Fun Fact Friday 6.28.13

Couldn't be more relieved that it's Friday. I can't complain about the work week because yesterday was my first full day at work this week....but that's because I woke up Monday with an awful head cold. Attempted to go to work Tuesday only to head home at noon and find out I'm also rocking an ear infection. Wtf.

By the way - I haven't had an ear infection since I was probably 10! It honestly never crossed my mind that I'd get one as an adult. Weird? Maybe. 

At least this guy was more than happy to snuggle during nap times - 

Let's get to it. Here's what's on my mind this Friday - 

1. I have a laundry list of blog posts I need to get written. Chicago wedding, Foxwoods casino bachelorette party, a 30-minute meal take on Chipotle's burrito bowls (J's new fav dinner), zucchini salad, a house to-do list.....uh the list goes on! Keep reading, please! pretty please.

2. I saw a sign at Homegoods this weekend that made me laugh, because this is EXACTLY how I'm feeling lately: I can't tell if life is flying by or trying to run me over. Ha! After this head cold,  I have definitely been run over! But hey, it's all in the name of celebrating with good friends and making our new house our home. Not enough hours in the day anymore.

3. Speaking of making our house a home - remember when I cried over spilled milk a broken lamp? Would you believe that I found the exact same lamp at Homegoods 2 years later!! I was that creep that broke out into ear to ear grin, pulled out my phone, and snapped a picture to send to J immediately. I could not wait until it was purchased and home to tell him the news. 

4. I've been having so much fun reading along as YHL renovates their new home and feeling like we are on the exact same page lately! It's kinda crazy. Of course they blog for a living and update us immediately, but hey doesn't that mean I had the posts first?! (YHL vs. TTLC & YHL vs. TTLC). Ok maybe it's a stretch but seriously, I feel ya YHL - bleeding money over here. Like burst artery blood money all over the place. Make it stop.

5. And now for the big announcement.....!!! In an effort to curb a little spending, I've decided that July will be a no shopping challenge over here. No clothing purchases, no accessories, no mani/pedi's, no new Essie polishes, no haircuts (squeezing one in Saturday, phew!), basically nothing unnecessary. I am not including home purchases in this as we do have a lot to get done still. But nothing will be added to my closet this month!

Looking forward to remixing a few new outfits!

I encourage you to join me! I'm so excited by the amount of feed back I've received on this and how many of you really want to participate in a No Shop July Challenge. So let's make this fun! If you have a blog and want to participate in weekly (Wednesday) posts during July let me know and I will add a link-up. And make sure you grab the button I created for you over to the right. Wednesdays I will be highlighting outfit inspirations I've found online, magazine, etc and how I shopped my own closet to re-create them. 

If you do not have a blog and would like to participate, send me an email! (by Monday nights ok?) I would LOVE to include you. 

Include the following in your No Shop July posts/email to me:

• Inspirational photo (or link)
• A photo of your re-created outfit
• Any links you can provide to what you are wearing

Let's have some fun, and save some money!! 

So, any weekend plans? A few last minute purchases before July perhaps? :)

I realized yesterday that I hadn't had my hair cut since December? Whoops. Going in for a clean-up bright and early tomorrow. And there's no doubt we'll be tackling a few things around the house this weekend, gotta take advantage of the plan-free weekends!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Linking up with H54F, That Friday Blog Hop, Friday Favorites

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Chicago - June 2013

Our weekend in Chicago was an absolute blast. I can't say we made much of an effort to fit in any touristy activities, but we had so much fun catching up with J's college roommates. They are a crazy bunch when they get together. Crazy.

We flew in bright and early Friday and met up with everyone by lunchtime. Traveling from the airport (O'Hare) to the city is not hard at all. It might take a little while, but we are all about spending the $2 subway pass versus the $45 cab fare. That $45 went to good use on drinks...

I know I said we didn't play tourist, but what's a trip to Chicago without a visit to the bean? The weather was perfect for outdoor drinks in Millenium Park.

The Linden St Boys - just missing Drew (the groom!)

This picture is much more representative of them...

We headed over to the Navy Pier from the Bean. Not going to lie, this is because you can walk around with open containers within the pier. And look at that blue sky. 

Before I knew it, the guys had signed us up for 30 minutes of biking around the Pier. Seriously, what?! 

We asked the employee which way to more bars....followed her directions....aaand ended up at the water. You got us, bike rental employee, you got us good. Yes, there was a train of 5 bikes between all of the couples....watch out!

 Within about 10 minutes of biking, we were over it. So we headed back and made our way down the Pier. 

Boys will be boys....back to their college days

 Later on after the rehearsal dinner, we found the groom! Drew and J were roommates for much of college. He is an AMAZING artist!

I'll be doing a separate post for the wedding, but I managed to snap a few scenic photos of the city while J and I were killing time before our flight home on Sunday. 

And what's a trip to Chicago without deep dish?! (OK - honestly, I so prefer thin crust pizza. But hey, when in Chicago...)

Have you been to Chicago? If so, what's your favorite thing to do? Next time we have to opportunity to visit Chicago, we are definitely fitting in the boat tour!

Here's a recap of our first trip to Chicago!

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Shade(y) Issues

I don't know about you, but I could really use an extra day this weekend. Monday snuck up on me way too quickly. But I guess a bachelorette party that crept into the early hours of Sunday morning will do that to you. Totally worth it!

Although I am still overwhelmed with the small details we need over here, it's time to get some window treatments up. I think we took for granted the great honeycomb shades we inherited while living in our condo. In the new house, we've got nothin.

Curtain hardware was one item on a laundry list of things I was debating trying to buy before we moved in. We had a good month between when our offer was accepted and when we moved in, so I was brainstorming any and all ways I could cut down the expenses when we moved in by purchasing items in advanced. But one mention of this to my mom and her good friend and I was advised to wait. Who knows what kind of window treatments you're going to want in each room they said. Ugh, and of course they are right.

While some rooms I've decided to keep simple with roman shades, others can stand blinds and floor to ceiling curtains. Our family room is one of those rooms. It's a big room that takes up the far left side of the first floor of our house. Three of the 4 walls have windows. So it will be nice to have blinds to block the sun if needed during the day, and privacy at night. And big full length curtains will really add some warmth to the room.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Bamboo shades and lighter curtains. Everytime I see bamboo shades used in a room, I love it. Here are some great inspirations:

 via YoungHouseLove

via Pure Style Home

Done. I measured how wide the windows were, went to Home Depot's website, ordered the blinds for in-store pickup, and received a text message an hour later that they were ready for pick-up. Wonderful! Friday afternoon I brought the shades in and womp womp, Houston we have a problem. One of the front windows has less than an inch between the trim and inside wall. There is absolutely no way an outside mount will fit. How did I not notice that before?! Ugh.

Proof:

Now what? I was stuck. I wasn't sure what it would look like to have inside mount shades with curtains. The outside mounts ones like the pictures above just look so nice! 

Thank you Google images! Honestly, it was that easy. Typed in "inside mount bamboo shades" and voila. Many, many ideas/images.

 via YoungHouseLove

via Me, Ed and Pea

Phew. We're good. I really love this second photo, especially since we have two windows that are connected as such. So the bamboo shades long enough to be mounted outside the window trim will be going back, and shorter shades will be ordered. Unfortunately, and also of course (!), those shades are currently out of stock so these may take a little longer than originally planned. Booo. But, for such a steal of a price, I may have to hold out. 

If you have been looking for affordable bamboo shades, these are the ones we're using. If they're good enough for John and Sherry, they are good enough for me!

What do prefer - inside or outside mounted shades? I'll be putting roman shades in the office and am leaning towards an inside mount.

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

Summer Style Shopping

As I mentioned yesterday, the deliveries have been non-stop over here recently. Mostly items for our new home...but here are the items I've picked up over the past week or so just for myself -

6.18 Summer Purchases by talkative-tlc

Rue La La got me good. I realized recently that my dress to wedding ratio wasn't cutting it. We have 7 weddings  this year, 7. I've re-worn a couple dresses already, my mom was kind enough to purchase me one for my birthday, and yet that still leaves 4 weddings. I don't always find the dress deals good enough for me on this site, especially since it's $10 for shipping, but their latest dress deals were unreal. The yellow/silver Lilly dress I snagged above was 80% off of the retail price. 80%! You really just can't beat that. And the orange Calvin Klein dress was more than 50% off. 

J.Crew factory recently had a 40% off your entire purchase deal. I've been trying to delete all store sale e-mails as they come in, but once and a while, when it's a % off the entire purchase, I'll browse. I threw in a pair of shorts for J this time too. Totally justifying my purchase right there. :)

Lastly, this cotton striped dress from the Gap is unbelievably comfortable. And flattering! I was sort-of between sizes so I went up. I liked the looser look rather than a little fitted on the rear. Especially since it's cotton. This was worn during our trip to Chicago and received many compliments. I am totally loving stripes lately. Can't get enough. We bought this for J when I picked up the dress and honestly, I love it. First of all, it looks great on him. But second....it's so soft, it's striped, it's hooded... I kinda, sorta want to see if the men's XS would fit me...weird? I hope not. 

Tell me, have you found any great deals lately? I very, very rarely buy something full price. Even home purchases. There is always a sale, coupon, free shipping code, online deal site to be found! Always. (Ok, almost always).

Any interest in a no-shop July with me? Closet remix challenge time!

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Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Random Wednesday, Wildcard Wednesday

Recent Home Purchases

Today feels so much like Monday to me. J & I spent the weekend in Chicago celebrating a friend's wedding/college reunion and didn't get home until well after midnight Sunday night/Monday morning. So I made the wise decision of taking Monday off from work.

This meant some things got done around our new home! While I sort through all of my Chicago pictures, I thought I'd share some recent purchases. I'm on a roll lately....it's bad. We showed up Sunday night to a few boxes on the front porch, and again Monday afternoon....all we could do was laugh. The mailman definitely hates us already. Whoops.

Here are the most recent purchases I've made. Many purchased just yesterday in our first ever weekday visit to IKEA. And let me tell you, I will never go on a weekend again! It was so calm, parking was a breeze, and there were no lines for checkout. If you can get to IKEA on a weekday and save yourself the weekend chaos, I highly suggest you do!

6.17 Recent Home Purchases by talkative-tlc on Polyvore

These items will be scattered around the house, but we literally need something for every room. I can't even think about pictures, mirrors, accessories yet. Too many big item to decide on first. But even without curtains, etc this place is starting to feel more like a home.

We spent last night putting together the IKEA shoe bin and sideboard (it's similar to the linked one but we built our own with their BESTA line). And it's so nice to look over and see a furnished space rather than a blank wall. We're getting there my friends!

If anyone has a good IKEA hack for our new nightstands, send it my way! These nightstands are just way too good of a deal not to pass up. Here's a recent post with a few ideas I've noted. Now, to find a free weekend to get them done!

Oh, and when I say many boxes on our front steps, I'm talking a few new articles of clothing too....what? I couldn't help it! These sales are insane. I'll be sharing those purchases tomorrow!

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

A Great Day for a Wedding - C&L

Where do I even begin. Caitlin & Luke could not have asked for better weather. Some of the guys may beg to differ there, but I was perfectly content in the heat of the setting sun paired with a breeze off the water. Look at this blue sky!

The Ceremony

 The handsome groom waiting for his groomsmen and bride / The parents of the groom

 Mother of the bride escorted by the Best Man

 Pretty bridesmaids! (don't you love the color of their dresses)

 I LOVE this photo. Awaiting the bride.

 Caitlin looked stunning, didn't she?

 The vows.

Husband & Wife! Love Luke's thumbs up and cheer, adorable. Don't mind the professional photographer either - I cannot wait to see her shots!

The Decorations

 Um, this was a little too good.

 Escort card holder, notes to the newleyweds

 Don't mind if I do!

Let me just point out that Caitlin made these decorations! So impressed. Especially these awesome lights!

The Party Reception

 I think this becoming a tradition of J at weddings...yikes.. haha

 Beauties!

 Absolutely love these girls.

What a beautiful wedding, beautiful bride, and sweet love. 

Congratulations Caitlin & Luke!