Pre-Anniversary Post!

I cannot even believe that our one-year wedding anniversary is on Sunday! This time last year, we had friends and family flying in from all over the country, and we were busy wrapping all the loose ends. It was honestly the best weekend of my life :)

This weekend, Keith and I are headed to Chicago to celebrate. We're going to a Cubs game, going to do some shopping and sightseeing, and I am really looking forward to some amazing food! I can't wait to enjoy some relaxing time with my husband!

Catch y'all when I get back :)

Stitch Fix 2.0

Last week I received my second Fix! As I opened the box, I honestly wasn't super impressed. :( 

But I gave it a shot, and tried it all on:

Top left: I was really on the fence about this green spotted shirt, and almost didn't keep it. The price was a bit high, at $68. But it's really comfy, a great color and really versatile. 

I tried it on with these black leggings ...

And also wore it this past weekend to Country Fest ....

This hot pink cardigan -- I am in love with! The fabric is SO soft and comfy and I love that I can dress it up or down, and it's great now in the office when it's chilly!

Then there was this beauty. Out of the box, it seemed too boxy and I didn't think it would look that great. But everyone I showed it to loved it. It's so different, and I haven't seen anything like it! I wore it out for drinks with turquoise shorts and to work with a mint green skirt and nude flats. Adorbs.

 

Yes, I was double fisting. But just for this photo :)

So those were the three items I kept! I also got an orange bubble necklace, but I have two so I immediately put it back. Then were the gray jeans that I wanted to keep SO badly. But they were a tad bit too tight and uncomfortable. 

Those two things went back, and I signed up for another Fix! You could say I'm becoming addicted :) It will be here tomorrow and I'll be posting a preview on Instagram! 

How to Paint a Striped Wall

I am so excited to share this project with you today!

 

 As soon as we moved in, I knew that I wanted a striped wall, and the staircase wall in our living room was the perfect one. It's the first thing you see when you walk in our kitchen door.

I stared at the wall for almost three months before finally tackling the project. This was my inspiration post:

(Source)

And here is what I started with:

 

Ok, so I had already made my measurements when I realized I didn't have a starting photo :)

List of things you'll need:

measuring tape & pencil (we actually don't have ONE pencil in our house, so I used eyeliner!)

level

painters tape

accent color paint of your choosing

ALOT of patience :)

The first thing I did was measure the height of my wall. I knew that I didn't want stripes that were too thin, so I kept playing around with the numbers to find a stripe size that worked. My wall height was 98", so I had 14 stripes that were 7" tall. There is no exact science to figuring this out, you just have to play with the numbers to find what works for your wall. Measure every 7" down the wall and make a small mark on the corner.

Then you begin taping! Taping the wall was the most tedious part of this project, it probably took me close to an hour. I taped in small sections at a time, using a level to make sure the line was straight. Although time consuming, this part wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would have been.

 

Then comes the fun part! I used an angled brush for the painting. A roller brush would have been much faster, but the sections were too small, and I needed to be very precise. Paint one coat, let dry for 30 minutes.

 

 



 



I only let it dry for the 30 minutes recommended before applying a second coat. As soon as I was done with the second coat, I immediately (and carefully!!) removed the painters tape. I didn't want the tape and paint getting too "stuck" and risk pulling the paint off when we removed the tape.

 

 



The finished project! I am absolutely obsessed with how the wall came out :) It's really amazing what a little bit of paint can do! We let it dry overnight, and this is how the wall currently looks:

 

 



This fun table was a Target find earlier this year. I actually bought it the day after we moved into this house! I think the blue is the perfect pop of color against the neutal wall.

 

I am still deciding how to decorate this wall, although I have a few ideas. One or two photos, maybe the "M" that is on the back of our front door? I want something simple and not too busy.

I think that my house is forever going to be a work in progress. It's been taking me a really long time to finish one section or room. It's almost like I need to spend time in the space and make small changes as we go. So hopefully sometime soon, I'll figure out what I need to finish this wall.

Ooooh you know what would look awesome? A gold sunburst mirror! If you see one, let me know :) 

 

Stitch Fix: a Review

Let me start off by saying that if you have not yet heard of Stitch Fix, pay very close attention to this post. I promise that it will change your life! Okay, maybe that's a litttttle on the dramatic side, but I am super excited to share this with you!

Stitch Fix is a clothing subscription service. You sign up, completely this crazy long and detailed style profile (this part is very important!) and then pay a $20 styling fee per box. Your stylist picks 5 things for you based on your profile and sends them to you in a neat little package. You can request specific items, items for a special occasions, ect. You try the items on at home, and have three days to decide to keep or return something. If you buy something, the $20 styling fee gets taken off the price of your total purchase. If you love everything and want to keep it all, you get 25% off AND the $20.

I filled out my profile, paid the $20 and scheduled my first Fix. I was so excited to get home from work to this little box on my doorstep. It was like Christmas morning!

All wrapped in tissue! Took everything in me to take a photo before tearing into it :)

All five items laid out

Item #1 -- A striped fit & flare dress that I loved the second I took it out of the box

Item #2 -- I am a HUGE fan of maxi dresses, and this one was so comfortable and the perfect length for petite little me

Item #3 -- A lightweight, stripe flowy sweater

Item #4 - A pretty dark purple, jersey top with draping in the front

Item #5 - A linen-blend top that sort-of wrapped in the front.

Ultimately, I loved everything (or the idea of everything) that they sent me. The material of items #3 and #5 weren't my favorite, and the linen-blend one felt a little big. Those were immediate no's. The purple top I reallllly wanted to love enough to keep, but I couldn't get the draping to "fall" right, so I decided to send that one back too. Item #1 was an instant keeper. I wanted to wear it nonstop 24/7, and at only $68, I had to keep it.

 

 

I struggled with the maxi dress for awhile. I LOVED it. It fit amazingly, the fabric was so comfortable and it was very flattering. Ultimately, it went back and I'm still kind of second guessing that decision. But I'm trying to be practical here, and I own two other striped maxi dresses already. Plus it's the middle of August and I'm thinking about fall clothes already, so I really couldn't justify the $85 on it. Had I found this item back in May or June, I would have snatched it up in a heartbeat.

 

 

I logged onto my account online, filled out the reasons why I was sending the four items back, and made more specific requests for my second fix. Which I've already scheduled to arrive on Friday 8/16. That's the beauty of this service, I can order as many fixes as I want, or that my budget allows :)

 

 

 

Loved it so much I wore it to work the next day and got a MILLION compliments on it!

If you're interested in trying out Stitch Fix, please feel free to use my referral code and then let me know what you think!!

 

http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3144094     

 

a reminder.

Today's post is going to be short and to the point. It's something that has been tugging on my heart strings and that I needed to be reminded of, and sharing it helps me keep at the forefront of my mind.

I am the world's most impatient person. Sometimes I think that things take longer to happen for me because it's God's way of reminding me to slow down. Have faith. Trust that it WILL all work out.

He knows the secrets of my heart, and my deepest desires in life. Who am I to ever doubt that He won't bless me with all the things I could ever want and need? God is so good, and I am eternally grateful for all that I have been blessed with.

Weekend in Pictures: SoWa Recap

I had the best weekend, one of the best in a loooong time. We puttered around our house like a little old couple, doing yard work and cleaning out our insanely messy basement. I am long overdue for a house update post, so that will be coming shortly!

No matter what house drama we've been/will continue to go through, I love our yard and outdoor space. It makes me so happy.

And a shout out to my husband, who spent over 3 hours mowing, weeding and cleaning it all up while I was out shopping :) He's such a good hubby!!

Sunday I had a little "sister day" with my younger sister. All summer I've been telling her that I wanted to check out SoWa ... a vintage flea market/craft fair/farmers market/ food truck extravaganza. Seriously, how awesome does that sound? Every Sunday at this old brick building in Southie, it comes alive. I felt so hip :)

FOOD TRUCKS!

This made me smile ... this city will never be the same, forever united. #bostonstrong

I loveee vintage-one-of-a-kind pieces....this place was dangerous!

Gorgeous mid-summer day to be outside :)

All the craft booths!

LOOK at how fresh and amazing these look! I wanted to buy it all.....

....and almost did. How scrumptious do these berries look?

Ahh the food truck parking lot.....yummy yummy

My sister chose this place .... crepe sandwiches. My sister is a lover of all things French, sandwiches included!

My lunch! I was so pleased that the trucks had clearly marked food allergy info, so I knew these were GF! I had grilled chicken, with a tomato/cucumber salad and fresh hummus! oh, and french fries. Do you know how hard GF fries are to find??

These were my best finds of the day!! I have a very special project in mind for these maps one day, but for now I am excited to hang them over our bed......Gunner tried to photo bomb :)

"the world is your oyster"

Checking them out ..... these maps were vintage, original prints from 1939.

And of course, my weekend would not be complete without an evening walk with Gunner. I am so thankful that we live in such a nice, quiet neighborhood. These walks are my way to unwind and relax!

Always has to lead the way!

"Hmmm wait, what's over here mama?"

Isn't he the cutest? Love his little butt.

There you have it .... how was YOUR weekend??

Anniversary Planning

I seriously *cannot* believe that in less than one month, Keith and I will be celebrating our one-year anniversary. Everyone says that it goes by in the blink of an eye, and boy does it ever!

Since our anniversary is on Labor Day weekend, we lucked out with another long weekend this year. Since I can't take off any additional days from work right now, it was the perfect amount of time to do a long weekend away! Our criteria was someplace relatively close, we didn't want to spend more than x amount of dollars, and we both wanted it to be somewhere we had never been.

We ended up choosing:

CHICAGO!!!

I am so super excited about this weekend away, I can't even stand it. We got non-stop, direct flights from Boston...flying time is a little over 2 hours...found a great deal on a hip, boutique hotel and came in under budget. Score!

Since we've haven't been before, I am googling and researching ideas on places to eat and things to do! We'll be there for three full days, which I think is a perfect amount of time :)

Any of my fellow blogger friends been to Chicago before? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

psst....even though this is "technically" our anniversary gift to each other, I had the best idea yesterday and am surprising Keith the weekend before our anniversary. Since he sometimes checks in and reads my blog, I can't post the details yet but I can't wait to see the look on his face!