Photo February

I'm going to be participating in Fat Mum Slim's and I encourage you to do so too! I figure I snap enough pictures with my iPhone in any given day, may as well make the most of sharing them! Most of my shots will probably be iPhone shots - much easier to tote around than my Nikon!

So today's shot - My View

Not too exciting, huh? That's my desk which I'm in the process of packing up to move to another building. I've got both my laptop and my desktop, my tumbler, my Erin Condren planner and the essentials - baby lotion (perfect for an office vs. scented lotion!) and Smith's Minted Rose lip balm.

It's dreary and gray and wet outside so I figured a peek into my day-to-day would work!

I'm kind of excited about tomorrow's photo. I've got an idea of what I want to take a picture of, but it won't be until late evening.

Happy Hump Day!

Monday Modge Podge

It only took me a year, but I am, officially and completely, a Nashville resident. In theory, you're supposed to get that taken care of within 30 days of moving, but I - didn't. I like to use the excuse that my purse was stolen the day after I moved here so I spent the first 30 days getting cards and IDs replaced. After that, I've got nothing except I just really don't like the DMV. I've had my Tennessee driver's license since April - pretty much just because my Virginia one expired. But this morning, I went in to work just a tad late and finally, finally got my plates transferred to Tennessee. Before the Virginia ones expired tomorrow. You know, timing and all.

For the record, while Tennessee's fees are less, everything - tags, licenses, registration, all of it - is done at DMV in Virginia. Which also happens to be open on Saturdays. It's a lot easier to get things done when you have a weekend option to work with instead of having to take time off work for it.

This would be a good time to warn you that there's no telling what might be included in this blog post - it's a modge podge of things after all. 

I'm having a really good day. I'm in the kind of good mood that really annoys others so I've been trying to tone it down. I don't have a real reason for this good mood, I'm just in one. No complaints from this girl.

I had a couple of DIY projects I wanted to work on over the weekend. Here's one of them:

It's a terrible picture seeing as it was nighttime, but the letter is glittery. This is more of a temporary thing. I haven't had anything hanging on my door in nearly a month and it was just depressing so I threw this together for now and plan to get something cutesy up for Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, whichever I get to first. Meaning, if I get to it before Valentine's Day.

We all know I love music. I've been obsessed with the below song lately. Some of you Amazing Race fans might recognize Mr. Canaan Smith. He competed on the show with then-girlfriend Mika Combs in 2009. They're the couple that got eliminated when she wouldn't go down the water slide. Canaan is now signed with Mercury and his debut single, "We Got Us," went for adds last week.

The video also came out last week. It's beautifully done. I've been listening to this song on repeat. And it doesn't hurt that he grew up about an hour down the road from me in Virginia. Small world.

I printed a small version of this for my desk at work and will be printing a bigger version for my room. So very, very true:

I painted a replica of this this weekend. It's hanging in my kitchen. I think it's pretty accurate to my take on life.

I also replicated this over the weekend and will be doing similar one with 'Start each day with a grateful heart.' Both of them will go in my room. Proverbs 3-5 is one of my favorite verses and 'Start each day with a grateful heart' is my personal mantra.

I also printed this for my desk at work. I think it's a good thing to look at every day, especially when you're having one of 'those' days at work.

I need to find this boy. Did you know there's only 214 days until college football season? Not that I'm counting or anything...

I made some of the BEST Shepherd's Pie this weekend. I used this Martha Stewart recipe but I used ground turkey instead of beef, added a can of cream of mushroom after I mixed in the veggies and before I poured it into the casserole dish and nixed the onions because I forgot to pick one up and used garlic salt to season the ground turkey because I hate mincing garlic with a passion. I can't wait to get home and heat some up for dinner. 

I think I'll go ahead and quit while I'm ahead. Happy Monday!

Favorite Things - Bedroom Edition

As an update on the bedroom re-model, I decided I'd share a few things I've either bought, am considering buying, or have found as inspiration.

I think this bedding is going to be mine later this week. I've fallen in love and can't find anything even close to comparable. I thought my mother would talk me out of the price tag. Instead, she told me which shams she thought matched better.

 Anthropologie

I picked these up at World Market over the weekend. Except I bought two as they're sold individually in store.

World Market 

I bought a nearly identical set of skeleton keys like these I found on Pinterest at Stein Mart over the weekend - for just $5.00! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them but I thought I needed them.

Target has a lot of mirrored accessories that I'm loving. I think something like this end table might be making it's way into my room. Maybe.

Target

Definitely planning on purchasing a couple of chevron pillows. I'm thinking one gray and one yellow. They should look great with the pillows I already have - assuming I can get the right shade of yellow. 

I like the idea of these curtains but I'm not sure they're THE curtains.

 

Anthropologie

I'm looking for a chair as well. Something like this could be a winner, depending on how much Chevron makes its way into the rest of the decor. 

Can you tell I'm having fun decorating? 

Storm (Tornado) Warning

Last night, I spent a lot of time here:

 

That's my bathroom floor in case you were wondering. I wasn't there because I had too much fun with the girls on Sunday Funday either. I was there because of this: 

 

I took this screenshot hours before it actually hit, but you get the idea. My poor Nashville was right in it's path. I live in Metro Nashville and we definitely got rocked. The first storms came around 6:00pm, just after I got back from picking up Blue Coast Burrito for dinner for the second night in a row. Those were cool. Those were the storms I like. Then, somewhere around 11:30 or so, all hell broke loose and I set up shop in the bathroom floor. 

I love a good storm. There is not much better than lounging around, listening to it rain, thunder rolling, lightening flashing. But when you start hearing those sirens, things get real scary real quick. Those means tornadoes. We don't have tornadoes in Virginia, at least not often, and certainly not anything comparable to what we have here in Middle Tennessee. Usually a 'tornado' in Virginia turns out to be high winds and a few scary minutes, nothing more.

Let me tell you a little about my storm prep. I have a NOAA Weather Radio - that I have decided is a piece of junk and I will be upgrading ASAP. I have not one but THREE weather apps, including NOAA Radio, that send me alerts on my phone. I'm also close to the sirens in my part of Nashville. I'm thankfully on the ground level of my apartment complex and have a safe place to go in my apartment. I don't play when it comes to tornadoes. Oh, and I have a flashlight that I tote from room to room like a lifeline. 

Things finally cleared up around 2:00am last night. At least I thought so. I was SO tired - I'd been glued to the severe weather coverage on my local NBC affiliate for hours at that point and jumped every time my phone chimed or another Emergency Alert came across the screen. I finally worked up the nerve to turn my TV off and climb into bed. At 2:14am, my radio, phone and the sirens all sounded at the same time and back in the bathroom I went. I finally got to sleep around 3:00am and woke up at 5:30am to shower for work.

Needless to say, there is not enough of this stuff in the world to get me through today: 

Trust me, I'm 4 - yep, 4 - big cups in, not to mention one soda down, and I'm barely functioning. I'll head to bed quite early tonight. 

As bad as it was here though, it was nowhere near as bad as our friends in Alabama experienced. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. 

I have to say, if this is January's weather, what's ahead for spring when we're actually SUPPOSED to get this kind of weather?

I'm proud of myself though. This is the first tornado outbreak I made it through without calling either of my parents. I was, however, texting my fingers off to another friend who was also wide awake and in a state of fear. Baby steps.

Bedroom Makeover

I'm not one to decorate a space and leave it be for the next while. Usually about 6 or so months in, there's a space that I decide really needs a makeover. My bathroom sort of got a makeover a few months ago - just traded out towels and rugs, no big thing. My living room has been spared, but I think that's because I change up the mantle just about every month and frequently re-arrange the bar that separates it from the kitchen.

My bedroom, however, has been in my cross hairs for a while. Right now, it's black, white and red with a sort of hint of old Hollywood glam. I don't like it. I don't think I've ever really liked it, just THOUGHT I liked it. It's too stuffy and formal for me. I like shabby chic and whimsical decor. And so I have started working on a remodel.

The color palette sans the green:

The only item I've actually bought:

I picked up two of these from World Market. My mom tried to sway me into the matching curtains, but that's just too much of one print. I have my eye on chevron pillows/curtains.

I also have my eyes set on this duvet and shams from West Elm. They're on sale right now so I'll have to swing by West Elm and see if they're in stock this weekend before I order online.

Going for this sort of feel with my bedding.

Although this is a contender.

I really want a vintage mantle as my headboard. I was telling my dad and he's decided the best idea is for him to build me one and then distress it. Seeing as I've lived in Nashville a year and I'm STILL waiting for him to bring me my dresser, his construction of a mantle depends on whether or not I find one I like before he gets here.

I've got a lot of stuff I'm going to re-purpose - frames, memo boards, things like that. I'm also in a debate over whether or not I'm going to keep the bookshelf I have right now. It's over 6 feet tall and takes up a lot of valuable space. I think I'd prefer a cozy chair and table with a lamb. We'll see.

I'll be sure to take before and after photos as I get started. My wallet trembles every time I get close to Etsy. So far, all I've done is favorite everything on the site. Time to narrow it down and make some decisions!

Monday Mish Mash

 Having written this post, I feel it's only fair to put a disclaimer at the top. Random thoughts, coming your way.

I can, on good authority, say that I did absolutely nothing this weekend.

Okay. I DID go pick up my contacts Saturday and do a little grocery shopping, but to be honest, my grocery shopping trip really just happened so I could pick this up:

I wasn't going to read them. My boss had told me months ago to read The Hunger Games series after he and his wife read them. I picked up the first book while at Border's liquidation sale, read the back, and thought he'd lost his mind - it sounded too far-fetched for me, a little too sci-fi or something. But then my friends started reading it and telling me I really needed to get on board.

The final straw that led me to pick up the first book while out running very last minute Christmas errands for my mom? Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars wrote and recorded a song for it. It's called "Safe & Sound" and I can't get enough of it.

I thought the first book started off slow, but once I got past about 11 chapters and started Part II, I could.not.put.it.down. I read the entire thing the day after Christmas. My mother would say 'Are you going to do anything today? At all?' To which I'd reply 'Just read.' and re-arrange the Cocker Spaniel who spent the entire day sleeping in my lap.

I also discovered Happy Endings this weekend. Where has this show been all my life?! I watched all four episodes that were On Demand and I'll be catching up ASAP. I laughed so hard. What a brilliant show!

Want to know my latest food obsession? This:

I'm seriously putting it on everything. My favorite so far has been wheat penne pasta, chicken, black beans and corn. It gives just enough of a spicy kick to make it good.

Speaking of food, I've been eating a LOT healthier over the last couple of months, save for the holidays. I'll expand more on that later, but it truly makes all the difference in the world. Not only have I lost weight, I feel better, my skin looks better, and I just have so much more energy. Good decision.

Any suggestions on what I can put on my hair to help with the dryness? I've been using a Pantene Great Lengths hair mask that works great, but only for a few days. I've never really had much trouble with dry skin/hair in the winter, but this year (even if it doesn't feel like winter outside) is proving to be different. My skin and hair are suffering.

Gracie Beth sent me a link to a pair of Revas on Ebay a couple weeks ago. I snatched them up. They're my first pair and she's created a monster. I want them in EVERY color. They're so comfortable and so classy looking.

Also, today is a very important day in my personal history. On this day last year, I loaded up everything I owned into my little Chevy Cavalier - well, nearly everything. I had to leave my coffee pot until Mom shipped it to me. It was devastating - and I moved to Nashville, Tennessee. I can't believe it's been one whole  year. I love it 100x more than I did 365 days ago and plan to love it 100x MORE come this time next year. Bless this city and everything it stands for.

 My pretty, sparkly city.

...Even if the weather is currently throwing a temper tantrum like you wouldn't believe. But hey, that's Tennessee!

Happy Monday!

When You're 18

The other day, my cousin, K, texted me asking about sorority recruitment and college life. She'll be 18 in a couple of months and will be attending the University of Arkansas this fall. After I got over my initial 'there is no way she's old enough for this' moments, we started trading texts - questions from her about college life, the SEC, and sororities, and answers from me, the cousin who has 'been there, done that.'

Our texts turned to our 'goals' in life and K stated that she was going to have a country wedding and three kids before she's 30 and live as a trophy wife. I can't really fault her on that. As many career ambitions as I have, my ultimate ambition is to be the Proverbs 31 wife and mother. Some may judge that, but I think that is as honorable and noble of a goal as any and I know K well enough to know that's what she means as well.

While K and I were texting, I was listening to Eric Church's debut album. It's an album I've worn out, one of my favorites, but as I was listening and texting, a lyric to one of his songs, "What I Almost Was," struck me: I Thank God I Ain't What I Almost Was.

The song chronicles the up and downs of life. The D1 football dreams that didn't work out, the almost marriage to a wealthy CEO's daughter that was abandoned in the dead of night, all of these grand plans that didn't work out - and that led him to pick up a guitar and find where he's meant to be.

When I was 18, I had a plan. I was going to graduate college, enroll in the nursing program at the local community college, get my RN and marry my high school sweetheart and live happily ever after in my little rural small town. That was that, black and white and set in stone.  Looking back, I think I knew my heart wasn't in it. I think I knew I was settling. But when you're 18, it's easy to settle.

I'm sure you can guess what happened next. About 9 months into my grand plan, we broke up. I stayed with the nursing plan, moved on, got a new boyfriend, kept the same marriage and happily ever after plan. And that relationship ended about 9 months later. It wasn't pretty. Let's leave it at that.

I was still a nursing major and about halfway through the program when that happened. Once I was single and starting to turn the corner from depressed, brokenhearted mess to slowly getting myself together smaller mess, things started getting clearer - I HATED nursing and as much as I love my hometown, I wanted - more.

Hate is a strong word, but it's also very true in my case. I hated nursing. I hated that it didn't come easily to me. I hated that I could spend hours upon hours studying and still barely pass. I mostly hated that I got attached to babies who were in the NICU because of their mother's drug addiction and to sweet old ladies in hospice care that passed away. I couldn't handle it. I have more respect for nurses than they will ever know for what they are able to do. I couldn't do it.

Fast forward a few years and skip a long story about how I re-discovered my love of music and writing. I'm 25. I live in Nashville. I'm a social media professional for a major retailer where I get to be creative and always have something different and interesting on my plate. I also work in the music industry as a blogger for a national cable network. My work is read by thousands across the country every day and I get to do some pretty cool stuff. Do you know how unreal that is?

I'm also single. If I'm not working, I'm usually exploring Nashville with friends, catching a live show, working on a DIY project or baking something. I'm hoping I'll meet 'him' sooner rather than later and that I'll get the chance to try to be that Proverbs 31 wife and mother. I've got a good life, a blessed life that I make sure to thank God for every day, even when it's not such a good day and not quite as easy to see the blessings around me.

In short, I thank God I ain't what I almost was.

When you're 18, like K, like I was, and like you were once, you truly believe it's that simple - that you'll get married and settle down or be the next Beyonce or whatever crazy dream you have. But life has a funny way of throwing us curve balls, of putting bumps in the road that derail our dreams. And somehow, someway, we end up right where we're meant to be - even if it's not what we thought it would be.