Fall-ing Again

Where have I been?! Why haven't I blogged lately? Well, to be honest, I haven't had a ton to talk about. I'm in the camp of, if you don't have something of substance to say, don't say anything at all. But I'm back this week!

It's no secret that I love summer. L-O-V-E it. Despite the disgustingly hot temps, I love Summer Fridays, maxi dresses, pool days and essentially everything wonderful about this beloved season. But, I'm over it. This week, we got our first drop in temps (still in the high eighties, mind you) and I've decided I'm all about fall.

So, on my to-do list for the coming week - get the house ready for fall!

First thing's first - the hubby has reminded me that OK State football kicks off in less than two weeks, so I've got to get our football wreath up!

The second big thing is changing the house smell. So, I've got to pull all the fruity/light summer scents from my Scentsy and add in my fall scents.

Finally, break out the old crockpot. We always put the crockpot on-hold for the summer as it just doesn't seem summer-y. But we can't wait to bring on the pot roast, chili and other fun crockpot recipes! Too early?

And I'm excited to share step two of our living room refresh soon. I'm just finalizing fabrics!

Happy Almost-End-of-Summer!

Lauren

Craigslist Creeping. Again.

So I always see all these bloggers I follow posting about their fantastic Craigslist finds, yet all I find on Craigslist are creepers. Now, I admit I don't do a ton of Craigslist shopping, but I have sold a couple of items.

So about a month back, we felt the need to get rid of a few random items that we just don't use anymore. The first item is an old TV - got rid of that one, no issue. The second item is a weight bench. Ahhh, the weight bench. I remember when the hubby brought that one home a few months after we moved into the house. Well, that was fun while it lasted, but he hasn't used it in forever (read: maybe 4 times ever) so it got the boot.

So I got an email from this gem of a guy:

Yes, his email is KillingIsFunny at hotmail dot com. Um, really dude? Do you think I'm going to let you buy my weight bench, potentially murder me and help bulk up your muscles so you can go kill a bunch of other people?

The irony is also not lost upon me that I blurred out his name in the above email to protect his identity. Crazy effing dude.

Well, maybe better luck next time on Craigslist?!

Living Room Refresh: Phase 1

How many times have I mentioned that I can't wait to make a few updates to my living room? Um, several. My hubby would argue more than "several." But here I am... Ready to get my hands on her. Her = my living room. So I've outlined a game plan that I feel is doable in four easy-to-follow steps. But for now, let's just start with step one!

Step #1: Rug to pull the room together
I already talked about my favorite rugs, but I finally pulled the trigger. Well, like, a month ago. It was on back-order, but I waited very patiently and today, it finally arrived!

I originally found this fancy-schmancy rug that I was going to buy for my living room, but it was going to cost around $450-500. Then, RugsUSA had their 4th of July sale and I just couldn't turn it down. This 5x7 rug cost me $115 total. Crazy!

If you're wondering if it looks/feels cheap, I would say... ummmmm, not really. The hubby thinks it's perfectly fine, but we actually have a pretty nice rug in our bedroom, and it's definitely not quite as high quality, but honestly, it looks good. So I'm happy with it.

I feel like it automatically makes the living room feel more pulled together, but let's face it - this room needs some help.

The other three steps in this room re-do? Oh, I'll get to that another day...

Happy Thursday!

Loving It: Spin Pins

When I chopped my hair off last fall, I almost immediately regretted it. I swear I was in mourning. I love having short hair, but when it's short, I can't do much with it. So now that it's finally long(ish) again, I'm excited I can actually pull it up again.

Enter my new fave thing: spin pins.

The ones I have are made by Goody Goody, they come in a two-pack and I got mine at Walgreen's, but I'm sure you can find them at any drug store. They are about $5-6.

They're perfect for buns of any kind. I generally stick to the lower side of buns (my hair isn't even long enough to rock the high bun) and these are perfect.

All you do is wrap your hair in a bun (however you normally do), then take a spin pin and simply twist it until it's all the way through the bun. Since my hair isn't super-long, I still add in a few bobby pins to nip and tuck pieces away, but it's waaaaay better than the 20 pins I normally use on my buns.

So this is after a long day of work and laying on a couch for an hour, so please forgive the messiness, but my spin pin is still secure!

I'm all about giving credit where credit is due, so shout-out to my pal, Whitney, who originally suggested these to me. (This is also the same gal who first introduced me to the Lime Cucumber Vodka Drink. Pretty smart lady.)

House Drama

I've been just mildly MIA lately as we've been trying to deal with a little house "issue" over here. Nothing so dramatic as ripping off a sink faucet while the water still running nor having your AC break in the dead heat of July like last year, but an issue nonetheless.

The weekend before last, we went over to my sister's to visit (pre-baby) with her, my bro-in-law and Mom. We got back to our house around 5:30 p.m. and found this:

Someone nailed our mailbox with their car and drove off. No note! Pretty sure when we came upon the scene we were all like:

So, then the hubby started calling around to get quotes to have it fixed. Ugh. After getting the no-go from several handymen that were recommended, we got a few quotes from masons. Like, bricklayer masons. When the hubby called to tell me the damage, I was suddenly all like:

$575. Hang on. Five-hundred-and-seventy-five dollars. There. I felt like you got a better understanding when I spelled it out. Luckily, we keep a special home account where we save up to do home projects/room re-do's/emergencies/etc., but my effing mailbox was not the way I would have chose to spend this money.

We're just hoping that the person's car was jaaaaacked up. For some reason, that gives us solace.

Master Bathroom: 50 Shades of Green

You've heard it. I know. We absolutely can't stand the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret of the Ooze" mint green paint color in our master bathroom. The hubby especially hates it with the fire of a thousand suns. So, after over a year of steaming about it, we've decided to repaint. You want to know the worst part? We're totally thinking about going bold with another crazy shade of green. Ugh. I KNOW! It's crazy stupid.

But ever since I saw YHL paint their guest bedroom a sort of peacock green/teal, I've been kind of obsessed with it.

Then, I came across some other great examples of teal paint:

(1 / 2 / 3 / 4) 

The other option is to go with a warm neutral (probably the same shade that's in our bedroom) and throw in some pops of teal color via DIY no-sew curtains and other accessories.

 So, are we totally crazy to paint another bold color?

Auntie Edition: Eli's Here!

Well, if you didn't see on Facebook or hear me shouting from the rooftop of the hospital, my sister finally had her baby and now I'm an aunt!

Here are the deets:

Eli Christopher
8 lb 3 oz
Born 7/9/12 at 8:46 p.m.
Mom, Dad and Eli are all doing really well

I don't have any pics of the new mommy yet, but here are just a few that I've taken.

Just a few minutes after his arrival. Looking at daddy :-)

Probably my favorite picture of Chris & Eli

Ok, actually this might be my fave. :-)

My first time holding this little one.

Did you know they have entire social networks devoted to aunts? Crazy. Well, while I can promise that I won't be joining SavvyAuntie.com, one thing I probably can't promise is that I'm not going to be the crazy aunt who obsessively posts pictures of their nephew. Love!