New patio!

We've been in our house a little over a year now and we've painted, put in new flooring, bought some new furniture, etc. Well what we both really wanted to take care of this summer was adding a patio in the backyard. I find it a little strange that nobody ever put anything in the backyard; no deck, patio or anything and this house has been here since the 70's. Here's what the backyard looked like before:

Over the past two days, our new patio was installed. We did not do it ourselves since we're both in school and didn't want to spend our entire summer working on it. These guys knocked it out in two days and I love the way it turned out! We used a newer product, Rosetta Grand Flagstone. It's concrete pieces made to look like natural stone. And here's the finished product:

Now I have to figure out what kind of plants/flowers to plants in the little dirt space in between the boulder wall and the patio. Oh, and buy some patio furniture. Why does it have to be so expensive?!

Another birthday gone...skydiving

Well, I'm now officially 31. I realize my birthday was back on June 30th, but as one can tell, I'm not very good at updating this blog. Buuuuuuuut, I did want to share what I did for my birthday.

See, now, I'm scared of everything. Not like bugs, heights, loud noises or the dark, but things like rollercoasters, water (the thought of going on a cruise and being out there in the middle of the ocean kind of freaks me out) and flying (although that one seems to be getting better since I've been traveling so much for work).

Anywho, sometime at the end of 2010 / beginning of 2011, I decided I was going to go skydiving. Jim never thought I would go through with it, but I was determined to prove him wrong. And guess what...on June 11th I did. It was me, Jim, my friend Jill and her sister Janet, and our other friend Pat. OMG! It was so awesome! I want to do it again. Jim says if we lived closer to the place (it was about an hour and a half drive from our house) he would probably go for his certification to skydive solo.

Sheet music wreath

I finally got around to making a wreath out of sheet music for over our piano. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I found a bunch of old sheet music at random garage and estate sales.



I basically just formed the sheets into cones, used scotch tape to secure them, then hot-glued them to a foam wreath form.

For the top/second layer, I cut the music sheets in half and rolled those into cones.

Did some shopping recently...

Well, it's been quite some time since updating this blog, so I figured I should. And what better way than to show all the shopping I've done lately.

I've been traveling more for work lately, and since I typically wear jeans to work, I needed some "fancier' clothes for work meetings. Plus I needed some summer stuff and other random items, of course!

And, just to be clear, this wasn't all in one shopping trip lol.

First, this awesome dress I found on clearance at Target. It had two different clearance prices on it; one was $30 and one was $20. I decided to ask the people at the fitting rooms to scan it to find out how much it actually was. $10! Um, yes please! It was a little big, but I had my mom take in a few areas and now it fits like a glove. I bought a fun little skinny belt to go with it and I love the pockets!

I found this skirt on clearance at Ann Taylor Loft. It also has fun pockets. It's sort of a shimmery linen.

Nine West Zuki

Banana Republic - Sloan Fit Crop in Natural Khaki

Banana Republic - Elephant Print Timeless Tank

Banana Republic - Sloan Fit Striped Flare

Banana Republic - Boyfriend Utility Chino

Banana Republic - Lace Trim Kimono Vee

in this color, soft grey

Seychelles Purr in Vachetta

Ann Taylor Loft Jungle Flowers Top

Old Navy - Cuffed Perfect 3" Khaki Short in Couscous

I picked up this little marc ecko clutch at TJMaxx, but in a butter yellow color

Gap - Flutter Sleeve Crewneck T

This top from JCP

Express - Ruffled Sleeve Top

Kohl's - Elle Floral Chiffon Top

Gap - Clearance top

Forever 21 tank

Target sandals

Forever 21 tunic

Old Navy leopard print cardigan

Old Navy clearance sleeveless sweater

And then I decided that it's been a few years since I bought a new bikini so I bought one from Victoria's Secret.

I got this pattern with this top...

and same zebra pattern, but this type of bottom...

Oh, and this purse...

I also picked up some fun necklaces at Forever 21 and Francesca's Collections.

And I think that's about it...for now :o)

Loungin' Around

Ok, so you may remember what the formal living room looked like before. If not, you can check it out here.

We've decided to call it the lounge, but really have no idea what to do with this room. I don't really want to put any large furniture like couches and such in here, and no TV. I was thinking maybe a wall of bookcases, or a little bar area (since the basement is totally unfinished and won't be finished for a really long time) but I really have no idea.

So for now, here's a few pics.





My mom made the cushion for the window...



And here's a close-up of the fabric...





I bought the large ottoman for some extra seating, but like I said, I have no idea what other small-ish type furniture to put in there. Right now it's just extra chairs from the dining set lol. Any ideas would be great!

Paint color is Antique Tin by Behr

Ottoman from West Elm

Rug from Home Decorators

Chair fabric is Premier Prints ZigZag in Yellow

Cushion and pillow fabric is Waverly Small Talk Blackbird

Curtains from JCP

New Addition

So about a week ago we decided it was time to add another little kitty to the family. Meet Luna...

We wanted a name that kind of had something to do with her being all white, but Snowflake has been used one too many times before. We came up with Luna - in Spanish it means, moon. So it worked since she was all white.

We later came to realize that it is also short for lunatic, which she also is. We've also been having a fun time calling her Equinsu Ocha. And for any Ace Ventura 2 fans out there, you know that means white devil!

So far she's been getting along pretty well with our other cat, but she seems to like to attack me and Jim, any chance she gets.