What I've learned from living in the arctic tundra...

I love living in Tulsa. I really do. There are great restaurants, lots of fun things to do, my friends, and you get to experience all 4 seasons. Spring, summer, fall, all are exceptionally great, even winter. Well, that was until Tuesday when I woke up and realized Molly and I had moved to Alaska overnight, as we were greeted with 15" of snow! Luckily, we were not in Alaska with Sarah Palin (thank goodness), but instead this insane amount of snow had just been dumped on Tulsa, or as I like to refer to it now as the Arctic Tundra.

During my week in the arctic tundra, I have learned a great deal about survival tactics that I need to share.

1. You can never have enough soup in your house. My snow week diet consisted of soup, fruit, and lean cuisines. And, for some reason when I looked at the ridiculous amount of snow on the ground my friends Miss Progresso and Mr. Campbell always made me feel much better.



2. Owning a puppy is key to keeping a small bit of sanity during a snow-pocalypse. Molly and I shared numerous discussions about what soup we should make today, what DVR-d show we should catch up on after lunch, what sweatshirt would make the best snow fashion statement, etc. But most importantly, having a snuggled up puppy asleep in your lap makes working from home the best thing ever.


3. Just because you pay your gas bill, doesn't mean you will still have hot water. Now, we will not go into the gas bill story circa July 2010 because that is a.) not blog worthy due to high embarrassment and b.) I would have to die my hair back blonde to pass it off as a blonde moment. Point of the matter is...pipes freeze and you lose hot water, but if you just cry to your momma a whole lot, hot water will eventually come back. Moms know how to make everything better.



4. I will always own a gas guzzling, non-Eco friendly, big ole SUV for the rest of my life. Sometimes when you've been cooped up for so long, nothing gives you greater satisfaction than taking out a snow mound in your beast of a car. But, Despite the fact that I was driving a suburban for the week (not the best snow mobile), the positive side was Molly and I could go on a mini-vacation back to 1973. Our new favorite pastime includes, sitting in the car, booty warmers turned on of course, and brushing up on our 70s on 7 with XM radio.



5. You know you are from Arkansas if you think your garden shovel can pass off as a snow shovel. For some reason my sweet little garden shovel that is perfect for planting hydrangeas and azaleas is not so sweet when it comes to digging through 15" of snow.



6. Countdowns to vacation just might be the one saving factor to realizing there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Florida vacay with my favorites is only 154 days away!


-LB

We aren't in South Arkansas anymore...

Well, if you ever wondered what almost 20" of snow or a blizzard warning looks like, here's a first hand look.

Little Mo is guarding the front porch, as she was not a fan of sinking down in the snow!



I promise my driveway is under there somewhere...


The snow was nice enough to let my street numbers peek through...I'm sure the mail man appreciates that!


I wanted to make sure Dad's car got a good dose of crazy Oklahoma weather...



And, this little booger has decided that the only good thing about a snow day is that she gets to snooze in my lap and continue on her quest for the title of being the most rotten puppy ever!



-LB

At home with Molly and me...

In honor of the one year anniversary of making an offer on my house, I thought I would take my small posse of readers on a tour of our house. I wish we had before pictures, but the after is just so much better!

Let's start in the living room...with my favorite orange chair and paintings!






Now we'll migrate on into the dining room and kitchen...



Of course, the infamous pink table. I think it is the best conversation piece ever and highlight of my house. And, to everyone who said I could never get a boy to eat on a pink table...my Dad has multiple times! Further proving my point, if there is food on the table to eat, a man does not care what color the table is that he is eating on!

Anyways, off to the bedrooms. First is the guest bedroom with my first do-it-yourself project: the red headboard.



And off to my bedroom, my favorite room in the house!







Pink pillows, pink flowers, pink headboard...the pink accents on the gray palette just make the pink pop that much more! Oh, I love it!

Oh, and one last stop, the hall. Did I mention I love the color pink?



-LB

2010 rewind...

Let's ignore the fact that I've been on a blog hiatus, but instead I wanted to recap some of the highlights of 2010. I remember New Year's Eve last year I was sitting at home with a pitiful newly spayed, snaggle tooth, drugged up puppy thinking that I was having my doubts about 2010, but in the end 2010 turned out to be one of the best years of my life. So let's recap with my top 10 things for 2010...

10. Fixing my first broken toilet and seeing the inside of a toilet bowl for the first time. This was a big deal, a really big deal.
9. Flipping furniture. Spray paint and sanding and flea markets, oh my did I do a lot of that.
8. Molly's first birthday. The little booger continues to be the goofiest, cutest, and best sidekick ever.
7. 23. I celebrated my 23rd birthday with all of my best friends in my house watching the bachelorette. It couldn't have been a more perfect birthday night.
6. Travel... 2010 was full of traveling. From Chicago for a bachelorette party to Houston for a family weekend to Gurdon for Poppa's 85th birthday to Nashville for a weekend of fun having with my absolute favorites to Dallas for a Spain reunion and wedding to Eureka Springs with our family friends and last but not least to Florida.
5. 5k+15k+half marathon?!?! What ended 2009 as a fun little hobby of running my first two 5k races started 2010 with a full schedule and full speed running. Since January, I ran five 5ks, a 15k, and my first half marathon, and a 10k is already on the calendar for February 2011. Goodness!
4. Florida. In August, we took our first family vacation with all of our dogs. Molly survived her first trip with multiple flights in one day. All of the dogs loved the beach and unlimited spoiling and laps.
3. The dream job. 2010 ended with the most unexpected blessing and wonderfully exciting cap to a phenomenal year. After seeing a random job posting on facebook, submitting my resume on a whim, 2 one hour plus long interviews, and the next thing I knew I was turning in my resignation and had just landed the job I had been dreaming of for years and the company I had been trying to get to notice me since college.
2. A wedding and a sister. 2010 will always be a special year for our family with the wedding of my brother and sister-in-law. We couldn't have gained a more perfect family member and I couldn't have asked for a better sister.
1. Buying my first house. So many great things that happened in 2010 can be tied back to buying my first house. From having more confidence and gaining independence to learning the beauty of homeownership to being a hostess with the mostest to having so much fun, the house has been the foundation (no pun intended) of an amazing 2010.

Here's to the ending of a fantastic year with the hope that 2011 will be wonderful too. Now let's eat some black eyed peas.

-LB

chairs, chairs, chairs...

I have loved getting to decorate my own place. Painting the wall whatever colors I want, frequenting all the local flea markets trying to find new treasures, accessorizing with fun pillows or fabrics, and my favorite thing--rehabilitating old chairs! Now that I'm finally settled in at my house, I am noticing how many different chairs that I have "rehabilitated" and brought back to life.

I wish I could take credit on this fabulous fellow, but unfortunately this is one chair that I needed extra help with to finish. This little guy was a chair my parents purchased back in the 80s and has already been recovered a couple of times, but his current state is his biggest makeover. He started out as a cane back wooden chair with a rust colored cushion, and now he's a pretty suave chico who sits underneath my Spain posters.

My first chair rehabilitation by myself was on a fabulous flea market find that Molly and I were able to knock off $15 bucks for the steal! This pretty lady started out as a wooden back chair with a hunter green needlepoint floral design cushion. As soon as I saw her, I knew she had potential. After a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for paint and a trip down the discarded fabric aisle at Hancocks, I now have the perfect chair for my bedroom. I'm quite proud of how this sweet steal turned out!



My next chair project began after a weekend of painting my hall pink. I wanted a chair at the end of the hall to, well you know, "offset the pink hall." Lime green was the perfect accent color and tied in my bathroom wall color that is right off the hall. So, off Molly and I went to the flea market and came back with a $10 wooden chair. Once again, after a trip to Hobby Lobby for supplies, I painted the chair and made the accent pillow without a sewing machine, I might add!


And finally, one last chair that is a fairly new find is my accent chair in the dining room. Of course, this was another flea market find that required very little work. Just a quick recovering of the cushion and this one was good as new!



There is just something about chairs that I have come to enjoy. I love that all of my chairs are different and unique and each chair has a story of his own. Chairs have an inviting sense about them, whether welcoming guests to sit down and feel comfortable or circling up additional chairs around the dinner table. Those inviting and unique qualities of a chair is what has made me come to love them the most and take a seat.

playing a little catch up...

Well, let's just pretend like I didn't actually take a 4 month hiatus from my blog, but instead I'll just give you the brief rundown of what has been happening since my last post ages ago...

Since then little Mo and I have packed up and finally moved out of our apartment and finally all moved in and settled in our wonderful and perfect first home. I don't think we could ask for a better place. It's the perfect size, perfect yard, perfect neighborhood, and the ability to make everything in my sometime hectic life seem calm and perfect. It's funny now, how much a house has changed Molly and I both. We are both so much happier with our own, new, colorful place.

Also since my last post...my little booger, Molly, had her first birthday! I can't believe my little 16 ounce, 7 week old puppy is now a 10 pound, big kid! We've come a long way since our first weekend together a year ago, but I can't imagine not having my little goofy booger bear around.

And, the most important thing that has probably happened since my last post is the NEW and WONDERFUL addition to our family. My brother got married this summer, and I'm so excited to have an amazing sister-in-law. Their wedding was such a great, loving, special, and best weekend ever.

So, now that I'm finally back in the blog world, I will begin updating all of my fun and exciting and hilarious home makeover projects that have been going on in the new house and show you what being at home with molly and me is really all about...

85+easter...

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted probably because I've been a little busy with being out of town, painting, sanding, playing with Mo, and trying to get everything together to move into the new house!!! (wahooooo!) But, it's been a busy and fun few weeks!

I went home a couple of weeks ago for Easter and my grandpa's 85th birthday party which might go down as the party of the century. It was so much fun and so great to see everyone on that side of the family. Here are some fun party pics...

Blowing out his candles!!

All the grandkids plus the soon-to-be new family member=)

Sweet little Molly dog!
My brother with all of his favorite girls on Easter!

All of my project pictures will be coming soon...but most of them are in the final stages and I'm really happy with how they are turning out! More posts and blogging to come soon!