gussy sews inspiration workshop {the perfect bathroom}

i'm linking up with gussy for her inspiration workshop

prompt: the perfect bathroom

of course my perfect bathroom would be self-cleaning.

there would always be fresh-out-of-the-dryer towels.

& that after-shower-fog wouldn't exist. 

but in reality, here are some inspiring pictures i've pinned that depict a little bit of my idea of the perfect bathroom.

{sources top to bottom, left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} 

what i wore wednesday.

sunday:

top: walmart

cardigan: forever 21

jeans: ross

shoes: target

short hair: sidney's hair salon in clarkesville

that's all you get on a week like this.

{doesn't my room look empty? moving in two days!}

linking up @ the pleated poppy!

a list of things i am thankful for right now.

-- my husband because he has been ordered around a lot during this whole packing process {yes, i'm a packing nazi} but he still loves me. he does everything i ask {when i ask nicely} and more. 

-- boxes.

-- a new haircut, that's not nearly as terrible as the one i got a month ago. 

-- working a half-day for the first time in for.ev.er.

-- parks & recreation on netflix. the perfect break from packing & cleaning.

-- pinterest. also great for breaks.

-- really good air conditioning. i'm such a pansy in georgia heat. 

-- fresh picked blueberries from a friend of ben's at work. mmmmmm. delicious & free!

-- friends like whitney & josh that have us over for dinner. 

...which is where we're going soon so i'm cutting this list short. happy tuesday!

  {source}

summer = movies, popcorn & coke.

three movies i want to see this summer:

winnie the pooh

{cute, sweet, funny & zooey dechannel is on the soundtrack (ben & i love her).}

the help

{because i just finished the book & loved it. now i have to see how much better the book is than the movie.}

harry potter & the deathly hallows part 2

{for obvious reasons.}

gussy sews inspiration workshop {spend the day playing}

linking up with gussy sews inspiration workshop to share what i would do if i could spend the day playing. {fun, right?}

i would wake up super early to go fishing with ben. i know what you're thinking: what tha? don't get me wrong, you know i'm not outdoorsy and you can probably guess i'm not patient enough for fishing buuuut ben has been wanting to go fishing with me for a long time and i just love that guy, i hate to disappoint him.

i would load up with bug spray {because i seem to attract mosquitos like nobody's business}, i would grab my pole, my foldy chair, an iced coffee, and the help {because i can't put it down}. ben would cast out a line and reel it in, over and over and over {thats how you catch a bass, i know things!} and i would throw my line out there, prop my pole up on a stick and read my book. now see, fishing is fun!

{a picture of ben & i fishing in just a few years; source}

i would be glad to snap some pictures of ben and the huge bass i know he'll catch. i'll even hold it and throw it back in because that's my favorite part.

then when it starts to get too hot, we'll grab some yummy lunch at the flying biscuit {in my dream scenario the flying biscuit is very close to where we will be fishing} complete with a thai iced tea. mmm.

{source}

to stick with our fishing theme, we'll end the play day with a viewing of one of my favorite movies: big fish.

and that is exactly how i would spend a day playing. until then, i will cross my fingers that everything with moving goes smoothly so that we can make this day happen very soon.

how would you spend your day?

life update: packing, moving, God's provision.

so ben and i, okay mostly me, have been packing like crazy. we're moving in twelve days! that's it. 12. i realized that this actually the first time ever moving. i lived in the same house my whole life. of course, i 'moved' from college to home and home to college but in my opinion that's doesn't really count because there's no furniture. when we moved here, we bought all our big pieces little by little. so for the first time in my life, i'm really moving, furniture and all. i had no idea how much work this would be!

my to-do is list stuck to the fridge {in hopes that my sweet husband will take a hint, wink wink} and it gets longer every. single. day.

but seriously, we can do this.

everything has worked out for us so smoothly. it's a God thing. we have been so blessed in the whole process. i know it's cliche to say that we have been blessed, but it's true.

-- ben was accepted to life university and able to enroll for classes this fall -- it's a big deal because all the other programs he was looking wouldn't allow him to start until fall of 2012. and he already has all the necessary pre-reqs -- which means no extra monies spent on online classes before he starts. cha-ching.

-- i have a great job lined up -- doing exactly what i want to be doing. teaching private pre-k at a center very close to ben's school and our apartment. pay is good. people are good. and the supply closet is just to die for (teacher nerd?).

-- we have a great one bedroom apartment all ready for us to move into. it's in a very safe, very nice gated complex that we would not have been able to afford, except that our apartment is "not upgraded" {meaning the counters are not granite & the appliances are white} so our rent is $120 less than the other one bedroom apartments! it really is miraculous how all of it has worked out. we toured the apartment last weekend and even though it has one less bedroom, there's tons of storage space {much more than we currently have}. how awesome is that?

the moving process has been so bittersweet for us. i'm sad to leave the people i love in toccoa, but we're so excited to start this new adventure together.

{i may even double-post tonight just to have a packing break}

post of pictures.

 it's a running joke / coincidence / tradition that it always rains on my birthday. here's the birthday rain for this year.

ben loves our stray kitty, john locke. john locke because he's the color of smoke.. lost fans? 

 started reading the help. i'm really enjoying the narration so far.

bought some clothes with birthday money from my granny. can you believe i got all of this for less that $100. woah!

wiww!

i'll admit, i've slacked on what i wore wednesday. 

i just have several sets of wiww-posed pictures on my camera card and today i'm just throwing them on here. no idea what day it was or anything. but, because it's so fun i have to keep participating, and really what else would i do with all those pictures of me in front of the mirror with my face covered by my camera? well sure, delete them, but what a waste.

here goes.

 shirt: oldnavy, jeans: ross, shoes: ross belt: walmart

 

dress: rugged warehouse ($7!!!), belt: came with another shirt from a long time ago, shoes: walmart, necklace: made it.

 shirt dress: thrift store, jeans: ross, shoes: target

 

shirt: american eagle, jeans: ross, shoes: old navy, flower: made by me.

 shirt: oldnavy scarf: target skirt (not pictured): old navy shoes (not pictured): target

{side note: katie pink tried to teach me how to take a mirror picture that shows my face. i think it still needs some work.. seriously, how awkward is that picture?! but i had to post it because i just laugh at how ridiculous i look in it.}

skirt: belk, shirt: h&m, shoes: payless

by the way: today's my birthday (woo!) 

save 30% in my etsy shop by using the code happybirthday30. :)

custom orders can save 30% too, i'm just sayin'

discount code!

happy birthday to me {tomorrow!}

save 30% this week only in my shop by using the code happybirthday30

now go buy something so i can buy this adorable necklace from along for the ride that i've been looking at for weeks now... :)

easy mexican night.

tonight was a work-late, throw something together with the stuff we have on hand because i really, really, really don't want to go to the grocery store, kind of night.

funny thing is, ben really liked it. he even said, and i quote, "are you going to take a picture of this and blog about it because you should."

so here we are. i'm passing on to you the simplest easiest recipe for black bean soup & some fixins' to go with it.

black bean soup
i used:
2 cans of black beans
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of salsa
1 handful of colby jack cheese
the juice of half a lime

combine beans & soup in a blender to desired chunky/smoothness. pour into pot & heat over medium heat. add cheese, salsa & lime juice. stir until all the cheese is melted. {i told you it was easy}

feel free to add whatever else you like, this is just what i had on hand. cilantro would be yummy, or some diced onions.

guacamole
there are much better guac recipes out there, this is just a very simple way to make it.
2 avocados, peeled, pitted & cut into chunks
juice of half a lime
1 tomato chopped up
a sprinkle of salt

combine & mush. we leave ours pretty chunky.

then, i just sprayed some flour tortillas with oil and browned them (both sides) in a pan on medium heat.

that's it. 

enjoy!

baby shower in pictures.

getting ready for a baby shower!

i'm busy in super crafty-planning mode.

i'm creating decor for my sister-in-law's baby shower in four days. i can't wait to show you all the goods.

but, i will give you a sneak peak.. {yes, i know it's weird that this picture is in the grass but there was no good lighting in my house & these are so cute, they really needed good lighting.}

so they're my first try at baby 'cupcakes' -- and seriously those things are not easy to roll up -- but i'm really happy with how cute they are.

each cupcake has either (a.) a sock & two baby washcloths (b.) a onesie & two socks or (c.) two onesies & a sock.

hope you enjoy,  i'll probably be pretty blog-slacking this week. 

& the winner from this weekend's giveaway is denise from victory road! denise i'll get you in touch with amber asap!

take pictures.

i started reading 31 days to a better photo a handy little series on life with my 3 boybarians. it's chock full of good tips and information on taking good pictures. i love taking pictures, rather i love capturing moments and since i spent a good bit of money on a fancy camera i want to know how to use it to all of capabilities. 

the first post in the series was a pretty simple idea: take the picture. always take the picture. you'll be so glad you captured the event, the people, the inside joke, etc. on film -- no matter how good the picture is.

it made me think of all the times i'm so glad that i {or someone else} took the picture. all those moments that i'm so glad i have photographs of to look back on. so, i thought i would share some with you to inspire you to just take the picture.

that time we were taking sweet family pictures on mother's day ...and then ben {"accidently"} knocked me down. much more painful than it looks

our first christmas morning together! {i love it even though its a low quality macbook picture}

it snowed. snow is always a big deal around these parts.

mom & i after buying all my wedding day accessories in little five points

our engagement party. i'm so glad someone had a camera -- i still have that 'i'm engaged' glow. :)

a camping trip with our buddies right before graduation. we were all engaged in this picture, and now we're all married. aw. 

the year we were the gilligan's island cast for halloween. also, the bread in the oven burnt to smithereens, smoked up the terrace and set the fire alarm off, all while we were taking these pictures.

we took all these cute friend pictures our sophomore year of college. we wanted a cute one with all of us sitting on this pipe thing and then oops, whitney fell in. :)

see, doesn't that make you want to take more pictures? 

giveaway: featuring life.. handmade!

let me introduce you guys to my blog-world friend, amber @ life...unscripted. she wrote to me last week about doing a blog swap giveaway -- which sounded fun so here we are.

 her shop, life handmade, is full of all kinds of adorable vintage-y things. 

some of my favorites are this rosette headband and this floral bow headband. 

amber is offering one of the three items below -- your pick!

how to enter:

-- leave a comment (mandatory for entry).

-- "like" her facebook page for another entry.

-- follow her blog for another entry.

-- tweet/blog/fbook status about her shop or this giveaway for another entry

{tell us in your comment how many entries you did}

the giveaway ends sunday night & i'll announce the winner on monday!


linking this giveaway @ lovely crafty home, a little knick knack, & be different.. act normal