I made an oopsie!

I've got to apologize for the last post. I'm going to eat my words on this one. Even though it was meant to be sarcastic and funny, it was also judgmental, and that is not a kind of person I want to be. One comment in particular made me think. I don't know who "Jessica" is, but she hit the nail on the head.

"How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?"  -Matthew 7:4

I do drive a big honkin' Texas sized SUV. And its gas mileage is nothing to brag about, believe me. So, I'm going to eat some humble pie on this one and use it as a lesson that NO ONE is perfectly "green" expect for the man who created our earth. 

We all try to do what we can to make changes. And hopefully we all try to continue to add to those changes and do more. Next time, I will do my informing and leave the judging to the man upstairs  ;) And I promise to work on my eye-rolling. But that's the best you're gonna get out of me today. I just changed my trays on my Invisalign (the equivalent of getting your braces tightened) and my poor teeth are killing me! :((( Boo!

xxoo

Jonathan Adler comes to Atlanta

Finally!  The long-awaited Jonathan Adler store is opening in Atlanta.  I was able to get a sneak peek tonight right before I attended the Switch Modern Spotlight on Design event, thanks to Liz Lapidus PR. 

Before I show you the images, let me just say that the store is gorgeous!  My pictures definitely don’t do it justice.

I’m looking forward to spending more time in this inspiring store tomorrow night during the grand opening event, and I’m even more excited about getting to meet Jonathan himself!

LiveJournal Tags: Jonathan adler,switch modern,liz lapidus pr,atlanta

Spotlight on Design with Todd Murphy

If you happen to be around the West Side of town tonight head on over to Switch Modern.  Tonight, in their Spotlight on Design series, they will be featuring the amazing Atlanta artist Todd Murphy.  It's from 6pm to 8pm.  All of the details are below.  Click on the image to see a larger view.  I'll be there along with some of my favorite designers.  Hope to see you there too!

I will judge you.

I've got to get this off my chest:

If I see you with a plastic bottle of water, I will judge you. I'm sorry in advance. I don't mean it, really, I don't, but the sensible ecological loving girl in me takes over. (And she's quite erratic!)

And then I start thinking about how you've been duped because bottled water is upward of 500 times more expensive than tap water, but just as safe and healthy.

And then I start thinking about how 80% of these disposable and plastic bottles end up in landfills. *sigh*

And then I start thinking about how precious little water third-world countries have, and we're bottling it like liquid gold and charging a premium for it.

And then I start thinking about all the oil, plastic, chemicals and other not-so-good things it takes to get that bottle to you.

And I cringe.

And I whine.

And I will probably roll my eyes.

Because I used to be like you. But I finally wised up.

Wise up, peeps! :) Watch this cute movie. And join me and pledge to be bottled water free! Yippee!

PS. It is not my wish to hurt feelings through this post, but simply to educate. At one time, I was a Fuji pounding fool! It took someone telling me how it was to open my eyes and that was my only intention. :)

Thankful Living: Week 12

Three moments from another week passed of thankful living.

Can we ever be thankful enough?

Week Ending 12

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

:: a long weekend of camping with an old college friend and her husband. since we both have trailers (and kitchens) we were able to eat really good during these last few days. ;) ::

:: sweet moments I'm sharing (via picture texting) with my sisters daily ::

:: two sleepy dogs that will do much relaxing tomorrow ::

Friday Find

I’m really excited to share this amazing find with you today. 

I was over at Lakietha’s blog reading about her newly updated entry table and I fell in love.  The dresser that she refinished is gorgeous, but I was more in love with the hardware that she put on the drawers.  It’s to die for.  She found it from a source that I had never her of called MyKnobs.com. 

This is an up close and personal shot of the pulls.

I was sure that these pulls were going to be upwords of $15 or $18, but to my surprise they were only $2.87!!!  Can you believe it?!?  I sure couldn’t.  I got to looking around on the rest of the site and found some other amazing buys too. 

$3.99

$2.23

$2.63

$3.99

$4.40

$6.60

I would love to have these polished nickel on my kitchen cabinets in my new house!

$9.53

Head on over to MyKnobs.com to check out all of these amazing finds.

Have a great weekend!

LiveJournal Tags: MyKnobs.com,cabinet hardware

Confessions of a Straw Addict

Much like my addiction to the color pink, I have been greedily hoarding straws for a while now.

I love straws. The more colorful and funky, the better.

I need one with every single drink. Southern Hubby knows better than to bring me a glass of anything without first putting in one of my beloved straws. :) I even store a couple in my purse and use them when I go out to eat.

My addiction started several years ago. I had been happily buying the disposable plastic kind at the grocery store for a while when I began to start becoming more conscious of my carbon footprint. I searched for ways to recycle them to no avail. Then lo and behold, Sara and her pretty straws blogged their way into my life. The moment I saw hers, I knew I had to have them. They were cute and reusable. How perfect!

I searched high and low for pretty reusable straws and amassed quite the collection. :) The best places to find them are Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, and Amazon. Here are the newest additions to my little family, my stainless steel bent straws, a la Oprah Winfrey.

They're not expensive. They bring color and fun to my life. They can reduce the chance of teeth staining and/or cavaties. They are more eco-friendly than the disposable kind. And they make me happy. If those aren't good enough reasons for collecting and hoarding straws, then I don't know what is. ;)

Monday Lovelies

How is the weather where you are? Over here, it's pretty close to amazing. I'm dreading the Texas summers, so I'm trying to enjoy this weather while I can.

Last week we had professional landscapers come out and re-design our front yard flower beds. Yesterday we spent many hours outside planting new plants, repotting old shurbs and weeding. It was fun but a lot of hard work. I'll share more pictures soon.

Here are couple of Monday lovlies I've come across while searching the wide web. ;)

• Love, love, love this quote.
• I came across this simplistic and lovely red string, and 100% of the proceeds go to Japan. Love that. Will be ordering one soon.
• Wondering what my life is trying to tell me about seeking personal growth this year. This post hit home on so many levels. Thank you, Tara.
• Adorable.

Thankful Living: Week 11

Three moments from another week passed of thankful living.

Can we ever be thankful enough?

Week Ending 11

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

:: Saturday night spent with friends, amazing food, a game of cards, some wine, and a 10 minute bike ride home. ::

:: Hours spent in His glorious and magnificent creation and dirt. Texas is getting some pretty weather right now and we're soaking up every bit of it. ::

:: Our first RV trip coming up next weekend! ::

Exciting NEws!!!!

I know it’s been a little quiet on the blog lately.  As if I didn’t have enough going on already with trying to get ready for Chase and wrapping up client jobs, now we’ve added a whole other element to the mix.  WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!!!  I’m thrilled and stressed to the max at the same time.  Billy and I knew that our condo was going to be too tiny for a family of 3 and a half(our dog Sweetie being the half), but we were trying to make do.  Then, about 2 weeks ago, we found an amazing deal on a little 50’s ranch-style home and we jumped on it. 

What does this mean???  Well, it means that we’ll be moving into a new house while I’m almost 8 months pregnant.  [I know, I know…I’ve totally lost my marbles]  It also means that you’ll have to wait a little while longer to see pics of Chase’s room since it will be moving along with us.  We are hoping and praying that Chase will be patient and won’t try to come early.  We don’t really have a Plan B if that were to happen. 

We have our work cut out for us with the new house.  Right now it’s a total mess from the renter that is living there.  Once they move out and we get it painted, I’ll take some pictures to share with you.  I’m really excited about sharing the renovation process on the blog, but it will be very slow going.  I doubt I’ll have much time for renovation work while taking care of a newborn. 

We’ve decided to rent our condo until the real estate market comes back.  If any of you have any friends that are looking to rent a condo in the Sandy Springs/Buckhead area of Atlanta please forward them this CL ad.  CLICK HERE for the ad.  Here’s a picture of the our family room in our condo.

LiveJournal Tags: our house,sandy springs,buckhead

The New Ride

I wanted to introduce you to my newest love. My new Electra Townie.

::swoon::

Isn't she lovely? (At least, I think she's a she. She's too pretty to be a he, right?)

I was so sad to see my old bike go (we sold it on Craigslist.) And despite her lovliness, I was simply too short for her. I had to hop on it to get on and my feet couldn't reach the floor, which can make for a very dangerous ride. After scanning Craigslist for a couple months and never seeing one I wanted, Southern Hubby decided we should do it right and find one that fit me. (Come to find out it's pretty impossible to size a bike online.)

I found her at the first bike shop we went to. After a bunch of test drives and not finding one I liked we were about to give up. Then the salesman saw her, almost hidden amongst the masses. I took one look and fell madly in love. And her ride was amazing. She fit! We fit beautifully!

Thus, she was mine. :) I love her. I love her.

I want to ride her every. single. day. :)

I'm obsessed with bike culture now. I want to ride her everywhere. Sadly, our little slice of suburbian heaven is horribly lacking in bike-friendliness. :( If you want to share in my obsession, I beg of you to take a peek at these lovelies:

Oh, orange crush!
This shot has beautiful depth.
I love robin's egg blue!
This beautiful shot makes me want to hire a pro to photograph mine! ;)

Thankful Living: Week 10

* Trying to get back into the habit of this. Excuse the missed weeks. :)

Three moments from another week passed of thankful living.

Can we ever be thankful enough?

Week Ending 10

I AM THANKFUL FOR...

:: the beginning of the Lenten season, and another chance for me to sacrifice something small to show my love for Him ::

:: (On Saturday, the 12th) Six years of being married to the most wonderful and dear man. God blessed me so abundantly when I met and fell in love with him. :) ::

:: a picture and sweet letter from India from Rajitha, the beautiful and intelligent girl my Life Group is sponsoring. ::

What are YOU thankful for this week?

Wheeeeee!

I'm so in love with this time of year right now. The spring weather is finally starting to cooperate with our bike rides and picnic dinners and we're loving it!

But besides the spring time, I'm really looking forward to the Lenten season. As a Catholic, I choose to give up something that I love in the days leading up to Easter in the hopes that I turn to God when self-denial gets hard. I also hope to use this time as a chance to show God how important I view His "sacrifice" of his Son.

For the past week or so, I've been seriously praying and contemplating over what I want to get out of the next 40 days and what I'm wanting to sacrifice in order to get closer to God. I've decided to:

• give up one hour of sleep in the morning to pray, meditate and complete a devotion
• incorporate the color purple throughout the house using candles and flowers to remind me of the season we're in
• read only spiritually based books during this time, focusing on the saints I admire

Do you celebrate Lent? If so, what are you giving up?

Interview at Pretty Haus

Today I’m being interviewed by Anne over at the Pretty Haus blog.  Anne had some fun and interesting questions for me.  If you are interested in finding out what room I would be or what my must have tool as a designer is…

then head on over and check it out.  Click Here to go to the interview.

LiveJournal Tags: interview,pretty haus blog

Busy Bee

Lately, I’ve been a busy little bee.  Between client meetings, putting design plans together, putting my own nursery together pics to come sometime before Chase is born I promise and still trying to have some type of family life, I’ve had zero time to do any blogging. 

Unfortunately, I don’t see any end to my crazy-busy madness anytime soon.  I do however have a design plan to show you.  This plan is for one of my Touch of Charm DIY internet design clients.  I can’t wait to see this one when it’s completely finished.  Christin promises that she will send pictures, and I’ll definitely show them to you once I have them.

Have a Happy Monday!

***If you are interested in finding out more info on my budget friendly, internet design service called Touch of Charm please email me at charmhomedesign@gmail.com.  I’d love to help you out.

LiveJournal Tags: my design,touch of charm

I'm having an affair: Part 1

This is the first of a two part series I wrote a couple years back. I revisited it for my post over at At the Well: Titus 2. You can find me there today as well. This post was gleaned from the notes I took at the Family Life Weekend to Remember conference. I hope you find it as informative and eye-opening as I did. :)
                           ***********
 

Let me preface this by saying, no, I’ve never cheated physically or emotionally on Southern Hubby. I was having one of the many types of extramarital affairs threatening today’s marriage that don’t fall under that traditional “physical love affair.” However, they are just as detrimental to a marriage as a physical or emotional affair. The ones that have been identified are:

A. Activity/Hobbies Affair: These affairs happen when your hobbies and activities take a lot of the focus off you and your husband. Book clubs, knitting, sewing, and quilting circles all are good things, and deserve merit. But do they take up too much of your time?
 

This type of affair can also involve things that are in fact virtuous and pleasing to the Lord. For example, volunteering and participating in church activities are wonderful and can breathe life into you spiritually. But when they occupy the majority of your thoughts, stress you out, and keep you away from your duties at home, then it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate all of your obligations. Your first obligations should be to God and then your husband.

B. Materialism Affair: I’ve been involved in this affair many times. The beautiful new clothes that hang in the windows, the smell of new shoes (my weakness!), the sparkle in those diamond earrings– all of these things can occupy a wife’s mind, leaving no room for the Lord or her husband. Flipping through pages and pages of catalogs, or online shopping for hours takes away from time you could spend be spending with your husband.

Wishing you had things that you don’t not only wastes your time, but it can also make your husband feel like he is not providing for you. Of all the things a wife can do to her husband, not showing him respect or making him feel inadequate is by far the worst.

In the consumer world we live in, it is very easy to fall into this trap. Don’t let yourself be fooled. It is not the things that surround us that make us happy, but the people that love us.

C. Career Affair- {{This issue can be very tricky in today's world because so many women do in fact work and have careers outside the home. I don't mean to hurt feelings, so please keep in mind that these are just my personal beliefs.}}

If you are a homemaker, this shouldn't be an issue for you. If you are still working outside your home, please do not get into an affair with your job. No one needs you more than your husband. Those faxes can wait until morning. Does that email need to be sent right now? No. But will your marriage suffer because you are constantly putting these things ahead of your man? Absolutely.

If this sounds like you, I urge you to pray and think about the reasons you are working. For me, it was the luxuries the extra money afforded us. I wanted to travel and spend and buy and me, me, me. We didn’t need my teacher’s salary to live comfortably. We’re doing fine right now. Can I shop every weekend like I used to? No. Can we take 2-3 trips each year anymore? No. But I’m secure in knowing that I’m right where God wants me to be: in my home, serving my wonderful husband, and creating a welcoming environment for us to live in. To me, that’s worth more than anything I could buy.

In the next part of the series, I’ll pick up with three more types of affairs that can affect your relationship with your husband. And we’ll also look a little bit into why these affairs happen.

Hope you have a great rest of the week!

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