Light It Up!

David and I have been loving our dining room makeover for the last few months. BUT (there's always a but!) something wasn't sitting just right. Get it? But? Sitting right? Yes, I'm a dork. And that something was the lighting fixture over the table.


While I absolutely love the Home Depot lighting fixture that we scored on the cheap, it just wasn't working. For the last  few months, I've been keeping an eye out on a good replacement, so when I was visiting my friend Katelyn last month and saw her amazing CB2 pendant, I knew I'd found "the one."  Once I spied it on sale for $35, I used a $25 Crate & Barrel gift card and... voila! A $10 fixture. Can't beat that!


David had to rig the pendant light to hang from the ceiling by using a mini pendant lighting kit from Home Depot. It was only $15, which brought the grand total of our new pendant light to $25.






I'm absolutely in love! I think this pendant is a much better fit than the previous fixture. It's lighter and brighter and a whole lot more simple than the heavy Home Depot fixture. And it leaves plenty of viewing space for my eye candy sunburst mirror on the wall. And, once we put our Home Depot fixture on Craigslist, we'll actually be in the black. Score!

BEFORE


AFTER


Whatcha think?! 


PS. I stopped by over at LeBaron Interiors yesterday and shared one of my favorite design tips- use color!! Stop by, check out my post and say hi!


Sharing with: Thrifty Decor Chick

Weekend Wrap Up

Hotdogs? Check. American flag? Check. Pink lemonade? Check. I think it was a successful Memorial Day over at our house!


David and I had a crew of people over to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives, and so we felt lucky to be able to share the holiday with them! The party was held in our backyard, under our screened in porch and out by the pool. It was a wonderful day!


For the record, pool pics with no makeup and bad hair are never really a good idea....

Here are a few shots of the backyard, before the party got started.






It would have made sense to take a picture of the amazing food spread we had, but I'm not that brilliant and didn't think about that, so you get to see an empty table : ) But don't fret, because I snapped lots of food pics throughout the day.


Heres D grilling up fresh corn on the cob (we grill it with the husks on, after soaking in water), chicken skewers and hot dogs.


Strawberry cupcakes (compliments of Cassie, recipe found here)



Corona ice pops (modeled by my little sister, Callie!)... not gonna lie, these were not that good! Beer is better in the bottle, not frozen....

The party was a blast. But the best part? Summer has officially arrived!!

Sharing with: Megan from Honey We're Home

Happy Memorial Day!


Whether you are headed on a road trip, planting yourself on a towel at the beach, grilling up some delightful eats or just spending time at your casa, I hope all of you have a fabulous Memorial Day!

What are you up to on this holiday weekend?

Garage-Like No Mo

I've got another fun basement makeover project to share with ya'll today. David and I are transforming the space so that it's less garage-like and more homey. And our big project? We finally installed carpet! 


The carpet is from Home Depot and we're loving it. It's the Winterthur pattern from Martha Stewart's new carpet line. It's an adorable diamond pattern with cut pile and small little loops. Affordable and chic, can't beat it. The color, Ash Bark, is a soft neutral tan with slight gray undertones. Unfortunately, it's been pouring down rain and storming here in Georgia, so the pictures I took are a little dark. The color is just fabulous, though, especially with our blue basement walls! If you want more accurate pictures of the color of the carpet, I found a few here on Katie's blog, Bower Power. She also has the same carpet in Ash Bark- great minds think alike ; )


While we don't have a lot of furniture down there now, I set up our new slipcovered sofa and a small table. My parents sweetly gifted us their foosball table, so once we pick that up it will have a nice home in the new basement.



We're also thinking about adding a flatscreen TV into the built-in shelves. There's a space for a (large, old-school) TV on the other side of the built ins, but we think that sectioning off one end of the rectangular room as the "TV area" will leave a lot more room for games, entertaining, etc. on the other side. Just a thought.


Yes, those are leftover pompoms from my friend Beth's baby shower! Too cute to throw away but I'm not sure what to do with them... ie. stick them down in the basement! How much do you love the view of the stairs and my new mirrored hallway decor?!



While we still have a long way to go (the to do list includes: repaint the trim in the room, add more furniture, add a TV, etc), this room has come preeeetty far in the last few weeks! Here's the before, just for proof.


David and I are super happy that this room is now user-friendly. The carpet is so soft and plush, so we are definitely happy with our choice to go with the Martha Stewart carpet. I might have rolled around on it a little bit. Just sayin.


PS. You'll also find me over at Ashley's blog, Lemon & Lavender, today! I'm sharing an adoooorable "Pretty in Pink" mood board- you'll have to pop on over and say hi!

Sharing with:

Your Slip Is Showing....

I'm back with a tad more of operation spruce up the basement. David and I want our basement area to be a comfortable place for our family and friends when they're over visiting and swimming at our backyard pool. And the room's current garage-like status just isn't cutting it. So, we've decided to do a few quick little makeovers to the space before the summer gets underway.

Meet our fifteen year old couch. While adorable and comfortable, she needs a little help.


Add a trip to Target and a whopping $60 later and now we're sitting a bit prettier in the basement!


Please bear with me and pretend like I pulled the iron out. I know the slipcover is, um, totally wrinkly. It's just been one of those weeks and I just didn't get to it before I snapped these pics. Actually, these shots were from our test run- I promise some lovely finished photos soon! Finished what? You'll just have to hold tight, because that's going to be an exciting surprise! Well, exciting if you're like me and a trip to Home Depot is "exciting." I know I'm not the only DIY dork around here!

Purdy cute for $60 smackers, right? And it makes such a big difference. Imagine if it was ironed....


For further proof that it's been another one of "those" weeks....


The best picture of me, ev-er. Happy Thursday, friends!!

The Genie Series: Michaela Noelle



Hi sweet readers of Ten June! I'm Michaela and I'm so thrilled to be crashing 
Michelle's blog today, sharing my 3 wishes.  



Michelle is one of my blogging besties...isn't she the best?! This series is right up my alley, because I can't tell you how often I find myself day dreaming about pretty things, my future, having an endless supply of cookies 'n cream ice cream, or just that new Anthro dress I'm dying to own. 


Here we go!


1. I'd ask for three more wishes, of course! {just kiddingggg}


Seriously this time:


1. These Beauties:
Jimmy Choo

Owning a pair of these is on my bucket list.  Along with lots of other highly outrageous items that I can't afford.  Once I get them I'll let you know and we can all go to a fancy event together (:

2. A Trip to Paris.
I've always wanted to go to France to study their architecture and history of art.


Source: kayli.tumblr.com 


It would be such a gift to learn about design in such a beautiful city.


3. A Gorgeous Outdoor Patio & Garden.
That...accompanied by endless sunshine. I could read {and blog!} and paint 
and daydream all day long (:


Source: 79ideas.org




Anyone care to join me?! 

Thanks for having me, Michelle! 
xoxo,
Photobucket

Stuffed.

I honestly didn't think it would actually happen, but guess what? My veggie garden is growing! While the sugar snap peas are definitely taking the lead, our tomatoes and bell peppers are also starting to pop up. I am one happy camper. Or gardener, I guess I should say!

One of my favorite summer recipes is stuffed bell peppers. I found a stuffed pepper recipe in Real Simple a few years ago and have tweaked it to make it my own. Now it's a favorite around my house! While I usually make this with store bought peppers, I am pretty sure it will only get better with my very own straight-from-the-garden peppers! 


Michelle's Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
-4 bell peppers (I prefer the sweet red ones!)
-box of couscous (I love the Near Eat whole wheat roasted garlic)
-feta cheese
-green scallions
-1/2 lb. ground turkey
-fresh garlic

I'm not big on measurements (a dash of this, a hint of that... you get the picture!), so you'll have to bear with me on getting this recipe on paper.

Directions:
-Brown the ground turkey. When the turkey is almost completely cooked, I throw in a clove (or two) of fresh garlic, to brown. Just for a little extra flava.

-Cook the box of couscous according to the package. Easy enough.

-Hollow out and chop the tops off of the bell peppers. Make sure you pick short, squatty peppers- much easier to use than tall, skinny ones.

-After draining the turkey (and garlic), mix with the cooked couscous, feta cheese (I probably use somewhere around a cup) and freshly chopped scallions.

-Pack the mix into each bell pepper... the more full, the better!

-Top each pepper with another tiny dash of feta cheese and a few scallions.

-Bake the stuffed peppers at about 400 degrees for 45-50 or so minutes. If you like the peppers a bit crunchy, take them out at about 35 minutes. Another heads up- I usually bake the peppers in a Corningware dish instead of a cookie sheet, that way they can be "saved" if they happen to fall over in the oven. Yes, I learned that the hard way.

And that's it!! Stuffed peppers a la Michelle. Fresh, fabulous and fun- the perfect summer dish!


Memorial Day Par-tay

Hi friends! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!! Believe it or not, Memorial Day is just around the corner. That means summer is almost here! And I'm so excited because David and I are throwing a Memorial Day pool party for a bunch of our friends. I've been doing a little searching online for some cute party ideas and I just had to share some of the adorable things I've found.

This adorable Memorial Day themed party from Hostess With the Mostess just blew me away. I'm in love. 





This website is incredible- they give a Memorial Day themed menu, decor, drink ideas and even free printables. Love, love, love!

Here are a few other ideas that I bookmarked as inspiration for the party.









Are any of you throwing a Memorial Day party? If so, share any good patriotic or summer inspired party ideas that you might have!

Also, you can find me today over here at Carmel's blog, Our Fifth House, dishing on some things I've learned from blogging! Stop by and say hi!
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