Saturday, January 30, 2010

I think white is dreamy

Some may not think so, but I'm OBSESSED. I have loved white for FOREVVVVVER. Always in clothing, and from afar, in decorating. I thought that people would think white on white was boring, and that even though I loved it so, I couldn't pull it off and that my house would look like a hospital or blank canvas with no personality. Everyone always seem to say "Color! Color!" "What color are you going to paint?" "What color are you going to buy that in?" And I have always read that you should decorate your house the way you dress, because its what you naturally gravitate towards - so if we are talking my closet, and you're talking about style, my closet says comfortable, a little prepp, more boho, a little traditional, and a little rocker/edgy every once in a while... not super helpful huh? I'm a little bit of everything! Ahhh, you see why this has been so hard for me? Are you feeling sorry for me yet?;)

The nice thing, is my closet doesn't have to have cohesion. But - my house does. My kitchen, dining area, and living room all flow together. And if I decorated with the colors I tend to dress in, our choices would be black, gray and white. I gravitate towards those three colors over and over. So, we don't have much to work in that department, do we?

So I just started looking at whites. White dining rooms, kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms and I have fallen absolutely in love. I can do it! I can have my white and not feel sterile. (Although having a Rotteweiler will not help the keeping things clean in a white house thing.) So I wanted to share with you some photos that I love and have inspired me in my journey with white.

I LOVE this kitchen. Especially the white tile as not on the back splash but the entire wall!
This living room is a little too shabby chic for me, but I just love all the textures and different shades of white. (Another obsession of mine are chandeliers and mirrors - and this room has both - total win.)
This nursey, SO PRECIOUS! I want to do something similar for my baby girl or boy - white is so versatile! Its not gender specific and feels so clean and fresh.
Another living room - a little more modern with some glam, definitely more my style.
This living room is HOT. A little too modern for my home, but I still love it! The floating stairs are awesome and I love the clean lines of the sofas along with the accents of a lot of black and gray. This is my closet in a room!!!:)
I have ALWAYS had a thing for canopy beds. I just find them so romantic and dreamy. But they can often feel, Victorian or country, but if done right (in white, in my opinion.:) it can be so perfect.
Again, another canopy dreamy bed. Man, I've used dreamy a lot - but white just IS!
I love this light fixture - its from Ikea. I love the moderness in it, but its shells, so it has a shabby chic, beachy, not so stuffy feel to it. I LOVE WHITE!!!:) What colors do you love? What colors just tend to pop up in your homes and apartments?

Friday, January 29, 2010

13 days of chili are baaaaack.

Remember this? From here? Well, it is that time again. Time to bust out the big pot and stock up on kidney beans and high grade ground beef/turkey. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you really should go back and read last years post about it. It's a fun story, one I hope we can keep up long after we have children.
We kicked it off this past Monday (we are now on day 5 out of 13) and Courtney came over for dinner. Court is one of my Biblestudy girls.:) I love her. It was fun to share this with her. She was feeling a little shy for the camera that night.:)
Next up? White chicken chili!!!!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Ugggghhhh I want it baaaaack

I am absolutely DYING to have my long hair back. WHY IN THE WORLD DID I CUT IT ALL OFF???? Oh yeah... I donated it. And it was worth it. Seriously. To be able to give someone hair, real hair, to make them feel more like a person again is really really cool. To help make anyone feel more feminine, pretty or just plain normal is a really special thing. I would totally suggest you do it - at least once in your life.

But all that aside, I reeeeallllly want it long again. I hacked it all off almost one year ago. And its slowly coming around. And when I say coming around, I mean growing. These two pictures of Sienna Miller (can we just talk about the fact that I have loved the name Sienna for so stinkin' long, but there is no way under heavens that I could ever name a child that now, since there is a well known actress with that name, followed closely with the last name of MILLER. Dreams dashed of ever having a daughter named Sienna. Awesome.) and Jennifer Aniston are ones I've had saved on my computer ever since I lost 13 inches last March. I'm dying for summer golden highlights and long layers. God was so smart when He made our hair grow back. He knew I couldn't take permanent change.

Ski trip, birthday, brother came to Oklahoma

I love being on top of a mountain with Eric. It's so freeing, like nothing is holding us back. I completely forget everything. There are no thoughts of the future or past, just thoughts of the present.
Elizabeth and Laura. They are both complete joys and tons of fun. And good ski/snowboarding partners.



The town of Crested Butte, CO is below. It was an adorable little town with tons of coffee shops, vintage stores and restaurants.

Darby and Laura helping me prepare dinner on my birthday.:) They were wonderful.
Lots of garlic bread. I mean, when you're feeding 28 people...
Making sure everything is just fiiiine.
Paper products. Lots of paper products.
All the people to feeeeeeeed.
My birthday cake! Made by the lovely Sarah and Laura and recreated by Darby.:)

Happy birthday to meeee!
Cats leave paw prints on our hearts. I mean seriously, the BEST sweatshirt ever.

Out to dinner in town the last night.

John and Steve being goofy.:) They make me so happy.
John surprised me and came out to go boarding. I freaked when I saw him.:) It was the best birthday present EVER.



I LOVE THE MCFALLS.


Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I could eat it all.


Love you Laura Gassaway. One of my Bstudy girls.


Lots of Catch Phase. It got intense sometimes but was so fun!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

We needed some green in our house

And so I bought some plants. I found these adorable little pots for $1 each at Goodwill this weekend! And we have no plants in the house (except for the one my mom gave me over Christmas vacation which is what got me inspired to bring more "life" into the house.) I forget what they are called but aren't they cute?? I'm really hoping I don't kill them. I don't seem to have the best luck with plants, but I think it purely comes from my lack of patience to maintain them, and oh yeah, water them.:)

I promise I'll post pictures tomorrow of the ski trip. I've been putting it off cause I had so many to upload. But they are ready now, I just have to narrate through them.:)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Carcassonne, champagne and cheese.

I was suppose to host a Wine and Cheese night the other day. It didn't happen. So, we packed up the leftover champagne from New Years Eve, the gouda and manchego cheese that I had bought for the party and went down to Jeremy and Michelle's where we played games and ate lots and lots of cheese. It was yummy. The company and the cheese.

I could eat cheese every. single. day.

Have you ever had gouda with HONEY? It's amazing. You should try it! Just slice a hunk off and dip it in honey - the creaminess of the cheese and sweetness of the honey is absolute deciousiness in your mouth.

This is one of my favorite games. It looks similar to Settlers, the game I posted about a couple weeks ago, and thats cause its made by the same company. Its super interactive, and even though each person is their own team trying to win, it definitely involves everyone in decision making and strategy, so it feels less competitive. ALWAYS a good thing for me.


Wes likes the peace sign.
Darbs looks super cute in her hat. Love her.