Haunted Hangout

A few Fridays ago I celebrated two friends birthdays. Early in the night with a couple of my best girlfriends for drinks and gourmet pizza and then we joined a few guy friends to celebrate as well. When we met up with my guyfriends, it was at a place pretty close to my house called Bobby Mackey's. I've only been a handful of times.

It is a pretty large country western bar here in Kentucky with a very haunted past and well a very haunted present as well.

 

There is even a disclaimer in the front when you walk in warning you it is haunted and that Bobby Mackey's is not liable for haunted happenings you may experience. It doesn't seem to deter anyone. The place is packed! I always wonder if people go because it's haunted or because it's fun?

Regardless it makes for a pretty interesting evening. No ghosts were seen, but it still feels a bit creepy even with all of those people in there. Bobby Mackey himself still heads the house band there. I caught a pic of him on stage. He's sorta lengendary at this point.

When I was a teenager I remember reading the book about it: Hell's Gate. It's enough to make you crap your pants and then some. I find it completely fascinating and my husband equally so.

It was covered once by Maury Povich and most recently by Ghost Adventures. They've been there twice and has said it is one of the most haunted places they've ever been. 

Here is one of the Ghost Adventures episodes:




You can now take the Ghost Adventures tour there which I opted out of Friday night. Maybe next time? I'm not so sure.

Very Merry Inspiration Monday {Chalkboard Countertops}

I came across something crazy wonderful that actually made the hair stand up on the back of my neck and my eyes water with tears of joy.

 I.am.not.kidding.


Wit Behind the Ears is a site I adore as it is a wonderfully stocked full of ideas, beauty and of course buckets and buckets of wit.

Can you even believe this chalkboard countertop?

So simple. So thrifty. So brilliant.  I can not stop thinking about them!

I will do this in our next home as we plan to sell our current one this year. And though chalkboard countertops may not be for everyone they so ARE for this girl.

The hubs totally concurs..he just doesn't know it yet:)

Read the full post by Anna about her countertop here.

Happy Monday!

Mission: Bloom The Shoes

Shoe Addict + Thrifty Girl=Shoe Renovation

I have lots of flats, but they've been really boring me lately. I needed something with more pizazz.

Red Felt Flower Pizazz to be exact!






Across the blogosphere I've seen lots of cute ways to enhance shoes so I decided to do something to a pair that had been abandoned in the back of my closet.


Here's a haphazard how-to of how I haphazardly did it:) Make sense?

Mission: Bloom the Shoes
Target: Black and White Tweed flats (Isaac Mizrahi for Target)
Weapon: Felt and my conquer-the-world-glue-gun.

-Taking a red piece of felt, I free handed across the widest part, a wavy line like such about 1 inch from the bottom:

-the first strip had a longer tail as it will be the start which created the bud.

-the next strip I cut was straight as the wavy bottom was left. So I went up from the bottom another inch and make a straight cut. Then the next strip was a wavy one and so on.

-once I had my strips cut I rolled them and glued every so often to secure them. I Kept adding strips to the roll and arranged it to look how I liked. Once the flower was large enough I used my scissors to trim and shape as necessary. I then used my glue gun and created an x to keep the flower in tact.



-Then I hot glued to my desired place on the shoe and VIOLA!







So much cuter! MISSION COMPLETE.

Very Merry Monday Inspiration {LOVE}

Love in my etsy shop:

Some photography LOVE from other etsians.

(violetbow)

All the following images are all from isphotography . Everything in her etsy shop is amazing.

My Love:

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope your day is full of red puffy hearts, sweet candy, fuzzy feelings and smushie kisses!

Just a Few of My Favorite Things..

It is always nice to identify a few things that make your daily life easier, more comfortable or just make you smile. I tend to become a die-hard to products I love.

I always enjoy hearing what other women can't live without so I've decided to share some of my favorite things..

Barleans makes giving my kids their Omegas super easy. It tastes just like a smoothie and they look forward to getting it every morning. It has been awarded "Best of Supplements" three years running. Great for adults and kids a like.

I've been obsessed with Converse shoes since I was a kid and now that I have my own babes it's only grown deeper. I own four pair myself, my husband has several and my boys rock them in every color and pattern. I find them on-line, at thrift stores, consignment stores, yard sales and at Target. I give them away for birthday presents all the time. I think they look good on everyone and can usually be worn by the guys when dressing up or down.

I got this glorious lip balm in my Christmas stocking this year from my Mother-in-law. The shape is cool and makes it easy for me to find it when rooting through my purse past the diapers, snack crumbs, lollipop sticks and random sock. It's organic, 100% natural and the summer fruit makes me feel like I'm poolside during the season of blizzards here in the Midwest.

I'm a coffee addict, this you know. I've had lots of coffee from lots of places. Starbucks especially. I still prefer Trader Joes every single time. I buy 3 at a time and smile because it's $3.99 for the above container. I feel like I'm ripping them off.


These are in my purse at all times. Who knew instant coffee could be this crazy good? No one could ever tell this is instant! If I'm out and about I just get a cup of hot water, add cream and some sugar and I've got Starbucks in my hand. I gave these out to my girlfriends this year for Christmas. I take full responsibility for their now addiction. Cafe Via comes flavored also and they have an iced version. Occasionally I've seen these buy a pack-get one free, making a cup of Starbucks coffee around $.50.


My Uggs were luckily a gift as I may have never splurged to buy a pair for myself. I'm in total love! They are like big giant hugs for your feet. I don't wear socks with them and have worn them in the snow sled riding with my boys. They are made so well. I make them go with most everything and have decided I need more pairs. On sale of course.

What are some of your favorite things?

Stylish Blogger Award? What!?

I mean like Whoa! I just recieved the Stylish Blogger Award! What a wonderful surprise!


By accepting this award I agreed to the following 4 rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

I am so honored to receive a Stylish Blogger Award from the ever-so-lovely blogger Nifty Thrifty Things. Danke Schoen!

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

1. I love Jesus. As I've grown in relationship with Him my life has never been more full of grace, gratitude and love. It helps to go to an amazing church: Crossroads where religion is not the name of the game, but He is. Their offbeat ministry reaches this offbeat girl in a real way.

1. I'm a twin! I have a twin brother named Cameron who actually lives a street away and we have sons less than 6 months apart who are good buddies. It's nice to see him on a pretty regular basis and watch our kids grow up together.

2. I've married by high school sweetheart at a very young age: 17 (gasp!). He was heading off to the Air Force and we were bound and determined to stay together. So we've been married 13 years now and have two wonderful little boys. Looking back I have no idea what we thought we were doing getting married that young, but it's worked out well and we love our life together:)

3. I'm 1/4 Korean. You can not tell by looking at me per say but it's apparent in the shape of my eyes and face which I have passed down to my boys. My Grandmother is 100% and met my Grandfather during the Korean war while he was over there. I'm so proud of my Korean heritage. Isn't my Grandma & Grandpa the cutest?

(right around the time they got married)

4. I balance my life with staying home with my boys and working part-time for a couture bridal accessory designer. I've been there the last five years and went PT after having my second baby. One fun perk is I get to go to Bridal Fashion Week twice a year in New York city to set up a showroom to sell our product to Bridal Salons all over the world. Every October during that week Martha Stewart throws a big 'ol party for the wedding industry and I've attended the last five years with the designer and my colleagues. The parties have been held in some awesome venues like Tavern on the Green, The Plaza and this last October it was at the Martha Stewart headquarters.

(cute photo op with the Paris team)

The year it was at the Plaza I met Robert Verdi and I like to say we became BFF. See--I have a pic to prove it.

(taken with his assistant's camera phone)

5. My Grandparents adopted me and raised me and my twin brother in their senior years. I couldn't have more respect for them. The sacrifice of spending their retirement years raising a set of twins when they has already raised 4 children, has greatly attributed to who I am. My gratitude is beyond measure.

6. I consider myself somewhat of a Hippie. I eat as close to the earth as possible, smoothie regularly, make my own baby food, recycle my old clothing into other things, love peasant skirts and advocate world peace.

7. I'm addicted to by Chucks (converse) shoes for my boys. They have them in array of colors and patterns for every size they grow in to. Maybe we have 20 or more pairs between the two of them??

Whew! I feel incredibly exposed sharing all that, but wonderful all at the same time.

3. Award 15 recently (or sorta recent) discovered great bloggers.
That's gonna be a toughie as there are some seriously inspirational peeps blogging it up out there.

1. Found in the Ali

2. Polka Dots and Puppies

3. A Day in the Life of

4. Your Artistic View

5. dl.blogspot

6. In a Galaxy Far Far Away

7. Swoon

8. Mason's Roost

9. Avoiding the Laundry

10. House Finally

11. Nifty Thrifty Things

12. Mallory Makes Things

13. Cherron Can Create

14. A Delightsome Life

15. If I Weren't So Lazy

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

I'm off to do just that...

A Wonderfully Silly Day

Lately I've been more exhausted than usual. My youngest, Quinn is two.

Enough said.

I'm off work on Tuesdays and Fridays and as much as I love having those days home with the little Mr., I'm always bracing for a two-year-old-mommy-beat -down.


Usually on these days my hair stays in an awkward 80's side pony or pippy braids, makeup never touches my face and I don't remember to pee until 3pm.







But today my Quinnie shed his terrible-two cape and stepped into his Mommy's-snuggle-buddy-shoes.


I'm proud to announce my hair today is not donning a ponytail holder of any kind and my bladder was empty by 9am.

This girl even got to lay her head down on a pillow in the daylight. It was marvelous!


The fun continued after we picked up Caleb from kindergarten with yogurt parfaits and McD's playland.


I had the best day with these two sillies:










Happy Friday! I hope it was as silly and wonderful as ours!

These Boots Were Made {for Ruffles}

I am a huge fan of Sex and The City mainly for the ridiculous, amazing near grotesque amount of shoes there are to drool over. I usually need a tissue or two to wipe the saliva sliding off my chin.

The thought of having a shoe wardrobe full of Louboutins, Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks sends my heart into a near flutter that is almost life threatening.

But....I'm a MOM on a BUDGET. What's a shoe loving girl to do? DIY of course!

Right now my my busy Mom feet need comfortable and I'm currently more driven to the look of Anthropologie shoes.

I had these pups saved to my favorites on my computer:

I however, am not a fan of the well over $100 price tag. Instead I found a pair of black moccasin style tall boots that were an incredible price of $13 at a discount store called Gabriel Brothers. If you have this store in your area--go.there.now.

The boots I don't love just plain, but I saw serious potential in them. I knew they would be a perfect pair with a perfect price tag to experiment on.


I'll give the quick and dirty on how I did it:


-After purchasing I headed directly to the fabric store and got a 1/4 yard of a similar suede-like material that matched the boots as close as possible.

-Once home I cut about 2 inch strips that were double the length of the boot. Using my sewing machine I ran a straight stitch down the middle of the strip and gathered it into a ruffle. After tying at both ends I contemplated on how I would sew it to the boot.

-Then the lazy, instant-gratification-seeking me reached for my glue gun.
Yes, my glue gun. I could rule the world with it. High temperature is where it's at. I did have momentary apprehension on if this would work out and hold up. $12...it was worth the risk.

-So I carefully started at the bottom of my shoe on the outer side and glued my way up and toward the back. Then continued all the way up the back of the boot tucking the end and gluing at the top inside. I was careful to use plenty of glue and really make sure it was secure.

-Since the edges were raw I used Fray Check down both edges of the ruffle.


End result were these happy guys:

I am very proud to say I've been wearing these boots now for almost 4 months and they are completely holding up with no problem! I'm really pretty hard on my shoes.

I've worn them quite a bit which included a trip to New York City and lots of walking.

I always get tons of compliments when I wear them and though the boot itself is pretty cheaply made, I believe these will be wearable next boot season as well. Even when they are a bit worn I think it might add to their charm.

I hope you likey! If you attempt to do the same, I'd be so tickled if you would come back and share your results!

I'm Linky Partying @