Happy Birthday Beth!!

Today, my littlest sister turns 21 years old. I guess since she's taller than me and pretty much a grown-up, she isn't so little anymore!!

Then:

And now...

Happy birthday, Lulu!

Do you coupon?

Coupons seem to be coming back in style. There are entire blogs devoted to coupons. The other day, when I went to the grocery store, I was the only person there who didn't have a thick black binder full of money saving coupons.

I get the appeal - saving money? Like that part. Cutting paper out on dotted lines? I can get behind that. I can even get excited about planning a menu around coupons (let's be honest here - I can get excited about Zac planning a menu around coupons).

So we get the paper. And I look through the inserts. And I go to the coupon websites. And I find a zillion coupons - and not one single coupon for anything we actually buy.

I've read about how you can't be brand loyal when you're using coupons, but even if I take that into consideration, I can't ever find coupons for things we actually buy.

What am I missing here? Do you use coupons? What's your secret?

Living room AFTER!

It's finally here - the big living room reveal!!! Technically, there are still a few things left to do, but if I want until it's perfect to show you, you'll never get to see it!

To see the before pictures, click here. And here... are the afters!

This is the room where we spend most of our time, so we wanted it to feel comfortable.

The cream colored walls mean we need lots of colorful accents!

Close up of the picture wall

Close-up part II

The TV cabinet is finally all one color!

My favorite part!! The blinds are from Overstock.com, and the curtains are from IKEA. I made these pillows, and plan to make about 8 more to fill the bench. That's the part that isn't finished yet!

And of course, our favorite accessory in the room. It's like she poses for these things.

I wish I had a camera and photography skills that could do it justice. In person, it feels really comfortable and cozy, and it's the perfect place to spend time.  If you want to see the real deal, you'll just have to stop by and visit!!

Linking up to:

* Newly Woodwards * The Girl Creative * Fireflies and Jellybeans * Skip to My Lou * Making the World Cuter *

Living room BEFORE

The fun part about a BEFORE post? That means there must be an AFTER! Here are some before pics of the living room before our redecorating last weekend...

This built-in cabinet was here, but Zac and his dad had to enlarge it (literally one inch) to fit our TV. The black/wood combo was getting old.

Let me tell you how much Zac loves painting ceilings. About as much as he likes cheering for the University of Louisville. And reading my blog...

Ugh... NOT my favorite part of redecorating - other rooms filled with too much furniture!

It's like a couch maze play pen for the cat!

I hope you'll love the AFTER pictures...... stay tuned... they're coming tomorrow!

Save the Date!

I spent a lot of my weekend addressing our save the dates! What do you think??

I'll let you see the front once everyone gets them in the mail.  There's no turning back now! =)

Fa la la la la... la la... la... la!

'Tis the season...... to keep talking about holiday cards!! Like I said before, my very favorite cards are picture cards. I love seeing how people's families grow and change throughout the year, and they look so great hanging up in our house!

My favorite picture cards are the flat cards with neat designs. When I stumbled upon these from Shutterfly the other day, I was speechless! They have Christmas cards, Holiday cards, invitations for holiday parties... everything!

Could these be any cuter??

But this one... this one just catches my eye:

I love the sleek modern look, and the way the colors look on the black and white photo. It's simple yet sophisticated... perfect for a 20-something who doesn't have cute kids to highlight yet!!

I'm definitely going to order these for our cards this year. You can edit them online to see what they'll look like, and they're adorable! Now I just need to get those engagement pictures taken in time for the holidays!!

**Disclaimer: Shutterfly.com is providing me with 50 free cards for writing this review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are not influenced by Shutterfly.**

Friend Day: Pumpkin Patching

The months seem to go by so quickly... last week, it was already time for our Friend Day! To celebrate fall, we decided to visit an orchard.

We headed to Boyd Orchards just outside of Lexington. It was adorable!

You can't go to an orchard to celebrate fall and not take a hay ride!

And let's face it - how can you NOT take your picture in this giant chair??

Happy fall!

Where I've Been Hiding!

Hi everyone!  Sorry I was missing in action last week - but I have a pretty good reason!

A surprise birthday party for Zac!! I took very few pictures, which is terrible, but we surprised him!

This is the last time I'll throw a surprise party - I am not very good at surprises, and planning a party without any help was hard!!

Zac's real birthday was last week, so we went with our usual birthday tradition and hit up Benihana's. Yum!

Opened some presents...

And Zac turned 28! Thanks to all of our friends and family who came to the party and helped make Zac's birthday so special!!

Holiday Cards

It might seem early, but Christmas is less than 2 months away!! One of my favorite parts of the holiday is sending cards. I love receiving them, and I love sending them!

For the past few years, I've handmade our cards.

Sophie "helping."

I'm not really down with that this year because 1.) I've used up all of my ideas, and 2.) I'd rather spend my crafting time on other things.

The cards I like best are the picture cards. We open and love all of the cards we receive, but the ones we keep the longest are the picture ones. That got me thinking... is it weird to send holiday cards when there aren't any cute things (ie: babies) in them?

We could make them totally cheesy and put: "Merry Christmas from the future Mr. and Mrs.!" I don't know, that might be too much! =)

We aren't using our engagement pictures for our save-the-dates, so maybe that would be a good time to use them.

What do you think? Would you make fun of me if you got that in the mail??

A hint...

Here's a hint of how we spent most of our weekend...

That's right - we finally started tackling the family room! We have a few things left to do, but you'll see pictures soon!