Pinteresting Wednesday - Closets

Have you ever heard anyone say, "My closet is too big!"? 
I haven't either!


Today I am linking up with The Vintage Apple for the 6th week in a row for another Oh, How PINTERESTing Wednesday! 

My theme for this week  = CLOSETS

  Here are a few of my favorite closets from Pinterest.

I'll start with my absolute favorite!

Source: goo.gl via Lauren on Pinterest

Give a girl the correct footwear...

Source: houzz.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Never have I ever... 
Seriously, a two-story closet?
 This one is a little extreme even for me.

Source: houzz.com via Brielle on Pinterest

An ironing board in the closet? Genius.

Source: houzz.com via Debbie on Pinterest

I'm speechless.

Source: sweetydesign.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

This one has Martha Stewart written all over it! 


 

Source: maiedae.blogspot.com via Abby on Pinterest

This last pin is not a closet, but I felt like it went with the theme and I just couldn't leave it out of the post.

Source: boozebagbettygoestorehab.blogspot.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Clearly no one actually uses these closets. If they did, they would never look this clean.

Time Flies

I was so excited to come home to NEW FLOOR last week! Our lease runs up on July 17th. When Allise and I first moved in our apartment I had just finished grad school. We were both 23 when we moved in on July 17, 2008. Our first few weeks were spent watching and cheering for Michael Phelps as he won 7 gold medals in the 2008 Olympics. If someone would have told me I would still be here for the 2012 Olympics, I never would have believed them. I remember thinking we would live here 1 year (maybe 2) and there was no point in hanging too much on the walls. A few years after, I can remember watching Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie) clean out her closet in the Sex and the City movie. She was cleaning out 11 years’ worth of clothing in her apartment closet. I looked at Allise and said, “oh no, is that going to be us?” At four years, we are getting close BUT our official move out date is May 17, 2013… we think. :)

 

Before resigning our lease to begin our 5^th year here, we begged for new flooring in our kitchen and bathrooms. The laminate flooring we had was beyond gross when we first moved in and after four years of us, it definitely wasn’t looking any better. The complex agreed to the new flooring and the before and after is like night and day!

WE LOVE THE NEW FLOORING!!! 

It has almost been installed for a full week now and I still smile when I walk in! I never knew new flooring could make me so happy. I guess I can add that to the list of reasons I know I’m getting old. 

Over the last four years we have: laughed, cried, dated a few guys, been in weddings, given baby showers, celebrated birthdays, decorated for holidays, never missed a season of The Bachelor or Bachelorette, run in half marathons, changed jobs, traveled, set off the fire alarm, and even mastered roach killing.

Here are some of my favorite memories from the last 4 years.

 From Troy right before we moved to Birmingham.

  With Allise and Crystal for my first Talledega experience

  

  January 2010 - Dinner in the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building in Chicago!

  

Celebrating our 25th Birthdays at the rooftop bar of the Redmont Hotel

   

A few hours later - dancing and still celebrating our 25th Birthdays!

 In my brown hair phase - Casino Night

 Summer 2010 - Miller Brewery Tour - Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

 Chicago Trip - Segway Tour, Navy Pier, and with The Bean

Our 26th Birthday Cakes

 Spring 2011 - Dinner with Friends at Pacific Rim in 5 Points

 Christmas Paintings at Sips N Strokes

February 2012 - Nashville for Crystal's Bachelorette Party

 

March 2012 - Crystal's Wedding Reception at The American Village

Now here is to our last 10 months in the apartment!

ESCAPE - Book Club

Today I am linking up to the blog Blonde…Undercover Blonde for Book Club Fridays.  



As soon as I read the back cover of Escape in the bookstore, I purchased it! 

Escape 
by Barbara Delinksy

 Book Description / Synopsis from GoodReads.com –

 Emily Aulenbach is thirty, a lawyer married to a lawyer, working in Manhattan. An idealist, she had once dreamed of representing victims of corporate abuse, but she spends her days in a cubicle talking on the phone with vic­tims of tainted bottled water—and she is on the bottler’s side.

And it isn’t only work. It’s her sister, her friends, even her husband with whom she doesn’t connect the way she used to. She doesn’t connect to much in her life, period, with the exception of three things—her computer, her BlackBerry, and her watch.

Acting on impulse, Emily leaves work early one day, goes home, packs her bag, and takes off. Groping toward the future, uncharacteristically following her gut rather than her mind, she heads north toward a New Hampshire town tucked between mountains. She knows this town. During her college years, she spent a watershed summer here. Painful as it is to return, she knows that if she is to right her life, she has to start here.

Here is my take :

Have you ever had one of those moments where you just want to walk away from everything and disappear? I know I have on multiple occasions. There are several days when I would just love to leave my little cubicle at work and drive for miles with no phone and no email. 


Emily is living a high stress, faced paced life in an overpriced New York apartment. She is having one of those days/weeks/months where everything seems to be happening at once. One day Emily reaches her breaking point and literally ESCAPES from all her work and life problems in New York. Emily goes back to where she met her first love (who by the way, is not her current lawyer husband). One of Emily’s best friends still lives there and just happens to be the sister of Emily’s first love. Emily helps out around town while she tries to decide what to do next in life. I can’t go into too many details without ruining the book, but I can say it’s a great summer read!

 LIKE: Emily does what many of us have wanted to do before. She packs her bags and takes off with no plans.

DISLIKE: I think the author could have left the coyote parts out.  

Escape was the first book I have ever read by Barbara Delinsky. When I searched to see if she had any other books out, I realized she has over twenty bestselling books and I hope to read more of her books soon!!

 For now I’ve given in to the trend. I have to see what Fifty Shades of Grey  is all about…

PINTERESTing Wednesday - eCards

This is my 5th straight week to link up with The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

I'm not sure who comes up with the sayings on eCards, but I find them all so very entertaining. 

Today my PINTEREST picks are all eCards and here are a few of my favorites right now:

Shopping Truth 101

Source: someecards.com via Lauren on Pinterest

I would never actually pray for this, but it is funny and I'd definitely love to see this movie in 3D.

Source: peepsdragon.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

And this happens way too often (almost every week)

Source: Uploaded by user via Lauren on Pinterest

Oh, I'm still worried and you should be too

Source: someecards.com via Tabitha on Pinterest

Instead of Cleaning

Source: someecards.com via Stacey on Pinterest

And GUILTY AS CHARGED

Source: someecards.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Happy Father's Day

Father’s Day Weekend

Let the grilling begin! Thursday night Alan (my previous manager at WAKM) and Leah invited Chad and I over for dinner. We walked in to a welcoming glass of champagne. Leah did such a fantastic job on dinner: tomatoes and feta, pork tenderloin and sausage, grits, squash and zucchini. For dessert we had crema de tequila and cookies. We had a great time catching up with Alan and Leah and hope we can all get together again soon! 

Friday I got off of work a little early. There is something about walking out of work on a Friday that makes you feel 100x better than when you walk out on any other day of the week. It also helped that Friday's weather made it a  

 roll down the windows and open the sunroof kind of day!

 

Chad and I woke up early on Saturday to drive to Troy and spend the rest of Father’s Day Weekend with my mom and dad. While trying to leave for Troy, I managed to get locked out of my apartment even though I had my keys with me. Yes, it happened. My key got jammed in the lock while I was locking the door. After waiting an hour and a half, I finally just took my key off my key chain and left the issue for the maintenance man. Luckily, I already had my car packed and my phone was locked out with me!

My mom makes the best cakes!! At 27, I’ve never baked a layered cake. The sad thing is I don’t even own a cake pan. That being said, my two favorite cakes are my mom's caramel cake and her key lime cake. I found CREATIVE GOLF CUPCAKES on Better Homes and Gardens Website for Father’s Day. I sent the link for the cupcakes to my mom. Click HERE for the link with the cupcakes that inspired us:

 Instead of making cupcakes, mom made her key lime cake! We wrote Happy Father’s Day on a foam golf ball and added a golf tee. My dad loves golf and with Father’s Day and the US Open both this weekend, I think it turned out perfect!

 One of my favorite things about my parents’ house is their back deck!!

 Saturday night we grilled steak and salmon while catching up on the deck. 

The bottle of wine we had before dinner had a quote on the cork. I’ve never seen a quote on the cork before, but I like it!

We woke up Sunday to run through Troy University’s campus, hit golf balls on the driving range, and have lunch with my Mema before heading back to Birmingham.

 

Weekend Movie: Man on a Ledge

 Elizabeth Banks is a police psychologist and works to talk down an ex-con who is threatening to jump from a Manhattan hotel rooftop all while the biggest diamond heist ever committed is in motion. It’s a good movie, considering at least 75% of the movie is filmed with a man on a ledge. The title pretty much sums it up. 

WHAT AM I LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK?

• Lunch tomorrow to catch up with 5 people I used to work with at WAKM 
• New flooring in the kitchen and dining room

 

I hope everyone had a very HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! 

 

My Friday's Fancies - Outfit Crush

My Friday’s Fancies: “Outfit Crush”

This week’s theme came with the following description, “Whether it's a celeb spotting or a Pinterest find, I'm sure there's an outfit you'd love to re-create in your own way”

One of my favorite summer looks on Pinterest was pinned from a set on Polyvore. There is nothing I would change about the outfit and Polyvore already shows you exactly where you can purchase each piece in this outfit. Click here for outfit on Polyvore.

Source: carolineharding99.polyvore.com via Lauren on Pinterest

This means, I needed to pick another outfit to re-create. I love the Pinterest pin of this skirt with a button down.

Source: Uploaded by user via Lauren on Pinterest

I created my version and made it something I would wear. Here is my outfit crush!!

Jean Tribal Mix by scarbrough featuring tribal skirts

J. CREW button down denim shirt with rolled sleeves, cream tribal embellished mini skirt, Jessica Simpson Camille Sandal, braided hip belt from MetroParkUSA.com, BIG BUDDA cross body purse (maybe I should have gone with a more simple purse but I fell in love with this one), Stella & Dot gold bangles, and Stella & Dot royal blue and gold drop earrings.   

What I am most excited about today is my new purse!! I ordered it on Saturday and it was waiting for me at my front door when I got home from work yesterday.

Happy Friday!