My Kind of Party

While browsing my favorite blogs this morning, I stumbled across this most perfect of party decors: orange and navy! It has my name written all over it! Take a look - thanks Birthday Girl!

Birthday Girl Blog says, "Simply splendid.  I'm in love with the soft orange and blue combo of this 34th birthday party, designed by European wedding stylist Branco Prata..."

ACL Discovery Band: The Airborne Toxic Event

Now that I've secured my 3-Day pass for Austin City Limits in September and the 2011 Line-Up has been released, it's time to start discovering some new bands! While the stages at ACL will be hosting several bands I already know and love, half the fun of going to a music festival is discovering new awesome bands. Two years ago, I discovered Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights - an awesome Dallas based band. There is something so exciting and inspiring about discovering and loving new bands. I still remember the day I heard Needtobreathe open for Gavin DeGraw a few years back at the House of Blues. I immediately fell in love with their soulful sound and heartfelt lyrics. The icing on the cake is when you share your love of a new band with a friend and then they jump on the bandwagon. Then you both can say...you listened to them way back when....before they got big....

Today, I'm listening to The Airborne Toxic Event and I'm loving it! What do you all think?

Wikipedia says...."The Airborne Toxic Event is an American indie rock band from Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. It consists of Mikel Jollett (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards), Noah Harmon (electric bass, upright bass, backing vocals), Daren Taylor (drums) and Anna Bulbrook (viola, keyboards, tambourine, backing vocals). The band released its debut self-titled album in 2008 and released its follow-up album, All at Once, on April 26, 2011."

Family Style

I've got family all over the place. My mom is one of 5 and two of her sisters and a brother live in the Chicago suburbs while her oldest sister lives in San Diego. This weekend, the San Diego family was in Austin for a wedding and being only 3 hours away, I had to make sure to see them! My cousins, Erica and Tyler, just had a baby (Ryan Oliver, 3 mos) and I wanted to meet him as well. Babies have such pure, joy-filled hearts and you can see it written all over their faces, especially when they're sleeping. It was such a treat to get to spend some time with family and in Austin no less which is just a great city!

Erica - Ryan's beautiful Mommy!

Daddy Tyler making sure the little guy gets enough to eat

Nail Polish Obsession

I just can't keep up with all the new colors coming out! 

I painted my nails Lapis of Luxury last night.

But I just really want all of these colors. Ulta - WHY didn't you have these new colors last night?!

DIY: Painted Dining Chairs

Whew, finally my first DIY post! Don't get me wrong, I love to craft and create things that I've put some hard work into, but the project idea always sounds WAY better than the actual execution. You have to go find/buy all the supplies, have the time to actually DO the project, and then have a need for said crafted item.

With the coming move to my new place, I now have a need for some more furniture. I'm getting over the "get it cheap and cry while assembling" IKEA phase and I'm now on to the "find it on craigslist and make it better" phase. I've had some success finding promising pieces on craigslist...nothing to craft yet though.

I already have a dining room table that we've been storing in one of the many closets. It was from our house in CT and we ended up not needing it here in Dallas. But now I needed chairs. Ugh. Hunting for 4 matching chairs under $100 that somewhat matched this stained wood table sounded more or less horrific. Plan B: Find some decent (and cheap) unfinished chairs at IKEA and then let my creative juices flow.

Time: 
5-6 hours (plus more for drying) depending on if you have help


Supplies:

• 4 IKEA IVAR dining chairs - $19.99 each ($80 total) these come unfinished

"Raw" Chair from IKEA

• 1 quarter primer - $8
• 1 quality paint brush - $11
• 1 sand paper sponge - fine grade
• 1 gallon paint color of your choosing - about $30 depending on brand - I used Glidden Real Navy in Satin finish, it's a medium shine and looks appropriate on chairs (no you don't need a gallon of paint but that is how much the Home Depot guy made me buy....so now I'm going to be painting everything in my house navy) 
• Other key ingredients: 
• Water
• Music
• Snacks

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Mom,

How can I put into words how much I love you?

I was cleaning out my room yesterday and getting things organized to move when I found the birthday card you sent me this year. Just seeing your naturally loopy writing on the inside brought tears to my eyes.

You are such an amazing, strong, beautiful woman and "when I grow up", I can only hope to be half the woman you are. Being so far away all these years has made me really appreciate you and I so wish that I could have spend this day celebrating you!!

Through highs and lows, you've been that rock in my life that boosted be up when I was low and pulled me off the ledge when I was so high I might just start to fly. You've kept me grounded but also pushed me beyond my boundaries.

This day is about you, Mom! Thank you for drying my tears after graduation, thanks for telling me your mac and cheese recipe to win the hearts of all my guy friends....

....thank you for you advice on how to paint a chair...

Exclusive Needtobreathe Preview

New exclusive sampling of the new NEEDTOBREATHE album!!!

Words To Live By

There are millions billions of cheesy, inspirational quotes out there to "brighten your day". They come in your Hallmark cards, charity brochures and probably even cereal boxes (the fact that Cheerios will lower your cholesterol is inspiring right?). While comforting a friend today, I threw one out of my own...

(You're laughing...ha, I knew it. Should have kept it to myself....well for those of you who can get over my very own cheesiness, keep on reading for something slightly deeper.)

Why as people, and more specifically girls, is it so hard for us to just let go? Someone complements our hair and we automatically say how gross it looks "but thanks!" (I'm a culprit of this!) How come we can't just be in the moment whether it's going for a run, reading a book, laying in the grass (or in Dallas, the pool) without constantly making judgements and worrying about how we look...

Remembered

We love your kingdom, O God, with its promise of justice, its feeling of compassion, its dimensions of joy and hope, its sense of eternity. In our times of darkest despair, it encourages us. In our moments of deepest exhaustion with life it bids us stand and go forward. Therefore we pray for those this morning who have come here tired and discouraged for any reason, that they may remember that your kingdom is both now and forever, and that the seeds of belief and trust may be reawakened in their lives, to bring them once more to a harvest of love and excitement in living. Help us to voice to you our most intimate thoughts, and, having done so, to find healing and support for our entire existence. Amen.

- Credit: St. Andrew United Methodist and Brian Wellman

Finally Found - A Place To Call Home

Yes, you read that right - I turned in a lease application today at The Park in The Village. It's located at Lovers and Amesbury. It's a "quaint" (yea, I guess I'll use that word) 1 bedroom apartment on the 2nd floor close to the pool. It has all new appliances and carpet as well as a fresh coat of paint. Laundry facilities are just at the end of the building. I'm really happy about my final decision because I'm going to be saving about $250 a month living at this place instead. Now I'm on the hunt for a couch (might already have one lined up...), a TV, a coffee table, some dining chairs....oh man this could get ugly. If anyone's got connections to people who are selling stuff, be sure to let me know!

I've got some decorating plans in mind that go along with a nautical, navy/white theme (what else would you expect) with some pops of orange and mint candy apple. hmmm we'll see - I promise to post a few pics and maybe even some DIY inspiration along the way.

My Lazy Friday Evening

Me...

plus 

plus

plus 

equals a GREAT evening. 

William & Kate - the world wishes you well. May you have a blessed marriage with many years of health and happiness!

One year down...a whole lot to go

March 25th, 2010 - I got a call that changed everything. It was my first job offer. A real big girl job! I was about to give a tour of the SMU to a bunch of prospective students, when my phone rang and the voice on the other end said "We'd like to offer you the position". It was just a thrill to be able to share the good news with my tour group as parents constantly ask what your post-grad plans are when they find out that their tour guide is a graduating senior. What a joy it was to be able to tell them that I had a job!

NOOKbook Reading List

I love reading on my NOOK which is a big surprise because I normally love paperback books. I also love that I can store a wishlist on my NOOK so I always have a new book pending. Here is my list at this point:

Any other suggestions? Have you read any of these? Reviews?

A House To Call Home

We just may solved the housing issue but I don't want to jinx it. For those of you who were worried about me being homeless, thank you and you can no longer panic. I'll be sure to post a full update on this situation on Monday.

This Changes Everything...

My church has been doing a sermon series with the following theme:
Ever had something happen in your life that completely changed everything about your life?  Maybe a phone call, an accident, a chance meeting, a discovery? Whatever it was, after "it" happened, nothing in your life was ever the same. Jesus was the catalyst for that type of change for the people he encountered. Sometimes it was a chance encounter with him on the street. And sometimes it was something he did for all the public to see. Regardless, those who encountered Christ usually walked away saying, "This Changes Everything".

There have been a few times in my life when I thought "wow, this changes everything..." - graduating high school, moving away to college, graduating college, etc. Lately, there hasn't been any huge, life changing events happen until this weekend. The management company of the lovely, over-sized townhouse we live in just raised the rent...$500 so it would now cost us over $1000 each. INSANE and totally unacceptable. Long story short, we're all moving and not together. This is where the "this changes everything" part comes in. One of my roommates is taking a huge leap of faith and possibly moving in with her boyfriend and my other roommate is branching out on her own to live by herself for the first time ever! Now you're thinking "And where the heck do you think you're going to live, missy?"

Busy Little Bee

Back in December I know this post outlining events that were coming up and things I wanted to do. I thought it might be good to revisit this list and see what I have accomplished and what events I need to add to the list....

Books I want(ed) to read: (instead I've been reading Businessweek and finance books...)

• Shantaram - started it!
• The Devil In the White City
• Water for Elephants (before the movie comes out!) - read it, can't wait for the movie staring my FAVORITE, Reese Witherspoon
• The Help - bought it, didn't read it, then gave it to Becca (must purchase the digital copy for my Nook)

You throw like a girl!

Well it should probably read - You Swing Like A Girl... but here's the catch, I don't! I found out last night that my clubhead speed is 90mph! That is within the range of the swing speed of the average male golfer (read: NOT Tiger Woods). I'm not going to lie...I was pretty impressed if you don't mind me tooting my own horn.

And now I've been bit by the bug again...the golf bug to be exact. Always strikes right around this time of year - possibly because the Masters is on and I get to watch dreamy Adam Scott  make birdies left and right and yet he comes in tied for second, sad day....  Back in high school, golf season would just be starting. We probably would have had a couple of matches already and taken our annual yearbook picture. The JV team would have 75 girls in the picture who came out to practice the first day and never came back again. Figures, they just wanted to try to meet the cute golf boys.

Margaux Webster Sarin

My sister, wow, is honestly one of the coolest people I know. Mom, if you're reading this, I really mean it!! I know it's pretty hard to believe but my sister and I used to fight...bad. We are only 2 years apart so there was a lot of hair pulling, face scratching and chaos in our household. As kids, we both rode horses which caused a lot of competition between us. However, we soon branched out on our own paths and have gotten closer every year. Now, we talk almost every other day and we actually like to hang out with each other, not to mention miss each other.

The basics:
She's 20 years old (but she'll want me to tell you that she'll be 21 on June 29th, let the countdown begin!)
She has light brown hair and brown eyes and she's taller...taller than me.
She's a junior at UMASS Amherst.
She's an Alpha Chi Omega.
She had her appendix out in Ecuador.
She speaks pretty good Spanish.
She used to call me Ya-Ya when she couldn't say my name. Now she calls me San-San. Somethings never change.
She loves animals especially our cats (Mikey-RIP, Maddie-RIP and Millie).

Fool-proof healthy muffins

I promise you, these are the easiest and most delicious muffins I've every had/made. You will love them too mainly because they are so easy and bonus HEALTHY! Thank Picky-Palate for the great recipe!

“Healthier” Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 Tablespoons softened butter
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 Cup plain low-fat vanilla yogurt (I happened to have Yoplait Banana Cream Pie yogurt on hand so I just used that)
2/3 Cup sugar
heaping 1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 Cup coarse sugar (I used Turbinado sugar)
1/2 Cup shredded sweetened coconut (I didn't add this)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter, eggs, bananas, yogurt, sugar and peanut butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine. Place all dry ingredients into a separate large bowl and stir to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips until just combined. Scoop into muffin tins lined with paper cups 2/3 way full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and shredded coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.

12 muffins

This recipe can be found here. 

"All my life I've been good, but now...."

It probably took me a good 3-4 weeks to realize that this song "What the Hell" that they've been playing on the radio for a while now was in fact by Avril Lavigne. Way to make a comeback, Avril. It's been years since I've listening to Sk8ter Boi and get Avril still looks exactly the same as she did 7 years ago....she clearly knows all the anti-aging secrets.