one more year...

here i am again, one year later and only 7 blog entries ahead of where i was last year when i promised myself i'd be better about this.  i want to blog.  so badly.  but i can't find the motivation when life is so...in the way.  i'm getting married in a couple months.  thats exciting.  and scary as hell.  not the being married part, that party im looking forward to, alot.  its the actual act of getting married that freaks me out.  the planning and the money and the family and the everything.  we should've eloped.  in fact we've been saying this since we got engaged but neither of us has given in.  weddings are weird, i always thought i would love being a wedding planner.  in fact, i still kind of do; i guess its the financial aspect that bugs me about where we are.  however, im quiet and understanding in the fact that this wedding isn't and shouldn't be about the material, its about him and me and god.  thinking of it like that makes it much easier.  so i thought i'd make this post about all things wedding and some of my favorite diy's ive come across while planning!  thank The Lord for pinterest.  the ceremony and reception will be held in my mom and stepdad's backyard...my childhood home.  this alone makes me happy.  under a stunted mulberry tree that is absolutely beautiful.  and so, that being said; the atmosphere will be casual with lots of rustic and vintage decorations, candles, the obligatory mason jars and lots and lots of lights!!

 

chris and i are adamant that everyone feel as comfortable and as much like family as possible.  this is one of the diy's i definitely want to incorporate.  i love this little saying and pallets are abundant in my life right now.  perfect!

  

so i say rustic but what i really mean is country.  haha.  its no secret that living in north carolina makes it almost necessary to use things like hayrolls, sunflowers and mason jars.  but thats totally ok, because those are just a few of my favorite things.  hayroll with floral initial.  love it.

                

         
           

front doors

im absolutely addicted to pintrest, as im sure (and i know because youre my friends on pintrest) that some of you are too.  last year i made a yarn wreath that i had seen ideas for on pintrest (there are bazillions, i know) and i have to admit i think it came out pretty well.

 

the wreath frame is a cheap pool noodle, wrapped with some delightfully green yarn and i hot glued on felt rosettes that i rolled up and adorned with pearl head pins.  super easy and cheap.  i couldn't wait to make a new one for the new apartment this year and this is what i came up with.

i love the way it turned out.  mama was getting rid of an old grapevine wreath that she'd made, so i scooped it up and added some more felt rosettes, but also tried out some paper folding as well.  whatta ya think?  i wanna see your wreaths, show me your front doors!

the toughest time

its been a hard few weeks.  death, denial, guilt, frustration.  i can't seem to wrap my head around it all.  i'll be back soon.

citruslove.

i love lemonade.  amongst the raindrops this weekend, a couple rays of sunshine shown through and i had a bag of lemons that needed to be done something with.  so, to sound as cliche as possible; i made lemonade out of the lemons life gave me.  i thought i'd share with you some pics, obviously because of the amazing piece of pyrex used; as well as the recipe.  yum!

lemonade:

5-6 small lemons (about a cup of lemon juice)

1 cup of sugar

8 cups of water

                        squeeze your lemons, add your sugar and water and enjoy!!

the pyrex was an exciting find a couple weeks ago, i was driving around greensboro familiarizing myself on a saturday morning and saw a sign for an estate sale.  believe it or not i'd never been to one.  turns out they are pretty damn sweet.  it seemed to be a family of grown children, i can only imagine they were getting rid of some of their parent's possessions.  i can't imagine ever doing that.  sorry, got a little debbie downer there.  anywho, i scooped this mint condition pyrex lemonade pitcher up for $3 and a few really awesome vintage cookbooks and some other unnecessary pieces of kitchen so and so's.

hope you all had a great weekend.  i'll leave you with a pic of chris and i on our sunday thrifting adventures! <3, heather

 

clown.

now that chris works practically all the gd time, i've found myself perusing thrift stores and the library ALOT.  which reminds me i should probably take back the stack of self help and sewing books on the coffee table.  beside the point.  i was in the goodwill last night when i came across this friggin masterpiece.

it made me think about the other day when my family decided to go to this little hot dog place in kernersville called doss'.  ever been?  well the entire place is decorated in clowns.  and i don't mean just a couple clowns, like full on red noses everywhere.  anyway, my brother's girlfriend is completely anti-clown and we all conveniently forgot to tell her before we got there.  this one's for you kristan with a tan.  happy saturday.

support.

do you support your loved ones?  like really support them?  i've been wrapped up in a new job for the past three months, so much so; that i forgot to support the ones who have supported me the entire way.  chris is in school for sustainable agriculture.  he wants to be a farmer, an organic farmer.  i'm so proud of him it takes alot for me to contain myself when people ask how he is or how school's going for him.  and i'm so excited about the life that it will provide for us.  but it turns out, as excited as i am for him; he doesn't feel or see my excitement.  when he brings it up, i'm so wrapped up in MY world and MY life that i look at him like he's crazy and has five heads.  it's only at moments like these when i'm able to take a second away from the insanity and humble myself enough to see that maybe i'm not giving him the support that he needs.  not even just a 'hey babe, way to go, 4.0!!'  (he's supersmart by the way)  when i took this position as a retail store manager, i certainly didn't think i couldn't handle it, much less have it change me in the ways that it has.  as i've mentioned before, this job has turned me into something i don't even know.  a monster of the bitchiest proportion, one who sweats and screams and cries.  a child really.  not in front of my co-workers, never; but at home, definitely.  my multi-tasking, creative mind is now one tracked and has the sole purpose of being the responsible party.  is this what parenthood is like?  and if so, what of my husband, one day?  (poor guy)  good lord.  so, all this being said; i'd like to make an extra effort to support those who have supported me for so long and those that have been patient with me and basically just give a shout out to my incendiary domestic partner, chris.  i'd also like to challenge you to remember those who have supported you, think about them, thank them, pray for them, whatever it is you might want to do to commemorate their divine existence, because, really; if it weren't for them?

                                                             true love.

thrifty!

i've had some extremely successful thrift store trips over the past week, so successful that i thought i might share a couple things with you all.  chris and i have made a commitment to only purchasing second hand (save for the necessary things) for the next however long...we'll see how it goes.  i'm pretty committed to shopping second hand now as it is, its just that i'm also AS committed to shopping retail just as much! ha.  it just makes sense though, second hand; doesn't it?  i mean, why buy something brand new when there's probably one out there just waiting to be used to its potential? enjoy.

my first finds, and a couple of my favorites i might add; are a fantastic retro pot and a piece of glass bake both in perfect condition and only $1.00 a piece.  found at the salvation army.

a pixelated embroidery pillow and a chevron afghan!!! pinterest would freak over this picture.  maybe i'll add it.  afghan--$4.00  pillow--$2.50 from goodwill.

i might have a slight obsession with pyrex.  pyrexia.  bah.  anyway, a cute little gooseberry pink fridgie in perfect condition, $4.00 at chartreuse. 

and last but not least.  i went to this AWESOME church rummage sale early saturday morning and found this quilted chicken tea pot cozy.  couldn't go home without it.  75 cents!

until next time...

an entire year

last published in march 2011?!  shameful.  an entire year has passed and so much has happened, i'll try and recap it as quickly and painlessly as possible.  new job, new city, new apartment, new everything.  i got a promotion in october which brought us from raleigh to greensboro, chris' hometown; his entire family is here.  the promotion was for store manager of plow & hearth in winston salem, that opened in late november.  needless to say i spent the entire month of december at work, sun up to sun down, as well as most of january.  i'm finally getting to the point now where i'm feeling comfortable enough to leave the store and not feel like a horrified mother on the first day of daycare.  i have eaten so many of my own words beginning this job, i really thought it was gonna be a breeze...so not.  i've turned into this crazy bitch monster who screams all the time and sweats alot.  i don't really know how chris puts up with it, honestly.  we've been on a bit of a rocky road, but he's being super patient and i think things are heading in the direction of almost normal, which is saying something.  i miss my mama and raleigh, i like greensboro fine it's just not home yet.  the new apartment is fun, im in full fledge spring cleaning mode; ready to bedeck the place and make it home.  im finally feeling like im in that place in my life where things are beginning to line up.  here's hoping for a more frequently blogged year to come.  stay tuned.

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family, cupcakes and dirty laundry

we had chris' brother darrell and his wife jenny to the house for a little weekend vacay. i had to work all weekend, but somewhere in between i baked a few cupcakes.

[checkout www.bakeitpretty.com for the best in cupcakery]

these are just a vanilla cupcake with my insanely sweet buttercream frosting. and there were hot cocoa ones with buttercream frosting. needless to say there were none left after the weekend.

i(we) also spent alot of time watching fosters home for imaginary friends, flipping through magazines, cuddling puppies and playing hangman. all in all a great weekend.

now that the week has commensed and were all the way to the end of wednesday, i thought it high time to add some words to the page. i spent monday and tuesday at work and today dealing with dental appointments and insurance woes. it seems to me if we pay monthly into our insurance policies, the least our companies could do would be take care of us without any extra fees and deductables. but alas...we do live in the united states of america. moving on. other than that i spent the rest of the day doing laundry and reading - the dirty life by kristin kimball.

copyright 2010 simon & schuster

sidenote: if you have a man in your life whom you love that has a passion for farming or you yourself have a passion for farming, go for it. im gonna and this book has done nothing but
confirm my incessant need for a life on a farm. pick it up at the library, it's great.
anyway, that's a topic for another discussion, very soon.

a beginning

in an effort to begin a more thoughtful, self sustaining and healthy lifestyle, i am creating this blog. here i will chronicle my adventures, to keep myself accountable; and also entertain with whatever tidbits of my life that i feel folks may enjoy or benefit from. in this bustling modern world we live in, i and mine try to keep things as simple as possible and in doing so have come across so many things i'm excited to share. you'll find everything here, from recipes and crafts to campfire stories and advice for a simpler life. i hope you enjoy!