Paint Me an Ocean

Or just some tidewater would be nice :)

In case you missed it, John and I finally picked our new bedroom color; it's Tidewater by Benjamin Moore and I LOVE it! We had to do a few test samples first, but we really like the tidewater best. It's enough blue and enough green to make us both happy.

Enough words, though. See for yourself! Tidewater is the bottom color :)

Master Bedroom Inspiration

Yesterday, I showed you some inspirational images to help me pick my paint color. But today, I want to show you something a little more personal.

It's MY bedroom idea board. See, I wasn't sure how everything would/could look together, so I thought it would be easier if I personalized it a little bit more by picking out a few things I really liked.

First thing's first, is that we officially picked a paint color. It's called Tidewater (Sherwin Williams). I started my little inspiration board with that as the background and a nice beige carpet as the bottom (since that's what we have. Duh).

Green curtains are really inspiring me lately so I will definitely need to get my hands on some. Only thing is, they're REALLY hard to find in a fun, chartreuse green! I like these, but they're a little expensive. Maybe I'll sew some?

We have already picked out a dresser that we found on Craigslist (more on that later). It's just going to be plain white, so just put a "stand-in" dresser in the picture for now. Visualization, people.

I want to buy some RAST tables by Ikea and give them this awesome makeover like Aubrey + Lindsay's Little House Blog did to theirs. At less than $40 a pop, I feel like these dressers will really come in handy -- mainly because they provide extra drawers so John and I can hide away our pjs and undies :)

I want to accessorize with gold things - maybe a gold mirror above the bed and some gold picture frames? Those will have to come towards the end, but it's just what I'm thinking for now.

Add a few pops of color (pillows/lamps) and wallah! A much better-looking Master Bedroom that we can actually enjoy! Ahhh, just looking at this makes me want to curl up in that bed and read a good book!

I'll update as we go. I'm planning on getting my paint on in the next few weeks :)

Source List:
• Bed -- Urban Home
• Lamps -- Pier 1
• Curtains -- Harry Corey
• Green pillows -- Pillow Confections Etsy Shop
• Paint color -- Tidewater by Sherwin Williams
• Side Tables -- IKEA Rast Side Tables (image from )
• Dresser -- unknown source
• Mirror -- More Mirrors

Master Bedroom Sadness

I moved in with John about a month and a half ago. Not long, I'd say. One of the first things we did in preparation of the big move was to repaint the master bedroom. After putting up our first coat, let's just say it wasn't really makin' us feel warm and happy so John and I decided to repaint it. This time, we went for a neutral beige. Ahh, nothing like BEIGE to make you feel happy, right?

Wrong. I hate it. 

Luckily, I have the BEST FIANCE IN THE WORLD (!!) who said I could paint it again. Third time is the charm, right? So I started the search for the perfect color. First place I went was Pinterest, to see what images had spoken out enough for me to actually pin them in the first place. What I found? A lotta blues and a lotta beige. Since beige was already living on my walls (unwelcomely, might I add) I decided to concentrate on the blues. 

Via Pawleys Island Posh

Via The Lettered Cottage

Via Lonny Magazine

Via Day Decor

Via A La Mode

So tomorrow, I'll show you a little somethin' somethin' I've been working on to help me FIX this problem! See you then!

She's Growing Up

My little sister graduated from college last weekend. Yeah, that's right. From college.

It seems like only yesterday that I was the one graduating from the Fulbright College at the University of Arkansas. Going back for Marinna's graduation was a bittersweet reminder of where I myself was, only two short years ago. A young girl, ready for what life had yet to offer me.

As we sat in the large arena awaiting our graduates, I was able to reflect on my life since graduation, and I tried to imagine where my sister would soon be - what her own life had yet to open up to. My two years post-graduation have held so many wonderful things: a grown-up job, my own dog, a perfect proposal and a move into a house with the man that I love.

Marinna has so much ahead of her. She's smart, gorgeous, fun and funny. I was so proud to see her walk across that stage to accept her diploma. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and in Spanish. She got English departmental honors, was named a Fulbright College Senior Scholar and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Next year, she's planning on attending grad school up in Fayetteville. It's a year-long program that I'm sure she'll excel in. And after THAT graduation, she wants to be a teacher. She's wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl, and she'd be pretty darn good at it.

I'm tellin' you. She's a catch.

Baby sister, I'm so proud of you. You are freaking amazing and I cannot wait to see what the next two years bring for you. We love you so so much!

Thanks for the Shower!

I wanted to share today a cute idea my mom came up with a few weeks ago. As I prepared for my first shower (seen here), I knew I wanted to give the hostesses something really neat. After a few days of racking my brain and coming up empty, I enlisted my trusty mom's advice. Her solution?

"How about umbrellas? You know, since it's a shower?"

My mom is a freaking genious. I loved the idea and ran with it. A few days and three Vera Bradley umbrellas later, I was prepared. But since it was so clever, I knew I needed a fun way to let everyone in on the pun. So I came up with a few little thank you cards, slapped them together and called it a day! Inspiration came from these adorable invitations on Minted.com.

The tag says "Thanks so much for the shower"

What do you think? Pretty cute, huh? The great thing about the umbrellas is it's definitely something that anyone could always use, and the fun patterns we bought are sure to bring some color and fun to a rainy day!

My First Bridal Shower

On Saturday, May 5, a few of John's mom's good friends hosted a bridal shower for me. It was my first "wedding event" so far, and it could not have been more perfect. We had many wonderful friends who came, and John and I got so many fantastic gifts! For food, we had a mexican-themed fiesta (it was Cinco de Mayo, after all!) and margaritas. AH-MAY-ZING!!! I loved everything! Here are some pictures my sisters managed to capture of the day:

And, of course, I cannot forget the three wonderful women who made it all happen. Thank you -- all of you -- so much. It was so great and could not have been any more perfect!

I'm BACK!

Hello lovies. Sorry for the long delay in blog posts -- as I said a few weeks back, life was gettin' a little out of control and I was having a hard time keeping up with everything. Luckily, work has settled down a bit and I decided I deserved a good ole fashioned day off. Today is all about catching up -- with you, with the wedding, with my new home and with MYSELF! Thought I'd focus on all of you first and give you a quick post to let you know how much I missed this blog :)

Since yesterday was Mother's Day, I thought it would only be appropriate to do a post that is relevant to my mom (and dad). If you remember a few months back, I rented the 35mm/1.4 L lens and did a few photoshoots (like my little sister, seen here). Well, my parents were kind enough to volunteer back then, and they've been waiting to see their pictures ever since. I finally got some time yesterday to finish editing them and now I'm ready to share.

Mom and Dad, thanks for letting me take your pictures. I hope you like them. You two are so inspring to me and I hope to take so many of the lessons you taught me about life and love into my own marriage. I hope that John and I still love each other as much as you two do in 24 years, and that we remember that it is possible. You show us that every single day and we love you both dearly.

Peace. I'm out.