Everyone get their football scratch itched yesterday? We watched the S. Carolina and Wazzu games last night. I also almost deleted my Facebook, why? I'm sick of Husky fans doggin' on the Cougs...c'mon give them a break. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of WSU, but seriously. Give it a rest. They haven't been a threat to the huskies for YEARS. You are no better than another Pac 12 team who-will-remain-nameless by rooting against them. Rooting against teams is so...annoying.
Eh, I guess that's all a part of the happy discourse that comes with Football Season. I'll get off my high-horse now.
So here we go, my wall-o-newspaper!
I numbered all my pictures first, then put the corresponding newspaper sheet up on the wall. I think this looks pretty awesome!
I also started hanging part of them tonight, here's my progress:
I'm trying to milk this project for time, I need this to last through Sunday afternoon. I need to be somewhere else when my Dad and Ben start ripping into my beautiful wall to hang speakers and the TV. I don't even want to think about it.
Ben and I made an agreement before we bought our house. OK, we made two agreements. First agreement was I can get a puppy. Second agreement was that if he gets his stereo/sound system, I get to do whatever I want with the house.
So I will be spending Sunday crouched in the fetal position in the corner of my Creative Cove trying not to think about the hole being punched in my beautiful wall.
After months of anticipation, boredom and baseball, the day has finally come.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON, BABY!
College football is unmatched in its drama, intensity and overall awesomeness. At the beginning of the season, there's the uncertainty over the incoming freshman, possibility of a new quarterback, and the 'what the?' that comes with the AP/BCS rankings.
College football is classy [unless you go to UO...BOOM!] You don't get the annoying contract dramas and overall whiney-ness that comes with the NFL. College coaches demand character from their players. And while there will always be a few bad apples in college ball, it's nothing in comparison to the Chad JohnsonOchocinco Johnson or Terrell Owens.
Now, college football has its faults--the weird ranking system, crazy bowl game selections, and NCAA violations. But honestly, that just makes it a little more exciting.
So, to commemerate the Opening Games Day of College Football, I present you with:
Your very own Nebraska Cornhusker iPhone Lock Screen.
looks a little silly here, but looks ahmauhzing on my phone.
And soon to be your phone, right?
Not a fan of the Huskers? Now's a really good time to start.
Let me give you the top ten reasons they are the finest team in the land:
1. They are the team with the most recent back-to-back National Championships (1994 and 1995.) Oh, and for the record? We also won one in 1997. Beating Notre Dame's record from 1949. [And who doesn't love beating Notre Dame?]
2. They have a great fight song.
3. There are no fans like Husker fans, we have sold out our home stadium for every game since October of 1962. You don't buy Husker tickets, you inherit them.
4. Nebraska's team is so old, we even have old-timey names: Bugeaters, Tree-planters, Old Gold Knights.
9. We produce a huge amount of NFL talent. Including Portland's own Ndamukong Suh. When Suh isn't stomping on folks or crashing his muscle car into trees, he plays for the Lions and donates huge amounts of money to the UNL Engineering Program. Most of the Nebraskans can be found on the defense or offensive line. No comment on our quarterbacks. 10. We travel with our team. There are a lot of teams that travel well, but Nebraska does it a little better. We sell out stadiums in South Dakota, Hawaii, New Mexico...
and Seattle.
Ok...that was a low blow. You did win the Bowl Game.
I am also known to root very loudly for the Huskies when they are not playing my team...
I could list a million more... Including how almost everyone thinks we have one of the best fan-bases. Like here, here or here [ok...admittedly, all these links come from Bleacher Report...I didn't have time to look for the ESPN poll, but it's there.] As fans walk in the stadium we pass a sign that says, "Through these stands pass the greatest fans in College Football." Yeah. Or when our stadium is filled it becomes the 3rd largest city in the state at about 82k (and rising...)
Or how in 5th grade we went on the BEST field trip in the world. We got to run on the field, I saw my Great Uncle Fred's picture in their hallway to the locker room (he played for Nebraska's first Rose Bowl team), and we got to see the players eat. IT WAS AMAZING.
Ok...I'll stop.
I will say, I'm not exclusively a Husker fan. I've been known to root for Oregon State and Washington whenever they aren't playing my team.
There are teams I will never root for: Clemson (I don't know why, so don't ask), Miami (I know exactly why, don't ask), Florida and Oklahoma. [Yes, I will cheer for Oregon. I did root for them in all their bowl games...so sue me.]
Let's hope for a good year folks, no matter who your team is.
I swore I was going to try another color. I stood in the paint isle at Home Depot for a good 15 minutes. I considered every color...
Goldfingerrr
I ended up painting them all bright gold. Gold, gold, GOLDGOLD. I swear I tried to resist. But I couldn't.
Painting frames is super easy, and takes little to no prep-work.
I started out by giving each of these a quick swipe with a fine sand-paper and wiped them down with a damp cloth.
Then, I laid out a drop cloth and got ready for some serious painting.
Since these were all black, I planned on giving them three good coats of paint. Make sure to spray about a foot away, you don't want drips.
Also--pet peeve alert--paint the insides of the frames...seriously, it's important. If you don't, I will notice, and I will point it out to you in a super judge-y way. [ok..that was harsh, but craftsmanship is important!]
Here was the aftermath:
Oh, they look awesome.
I'm giving them a good 24 hours of drying time in the garage to make sure the paint sets well.
Phase 2 is almost halfway done--next step, arranging them on the wall...hopefully tomorrow!
So I know that today is Tuesday, but I don't have a tutorial. Why? Because I'm too freaking excited.
Why? WE BOUGHT A COUCH.
We bought a real, custom, special, non-Craigslist, non-Goodwill couch. [No judgement on Craigslist or Goodwill...our house is full of free/cheap wares from such places and we love them dearly.]
We have been longing for a piece that will make this piece quintessentially 'ours.' Since a lot of our remodeling plans have been sidetracked to next Spring, we decided to buy a couch.
She's a beauty right? She is two love seats, a corner and a chaise and she's all ours [in 8 weeks.]
We had an awesome experience with this. We got to pick out the custom fabric, which of course I made them photocopy so I could match it up with the room and our soon-to-be floor:
I'm loving the combination of gray + mustard. I think I'm going to look for a nice turqouise rug too...mmm...
The bottom fabric is like a menswear tweed, and it is totally awesome.
One of the pillows is this fabric with the little birdy.
We seriously had an awesome experience at Thomasville picking this thing out. We sat in every single chair in the store. We [and by we, I mean just me] made the lady jump through hoops showing us every possible color combination and fabric choices. We [again, me] demanded a discount, which we got and then almost cried when we signed the "yeah we're really paying for this" paper.
One of my past roommate's dads told us once that you become an adult when all your Ikea Furniture starts falling apart.
I can't wait to show it to you in 8 so-long-don't-wanna-wait weeks. Hopefully it comes sooner....
Today was day one of phase two of the Creation Cove (I had to change the name from Creation Cave because Ben told me we can only have one cave in this house, and it's his Man Cave... I'll let him win that battle.)
In order to visualize the big picture collage, I took an inventory of all the pictures we had, and started to create a feel.
I think I have a good thing started (won't show it yet...) Tomorrow I'm going to paint some frames and start planning a couple drawings to be hung.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a couple sources of tips to creating picture collages and hanging frames in an aesthetically pleasing way.
here is an awesome tutorial on creating a 'gallery wall' using wax paper to mark nail holes.
The same blog has a great diagram for hanging pictures in different room set-ups.
One of my favorite blogs, Young House Love, used scrap newspaper, traced their frames, and arranged them on the wall.
Here's a great tip to make sure you put the nail in the right place on the wall.
Do you have any tips for hanging frames? I'd love to hear them!
The day I tried to strangle my sister while sweetly smiling for the camera.
23 years ago today, my younger yet-much-taller sister was born, taking away my only-child status.
I had a helmet of dark brown hair. Megan had a full head of blonde curls. She was obsessed with Beauty and the Beast. I was obsessed with Cinderella. I loved pink. Megan was a purple girl. We both were super excited for our younger sister [Boo Boo] to come home.
I'm the one with the mullet Megan is the one with the belly shirt.
We've always been different, but similar.
We've always carved our own path, and sometimes those paths are similar--sometimes they are so different.
We went to the same university--we did student leadership together, we partied together (but not until we were both of age, mom), and we lived in the same residence hall.
We went to the same university but had different paths--she was focused on political science and global studies, she went abroad to Trinidad, and focused on a future of service to the global community.
Megan has a heart for helping, and a mind for justice. She spent the last year in Palestine opening her heart to those living under occupation. She is spending this year in Minneapolis serving Habitat for Humanity. She lives to serve those around her.
Megan with some of her students at the Helen Keller School for the Blind in Jerusalem.
Megan is living, and will continue to live a life of service in wherever she ends up. She is the type of person that cannot ignore injustice and will continue to serve our neighbors, our community domestically and abroad.
It's amazing to think that 17 years ago, we were playing McDonalds Drive-Thru in our front yard--and today we're both living out our dreams--different but similar.
Since it was biologically feasible, my sister has been taller than me.
See that line that basically stays in the same place since 1999? That's me. Now look up to the line that consistently grows an inch a year. That's her.
Physically, I've been looking up to her since I was about 8.
Truth is, I have always looked up to Megan. The way that every song is her 'favorite song,' the way she tries to whistle but only has one note [seriously megan, one note], the way she cares for those that she barely knows, and the way she loves for those that face injustice and hate.
Happy birthday, Megan. I love you, and I miss you. Can't wait to see you at Christmas.
Had to make it messy so the after picture looks even better.
The walls were soo disgusting. I do not want to know what the stains were...
After only three hours, this room was transformed into Harvard Library awesome. Seriously. These pictures do not do it justice [someday I will buy a big girl camera...]
ooo yeah.
Previously, I thought I would replace all the baseboards to lighten the room up, but I'm really liking the way the dark wood is looking with the dark walls. So cozy.
Hey, pretty.
There you have it! Phase One!
Next phase will be creating the large picture collage on the two walls.
Today's post is going to be short and sweet. I woke up this morning with a killer migraine that all the excedrin+coffee+water couldn't help. Right now the walls are pulsing, and looking at this computer screen is painful.
Feel sorry for me yet? Wahmp wahmp.
In the past couple months, Ben and I have been doing a lot of, "Well, we'll buy this first, then this, then that." But if this summer has proved anything, it's that our plans mean nothing. The floor has been pushed to this fall [due to time] the backyard has been pushed to next summer [time...again], the bathrooms are too expensive to do [the way I want them] until after we finish the kitchen.
With all the minor setbacks we have with the remodeling stuff, some things have been pushed up the list due to the crazy need for them. Like furniture. Major big girl furniture. Major big boy furniture.
Ben and I host our friends at least once a week. Most of the time we watch a movie, and all we have is a little bitty couch and dining room chairs--not really cohesive to watch a movie with 6+ people.
For the past couple weeks we have been researching and scouring the area for a perfect couch...
I've grabbed a couple swatches and here is the color scheme/model we're looking at...Now all that's left is paying for it...right?
I love the idea of a tweed or menswear fabric on the couch...That yellow is awesome, too.
I typically hate sectionals, but I think this one is pretty nice. It'll give us enough seating for a crowd, too.
It's no secret. Ever since Ben and I signed a giant check over for our house, I've wanted to paint something black. First, I really wanted to paint a bathroom:
Still totally going to do this...in due time... here
Then, our bathroom project got a little sidetracked when I rediscovered my love for really expensive things... [the only faucet I could dream of putting in here costs at least $600...danget, Lauren!]
Last weekend in my sleep deprived state, I decided I would completely revamp what I'm calling, 'MY CREATION ROOM.' [add cackle via Dexter's Laboratory.]
I don't want to call it a craft room.
Because it's not a craft room. I don't want spools of ribbon hanging off of cute hooks. I don't use ribbon. I don't really like cute.
This is going to be a true creative cave. A place where I can start projects and not finish them. A place where I can walk in at 9am with a plan, and leave at 9pm with glue in my hair.
This is not a place for scrapbooking, needlepoint or present wrapping.
I'm also prepping for some major picture hanging (FINALLY...a place for those dang wedding photos) that will include a couple original drawings, some sentimental pieces and a whole lot of awesome.
What up, Wednesday? Agh. Today was awesome. Had a really great meeting at work. The sun is shining, and now I get to spend my evening with you fine people. Yessuh!
As promised, the long-awaited guest book.
Now, this guest book wasn't necessarily a new idea, or something that hasn't been done before, or even the best one out there. [in fact, here's one, and here's another.] But to me, it was the most special.
I love to draw. I just love it.
But when do I draw? Never. I'm always pen-tooling it away on Illustrator, or arranging letters on inDesign, but I never have a chance to just straight up draw.
Look at all those eraser shavings...cute.
This project gave me the opportunity to blow the dust off my drawing pencils, dig for my favorite lucky eraser, and straight up draw.
VW bug. Cute butt.
I even went to the art-supply store and stocked up on a pile of beautiful drawing paper [to the tune of forty 18x24 sheets, gah.]
A little detail of the special couple.
True story: When Emily and I went to Vegas, we went to a fancy club in a fancy casino.
No vodka+redbull for us, we were all about the Coors Light in the Aluminum bottle. Yes.
It was so special for me to be able to make this for the happy couple, but it was also [selfishly] awesome to restart my love of drawing.
I have a couple awesome drawing projects lined up in the upcoming weeks, I can't wait to show you.
There she is. So pretty.
I'll try to dig up a picture of it all ballooned--it's pretty hilarious. Tom Cruise even signed it. Whodduh thunk?
Hey! Good to see you again. Thanks for sticking with me this summer--but that should be my last scheduled break for a while.
Ben and I spent the last weekend celebrating Ben's sister's wedding. It was freaking awesome.
I've done a lot of projects for a lot of different weddings and bridal showers, but this set was a little bit more special than the rest.
Today I'll share with you an ensemble present: Beer for the rehearsal dinner.
Ben and my dad brewed an awesome beer for Emily and Alex's rehearsal dinner. Then, of course, it needed a label.
Here it goes:
Alex and Emily chose Tiffany Blue and Champagne for their wedding colors--so cute! But...so hard to match on a desktop printer. Took about 5 hours to get the right color, and my iPhone couldn't even pick up the color right...blech.
Heh. Heh. get it?
I wanted to name the beer, "Something Brewed," and thought that was super witty. But then, I went on Pinterest and looked up 'beer bottle design' and guess what the first 15 were? Some variation of "Something borrowed, Something Brewed" Drat.
So, I gradually started a list of possible names. It was hard to choose one that wasn't totally cheesy, and Rehears-ale was the perfect combination of witty yet awesome.
Here's the printed labels. I used Avery shipping labels.
oops. There's my bottle of Zyrtec in the corner...
Have I mentioned lately how badly I need to buy a big-girl camera?
Come back tomorrow for the cutest little guest book...
