(Almost) Home Sweet Home

I have a serious case of summer ADD. I cannot focus on one thing for very long and I end up with 3 projects going on at the same time. At the end of the day, all I have are various messes all over the house. Its frustrating! Apparently, all I needed these past few weeks was motivation.

My dad came to visit us last week and I wanted to make sure I had the house a close to perfect as I could. That means all the boxes had to be unpacked, all the frames had to be hung on the walls, and all my already started house projects needed to be FINISHED. So, I focused and now we are that much closer to having the house exactly the way I want it! (yay!)

But after all that work, I wanted everyone to see it! The likelihood of anyone coming to visit us in this heat is slim to none. SO, I'm posting some of it here for all to see! (double yay!)

Our first project was to install some ceiling fans in our house. I cannot believe this house has been here this long in one of the hottest states in the country and not a single room had a ceiling fan!! Let me tell you what a difference fans have made in our house. I went from waking up in the middle of the night dripping with sweat to sleeping like a baby to the white noise of our ceiling fan. Neither Hubby nor I had ever installed a fan but everyone tells me how easy it is, so I was confident we could do it.  After trying to install the fans I see now why fans aren't installed in every room.  It was an interesting adventure getting those fans up to say the least... adventure that included trampling around in the attic in 100 degree weather.

Making the hole in the ceiling a little bit bigger...

traipsing around in attic...

finished product!

It works and I'm happy. And not sweaty.

My next project was to recover some particularly awful pillows that came with the couch when Hubby bought it. There are a myriad of pillow cover tutorials online so I chose one of the easiest: the envelope pillow case! (from this super easy tutorial at Rae Gun Ramblings)

 I made the striped accent pillows to go behind our already super awesome turquoise ones (target special!).

I love the look of a million fun patterned pillows on the couch but it makes for a crowded seating area when you're trying to use it for just that: sitting. So, I reluctantly stopped at four pillows on the couch instead of 10.

After the pillow project was completed I went to work on a DIY roman shade for our office window. I am super excited about the way it turned out!

It's an honest to goodness working roman shade made from a super cheap mini blind! Of course from a pinterest found tutorial at 365 days to simplicity blog. Loves it!!

Gallery walls are in style right now and since we have so many picture frames I thought it would be a good idea for us. Luckily, we have a giant blank wall in our hallway that would be perfect for a bunch of frames.

Ours is not 100% done yet, I still want to paint a couple of the frames to make it a little more cohesive. If you attempt to make one, I highly recommend following apartment therapy's recommendations on how to create a gallery wall. The tape measure and masking tape will be your best friends!

Our final project was to figure out what we were going to do with the giant blank wall behind our TV. I had the idea back in Atlanta to decorate with old shutters and we had collected a couple there (Of course we brought them with us!). After showing Hubby some pictures of walls decorated with shutters on pinterest, I had him convinced it would look good to put distressed/weathered shutters on the wall behind the TV. We didn't have enough to cover the wall space so I drove around town to ReStores and Goodwills to find some  more.

We are still trying to decide if we should paint them a color to stand out a little more from the wall. It's a work in progress but I'm happy with how it's shaping up =)

That's it for now but more projects likely to come...

xoxo,

The best part about May...

May was a crazy, hectic, fun-filled month that ended with a moving trip across the country (see this post for details). I would do it again in a heart beat! Looking back at it all, I have to admit my favorite part of the month was being able to celebrate our one year anniversary with the best husband in the world. =)

On a side note, year old wedding cake really isn't all that bad!! Since I didn't get to eat any of the cake at the actual wedding, this was a real treat! Brown sugar cake with Nutella frosting. Delicious!
I love my husband!
xoxo,

May in Retrospect, part dos

WOW. Where did the time go?? I cannot believe I haven’t posted in so long. Oops. These past couple of months feel a little like summer vacation when I was a kid. I didn’t have anything structured to do and the days just kind of melted away in a blink of an eye! No leads on a job yet. So I have been busying myself with other things like reading (I’m on my 5^th novel), decorating, DIY projects and the stupid internet. I’ve come to find out; I can waste some serious time on the internet.

So here we are again, more about that infamous month: MAY (part dos). I am super excited to show you all my pictures from the cruise but first a shout out to some awesome Atlanta people! Around the middle of May, our small group hosted a baby shower for the expecting members =). The theme was “Little Man” and everything had mustaches on it. It was SO fun!

A snippet of the fun we had in our homemade photo booth!

Don’t we have the best small group ever!? I miss them. (We tried a small group here in Phoenix and it was disastrous. Everyone had at least 30-40 years on us. Sigh)

OK! Now onto our cruise adventure! In honor of our 1 year wedding anniversary, Hubby and I decided to go on a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean. It was my first cruise ever and we had a BLAST! The ship stopped 4 times during the trip: Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan Bay, Honduras and Grand Cayman. Only two days at sea.

About to board the ship!

Before dinner on the balcony after our first day at sea.

At our first stop, Cozumel, we decided to hail a cab to take us to a quiet local beach where we could get a drink if we wanted and just lay in the sun. He took us to the awesome tiny little beach with a bar and lounge chairs. It was pretty much empty except for us and an occasional diner. It was awesome! 

Our basically private beach and bar service!

Our next stop was to Belize. We spent our honeymoon in Belize last year and the only thing we didn't do then was go cave tubing. So, we had set up an excursion to go cave tubing when we got there. unfortunately due to heavy rains the river was flooded and the park rangers closed the river. So, we went snorkeling and grilled out lobster and chicken on the beach afterwards! Not to mention free rum punch!

after snorkeling on our tiny private island! Literally: a dock, palm trees, a bathroom and a grill. that's it!

 Once we got back to the ship dock, we had time to kill before the ship was set to sail. So, we stopped off at a local bar and had our local favorite from the honeymoon: Belikin Beers!!

 In Honduras, we had signed up for zip lining and were super excited! There were wires strung up all over the jungle. It was a relatively new set up and everything was very secure (to my relief, especially since this was right after that GA student fell off a homemade zip line and ended up in the hospital).

I highly recommend zip lining! It was exhilarating!! Afterwards they had a little monkey out that could sit on your shoulder.

He really liked my sweaty hair. Honduras is a really beautiful place! Still very natural and underdeveloped.

This is an old boat that got stuck on the coral about 20 years ago.

Roatan Bay, so pretty!

 Later that night, we had a formal dinner. I've come to realize I get a little seasick when the boat is over rough waters. The whole trip we were chasing a storm and this night- we found it. Dramamine is your friend! But don't take too much or you won't be able to keep your eyes open. Just trust me on this one...

 The next and final stop was the Cayman Islands. It was raining most of the day but when the rain finally let up a little we decided to venture out and go shopping since the Caymans are known for their shopping!

 We didn't find anything awesome. Turns out, the Caymans are also expensive! Our last day was a day at sea and we spent most of it enjoying the sun on the deck and reading. I totally understand why people love cruises! There is so much good food, constantly tons of stuff to do, exotic places, the beach, all wrapped up in one cost effective package! I think we might need to try out some more cruises... you know, just to make sure they are all equally as good... ;)

The last big May event that I didn't delve upon was our official 1st anniversary, the day after we got back from the cruise. Just to keep you on your toes, i'll save that for next time =) Until then...

 

Stay classy,

May, in retrospect, part uno

Heyo! I'm here to fill you in on the happenings of MAY. It may have to be in parts, we'll see how long this post gets. I know you all are busy people and don't have time to read long novels about our life- nor do I want to sit here and write you a novel. SO- let me see where we left off... whoops, looks like there is still a little of April left too since the last thing I blogged about was my birthday!

Let's get started. On my Atlanta bucket list, one of the things I wanted to do was hike the Chattahoochee river with Kane. So for part of my birthday celebrations, Hubs and I took the monster down to the river!

It was perfect weather and we all had a blast. We even packed a picnic! I just wish we had done this more often while we were in Atlanta. I am sure there will be times like this in Phoenix too, as soon as it cools off some.

Derby marks the first Saturday in May, every year. I usually host a Derby party a my house but since Hubby was gone, our friends Laura and Matt volunteered to host it. AND since it was also Cinco de Mayo, we had a Cinco de Derby (Derby de Mayo?) party! Actually, we had such a good time at the party, I didn't remember to take many pictures!! oops. But luckily, I did snap a few before I had any margaritas!

half Cinco de Mayo, half Derby!

My hand painted Derby plate is adorable, but looks even better with my made from scratch horse cookies on it!

Laura was in charge of Cinco de Mayo decorations. Didn't she do an awesome job!? LOVE!

We had an awesome time, a bunch of people came over and we informally bet on the ponies by drawing horse names out of a bucket. The son of our small group leaders won it all! I think he thought he was rich! The pot was worth almost $40!! Hopefully we'll be able to make some cool friends in Phoenix that we can invite to next years party. Otherwise, all of our friends in Atlanta are going to have to fly to Phoenix for the first Saturday in May 2013 ;)

The next significant even in May was Hubby's 30th birthday!! I made him a special little carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and may have gone a little overboard with the presents. What can I say? I really love to see people open gifts!!!

Kane likes to help open presents too. He is eagerly awaiting present opening time in this picture. You should have seen him when we were unpacking from the move. He was ripping paper off everything!

Even Kane got to have some ice cream! Frosty Paws!! Nose lickin' good!

Overall it was a success! The night prior to his actual birthday, we went out with a bunch of our friends to a great little Indian restaurant on Buford Highway. If you know Buford Highway, you KNOW it was good! But, like my milestone birthday, it was slightly overshadowed by the impending move and the fact Hubby was already in Phoenix =(

MAN! May was an eventful month! Lots of pictures and events to share! I think I'm going to break here and leave you in anticipation for part dos! heh heh heh

On a side note, there are NO squirrels in Phoenix. I'm talking zero, zippo not-a-one that I've seen in the 3 weeks that we've been here. Kane has noticed too. His new favorite animal to hate is the pigeon. They come and sit on the telephone wires behind out house and he goes nuts. Barks and barks at them. But they never fly away so eventually he gets bored (or hot) and gives up. ...until he notices them again and the whole scene starts all over again. sigh.

That's all I got! Over and out until next time =)

xoxo,

Hot doesn't even begin to describe it...

So normally I would continue back to where I left off, and fill you in on all the stuff that happened before we left for Arizona i.e. Derby party, Hubby’s Birthday, Our first anniversary, our CRUISE! But, I thought I would first update you on how life is shaping up in good ol' scorching hot Phoenix.

First off, we moved here at the wrong time of year. The three months of summer are the most tortuous time of the year.

I can only stand to be outside if it is before 10 am and my feet are in the pool at all times. Once the cooler morning hours slip away (and by cooler I mean 80-90 degrees) be prepared to move indoors because staying outside (even with your feet in the pool) becomes too unbearable.

Even going out to the mailbox is an ordeal! About half way there the scene suddenly changes to this:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_3784

Seriously.

Don’t get me started on the dry air! I can’t drink enough water during the day. I definitely drink more than my 8- 8 oz glasses of water each day and still wake up the next morning with dry mouth and ashy skin.

Having a pool has been awesome. I’m sure we will enjoy it even more when the weather cools down a little. Kane loves the pool too! He ALWAYS wants to get in. He’s learning when it is an appropriate time to get in and when it isn’t- like 10 min before we are going to bed, not a good idea.

But, Kane hasn’t been able to get into the pool at all this past week. Last Friday evening, while on a run with Hubby, he was attacked by another dog. =( Luckily, he came away with only a couple puncture wounds.

Unfortunately, one of the puncture wounds was pretty deep and we thought it best to take him to the 24 hour vet to make sure it didn’t get infected. We waited for-ever to be seen by a vet and it was close to 1 am before we were able to take him home. They had to shave the areas around the wounds and put two staples in each.

We are taking him to get the staples out on Monday. The owner of the dog that attacked Kane is willing to pay for the bill which is good.

Our stuff did come last Thursday night as promised and we have successfully unpacked 90% of it! Once we get everything somewhat where we want it, I’ll post some pictures =) Until then, since we have internet as of this weekend (!!!), I’ll be sure to post about, well, ALL of May! Keep checking back!

xoxo,

Officially Arizonians!

We interrupt this program to bring you a (bit lengthy) update on our crazy lives!

(First let me apologize for being so delayed in my blog postings. I haven’t had internet in 3 weeks, even now I am writing you this from a Dunkin Donuts’s with free wifi!)

Well, we made it! I am officially a fine citizen of Phoenix, Arizona. The movers came and packed up all our stuff early last week. Then Hubby and I did a four day, 1,900+ mile trek across the United States to the sunny state of Arizona.

Our stuff hasn’t made it to our Phoenix house yet and won’t be here until later today. So, Hubby and I have been “urban camping” with our air mattress in an empty house! I managed to convince Hubby to pack a few camping essentials such as a beach lounger and beach towel (for our pool!), a fold up camping chair, bath towels, frying pan, spatula, paper plates, and plasticware. The back of the car was PACKED- barely enough room for the dog!

The drive wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. We passed the time with a couple books on tape and while the scenery had some boring places, there was still quite a bit to see. The first day was pretty typical- a lot of green trees, which I told Hubby to make sure he engrained in his memory because it wasn’t going to be like this in the desert! We crossed over the Mississippi River and through many corn fields until we stopped in Shreveport, Louisiana for the night. One of the biggest challenges was trying to find a hotel that would allow dogs. Luckily, I found a website called www.dogfriendly.com that listed all the dog friendly hotels by state and then by city. Watching Kane in a hotel room was hilarious. He made sure he checked every inch of the room, including the bathtub.

The next day we drove to Dallas to see my older sister and my niece and nephew. We had a blast! She has a really nice house in the burbs with a super cute puppy. I loved catching up and finally seeing the house! The last time I saw them was at our wedding a year ago.

After Dallas, we headed towards Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is where the scenery starts to get different as we trek it through the Midwest!

Keep in mind most of these were taken through the window of a speeding car. There was a lot to see that I didn’t take pictures of too. The world’s largest map of Route 44… The world’s largest petrified tree… Indian casinos abound… the list goes on and on!

 

Our last stop was Gallup, New Mexico right in the heart of Navajo country. We stayed at this terrible little dog friendly hotel. I don’t recommend it to anyone. Let’s just leave it at that.

The next day we FINALLY we made it to Phoenix! Its amazing how exhausted a car ride can make you! We made it to Target to get some essentials and then crashed and burned on the air mattress!

Since then I’ve been hangin in the empty house with no car, waiting patiently for my husband to come home with dinner. Sounds like the 50s doesn’t it? All should change today though when our stuff is delivered this evening! They decided to come in the evening thinking it would be cooler then. Little do they know- it is usually 100 degrees at 5 pm Arizona time. Well, regardless I’m pumped to have furniture soon! Stay tuned!