3rd Times a Charm!!

Sorry it's been awhile folks! But I have some glorious news! Keegan and I bought our first house! Our offer was accepted tonight and we close on it September 30. I was hoping we could close on my birthday (September 25) but the seller can't get into her new house until the 30th. We are so so excited and I can't wait to get in there and start decorating!

It was built in the 1950s and has a lot of character. It is a red brick ranch, 2 bedroom, 2 bath. We were hoping for a 3 bedroom but we couldn't go wrong for the price and the neighborhood. It has some arched doorways, which I have always wanted. It needs some updating, but nothing we can't handle. New flooring and paint mainly. We believe there are some lovely hardwoods under the cobalt blue and peach carpeting! Oh, and did I mention it has a huge backyard complete with a covered deck!?

Get ready for lots of before and after pictures in the coming months! Above is a sneak peek!

My First Before and After!

I have to admit.....sometimes I have a little problem with organization. Especially with the things I use everyday. I can't seem to put them back where they belong. When I finally figure out what clothes I am going to wear in the morning then I take forever trying to decide what jewelry I should wear. Partially because I can't find what I am looking for and because things are always tangled together.

So I took some inspiration from Christy over at Simply Dwell and made my own jewelry organizer.

Supplies:

Wood Framed Cork Board

Fabric of your choice

Thumb tacks

Small hooks

Hot glue

Ribbon

That's it!

The best part is I had everything at home already except for the thumb tacks and hooks! Hopefully I will have this hanging in my very own dressing room once we move into our house! So what do you think? Do any of you have any good jewelry organizing tips? Let me know!

Weekend Steals and Deals!

My Mom and I went to St. Joe today to check out their antique stores. I had heard from several people that they had a good selection. I was on the hunt for a antique buffet table for under $200. I didn't find a buffet table, instead I did found this adorable little china cabinet! Best of all it was only $125!! A STEAL! It is painted black which is fine because I want to paint it a lime green or white to go in our new kitchen. I think my kate spade china with look fab in it!

My second find is this cute light aqua peonie flower tea light holder. I think I am going to put it in one of our bathrooms in the new house. I love the color. It was $21 from a store in Champaign called Checkered Moon. It isn't antique however.

My third find is this super cute mini Lola dog! It's a ceramic little schnauzer and it just happened to be grey. I had to buy it! It was too perfect, plus it was only $8. It makes me smile just like Lola.

And last but not least I found this antique yellow vase that goes perfectly with my yellow fiesta ware! It was only $7 and I love it!

My plan is to put these vintage finds with modern decor. I love how unique each of these pieces are. You know how I don't like the "norm"! I can't wait to move into our new house so I can find a home for everything and show you the finished project!

Sweet Home Chicago!

This weekend Keegan and I went to Aurora for Amber's Birthday. While we were there we went into the city and had some fun! We tried to go to the new Willis (Sears) tower with the glass floor. We waited in line for about 30-40 minutes and got on an elevator which we thought was taking us to the top. It actually took us down into the basement where there was a completely new line you had to wait in. It was going to be another 2 hour wait from there. Ridiculous!! So we left. Then we went over to Navy Pier and rode the giant Ferris wheel. Next we headed to Old Town and ate at a cute little Italian restaurant. After that we went to the 11:00 Second City show. It was hilarious! We had a great time!

Tour De Champaign

A couple Saturday's ago we went to the Tour de Champaign and watched a few of the races. My dad was very involved in organizing the race so it was cool to see all of his hard work come together! It was a gorgeous day and Lola absolutely loves being outside. If you can't tell.....she had a fabulous time!

Cheery Table Scape

I absolutely love lemon yellow and lime green together! So I wanted to create a fun and cheery table scape with my new wedding presents. My dishes are the new rounded square fiestaware dishes in yellow. The silverware are also fiestaware in both yellow and shamrock. The two glass vases/candle holders are from target for $7 a piece.

The tablecloth is a vintage find from the Third Sunday Market in Bloomington. I got it for $10! The lemon salt and pepper shakers are also from the market for $6! My Mom and I went to the market for the first time yesterday. It was definitely an adventure! There was so much stuff we didn't even get to look through it all. It is by far the largest flea market in the area. I can't wait to go back! I love mixing vintage and modern pieces together! I hope you like it!

Reception Details

Here are some pictures from our reception! We had pewter and white linens with bright yellow flowers. We also had up-lighting around the entire room with a custom monogram on the dance floor. It really transformed the entire room!

Our cake was all yellow as well! I didn't want a typical cake either! It had very tall tiers with silver detailing. The cake was lemon flavored, part of it had lemon filling and the other part had raspberry filling. It was delicious! We also had a Candy Bar featuring some of our favorite candy. All of it was yellow of course!

Our food was served in stations. We had a Entree station with apricot chicken and terriaki marinated beef tenderloin, a Elote bar with fresh corn served in a martini glass with sour cream, guacamole, seasonings, and tortilla chips for toppings, and a Gourmet Mac N Cheese bar served in mini ramekins with crab and other toppings. We wanted a non-traditional menu and we definitely didn't want typical wedding food!