It's August Already!?

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start! Time is flying by and the heat index definitely proves August is here! Billy and I had a wonderful weekend, even though he had to work part of it. Friday we went to the doctor and heard our sweet baby's heartbeat again. That n-e-v-e-r gets old! We enjoyed our downtime and even planted a new tree in the yard. I love-love white crape myrtle trees & since they were on sale at Lowe's (even especially at Lowe's I can't pass up a sale) we picked one up to add to our front flower bed.  I cannot wait to see it grow and bloom, they are gorgeous trees.

TrendyInk Stamps are selling well so I wanted to show you the options again since they're not on my website:

Stamps are $34 (plus $5 if you need shipping) and are available in black, blue and red ink. Lots of clients are ordering them for house-warming, birthday and wedding gifts. Email me at Trendyinkdesigns {at} yahoo {dot} com for more details or to place a order.

Happy Monday!

Lesson Learned {Halloween Recap}

Billy, Oliver and I had the best time with our trick-or-treaters this past weekend. The kids were just too cute in their costumes. My favorite was a baby dressed in his Mickey Mouse costume. What a doll! We actually ran out of candy and had to hide just past 8:00! Last year we ran out of candy too - I've finally learned my lesson. MUST BUY MORE CANDY. :)  I thought 3 large bags of candy was plenty, guess not.

We ended up not "torturing" Oliver as much as I had hoped. Oliver sported his Army tee given to him from his Aunt Oana. He "said" he wanted to be Uncle Jordan for Halloween, ha! He had lots of fun hanging out barking at all the trick-or-treaters. He wanted to come out and play soo badly. Can you imagine the looks mommies would have given me if my baby was jumping on theirs!? Not good. 

I'm in Christmas preparation full swing.  Already have gifts purchased and keeping my eye out for my hot items to go on sale - maybe black Friday will have a few goodies for us this year? I enjoy the hunt. Anyway, don't forget about the Christmas tags. I filled lots of orders last night and have ordered many stamps. Let me know if you need one of these items for your holiday preparation!

Brightening up the dull Laundry Room

This past weekend Billy and I went to Folkston to have dinner with my parents. While mom and I were in the Library for some good girl talk, Billy was watching TV with Pop. On the ride home Billy told me that Pop said, “I didn’t get to finish my project this weekend, I don’t feel like I accomplished anything.” Billy said I was DEFINITELY my father’s child because I say that all the time. I’m a girl who loves a good project! Growing up Mom and Pop always had something they were working on. They were painting, building or turning something old into something beautiful. To me, a constant project is my normal.

Since we are currently undergoing a few big projects at Casa Bird, I felt the need to actually finish something. The Laundry room has been on my mind for weeks. I wanted to put a little color in there and had a good idea for the vintage frame I’ve had sitting in my garage for months. I decided not to paint the laundry room (well, because that’s all I’ve been doing in other rooms lately) and thought I’d just add a pop of color. The room gets scuffed up easily so that was my reasoning for not giving it a cheery overhaul. I’ve been dying for a chalkboard to write my grocery list on (and sweet nothings to my main squeeze, ha!) ever since we painted a chalkboard wall in my office at work over 4 years ago. I seem to always be in the middle of cooking or doing something and think, "I need ______" and write it down...then loose the piece of paper. This was my perfect solution. So here’s what I did…

1) Purchased some colorful bins at Wal-Mart to hide all of our stuff. Oliver stuff, Laundry stuff, Beach stuff, Mop accessories… you know, stuff.

2) Spray painted a vintage frame. Mom found this gorgeous frame in her attic one day & asked me if I wanted it. Ummm, yes, please!! I chose the color yellow because it’s cheery, an obvious laundry room color and it goes well with my teal bins. I secretly wanted to paint the frame pink! ;)

3) Painted the wall with chalkboard paint and then hung my lovely yellow vintage frame on the wall to showcase my grocery list. It’s the perfect spot for us since we live in the laundry room. Seriously, does laundry ever end?

I still have several other projects in the works (that I will eventually share) but for now, at least I feel accomplished & I won't forget to pick up the bread! Happy Monday :)

The season of Pumpkin Spice and Mums have arrived!

Oh, how I adore Fall! Regrettably, living in the sunny state does not allow us to get the full effects of this fabulous season, which makes me miss living in Virginia just a little bit. However, the temperature does drop at some point and in the meantime I get to decorate with some of my favorite colors and sip the 'oh-so-yum' Pumpkin Spice Latte!

This past weekend, Billy and I took a "quick" trip to Lowe’s for some items to help us finish a few house projects we have going on (more on those later). Just before check out I spotted this gorgeous mum and had to have it! Mums are one of my favorite components of Fall and I love how the yellow mum adds a little "pop" to our entry way. Now I just need to find (or create) the perfect wreath for my front door. I’m also thinking about a hay man too for the rocking chair, hmmm. I must find an old pair of overalls!

Waiting Pays Off

Recently, Billy and I had a “date night” that lead to pure excitement! We were going to do the usual dinner and a movie since he had worked all day and we wanted something low key. However, after dinner we had about an hour to spend before the movie. We discussed browsing the furniture store because…well, it’s just plain fun! What we didn’t know is that we were about to miss our movie and purchase the very dining table set that I’ve had my eye on for almost a year. When we were engaged I had spotted this table and loved it but had sticker shock and walked right out the store. After pining over this table I do believe the Lord is GOOD and saved it just for me. When I walked over to the table and the sign was slashed with a red marker (Oooo, I love those red markers!) I began to feel like it was Christmas morning…you know that giddy feeling when you know something great is about to transpire!? Needless to say we missed our movie and went home happy-happy campers. Here’s my 60” table of goodness that we purchased for half off. It pays to wait. Unfortunately, it’s not the best picture as I have a bad habit of taking quick photos with my iPhone instead of pulling out my camera. I’m thinking that date nights now just may be a bit dangerous – we spotted a lovely leather piece I think would look perfect in our family room. :)

“Shines like the top of the Chrysler Building”

When I was a little girl my brother and I had to help mom clean the bathrooms. Mom would always say to us, “I want it to shine like the top of the Chrysler building!” As an adult there is nothing I appreciate more than a bathroom that “Shines like the top of the Chrysler Building” – ha! Thank you, mom. I think the Lord knew even this small detail when I married Billy because that man knows how to clean and make things shine! I came home from a looong day at work yesterday to both bathrooms sparkling clean! Oh, how I adore my husband!! I appreciate surprises like these; it smelled so good I wanted to hang out in the master bath all night, ha. Here’s a quick pix from my iPhone. We’re thinking about painting a very soft blue in there to match our new décor!?!? I need to purchase a few more accessories and paint – shopping trip!

The Bird House

It’s official. Billy and I are home owners! Setting out to find the perfect home for us was not an easy task. I thought it would be simple, and it turned out to be a bit tough…what side of town do we look on, do we stay in Jacksonville, do we purchase brand-new or look into foreclosures!? Finally, after much prayer and searching, good things come to those who wait! We found a brand-new home. I truly believe after finding this home that it was built just for us and that the Lord knew it would be our future home. It has everything we had on our “must-have” list and more! We’re extremely thankful for the Lord’s guidance and are excited about what else He may have in store for our future. God has truly blessed us with a wonderful new home. We’re not quite sure what to do with all this space…okay that’s a lie! We’ve claimed all the extra rooms and we have big plans for decorating. I love to decorate therefore there’s a ton of projects in our future. I even think I’m going to keep my Pop busy with a few ideas I have in mind!

Here are a few pictures I snapped with my iPhone right after closing this past weekend. I hope to post more once we get settled in.