122 Days

Oh my gosh!! Exactly 4 more months and 122 days left till I will be Mrs. Dineen. I have had butterflies in my stomach all morning!!

And I have so much to do! I'm going to look at invitations this afternoon and the big news is that my wedding dress came in. I can hardly control myself! I guess every bride LOVES their dress, but I REALLY LOVE my dress.

We have engagement pictures on Monday at Keeneland and I have no clue what on earth to wear. These next 4 months are going to be so busy, crazy and fun. Not to mention, I still have to get my house in tip top shape before October. Exhausted yet???

I think one of the main reasons I have still kept my facebook account is that I love looking at other peoples wedding pictures, shower pictures, etc. I love getting ideas. I also love being able to keep up with all my family members and far away friends =)

Anyway, this is an idea I am totally stealing! Brians #1 request is that he wants lots of candles - I think this would look great all around the back room that is all windows.

Alright, just a little idea I wanted to share. Lots to do!
Happy Hump Day!

The Boys in Blue

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BOYS IN BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me first clarify that last night was the first time I have ever been more than willing and super eager to watch the NBA Draft. Brian wasn't even home and I watched it...and recorded it on DVR. Owwwww!!!!

I REALLY wanted to see if John Wall was going to be the #1 pick of the NBA Draft.

And sure enough

The kid no joke brought Kentucky basketball out of the slumps. I asked Brian if the "John Wall Dance" would follow him to the NBA. Recap for those who don't know... Oh yeah, the John Wall Dance definitley took off
He even does his dance in his new Reebox commercial - "The shoe that's like an energy drink for your feet"
Me and John Wall
I'm sooooooo glad Brian pushed me into him to take a picture - even though I look absolutely horrible, I'm wearing my glasses and I was wearing my Ole Miss sweatpants, but I hope he didn't notice! When we saw him, Brian basically told me I would be taking a picture with the next Michael Jordan. I was sold.

The #5 pick, DeMarcus Cousins. We saw Cousins playing basketball the same night we saw John Wall - I got a few pics of him but nothing super great, darnit! Awww Boogie! The SUPER UNCLASSY Mississippi State fans (I am biting my tongue soooooo hard to not type completely inappropriate remarks about Mississippi State...I.LOATHE.THEM.) somehow got ahold of his cell phone number before our game against them and poor Boogie got a million voicemails from dirty Mississippi State fans. So after he did a nasty slam dunk against them, he did this little number And said "Call Me". I would have given them another sign with my hands, but I'm trying to be appropriate.

#14 - Patrick PATTERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course we know who my favorite Patterson is...

We got a picture of me holding Patterson up to the TV when Patrick Patterson got announced, it didn't turn out as great as we wanted it. And he certainly didn't like it, I have the scratch marks to prove it. I'll have to upload the picture later. I know you guys are dyin to see it.

#18 - Eric Bledsoe Do you think he works out??

And #29 pick was Daniel Orton
I don't really know much about Daniel Orton but that he almost screwed us over cause he dropped out of school right after the tournament...almost making us lose the scholarship for next year. But Brian told me since John Wall got a 3.5 GPA, it somehow balanced the whole scholarship thingy out. Thank goodness for John Wall!

The 5 players were all picked in the first round of the draft...making Kentucky the first school EVER to have 5 PLAYERS GO TO THE NBA IN THE FIRST ROUND!!!!!!!! And it was the first year Kentucky had a player BE THE #1 PICK!!!!

3 out of the 5 players were freshman. Let's hope next years freshman class brings as much entertainment as last years.
CONGRATUALTIONS FELLAS!!!

This has been a terrific week, I'll have to recap everything on Sunday.

I Heart Candles

The title says it all. I love candles. I love having candles lit. I love good smelling candles that make the house smell divine. I ESPECIALLY love fall and winter candles the most, I can't get enough of pumpkin, apple, and pine tree scents- (I REFUSE to get a real Christmas tree. We had ONE real tree growing up and it was SUCH A MESS that I have never wanted another real tree. EVER.)

Recently, due to my old age, I've started getting a huge crush on candlesticks and candle holders of all kinds. Especially crystal ones.
(This pic was taken from google, I wish they were mine!!)

One problem with candle holders...the wax! Unfortunatley this is the consequence you get when you actually lite the candles. My mom use to soak candleholders in hot water and scrape the remains off - NOT FUN - and I don't have the time.

So my secret...

Put the candle holders in the freezer.

I swear on it. I don't know the science explanation of it, but somehow the cold freezes and shrinks the wax. I leave it in there (or forget it's in there till I open the freezer back up), take it out when it's super frozen and the wax pops right off!! And it doesn't leave any leftover residue. Sweet!

Lately, we have been putting our actual candle jars in the freezer and reusing the jars.
My favorite are Woodwick candles
We don't have a fire place and the wooden wick (hence the name) sounds like a crackling fire. And it fragrances the entire house. And they come in pretty nice jars with wood tops.
(Sorry, this is a bad pic, I took it on my phone this morning before I left for work - Iphone cameras really aren't very good). See, it's a perfectly good jar. This one is pretty tall so I might start putting pens and pencils in it. Brian comes home with - no joke- 2 new pens everyday that he puts in his pocket at work and forgets about. Seriously, we have enough pens to donate to a college campus.

I put the jars in the freezer, leave/forget about them, take them out, then I take a knife and crack the middle of the hardened wax and they fall right out. Now I have extra jars for cat treats, matches, loose change, etc... (Yeah, had to throw the cat treats in there).

This really is one of my favorite little household tricks. I LOVE reading other people's little tips and tricks around the house.

And speaking of candles...

I have 26 to blow out tomorrow ;)

Backyard Bliss

I've been wanting to put these lights up for a REALLY LONG time... so glad I finally did!!



I loooovvvveee it and want to spend all my time out here!

I have one more side to do, but I'm hoping this will help motivate Brian to clean up the "grill area" a little more.

If your looking for me, I'll be on my back porch ;)

Reupholstering

I had this in my yard sale pile
Someone had bought it for us cause they thought it would match our living room but it wasn't quite my style. It was SUPER close to being sold in my upcoming yard sale, however, I really liked it's function next to the couch. I've been storing magazine's, cat toys, and lots of other random treasures inside and out of eyesight. Plus, we love laying our laptops on top of it while they are charging.

So I decided to make it a little bit more my style.

I bought the same curtain fabric I have in my living room at Hobby Lobby for $22.00. I'm really trying to jazz up the brown with more "steel blue" (Brians definition of the color)
I measured the cube's height and width and made sure I put a little extra fabric on each side. I probably used about a hundred little sewing pins to hold the fabric in place. And then I stapled away.
I guess I could have done a little better getting the fabric to be even on each side, but whose REALLY going to see the bottom but me??


One half done, remind me to iron that crease out later.

I'm so glad I found this wooden rod to help prop this thing open! That made the project go by a lot faster!

More stapling to the top and Ta Da!
I'm sooo proud of it!! Now it can still house misc. items and it fits right in and I still have enough fabric to make some throw pillows.

My audience this time fell asleep on me, I guess he found it kind of boring
This WHITE chair is one of his favorite spots so I have to cover it with towels so he can still sleep here. This is a chair that needs a good upholstery job...one that is more Patterson friendly :) (CRAZY CAT LADY, I KNOW!!)

I'm certainly going to be on the lookout for cheap cubes from now on, I think they would be great in any room for some easy storage.

Since I finished this, I've been contemplating if I'm ready to upholster bigger things. I have TONS of chairs that need a change but I might want to practice on some more smaller things...things that are square and don't need so much detail.

Slacker

Sorry I haven't posted anything in over a week!! I really have been super productive, I just haven't uploaded pics from my camera to the computer yet. Can't wait to show you what we've been working on.

In the meantime, I did take this on my Iphone...maybe it's just me, but I think Patterson is really good at taking pictures!!

Seriously, who could resist this?
Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

Couldn't Resist. HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Open Buffet

So High on the Tide is working on her new buffet and I caaaannnn'tttt waaaaaiiiiittttt to see what she has done!!!! (check out her post on it here)

We inherited an old buffet from Brian's grandmother last summer and I loooovvvveeee switching up the decor on it! This is what I have goin on right now

Actually...this is what I had goin on 2 weeks ago. During my Memorial Day cleaning I rearranged some things. Derby Pattern table runner is off and actually I switched everything to the opposite side.

Brian: "So does the fruit really look that much different on the right side now?" (Sarcasm is VERY strong in this phrase).

Me: "Yes, it was getting old being on the left."

I love this buffet but I love that everytime Brian's mom comes over, she is so happy we have it, that it's a functioning piece of furniture in our house, and that I have have taken good care of it (I polish it about once a week). She always says that Brian's grandmother would be so happy - definitely makes me feel good.

I don't like the handles though - they are a bit too much for my Plain Jane taste. No luck at Hobby Lobby - so this is something else that has been added to my ongoing "look-out" list.

I'd LOOOOVVVEEE to have the dining room be horse themed with big racing pictures and horse decor, not in the budget right now, but one day!

Also, before I end this post, I'd just like to point out that Brian is VERY PROUD of how even he got these 4 pictures up. The laser leveler is one of our best friends. If you don't have one, it would make a GREAT stocking stuffer for the Mister. Wait, am I already thinking about Christmas????
Happy Friday,
Joy

Tis the Season

Tis the season to post lots and lots of pictures of my garden right? Just think, when it is super cold, and snowing, and everything is dead and gloomy outside, you'll want to look at pictures of my garden and dream of spring and summer. Ok, maybe you won't, but I certainly will!!

I can't tell you how much I love basil! LOVE.IT.CAN'T.GET.ENOUGH.

So I had an old wooden box that I got from...wanna guess??? It came from my dad's house. I drilled holes on the bottom and threw some newspaper in there. I also found some random tin buckets that I didn't know what to do with either.

I think this is the greatest idea ever!!! Planter pots ready to be put in the ground. Less trash. Remember, I'm trying really hard to save the world...well, at least trying to decrease my carbon footprint.

I get to admire my lil herb garden every day when I walk to the front door.

I had Brian take a picture of my lil herb garden tonight, look how big everything has gotten, especially the lavender

I LOVE tomatoes and basil, basil pizza, pesto... I need some more recipes with basil.
I'm all ears!

On another note, Brian wants to paint the front door another color (get rid of the red) Any suggestions?

Eat Your Veggies

Alright, drum roll please for the unveiling of my little veggie garden.

Before:

Building:

Let there be veggies!!

Brian has some little seedlings goin on
I'm a little hesitant to see if the seedlings produce anything but ya never know!

I have a little bit of space for a few other things, we have lots of tomatoes, squash, green bell peppers, carrots, onions, and lettuce (the last 3 are the little seedlings).
What else should I try to grow?
Joy

Happy Birthday To Me!

Well not yet, but in 21 days. I'm usually really not excited about my birthday AT ALL! But Brian and I were in my favorite bookstore the other day and look what I saw on their event calendar:


Mary Kay Andrews
discussing and signing

The Fixer-Upper
Wednesday, June 23 at 7:00 pm

Now in paperback, Andrews's Southern charmer begins with junior lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew in the crosshairs of a political bribery investigation. Suddenly unemployed and the victim of a sleazy smear campaign by her former boss, Dempsey decides to take up her father's offer of flipping a recently inherited family home in Guthrie, Georgia. As it turns out, the house needs much more than a fresh coat of paint.


That's my birthday!!!!!! So guess what we will be doing the evening of my big 26?!?!?

Also, go pick up this months edition of "Better Homes and Gardens"

Mary Kay Andrew's super cute beach cottage on Tybee Island is featured (remember this is what I am saving up to rent one day for a girls trip). I think I'm going to bring it with me and have her sign it, teehee.

I'm going to write on her facebook wall and tell her how super excited I am! (I'm not joking at all on this one).

Happy Birthday To Me!
Joy