Friday, October 29, 2010

breathe it in

you know those moments when you wish you could just freeze time and stop the world from moving so fast? yeah i've been having a lot of them lately. conversations that i want to just bottle up and stick on a shelf and pull down when i'm having a bad day. you know, twist the cap off and drink in the goodness of its yummy smells, letting the sweet fragrance of it take you to another place and time. i suppose love is supposed to do that to you. make you feel all warm and fuzzy and wanting nothing else than to be next to the one who makes your heart feel full and complete. the person who's willing to sit patiently while you try to form words to adequately express yourself. the one who finds joy in your raw, unprocessed emotions. the one who will do anything to get a smile out of you. the one who stops to just stare at you and tell you how beautiful you are. the one who you can sit and say nothing with and walk away feeling like you had a deep heart-to-heart conversation with just by being together.

yeah i'm soaking all of that up these days.

i'm appreciating the awesomeness that is God and the way he brings people together in such unique ways for such extraordinary purposes. the ways he's able to dig down into the core of the human heart and heal things that have been broken and out of sorts for way too long. the way he can speak softly to your soul and lovingly show you the best direction to move but without force or manipulation. allowing you to be FREE to choose who to love and who to be.

so many amazing revelations over the last week... i'm just basking in it today.

love love love is in the air... it's all around us. just breathe it in today. find it in the people around you. find it in the changing leaves, in a song that speaks to you. just find it and let it fill your soul today.

i know i will.


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

the magic of spray paint

it's no secret that the blog world has been relishing in the magic of spray paint recently. i keep up with a lot of diy/home improvement blogs and trust me when i say that it gets talked about A LOT. i don't wanna beat a dead horse (who came up with that awful cliche anyway?) but i did jump on the bandwagon this week. i've been wanting a cute little chalkboard/mail holder on the wall leading into my kitchen but haven't found anything that i really liked. the last time i was at ikea i spotted this one but i hated the wood edges so i decided not to get it. so when i headed back to ikea on monday i looked at it with new eyes. all it needed was a coat of spray paint around the edges and i could have exactly the look i was going for!


image from ikea.com

the piece itself only cost $14.99 from ikea. God bless that store, seriously. i also happened to already have the spray paint on hand which didn't cost me a thing thanks to a $5 ace rewards customer coupon i just happened to have. the spray paint was just under $5 and you have to spend the full $5 to use the coupon so i may or may not have grabbed a bag of peanut m&m's to set me over. ;)


i used krylon spray paint in the burgandy color. all i did was use some painters tape around the edges of the chalkboard. then i stuck a piece of cardboard in the middle and used more painters tape so none of the chalkboard was exposed. (note: i spray painted this BEFORE i put it together which made it much easier to get the coverage i wanted). the great thing about this spray paint is that it dries so FAST! bonus for me was that it was also a 70-degree day in october so that helped the process as well. a couple coats later and it was done. i even managed to put it together and hang it on the wall the same night. that spray paint is seriously awesome stuff!


i love how it looks! the color turned out beautiful and it fits in with the rest of the decor of my home now. i'm thinking about spray painting the hooks and metal inserts black cause the silver doesn't really go with the rest of my hardware. i love that it has 2 slots for mail which is perfect for sorting my roommate and i's mail. and i admit- i'm a sucker for chalkboards. maybe it's the fact that i always wanted to be a teacher or something. i put this verse up there yesterday because it was on my heart that day but it'll be so fun to change it around or see what silly stuff friends write on it when they come over!

my sister also did a little spray paint overhaul on a cute little owl she found antiquing last weekend. go check it out here!




linking this post to: blue cricket designs

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

gardens and little girls

can i just say that i love being an aunt? i think i always knew how much i would love that role but i never realized how easily i would slip into it. granted, it's easy to love it when you have the 3 most adorable nieces known to mankind... but i digress.

on saturday my sisters and i decided to head to longwood gardens for the day. thankfully kesh has a members pass so it was free, too! kesh's 2 daughters, kyra and kylie, love going to longwood gardens and know all their favorite things to see and do there so they were happy to point everything out to me. at one point we had a stroller dilemna because both girls were tired but there was only 1 umbrella stroller. i told kyra she could take a ride on my back which thrilled her to no end. as we were bouncing along she said in a sweet way only kyra can, "i love you susie!" melts my heart! how does an almost-4-year-old know what to say exactly when you need to hear it? not too long into the ride kylie got a little jealous so i had to give her a turn (see photo) and then tears ensued from kyra. such is life with a 2 and 3 year old!

we really did have a great time enjoying the beautiful (but hot) weather and doing lots and lots of walking! it was the perfect way to spend a saturday! i feel so blessed to have 2 amazing sisters to spend time with and "fill my cup." and i'm equally as blessed to have 3 little rays of sunshine in my life to keep me on my toes and remind me just how precious life really is- especially when viewed through the eyes of child.



Tuesday, October 5, 2010

craft room sneak peak

before i was a homeowner i would dream about the things i'd want in my future house and for a long time at the top of the list was a craft room. something about a space all my own where my creativity can flourish and messes don't have to be cleaned up at the end of the day sounded heavenly. when i bought my house i didn't think i was going to get my craft room. at the time i had 2 people lined up to live with me which ate up all 3 bedrooms. the only space left would be an unfinished basement and that just didn't seem inspiring at.all.

due to some circumstances one of the potential roommates had to back out which left me with 1 spare bedroom. i waited a couple months after i moved in to see if someone else would show interest and to see how i felt carrying the bills with only 1 person helping. i guess some things were meant to be because it worked out and i found myself painting that room last month, spending way too much at ikea and transforming that last little bedroom into my very own crafting haven.

i'll post more pictures and details next week, but for now here's a sneak peek in photos. can't wait to show you more soon!




i guess some dreams do come true! happy tuesday!



ps- thanks to my awesome sis who took these photos