The beginning of the upstairs guest room

I have a problem picking coral hues when it comes to paint.  I tried it on my first house and it didn't end well.    It was pretty funny that Robbie had to live in what turned out to be a very pink room for the duration of his time at the Lidian Court house.  Definitely not the manliest of colors.  When I moved to my house on Chinoe, I didn't paint any of the rooms except the bathroom.  Lucky for Robbie, he had escaped the possibility of living in another badly painted room.  When I bought this house, I had two extra rooms that I didn't have much furniture for or any idea where to start.  Thanks to Jamie and Steven, I was able to borrow the bed frame and mattresses indefinitely so I would at least have somewhere for my guests to sleep.  I had been searching around for duvets online for weeks when I stumbled on the one seen below (or in a better picture here) on clearance.  I figured, why not? The whole ensemble was cheaper than anything else I'd seen, so even if I only used it for a year or two and got sick of it, it would still be worth it.  That brought me back to my coral dilemma.  I really thought I had picked out a light enough shade with just enough pink to make sure it wasn't peach.  Boy, was I wrong!  Look at those walls!!!  There isn't anything about those walls that doesn't scream PEACH.  Blech.

I love how much light this room gets.  Next on the list for Home Depot, blinds!!!  I also love how well the rug I bought from Joss & Main matched the bed linens.  Sometimes you can find some great deals on that site.  Sometimes, not so much.  After the blinds are put up, I will need to find a few throw pillows for the wicker love seat, some art for the walls, a dresser and a few knickknacks.   There's also an adorable window bench that needs some dressing up, but I won't get to that until I do the window treatments.  I can't wait to do the window treatments!  That's my favorite part about decorating!

Until next time, happy Friday!

Stormy nights lead to dance parties

Last night was the second time it has stormed like crazy since I moved to Louisville.  It was also the second night that my roommate was officially living with me again.  We've lived together off and on for roughly seven years, but after I sold the Lexington house we lived apart for a couple of months.  It's always nice to have some alone time, but I was really ready for him to move in and have someone to talk to besides Riley.  Riley's not that great of a conversationalist.  For some reason all he wants to discuss is the problem with the growing suburban squirrel population.  Weird, I know.  But I digress (as usual).  So in lieu of heading down to Waterfront Wednesday like we had planned, we decided to make a cocktail or two, cook some dinner, and have an impromptu dance party!  Robbie and I are famous for our impromptu dance parties.  They usually involve some of the worst and best music from the eighties and nineties.  I have many a playlist created for the soul purpose of roommate dance party night.

We were actually outside on the front porch watching the storm when this limb fell in my neighbor's yard.  I was soooo glad that the limb that fell was one that couldn't hit anything but the street below.  I took this in the morning before I left for work today.

Robbie's black bean, corn, and green onion quesadilla stuffing. They were extremely yummy and very easy!

My newest drink creation adapted from this recipe.  I will definitely be making these Pear and Thyme Champange Cocktails again!

All in all, despite the terrible weather, a broken light fixture globe, and a leaking window, we still had a pretty great night!  We might have stayed up a smidge too late, but when you haven't seen one of your best friends in close to 6 weeks, you need plenty of time to catch up.  Until next time, stay dry and give your fur baby a belly rub!

Blast from the past

In lieu of a real post with current pictures, I give you a "Tuesday Timeline" of fun events from another decade, more specifically 2005 through 2009.  I've definitely had some good times, good tans (eek, my aging skin is proof!) and some better than good friends!  Take a look!

{kayaking the Elkhorn, circa 2009}

{Concrete Ball 2007 with Beth}

{Christmas Dinner with my baby brother, circa 2009}

{Adam, me, and True at my annual Christmas party, circa 2009}

{Halloween 2005 with Alison, Jennifer and Eric}

{25th birthday; Steely Dan at Riverbend with Courts and Mary}

{Spring Meet at Keeneland, circa 2006}

{My first second cousin, Kylie, circa 2006}

{Late night shenanigans with the roomie way back in 2007 at my first house}

{I did not drink all those beers at Keeneland in 2007}

{Bracketology at Shamrock's with Mary during the 2007 tourney}

{Easter with the fam in 2007}

{More shenanigans at the first house}

{Christmas Card Photo Op, 2009}

{Younger, blonder, wilder, circa 2009}

{Atlantis, Bahamas with Kate in 2009}

Times have changed, my hair has gotten longer, and my skin is much paler.  The things we learn with age.  I wear my age with pride.  It's great that almost all of these people are still in my life, I'm so lucky to have such great friends and family!  

Until the camera is unpacked, ciao!

It's Monday, and the weekend wasn't long enough

So, it's Monday afternoon.  I'm sitting in my office waiting on a fax so I can go out in to the pouring rain and get some trucks licensed.  Sounds like fun, no?  Yeah, it's not.  I hate going to the County Clerk's office and I really detest getting wet from rain.  But, there are worse problems to have.

I have a job, a car to get me to the County Clerk's, a work out with my trainer tonight that will hopefully boost my endorphin's, and food in my fridge for dinner.  I am doing better than a large percentage of the world.  So, I'll move on.

So as far as an update on the house, there's still not much to show.  I'm slowly getting things put away, but it seems like the more I put away, the more stuff I have to unpack.  It's amazing how much stuff one person can accumulate over the years!!!

I did manage to get the family room put together as much as it can be.  I need a new couch and a few arm chairs for that room, but what I have now will just have to work.  Rome wasn't built in a day, right?  I spent most of Sunday working on that room and my bedroom.  It's nice to walk into my bedroom and have it in order finally!

Saturday I spent most of my time in the car driving home from Nashville with a few of my Lexington friends.  We went down on Friday night to see a live reading of the FX show "Archer."  If you've never watched it, I highly recommend it, but be prepared for some very inappropriate dialogue.  Think South Park meets Arrested Development.  Or something like that.  Either way, it's hilarious, and we had an absolute blast!

Once again, I managed to not take very many pictures because I still have no idea what box my camera wound up in.  I have a few shots from my phone, however.  So without further ado, some grainy iPhone shots of Nash-Vegas!

{Kate, Elvis, and me in Downtown Nashville}

{I loved this note in Pancake Pantry; it was so simple..."Ya we like pancakes!}

{Kelli, Hank, Adam, and Kate before the show at the Ryman}

{Outside the hotel}

{Wonderful find at a gas station off the Bluegrass Parkway}

It was a pretty great weekend, but I was worn out on Sunday night.  This week brings lots of unpacking, new adventures in Louisville this weekend, and so much more!  Hope your Monday is going well!  Cheers!

Sara's Wedding Recap

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still here, just really busy!  Between work, unpacking, travel and life, I haven't had a chance to post much.  But there will be lots of decor themed posts to come once I get everything in order.  I think I'll take it room by room.  We'll see, but stay tuned!

For now, here are the pictures my mom emailed me from my cousin's wedding in Laguna Beach.  She got married at The Montage overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  I'm not gonna lie, it was one of the most beautiful scenes for a wedding I've ever seen.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

{Great Aunt Alice, me, Mom, Aunt Carol, cousin Andrea}

{I mean, is this not the most gorgeous set up???}

{the happy couple, Sara and Peter}

More pictures from the trip to come, one day, I promise.  Have a great rest of the week, much love!

I'm still alive.

Well, apparently I am no better at posting on this blog than I am on the old one.  Are you surprised?  Yeah, me neither.  So here's a brief update: the Concrete Ball came and went, the trip to Cali is over, and I've closed on the new house in St. Matthews.  But alas, I have not moved in.  Hopefully that will be happening this Saturday.  Cross your fingers because I'm getting tired of sleeping on an air mattress.  And Riley would really like to get back to his normal schedule of ruining my sofas with his hair.

I've had a bit of repair work done on the house and it is currently being painted, so it's been a bit chaotic over the past week and a half.  I must say though, that all of the contractors I've worked with were wonderful and very reasonably priced.  Props to them, yo.

So without further ado, a brief picture recap of the past month from my phone.  I have no idea where my camera is right now.  It's either in Frankfort at Dad's or stuck in a closet at the new house.  I'll find it one day.

This is the guest room on the main floor.  And yes, it's yellow.  I have an obsession with that color.  My bedroom will also be yellow.  And there are always yellow accents through out all my houses.  It's pretty and happy and warm.

This is the family room.  Apparently I have a thing for houses with painted knotty pine paneling.  I swear, one of these days, I'll have a house with just drywall.  Anyway, this room is currently being painted a light gray color.  I'm using grays, navy, and greens for this room.  I'm also pretending that I don't have beige carpet in here.  Eventually I will put down some sort of laminate flooring, but building a fence for that dog takes precedent.  The entire back wall has these almost floor to ceiling windows and no blinds.  Excellent for squirrel watching, guarding the neighborhood, and barking incessantly.

My Aunt Carol and my mom outside a random hot dog store in San Diego.  We were out window shopping that day, and I realized that I hadn't taken very many pictures of my family.  This seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

This is my cousin Dan and I at the San Diego Zoo.  The zoo was amazing, but this hippo was less than impressive.  He was not interested in being in the photo op for my Aunt Ellen, who loves hippos and couldn't make the trip.  What an ass.  Ha ha, get it?  Ass!  Ha ha ha!  Anyway...

My cousin Andrea, our beautiful younger cousin and bride, Sara, and me at what was the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen.  We had a great time and it was great for all three girl cousins to spend a little time together.

I stayed at my friend Drew's when I was in Laguna, and his neighbors have the most beautiful flowers and succulents.  The vegetation alone out in Cali is worth the expensive cost of living.  So pretty!

More of the neighbor's succulents.  You would not believe the size some of these plants get to be.

Tiberius the Beta Fish.  He was my only roommate for the time I was in Laguna.  Very hospitable, but not very talkative.

Public park area in Laguna.  There were about a thousand different views of the ocean and the hills, but this was one of my favorites.

I immediately went out for breakfast, complete with champagne, after arriving at Drew's and dropping of my bags.  Not a bad way to start out a vacation.

This is in my Dad's backyard when we were staying there in between houses.  This is also Riley's first encounter with a horse.  I find it a bit surprising since he lived his entire life in the thoroughbred capital of the world, but he didn't get out much.  I'm pretty sure if I would have let him off the leash, he would have torn after that horse and ended up getting kicked in the head.  So yeah, no chasing horses for him.

Stay tuned for plenty more to come on decorating the new house and if you're really lucky, an inside look at what kind of bruises moving can leave all over your legs.  I swear, my legs have looked like a Picasso painting since mid May.  Fun times.

Until then, pet your dog, have a beer, and enjoy the first bit of summer!