Love the One You're With

LOVE - just in time to finish off February!

I got this great idea from a blog I read almost daily.  The point is to share a space or object in your home that you are truly proud of or really enjoy. I think too often we all, me included, get wrapped up in what's in magazines and what celebrities have in their homes, and we lose focus of the small spaces in our own lives that make us happy. I have lots of little things in my current apartment to share, but I hope to be able to share pictures of other people's spaces too; so start thinking - I may ask YOU!!

I am gearing up to move, but there are a few little things that I captured over the weekend that I love about my apartment. They are nothing extraordinary, but they make my room more cozy and homey nonetheless. 

(Please excuse the low quality pictures)

This is a set of three trivet-like wood decorations I got from a yard sale when I lived in Atlanta. I love the detailed carvings and most of all the weathered look of each one. Even better is they are not matchy-matchy in shape. The farthest one is an octagonal shape, a square, and a circle.  I hope to paint these and reuse them when I move.

 Another great thrift store find! My mom scoped these out one weekend when we were searching for apartment decorations. They were such a deal because (although you can't tell from this picture) they are both about 24x36 in size, so they make a prominent statement, especially when grouped together. Botanical prints are very popular now, so they are hard to come by, let alone pricey! The muted browns, tans, greens, and whites all work perfectly with my current bedroom colors.

       Lastly is this great leaner mirror. (I refused to take a bigger picture that reflected my unmade bed or pile of laundry, I mean . . . ) It was a little addition to my room, but it made a huge difference. It was the first time that I have upgraded from what I call a dorm room mirror. The kind that is tall and skinny and works perfectly stuck to the back of a door. This one is much wider, can sit on the floor, and has a substantial frame.

       I also love the brushed bronze finish. To me, this kind of finish works with darker tones in a room without being too masculine.  

       For a similar mirror try: Kirkland's Home 36x67 

There are many more things I love about my space, but I'll save a few to share later. 

So, what do you love about your home???

A Day of Sweets

 Happy Valentines Day Everyone! 

I hope everyone has big plans today. I wish you were all here to share these homemade goodies with me:

Some HEARTfelt sugar cookies for all of the sweet guys in my life

 

 and a tasty batch of CHERRY swirl brownies for the sweet tooths in my office!

 

 And my favorite kind of sweet: design! 

My roommate found this picture that pretty much sums up everything I want in my apartment style: kelly green, weathered furniture, a graphic print, glass jars, neutral palette, feminine curtains - pure love for sure!

 

And stay tuned for a regular design post I hope to do on LOVING your own home.

Thanks for reading! 

Love you guys!

 

"I might have to wait, I'll never give up

I guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck

Wherever you are, whenever it's right

You'll come out of nowhere and into my life"

- Michael Buble, Haven't Met You Yet

Home (Apartment) Dreams Coming True!

Exciting news - I'm getting a new apartment! Like anyone who gushes over interior design magazines and catalogs, I am beyond excited for the chance to move into an apartment with blank walls and empty space! 

Needless to say, planning out what I want to do in a new apartment is filling up my Pinterest decorating boards fairly quick. I am also quickly learning what my style is and what I love in terms of design.  I'll share a few things over the next few days and weeks that are starting to become themes on my pin boards.

1. KELLY GREEN 

I love this as an accent color in a room full of neutrals or paired with a light blue or crisp whites. I'm even finding that I like larger pieces of furniture, like cabinets and hutches in a weathered kelly green finish.  

Thanks for reading!! 

Happy 2012!!

Happy 2012 to everyone!!

I'm off to a slow start because of a new years cold, but nevertheless I couldn't be more excited for the start of a new year! Maybe it's my OCD-list-making-type-A-personality, but I love the idea of starting everything over on a fresh slate. Mentally, I feel like I can let go of anything that I didn't accomplish in the past year and look forward to more aspirations and motivation in the new year.

That said, I feel like this is going to be a great year! I am coming off the natural high of having spent time with so many friends and family that I love over the holidays, and my new phone is the ultimate motivation to organize my life into one convenient little digital, hand-held life planner. Not to mention I will be 25 this year!!! Blame it on the OCD again, but there is something exciting to me about reaching a quarter of a century - - - seems pretty important to me!

Well, I haven't made concrete resolutions this year, but one of my personal goals is to devote more time to writing, photography, and blogging. Hopefully I will be able to pour more into this little blog and really focus in on my interest in interior design and everything else inspirational.

I know my passion for design is still there because of the overwhelming joy I got out of finding these little gems in our office mail on the first day back:

West Elm

Design Within Reach

Pottery Barn

Birmingham Home & Garden

Birmingham Magazine
I mostly love this for the fun graphic layout and fonts. I'm excited to see where the new management takes this magazine in 2012.

I hope your new year is off to a great start. Check back often for great blogging in 2012!!

"We're live!"

This morning our whole office got an email with that message - meaning after months of hard work by my co-workers, we finally have a brand new, fabulous, website!!!!

Check it out! www.architectureworks.com 

Be sure to look at the PEOPLE page under FOUNDATION. I was able to put my photography skills to use and take everybody's picture for their profiles!

Playing Catch Up

Busy! Busy! Busy! The weeks since my last major post in November have flown by. It is that time of year where everything seems to be in fast forward, but I love having a busy schedule, getting a lot accomplished, and spending time with people I love. So what exactly have I been up to . . .

UGA beat AU - bragging rights for a year at the office! No SEC title, but we put up a good (first half) fight against LSU!

Mom came to town! It is always so nice to have visitors and it seems like every time she comes to town there is a lot of productivity, shopping, decorating, good food, and all around fun minus checkbook balancing ;). I love having her here and always hate to see her go!

Mom walking through the Moss Rock Festival

Decorating the Children's Hospital Tree - Every year our firm partners with Books-A-Million to decorate a tree for the Children's Hospital. I headed up the decorating for the second year in a row and got to put together the tree with a few co-workers. (Thanks Mom for picking out all of the great decorations and being such a big help that weekend!) It's always so fun to see the little patients pass our tree and point out their favorite Christmas books - it warms my heart!!

I finished my photography classes! Hopefully blogging will make me stick to practicing regularly. I always have my ever-talented photographing brother to teach me more too! I'm hoping to take more classes in the Spring - possibly Graphic Design or Marketing-related.

A lot of my time was spent doing more party planning; I could get used to that! I was asked to help pull together last minute decorations for a young adult church conference. The theme was "Under Construction - Building Your Talents and Testimony," so me and an amazing group of people from church pulled some long nights and made awesome decorations out of little more than duck tape and poster board. The crane was not my idea, but it really made the dance look great! I was thoroughly impressed with what we pulled off.

Construction-themed food table

I think the crane turned out pretty neat - all paper and cardboard!

Some of the Birmingham people in front of the fun little photo booth backdrop.

Baking for the office - My own little twist on a boxed cake: Raspberry Chocolate Cake: Sometimes I surprise myself with my baking 'skills.'

Fall party with my Southern Progress girls! I had tried a great Pumpkin Stew a few weeks ago at a church luncheon and really wanted to try it out for myself. It doesn't take much to get these girls together for a little recipe testing and dinner party - complete with plenty of gossip and Birmingham-To-Do-List-Creating. My sweet little pumpkin that Mom bought while she was in town (thanks Mom!), while it looks sad, tasted absolutely delicious!!!

Auburn Football - I survived. Somehow just a week after cheering on the Dawgs as they beat Auburn Between the Hedges, I managed to survive using the office football tickets and going to the Samford v. Auburn game. My roommate Kimberly came with me and made sure I was decked out in just enough orange and blue that I didn't get nauseous from the near-Gator colors. I have to admit - it was pretty fun to be at another SEC football game - it seems like it's been so long! Not to mention - rolling Toomber's Corner is kind of a fun tradition. No worries - it only lasted a day - I'm back to bleeding Red & Black!!!

Thanksgiving in the mountains!!! I can't tell you enough how much I love being around my family. We may get on each others nerves from time to time, but as far as families go, I am pretty fortunate to be related to a group of people who work hard, and play even harder. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend Thanksgiving in the house my sister-in-law grew up in. It's tucked away in North Georgia and made for a great, unplugged, relaxing, weekend with the family. We ate a lot, played a lot of games, attempted a lot of crafting, and snuggled up around the fire. Mostly we just sat around and gossiped while the boys did projects around the house - it was perfect! Not to mention a day trip to go ziplining!!!! See a great overview here.

Gearing up for Christmas! I already have an ever-growing to-do list to mark off with my Southern Progress girls - from Christmas movies at the old Alabama Theater, to ice skating, and tours of homes - I'm ready to get shopping and decorating underway too!

I'm sure there is so much more I'm missing, but hopefully that gets me caught up for the most part!

Words to Live By . . .

"The secret to success is to do common things uncommonly well." 

- john d. rockefeller -

It looks like I've become a monthly blogger lately. The last few weeks have been so busy and pretty overwhelming at that. I am trying to catch up and simply do the 'common things' well. I have an update post, complete with pictures, that's almost done!

It's still hard for me to believe that it's already December!!!