Organizing our Storage Room: Before

B & I lately have been going room to room in our house, re-decorating/re-vamping/re-renovating; basically doing anything we can do to "spice rooms up".
You see, after the initial over-haul of our house we decided that we needed a break. We needed to just enjoy our home, not worry about touching up rooms one by one; basically live like normal people, not the crazed DIY nerds that we truly are.
After a few years we started on some small projects, then some slightly larger projects and then real room renovations... It spiraled out of control, we are now on a mission to re-vamp the whole house. Can you say, #dorks???
But it makes us happy - we don't have children, so we think this is the best time for us; because when we do have a family I am SURE that the total room renovations will be fewer and farther between.
So let's get to what we have been dealing with in our storage room for the last 4 years...
A mess I tell you - a shear mess. (No one is perfect - especially us.)

This is the view from the door. I think the thing that encouraged us in the beginning to tackle this project were the shelves that were storing all of our belongings and the fact that they were starting to bow. B & I felt like at any minute that everything breakable and important that we were "storing" would just collapse. We really didn't want broken things - but more importantly we did not want to clean that inevitable mess up.
I mean - the organization was no longer working - we were beginning to store things on the floor - a shop vac and air gun in the middle of the room? We needed a fix.

The painting shelf was really nerve-racking anytime we had to use the paint (which is often in our house). I swear - if you needed one thing 10 fell off.
I mean look at the rubber maids....they are defiantly going to fall.
It was annoying to the max. We felt the room getting smaller and smaller every day that passed and even more cramped for space with all the crap that we kept collecting.

At the end we just started piling things, and if you know my husband - that is unacceptable. We don't just throw things. But the funny part is - he was the main culprit at this point. He kept saying "don't go in there I am just throwing shit on the floor now..." It's true, it had become the closet where you hide all your most shameful things, throwing and piling them up and keeping the door shut...tight.

We decided one weekend that we would take it all out and start over...
Which may have set in motion some minor freak outs from me, but I just had to realize that it made B happy  - so I would deal with it.
#dealing

Here is our empty room...

Not at all overwhelming...

It became such a large space when we took everything out! It was really incredible. It is miraculous what getting rid of stuff does for the space of a room. But there were some problems...the large ugly aluminum foil wall and the fact that all that "stuff" had to go back in....

I have some tutorials and the after pictures planned for the rest of this week!
Stay tuned!

Linking up here today!

My random friday thoughts.

Friday is my favorite day of the week. Isn't Friday everyone's favorite day of the week? We all wait patiently for Friday to come all week - while we are working we are planning our first act after 5:00pm that Friday. Mine is usually pouring myself a large glass of wine. This weekend should be no different. Except that I probably couldn't be more busy - driving back and forth to the same place over and over again this weekend. But I love my friends and family so its no problem. (Repeat that 10 times fast and it may be true). No for real I love them - but I don't love driving, so bartender pour me a tall one tonight.
I am pretty sure this is the phrase I will be repeating tonight AFTER a couple of the drinks I intend to drink:

#wordstoliveby

I really wish we could celebrate all holidays on different days throughout the year. Holidays to me are so stuffy and forced - "lets ALL get together and celebrate together" - eating the correct "holiday" food, most of the time, its terrible.
I know that I may be on an island here myself, but for me being forced to celebrate every "holiday", the older I get has become repetitive and deflates the special times that we have as a family other times.
For example I would like to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas on Christmas and have a hot dog on Mother's Day instead of going out to a crowded restaurant with a TON of people and where they are all dressed up eating finger foods. Now I know what you are going to say - I may change my mind when I become a mother - but this is highly unlikely - being that I love nothing more than margaritas and a non-traditional celebrations.
So with that, margaritas and hotdogs for Mother's Day??? Sounds great - so I can just cancel those fancy reservations....yes? Yes.
Mom if you see this (which I am sure she won't) I'm sorry....

#truth

So to wrap up this random post- I wish I was drinking...now, and I hate Mother's Day -  well I just sound like a WONDERFUL daughter and friend...
#seeGIFabove

Not to out-do myself with the most random blog post ever let's play a little #backthatazzup Friday...shall we?
Its funny because I have been planning this song all week. And by planning I mean I was listening to this song on repeat in my car and while singing I realized there is no better song on the planet to link up with Whitney for. NO OTHER SONG IS BETTER.

Let's get our weekends started with a little Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid Kid ROCK.
And to get you really pumped to dance on a bar at Coyote Ugly or whatever mild Saturday night event you choose here is my personal favorite:

Now for real...I love you guys and I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend. And if you are a mother - Happy Mother's Day. You are amazing and you deserve to be pampered!

Special shout out to my favorite Mothers - my Mom, my Mother-in-law Carol, my best friend in the world Ashley (the newest Mom!), my Sister-in-law Ashley, and my dear friends, Holly, Lindsay & Alyson. I love you all!

Stripes 3 ways with 2 of my favorite ladies.

We all know I am not a fashion blogger, clearly. But I do love to support my favorite girls - so when asked to join in on the fun of styling a current "hot topic" fashion trend I jumped on board. Clearly because I am SUCH an amazing subject for pictures, see here.
The trend I am speaking of is stripes and the ladies I am speaking of are my BBFF Niki and new obsession Lauren. They both run amazing life and style blogs. Style being the operative word here people; they are style mavens. I am constantly inspired by the way they put outfits together and the choices that they make in fashion. You must visit them right.now Niki @ Glossy Blonde and Lauren @ Fizz & Frosting.
But first let's talk this trend: stripes.

I seriously love this skirt. It has become a staple in my wardrobe and I love how it cascades on the ground. I am so tall that maxi skirts are ALWAYS too short - but this one is perfection. Shop them here.

Skirt - Leanne Barlow//Shirt - C. Wonder//Shoes - Old (Nordstroms)//Clutch - Coach (Outlet - Old)//Earrings - Francesca's

You either love or hate stripes. That is a fact. Now up until this season I really hated stripes; I remember distinctly being told that horizontal stripes made any girl look "wider" (thanks Mom). I took this to heart, you would have NEVER seen me in horizontal stripes up until about 3 months ago. I am really trying to work outside my "comfort zone" and play with patterns and colors; and to me tackling my insecure fear of stripes was necessary in my style evolution. See - I am turning into a fashion blogger, with words like "style evolution" and "patterns"...don't worry tomorrow I will be back with words like caulk, paint, Rascal and "I don't do laundry" to remind you that I am still here.
So there you have it - stripes, and horizontal ones at that.

Check out how the ladies styled their stripes and then make sure you visit their blogs to see the whole look!

Niki killed it here with her striped maxi dress (with a very chic nautical look) and amazing accessories per usual. Whether she likes it or not one day we will be sharing those accessories. I need to visit this woman asap. Check out her full look here.

Lauren is casual chic to a tee with her double stripes! I la la loooove that blazer and how she styled this whole look! Go now and see the rest of her amazing pictures!

Happy "fashion blogger" Wednesday - see you back next time I think about spicing it up.

Linking up with:

The Pleated Poppy

Because Shanna Said So

Transatlantic Blonde

Real Girl Glam

Stylelixir

A post about a plant...

B & I spent most of our day yesterday gardening. Now I am not much of a green thumb - I am more of a "kill your plants after a week of owning them" kinda gal. For serious, I can kill a plant by merely looking at it. I do not have the gardening girl gene; except with this plant you see above. Can you say, "world's easiest plant???", well if you can (and try it 10 times fast - for kicks) then you would be saying Lamb's Ear. Now I have no idea why it is called that - but I also don't know why the world has not blessed me with the ability to fly - these two things we may never know the answer to...
Buuuuut back to the plant...
When we first got this plant it was a half of a leaf with the poorest excuse for a root hanging off of it. See, our neighbor - a genius green thumb was moving and so she wanted to transplant some of her plants to our yard, to (in her words) "to...fill it up a bit". Gee thanks... I was CONVINCED that this plant would NEVER grow into anything - I mean we had to prop it up with a rock so it wouldn't collapse when we planted it. So the thought that it would grow into what you see today is beyond me.
Ladies - if you are not an experienced green thumb - THIS is your plant. No maintenance, no hassle, gorgeous, leaf plant. I mean I have 3 and I am sure my garden would be FULL of them if B didn't believe in a little "variety".
I really just posted about my plant. Hmmmm....
So to even this awkward post I will give you some glamor shots of my dog and weekend pictures from my phone just to show a little bit of that variety I am known for...

I mean life really doesn't get better than this now does it Raz?
Spoiled puppy.

1. Mom's Yard Sale - we made money and got rid of some of my parents junk (or as she says - unwanted items, not junk...)
2. Earrings and orange collar love on date night.
3. I clearly love bread. Date night.
4. Us picture - why is my head soooo big?
4. B <3
5. Sunday gardening! No dead plants yet!

Easiest blog post about a plant ever.
Happy Monday lovers.

Linking up here.

Let's do a little spring bag shopping...

Now that just sounds like a good time, right???
I love purses. Purses, handbags, pocket-books, clutches, bags...whatever you like to call them I swoon over them.
I mean I have a whole shelf just for some of my bags. (Reason - there are too many to fit on that one shelf).
It's a problem.
But since it's Spring, I clearly needed a new one (or 5...) for the season; so I have been shopping and wanted to share with you all the one's I have been lusting over. Let's suffer together why don't we???
I may or may not have already bought 2 of them...

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I figured since I have been enjoying the wonders and turmoil of bag obsessive, online shopping, so should you all.
You.are.welcome.

The things we learned in college: the roommate edition.

I realized just recently that I have been out of college for almost 6 years now.
6 years....that is a long time.
And in those 6 years I have changed so much. We all have. I realized that college taught me so many important things, besides all the knowledge from books and you know, class...
I thought I would share a couple of those things that I learned in college with you and how it pertains to my life today. I also asked my two best girlfriends and college roommates to join in the fun as well. I did not edit their answers and knowing them both for 9 years I would say you are in for some entertaining answers.
Let me just preface this by saying I had what I consider the best college experience, I enjoyed every moment, met my husband and best friends for life. It was pretty great. Would I go back and do it again? No. For a day? Yes, but I would pick the day. 
Without further ado let me introduce you to:

Or the classy version...whichever you prefer.
I will go first, and since you already know me it will be a short introduction:

I learned that friends come and go but your best friends are the one's that will hold your hair back when you are sick and take pictures of you after. They are the one's that will roll down the hallway on a ottoman with you. They will ride the handicap scooters in Wal-Mart at midnight with you to buy string cheese, they will spoon you even though they have their own room and bed next door. I learned in college that finding these girls was the most important thing I got out of my 4 years. I still believe that to this day - and they still are those girls to me.

I learned that beer is better when it is $0.10. Serious - no matter who you are and what kind of beer you like to drink; when you are broke and living in a town in the middle of no-where beer tastes better when it is 10/100ths of a dollar. 

I learned that Sunday morning gab fests in bed with your friends are absolutely necessary. That is really all I am going to say about that - you don't need to know what we talked about... ;) But just know that Meagan's were always the juiciest gab sessions. I also know now that they still important - even though the sessions are far less juicy now.

I learned that "Rainbows" were cool. They were and always will be the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. I totally don't wear them still....toooootallly.

I learned that NO ONE should eat a double Shmagel. (The bagel, egg, ham, bacon and cheese sandwich) from Sheetz. I may or may not have eaten one most Saturday nights. I know if I ate that now I would in fact die. #truth

Next up is Ash:

Anyone knows that in college you may have a few nights that you drink too much or do something you shouldn’t have done, but I had one night in particular that I learned my lesson from.  I learned to stay very far away from the “Buttery Nipple” shots. They do not make your night end very well. And the night resulting in your best friend pouring water over your head to make sure you were still moving (making my pretty straight hair nice and frizzy)!

To this day I still will refuse to take pretty much any shot that is anywhere close to a buttery nipple!

I learned that you will meet a lot of great people while at college.  I was lucky enjoy to make a lot of great friends! Included in those great friends I found two people that became my best friends and we were there for each other throughout our college experience.  The three of us were roomies for two years and it was an amazing experience.  It was hard at times living in a house with a bunch of girls, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.  We had a lot of fun times that I will never forget!
Today Meagan and Erin are so important in my life and it means so much to me to have their friendship.  The three of us will probably continue to get together for our lunch and dinner dates until we are too old to drive to each other! 

And last but not least...Meagan

Take risks.

Hard work pays off.

Follow your heart.
Stay classy.
 
I feel like we really accomplished the last one...

Thank you ladies - you are incredible!!

What did you learn in college?

Inspiration: Some tough questions.

Lately I have been inspired by so many amazing people. I have the most incredible people in my life bouncing all these wonderfully thought provoking ideas towards me, lending me inspiration everyday. I.am.so.lucky. Well feeling all this wonderful luck and inspiration, I couldn't believe when I read Erin's blog this morning, how lucky I truly am to have people I found and connected with in the blog world to take a hand at inspiring me as well. Now, you all know how I feel about this girl and the constant inspiration she lends me but crying while reading a post, that's fairly new. The honesty that Erin showed in this post came at the most perfect time for me.
Let me briefly explain - I have everything I have always wanted. Everything - but there are moments and experiences that make it hard for me to believe why certain things happen to certain people. Certain people being me (allow me to be selfish for a moment please...). I have never been good at dealing with things - never been one to "handle bad situations well"; I tend to yell - specifically at B. I need at times to be more honest with myself, with him and with the ones closest to me. And since nothing screams "closer to me" than you all - I thought I would link up with my girl and share some answers to some real life tough questions.

1. If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would it be?
I think that we should all live life to the fullest and try to never look back and do something "different". But life is not perfect and there are plenty of things if I was always thinking correctly I would have changed in the past. Those would be little things. But the one "big" thing I would change would have to be the way I treated my family when dating a certain boyfriend. I wish I would have embraced them for they way they were back then. I wish I could take back all the mean things I said to them - I wish I would be more understanding of "why" they did not want me living with him (probably for the best Mom & Dad - sorry). I would change that time in my life - I would have been a more present daughter, sister and friend.
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I see myself firmly planted in the same house we currently live in, living my beautiful life with B & Raz and hopefully children. I hope I maintain the friendships I have, continue to grow them to be stronger and better and continue to build wealth. I hope to be happier than I am in this moment (which will be hard to beat - because my life rocks).
3. Do you honestly want kids?
Yes, very much.
I said for years how much I never wanted children - working in the childcare system; but now we are ready to be parents...one day.

 (what child would not want all these crazy people in it's life??)
4. What has been the best moment of your life so far?
Well that's a loaded question....
I don't know...it's not my wedding day, it's not the day we bought our home, it's not the day we rescued Rascal...
It's better than all of those moments.
For me, it's a compilation of all those moments - the one's that take your breath away. The moments I spend in my house, with my husband and dog. To me - those are the best moments of my life. In fact we had one the other night - B was cooking and Raz and I were sitting on the floor in the kitchen, me with wine and him with some cheese. I looked at them and thought how blessed I am.
I do have one pretty amazing moment...but that I will keep private; some things aren't meant to be shared. ;)

5. What is your life theme song?
There is only one song that comes to mind.
Hero - Mariah Carey
She is my favorite and this song is my jam. It reminds me that you are your own hero and you can achieve anything. And it reminds me of my Papa.

 6. What is one thing you have yet to accomplish that you want to do before you die?
This may be a little selfish but it's my honesty so here we go - I want to go to Venice and Tuscany where I will eat, drink and shop my way through each and every town in between. I want to live and be a true Italian. And I want to take B with me.
7. If you could choose one thing to be known for, what would it be?
My smile.

(orrrrr...this face?)
8. If you could do anything you wanted right in this very moment (no consequences, no fear, etc), what would it be?
Travel. I would travel all over the world, oh and similar to #6, I would eat and shop in all those places with B right by my side. I want to see everything with him.
9. What has been the most challenging moment in your life?
Change. I have endured a lot of change in my life and I don't always deal with it well. Moving across the country - loosing my Grandmother months later, being cheated on, sudden loss and tragedy. I don't accept change well, especially the kind of change that hurts my heart and the one's I love.
10. Summarize yourself in one word.
Loving.

Thank you Erin for the inspiration to share some hard truths and answer some great questions.