My Dog Looks Like A Cow

This might be the most random thing ever, but I'm sharing it anyway.  One day I randomly (probably on Pinterest) came across a picture of a fluffy cow.  So I googled fluffy cow and found a few more pictures (they are actually called Highland Cattle).  I immediately thought OMG Admiral looks like those cows!  So I thought I'd share some comparisons and let you be the judge.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

 So what do you think?  Does Admiral look like those fluffy cows?  I know they aren't twins or anything, but I definitely see the resemblance :)

Bedroom Update

On Sunday I started painting the trim and wood paneled wall in our bedroom.  (You can read about my thought process for this HERE.)  One coat of primer and two coats of paint later and it's looking better!  I'm loving how the white paint makes the room seem so much brighter already.  I've only done the wall with the headboard, so I still need to do the rest of the trim in the room.  It still needs one more coat of paint (that dark wood is hard to cover), but here's a little sneak peak:

I want to find a way to hide those dark cords from the lamps that are attached to the headboard.  I'm going to keep the bedroom door and closet doors dark for now and see how I like it.  I can't wait to finish painting (hopefully this weekend) and show you all the final result!

Oh Hey Friday!

Linking up today with September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for oh hey Friday!

And Momfessionals for Friday Favorites!

ONE.  Kevin and I play on a co-ed softball team on Tuesday nights, and this week our team won the tournament!  We were ranked #2 in the tournament and we ended up playing a double header.  We won the first game 22-13 and the second game 18-3!

TWO.  I'm a little behind on reading blogs, but I'm hoping to catch up today!  I have the day off from work (but I do have to work tomorrow), and while my goal is to paint this weekend, I might end up sitting out on the deck in the sun reading...I'm ok with that.

THREE.  Every year, Grand Rapids has a sandwich contest called Grandwich.  A bunch of restaurants create a Grandwich and then the public tries them over a period of a couple of weeks and then they vote for their favorites.  The top 10 is then announced, and then eventually the winner.  The other day for lunch, my co-worker and I got two of the Grandwiches and split them.  The first is from a place called San Chez.  It was good, but didn't "wow" me.

Black pepper turkey from Golden Legacy with smoked Wisconsin cheddar, mojo marinated onions, jalapeño slices, roasted garlic, Michigan Bee Co. jalapeño honey, spicy yellow mustard, and an Eggland's Best over-medium egg.

The second was from Peppinos and it was really good!

Frank's Market kielbasa, Stehouwer's shaved ribeye, bacon, ham, carmelized onions, and marinated heirloom tomatoes piled on a fresh Ciabatta then smothered with a rich Founder's Pale Ale Tomato Cream sauce. 

FOUR.  I'm running the Color Run next Sunday with my sister.  It's a fun run, so I'm not too worried about my training being less than great, but I need to find another race to run soon.  When I sign up for races it keeps me more motivated to keep running.  Anyone else feel the same way? 

FIVE.  I saw these monogrammed chucks on Pinterest Told Me To, but they are actually a photo from Our Fifth House.  I think I need the blue ones.  You can see all of the different options HERE.  The $98 price tag is a little much for me, but I think these will be on my Christmas wish list :)

Have a great weekend!!

Weekend Recap: Bonfire, Sunshine, & House Projects

This weekend recap is a little late, but our weekend was so busy and so fun, I didn't have to time write about it last night...so here it is!

FRIDAY:  I took a half-day off from work and came home to relax on the deck in my new zero gravity chair that Kevin got me for my birthday.  I LOVE the chair and can't wait to use it again this weekend :)  I sat out and read while enjoying some cold beverages. 

When Kevin got home, we headed up to my parents for a bonfire for my birthday.  It was a small group of family and friends, but I had fun and can't wait for more bonfire nights!  My mom made some really yummy food, and luckily I got to bring some leftovers home with us.

This was the fire when we first started...

We let it die down so we could roast S'mores.  That would be my Dad, Admiral, and Kevin roasting marshmallows.

SATURDAY:  Kevin went golfing for a bachelor party all day on Saturday, so my dad came over and helped me with some projects around the house.  We did a couple small things like replace the deadbolt in our front door (which hasn't worked in a LONG time, I just finally got around to getting a new one to replace it), and replacing the lock on our back slider--it broke while my dad was there, so he helped me take it apart and showed me what I needed to get to replace...so I did that after he left.

We did a couple larger projects too.  One was removing the old satellite dish from our back yard.  The previous owners had dish, but we don't and will not get it, so we wanted the dish gone.  We had to pull up all the cables that ran across our entire yard, and then dig up the dish.  So my dad helped with that and then I filled everything in after he left.  Glad to have that ugly thing out of our yard!

The biggest project was the headboard.  Last week I shared my ideas for removing the built in headboard because it sticks out of the wall and drives me nuts.  It makes our nightstands too far from our bed, and then they don't fit right in the room.  Instead of tearing out the entire headboard, we decided to just cut it down.  This wasn't an easy project, as we had to be careful not to damage the walls, and it was built really well, so it took us a good 1.5 hours to finish, but I LOVE the result.  It's not totally done, but I was able to put the night stands where I wanted them, and it is SO much better!  I'm hoping to paint the trim and everything this weekend, so I'm excited about how it will look when it's all done!

All the wood we removed.

You can see where we removed part of it.  This will all get painted white.

You can see that the nightstand actually goes next to the bed now.  Before it had to be right next to the doorway and you pretty much ran in to the corner of it when you walked in the room.

SUNDAY:  On Sunday we went up to a lake with some friends and just relaxed on the water.  It was great!  One of our friends has a huge six person inflatable tube thing, so we tied it to the end of the dock and the six of us just sat on it for several hours.  It was just what I needed!  After some time at the lake, Kevin and I headed home to finish up some yard work (mowing, weed whacking, weeding, watering flowers...it never ends).

We had a GREAT weekend full of some of my favorite things: family, friends, bonfires, and sunshine!  I can't wait to hopefully finishing painting this weekend...but if the weather is nice, I might end up enjoying the sunshine instead.  The painting can wait for a rainy day, right?

Five (random) Things

Since the normal 5 on Friday linkup is taking a break for summer, I'm joining this fun Friday linkup with September Farm.  Enjoy today's random five things!

ONE.   I'm taking a half-day off from work today to do nothing.  It's going to be great.  My plan is to go home, change in to my swim suit, maybe water my flowers, and then sit in my new chair on my deck and read and sun bathe for the entire afternoon.

TWO.  Wednesday night we went out to dinner with my parents and my sister for my birthday.  We went to Bonefish Grill, so of course that meant Bang Bang Shrimp appetizers...four bowls of them.  I mean, they're only $6 on Wednesdays and it was the first time my family had ever tried them, and they were hooked.  As if that wasn't enough, I got Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos for my meal.  They were delicious.  And of course a free birthday brownie.

THREE.  Thank you to everyone for your input on my post on Tuesday about my bedroom ideas.  My dad is coming over on Saturday to help me with the headboard issue...we're going to try cutting it down first, but if I don't like the way it looks, we're ripping the whole thing out.  Should be interesting!  Make sure you follow along on Instagram to see the progress!

FOUR.  I bought myself a little birthday present.  My first pair of Kendra Scott earrings!  I'm in love with them...I think I need them in every color!  I'm glad my co-workers friends talked me in to getting them :)

FIVE.  Tonight we are headed to my parents for a bon fire for my birthday.  I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends and having some drinks around the fire!

Hope you have a great weekend!

It's My Birthday!

Today is my 27th birthday.  How am I spending it?  At work.  Sounds like fun, huh?  I decided that if I took the day off, I would just end up cleaning my house, and even though a clean house would be nice, I figured I'd wait and take a day when I can do something fun, like have a long weekend or go to the beach.

source

My parents and my sister are coming over tonight and Kevin is taking us all out to dinner at Bonefish Grill for my birthday.  On Friday my parents are having a bon fire at their house for me, so I'll celebrate more on Friday.

I may have sent my husband my birthday wish list that I posted last week, and he ordered me the zero-gravity chair that I wanted and it arrived last night!  I can't wait to test it out this weekend!

My phone has been going off since 6:30 this morning with texts and notifications, so I'm definitely feeling the love today.  Bring it on 27, I'm ready for you!

I Need Your Opinion: Bedroom Ideas

I need your opinion on some bedrooms ideas.  Here is what our bedroom looks like:

The first thing I want to do is tear out that built in headboard.  While I think it's a unique feature, it's just not practical/functional and it drives me nuts.  We wanted to get a King size bed, but couldn't, because it wouldn't fit between the headboard.  We now have night stands (not pictured), but they can't be next to the bed because of that headboard...so they are awkwardly placed and aren't convenient when you want to set something on them during the night.

I just want to tear out that part that sticks out from the wall, not the entire wood wall.  I think taking all that wood off the wall would be way more work than I want to do.  What do you think?  Any thoughts for or against it?

Here's my other question.  The photo below is an old photo from when we first moved in, the walls are now painted a different color, but I wanted you to see that wall.  All of the wood, trim, and doors are dark wood.  The floors are dark.  Our dressers and nightstands are dark.  Even the light switch cover is dark wood!  There is a lot of dark wood in this room.  The room is not big, so I feel like all of the dark wood makes it seem smaller and darker.  I would love to paint all the trim, doors, and that wood wall white, and leave the dark floors, dressers, and nightstands.  The trim in our kitchen, living room, bathroom, and hallway was already painted white when we moved in (you can see the hallway trim in the photo below).  What is your opinion on painting over this dark wood?

So what do you think, should I tear out that headboard that sticks out?  Should I paint the trim, doors, and wood wall white?

Weekend Recap + Guest Posting

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Mine was busy but good.  We had dinner at Kevin's Dad's on Friday night, I attended a bridal shower on Saturday, followed by a graduation open house, and then dinner with Kevin's grandma Saturday night. Sunday we had lunch with Kevin's other grandma before heading home.  Here's a little photo dump from my phone from the weekend.

My fortune from dinner Saturday night.

After a little yard work, we sat and enjoyed  a couple of drinks :)

Admiral loved being outside with his baseball.

Today I'm guest posting at Showered With Design, so make sure you check it out.  Lisa just got married is off on her honeymoon, so I'm excited to be guest posting while she is gone.  I'm sharing some things I've learned after one year of marriage. Make sure you head over to Showered With Design to read it :)