Before & Afters

It's crazy how eyebrows can really change the way a person's face looks. All I have to say is one word: threading. It really is the best discovery ever, and I will never go back. I was overdue for a threading session by almost three months, scary I know. I knew that one of the first things I needed to get done when I was home, was my eyebrows. So I did.


Truly the best $7 I've spent in a long time, just take a look for yourselves :)

Needless to say my time at home was perfect. I did a lot of nothing as well as lots of something, if that makes any sense. I got to hang out with my wonderful sister, including a sleep over (yay!) spend some quality time with my mom (always great) and then see my besties (perfect). There were trips to our favorite local breakfast spot (twice) and trips to thrift stores and fabric stores. Speaking of fabric stores leads me to my next before & after. Ever since we moved here I wanted to re-cover our dinning room chairs but since the furniture does not belong to us, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I realized that I would just go over the current fabric in case the owner wanted the red to remain (no idea why he'd want it...) but that's besides the point.


My mom and I went to this fabric store in CT where all the fabric is $2.99 so I got some for our chairs, see below, as well as to cover our tv table which I'll post soon.


So here they are...the hideous red chairs that once stared me down every day, and now the beautiful 'paint-chip' inspired fabric covered chairs that just long to be sat in.

If you can't tell, I'm a MUCH happier now!


Well that's all for tonight...thanks for reading! Oh and just in case you forgot, JORDAN COMES HOME TOMORROW! I am so incredibly excited, you have no idea!


Till next time!

Home Sweet Home.

So since Jordan is gone, and since I'm not scheduled to work this week, I thought it would be a good time to go home and be with my family and besties. Now, nothing is guarenteed since I am flying standby (thanks to Jordan's dad) so hopefully I will get on all three of my flights tomorrow. I would really appreciate prayers, since it would mean so much to me to be with my family and to have some company since I've been alone these past two weeks.


This is also the first time that I'm taking just a carry on, so wish me luck! I always feel like the space fills up so fast, but I'm determined to make it all fit! It's a lot easier to have just a carry one in case you don't get on a flight when you fly stand by. I'll know that I have my bag with me at all times, even if the plan leaves without me, which I'm praying it won't!


I can't wait to see my family and to just be with them again. I also can't wait to see my best friends. I also can't wait to eat my Mom's food and to go shopping with her and my sister. Ah, there are just so many things I am excited about doing in CT.


There's just no place like home.


SO excited to see these people...

and these two :)

Who knows, hopefully my next post will be from my living room, in Connecticut :)

A little teaser for you...

So I know some of you have been asking about apartment pictures and I promise I have not forgotten about them. I am just planning on doing a few more things before I put up pics. They will be up before Jordan gets home though, at least that is my goal.


It's so much easier to keep an apartment clean and organized when there's just one person home. I just have a few projects to work on first, and then I'll give you guys the grand tour :)


Here is a teaser pic for you (if you can even call it that). This picture was taken the first few days of having moved in. It's unbelievable (and slightly embarrassing). I can promise you it does NOT look anything like this now. But really, how did we even move...


Haha, well enjoy!

2 MORE WEEKS.

Jordan will be home in 2 weeks! Even though it seems like a long time away, I can't believe that a week has already gone by. It's weird how some days are so good and some days are so bad. Talking to him on the phone last night, hearing his laugh and hearing about his day really made me miss him. I hate that I was a sobbing baby on the phone, but I know he loves me no matter what. 


I know he is having a great time traveling all around the west coast, but I can't wait to have my baby home! I told him we are not meant to be apart :) So thankful for my amazing husband and I that I have someone so dear to me who I miss and love so much...


14 days.

Shop till you drop.

So yesterday I had the day off and I decided to go shopping! I figured when Jordan's away, it's the perfect time for some retail therapy :) I went to two thrift stores in Nashville; one was called Thift Smart and the other was called Music City Thrift. And then I went to Target, TJ Maxx, Michaels and Walmart. It was so great. So here are the items that I got with the price that I paid for them! 

Hope you enjoy! 

I got this gold paper mache reindeer for $1.99 and I love him. He had a crazy ribbon bow around his neck but I took it off - less is more...

The "Merry Christmas" sign was $1.99, the large ornament was .99 and the wreath was .99. Normally I would not have been drawn to the wreath because it's too country for my style but I have some ideas on how to make it more modern and for .99 I couldn't say no! I also might spray paint the ornament another color but I'm not sure yet. The sign I loved because I love everything typography and it's hard to find things that say "Merry Christmas" these days and not just "Ho, Ho, Ho". 

Once again, you look at these pine cones and think about how country they are, but I keep seeing on Pinterest how people take them and spray paint them white or silver, so that is my plan! They were $1.99 for all of them, so not a bad deal at all, and they are really big, this picture doesn't do them justice. 

So Jordan and I saw these when we were registering at Target for our wedding but they were too expensive for what they were since they are so small. I went into Target yesterday and sure enough there they were, on sale for $3.74. This was the last white set, so I snatched them up! You can never have too many shelves and since our apartment is so small, we don't need anything huge. These will do just fine!

So there is a funny story about this vase filler. When my mom and dad came to visit last weekend my mom and I were in a store and she found these little baby pumpkins that were used as vase fillers. She was so excited when she found them and told me how Jess had some at her house and how she loved them. So when I came across these at Target I knew that I had to buy them since clearly it's a family thing :) 

I decided to sort them out to see exactly what was inside, that's why there's two pictures...

After Target I headed to TJ Maxx to see what goods they had there!  

We really needed another towel rack to put behind the door as well as a hand towel ring so I found this box of goodness for only $20 (which sounds like a lot) but it came with so many different things and was just what we needed. 

We also really needed a throw for our bed (or should I say I wanted a new one?) but regardless I loved this faux fur one. We had seen a couple awesome fur rugs in West Elm and other stores that we both loved but obviously could not afford. I guess the throw will do for now and for only $20 - yes please! 

This next item I was so excited about! So the store I work at is closing and we recently bought one of the leather ottomans they had in the dressing room for $35 (you'll see that when I put up pics of the apartment). We both love the ottoman but since it's soft it's hard to put drinks or anything on top of it. I knew I needed to find a tray of some sorts and I've been on the hunt ever since. And then last night as I was digging through the clearance section at TJ Maxx, I found this guy for only $10! I am so in love...

I got these pumpkin and gourd vase fillers from Michael's - they were $1.50 a bag and I got two. I loved the bright colors and the cute shapes!

I also got some white spray paint because I have clearly have lots of fun projects ahead of me! I had a 40% off coupon (never go to Michael's without one) so it came to $3.50. I really like the KRYLON  brand because it dries super fast and goes on really well. I typically get the satin finish but that is just personal preference :) 

I also went to Walmart to get some Hard Candy make-up that I've heard so many good things about. I'm totally into watching make-up tutorials and reading reviews on make up. This is like a high end "drugstore" brand if that makes sense. There are some make-up items I will spend money on, like my MAC and Benefit products but for some items I don't see a difference and don't want to spend twice the amount.

I got a primer for $8, wet/dry blush in the "Living Doll" shade for $6 and then I got Maybelline's new gel liner which I love for $8. I wasn't sure how I was going to like any of them, but I put them on today and really liked all three. And when I was out today some guy told me that I was "very pretty" so I guess  I don't look awful...but anyways, here is a pic of what I got, just in case you wanted to see! 

These items were not purchased yesterday but I thought I'd go ahead and put them up anyways. I went to a church fundraiser last week and I got these items along with two leather sling bags (1 black and 1 tan) that aren't pictured for $2.50 each. 

This green jewelry holder is going to be spray painted (this is where the white spray paint comes in) and I needed something to hang my bracelets off of, because I'm still hoping to do the knob jewelry hanger that I saw on Pinterest too. But for now, this will do and I love the leaf details on top (so Anthro-esque!)

I thought these leaves were too cute to pass up for .50, so I got them too! I love how realistic they are, and they stack into each other, which is always convenient. 

And then I got these 5 candlesticks for $2.00. I love the varying heights and I'm going to spray paint them - white, you guessed it! 

Well that pretty much sums up my shopping trip! I hope that you enjoyed the pics. I'll be sure to put up before/after pics too of my mini make-overs, as well as pictures of the apartment, which I promise are coming soon! 

Till next time!

Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Let's hope that is true for my case, since Jordan is literally across the country as we speak. For those of you who didn't know, Jordan was offered a position doing merch (that's merchandies for non-music people) for The Newsboys. He was offered the job last week and just left this past Monday. It was such a whirlwind of a week, and I was filled with so many emotions, I can't even begin to describe.

I was so thrilled that he was asked to do a job that he has wanted to do for years now. He told me when we first started dating how it had always been a dream of his to go on tour with a band, and now he is. When he first told me about the offer, I didn't know what to think. All I could think about was how alone I would be the next three weeks. I guess you could call that selfish, and looking back I regret not being as excited about the opportunity as he was. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning and it was so sweet. I know as his wife, I need to support him in every decision he makes and simply put, I just didn't feel like it then. He was so great through all of it, telling me again and again that if I didn't want him to do it then he wouldn't. I kept thinking about how great it would be if he didn't leave, but knew in my heart that it would crush him, and what kind of wife and best friend would I be to do that to him?

That being said, at 9:30pm on Halloween night, I dropped him off at bus call. It was there that it really began to hit me that he was leaving, and that we would be apart for the next 21 days. He did everything and anything to cheer me up and to make me laugh, which I love so much about him. He gave me a tour of his bus, aka his home, for the next three weeks which was really cool to see. I helped him pick out his bunk, until he was told by one of the guys that since he's a newbie he gets the floor bunk (aw poor baby!) I think he was just too excited that it upset me more than him :) So yeah that is what's going on lately in our lives. I'm learning how to stay busy and keep myself occupied each day so that I don't find myself thinking about being alone and missing him. I know that God gave him this great opportunity for a reason, and that His plan the perfect plan.

I am so happy for him though, and I know that this is only going to make us stronger.

Let's see...2 days down, 19 to go! :)