mark + lauren

Back to Atlanta

2008-12-22T12:37:00.006-06:00

Mark had to leave for training right after we got back from D.C. I tagged along for the week and had a great time.

We met up with Bev and Dusty again this trip for Dinner at Taco Mac's.

One day I met up with Naty and Bev for lunch and some puppy looking. We visited a pet store and Naty took me out to a rescue shelter to take a look at pups. Such a fun day!

I also got to meet Bev and Dusty's dog Blakely! She is such a sweetie and we had fun playing together. Here's our Christmas picture. lol

That weekend we drove over to Mark's sister's house to visit our newest nephew, Alexander. He is such a sweetie!

Thanksgiving pt. 2

2008-12-11T06:47:00.015-06:00

Towards the end of the week, we hung around Old Alexandria. It's such a cute little town.

We stopped by a cute little bakery/coffee shop for some hot chocolate. I loved all of their fall cookies.

We stopped by a little candy shop called Candie's Candy. They had every flavor of saltwater taffy you could ever want! Annnd free samples :)

I was so excited when we just happened upon a Paper Source! I've stalked their website for years. I had no idea Alexandria had a store. I loved every single thing inside and was dying to buy everything! I refrained..my indecisiveness and poorness kept me from walking away with more than a couple of things.

We had lunch at Gadsby's Tavern. It's been open since the late 1700's. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are just a couple of the famous visitors.

We visited National Harbor in Alexandria for Bryan's birthday dinner. They had a massive Christmas tree!

After dinner Bryan, Ashlie, Mark and I took a water taxi back across the river. We waited an hour and a half to catch the last ride out at around 10pm. It was freezing outside and cost us $7 a person. It was worth it though! We were the only ones on board. It was really cool riding the river and seeing all the city lights.

Bryan's birthday cheesecake back at the hotel

On Thanksgiving day, we went to Arlington. I don't have many pictures there, but it was so moving. Very humbling to see so many graves and know that they all died giving their lives for our freedom. A good reminder of how much we have to be thankful for.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Josh and Elizabeth's apartment. A huge spread of delicious, fattening food, then headed back home on Friday.

It was a great trip!

Thanksgiving in Washington, DC

2008-12-08T12:10:00.015-06:00

We threw our usual Thanksgiving tradition out the window this year. My grandmother wanted to take us all to DC as a very very generous Christmas presenst. My little brother, Josh and his wife, Elizabeth have been stationed there with the Coast Guard for about 9 months now. We'd never been to DC, so Granny thought it was the perfect time to go.

My mom, grandmother, other brothers, Bryan & Justin, Mark and my brother's girlfriend Ashlie (yes that's 7 grown adults) piled into my grandmother's mini van and made the 15 hour drive to VA. Let's just say it was a rough trip! We did the whole thing in a day. Longest.day.ever.

Needless to say, we were ecstatic to finally be in Alexandria, VA.

I took a million photos, but it would seriously take a

lifetime to load them all on here..Here are just a few highlights.

Mark and I ready to go do some touring!

So was Justin :)

The gang ready to take the Metro for the first time.

Justin, channeling his bum side

Mom and Grams on the Metro

Tons of beautiful buildings right as we got off the Metro. The sky was the bluest blue!

Washington Monument

The reflecting pool was frozen solid!

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Our uncle was killed over there. He was 22 and the oldest of 10 kids. He was at the end of his 3rd tour when he died. Justin and Bryan made a sketch of his name. It was kind of ironic that his name was so high up on the wall. My brothers who are 6'3" and 6'8" stood on their tippy toes to get it. Everyone on my Dad's side is very tall, so it was kind of funny that it really had to take an Allums boy to reach his name. :)

Korean Memorial

Pennsylvania Ave. I loved all the red, white and blue everywhere.

The White House!

Captiol Building

D.C. by far as the fattest squirrels I've ever seen in my life. They hung around all the little snack shops just hoping for people to give them food. They would practically climb into your lap. We saw one run off with an entire chicken finger that was bigger than he was. They were out of control! We found this little guy by the Capitol building. That's right..he found an unopened granola bar...bit that wrapper open and went to work.

We got a chance to meet up with Allen and Serena. Allen and Mark were roomies at Auburn. They got married 2 weeks after us and moved straight to Alexandria, VA. We went out for a delicious dinner then back to their place for Rock Band!

Out at ChiCha a hookah lounge in DC. I had never hookahed before. I didn't really care for it, but I loved the place..very loungy and look how pretty our hookah pipes were!

Elizabeth, Josh and Bryan..and yes, that's a nakie lady behind them.....

the front side version of her was right next to us....Awkwarddd

That sums up the DC part. A few pictures from our day in Alexandria next!

Silly Squirrel

2008-11-11T20:05:00.000-06:00

Lookie what we found out of our bedroom window this morning.

I should've gotten video. This little guy was berry crazy! I think he cleaned off the whole tree :) And note..this picture was taken through our window, through the blinds. I didn't want to scare him off. I've got mad squirrel picture taking skills!

Big news....

2008-11-07T19:06:00.006-06:00

I haven't officially announced it here, but most of you know by now. My company laid off about 40 people due to budget cuts about 2 weeks ago and I was one of them. (google Time Warner layoffs...lots of news on that) Today was my last day. I've really run the gamet of emotions since this happened. Crushed, angry, frustrated, and now I think I'm at a good place with it all. Afterall, I only graduated 2 years ago....I'm still a baby and have plenty of time to find my way.

I'm very sad to be leaving my coworkers though. I don't know how I'll replace such a good group. My department took me out for Mexican food and margaritas last week just to have some fun and laughs before I left. Kate joined us too! She left the company a couple of months ago. And now we'll be able to play all day! :)

from left: Kate, me, Dawn, Courtney and my boss, Sheryl

The production girls also gave me a sweet goodbye gift yesterday too. A former employee of the company started up the cutest stationary company Night Owl Papergoods, with a friend of his. They do lots of letterpress, but they've also started a line of wooden cards, notebooks, notepads and the like. I just love love their stuff. Their site is adorable. They really stick to the Owl them, they're based in Birmingham, OWLabama :D! Anyhow, they got me a notebook and notepad to jot down all my craft ideas that will make me millions :) I loove thoughtful gifts like that. Although, I doubt I'll ever be able to bring myself to write in them. They're just to darn cute to use!

Notebook

Notepad

I'm already on the job hunt. I had an interview yesterday and actually just got an email tonight to set up another one! I'm going to take this time to reevaluate what it is I want to do with my life. Take some time to give my etsy shop more attention and just get back to me.

Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers during this time. I think we're going to be just fine!

Booo Halloween!

2008-10-21T12:34:00.015-05:00

Mark and I was so excited to pass out candy tonight. We stock piled the candy, put together a Halloween playlist and worked frantically to decorate the house in the last hour before dark with whatever we could find around the house.

Total trick or treaters...3. My coworker who lives in the neighborhood was nice enough to bring his little ones by. We sat on our front porch like little kids, eyes lighting up every time someone turned on our street. But none of them stopped.

We even decided to walk over to our neighbors' houses to share candy and chat...they didn't answer the door. TV and lights were on. :(

I don't know what's going on with our street...but things have got to change. I've gotta figure out a way to make our street a little more neighborly! Any ideas on that?

As far as the trick or treaters, we had major competition with a Trunk or Treat at a local church less than a mile away. I'm sure that's where most went. But still... way to crush our dreams!

Here's a little video I took to try and capture our cool orangey glow house Mark whipped up. You can't get the full effect, but trust me, it was awesome. I'm very proud of his quick thinking and creativity!

On a cuter note...here's the baby niece and nephew all dressed up. (Morgan, lady bug; Caleb, batman) Mark's sister was sweet enough to send this over. I'm glad she did...we need a little cheering up!

We've decided to just throw our own party next year :)

Seriously, as I was finishing this, we JUST heard the door bell. hooray! trick or treater count is up to 5. That made my night! haha

Better luck next year...Happy Halloween yall!

Day 275: 5 years

2008-09-29T21:05:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, Mark and I hit our 5 year dating anniversary. He says dating anniversaries don't count anymore now that we're married, but I say half a decade is something to be proud of! I remember when we so badly wanted to make it to a year so people would take us 'seriously'. Now look at us!

2003

We'd been 'dating' for a couple of months. We had our ESA Christmas dinner that night. I wouldn't let him come b/c I wasn't ready for him to meet my friends (I had a bit of a complex). But we met up afterwards! :) Mark told me he loved me for the very first time in that same room . After a cleaning spree and hours alone in deep thought, I said it back. Blink 182's 'Miss You' played in the background. Mark lived in a dorm at Auburn where I wasn't allowed to visit our first year together, so he drove 3 hours from Tuscaloosa every single weekend to see me.

2004

On the Black Warrior river in Tuscaloosa....

2005
By now Mark was in an apartment, so we took turns driving back and forth, which led us to be pretty broke. We didn't really have money for anything except gas to see one another. I think we were actually going out to dinner when we took this, which explains why we look so happy :)

2006

On a trip back to Tuscaloosa in the Fall of 2006. I had graduated and moved to Birmingham. We were still driving back and forth. We drove down this weekend to tailgate with his parents. I had to have a picture on the steps of my old college building.

2007

From the best day ever.....the day we FINALLY became husband and wife!

2008

Here we are on our 5 year anniversary at Josh and Elizabeth's reception.

Markus, you're still my favorite boy.

5 down, forever to go!

Day 250: Bad Apple

2008-09-04T18:15:00.005-05:00

Remember how we were so excited to find that we had a real life apple tree in our backyard? They were so cute and so perfect.....

Well..as time has gone by, the apples turned from green to a red/green mix and are covered in black spots! The majority of them have been over taken with buggies. We went out to pick them last weekend and this is all we salvaged.

I'm pretty bummed out. We've really gotta do our research for next year and figure out how

to take care of them! Now that we know what they look like 'all grown up' does anyone know what variety they are by chance?

Day 239: Survived Surgery

2008-08-24T10:58:00.011-05:00

Most of you know by now, but I had sinus surgery a week or so ago. It was rough..a lot worse than I thought it would be. I didn't think I'd ever get better, but I'm back to my old self now.

Mark took very good care of me. I kept saying I was testing out that 'in sickness and health' part. Well he passed with flying colors. I wouldn't have made it through with him!

It was hard for Mom not to come up here and take care of me. Her little bebe is all grown up now :) It was such a surprise to get these beautiful flowers from her! It really cheered me up when I was having such a rough time.

When I came back into work..look what I found! A sweet card, my favorite candy and a gift card to Hobby Lobby! My coworkers know me all too well :)

Still not 100% healed, but I'm getting there...

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Day 225: Day on the Lake

2008-08-10T09:45:00.009-05:00

We drove over to Smith lake yesterday for some family fun in the sun. Mark's dad and stepmom had the camper, Jana and Jarrett had the boat. It was a great day!

We had lots of fun with our niece and nephew, Morgan and Caleb.

I gave Morgan a marshmello, which turned into a huge sticky mess...but she seemed to like it :)

Mr. James on the grill...We had an awesome lunch! They always cook so much goodness and I can never pick just a few things. I have to have a bit of it all. Diane even made homemade macaroni....they were camping! I was very impressed.

We did a bit of tubing, kneeboarding and skiing.

And a good bit of swimming....

Mark and Jarrett even cliff dived,
which made all the girls super nervous

And we had fun just cruising on the boat....

Caleb in Uncle Mark's sunglasses

me and Lindsey manned the front

I've been regretting not writing our names in the sand in Jamaica on the honeymoon, so I tried to create it in Alabama dirt. That's pretty much the same, right? :)

Thanks for a great day everybody!

Day 206: Stormy Weather

2008-07-22T06:52:00.003-05:00

We had a huge storm come out of nowhere last night. Tons of wind, rain, thunder and lightening. Wouldn't you know we had just lit the grill when it started. We watched the huge trees in the backyard sway back and forth all afternoon. We later noticed one had snapped right in half. Hope our neighbors behind us are ok!

What we didn't know until it was all over was that our pretty tree in the front yard split in half! Those branches gave such pretty shade and I will truly miss them. Although Mark is super excited to finally get to use his chainsaw.

Reading the reports there were lots of road closings last night due to trees in the road. Thank you Mr. weatherman for giving us NO warning! Another chance of storms tonight....

I will say that I felt extremely safe in our house and even moreso in the basement. The 3rd floor dinky apartment I was living in always felt like it was about to blow right off in a storm and I hated not having a safe place to go to when the weather got bad. Not a problem anymore :)

Day 199: Updates

2008-07-15T17:44:00.005-05:00

I know I've been gone forever! So sorry. Life has really been busy here lately!

We celebrated our 6 month anniversary a couple of weeks ago. We're halfway there! Of course, no special occassion would be complete without a trip to Outback. The meal was delicious and fattening as always. :)

I opened up my etsy shop!

I've had quite a few orders, so I've been making tons of cupcake flags. Sort of my shop's specialty, but I will be soon expanding to invitations and other paper products.

We had Randy and Maria over for the 4th of July. Some of my cupcake flags made an appearance. :)

And I've really been updating my craft blog a lot. So sorry newlywed/house blog. I know I've neglected you! :(

I'm having a hard time separating between what should be posted here and what should go on the other one. So please bear with me. I'm sure eventually I'll get back into house projects and the like, but for now I'm crafting!

Day 174: A Little Help Please?

2008-06-12T14:18:00.005-05:00

I need your help guys...Our wedding album is on hold until I can pick a picture for the cover. The back cover and spine will be black if that helps any. Also, the Alabama Theater one is also featured again somewhere in the album, while the black and white one isn't.

Here are the two choices...

Option #1

Option #2

If you know me, you know I can't make decisions worth a darn, so I really need your help! If you don't mind, please post your vote in the comments :) Thanks!

Day 159: An Interesting Find

2008-06-06T06:49:00.004-05:00

Mark's been up in the attic all week checking out our insulation situation. Look what he found! An old radio, speaker, microphone, and others that I have no idea what they are. haha....so cool!

Day 155: Small Upgrades

2008-06-02T19:59:00.009-05:00

We're tight on the budget now and can't run out to get too many furnishings just yet, so I was ecstatic to get this hand me down armoire! It actually came with Mark's bed set from when he was younger (pretty mature for a teenage kid, huh?). His dad has been keeping it until he was ready to have it back. Now is the time!

I really think it fills up the room a little more than our previous small table.

New Bedding

We had a few giftcards leftover from the wedding to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I looked there for bedding, but couldn't quite find what I was looking for. So I cashed that thing in and headed out to TJ Maxx, Homegoods, and tuesday Morning...multiple times. I finally found the perfect white quilt at TJ Maxx last week. The white is beautiful and a little scary. So far, so good. Only one small spill..a little chocolate cake. I like to eat in bed :)

We got the coverlet in brown as a wedding gift, but I traded it in for blue :) I like that it has some shimmer to it. I think it works well with the shimmery curtains the previous owner left us. Still working on the pillows.

I really like the two different textures.

Oh..and we rearranged the room a bit. Still trying to decide if we like it better this way....

Day 148: How bout these apples?

2008-05-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

We have been so lucky to inherit a beautiful yard with lots of mature trees and gorgeous plants and flowers. There are quite a few mysteries though as we know absolutely nothing about this stuff.

We had no clue what one particular bush was and had talked about ripping it out since it took up a good chunk of the backyard. I'm so glad we waited because as a couple of weeks went by, we realized that we had a major apple tree on our hands!

It looks like the tree has been so heavy with apples it is almost bent over on its side. Mark trimmed tons of branches and poor little apples off (all for the greater good, i know) to lighten it and has it propped up with 2x4's right now. We're hoping to slowly train it back straight.

But how awesome, right?? It's been amazing watching them grow over the past couple of weeks. They are such cute baby apples right now...but they're getting bigger every day. I'm not sure what kind they are, other than they're green. I hope they taste ok!

I already have plans to make everything apple related when they ripen. So if you have recipes..send them my way!

Day 147: Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T18:08:00.012-05:00

We had our first get together in the new house today. Mark's sisters, bro in law, and our niece and nephew came over for a little Memorial day grill out/pool party.

It was a little challenging not having a table, but it all worked out just fine, I think.

We're absolutely exhausted after spending hours in the sun, but we had a blast!

Here's some shots from today:

Kdub rocking out to the music...lol. He makes me laugh

He was a little scared to get in at first

But they finally convinced him

Popsicle time!

Morgan looking very patriotic for the Memorial day festivities. She sort of looks like a little politician with that wave :)

Lindsey and Caleb soaking up the sun

Silly boy

We tried to get him to do a cute pose

We had such a great time. Can't wait to do it again!

Day 146: Curb Appeal

2008-05-25T18:38:00.002-05:00

We started working on the front of the house last weekend with the mailbox transformation. Late Sunday, I started painting the shutters. It was the project that would never end!

While I usually love red, we felt like our brick is just a little too red to have red shutters too. We went with black to have a stronger contrast. From what I could tell, our shutters have been repainted at least 3 times. I could tell by all the oops' spots on the brick around them. They were painted so much that it was impossible to take them down to paint, so I had to wrangle the bushes with our ladder, hold the craziest positions, and be eaten alive by buggies.

But I've gotta say...I really think it was worth it.

I also trimmed the bushes, repainted the window boxes, planted some flowers (hope they can stay alive) and Mark cut the grass.

Before:

After:

There are still a few things we'd like to do, but I think we've already made some pretty big improvements!

Day 142: Oh Dearie...

2008-05-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

We had some surprise this morning!

This little guy somehow jumped into our backyard, but then couldn't get out! M opened up the fence, but he didn't see it. He finally ran the length of the yard and jumped out. Little did he know there's another fence further down. So I think he's stuck between the two fences now.... :/ I'm hoping he can jump all the way out.

p.s. i apologize for my 'language'...yall can't hear how hard he was hitting the fence, but trust me..he was going full force! I was so scared he was going to slam M or run up on the porch and get me!

Day 140: Hard Work

2008-05-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

We have been busy little bees this weekend. M cleaned gutters, I started painting shutters, got a hand-me-down hutch for the living room, M cut the grass, we yardsaled it up early Saturday, and I polished the floors in the living room and foyer...but the one project I'm most proud of and actually took pictures of is our new mailbox!

Here's the old one(booo):

Our new one(!):

We used the old post, the 'Classic' box from Lowe's at around $19, primer and paint, new numbers, and we were all set!

It's our first DIY project and we're so happy with how it turned out!

Day 139: Hooray!

2008-05-18T19:14:00.006-05:00

We are so excited that we have a finished basement, which allows us to have an awesome movie room. Mark had the tv and sound system set, but we were without anything to lounge on! We literally broke in the movie room in our office chairs.

We finally decided to go big and spring for a sectional couch. It took a whole day of shopping, but we found one!

It was delivered last week and we absolutely love it...

Note: the movie posters are not our permanent window treatments. Mark and I are having some design differences. :) I'll report back once we make a decision.

Day 137: House pt2

2008-05-15T18:19:00.024-05:00

The second half of the tour starts off with our guest bathroom. This is the only part of the house that hasn't been through some type of renovation. Unless you count the vine wallpaper as renovation...We have long term dreams of completely ripping this room up and rearranging everything...since there isn't a proper sized sink and the space in here really isn't being utilized to it's full potential. For now though, we'll probably take out the wallpaper and appreciate those pretty honeycomb floors.

See what I'm saying? I love this stuff!

Heading down the hallway to the bedrooms.

The guest bedroom. Not much going on just yet, but it's good enough for now.

The master! I'm still deciding on bedding. We have new sheets, but no new comforter! The curtains were left by the seller. I think they're great!

Our closet

Other side of the room looking towards the bathroom

Our small yet functional master bath

One of our storage solutions...

Walk-in shower

I didn't show my craft room/office just yet. It is the biggest disaster and I'm a tad bit embarassed. I did take a picture and will have an amazing before and after, I'm sure. Also didn't post any of the unfinished part of the basement. It looks the same as it did in the tour I posted before we moved in...except with a lot more boxes. :)

Hope you enjoyed. We've already begun small improvements that I'll be sure to share!

Day 136: House pt.1

2008-05-14T19:04:00.025-05:00

It's taken me a while..and I really wanted to wait until it was more organized and put together, but that may be a while. I'll just count these as my 'before' pictures :)

For time's sake and to keep you all on your toes I'll just be showing the front, living room, and kitchen/dining area today with a following up post tomorrow with the rest.

Here we are! view from the street

Looking from the front door onto our street. It's so quaint and quiet. We love it.. And look at all the trees!

Seller's welcome mat. It'll do for now :)

Foyer

Coat closet right as you walk in

There's a good bit of storage room in here

Much anticipated living room! We def. need more furniture in here, but it works for now. The seller took the drapes with her, but left the rods. We're ok with no curtains for a while.

Other side of living room, looking into dining room/kitchen...no dining room table ...working on that :)

Valance and drapes in the dining room that they left. It's called a valance, right?? I have so much to learn...

Kitchen! I did a little spin around the room for the next pictures so you could get the full effect.

I love our little island :)

Large and in charge pantry. We plan to get some extra shelving for the doors to double up our space.

These drawers are so great for our baking pans.

And last but not least...one of my favorite wedding gifts. My new canisters!

Thanks for looking! Look out for part 2 tomorrow.

Day 135: Catching up

2008-05-13T18:00:00.001-05:00

We're back! I'm a year older and now a homeowner! I never would've imagined I would be 24 and own my very own house. but here we are!

The move was awful, of course..and we're still unpacking, but we are in heaven. The house is so awesome and I can't believe it's all ours!

Here are a few pictures from move-in weekend

The Uhaul and my sweet father-in-law who organized the truck. He's moved quite a few times in his life and knows his stuff! We didn't have one broken item. :)

A couple of our awesome helpers. Mark's sister Lindsey and her friend...college students who got up early on a Saturday for us!

Just a picture of some of the chaos at the apt...soo happy we're out of there!

Randy wasn't able to make it until later in the day. I'm glad he was able to help set up the beds because I was so over everything by that point in the day. He gave me a little break!

That Monday on my birthday, Mom and granny drove up to help us unpack and celebrate the big 24. Mom gave us this cute little housewarming basket!

We went to dinner that night, then back to the house for presents! Two huge things from my wishlist. A gocco and sewing machine! I can't wait to get the craft room up and running, so I can test them out!

Enough play, let's get to work. Granny on the shelf lining (notice the MESS on the counters. They also brought w/ them all of our wedding gifts that have been in storage at my grandmother's. SO much awesome stuff!)

And Mom on pantry duty :)

Granny mending a pillow

The next night we had a little grill out to finally take a chance to enjoy our house...

And we got to use our grill brander Mom got us at a shower. So much fun!

I'll leave you with these beautiful flowers granny got us in the pretty pitcher from Mom. :)

We are extremely blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family who helped us with the move. Trust me, we could NOT have done it without you!!!

Day 117: Brewfest!

2008-04-25T12:46:00.003-05:00

The 2nd Annual Magic City Brewfest is on! I don't even like beer, but M loves tasting all kinds of different types and it makes me happy to see how excited he gets about these things.

They host brews from all over the country and world, have good eats and great music. Last year it was the prettiest day and we had a great time!

It's been up in the air as to whether they'd be having it again this year, but the website is up and it's official!

Check out the site here.

If anyone wants to meet up for the Saturday session, we're game :)

Day 116: Still lovin' the Polka Dots

2008-04-24T07:30:00.001-05:00

Polka dots have been big for a while now and some may say the trend is dying out, but I think I'll always be a fan!

Bedding from West Elm (maybe technically honeycomb)

organization boxes from See Jane Work

bathmat from India Rose

pocket calendar from Hable Construction

Teapot from Rosanna Inc.

Wedge Sandals fromOverstock

Shower Curtain from The Company Store

Day 114: Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T11:17:00.007-05:00

iseloom's photostream

I know these days you can't blink without seeing some sort of 'green' push.

It just wouldn't be right if I didn't join the crowd! I love that these issues are so talked about now. I just hope that people are making real life changes, not just riding the trend. In any case...here are some ways to incorporate some green into your everyday lives.

Real Simple has compiled a list of easy changes with their Green Living 101.

Wire & Twine's '50 Ways to Help the Planet' also has lots of green tips.

Mark and I have already made a few changes and plan to make more once we get in our house(t minus 4 days!)

what we've done so far:
switched to CFL lightbulbs
significantly cut back on using the heating/cooling system
use only cold water for washing clothes
recycle our plastic bags

what we'd like to do once we're in our house:
line dry most of our clothes
create a compost pile
shop locally for fruits and vegetables
recycle! We'll finally have room to sort!
switching to cloth grocery bags
insulate our home well to cut down on heating/cooling even more

Are you making any changes to be more green?

Day 114: Small Obsession

2008-04-22T08:29:00.012-05:00

I've been drawn to vintage glass as of late....Not sure why, but I think these inspiration pictures may have something to do with it!

milk carafes from Three Potato Four

So I started my search to ebay and was overwhelmed with all that I found! These would all be beautiful in a windowsill, on a dresser, or for a quick flower arrangement.

If you search under vintage glass for 'milk bottle' 'apothecary jars' 'pressed glass' 'medicine bottles', etc..you can find some really cool stuff at REALLY great prices!

Fenton Milk glass. This stuff is beautiful. I almost bought the first piece tonight!

Vintage Milk bottles. I love the colored ones.

Some colored glass pieces; I just noticed this weekend that my grandmother has that exact aqua Ball canning jar! It's awesome....I have no clue how I never noticed it until now!

Day 113: Trip Home

2008-04-21T19:25:00.014-05:00

Mark and I went home this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. It was a good time. I'm sad to say that I have ZERO pictures. We really need to downsize our camera. It's so hard to lug that big thing around.

On Saturday my mom and I went shopping with Elizabeth, her mom, cousin, sister and junior bridesmaid for bridesmaid dresses! We had picked out some in advance, so it was quick and painless. Luckily, we all loved one of the two and oddly enough the sample size fit all of us, so we know our size :) It is soo comfortable and very forgiving. I think it has a good rewearability potential too.

Here's the dress with the leading color combination.

Our First Housewarming Gift!
Also while we were home, Mom pulled out a bag of goodies she's been collecting for me. A few tops for work, things from my old room, and a beautiful pitcher! I really thought it was my birthday present and would totally take it as that, but she said to just call it a house warming gift. She found it on sale and couldn't resist :) And I'm glad for it...b/c I'm practically in love.

I searched for a picture online forever and could only find this one from Poof You're a Frog's blog. It's the little guy by the purple arrow. I guess this particular piece has been discontinued, which makes me even more grateful for my mom's great eye.

It's made by Rosanna Inc. who has lots of other beautiful pieces. Here are a few of my other faves:

Day 109: A Man Can Dream too

2008-04-16T18:42:00.004-05:00

We've ventured out to Lowe's and Home Depot over the past couple of days to take a look at some things for the house. While it's more fun for me to pick out paint colors, I have to admit I do have fun at these places.

Here's a couple of things on Mark's wishlist:

Troy-Bilt XP
6.75-Torque 21" Cut Electric Start Mower

Blue Ember Blue Ember Stainless Steel Grill
complete with ice cooler for beverages and beverage opener :)

aannddd....

Insulation.

Yes, this is a 'must have' on his list. Apparently, the insulation in our attic hasn't been replaced since it was built over 40 years ago, so it's something that really needs to be done. He assures me that it will save us hundreds in energy costs and you know, help save the planet and all too. Thank goodness I have a practical husband, because if it was left to me we'd be pretty bad off!

Day 109: Dreaming of a White Kitchen

2008-04-16T14:58:00.007-05:00

I sort of have a white obsession these days as far as home decor goes. I'm just drawn to it. So of course, the first big house project in my mind is paint our kitchen cabinets white! I mentioned this to Mark who claims he loves the brown (since when does he have an opinion in decorating?)

I've been saving pictures with white cabinets for a while now so I could give him a visual. I was fully prepared to have a sit down discussion with him and really argue my case. Last night after showing him these pictures, he was convinced. Somehow, I found a very similar kitchen (layout, counter tops, etc) and he could really picture it!

Kitchen now....pretty, but a little too dark

With white cabinetry and a lighter wall color. Wouldn't it look so much brighter and cheery?

I hope this is a project we can do soon!

Day 108: Post Wedding Chop?

2008-04-15T17:21:00.005-05:00

I've never been a fan of short hair. Did it once, hated it and vowed to never do it again. So when I heard of the 'post wedding chop' (girls chopping all their long hair they grew out for years for that perfect wedding 'do) I knew I wouldn't be participating. However, big stylists with pixie cuts in fancy salons seem to think the shorter, the better.

Here's the story...
The haircut didn't work out yesterday. They were crazy crowded and after waiting an hour, Kate and I decided to be good little employees and head back to work instead of spending the entire afternoon waiting on a cheap haircut.

Luckily, Richard Joseph was prepared for the crowd and offered us vouchers to come back in the next few weeks and get our charitable new 'do. I booked my appointment for today during lunch.

They assigned me a stylist, which was fine. I didn't have a preference. The shampoo/condition was unbelievable. Having major headaches everyday, this is one girl who could use a good head massage. It was so relaxing....

I get upstairs and give my usual spill about how I like a few layers b/c of the crazy curls and I just want it shaped up. She asked if I'd like just an inch off, but I told her let's go wild and do 2...I was sure to let her know that I didn't want to go too short because I have extremely curly hair and it will shrink another 2-3 inches when I wear it that way.

Well 30 minutes later as she rounded my shoulder and came to cut the front, I realized that 2 inches had somehow turned into 4.5 and I now had much shorter hair. Too late to speak up, I hoped for the best. With her styling and apparent lack of knowledge in how to straighten extremely curly hair..i left feeling pretty down.

[insert sad face here]

after getting home though..and playing with it...and hearing the praises of my sweet husband. I'm coming around.....

Let's just hope it grows out a bit before the dead heat of the Alabama summer rolls in because the curls can't hide in that kind of humidity.

Kate was going this afternoon. *fingers crossed* that she comes out looking fab!

But it goes to show that expensive is not always better. There's no way I'd pay $100 to go back to this salon!! (disclaimer: I'm sure not all experiences with Richard Joseph are bad and will vouch that is a very classy place. This is just my story!)

Day 107: Gettin my hair did

2008-04-14T10:29:00.004-05:00

This is an announcement mainly for my fellow Birminghamians...

First of all, if you're not familiar with SalonFly, you need to be. They have great promotions going on with salons in the area all the time. I first used one of their specials last haircut. I visited Mop and got half off using one of their coupons!

I'm in need of another cut and found out about an awesome charity event going on at Richard Joseph. today. My friend Kate and I are venturing over there at lunch for their annual Grass Roots Cut-a-thon. All donations go to help the Cahaba River Society and Gulf Restoration Network. For a minimum donation of $35 you get a haircut + blowdry. Haircuts at this particular salon can run you well over $100. I am stoked to get a taste of this ritzy place for a fraction of the cost and know that my money is actually going to a cause.

The cut-a-thon will be going on all day today from 9am-6pm, so stop by if you're interested. No appointments necessary, first come, first serve. :)

Day 107: House Must Have

2008-04-14T08:04:00.005-05:00

I've always loved the look of old school bicycles, but the ones I've seen have been crazy expensive! The other night I found this site, which had much more affordable options.

With our little 62' house almost ours, I think we definitely need some retro bicycles. How cute would we be cruising around the new neighborhood on these sweet rides?

One for me

And one for Mark :)

Day 106: Major Deal!

2008-04-13T20:37:00.006-05:00

I am addicted to pretty things. I'm constantly scouring blogs and magazines in search of all kinds of eye candy. So I was ecstatic to find Amazon's amazing deal for April! Awesome titles for only $7. It don't get much better.

These would all be great for ideas for the new house. :)

MUST get these two!

Two others that I just love....

Day 103:Take Me Out....

2008-04-10T20:09:00.003-05:00

to the ballgame. Or ANYwhere! We've been living 'lean' for a while now and haven't had many outings. So last Thursday we went out for the Birmingham Barons season opener. I knew dollar beverages and 20 cent wings were sure to win Mark over...and they did. :)

Every once in a while a girl just needs to get out...even if it is a baseball game.

We had fun and I'm sure we'll be back for more 'Thirsty Thursdays' :)

Day 100: How could I forget??

2008-04-07T19:56:00.008-05:00

We went to Wings tonight for Mark's sister's boyfriend's going away party...We like to just call him Jeremy :)

He's moving out to Texas for business (we'll miss you jdawg!) and he wanted to get together for one last hoorah. They had some good jams going...one of which was Blink 182's 'What's my Age Again?' An old classic I'm sure we all remember.

I sat singing my little head off and when the lyrics 'nobody likes you when you're 23' came around a little light bulb went off. I remember when I was totally digging this song wayy back in the day, promising myself that when I turned 23, I would so sing that song. It would be my little anthem b/c I would be a cool 23.

Here it is..exactly 3 weeks from my 24th birthday and I just remembered!

15 y.o. Lauren, I'm sorry I let you down. Thank goodness I caught it before it was too late!

For your pleasure and in celebration of the last 3 weeks of my 23rd year....

p.s. happy 100 days to me and mark!

Day 96: Another wedding :)

2008-04-03T20:06:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to give a shout out to my baby brother Josh and new FIANCE Elizabeth!

Here they are at our wedding in December (she totally caught the bouquet! we laughed at the time...but you can't deny the truth of the bouquet catch) This is right after she caught it...running up to Josh :) Notice the 'this is never going to happen look on Josh's face. haha

They're planning a September wedding and I can't wait.

I literally cried when I was little for sisters. I'm getting 4 in one year! :)

p.s. check out the right side for new fun music :)

Day 94: House tour pt. II

2008-04-01T17:27:00.011-05:00

Here's the outside!

The view off the deck. Notice the pretty japanese maple :)

Oh and surprise surprise..there's a pool! yes, above ground and not the prettiest, but we'll take it! We plan on using it at least for this summer and may remove it later to 'pretty' up the backyard a bit more.

Our dogwood...

This was the biggest shock when we visited for the walk through. Spring had definitely sprung. This is a cherry blossom,right? It is beautiful!

From the backyard looking up towards the pool

The decks :)

We're so excited to have so many trees and flowers! Now we don't have to do it all! haha...

Day 94: The magic of IKEA

2008-04-01T11:58:00.010-05:00

It's been almost two weeks since my magical experience with Ikea. While I had always heard good things, I have to say the trip was nothing short of life changing.

Not knowing my way around, I started in the showrooms. I looked around for about an hour...carefully looking at and touching each thing, in each room. I finally got to a point where my mind and heart were full of awesomeness and inspiration and I had to call someone who would understand. Mom.

I stayed on the phone with her for a long while describing everything I saw and how much it was (both were amazing).

While there was TONS of stuff I wanted there and I could easily drop a good 10k, I only came out with a few things.

This rug for those new hardwood floors! :)

12 place settings of these platese

And just because these were pretty...

Day 92: House Tour!

2008-03-30T20:15:00.010-05:00

We've taken pictures a couple of times as we walked through the house. The owner was always there though, so I felt a little awkward and didn't really get as many as I would've liked to.

She has great style. I hope we can make the house look this good when we get all moved in!

Without further ado...our beautiful, soon to be house!

Here's part of the front and the closest thing I have of the living room. You can sort of see it through the slats!

The dining room is small and cozy :)

Some kitchen shots...

Master Bedroom

Other side of master, looking towards the bathroom

Small, but cute Master bath

Master walk-in closet! Very rare find in an older home like this

Guestroom. It's a lot larger than the picture looks.

Their nursery. We'll use this room as my office/craft room :) Again, this room is a lot bigger than the picture shows.

Guestbath...definitely the eyesore of the house! This needs some big renovations...

The sink area is soo narrow. We'll really have to work with the layout of this room

Going downstairs to the basement...

This will be our media/man room. We tried to work that couch into the deal, but they wouldn't do it! We'll be chillin' out on bean bags for a while, I'm sure.

The unfinished side of the basement. There's soo much room down here...it's a little hard to see with all the sellers stuff. We vow to NEVER have this much stuff!

Here's the little work table. We're pretty sure it's original to the house.

Another post on the backyard to come!

Day 91: A wedding and another monthaversary

2008-03-29T21:00:00.000-05:00

Today is our 3 month mark. Still going strong! haha

We drove down to Tuscaloosa today for a friend's wedding. It was an outdoor wedding and was a beautiful day until 15 minutes before the ceremony was to begin. Dark clouds rolled in, lightening everywhere, and then a downpour! Poor Randy was left to call the shots since the bride was showing up at show time, and we decided to roll with it. There was a gazebo in the park, so they set up everything there.

It still turned out to be a beautiful ceremony and I thought the stormy weather was quite romantic.

I tried to channel our wedding photographer and hounded Randy before the ceremony. He was a good sport, but I think I should stick with my day job! haha

Here's some shots from the day....

I loved his prewedding beverage :)

Taking care of business....

the boys...

Waiting to leave for the ceremony

The bride's bouquet

Capitol Park, Tuscaloosa, AL: The ruins of our old state capitol. This is where the ceremony was supposed to happen. So glad they had a gazebo!

Congrats Randy and Maria! We wish you all the best!

Day 90: We have a house!!

2008-03-28T19:15:00.000-05:00

We closed on our house today! I haven't blogged about it just yet. I think I was afraid it would jinx it. All the papers are signed, we have our loan, it. is. ours! Our very own, super cute 62 rancher.

Well...in a month. With the interest rates being so unstable we decided to close a little early to lock in our rate. So the owners will be living there another month. We met one of the owners (the husband) at closing. He is super nice and we're so lucky to be buying from such a nice couple.

While we were waiting on the rest of our papers to come in, we picked his brain a bit. Of course Mark had lots of practical questions about the inner workings of the house, but I found out that we will only be the third owners! He told us that at their closing the older gentlemen had a few tears as he had built the house and lived there for over 30 years.

I also asked about the neighbors. There's an older lady that lives next door who saw our house being built! He told us she is very sweet and makes a mean batch of cookies. We'll have to schedule a bake-off :)

I love knowing the history of things and it's very special that we found out those little facts. It also makes me appreciate that we're moving into an older home instead of one that just went up.

House tour to come soon!

Day 87: A little trip to Atlanta

2008-03-25T20:01:00.002-05:00

Mark had his first business trip last week. His company sent him over to Atlanta for week long training. I took a few days off and drove over Wednesday.

We had a lot of fun going out to dinner and staying at a nice hotel. While Mark was in training, I ventured out into crazy Atlanta traffic for my first Ikea experience. It was all I hoped it would be a more. Definitely deserves its own blog..so I'll post about that later.

I also had my first knottie gtg (get together) while in Atlanta. All through wedding planning I've been chatting on my club board with girls who were getting married at the same time as me. We are sprinkled all throughout the country, so known of us had ever meet in real life. When Bev saw that I was coming to Atlanta, we decided to get together with our new hubbies and finally meet.

We had such a great time! We don't have that many 'couple' friends, so it was really nice. We met up at Cheeseburger in Paradise (i'd never been to one) and had mini cheeseburgers :)

Our 'ring shot'

Representing Dec. 07!

Thanks Bev and Dusty! We'll have to do it again next time we come over :)

Day 76: Some Holiday fun

2008-03-14T17:27:00.009-05:00

I just started this thing, so I didn't get to cover valentine's day. Mark and I agreed not to swap gifts as we were/are in the middle of a pretty strict spending freeze trying to pay off the credit cards from the wedding + buying a house and all. :)

So I was really surprised when I came home on valentine's day to find a huge balloon tied to a red puppy stuffed animal (a previous vday gift) and a card. The card had a button attached that read "Perfect Wife".

It was very sweet. I was thankful, but I couldn't help ask how much he spent on that ginormous balloon. $15. $15!?! We even log soft drinks in our budget and they only run .55. I was floored and a little frustrated that he dropped that much on something that would be flat within the week. At least flowers looked and smelled pretty....lol. He tries and I love him for it. On the other hand, I felt a little awful. I've always put a good bit of thought into his presents and I hate that I totally dropped the ball this year. I didn't even get a card!

So I made up my mind to redeem myself with St. Patrick's Day. Enter the "Bag o' Irish Fun".

I figured he'd appreciate Irish beer than chocolate and romance anyhow. Turns out I was right! After getting his present, which I totally surprised him with, he asked if we could make this a tradition. He'd get me a gift for Vday and then a month later he would get a present for St. Patrick's.

Here he is with his gifts.

Day 62: a lucky monthaversary

2008-02-29T22:11:00.002-06:00

Happy Leap Day! I've been getting that greeting a lot today. I know it's not quite a holiday, but for a day that only comes around every 4 years, it's nice to sort of 'celebrate' it. Lucky for us, today is our 2 month anniversary. We're not one to really celebrate little milestones like this. I honestly forgot until a couple of hours ago. It's nice though to stop and think that we are 2 months into our married lives.

Today was pretty uneventful. Our big day was actually yesterday. At about 2:45 we found out that the seller's FINALLY agreed on our offer. We'll be moving in April 26th, 2 days before my 24th birthday. At about 3:30 yesterday, I found out I got a raise! Just a small one, but finding out you'll be getting more money on a day you agree to make such a huge purchase is just good times all around. God is certainly good. He has blessed us in more ways than we have ever deserved.

Tonight we (well, mostly Mark) did our taxes. We'll be getting a decent amount back. I couldn't be happier! We were sure we'd be sitting on boxes in our new house. Maybe now we can get a couple of pieces to get the house decorating rolling. :)

Thank you Leap Day for being here this year!

Here we are!

2008-02-29T21:37:00.002-06:00

After another night of reading tons of blogs, tonight finding newlywed blogs in particular, I've decided we need one of our very own. What better way to document our first year together.

I confess, I made a lot of unnecessary purchases throughout the wedding planning process. One was a 5 year journal. It's small and ever so cute and has a just a small spot to write a little note each day. I thought it would be the perfect way to keep up our lives to remember the little things that happen each day. Here we are 2 months into it and I may have 5 entries. :(

I can't promise that this will be too much better, but I think I have a better shot at something online than handwritten. It's sad, but true.

So here it goes!