A great Etsy find...

One of the blogs I follow - See Meg Shop - has a great vintage Etsy store. I just purchased this great gold vintage clutch ($10). I have been on the hunt for a new clutch for this wedding season and this clutch is PERFECT and I couldn't beat the price. She has lots of great things at her store so make sure you check it out.

Really Impressed with Old Navy

I am really impressed with the clothes at Old Navy recently. I was there on Thursday night checking out a few things that I was lusting after online and I had a 40% off coupon. I ended up coming home with some really great pieces. In addition to the headband and pajama pants (which aren't available online) I picked up the following -

I hate that I am posting a pic of this dress from behind but they don't have any pictures in this pattern from the front. This is a super and soft. This pattern is not available online anymore but they did have good variety at the store. It's $24.50 but I used my 40% coupon.


I couldn't pass this dress up it is super cute and is on sale for $20. It will be great for work. I'm not a fan of the dress by itself because there isn't much of a shape but I have two belts in my closet that would be perfect.


And these great gold flip flops. I live in flip flops in the spring and summer. I had a pair of these last summer and wore them to the ground so I needed to get another pair for this season. I can't wait for the weather to break, get a pedicure and wear my flip flops.

Our House One Year Later continued - Rest of Second Floor

The rest of our second floor consists of two more bedrooms, a full bath, and laundry closet (which is nothing to see but so great to have on this level). Let's start with the bathroom. Here is the before. There wasn't anything wrong with it but it was a little plain.

And the after...you can see I continued the trend of bright colored bathrooms. My sister-in-law's orange bathroom and her house inspired me to do this room. We painted it Mexican Chile and changed the faucets to be brushed nickel. Added a shower curtain, shelf and art work (you can see the reflection in the mirror) from Target.

The guest bedroom didn't need much work...just furniture. The previous owner said they barely used this room but not us. It's like a revolving door, every other weekend we have guests staying here. So here is the before (sorry they are a little dark)...

And after...we were very luck that the bedding we got for our wedding matched the existing wall color. We added some furniture from Ikea (a chest of drawers is missing from these shots) and art work that we already owned. And I don't know if you can tell but we arranged the furniture differently for maximum space.

And well unfortunately the third bedroom doesn't really have great after shot. It consists of an air mattress right now. One day it will be a nursery like it was before we moved in. So for now no pictures...until we actually do redo it.

I found my own look for less

J at the Look 4 Less has inspired me to try and find some of the looks I want for less. If you have been following my blog you know that I have had this J.Crew headband in my shopping cart for a couple of weeks now.

It's $24.50 and I just can't spent that on a headband so I have been waiting for it to go on sale. It still hasn't gone on sale but I was at Old Navy last night (they have really cute clothes this season, I'll post about what I got next week) and I found a headband that was very similar to the J.Crew one. This Old Navy headband is gold and has two bands as opposed to the three with the J.Crew one. This headband was only $4.50!!! I was so excited when I found it. The rack of headbands was hidden away in a corner so it was like it was calling my name!

Favorite Thing #120 - Vera Bradley Weekender Bag

I got this favorite thing as a Christmas gift from my parents. The Vera Bradley weekender bag is so perfect for different things. I use it almost everyday when I got to work. I am very fortunate that the building I work in has a newly renovated locker room and gym facility. So I have been doing lunchtime workouts and this bag is perfect because it holds my work out clothes, sneakers, towel, and cosmetic bag. This bag is also great for overnight trips too. It fits just the right amount of stuff. I tend to be an over packer so if it is more than one night I use Favorite Thing #90. The dimensions are 18½” x 12½” x 8½” - 6½” handle drop – 48½” and it has a removable strap. It retails for $92 but you can get it cheaper if you buy it in a retiring color ($59).


I still really, really love Favorite Thing #20. I practically lived in this dress last spring/summer and I can't wait for the weather to break so I can pull this dress out of my Febreze hanging storage bag and wear it again.

Our House One Year Later continued - Master Bedroom/Bath

Our master bedroom and bathroom is HUGE compared to our old condo. There wasn't that much to do in this room because we already had bedroom furniture. Here's the before...



And the after...

Whatever house we are in our room will always have red accent colors because of the print we got as a wedding gift from my brother-in-law, Mark and sister-in-law April. It's a beautiful picture from a local artist of a couple embracing. So we painted the room a khaki color and got new bedding from Crate and Barrel. The lamps are from IKEA (I've had those since before I met my husband) and the bedroom furniture is from Room Store. The picture doesn't really do the master bedroom justice. From where I am standing to take the picture there is a large dresser with a mirror and decorative accents. And there are vaulted ceilings.

This picture is taken when the bed is behind me. This is another a great space that will come in handy when we have kids. Right now we have a tall dresser and floor lamp. There is a lot of empty space. I think we will eventually move my hidden desk upstairs so we have room in our living room for a pack-n-play, toys, etc.

The master bathroom is HUGE as well. So big that my husband and I actually share a bathroom. There is a seperate shower and tub which is nice. And then the "water closet" is a nice touch to seperate the bathroom. The before...

And after...

I've always wanted a red room and this bathroom seemed like the perfect fit. We painted and changed out the faucets from brass to brushed nickel. Easy renovations.

Loving this from Etsy...

The dress from Etsy seller amandaarcher it is sooo cute! Hopefully all my ebay sales will come in higher than the starting bid and I can order this dress. It would be PERFECT for some of the rehearsal dinners I am attending this year.

Our House One Year Later continued - Man Cave and Office

The bottom level of our house is our "basement." Technically it's not under ground but it feel's like a basement. It consists of a two car garage, Mikey's "man cave" and office. This level made my husband very excited when we moved in because he's been dying for a place to put his Steelers memorablia up. In our small condo we didn't have room so it was all in boxes. Now everything is out.

Here's the before...

And the after...

I made a deal with my husband - he could have his Steeler "man cave" as long as it was tastefully done. Again we didn't have to do much to this room. I wanted to keep the red fireplace wall but we painted the other walls a light khaki. We also needed furniture so we got the modular couches from Love Sac. These are great because each piece can move around and create whatever type of couch we want. The covers come off and are machine washable, another bonus. The picture looks like the couches are two different colors but they the same brown tone. We added these "wave" shelves from Pier One and that's where Mikey puts all of his Steeler stuff. And of course the walls are covered with his framed autographed pieces. And the main thing in the "man cave" is the 50" plasma TV mounted to the wall above the fireplace. The other room on the bottom level is Mikey's office. It was a pretty boring room before we moved in, I don't think the previous owners used it much. Here's the before...

And after...

We painted the walls a sagey, gray, blue color...very calming. We added all the IKEA furniture that was in the office at our old condo. It's a simple room and a nice quiet place for him to do his work. There are french doors entering this room and also a closet. So technically since it has all that (and the window, the blinds are just drawn) it is a bedroom which will be good for resale.

Favorite Thing #119 - Scattered-boule necklace

I love this necklace from J.Crew and it's on sale right now. It's a fun gold necklace with a variety of sized gold balls. It is a long necklace and is great to dress up any outfit. I wear it for both work or play! And right now you can get an EXTRA 20% off since it is on sale - just enter EXTRA20 at check out!

Here is a description from J.Crew -

A long, tightly linked chain scattered with shiny brass circular beads of various sizes. 12K shiny gold-plated brass chain with scattered, various-size spherical brass beads. Toggle closure. Import. Length: 40"



I am still a huge fan of the Emily Giffin books (Favorite Thing #19). I am always lending out my copies to friends. And in exciting news last year Hilary Swank's production company bought the rights to Something Borrowed and Something Blue so hopefully the movies will be coming out soon!!!

Our House One Year Later continued - rest of the main level

For the rest of our main level we have a large pantry which nothing was done so you don't need to see pictures of because it is nothing exciting. Another thing on the main level is the wet bar. We didn't have to do much but there is a difference.

Before...

After...

We added the same granite from the kitchen to the wet bar and a few decorative accents gives this area a little more homey feel.

The final room on the main level is a half bath. This room needed some work. The paint color was very dark for such a small room and the fixtures were brass...not my style. Here's the before.

And the after. We painted it a bright turquoise. Added a brushed nickel light fixture and faucet (thanks to my brother) and some pictures from Etsy of the Cherry Blossoms (wanted to give it some local art work). We still have a white over the toilet storage piece from Target that my husband has to put together. I'll post a picture once it is up.

Favorite Thing #118 - Hidden Desk

The one issue we had when we moved into our new house was that I needed a place to do work from. My husband doesn't have an office to go to everyday, he is in the field four days a week and then home one day a week and that mean's his office is at our house. I don't get any space in his office. It's not very big and since that's his only office I give him his space. We needed to come up with a solution as to what to do with my stuff. We found a solution at my favorite store - Crate and Barrel - a hidden desk. It looks like any other piece of furniture but inside it is a desk. It works perfectly.

There is a place for my computer, books that I need to read, my stationary, Favorite Thing #117, etc.

There is even a drawer for all my hanging files, camera and camera case, blank CDs, etc.

Unfortunately I can't find this one on the Crate and Barrel website. There is a more expensive version then the one I have - the Incognito Compact Desk ($899).

You will still see Favorite Thing #18 on my nails. It wasn't on my nails as much this year since I discovered a few other favorite colors.

Our House One Year Later continued - Living Room/Dining Room

Our living room/dining room was the one room in the house that we didn't have any major things to do except buy all the furniture. We moved from a 900 sq. ft. condo to a townhouse with over 2000 sq. ft. so we had a lot of furniture to buy. This room was one of the last rooms done because it wasn't a necessity.

We loved the color on the walls. It's a deep green with accented brown trim around the windows. Here are some before pictures (I loved the original owners furniture so much that I asked if we could buy it from them but they weren't interested)

And here are the after shots...

This picture shows the wine rack (bridal shower gift from my mom and sister), chairs from Target, pillows, hidden desk (Favorite Thing #118) and end table from Crate and Barrel. The lamp in the background is Target as well and then picture frames and candles were wedding gifts.

This angle shows the couch (bought through a friend's relative that's an interior designer - we got an amzing deal) and the end table, mirror from Crate and Barrel (matches coffee table). On the wall there is a gallery of picture frames from Red Envelope that are all from our wedding.

And last but not least the dining room table. This was the hardest piece to find. It also came from Crate and Barrel (can you tell its my favorite home store). This shot shows the table with the leaf in it.

Favorite Thing #117 - Greeting Card Organizer

I got this favorite thing - greeting card organizer - a couple of years ago at Target for $9.99. It's a simple box that has dividers for all different types of cards. I always like to have cards on file. Normally I get the cards at the Target dollar bins. Usually ever month or so they have a great selection of handmade cards available for $1!! I haven't seen these at Target recently but keep your eye out because I'm sure they will come back.

I'm still eating at Favorite Thing #17 - Harry's Tap Room. I don't get to eat there as often since I moved from Arlington to Rockville but since I work in Arlington I will go there for lunch or dinner with a friend after work. I hope they put a Harry's in the Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg area.