Have y'all seen the Amrita Singh deal on Living Social right now? She makes some beautiful jewelry that is often featured in magazines and spotted on celebrities, but is usually out of my price range. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the East Hampton & East Hampton Andra Earrings featured on Living Social.
They retail for $75, but you can get them for $20 through Living Social. I also used a coupon code for an additional $5 off - MOM5, that's good through today. There's another code out for $10 off a $30 purchase - APRILVIP (exp. 4/30) if you find anything else you want!
I went for the Andra earrings, now if I can just make up my mind between aqua or champagne...
Spring is here and with it comes warm weather in Mobile. Which means it's time for my favorite thing about living on the coast - being on the water!
I have yet to mention it on the blog, but Cameron & I decided to purchase a new toy:
Yep, a boat. It's a 2008 19 foot Sea Pro, if you're interested in the specifics. That's about all I know! :)
In the past, we've always had access to a boat because Cameron's brother has been generous to let us borrow his boat whenever we wanted, but Cameron had the itch for his own. And, of course, he wanted something a little bigger, more laid out for fishing, and I wanted it to be able to ride more people. So he's been searching for months for the right boat at the right price and he finally found it a month ago. So far we've taken it out several times.
The first trip was an overcast, chilly Sunday afternoon on Fowl River, but we braved the wind for a couple hours just to take the boat on its first trip together.
The next weekend we left it at home and headed to Dauphin Island for the weekend. We ate some yummy gumbo at the annual Dauphin Island Gumbo Cookoff and putted around the island in Mary & Poe's boat.
Marc Broussard was the featured act for the Gumbo Cookoff. He puts on a pretty good show!
the boys listening to the bands after they'd eaten plenty of gumbo
Cameron and the coolest chihuahua ever - Axel
Mary & Katie
Morris helping himself to some ice
Mary's "nephew"
Cameron saying goodbye to his buddy. Axel's family was coming to get him the next week
We couldn't leave the boat home long, though. Saturday afternoon before Easter we took it for a ride around Dog River with our friend Harry. I had to work that morning so the boys were out most of the day and they picked me up at the dock when I got off. I got to practice my boat driving quite a bit that afternoon.
Then last weekend, we headed down to Gulf Shores for the weekend to go fishing and enjoy a little beach time. Saturday, we spent the whole day fishing and caught quite a few sharks - some too big for my comfort level! - and several huge redfish. The weather was gorgeous!
I know he looks crazy with his hands that close to the shark's mouth, but they are being good fishermen and getting the hooks out instead of cutting the line.
Sunday morning we spent a few hours on the beach before heading back to the beach. It was heaven!
Told you we love to be near the water! The boat may not have had many hours on it when we bought it, but we sure are making up for lost time! Looking forward to a great spring & summer!
I decided to take a cue from other bloggers and share a few things I'm into right now... What I'm loving...
Springtime & the arrival of warm weather
Isn't everyone? I'm so blessed that I live on the coast and our temperatures start to get into the upper 70s in March/April. I think we even hit 80 on Monday - at least according to my car. I'm a summer time girl and I look forward to days spent on the water. The sunroof on my Jeep has been open A LOT lately and I'm loving every minute!!
What I'm listening to...
Miranda Lambert's Momma's Broken Heart - Miranda has done it again. How does she come out with so many great songs? This one has been on repeat in my car. (And it is by no means a reflection of my own momma!)
What I'm eating...
Lean Cuisine Mushroom Mezzaluna Ravioli
I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms so ordinarily I would have never even given this a second glance. But a few weeks ago, at a new pasta restaurant in town, Mirko, our friend Harry got their mushroom ravioli and it was really good. So when I saw this grocery shopping, I decided to try it. OMG - this is so good!! I don't say that often about frozen dinners. Usually they serve a purpose and I try to find the decent ones, but they aren't exactly something I really love to eat. I wanted to lick the plastic tray clean. And at 290 calories, you can't go wrong!
What I'm Watching...
Downton Abbey
Yep, I've been sucked in. I'd been hearing/reading about this show a lot, but I'll be honest, it sounded boring to me. When I saw it on our On Demand, I decided to try it. I'm hooked. I've only been watching a couple weeks and I'm already midway through season 2.Cameron, however, is less enthusiastic...
Oz
Cameron & I are not huge movie watchers. We tend to wait for movies to come out on DVD and pick them up at the Redbox rather than spend $20 to see it in the movie theater. We're cheap like that. But our friends were going to see Oz and I actually wanted to see it. They did a really good job developing the backstory of how the characters came to be in the Wizard of Oz we all know. I doubt it's going to win any awards, but I really enjoyed it.
What I'm buying...
Monogrammed iphone cover
I originally purchased an Otterbox commuter case for my iphone 5 when I got it in December. Cameron broke it trying to get it off about a month later. Otterbox sent me a new one no questions asked, but the new one had rough edges that scratched my face. So I finally decided to just get something different and keep the Otterbox as a backup. I've been eyeing the monogrammed cases for a while, so when MyCustomCase.com popped up on Groupon, I jumped on it. I have to say, I've been very pleased!
What I'm Reading...
The Paris Wife
I've been working on this book for a while. It's the story of Ernest Hemingway's first wife and their relationship. It's actually really good, the problem is finding time to read. I struggle reading at night because once I start, I want to keep going, and before I know it, it's the wee hours of the morning. So I tend to read blogs on my Nook at night before I go to bed, because it's easier to come to a stopping point. However, I really want to finish this book. With the summer coming up, I know I'll have plenty of boat/beach time for reading.
What I'm Wearing...
Mint Jeans
I decided to join the colored jean trend. I'm late, I know. I'm not really a trendsetter, I tend to wait and see if trends are really going to stick first. Why not pick my favorite color for spring to start with?
What I've accomplished...
Ran a 5K
This weekend, Cameron & I ran in the Azalea Trail Run and I actually ran the whole 5K, a personal goal. If you remember, last year I just wanted to finish, so this year I wanted to actually run the whole thing. I've really been working on my running lately so I felt confident I could do it. I was by no means fast - I finished in 43 minutes 50 seconds, which is actually slower than my time last year when I ran/walked!! I was so focused on keeping a slow pace so that I wouldn't lose my endurance. Oh well, I still accomplished my goal and now I can focus on improving my speed.
What I'm planning...
A DIY project with chalk paint
This dresser originally belonged to Cameron's parents before he took it off to Auburn with him. We then used it as a newlywed student couple. It has seen better days, but we kept it when we moved into our home because I think it has "good bones." It is solid wood and has pretty curves, but needs some "love." I've always intended on painting it and replacing the hardware, but just never got around to it. It went in one of our guest rooms and stayed there. Lately, I've been having the itch to try out some chalk paint, but the nearest place to buy Annie Sloan is an hour away so when I found Cece Caldwell's chalk paint at my favorite local antique store, I decided now is the time to do it. Of course, I have three 6-day work weeks ahead of me so I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to get around to it....
Hope you've enjoyed a little insight into what I'm loving/doing/buying right now!
So I decided to lump the upstairs rooms all together because we have done the least amount of work here. Our primary living spaces are all downstairs and honestly we don't use the upstairs much except for the treadmill (which we only use if we can't run outside), my craft space (I'm still working on that New Year's resolution...), or when guests are here. Out of sight, out of mind right? Upstairs we have two bedrooms and a bathroom. The previous owners chose much lighter colors up here so I wasn't in as quite a rush to change everything.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Both of the guestrooms have beadboard ceilings and I love that cottagey feel. I really didn't mind the green in this room and it actually stayed for a while. But it didn't really go with the bright green quilt I had for the room. I still had a whole gallon left over of the Behr Pensive Sky from downstairs so I just went with it. The striped fabric on the bed is not actually a pillow - yet. It's a P.Kaufmann fabric I found at a local fabric store. I plan on making some pillows, curtains and cover the desk chair with it. I'm searching Craigslist for a cheap armoire I can paint to go in here and store all my craft supplies
BEFORE:
AFTER:
No, I didn't mess up the pictures. We've done nothing in here. Well, I shouldn't say nothing - we did replace the blinds in the window, but that's not in the photo. The walls in here are a disaster. Remember when I talked about how uneven the downstairs bathroom walls were - like wallpaper was peeled off then just painted over the glue and ripped off drywall? This room is way worse. To the point that I thought it would be easier to just re-drywall. But I actually have a new plan. And I'm hoping to get to work on it soon. I'm going to sand the walls like we did downstairs, then hang beadboard wallpaper.
Yep, it's wallpaper that looks/feels just like real beadboard when it's hung. You can even paint it. I'm hoping that will help mask any remaining blemishes on the wall. I thought about planking the wall, but couldn't figure out how to make it work without removing the vanity and I'm hoping to salvage that. On that topic - I'm going to sand and paint the vanity too. Colors haven't been chosen yet, but will be based on whatever shower curtain I chose, and I'm leaning towards this one from Pottery Barn.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I know the wall color looks a little different in the photos, but we didn't change it. In fact, it's very close to the color we chose for the stairwell/hallway. This room has had nothing done to it either, except for furniture moved in. I'd like to make an upholstered headboard for the bed and work on the decor, but nothing major need to be done, just give it some attention!
So now you've seen the house tour. I promise to update as we make changes. Hopefully, sharing this will motivate me to get working!
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