Hiatus

As some of you may have noticed I haven't updated in, oh say, 10 days which is a ridiculously long time in blog time (well, perhaps not really, but to me it is).  This is all due in part to my other hobby / job which is writing marching band drill (you know, the "dots" used to see where the band members move to create the fun half time shows we all love and adore).  I completely forgot that the month of July is pretty much all work and no play for me and thus I have no extra time for the gym (notice a lack of calorie burning going on in the menu bar although surprisingly I've lost 6 pounds so I'm pretty pumped on that!) or for blogging.  I'm hoping that by August I'll have more time to devote to C2D but as of now I'm going to have to go on a bit of a hiatus while I attend my business.  

I'll be back in no time and can't wait to show you some of the updates I've been doing!  :-) Yay!

Shopping Trip!!!

So, I have a bit of a confession to make...  No it's nothing too terribly scandaleous and some most of you probably have the same issue (come on, you have to admit it).  Oh, but I haven't told you what it is yet have I?

Well, I am a bit of a shopaholic.  Certainly not on the same scale as Becky Bloomwood but certainly worthy of the title.

So, in order to relish a bit more of the joy of my new purchases / scare off any nearby cravings, I'm going to write this blog to show you some fancy new duds I recently acquired for my bedroom!

First I have another confession, the headboard of my bed hasn't been attached to my bed due to a lack of motivation to do so partly and also because I knew it would cover the picture when I did attach it.

So, since I've decided that I'm not a fan of the only black framed object in the room anymore I also decided to attach the headboard.  Here it is attached.  See what I mean that it's too high for the frame?

 Now I needed something smaller to fit the space.  I went out to Home Goods (my new favorite place in the world, honestly, that store is like crack for home do gooders ((see what I did there... gosh, I die)) and got this fun print for $25!  I like the green as an accent color and the teal goes decent with my comforter.  I honestly thought they'd go better together but since the comforter is my sister's and will be staying here once I move I'll be getting a new one anyway.  I might go white with fun pillows like HERE or I also love THIS ONE from Urban Outfitters.

 Anyway, notice the pillows?  The blue one is my sisters I stole for the picture and the green one is my new favorite throw pillow (Also Home Goods $12) (Any other YHL readers think it would be a dead ringer for their green shag rug?)

But this is what it looks like now with my random pillows I've had since middle school.  Yes, the one does say Kiss Me (It was a V-Day gift from my mom).

So there you have it!  Anyone else have a bit of a shopping problem love? What about embarrassing memorabilia you still have displayed for some reason?  Hope to hear from you!

Lemon Blueberry Cake and Flower Arrangements!

Happy Independence Day Everyone!

The 4th of July has long been my favorite holiday because it's in the summer, there's another excuse to BBQ plus the added fun of fireworks!  Unfortunately, this year I don't have any grand plans (mostly due to the case of strep throat I caught of Saturday, boo) however my mom held a Quilter's Guild picnic last Monday where I was able to try out a recipe I've been dying to make and create some beautiful flower arrangements for the tables!

As I was browsing On Demand I found a Lemon Blueberry Cake recipe by Martha Stewart which I had to try.  The recipe was pretty straight forward and easy to make! You can get the recipe HERE!

 First you cream the sugar and butter together then add the eggs one at a time.

Once the flour mixture is added you add lemon juice and zest!

 Then comes the blueberries which you gently fold in.

Be sure to butter and flour the pan.  I did go back and add more butter and flour so that the pan was completely covered.

Here's the finished product!  Yumm

 I really recommend using that recipe if you like lemons or blueberries, it was delicious and moist!

Once the desserts were set up I went to work creating a beautiful floral arrangement for the tables.
Using two stripes of different patriotic fabrics and some red ribbon I tied them around mason jars and added flowers from around the house.  What do you think?

Anyone else have any good summer recipes?  What about 4th of July decorations?  The more I look on places like Pinterest and other blogs the more excited I get about having my own place to throw parties and decorate!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your holiday!

Life is a Beach!

The past week has been crazy busy and I haven't had anytime to post of even go to the gym (as you can tell due to my lack of calorie burning posted in the menu bar).  I have many things that I'd like to post about (mmm shopping trip = major room facelift!) however that will have to wait.  I just wanted to give a quick picture post of some places I've been since I've been back from Suisse-land (You can read about that adventure HERE).  So on to the photos!

Outer Banks, NC

Indian River Bay, DE

Wedding Outer Banks, NC

Yorktown, VA

Jamestown, VA

Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach

Have a great start to your weekend!!

Just tidying up!

One of my favorite aspects of fixing up a space is it's ability to continue to change and become better!  There are always things that can be improved or re-organized!  In my room there have certainly been items that I still had on my to-do list to improve or beautify.  Three of those projects I was able to accomplish last week when I suddenly found myself with some motivation!

After my lovely DIY Dry Erase Board was born I continued on that path and was able to take my scarves off the wall where they were looking rather cluttered... here they are before.

And using an odd hanger I had in my closet (I do believe it's for ties, eh, waste not, want not) I hung them on that...

And then in my closet!  

There's such a greater sense of calm on that wall!  I have since decided to have a wardrobe purge session in the future.  I will keep you updated.  I've added that to my To-Do List among other things, so feel free to check it out!

But onwards shall we?

After removing my scarves I had a nice hanging device that I decided would help me out best on the back of my door.  I quickly took the nails out of it's original spot on the wall and started hammering them into the door which is when I noticed this...

 The nail was longer than the door.  Probably not a good idea so I quickly switched the nail for a shorter one and was left with this!

 Hooray!  Somewhere to hang my purse at the end of the day instead of putting in on the floor!  Go team!  Next I decided to tackle my ridiculous perfume collection.  I brought them off the shelves...

 Then I transfered them to one of my storage cubes which had some space since I switched out some things.  Now they are still easily available but out of sight (and my mind is at ease that the shelf won't collapse due to the weight).

 Instead I put some lightweight photo frames and a souvenir of my year in Europe!

 The last project of the day was still drying in the basement.  Remember the pink striped shelf from my "Before" pictures?  Well, now it's just white!

Doesn't it look nice above my dry erase board?  It might be a little too much white for some people but I am decorating with the intention of melding things together once I move out down the road.  Now, if I could just do something about that purple mirror...?

Anyone else having random bursts of motivation?  Aren't they fun?  

Thanks for reading!

DIY Dry Erase Board!

Thanks to Pinterest (you can read my rave blog about that here) I found a great idea for a DIY Dry Erase Board!  Here's a picture of the one I found!  You can see it on pinterest by clicking on it!

It's just a piece of scrapbook paper behind glass that you can write on!  So simple, so cheap and such a great idea!  

So I set out to create my own! 

I decided to use fabric instead of paper since my mom has some great patterns.  Here's the 3 I decided to choose from.  I ended up with the one on the right.

 Next my project ADD took over and I realized that I could put fabric in a small frame gallery I have on my wall.  So here's the fabric I choose for that!

 I've really been into natural colors lately, hence the green and yellow and since my room has no specific color theme they work!

After my mini project I returned to my frame.  I first ironed the fabric (which didn't work out all that well but I'm not a perfectionist and might actually replace it with paper later anyway).  Then I taped it to the mat in the frame.

 Once that was on I taped a piece of thick paper onto the back of the fabric to make sure the brown backing didn't show through.

 Here are my two projects side by side!  Cute huh?  Everything looks better behind glass!

 I think I would have preferred a tealish color to match my bedspread for the small frame, but this works for now.

 I went with a yellow for the dry erase board since it'll be easy to read with any color.  I was leaning towards a teal or purple color (to match my purple pillows and organizer boxes) but thought it might be hard to read green or red on those colors.

 Here's the board on the wall.  Notice I did something with my scarves?  I'll get to that later!

I think it looks much better than the board I had before.  You can see that in the before / after pictures!  It was a simple project that took no time and really changed the look of that wall.  I'll get into more detail about that wall later since there are other things I changed!  Can you see what else is different?  What are some projects you've done that have taken little time but made a big difference?  I'd love to hear about them!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!