thank you ebay

I've been searching through piles of hankies at antique shops for months and thanks to an ebay search alert, I "won" this beauty:

It's a vintage Georgia State Souvenir handkerchief! I'm thinking it deserves a nice place on our wall next to all of the wedding photos... I still need to have printed.

Side note: I completely forgot how addicting ebay is, especially with the ebay app... this has the potential to ruin my budget

even better when it's free

But what if it was pretty great to begin with?  Take these free ceiling tiles from Empire West, for example:
Joi introduced this ceiling tile project on her blog a few weeks ago, and it was something I had starred in Reader, wanted to research (are they really free?), but then forgot about.  Then I visited Amanda last week; she showed me her awesome samples so I ordered my own that day.
Fast forward to one week later and I have my very own tiles.  Free shipping too - how crazy is that?!

Here are my selections:

I'm hoping to frame them, like Joi, and hang them in the kitchen.  Andy loved the concept of actually using them as ceiling tiles, but we agreed that doesn't fit with our current decor.

Let me know if you order any samples (especially colored)!

Have a great Saturday!

"Perfect Bedroom" PB class

This morning, I gladly got up early for a *free* Pottery Barn class focusing on:

This was my third PB class, so I know fully well that I'm going to sit through and hour long commercial for their products, in addition to receiving great decorating tips, the new Benjamin Moore paint deck (I collect these like baseball cards) and a bedroom planner tip sheet. Plus, there's the 10% coupon you get for the day.

Here's what I took away from the class:

• Define your space - are you looking to relax, read, use as an office? Buy furniture accordingly
• Your pieces should fit the scale of the room - headboards are optional
• When hanging mirrors/art in your home, the piece should not be more than 2/3 the size of the object you're hanging it over and it should be 6" from the top of said object.
• Layer textures on your bed through pillows, throws, and headboards

Here's what I bought:

The Bethany organic duvet cover and shams - thus ends the game I play with the dog where he attacks my feet through the comforter.  Also, Andy: Please no more ink marks on the bedding (falling asleep while doing crossword puzzles is risky business with "grown-up" bedding).  The ladies at PB pimped their PB Essential bedding line pretty hard.  I was impressed; it's a line of super soft basic white linens.  However, I still have Kohl's gift cards from the wedding that we need to use so I'm sure I'll find something comparable.

I'm looking forward to transforming our bedroom into a "relaxing retreat" on a budget, and with the discount and quality organic bedding, I'm off to a good start!

i love lamp

I am seriously considering buying this orange lamp. I think it would probably fit well in both our living room and on the set of Anchorman.

from here

a perfect night...

Our furniture arrived Tuesday but Andy and I both had class so we waited until last night to pick it up. We managed to assemble one bookcase and the TV stand during LOST – I am so impressed by the quality and can’t wait to post photos!

Pretty furniture combined with Chinese take-out and LOST made for a perfect night…



Tonight I’m back to boot camp. I am still hurting from Tuesday so I hope I’m not too limited at tonight’s class. I don’t want to drag the group down!

weekend round up

We were able to work on a few wedding things...
- Purchased remaining groomsmen's ties and pocket squares, still need Andy's
- Confirmed matron of honor and ring bearer and best man
And had some fun over at Andy's parents'...

-Found this cute sweater for e-pics at Ann Taylor Loft

- I ordered the Canopy furniture and we should have it by the end of the week - can't wait.
- Tomorrow I begin the Bridal Fitness EXtreme classes... I'm so nervous/excited!
- Finally, I do NOT recommend watching "How to Make Friends and Alienate People" it was painful watching Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst play unlikeable characters and each other's love interest.

living room re-do

I've been spending a LOT of time reading This Young House and I’m itching to redo our living room. I love the color and the couches, and I’m dying to hang up my new artwork but first we need a new entertainment set-up. Currently, our massive DVD collection takes up an entire wall and forces the loveseat to block a window. Plus, there are no curtains and it’s killing me! I’m certain all of these things will fall into place once we have our media set-up.

Andy and I are looking for an entertainment center that comes in 3 separate pieces so we can repurpose them later. We want to be able to organize our books and dvds, so if we need to buy a third bookcase, we’d like to have the option.
Here’s what we’re considering…

The Belmont

The Canopy Mahogany Collection

Brentwood

bonus piece

My vote is for the Canopy, despite the store where its exclusively sold

quiz on sproost.com

I always make time for quizzes...
So true!

Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you!
You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?
from http://www.sproost.com/

Keeping with the theme

A Royal Flush
SEAHORSE & SAILBOAT TOILET HANDLES

File this under "post-recession useless purchases" but isn't it so unnecessarily cool?

shopping karma strikes again

I am indecisive... this is nothing new, but being indecisive when it comes to unbelievable bargains doesn't usually work well in my favor.

Many a-time the cute clearance sweater I saw online while at work is sold out by the time I get home (sorry, but I don't want to risk getting fired for shopping at work. although, I don't believe there's anything wrong with saving things in your shopping cart for after hours ;) ).


On Saturday Andy and I went shopping for living room furniture and wound up at the Crate and Barrel Outlet. FYI - nearly all of the furntiture there looks like it was assaulted with knives and chains, but it was worth looking since I found these:


Initially, I LOVED them, since they go with our wedding/house theme, doubled matted, high quality print, a they're real art, but at $125 each - Final Sale/Price I had to sleep on it.

Admist the wedding nightmares I kept thinking about these little guys and knew I had to have them! Like I said, I've been burned by waiting on last chance items so I knew if they were still there it was meant to be. The employees at C&B were so nice when I called and offered to keep an eye on the pieces for me since they aren't allowed to put anything on hold at the store. Andy and I got there a couple hours after the store opened only to see SOLD tags taped to the glass... Whew, apparently they made an exception and held them for me!

I got home feeling great about gown-up my purchase and Andy was happy because he found a new collectors Star Wars lego set. I went online to blog about my bargain and steal photos from the Crate & Barrel website... OMG! They retail for $598 for the pair! So yeah, I got an incredible deal... and apparently, they're hand painted. Now I just need to decide where to hang them, there's about 5 different spots where they'd work, but I just can't decide ;)