Emerson Made

Absolutely loving this adorable brand, Emerson Made.

It’s a husband & wife team that left the lights of the big city for greener pastures in the country (and who can blame them with that scenery?) in New York. The items are way out of my price range, but it is just my style. Simple pieces that can be worked into every day life, doing double duty between work and home life.

I can’t afford the clothes, but you better believe I’m asking for this old coin necklace for my birthday.

Go country.

Bethenny: My Idol

I would wear this outfit to work every day if I had it.

Love me some Bethenny Frankel.

The Dirty South

Found these adorable prints today by Brainstorm Print & Design via Design Crush - and I'm, of course, obsessed. They're so clever! Divided up into each region and printed on an 18 x 24. And only $30. Available here.

The West:

The Northeast:

The Midwest:

Aaaaaannnddd the best of all - The South:

Obviously, I just had to order this one. It's going in our dining or living area. So fetch (I'm making it happen Katy Bergman).

Welcome to the dirty south.

Ray of Sunshine

After a much shorter completion time than I expected, I finished the new/additional dresser for my room at the new house! Spray paint is much more my speed than normal paint. With normal paint you have to have patience because you have to sand and prime and paint and poly and blah blah blah. Watching paint dry is freaking boring. Having to wait a whole day between coats sucks. Spray paint, on the other hand, kept this project's time commitment to a minimum which made me a happy happy girl. Patience is NOT my strong suit.

Easy easy project...And another thanks to Allison for the free furniture!

Here's the original:

Beautiful piece of furniture, just needed to be updated to match the rest of my stuff!

What color did I choose? YELLOW! Maybe it's the hot summer weather, but I love the brightness of it. I was originally going to get some Behr paint, but seriously, there was no way I was going to be able to paint over that do-dad in the middle and not poke myself in the eye with the brush after poring over it for hours on end. So I waltzed my butt over to Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon and found a lovely shade of yellow in a $4 Krylon can. Wonderful. I actually went through 4 cans (explanation later).

I removed all the hardware, which probably took longer than the rest of the process because the screws were a little rusty, so it took pliers and various screwdrivers to get them all out. And I was low on resources at my apartment. No sandpaper, so I just wiped the drawers down with a damp washcloth. No newspaper, so I taped old grocery store bags around the base of the drawer so the spray paint wouldn't get all over it. Worked just fine...

Each drawer took 3 good layers to get the color I wanted.



After they were all dried, I filled the original drawer pull holes with spackle putty stuff and sprayed another layer of paint over it.


Then we drilled holes and added new hardware. Might I add, hardware is freaking expensive, especially when you're buying for a 5 drawer dresser. After poring over the options for a good 15 minutes, I decided to go with the cheapest option and just bought 6, just in case I didn't like the way it looked. Well, I like the way it looks and I'm cheap, so I probably won't get pulls for the other two drawers. You really don't need drawer pulls at all, because they easily slide out.

Total time: approximately 4-5 hours
Total cost: $40 (dresser was free, $16 for 4 cans of spray paint, $24 for drawer pulls)

It's my own little ray of sunshine!

Jewel Tones

I'm not really a jewelry person. Most days you'll find me wearing a small ring or two, my watch (although I don't even really wear that that much during the summer), and some stud earrings. Then I found this pretty turquoise beaded/knotted mess of a necklace at Francesca's and I've worn it probably every other day since I got it. It goes with EVERYTHING. I swear, it's like a magic necklace. Skirt and blouse for work? It works. Dress to go out on the weekend? It works. Slouchy t-shirt and shorts to run errands? It works. Magical.

So it got me started looking at some other simple and refined jewels that I'd wear every day and then I came across this blogpost and I became obsessed. I don't really ever wear jewelry in the summer, but if I had any of these gems, I'd definitely change my habits.

$475: way way way wayyyyy out of my price range, but look how pretty...

Don't know that I'd ever wear these, but they're fun to look at!

Perfect colors

LOVE.

Birthday list item #1

Perfect with an oversized denim button-down

The adult take on beads. Can't get any better than candy stripes.

Kyle Richards wore a pair of earrings like these on an episode of RHOBH and I've wanted them ever since.

I have the prettiest birthstone.

Birthday list item #2 (...actually...tied with #1)

5 rings for $68? Yes please.

In the words of Benjamin Barry (I think I have a problem with watching 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'): "Frost yourself."

Color Picker

T-minus 3 weeks until we settle into our new house and room prep is in full swing. I'm still not 100% sure that I can actually paint my walls...unfortunately, I dream about paint swatches so I'm really hoping it will happen. But I do have a new piece of furniture! And even better, it came free of charge thanks to my wonderful friend Allison. Few things can top new-to-me furniture, but the word "free" is one of them. So double win.

It's a beautiful dresser. Yes, I do already have a dresser, but who would turn down a free piece of furniture? So it's sitting in my parents' garage, waiting to be moved down to Norman. Not sure what I'll transform it into, but it will be somewhere in my room, storing something. My closet will be much smaller than my current walk-in one that's about the size of my bathroom, so I'm betting it will more than likely end up actually storing clothes.

Here's a snapshot (we took the drawers out to unload it):


Pretty isn't it? The white part is like an antique, cracked white, which exactly matches the rest of my room. The wood is light tan colored. I'm thinking about possibly painting that part (the drawers, corners and top of the dresser). I'm going to see how it looks with the rest of my furniture and then decide! But while looking at paint swatches, I came across a few I love...

The Marigold color at the bottom is the one I'm really looking at.

But I think I might end up going with this one for the drawers...

The antique-y white color that's already on there.

My bedspread is in this color range - I can't wait to see how it looks together!

And here's some ideas for my walls...I know gray seems boring, but I really think it could look cute. Very open and airy, which is exactly what I'm going for.

Can't wait to get painting!

What's in Your Bag?

One of the great mysteries of the world. Boys often ask "Why the hell is your bag so big? Why do you have to lug that thing around? Won't that cause arthritis or osteoporosis or some other bone and joint disease?" If you've ever seen 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,' you probably remember the scene where Benjamin and his friends "accidentally" knock over Andie's purse so they can look through it.

"A woman's purse...it's her source of power. There are many dark and dangerous things in there that we, the male species, should know nothing about."
-Benjamin Barry

It's true. Boys could never understand because all they have to worry about having by their side every day is their wallet and cell phone. No make up, hair do-dads, camera, lists, nail polish, etc. So unbelievably unfair. And yet, what would we do without our "source of power"?

1. THE bag: I spent a good amount of time dreaming about this purse and spend a good part of graduation and birthday money on it last summer, but it's been one of the greatest investments I've ever made (you know, besides my car and my education). I've worn it literally every day since I got it and that's why it's stuffed with all this crap. And this is after I've cleaned it out.

2. Keys to my other great investment - Miss Goldie Hawn, my CR-V.

3. Vaseline for chapped lips

4. Red lipstick - the most makeup-y item in my bag.

5. Checkbook & wallet - if only I balanced my checkbook more than once a year...thank goodness for online banking.

6. Nail polish & topcoat - never know when you're going to need a touch up.

7. Hand sanitizer - definitely not a germ-a-phobe, but it's always nice to have.

8. Mints

9. Hand lotion

10. Sunglasses

11. Glasses - That case adds about 10 pounds to the weight of my purse, I swear. It's like I'm working out my triceps every time I lift my bag.

12. Aspirin - I have a headache 80% of the time.

13. Lip gloss - I don't carry makeup in my purse because (a) it would make it even heavier and (b) I'm too lazy to actually reapply it later in the day. If it doesn't look good in the morning, it's not going to get any better. So I don't even bother.

14. Hair bands, bobby pins & a headband - I have bobby pins & rubber bands in the pockets of every skirt and pair of shorts and pants I own. Every single one.

15. Reciepts, lists & old paychecks - Most people put receipts in their wallet, but I stuff them in my purse then organize them whenever I happen to clean it out. In case this post doesn't clarify this point, I'm a list person. I have grocery lists, lists of paint colors for my new room, list of bills to pay this month, lists of new arts and crafts projects, etc. You get the idea. I used to pride myself on being organized. Now I'm not so sure.

16. Camera. Duh.

17. Live United (United Way) window cling - I guess this should be on my car now that it's been in my purse for 5 or 6 months. If you want one, let me know. I'll hook you up.

18. iPod shuffle

What's in your bag?