Thursday, September 27, 2012

My Husband is...

 
A thoughtful gift giver....


 
someone who keeps me on my toes...
 
Always romantic...
 
 
 
a great Dad to our pupsters...
 
 
always respectful of our home...and he always takes out the trash :)
 
Someone who always lets me pick what we do...cuz he's sweet like that...
 
my favorite person in the whole world :)
 
 


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Music Midtown - Undeniable proof that I'm Uncool

Jello, ladies and gents!  And by "gents" I mean, my husband and my dad since I'm confident they're they only males that read my blog. 

Another weekend has come and gone, and Monday depression has settled in nicely already making a nice little space for the Tuesday slump in my psyche.  This past weekend marked out second year traveling to Atlanta for Music Midtown.  Thanks to my brother in law for snagging us awesome VIP tickets so we didn't have to pay $13 for a beer. 

The Friday night line-up included sets from Joan Jett, The Avett Brothers, and the headliner, Foo Fighters.  We stopped at the W Midtown across the street for appetizers and drinks before heading to the shows.  We made it to the park for the end of Avett Brothers and just in time for me to immediately drink a glass of Chardonnay and send my husband to wrangle up some chairs for all of us.  My sister took full advantage of the fact that wine was free, and she wasn't 6 months pregnant at this year's show, and before I could blink, the Foo were fighting, and Brynn was on her 4th Chardonnay.

We both watched the Blake Lively wannabe in front of us unknowingly drop her glowsticks and wasted no time snatching them off the ground for ourselves.  I decided mine would be a nice addition to my maxi-dress and Brynn decided it would be a nice prop for playing air drums on my boobs.  It was not long before she had moved from playing air drums on me to playing air drums on everyone else that dared to stand near or walk by us.  It was almost as entertaining as the band.  TJ agreed.  And if you don't know who TJ is, don't worry because I don't either.




Aside from an awesome show, I'd say one of the highlights of my evening was watching my sister give an unknowing Foo Fan a mind-blowing air drum up his leg followed by a high kick after he dared to turn to her and yell, "Rock and Roll!"  Either that or watching her stick her glowstick in unsuspecting peoples drinks and then flick it in their faces.  Yeah, she was totally that girl.

Not wanting to miss any of the fun, I tried to get in on the air drum action while my husband went to fetch more drinks.  I jammed out just long enough to drop my glowstick and have it returned to me by the strange man I was using as my drum set.  Instead of handing it back, he simply reached his hand down my dress and placed it in my cleavage.  Insert disapproving look from husband who had returned from drink fetching {here}.  And that was the end of that.



Just before the show ended, we befriended TJ and Ashley who had been enjoying not only the music, but the show my sister had been putting on.  Within 5 minutes, we were all walking back to the hotel together, Brynn and Ashley were best friends, and I was listening to a conversation about how Ashley's parents had divorced when she was young, and blah blah blah.  Not sure how, but we managed to make a 5 minute walk back to the hotel take 30 minutes, despite not stopping for a Greek gyro sandwich or a hotdog at any street vendors.  That's talent. 

Watching my sister make the trek across 14th street to the front of the W hotel doing high kicks the whole way across was definitely the cherry on top of my evening.  A fun night clearly had by all.

When we got home, per the usual, my brothers and my husband stayed out on the back porch and drank more beer while the rest of us went to bed.  The next morning was a perfect illustration of the difference between drinking when you're 30 and drinking when you're 24.  My brother, the 24-year old, got up and lounged on the couch with everyone, had breakfast, and went on a run with me and my sister.  My husband, the 30-year old, got up, pushed his breakfast around his plate, thought seriously about vomiting, and then did this until 11:30:



But don't worry, we got to do it all again on Saturday night for the second round of shows.  Due to hangovers and exhaustion, we sadly did not make it up to Piedmont Park in time for Ludacris like we had hoped, but I was bound and determined to get our party moving in time for Florence + the Machine.  She did not disappoint. 


As if I wasn't totally and 100% aware of how deeply unhip I am, Pearl Jam took the stage for the headlining set of the evening.  Mark my words when I say that there is nothing that will make you feel more out of place than finding yourself in a cotton sundress, jeweled flats, and a denim jacket in the middle of a Pearl Jam concert.  Nothing. 



Despite the constant reminders through the evening of how lame I am, I still had a great time along with everyone else.  Our evening was capped off by a run through the Taco Bell drive through where the boys all ordered enough food to feed me for an entire day.  If I wasn't sure before, I was definitely sure in this moment that I was, in fact, old as shit.  Not only did I not order any Taco Bell, I remember thinking, they really should not be consuming these calories so close to bed time

Sunday morning was spent soaking up precious time with my nephews who I probably wont see again until Thanksgiving which makes me sick.  Drew and I got hardcore with a Cars puzzle while Mason played with Grandpa Mike.




Almost as quick as we got to Atlanta, we were back on the road heading home.  I may or may not have had a little too much fun with the Cat Effects app on my phone to pass time on the way home.




 
 

How was your weekend??

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Our Kitchen...Then & Now

It's amazing what one can accomplish in a year, isn't it?  I've mentioned in several posts over the last year that we've been working on a lot of home improvement projects, and I am finally ready to share some of them with you!  First up is our kitchen. 

A year ago around this time, I was prepping to move in with the boy, and may or may not have uttered the words "Over my dead body will I move in with floors like that and walls that color."  Okay I may not have said those exact words...but I sure was thinking them.  After months of agonizing over paint colors and floor samples, we finally made some decisions and got started on transforming the boy's bachelor pad into an actual home.

Before we did anything...here everything is pushed into the center while we prep for paint.

Old light fixture and all out liquor piled onto the kitchen table...is this a single man's house or what?  Notice the wall is taped off for paint!

 A closer up picture of the counters before...this was for a superbowl party a couple years ago.

 A transitional picture of the kitchen...we got rid of the horrible peel and stick flooring and painted the walls...and obviously changed the decor a bit too :)

Another transition...after our cabinet restoration!  This was a total pain in the ass, but absolutely worth it!!

 During our countertop restoration...the messiest thing ever!

 The final product....for now anyways.  Still hoping to get a window treatment above the sink and new appliances.

 Backsplash completed!  Plus 101 Ways to Cook Southern Cookbook on display.

 We painted and recovered the seats on the old barstools too.  I have a feeling a new fabric and different color on the chairs are in the future once again for these chairs.

 Our bar!  One of my favorite furniture finds! 

 A yard sale find from our neighborhood!  $50 for the table and 4 chairs.  We painted the 4 chairs and table legs along with 2 chairs I already had.  We sanded down the top and re-stained it to a darker, prettier wood.  I love it!

An absolute steal from Craigs List.  Bought the Hutch and Matching table for $500 (brand new) and sold the table for $300.  Probably a $1000 piece at least, and we got it brand new for only $200!


So, what do you think of our progress?  We worked really hard to stay within our budget and be resourceful!  Plus, we know we will only be in this house for a few years.  We would have loved to invest in brand new granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, but it just didn't make sense for us to put that kind of money into this particular home.  We love what we've done so far. 
 
For anyone who is curious, we used Rustoleum Transformations for the countertop and cabinet renovation.  Our cabinet color is Linen, with the glaze, and our counters are Java Chip!  I highly recommend this project for a complete transformation.  We did the counters and cabinets for less than $500 total. 
 
Happy hump day y'all!
 
 

 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Our Honeymoon

Ya'll I've been a little stressed lately.  Work is super busy right now and it feels like there are a million things to get done before I leave everyday.  Luckily for me, when I am done with work, I get to come home.  And not plan a wedding.  I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.  For serious.

That being said, I am feeling very nostalgic for my honeymoon...and the beach...and definitely the cocktails.  So here I am, dreaming about the next vacation we're gonna take (even though we have no plans to take a vacation for a while) and then I realized I never shared any of my amazing honeymoon with you!  It was seriously the BEST trip I have ever had and by far the most relaxing. 

We went to Secrets Maroma Beach Resort in the Riviera Maya area of Mexico (near Cancun).  We flew direct from Cincinnati into Cancun (about 3 hours) and were greeted with a mimosa on the plan and a hot towel!  We arrived at the hotel at about 8:00pm in Cancun and were greeted with more champagne.  We ordered room service once we unpacked and put on the over-sized cotton robes they had waiting for us in the rooms and just vegged for the first time in weeks.  We had only gotten maybe 4 hours of sleep the night before and after traveling all day, it was heaven.

The next morning we woke up and ordered room service again for breakfast before heading out to the pool.  The pool....was...amaze-balls.  Food, drinks, ice cream, and whatever else you want right at your fingertips.  Husband was completely mesmerized by the swim up bar.  No, he really did not want to leave once we sat down and got our drinks.  He kept saying, "We're in the pool.  And at the bar.  We are sitting on bar stools...in the pool."  I get it sweetie.  I really get it. 

We lounged all day by the pool before heading back to the room for what would become a daily nap.  I seriously never napped so much in my life.  For whatever reason, relaxing was exhausting.  The first few nights we were there, we tried to make it around to all the different restaurants before venturing back to our favorite places.

On the second day we went out to the beach.  I die.  No really, I die.  I have NEVER seen sand as white as it was there, nor water so blue.  If you looked up the definition of aquamarine, a picture of this beach would be there.  It was relaxing and beautiful and not crowded at all which I loved.

In the evenings we spent time in the main lobby enjoying drinks and taking advantage of the free wifi! We walked around the resort at night and even caught a show one of the evenings...the same evening I volunteered us for the newlywed game in the resort night club.  But that's another story.

So without further ado...here is a picture recap (well, more like picture overload) of our honeymoon:

First day at the Pool!

Reading

After dinner our first night

Laying in one of the many hammocks around the resort

One of many pictures I took like this...so relaxing!

beach bums!

Dinner at the Italian restaurant with a gorgeous sunset behind me

My husband with a hunk of food in his mouth
Beach!

Margarita and 50 Shades of Grey (which every single girl on the resort was reading)

Cheesing on the beach!

On our way to the pool :)

The time I tried a pina colada...yuck!

Before dinner, mid week.  This was in front of the swim out pool we had at our room.

Showing off

When in Mexico....

Right after he discovered on of his favorite bourbons on the resort...Who wouldn't marry this guy?

Swimming in our private pool at night :)
Another arm out pic of the two of us...one of our last days on the beach

lounging by the pool right before lunch.

Eating dessert!

After I volunteered us for the newlywed game...husband was less than thrilled!
Love


Happy Honeymoon!

Toasting on our last full day at the resort.

Dinner our final night...back at the Italian restaurant

We are married...for realz.



This is no joke what the beach looked like.  It was gorgeous!

Love!

Sunset

My favorite pic from the honeymoon...


All smiles!


Bye bye Mexico :(



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