Blown Away...

After waiting seven long months after buying the tickets, the time came to drive to Orlando for the best concert- Carrie Underwood. I have been a fan of Carrie Underwood since she won American Idol. She is seriously amazing !! 

My friend and I were so excited to get away for the weekend... So we headed on down and stayed at the Crown Plaza Orlando Downtown. We chose it because it was super close to the concert, clean & nice, and they provided a shuttle to & from the concert which was convenient. 

Our room was so spacious & staff was extremely polite, so I would definitely stay there again. Oh yeah... and the shower was ah-mazzingg! It had a standard shower head, a rain shower head, and 4 body sprayers-- it was heavenly. 

Carrie Underwood is more incredible in person, then she is on TV or CD's, which is hard to come by from most artists. After a few opening songs, Carrie started chatting it up with the audience & to my surprise she was so, so sick! You almost couldn't understand her when she was talking; but you would have never noticed she was sick while she was performing. She's a true artist. 

Her outfit was spectacular, she had a floating stage, glitter/confetti, beach balls, etc... I would definitely, without a doubt go to a million more of her concerts. 

The next day we headed on out to IKEA. My friend had never been before and there was no way on earth I would go to Orlando & not stop into good ole IKEA. I seriously could stay in that store and browse forever. It is really too bad that the closest one to Jacksonville is Orlando. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for this shopping trip, but I still made out with some goodies.

I got a new lamp for our bedroom, a cute little planet/utensil holder for the kitchen, and a super cute blanket ("Kardashian" blanket as my bestie calls it). They all look so good in my house, which makes me want to take another shopping trip for more stuff.

Plant Holder Hung- Thanks to Hubs! 

New Glass Lamp (Left) || Old White Lamp (Right)

My husband has taken over my "Kardashian" blanket

It was a nice getaway & I had such a great time-- cannot wait for another one with my bestie. 

Christmas has come & gone...

Am I the only one who just can not believe that Christmas has come & gone... And the New Year {2013} is approaching fasstt!?

This Christmas was special to me several reasons... This was our first Christmas that we were able to enjoy in our first home together. And let me tell you... I was decorating and adding a few last minute touches to our house up to the day of Christmas. 

We celebrated our One Year in our home together with our family for a cookie exchange, which was oh so yummy! Now that we have purchased our home, it makes me want to always have family & friends over to enjoy it. 

I was also excited because it was my little baby nephews first Christmas & hubs and I bought him all these cute teething toys & such... Baby Caleb so so adorable and I absolutely love watching my husband love on him. I pray that this time next year we are able to start a family of our own because I know he's going to be an amazing Daddy someday. 

Starting new traditions with breakfast at our house on Christmas morning. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, OJ & more....

Driving around looking at Christmas lights, watching Christmas movies, exchanging gifts with my loved ones-- they're all things that I look forward to doing. 

People are so creative when it comes to holiday decorating... especially when it comes to outside lights. I just wonder how much their electric bill is at the end of the holiday season. 

I have already been eyeing some cute Christmas decorations on Pinterest for next year... I hate to wish the year away, but man... this is the best time of the year ! 

Christmas (Wish) List...

I know that you're all probably thinking... A twenty-eight twenty-one year old with a Christmas (Wish) List?! Damn right ! You're never too old to ask good ole Santa Claus for some goodies.

It is crazy to think about how much our Christmas List's change from year to year. When I was five years old I wanted Polly Pockets, Magic Nursery Baby, and Little Miss Mermaid Doll...

Ten years later, I wanted anything and everything Coach and Abercrombie & Fitch...

Now I all I can think of is the endless list of goodies that I want need for our new house (which by the way is 1 year old this week). Without a doubt I am on Santa's Good List, but I am pretty sure if he put all of my Christmas (Wish) List items in his sleigh it wouldn't go anywhere...  

Well if you know me then you know that any Christmas List of mine will absolutely, without a doubt contain several items from my favorite store Pottery Barn.

I have been eyeing the His/Hers bath rugs for months, so I finally decided to just get them, but they are back-ordered until February (Boo!). The clock & glass lamps are the finishing touches that I need for our room. The metal letters- I want to spell out EAT in our kitchen & I think they would so pretty in our kitchen. And the monogram mugs-- well they're just too cute !! And what better way to drink hot coco when it gets chilly outside.

I am an accessories addict !! So when I saw walking through Target and saw this bowl and owl I seriously loved them. "Where will you put these?" is always the question I get from my husband when I fall in love with things like this. So to answer that question, I have no clue... but I will find somewhere comfy for them. 

Our loft needs a chair & this one looks like it would go just right. 

So know you can see why it would be quite hard for me to get all these goodies from good ole Santa Claus in his sleigh... but a girl can wish, right?!

DIY Christmas Goodies...

15 sleeps until Christmas?! Yikes !! Time is flying by so quickly... I want it to slloooowww dooowwnnn.

So lately my crafty side has come out, which if you know me... then you know that this could turn out amazing or an absolute disaster. I would like to assure you that this time around my craft sessions turned out just right.

So this Christmas season, I have really been loving garland- paper & felt are ones I like most. And I got some inspiration from my favorite blog, Little Baby Garvin. So last Saturday I dragged (literally!!) my husband to Michael's to pick up some supplies for my DIY garland project. 

You need the following: 3 sheets of card stock (red, white, and a pink glitter); hot glue gun (warning: you'll probably burn the shit out of your fingertips), and some string. When we got home, I traced the shape of garland I wanted on paper & cut it out. Then I made a million (it seriously felt like it) little cutouts & cut them out. Lastly, glue each & everyone one onto the string... and BAM ! you have your pretty garland. I hung ours on a mirror in our entry way. According to my husband, this was my first successful DIY project & I only used the F bomb 20 a few times. 

I love it !! & I seriously am thinking about putting some up year round... I'll definitely be changing the colors too. 

Now, on to the next craft... Cinnamon ornaments. They're so yummy smelling (but oh so messy to make). What you'll need is some apple sauce, a bottle of cinnamon, a straw, cookie cutters, rolling pin, and plastic wrap. 

It is pretty simple-- Just mix the ingredients (3/4 cup of applesauce and entire bottle of cinnamon) in a bowl, then grab a handful of the mixture & roll it out on the plastic wrap. Put your cookie cutter to use, tear off excess dough, and use a straw to make a hole. You'll then bake in oven on 200 for 2 hours. When the cinnamon ornaments are finished baking, place on a baking rack until completely dry. 

Warning: Your house is going to smell amazing!! 

I placed the mine in a jar in the kitchen for now. I am sure I will end up hanging them on the tree or maybe on giving them out on gifts. Who knows?! 

We are having a little cookie exchange/celebrating a year in our home this weekend, so I have got some more DIY crafts up my sleeve. 

I'll write about it soon...Don't get too excited!!!

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

From the minute I knew what Pottery Barn was I became hooked, obsessed, in love... So it would only be right that our first real Christmas tree (downstairs tree) had to be inspired by good ole PB. So here was my inspiration tree...

After being temped with the tons of PB magazines and falling in love with every single ornament on the Arctic tree, I knew I needed to begin shopping. I truly lucked out because I was able to purchase tons of the ornaments when PB had their 30% off ornaments, so I was absolutely thrilled! 

Although the majority of the ornaments on the tree are from the PB Arctic tree, I did add some clear class bulbs & snowflakes from Target and some cute little woodland creatures from Walgreens. 

Here are some of the ornaments that I used on the tree- I stuck with golds, silvers, & creams/whites.

Warning: My tree is not as big and extravagant; nor does it have the impeccable view. 

The tree is still a work in progress... (Shhh ! Don't tell my husband!) I am pleased with the way it looks thus far; although there are a few bare sections that need to be filled, but don't you worry... I will not have a problem doing so. 

We also have a fake tree upstairs in our loft. It was our first tree we ever had together and was the perfect size for when we lived in our apartment. It has an assortment of ornaments that we have collected throughout the past few years. They're so adorable and I love every single one of them. I seriously do not know how I ever went with just one Christmas tree. I love having two because I love all of my ornaments so much I wouldn't want to leave any out. 

17 sleeps until Christmas... Goodnight! 

17 Sleeps Until Christmas...

Decorating the entire house with Christmas decorations has officially began and I am LOVING every single minute of it. This time last year all of our belongings were packed in boxes and we were moving into our first home- we were so busy we didn't really get to enjoy all that the Holidays have to offer. So this year I am taking full advantage of everything!

When I say everything, I mean two Christmas trees (upstairs and downstairs), glittery DIY garland, wreaths, and icicle lights outside, Christmas movies always on (unless Duck Dynasty is on), and baking cinnamon ornaments in the oven...

Bath and Body Works snowflake plugins (Winter) in every room

Snowmen galore-- Call me what you will...a hoarder or obsessed, I don't care . 

I get so excited with the holidays especially Christmas and I want the time to slow down... we wait all year for this time to come and I am not ready for it to fly by. 

So... Santa Claus, take your time in the North Pole...  

Long time, No Post...

Finally I am free !! By free I am referring to not having to study for a board exam for work... (which I passed- yahoo !!) Wow! Talk about time consuming.

Well... Halloween & Thanksgiving have come and gone. And Christmas is right around the corner. How come it seems like it takes forever for the Holidays to come, but once Halloween comes everything after flies by.

Since I pretty much sucked at blogging for the past 2 months, I am going to play catch up with some Halloween pictures of our oh so scary house... I seriously was in love with our entry way. The bats were cute and super easy to make. All you need is: Black Card Stock, Scotch Tape, and an outline of a bat (Mr. Google can help with that).

I put out a bowl full of sweets for the Trick-or-Treaters a few days before Halloween & for some reason I kept finding little wrappers all over the place. Unfortunately for my Husband, we don't have any cute little pets or children that he could have blamed it on. I also put out our favorite Halloween candy- CANDY CORN! It also gave me an excuse to buy a cute glass canister that I've been eyeing... Sadly, the other day when I was putting away all of our Fall/Halloween decoration & candy I dropped it and it shattered all over the damn floor. 

RIP my pretty glass canister... 

Raise your hand if you're obsessed with Target? Yup, both my hands are raised !! I found these super, scary spiders cupcake holders there and I had to have them. I love them (and they were a hit with family & friends too) !!

All of our Halloween decorations are neatly packed away and waiting until next year.