A Daily Dose of Dallas

Goodbye Blogging

2010-12-20T10:17:00.004-06:00

I think that I am officially done blogging. I really enjoy reading other people's blogs but I just don't think that writing one myself is really "my thing". To me the blogging world seems to be separated into 4 categories... 1. The funny, witty and honest blogger who says the most un PC things and really tells it like it is while cracking you up. Love this blogger. 2. The super creative blogger who always has a great new craft idea or fabulous home decorating tip. I love reading these blogs but I get super envious and bitter b/c I am far from creative. 3. The oh so annoying braggers. These are the bloggers who are constantly bragging about how perfect their children, husbands, homes, clothes, lives in general are and think that "being honest" about their lives means they occasionally post a no makeup picture of themselves. It's obnoxious. And finally there are the bloggers like my self...number 4. The bloggers who are really trying but their lives are just kind of boring. They either have no kids to post about or they are just no good at Witty banter, crafting, bragging or blogging in general. As I mentioned I fall into the boring blogger category and I'm positive that I will never fit into any other category.

So with that said I will no longer be blogging. If you are a friend of mine in real life you can find me on face book. I love posting photos so as always I will be overloading my face book page with them. I still plan to stay in the blogger world by keeping up with the 10 or so blogs I have been following for the past year...most of you follow mine (or occasionally read mine lol) so you know who you are ;) I love reading yours so please keep em coming!

Just for fun here is a bullet list on why I am not the "blogger type":

I do not have a child.

I am not pregnant.

My wedding and the planning for it is over.

I do not know how to use a glue gun, sewing machine, or scrap booking scissors.

I am way to opinionated.

I am not perfect, and no one would buy it if I tried to act like I was.

I do not buy designer clothes or search the internet for them (but I wish I could)

My house is old, and small and needs quite a bit of work (well less now than before).

I have no decorating skills, seriously I'm lucky if I can pick out sheets to match my comforter.

I do not like cupcakes...or cake in general.

I cook but not gourmet, I mean I cook spaghetti or baked chicken but nothing fancy.

No one wants to see pictures of my dog and cat, even if they are super cute.

I do not like Toms shoes, they are ugly. But I do love that they support a great cause.

I do not like most trends like this ^^^^^ that everyone else loves.

I live in uggs, yoga pants and no makeup.

My idea of a vacation these days is a trip to Philly or a cheap cruise...nothing fancy for the Mixons.

My furniture comes from places like Rooms To Go, not boutiques or Pottery Barn.

Sometimes I am skinny-ish (before vacation), but mostly I'm kinda chubby, no one needs to hear about that.

I really don't have a good sense of fashion...no one would look to me for tips that's for sure.

My family is awesome, but loud and crazy and drinks a lot.

Ok I drink a lot too...I may or may not be a wine-o.

I'm pretty sure that's enough to put me in the running for the worst blogger of the year award? Ha!

PEACE OUT!!!!!

video

2010-12-07T22:58:00.002-06:00

I am not a very tech savvy and the entire blogging process is nothing but a pain for me...it's just not my thing. With that said I have just discovered how to post a video!? Crazy huh? So this is about 10 months too late but here is an adorable video of Baby Cheeks and her Uncle Matt when she was about 6 months old (last Feb.). This is when she first began to really talk and babble alot...and chew on her hands hehehe

wordless wednesday

2010-12-01T08:45:00.002-06:00

a cheeky halloween

2010-11-09T08:40:00.015-06:00

Yes it is November. Yes it's only a few days until Thanksgiving. Yes I am just now posting about Halloween. Sue me.

Baby cheeks went as a bumblebee, mainly because my favorite costume of all time was my bumblebee costume circa 1987. My mom was so tickled to see the pictures, but maintains that I was still the cutest bumble bee she's ever seen...we'll see how her story changes once she has grand kids ;) Sam and I went to all sorts of fun Halloween play dates and parties and so did Mommy and Sam, then we all went trick or treating to finish off the Halloween week!

The last photos are from "Miss Katie's" adult Halloween. Matt, Liz (our sister wife ha!) and I went out to "gay Halloween" in Dallas. There is a huge block party and parade in Oak Lawn every year, it was amazing people watching and further confirmed my love of gay people. We met up with Liz's friend Jon and a few others and somehow ended up at Dragon Fly. How you start out a evening at a gay parade (dressed as a gorilla, devil, cat and wrestler) and end up at the Hotel ZaZa is beyond me, but we had a great time!

Sorry for the photo overload!

Halloween Party at KinderMusic:

Neighborhood costume party with Mommy:

Arboretum pumpkin patch play date:

Halloween night trick or treating with family and friends:

Finally a bath and ready for bed after a fun halloween week!:

Annnd commence Adult Halloween:

Yes my husband was in a giant gorilla suit...he makes my life fun, what can I say?

never paint brick

2010-11-02T20:39:00.007-05:00

I am now a firm believer that natural brick should NEVER be painted over.

Let me explain:

It is almost impossible to remove paint from brick because it is so porous that it just soaks up the paint so deep that removing it is not really an option. There is one way that I have heard of to remove paint from brick and that is "sandblasting" this is basically just using high pressure to chip away several layers of the paint and brick to reveal the "clean" brick that is left underneath, which isn't much. Oh and you would be crazy to try that method inside your house, on oh lets say a brick fireplace for instance? Now I know many of you are thinking "but what if the brick is an ugly color, why shouldn't I paint it white?" well friends I will tell you why: Right now you think it is an ugly color, or you don't like the "brick look" but let me tell ya a little secret...trends come and go, your taste changes over the years, and it is unlikely that you will live in your house forever and even less likely that you and the new owner will have the same taste. So save yourself and possibly the next owner of your house the trouble and leave the brick alone, or maybe re-stone if you must change it.

In the 70's (my house was built in 1976) natural brick of any color was all the rage, not so much in the years between then and now. However, low and behold the natural brick look is back in full force and I'm stuck in the 90's (ish). Over the years several previous owners of my house decided that the brick fireplace was dated (or so I can imagine) so they chose to paint over it, many times. The last couple in my house who just happen to be insane in general kept with their crazy pants theme and decided to paint the brick an awful shade of yellowy tan (yes that IS a technical term). They also painted the mantle, the trim and one wall in the living room the same god awful color. I hate them. OK, back to the point. I looooooove the original color of the brick, I know this because the fireplace extends through the wall into our garage and of course they did not paint that part. I'm convinced they didn't paint it just so I could see how pretty my fireplace could have been, thus further adding to my tortured life in this house.

Soooooo as I said before, there is no removing the old paint, I had no choice but to paint it again. Since I have clearly not lost my mind (yet) I went with WHITE. I really would have loved to have the natural brick but as with the mantle and several other things in my house I must make do with what I was given. With that said I LOVE the way the fireplace looks now! We painted the first coat of white on Sunday evening and the second coat last night. The bright white looks fabulous with the dark walnut color of my beautifully refinished mantle. The mantle didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned but I still liked it, now that the brick is painted I like the mantle even more. It's not how I would have chosen to do room had I been given a blank slate, but man I did a lot with the hand I was dealt. LOVE IT! With out further ado...

This is the only picture that I have of the fire place from before we moved our stuff in.

This is the fireplace right after we moved in, yellow tan wall, trim and all ;)

Right before we started on the mantle.

The mantle taped and the fireplace with one coat done.

Two coats done and drying, almost ready to unveil the mantle.

ALL DONE!!!!

Pretty :):)

With the overhead light off.

The finished product!!!! Yes I took a million pictures, I am soooo proud!

story of my life

2010-10-29T10:11:00.002-05:00

So today I came across my dream blog...well my dream life really.

http://www.younghouselove.com

While exploring this blog during Sam's entire 2 hour nap I found myself repeatedly saying "why hadn't I thought of this" or "oh my god, I could totally have a blog like this". Sadly I find myself saying things like this a lot. Like when Sam tried the pacimal for the first time, or when I found the infamous "snack trap" at babies r us. There are a million great ideas in my head but someone always beats me to the punch. I'll be honest though, I am not the most creative person and there is noooo way I would ever be able to come close to living the life of full time do it yourself blogger extraordinaire, but a girl can dream.

I see so much of my self, and my life while reading this blog, of course because of our house remodel but I can also totally relate to some of the author's quirky thoughts and experiences. Most of you may not get how amazing this blog is because you are not crazy enough to attempt the impossible feat of remodeling your new (old) house alongside your brand new husband with absolutely no experience between you. However, I still think you should give this blog a look see. Its cute, and just may inspire you to tackle your own do it yourself project :)

mantle update

2010-10-27T09:22:00.008-05:00

Lately I have been lacking all motivation to get anything house related done. There is still so much to do and I just feel worn out. We are trying to take projects a little at a time and get a few things done each day (or week). Even though I have been slacking I do have some good news on the house front...the mantle is finally finished!!! I tried and tried to remove all of the "spots" but I just couldn't get them all, I must have sanded and re-stained 10 times. Finally I gave in and told Matt that I was done dealing with it and I was ready to put the satin finish on. Thankfully I have a fabulous husband who took over the final step for me. Matt applied two coats of polyurethane to the mantle on Saturday and I didn't have to lift a finger (well not on the mantle anyway, I still got stuck painting the hallway trim lol). I am thrilled to say that despite a few small imperfections (that hopefully only I can see) the mantle looks fabulous!!!! I wasn't trying for such a dark color, but now that I have gotten used to it I love the dark wood, and I can't wait to see it pop against the white brick (if I ever get around to painting the brick). Hopefully by next weekend we will be done with the living room all together and ready to go furniture shopping....the part I have been waiting for since we moved in!!!! Here is my new mantle...brick to be painted soon (ish).

This is the mantle before. Painted a hideous yellow beige.

This is the mantle after the first coat of chemical stripper and lots of elbow grease. We also found out that there were two coats of yellow beige paint and then under that there were two coats of white paint.

This is the mantle after two coats of stripping chemical, lots of scrubbing and 3 days of sanding with a belt sander.

This is the mantle after the first coat of stain and before I did the spot touch up work.

This is the mantle after the second coat of stain and spot touch ups.

This is the mantle with dry stain and the fireplace prepped for application of the satin polyurethane finish.

This is Matt applying the first coat of spray polyurethane.

This is the mantle after the first coat of polyurethane and sanding.

This is Matt applying the second coat of polyurethane. He had to lightly sand the entire mantle by hand between coats (didn't get any pics of this b/c I was at the grocery store lol).

This is the mantle drying after the second and final coat of polyurethane.

Finally, this is it: the newly refinished mantle!!!!!!!

Can't wait to see how great it will look with the fireplace brick painted white!

More pictures to come...if I ever get it done EEK!

peanut carlsen

2010-10-19T11:10:00.002-05:00

Sorry no pictures but I just had to share some happy and exciting news.

My sister Laura...aka PREGGO had her first ultrasound today and mom was lucky enough to be there in person *jealous*! The baby is growing like a weed and we should be expecting his or her grand entrance sometime around March 14th. I still have yet to convince her to find out the sex of the baby, so as of right now it's just a peanut. She said the peanut's legs were crossed so they wouldn't have been able to tell today anyway. Laura was teasing me about the baby being born on the 12th (my first wedding anniversary), little does she know I would LOVE it if my new niece or nephew were born on such a special day. March 12th will always be a fabulous day for me and adding the birth of baby Carlsen can only make the day even sweeter! Besides, I was born on a holiday and look how great I turned out ;) I really want to be in Atlanta (where Laura and Eric live) when the baby is born, so I may have to miss the actual day of my 1st anniversary but the Mavs are playing the Lakers on the 12th so Matt will be working anyway. Plus we will be together for the next 50+ anniversaries but my first niece or nephew is only born once! Sorry Matt, looks like we will be celebrating ahead of time this year. LOVE YOU ;) Anyway, I am super excited as you can see, can't wait to meet the little peanut!

a boyfriend for cheeks

2010-10-18T10:08:00.005-05:00

It's Monday morning and I am tired. We worked on the house all weekend and I nursed a migraine all day yesterday...needless to say I have a bad case of the Monday blues. So here are some super cute photos from last week's Gymboree class to cheer me up, and anyone else out there who is having a rough Monday. :) Oh and I think Baby Cheeks may have a new boyfriend...

Little Jake made his way over to Samantha all on his own, he got really close too.

She was a little uninterested, the bubbles were pretty exciting.

Yeah she would go for the rocker type.

There is her BFF Ayden in the background.

He chose to sit by her during every activity, soo cute.

Ayden and Sam <3

Umm yeah that would be my little Sam WALKING by herself!!!! Crazy huh?!

Light Spots

2010-10-13T10:12:00.003-05:00

Here's some bad news. The mantle may be "ruined". I am sooooo disappointed *sigh*. Basicallythere were several small holes in the wood which is really not a huge deal, I just filled them with wood putty and moved on. The wood putty is made by Min wax which is the same brand of pre-treater, stain and gloss that I purchased. On the back of the stain it says to use pre-stain so of course I did. I think this was my mistake. Last night I used the pre-stain and then the stain, exactly how the package instructs. As it began to dry I noticed that all the parts I had filled withwood putty didn't absorb the stain. On the bottle of putty is says that it is stain able...arg. After looking at the spots closely and feeling them (they are oily) I have decided that its the pre-stain that has kept the putty form absorbing the stain. The pre-stain package and the putty bottle are the same brand (meant to be used together) and neither says anything about not using pre-stain on top of the putty. SON OF A..... Needless to say I was upset. So upset that Matt finally installed my new entry way light that he has been avoiding for months. It cheered me up a bit but come on, I spent a whole week stripping and sanding this damn mantle only to have it look like crap once stained. Matt swears it doesn't look too bad and "hey, it looks way better than it did before". Yeah, not quite what I was going for. I WILL NOT let this mantle win, so tonight I will be sanding down the light patches and re-staining them. I doubt that I will be able to get them to blend perfectly, but hopefully I will be able to make it look somewhat better. Wish me luck! Here are a few pictures of me staining. The stain is extra dark in the pictures because it just went on, it dried a little lighter.

After the pre-stain was applied.

Me applying the stain.

Staining the top.

After all the stain was on, right before we wiped off the excess so it is dark.

The "finished" product...see the light spots? There are tons more too.

one fair day

2010-10-07T08:39:00.006-05:00

Wow a daily post? Hell must have frozen over ;)

Yesterday Matt was off work and asked if he could take Samantha and I to the fair. We had to clear our busy social calender of course, but Sam would never miss a date with her favourite Uncle. Here are some cute photos from Sam's first trip to the Texas State Fair.

Everyone needs a picture with Big Tex at the fair, this is Sam's first ever!

She wasn't a huge fan of the huge truck.

Wee!

Sam eying my fried oreos!

Her first fair food, fried oreos (obviously they were a hit).

Yummy, fried oreos!

Matt trying to keep her quiet and happy (he hasn't quite gotten used to the baby crying or whining in public thing yet lol)

At the bird show.

Watching the bird show.

She was getting a little grumpy and tired so we bribed her with frozen lemonaide ha-ha

Bribery works every time ;)

All worn out and ready to go home.

mantle

2010-10-06T09:59:00.012-05:00

Some family and friends have been asking for new pictures of the house since we have been doing so much work to it. I don't have any fabulous ones since nothing is really completed yet *sigh*. So here are the pictures from refinishing the mantle. I hope to have it stained and finished next week so that I can paint the brick (white).

This is the fire place and mantle before. Well kinda, I had already taken a little bit of paint off the front to see how easily it would come off. I forgot to take one before hand.

Me brushing on the first coat of the paint and varnish stripping chemical.

After waiting 30 minutes this is what the paint looks like...gross.

Ready to start scrapping the paint off.

A side view after the first coat was applied.

Matt scraping the paint off with a putty knife.

This is the result after 1 coat of stripper and some heavy scrubbing.

After coat number 1.

Underneath after coat 1, still super thick.

After coat number 1.

The top after coat 1, you can see why we decided to apply another coat of stripper.

Ok this is me applying the first coat, but I didn't get a pic so lets pretend this is me applying the second coat of stripper chemical.

The top after a second coat and a few more hours of scraping and scrubbing.

After coat number 2 and lots of elbow grease.

From the front after coat number 2, sorry no action shots.

My pretty new leather sectional attempting to escape the dust storm.

Me sanding, which lasted about 4 days total. Thank god for the invention of the electric belt sander.

Yeah I defiantly wasn't this chipper the whole time.

The calm after the storm.

My poor house, and my poor tv under there, everything was COVERED in brown dust.

Me after the sanding...that's a lot of dust.

Um yeah that's an inch of brown dust on the recliner...don't worry we are getting rid of it, normally I wouldn't allow my furniture to be "dusted".

My hair looked like this after each day of sanding, ew.

Finally here is the finished product, well kind of. I still have to stain and polyurathane, but here is the fully stripped and sanded mantle:

Annnnnd here are a few pictures of the massive clean up that took a full two days. These are just a few of the many many piles of dirt and dust that we swept up around the house:

Truely final pictures coming soon!

so much for a week off

2010-10-04T16:57:00.006-05:00

This past week my sweet baby cheeks was off sailing the Caribbean with her mommy so I was left to twiddle my thumbs. Of course I decided to work on the house, little did I know that one simple job would turn into a 5 day long project that almost killed me. Ya see we have an old 1970's fire place, with an old 1970's mantle to match. The previous owners painted the fireplace and mantle in an attempt to bring it up to date (um yeah painting it an awful shade of yellow tan is NOT modern). We are eventually going to re-stone the entire fireplace with a fabulous natural stone but that is one of the last things on our house to do list (buying a house full of furniture and new cabinets/counter tops is on the top of the list in case you were wondering). So last week we decided that we must find a way to update the fireplace and make it bearable until we are ready to re-stone. We bought white paint and planned to paint it all but then I had a "brilliant" idea...while examining the mantle more closely I thought there HAS to be a beautiful piece of wood underneath all that paint. I was right. Now normally I loooove being right (yes its a flaw of mine, oops) however this time I almost wish I had been wrong. We spent 1 full day stripping it with a nasty nasty chemical, which left me with a few chemical burns BTW. Then we spent a 1/2 day using another chemical to clean the gunk off that was left behind from the first chemical. Next I began to sand, and sand, and sand. 5 days of sanding later, yes 5, we had a brand new piece of wood. Oh and then I spent 2 days sweeping, mopping and conditioning my new leather furniture. My entire house was covered in fine brown dust, it's gross. This weekend I will stain and gloss it. Shit.

While Samantha and Mommy were doing this....

And this...

I was doing this.....

And this....

Guess who's preggo?

2010-09-26T20:12:00.005-05:00

My life is currently to busy to take the time to make a long post but I do have some exciting news to share with the blog world: (Hope I didn't fool ya with the title hehehe)

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE!!!!!!!

My big sister Laura (aka the best sister ever) is pregnant! The baby is due March 14th and they are planning to not find out the sex :) I am beyond happy and excited! I have been begging her to have a baby for years now ha-ha. Im so thrilled to have a baby in the family finally and Iam even more happy that Eric and Laura will get to experience being parents. I am also excited for my parents because I know they will make fantastic grandparents. Matt and I can't wait to spoil our little niece or nephew (I think its going to be a boy btw). That's about it for now ;)

Here are some pictures of the parents to be:

Here are some pictures of me and the mommy to be:

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! xoxoxox

lazy list and a few pics

2010-09-16T09:04:00.009-05:00

I have a million things to post about seeing as we just got back from a week long vacation not to mention how much Samantha has grown this month etc. With that said, I have absolutely no energy to post anything of substance. Instead you are getting a list. Yes a list....deal with it, if you're lucky I'll take the time to post a picture ;)

Because it's Thursday and NOT Friday we all need to remember what makes us smile (even if it is only Thursday) Here is what has me cheesin this week:

-I just got back from the Caribbean...nough said'

-My tan is hanging in there with some help from the fine people at Jergens

-Samantha is getting her FIRST tooth

-We finally bought a new couch and it was delivered this week...it's beautiful

-Our house is currently cleaner than it has been since we moved it

-My husband has brought me dessert in bed every night this week, love him

-Today is a 1/2 day, I have to go grocery shopping and finish cleaning tonight but I'll take it

-My parents and my dogs are coming today to stay the weekend

-My puppies will be living with me for 3 weeks while my parents are in China

-This weekend is wine fest, October fest and the balloon fest all within 20 mins of my house

-I get Sam on Fri and Sat this week this means my parents can pretend they have grand kids lol

-The contractor is coming out next week to finish our living room...then comes paint

Ok that's about it for now. I have an equally long list of things that DO NOT make me smile right now but today is a day for positive thinking. So I will be thinking about my list today and when I get a chance I will try to close my eyes and attempt to remember how it feels to be laying on a beach in the Cayman Islands with a fruity drink in my hand....

Here are some vacation sneak peek pictures:

Party Girl

2010-08-23T09:40:00.009-05:00

Baby Cheeks had a wonderful first birthday party! Lots of friends came to play and Samantha had a blast. I Put together the whole party so that all Shannon (Mommy) had to do was enjoy the day with her sweet baby. By the end I was worn out but it was all worth it! Can't wait till next years party...I just hope this year goes by a little slower than the first ;)

Here are some pictures from Samantha's fabulous first birthday party (well one camera's worth anyway). Enjoy!

The banners Great Aunt Sue and Great Aunt Joe made for Samantha

The Patio

Party favors for the kids

Appetizers

Cupcake table

Cupcakes

Food table

Sharon, Ayden (Sam's bbf) and Aunt Katie (well me lol)

Mommy, Cousin Porter, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Coyt

Cupcakes!

Samantha playing with her friends Lucas and Porter

Both of Samantha's Grandpas

Uncle Matt getting ready to make the burgers

Miss Lauren and Aunt Katie

Elizabeth, Mommy and Samantha

Miss Lauren and her family

Porter, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Coyt

Baby Ella!

Samantha and Me

Ayden and Samantha playing together as usual

BFFs!

Grandma with both of her Granddaughters

Some friends playing outside in the backyard

Lisa, Baby Olivia and Brett

Uncle Matt AKA The grill master

Me with Sharon and Ayden again

Party people

Ready for her birthday cupcake!

Daddy, Samantha and Mommy

Samantha getting a bath from her two Grandmas after the party

After the party, me, Matt and Sam's Maternal Grandparents (and mommy of course) stuck around to open presents with Samantha

Grandma and Samantha playing with all the cool new toys

Me and Sam playing with her new shopping cart

Matt teaching Sam how to shoot baskets

Birthday Cheeks

2010-08-05T09:27:00.005-05:00

Samantha is turning ONE tomorrow!!!! I just cannot believe it, it really is true that kids grow to fast. She is such a funny baby, so independent and assertive which I'm sure will not be so cute in a few years ;) She is also the happiest and most smiley baby I have ever met, even when she is upset a smile is never more than seconds away. She is a busy, busy baby, always playing or crawling and of course talking up a storm. Lately she has become very clingy and "stranger danger" is in full effect, she still looooves to talk to random people and flirt but now she is a lot more shy and I cannot dare hand her over to someone else (other than Mommy and Grandma of course). I totally love this, I know it's bad, but she has never been much of a cuddler and she is always on the move so it is sweet when she wants me and only me to hold her (yes I'm selfish I know). Anyway, here are some fun facts about baby (oops I mean big girl) cheeks at age one:

-Weighs in at 19.5 lbs

-Loves her sippy cup and is using it so well.

-Shakes her head no constantly, she doesn't know what it means, but thinks its sooo funny.

-Will pull up on anything, anywhere, anytime.

-Hates walking, so she just doesn't lol

-Loves veggies and anything spicy.

-Eats whatever we eat, and she is not picky at all.

-Addicted to Gerber puffs and baby mum mums.

-Still all cheeks.

-Will have 15 minutes "conversations" with me in the car from her car seat.

-Loves to be sung to, always calms her down, always has.

-Only takes a paci for nap time and bedtime.

-Dropping things to get you pick them up is her new fave game.

-Defiantly knows the word "no" and obey very well.

-Can feed herself, and that's the only way she prefers to eat ;)

-She can now hold her own bottle.

-Hardy ever cries or fusses, and is always smiling and laughing.

-Obsessed with car keys.

-Loves gymboree class.

-Her best friend is Ayden.

I could go on forever :) Samantha is a sweet sweet angel, I love her to pieces and Uncle Matt is just plain head over heels. She is the light of her mommies life and makes her so happy, they are the sweetest little family and I am so honored to be a part of their lives. The past year has been wild and crazy to say the least but I wouldn't change a thing and I am so happy to have gotten the chance to help Samantha grow. Here's to another fabulous year!

Her party is next weekend, a cupcake themed cookout in the backyard with all of her and Mommies friends. I have planned the whole thing and I am so excited to see how it turns out. I am not the most creative person so I went to Etsy for inspiration and here is what I have come up with:

The adorable outfit that Samantha will be wearing, complete with "Sam" bloomers.

These go into each cupcake.

This will hang on the front door.

This is the centerpeice for the food table.

Confetti to e sprinkled on the cake table and food table.

Adorable hats for Samantha and her friends.

These paper balls will be lime green and light pink and will hang from the patio ceiling.

This banner will hang on the patio, and the green will be a brighter green.

These are the favor tags for the goodies bags that Samantha will be giving to her little guests.

I will post party pictures as soon as possible ;)

Ahhhhhhh carpet

2010-07-26T12:58:00.005-05:00

Finally after 4 weeks of waiting and storing all of our furniture in the garage...WE HAVE NEW CARPET!!!!!! It was installed this morning and I couldn't be more thrilled and relieved.

On Saturday we prepped for the carpet, finishing painting and replacing baseboards from the closet leak, etc. Sunday we set off 8 "bug bombs" in order to get rid of my little carpet beetle friends and I began washing ALL of our clothing and bedding, yes all of it. Currently I have washed, dried and folded 10 full loads. I am estimating about 10-15 more before I am completely done. By the way we had to leave the house with both animals for an entire FOUR hours after the "bombs", driving around with a cat and dog for 4 hours is interesting to say the least ;) Tonight we will start moving the furniture back in, starting with our bedroom of course. I am so happy to finally have our room set up so that I can start decorating.

Somehow this weekend we also managed to have a night out with our good friend Liz... here are some photos of our fabulous new carpet, our 4 hour excursion with the fur babies and our night out in Dallas.

Master Bedroom

Master closet...notice the pretty new wooden rods, yeah we made those ;)

Guest room

Oscar and Bauer sleeping on my lap in the car...I swear the cat is not aware that he is indeed a cat.

Yep, four hours of this

Ridiculous...I'm sure the drive thru people thought we were nuts

The novelty wore of quick ;)

Me and Liz at the Candleroom

Apparently I make this face when I take photos...thanks guys

Hey my arms are short, and there was wine involved

The rock?

Bad week house update

2010-07-21T10:35:00.003-05:00

Finally some good news...

The leak ended up being pretty easy to fix. The incredibly smart people who previously owned my house put a fancy new whirlpool bath tub in the guest bathroom and "forgot" to caulk around the fixtures. Meaning that every time someone showers or bathes a small amount of water drips behind the tub and into my master bedroom closet. Awesome. Luckily it was a quick fix and it was even covered on our home warranty! If you don't have a home warranty...I suggest you get one.

My creepy crawly little insect friends are indeed NOT termites. We had two (yes 2) pest companies come out to take a look and both said with all certainty that we do not have termites. The little bugs are most likely carpet beetle larvae, which is just as disgusting as it sounds. Carpet beetles eat carpet (duh) but also pet hair, clothing or any sort of organic fiber. I completely blame the previous owners (shocker) because everything I read about carpet beetles tells me that they live in places that aren't cleaned or vacuumed much and homes that have pets, they had 2 dogs and a cat. From what I can tell they NEVER cleaned or vacuumed, you should see the amount of pet hair we vacuumed and steamed up when we moved in. Still, I am more than trilled that they are not termites as termites are expensive to remove and can do a lot of damage. However, carpet beetles are a pain in my you know what to get rid of. We have to wash or dry clean ALL of our clothes and bedding, including things in drawers and other closets in the house. We also have to remove the old carpet (gladly) and set off bug "bombs" in every room of the house, which means that I have to find somewhere for myself, my husband, our cat and our dog to go for FOUR HOURS this weekend...anyone up for 4 house guests?

All in all this is great news. Way better than how I thought my little closet discovery was going to turn out, and a lot cheaper. Finally we will have our new carpet put in and our furniture returned. Thank god. Unfortunately Lady Gaga has taken over my husbands life for the next 3 days (he works at the arena in Dallas and coordinates concerts etc) so we will have to wait until next week for the carpet. If I have learned anything at all these past few months it's patience, so I will wait, and I'm ok with that ;)

To those of you who read and comment or do so on facebook or via real life: Thank you for all the kind words and support last week. Things were rough and you all cheered me up :) xoxoxox

My new do

2010-07-19T10:56:00.009-05:00

Those of you who know me know that I have NEVER had short hair, well not since birth anyway. I mostly keep it long because it is super curly and I never dug the "Felicity, post hair cut" look, Keri Russell has made me deathly afraid of a short haircut. However after growing my hair ridiculously long for my wedding I became fed up with the weight and heat and bulk of my long curly hair...so I decided to cut it. I have been talking about "the cut" since before the wedding but I don't think anyone actually believed I would really go through with it. Well I did :) I waited a few extra months to make sure that I had enough for locks of love, and of course waited until I was able to travel to Houston (I will never again let anyone cut my hair except my good friend and stylist Suleiman). Suli ended up cutting off a 12 inch pony tail for locks of love and then about 2 more inches to style my hair, so for those of you counting that makes FOURTEEN INCHES!!! Ok enough talk...

First a few recent pics of my long long hair:

Now for the haircut pictures:

This is at my parents right before going to the salon...please excuse the no makeup tired look

Waiting for Suleiman...kinda nervous at this point

This is the 12 inch pony tail cut...EEEKKK

Suli working his magic!

Love the back!

My new cut, and my locks of love donation

My mom really wanted to capture Matt's reaction...well done Mom ;)

Later that night, all dressed up b/c we had a wedding to attend.

The final product, makeup and all.

No good very bad WEEK

2010-07-14T14:49:00.003-05:00

As if finding a disgusting mess under my carpets wasn't enough drama for one week here is the list of awful things that have followed:

1. Car broken into Sunday night, GPS stolen.
2. Last night found water leak in master bedroom closet, the floor, wall, baseboards carpet, all soaked.
3. Termites found enjoying the soaking wet wood from said water leak.
4. Having to delay the carpet install in order to fix leak and termite infestation first.
5. Speeding ticket received today while rushing home to meet the Termite Inspector.

I know that there are a lot worse things in the world but I still cannot help feeling a little depressed about it all. Don't get me wrong I still love my house and life is pretty darn good overall but I'm allowed to have a pity party every now and again aren't I? I mean we have been putting so much hard work into fixing up our house not to mention money and just when it feels like we are finally making some progress we get a big fat slap in the face (in the form of water and tiny wood eating insects). The stolen GPS and speeding ticket just add to the ridiculousness that is my life right now. I can only manage to laugh at those two right now. I think if I don't laugh I will cry...not that I haven't already done so.

Please say a little prayer for us today if you don't mind. I am really hoping this latest fiasco doesn't end up costing us a fortune.

I will spare you the pictures of our nasty water logged closet with insect residents. Instead I will leave you all with a picture of baby cheeks that is sure to put a smile on any one's face...maybe even mine :)

Just in case

2010-07-13T13:28:00.005-05:00

This post is just in case any of you out there consider keeping the carpet that was there when you moved in, even if it "looks pretty good"....

I swear from the surface our beige colored frieze carpet looks perfectly fine, it's even a pretty popular design and neutral so goes with most decor. I considered saving the money and not replacing it, I mean we only have it in the 3 bedrooms anyway and 2 of them are hardly used. Then on a whim we decided (OK Matt decided) to pull up the corner in just one room to have a look...WE WERE HORRIFIED! Dirt, dust, and stains galore, even a cat hairball! So gross! "Just pulling up one corner" turned into rapidly ripping the carpet and pad out of all 3 bedrooms (while gagging) and doing a massive bleach clean of the concrete underneath. Needless to say, the new carpet is being installed on Friday.

Keep in mind when you look at the photos that we STEAM CLEANED all the carpets before we moved in...they were just THAT dirty. ew.

View at your own risk:

Umm yeah...that's a hairball

I swear they NEVER vacuumed

There are just no words...

Who needs to potty train your dog? Just let em go on the floor

The entry way to my bedroom. nice.

Just in case you weren't grossed out enough...

Annnnnd, I just threw up in my mouth a little

Ok the last few are just to further prove my point ;)

AWESOME.

Home Sweet Home

2010-07-09T15:33:00.011-05:00

As I'm sure most of you have heard me say by now I am indeed NOT a Texan. I love living in Texas, Houston has been my home for the past 10 years and Dallas will happily be my home for at least the next 10...however a huge chunk of my heart still belongs on the East Coast. I am a Philly girl through and through! I try to make it back at least every other year, but my last visit was way back in July 2007 for my brother's wedding. Matt and I had only been dating for about 6 months and he was coaching swim team that summer so he wasn't able to join me. Ever since, I have been DYING to take Matt to my home town. We finally got the chance to go in June, and as a bonus my whole family met us there!

The first day my big brother picked us up from the airport and we got to enjoy visiting with him and his wife Bryn for the day. The next day they had to work so Matt and I went downtown to see the sights and all the amazing history that Philadelphia has to offer. We took the next day to see some old friends (most importantly my second mom Ms Terry and her husband Joe) and the two smaller towns that I grew up in. The trip down memory lane was just want I needed <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Rogar. Rogar worked with my father during all 18 of his years at Sunoco, and continued to work there for another 20 years after my father came to Texas. 40 years at a company is unheard of these days! I really admire Rogar's commitment, work ethic and loyalty. I also value his friendship to my father and our family. When he attended my wedding in March I couldn't have been more touched that he had made the trip all the way to Texas to be a part of our special day. We defiantly love Uncle Rogar! (yes I know it is normally RogEr but he spells it a little different)

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Matt wore his Cowboys jersey off the plane, just to get a rise out of my brother! hehehe

Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell

Just as I remember it on field trips as a child

Betsy Ross' house

So cool

Original cobblestone....very cool

Cobble stone

We thought it was sooo funny that the fire house put Ben Franklin in a fire hat ;)

This statue is made out of keys

Matt :)

Matt's first authentic Philly soft pretzel

Penn's landing...yes where William Penn actually "landed" on the Delaware River

Benjamin Franklin's grave

The most creepy cemetery ever...graves date back to the 1700's

You can't go to Philly and not visit the Rocky statue!

"Yo Adrian!"

Yes Matt ran up the steps

No I did not run up the steps lol

The beautiful art museum

Awesome view of the city from the art museum

The infamous Geno's

Me eating Geno's cheese steak...part of our Mixon taste test

The infamous Pat's

Matt trying Pat's cheese steak....Geno's won the taste test btw

I love the Italian community in Philly....especially the food!

Matt and the Philadelphia Phanatic!

Me and the Phantic that I loved soooo much as a kid!

The awesome Reading Terminal Market

My favourite bakery ever! Love italian baked goods!

The best cannoli you will EVER have!

Our family is finally complete with the addition of Matt <3

Tim & Bryn...Matt & Katie...Daddy and Mom...Eric and Laura

Bryn said the funniest thing...clearly

My big brother Timmy and my sister in law Bryn

My big sister Lo and my brother in law Eric

The newlyweds <3

Me and my beautiful sister (best sister in the world btw!)

Soooo, funny story...this is Rogar's son and daughter in law, they were an interesting couple, super sweet (and wasted) and wanted to be a part of our family photo, they cracked us up!

Our awesome family...still laughing from the previous photo hehehe

On the way to the airport to head home, after a much needed trip to my favourite store...WAWA!

Matt and I had a fantastic time. He has never been to the east coast so it was a fun culture shock for this southern boy. He loved it so much that we kept questioning how he could be from Texas? He fit right in and I defiantly understand now why we get along so well and how he can put up with some of my crazy "yankee" ways. Ha! My favourite part was being able to show Matt where I grew up, my childhood homes and all the places that I love and hold so dear. I think his favourite part was the food...you just can't get good Italian food in the South, it's kind of like Mexican food in Texas ;)

11 months of baby bliss

2010-07-06T21:51:00.003-05:00

Today is a big day....today baby cheeks is 11 months old! Samantha has grown so much lately that I can hardly believe it. She has had trouble gaining weight, still a tiny 17 pounds (5 of it in those cheeks alone), but she defiantly has a big personality to make up for her petite frame. She loves feeding herself, giving kisses, laughing, talking, jumping, swimming and crawling. Lately Samantha has really been coming out of her shell so to speak. She is incredibly loud everywhere and anywhere, but not screaming, just happy and loud "talking". She has also begun to assert herself and even throw a few fits. She is an active little handful, and a true joy to be around. I cannot believe that baby cheeks is almost a toddler cheeks! Today I am filled with pride and a touch of sadness...they really do grow too fast.

I tried to get a good picture of her today but as I'm sure you can imagine, getting an 11month old to hold still for pictures is nearly impossible ;)

P.S. Still no teeth?! I find this adorable...can't wait to see her first pearly white!

Am I a bad person?

2010-07-01T22:50:00.002-05:00

During this amazingly stressful time in my life I often find my self thinking things that I just can't bear to say out loud or doing things that I would never admit doing, and I repeatedly ask my husband this: "Am I a bad person if....(insert awful thought here)?

So here we go, you be the judge blogging world.

Am I a bad person if...

-I frequently eat an entire Totinos pizza for lunch?
-I stalk people on Facebook with great pleasure?
-I harshly judge said stalkees pictures?
-I am extremely jealous of every one's adorable babies that seem to be arriving everyday now?
-I don't think it's that hard to get my damn coffee order right at Starbucks?
-I can't stand telling people I am a nanny anymore or defending my "career" choice?
-I have vivid dreams of strangling the people who owned our house before us?
-I love my cat more than my dog?
-I tell my husband that I did all the ironing when I really took it to the dry cleaners?
-I can't stand certain members of my family?
-I repeatedly list working out as a favourite activity but I can't remember the last time I did so?
-I constantly tell people what they want to hear, then come home and tell my husband what i really think?
-I pretend that I have will power and a stomach flu was not the reason for my smaller pre wedding figure?

I'm not too bad am I?

Yoga Cheeks

2010-07-01T15:03:00.004-05:00

Being the super cool and trendy baby that she is, Samantha has been taking Baby Yoga since about 3 months old. We have made some fabulous friends throughout the course of the class and we love going every week! Sam has even "graduated" from Itsy Bitsy Yoga to Tots Yoga with some of her younger friends to follow shortly. Here are some pictures from our last Itsy Bitsy class a few weeks ago and some older yoga pics as well.

Sophia and Samantha on their yoga mats

Sam in the downward dog lol

All the beautiful Mommas and sweet babies

Sam and Sophia again

Tired of pictures

So many babies!

Our class keeps growing and growing!

I love that Hayden is holding Sam's hand!

Hope you enjoyed a little baby love! Namaste!

Ceiling Progress

2010-06-28T15:06:00.006-05:00

While we were away (trip blog to come) the contractor came to resurface our ceilings and some of our walls, as well as add a new door and frame to the laundry room to garage door and install some new fans. Here are some of the pictures that he sent to us while on vacation. I love that he took the time to keep us updated. The final product is AMAZING...I will post some before and after photos as soon as I get them uploaded!

Lots of joint compound....used to make the ceilings flat

Some crazy stuff man

Prepping the floor in one of the guest rooms

Prepped and ready to go

Master bedroom ready to go

Entry way sans wallpaper and popcorn ceilings...about to be re textured

Guest bathroom ready to go

Beginning the 4 day process...

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Our new steel door!!!!

Flat kitchen ceiling!!!!!!

Flat living room walls!!!!!

Flat master bedroom ceilings!!!!!

The ceilings still look a little odd because they need to be primed and painted...but still they are amazing and a vast vast improvement. This week we are also having the carpet replaced in all the bedrooms! Those pictures to come as well. Once again, to save even more money (story of my life lol) we will be priming and painting ourselves as well as re caulking doorways (and a million other things) and painting walls and woodwork. We are going to start this weekend. One room at a time starting with the master bedroom and bathroom. Wish me luck!

Renovation Update

2010-06-21T10:40:00.005-05:00

This weekend, and the past 3 weekends in general have been hellacious around the Mixon house. We have been working tirelessly to remove our awful popcorn ceilings. It is a messy and difficult job but to save about a dollar per square foot we have decided to remove it ourselves (that about $1,700 for those of you who think we are nuts). We also took off all of the wallpaper our selves which was even harder than the ceilings.

In case anyone out there is curious here is how you remove popcorn ceilings:

1. Fill a fine sprayer with a solution of 1 gallon water and 2 cups vinegar. (oh yeah my house reeks on vinegar now)

2. Spray the ceilings in 3x3 sections until soaking wet (but not too wet, so that you don't ruin the drywall).

3. Use a ceiling scraper or putty knife to scrape off the texture, reveling clean dry wall underneath.

4. Snap at your husband numerous times throughout the process and swear over and over again that the next house you buy will be brand new.

This is by far the messiest thing I have ever done, we have swept and mopped about 10 times and we have yet to rid our house of the dust. All in all it took us 3 weekends to do our entire house. I want to kill myself...but it was worth it because all we have to do now is sit back and let the contractor do his thing (re-texture the ceilings to a smooth finish) The contractor starts Wednesday and we are leaving for the week to go to Philly so hopefully we will be coming back to a whole new house!

Here are some pictures of the process:

Living Room Before

Holy Mess!

Matt working away

Glamorous right?

I will post more pictures later, they are too shocking to keep all to myself ;)

The Cove

2010-06-11T10:51:00.004-05:00

I'm not up on my soap box much, well not on my blog anyway. But please please please watch this movie and please please please visit this website and please please please try to do what you can to not support such an awful industry. I'm not asking you to donate your money, or time...just care and don't support dolphin swims or shows etc.

http://www.thecovemovie.com/

I personally will NOT be swimming with the dolphins while on our Caribbean cruise in August. I really wanted to, I loved the idea and looked forward to such a fabulous experience. I mean can you imagine? Swimming with dolphins? However I had no idea what was really going on. My heart hurts for theses animals. We are all gods creatures and dolphins are one of his most amazing creations...I cannot bare to see what is happening to them.

I know we are all entitled to our own opinion and some of you may not agree with me on this one. So I am sorry if you do not agree, but I was moved to tears (I cried for hours) by watching The Cove and I just had to tell you all about it.

Water Babies

2010-06-10T09:49:00.008-05:00

Several posts ago I promised pictures from our pool play date. Today I will deliver! Last week when the weather was just right baby cheeks and I played "beach bunnies" with our very best friends Sharon and Ayden. We both love them so much and could play with them everyday...ok we DO play with them everyday :)

Dressed and ready to go.

This is when they began to squeal with delight!

Sharon got this water play mat from One Step Ahead...awesome toy.

Pure baby joy!

We turned the water off for a bit so they could play together. Sam decided that she wanted Ayden to "come here now!"

"gimmie those sunglasses!"

Happy Ayden Bear

And then the baby lips turned blue so it was time to get out.

Drying off with a snuggle.

Ayden and Mommy.

Samantha and KK

More playing...this time slightly rough ;)

I'm pretty sure Sam took the sunglasses right out of Ayden's hand 2 seconds before this picture was taken. I love that Ayden is so upset and Sam is like "what did I do?"

My sweet baby cheeks...with a slight wardrobe malfunction ;)

Trying to get one of us all together...take one.

Take two! Incredibly flattering ;)

Not even 2 minutes after getting home this is what Sam looked like...guess all the pool fun wore her out!

She barely kept her eyes open through a diaper change, and clearly there was no getting clothes on this baby.

Hope you enjoyed these sweet photos as much as I do...come on everyone loves a baby in a bikini?!?!

Current Events

2010-06-09T09:02:00.005-05:00

I logged on to my computer this morning and was bombarded with news, some good and some not so good. So here is a run down of what has caught my eye this morning on good old yahoo, minus the political stuff. I promise I do care about real issues (really I do lol) but I just don't find it smart or appropriate to discus my political views on my blog, you know the old saying "never talk politics with friends" plus I doubt any one really cares what I think about politics anyway ;)

-John Stamos to join the cast of Glee? ummmmm yes please! This is one of the rare times I will use the phrase "OMG" !

- Heidi Montag files for a legal separation from her crazy pants husband. About damn time. Wonder how may years of therapy it will take her to function normally again?

-Darth Vader popped up on yahoo as the number 7 most searched topic today. Gee because I have been wondering what that guy's been up to? These people do realize that he is not real don't they?

-Morgan Freeman is making a trip into space. Really space program, that's the celebrity you choose to go to the moon?

-Apparently the media thinks that Lady Gaga is starting a "cultural war"...um no, she is most defiantly jocking 80's Madonna and stirring up controversy to sell cd's...and HELLO, it's working. Me personally, not a fan.

On a more serious note:

-Joran Van Der Sloot has finally been caught, and has confessed to killing another poor girl. No joke here obviously, I am just glad that sick man is in jail and I hope he finally comes clean about Natalie Holloway so her family can finally have some closure.

Pick a Purse

2010-06-08T14:38:00.004-05:00

First of all the word "purse" is so weird to me. Growing up in Philly we never referred to hand bags as "purses". We crazy northerners use the term "pocketbook" which now also sounds odd to me...I think I'll stick with hand bag for now.

Anyway, I'm attempting to pick out a new summer HAND BAG. You would think this would be a fairly easy task for me considering my OCD and meticulous attention to detail, but sadly I have found that wedding planning has drained me of all decision making abilities. Here is where you come in lovely bloggers, I need opinions on which of these fabulous bags should be on my arm (filled with toys and covered in cheerio crumbs) all summer long. This list is far longer than need be, but like I said, Im off my game people.

Coach

I have sort of "out grown" Coach, but this new pattern has me gitty all over again.

Tory Burch

Not sure this one is springy enough?

Marc Jacobs

It's vinyl...perfect for the beach...and baby messes.

Juicy Couture

Normally I am not a Juicy fan, but this little number caught my eye.

Cole Haan

I'm afraid the orange may clash with most of my clothing?

Tory Burch

Comes in every color imaginable. Love.

Last Tory, promise.

Michael Kors

Literally 1/2 my bags are his...but I just can't help it!

Longchamp

Wouldn't this make a fabulous diaper bag? One day people...one day ;)

Now that I see how long my list is I have decided to buy two. I really could use more than one and I can't bare the thought of having to choose just one...I know life is rough. So feel free to give me your top two picks. Thank Ladies!

Laundry Room Ren

2010-06-06T10:56:00.004-05:00

We have finally finished renovating our first room in the house, the laundry room. Well, not entirely, we still need the contractor to come in and replace the doors but other than that it is done :) We sanded, cleaned, primed, painted, redid the wood work and re insulated. Most of all it feels so good to finally have some color on the walls and the front loading washer/dryer I have been dying for...man just saying that makes me feel old!

Unfortunately this is the only before picture I took.

Midway

Oscar is helping

Man I hate that blue tape

Where we fixed the insulation.

Done! Well minus moping lol

My new washer and dryer, minus the pedestals.

Never thought I would love a washer so much.

I love my sunny yellow walls and white accents....maybe it will help cheer me up when I'm drowning in laundry ;)

Embrace the Camera DAY 7

2010-06-01T19:55:00.004-05:00

Sorry I missed a few days...we got super busy with house renovations over the weekend, plus my in laws were in town. Here we are ready to join the challenge again ;)

Embrace the Camera DAY 4

2010-05-29T23:35:00.002-05:00

So it's Saturday which means that Samantha is spending the weekend with her awesome Mommy having tons of fun and I am spending the weekend with my hubby and fur babies :) So obviously I don't have a cute baby and me photo to post so I figured I would post one of me with MY babies, Bauer and Oscar. Hope this will do!

We spent the day removing plaster on the ceilings and sanding the bathroom, which explains my tired eyes and crazy white hair. It was a big big mess but my kiddos were a huge help, clearly ;)

.This one doesn't have the cat and dog in it but it was too funny not to post. Matt took this of me when we finished the room...illustrates exactly how I feel.

Embrace the Camera DAY 3

2010-05-28T22:46:00.002-05:00

Here we are hanging out in the living room...learning to walk :) Sweet sweet baby kisses.

Embrace the Camera DAY 2

2010-05-27T19:41:00.003-05:00

Sam mid-fit....she stopped screaming only long enough to look at the beeping of the self timer, notice the fully tear soaked face.

Me cheering her up...for some reason she thinks it's hilarious when I bite the other end of her spoon, oh the things I do to make that kid smile...hehehe

Embrace the Camera DAY 1

2010-05-26T20:31:00.004-05:00

Today was a great day to start this challenge because we had a super fun backyard baby pool play date (say that 3 times fast) with our very best friends Sharon and Ayden. Awesome day...more on that later.

Best challenge EVER! Clearly I could not take and/or post just one. I just can't get enough of my adorable baby cheeks!

NEW HOUSE!

2010-05-25T09:53:00.005-05:00

So only time will tell if I will actually be able to keep up with blogging this time, but I am going to try once again. Life has just been a little busy lately.

I was really enjoying posting about our wedding when Matt and I decided to up and buy a house ;) So somewhere between changing my name and writing a million thank you notes, we bought a house, packed up our things and MOVED! Crazy. On top of moving in, our fabulous house needs some work, updating mostly but work none the less. It was built in the 70's and apparently the previous owners were not aware that there have been 3 decades of trends in the meantime....and with pure disdain and hate I say this....wallpaper will be the first to go! I want to finish posting about the wedding soon but for now I will leave you with a few pictures of the new house, soon I will be posting before and after shots which are sure to shock and amaze (contractor starts next week!)

Signing our lives away!

Yep, it's ours!
We are starting on the new flower beds this weekend

Guest room, will painted white to go with my fabulous black and white damask theme..thinking about new carpet in the near future as well, although it is nice as is.

Guest bathroom, to be painted anything but the current mint green!

ahhh and now we come to the lovely wood paneling and wall paper..new stainless steel appliances, white cabinets, deep red walls and sans wallpaper. We are also adding another full counter tip with drawers and a built in wine rack.

Baby's room?

Renovation pictures to come! Yay!

VIDEO

2010-04-06T09:35:00.004-05:00

AHHHHHHH our wedding video is here! Well thats kind of a lie, it came 3 weeks ago but Im that behind on things. Everyone LOVES the video, our videographer did an AMAZING job...I wish I could post it on here to show you all. Please please please come visit us in Dallas, and we can have a viewing party. As my friend Sharon suggested, we can even make a drinking game out of it, every time our beyond awful officiant makes a rude comment, take a drink HA-HA Thats another story, clearly ;)

Rehearsal and Dinner

2010-04-06T09:02:00.007-05:00

Im back! It took me a few weeks post wedding to get back to a functioning level of organization. Sorry about that, but now I am back and ready to blog. I still have about 1/2 of my thank you notes left to write, but other than that I am ready to get back to my life.

Here are some fabulous photos from our rehearsal at the Courtyard and our rehearsal dinner BBQ held at Matt's aunt/cousin's home. Enjoy!

Daddy being Daddy

Our ushers Eric, Dave and Richard and wedding planning to the stars ;) , Miss Terry

Everyone getting situated

My lovely bridesmaids, Kristine, Cara, Laura and Kristen

The most adorable flower girl and ring bearer ever, Sammie and Basil

My brother Tim escorting my hot Momma down the asile

Matt and his groomsmen, Geoff, Tyler, Jason and Tim (yes that would be MY brother in the bow tie...awesome)

Sam and big B

Sammie being cute as usual

Basil and Mr Matt

The happy couple, practicing

My fave picture of the night, Kristen and Geoff...this is how they really feel? lol

3 of my most fave people in the world...where are Dad and I for this one?

Mom and I will Yai Yai and Papou!

My sisters

Miss Samantha made the trip all the way from Dallas

Matt and his little brother

Another fave picture of mine, me and Mrs Terry having a moment <3

Me with my two fave teachers, Cara and Kristine

Matt and I with baby cheeks of course

Adorable

Opening gifts with my parents :)

What a wonderful night that was. Wedding pictures to come next!!

Photo Contest and Sneak Peek

2010-03-23T11:32:00.003-05:00

Please go take a look at my AMAZING photographer's blog. She is holding a fun new contest so go take a look and enter to win some great pictures! Oh and there is a sneak peek photo posted from my wedding! YAY!!

http://www.lindsayperryphotography.com/blog/

Venue Set Up

2010-03-23T09:47:00.004-05:00

I forgot to add the venue set up pictures to the last post. The day before the wedding my my fabulous posse and I headed to the Courtyard to set up for the wedding. There was so much to be done. I went to get my hair cut so I didn't really do much, all the credit goes to some very lovely ladies who I love very very much. Thank you Mom, Terry, Bryn and Laura. You guys are AWESOME! Also a big thank you to Christiana at the Courtyard who was there every step of the way and who was of course a huge help.

After the setup we all had to rush to get ready for the rehearsal...what a day. I'll post rehearsal pictures in my next post.

These pictures were taken by my sister in law Bryn...thank you so much, they are amazing!

Place cards

Favor boxes

AWWWW

Again...AWWWW

Me in the back ground "barking orders" lol

Mom and Ms Terry hard at work

Love those candelabras

Place settings

Pre Wedding Madness

2010-03-23T09:29:00.006-05:00

The week leading up to my wedding was incredibly busy. We had to finish guest bags, escort cards, favors, go to my last dress fitting, start the recpetion set up and of course get our nails done. Here are pictures documenting the crazy last few days before the wedding day.

Ms Terry and Mom up late finishing the escort cards

My Mommy sewing in my dress tag at my final fitting

Still sewing
All done

My very special dress tag, that my Mommy hand sewed into my dress...also my something blue

Kristen, me, Laura and Bryn on our way to the nail salon

Kristen and Mom

Brynie

Laura and Ms Terry

Nice Kristen ;)
Me and my sisters...super tired after nails but headed to the venue to start the setup.

Bachelorette Dinner

2010-03-23T09:10:00.006-05:00

First of all..I'M MARRIED! YAY! Ok now we can move on the blogging portion of this blog ;)

As you all know I was forced to cancel my bachelorette party because I was deathly ill the week before my wedding. My lovely and wonderful best friend, Kristen felt so bad for me that she stepped up in true bestie fashion and rallied the troops for a last minute bachelorette dinner. We had the nicest dinner at Kona Grill, then went hot tubing at my parents house afterward. After my insane sickness I was only able to drink one glass of wine, but as the pictures show, one was enough...clearly being sick has made me a lightweight. Here are some pictures of my dinner. Kristen, I can never thank you enough for swooping in and making everything perfect. LOVE YOU! Thanks to all the girls who came out, I know it was last minute and a week night and you still came...that means the world to me! xoxoxoxox

Cristina sake bombing

Cristina and Cheryl

Stephanie and Kim

My red velvet cake :)

Me and Jenn
All the lovely ladies

Again

Best glass ever...thanks Cheryl

Naughty gifts...

The amazing Kristen!

bachelorette blues

2010-03-07T18:23:00.003-06:00

As if things weren't stressful enough....I woke up Saturday morning at about 3 am with the worst stomach bug EVER. By 8AM I was miserable enough to wake Matt up and the poor guy spent the next 3 hours listening to me cry, calling the doctor, picking up prescriptions and Gatorade and trying to figure out a way for me to not miss my bachelorette party. I was supposed to drive to Houston Saturday morning and attend my bachelorette party that evening. My sweet amazing future husband decided that he would drive me to Houston and then fly back on Sunday. So he packed up the car, fed me Imodium, anti cramming and nausea meds and off we went. I literally sat in the back seat the whole way with a bucket on my lap. When we stopped at buckees to use the restroom I was so weak that Matt had to practically carry me inside, everyone kept staring at me because I was white as a sheet and in pajamas, then I almost puked (for the millionth time) at the mere smell of his sandwich. After leaving buckees I decided that there was no way I would be able to make my party. I was so bummed but honestly I felt so sick that I didn't have much time to think about the party. Today I feel so much better, I'm still nauseous and can't eat, but I will say that today it has finally set in that I had to cancel my bachelorette party and that part sucks the most. I guess my brother had the best outlook on the situation, he told me that no one gets sick twice in one week so I should be happy that I got it out of the way now instead of on my wedding day, and he also told me that there is no quicker way to lose 5 pounds before your wedding. ha-ha. He cracks me up! Now I am just hoping that Matt doesn't catch my awful bug...please cross your fingers for him, and me.

1 week

2010-03-05T23:01:00.002-06:00

Let the countdown begin...we are officially ONE WEEK away from our wedding day! I couldn't be more thrilled! It feels like I am a kid waiting for x-mas morning, I'm all giddy and can't sleep. Tomorrow I am heading to Houston to have my fabulous bachelorette party hosted by the lovely Cara and Kristine. Then the rest of the week I will be finalizing all of my last minute wedding details. Man this week is going to fly by. YAY YAY YAY!

Just for fun here is a sneak peek of my wedding hair...this was from my trial run a few months ago. :)

Updates

2010-03-04T21:28:00.003-06:00

Here are some updates from some of my recent blogs:

-My tooth is indeed chipped, noticeable yes, but not horrible. I have decided not to get it fixed before the wedding. Matt, my Mom, my sister and Kristen have all reassured me that it's not noticeable if you don't look close and def not noticeable when I smile. Although my sweet sister, Laura has offered to pay to get it fixed as a wedding present if I really want it done. Love her <3 I'm not that crazy tho, I can deal with it for now. I will be getting it fixed soon after the wedding when things slow down a bit.

-We have given our final guest count to the venue and gone through all the final details so everything is pretty much done for the wedding. Somehow I survived the RSVP fiasco, no thanks to a certain someone. Erg.

-The weather in Houston is really looking up, and in Dallas too for that matter. As of right now the forecast for our wedding day is highs in the 60s, lows in the mid forties. Not to shabby. Because as you all know I am super OCD I still have 4 patio heaters on stand by just in case. ;)

-We are still under contract for the house 905. So far so good. The inspection went surprisingly well, we were worried about foundation damage because that is so common in Dallas but low and behold there is none, yay. We still have to schedule a slab leak test but I'm confident that will go smoothly as well. The seller's divorce decree will be final on March 20th, then the offer goes to their bank for approval. I have heard that this can take forever, but I was told to harass the bank with phone calls in order to expedite the process....oh I will be a handful for them ;) So as of right now we still have a closing date of April 19th. Man, who knew house buying was so damn complicated?!

-I broke down and called the band yesterday. Byron (the band manager) answered on the first ring and knew exactly who I was the minute I told him my name. As it turns out they just got back from London, apparently they were playing a few shows there over the past 2 weeks. He has received our final payment, agreed to all my crazy "demands" and we are good to go for the wedding. I feel a hundred times better after talking to him. They are defiantly worth the big bucks they ask for.

-Samantha has now tried and LOVED the following foods (all organic and handmade by yours truly): Butternut squash, Carrots, Avocado, Peas, Green beans, Kiwi, Apples, Mango, Sweet Potatoes, and Oatmeal. This week I went baby food making crazy and made the following for her to try in the coming weeks: Zucchini, Acorn Squash, Yellow Squash, Pears, Red Plums, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Rutabaga, Peaches and Beets. In a few months I will start making berries, meats and fishes etc.

-Samantha turns 7 months old on March 8th...can you believe my sweet baby cheeks is already 7 months old!? She is sitting up like a champ but not scooting or crawling yet, she hates tummy time so I predict she scoots on her bottom first then goes right to crawling. Other than that she is the happiest most smiley baby and she cracks me up daily. I'm pretty sure I have the best baby, and the best job ever not to mention the best boss/friend ever.

Again no post is complete without pictures. Here are some cute pictures from this past week. Matt and I have the coolest jobs, he doesn't go in most days till 11ish and the other days he gets off before 4 and I of course get the pleasure of taking Cheeks anywhere and everywhere whenever we please so needless to say the three of us get to spend a lot of time together. This past week Matt came to play with us several days in a row :) FUN! Here are a few pictures of my two favorite people doing what they do best...being adorable. Oh and I can't leave out MY babies Oscar and Bauer, so here is picture of them on the balcony enjoying the beautiful warm Dallas weather.

Single digits

2010-03-03T09:32:00.002-06:00

We are getting married in 9 days!!!!!!!!!!!! That's just plain nuts.

On a side note I haven't heard from my band in over 2 months. I have emailed several times in February with no response. At first I wasn't worried but now that we are less than two weeks away I'm starting to wonder what the hell is going on. I'm sure all of you are asking "well, have you called them yet?" the answer is no. Quite honestly I haven't felt like dealing with it. There is something new to "handle" everyday and I just haven't had the energy to pick up the phone and tell them that I am upset etc. Besides can you imagine the heart attack I will have if I can't get ahold of them via phone as well? The phone call has been my back up like "oh it's no big deal they haven't responded to my emails, I can just call em in a few days". If I can't get ahold of them calling I have no freakin clue what to do. I think today is the day I will bite the bullet and pick up that phone. Blahhhhhhh.

Oh, one more thing. I hate that people never rsvp for anything. Kills me. So to those of you reading who were invited to my bachelorette party...it's THIS SATURDAY. Now would be a good time to check yes or no. Thanks ;) And to those of you who were not invited to my bachelorette party, wanna come? It looks like my friends are super flaky and I might need a few fill in girl friends for the night ;O ha ha

Ok I'm done bitching for the day....I swear. Next post will be happier I promise. I actually went on a "girl date" with my new friend here in Dallas, I will have to tell you all about later. Stay tuned.

Playdate

2010-02-27T19:36:00.004-06:00

Baby Cheeks and I had our first play date on Friday! I was so excited as you can see :) I met the BEST woman at our baby yoga class (Sharon), I seriously have a girl crush on her and her baby girl Ayden. They have just moved here from Chicago and they too are having a hard time meeting people. Match made in heaven! So on Friday Sharon and I decided to hit up a mommy yoga class at Northpark with another friend from yoga, Jessica and her baby girl Avery. Jessica is equally as awesome, but unfortunately she will be going back to work in a few weeks so we won't be able to hang out much. The yoga class kicked our butts then we enjoyed some yummy lunch with sleeping munchkins in tow. We ended up losing track of time and shopping for hours. I guess we were all in desperate need of a day out and some adult conversation. I had the best time and we are already planning our next get together for early next week :) yay!

Eventually little Avery needed to nurse so we had to stop at the Nordstrom lounge...it turned out to be a fun little play session for the older girls. Here are some cute pictures of Ayden and Samantha discovering each other for the first time...I just know they are going to be great friends :)

(Avery 8 weeks, Ayden 4 months, Samantha 6 months)

Pitty Party

2010-02-26T18:19:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry to do this to all of you but I just must have a small pity party for myself real quick...

I thought I was holding it together pretty well considering the level of stress that planning a wedding creates. However last night I sort of lost it, it's not my fault tho, really. Ya see Matt and I were in the bathroom whitening our teeth and I leaned over to inspect my sparklies when suddenly I noticed a HUGE chunk of my front tooth missing!!!!!! Ok it's not that huge, but pretty noticeable none the less. My first statement was, "how the hell did that happen?" then I proceeded to cry, and possibly yell profanities. As if chipping a tooth weren't bad enough I somehow managed to do this 2 freakin weeks before my wedding?! NOT COOL. Now I have to decided if it's noticeable enough to pay a million dollars to get it fixed pre-wedding.

I know there are far worse things that can happen to a person, but I can't help but feel a little bad for myself today...don't judge me.

baby it's cold outside

2010-02-23T16:51:00.002-06:00

So for those of you who haven't heard, Texas is having a crazy cold winter. I mean record breaking cold, snow and such. Normally Houston doesn't see a flurry and the temperature is up to the 60s and 70's by the first week of March. Of course this year that is NOT the case. I'm sure it's because I have decided to have an outdoor wedding in March...conspiracy I tell you! As of right now weather.com is predicting a high of 42 degrees on March 12th. I will let you guess how this makes me feel because the words I want to say just aren't lady like. Things could change but I doubt we will be looking at a temperature over 50 degrees. So...ladies and gents should I move the wedding inside or just tell everyone to bring a jacket? All advice is welcome!

Oh and can I just say.......GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR (that's for you mother nature)

RSVP

2010-02-17T17:50:00.004-06:00

I have a few huge fears for my wedding day, just a few ;)

First I am afraid that no one will show up, even those who RSVPed, or those who do show up will bring a friend that I was not aware they were bringing. We are having a sit down meal with escort cards and the whole to-do, so if people don't show up or they bring uninvited guests it will be super obvious...this makes me nervous. I have already had several people ask me if they could bring a friend or new boyfriend etc., I don't mind at all of course, but I can tell you that I really appreciate the thought it takes to ask. It has been so helpful, now their guests are guaranteed an escort card, seat of their own and a meal, not to mention it's just plain courteous of them to ask. Thank you friends :)

My second fear is that I will have no idea how many people to list at our final meeting with the venue. Like I said it is a sit down dinner and an open bar, this means that we must pay per person for food and drink. As of right now we only have about half of our RSVP cards returned to us and the listed deadline is Friday! Starting Monday I will be calling all of the people who still haven't responded. I am deathly afraid that there will be tons of people I just can't get a hold of and I will have no idea what to list as our head count. By the way our final head count is due February 26th :/

Can I just add that sending in a guest card could NOT be any easier? The stamp is on and paid for, there is a fill in the blank for your name, and it's already addressed. Not to mention the wedding is 23 days away, come on people, you know if you're free or not, just send in the card! ;)

Ok I'm done worrying. Moral of the story is..if you were invited to my wedding and haven't sent in your RSVP yet, please do so ASAP!

More wedding fun

2010-02-16T10:08:00.005-06:00

Here is our super fun personalized monogram

Here are the table numbers which match our menus.

I had originally wanted to use the monogram EVERYWHERE. Luckily I came to my senses and decided to just use it in a few key places. Our aisle runner and menu being two of the places. Here is picture of our BEAUTIFUL menus (yes, this is our actual food...yum!). I cannot end this post without giving some major credit to my bestie Kristen, as she is the fabulous woman who created both the table numbers and amazing menus for us. Obviously she has some mad computer skills ha-ha

All I have to say is yummmmmmmmmmmm

Mini Vent

2010-02-15T09:30:00.002-06:00

Don't you hate when someone that is supposed to remember your birthday doesn't? There were two very specific people in my life who did not think to contact me on my birthday. Not a facebook message, not a text and especially not a phone call. One I'm pretty sure just forgot because she can be a bit "waify" if you will. Which is weird though because my birthday is on a holiday, not easy to forget ya know? The other did not forget, she was simply being passive aggressive and down right rude which really hurt my feelings. On the other hand this is a person who is not in my life by choice (if I had I choice...well you get the point) so I must take it on the cheek and move on, but I will not forget it that's for sure. Just thought a little bit of venting would help....

Nope didn't help, but here's to wishful thinking ;)

25

2010-02-14T21:49:00.001-06:00

I turned 25 today...not sure how I feel about that yet....TBA

Wedding to do list

2010-02-11T13:27:00.007-06:00

I CANNOT believe that my wedding is just 29 days away?! The time has simply flown by. Since I only have a month left to post about the wedding I figure I better get at it. Just for "scrap booking" purposes here is what is left to do on my wedding "to-do" list:

1. Call all unconfirmed guests

2. Make seating arrangement

3. Assemble escort card boards

4. Get Matt fitted for his tux

5. Touch base with Florist, cake baker and Pastor (already confirmed and set with the others)

6. Package pecan favors

7. Force Matt to write his attendant thank you notes

8. Drop shower thank you's in the mail (thank god I have already written them)

9. Set reception agenda with Band

10. Make cocktail hour play list

11. Pick band must play list

12. Pick up my dress from seamstress (day before)

13. Get marriage certificate (we can officially do that now that we are less than 30 days away)

14. Assemble out of town guest bags (Jones soda, cook

ie and info packet)

15. Pay final balances to the courtyard, string trio and

videographer (all the rest are paid)

16. Get buckets from Susie for the sparklers.

17. Last but not least....

Have final meeting with Christiana at the Courtyard. This includes:

Picking final linens

Giving final head count

Making a reception room set up plan

Going over ceremony and reception agendas

Finalizing the menu

Making a vendor contact sheet

Planning vendor meals

Making a ceremony set up plan

Picking our signature cocktail

That's actually not too bad for being 29 days away...I

'm pretty proud of my self. My OCD organization has really paid off ha-ha.

And because no post in complete without a photo, Here are a few pictures of some of the fun wedding extras I have:

This is the antique broach that will go on the stem of my bouquet...it's so beautiful in person, my camera skills just suck ;) Ignore the white string obviously, it's the tag

Again my camera skills suck, but this is the antique broach that will go on the middle of the ring bearer pillow. My mom has hand made the pillow, it is sooo beautiful. Pictures of that to come.

My parasol, that we will be using in some of our photos, then using one of the photos of us with it to have thank you cards printed.

Our favor boxes, that will have Texas candied pecans in them. Alot of our guest are from out of town so we thought a traditional Texas treat would be fun. The little silver charm says "Thank You"

This is what my cake will look like, but with 3 tiers, no polka dots and the ribbon will be black not purple. The flowers will be the same. If you can't tell my colors are black and white with a hint of purple.

This is a really crappy picture of my hair piece, it is super sparkly and has an antique feel like all of jewelry and broaches. Oh and that is NOT how I will have my hair done, I just threw it up to show the barrette.

This is what Matt's cake will look like, can you tell he picked it out? He plays guitar, I think it's pretty cool ;)