New Finds

My favorite store, Gray Living, was having a sale on lighting. I have been wanting to get matching lamps for my nightstands. I had driven to the store three times(!) at the last 30 minutes before the store closes, but could never make up my mind, and couldn't get much input from D on which lamps he liked (they will someday be his too!). Finally, I saw this beauty:

This ties in perfectly with my metal storage trunk, taupe trimmed duvet, and black iron bed. I love lamps. In fact, I could easily get carried away with lamps, but I have been able to keep it under wraps. Here are a few other lamps that caught my eye from Pinterest.

Here are a few from Anthropologie:

And Pottery Barn:

And Horchow:

I love them all! What lamps do you like?

I found a few other items I couldn't leave without while there. I have had some dark wicker baskets for years that I wanted to give some life to by adding labels. I got the idea from Pottery Barn:





One of my finds worked perfectly. I added wire to secure it to the basket.




Lastly, I couldn't leave without this little guy.

Those were my finds of the day! Don't you just love finding cute things?!


P.S. D thinks this stuff is unnecessary and would much rather live without anything. Seriously, anything. His favorite picture of Steve Jobs is one where he is sitting on the floor of his first(?) house, with no furniture (see below). He once told me that we wanted to live that way. His exact quote after I purchased my little artichoke was "That's exactly what I need- more choking." Good thing I have a good sense of humor! ;)

Sneak Peek

Since moving into the new house, the decorating process has been very slow. I have a picture in my mind (actually several) of what I would like it to look like in the end, but actually finding the pieces is the difficult part. Here is a little sneak peek of what I have so far. I will post more pictures after the room is complete.

Lamp: Gourmet Pantry

Turquoise Picture Frame: Ribbit Ribbit

Wood Objects: Gray Living

Framed Pictures: Frames and mats from Michael's Arts & Crafts, horse drawings by my hubs-to-be, floral print- scrapbook paper from Michael's

Miscellaneous books from college and leisure reading

Glitter jewelry box: The Gypsy Wagon

Silver bowl: Target

Apples: I've had them forever and can't remember where I got them

Wood box: a gift given to me

Silver Initial: Target

Always a Bridesmaid...

I got the cutest package delivered to my door today! It a bridesmaid's package from my roomie from college. I was so excited to open it and see what wonderfulness she sent. This girl is like Martha Stewart (but much younger and without all those issues with the law). I opened it up to find this adorable gift.

Have I mentioned I love burlap?! I love the bow! After opening the whole package, I searched for the place I wanted the burlap bow to have a home in my home. It looked really good on two of my lamps but it was too little. I will return to that part later. Once I opened the box, I found this inside:

The cutest little bee themed things from a custom made t-shirt to a cookie that read "will you bee my bridesmaid?" I loved it! It was so cute! I had planned on doing "will you be my bridesmaid" cookies and after knowing how exciting it is to get them, I only hope mine turn out this well!

Complete with a really sweet handwritten note with her own slogan on the back. :)

And even the burlap bow found a new home :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

The Bad:
I went to West Elm this weekend for their "flea market" and was so very disappointed. They had several employees just standing around chatting, but none of them were willing to help me. In this flea market, they had a few pieces of damaged furniture in the back of their store for sale at "flea market" prices, supposedly. I found a side table I have had my eye on for a while. It was lopsided and basically broken, but I thought I would be able to repair it with a little TLC. Unfortunately, all the tables had three different prices on them! I asked an employee for help, but he made it clear he had no interest in helping me. He reluctantly gave in and tried to tell me that none of the prices were right and he would have to find out. He later said that one of the prices, the highest price of course, was correct and that the others were the prices of the stock pieces that make the finished piece. You cannot buy the pieces individually, so why not put one price on the table and stop confusing your customers. I decided not to get the table because the "sale" price seemed awfully high.
       I continued through the store, only to walk up on the same table, but not damaged and regular price for less than the flea market one! I knew the price had to be wrong on the sale piece, so I searched for a salesperson. I found several chatting away in a circle, and when I approached them and stood awkwardly over their shoulders, they ignored me. I figured I did not want help from that kind of service, so I went searching for someone else.
       I saw a lady walking in my direction, made eye contact with her, and she immediately looked away and looked like she was going to try to avoid me. I then asked her if she was busy. She responded, "Um....well, *big sigh* what do you need?" As if I would need to tell her first and then she would decide if she was busy. The sigh made it clear she was not interested in offering any service. I ignored this and pointed out that the broken table was marked a higher price than the table that was regular price. She responded, "How do you know?" I told I saw the price tag. Doesn't that seem obvious? Even if not, shouldn't she just go check.
       I have worked many years in retail and have those days where you really hate your job and may not have done my best, but I have never given such poor service like this. So the lady takes the tag and walks off to the registers. Great, now there is no tag on the table and I might not ever see her again. She doesn't give me the impression she will be back to help me. Finally, another salesperson sees that I look stranded in the middle of the store, so she asks if she can help me. Relief! I am grateful! I explain that the situation and she says she will help, but she has to ask a manager. No problem. For fear of losing the one chance I seem to have at getting an answer, so I ask her if I can kind of follow her. She tells me that employees get in trouble for asking managers for help in front of customers. What?! Employees are discouraged from helping customers!!! This is insane. If an employee cannot help, they should seek out a manager and let the customer know that they are attempting to get answers. I have been a retail manager for years and would cringe if one of my employees even thought that was the case!
       I sit where I am and wait for her to return. She does, but instead of telling me the price, she asks if I want to carry it out or have them put it in customer pick-up. She says if I want to pick it up she has to write a ticket, then starts writing it. I say that I am not sure I am going to get it because I do not know the price yet. She ignores this and continues to write the ticket, asking me for my information. I repeat that I want to know the price before deciding to buy the table. She then tells me the price, which is $40 less than the regular price! Really, $40 off for the broken version is your "flea market" price?! They had a coffee table there for $80 and a upholstered (ripped) chair for $70, but they wanted to charge me almost $200 for the broken table. I told her that I did not want to buy it for $40 less than regular price since it was lopsided and damaged. She immediately walked off. I left very disappointed in their service. I will not be returning to West Elm.

The Good:
Dallas has a new ladies' clothing store on Henderson! The new Milk & Honey is super cute, eclectic, and basically, a smaller clone of Anthropologie (but cheaper). The store was decorated in a really fun, down-to-earth way using common item in unexpected ways. I was excited to see that one of the light fixtures I have was displayed in their store. It looks like a barrel or apple crate.

Here are some pics from their store from D Magazine, who declared the store as "awesome." I agree.

If you are ever in the area, you should check it out! The store is next to We Are 1976, which is another really fun store to browse.

The Beautiful:
I received an email from Restoration Hardware that had beautiful pictures of -my favorite- neutral tone, all white rooms with their gorgeous furniture and decor. I love all of it! If I could, I would adorn my whole house in this look. Check it out for yourself.

www.restorationhardware.com

Bachelor, the Hometown Episode

Did anyone notice Ben in his skinny jeans and boots at Lindzi's? If not, here's a picture. It pretty much sums up how suave this guy is.

Ok, so this is a Sims character, but that's only because I couldn't find a picture of another fool who would wear such a thing. Luckily, Nikki teaches him about boots later on in the episode. While at Lindzi's home, she reveals that the guy who dumped her via text actually lived with her. Seriously? Did she just come home one day and all his stuff was gone? Then I guess after she called him 20,786,300 times, he just sent her back a text telling her they were through and calling her "babe." She admitted that she had a hard time letting down her walls because of that, then told Ben that "vulnerable" is a hard word for her. Yeah, probably too many syllables.

Moving on to better outfits...
Kacie's outfit for her hometown date was so cute, minus the Flava Flav medallion. I think all that tanning is getting to her head. She should have thrown that medallion out, along with the baton twirling. I can't help but get the impression that Kacie hasn't moved on since high school. Hence, the baton twirling and her dad not believing she knows anything about real love. Did anyone else have a hard time believing that was her real dad? Maybe she has just been tanning so much that she isn't always believable as white girl.

Don't agree? See reference below.

Moving on...
It was pretty exciting when I figured out where Ben and Nicki were on there date after the stockyards. Just to be clear, Nicki is from Hurst, not Fort Worth. Now, I know they are only a little over 20 minutes apart and there is nothing to do in Hurst, but I never thought about what they do for a hometown date when the girl is from Podunk. For her date, they really played up the Texas theme. Just so we are clear, not everyone in Texas wears boots. In fact, very few people do. I live in Texas, and I don't know anyone who does. (Except my brother, and that is because he has always liked them and thinks living in Texas gives you a decent enough excuse to wear them. I think he would agree with Ben thanking Nicki for the opportunity to dress like a cowboy because he has always wanted to.) Also, boots run around $400 a pair, on average, so I sure hope they saved their receipts! At least Nicki's family fed him well with good ole' Spring Creek Barbecue and sweet tea. *Side note: I don't know how Nicki/Nikki spells her name so you will see it spelled all kinds of ways in this post.

After Courtney declares Ben is her favorite guy [of the day], she follows producers advice to pretend to regret being so mean to the other girls. She tells her family that she like/loves him. What does that mean??? Her sister asks her if just "us two" can talk, to which Courtney responds with something like "oh- that's us!" Her dad and Ben have one only thing in common- her dad drinks scotch for breakfast and Ben has a dog named Scotch. Her mom looks excited about meeting Ben, but we later realize that is from the Botox. Finally, Courtney admits that she is crazy, she just happens to add "about this guy" after saying it.

For the recap with Chris Harrison, Ben admits that even though Kacie's mom told him she didn't want he and Kacie living together before they were married, and he ensured her that he has traditional values, he would expect them to live together after the show. That just provided more confirmation that Ben and Courtney deserve each other.

I still stand by my theory that they provide a VersaSpa for the girls while on the show, especially after seeing how much darker Lindzi, Kacie, and Nikki are than any one in their families. I mean, come on, they are not even at the beach anymore! It's not believable anymore! Just wait until they go to Switzerland. I guarantee you they will still be unusually dark.

My predictions are that Ben will give Nikki the boot. He never spent any time with her until her hometown date. There's no way they can have a relationship yet. I'm sure these are the same predictions that everyone else has. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it.

I think he picks Courtney because the previews for next week are all meant to convince people that he will send Courtney home. Therefore, we can almost 100% guarantee he will not send her home, but will purpose to her. Yep, that's right, this girl...

Food, food, and s'more food

On Sunday, D and I went to the cutest bakery/restaurant around. They had delicious food and the best looking desserts I have ever seen. I had to pull out my instagram! Here are a few pics.

Hungry yet?

My Man is a DIYer!

I love lamps. I love old wood. My HTB made this amazing lamp for me out of an old log. He did such a great job! I love it, and it adds the much needed light in my office!

I can't even tell you how many talents this man has! Anything he sets his mind to, he is great at! This is just one of many. I had to use it to brag about him!

Venues

Remember the French/Mediterranean venue I posted about earlier? My hubs-to-be and I drove there for an open house they hosted on Thursday. Yes, that's right, Thursday. We drove in traffic for two hours after work while starving. All to be disappointed in the cold food, pushy salespeople who appeared to be miserable, and terrible cake. And I do mean terrible. I can make cake better than this from a Betty Crocker box. (Literally, the cardboard box would even be better). The decorations were cheesy and looked like half were from Oriental Trading and the other half from a funeral.

Today, we went to see another venue. Remember 'The Secret Garden?' It's in the middle of town. Neither I or the HTB (hubs-to-be) are city people, so we weren't too keen on having our wedding in the city. However, we were pleasantly surprised with this place. The garden was beautiful. Other than it being surrounded by high rises and a somewhat busy road right next to it, it was pretty darn close to what we were looking to find.

So the search continues...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are pictures from what I did for my hubby-to-be for Valentine's Day. We decided not to do gifts this year (since he just bought me the most amazing ring and we are flying to Mexico for five days for my friend's wedding.) I had to do something though, so I put together this little display.

The jumbo Hershey's kiss is a tradition. My mom gives my dad one every year for Valentine's Day, so I have carried on the tradition. Eventually he may get sick of them, but I will always be willing to save him from chocolate overdose by eating as much or all that he does not want. I found the binary "I Love You" sign from another blog I follow. (You can see it here. Sorry I stole it!)

I wanted to make it more manly, so I came up with the beer idea. I made a little love note to play off a pun on the beer. I wanted to make it kind of rustic looking, where it went with the beer, and not pink or anything girly. Here's how it turned out.

I guess I made it blend in too well because he didn't notice the message. He thought it was just some tag that came on the beer. Oh, well. Here is the card that I gave him.

It is so true. I do have a HUGE crush on him!

He took me to the best little restaurant around that makes ah-mazing Italian food. It's BYOW, so he brought a bottle of my favorite wine. :) The restaurant was serving heart shaped pizzas, which were sooo cute, but we opted to get individual dishes. The dinner was so good, I ate all of mine and quite an embarrassing portion of his! If you have ever had pink sauce, you will know why. Seriously, it was so delicious, I could drink the stuff and lick the plate clean. Then, he took me to see The Vow (per my request). I loved it! It was such a moving story about passionately loving your spouse. Every girl needs to see this movie. Even if you don't like movies like this, you will like Channing Tatum. :) The hubs-to-be was less than impressed with this chick-flick. Let's just say you won't catch him in line to see this movie again. Or any other girly movie. On the way home, he surprised me with these:

Not sure you can see them. The car was dark. Well, that was my Valentine's Day. I hope everyone had one as special as mine!

Bachelor, another week, again, ugh

I actually saw this week's episode on time. So in case you missed it, here's the scoop. First, Ben takes Lindzi on a one-on-one. I like Lindzi, but this date was really awkward. And every time she is on camera, she seems like she might be a little drunk. They jump off a helicopter into the ocean. Did I mention Lindzi is afraid of heights? He never seems to run out of ways to torture the women. Then, they catch their own lobsters for dinner, which strangely do not have pinchers. After eating their dinner that was alive a few moments ago, Ben tells Lindzi they are going to write a love note and put it in a bottle and throw it in the ocean. The whole thing was really awkward. It wasn't romantic at all.

Back at the hotel, Courtney says that she needs to be appreciated and she is feeling neglected. She actually whines to all the other women about it. And the craziest part is that they all sit there and listen! For as much as these women hate her, why do they hang out in the same room as her and listen to her?! You are in Belize! There has to be a million better things to do! Pick one! Courtney says that if Ben does not give her a one-on-one, she will not accept the rose he gives her. Yes, she assumes she will get a rose. I doubt anyone believes that she would decline a rose. No rose = going home. The last thing Courtney wants is less time on camera. I guess she thinks she can decline a rose, and he will convince her to stay, and the whole thing will just provide more camera time for her. As if on cue, a date card arrives for Courtney. She says that he listens because she was not very happy with him for leaving her there in the hotel room with all the other girls. As she leaves for her date with Ben, she yells to the girls, "Bye! I can't stand you all!" Then, during her date, she tells Ben that he shouldn't have gone on a date with Emily (which I left out because it was so boring) because he knows how Emily has treated her. Seriously?!?! Where does she come up with this stuff?? Then she proceeds to say that she has tried 100% to really get to know the girls but they are mean to her and are shallow. I think she is confusing them with herself. Ben asks if she has any friends at home and she says "I have a lot of good friends" then actually says that they are all guys, and although Ben makes a face to this, he quickly forgets the huge red flag above her head. Dummy. I actually kind of want him to meet her family. I wonder what they are like. I imagine her dad to be something like Hitler. And her mom to be something like Joan Rivers...but taller, and with bigger shoulders.

My favorite part of this episode is when Ben admits that he's a weird guy. That's the only thing he's said that most viewers would agree with. Wait, I change my mind. My favorite part is Courtney's face when Emily says that they have created great friendships while being there. In case you missed it, it looked like this.

Except it was actually worse, if you can believe it. I couldn't find the actual picture though, so this one serves the purpose. For a model, this girl really has no face control. She makes a lot of ugly faces. She probably has more ugly faces than the number of times Ben has ever had a haircut.

So Ben takes Rachel, Kacie, and Nicki to swim with sharks on a group date. How romantic. (eye roll) Kacie and Nicki are super excited, but Rachel, naturally, is scared to death. She comments that she is afraid of lakes because they might have sharks in them. Really?? So she won't get in the water until Ben promises that the sharks will not eat her. I really hope he cleared that up before telling her that because if he's wrong, she's going to be pretty disappointed. Or paraplegic.

So Ben declines seeing the girls before the rose ceremony because he already knows what he wants to do. He sends home Emily and Rachel (after wasting the whole shark swim with her and not paying attention to the other two girls there). Kacie got a rose after the shark swim, so next week, Ben will meet her parents. He also gives a rose to Nicki- did anyone see this coming?? Not me. He has barely talked to her since the show started. Have they even been on one date?? He also gives a rose to Courtney and Lindzi. So, yet another week rolls around where Ben still has not realized Courtney's evilness. This is beyond ridiculous.

So who does he pick? That's a question even Siri can't answer.

This is all too much for Courtney to handle.

Or perhaps it's the wine she is constantly drinking... Haven't they run out of alcohol by now?!?!

Bachelor, again

As I'm sure you can tell by now, I DVR The Bachelor, which means I usually end up watching that week's episode later on in the week, so I am repeatedly behind on my Bachelor posts.

I find this one a little hard to write about because it got sort of...annoying. And, sort of, sad. It's sad how desperate the girls are for his attention and affection. I know this is nothing new for the Bachelor & Bachelorette shows, but come on, this is just an average guy who desperately needs a a haircut, is very awkward, says the weirdest things (or says normal words in a weird way: "May-chet-ee"), and is hardly capable of carrying on a conversation. I know this sounds really harsh, but I'm pretty disappointed in the guy. Courtney strips for him and he looses track of the whole reason he is there. He is completely wasting this season and the shows attempt to help him "find love." He's not focused on finding love! He's got his mind somewhere else. The producers need to come up with some lame reason to kick off Courtney, like they did with Casey S., if they really do believe their show helps people find the love of their life. Instead, they are playing it up. Courtney and Ben both look like complete fools. Oh, and props to the rapper girl for finding a clever way to make Courtney look even more stupid and evil. Who would have thought to just apologize to her? (Although, I think Emily actually meant the apology.)

And Jamie. Oh, Jamie. Poor, poor Jamie. I feel so sorry for this girl. I see now why they didn't give her more camera time before. It was to save herself! This poor girl made a complete fool of herself and will probably regret it for the rest of her life. (If you have not seen what she did and you care to see it, find someone who has TiVo or DVR and watch. I will not describe it.)

So back to Casey...I'm still not sure why they kicked her off the show. She said that she was single and not dating anyone. So what a part of her still has love in her heart for someone she dated for years and shared her life with? She knows they cannot be together and is trying to move on! That is no reason to kick her off! Chris even said to her, "I know you are trying to find love." Isn't that what this show is about?! So the only reason they made her leave is to create more drama so people would actually watch the show. If they didn't have some type of drama or catastrophe to show on their previews for the next week, people would stop watching because, quite frankly, this season is dragging on painfully slow. We can only take so much self-inflicted torture of listening to Courtney. Dang it, Ben! Wake up! Get over your hormones, and send the girl home! I bet even Brittney's grandma no longer likes him. Remember her:

At this point, I think this is all a lost cause. He has done too much damage with Courtney to have any hopes of having a relationship with any self-respecting girl. All the girls are too good for him. Except Courtney, of course, but she thinks she is, so if he picks her, she will just dump him anyway. I still have an ounce of hope Chris Harrison will just kick Ben off for being an idiot and start Emily Maynard's season just to save any little dignity they still have.


I hereby claim Ben's season to be the quickest way for viewers to stop watching the show.