Another blog link up! This one with a quiz!!!

I totally stumbled upon another blog link up today that also happens on Friday's!  I thought this one was quite fun, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I'm quite late to the party, but I figure, what the hey!

Here's how to join, should you be so inclined!  Download this link, upload to a photo editor like Photoshop. Paint, or PicMonkey and fill in your answers.  Join the link over at Erin's page!

Easy peasy!

Here's mine from the July 18th post...like I said, I'm late to the party!

Hope that's big enough for y'all to read!

Have a lovely rest of the day!

Hey, Friday! Five about Forecastle

So this past weekend marks the third Forecastle Festival I've gone to, and the second as a Louisville native!  It is by far one of my favorite parts of being a Louisvillian! In fitting with the new link up I'm joining, here are my five favorite things from this past week!

1. Concert attendees from all of my groups of friends!  I spent the weekend hanging out with some of my favorite people, a lot of which I haven't seen for way too long!

{Benjamin Booker, who according to Scowby, are not famous yet.}

2. Forecastle Festival supports not only the local community, but has a super cool take on the art's scene!  Plus, a giant, paper mache Hunter S. Thompson walking around is always fun.

3. Duh, awesome music.  This year the headliners for the three nights were Outkast, Jack White, and Beck.  Needless to say, all three were rock-your-face-off amazing.

4. Some of the awesome shows that weren't headliners…

Benjamin Booker

The Black Lips

Band of Horses

Sharon Van Etten

Jenny Lewis

Trampled by Turtles

5. And some that I got to cross of my absolute-must-see-before-I-die list…or at least that I really wanted to see live...

The Replacements

Lord Huron

Local Natives

Spoon

I cannot begin to describe how awesome this past weekend was.  Especially since I didn't have to camp.  I've been to plenty of festivals (re: Bonnaroo) and this one is the easiest, most fun, and definitely the cheapest.  Not to mention that there aren't so many people out of their mind drunk that it's annoying. It really makes a huge difference when people don't act like morons.

Just for fun, here's a #6 awesome thing this week, free of charge!  Sleep after the big weekend.  Man, I was worn out until Wednesday! I cannot hang like I use to. Totally worth it.

Happy Friday, y'all!!!

Here's the new link up info!

Check out The Farmer's Wife and September Farm for more! Thanks, ladies for the invite!

A Little Bit of House Updating

When I bought my house, I knew I was going to enjoy decorating for a long while.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize how long.  It's a lot more work to furnish a house with two extra bedrooms, an extra bath, and a formal living room.  Luckily, I had a ton of furniture in storage in my Dad's basement leftover from my first home that helped me get started.

I'm following up on my own personal tour of home posts, and this time it's the family room, which was the biggest decor project I've ever taken on.  I know I've posted about it before, but I wanted to give everyone a look at what I started with and where I finished.

I think I've finally gotten to a point where I'm happy with every part of the room and am ready to focus on another space.  

So here's a look at what the room looked like before I bought the house.  Keep in mind, the sellers had already moved most of their stuff out.

I thought I was going to use a grey theme through out the house, until I painted this room grey.  One problem was that I painted it the wrong shade of grey.  Because the room was so big, it totally washed the whole space out.  

I also forgot that I am not a neutral wall person. I love color.  And if you had ever seen my first home, you would understand what I mean.  My master bath was such a bright color of pink that it glowed on the side of the house next door when the light was on.  I loved it!!!

Anyway, back to the family room.  I had planned on incorporating navy and kelly green into the grey room, but the pops of decor weren't doing it. Plus, a navy couch and a very blonde hairy dog were not going to mesh either.  So I conquered my fear and bought 18 samples of navy paint.

I'm not even kidding. It took 18 shades of navy for me to decide on one that was perfect.  There is so much light in the family room that the color changed depending on the time of day.

Here's what it looks like now.

Ugh. Grainy iPhone photos.

I also did some major rearranging of the shelves. I found a pin for some help, and I feel much better about the whole space now.  I also recovered numerous pieces of furniture, bought a new couch, a ton of throw pillows, and added some new pops of color.

So here's the final product. Notice the handsome blonde dog in almost all of the pictures.  He did not come with the house.

Seriously bad iPhone photos.

Okay, so that stupid built in shelf isn't completely finished with knick knacks, but I'm not worried about it. Or maybe I'll just get some more movies. Just not that awful one on in the background. So dumb.

Bar area and green themed shelf. See what I mean about the wall looking different in various lights?  I swear it's not that royal blue. I blame the camera.

Dining area and back wall.  And yes, I do set the table for impromptu dinner parties. And the linens change every so often when I get bored.

Blue shelf.

I'm still slightly torn about the two different couch colors, but I'm not changing them anytime soon. Let's see how long that light beige couch stays clean. Ha.

Anyway, I'm glad to be finished with this room. At least for a long while.

What do you guys think?

The Overdue DC Trip Post

So over three weeks ago, I promised a post on the girl's weekend I spent in Washington, DC.  And here it is! No procrastination at all. Ha.  

Anyway, our trip started with a nice country drive on the way to the The Greenbrier, courtesy of my car's GPS system.  We arrived only about half an hour later than expected, and still had plenty of time to spend touring this beautiful hotel and former Presidential retreat.

I highly recommend a visit, even if only for the day.  It really makes the drive through West Virginia a little more pleasant. Also, traveler's note: pepperoni rolls are the state snack.  Google it.  I promise.  Moving on...

The premise of the trip was to use a sailing trip on the Potomac River that I had won at the Concrete Ball (hint, hint: we auction off awesome prizes, you should come next year). I parlayed that into a much needed mini-vacation and dish session with my friend Courtney.  It was awesome!

Our three hour tour boat for the evening.

On Sunday evening, we did the most touristy thing I have ever done; we took a guided bus tour.  I'm not gonna lie, it was worth every penny of the $37 it cost.  We got to hit all of the spots on the bucket list that one would want to see in DC without all of the hassle.  

The previous statement is proof to the fact that I'm getting old. I'm okay with it, though.

Regardless of my age, we still had plenty of time for drinks and food over the course of the weekend.  I highly recommend Old Ebbitt Grill for dinner and drinks.  It's a DC must, I've been told.

Back tracking a bit to Saturday, we visited the International Spy Museum in the morning.  It was a great exhibit, however we rushed through the last part because we were starving and couldn't spend another two hours without food.

If you do go to visit the Spy Museum, I don't recommend paying for the Special Ops experience UNLESS you have kids.  It was a bit cheesy for adults, but would be absolutely perfect for inquisitive and adventurous kiddos.

Our new pal.

I had to.  It's kind of required, right?!? Side note, we were running late to get back on the bus, so it's not completely perfect.

There are about a thousand different things I still want to see and do in DC, but it was cool to get to knock some of them out with one of my very best friends.

Plus, it's nice to go on a trip with someone and know that you have a pretty identical agenda.  We spent the perfect amount of time sight seeing, shopping, eating and drinking, and (wait for it)…..getting our fortunes read!!!

So, we were just walking around Dupont Circle on Sunday afternoon and passed by a palm reader sign on the street.  Courts and I kind of looked at each other and said, "If you will, I will."

But first we searched for a reputable tarot card reader. Obviously.  It didn't happen to be the one we passed, but one a couple blocks down.

I will say this, it was highly enlightening, entertaining, and somewhat optimistic. But if I end up with three kids and no father in the picture (like the lady said I would), I'm going to jump off a cliff.  The two boys and a girl can follow suit. (I'm kidding, please don't send me hate mail.)

Anyway, it was a hoot.  It'l be a trip Courts and I can always look back and have a few laughs about.  Anyone else have opinions on great things to do in DC?