weekend finds

If I told you that Ashley and I hadn't seen each other since the Charlotte trip over 2 months ago, would you think I was crazy? Well I AM, because that is what happened. It wasn't planned, we certainly want to see each other more often than that, but life is crazy and insane and we just had to wait it out.

Wait no longer! Ashley drove up to see me on Sunday and we set out to have a day of shopping and relaxation.

She arrived and I was FINALLY able to give her the latest ever birthday present and then we set out for Target. Because she SOMEHOW survives without one and I SOMEHOW hadn't been since the Charlotte trip. (Though my wallet probably thanks me for that one.)

After target we came back home and I surprised Ashley by having MEG over! First off, I'm constantly amazed by how well I get along in real life with my blogging friends - so much so that I don't really consider girls like Alexa, Ashley and Meg blogging friends, I just consider them friends. And secondly, we had such an amazing day together. No awkward moments (Meg and Ashley hadn't "met" yet.) or anything, and just FUN. They need to come back ASAP for a girls night with lots of wine. And candy.

We then set out to 19th street - the cutest street ever filled with local businesses in The Heights. We antiqued and went to the store we bought out amazing china hutch at and just had so much fun. (YOU GET IT, WE HAD FUN.)

Meg had never met Reid, so we went and made a pit-stop at my sister's for a bit and played with him some. He slept in a bit late that morning and hadn't napped yet, so he was all OVER the place. Ok, the candy I brought him probably didn't help much!

Playtime was over and we headed to Marshall's/Home Goods and hit the jackpot. Fall clothes everywhere! Now we just need it to get cold out so we can wear said clothes.

Overall, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. (I woke up feeling not so hot and today I feel fantastic, so DUH, they healed me.) I am so so so lucky that this little blog connects me to so many amazing girls. Women? Whatever, I just love them so much and am so blessed to have made so many great friendships.

Also, I got some pretty great things.

Target:

only the best fall candies ever.

every gal needs some animal print shoes.

 

Marshall's:

the most perfect ballet pink fall sweater.

this is the back view, and it is the most comfortable thing EVER.

distressed blue mirror for the living room.

 

I got some socks, too...but who wants to see a picture of socks on a blog? Yawn.

 

 

the one where A is a model

 

Monday mornings - they're for the birds. I guess I COULD post my weekend update on Sunday night and schedule it for Monday morning, but Sunday night is for sleeping.

 

Work is just as crazy right now as it was this morning, so this will be short and sweet, and it's also a combination of two weekends! Lucky you!

 

 

Meg, who I don't even need to introduce because I've discussed her before but if you live under a rock, has Meg Cady Photography and she took some AMAZING pictures of A and me over the weekend. I didn't LOVE our engagement pictures, I wanted something more "me," so that's why we did one year pictures. SO SO glad we did! Hire her, you will not regret it. Pictured above are 2 of my 3 outfits and a "model" shot of A. If model = look like you have to go #2, he's got it!

 

We also went to a wedding in Shreveport on Saturday night. The groom is a friend of mine that travels to FSU games with us, but he also happens to be the brother of one of A's groomsmen & fraternity brothers. He's a great guy and a lucky one, too, his bride, Addie, looked FLAWLESS! Oh, how I love weddings.

 

Last weekend for a bit: I added some pizazz to the media console. Hey, Pinspiration, what's up! Loving it so far. I also (three years too late) tried to rock the top knot, but it's just a baby little thing, so I added a bow. And a hunchback.

 

I finally (almost) finished my reading nook! I just need a rug and an ottoman and then I can show off the full shot. I'm already obsessed, though.

 

There's an adorable cupcake shop in The Heights (our hood) and they have an airstream that is out sometimes. We drove by it and then turned around and I am so glad we did! There was a Buckeye Brownie one that I would like to eat every night. If it didn't make my behind so large, that is.



Couldn't leave you without a tiny sneak of our photos! I was joking around with the "no teeth" smile thing, but this is probably one of my favorites of the whole shoot. Meg is GENIUS when it comes to lighting and getting the good shots, all credit goes to her for making me look so good! I can't wait to show y'all the rest and get to canvasing some up for our house.

he was my partner!

If you follow me or Ashley or Alexa on twitter and instagram, you already know what I'm about to talk about. But I don't want to talk about it because that means it's over. Hold up - I'm over here crying again. 

It all started on July 3rd. I was sitting at my desk bored out of my mind (hey, no one was working that day!) and reading blogs. I clicked on Stephanie's blog and immediately started crying. The big Katie surprise was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. And so I got an idea...

The original LET'S DO THIS texts. Yes, originally we were going to be insane and DRIVE there. WE JUST WANTED TO GO THAT BAD.

Getting Glenn in on the plan. This is where we started freaking out because it's REAL.

Andre' was 100% against the driving. In his words - "we aren't 18 anymore, Kaitlyn." So he did what every normal person would do and got on Priceline and bid for some tickets. It was around $150ish cheaper to fly out of San Antonio, so Wednesday night we drove there and flew out at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning. 

The weekend was, besides my wedding, the best weekend I have ever had. We might have done it too big on Thursday, but we didn't let that stop up. I'll do a full wrap-up later on this week - or maybe just a photo post - but I'll leave you with the video that STILL makes me cry. 

I may not be the best and most consistent blogger, but I am for sure the luckiest. I have found two of my very best friends through this. We're no longer blog friends, we are just all REALLY good friends. (Even Glenn and Andre'! That part is slightly adorable.) Now we just need to work on getting Glenn + Alexa to Houston. FOR GOOD!

weekending means decorating

Look at me, I'm blogging! Every day when A gets home, it's all "why no post today??" NOT TODAY!

This weekend started off with a bang when the one and only Ashley came to shop! 

We picked out our re-do wedding dresses. What's a re-do wedding? It's a wedding that our blogger besties can come to. Don't worry, we're marrying the same guys. 

Ashley and I found the PERFECT gift for Alexa, fingers crossed that it arrives on either Thursday or Friday so she can have it in time for her birthday weekend! I'd check out her post after it does, it's a pretty amazing gift. 

We didn't have much luck in the clothing portion of shopping. Zara was having a massive sale, but everything was so unorganized and messy and we had to hightail it out of there in fear of being eaten by clothes. Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but still, nothing found and that's just sad. 

After dinner and drinks at Beaver's (yum!) we came home to watch some DM2. Too bad we fell asleep after 20 minutes. Oldies gotta sleep!

fuel for the longest two shopping days ever. tastes like tang!

Saturday morning A and I hit the shops and never looked back. We spent way too much money, but we officially have NO furniture left to buy! Here's a sneak peek at the house. We still have some things left to do/hang before I do the full reveal post. 

The king-sized guest room. The nightstands were found at an antique store on 19th in the Heights. Annie Sloan chalk paint for the WIN! And I found the lamps at Goodwill - 2 for $14 total. I need new lampshades, but they had the same details as the bed, how could I pass that up??

New side table in the living room. The pillows to the left are being put in storage at some point. 

I interrupt this post to show you the flowers that A came home with!

Hallway between the two downstairs guest rooms. Paint supplies are now in the garage, don't worry. Off to Marshall's today to find more goodies to fill the cart with!

Finally got a full-length mirror! Placing TBD, but I love it. I do feel like a super tall amazing model when standing in front of it. Liar.

Full-sized guest room. The beach room!

Gallery style-ish wall in the bedroom. 

 Not yet completed living room. We need to finish the media console, but we keep running out of time!

weekend shenans | being present

You know what's rude? The weekend is rude. At least this one was. Last weekend we had FOUR blissful days, and then this one we only had TWO. Like I said, rude. I could use another two right about now. 

I didn't take many photos this weekend. I think it will remain this way for a while. Living your life through your phone isn't very fun. Being present in the moment is what I've been doing. And you know what? It's been nice. I'm not going to worry about not having a photo from Saturday night out with friends - because I was enjoying a night out with great friends! 

one: free things are the best things. A while back I clicked on an ad on someone's blog and got this free insulated mason jar! Winner. 

two: I wore my hair naturally on Friday night. A told me that it looked weird that the center of my hair was straight and the sides were curly. The center being the bangs...he's weird.

three: natural hair turned into poofy hair once out.

four-five: we took Reid on a swim date on Saturday afternoon. He was in heaven and mama and dada got to get a workout in!

six: Sunday lunch date to Ruffles Green. So good!

seven: followed by a shopping date. I call this "the one week my hair looks good" look. 

eight-nine: this morning's run. Color is good, and so is 79 degrees with about ZERO humidity. I was even chilly at first!

Not pictured because I was busy having fun:

Friday night we had A's cousin and his fiance' over for dinner. We grilled shrimp burgers - and HOLY COW, they were amazing. I plan on making them again and blogging the recipe. They were the perfect summer burger. We went over to Cedar Creek after for some beers, but by midnight we were all about to fall asleep. 

Saturday I went over to my parent's side of town to plan my best friend's Happy Hour wedding shower. Is that not the best idea you've ever heard? After our swimming date, we met up with my friend Cathren and her husband Will for dinner. Being back in Houston has been SO nice for reasons like this. I'd missed them! We were thinking of going out after, but after I almost fell asleep at 9:30, we decided to stay in and FaceTime Glenn + Alexa. Wise choice! 

After Mass and lunch on Sunday, we went on a whirlwhind shopping trip and then met up with the Reid clan and got snowballs. The hour wait (!!) was a long one, but they were delicious. My mouth is probably still red, though. 

All in all, it was a nice weekend! Maybe that's because it involved NO home projects. We needed a break, bad. 

did I miss something?

OK first of all - I have determined that everyone was freaking out for no reason. I woke up thinking I missed something, why did my blogger homepage look the same when OMG EVERYONE MUST USE BLOGLOVIN NOW!? Turns out that I never used Google Reader. I just opened blogger and opened all the posts I wanted to read in separate tabs. Call me crazy, but I like to see the prettiness of everyone's blog every day. TAKE THAT BL - I don't have to use your craziness! But I guess you can still follow me on there if you want. Whatever.

 

Moving on. Let's get this weekend update rolling! Warning :: I don't remember much of Saturday night so that part is kinda hazy. Also, I'm embarrassing and I should never drink gin again. Apparently it doesn't hit me until it HITS me. I have no clue how we got home and some of these photos I have no memory of taking. And hangovers that last ALL day should be illegal.

 

 



 

1 :: shrimp and grits in a martini glass, can it get any cuter? NOPE.

2 :: the haziness beings. My absolutely gorgeous SIL and the MOH

3 :: still can't get over how amazing this is - they had a painter there painting the reception scene. can I go back and do this at ours?!

4-5 :: LUCKY DOG. it doesn't get better than this.

6 :: apparently kissy faces are back in?

7-8 :: i don't remember taking these. that's me in the hotel bed with cake that I somehow ate. And can you tell how much A loves me?

9 :: BACKTRACK - us at the NKOTB concert. I'd like to go back and have BIIM sing more than five songs.

 

Anyways, I'm clearly in need of a new signature drink. Or maybe I should just not drink.  

double shenanies

I had grand plans for this post, y'all. GRAND. I was going to do a double weekend update because I never shared last weekend's fun...but then my iPhone decided to be a jerk and so here I am, PHOTOLESS. (OK, I have two, but it's because I uploaded them to FB.) 

This silly ol' iPhone of mine won't let me turn on WiFi among many other things. It's a YEAR old, y'all. IT SHOULD WORK GREAT STILL! Looks like someone (me, duh) will be going to the sprint store and not taking NO for an answer. (Inner Elizabeth will be coming out! And she probably wants me to mention that she is not a bitch in real everyday life. She just uses the forcefulness for situations like this.) 

Anyways. Last weekend. 

We went to dinner at Cadillac Bar for my friend Haylie's 25th birthday. Flag day birthday! Then we went and played board games at her place annnnd it was probably more fun than if we had gone to a bar. Does this mean I'm getting old?

Saturday we woke up and hit the road for a fraternity brother's wedding in Natchitoches. (Fun story - it's the sister town to Nacogdoches where I went to SFA. The Caddo Indian tribe founded both and thought they named it the same thing.) We stayed at the CUTEST B&B ever. The bedroom was massive, we had a sitting room (the size of a normal bedroom!) and a bathroom complete with a jacuzzi tub fit for three. Not that I would know if three people would fit in there. Ew. There was a full-on three-course breakfast on Sunday morning and I'm still dreaming of the homemade cherry crisp. GIVE ME MORE.

There's the one photo I have from the wedding. A's fraternity brothers have some of the sweetest wives, I am so lucky. The wedding was fun, but the band took WAY too many breaks, so that sucked. And I also look like the hunchback of notre dame. So that's cooooooool. 

Sunday we drove back and spend father's day with my Dad, Elizabeth and Reid laying in the pool. Elizabeth took a bunch of photos because "I never blog," but iPhone won't send them to me. BOOOOO again. 

Now, this weekend.

Friday night we FaceTimed with balexa + glennjamin and drank champs with them. We may be 89237875 miles apart, but we can still drink champagne together. It's as good as we can get it. Then we went to bed at like 11. OLD.

Saturday A woke up way too early to go golf outside in the almost 100 degree weather. Boys. I lounged around the house and unpacked a bit and then got ready to go to the Gender Reveal party to see if my brother and his wife would be having a boy or girl! I obviously was Team Girl, but only because I already have a nephew and I need someone to put bows on. But the balloons were blue, so it's a boy! I am SO excited, really. I'll just have to keep hoarding the bows for myself. They are going to be such great parents, and little Logan Russell is going to be the cutest little Lindsey out there. AND my brother was the last one to be able to carry on the family name! Lindsey lives on!

Megan (little sister) and I at the Gender Reveal party with the Reid man. He's excited to have a new BFF in November! And yes, it does look like A is checking us out. 

Saturday night Megan and her boyfriend were our first guests! They came down and we went to dinner at Crisp. Insert yummy food pictures here. They went out and A and I relaxed and went to bed around 11. OLD.

Yesterday was full of picking up things that were still at my parent's house and more organizing the house. IT WILL NEVER END.

don't mess with me, mr. loan guy

 

It was a fairly un-shenanigany weekend in these parts, but this should be a shenanigan filled week! Why? WE CLOSE IN ONE WEEK! If you put it in writing, it has to be true...right? That's what I'm hoping. We ran into some snags on Friday that kept me on the phone with Chase and my loan guy all day. Apparently it was missed that one of my credit cards is in my name, but under my mom's account. The fact that I haven't used that card more than 2 times since I graduated from college THREE YEARS ago doesn't seem to matter. So we had to have Chase cancel the card and send a fax to the loan guy telling him that, and now they have to re-pull my credit to make sure that it went through. All the while the loan guy was telling me that this meant our closing would be delayed. CUE THE EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN.

 

I wanted to say: "Listen up, buddy. We have been living with my parents for a month. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS LIKE? And I have pretty cool parents, too! But we need our own place. NOW. If you delay this closing, I will have an emotional breakdown. EVEN BIGGER THAN THE ONE I AM HAVING NOW."

 

But what I said was: "Is there anything you can do to make the closing happen on time? We've already scheduled the movers and all the services, so we would really appreciate it!"

 

A mean one, I am. I WISH. But alas, he had our closing date wrong, so apparently we are good to go. We freaking better, because the fridge, the couch, ALL OF OUR BELONGINGS, internet and cable are all being delivered/installed on Tuesday. If I have to unscheduled all that, I just might turn into a mean one.

 

Back to this weekend. Maybe the above info is the reason that I got sort of tipsy sitting on the couch by myself at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon. But like I said...just maybe.

 

1: We met up with my friend Haylie & her boyfriend Drew at Little Woodrow's in The Heights for dinner & drinks. I am SO excited to be in the same neighborhood as those little cuties so soon. So much fun to be had!

2: Truffle-laced parm fries & a grilled cheese. mmm...carbs.

3: Cuddle time with a certain mama's boy.

4: Morning coffee on a trip to Ace with my mama. What, you don' repeat outfits?

5: Madre and I are NYC ready! A flight arriving at 11:30pm requires these to be in our carry on.

6: My new favorite drink ever. I did it, I found my go to drink. That they may not have in any bar outside of Texas. Whatever.

7: Paint testing out! We are going with the top left (Bunny Gray) in the living room, kitchen and dining room and the top right (Paris Rain) in the bedroom. Oh, and we are doing it ourselves now. Should make for some fun blog posts.

8: I turned this mirror...

9: ...into this one! I used some of the sample paint (White Ice) and then I sanded it down (not pictured) for a distressed look. I'm in love. And the mirror was free. Doesn't get much better than that.

 

 

And I'm not going to end this post with some ridiculous statement like "I'm going to blog every day this week!" because we all know THAT would be a flat out lie. Maybe if I don't say it, it will actually happen?



sunburnt shenanies

Today officially marks the two-week countdown until we close on our house. To say we are excited is a vast understatement. We cannot WAIT. I love my parents and all, but it's hard to get us time while you are living with others, I've found. We went out to dinner last night for some us time, but we can't do that every night. Because one, I would be 89385 pounds, and two, we are saving to buy a house. Also, when you go from being around each other all day every day to not, it's kind of hard.

This weekend was a fun one, but I'm paying for it now. And not in the form of a hangover, actually. I must be growing up.

Friday:
I had to work until five - oh the TERROR - and then my sister came over with Reid because her husband was in Vegas on an annual-turned-quarterly boys trip. Reid time is the best time, as I'm sure you've gathered. He is absolutely precious at this age...but really, I'm sure I'll say that at every age.

The most adorable thing was when he sat on A's lap and watched some baseball with him. Reid loves his "ah-day" and anything sports related. Just melts your heart, huh?

Saturday:
The day I'd been waiting for!! I woke up early to leave Houston around 7:30 to meet Ashley at her grandparent's beach house. Of course, Reid woke up just before that (he was singing in his bed, just kill me now with the cuteness) and my mom was going to get milk. I told my sister to sleep in so I watched Reid while my mom was at the store. I have to squeeze in as much Reid time as I can! I finally hit the road around nine and was beach ready by 11.

We were so ready to get out there and get some sun, that we decided it would be an OK idea to use the oil with SPF 12 until the boys got out there with the SPF 30. Yea...that was dumb. It was only about an hour and a half, but I am the color of a lobster. My nose is already blistering, but I'm applying aloe like an addict so my skin doesn't peel.

It may not be the prettiest beach in all the world, but it's a beach and that's all that matters. Poor Ash got dunked in the water by her hilarious brother (oh to be 16 again!) and it resulted in a very sandy bottom. But the water felt great!

After we took one of the most amazing naps we've ever had in  our lives (seriously) we headed to Galveston to have some fun. We watched the boys golf a few rounds at the putt-putt course and then went to the bar across the street for a drink and some MUCH needed H2O. And fried pickles. Those are always much needed.

Dinner time! We met up with the boys and Sue at Salsa's and got another drink each. Ash's beer was MASSIVE - the picture doesn't do it justice - it was about 3X the size of my drink - and I got a Strawberry Sensation. It was AMAZING and the perfect drink after too much sun.

Sunday:
We hit the road around 10 and waited in the longest Ferry line ever (Willis time next time, right Ash?) and then I got back around 1. I immediately headed to the outlets with my sister and A where I got an adorable top and maxi skirt from Loft. Win win!

Like I mentioned earlier, A and I went to dinner for some "us" time. We got chips and queso and salsa to start us off, and we still had all of the salsa left and half of the queso at the end of the meal. (a rarity!) I asked the waiter for some to-go cups for them. He came back with a bag of chips and brand new containers of salsa and queso for us. That made him the best waiter ever in my book and bumped his tip up quite a bit. Customer service counts, people!

That's all I've got for you today. But the good news this week is that I've already started posts for most of the rest of the week - so maybe this will be the first week in FOREVER that I post every day. I think I can, I think I can....

shake your peanut

 

I guess I took an official but not so official blog break last week. I still read all of your posts for the most part...but it was kind of nice to have a break and actually be OFF the computer after 5 each day. I spent that time wandering around Trader Joe's and HEB each night. I could spend HOURS in a grocery store. Especially nice fancy ones like TJ's and HEB on W. Alabama. Heaven, I tell ya. Come visit me in Houston and I'll show you the ways.

OH PS - I'm also over here today, go take a look at my honeymoon! http://mykindofyellow.blogspot.com/

 

We weren't going to do anything this weekend, but thanks to a bum arm, we headed to my parent's lakehouse late Saturday night for some R&R. It was much needed.

 

 

1. Sushi date on Friday with a Key Lime Basil something drink. Twas good.

2. Every Friday deserves champagne. Almond Champagne from TJs? Even better. Then we went to a family friend's house because another friend from FSU was in town. We shook our peanut all weekend like Mickey told us to. Seriously - who writes these kids shows?!

3. We bought our couch! We are in LOVE with it. The quality is amazing - can't wait to have it in the living room!

4. And then we spent 5 hours at Conn's. NOT an exaggeration. But we walked out with a delivery date on a fancy fridge, so I call it a win. It's really hard to see all the super fancy fridge's and then pick a less fancy one. So of course we went with the newest and fanciest one they had. We HAD to.

5. Sweet tat I saw while at Conn's. It says Conceited. Whyyyyyy would you tattoo that on your body?!

6. Late night lakehouse snack.

7. Late night booze cruise turned drinking on the dock due to the wind. That green light is this super fancy light that attracts all the fish - it's like you have your very own aquarium right there!

8. Rope swing jumps for A. I never actually got IN the water.

9. Late night Bowden + Max snuggles. Bowden was in heaven all weekend.

 

Bowden is such a lake dog. I'm hoping he will be a beach dog, too!

 

I mentioned a bum arm earlier - and unfortunately it's still hurting. We think (because I'm 80) that it's Carpel Tunnel. Whenever we are all moved in, I'll be investing in a higher chair and some wrist support for my keyboard...because laugh all you want, but this shiz is PAINFUL.

 

I'm going to be a better blogger this week and blog every day. Tomorrow we will talk cake cutting! And champagne chugging. Is it a bad thing that somehow all of my posts involve champagne?

 



ironman shenannies

Oh, hello there. I spent this weekend being glam, can't you tell. I can sure style the heck out of a blanket.

Because I didn't share on Friday, here's some pictures that (OMG!) actually prove that I was at the swizzle concert. Thanks, FB!

Anyyyways - (I say that like Ellen does at the end of all her shows. I watch too much Ellen, clearly) this weekend was so much fun. TOO much fun, really.

Friday we got all glammed up only to head out into the heat/smog/smokey outside. (Yes, we did go to the DMB concert, but the smoke was from some agricultural fires in thw Yukatan...aka, they were burning weed.)

You better believe I brought one massive bloody mary to drink on the way to the concert. I TOLD you guys that it's an obsession...

 

And then...oh then. Then Meg and Reese showed up and it was officially the best night ever. You don't know Meg? Well, FIX THAT. Now. Then you will understand our love for each other. (Why yes, this IS the same Meg I had a blate with on Wednesday. Told you we liked each other.)

 

So this haze miiiight have been from the concert. We did not partake, but we saw a TON. Saw, smelled, whatever. We stuck to the beer. Yummies!

 

How many tries does it take to take a good picture together? Too many to count. I personally like the top left the best. Should I frame it for the new house?

 

And then, because we were feeling kind of lazy, we ran the ironman. We finished in 16 minutes - we are basically olympic athletes. But please, don't give us too much praise, we don't like to make others feel bad for taking so long to finish it.

 

 



Reese decided it was nappy time. Which meant that it was time to go home. All in all, it was one of my favorite nights ever. We had a backup plan in case Andre' and Reese didn't get a long (he had friends there and so did A), but whatdoyaknow, Meg and I left to say hello to the fabuloso Whitney, and when we got back A and Reese were talking up a storm! This may or may not have been our plan all long...Meg, we are evil geniuses.

Because that was just a tad too much fun, we seriously did NOTHING on Saturday. Unless you count laying out by the pool and drinking (guessssss which drink?) bloody's as something, then I guess we did something. I cooked lasagna cups and then A proceeded to pass out at 7:30 while I read. He never woke up until the morning. So much for giving it the ol' college try!

Sunday I went to a Houston Blogger meetup at the delicious Barnaby's Cafe. None of us took any pictures - I know, i can't believe it either - but it was a blast and a half. Except our waiter - he was rude and pretty terrible all around. But the company was good and I'm looking forward to attending more!

A is out of town through Wednesday - oddly enough, he's training for work in Lafayette - and then we are going to stay at my sister's house with their dog while they are off being jerks. And by that I mean they are going to Mexico or Bahamas or Grand Cayman or something, I always forget. SOMEWHERE tropical and somewhere WITHOUT me.

And obvisouly, since no furniture shopping happened on Saturday, I'll be doing some of that this week.