Weekend Recap + Favorite Pins

We balanced out last weekend's productivity with zero-productivity this weekend.  Here's a brief recap:

. . . I was in bed by by 7:30 Friday.  After a long day at work, all I wanted to do was curl up and have some quiet time to myself.  It was quite peaceful, and I managed to stay awake for the first half of Shark Tank.

. . . T and I headed down to Inman Park Saturday morning.  We indulged in some spirits and watched the parade.

. . . Following the parade, we headed to 300 Atlanta to celebrate Gianna's 30th with some bowling and beers.  After one laid back round, we decided to do a three-team challenge.  While we all acted like it didn't matter, our true competitiveness uncovered as the match got underway.  It was a fight that included lots of trash talking, but luckily the birthday girl's team won overall.  The crew took the party to Double Zero and posted up at a long hightop for several hours.  This was our first time dining here, and it was delicious, not to mention fabulous company.  Definitely a do-again!

. . . The skies opened up and rain poured for the majority of Sunday.  We posted up on the couch watching several movies, which was just what our bodies needed after the previous day's shenanigans.  I did an unnecessary amount of blogging and pinning.  Below are four of my favorite finds.

That velvet couch, the brick flooring & light fixture...take me there.

Love the soothing tones 

The gorgeous white farmhouse sink with gold fixtures next to the mint green cabinets...yum.

FYI: No, I'm not preggers, but I am obsessed with this nursery.  Everything from the DIY curtains to the pops of pink and gorgeous canvas...yes, please!  Check out Dave & Carrie's nursery design over at Young House Love.

Monday is here again.  Only eighteen more days with the kiddos.  I think I can, I think I can...

I hope y'all have a wonderful start to your week!  

Made With Love

Last Christmas I had asked for bedside tables for our guest bedroom.  We had spent hours upon hours painting in that room (more to come on that project soon) and were totally deserving of new beauties to sandwich the queen-sized bed.  Unfortunately, we still had one chest of drawers that was an extreme eyesore and irritating me beyond belief.

See what I mean?  Ugh.

T didn't think anything was wrong with it.  "It was serving its purpose," according to him.  Yeah, yeah, yeah....men.  However, since bedside tables were (basically) the only thing I wanted for Christmas, he was open to looking at some.  After showing him several bedside tables that were stealing my heart away, he proposed the idea of making them himself.  How could I argue with that?  Not only new bedside tables, but ones that would be made with love and to dimensions that would best fit the space.  After much research, T decided to follow Ana White's Mini Farmhouse Bedside Table plans.  (Sidenote: If y'all are looking to build furniture or anything of the sorts, you should check out her website.  She is uh-mazing!)

Making Progress

Finally Symmetrical.  Happy, happy.

Left-Side

Right-Side

I'm so happy with how these babies turned out.  Now guests can have their own bedside table to put their phones, water cups, etc.  I'm a very symmetrical person, so this hits the guest-bedroom-spot.  I'm so proud of tyler-of-all-trades and honored to call him my sweet hubby!

Happy Friday, y'all!  The weekend is here again!

Lusting Over Outdoor Spaces

I've recently found myself trying to find any excuse to be outside.  (Well, except for last Saturday's indoor cleaning extravaganza.)  The weather has been beautiful, and I want to take it all in while I can...before the dreaded Atlanta summer humidity makes its debut.  Since I've been on this outdoor kick, I've been majorly lusting over some gorgeous outdoor spaces.  I've also roped T into watching way too many episodes of Yard Crashers.  While we maintain Sylvan's backside and give an adequate amount of TLC, we'd love to fancy her up down the road.  We've looked into screening in our deck and installing a patio below it, but that's a "backyard makeover savings fund" project.  So for now, I'll continue to lust over these spaces that have been done perfectly.

Ah, what I would do for his space.  The exposed wooden beams, stone fireplace, beautiful chandelier, farmhouse table...
I could go on and on.  Hands down, perfect ten.

I envision myself nestled up in the left chair, reading the latest magazines, and indulging in a glass of Pinot Noir.
This outdoor space could totally be utilized year-round.  Love.

That pergola.  Oh, yes.

Obsessed with the neutrals, boxwood, and drapery

Those chairs...this fairy tale setting

While I'd be too nervous to put this fancy furniture outside (and too lazy to bring it in every time we were done outside),
this sophisticated space has been done just right.

 So, what have you been lusting over as Spring continues to set in?

A Wall Down Memory Lane

A little over a year ago, we were preparing to host a wedding shower for the Costners (happy anny!) at our abode.  I was very unsettled with this space, which you see as soon as you step into Sylvan.  I wanted to give this large wall a little lovin' and personalize it with some special memories.  Instead of spending an unnecessary amount on all-new frames, I decided to work with what I had laying around.  Remember the Jones' ballin' on a budget motto?  Oh, yeahhh...Indeed, the frames would contrast greatly, but I thought this brought an extra-special spice to this blah-ness.  

 I gathered the frames and laid them out to try a few several designs.

As you may notice in the picture below, I ended up buying two large frames to frame two of my favorite wedding pictures.  One is rectangular, and the other is oval.  I traced all of the frames on cheap wrapping paper, made a mark where the nail would go, and then used Scotch tape to put them on the wall.  While it doesn't sound like this process would take much time, it did!  Granted, it doesn't help that I'm a terrible decision maker, so it took forever to get this gallery wall just how I wanted it.

Once I was finally satisfied, I began nailing the holes.  The wrapping paper easily tore off from the wall since the Scotch tape wasn't strongly adhered to the wall.  And, here she is!  I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and I frequently find myself reminiscing on each precious photo when I go upstairs.  

I'm thoroughly happy with the view when you walk into Sylvan.  Eventually, I'd like to add wall sconces to give a little light.  Adding it to the "Liz need/Tyler want" list as we speak.  

If you've been toying with the idea of creating a gallery wall in your abode, I highly recommend it.  It's definitely worth the time to be able to take a wall, er walk down memory lane.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

 

I want to dedicate today's post to my hero, my daddy.  Many don't know this, but mom got admitted back into the hospital shortly after I was born.  Daddy and I had some strong bonding from the get-go, and that bond has never wavered.  He is the man who has believed in and encouraged me from the moment I came into this wild world.  Whether it was from a sport I was interested in to pulling the "college switch" (begging to go ten and a half hours away from home), he stood behind me and let me live my dreams.  He is the most hard-working, compassionate person I know and would do absolutely anything for anyone.  As T says, Daddy is the ultimate stand-up guy.  I truly hope he can take some time today to reflect back on his many accomplishments thus far and indulge in his birthday.  He deserves to celebrate more than anyone I know.  Drink that glass up and celebrate, Yee!  I love you!

Weekend Happenings

You know you're old when...

• You make the "adult" decision to stay home and spring-clean instead of enjoy the beautiful weather and excitement at the 420 or Dogwood Festivals.
• You're asleep by ten o'clock...both nights.
• You talk about Dateline episodes at a Friday night cookout.

Well dern, I guess T and I have hit that point in our lives.  We began our Saturday by making a "need to-do list" as well as a "want to-do list".  I basically think they're one in the same, but whatever.

We worked on crossing items off the need list for the majority of the day.  T was responsible for the yardwork, and I was a busy-bee inside.  While we missed the fun with friends, it was a great feeling to get some much needed items taken care of.  We got to spend the evening with my parents celebrating Daddy's birthday with an insanely delicious meal at Bone's.  Hellooo crab & avacodo salad, scallops, and mile high birthday cake!  You could have rolled our crew on outta there, but it was all totally worth the cals.  

Look at that handsome man, hero-daddy!

I woke up to breakfast in bed on Sunday morning.  Can you say best husband ever?  I enjoyed the rest of the day outdoors enjoying the delightful weather and playing two tennis matches.  I'd say that's a pretty good day and definitely makes up for Saturday's secluded indoor cleaning extravaganza.  T worked on his dining room project (which I gave y'all a sneak peek at here) for the better part of the day--bless his heart.  I'm hoping to share it with y'all in the next week or so....  DIY/home improvement projects always tend to take way longer than expected, don't they?

It's hard to believe the weekend is over and we're underway with the last full week of April.  Where, oh where does time go?  

Window Box Wishing

Flowers are blooming, pollen is out like crazy (ugh), and the temperatures are getting warmer.   Minus the ridiculous amount of pollen, this is my favorite time of year in Atlanta.  We've had the heat off for quite some time--layering up with clothes and blankets when it was still cold--but now we can open up the windows and enjoy some fresh air.  T put the screens in the windows yesterday evening, and we slept to the cool breeze.  I must say, it was glorious.  As I was serving as T's wingman, helping to pop those screens into place, I started thinking about my ideas for the "naked" windows.  Remember when I mentioned a project for 'em here?  Well, I want to dress them with window planter boxes.  I've been lusting over several (see below the Sylvan look-alike), but this pretty little white one seems to be the winner at this point.  It contrasts well with the light blue siding, black shutters, and brick veneer, lightening it all up!  Oh, my, my!  I've found some similar ones at Lowe's, none of which are under $100.  Since we'll need four large ones, this isn't in the budget.  So I suppose I'll keep on wishin' and stay on the hunt for one that won't break the bank.

Happy Weekend, y'all!

Trash to Treasure

I'd always heard "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and had witnessed this many times between HGTV shows and various blogs.  However, I never seemed to be able to scope out these items...until this past December.  T and I were at my parents' house for Christmas and they'd been telling us they were fixin' to get rid of a few pieces of furniture.  My parents have great taste (which has for sure gotten better with age) so my immediate thoughts were the furniture must be complete junk if they're giving it away.  Before heading back to Sylvan T and I took a gander at the two pieces and thought we could figure something out with them.  Unfortunately we couldn't fit both in our car, so of course hero-daddy followed us down with the remaining one.  We put the smaller of the two pieces next to our front door in place of an older, not-as-substantial piece.  Here she is at first.  She looked so dated and lonely...begging for new pulls and buddies to display.

T and I headed to Lowe's, our second home, and came upon this beauty.  While it was a little more than I'd like to spend per pull, we had several gift cards from Christmas so we didn't have to come out of pocket at all.  You know we were doing the happy dance!

 
After a quick switch of the pulls, she looked so much happier.  She's got that glow.

Davidson Cap Pull

 Now, for treasure number one's buddies...

One: The moss balls are from Wal-mart.  They were purchased over a year ago, with a gift card, but I can guarantee they weren't expensive.

Two: Dana found this bowl on clearance at Target after the holidays.  The antlers were stark-white, so she painted and distressed them to give it the awesome look.  

Three: I used craft paper to cover two thin, large books.  I bought the craft paper for one dollar a roll at The Dollar Tree.

Four: We received two of these monogrammed, silver-plated julep candle pots for our wedding.  They're currently on sale at Pottery Barn!

Five: We also received this simple, timeless picture frame for our wedding.  (Don't mind my reflection in the frame...whoops!)

Six: I found this lamp base and shade at Marshall's for $29.99.  I love the base but am constantly on the hunt for the perfect shade.  

I'm definitely happy this piece is now the one that greets folks as they walk in.

We put treasure number two in the dining room and haven't done any updates...yet.  Depending on how T's dining room project turns out, I may be changing this baby drastically.  We shall see what the future beholds.

So, what do YOU think of my parent's trash we turned into treasure at Sylvan?  I'm pretty content with it and am even happier we didn't have to come out of pocket.  Gotta love ballin' on a budget!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Day two down at work, and that verse from Soul II Soul's 1989 hit keeps playing over and over in my head.  While I keep remembering mom's and my time in Costa Rica and wishing we were still there, it's time to snap back to reality.  I have to remind myself of how grateful we were to experience that beautiful country and bask in a full week of complete relaxation.

Although the whole trip was incredible, I thought I'd share a few of the "bests".

Excursion: If I could only choose one of the excursions (oh say it isn't so), it would have to be the zip-lining at Sky Trek.  I had never had an experience quite like it, and the thrill was amazing.

Sloth-sighting: Mom and I were lucky to have several sloth-encounters, but this time was the absolute best (and last).  Our driver spotted this sound-asleep baby on the way to San Jose's airport.  He aggressively shook the tree three times, but she wasn't moving.  I don't blame her.

Staff Member: ELQUIN. Hands down.  Not a night went by we didn't stop in to visit him for at least a nightcap.  He was so sweet and attentive, and we loved getting to know him.  I don't think our stay at Nayara would have been quite as over-the-moon-enjoyable if it weren't for him.

Drink: Mojitos aren't usually at the top of my list when it comes to ordering drinks, but the ones at Nayara were insanely delicious.  The sugar cane was from a nearby farm and the mint was fresh.  This combo made out to be the light, refreshing drink of choice.

Meal: Five-course wine pairing at Nostalgia Wine Bar.  Mom and I indulged in tasty food and wines while enjoying each others company.  A bit more on that night here.

Dessert: Chocolate Dulche de Leche...holy yum.

Furniture: Every time I passed by the settee at Altimira, it called my name.  Whether it was at an early breakfast or late dinner, I wanted to march right over and curl up on it.  I'd love to have a piece like this in Sylvan...someday... :)

Souvenir: All of the wooden furniture at Nayara was beautiful, so when mom and I went into the town of La Fortuna Friday afternoon I was determined to get a wooden piece I could easily bring back to the States.  When I laid eyes on this unique gem, I knew it had a place in Sylvan.  It's currently on the mantel, unfilled.  We shall see what's destined to go in her.

So, I suppose it's time to move on and get back to the DIY/home improvement projects.  Oh yeah, and try to focus on work these last six weeks.  I hope to share the final project from the sneak peek soon but have a few other things to share with y'all in the meantime.  Happy Hump Day!