolina Bow Pumps are to die for! They can be perfectly paired with a black pencil skirt or ivory slacks and can be worn year round! Lastly,  what gal doesn't love a bouquet of pink peonies?! I wouldn't mind coming home to a bundle of these for lovely ole Heart Day! *hint hint hunnie* 

 
Happy Hump Day my loves! I will be enjoying the 70 degree weather today and gearing up for the end of the week and an eventful weekend! XoXo!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Truth be told I really missed you all yesterday! I hope you were able to head over and check out the guest post and learn about some great spots to visit while in my neck of the woods! Now that is Wednesday you all know what it is on the agenda for today - WILW!

1. The Return of White Collar! Thank you Jesus! Enough said. I am so ecstatic that my Tuesday night dates with Matt Bomer have finally returned! Did any of you watch this?! Not going to be lie, but at the end of the episode when Neal becomes overwhelmed with emotions and starts to tear up, yea well I teared up too! Nothing worse than seeing a man cry!

2. Not having to cook dinner for two nights in a row! As much as I love whipping up meals in the kitchen, sometimes it is nice to come home and just relax! Gym nights are usually easy meals, but Monday we opted for left overs or whatever was quick. Last night, the hubby had an evening meeting at work and he gets the perk of having dinner provide. Me? I had a sandwich, which was perfectly fine with me!

3. Replacing picture frames to match our library/office decor. If you read regularly and/or follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been working on redecorating our home office. I want it to be somewhat masculine like a library but incorporate some feminine touches. Since I am going for a French decor theme with golds, browns, silvers and creams I decided to replace current framed photos with appropriate ornate frames! It's turning out to look really great and I can't wait to replace them all, move furniture around, find a large cream area rug and add a few more pieces to the room! If I was smart I would have taken some before photos but you can see from this photo that the large 16 x 20 frame are the types of frames I am replacing!

Yea, photo quality is crap... I really need to buy my new camera! 

4. One of my Christmas presents shipping out today! Yes, you read that correctly! The hubby ordered one of my most wanted gifts off of my list before Christmas, however he missed the cut off date to have it delivered for Christmas day. Totally fine in my book - I had plenty of other awesome gifts to open that morning! The order status for the last two weeks has read that it has been 'waiting to be shipped' so we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally after enough waiting, we inquired with the company about the status and they informed us it is shipping out TODAY! I can't wait to show you all what it is!!!

5. Strongbow - England's Dry Cider! No I have never been to England but I do enjoy English beverages, including tea AND Strongbow! I am not a huge beer drinker. Actually I am not a beer drinker at all except for cider beers {which are actually considered 'Apple Wine'}, including WoodChuck, Strongbow, and BoldRock! Funny story though, my baby sister used to date a boy from England and he informed us a time ago that Strongbow was actually the Natural Light of English Beers! I don't know how accurate that is considering I have never been there but regardless I enjoy it! There is a nice six pack in the fridge as I type!

I'm hoping you all are having a stellar Wednesday! Baby Reef is at doggie daycare today, I'm going for my 2.5 mile lunch time powerwalk {in 32 degree weather...yuck}, and will be ending the two day cookless streak with a homecooked meal this evening! Oh yea and I'll throw some work in there somewhere too! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my Sponsor Thursday and get to know a new friend!!

Weekend Recap!

Whew! What a fantastic weekend we had! As much as I love lazy weekends where we literally stay in our jammies the entire weekend, I really enjoy accomplishing projects and being productive more! Being busy actually makes the weekend feel longer than when we waste it away doing nothing!

Friday evening was spent with just Baby Reef! The hubby was out of town for a Coach's Clinic which meant I got to watch more season one episodes of White Collar and snuggle with the pup! I did manage to clean up more Christmas stuff and straightened up our living area! Not an exciting evening to most but it was nice to come home from work and just relax with nothing to do!

Baby Reef hanging out with momma on the couch!

Saturday, I woke up at eight, which is so not the norm for Saturday, had my breakfast smoothie and put myself together for a morning of antiquing with my neighbor {we will call her "C"}! Before getting started, we headed to Starbucks and laughed with the drive thru worker at how completely inadequate we were at being professional Starbuck customers! We learned we don't know what size XL is {Trenta by the way} and I NEVER can pronounce Chai correctly! After getting our Starbucks fix for the month {since we aren't Starbucks junkies} we headed out to the stores I was familiar with only to find one closed, one overpriced, and one with a little old lady who followed us around the entire store literally talking our heads off! We booked it out of there when she was changing the RECORD on her record player! Sweet lady but I lost count after the 8th time she told us items were on sale and that her dear husband was in heaven!

While headed home we happened to randomly see another store that looked as though it had potential! We made a quick U-turn and headed in! Boy were we right! This store was a little gem and I'm quite upset I'm just finding it when, apparently, it's been there for the last 13 years! So many pretties to look at; jewelry, glassware, furniture, pictures, lamps, dressers, beds, and the list goes on and on and on! I scored a beautiful Duncan Phyfe round lamp table for our office/library that matched the rich mahogany furniture we already have in that room! Great price and great condition! "C" purchased the cutest coral colored vintage stud clip on earrings for only $2.50!! I seriously can't wait to pay this place another visit and find more pieces to compliment our home and my jewelry box!

My new accent table for the library/office!

The hubby came home from his conference in the early afternoon and considering the foggy gloomy weather we opted for a small afternoon nap! Who doesn't love those? Once we woke from that we decided to get ourselves together and head to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner! We hadn't been in a awhile and decided we needed to go somewhere with a 1,000 item menu list and cheesecakes that literally stick to my hips! After waiting 45 minutes for a table, browsing the menu wasn't too tedious. We tried a new app, their fresh made guacamole and I ended up ordering the Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp while the hubby ordered Fish Tacos! Both of our meals were scrumptious and we were proud of ourselves for trying something new! Of course we ended the evening with an order of cheesecakes - TO GO!

30th Anniversary Cheesecake! Yuuummmm!

After dinner we headed to HomeGoods since I wanted to look at area rugs and window treatments! That place is probably my favorite store on the planet! I could spend hours in there!! We had no luck with rugs but did find some window treatments and photo frames. The hubby also found a recliner but the price tag was a wee bit more than we were willing to spend for HomeGoods. Once we arrived home I immediately hung up the new curtains and HATED them, though I did leave them up thinking I may like them the next morning! No such luck, plus the hubby hated them too! Whew, glad he and I can agree on such things like home decor!

Curtains I had hanging before!

The linen curtains I just could not learn to love! And no the walls are not yellow! The light makes it seem that way though!

Yesterday morning, we headed to brunch with the hubby's grandmother, mom, stepdad, uncles, aunt and cousins! Always a great time and pretty great food too! I indulged in one too many scones - they were fantastic! After brunch I went and exchanged the window treatments and while at TJ Maxx I saw the same recliner chair that was at HomeGoods the night before! The only difference was this chair had a clearance sticker on it, with a price I would pay! I still had no idea where exactly it would go in the living room so I passed up the purchase.  I then headed to Lowe's to look for the curtains C had sent me a photo of earlier in the morning! Found them, bought them and I'm quite pleased with them! Once I arrived home, I told the hubby and C about the chair and how I passed up the deal! Somehow, C convinced us to go back and get the chair, so we did, along with a new lamp for the new table! C helped us move furniture around and figure out a good fit for certain pieces and I have to say I like it! After 3.5 years of having the same set up, it will take an adjustment, but I really like the different look! Not to mention our library/office is coming a long great! C also fed us some of the best chili I've ever had! It had just enough kick but the right amount of sugar to sweeten it up! It was a huge hit! I will definitely snag that recipe from her as soon as possible and I will be sharing!

New table with New lamp!

New Curtains! Just need holdbacks and we need to move the desk to another wall!

Hubby in his new recliner!

Needless to say we had a pretty eventful weekend, the majority of Christmas stuff got transferred to the attic, the hubby has a new "man" chair, and I finally decided on curtains for our office! I made a decorating decision! That's a huge deal so the weekend was definitely worth it!

Hope you all had equally fantastic weekends!!! Happy Monday!!!

Friday's Letters!

Has anyone else noticed this week was a bit slower than the usual or was it just me? It may have been all the Holidays off that spoiled me with three and four day work weeks. A girl can get used to that... and well... this girl did get used to that!

Via

Dear 1 hour weight session last night at the gym, Thank you for allowing me to wake up with jello for arms! I couldn't even lift my toothbrush to clean my pearly whites and I had a really difficult time slapping on my makeup! If anyone sees me today and notices I look like a clown, it's because I started crying while blending and gave up trying to raise my arms to finish my makeup application! Dear Hubby, when have I ever brought a basket of unfolded clean clothes upstairs and set them in the hallway? Never. So why would you assume the basket of rumpled up clothes in the hallway were clean? Thank you for making me rummage through my dresser trying to determine which clothes were dirty and thank you, my love, for making me laugh endlessly when you tried to blame it on me! Oh how I love you and your humor! Dear Weekend, I am really looking forward to you and the warmer temperatures you are bringing! I see organizing, cleaning, redecorating, antiquing, thrifting, and even possibly beach going with Baby Reef in the plans! Dear Brent Musberger, I don't believe you were out of line, what-so-ever, for accusing Katherine Webb of being BEAUTIFUL! What female wouldn't want to be referred to, on national television, as beautiful!? You were only stating the obvious and I am appalled at the backlash you have received for such statements! If Katherine has declined your apology and sees nothing wrong with what you stated, than the rest of the world needs to get over it! What is with the general public these days? Damned if you do, Damned if you don't! You can't even say something nice or compliment anyone anymore! Lastly, who cares if you said it while commenting the game, Notre Dame was having their behinds served up on a silver platter and your comment was more exciting than the umpteenth touchdown Alabama scored. Keep being a gentleman! It's definitely more becoming than the douches that complained about your comment! Dear Flash Sale Websites {Joss&Main, OneKingsLane, HauteLook, GroopDealz, etc.}, You make it really difficult to save money! Each day your little daily sale e-mails appear in my inbox AND they always contain something I'm looking for! Like Vintage French Decor, a Sideboard-Buffet, sexy kitten heels and the perfect accessory to complete ANY outfit. Not to mention all the little extras that I sit and drool over! Maybe if I wasn't having so many taxes taken out of my paycheck, I'd feel less guilty about buying all of these awesome finds!

All my loves, I hope you are having an extra fantastic Friday! I'll leave you with this photo I found yesterday of my man, Matt Bomer and Ian Somerhalder at the People's Choice Awards Wednesday night! Considering these two are rumored to be in the running for Christian Grey, which would you prefer!? Y'all already know where my heart resides.... Oh Mr. Bomer. And while I'm at it, did any of you by chance see the confirmation of the rating the movie will carry?! I'm going to have to have y'all research that for yourselves as typing it out makes me blush!

Via

Friday's Letters!

Here we are, another Friday, another weekend on the way! This weekend will be busy like most as we will be celebrating my momma's birthday tomorrow and then celebrating Christmas with my Dad, Stepmom, brother and sister on Sunday, since they were in NYC for the holidays! I also hope to get some purging and organizing done on some down time, that is if I find any down time!

Via

Dear New Antique Chairs, I am so thrilled Mallory was getting rid of y'all and that I was able to snag you at an unbelievable deal! Y'all are going to look fantastic in our office/library! Dear How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Thank you for being on TV last night! You must know how much I love Matthew McConaughey! You do know he was only 33 in that movie right? Annnnd that he welcomed his third child into the world just a week ago?! Dear Crossfire Series, I think you are better than Fifty Shades! However, I am royally irritated that you left me hanging in book two and I now have to wait until May to purchase the third book! Dear Homemade Leg Warmers, I made you out of an old sweater and I love you. Enough said.  Dear Fears and Intimidation, Can you please refrain from making me feel inferior to others? Can you also stop causing me to be terrified to chase my dreams? Furthermore, can you simply just take a hike?! You are really inhibiting me from reaching some serious goals I'm yearning to achieve! Please and Thank you!

Hope you lovies are having a fabulous Friday!!! Have an equally fabulous weekend and I'll see y'all Monday!!!

Under the Tree for Me!

Here are a few things that I'm hoping Santa brings me this Christmas!

A monogrammed necklace to adorn my neck!


Order Here

All past seasons of White Collar {So I can watch Mr. Bomer anytime I want}!

Order Here

The Remington Large Curling Wand! I tried the mini one and it works wonders, however for my long hair I think the large one would be easier!

Order Here

 A glass engraved jewelry box with my married monogram! There is something so classic about this and I know it would look beautiful on my dresser!

Order Here

Two of these Bergère chairs for our home office!

Order Here

I haven't asked Santa for much this year but hope he comes through with a few of these items!

Happy Thursday loves! XOXO! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I was so surprised with how many bloggers actually participated in yesterday's Blogger Day of Silence in honor of the precious children and victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy! There were sooooo many of us who participated and I am so proud of the blogging community for this! Healing will happen, one step at a time, one moment at a time, one prayer at a time.

Found here

Now that I'm back to blogging full time, I could not be more excited to get back to WILW! Ready to see my list?! Me too!!

1. All the thoughtful phone calls, texts, blog comments, instagram comments, and facebook posts I received Monday, in honor of my 28th birthday! I felt so loved and appreciated by all of you and I am extremely grateful for everyone who thought of me on my special day!

2. The plans to purge and redecorate our home after Christmas! I adore our home, but much of our decor followed us from our apartment that I first moved into 6 years ago. To say my tastes have changed is an understatement! I'm planning on going a more classic route with french influences speckled throughout! If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll see a whole board dedicated to 'New Home Decor'. Purging is a necessity! We are at max capacity in this house and if I receive one more knick knack I may just flip!

Found here

3. My continuous effort to gain more experience in PR and Marketing to land a new job in the future! About a month ago, I finally decided I needed to beef my resume up to appeal to hiring managers and companies in the PR and Marketing field. Yes, it's what I majored in and studied in school, but they don't care about that! They want the hands on experience... and... well... I'll be the first to tell you, landing a job without the experience is nearly impossible! After mulling over ideas I finally decided I would volunteer my extra time {what extra time?} and help organizations/ companies with PR and/or marketing work! I just finished working with VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads on a campaign to help them win a $7,000 grant! Unfortunately, I floundered! Or at least I feel I did as they won 4th place, however, they did win a $2,000 grant so I assume that is better than nothing at all! I plan to continue to help them when I'm needed! I am also currently in the process of helping a local photographer as her acting PR representative. I have a lot of research and work ahead of me but I am looking forward to working with her! Lastly, starting in January, I will be helping the PR division of YAAA! Hampton Roads {Young Adults for Alzheimer's Awareness}. I know I will be extremely busy in the next few months but I am looking forward to it because I know the outcome will be more than my little heart desires!

4. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge expecting!!! I know this news is a few weeks old but holy moly I am so excited for them!!! While I do wish they had waited a wee bit longer {so her and I could be pregnant together} after watching TLC's A Royal Baby Story I have a new understanding of the pressures they are under to produce another heir to the throne. I think for American's it is difficult to totally comprehend the monarchy, their traditions and expectations. Ultimately it is Will and Kate's decision and I think they are perfectly capable of making the decisions that are right for them! I know having a boy is preferred but I secretly {not so secret now} hope they have a little girl! It doesn't really matter what they have because of the rule change that even if it's a girl she can still take the throne! Girls rule and boys drool!

Found here

5. The world Darling! I seriously believe I am going to make this my new favorite word, next to Fabulous of course. What is it about Dah-ling? It sounds sophisticated, endearing, eloquent! Classic as it gets! I do believe hunny is being replaced with Darling... asap! Now if only I had the English accent to accompany this beautiful word!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far! I've been busy starting and finishing up Christmas shopping! I have already promised myself that I will not wait this late next year! WIll NOT!

XoXo my Darlings!!!

September 2012 Mini Goals!

Happy Happy Happy Labor Day Loves!!! Hope you all are having a fabulous day off from work! It's a bit dreary here today so I've been paying bills, organizing our office desk, washing clothes, and obviously working on this blog post!! Nothing like an extra relaxing day in the week!

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty proud of what I accomplished last month as far as my goals were concerned! Now that I am really starting to cross things off, I'm running full steam ahead with lots of willingness and dedication! Here is what I have set my self up to achieve for the month of September!

1. Add a second gym class to my weekly gym routine and continue going to Zumba. You know last month I decided to attend one class a week so I would make myself stick to it! Since I did, I am now going to add a second class! I've really enjoyed Zumba and the work out it has given me. This second class is called Cardio and Dance which apparently is a "dancy dancy" type class like Zumba, BUT you also use equipment to help tone your body! A new friend in Zumba was telling me how much she enjoyed it! I am going this Thursday and have no doubt I'll report on it sometime after that!

2. Enroll Baby Reef in Doggie Daycare once a week. I've been looking at lots of Doggie Daycare's in our area here lately! Baby Reef loves other dogs and he loves to play and sometimes I feel really bad that we don't give him as much doggie interaction as he probably needs! There is a Daycare down from my office that I plan on visiting  this week! I think putting him in once a week will really help him to learn how to interact with other pups and it will be a way for him to get his energy and playfulness out!

3. Be sure to get to work on time EVERY morning. I don't know about all of y'all, but I am not a morning person. I can hit my snooze button for an hour! Actually I do hit it for an hour! I wait till the absolute last minute to get out of bed! I think half the time I look like a bum at work, because I literally have NO time to iron clothes, put half of my makeup on, or run a brush through my hair! Sad right? Because of this "can't get out of bed" disease, I am usually always five minutes late for work! Luckily I have a pretty awesome boss, but I think now it just shows her a lack of disregard when I walk in late. No I can't help the traffic, but I can help getting my butt out of bed and out the door on time.

4. Work on revamping/redecorating guest room #1 and complete it. Now that we have the King bed in our room I've been trying to figure out what to do with our Queen bed. I finally decided I want to put it into our first guest room, which means I will have to get a new bed set to fit it, which also means I may finally be able to finish redecorating the room and changing the look to something a bit more mature and elegant.

5. Start and Finish three Pinterest craft projects, both general and Holiday related. I have lots of fall decorating ideas that I have found on Pinterest and a few general crafts to do as well! I really want to deck our home out with pumpkins and apples and all things Fall, not to mention there are a couple of wedding related crafts I want to complete with photos and cards from our wedding! Hopefully I can make this happen!

6. Continue writing notes and sending them through "snail mail". I am sooooooo glad I was finally able to accomplish this last month and I want to keep it up, hence why it's on my list again. It's something that makes me feel good and I like that feeling!

7. Enter more Blog Contests and market myself more! "Get out and get social". I have really slacked off with marketing my blog and I need to get back into promoting it on social media! I also really need to work on my interaction with other bloggers! I comment, I email, and I tweet to other gals, but not as often as I would like to! I won't lie, working at a dual monitor computer all day really makes me not want to sit at my computer when I get home! I need to work on this though even if it's only for 30 minutes a day!

8. Complete one house project for the month. I have a LONG list of house projects that I would like to complete. I think starting with one a month is good! Not that we are selling our home anytime soon, but we know this isn't our forever home. If I can go on and do all these projects and updates now, at least we will have a little time to enjoy them all as ours before we put our home on the market!

9. Spend more time with family! I mean this is just important to me! Really Really important.

10. Two personal and private goals for myself. I'd like to think I'm pretty forward and honest in my posts, but I do believe there are somethings that don't need to be made totally public, as in posted on the internet for EVERYONE to read. I have two goals that have really been eating at me to try and achieve so I've decided to work on them this month! If you're curious to know what they are please feel free to email me in private! I'll be glad to share my struggles on achieving these goals on more private level!

I know some of you are starting Mini Goals of your own!! I could not be more excited that I have inspired others to partake in this! I think it's a great way to boost confidence in yourself and do "feel good things" for you and other people around you! Not to mention it's a great way to make sure things get accomplished and not pushed to the back burner! Please feel free to share your Mini Goals! I would looooove to hear them!!!

Have a fantastic Holiday!!! Yay for 4 day work weeks! Annnnnd good luck to all those teacher's going back to school tomorrow!!

XoXo,