DIY: bathroom re-do!

we're finally getting around to the last few projects of the house. and in doing so, i realized i absolutely hated our half-bath that is on the main (middle) level of our townhouse. the bathroom is painted a weird green color and has these terrible gold fixtures. we had a red bulldog portrait hanging in there and that was about it. it was tragic.

a few weeks ago, roomie amanda bought these adorable chevron curtains for us from urban.

i thought they would help liven things up, but no. we needed a whole new idea. after all, this is the bathroom that all of our guests use since it is on our "living level." and being the poor/crafty person i am, i got on pinterest and started emailing roomie katie some ideas.

first things first, the ugly gold towel bar had to go. this was easier said than done & we ended up having our friend andy come over to help. after removing it, we spackled and  touched up the holes with what we thought was the same paint color. errr... wrong. so the next day, i carved a piece of the paint out of the wall and had lowe's match the color for me. all better! i bought a small silver towel hook from lowe's and installed it on the opposite wall. once i replaced the towel bar, i realized the toilet paper holder had to go too. i got the one that matches the towel hook and installed that as well.

next up was the crafting. we did three projects for the "new" bathroom.

project # 1: frame wall

inspired by this blog post, i picked up some natural wood blocks in various shapes & sizes from michael's. each of them were $2.99. we primed & spray painted them all grey. after the paint dried, i had to measure the middle & drill holes in the back of all them so we could hang them on the wall. then i traced all of the frames onto paper (via this pinterest idea) to get them positioned the way we liked them. last step will be (eventually) printing out pictures and taping them to the frames.

project #2: burlap canvas

i have about a thousand canvases that i've painted at (insert business name that is a play on words about wine & paint) over the past few years. all of which live in my attic. so instead of buying a new canvas, i spray painted over an old canvas white and we wrapped it in burlap from walmart. i then painted the quote "run wild my child" on it and realized i left a big gap at the top & misjudged the size of my letters. so i added "always" to the top and called it a day.

project #3: frame+twine

i don't know where this idea came from. probably some neat wedding blog i read at some point. but i picked up a natural wood color 16x12 inch frame at michaels for 50% off.  we primed and painted it grey as well. then i used the staple gun to attach the twine to the back. i didn't measure the ends evenly and i wish i had. i think i was just ready for bed and being lazy.

i had the little basket left over from an event at work & got the washcloths from home goods for about $5. and finally, we have a new bathroom! our friends can now pee in serenity - all for the price of about $60.

65 years.

in the mid 1940's, there was a teenage boy who worked in the deli at the local grocery store in small town virginia. there was a mother of 11 who regularly shopped at this grocery store and got to know this boy. he often saved the best cuts of meat for her because he knew she had a lot of mouths to feed. what he did not know was that this lady was the mother of daphine,  a girl he fancied from school. daphine's mother was always talking about this boy from the deli, and once they put two and two together, the deli boy asked daphine out and "the rest is history."  the couple was married on august 19th, 1947.

last sunday marked 65 years of marriage for my sweet grandparents. not many people make it to 65 years together, it is truly amazing. watching their love continue to grow and change over the past few years has been so special. you see, my grandma has alzheimer's and is slowly losing her memory. she forgets a lot. she can't remember what she had for lunch, what TV show she watched last night, or where our last vacation was. my grandpa has turned into the most gentle and loving caretaker, a transformation that is still hard for my dad to believe. their love is timeless and unconditional. they have given us such a perfect example of what true love should look like - i am grateful.

so cheers, mema & pap pap, for 65 wonderful years together and many more to come. i love you!

 

{mema & pap pap}

 

{edible art - yum!}

top 5.

the top 5 things i'm into/happy about right now...

1. i don't have to work on labor day meaning i can go to the inlet with my pals! turns out the DNC isn't turning into all it was cracked up to be, and i am not complaining. here i come,  hot fish club!

2. brussel sprouts.

3. our newly redecorated half bath (post to follow).

4. mayday parade - jamie all day.

5. felicity. i blame her and her cute boyfriends for my lack of sleep this week.

what is making you smile lately?

lazy.

i'm posting pictures of my past 3 days to make it seem like i actually did something. in reality, i spent about 72 hours doing absolutely nothing but sleeping and watching tv/movies. it was glorious and just what i needed after the craziness that was last week.

thursday night  sunset from the rooftop at whiskey warehouse.

my mother.

rescued my roomie from uptown. brought the bully along for moral support.

sushi at pisces for lunch on saturday.

princess bully.

there were some other noteworthy things thrown into the weekend including a sober night at montford, a delicious dessert at bricktops on sunday night, and this baby bully pictured below. i've never wanted to steal anything so badly in my life. 

and now, my weekend tv/movie collection. this is mildly embarrassing.

like 7 episodes...

finally - more on this later.

taylor swift is weird.

per klav's recommendation. 

weird & quirky - just the way i like my movies (and my friends).

7:30am came way too soon this morning. 

 

DIY: burlap banner!

after completing our "bar" (click here), we decided it needed a little something over it. because we put it in a corner, this was going to be a little bit tricky. but our love for burlap and twine and pinterest gave us this great idea!

katie bought a yard of burlap from walmart for about $3. i cut the first piece about 9 inches wide by 13 inches long, and then traced the rest from that piece with a light sharpie. when i cut them out, they weren't entirely symmetrical, but it doesn't really matter.

next up was the painting. i just free handed the letters onto each piece. if free handing isn't your strong suit, using a stencil is always a good option.

katie has some twine left over from another pinterest project, so we just used that for the string to connect them. we cut little holes in the corners of each piece and strung the twine through. and voila!

eating well.

monday evening my stepmom called and asked if i could meet at dressler's for dinner in about 20 minutes. and since no one in their right mind ever turns down dresslers, i ran home to change and met my family there. everything is so delicious, and my steak was perfect. my favorite app there is the "goat cheese & garlic" which is essentially warm goat cheese served in a bowl of EVOO & garlic. it's heaven.

on tuesday, i worked from 7am-7:45pm and then met my mom & b at pieces for dinner. my wonderful uncle was in town for 1 night only, so we took him to our favorite sushi spot. i had some edamame, a california rolll & an asparagus roll.

and on wednesday, i finally had dinner at soul gastrolounge. i've been wanting to eat there for about a year now, but it is always SO BUSY. cait, britt & i met for a late "birthday dinner" since they were both out of town last weekend. the atmosphere is great and the food is funky/delicious. i had the "soul-grilled cheese with mozzarella, provolone & kasseri cheeses." we also had some of the best french fries i've ever had. i can't wait to go back!

surprise!

i turned 24 this past saturday. i finally caught up to the rest of my pals that will soon be turning 25. to be completely honest, i have been dreading my birthday. i've been in a rut the past few weeks. i'm not even entirely sure what about. but this past week i cried twice because no one had planned anything for my birthday.  i have been sad about it. feeling let down again when that seems to be the only thing i've felt for quite some time. but boy, was i wrong!

i woke up at mom's house with my sweet cousin who was in town. we had pastries and then momma & i took the dogs to the (self serve) spa. we ate lunch at brixx with katie & amanda and then i headed home for a nap. i woke up late & katie made me coffee. mom was supposed to pick me up at 3pm but thankfully she was late & i had time to clean my room throw everything in the closet. then my day went like this...

-- hair shampooed and blown out at re salon.
-- pedicures (and champagne) at polished.
-- new dress from urban.
-- new jewelry to match from belk.
-- full make up done at MAC which required a handful of new make up.
-- apps and beer at taco mac.

and when i got home, i walked up the stairs to find all my pals yelling "SURPRISE!"

they got me. they got me GOOD. and as if this surprise wasn't enough, kristin was there! oddly enough, we have been friends now since january and this was the first time we'd ever actually met in person. as if this day hadn't already been perfect, kristin was the icing on the cake!

we hung out at the house for a few hours and had dinner & cake before deciding to go downtown to dandelion market. it was the perfect evening and i am so thankful. there were so many moving pieces and so many different friends & parents who made saturday happen. i am beyond blessed to have friends & family who would do something like this for me. i can't believe i ever doubted that they would make this day special.

so thank you, to all my fantastic friends and loving parents for one of my most favorite days ever. i hope 24 is the best one yet!

{katie, kristin, momma, me, cousin lauren, amanda}

{kristin & i}

{chelsh, katie, me, kristin}

{sisters & kristin}

{new make up}

{hilarious/awesome cards}