The Hottest Summer Ever

So a lot has happened lately and I have realized that I really rely on my blog to tell everyone what's going on in our lives because I feel like I've said "I didn't tell you that?" a lot in the past few weeks. I also realized that in order for that to happen I actually have to write on my blog so in the words of Al Rocker, here's what's going on in our neck of the woods.

I decorated for my good friend Leslie's baby shower at the beginning of July. Her shower took place at La Duni in Northpark Mall and we didn't have much time to decorate beforehand (30 minutes) so I had to get creative with what we could and could not do. Luckily the venue was already beautiful so we didn't have to do much for it to look impressive. Here are a few pictures but I will post more on EBSR when I get a chance. At the rate I'm going that may be never.

Leslie's sister coordinated with La Duni to do the flowers. Aren't they gorgeous!?

 

A special thank you to Three for designing these for me!

I had seen letters like these on Etsy and thought I could probably make them myself and sure enough I found a tutorial online. I don't consider myself a crafty person but these were pretty easy to make. I might have to start making these for all my friends' babies.

Best. Cupcakes. Ever. Quatros Leches. Mmmmm...

Leslie's aunt took care of the party favors which were precious cookies individually wrapped.

La Duni made signature drinks for the event. This one was my favorite. It was some sort of Berry Lemonade Spritzer. I think I had three of them.

I also decorated for PJ's 16th birthday party which ironically we also weren't allowed to start decorating for until 30 minutes prior because they wouldn't let us on the boat until then. We got it done but not without being threatened. A few of the kids got onto the boat early and were playing around on the top deck and someone was pushed off the side. Minutes later one of the boat employees came storming in the room threatening to cancel the whole party. Being the calm person that I am, I was about ready to punch him in the face but Amanda just apologized repeatedly until he calmed down. Luckily his threats were empty and we did set sail. You can read more about the event and decor here.

Then Patti almost died. It all started when Preston called me while I was at the Harry Potter premiere and said she had cried a few times when he had touched her stomach but then she had stopped. A few days earlier the dogs had escaped from their crate (aka we accidentally left one of the doors open) and got into the trash so we assumed she was just having indigestion from something she had eaten. The next morning she was "fine" (or so we thought) but when Preston got home from work he called to tell me he was taking her to the emergency pet hospital. When he had opened the door Selma had come storming out as always but Patti walked out slowly and when he picked her up he noticed an ugly bruise on her stomach. I had to stop by my aunt's house to pick up something after work and my cousin happened to mention that rat poison had just been put out at the house. I didn't think anything of it until Preston called to say the vet thought Patti had anemia caused by either genetics or, you guessed it, rat poison. Until that moment Preston had told the vet it couldn't be rat poison but as soon as he mentioned it I told him that had to be it. Patti ended up needing a blood transfusion and an overnight stay at the hospital. When she came home she slept for 24 hours straight but now she's good as new! Unfortunately she has not learned her lesson about eating things just because they happen to be on the ground. We might just have to buy pet insurance for Patti. She seems to attract accidents.

I also designed and decorated for the GO! event at my church last weekend which acted as a kick off event for all our church volunteers. It was a challenge because I had a lot of space to cover on a budget and needed to accommodate over 300 people. With the help of several volunteers (which is ironic considering the event was for volunteers) we were able to execute my vision. I was pleased with the outcome and will post pictures on my events blog eventually.

Now I have milestone news to share: we are in the midst of buying our first house! We found a home in Frisco and are closing this week! It all happened a lot quicker than we expected. At first we were going to rent a house or apartment. The problem with an apartment is that taking the dogs to the bathroom is problematic and renting a house seems to be more expensive than owning one. We've heard opinions from both sides, many advising that we don't buy a house, but we decided that if America goes down the drain we're all in trouble anyway so we might as well live the dream while we can. So without further ado, here she is!

We looked for houses for about two weeks before finding this one. Mom had scoured the internet and driven through neighborhoods helping us look since we both work full time. She had actually found one similar to ours that we decided to go see. We weren't too intrigued by our house at first because the pictures online just didn't do it justice. So we went to see the first house which was basically our house but one story and loved it. When we left we planned on going to a development but decided to just drop by our house since it happened to be in the same neighborhood. As soon as we walked in, we knew it was the one. It was the exact same floor plan we had just seen but two story instead and much more space. The curb appeal was adorable and the community pool and park areas were gorgeous so we put an offer on the house the next night and after a little negotiation, they accepted! We are going to be painting and moving in this weekend and will decorate Labor Day weekend. I can't tell you how excited I am!

And last but not least, I got a promotion at Fossil! I am now the Product Coordinator for Leathers Samples and my first week was this past week. My job is to help coordinate Leather samples from inception to our vendors (aka factories) and then back to Fossil for both the Men's and Women's Leather teams. I'm excited to be a part of such an integral part of the design process and especially proud to be a part of a great department. Fossil's leathers department is growing exponentially so I am looking forward to playing a part in it all.

This weekend I was in Abilene helping Morgan move into the freshman dorms and wishing I was headed back to college. Morgan's room doesn't even look like a dorm anymore and she's had visitors from all over the dorm stop by saying "I heard I had to come see this room!" Mom was the brain behind the design but everyone did a great job coordinating and getting things done efficiently. I swear it took me five days to move into my dorm. I guess by the time you get to the fourth kid you've got it all figured out. They started working at about 8am Saturday morning (I showed up around 9am) and didn't stop until dinner but the room only needed a few finishing touches on Sunday. Here are Morgan's before and after pictures...

BEFORE

AFTER

 They have their own coffee station with a Keurig Coffee maker and every variety of coffee you can dream up.

 Morgan's side of the room.

 That couch turns into a futon and they bought it at Walmart! I'm not lying...it's one of the most comfortable couches I have ever sat on.

 One of my contributions to the room. I hung the earrings.

I love this shelf and wish I had one for my pantry! They found it in Abilene at one of my favorite antique shops, It's About Time (cute name right?).

Well, if all goes as planned we should be moving into our new house this weekend! We won't have internet for five days because AT&T is our service provider, so in the words of my husband, "I guess we'll just have to talk to each other."