Summer HOMA Love

Due to the unearthly 110 degree heat outside, I am currently holed up next to a vent in shorts & a sports bra, gulping ice water like it's my job and taking in the Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family. I'd much rather be outside at ANY body of water, whether it's the lake or my sprinkler, however, this heat wave we're currently experiencing (also known as a normal Oklahoma summer) is making it a little difficult to even step outside to walk to the car, much less exert any sort of energy in traveling somewhere. I'm having to remind myself that this is my favorite season...the following photos are doing a good job of convincing me.

beautiful oklahoma summer

best fried chicken you'll ever eat is located in Okarche, Oklahoma at Eischen's Bar. Just fyi.

Here are some of my favorite things about summer, in no particular order...

• fresh fruit
• watermelon seed spitting contests (hate to toot my own horn, but I usually win these. That's not a challenge or anything...)
• mason jars & their many uses. Who knew you could use them as hanging candle holders?
• MARGARITAS. Original, watermelon, strawberry, swirled, blended, on the rocks - you name it, I'll drink it.
• SANGRIA. Fresh fruit & wine? Genius, obviously.
• MOJITOS.
• PUNCH. (with alcohol, duh.)
• day drinking (I miss college.)
• patio drinking (Am I starting to sound like I have a problem?)
• 4th of July - my favorite holiday. I love America and I love red, white & blue.
• Hot weather (though not 110 degree weather. That's a little excessive.)
• Bathing suits. Although I don't like shopping for them (get real, what girl does?), they are the most comfortable thing when it's hot.
• fried chicken. It's just better when it's summer.
• LAKE LAKE LAKE LAKE LAKE
• beach, wish we had one here
• driving down the less-traveled country roads just for the heck of it, windows down, blasting Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert, sipping on an ice cold Dr. Pepper.
• not having to wear makeup (when I'm not at work)
• not having to straighten, curl, etc. my hair (when I'm not at work). The au-natural, imperfect wave look is so so summery, according to me.
• fishtail braids
• bright bright nail polish
• long dresses & short shorts
• sitting outside in the evenings, listening to the cicadas and the train & watching fireflies
• outdoor concerts (Tim Mcgraw & EYB, Fort Sill, 4th of July, summer '09...awesome)
• popsicles
• fireworks & sparklers
• BBQ yum yummmm
• sandals
• trips to visit family & friends
• sweet ice tea, of course. McCallister's has some of the best.
• floating the river: best way to spend an afternoon

What are your favorite things about this season (besides this gorgeous weather)?

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!