Thursday, September 23, 2010

Home Sweet Home

Two years ago, Gunter and I had the opportunity to purchase a "fixer-upper" in an area of older homes in our neighborhood. A friend called us and told us to go take a look at this house, that she thought we would like it. When we pulled up you couldn't even see a house. The front yard was so overgrown and full of giant pine trees. (Pictures to come soon.) The next door neighbor saw us pull up and offered to give us a tour of the home. The back door just happened to be unlocked! ha! ha!

My first thought was "Wow! This house has great potential!" I immediately started telling Gunter that we can move this wall and rip this out and that out, make it livable... It's perfect! A little background information: I lived in 7 different houses growing up, because my parents loved renovating older homes, making them livable, then selling a few years later to do that same thing. Gunter has lived in the same house for 15 years. So he had to trust me about the potential that saw in the house.

It ended up that everything had to be renovated. The house had great bones, but need new heating and cooling, flooring, painting, kitchen... all the good stuff!
The Price family in front of our new home ! 

 Today I wanted to show you pictures of our guest bedrooms. These bedrooms were not in terrible condition. We painted, laid hardwood floors and replaced the windows. With two guest rooms we have enough room for everyone to stay!
Guest Bedroom #1 Before

We notice the "lovely" window treatments, beautiful shag carpet (which Heath loved to roll around on), and squatty windows....  Did I mention that the house had not been touched/redone since it was built in 1950!  There were lovely light fixtures, which we did not get a picture of. I debated painting over the wood paneling. This is the real thing - very, very nice paneling. But after the painters started painting the rest of the house, I decided to paint over it. It would just look too dingy if I left it. 



Guest Bedroom #1 Now! 

You will notice the green walls, hardwood flooring and larger windows. This twin bedroom suit was Gunter's when he was younger and I just love it! 

The window treatments are from Target. We used them at our old house. Mom converted one panel into a valance for the small window! I love the green walls with the black and white fabric on the curtains. 

Kelsey, my sister, made this for me. She used various pins that belonged to my grandmother, Gran. 
She backed the picture with linen. Love it! 

Guest Room #2 Before

It looks very similar to Guest Room #1. Same lovely carpeting, same lovely window treatments, same squatty windows, but this picture you get a small glimpse of the lightening. It takes you back to 1970, doesn't it? 

Guest Bedroom #2 Now! 

This is definitely my favorite bedroom! It is so girly, light and airy! We obviously painted, laid hardwood and replaced the windows. 

The painting over the bed is compliments of my sister, Kelsey! She is a wonderful artist. The bedspread is a chenille spread that was mine when I was younger. The light green dust ruffle and shams are from Anthropologie. Here are some pictures from a few of my other favorite things in this room! 

This a cross stitch that belonged to my grandmother, Gran. Her friend Joyce  made it for her. 
I think that it is gorgeous, and the colors go so well with room! 

The smaller white pillow the ring pillow that the ring bearer carried in our wedding! 
The fabric on the larger pillow is the same fabric that is on the draperies. 

Vanity that my grandmother, MeMe, refinished for me. 
The bed, 3-drawer chest, and rocking chair was purchased at an estate sale! Beautiful antiques! 

More pictures of the house coming soon! 


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

All Auburn: All Blue

War Eagle! 

This weekend Gunter and I made the trek to the Plains to see our first Auburn game of the year - Clemson vs. Auburn. It was a nail-bitter, but ended up great! We enjoyed seeing friends from our college days. It was a reunion weekend for both of us. Gunter got to hang out with his fraternity brothers and I got to hang out with my sorority sisters! It was a great weekend of "catching up" with everyone! 

Because one of Clemson's colors is orange also, Auburn asked everyone to wear navy, instead of orange. The stadium looked so cool! If you looked around you saw all navy, then the Clemson fans stood out in their orange. The student section had navy shakers, which I really liked! Good idea Auburn! 



Reunion with the Alpha Chi Girls! 
Courtney, Leigh, Brittany, me and Amy 
We set up our own tailgate in the yard of the Library! 

Blayne and I 
(The plate was my fan :) It was so, so hot! )

Kelsey and I tailgating! 

Mom and Dad came down to the Plains to tailgate. 
We were excited because this is actually a normal picture of Dad! Ha! ha! 

Until next time! War Eagle! 

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Summer Obsession : Emily Giffin

Last summer at my friend Brittany's bachelorette weekend, I first heard of Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. I remember seeing the cute covers in Barnes and Noble, but never picked up a copy. Britt and the other girls were talking about how good the book was and is a "must read." I honestly did not think about it again, until recently. A good friend of the family, Laura, got a bid to design the jewelry in the movie "Something Borrowed" coming out I believe in May. I was thrilled for her! Then I became really interested in the book, and decided that I had to read it.

Check out Laura's jewelry. Her company is Shalla Wista Studio. I absolutely love her things. I would say 80% of my jewelry is from her! I always get compliments when I am wearing it too!
Kate Hudson on the set of "Something Borrowed" in Shalla Wista! 
So cool! I am so pumped for Laura! 

Back to Something Borrowed.... So I grabbed the book and took it with me on a girls weekend to the beach with Janna and Leah, two friends from church. They probably thought that I was the biggest dork, but I couldn't put it down. It is soooo good! I love the way that Emily Giffin writes. You never know what to expect from her. She is very unpredictable, which makes for a real page turner! I think I read Something Borrowed in a day or two. In a quick overview, the book is about two friends who live in Manhattan. On Rachel's thirtieth birthday, her best friend throws a party for her and she ends up hooking with with Darcy's (Rachel's best friend) finance`. It is a little "soap opera-ish" but one that you can't put down. Highly suggest it. 

As soon as I got home from the beach, I had to get the second book Something Blue. This is as good as Something Borrowed, but I suggest reading Something Borrowed first. Throughout the rest of summer I finished more of Giffin's books - Baby Proof and Love the One Your With. I have not bought her newest one, Heart of the Matter, but am looking forward to reading it soon! I have since passed my books on to family and friends, who agree with me that they can't put them down! If you are looking for a fun and easy read I highly suggest any of Emily Giffin's books! 

Monday, September 13, 2010

Bye Marti


As I mentioned in my last post, I was in Birmingham for a few days last week. One reason was to tell a very good friend "Good-bye." My friend Marti moved to San Sebastian, Spain on Saturday. She absolutely loves Spain. She studied abroad in college and has been back to visit a few times since our college days. She took a job teaching English in the schools over there. Her contract is until May... so she is going to be gone for a long time! Her husband and little girl will be heading over there in October to meet her.

Marti and I met up a Cocina Superior on Saturday and visited for a little bit before we said our good-byes. I wish Marti, Chip and Buckley all the best in Spain!

Marti and I became friends in the 5th grade when she moved to Homewood from Louisiana. I remember thinking that she was the cutest thing because she was wearing a pink "floppy hat" on the first day of school. (So fashionable in 90's! Ha! Ha!) We stayed friends all through middle school, high school and college - even though we went to different schools. I loved the road trips to LSU, and she loved the road trips to the Plains. We stood by each other at our weddings and have so many fun memories together! Just recently we met up at our friend Rachel's wedding, with two other high school friends - Hannah and Stefani. We had a blast that weekend.
Hannah, Stef and Marti and Rachel's wedding

with Marti and Chip at their wedding - March 2007

I will  miss you guys! Counting down the days 'til May! 

Sunday, September 12, 2010

End of Summer Bash

Wow! Last week was crazy! We went to the beach for Labor Day weekend, and then I had a really busy week with bible studies and a quick to Birmingham. Here is a quick little post about Labor Day, our "End of Summer Bash." I was sad that summer was drawing to a close, but happy because fall means cooler weather (still waiting on that) and AUBURN FOOTBALL!

We had a great time visiting with both of our families and spending time with the twins! We had not seen the twins in quite awhile. They have grown so much! They are up to seven pounds a piece now! Yeah!
Adeline and Maralee are worn out after watching Auburn's big win! 

We spent a couple of nights with my family at our new beach house - "Worth the Wait." Then headed down to the Prices for a night and to celebrate Gunter's 29th birthday! I think that I really surprised him this year and gave him a gift that he was (and still is) really excited about - a Yeti cooler! These coolers are special because the ice can stay frozen in them for a week! Gunter has an obsession with coolers, so this was a perfect gift for him! 
Gunter and his Yeti cooler! 

Gunter blowing out the candles on his cake! 

Kelsey, Kyle, Julie, Raleigh and Christen also came down for the long weekend. I was glad to spend some quality time with them! Here are a few more pics from the weekend! 
Julie, Kyle, Kelsey and Dad watching the Auburn game at Worth the Wait! 

Kelsey and Heath
At the end of the weekend, Heath left with Kelsey to go to Auburn for the rest of the week! 
He loved being pampered by the girls on North Ross! 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Pink Tutus

I mentioned earlier that I have been doing a little sewing this summer. My in-laws graciously gave me a Babylock Ellure sewing machine. I love it! It has monogramming and sewing capabilities, but it has taken me a while to figure it out. Christen and I have been sweating over these things! (She got the same machine that I did.) We will call each other and ask trouble shooting questions. I think it is so much better when you have someone close by who can help you.... too bad Christen is one and half hours away.

This summer I did make a really cute orange seersucker John-John for a friend's baby shower. I wish I had a picture of it, but I forgot to take one.

Just this week I made a darling pink tutu for a friend at work. I made some for the twins back in April, so I already knew what to do. I think it turned out great! I even monogrammed this one with my machine.


Step 1: Monogram onesie. This monogram is in light pink, so it's a little hard to see. 


Step 2: I cut a piece of 14 inch tulle, fold it in half. Then I zig-zaged fishing line in the tolle - sewing together the two ends. The zig-zag stitch was very loose. Once you pull the fishing line out, the tolle will gather! 


Step 3: I stitched the tulle to the onesie. I pinned it to help me stay in line. Then I stitched a pink ribbon on the same stitch I made from the tulle. I trimmed the extra tulle, so it wasn't poking out of the top. Then I sewed the top of the ribbon to the onesie. 


Viola! Finished tutu! 


View from the back! I added a little pink bow with the same ribbon that is lining the tulle! 

This is an easy project. Hope you enjoy!