Thursday, February 28, 2013

SPD: Antique Window Pane


If you've been following along for awhile now, you know I'm no stranger to my local antique stores.  It's far & away Jon & I's FAVORITE thing to do on  a Saturday afternoon. 
You know how some people get a high from doing really scary things like skydiving? 
Well, we get high from this.
As of late, I've been on the hunt for a few pieces to compliment two empty walls behind our dining room table.  When I saw these two panes for around $10 bucks a piece, it was love at first sight. 

They were in definite need of some TLC (most are), but I was happy to give 'em some love.


Since our walls in our living room are striped two different tones, we painted the panes the contrasting color from the stripes. Lucky us, we had some paint leftover from our striping project I wanted to rip my hair out project so we were able to save some $$$$ there. 
And hey, I always dig that.

We taped them off & painted both. 

I then used a razor blade to shave off the nastiness that had accumulated over the years.  Once I completed this step, I hit a faux  brick WALL
I just could NOT decide what to do with them! 

I searched Pinterest for inspiration & just wasn't digging anything I saw.
There's nothing wrong with these ideas, in fact, I love 'em.
But they just didn't seem to fit for our home.
So I pinned my own.

I tampered around with a few different looks & finally decided on this one.


With all the windows we have in our living room, I figured why not add a few more.


Once they were ready to hang.....the real project began.


1.) Window Pane
                           2.)  Lace Curtain Panel (Walmart)
3.) Hot Glue Gun
    4.) Command Strips

And my favorite....


5.)  A handsome gentleman to hold them up while you decide where to hang 'em

A few notes; I did have to trim the panels to size, so keep that in mind.  Also, I chose to use hot glue because quite frankly, I use hot glue for everything.  Some call it lazy. I call it resourceful.

If you don't have a hot glue gun, you could use just about anything to attach the curtain to the panel.


Haven't decided on the style of tie-backs I want to go with.
I'm sure that'll be another 3 months in the making.

But hey, at least the panes are finally up.

Linking up with Katie & Steph.
And you should too.
 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

So tell me....right or left?

I am a dinosaur.
When it comes to technology that is.....

While most people would get excited about the purchase of a new digital camera, this crazy brod
did not.

 I mean, what the hell is a megapixel? 
I have studied and read & studied some more.
I am now the megapixel queen. 
I know more about megapixels than I ever cared to know.
 And don't even get me started on optical zooming.

But, like any good blogger, no major life decision is made without advice from YOU.


I've narrowed it down to these two Samsung beauties.

My first priority was for the camera to be smart
Who wants a stupid camera?
 And for the record, when did everything become smart?  Smartphone, smart camera....smart plunger. 
What, you don't have a smart toilet plunger so you can share photos directly from your toilet bowl?

But for this social media whore, no complaints here. 

After Wifi, my main want was fabulous zoom capabilities while not compromising picture quality. 
I get this from the beauty on the left. 

Decision made, right?

Not so fast.

For any self obsessed person, you've hit the jackpot with the one on the right. 
Now, i'm not obsessed with myself, but I am obsessed with my niece & nephews.  And this baby has animation that pops up on the screen in order to catch the attention of any little one you're photographing. 

Now that's one smart camera right 'dur.

So, it is now decision time. 
I know you ladies know your cameras as I see your beautiful photos week after week. 

Right or left?

And I can't promise that I'm not one of those people who ask for advice &
then do the exact opposite.

Linking up with the beautiful (inside & out) Shanna.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

You know you wish you lived in Kansas.

Well, we're snowed in.
 
Again.
 
And it doesn't look like we'll be enjoying an afternoon on our patio....
 
 
 
 
 
Or fishing off our dock....
 
 
 
 
Or grilling out anytime soon....
 
 
But the ducks sure don't seem to mind....
 
 Looks like I have an afternoon date with my fireplace.
 
I'll take it.
 
 
 

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Work it girl, work it.

I NEED YOUR HELP.
 
Awhile back I saw this fabulous link up going around & it was called something like "Workin' Girl." Not as in work it, shake that ass on the floor. 
More like workin' as in your 9-5:00. 

Truth, I'm nosy as hell I love learning more about ya 'all.
And one thing I'm dying to find out is what you beauties do day in & day out.
 
I'm totally down to put this link up together however I wanted to be sure & give credit where credit is due.  So if someone already hosts this baby, let me know so I can get in on that action.
 
If not, I'll BECOME the action.
 
 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Thai, Wine & Tools....Oh My!

 
Holy Birthay Batman.  I'm worn out from the marathon celebration, Lord knows how my poor husband must feel. 

Last night he made us some Lobster tails & when I tried to give him the bigger one he refused to take it because it was (albeit the end) still my "Birthday Week."  Poor guy. 
He's going to need birthday rehab to recover from the past 7 days. 

He was a two time breakfast in bed chef....
 
Homemade Heart Shaped Glazed AND Filled Doughnuts 
Heart felt gift giver, A fantastic dinner date three nights in a row & and he became a wine guzzler connoisseur Saturday afternoon at the winery in which he polished off his first bottle of wine,
ALL on his own. My babies all grown up.
 Dang I love that kid. 

But I gotta say, he didn't come out empty handed.  He's a big time Justin Moore fan so I surprised him with tickets to the Outlaw Tour coming to Kansas City in March.
 
I just love this picture of Jon when he was a little tot!
 

Added the text with my iPhone app, got it printed & made it into a card.
Needless to say, he was pretty stoked. 
In fact he requested we have the card up on display in our living room.
And it's still there, 5 days later.
 
We wrapped up Valentines Day with a heart shaped pizza that I burnt the hell out of, then the Birthday festivities began!
 
Carnival wished me a Happy Birthday...but no free cruise? 
Cheap asses.
I mean, their boat broke down in the Gulf of Mexico.  The least they could do is give free cruises to all of America.  Side note, did anyone else think some of those passengers on the stranded ship were being a little dramatic about the whole ordeal? They complained that Carnival opened the bar up while stranded at sea.  C'mon folks.  If I was stranded at sea and had to urinate in a bag, the least they could do would be to provide free booze.
 
Moving on.
 
We had a WONDERFUL dinner Friday night with both sets of parents at
Jon & I's favorite local Thai Place. 
It truly filled my heart to have everyone there to celebrate with! 
 
  
Top the evening off with my own set of pink tools.  Double score.
 
Saturday morning we took off to Excelsior Springs, the town where
we got married a couple years ago.
I still get butterflies pulling up to the resort.
 
We got checked in & took off to their quaint little downtown strip to enjoy the afternoon. 
 

 

 

We spent the last few afternoon hours at The Mercantile Winery where had our rehearsal dinner. The owner, Daphne is always so gracious to us when we show up....big hugs & all. 
Reason #78690 why I'm so thankful we wed in such a small town.
 
And for the record, if we were pregnant, I SO would've bought that Vino Bambino Onesie.
Or did I?
But I did score this little beauty.  A wreath filled with wine corks. 
Hell to the yes.
 
After we had polished off a couple bottles of wine, we headed back to The Elms for some
Hottie Toddies & Hot Tub Time.

Only to end the day with a little stroll down to the Gazebo where our ceremony was held. 
Cue Goosebumps
Everytime.
 
And yes, I definitely played Train's Marry Me on my iPhone while strolling down the sidewalk aisle.
 
Yes folks, if you're new around here, I am THAT cheesy.
 
We capped off the weekend with roomservice in bed before hitting the road back home.
 
 
It was a weekend for the books & If you're still here....thanks for sticking around for me to share it with you.
 
I took today off work to blog recover.
(THANK YOU JESUS)
 
Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their week!
 
 Linking up with Sami for her weekend wrap up!
 

 
 


 
 
 
 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Just call me Oprah.

Disclaimer: I will not be giving away a car or sending you to Tahiti at the end of this post.
 
.....or will I?
 
I've said it before , & I'll say it again; I loooove the inspiration I find during my weekly blog reads.  It's like I have 2000 yeah right more like 150 sisters, spread out all over the United States.  I love finding home décor inspiration, delectable new recipes, beauty product reviews & need I mention Pinterest?   
 
Winning.
 
Since I'm nearing my one year blogoversary I figured why not share some of my favorite finds & products from this past year, with you! 

 
 
So without further adieu....
 Welcome to Oprah's Anne's Favorite Things. 
 
 
 Let's get right to the good stuff.  Food.
My favorite recipe blog, Skinnytaste.
 
And cue the mouth watering.....now.
Next time you sit down to write up your little grocery list, whip out your computer & head on over to Skinnytaste.com.
Hearty & Healthy.
My favorite beauty products: 
 

When I first started blogging, I tried hosting my own link up called Kiss & Makeup Mondays.  I had about 0.5 followers so needless to say, it failed.  Miserably.  But hey, I didn't walk away empty handed.  I sampled a gazillion products week after week & ended up finding my core faves. 
 
 
 My favorite iPhone apps:
 This past year, a fellow blogger got me inspired to get my ass in gear & hit the pavement and I tell you what, there's no way in H.E.L.L. I could have done it without the 5k Runner app (iPhone).  If you've heard how amazing the CouchTo5K program is, those people weren't lying.
This is one bandwagon you REALLY need to jump on.
Thank me later.
And your ass will too.
 
And while we're on the topic of running, thanks to some fabulous advice from Amber, I snagged myself a pair of these bad boys & haven't looked back. 
 
My favorite brand of running shoes:
 
 
 
I hate you shin splints.  I love you Aasic's. 
And my wallet does too. 
The best $80 doll hairs I've ever spent.
 
Moving on.
 
My favorite Pinterest inspiration to date:
 

I know, I know.  From my super fun homemade burlap wreaths to my spray painted ice skate centerpiece, I chose the wheelbarrow full of bones.
I had a ball decorating the house for the holidays thanks to the one & only Pinterest, but this fun display totally takes the cake for me. 
Simple & hilarious.
 
 Which leads me into my favorite link up from this past year...
 
 
Love it. 
Week after week there is ZERO shortage of inspiration via
Katie & Steph's weekly SPD link party.
 

And last but not least......
My favorite place to shop, or should I say "shops?"
 
The one & only Etsy.


There's something so neat about supporting the creative community all across the world. 
I SO LOVE perusing the shops in search of those one of a kind homemade pieces to call my own.

And today, I'm sending one lucky reader shopping in the world's most badass marketplace.
It may not be a Car (damn you Oprah), but it's the next best thing.
Am I right or am I right?!