High Five for the Holidays

This week has been busy both at work and home. After being gone for 5 days, I had to play catch up on laundry and do my grocery shopping after work. That makes for a long day after going to the gym and doing things around the house {the laundry room is finished! pictures next week}. Good thing I am now allowed to play Christmas music, that makes everything better :)

I missed the link-up last week because the blog was the last thing on my mind after late night Black Friday shopping. A few things below were some favorites from Thanksgiving break as well.

1. My first holiday cup of the season, Skinny Peppermint Mocha for the win

2. I took a trip over break to the Gap Clearance store. Everything you see below totaled $50 and I have already worn 6 of the 9 items. Love a good deal!

3. Christmas decorating around the house began over break last week. I love my new table runner that I picked up at Home Goods for only $12, and ornaments in a glass bowl make me happy

4. This was a picture we grabbed during our trip to Michigan. We were stuck in traffic and Murph can't get enough wind in his face. Love that boy.

5. We picked out our Christmas tree! Decorating this weekend, pictures next week

Looking forward to my last weekend 'off' from class and spending time at home. Christmas tree decorating, lights outside, craft projects and cookie baking are just a few things on my list {all while listening to the Christmas station on Pandora of course}.

xo, Erin

Christmas Tree Hunting

Sorry for the delay, we can now get on with the show...

Abi getting a ride on the tree cart

Eli getting a lift from Uncle Todd

I liked the skinny trees

Darren, Sarah, Abi, Eli and Evalynn picked this tree

Helping dad dig

Concentrating extra hard with her tongue out :)

Somehow the 3-year old ended up with the saw...

Jen & Todd's tree

Break time fixing hats {it was freezing}

Amy & Kevin's tree, Eli cracks me up

 

Time to cut and hold

Where did Abi go?

Hide and seek in the trees

Greg helping cut his parent's tree down

Our tree adventure took place at Home Depot tonight. Took about five minutes of standing a few up, shaking them down and wiggling branches. We are very happy with our choice and it already smells like Christmas tree in the family room :) Decorating will happen this weekend.

xo, Erin

Candy Cane Tree Farm

It is tradition in Greg's family to go to a tree farm after Thanksgiving. Everyone piled in a few cars and we headed to Candy Cane tree farm, about twenty minutes away.

The families split up looking for a tree they wanted to cut down. Greg and I had to head back to Ohio with a full car, so we were just there to hang out. We normally grab a tree from Home Depot because we only get to enjoy it a few weeks before we spend our Christmas break traveling.

One of my Christmas presents came a little early, a Pentax system camera.  It is a gift from Greg and my parents, we had fun testing it out this weekend. Check out our adventure at the tree farm.


{ This is where the pictures would be, except apparently my memory on the blog is full. I now need to decide how much memory I need to buy }

Check back!

We're Back

We spent the past four and a half days in Michigan for Thanksgiving. We saw some friends, went to a Christmas tree farm and of course, did some Black Friday shopping!

I am exhausted and not ready to go back to work today. Hoping Christmas break will be here before I know it. Pictures to come.

xo, Erin

Moving Mulch

With the mild temperatures and my few days off, Greg thought it would be a great idea to have mulch delivered. We were going to wait until spring, but were getting tired of looking at mounds of dirt.

Yesterday around 3:00, a yard of mulch was delivered.

Yesterday by 5:00, it was in all the garden beds (by yours truly).

Greg was supposed to get home about an hour early, but things didn't go as planned. I was racing the sunlight to get it all off the driveway by myself.

My legs and back are a little sore, and no pictures were taken. I was in such a panic mode to get it all done that I forgot to share the process.

Picture this: a large pile of mulch, about 15 trips with the wheelbarrow, a shovel, a broom, and just little ole' me.


Ha ha, you get the point. I am glad it is done and the garden beds now looked finished.

xo, Erin

Weekend Warriors { B & B }

Can you take a guess what our weekend project was? Here are two clues:

 

If you guessed board and batten, you were right :)

We decided we needed to add some more hooks and make it feel more 'mudroom' like. This corner was perfect, it was between the garage door and entrance to our kitchen. On the way in or out, you can now easily grab what you need. We had a coat hook, but it got overflowed by keys, coats and my purse. This new system will allow more space, and I can't get enough board and batten!

We drew a rough sketch of how we wanted it to look, took some measurements and headed to Home Depot with our list. 1x3's, hooks and paint were all we needed to complete this project. Total cost - about $30.

step 1: clear your space and remove trim

step 2: sand down walls where old trim was (if needed)

step 3: paint walls white (2-3 coats)

step 4: paint 1x3's the same white paint

It is way easier to paint before you mount them

step 5: measure where boards will go and make your cuts

step 6: pin them into place using a nail gun

...this is what happened when Greg handed me the nail gun, whoops!

step 7: fill pin holes with Patch n' Paint

step 8: use paintable caulk in the seams

We have a few steps to go, but here is the in-process before and after:

 


I love the results so far! My hubby rocks.. he did about 90% of this project by himself. Sorry ladies, he's taken :)

Finished project pictures soon!

xo, Erin

High 5... for 9 days off!

It's the weekend, and come 4:30... I will be off for 9 days! So excited to be done with my Masters classes for two weeks, and enjoy the holidays and decorating for Christmas. Next week I have plans to do some Christmas shopping, catch up on some sleep and organize some neglected rooms in the house. Hooray for time off.

Here are my 5 favorite things that happened this week, linking up with FMGD:

1. My sister and best friend from college came to visit this past weekend. I love visitors, girl time and shopping! We ate dinner at Montgomery Inn and of course stopped by the Hofbrauhaus. Visitors are always welcome (hint, hint)

2. Murphy turned 5! We spoiled him all day with extra treats and cuddles and he got a new tug toy. Greg and him did a little too much tugging and one side is already ripped, whoops! Murphy still loves it though

3. My hair was super overdue for fresh highlights and a trim. Love my new caramel highlights, perfect for Fall

4. Had time for baking this week, Andes Mint Cookies { recipe }

5. My November Birchbox arrived! Love getting packages and fun surprises in the mail :) You can see my goodies here

Does anyone else have big plans for their time off or the Thanksgiving holiday?

xo, Erin

November Birchbox

What a fun surprise in my mailbox after a crazy, stressful week at work. I was so excited to open it, I think I would have been happy with anything I got. It just so happens my box rocked... the theme was Giving.

1. ModelCo Fibre Lashxtend- I can't wait to try this! There is a built-in mirror on the package and I also got a bonus full size product rather than a sample

2. Jouer Fragrance Cornucopia- It is a super small sample that I don't love, too flowery

3. Stila All Over Shimmer Luminizer- I was so excited to receive this item. I have always wanted to try something like this and have already played around with it

4. Lulu Organics Hair Powder- how perfect. Can't wait to try this on a morning I am running late, or a night out when I shower very early and my hair needs some help

5. SOYJOY- Cranberry snack pack, will be packing this for lunch today :)

6. A coupon for  $15 off Chromatic gallerie. Most likely won't use it, but fun to browse


Another successful Birchbox, I love trying new things!

xo, Erin

Random Thoughts

Just a quick note to let you know I'm busy studying for finals and finishing up projects. Here is a current list of things I love:


1. pumpkin spice creamer

2. our new laundry room floor

3. Christmas decorations in the stores

4. cooler weather

5. leggings and boots

6. colored skinny corduroys

7. soup for dinner

8. cuddling on the couch with the fire on

9. oversized hoodies

10. sunshine on my drive to work


That is all. Nothing too fancy, just my everyday life.

xo, Erin

{Laundry Room} Progress

We assembled the laundry room last night because towels needed to be washed. We didn't seal the tiles yet, but plan to do that next week once laundry is done. We love the results so far! The large tiles and lighter wall color make it feel so open and airy. We still have some plans for the laundry room including board & batten, smaller storage and a built-in hook area. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is a picture review from start to finish:

linoleum floors & green walls

other direction

destruction begins, linoleum and luan removed

time to lay the HardieBacker

...and screw it down

walls have fresh paint ($7 oops paint perfection)

go time, center of the room is measured

everything is going smoothly = happy workers

all the tiles are cut

my job is to lay the thinset

Greg lays the tiles and levels them (the closet was tricky)

time to grout

reassembling the room

switched the storage around, need to buy something smaller

in love with the tiles!

and a close up

We will be working on the storage and hook area very soon. With this cold weather, we need easy access to our winter coats!

xo, Erin