Happy Birthday, husband!

I love you and I am so happy that you are mine forever.

Happy 26th xoxo

How to throw a yard sale

On Saturday morning David and I hosted a yard sale to clean out some of our junk and/or things we planned to leave behind in the move. It was quite the experience -- but we finished the day feeling more ready for our May 12th move out.

Here are a couple of things we learned//

1. Purge - We spent a couple of hours the weekend before cleaning out every room in our house. This included things we didn't want to move or didn't have room for in our new house. Geez, it was so surprising how quickly junk accumulates.

2. Advertise! Advertise! Advertise! - I put an ad on craigslist a couple of days beforehand and made signs that we put up on Saturday morning ( I would have put them up on Thursday night so people could drive past them on their way to and from work on Friday...but it was scheduled to rain).

3. Cash - Don't forget to have plenty of cash and change on hand. Especially $1s.

4. Bags - It's also nice to supply plastic bags so people can carry out what they purchased.

5. Early birds - If your signs say that you start at 8AM plan for the early birds to show up at 7AM. We had people circling our house before we had finished setting up!

6. Donate - David and I loaded up our car and drove to Goodwill immediately after we finished. Anything that was left behind was donated. And it just felt good.

Good luck!

Stumped.

Since buying the house, I have been obsessed with looking through images of family rooms. It is the one room in our house that has me totally stumped in terms of layout and decor. It also is the room where we will spend the most time hanging out. And therefore needs to be perfect... if you know what I mean?


Hubby and I have fairly similar tastes (phew!) so we have tended to agree on most of the home purchases so far. But I would say my style is a mix of traditional and prep with fun pops of color mixed in while he is more classic with lots of neutrals.

Here are a few images that are inspiring me today//

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Now I need to start hunting! Someone help me.

a baseball game double date night

Our good friends, Bailey and Simon, spent a cold and rainy Friday evening with us at the Astros game. Dave's first of the season and my first one, well, ever. We weren't craving stadium food so we headed to Collinas for pizza and wine before it started.

Simon kindly scored us dugout seats to the game and a parking pass too. Thanks, Simon! And Bailey is a baseball expert, I tell ya. Let's just say baseball isn't really my sport. But I blended in well by drinking beers and cheering when someone got on a base.

It was such a fun night. Boy, we are certainly going to miss y'all the next TWO years. Actually, let's not talk about it...I still haven't come to terms with the fact that y'all are really leaving.

4 photos from our weekend

1. A freshly groomed puppy that desperately needed a bath. (P.S. I know Charlotte is dominating our photos these days but that's because we loooooove her)
2. Just look at that sky...
3. The first crawfish of the season. Better late than never. (For the record, I am not the biggest crawfish fan and managed to eat only 1 the whole day)
4. Mexican food and margaritas

date night

Last night David got off early so we decided to take advantage and 

go on a little date. It ended with for-yo at Menchies. With lots toppings!

It was a good night. And now it's the weekend.

Happy Friday!

Pinterest inspiration

carpe diem // DIY bouquet // pink skinny jeans // bar cart // peachy art // cake

saying goodbye

With the days left at our current place winding down, David and I took some time on Saturday to document the place we have called home for the last two years. Our first two years as a married couple. And although we are so excited to move on to the next chapter - this house will always hold a near and dear place in our hearts. It's not something either of us wants to forget anytime soon. 

Take a peek!

//outside our front door

//dining room

//bookcase

//living room

//master bedroom

//my little corner

P.S. you can probably see why I've been dying to get some new furniture and start fresh in the new house. Most of our current furniture was thrown together from my stuff and his. And it is in need of an update. Hence, a lot of this stuff will be featured at our upcoming yard sale on Saturday. Woo hoo!

Monday, Monday

Over the weekend, we ran a lot of errands for the new house (and I bought some of these for the master closet and two rugs). Did a little dress shopping for a wedding shower on Saturday evening. Watched this old-school, hilarious movie. David and I went out for a little dinner date. Caught up with Blair. And spent Sunday being lazy.

happy monday!

Have a wonderful weekend!

oh, friday! you make us pretty happy around here.

have a wonderful weekend everyone!

my skin care routine

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser // Neutrogena Toner // Aveeno Moisturizer // Clarisonic 

Lip Scrub // Kiehl's Lip Balm // Ponds Skin Cream // Kiehl's Hand Salve

I have decided that this year I am going to upgrade my skin care routine. I'm going to be 26 {whhhat?} in June and it's only a matter of time before little wrinkles start popping up under my eyes. And is it ever too early to start using a night cream? I didn't think so. Plus, I went in for a facial a couple of weeks ago and my guy, Rad, said I need to keep this up every 6 weeks to get my maximum glow. Woah. I was lucky if I got in to see him 2x a year.

I have been blessed with pretty normal skin. Besides from the occasional break-out {btw, I thought these stopped along with puberty}, I haven't had many issues or dermatologists appointments. But now that I'm hitting my upper twenties, it seems time to beef up my arsenal just a tad. So I'm really ready when 30 {eek!} and the aging hits.

So, anything amazing that I have to try? Let's hear it. 

Can't stop listening to...

This song came up on my Pandora yesterday. 

I was so excited to hear a new song by the talented Florence + The Machine.

Enjoy...

A post about photography

Photography is one of my favorite passions - and it's been that way since high school (co-editor of the yearbook and advanced photography class...yes, I was that girl). Although, admittedly, my photos are very far from perfect and I still have plenty to learn about my hand-me-down Canon Rebel. So in an effort to remedy this problem, I took this little 3 hour beginners photography class on Saturday that I found through Groupon.

It was a small group of 12 of us (which made it nice for asking questions...of which I had many). We took an hour to go through composition and another hour to go through the camera. The rest of the time was spent practicing things we learned. By the time class wrapped I was already feeling a bit more confident. And it couldn't have come at a better time. My world has been so consumed by the move recently; it was nice to break away for a couple of hours on Saturday and do something creative...even it was just for a little while.

Here are a few things I learned and will be practicing for the next few weeks.

Composition - Telling Stories with your Photos


1. Simplicity - photos should be simple; try not to include anything in the frame that shouldn't be there.

2. Frames - when possible, try to create a frame {ex. a door} around the subject. Note - the frame doesn't have to be in the center of the photo and often it looks better when it is not.

3. Balance - focus on a main character {your subject} & incorporate supporting actors where needed

4. Rule of Thirds - think of a tic-tac-toe board...you always want your subject in the intersection of those lines. It is more pleasing to the eye to not have the subject directly in the center. See below.

** A few other notes: Don't cut off people at the joints, choose different angles, move in closer


**For all of you local Houston readers, you can find all the information about the class here.

5 photos from our weekend

1 - walking out and about on a sunny Saturday

2 - my main squeeze

3 - kisses for a tired pup

4 - a little spring closet cleaning

5 - rocking out to pandora and thinking about home decorating

Easter inspiration on this Good Friday

In other exciting news, one of my best friends, Bizzy, just started a healthy living blog called Get Bizzy Living. She is writing about her journey to a healthier, living-life-to-the-fullest existence and will be posting recipes, workout techniques and food for thought along the way. I've already found her posts helpful (like this smoothie recipe and these walking tips). And it doesn't hurt that she is one of the funniest people I know - with the puns to prove it :) So with that, please go check it out. I know we will be seeing lots more of her around these parts soon.

Have a great Easter weekend everyone!

a little house update

This whole moving process has been a lot harder, a lot more stressful, a lot more time-crunched, and a whole lot more detail-oriented than all of our previous moves. Because of this, I keep finding myself overwhelmed and stressing way more than I would like to admit. It's quite unfortunate because deep down I'm so thankful and excited that we have a house of our own. Our OWN! So I want to be sure I'm not focusing on too many little things and instead be thankful that all of this is happening.

So with that in mind, it really hasn't been so tedious. And when I think about it, there have been quite a few fun moments so far along the way that I loved.

For example, I don't think I've ever been more excited to take a bath in our new tub. Or pick out chandeliers at Restoration Hardware. Or decide on paint colors. Or look at king mattresses with Dave. Or meet our new neighbors and that cute dog next door.

And at this stage in our newly-wed life, which is not so newly-wed anymore, buying and decorating a house is wonder. Talking every night about moving in with little ability just yet to even grasp the concept that we are about to become home-owners. About to become real adults making a home that hopefully one day will have a little family of more than just the 3 of us.

So with all of that said, I'm breaking down my to-do list by weeks and I'm already a little behind. Here is what we need to accomplish before April 19th. Eek!


1. Sort and purge: got through every room and decide what to keep and what to get rid of
2. Create moving binder: use binder to keep track of all estimates, receipts, inventory
3. Floor plan of new home: begin deciding on function of each room, plan how to move into new home
4. Use it or lost it: start using up things you don't want to move (i.e. frozen foods, perishable foods, cleaning supplies)
5. Locate moving company
6. File change of address with IRS
7. Advertise and host garage sale