Recap + Plans

I'm back!! It was SO nice to take some time off .. we relaxed, spent time with family and friends, and did some much needed maintenance around our home (not necessarily fun, but important!)

2014 was full of some high highs (like buying a house) and low lows (like moving 5 times). It's really easy to focus on the negative, but over the past year, I've found that the best way to move forward is to brush off the lows and focus on the good and trust that God has a bigger plan than I can see right now.

I'm ready for 2015 - I'm ready for new adventures, changes of pace and location - I'll be sure to share along the way!! (I won't be doing a round up of 2014 but if you're interested, check out my projects page for a little overview!)

I've got tons of new projects lined up for 2015, but first, here's a little recap (via my Instagram) of my time off.

Before we left, I finished a set of nightstands, I love how they turned out. Here's little sneak peak. 

We took a few day trips. Here's a shot of the ceiling in Union Station, DC.

David surprised me with my favorite Serena & Lily chair for Christmas, snagged during a Christmas sale. It really is perfect, I love love love it.

Last year, during an ice storm, we had a (small) tree fall on our house. No damage was done .. but we knew that several trees needed to come down (either dead or dangerously leaning towards the house) before winter hits. (You can also watch the video on Instagram)

I did hardly any thrifting while I was away, but I did find this large, 24 light brass chandelier. It just needs new candle sleeves, then it's good to go. I'm thinking it would be perfect for the vaulted ceilings in our bedroom.

On another day trip, I found this Chinese Chippendale bench at Winterthur museum (oddly enough in the public restroom) I reeeeeally wanted to take it home with me .. think they would have noticed?

I hope you were able to take some time off to relax and recharge! I can't wait to see what 2015 will hold! Get ready for tons of new ideas and projects along the way!! :)

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Still here!

Hi friends! Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I'm still here ..

These past few weeks have been full of project stuff and life stuff .. and that continues this week too .. promise to be back in the next few days with updates!

p.s. I took this photo while photographing our entry .. I normally don't take selfies, but decided to make an exception when I was tired of crouching down to get out of the frame :) Also, I missed meeting you all at Haven this year!!!! I'll definitely be there next year!!

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Happy Birthday David!

Today I'm taking a break from my normal posts to wish David a very happy birthday! This blog would definitely not be the same without him, so it's only fitting that I take a little time to talk about why I love David so much.

He's the most loving, most selfless person that I know. David's parent's were visiting this weekend, and we were talking about how he's always been like that. With love, you do almost anything..

He's smart. Both book and street smart.. David takes my crazy ideas and figures out how to make them a reality. The way his brain works, is just amazing .. there is nothing that he can't figure out. (Just wait until you see tomorrow's post, it blows my mind!!)

He can build and fix just about anything. From cars to anything house related, David can do it. And if he doesn't know how to, he figures it out.

He's hard working and not easily frustrated. Just one example .. David's commute in CA was 3 hours round trip from the constant 70ish coast to the extreme heat or cold of the desert. The drive was windy (to the point that people did the drive once and quit.) In those two years, they went through several sets of tires (luckily he had a company vehicle to drive!) I did the drive twice, and once was enough for me.. I don't know how he did it for two years without complaining.

He's supportive and believes in me. David's constantly willing to help .. most of our free time is spent creating and building. Oh and he loves thrifting, looking for our next treasure as much as I do!

I could go on and on with reasons that I love David, but I'll leave it at this :)

This past year has been full of ups and downs .. I don't know exactly where were headed in the next year, but that's okay. As long as I have David, I know that I'll be okay. With David, I am home.

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Two Weekends | Herringbone Tile + Hilton Head

We've been traveling the last two weekends, so I finally have a chance to get caught up!

Here's a recap of our past two weekends.

1.

Two weekends ago we spent a long weekend at our house and made progress on our mudroom! We probably would have finished the tile, but we wanted to paint the ceiling first, so that delayed us a little.

With two coats of Kilz stain blocking primer, it took one coat of Sherwin Williams ceiling paint.

Then we were ready to start laying out our gorgeous tile. We went with Pietra Naturale Athens Gray marble in 3x12 from Mosaic Tile Co.

Here's a little backstory on the tile .. we went to a few stores with a specific look in mind, a neutral to warm gray with veining in a long rectangle. We went to a few stores with no luck (I guess I'm picky?) Sitting in the parking lot frustrated, we got a call from the last place, Architectual Ceramics (right style of tile, but not the perfect size and not in stock) that Mosaic Tile Co. would mostly have what we wanted in stock. We were so impressed that they took the time to call us and give us the info of a competitor.

Everything aligned (LOVE it when that happens). It was right around the corner from where we were. When we walked in, it was installed in a bathroom subway tile, so much nicer than just a small sample (especially since it's a natural stone and there are variances). While checking out, we were given tips on how to install it and what products to use. Since it's a natural stone, it's a a little different than ceramic tile (I'll recap in a future post). We had a great experience, I'd highly recommend if you're in the MD/DC area! (I think they have locations in VA and NC too) This isn't a sponsored post, just wanted to share. 

Here's how far we got (I forgot my wide angle lens, so I just got a tight shot) .. basically everything but the corners.

I'll be sure to post our process once we finish laying out the tile!

2.

This past weekend we decided to go to Hilton Head last minute! My parent's were there for the week, so we caught the tail end of their trip.

It was nice to have a little beach time, we've missed it! Annabelle probably the most .. as soon as we got close, she pulled all the way to the sand. Then, she instantly dug through my bag to find her tennis ball, which she would always do when we went to the beach in CA. It's amazing what they remember!

We relaxed on the beach for the day, it was lovely!

Before leaving, we did a little thrifting. My obsession with bamboo continues .. I've been looking for a Chinese Chippendale chair for a while, so I was SO excited when I found this for $20. It's in pretty good condition, just a little glue, paint (maybe something bright?) and a cushion (either loose and tied to the back/underneath or a piece of plywood cut to size).

The past two weekends have been a lot of driving, so we're looking forward to staying put and getting back to a normal schedule for a little bit!

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03.16.02 | Our Story

David and I met in 6th grade (1996). My family had just moved to Maryland from Illinois for my Dad's job (a pastor). Our family was in the front of the sanctuary getting introduced to the congregation.. this is where David first saw me. He was in the balcony holding a welcome sign, he tells me it was love at first sight :) I wish I could say that we locked eyes then, but no .. I'm sure I was nervous, so I probably just stared at the person talking. BUT when we met in Sunday school, it was love at first sight for me too (as much as it can be in 6th grade). David and I were both shy, so we didn't really talk .. David stopped going to Sunday school in high school, so I would just see him every once and a while at church. 

Fast forward to 11th grade, 2002. One of my friend's Mom knew that I had a crush on David, she saw him in the hallway after church and invited him to a church youth event, telling him that some girls would be excited to see him. David had never been to a youth event, but decided to go, hoping that I was the girl that would be excited to see him.

The following week, I remember getting on the bus to go to the youth lock in at Mount Saint Mary's College, and being shocked to see him. I was nervous and excited .. sitting down in the gym, my friend dragged me over next to David and introduced herself, I nervously said hi. David said it was then that he knew I liked him too :) We then hung out most of the night, talked, played volleyball, watched Mrs. Doubtfire .. a few weeks later, 03.16.02, we went on our first date - at an ice skating rink, David asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes.

senior year

senior prom

2006 real pizza in Chicago

2007 college graduation

03.16.08 just after we were engaged

David proposed in 2008, in the place that he first saw me, in the front of our church and we were married there in 2009. 

We've been together for 12 years, but it feels like he's always been there .. I know that we were made for each other and we were destined to find each other. David's calm, intelligent (street and book smart), driven and creative. I'm passionate, driven, and creative. David balances my crazy :)

I feel so blessed that we found each other so early in life. These past years have flown by, it feels like just yesterday that we were married. I don't know where we'll be in the next 5 years, but as long as I'm with David, I know I'll be okay :) 

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Moving + Creating with the Stars

Thanks so much for the overwhelming response to my survey yesterday (on this post) - you all really know how to make a girl feel loved!! I'll be adjusting a few things on the blog based on your comments. Most were things that I wanted to add or adjust, but I learned a few things that made me think, oh that's a great idea!! More on that later :)

Today, I wanted to give you an update on us (by the way, something more that you wanted to hear about!)

It's official, we're moving from Ohio at the end of March. It isn't exactly what I hoped for (and I'm sure not what a lot of you hoped for) .. we won't be at our new house full time. We'll be in Knoxville, TN for 6 months.

Even though we won't be at our house full time, it's ok. If you've been reading since the fall, you probably know that our move to Ohio wasn't the smoothest, more here, here and here. I'm anticipating that ALL of these will be removed this time around! 1. We lived in Knoxville before California, so we know where stuff is and we have friends and contacts there! There are things that we miss there .. plus we never got to meet Annabelle's brother Henry, so we're hoping for a playdate. 2. We're pretty sure that we have a house to rent. David's currently working with someone who has a house in Knoxville available to rent. Finding something quickly with Annabelle was a big issue in Ohio, so just having this (hopefully) taken care of prior to arriving is a huge relief. 3. The house has a washer / dryer! No more public laundry mat for me!! HUGE relief!

Want to know the best part?

David's schedule will be more flexible, so we'll be able to take more trips to Maryland and work on our house. PLUS He's taking 1.5 weeks off between jobs, so we'll be using that time to (hopefully) finish one room in our house. I've been planning! More on that later.

Also, we sold our $15 garage sale table in CA and just upgraded to a (used) top of the line (maybe commercial?) table saw. I'll have to ask David more about it, honestly, it seems excessive to me - it's huge! But with the new house, we'll have some major construction projects, so it will be put to good use. He found it used on a government liquidation website and David's dad is picking it up on Friday. Hopefully all goes as planned, and we'll be ready to go at the end of March.

So what can you expect here in the next few months? It will be about the same as it's been the past 6 months, plus more house updates AND house projects. In TN we'll be working on projects (mostly furniture and accessories) for our MD house, maybe a few rental ideas. We'll be in MD probably once a month working on our house.

Stay tuned!!

--

Also, have you entered your best DIY project from the past year in the 2014 CWTS competition at East Coast Creative!?! Last year I did, and I ended up winning!! We've had lots of great opportunities since than, I'm so glad that we did it.

SO what are you waiting for!? Today's the last day. DO IT! :)

Plus, I'll be over at East Coast Creative during the competition, sharing a project once a week, so make sure to tune in for that.

click HERE for all the details!

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our BIG news!

Hi! I hope that you had a great weekend! Things are moving in the right direction, so I can finally tell you the great news!

We're buying a house!! :) Surprised? Considering we just moved to Ohio .. let me explain. It's in Maryland, close to our parents. We're hoping to move back to Maryland in April, but nothing is set in stone. We move for David's job, so even if we don't move back it will be nice to have a place to call home (close to our parent's so that they can watch things while we're gone) and to centralize all of our things. One of the biggest stressors from moving was figuring out what to do with all of our stuff. If you're a diy/design blogger, you know how much space it takes up. It's definitely not practical to move everything from place to place for 6 months to a year or so. Moving next time should be much easier (I hope :)

We're SO excited to start some new DIYs!!

David's also excited to have a two car garage .. you probably don't know, but he loves fixing up cars .. he has one stripped down to the frame (and a lot of extra parts) floating around his parent's garage, so at least half of the garage will be devoted to that. The rest will be for our DIY stuff. BUT there is a side room (used to be for a pottery kiln) that we'll set up to use as the wood shop. It will be so nice to keep the dust contained.

Enough talk :) Here's a couple pics of the main living space. Full tour once furniture is moved out..

Hardwood throughout (except the kitchen and bathrooms) and so much potential!! Of course we already have some plans :)

The home inspection came back with no major problems (just nickel and dime stuff) yay!!

I decided to wait to share since there was a "home of choice" contingency in the contract. The owner was waiting to find another home until they were under contract .. and since they were looking for a home with space for horses, (they currently have horses that are boarded) we were a little worried. Friday we found out that they put an offer on a property and it was accepted! So everything is moving in the right direction!

We're scheduled to close in January, but since the current owner found a home, we're hoping to move the date up to just before Christmas. Hopefully, since we'll be spending time in Maryland at Christmas!

So between the closing date and April, we'll be working on projects the weekends that we're in Maryland. Also, David's schedule is switching to 6 / 12 hr days in February so I may be spending some time in Maryland since he'll be here basically just to sleep :( So I might DIYing solo - we'll see how it goes ...

We're so excited :) I hope that you'll follow along on our next adventure!!

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