Scenes of Summer

It's hot. Really hot. And here's how we beat the heat:

Linoleum floors (Char likes them much more than I do):



and cut offs and fans:



And Coke Zero (not pictured).

EDIT - yes that's my printer on my kitchen counter! A little update on the ink spill for those of you who follow the blog. My printer didn't die, thank god!!! I took it out to the backyard and cleaned it inside and out, then placed it on our kitchen counter with a trash bag and drop cloth underneath for monitoring. So far, so good, no more ink leaking. Once the office gets together, it will move upstairs to it's permanent home. Also - the ink leaked because I got cheapo knock off cartridges thinking I'd be saving money.

Raleigh

I had such a great time in Raleigh this weekend. Jamie and Nick are both hilarious and insanely talented. It's ironic that while I was there to help teach the class, I, too, learned so much this past weekend from those two.

Some fun pictures...

Furbish is AMAZING. It is worth the drive, if you live within driving distance. Amazing. One of a kind.





I want...





We also got to sneak away to a flea market, which was so fun!





I also had a great time with Maria Fe and chevron-painting hubby Brad. The blog world is awesome.

Thanks again, Jamie and Nick and everyone who came to the class!

Photo Opp FAIL

This picture makes me LOL so much. Because it's not even like one of those unfortunate "I ate too much so I have a little pooch and I look pregnant" occurrences, it's a full on "my dress decided to randomly pitch a tent during a photo opp with one of the greatest designers of all time so I look 8 months pregnant" type of occurrences.

FAIL.

But at least I'll always look at this picture and laugh, especially since I had such a great time with the awesome Jamie Meares and her friend and fellow designer Sarah.

On a side note, Jamie, Thom and myself were all born on May 17th. CRAZY coincidence! Maybe May 17th is some strange cosmic date for interior designers... I can only hope to follow in the footsteps of Thom and Jamie (who's store was recently featured in Elle Decor!)

Family & Looking Back

This post is random, but my mom just posted this picture of her as a little girl on her facebook, isn't it so cute?



I love it, I just had to share with the world (sorry mom!). And while I'm at it... here is a picture of me and my brother:



I always wonder what my kids will look like, especially since I look identical to my mom! Hopefully they will get straight hair like Matt (and my brother, ugh!) and not my fro. ;) On second thought, I just hope they are healthy and happy.. fro and all. :)

Christmas Picture, Recycled.

We're not doing Christmas cards this year, so for those of you who weren't on the blog last year... here is our picture again :)



We all look pretty much the same!

(I love that vintage dress! I need an excuse to wear it....)

Two Years: iPhone pictures

Thank you all for the sweet Anniversary comments! Our two year anniversary was really great... very low key at our favorite restaurant in Laguna Beach. Here are some iPhone photos...




{best red velvet cake ever. The frosting tastes like Cinnabon frosting.}

And then we frolicked on the beach while the sun set.. sounds so cheesy but it was such a great time.

Two years.

Today is our two year anniversary! I can't believe time has flown by, but in a way I feel like we have been together forever. That sounds bad, but I know and he knows it's a great thing :)

Marriage to me is natural yet challenging. It's very rewarding but takes compromise and unselfishness. What can I say - I keep it real on this blog!

There are so many reasons I love my husband. We are both simple people who love staying at home and just being together. We are very different but very much alike.

Matt and I have learned and grown so much this past year and we have a lot of exciting changes to come in the very near future. This is very cliche, but I love him more and am happier with every day that goes by. It's amazing how each day, month, year gets better and better.

And with that, I'll share some wedding pictures... I shamefully have not done my wedding album yet so it's a good opportunity to pull and re-post a few pictures. Looking at them reminds me how it truly was the best day of my life!!













I love you, Matt! You're my best friend in the whole world. And THANK YOU for supporting me and my crazy dream and when I get discouraged, you remind me that I can do it. I couldn't ask for a more supportive husband. I love you so much. I can't wait for dinner and red velvet cake tonight!




(Mom, Dad, Joan & Mike - I promise you will have wedding albums before the 3rd year of marriage. Thank you for not disowning me.)

Labor Day Trip Pictures

Mom finally uploaded her pictures :) so here are a couple of our great mini-vacation to my uncle's house on the lake in South Carolina over Labor Day. It was such a fun little way to say goodbye to Summer.

The lake was amazing and so where the lake houses.


Isn't my little brother cute? He's single, ladies.


Spending much needed quality time with the brothers, I never get to see them :(


Yes, my husband is shorter than me and nope it never bothers me (single ladies- don't hate on a guy just cause he's short!). No, he doesn't usually wear trunks like that (my brother forgot his so he wore Matt's and Matt wore my uncle's). Yes I LOVED red and pink lipstick that weekend :) Oh and yes, Weight Watchers works!!


lol at our faces in this picture. Do you think we'll make cute kids? I'm not sure..


My aunt and uncle's cute dog, he loves the lake.

San Jacinto Mountain

I uploaded some pictures of the beautiful San Jacinto mountain in Palm Springs on Flickr - it was so amazing.

Feel free to check them out!

[this one cracks me up, the husband caught me off guard. I love my vintage purse!]

great birthday!!

Popping in during my little stay-at-home vacation with my parents to share a few pictures from my birthday. I had such a great day! I treated myself to a new MacBook for my 25th, and I'm blogging on it right now!!


I loved my birthday dress!






We had such a good dinner


Great company!

I couldn't ask for a better 25th!

Rain, Laziness and Photoshop Actions

You may have snow where you live, but here in Southern California we've had rain... non-stop rain! Sure, we'll get a couple hours of rain every now and then (rare), but it's been almost constant rain and cloudy skies for the last three days (very rare). I've LOVED it, but it's made this weekend a very very lazy one.

I downloaded some Photoshop actions today from an awesome mommy blogger, Coffee Shop. She so generously gives out free photoshop actions, and I have to add - why didn't I download these sooner?? I'm obsessed.

Here are some photos (with Photoshop actions) of our lazy weekend...

XII

In honor of OU playing in the Big XII Championship today, I loaded up some pictures of us in Norman during our Thanksgiving trip.


Sneaking a pic on the OU bus


Amazing college bars must have dark wood paneling.


My college "I used to study in there!"





Matt says "Go Sooners!" I say, "Meh, I'm not too emotionally involved in football, but I did love college."

Day 4: Plano, TX to Austin, TX

First, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Check back later to see my camera phone pics from today. I hope everyone has a great day filled with great food!

Yesterday we drove from my parents house in Plano to my brother's condo in Austin.


We passed by the downtown skyline as we headed out of Dallas.



My new ring - my grandmother gave it to me while in Tulsa - it's literally a huge rock (with crystals growing off of it), and I love it.



We stopped in Salado, Texas on the way to Austin - they had a lovely row of antique shops, and I just had to stop in one.



This shop was so great... I could have bought a thousand things, if it weren't for the issue of bringing it back to CA (oh yeah, and affording it).



I fell in love with these cobalt blue goblets - I imagined drinking wine from them, I'm sad I didn't get them.



My brother Blake's apartment - he shares this tiny little room with another guy - ah college days.



I painted the guitar for Blake, and got him that little painting of Dylan from Etsy. Blake's an amazing musician, I'm going to post a song of his soon!



We ate at such a great place here in Austin - Magnolia's.



I was soooo happy to finally have queso after 3 years of living in California - when you say "queso" in CA they bring you a block of cheese :/