five years

to the one i love fiercely. to the one who gave new beats in my heart. to the one who doesn't take my bull shit. to the one who loves me no matter what. to the one who takes care of me. to the one who stays up making me laugh when i can't sleep. to the one who thinks i'm sexy in dirty sweat pants. to the one that is my first true love. to the one who gave me my everything. to the one who stays up listening to music until the wee hours of the morning. to the one who makes me smile. to the one who is an amazing father. to the one i love. brian. thank you for the last five years. they have been amazing and i can't wait for a lifetime of years to come. you know my heart and you know my soul. i couldn't ask for more or want for more with you.

you are my love. you are my universe. happy five years baby. 

saturday song: on a sunday

i hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. 

today i dedicate this song to my dad + to brian.

 both who love frank sinatra.

 all great men.

happy father's day. i love you both so much.

a little mexican fiesta

as my 26th birthday approaches (the end of this month, incase you want to send me something *ha) i get into an excited planning mode! i have no problem at all throwing my own birthday party- with brian's help of course. i think i was a party/event planner in another life (maybe a new ten year plan for me?) we have been loving having friends over to our new house, so any excuse to throw a party is a-okay with me! 

a party i have been longing to throw, but have never had the chance is a mexican fiesta! i love being able to decorate with bright, bold colors (perfect for spring!) + if queso + margaritas are involved it would be birthday perfection!

my plan so far is to make spicy pulled pork tacos (if you have a great recipe- please share), guacamole, + queso. easy, right? 

for decorations, i want to make bright colored pinwheels + those huge colorful flowers , to tape behind the food table and out back on the fence. the perfect photo backdrop.

i also love the idea of using cans for the flowers, i might have to head to fiesta mart soon and get some cans of tomatos to start cooking with. 

if you are a reader of Luella + June + follow bradley on instagram, you might have seen her engagement party involving a tequila donkey, this was very inspiring! we will definitely have a tequila + margarita bar at the party. a night at home without kids + without having to drive anywhere, you better believe i'll be having a few drinks to welcome my 26th year. 

now it is time to get creating!

photos via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

eat: breakfast egg muffins

i am not a morning person. 

my morning routine: 

6:45am // alarm goes off

7:15 am // i finally drag myself out of bed

7:45 am // get everything in the car- my school bag + lunch, nate's lunch, backpack, nap mat, + bun bun [the lovable bunny]

8:05 // wake nathan up

8:10 // nathan finally gets out of bed

8:20 // say bye to daddy + out the door

basically i do everything fast + half awake in the mornings. breakfast is typically a banana, yogurt,  english muffins, or a bagel in the car. so, when i found this recipe via easy paleo, we had to try them. any breakfast recipe that is on the go is speaking our groggy-morning language.

grocery list:

1 tbs olive oil

1 large sweet onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper , finely chopped (optional, but we love the spicy)

12 large eggs, whisked

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt

cheddar cheese (optional, we mixed this in at the end)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onions in olive oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add peppers, + continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes. While peppers are cooking, whisk the eggs in a large bowl.  Once onions/peppers are cooked, remove from heat + let them cool for a few minutes.  Dump them into the egg mixture, + stir well, sprinkling in the salt + pepper.

Coat a large muffin pan with oil. Using a 1/4 C measuring cup, fill each muffin cup. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove them once the tops get high, fluffy, + golden brown. 

these have really become our favorite on the go breakfast. 

just pop them in the microwave + enjoy! 

insta-life lately

here is what we've been up to the last two weeks.

keep in mind i have been fighting the sinus villan.

today the weather was beautiful here + dad had the day off. 

we spent the afternoon walking around the lake + feeding the ducks.

some happenings around the house.

 how can you not fall in love with that sleeping little one?

i think i might be the luckiest girl in the world...look at the love between those two. 

some bright colors happening at work lately. well everyday.

a few glimpses at our super bowl party, post to follow. 

i hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

we are really looking forward to Valentine's Day around here.

nathan style

since this is a blog first and foremost for family + friends, 

tuesdays will always be about nathan + more specifically nathan's style.

{fashion, toys, room decor, + anything else nathan might be into}

i am excited to be able to work more on my photography skills with this one. as most tuesdays i will be featuring his actually outfits + actual toys. 

we've been looking at posters for nathan's new room + the hall bath {which will primarily be nathan's bathroom} 

here are a few with wonderful pops of color. 

images via etsy

i have already added these first two to our collection for the hall bath. 

i love the colors + sweet reminders.

images via land of nod

these are just fun, but i'm not 100% on our "theme" for nathan's room yet. 

i do love the graphics though.

*ive been sick the last couple days with a nasty cold {don't you hate being sick in the summer, the heat makes everything worse} + now sweet little is sick too, so forgive me if tomorrow's post is sub-par.

our new home {completed}

what a day i finally cleaned every nook and cranny. 

i organized every stack of stuff in our apartment {you know those organized messes}

this all had to happen to get my mind ready for the school year, moving, + into decorating mode.

i am going to tell you the story of our house again. we are temporarily living in an apartment {moving september 27th} while my dad + i have been remodeling a house he bought. {my dad is flipping houses in his retired life + oh so good at it!}  

we will be the lucky ones who get to rent out this beautiful home!  {i will mention again how amazing my parents are + how extremely thankful we are to be living there}

if you are from dallas, this house is in the neighborhood of lakewood. where i grew up + have so desperately been wanting to get back to!

so this is our beautiful home! i am so excited and counting down the days until we move in {although there is a lot to do in the mean time}

any tips on decorating + furnishing on a budget? i would really love the help.

i will be keeping you in on all the fun stuff {moving + decorating ideas}

now onto my much deserved {at home} date night!

remodel!

so these pictures might be really confusing/ uninteresting to any readers, but to me it is so so exciting and this is my blog so I'm gonna post them...

i will do them in the same order as the originals so that it might make a little bit more sense.

i don't have a new picture of the front, but they widened this wall around the tree so that that ivy with spread out. we also removed bushes and the vines that were randomly in the front by the driveway to widen the drive way. 

the formal living room and dining area are staying the same so no more pictures of those.

our new house!

so the big reveal has come. my dad has retired and has found his new passion in life {flipping houses} he and my mom have so graciously decided to let us rent one of these houses! and on top of all that, i am learning the business and get to be a part of the remodel of this house! i am beyond thrilled and blessed. 

here it is: the house before the owner moved out: it was a mess...stuff everywhere!

{note to reader: i apologize for the quality of photos, they are from my phone}

front of house {and my lovely mother}

upcycled home

lately i have been thinking of all the DIY's i have been slacking on and have decided to share a list of some that i will be completing in the next month or so. these all run in the same circle...UPCYCLING! i am a huge fan of making something yourself at a cheaper price, especially if i can use trash to make something amazing. {literally trash into treasure}

clockwise from top left: painted sticks / chalkboard spice jars / wine bottle glasses / paper wall art / pallet wine rack

okay, so how amazing are all of these great DIY's! i will be doing them and taking pictures of all of my ventures to share with you. which one is your favorite? have you done any up cycling lately?