Long Time, No Talk

Well it has been a while since I blogged last; I decided that I needed a break from blogging. After we sold our townhome back in September, I really didn't have much of a desire to blog. All of our things were in storage, we moved in with my mom & I truly just didn't have much to talk about. In January when we started to build our new home, I decided that it was something that I wanted to keep somewhat private. So I made the blog private & continued on about our journey with building our new home. 

We've been in our house now several months & things are slowly but surely coming along. And I thought I would give another go round with the good ole blog because I enjoy blogging. I enjoy decorating, shopping & being festive & I like sharing things with others because I like reading other people's blogs. I am going to try to be more consistent this time around with blogging. I am hoping for it to be a place that I can always keep memories, so I can look back on it one day & remember how much time I had on my hands for cooking, decorating & crafts. And also look back at how much life has changed & will change. 

Here's a little sneak peak of some things that I plan on sharing soon from our new house :)

Our house may not be the biggest house with the fanciest decorations but it is our home that we have worked so hard to have. A home that we will create wonderful memories, create new traditions, & someday bring home our children. 

Dresses On My Mind

With the weather getting a little warmer & more muggy each week, I can't help but have a one track mind set on light, airy dresses. And since Spring is finally here, for Floridians that means hot weather is on its way & here to stay for quite a while. 

So I have rounded up some of my favorite dresses that I would love to have for the upcoming hot weather. The majority of them are completely out of my budget, but a girl can dream.. right!?

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I am a lover of a unique backs on dresses, so this is right up my alley. And I really like the pink ombre which it perfect for Spring. 

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The colors, side cutouts & tie-up back on this dress are amazing! I feel like this dress could be worn for so many different occasions-- a cover-up for the beach, out for lunch paired with some sandals and/or worn out on a date with your man. 

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There is something about this dress that screams Spring to me. I have always loved a white dress & this one is gorgeous. This is such an appropriate dress for all occasions, especially work. It is hard to find dresses for work that are "corporate" approved. It might be a little risky with all the lace cutouts, but it would be worth a shot. Right?!

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One of my favorite style dresses, other than maxi dresses, are one-shoulder dresses. The white ruffles on this dress are perfect! 

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The gorgeous blue color of the back of this dress is what caught my eye. I really like that when you're looking at the front of the dress, you would never imagine the major cut-out in the back. I love it! And the best part, it is about $50 off right now. 

Well, enough about my million dollar favorite dresses. 

I hope you all have a great Monday! 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday guys !! Man, am I glad it is the weekend finally... although I am on-call all freaking weekend until Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing major happens, I would like to have a relaxing weekend. 

I rounded up a few goodies that I am loving right now for our house dirt (ground still hasn't been broken yet!). Let's talk about this incredibly amazing, gorgeously ridiculous rug from West Elm. I literally am dying over it! It is everything that I have dreamed of & more. I know it sounds crazy that I am talking about a rug this way, but I love it! It is quite on the pricey side, so I will definitely be saving for this beauty. Let's just hope that this is an item that West Elm keeps for a while.
I have also had my eye on this Natural Tree Stump Side Table from West Elm for the longest time. I think I have added it to my cart online about 2309824 times & have yet to purchase it.
I showed my mom & she swears that we can make one ourselves. Looks like she better get her gloves & axe and get a move on it through the woods in her backyard (I guess if you chop your own wood, it'll warm you twice)! 

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 I know I have said it before but Threshold for Target is great!! This beige tufted bench & wood sunburst mirror would be great additions to the look I am going for, for our new house. I am thinking that the bench would be awesome to put at the end of our bed in our master bedroom. And this mirror, well I am thinking that it would look nice in our the nook. 

As much as I love all things that I keep finding all over the place, I am trying not to buy anything until we move into our house. Surely, all of these great things I am finding won't be available when our house is completed. I have an idea of the look I want to decorate with but need to get the true feeling of our house & the household things that we already have. 

Hope you all have a good weekend !! :)

Random Thoughts

A few days ago, my husband's friend (who lives near our new house) stopped by to see if there was any progress on our house & he said that there was a permit box on our lot (happy dance!!). Since I am obsessed & have to take a picture of every step in the house building process, I drove by & was ready to snap a picture. And it turns out that the permit sign was for our neighbors & all the wood, yeah that was for our neighbors too. So it remains a pile of dirt. On the plus side, the longer they take... the longer we have to save & be at my moms (I sure am going to miss it when we leave).

A little random, but... I have been loving the Florida weather lately (Besides yesterday, it was freaking hot!!). With the high's being in the 60's and 70's during the day & with a cool chill at night. Gosh, if I could find a place to live with this kind of weather all year round, I would be thrilled! It is perfect because you can actually sit outside or go for a walk without sweating to death.
And the night skies have been quite beautiful lately... And to top it off, my flowers are blooming & they are so gorgeous (guess they didn't get the memo that it is still winter for a few weeks)!

Other than loving my gorgeous daisies & the weather, I have also been loving this awesome popcorn from Target & my mom's homemade chili topped with crispy crowns. Gosh! They both are so good! I have had this popcorn before (in the Salty & Sweet flavor) and have recently been reading all the raves about this the frosted sugar cookie flavor, so I knew I had to try it. One word- amazing! It is a perfect sweet snack after eating my mom's scrumptious chili. I am thinking about doing a post with the recipe next time we make it. Maybe in the next few weeks or so, while the chilly weather is still hanging around. 

Well, hope you enjoyed my very random thoughts!! 

I hope you all have a good week... we're almost to Friday (boo! to being on-call for the next week straight!!)

Monday Munchies

One of our most favorite meals that we cook at least once a week is tacos. Normally, just your normal beef tacos with lots of delicious toppings and a side of beans. As much as we love to eat them, the same beef tacos get a little boring each week. I figured that I would browse good ole Pinterest to get some new ideas for our favorite meal. 

There are such a wide variety of different ways to spruce up tacos & they all look so delicious! When we were on vacation we had pulled beef brisket tacos & they were incredible. I have been really wanting to try a crispy chipotle chicken taco & found this recipe which looks scrumptious! There is a vegetarian taco that I have been wanting to try too, they are the honey-lime sweet potato/black bean/corn tacos. 

And then there are weeks that I want Mexican food, but not necessarily tacos. I found some yummy things that we can switch out for tacos every now and then. Doesn't this Vegan 7-Layer Mexican dip look delish!? 

So what are some of your favorite mexican dishes?! 

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Nook Inspiration

When we first started looking for a new home, there were two major items on my wish list. The home had to have a nook area in the kitchen & a separate dining room. So many of the models these days have done away with dining rooms, which I think is completely absurd. When we finally found our house with both, I was thrilled! My husband and I are definitely not ones to have a super fancy dining area, but I love the idea of having a separate dining space for holidays & get togethers. And I'll be honest, it is just one more room I get to decorate.

I have been on a pinning frenzy lately, trying to find some different inspiration for our kitchen nook. I say nook, but the space is just about the same size as our dining room.  My plan is to really keep the space airy with light colors, since our kitchen is going to have maple cabinets & semi-dark granite. The space has a window on one wall & a sliding glass door on the other, so there will be a lot of natural light coming in. On the blank wall across from the sliding glass door, I am planning to do a mini gallery wall with mismatched frames with a mixture of photos & art. I am obsessed with this piece of art & thinking that it will be my key inspiration for the gallery wall & nook color scheme. 

For furniture, I am swaying towards either a white or light wood table- I have had my eye on these three tables from Ikea. We are going to take a trip to Orlando soon, to check out the quality & actual size of them. They have lots of different chairs that I plan on checking out as well. 

Here are some of my inspirations I found on Pinterest...

I love, love, love the look of chairs with the faux fur draped over it. Mark my word, I will have this in our house. I am not sure what chairs it'll be draped over but it'll look perfect. 

I cannot wait for our house to start building- it all truly feels so surreal still. I have never wanted to unpack & be reunited with all my belongings as bad as I do now. I keep remembering all the wonderful things that we already have. 

Have any of you found any tables and chairs similar to any in my inspiration pictures? If so, let a girl know !! :) 

Kitchen Accessories

Now that I know exactly what my kitchen is going to look like, I cannot help but to be super excited!! I can envision cooking scrumptious dinners, serving yummy appetizers from on the bar, and well... just hanging out in there forever! 

We have all the kitchen necessities (packed to the ceiling in our storage unit), but since we're getting a new kitchen I want some new stuff to go along with it! 

I have always had the biggest obsession with Anthropologie's house & home goods. My ultimate favorite would have to be the latte bowls. They come in lots of different colors (my favorite set is the "blue") & come in a set of six for $30 (awesome price!). 

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If there was one thing that we truly need for our new house it would be new flatware & a quality cutting board. For our wedding we got 1 set of flatware & the rest were old ones from my mom. So we most definitely need some & I really like this gold flatware set. I like it because it is different than what you would normally see in stores. It is a little pricey, so I am keeping my eye on it to go on sale. As for a cutting board, I love the look & durability of wood cutting boards. I found this one from West Elm & really cannot wait to check this off my wish list soon. 

For the longest time, I have been looking for a nice cake stand. I've seen them used for actual cake stands, but have also seen them used for drink stands as well which I really like. Most are pretty expensive, but the cost per use seems reasonable enough to purchase one. I found this jade cake stand &  pink milk glass cake stand from Shop Sweet Lulu. I have bought party supplies from them in the past & the quality of their goods are great!

So what are some must haves that you cannot live without in your kitchen?