Friday's Fashion Forward

My fashionista friend Nikki has been upping her blog game lately. She is constantly posting quick & creative posts about anything fashion. From accessories to shoes to trends to outfits, she is teaching me things daily.

Recently, she posted about neon. Coincidentally there is a great country song out with the same name (tune in Monday for the hit). Part of why I love reading her blog is that she will take a designer look and show you how to get it for less. You know for the normal people who shop at normally priced stores? In her neon post, she explained how she scored her neon yellow satchel from Target for a low $25. Not bad to make a fashion statement and be budget conscious.

I just happened to be strolling the aisles there myself when I spotted her find. Now I am not as bold as her, so I opted for the blue clutches (2 for $19.99). Still a tint of neon but not too much to blind me.

And I couldn't leave without finding a fun outfit to match my new purses...so I grabbed this turquoise and navy one-piece jumper for $30.

I have an event in mind that I am thinking of putting this ensemble together...stay tuned for a complete outfit pic as we venture further into spring!

DIY Painted Vases

I've been meaning to knock a few DIY projects off my Pinterest board but hadn't gotten around to doing so. Can't imagine why right? The other day I got inspired now that major holidays are over until the fall, leaving me semi-decorless for a bit. Enter DIYs.

I am taking them one at a time and adding a littler color to our house. We just don't have the budget for me to buy ever last decor to fill this house so I'm improvising and hitting up Dollar Tree & Michael's to add some spice. These vases were pretty simple. So if I can do them, you can do them.

Inspired by this:

I created these:

I just bought vases from the dollar store, PermEnamel surface conditioner, PermEnamel paint (colors of your choice), and faux flowers from Michael's. You wash the vases and let them dry. Then apply a coat of the conditioner to the inside of the vases. Let it dry. Then apply your color to the inside of the vases. Turn them over to remove excess paint. Dry overnight and love your new creation come morning.

Get crafty my friends!

Weekend Treats: NY Style Edition

Despite the weekend starting off with a few Friday the 13th hiccups (i.e. our wedding shadow box being shattered and the foyer mirror scrapping the paint and busting the dry wall all ending with me in tears), it turned out to be productive yet relaxing.

Saturday Winston came up from the city to play handyman. He assembled our new modern piece for the dining room then helped Ryan hang several pieces of art work and some mirrors. His help cut about 3 hours off of the project time which made us forever grateful.

banker/trainer by day...handymen by night

power over the mirror finally!

newly framed keepsakes hung

Paris is so vintage...but we'll be painting the frame mahogany 

Then Win & Ryan played chef whipping up some homemade burgers, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, and cookie ice cream dessert. We had a full blown burger bar with topping choices of lettuce, tomato, bacon, guacamole, and thousand island dressing. Plus the usual fixins' like ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Delicious!

burger bar

time to feast

Sunday we headed to the 10am church service on a blue sky kinda day. Followed by brunch at The Patio in the down of Briarcliff. The food was amazing and the service was killer. A quick in & out breakfast followed by a flavored coffee to go from Moonbean Cafe next door.

omelet extraordinary

egg & bacon sandwich roll

We headed our separate ways as I played in the finals of my tennis tournament while Ryan mountain biked through our backyard. Figuratively not literally. Although I lost, I loved playing in the tournament and held my head high that I even reached the finals with a few wins along the way. And I was reminded that I am not 18 and playing rather I am 29 plus 5 months preggo. Still competitive and fierce as ever though.

a little history

I came home to Ryan still in his bike gear gleaming after a wild ride. Our neighborhood is the mecca for the great outdoors, and I am glad he is getting to explore. He is like a caged animal during the week who definitely needs release on the weekends!

"our backyard"

All in all, a fairly laid back but extremely fulfilling weekend in Westchester County. The countdown continues until baby T arrives as does the progress we are making on getting all nestled in.

How was your weekend?!

Music Mondays

The baby loves rocking out to this song...no really he/she does L. Marquette ;)

A Lesson in Nesting

When I realized that I was rapidly approaching the 5 month mark of pregnancy, I felt a sudden panic and overdrive to get things done. The nursery. The baby's bathroom. Painting the guest bedrooms. Finalizing our furniture purchases. Reconstructing the basement (I heart UM but can forego the bright orange & green colors). Mind overload. To top off things, our entire family as in both sides is coming up for Thanksgiving so the pressure is on to have the house completely put together by then. Every last little decoration.

In an attempt to not overwhelm myself too much, I made two separate lists: pre-baby and pre-turkey day. I thought this would help me prioritize and keep my cool. Not so much. When I want things done, I want them done now. Which is not the best when your husband has two actual days per week he can help equating into really one day as he has his own weekend agenda.

So despite being preggo, I have been putting myself to work. Nothing too crazy but enough to make me feel like we are progressing in the right direction...I think!

In a nutshell, this is what nesting looks like at our house:

baby bath coordinates

all in the details

night light for baby T's room

painting in progress

looks more like a construction sight

the one and only thing we have done to our bedroom

hanging time

project mirror in foyer (aka Friday the 13th nightmare)

I'll be glad when nesting goes and completion comes ;)