Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your long Memorial Day weekend! We sure did!

Before I get to our weekend pictures I have to thank those of you who noticed I have a new blog design! The wonderful Laura Jane made it for me and I love it! I know some of the links aren't quite up and running yet...I'm still working on where everything should go.

Okay, back to the weekend. The husband and I finally got a chance to try out our new boat! It was quite the adventure because we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. Luckily everyone was really nice and offered to help us launch our boat into the water for the first time. Something about us must have screamed "newbies!" I guess all the you-tube how-to-launch-your-boat videos we watched didn't help much.

When we got our boat in the water it wouldn't start....the battery was dead. Luckily a nice guy offered to give us a jump...and it worked! Turned out the battery was good but just needed a little boost since it wasn't used all weekend. Not gonna lie...I did start to panic big time. So so glad it all worked out. Oh and we made sure we had a paddle in case we got stranded!

The husband picked up on the boat stuff really quickly and had so much fun ridding around on the lake.

Safety first! Wrigley loved being on the boat but we could tell what he really wanted was to go swimming. The lake was FREEZING so we didn't let him...maybe next time.

I even took a turn at the wheel. It was a really cold out so I had to borrow one of the husband's jackets to keep warm. 

We decided to come home Saturday night. My mom's lake house is beautiful but there isn't any furniture in it! On our way home we spotted this guy walking six Clydesdale horses...loved it!

The next day our friends Mo and Ali came out and we drove up to the lake together. 

Unfortunately it rained for a few minutes while we were on the lake...so we got soaked. Here's one thing I learned this weekend: Always have at least one towel per person/dog even if you don't plan on getting in the water. You will get wet!

We decided to call it a night and go back to the house to make dinner. It was still raining so the boys grilled our burgers in the garage. Classy.

Later on it stopped raining and we (well, the boys) attempted to build a fire...but fires are hard to make when all you have is rain soaked wood. Still...we had fun!

We managed to roast some marshmallows on the grill....but Mo wanted more so he used the stove. Keepin' it classy at the lake.

The weather was finally nice on Monday....so we went out on the boat again. After three straight boat days I was exhausted....and ready to go home. I hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Wrigley!

Today Wrigley is 2 years old! Happy birthday buddy...we love you!

Wrigley discovered his birthday presents and immediately popped each toy ball. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted!

Oprah Said it Best

Did you watch Oprah's final show yesterday? I've always been a big fan of Oprah. Her show comes on before I get home from work so I usually miss it, but I made sure to record her last three shows. I LOVED the two surprise shows that aired Monday and Tuesday. So so so fun, touching, and uplifting. Did you watch?

For her final show yesterday it was just Oprah in her studio talking to the audience. She thanked everyone for allowing her into their lives every day for 25 years. I think she's brought a lot of good into this world.

Oprah has always said that she wanted to change the way people thought about things...and I think she accomplished that goal. Something she said on her final show really struck me. She said to her fans and the audience that she wanted people to know that "I see you, I hear you, and what you say matters to me." How powerful is that? If everyone had that approach in their daily life, at work, or with their families, how different would all of our interactions be? I'm going to make it a new goal to try to see and hear people who I come in contact with...and let them know that what they say matters to me. Join me?

What I've been up to lately

I'm sorry I've been sort of boring on this little blog lately. It's just that not much has been going on. And also blogger was being a pain yesterday and wouldn't let me post any comments on other blogs. Hopefully it's fixed today. I love reading comments from readers and know other bloggers do too!

Lately I've been obsessed with Pinterest. For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is a place where you can pin photos of all kinds of stuff: food, fashion, home decor, decorating ideas etc. I could spend SO much time looking though everyone's pins! Find me on Pinterest HERE....and follow me! Oh and if anyone wants to buy me a mason jar drink dispenser I'll love you forever.

In other news, we learned this week that Wrigley suffers from spring-time allergies. And because of said allergies he has a skin infection on his left ear. Which means no swimming for two weeks! My poor little guy LOVES to swim, so I feel really bad for him. Especially because we are going up to the lake this weekend. Poor guy will have to just enjoy riding along in the boat instead! He's also on a medication that makes him have to go to the bathroom frequently....which means 1:30 a.m. wake up calls for me and coming home on my lunch break to let him out. It's only for two weeks, so it's not that big a deal...and I can already tell that he feels so much better.

 And now for another random topic...is anyone watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey? Please tell me I'm not the only one obsessed with their crazy drama. I can't get over Teresa and her obnoxious behavior, and I sort of feel bad for Melissa having to deal with her all the time. But the only one I really like is Caroline...she seems to have her act together. Even though I think they're all crazy I just can't seem to get enough!

I think that's all I've got for today...I promise I'll be more exciting soon!

Bathroom progress and not much else....

Remember when I was complaining about spring taking it's sweet time arriving in Michigan? Well I should have kept my mouth shut. Because it was hot hot hot this weekend. And muggy. My two least favorite weather conditions.

On Friday the husband and I made a bet that if he took Wrigley to the dog park I had to weed the yard the whole time he was gone. Normally I don't do yard work. It's not a strength of mine. But I was so dang tired of the dog park I agreed. I weeded for an hour and 45 minutes....which is a record for me I'm sure. The husband didn't believe I would work the whole time but I proved him wrong. And man was I a hot sticky mess afterward. But the front yard looks awesome now! Pretend you are looking at a photo here....totally forgot to take one.

On Saturday I picked out a bunch of stuff for our bathroom remodel (paint, shower fixtures, mirrors, towel bars etc.) and planted some hard-to-kill flowers on the porch. Again, forgot to take a photo.

I did snap some photos of the bathroom progress however.....

Day 1

Day 3

Other than running to both home depot and lowes three times over the weekend we really didn't do much else. It was hot. So we spent a lot of time trying to keep cool.



At least Wrigley found a cool spot.

How was your weekend?

10 Things I Love

Leah from Happily Herring tagged me a few weeks ago in 10 Things I Love so I thought now would be a good time to do it! Go check out Leah...she is a super cute newlywed and always has something fun on her blog!

Okay so 10 Things I love...

1. Animals....all kinds really. Obviously if you read my blog you know I have a soft spot for all things fuzzy and lovable.

2. Monograms. Who doesn't love a good monogram? I want to start collecting these "R" letter presses. I have yet to find any that are a good size....but some day!

3. My iphone. I heart my iphone big time...what did I do before it?

4. Red Velvet Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. There are no words for how awesome this cheesecake is. Trust me. I want a piece right now!!!

5. Reading. I love to read and always have a book in my purse. Right now I'm reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. So far so good.

6. Mason Jars. I have a pretty good collection of vintage mason jars that I just love. I love the idea of sipping lemonade on a hot day in a pretty mason jar.

7. Singing off key in the car. Yeah...I can't sing. But that doesn't stop me!

8. Organizing. I love love love to organize stuff....my desk, my closet, you name it. This weekend I need to work on a house decorating folder to keep all of my decor ideas and paint samples for each room in our house. And I'm totally excited about it!

 9. When my kitchen is stocked with food and all the laundry is done. Isn't that the best feeling in the world? This usually only happens Sunday nights in our house, but I love it.

10. Chunky Necklaces. Let's be real...any necklaces. I think I wear a necklace at least 6 days per week. I'm sort of obsessed....I get that from my mother. Right now I'm obsessing over this Stella and Dot Colette Necklace.

Monday Monday

Happy Monday everyone. Our weekend flew by...we had tons of fun celebrating our friend, Mo's, birthday. Mo and the husband were roommates in college and have remained best friends ever since.

The birthday boy and his amazing Cold Stone mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. It was delicious. So delicious that the husband had a piece of it for breakfast the next day! And let me please point out that the only pictures I managed to take all night involved cake. It could possibly because I had a few drinks that night or more likely it's just that I love cake. Oops.

In other news we accomplished absolutely nothing all weekend. I waited until Sunday night to do our weekly grocery shopping. Big mistake. They were out of bananas! Who runs out of bananas? Is there a banana shortage that I don't know about? So now I have to go to another grocery store tonight. I hate grocery shopping. I used to love it but now it just seems like it's the chore I hate the most. And it's always crowded at our grocery store...which makes it worse!

Oh and our bathroom remodel starts this week! I still need to pick out the perfect paint color and decide on our shower fixtures. So excited to get the project started!

How was your weekend?

Go Jump in the Lake Sign

I kept seeing these adorable Go Jump In The Lake signs and knew immediately that my mom needed one for her lake house. The problem was that they were upwards of $75 or more...yikes! So I decided to try to make my own sign. I am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out!

For this project you'll need a piece of wood cut to the size you want. Mine is 24in x 24in and came pre-cut at Home Depot. They have larger sizes too and can cut it for you...but this one seemed to work just fine for me. You'll also need to cut out letters for your words. I used Ariel font and just printed out the letters on the computer and then cut them. Next you'll need to pick out your paint colors. I used Behr's Swan Wing for the back ground and Windwood Spring for the letters. I think I'm in love with Windwood Spring now.

The total cost for this project was under $12....not too bad! Oh, and you'll also need sand paper and a tiny brush, which I forgot to include in the photo.

First, paint your wood white. I used three coats but also watered it down a little because I wanted some of the wood to show through. 

Next, measure and place your letters securing them with some tape. I measured the sides but mostly just eye-balled the spacing of the letters. Just remember as the Nester says, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!

Then just trace your letters with a pencil. I ended up going back and erasing the lines so that they were very faint. You don't want to see pencil marks on your final project. 

Then go a head and start painting. This took FOREVER. Remember to use a small brush for this step. I used two coats of the Windwood Spring paint....the second coat goes on way easier than the first.

Then I let everything dry over night. The next day I went to town sanding and antiquing the letters and edges. I also sanded the white spaces here and there to make it look old.

So I hope you like this mom! If not, I totally won't mind keeping it for myself.

For My Mom on Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

I love that you always told me I was beautiful.

I love that my high school friends shared stories with you that they probably would never tell their own moms.

I love that you told me I was smart and could do anything. 

I love that you spent hours and hours with me shopping for the perfect prom dress.

I love that when I tried out for the cheer team for the first time you sat on pins and needles while I performed and you were just as happy as I was when I made it.

I love that you would ask me a million questions about my day because you wanted to know all the little details. I was probably annoyed at the time but now I find myself doing the same thing to the husband.

I love that you managed to work full time and still made it to all my activities. 

I love that you went with me to check out graduate schools. And when we drove for four hours through corn fields to get to one school you knew immediately why tears were rolling down my cheeks. You didn't bat an eye when I told you I couldn't go through with my interviews there....and suggested we take a road trip to Michigan to check out the school there. Look how that turned out!

I love that you still do things like fold my laundry and buy me groceries.

I love that you were the first person I had to call after the husband asked me to marry him. But you didn't answer your phone because you were back at my apartment with the husband's family waiting to surprise me.

I love that we are both appalled by the Real Housewives shows but we can't stop watching.

I love that we both love decorating and antiquing and could talk for hours about the plans we have for our homes.  

I love that you just get me without explanation.

You are the kind of mom I want to be.

I love you forever and for always.

Wordless Wednesday....Dreaming of Warm Weather

Boat People

Over the weekend the husband and I became official boat owners! That's right....we bought a boat!

The husband has been dreaming of buying a boat for at least a year now. And ever since my mom bought her lake cottage his desire to find the perfect boat increased by like a million.

After researching like crazy and shopping around, we finally found a perfect boat at a great price! My husband is incredibly excited and can't wait to get it out on the water.

Now all we need are some boat shoes and boat drinks and we're all set!