Happy Tuesday!

Ok, so I might seem fickle, but I changed my blog back to being open for all to see.  I've met some pretty awesome people through my blog, so why limit the awesomeness that is to come?

Let's just all play nice :)

I bought this print from etsy seller DazeyChic because it made me smile.  (I also bought the bird with a french fry print, she was having a buy one get one free sale!)  I seriously love etsy.  There are so many little gems on there that make me smile.

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope your day is fabulous.

Today...

From Etsy Seller dazeychic

What will you do today?

Next!

So that was enough drama to last forever.  My B.

Anyway, I normally save this stuff for the wedding blog, but I really wanted to share this with y'all.  Whilst in San Francisco I found my wedding dress.  I know you can't wait to see it, so here it is!!

The picture really doesn't do it justice.  It was at a laundry mat in Castro.  It's a gem, I only hope they still have it when I call :)  This window is sick, it needs a good cleaning.

A story about a girl that loves olives...

Once there was this girl... a girl that loved olives.  She loved them bad.  And any time she ordered a drink or adult beverage that came with olives she would always be annoying and ask for extra.  Then one day, this girl happened upon a fabulous brunch destination that had bottomless bloody marys.  How exciting, you might be thinking, because now this girl will have countless opportunities to order extra olives and be happy as a clam.

Ok, enough story telling.  We went to brunch at Lime in San Francisco and it was awesome.  I walked in and was like, "Is this place real?"  Yes my friends, it was.  People were dancing at their tables, singing and having a blast.  I felt compelled to waive my hands in the air, no lie.

Even though the restaurant was serving brunch, I had to order a veggie burger.  And let me tell you, that was one tasty burger!  Chipotle fries came with it, but I couldn't eat them because I felt like I was breathing fire.

Of course I had to partake in the bottomless bloody marys, I couldn't help myself.

And of course I thought giving my olives a little smooch was a good idea because I love them so much.

And I was loving these yummy drinks.

Clearly, we were talking about birds in this picture....

Because I ordered extra olives, my little stick would have three olives on it, and I decided to take one of these awesome olive sticks to go.  Yes, I was walking around Castro with a stick of olives.  I was accused of attacking someone with my stick o'olives in order to find out if they liked a necklace I wanted to buy.  At this very same store, Ashton and I found the most divine piece of jewelry to ever be on this earth, but I shall save that for another post.

Whilst walking down the streets of San Francisco, because at this point a bus was definitely a no go, I started taking pictures.  I stopped and informed my friends, "I have just taken the most glorious picture ever!"  I preceeded to show them this picture....

We continue walking and my load is suddenly lessened.  I look to the ground and see my very LAST olive rolling down the hill.  It was painful.  

Someone suggested I employ the 5 second rule and I ventured to tell them about how sick it was to eat anything off the ground in San Francisco.  I wore flip flops the day before and it was gross, I would NEVER eat anything that had touched whatever was on my feet.

So finally, after the depression from losing my olive was lifted, we decided that it was a good thing I didn't partake in that final treat.  It would have done me in for sure.

Shortly after my olive was lost, we got a picture with Jacki Chace, wha???

More exciting tales from San Francisco to come, I promise!  I also understand that this is probably substantially funnier to those that were there, don't judge.

The end of an amazing weekend!

I am sitting in the airport, totally bummed that my weekend is over.  San Francisco was amazing and I had the pleasure of spending it with some amazing ladies!  I don't have the time right now to get in to a lot of detail because I'm about to board my plane, but here are a few pictures of the awesomeness you can be expecting!

The right side of the bed

I am pretty sure I got up on the right side of the bed this morning.  Know why?  Because I feel like my week long mope-fest/pity party magically disappeared.  My attitude this morning was one that I feel like I can do anything.  Anything in life worth having will take some work, so why not love the fact that you can get yourself there!

So I'm going to list things to you that I have loved from my morning:

1. Getting ready at my new vanity.  Hello, I am in love.  It it the perfect place for me to sit in the morning and put on some makeup and jewelry.  I love it.  And it makes me smile.

2. Shimmery eye shadow.  I love me some shimmery eyes.  It just makes my eyes seem bright and happy.

3. New jeans.  I know I was just complaining about needing to save money, but I can start that next month :)  And what is better than new jeans that make your butt look fab?

4. Owl necklace #2.  I am wearing it today and I want to take a picture SO bad, but I am sure the old men at work will think I have lost my mind.

5. V8 Fusion.  This is my breakfast drink of choice (behind Orange Juice, but I don't bring that to work because it would quickly disappear and people seem to be afraid of Acai Berry Juice) when I don't want coffee or tea.  Some mornings I just don't want anything hot, and this juice it perfect!

6.  Orange Cranberry Walnut French Toast at Mama's.... I have been thinking of it for weeks and the thought that it will be in my belly in three days gives me a feeling of pure joy.

Is there anything you are loving or extra happy about today?

Budgets are lame...

I have to put myself on a budget.  I've always been the type to just keep up with the numbers in my head, pay all of my bills first, put a little in savings if there is some left and regularly check my online banking and it's worked out just fine.  Until now.  I've recently been made aware of an unexpected expense that will set me back a good bit of money every month until the end of the year.  And no, I'm not talking about my wedding.   I'm talking about school.  Ahhh... to make a long story short, grad school is freaking expensive.  I keep telling myself, "Lauren, if you finish your masters at the ripe old age of 25, it will be worth it.  It will pay for itself in the end."  Right?  I mean, I keep telling myself that, let's just hope that it's true.

Sometimes being an adult is lame.  For the most part, I have enjoyed my adult-hood, until stupid stuff like this happens.  Bah...

A little rant session...

Ever have those days where you are so frustrated you could cry?  Because I'm definitely having one of those days right now. And no, sister, I am not talking about you.  Just making sure we are clear on that.

I just don't understand why people aren't up front about things.  If you have no intention of doing something or can't guarantee that you can follow through with something, please don't tell me you can.  And really, I am an understanding person, so most of the time when something comes up, ok.  No worries.  But if it is something that there was never any intention of fufilling in the first place, do us both a favor and be honest from the get go, k?

Bah.... The worst part?  You can totally tell when I'm stressed out just by looking at me because my face breaks out.  Just another thing to add to the frustration.

Good thing I'm getting away next weekend.  Because I NEED it big time.  I will drown my stress with food, cupcakes, wine, maybe a little shopping and some culture.

Rant over... Thanks for listening.  I am also a good listener... Go ahead, rant away.  I promise I don't mind :)

29 days and counting...

I took John to the airport this morning.  He will be working in Egypt for a month.  I won't see him again until April 8th.  He's my world traveller :) 

This is John the last time he went to Egypt. He is the one in front riding a camel in shorts and deck shoes, silly boy.  And yes that is a pyramid behind him, how awesome is that?

These little breaks are a good thing for us though.  Yes, a month is a long time, but we spend just about all of our time together when he is here. Which I wouldn't change for the world.  John is the only person I can spend this much time with.  In case you didn't know, we work together.  That is actually how we met.  He no longer works for same company I work for (which is a contractor), he got a job working on the same program for the government.  So, we still see each other at home and at work every day.  Don't get me wrong, we still have our own friends and don't necessarily do all of our social things together, but a majority of our time is spent together.

I take the times that he is gone to do things that I know he doesn't like to do... For instance, I'm going to see Eric Church Friday night with one of my sorority sisters from college.  He is not a country music fan, so instead of making him sit through it, I wait until he's gone.  Or going to drink lots and lots of wine and have yummy brunch and eat cupcakes with amazing girls....not his cup of tea so it will be done while he is gone :D

The bad part is the time difference.  It's hard coordinating times to talk because they are like 8 hours ahead of us.  Lame.  So sorry if I whine that John is gone, it will only be for a month and then I will stop :)

Sneak Peak

I'm letting you all in on a little sneak peak of what I've been working on.  John is leaving tomorrow, so hopefully I will have tons of time to finish up the bedroom makeover.  So here are a few things I've been working on, the pictures aren't the best, but you get the idea...

Before and After of the chest.  John has had this since he was a little kiddo, and it's real wood.  To go out and buy a new one would have put us back a good bit of monies.  Instead we stripped it, sanded it, stained it and added some new knobs and it's as good as new!  The flash in this picture is awful, the next pictures will be better, I promise!

This is the start of my vanity area.  I want an area for my jewelry and headbands, possibly my makeup, to hopefully cut down on my clutter everywhere else in the room.  The chair was from Goodwill, the table was at the Rescue Mission and we got the mirror at Kirklands.  All I needed was a little bit of paint and a new seat and fabric  for the chair and we're in business!

These little pretties are going in the guest bedroom.  They are on the floor right now because I can't hang anything and I was waiting for John.  I bought the sconces for 3 bucks at the Rescue Mission and took them from an ugly brown and black to a fun blue! 

I've been busy lately and there is still a lot more to get done.  I'm hoping to share some finished products with you all very soon!

Almost done...

Remember that one time when I said I was doing all of these awesome projects that I couldn't wait to share?  Well, I am still working on them.  Who would have known that we would have freakishly cold weather in Florida to prevent me from painting and staining furniture for more than like 30 minutes at a time?  Geez...  I do have an update though.  We have the last coat of stain on the dresser, it finally made it to the right 'espresso' color I was going for, now it just needs a coat or two of polyurethance and it will be ready for the new knobs. I can't wait!  I also painted my little fake vanity table.  It's really a sofa table, but we don't have a whole lot of space, so it was just the right size for where we needed it.  And we hung the mirror on the wall to go with it.  The chair is painted, the cushions just need to be recovered and it will be finished! 

John has helped a TON with painting and said he wouldn't mind painting some nightstands if I could find two that I liked.  So I will be visiting some thrift stores in the next few days to hopefully get some good finds.

I know I got a little carried away with everything, and there are a few more projects I really want to do.  And after issues with the weather, I thought this was going to be a collosal mistake.  But it wasn't.  And I'm super pumped to show everyone how it turned out!

Let's keep our fingers crossed for pictures next week :D