Kitchen Update: Granite & Bar Stools

Well, the kitchen is looking better and better every day. It's amazing how much it has transformed! Yesterday I went with John's mom to pick out our countertops since the cabinets are officially painted and ready for their topping! We met up during lunch to pick out our slab and ended up falling in love with a granite called Ornamental Guidoni. It is perfect!

Believe it or not, both photos are the same slab, although it looks closer to the bottom photo than the top picture. The "heart" I'm holding is a piece of the old wall that got knocked down (we're using the same paint color so I was holding it to show how perfect they go together )

I headed back to work after we picked that out, but after work John and I went to get something else for the kitchen. I'll let the below picture speak for itself!

Yep! We bought some stools for the bar! We found them on craigslist and got all three for $120. It seemed like a great deal considering new stools would probably cost about $100 each! We think we might change the fabric on them to make them more fun but for now they're just hanging out in the (newly painted) kitchen! Can you see how beautiful our cabinets are? 

Anyway, granite should be in by Thursday (!!) and then hopefully we'll get the lights back in so that everything's not quite as dark as night!

Boston {Part 1}

First off, a huge apology to my blog readers who I'm sure are giving up on me right about now for being the world's worst blogger in the entire history of the world.

Second, I'm finally blogging about Boston, so get off my back. :)

To say Boston was amazing would definitely be an understatement! I had the.best.time and I didn't  didn't really stress about wedding/kitchen stuff the entire time I was there, which was a nice break.  When I first landed in Boston on Friday night, my best friend Natalie came to pick me up. I was so happy to see her. After dropping off my bags, we packed up and went out to a fancy dinner for two, complete with crab cakes, shrimp and a bottle of Pino Grigio. Yes....way to my heart!!

After dinner, we booked it back to Natalie's house to get some R&R. We woke up the next day and lazed around, and finally started getting ready to go out on the town with her college friends, Ellie & Afton. I'm sure you're ready for some pictures, though, aren't you?

These are just some Saturday night getting-ready shots. The first one, of Natalie, is one of my favorites from the whole weekend. Is she gorgeous or what?

And of course, a little pre-night photo shoot with the girls!

I'm not typically a "go out late to a bar and dance the night away" kind of girl, but let me tell you -- dance, I did. The live band at the bar was kind of amazing and played songs by Lady Gaga, The Killers and pretty much everyone under the sun. Classic. 

We danced the night away. Literally. In fact, danced the first few hours of Sunday morning away, too and finally got to our cozy beds around 3 A.M. 

I know some of you are saying THREE A.M.?!?! KATI STAYED UP 'TIL THREE A.M.????

Yes. I did. I know you're proud :)

Moving on. 

We woke up the next morning and did a bit of lounging around - had some girl talk, read blogs on our phones, admired Natalie's fingernails...you know, the usual.

More pictures/stories to come. Gotta keep you wanting more!

Progress

That Kitchen Thing

Well, here we are, week six (?) of working on the kitchen and it is still in progress! John has been working so hard on it -- he has been hands on with everything that's happened in there so far, from helping the plumber move the pipes around to taking out the old cabinets and now putting up new drywall. Of course, he's had lots of help! It's so wonderful to have friends and family who are willing to spend their own free time lending a hand in this process.

Here's the most recent picture of the kitchen. Plans are to get drywall finished this weekend and hopefully start installing the new custom cabinets next week!!! To say I'm excited would be an understatement!

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In other news, I leave tomorrow to go to Boston and I am beyond psyched! I am going to visit my best friend Natalie, who has lived there for about a year and a half. I've never been so I can't wait to see her place and eat some good seafood! Haha! I'm taking my camera with me and will be posting photos next week. 

Speaking of cameras, I know I've been bad about picking mine up. Thankfully, the days are starting to get a little longer so I know that soon I'll be able to shoot a little more freely. It's difficult to be motivated when you have no light to shoot!

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Anyway, just a little catch-up on what's going on around here. Peacin' out now!

Bring the tables to life

So in case you haven't noticed, the basic "theme" of our July 28th wedding is Lots of Color. Haha, we get right to the point with that, eh? Anyway, not sure if that even qualifies as a theme, but it's what I want to be incorporated everywhere so that's what I'm calling it. 

Anyway, one of my problems has been figuring out how to bring lots of color to our tables at the reception without going overboard on my floral budget (which apparently isn't that big). While surfing Style Me Pretty the other day, I found something that sparked a lightbulb. What about NAPKINS? 

Image here

If I could somehow get lots of fun napkins, each person could have a different color and therefore there would be lots of colors on the tables! Genius, right? 

Well, sorta....

See, normal boring colored napkins go for about $0.40 each. And to buy napkins, you're looking at around $0.50(ish) at the least! Not a huge difference, but when you multiply it by a lot of people, it makes a difference. And making them? Kind of impossible. I'd still be spending $0.50+ on each napkin, plus putting in the effort to find the fabric, learn to sew and spend the time making each one. A DIY project like that would be awesome, but if it's not even saving me any money, would it really be worth it? Sigh....must keep thinking about that one. 

My next idea is to have some fun colorful table liners, like these found below. Each table could be a different color so that'd be fun. Not sure yet, not completely sold on that.

Who knows what will actually happen. It's just what's on my mind today so I thought I'd share. 

Any thoughts by any of you helpful friends and family? I'd love your thoughts and opinions!

Trendy Tuesday: Wedding Flowers!

Hello! Bet you thought I'd forgotten about this little blog, eh? Nope, just been busy! I've made up a good surprise for you today though: wedding flowers! I'm meeting with some florists this weekend and I'm so excited to show them my little PINSPIRATION board! These are some of my favorite bouquets in the world. I love the pops of color and the statement they make! I'm hoping to get some unique bouquets for our July wedding that ties in with the other color inspiration boards I made here. Anyway, enough with the chit-chat. Here's the board!

1. Favorite Bouquets EVER 2. Sweet & Simple 3. Color Punch 4.  Pops O' Color 5. Ohh La La Bouquet 6. Uploaded by user on Pinterest (no source)

New Year Resolutions & Some Rambles...

With 2012 still fresh I thought it would be a great idea to share some of my new year's resolutions with my small following. 2012 is destined to be a big year for me. In April, I will be moving in with John (!!) and then in July we'll be tying the knot. Both things are HUGE for us and I am so excited! And with both of them come things that I want to try to work on to make sure everything is the best it can be.

1. Lose weight - original huh? Last year I wanted to maintain my weight and unfortunately that did not happen. I have gained 12(ish) pounds and need to lose them before March 4 when John and I take our engagement pictures. I guess that means no more Jimmy Johns, Chick-fil-A, Shipley's or mexican food. I'm going to be chanting "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" in my head for months....

2. Get toned - this kind of correlates to #1 but I figure I'll put it on here. I want to start shaping up these flabby arms of mine and get my legs in shape. I figure running around a bit and lifting some 5 lb. weights a few times a week should help.

3. De-clutter - since I'll be moving in to a small, already very full house, I feel like this year will be a good year to get rid of things I don't want, need or use. Even if I really really don't want to get rid of it, if it's just laying around it needs to go. Out with the old, in with the new!

4. Be a clean freak - I want to establish ways for myself to keep things organized and clean. Which will probably include finally getting laundry hamper and a broom. Dang.

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On another note, the kitchen at John's is going super great! Last week he asked me to come over after work and help him take down some drywall. Loved wearing those sexy masks and goggles....(Please excuse all the rest of these pictures as they were all taken on an iPhone in limited lighting conditions. Photographer fail.)

Turns out I kind of suck at tearing out drywall so I wasn't that much help. John hasn't asked me to do any more physical labor since. Oops! The kitchen has carried on without me though...

After the drywall came down, the wall came out too! WHAT.A.DIFFERENCE! We ended up hiring someone to do that since it was a load-bearing wall. They had to install a beam in the ceiling but you won't be able to see it once the kitchen is done. :) The living room is now open to the kitchen which kind of kicks ass. Pardon my language...but it does.

Fluff likes it too. Sorry about the mess in the background. Yet another photographer fail.

So much more has happened and is happening. I'll try to take (decent) pictures this weekend to share. Happy Wednesday!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to the best mom in the world!

You are so wonderful, smart and beautiful and I love you more than I could ever say.

Hope 2012 is the best year yet!