A Very Striped Reveal.

The day has come to show off our semi-finished product that is our newly striped living room.

When I came across the gazillion striped rooms on Pinterest, I just knew I had to give it a go. 

And i'm going to be completely honest with you.  I mean, when am I not?

It was TOUGH, ya 'all.  I swear there are probably 8 coats of paint on those poor walls. 

But when you start out with this....

One coat just won't do.  Shit, 3 coats won't do.

But after many many hours....

....we finally got to this!

Home Sweet Lake Home.

Happy Friday ya 'all!

A love note to my husband.

Today's a big day in the Xenos household. 

  This handsome gentleman is turning 28!!

And against Jon's wishes, I celebrate birthdays like they are goin' out of style. 
Why would this one be any different?

So put on your sappy pants, because this lady is about to get all sappy on your ass'.

To my husband, on your birthday...

You are the most amazing gift I've ever been given.  I thank God everyday for blessing me with you.  You are the cheese to my nacho, the ranch to my french fry & the bourbon to my diet coke.

Everyday with you, even the hard days, I love kissing you goodnight. 

Shit....lets be real.  I love kissing you in general.

You have some amazing lips, my husband. 

Thank you for blessing me with the best mother & father in law a gal could ask for.

The "in law" Gods were looking out for me with these two....I mean, they're more
obscene & vulgar than I am. 

And we all know that's an achievement.

Thank you for accepting my wine habit.

Thank you for loving our first baby.  Most days, I actually think you love her more than I do. 

I can't help but smile when I think about you becoming a Daddy.  Anyone that knows you, can attest to the fact that you'll be one of the most amazing fathers a child could have. 

Thank you for loving the two little men in my life! 
They love their Uncle Jon & that just makes my heart melt even more for you.
(If that's possible)

Thank you for being willing to suffer public humiliation for me.

Matching snuggies. 
Yes, we went there.

Thank you for letting me cut my boobs off. 

That deserves a medal in itself.

Thank you for always being my biggest fan. 

And most of all, thank you for choosing me. 

I'm the luckiest girl in the entire world to call you my husband.

Cheers....to many more birthdays!! 

I love you boo.

The Perfect Picture.

Have you ever been lamenting over a decision, not knowing which direction to go.  And then

BAM!

It hits you.  All in the form of a foto. 

That's it.  That's that blurry vision you've seen in your head, finally come to life.

Story of my life this past week.

All I've thought about this week are frickin' light fixtures.  Lame, I know.

But it has consumed me.

Now that we've finished our striping project,  (don't worry--fotos coming soon) I've now moved on to finding the perfect chandelier to go above our dining room table. 

I started with this...well, started is an understatement.  More like purchased & then cancelled the order.

 Then ended up with this....

And while my  husband would love this....

I saw this picture & the decision was made.

Traditional Dining Room design by Charleston Interior Designer Linda McDougald Design | Postcard from Paris Home

 

That's it.  A faux candle chandeleir. 

The problem?  They cost in upwards of a grand.  Sick.

I don't think so.

I think I smell a fun DIY in my future.

Hope your weekends consist of something NON chandelier related.

Tootles!

Have I ever mentioned....

That I loathe painting.

Like, literally....loathe.

Doesn't sound like a good personality trait of a new homeowner, huh?

But this week I decided to put on my big girl pants and suck it the hell up. 

I just have to aplogize to you all for being so MIA lately.  Our life has been just nuts.

Bought our house on a Wednesday, flew to Seattle that Friday, returned that Tuesday & packed & moved the following Sunday.  See, I told you.  Frickin' nuts.

But that's NO excuse to leave my girls hanging, so I figured I would bust out a post on our first home project:  Project Stripes.

For our first week in the new digs we decided to take on paiting our living room.  You will understand why after you see the color the previous owner left for us.

A flourescent teal.

Just call me Ariel.

(Get it?  Little Mermaid?)

With the hideous base color, we had to prime the HELL out of the walls & still needed 3 coats.  So needless to say, we've been paiting every waking minute we are away from work

Last night we were able to finally start the taping off process for our stripes. 

I'm hopeful that by the end of this weekend, project stripe will be complete & my walls will look like this.
 

I just love 'em.

If not, I may just go on stripe strike.

Have a great weekend ya'all!

Successful Girls Trip to Seattle: Check.

I hope you all had a delightful weekend that did NOT consist of packing tape & bubblewrap like mine did. 

Moving fucking sucks.  Sorry, but it really really does. 
And no, I'm not to that point yet where I think positive thoughts like, "yay, we bought a house!" and shit.

Give me another week & I'll be there.

On a better note, I thought I'd give you all a little recap of my Seattle trip last week.

There are no words to describe the beauty of girlfriends reunited in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been:  Bainbridge Island.

Ya 'all, it. was. amazing.  And no, I did not say amazeballs.  That word f'in disgusts me.  And it doesn't help that everyone & their mom use it constantly.  I don't know why, but it makes me angry just typing it.  Stupid word.

Back to my recap.  The trip started off with chardonnay & Redbook.  Best combo for a 3.5 hour plane ride.

After we reunited with lots of hugs at the baggage claim, we arrived at their new apartment for a FABULOUS feast of clams & many glasses of red wine. 

If you cringe when you hear the word clam...try 'em sometime & thank me later.  The word clam is just nasty.  It's like the word douche.  I mean, a douche serves such a wonderful purpose...why the hell call it something like douche?

Douche vs. Clam. 

How did I get there?

Moving on.

We kept the wine flowing as we strolled down the street to this gorgeous beach down the street from their pad.  And much to our surprise, this little beach trip will be one we'll remember forever.

Tara surprised us with this...

And just you wait for my post about their adorably creative Save the Date video. 
You will poop your pants it's so damn cute.

The next day we took their lab for a swim at the beach, strolled thru downtown Bainbridge, grabbed a few lattes & enjoyed a fabulous breakfast at only the cutest bakery ever.

 Then we hopped on the ferry and pub crawled our hiney's thru downtown Seattle.

 

Two pitchers of Sangria led to this....

Our last stop:  The famous gum wall.

Then back to Bainbridge it was.  But I'm pretty sure we left our livers in Seattle.

Day two was low key & did NOT include booze. 

Ok, I lied.

We did stop at a winery.

But only one, I promise.

We spent the day exploring the little port towns around Bainbridge & drove up to this badass area called the Dungeness Spit.  You can literally see Canada you're so far north.  And you all know I love you Canadians.

Day three, sadly started with Jen hopping on a plane back to Kansas City.  We were an amigo down, but had fun nonetheless.

We decided to go kayaking in the Puget Sound, and ladies, IT. WAS. GORGEOUS!

Beautiful sunset to wrap up an absolutely beautiful trip.

I'm a lucky lady to have such amazing girlfriends. 

Until next time...............