an eye for design

everyone says that once you have a house, you always have a "project" to work on.  well, i'm looking forward to it.  i LOVE to decorate!  decorating my classroom is probably what i like most about teaching.  i can't wait to have a whole house to design!  i don't want to rush into anything or try to decorate it all at once.  i want to take my time and make sure it comes together room by room.  i have lots of ideas and have already bought a few things.  johnathan and i registered for some other things that will help to make everything come together.  while we're waiting to move in, here are some inspiration rooms that i've found online that i really like!

i like how cozy this living room is.  i also really like the calming, beachy colors.

i like the dark wood furniture and the pops of color.

this room is cozy too.  i like the coffee table and end table.

i like these couches.  they are similar to what johnathan and i found.  i also like the different patterns in the pillows and rug.  the bookshelf is cute too.

i like how clean and pretty this living room is.  the pillows are fun and the whole thing just feels calming!

i like this kitchen because it has light green and our kitchen has light green too.  i also like the white accents.  i've bought a few white things for our kitchen and we've registered for a few too.

this is actually the table we bought for the kitchen!!  i like that it's countertop height.  it'll be fun to sit at!

i found this shower curtain at bed bath and beyond and loved it so much that my mom went ahead and bought it for us.  i then began the search for some matching bedding!

after lots of googling and ordering a different bedding set, i finally found the matching bedding!  i love it so much and can't wait to use it!  if you know me then you know how much i love my bedding!  johnathan hates all the pillows......

i'm not a green person but for some reason i loved this bedding the first time i saw it online!  maybe cause it's steve madden (and i love his shoes).  anyway, i couldn't stop looking at it.  i had to buy it.  so if you want to come visit, this is what you'll be sleeping on!  i love it so much that i may have to sleep in there myself!  :)

i really like this guest bathroom.  while we won't have lavendar walls, i do think it's pretty.  our guest bath will have some lavendar in it though!

sneak peak

here's a sneak peak at the inside of our house.  of course, this isn't any of our stuff but this family did do a really cute job and some of the things we registered for are actually the same!  i can't wait to have a whole house to decorate!  til then, enjoy these!

 the front entryway.  i love all the shelves for picture frames!  i do love my pictures!

 the living room is so cozy!  i love the gas logs in the fireplace, the tv corner, and there's just enough room for a couch and love seat (on the wall that you can't see.)

 the eating area.  we're not fancy people so i don't want a dining room.  my mom's house has a dining room and in the 28 years i've lived here, the only times we've eaten in it are thanksgiving and well......that's it.  why waste the space?

 johnathan and i are NOT green people but i like this green.  it's calming and cute!

 i love the island and walk in pantry!  there's so much storage that we may have to register for more stuff!  :)

 the master bedroom.  there's a walk in closet and plenty of room for our furniture!

 double sinks....check.  that was pretty much my only request in a bathroom.  i don't take baths so i don't need a soaking tub or anything.  the shower's got a garden tub so we'll be fine!  did i mention it has a linen closet?  it's gonna be so nice to not have to run out in the hallway wet to grab a towel!

 this is a much brighter green than it looks.  we're going to repaint it to match the rest of the house then turn it into our computer room.  i love the view from this window!

 now, i do love me some pink.  and this little girl's room is awesome.  i would acutally move into it myself.  :)  but, we're going to repaint it back to the neutral color and turn it into our guest room.  wait til you see the bedding i bought for it.  it's so cute.  i can't wait.  who's gonna be our 1st guest?

 guest bath...it's your basic bathroom.  i do like the window above the shower!

 the deck.  this tree bush thing to the right is gonna have to go.  it's much bigger now than in this picture.  i know it's for privacy and stuff but i have a fear of either something crawling out of it or someone hiding behind it.  so this will be one of our 1st projects...well, johnathan's.  :)  i'll help carry the limbs.  he can use the saw.  do we have a saw?  oh dear.  he says he'll use an ax.  haha.

the back yard.  minus the trampoline and firepit (probably).  i like that there's no one behind us, just a grassy area and the pond is to the left.  i just hope we're far enough away that nothing will slither up to visit!

house hunters

if you haven't heard, johnathan moved up to cary about a month ago.  he had several job offers (he's quite the hot commodity around here) and finally settled on cricket's towing and recovery in downtown cary.  it's where we've always thought he should work and i'm really happy it's worked out.  so if you need a tow...give him a call!  :)

well...we obvously can't live with my mom forever.  we've been looking at houses online.  my friend and bridesmaid, sarah, lives in holly springs in a cute little neighborhood.  there's been a house for sale since the fall about 4 houses down from her.  we've joked that the realtor should have an open house one saturday.  well, lucky for us, sarah happened to notice one going on back in march and gave us a call.  johnathan and i drove over and took a look with sarah.  we absolutly fell in love with it.  it's exactly what i've always pictured living in.  johnathan always said "if i'm moving up there, i need to see water from our house."  my response was usually..."yeah, okayyyy.  like we can afford to live by a lake."  but as soon as we walked on the deck and looked to the left...there was a pond.  sure, it's no ocean, but when i shouted out "water!" i knew it was our house.  our thoughts were "we can't possibly buy the 1st house we've looked at!"  that only happens on HGTV!  we decided to meet up with the realtor.  after taking us through the buying process, she took us out to look at some other houses.  after about 6 or 7 houses we were finding what we liked and didn't like.  there seemed to be something missing from every house.  she ended our outing by going back to the 1st house.  as soon as we walked in, i knew it was the one.  there's not really 1 thing about it i'd change.  sure, parking's a little tight and the front yard isn't huge but the back yard is.  it's further away from school but sarah and i can carpool. 

so...after weeks of going back and forth on what to do and working out an offer (i felt like i was on HGTV's property virgins), i'm excited to say that it's our house!  we're so excited!



wedding ideas anyone?

one of my bridesmaids, jenn, sent me an email a couple days ago with some wedding ideas.  a few of them were just too great to pass up!  hope you enjoy!  maybe you'll get some ideas for your own wedding!

possible beach wedding ideas....i especially like the kissing ducks hanging from the arbor.



i was always a fan of rainbow brite when i was little.



the bride and her pimp.  johnathan has mentioned wearing a top hat!



life sized cake of myself?



i recognize elvis but who are these other two supposed to be?



lose 2 front teeth and put on your sequined tube top and tiara and you too can be princess for a day!



i think this one is my favorite!  in case you were unsure as to who was in the bridal party....this could be a good alternative to ceremony programs!



DIY

a lot of people have told me to make my programs myself.  i'm pretty crafty so i think it's possible.  i must say it does worry me a little seeing whereas making leah's baby shower invitations took me about 12 hours on the computer.  at least i'll have the summer off and can take my time.  now for a cute idea and some card stock!  here are a few ideas i've seen online.

i also just ordered my ring bearer pillow!  connor's going to be so cute carrying it!



shop til you drop

another part of getting engaged that i've been looking forward to was registering!  i've always been so jealous of the couples i see walking around with their little scanners.  now that some of the wedding planning has slowed down, we've been able to find the time to go register!  there's a million places we could register at...macy's, target, crate & barrel, bed bath & beyond, pier 1, willams sonoma, pottery barn....the list goes on and on.  i wanted to make sure we chose stores that all of our guests could easily get to since many are down at the beach.

our first stop was bed bath & beyond...

 no, i wasn't registering for those.

yes, he was really registering for that :)

we weren't planning to register for fine china...cause we're not fancy people...but the sales lady talked us into it.  i'm still debating about whether or not to delete it.  i don't want people to waste their money on something we won't use!  we shall see.  we found lots of great things and the people were super helpful!

our next stop was target...

the woman at bed bath & beyond tried her best to talk us out of registering at target.  is she crazy?  does she know how often i'm there?  what can i say?  i'm a target girl.

the only rules we were given (by my maid of honor, leah) were...

1. i couldn't register for clothes or shoes.

2. johnathan couldn't register for toys or snacks.

it was tough...but we followed her rules and had a fun time!

i'm sure there's something we forgot and i know i'll be adding more things as i think of them.

for now, check out...

target registry

bed bath and beyone registry