Saturday, November 24, 2012

Stylin & Profilin'

I have spent an inordinate amount of time stalking fashion blogs these last few weeks. It started while I was stuck in the house during Hurricane Sandy, then it became a crutch when I was drugged up on cold medicine. Regardless, I'm hooked.

So you know my love for Pinterest right? {I've shared this love affair many times on the blog} Well, while pinning some apparel options I found a pin from Audrey at Putting Me Together and decided to visit her site. What started as an innocent pin turned into hours of sifting through her blog. I've been looking at my wardrobe lately thinking of pieces I need to purchase to be "trendy" or look more professional for work (at Homes.com we have tons of good lookin' ladies who make our department feel more like a fashion runway then a marketing department).

But Audrey has helped me look at my wardrobe with a new set of eyes. Her series on building a remixible wardrobe is brilliant! It helped me develop a whole new appreciation for the current pieces I have and ways to rework them with others in my closet.




While her tips seem pretty basic, I just didn't think to look at my shirts and say 'oh, I can take this blouse and make you fit with these pants, plus add a belt!' Please don't tell me I'm alone on this one. Audrey is solely responsible for me waking up one morning and spending an hour on the floor in my closet jotting down 50+ different ideas with my current clothes. Okay...so maybe I am alone on this portion. ;)

The next person I've been spending WAY TOO MUCH time stalking is Kendi from Kendi Everyday. This is a wicked talented lady who snaps photos of her stylish attire each day (yup, each day) on her blog. She's also a boutique owner of Bloom in Texas, a speaker, photographer and all around great gal {listen to me, like we're besties or something}. Her style is pretty quirky which is something I've been accused of (I have friends who say 'oh, that is a Gill outfit'. So clearly I have a distinct style.), so I really enjoy the items she pairs together.



Both of these fine ladies have definitely helped bring new life to my wardrobe, which isn't actually all that stellar, but have challenged me to make it work with what I've got. My husband appreciates their inspiration completely! ;) So bottom line, I'll be sharing a couple of my new and improved outfit ideas on this blog. I'm not at all a fashion person, although I secretly hope to be as stylish as these ladies, but I do get a sense of joy when I've put together an outfit I'm especially proud of. May not come from a mannequin at any store I've ever seen, but it'll put a smile on my face which is just as awesome!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Entertainment Stand Revamp

While I totally love my decision to re-do the dresser turned entertainment stand for our living room, I have since questioned my decision to paint it the way I did. And while I was evaluating our living room for the pallet wall fail, I kept looking at the entertainment stand over and over again questioning it more. So what would a DIYer do when she's questioning something in her home? Revamp it! ;)

So that's what I did and boy am I glad I did!! I have some left over paint from my guest bedroom revamp {updates on that soon} so I used the same paint on our entertainment stand. Here's the before...



And here's the after!







Wasn't super tough, but it has been a decision I was struggling with because everyone else liked the green. For me though, with our green couches, curtains and green/blue focus wall {previously the fireplace wall} it seemed like too much green. And with my wonderul iKEA coffee table, the white goes very well.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Grateful

So this post was suppose to go out last week, but it didn't. I'm LAME! Been a little MIA lately, in case you couldn't tell. With Hurricane Sandy coming through the East Coast (no major damage on our end), me coming down will a killer flu (out for 7 days) and a death in the family, I just haven't been able to visit the blog. Sad face.

Luckily I'm starting to come out of my fog and just wanted to share with everyone how grateful I am. I've been watching on the news how devastating Hurricane Sandy has been to other areas and I'm really grateful that we did not see that side of her. There are many who are without homes, without power and/or can't contact their loved ones because of that. It's really scary to think so many are struggling right now.

Even with me being sick this past week, our refrigerator deciding to stop working and other stuff, I'm really grateful for the family and friends I do have. I'm really grateful for the roof over my head and the ability to feed my family. I am grateful for my relationship with God who always looks over me. I saw this sign the other day on Pinterest and I really hit home...




I have contemplated buying (or creating) something like this and putting it in a prominent place in my home. That way it'll always serve as a reminder that each day I need to remember what I have and be grateful. What are you grateful for?

Photo source: Crafty Scrappy Happy

Monday, November 5, 2012

Dallas Cowboys Football Game

As you may recall, Ryan and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! WHOO HOO! ;) My gift for him was football tickets to the Dallas Cowboys football game in Baltimore on October 14th. Yup, that's right it was this past weekend.

We've never been to a NFL football game before, but it was SO MUCH FUN! I'm not sure if you saw the game or not, but it was an amazing game to watch. Although Dallas lost 31-29, it was a action packed and we were fighting to the VERY end.



Half time

2nd half kick-off

So if you didn't watch, the Cowboys were losing 31 to 23 and at the two minute mark they were in the Ravens end zone. After several third downs, we finally scored a touchdown to make it 29 to 31. Then, in an effort to get the two point conversion, Tony Romo threw the ball to a reciever who caught it but the ball slipped out of his hands! AHHH! Cowboys then kicked an on-side kick & recovered the ball. WHAT? That's right, they got possession AGAIN. They moved a couple yards, but time was ticking down so they decided to bring on their fieldgoal kicker......alas, they missed the field goal. Urgh! But the last two minutes of the game was action packed. No one knew if Dallas was going to tie it up or end up winning!


TailgateFever from Homes.com & ForRent.com

I had an absolute blast with the hubby. The stadium was packed with 71,000+ fans in the stands. I couldn't believe how many people were there (I'm such a newbie). ;) I really want to try and do this again sometime-even though I'm not much of a football watcher, I appreciated the sport by being there and becoming a part of the game.