Friday Find: Thanks!

I've added another one to the list, as if I needed anymore.  I recently discovered the blog, THX THX THX.  She's a girl after my mother's own heart, and has dedicated her blog to thank you  notes...."her daily excercise in gratitude."  Genious.

Some of them are pretty damn great.  Like this one: 

And then some are just witty:

Happy Weekend!



Inspired by the Star

Did you guys watch the latest season of Design Star on HGTV?  Emily Henderson, the winner, is awesome, but some of those designers just flat out sucked.  And I normally love that show, but this one was super frustrating to watch.  I was literally yelling at the tv on sunday nights.  Now I see why Will yells during football. 

Emily has a wonderful blog and a great portfolio.  Her very own living room inspired me to put together a look for my brother-in-law Chip, and his partner, Noel.  I thought it would be fun to design a room for 2 guys without being overly masculine.  They are looking at a similar sofa from restoration hardware which is a classic.  The vintage Red Cross flag is a great alternative to an expensive piece of art, and after searching online, I found that you can purchase them for as little as $20!  I personally love the cowhide rug, but apparently Chip isn't a big fan.  And to think you know someone.

What do you think? 

  

Coop the Snoop (aka Pooper)

We had to say goodbye to our sweet bulldog Cooper this week after a short and tough battle with Reactive Histiocytosis-Cytoma.  It was the hardest thing we have ever had to do. 

He was diagnosed with this rare disease earlier this year.  Our wonderful vet, Dr. Ory, warned us that it was going to be a hard battle to fight.  Because the disease was so rare, and because of Cooper's history and breed, we were experimenting with different medications but couldn't do a full-on treatment.  She was afraid that the side effects would be worse than the disease.  In the end, it was more than his body could handle.

Cooper lived a full and wonderful life. He loved sleeping in the bed, and when he was moved to the floor, he went for the first pile of clean laundry he could find. He loved taking walks around the neighborhood and going to the vet. He was a big fat baby except when it came to protecting his mother, and then he would go for the throat. He loved lying in the sun on the concrete, drooling all over the furniture, and sneaking up on the couch in the middle of the night. He would put himself to bed early every night and would sleep until noon if you let him. He had a wimper that sounded like a little girl and a bark as ferocious as a pittbull. Cooper was famous for melting hearts the minute you laid eyes on him. He touched more lives than he will ever know.

Coop enjoyed getting ice cream from Sonic on his birthday. On November 22nd, he would have been 10 years old. We’ll be at Sonic eating a cup of vanilla ice cream and celebrating his life if you want to join us.

 Cooper Burleson

November 22, 2000 - October 3, 2010

Living Room Redo

I just received my school lessons in the mail.  Time to stick my head in the books....something I haven't done in 10 years.  At the end of the program, I'll have developed a portfolio of 6 rooms.  They ask that you design real-life rooms, either your own or friends.  First up is a living room, so Supawn, you're in luck! 

The only problem I see with this is that real-life redecorating equals real-life money.  I'd like to design plans for friends that would actually implement my designs.  So, if you are thinking about making a few changes in your house, let me know.  You could be the lucky recipient of almost-free decorating plans.  Almost-free only because I charge in red wine right now.  Red wine and a promise that you'll tell all of your friends about me. 

I've been redecorating my own living room in my head now for about a year.  And I think it would be considered cheating if I turned in my plans for school since I put them together before I even started the course.  Here's my design plan that I'm starting to implement. 

I finally put a stake in the ground and ordered the sofa last week. I already own the leather chair (2 of them) and the coffee table that Will made me for Christmas last year.  We are also having built-ins installed next week, so the room is getting a total rehaul.  Slowly but surely, my ideas are becoming reality.  I'll post before and after pictures once I'm done!

Friday Find

I recently signed up for Snooth emails.  Ever heard of them?  I guess I have high hopes that one day I'll become a smarter wine drinker.  Yeah right.   As long as it's red, has a cute label, and is less than $10, it's my kind of wine! 

Most of their articles are okay.  And then last week I got this one.  Now you're talking! 

Six Wines for a Cheap Drunk:  What to pour when you just want to drink

Happy weekend...and happy wine drinking!

Friday Find

I am the type of girl that doesn't have many secrets in my life.  As my boss would say, "I'm very transparent."  Not me, her.  But it applies to me as well.  If you compliment my shirt, I'm likely to tell you that it was only $7.99 on the clearance rack at the Gap.  I'm working on that....I should just accept the compliment, say thank you, and move on.  I just love to share my sweet finds.

And peeps, I HAVE HIT THE JACKPOT on this one!!

As I've mentioned before, I'm redecorating my living room and I've been drooling over the Keaton sofa from Mitchell Gold.  The problem:  It's $2,875, which means the drool quickly dries up and the reality of a toddler and two dogs sets in. 

However, I was reading Little Green Notebook and found a company based out of Nevada called Designer Sofas Direct that makes custom sofas that are almost identical to the big names but for a fraction of the price.  FRACTION PEOPLE.  So, I placed my order this week.  The only catch is that you can't see what you are buying, so I put my trust Launa, the owner, that it's going to be fabulous.

My final price?  $1,324 + shipping.  Yep, I just saved $1,551.  Lori will be so proud!

Back to School

I'm going back to school.  EEK!  This is something that I've been thinking about for awhile and when I found Sheffield School for Interior Design, it was too good to pass up.  So, I registered today.  It's an 18 month course that I can do in my own home.  Think about how much more fun school would have been in our pjs while drinking wine.  Oh wait, I probably did that once or twice in college.  What's great is that I can take up to 3 years to complete it, which will probably be my plan of action considering I have a 2 year old and a full time corporate job.

No, this is not a career change.  Just for fun and maybe some projects on the side (hint, hint).  I do this in my spare time anyway, so why not become more educated on it and possibly make some money along the way.   I put together mood boards just for fun for my make-believe clients.  Sad isn't it?

On another exciting note, my good friends down the street have hired me to do redecorate their master bedroom!!  I'm getting paid in wine, which is as good as gold!  I'll keep you updated on the design process when we get going.  Should be fun!

Dumbbells and Nipple Rings

I decided to get my ears pierced at the ripe young age of 33.  Again.  For the fourth time.  And no, I don't have 4 holes in each ear.  I'm just bad at earring management. 

I don't know why I let my friends talk me into this, but I did.  PEER PRESSURE!  So, about 4 weeks ago, Supawn and I went out on a shopping trip and ended up at the local tattoo parlor.  For some reason, Claire's Boutique just didn't seem right. 

However, tattoo parlors do not carry a nice selection of "first-time earrings."  Their clientelle is not typically the 10 year old girl BEGGING to get her ears pierced.  Nope, they carry body jewelry.  And Ben, the guy below with tree trunks through his ears, suggested that I get a bar through my ear.  The dumbbell type.  Excuse me, but do I look like I would wear a dumbbell through my ear for 4 weeks?  Um, No. 

I decided on a nice silver hoop with a ball in the middle of it.  I'm sure the other people around town who sport this ring usually  have it attached to their nipples. 

So, 4 weeks later and I'm doing pretty good.  Will only had to perform one surgery on my ear, and I got to take out my nipple rings this past weekend.  Although, I took them out and then had to call Supawn because I didn't own one pair of earrings to my name. 

I am not even kidding.

Courtesy of the PetSmart parking lot in Georgetown, TX.

Day 30 of Lovely

Day 30....the final installment of 30 Days of Lovely.  Thirty days that took over 4 months to complete.  Thank goodness I am done with this.  My friends are saying they want the old Mimi back.  I find that funny, but not sure if I should.  I have to admit, I am ready to make fun of someone. I thought about doing 30 Days of WTF, but then came up with a few reasons why I shouldn't.  For one, my mother would probably not be very happy.  Two, it would involve making fun of people that might happen across this blog.  Not a good idea.  But that doesn't mean that I don't have some good ones up my sleeve that I will share with you from time to time! 

It took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to end this lovely little challenge.  I despise family brag blogs, which is why I rarely post pictures of my kid (the cutest kid on the planet).  So, it only seemed fitting that I use this last day as a way to show everyone how lovely my little dude is.  How he makes me laugh all day long.  How he makes me smile so big that my mouth hurts.  How he's put a constant look of puzzlement on my face because I can't figure out what he's saying.  Right now he's into bulldozers, big trucks and golf.  He has a better swing than most and is ready to go to the driving range with dad.  He thinks that his hard hat is also a bicycle helmet and wears it around the neighborhood on bike rides.  He is already picking out his shoes every day for school and knows that he wants the blue converse because they will match his outfit.  He yells "Watch out!" when we hit a bump in the car, and yells "Whoa Grandmama!" when her driving isn't up to par.  He likes to dance in the kitchen to Justin Beiber and ring his cowbell when Mississippi State is playing on tv.  And best of all, when you ask him if he likes your outfit, he will tell you the God honest truth.

 

Day 29 of Lovely

For some reason, I signed up for the Rock'n'Roll 1/2 Marathon in San Antonio.  I do not know what's lovely about this, other than the fact that it's forcing me to get up and run every morning at 5:45am.  I am not a runner.  I am not good at running.  The last time I was any good at it was in 1995.  You can only imagine what 15 years, the corporate world and a baby have done to my skills. 

But, you have to dream big, right?  Maybe I should have started with a 5k.

Day 28 of Lovely

Thank goodness I only have 2 more days of this, because it's hard to force this much sunshine out of my ass.  I mean, it's only taken me 4 months to complete this little project of mine.  I am ready to say something mean!

So, on to Day 28 and the lovely Ke$ha.  What is it with this girl?  She has a new song out every single week and I try so hard not to like them, but it's just not happening.  I even pay $1.29 for all of them on itunes.  Seriously, why do I do this?  At least it's not Miley Cyrus, right?



This is my song of the week.  I just need a gold Trans Am.

Day 27 of Lovely

I was recently reading EoS and ran across this article about a Drew University student's dorm room from 2009.  Talk about FAB.  Most of you don't know this, but my roomate and I won "best dressed room" my freshman year at Mississippi State.  And let me tell you, my custom bedding and window treatments  (yes, you heard me....custom) look like JC Penny gone bad compared to this. 

However, with a name like Maximilian Sinsteden, you're bound to do great things.  My favorite part?  The bar. 

Day 26 of Lovely

My first attempt at a new masthead.  I created this in the most elementary but overcomplicated way...almost too embarrassing to even admit.  Baby steps folks.  Baby steps.

Day 25 of Lovely

I am in Reality TV HEAVEN! If it weren't for the heat, this would be my favorite time of the year. The cold front on Thursday better hurry it's ass up. 98 degrees is sounding pretty damn good.

Here's my current lineup:

Sunday Night - Design Star and The Antonio Project
Monday Night - Real Housewives of New Jersey
Tuesday Night - Flipping Out and Rachel Zoe Project
Thursday Night - Project Runway

And coming soon....Secrets from a Stylist and Thintervention with Jackie Warner. It takes awhile to get over her butchiness, but I think I'm going to like this one.

Day 24 of Lovely

I do not claim to be frugal in any way. I don't spend frivolously by any means, but sometimes the effort of saving a dollar is just not worth it to me. However, my dear friend Lori has started a blog completely devoted to saving a dollar, and now I feel like I need to do my part in the coupon clipping world. I will probably fail miserably, but it's worth a shot, right?

Check out her blog, Dixie Clip. She's pretty damn amazing. In fact, it's down right scary that she is this good at it. Hopefully she'll give you some good tips!

Day 23 of Lovely

All of my decorator/home magazines are biting the dust, left and right. First, Domino. Then, Cottage Living. After those two were cancelled, I did something crazy and ordered Canadian House and Home, which was fun because I could call it "Hoose and Home." One magazine into my subscription and BAM, it's gone. And the funny thing is, they try to be all nice about it and send you Southern Living. All of them. Well people, I already get Southern Living. So now, I get multiple copies and I'm not sure how to make it stop. Make it go away!! There's only so many peach cobbler recipes one girl can take.

The only magazine I rely on now is Lonny. If you haven't discovered it yet, definitely check it out. It's online, so I hope that they can get their shit together enough to keep it running.

The best thing about it? You can mouse over the items in the picture and it will take you to the online store! LOVIN IT!

Day 22 of Lovely

These lovely ladies helped me celebrate my 33rd birthday...Dinner at the Belmont and drinks afterwards at Jay Blacks. There's nothing better than best friends, lots of wine, and raunchy dinner conversations!

Day 21 of Lovely

Grafton and I are headed to New Hampshire today to our family camp. Wicked awesome.

Day 20 of Lovely

OMG, I DIE.

Check out this very unassuming residence in Austin. For a mere $4.4 million bucks, this beauty could be yours. Talk about L.O.V.E.L.Y.

http://vt.realtour.biz/?P=73653&T=NOTIDX

Day 19 of Lovely

My very own herb garden. This is my attempt at saving money. Actually, that's a lie. It's my attempt at creating more work for Will. I just come up with the ideas. He implements. He's the one that will take care of it. And he's the one that will cook with the herbs. In work speak, I'm the Creative engine, he's the Production engine. That's what I call a well-oiled machine.

Day 8-18 of Lovely

Am I cheating? Technically, no. I'm just uber efficient.

Things I'm totally digging at the moment:

1. All time favorite design blog: Elements of Style

2. Blog I enjoy and I have no idea why: Bluebirdbaby

2. Tortilla chips and Peach Salsa from Central Market

3. Real Housewives of New Jersey. I just can't take my eyes off of the white trash trainwreck. Mob Mom is my fave.

4. The "hide" button on facebook.

5. I am drooling over this sofa. It's definitely on the NEED-TO-HAVE list. And with these pillows, I may never leave my living room.

6. No-Brain-Required summer read: Vision in White by Nora Roberts

7. Cran-Raspberry LaCroix

8. I need some color in my life. This might do the trick. And it would look fab in my dining room.

9. Way to go Lands End! And thanks for the handwritten note!

10. Front Porch Happy Hour every Friday at the Colliers! Which turns into Front Porch Dinner. And sometimes Front Porch Late Night. 8 bottles of wine later, and life is GOOD.

Day 7 of Lovely

Hells to the Yeah....Who's coming with me??

I never said 30 consecutive days.

The past few months have kicked my ass. And I think it's safe to say that Mr. Dell is the one that's doing the biggest ass-kicking. My job has stressed me out in ways that I didn't even know existed. Just poke a pin in me and deflate me. I've had medical procedures done that are less than desirable, and have been diagnosed with a "disease" that is even less desirable. I'm taking 12 pills a day, which means that I'm well on my way to being a geriatric patient that carries around her weekly pill sorter and smells like moth balls. And someone told me that they sell cute pill sorters at the Container Store. Yeah....not so much.

So, finding little lovlies that make me smile is proving to be a far harder challenge than expected.

I did have one comic relief last week during work and it was something that I opened my big fat mouth and let slip out. I crack myself up, but apparently no one else thought it was funny. So I just sat at my desk and laughed by myself for a few minutes. Damn, I AM FUNNY!

So. I'm on a conference call with my manager and a few other coworkers that just came back from NYC on a trip. And they are all laughing and joking about how they didn't know which building was the Empire State Building. How they had to ask someone from Denmark which building it was. And I'm listening to this, not understanding why they think it's so funny.

Then sometime says, "Hey, in our next team meeting, we could play Name That Monument."

And I chime in and say, "Yeah, or we could just play Who's Smarter than a 5th Grader."

SILENCE.

Day 6 of Lovely

I found this picture on Apartment Therapy, which led me to The Lettered Cottage, which then led me to 150 more blogs that I don't need to add to my list of daily reads, which already consists of 42 design/style blogs.

I absolutely love this bedroom, and it has inspired me to redo my dark dungeon. Now don't get me wrong, my bedroom now is a great place for sleeping at any time during the day. It's dark and cozy. But I'm now in the mood for light, airy, clean, and fresh. And this is my inspiration, minus the sailboat.

However, like any design project I take on, I pick the most difficult items to find. Like the quilt: Pottery Barn Classic Ticking Quilt. No where to be found. Sooo.....Here's to the start of another decorating project that is going to take me 2 years to complete. That's how I work.

Day 5 of Lovely

My partner in crime, Molly:

Growing up, our next door neighbor was Patsy Clark. She was my mom's sidekick for about 10 years. I have a ton of childhood memories that include my mom, Patsy, a bottle of wine and lots of laughing. Molly is my Patsy.

Day 4 of Lovely

I could do some serious damage at Anthropologie right now. It's a dangerous dangerous place full of little lovlies. And to make matters worse, they're opening a new store 20 minutes from my house.

I've put together 3 looks for the summer. All on my lovely wish list....

Day 3 of Lovely

I don't know if you remember my famous list or not, but check out #28. I basically admitted that my yard looked like shit. Absolute dog shit. Well, check out this beauty!

We finally decided to get our asses in gear, and by we, I mean this guy and this guy. We are outside all of the time now with G, mostly because he thinks he will die if we go inside. Literally. But also because this lovely little yard makes me happy.

Day 2 of Lovely

Where do I start....

Day 1 of Lovely

This is about as lovely as it gets in my book. This little dude makes his mama smile, even when he's not smiling. He makes my heart swell so big that I think it's going to explode.

You should really be friends with her.

Have you ever had a friendship that was forced? Most likely by your mother? That's what I feel like with PMB. It's a forced friendship at this point and I will be letting my mother down if I break up with him. So, I keep on going.

In an effort to get my creative juices flowing, I've decided to do a little project that I've named 30 Days of Lovely. 30 days of things that make me happy. And I will try my best not to turn this into a family brag blog for 30 days. Because those don't make me happy. Gag me.

I think I came up with this to keep my mind off of work. Because quite frankly, it sucks at the moment. As in, shoot me in the head and stab me in the eyes sucks. I'm just telling it like it is, folks.

Tall Glass of Water

This past weekend was beautiful. Too beautiful in fact. When my 15 month old screams his head off when you make him go inside, it's a sure sign that it's way too nice outside. Why Mother Nature? WHY did you have to go and be all nice to us, because it caused lots of drama at nap time and bed time at the Burleson house. It wasn't easy trying to explain to a toddler that normal people don't sleep in the front yard. And no, that time your dad had too much to drink doesn't count.

Anywho, the beautiful weather gave me the itch to clean up the yard and plant flowers. I'm sure Will is totally rolling his eyes right now. I do this every year. I spend too much money on living things that just die as soon as I get my hands on them. We joke that the poor plants at Home Depot start crying as soon as I walk in the door. I'm working on it though. I'm getting better. And I'm starting to learn that the only way to get better is to hire an expert.

Ladies, meet John, my new yard boy:

And yes, he is for hire. Let me know if you are interested.

Happy Birthday to you...

In honor of my nephew's birthday today, I thought I'd do another installment of "didthatreallyjustcomeoutofmy13yearoldnephewsmouth?" Although now, he's 14. But I don't think that makes it any better.

"It's so cold my balls are in my stomach."

-Walker Floyd, age 14

If you have a prayer to spare...

I don't normally do posts like this, for 2 reasons. One, I like to keep it light hearted. And two, I'm lucky enough to have a fairly healthy family that doesn't always require posts like this.

My cousin, Amy, is in the hospital in Jamaica with Encephalitis, which is an infection of the brain. She was in the States and had a baby on Christmas Eve, then headed back down to Jamaica with her husband, 3 daughters, and new baby boy on February 2nd.

Last Saturday, she had an earache. On Sunday, a headache, and later that day she started vomitting. Her husband, Errol, took her to the hospital where they gave her a shot of Baralgin/Metamizole, which is banned in the US. By Monday, they were considering her a psychiatric patient because she was going crazy, and then she went into a coma for 3 days. She was transferred to Kingston where they did a CAT scan and a spinal tap. She is very foggy and does not remember having her son, but remembers her girls. Right now, she is on oxygen and has a tube coming out of her brain that is draining puss and blood.

Encephalitis doesn't always have a cheery outcome. Right now, she could use all of the prayers she can get. If you have a minute, could you please send one her way?

Nothing says "winter fun" like a sheep flying a kite!

We had snow for about 13 minutes yesterday, so Grafton threw on his dad's vintage snow suit, circa 1978, hopped in his ghetto sled, and had a bit of wintry fun. 13 whole minutes worth of wintry fun!