It's Getting Closer...

No, I'm not talking about the wedding...although that is right around the corner...I am talking about our closing date on our house!  I was talking with the builder this morning and they are shooting to close as soon as the end of June!  That means we will be in our home very very soon!  Thomas and I are chomping at the bit to get in there!  It is going to be such a fun adventure!  Being the person that I am, the part that I am the most excited about is decorating!  I have been looking on blogs, websites, and watching hgtv non-stop lately!  I have so many ideas, but it will take time (especially to make the money to buy all the stuff I want! haha!)  I am planning to go room by room for y'all to see the ideas that I have, and so that I can have a place where I have all my inspiration collected! 

What room am I dreaming of first?  Well, the one that I am the most excited about of course...the SEWING room!!!! 

That's right, I am going to have my own sewing room!  A room that I can decorate with girly stuff and make into my haven for crafts and be my office for Mary Kay.  I am looking so forward to decorating this space!  Initially I thought pink, maybe some green and make it preppy.  But, then I got to thinking about things that inspire me and what the theme of my house will be since I want all my rooms to flow.  My entire home will have a french country/Parisian feel to it.  I have always loved that look since I was young and first got interested in decorating, plus as I have said time and time again...I am obsessed with all things French and/or Paris.  So, my mind went to pink and black, but I felt that was way too literal with the whole Paris thing and had the tendency to be too "girly girl" and young instead of sophisticated, which is how I really want it to feel. My absolute favorite "modern" movie is Marie Antoinette, which inspires me to no end and will be the inspiration for my sewing room.  

Are these photos not inspiring!!! So, how will I get this feel? Obviously, that is Versailles, not a townhouse in Georgia, so gilded molding is not in my plans. I honestly am not 100% sure yet how to get this feel and not go over the top (well, too over the top! haha) My plan is to paint the room blue and put up crown molding that will be painted white. I have also contemplated painting one wall stripes of blue and white. If that doesn't come to fruition, my plan is striped drapes (more likely). Dupioni silk, shades of ivory striped drapes. Gorgeous right? I want a chandelier. A pretty white one with crystals on it! I want feathers, maybe arranged in a vase. I want a settee (if there is room, if not an ornate chair), and I want damask, and patterned pillows. I have inherited a beautiful gold antique mirror from my grandmother (who got it from her Aunt I believe, who purchased it as an antique). It is so dear to me that my Nanny gave this to me, and I think the sewing room will be the perfect place to keep it! It will bring in the gilded look! I also plan to have floating shelves with some graphic prints of scissors, or maybe french ladies in dresses propped up along with some other cute knick knacks (which will be a work in progress I am sure) In addition, I have a oak looking desk right now from Target. I contemplated painting it, but it is mission style and will not work. I want to find a desk with great lines and a bookshelf to refinish. I would love to find something that needs work that I can fix up and paint.

This room will be a work in progress obviously.  Thomas and I don't even own the basic essentials like a broom or a mop, so this will be done a little at a time when I have money to devote to this project.  It will likely be the room that I work the hardest on at first because it is a room that I get to pick everything on and make to fit me and my taste.  I am so looking forward to getting my hands on that room!  What do y'all think?  What kind of ideas do you have for me? 

P.S. all the dresses from yesterday were from Modcloth.com.  And I would love love love to make dresses for people and sell them on etsy.  Maybe one day....awhhh (cue day dreaming)

Inspiration

I have been sewing A LOT lately!  I have a post I am trying to get together with all the things that I have made, but until then I wanted to share some of the inspiration I have found lately.  I have just recently stumbled across Modcloth, and there are some really cute things at reasonable prices!  I am tempted to order one or two of those cute dresses for my honeymoon, but my closet is currently bursting at the seams and I am determined not to pay for things anymore that I can make (t-shirts, undies, pjs, and the like are not included in that!)  Here are some of the things I have been inspired by lately (and one or two I would like to recreate!).

Ruffles by littleladybug706 featuring a one shoulder cocktail dress

It's All In the Details by littleladybug706 featuring a button front dress

Summer Dreamin' by littleladybug706 featuring a floppy beanie hat

What inspires you in your fashion decisions? 

Work Bridal Shower

On March 30, I had my first Bridal Shower. It was hosted by my boss Pat and my team leader Julie. I had such a great time, and my co-workers were beyond generous. It was such a nice shower!

Mama and me before the shower

Me with the hostesses

Me with my dear friend Amy

Me and Ashton

Me and my work bestie Ashley...she's planning her October wedding right now!

Thomas and I posing by the beautiful cake

The cake!  It was made by the lady who is also making our wedding cake. 

The centerpieces that Pat made to perfectly match the tablecloths and plates...she is such a good planner!

Pat saying some sweet opening words

Playing games

Walking down the aisle 

What a pretty bride! :)  haha!  I named him the winner! 

About 3/4 of the gifts!  My co-workers were so generous!!! 

 

This was such a fun shower!  I am so appreciative to the sweet ladies who hosted it and the guests who really helped Thomas and I get ready for marriage.

Graduation!

Thanks for the support the other day girls!  I am now onto happier posts and starting a NEW chapter of my life!!!  I am beyond excited!!!  I have had all of these very exciting and happy things coming up for a while now, but it never really felt real until now.  On Saturday, I became an alumni of Armstrong Atlantic State University's Economics Department!  It's official...I am done with school!!!!  I am so happy, and so excited, but also a little sad.  I hate goodbyes, and even My absolute favorite memory from college would have to be Dr. McGrath's doughnut rule. No one really quite remembers how this one started...or maybe I just don't...but Dr. McGrath would ease up on his strict tardiness policy if you brought Krispy Kreme doughnuts to class when you were late.  It certainly was started by one of the students who got the idea when they were running late.  Dr. McGrath would lock the door when he came in, and unless you held the Krispy Kreme box up to the little pane of glass, he would not unlock it for you to come in.  Ordinarily this wouldn't be a big deal, but Dr. McGrath's classes were hard and necessary to come to if you wanted to pass.  We ended up with doughnuts all the time too!

College is a fun and wonderful time in your life!  I had a somewhat different type of college experience as I didn't join a sorority or go off to college (unless you  count the one semester I went to Georgia Southern University, but I came back after that semester to live at home).  I also worked the job as a co-op student for three years at the place where I will work and doing a lot of the same work I will do after college.  No matter what you experience is...very traditional or a little different...you meet so many people, you learn so much and see different ways of looking at the world, and you really find yourself.  I have wished away these years so many times because I was ready to be married and working (especially since Thomas was basically done and I was already working in my career workplace).  However, at the end of the day I will always look at these years with a smile.  I am moving on to bigger and better things, but these years really did teach me a lot and prepare me for the future in a lot more ways than just having a diploma. 

Getting my diploma!

I was pumped!!!

The family minus my brother Jason and his wife Danielle who were holding our table for us at the restaurant.  My brother Jeremy came in from L.A. to see me graduate and is coming again next month for the wedding.  I was really appreciative of that.

I graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors (only like 0.02 from Summa which did slightly aggravate me!) and the stole, tassels, and medal I wore are for being a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

A Heart to Heart...

Hi all!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring!  I have blogged very little in the past few months.  I feel like I owe my readers an explanation of sorts, but I really can't give you one exactly.  I have had a lot on my mind and everytime I sat down to blog, all I could think of what the personal stuff I have been dealing with that isn't stuff I want to share on the internet.  I couldn't possibly sit down to write about my home decor ideas or the newest Lilly line when I had things that overshadowed that on my mind.  I am one to have my heart on my sleeve.  When I am upset, everyone knows it.  I don't blog to try to project my life as perfect, and I am more than willing to be honest that things are not always sunshine and rainbows in my world.  I think those who have been with me for any amount of time know that about me.  I have so much to be thankful for and I have a wonderful life, but even though, I have things that go on and happen that are not perfect and happy and honestly are not things you broadcast on a public blog.  That is cryptic and not much of an explanation, I know.  Just know that my life is happier than it has ever been.  I am marrying the love of my life, I am graduating from college, I am starting my career and I feel like its a dream job, and I am building a house in my hometown.  I am healthy, my family and friends are healthy, I really have a wonderful life and in the grand scheme of things I have really learned about what is really important through all of this. 

I have learned a valuable lesson through this particular issue that I have been dealing with too though.   Just because everything looks perfect on the outside though, it doesn't mean everything really is perfect.  I have looked at so many people, people I know personally and people I see in the blogworld, and think, "Wow, they have it all together.  They have a perfect life.  They are so lucky.  I wish my life could be as wonderful as theirs."  You know what I have learned...it's not!  No one has a perfect life.  Every single person has something in their life they wish was a little different.  It may be a big thing that we don't know about, or it may be small...doesn't matter...every single person has something that makes them feel like they don't have it together and that so and so has a better life than them.  I am not saying here that I thought my life wasn't as good as those bloggers I see, or people I personally know, or anything like that.  I am just saying that I have learned this from this particular thing I have been dealing with.  I knew it was true, but sometimes it takes certain situations to really make you learn a lesson that you already thought you knew.  Anyway, this is my somewhat cryptic explanation about where I have been.  This blog is my journal, but it is only going to function so much as that when it is a public blog.  I have recently thought about creating a private blog, or possibly a quitting blogging in general, but I really love blogging and I really enjoy the community.  I am here to stay, whether that means a post once a month, or once a day, I don't know, but I am not going anywhere.  I really appreciate all of you readers that have stuck in here with me and I hope to be able to get back to my old blogging self...home decor, sewing, fashion, all of it.  Thanks for hanging in there and understanding. 
Love to all of you, Jennifer