.all I do is pin, pin, pin, no matter what.

Have you ever heard that song "All I Do is Win?" If so, sing the title of this blog post to that tune.

It means I'm addicted to Pinterest.

I jumped on the bandwagon and I don't plan on getting off anytime soon.

All that inspiration so neatly organized in such a visually-appealing manner? Can you blame me for being addicted?

Should there be an addict's group for Pinterest? Because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one with this issue.

I currently have 437 items pinned. That's a lot.

My sister has over 1600...and I started before her.

Just sayin.

P.S. Click the Pinterest logo above to go to my boards. :-)

.date night.

My husband took me out on a fun date last night! He sent me a text while he was at work asking me if I wanted to get something to eat, maybe walk around some stores. I was so excited because it had been a long time since we had gone out, just the two of us.

Of course, I had to get all fixed up lookin' all cute for my boo. ;-)

We went to a pizza place on the old square. It's a favorite of mine because of its character. This pizza place is called The Rail (fitting name since it's right by the old railroad tracks). Right off the bricked street and next door to a coffee shop. There are Christmas lights strung outside over the sidewalk, and when you walk in the front door, you see that the restaurant is long and narrow with one wall being old brick. The bar is made of old sheet metal, and each booth has a paper towel roll mounted on the wall.

The place was hoppin' last night, so we chose to dine outside, which we had never done before and didn't even realize that out the back door was the funkiest little patio. I was in love with the bright red chairs, strung lights and mixture of sheet metal and old truck bed doors that surrounded the patio.

We had great pizza and great conversation!


Here is my handsome date:





After dinner we went to the promenade and went to a few different stores. Husband bought a few new articles of clothing and we stayed until the whole place closed. Then we got something to drink at a gas station and drove through car lots, looking at vehicles and deciding what we would buy if we could. I love when the used vehicles are left unlocked and I get to sit in them! It truly is the simple things that bring joy to my life. :-)

.the french braid.

So I'm going to do something girly and blog about hair. I have been wanting to learn how to do one of those side-part french braids (or, french braid headbands, as some people call them) for quite a while now. Here I am, 27 years old, and I've never learned how to french braid anything, much less one of the fancy side-parted pretties.

Back when The Hills was on MTV (and I was a faithful viewer), I loved Lauren Conrad's version. Pretty sure she started this trend. She did as far as I'm concerned, anyway. I used to attempt my own version, but not knowing how to french braid, my braid wouldn't really start until about even with my temples. That's not the same look, people. It pretty much just has "fail" written all over it. Don't do that.

I finally got smart yesterday (The light bulb over my head lit up and did the whole "ding" thing. It was actually really cool) and decided to YouTube tutorials on how to french braid hair. After three videos, the steps were engrained into my memory, and I was confident enough to attempt my own french braid.

My inspiration:

My LC-inspired french braid!

I am so addicted now...

I love how this style works for curly or straight hair, and it can spice up any type of up-do.

If you are like me and want the look but are intimidated to try it yourself, I suggest watching a few different YouTube tutorials. There are various ways to achieve this look; you just have to decide on the method that works best for you.

CLICK HERE for a helpful tutorial.

Happy braiding!!!

.guest bedroom take two.

Do you know how sometimes you just spend so long daydreaming about how you want a certain room to look? If you're like me, you've spent hours saving images online of rooms that inspire you then slowly gathering the accessories you need to recreate that beautiful room in your own home. I am happy to say that my guest bedroom is transforming into a room I love...a lot. I used to have this room decked out all shabby style. At one time, I was truly in love with everything about this room. Here is a picture of what the bed used to look like:

It astounds me how quickly my taste has changed. Since the guest bedroom is sort-of "my room" to do with whatever I please (My husband's room is the office.), I am having a ball turning this space into a fun, colorful vintage/eclectic haven. I don't have pictures of the whole room, as it is still a work in progress; however, I just couldn't wait to share what I've done so far:

Decor so far:

+ Green & white duvet cover by IKEA (purchased off eBay)

+ Vintage quilt on foot of bed was made by my Great-Grandma

+ Vintage pillowcases from a thrift store

+ The hoops for the wall art were all purchased at a thrift store. They hold fabric scraps.

+ Keep Calm and Carry On print that I made and framed in a Wal-Mart frame

The desk next to the bed will get a blog post of its own. It's my sewing table, and I plan on painting it...maybe. Anyway, the best part about it is that friends bought it for me while they were out of town and browsing a thrift store. (Awesome friends, right??!!!) They said they thought I would be interested in this desk since they knew my love for vintage furniture, and of course, it was only....$5!!!!!! Five dollars. Yes, you read that right. Five dollah.

Someday soon I hope to finish the room off and show pictures of my sewing table and the dresser across from the bed.


Linking up @ Tatertots & Jello

.the "L" word.

Oh, the "L" word... You are the source of many struggles for me.

No, I'm not talking about love or lust. It is to laziness that I refer. That nasty "L" word that I despise and try so desperately not to be categorized as, yet I find myself face-to-face with this awful trait more often than I'd like to admit.

Lately, I confess I have struggled with the desire to do anything but what needs to be done. I attend my jobs (all 3) faithfully and very rarely "call in." I regularly do laundry, grocery shop, feed and water the dog, put the trash out, straighten up and cook dinner.

However....

Sometimes I entitle myself to way too much "fun" spare time. Instead of loading the dishwasher, I'll run by the thrift store and browse for a good deal. Instead of sweeping the floor, I'll spend way too much time on facebook. Instead of cleaning the shower, I'll watch a recorded tv show.

I am ashamed to admit the things that sometimes get neglected around here simply because I plain don't feel like it.

I guess since I don't have to answer to my parents anymore, I've learned how to do just enough around the house to make it appear like I've put effort into it.

But I am learning that a big part of keeping my husband happy is by devoting more care and attention to our home. Not only that, but I want what I choose to do with my spare time to be honorable in God's eyes, whether I have to answer to my parents or husband or not.

There are specific things I know that I can improve on around here, and am praying...yes, literally praying that God help me overcome the allure of that nasty "L" word.

I would appreciate any prayers you could send out for me concerning this matter. Every day is a new step in my Proverbs 31 journey, and it is a big deal to me that I excel for Christ and my husband in this area of my life!

.she's special.

I am blessed to call this woman my mother. She has been such a faithful example of loyalty, kindness and selflessness. It is because of her that I learned how to sew and create. I am so thankful she has always been a Proverbs 31 woman, leading me by example. Now that I am grown and married, I can honestly say she is my best friend. She's the one I call first and the one I want all the happiness and blessings in the world for.

I love you so much, Mama. Happy Mother's Day! You're the best.

.chillin'.

It's Saturday night, and I'm on our bed with my new laptop (my way early birthday present, which I LOVE) trying to stay cool under our ceiling fan. You see, Hubs is a rational, penny-pinching conservative who doesn't believe we've hit that point in the year that the a/c should be turned on. Although we did have a day or two in the past week where the high was only the lower 50's, today and tomorrow boasts highs in the 80's! I hate sweating in my own house. A spoiled American is what I am...

Some things on my mind are:

* Summer vacation...it's so near I can almost taste it. My Summer will be spent doing more for the local magazine I work for, including more writing assignments. I am also super excited to have more time to devote to sewing and crafts. (And on a side note, can I just say that "crafting" really has come a long way and totally isn't associated with nerdiness anymore. Crafting is actually the hip thing to do right now! Who would've ever thought?!)

* Shopping...more specifically, bargain hunting. Lately, I've been hitting the jackpot at the local consignment shops and scored some really sweet Summer clothes. The thought of paying retail for something just makes me cringe now.

* Levi...my soon-to-be-here nephew. I bought him a second batch of clothes today while I was out and about. Now someone needs to have a girl because I have been seeing some of the cutest little baby girl outfits and am just waiting for a reason to buy some!

* Prayer requests: My sister's job. My friend Sarah - her Dad has an extremely rare form of cancer and will be going through surgery and chemo soon.

Thankfully, I am feeling much cooler now after sitting under our ceiling fan. My eyes are so tired, and I am looking forward to church tomorrow.

Oh, and to Bethenny Frankel, if you are reading this, the dude you hired to edit your website is definitely a good writer; however, I couldn't help but notice a pretty big grammatical error in the blog post by him that you read outloud. If you really want to hire a proofreader for your website, you should really think about hiring me. That dude may be a good writer, but you need me to edit his stuff before you post it to your site. Thank you.

Goodnight for now!