Honeysuckle and Lace.

Since Ian loves when I wear pink and the fashion forecasters are saying peach/pink/honeysuckle are in, I've been adjusting the hue on my wardrobe. I usually never wear pink or red because I already have pinkish skin so I feel like a tomato whenever I wear the same color. Also, before this year I always found it hard to find a shade of pink that doesn't look too Barbie/tacky/cheap, but with the pale pieces I've been finding I no longer have an excuse! 

Here are some (low quality) pictures of a recent outfit I wore (I think three times) this week: 

I also love this necklace I got from Nordstrom Rack! It blends in with the shirt, but I also plan on wearing it with whites and grays to really make it pop!

And here are my new favorite shoes! These are the only lace-up shoes that I own (besides my one pair of running shoes that I never wear) and I love the neutral color.

Necklace: Nordstrom Rack, Shirt: Forever 21, Jeans: Forever 21, Shoes: DSW, Purse: Louis Vuitton 

Gift Giving #3: Photo Shoot.

For my parent's anniversary my sister and I got them a photo shoot with a local photographer, Alexandra Grace. They are still looking hot and since this year wasn't a "milestone" anniversary, we just got them this instead of a huge party.

We wanted them to have something to open on their actual anniversary so we bought them each an outfit (which of course coordinated with the other's) and made them a little handmade "certificate" that explained what the outfits were for and that their main gift was the photo shoot.

Here are some of my favorites from their shoot:

They're so cute! And they had so much fun getting their pictures taken. The last time they had a professional photo shoot of the two of them was like [???] they're wedding pictures. Loooong overdue! 

On another note, Ian and I are going to the Blazers v. Celtics game tonight and I am so excited! We always have the best time at the games!  

Trinkets & Treasures: Night Lights.

Here is my first Trinkets & Treasures post! I can't wait to share all of my lovely thrift store finds with you! And please play along. It is a great way to promote your blog and share inspiration with others!

I had been shopping everywhere for the perfect lamps to put on our night stands and hadn't found anything perfect and affordable. I didn't want anything too modern either, and that was what I was mostly finding. I bounced around all the local thrift stores and found this one lamp stand for $3.98 at Goodwill:

I love love love loved it but it was missing a shade and a matching stand to sit across the bed on the other night stand. It took me about two weeks and five different thrift stores to find an [almost] matching lamp stand! This one we also got at a Goodwill and it was $4.99!

I can't believe how perfect they are! At least for me... They aren't identical, but they are the same height and silhouette. I bought some matching shades from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and I am not in love with them. I think they make the lamps look really granny and old fashion so I think I'll try to return these (they were $25 each, but we still have wedding gift cards so they were free for us) and get some more modern looking drum shades to really tie the room together.

For now they look fine!

Ok, I'm going to try to add a Mr. Linky thing and if it works please leave a link to any of your thrifted thrills! I will be so embarrassed if no one participates and Mr. Linky is left alone...

Birthday, Bad Day.

Most people spend their 21st birthday hovered over the toilet because they've had too much to drink. I spent my 21st birthday hovered over the sink while blood poured out my nose. For two and a half hours. Twice. 

Ian has already caught on from last year, that I don't like my birthday and that something bad usually happens on that day. So in attempts to avoid any chaos he planned my birthday surprises to happen a couple days before the 22nd. 

We stayed in a really cool high-rise condo in the Ardea building at the Portland waterfront. 

Ian had remembered hearing me say that I wanted to get a new fun colored tea kettle and he found this one from Crate 'N Barrel... What they don't tell you is that the inside is cobalt blue which is almost my favorite part! 

 We just spent the afternoon resting in the condo and then got ready for dinner. We went to my favorite... Rock Bottom. I got the Shrimp and Lobster Tacos... phenomenal. Ian got the Steak and Fries... delectable. 

We stopped in Nordstrom rack and I got a reals cute necklace! Then we went back to our room and watched the end of the Blazer game and some America's Funniest Home Videos (love that show)!

The next day had plans of shopping, lunch, Starbucks, dinner, and attending the Blazer game. As we were packing up to check out of our room my nose started bleeding.... I've have one other bloody nose and that was about ten months ago and consisted of an [once] all-white outfit, coughing up blood, and calling an ambulance. So this bloody nose scared me.

After an hour and a half of non-stop bleeding we decided we should just go home and put our plans on hold. An hour later the bleeding finally stopped and we drove back downtown (with an emergency towel in my purse) and continued on with our plans. We even made it to the Blazer game!

On my actual birthday, Ian took me to Marco's Cafe for a delicious brunch. The day was actually going really well! We drove around and looked at pretty neighborhoods and headed out to Sherwood to go to an antique mall we had seen once before. I was in the middle of telling Ian that I wasn't feeling very happy and that I missed my family when my nose started bleeding AGAIN. Blood all over.

Turned around and went home. Called the doctor and they gave us some advice, but nothing that stopped the bleeding. I just laid on the couch pinching my nose with one hand and catching the blood in a towel with my other hand, and somehow holding ice on the top of my nose too. Three hours later Ian was gone at work and I was still on the couch. I was supposed to go grocery shopping that night because we had no food in the house. So I had Chex Mix for dinner and I was not happy about it. I'm a girl that needs my food and when I don't get a balanced meal I freak out and feel like I'm going to die (I know I'm dramatic, but it's true). 

I went to bed at 9:47pm on my 21st birthday lonely and sad.. just trying to live up to my party-animal reputation you know! 

All night I was trying to forget that it was supposed to be my birthday, because I think I would have been half as down had it not been. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I'm glad it's over. It's been a roller-coaster week. 

Look for Less: Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson is a great example of casual fashion that is still cute. 

I love this outfit because it is super trendy for winter and soooo warm and cozy.

Jeans: $39.99 “Forever Skinny” jeans from Gap

Coat: $41.40 “Daytrips Crushed Faux Fur Coat” from Buckle

Shoes: $39.94 “Niche Suede Boots” by Chinese Laundry from DSW

Purse: $79.95 “Pilar Abril Verbena Hobo” from endless.com

Sweater: $34.99 Apt. 9 Cowlneck W ool Sweater from Kohl’s

Sunglasses: $5.80 F3963 Sunglasses from Forever 21

The Resolutions.

I’m not big on New Years resolutions. I think that if you want to start something new, why wait? When I really want to do something, I just do it. When there is something that I feel like I should do but don’t necessarily want to, then I’ll make sure I’m ready before I tell everyone that I'm going to do it.  It took me a while to figure out what I want to focus on improving but now I am ready!

Live a Tidier Lifestyle: I know this sounds juvenile, but I absolutely hate cleaning and what’s worse? I hate picking up after myself. Ha. It’s true! But we have a beautiful home and I like it when it’s clean, so I want to make it my aim to keep it tidier which starts with picking up after myself.

 Read Through the Bible: I’m pretty sure I know most of the Bible, but I can’t say that because I have never actually sat down and read through the entire thing. This year I’m shooting for reading through cover-to-cover. So far I’m in Genesis 36…. I have a long way to go, but so far I’m doing pretty good!

Dress Up More Often: I can’t believe this has to be a resolution of mine because I’m already so girly and the majority of my social life takes place in church. The rain and cold, however, keep me all bundled up which means I’m not wearing my cutest clothes.  It’s not about looking good, it’s about feeling good and there is nothing about sideways rain that makes me feel good!

Save More: Ian and I have both been so blessed to not have to pay a dime for our schooling. We entered our marriage debt free (other than our cars) and debt free we remain! Since we don’t have any student loans to pay off, I feel like we should be saving more money at a faster rate… I’m super high strung when it comes to finances so I finally set up a budget map on our online banking with Wells Fargo. It really helps to see where our money goes and I’m excited to save more. Our ultimate goal is to buy a house this year since our other house-purchasing plans fell through last year :(

Stick to My Word: I don’t know if it’s all the fatigue that comes with being so busy or what, but I’ve found that I back out of a lot of things lately. I can’t stand it when other people flake out on things they say they’ll do, but then I realized that I was beginning to do the same thing! I’ve actually been good the last couple months, but I hope it stays this way. When I say I’m going to do something, I will do it (starting with these resolutions)!

I'm excited about the goals I have set and hope I can carry them out through 2011 and the rest of my life! You have to start somewhere, right?


P.S. Check out the new tabs at the top! I just added the "Custom Mood Board" and "Home Tour" tabs.

This Better Not Mean Triplets!

(I'm not pregnant).

Taking a look throughout our home, I've realized that I like things in threes. If not threes, then little clusters of no more than five. I usually don't like the look of cluttered walls, but for some reason it doesn't bother me in my own home...odd? I guess if everything is positioned correctly you can get away with putting up as many decorations as you want.

These clocks are on the wall above the fireplace

These are currently sitting on our kitchen table...

These cube shelves are in our bathroom...

 Read more about our perched pretties here...

These baskets are hung on the wall above our couch...

 These are in our "entry way"...

These are in our living room too...

And these are in hung above our bed as part of our bedroom redesign! 

See what I mean? And we only live in a one bedroom apartment so you KNOW these can't be that spread out! Oh well. I like the way it looks and I still feel like we have a lot more blank wall space left! 

Kilim on the Walls?

I can't believe it's been two months since I posted the mood board I made for our bedroom! Once I finally came up with a general design and color scheme that suited both me and the mister, I got right to work. But I don't know why I am JUST NOW showing you the first little bit....

Last Thursday I went ahead and painted the room all myself. I originally wanted to get some new furniture because all of ours is white and white-on-white is kind of like living in a cloud. And in the morning, the bit of light that squeezed through our upturned blinds was giving off a weird icy-blue tone that gave me a headache. So instead of buying new furniture, I just bought a gallon of Kilim Beige (with a gift card from my mother in-law) and slapped it on the walls. My back was hurting and the lighting wasn't good (because I refuse to turn on the fluorescent ceiling light) so yes, I slapped it on. 

Here's a little photo photo.

Looking at this photo makes me realize we probably need new pillows [again] but since I'm not losing any sleep over it (literally) buying new pillows is low on my priority list. 

I can't wait to take pictures of the rest of our place to give you a little tour, I just have to clean...

Ha.

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure.

I never heard the word "thrifting" until I entered blogland and although I was amazed at what you all were finding, the dusty, dirty, how-long-has-this-been-sitting-in-someone-else's-garage rummaging never ever appealed to me... Until I moved to Portland. Is it because everyone else here "thrifts"? Or is it because there are SO many cute antique shops and like eighteen Goodwills surrounding me now? 

Thrifting is my drug.

The craving I get when I don't find what I'm looking for at one store, so I have to go down the street to the next, because the only thing that stands in the way of me and my treasure is someone else finding it first. Once it's snatched, it's gone forever. The high I feel when I find something so valuable and at such a low price! And no one else has it because the last time it was in a catalogue was years ago... Oh, and the hallucinations visions I see when I approach an old worn-out piece of furniture--I always love a good makeover story! 

Thrifting is my new favorite verb, and I am slightly offended when the spellcheck underlines it in red every time I type it out. Seriously Mr. Webster? I think it's time for a dictionary update!

I still can't bring myself to wearing someone else's clothes, but I can't stop decorating with someone else's junk! 

I'm going to start blogging about my thrifted thrills and would love for you to participate (if I can figure out how to add one of them linky things...anyone?)

I'ma call it

(thanks for the idea Cottage Living!)

Stay tuned!


Do you like to thrift?

So Hot Right Now.

Sailor stripes are so hot right now... remember when rugby stripes were all the craze, a couple years ago? I never liked those, but I'm so in love with the skinny sailor stripes that are all over the stores these days! 

I love the navy/white color combo:

via

This shirt looks so comfy but still cute with the pattern on it: 

via

Versatile sweater for summer or winter:

via

I don't wear red, but I'd wear this:

via

Black and white is always classy and I love the shifted pattern on the hips: 

via

What trends are you loving right now?

Love Story.

Check out our love story on the tab "Love Story" on the top of the page!

incase you didn't know...

Ian and I spent Christmas in Palm Springs (and a bajillion other places...)! 

Oh my goodness, we had such a great time enjoying the sun and pool and some time away from home.

I'll get back to normal blogging later this week, but if you are interested, stop by my other blog about being married to a pastor, because there is a new post!