Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Honeymoon Ideas

In one month, Joel and I are going on our Honeymoon.  Right now it is the light at the end of the tunnel, for what is the longest month of the year for us at work.


We will be spending six days in Paris, France, then six days in Marbella, Spain, and then one long overnight layover in London, England.  So, the question is what should we do???  We have never been to any of these places and want it to be a trip we will never forget!

Marbella

If you have any ideas or feedback please share!!!! Please, please, please!


Monday, December 2, 2013

CharitySub

The holiday season is a time for giving.  While we are working on finding the perfect gifts for our friends and family, why not also think about those that are really in need.   



CharitySub is a monthly subscription for donating to charity.  Each month they choose an important cause and choose three organizations that support the cause.  They send you an email explaining the cause and what the three organizations focus on.  Then you get to choose to which of the organizations you will donate your monthly contribution.

It is a small subscription fee of just $5 a month, thats only $60 a year to make a difference.

November's cause was Down Syndrome, and some past causes were HIV, Domestic Abuse and Oklahoma Tornado Aid.

Check out their website to find out more information and to sign up.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving Tablescape Inspiration

Thanksgiving is only a few days away.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  I love that it is all about spending with your family and eating lots of really good food.  While I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year or anytime in the future most likely.  I am dreaming of all of the beautiful ways I will decorate my table for the Holiday one day.  

Here are some beautiful tablescapes that I find incredibly inspiring...










I cannot wait until I have a tablescape of my own to show.  Until then, I will keep dreaming...


Monday, November 25, 2013

C. WONDER Gift List

From the first time I walked into a C. Wonder at the mall, I was obsessed.  We were shopping at Garden State Plaza and it had just opened.  They had a DJ at the entrance, the employees were all dancing and I wanted to buy just about everything.  It was so bright and colorful and FUN!

Although, my plan is for lots of cool colors in my new house with lots of silvers and greys, I still keep getting pulled to everything GOLD! I am going to have to find a way to incorporate it somehow.  Check out some of my favorite gold gifts for Christmas from C.Wonder.





Piggy Bank - $58








Wednesday, November 20, 2013

UncommonGoods Gift List

Christmas is quickly creeping up on us and we are losing precious shopping time.  Uncommon Goods is one of my favorite websites for fun, creative, thoughtful gifts for everyone on your list.  Here are some that are toping my list...





Love Carries All - $68 (Unframed)






Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Bathroom Tiling Update

Here is an update on the progress of our bathroom.

Shower before tiling..

My uncle from North Carolina came up two weekends in a room to tile the bathroom for us. Thank god for him, because we had no idea what we were doing!  After he was done tiling the whole bathroom, he showed Joel how to do the grout.

Here is Joel hard at work...

Here are the tiles we selected:
Soft Dreams Beyaz Floor Tile from The Tile Shop


























Still lots to do, but its all starting to come together!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Laundry Room

One of things that we really wanted to include inside the house was a laundry room.  When we bought the house, the washing machine was actually in the middle of the kitchen and the dryer was in the garage, veryyy strange.   Our contractor suggested adding one in some extra space we had in the garage and we jumped at the opportunity!

With adding a laundry room, we also added a larger coat closet and an entrance to/from the garage, so here is the little hallway off the front entrance to our new additional living space.  We decided to tile the whole area, take a look below.



Our new coat closet...

Laundry room tiled and grouted... just some cleaning up to do...

And with our new washer and dryer...

The next step is trying to make it functional and pretty!


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

November BirchBox

One thing that I look forward to every month is opening the mailbox to find my little pink BirchBox.  I love checking out all the new products.
It's like a mini-Christmas every month!


So here is what I got this month in my November Box...


My make-up artist used a nude eyeliner on my inner lash lines for my wedding, and it really made my eyes look so much bigger.  I have been looking to buy one of my own, and I was so excited to find this in my box.  Now I can try it out for myself!

I just got my nails done, but I am excited to try this color on my toes this weekend!

Thinking of packing this in my suitcase for our Honeymoon.

And, I'll throw this on in there too!

Yummy! Chocolate Covered Pretzels are one of my favorite, and my sample just happened to be Toffee Crunch, my absolute favorite topping!  BirchBox knows me so well. : )

Along with the box came the BirchBox Holiday Shop Gift Guide.  Have you checked it out yet?  So many great ideas for so many people on your list, and maybe just a little something for yourself! Wink!


 In honor of the first snow fall of the year today, I thought it was only necessary to also show you guys their Limited Edition BirchBox Home Snow Day Box

If only I was able to stay home with this box today, I would have been in heaven...

Look at everything that it comes with:

And it's only $39 (including shipping)!

I want one!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Laminate Flooring Update

I am going to do my best to be positive about this, but installing this laminate flooring ended up being so much more difficult than we expected.  Everyone told us that its easy to do, the box said that it was easy to do, the reviews said it was easy to do... well, it was not so easy to do.  

On Day 1 of installation, Joel, my cousin, my brother and my sister's fiance managed to get both bedrooms done, but not without a full day of frustration and hardwork.  It seems that no matter how many times they got the boards into place, one of them kept popping out and they would have to go back and redo it all again.  This ended up being a common theme of the weekend.  We followed all of the directions, watched the videos, the whole bit, but for some reason or another it just was not working for us.

Guest Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Day 2 proved to be even more frustrating, when it took Joel and I almost a full day just to finish this hallway.  My Uncle then came to the rescue and helped us get it done, so that we could move on.  

Hallway

Then came our numerous failed attempts at starting the living room.  It took six of us a countless amount of hours to get three or four rows done.  I think that this could be the beginning of a bad joke about how many irishmen does it take to put in a damn floor. lol  We ended up having to call it a day, when the sun was gone and we couldn't see anymore, because we have no electricity yet. 

And finally, on Day 3, there seemed to be a little more promise.  Although still a very stressful day, my Uncles, my sister's fiance and Joel were able to figure out the solution to some of the issues, which I still don't quite understand, and complete a majority of the living room. 


 Living Room


The rest of the laminate now needs to wait until the kitchen cabinets are installed, but I think we could all use a much needed break from this project.  However, I cannot wait for it to be done, because even though it was so incredibly frustrating, it came out absolutely beautiful!