Art Prize & Rascal Flatts

I'm a little late on my weekend recap, but better late than never, right?  And this past weekend was a fun one, so it's worth reading.  Or at least looking at the fun pics :)

After work on Friday my cousin and her kids came over and we went downtown and walked around Art Prize.  We got to see quite a bit, but you really have to take an entire day or a couple of days to see most of it--there is just so much to see!  We ended our night with dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings-yumm!  Here are some of the things we saw at Art Prize:

Carved out of one piece of wood

The Davidsons...made out of Harley Davidson parts

Metal Fish



Carved out of wood

 Made from tires

 glass mosiac

My cousins by the big motorcycle

I worked Saturday morning, so then when I got home, Kevin and I took the dog for a long walk and then I got ready for the Rascal Flatts concert!!  My mom and I went to the concert and we had a great time!  The concert lasted about four hours, and there were three great opening acts.

 Little Big Town

 Rascal Flatts!  Awesome stage!

My mom and I



 We are silly

Sunday was spent doing laundry, cleaning, and relaxing...which means I didn't get any painting done.  We have another eventful weekend this weekend, so watch for an update about it next week.  And hopefully some painting in the near future!

Photo Wall

I finally put something up on the walls in our house!  I had a mirror, some frames, and a couple of shelves that I wanted to hang together to create a little photo wall.  Since all of the frames and shelves were black, I decided to hang them in the living room, since they matched everything in there.

I first laid everything out on the floor to figure out how I wanted it.  Then I tried using this technique to make hanging them easy.  However, for me it didn't work very well.  I taped my sheets of wax paper together on the floor and just marked where the nails should go.  Then when I went to hang it on the wall, they wouldn't stay together and I got frustrated and just threw the wax paper away and decided to do it the old fashioned way (yes, I'm stubborn).  After reading the post about how to hang it with wax paper, I would do it differently next time.  I wouldn't tape the wax paper together on the floor, and I would outline the entire frame/shelf and where the nails go.  Then I could hang each sheet of wax paper up separately and I think it would work better.

So after some pencil marks on the wall, many incorrect nail holes (nothing ended up level when I did it), and getting my fiance to help, we finally got everything hung up!  The bottom shelf is higher than I really wanted it, but I also didn't want it too low so people hit it every time they sat on the couch.  So it's staying how it is.

I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I just need to find some pictures to put in the rest of the frames.  I have one of our engagement pics in a frame and a cute fall printable I found here.  I just printed mine on plain white copy paper.  It might have looked a little better printed on photo paper or something, but I'm happy with it (sorry the photo quality is so bad).  Right now our living room colors are black, tan, and green.  I have some green frames I want to incorporate somehow, but I'm not sure how to do that yet.

I want to paint the living room someday, but it's not a priority right now, so I decided it was time to start decorating!  I think that's why I have nothing up on any other walls, because I want to paint them first.  I'm hoping to paint the bedroom and the trim in the breezeway this weekend, so I'll post pics if I get them done!

Chicago

This weekend my fiance, his mom, and myself drove to Chicago to meet up with is cousin, brother, and sister-in-law.  We did nothing wedding or house related, but it was still fun so I thought I'd share :)

We drove down after work on Friday, so we pretty much just hung out Friday night when we got there.

Saturday we got up and took the train into downtown Chicago.  Then we ate Giordanos Chicago Style Pizza.  It's delicious, you should definitely try it if you are in Chicago.  Then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It was really fun and the best part is, it's free!

Giant Bunny

Great view of Chicago from the zoo

Camel

Tiger

Chris (Kevin's brother) and Kevin playing in the mist

Bear

 Giraffe

Then we walked around downtown, went to H&M and I didn't even buy anything. I can't believe it.  I had been looking forward to going there for weeks and I didn't even buy anything.  The store was just really crowded, so it was hard to look around.  I saw a shirt online that I wanted but couldn't find it in the store, so I left empty handed.

Before dinner, I had my first ever wheat grass shot...it actually wasn't bad!

Me, Drew, and Lisa enjoying our shots :)

And our orange chasers!

We went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious. And of course we got cheesecake to bring home for later :) I got the Oreo Cheesecake and it was AMAZING!

On Sunday the boys went golfing and us girls went shopping. Got some good deals on clothes at Target and picked up some cute fall decorations for the house at Michaels (hey, I guess I did do something house related over the weekend).

We drove home Sunday afternoon and then watched the Lions game that we had recorded (disappointing), put away all of our stuff from the weekend, read, and passed out in bed. I was so tired from the weekend, but it was so fun!

September Birchbox

Some of you may have seen my photos on facebook or instagram of my birchboxes.  I've had some questions about it, so I thought I'd explain a little here and tell you about my experience with it.

Basically, you sign up to get box each month.  It's $10 a month (or I think you get a small discount if you do a year subscription).  It's a great way to try new products without the huge investment.  The products are typically sample size, although some samples are larger than others.  For example, last month I got a sample of DDF Brightening Cleanser and I use it every day, and I still have a little over half left, and it's been about a month since I got it.  Other samples I use up in a few days or a couple weeks.

I get so excited when I get my box in the mail because I never know what's inside!  It's a surprise every time!  I've only received two birchboxes so far, but I've been happy with what I got so far.  I like the fact that I can try new products, without paying full price for a full size bottle, in case I don't like it.  For example, last month I received a sample of Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm and this month a sample of Jouer Matte Moisture Tint and I learned that I like these types of products.  I like the idea of using a tinted moisturizer instead of a moisturizer and a foundation or cover up.  And they include an SPF which is a bonus!  I never would have went and bought a full size version of something like this in case I didn't like it.  I was able to use the sample size products to try it out and decide if I want to purchase the full-size version.

If you are curious, you can check out birchbox's website here.  If you decide to sign up, let me know your thoughts on your first box!

Here is an instagram pic of my September Birchbox:

Weekend Recap

We had such a fun and productive weekend, I just had to share it!  Friday night we grilled and ate outside since it was such a beautiful night.  Saturday morning we got up and painted our breezeway!!  I was so excited to finally get this done!  However, now that the paint is dry, I think it needs a second coat, because you can see the primer through it in some spots....oh well, we only used half of the paint, so hopefully we will actually finish it next weekend.  Here are before and "halfway" after photos:

Before (bright red):

One coat of primer and paint later (needs one more coat of paint I think, but already looks better!):

(please excuse the mess)

The red was just too bright for us.  I think the blue lightens the room up.  I can't wait to finish it and take down all of the blue painters tape and put the room together!

Saturday afternoon we went to Hoptober Fest and had some lunch then had some friends over to see the house.  Saturday night we had Kevin's mom over for dinner and for some play time for the dogs (our dog, her dogs (the mom and a puppy) and one other puppy).  I think the dogs had a blast playing and I can't believe I didn't take any pics of it! 

Sunday morning we got up and cleaned out our cars--it was much needed!  Then we got ready and headed up to Shanty Creek Resort for the night!  We had a nice room with a great view:

 View from the balcony of our room:

Before going to dinner at the hotel:

Our dinner was AMAZING!  The only pics I have from dinner are on instagram because I took them from my phone.  You can follow me on instagram at: erickamarie87



Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and then went golfing at a gorgeous course.

View from the tee box on one of the holes:

I actually had fun golfing...and I didn't do half bad!

It was a great little weekend get away for us.  And since our five year anniversary is tomorrow, it was great timing.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too!





The Wedding!

I feel like I've been so excited about the house and busy getting everything situated, that the wedding plans have taken a back seat.  I've finally realized that the house is always going to be a work in progress and I can't get it perfect in a week.  So here is an update about the wedding plans so far.

We've got most of the big things done (if I'm missing something, PLEASE tell me).  We have the church and hall booked, photographer booked (Horizon Photography - can't wait to work with her!), got my dress, DJ and photobooth booked, and we have a food tasting with the caterer in a couple of weeks.  I still need to pick out my bridesmaides dresses, but I plan on doing that in the next month or two when my sister is in town so she can come with (she lives in Tennessee).  We also need to figure out who is going to do our cake  - any suggestions?

Our main color is going to be dark purple, with accents of lighter shades of purple and ivory.  I've found the checklist tool at theknot.com to be very helpful with keeping on top of everything.  Our wedding date is June 29, 2013, and even though that means we have a little over 9 months, I know it is going to go by super quick!  If anyone has any advice on ANYTHING wedding related, I'd love to hear it!

I'll try to update when new things happen with the wedding planning.  I have lots of ideas for on my pinterest wedding board, so hopefully things will start falling in to place :)

We also have our engagement photos done - thanks to Catherine Jeter Photogrpahy.  I'll leave with you some of my favorites from our shoot:

We Are Homeowners!

FINALLY!!  We closed on the house on Friday, August 24 and got the keys the next day!  We moved everything in that Sunday, with help from family and friends.  Most of the boxes are put away, but there is still a lot to do.  The spare room/office is where I've been putting all of the "misc" boxes that I haven't opened yet, so that room is still a mess.  I like to think I'm very organized, so not having everything put away really annoys me, but I'm just happy to be in our own house!

Front of the house and garage:

 Breezeway/Sunroom - we have already primed over the red paint and are going to re-paint next weekend...I'll post before and after pics when we are done:

The kitchen...I LOVE the white cabinets and the backsplash:

 Dining area - I want to paint this area and the kitchen eventually:

 Stairs to the upstairs:

 Living room:

 Main floor bathroom:

 Master Bedroom - I have already taped this room off so we can paint it soon...the green does NOT match our bedroom stuff at all:

Spare Bedroom that we will use as an office - where everything just got thrown when we moved in:

 Upstairs hallway/sitting room - this wallpaper has GOT to go...I think it might be my winter project:

Upstairs bedroom:

Full basement - I would love to totally re-do this some day...but it works for now:

Basement bathroom - I love that we have two full bathrooms:

Back of the house - deck, patio, and fenced in yard for The Admiral:

We've been in the house for a little over two weeks now and we LOVE it so far!!!