This is the funniest video ever (well, you may need to be an Office fan to appreciate it).

Jim as Dwight...



Can't wait till Sept. 27!

Fall Pottery Barn

The new Pottery Barn catalog just arrived (fun, fun!) and I thought I'd post some of my favorites...

I love this bed with the storage on the bottom and the red quilt bedding. It looks so cozy & comfy - yet practical!
Ok, I am so in love with this porch swing! I would love to get one for our side porch...maybe someday! It's not very high on our priority list right now. Couldn't you just picture yourself hanging out here, reading a book, drinking a PINK lemonade?
I mostly just like this musical note on the wall. Very cool.
Here's a great idea - you could just make these pots yourself. Buy some terra cotta pots for like 50 cents and use chalkboard paint to paint them. Voila! Really practical herb pots.
I really like the serenity of this bathroom. Very calm and spa-like. I like bathrooms to be muted and clean looking.
So that's it! Hope you enjoyed my little photo tour!

Travels

I thought it might be fun to share some pics of the trip we took to Europe for our 5th Anniversary (3 years ago).

It was an amazing trip - we were blown away by the sights and experiences we had! So, so much fun!

We scrimped our savings for a few years and even then, we did everything on the cheap. Found lots of info from Rick Steves website...stayed mostly at inns and bed & breakfasts. It was absolutely the best!


The pic below is of Vernazza, a tiny little town on the western coast of Italy.We traveled through France, Italy & Austria in 2 weeks (yes, it was a whirlwind!). Below is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
A little town called Isle de Sorgue in Southern France (Provence area). It had lots of little canals and great shops.
St. Marks Square in Venice...what a sight!
A beautiful grove of trees at a castle in Vienna, Austria.I am hoping we'll get a chance to go back to Europe and soak it in again! We haven't been doing much traveling in the past few years and we really miss it! So where are your favorite travel spots?

Tagged

I've been tagged to post 8 things you might not know about me.

Huh, where to begin??

1. I'm an "all or nothing" type of girl. If I know I'm not good at something, I will not even bother to touch it. However, if it's something I like, I go into it full force, headlong, not stopping to think as much as I should. This is especially true of decorating projects...just ask hubs. Oh, boy, do I get in trouble for this.

2. I don't remember books I've read or movies I've seen. Seriously, you could ask me about it a week after I've read or watched it, and I won't remember the plot, characters, whatever. That's why I enjoy reading books over and over.

3. I've had a long-time obsession with "I Love Lucy". I know, lame, but I could watch episodes for days at a time. Lucy just CRACKS me up! Even after the 20th time I've seen it. So funny.4. I HATE local news. With a passion. It is SO depressing and negative. Although I've always wanted to be an anchorwoman. I think mostly because I was just so annoyed with the ones I watched and thought that anyone, even I, could do a better job. Am I too critical?

5. I'm a clutz. I'm constantly bumping into things and getting black and blue marks. I think it's because I'm always in a hurry to get things accomplished that I don't focus on what I'm doing at the moment.

4. I love office supplies. Nothing gets my heart beating like a fresh stack of paper, post-it notes, organizing bins, and writing utensils. I could spend the day at Staples and it would be a good day for me. I should totally work there.

5. Gas stations creep me out. I hate pumping gas and always wait till the very last minute. Maybe that's why I've run out of gas probably about 5 times in the past several years. (well, don't blame it all on me - I don't think the gas gauge works right in my car...it can't all be MY fault)

6. Phones are my enemy. I don't know why but I dread answering the phone when it rings, and I'm so bad at returning people's phone calls. Even if it's a good friend that I want to talk to, I just hate talking on the phone. Weird.

7. I'm a very private person, so this blog-thing is pretty stretching for me. But it's a good thing. I need to be stretched sometimes.

8. I enjoy housekeeping. I really do. I like taking care of my baby and my hubby. Making sure the house is clean and organized, laundry is folded and put away, dinner is ready when hubs gets home, making our house a comfortable, welcoming home. All that. I'm striving to be a Prov. 31 type of girl..."Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: "Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God."

Color

I thought a lot about color when we bought our house. I wanted our wall colors to reflect the house and it's character. Our house is a 1920's American Colonial, so I chose colors that were sort of historical and looked like they belonged. And I'm really happy with how they turned out. The pictures aren't entirely accurate, but you get the idea.

Here's a view from the side entrance (family room) through the front foyer and into the dining area. The family room is a pale yellow called Winter Wheat, the foyer's green color is called La Fonda Wild West Green, and the kitchen is Boston Brick.


Here's a view from the kitchen into the family room. The french doors open up to our office.

Organized

This week I decided to organize my linen closet. As you can see, it's an old built-in closet, but it works great for storing things! It was a mess, though. Really. Especially the sheets...fitted sheets are such a pain to fold, aren't they? I can't seem to master the Martha Stewart technique. Anyway, it was a fun project - I always love organizing!



Now onto the pantry!

The dress is here!

UPS just dropped off Avery's flower girl dress and it's perfect! Now I just need to figure out shoes and hair...

Flower girl

My baby's going to be a flower girl! And she's too little to be excited about it so I'll just be excited for her! She's going to be in my brother's wedding in September, along with my 3 year old niece Anna.

Here's the dress...

So I'm already starting to have nightmares about this whole situation, even though I'm excited. My baby's only going to be 16 months old - she's barely walking on her own. I can just imagine it...Anna (my niece) will be the responsible one, trying to pull her little cousin along patiently, while Avery is cranky from missing her nap and will be screaming and refusing to walk. Either that or she will be too busy waving and shouting "Hi!" to everyone that she won't drop her petals. At least the wedding will be outside and is not formal and hopefully people will overlook her mistakes! It should be interesting.

Scrapbook pages...

I thought I'd share some pages from the scrapbook of Avery that I'm working on. Of course, it's been a while since I've worked on it...there are just too many other things to do in the summer time! I really love scrapbooking when I'm in the groove and have lots of ideas - I hate it when I'm in a funk and feel like I just "have" to do it, which is where I'm at right now. However, it's a great way to get my creative juices flowing and to spend some quality time by myself!
(excuse the camera glare on some of these...)

I always find ideas from Two Peas in a Bucket and Heidi Swapp -love her products...and her hair. :)