Monday Blues

After a great weekend in Houston, I had the mega Monday blues.

To combat it, I went through and took a few pictures of things making me happy!!

It worked!

I'm now enjoying a sun-shining day with gym and Mad Man plans on the horizon for tonight.

Vintage blue china and runner replaced a burlap setting just in time for Spring!

Breakfast nook with birdies, blue & green, and DIY stained table.

My BIL & SIS made this handcrafted wine rack for us for Christmas. My favorite piece in our house.

Love looking at these happy owls from the kitchen each morning. And, that wire window in the background. Ah, simple things.

My hubby and father-in-law made the paper - LoneStar Outdoor News. How handsome.

White Wall

Due to my obsession with YoungHouseLove.com, I have been wanting a white wall of frames for quite some time.  Justin actually gave me our first piece for Christmas. Ya'll... be jealous.. my man went to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and hired a professional custom framer to make this for me.


Framed key to our house. Don't stalk my home address, please! :)

 So once I got piece one, I was on a roll and slowly started compiling other things that make me happy into white frames. I scored mega deals on the white frames from Home Goods and Pier 1 mainly.

I scored this awesome wired wite frame from Pier 1 with little white clips that hold all sorts of fun stuff. And, it can be changed out in a second, which makes me super happy.

I love walking by the wall every day and seeing notes Justin and I have written each other, wedding Save the Date cards, Justin's marriage proposal written on an index card, mushroom crost-stich art, my wedding dress, and a pretty white cross. Can't wait to continue adding on!

Josie Maran Product Review

You know how some women never stop hunting for the perfect LBD? (little black dress)... Well, I never stop hunting for the perfect foundation.

I don't wear much makeup, so that makes it even more important for my foundation to look great! Streaks, orange splotches, dry spots, oily spots, wrong color.... all of this can be avoided with a good skin-care regimen and "base face."

Luckily, I have pretty normal skin that isn't prone to breakouts. But, I also think that is because I use very simple products that don't contribute to problems.

Every day I wash with Cetaphil. I love it, but it does not get all foamy and bubbly which I know some people like. However, because it does not foam up, it does not strip your skin of the good stuff it needs every day. It's simply a great face wash.

At night, I use Josie Maran Argan Oil. Click this link to see all of the benefits of Argan Oil. My friend Kathy introduced me to it a few years back, and I would say this is my one go-to product. Seriously - stranded on a deserted island, this would be my one non-human essential.  Not only is it a great night-serum, you can use it on cuticles, split ends, sun spots... everything! Josie has a complete line of organic skin care and makeup available at Sephora.

I am not a complete organically-obsessed girl by any means, but I figure if you are going to put something directly on your face... why not let it be as natural as possible?

Because of my love for Argan Oil, I decided to try out her newest foundation, Josie Maran Matchmaker Serum Foundation. While skeptical at first on its promise to "transform to your skin color," I am now quite the believer. The same foundation I bought prior to my trip to Costa Rica, still beautifully matches now that I am much darker. It's like magic I swear. There are three shades to choose from, and I am using LightMedium.

So, although I am not a makeup know-it-all, I do know what I like. And Josie Maran Argan Oil and Matchmaker Serum Foundation have put my never-ending search for foundation on hold for awhile.

Bye, Bye OPI

Bye, bye OPI.

Hello, Butter London.

There are three reason why I am making the switch to this "3 Free" nail laquer.
1. No Formaldehyde.
2. No Toluene.
3. No DBP or Parabens.

But, with a $14 price tag, you better know just what you're looking for.
Today I did - British Racing Green.

It went on so smooth and coated perfectly. Could have gotten away with just one coat, but I layered two as usual. (And topped with Marci's top coat pick, Seche Vite, of course).
I'd say this girl is ready for the weekend celebrations to begin!



O'Brien

This weekend is St. Patty's Day. I love St. Patty's Day.

In college, the phrase "I'm an O'Brien, do I get free shots?!?" was used a lot.
A lot, a lot.

But this year... I am a Lee!!! What to do about this?!?

Duh, use my O'Brien drivers license for the day.

Sorry, hubs.

This weekend is also Lacey's bachelorette party in Dallas! And, the party-planner, Jess, is coming with pre-made St. Patty's Day shirts for the whole crew. Can't wait to reunite with a bunch of these beautiful ladies.

Dinner and party bus on Friday followed by early AM St. Patty's Day celebrations on Saturday... ?! I anticipate lots of leprechaun dancing and green-beer drinking.



Half a Year

Our 6-month wedding anniversary came and went so fast we almost missed it.

Yea, right.

That sucker was marked on my calendar months ago!

And because Justin and I come up with any excuse to go out to eat,

this was a better-than-usual excuse.

Our 6-months actually fell on Saturday, but since I had Justin slaving away enjoying working in our house, we celebrated on Sunday. Justin took me to R+D Kitchen in University Park which was dee-lish. And, since we were on a roll for Sunday-Funday, we also went to Sfuzzi for early afternoon cocktails.

It was a nice relaxing day full of fooo-oood. Seriously, we had to hit the trails hard last night to work some of it off. Oh yea, there are the coolest trails behind our neighborhood - for you Katy people, very similar to Cullen Park trails. Laila loved her life - and went leash-less. I'd post a cute pic of her, but she needs a haircut like it is going out of style. Actually, yep, her haircut is out of style.

Back to the 6-month milestone.... I am so blessed to have such an amazing, hard-working, ambitious, best-friend of a husband! He makes me super happy and I am lucky.

Leaving with a sneak peek of my next blog. Look at my little Tessa. I love seeing her smiling postcard face every day.

Lazy Weekend Project #1

Back in August, we bought this house in Las Colinas - - about 15 minutes outside Dallas. We love it, and have been working on little projects to make the house more "ours."

This weekend we tackled  two projects that we've been meaning to get to for awhile. Our bedroom connects via french doors to another bedroom. It will be a perfect nursery, but until we need it for a real live bambino, we use it as our home office space, a place to store my craft supplies, and random stuff. It was just kinda a mess..

So, Justin and I bought a couple storage items at Home Depot:

• A 6-block Martha Stewart brand cube storage shelf
• An espresso colored flat shelf and brackets
• Martha Stewart brand cube storage baskets                                

It's funny how a $19 shelf and $30 cube can make such a big difference. The room still has lots of room for improvement, but since it is just a "temporary hold" for a future baby room, we don't want to get too crazy!





Pura Vida!

To be completely honest, I always thought "Pura Vida" was kinda tacky. Maybe I was jealous when all of my friends went away to study abroad and came home chanting "Pura Vida," and I was stuck making pennies at a summer internship, but that is neither here nor there. Because... pura vida...its awesome.

To scream Pura Vida! is not just a drunken line college kids come home with. It is truly a way of life in Costa Rica. Here are a couple examples I experienced last week:

"Can I have a bottle of water, please?" - - Oh, si, Pura Vida.
"Good Morning!" - - Buenos Dias, Pura Vida!
"I need to get to Tamarindo quickly!" - Not a problem. Pura Vida.

Love it.

A bit about my trip...

Every year Aggreko awards our top sales reps with a 4-day all inclusive trip for themselves plus a guest. I am lucky enough to be able to plan the program internally, while Sullivan Group does all of the heavy-lifting. I am fortunate to be able to call those Sullivan gals good friends - we have so much fun together! This year we hosted Aggreko Excellence at the JW Marriott Guanacaste. (About 15 minutes from an adorable local surf town, Tamarindo). The resort was beautiful, food was delicious, and I got to soak up some sun and Vitamin D for 6 wonderful, busy, days.

In between the craziness, I was able to read 3 1/2 books. Yep, almost 4 whole books. How amazing is that?

• The Descendants - read cover to cover on the flight to Liberia. Absolutely amazing.
• The 5 Love Languages - love, love. Totally hits home, and makes perfect sense.
• Customer Message Management (nerdy work book, but highly recommend for young marketing profesh)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - - almost done and really enjoying it, but it is so quirky the way it is written I have to re-read every few pages.

I also got to do some fun, touristy stuff. I took a catamaran boat ride and snorkeled. I got to hold a spider monkey! And a puffer fish! And, I got to spend time with a phenomenal photographer, Jonathan Yonkers, a native of Costa Rica who photographed our event. Check him out, here.

Overall, it was another successful Aggreko event. I am truly blessed to enjoy my job as much as I do, and to have been given the chance to explore some really amazing places "on the clock." But, when I am away, man I miss my hubs.

Luckily we have lots of exciting plans for this weekend that I can't wait to talk about next week. Stay tuned!

Celebration Event - there was a light up dance floor in the center.

View from one side of my balcony. The other side was ocean.

Pura Vida :)