Thursday, April 5, 2012
Venues Galore!
Dan and I have looked at every wedding venue in the whole surrounding 100 or so miles and now we are tired! It has been fun, but a little exhausting. We have been on the search for just the right place- and right price- to have our wedding. Every place we have looked at is beautiful, but has one thing or another that is a deal breaker- for example, guests having to use porta potties is not ok. They should be required to tell you that kind of stuff before you drive all the way out there to see the place! Here's the best pictures of the places we have seen.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
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 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! ;)
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.
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! ;)
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
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
Sunday, March 18, 2012
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!
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:
Complete with a really sweet handwritten note with her own slogan on the back. :)
And even the burlap bow found a new home :)
Monday, March 12, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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...
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...
Monday, February 20, 2012
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?
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!
Friday, February 17, 2012
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...
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...
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