In all things, Give Thanks

Just wanted to stop in and tell all of you lovely readers to have a Happy Thanksgiving!

order here

I am thankful for

-Jesus who died on the cross for my sins

-my loving husband (and pup too)

-having finally found a church home

-having 2 loving families to celebrate with

-having a new car that is reliable (will post pictures soon)

-having such supportive friends and readers

-a job that I love

and much more!

What are you thankful for? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

I LOVE sweet potato casserole and stuffing!!

Man Caves

I've mentioned before that we currently live in a one bedroom apartment. Don't get me wrong, we love it but sometimes we sit and daydream what we would do with more bedrooms. There's the obvious answers like a guest bedroom or a home office, but Tim's answer is always the same:

Just for fun:

source

Do your husbands/boyfriends want one too? Do they have one? If so, I would love to see pictures.  Tim is already asking for things to go in this "future man cave". So, being a designer I have to find a way to make this space unique.

I am totally not opposed to the idea of a man cave because it allows him to have all of his sports stuff in one place and I won't feel guilty using teal in every other room ;)

I've decided to share with you some man caves that inspire me. Most of these aren't very budget friendly but that just means I'll have to get creative.

Sophisticated

source

source

source

I love the interesting ceilings in these: wood beams, coffers and metallic stain. The sunken seating and "lockers" are unique design features as well.

Sporty

source

source

I had to include these because Tim has requested a digital banner/scoreboard like in the first picture and he has also told me he will cover every inch of the walls like the second picture.

Cozy

source

source

source

I love the dark walls in these and they all happen to have built-ins as well. My man would love that for all of his books!

What do you think? Man Caves- Yay or Nay?

My design inspiration pt.1

Before we get started...I wanted to remind you to link-up to Design in Your Home! It's halfway through November so there is still plenty of time to join in!

Its time that we talked about who inspires Me in the design world. I am always showing you mood boards and telling you my profession is interior design, but what keeps my creative juices flowing (besides Pinterest and Houzz)?

I want to break this up into a little mini series instead of giving you all of them at once. This will also give me lots of time to think about where my inspiration really comes from.

First up....any guesses?

Nate Berkus

He is probably on a lot of people's lists but thats okay with me.

He is pretty well known because of his line at Target but his design goes way beyond that.

He has a design firm- Nate Berkus Associates based in Chicago, IL. Can you say dream job?!

EEK!! Super jealous of those ladies!! Find more pics of their office here

source for photos

His second book The Things that Matter also just came out. That will be on my Christmas list for sure!!

source

Here is what he says about it

The first sentence is my favorite, "I believe your home should tell the story of who you are." This basically sums up why I love designing! It can also correlate to commercial spaces. A workplace should reflect it's branding and the company's goals.

What I like about Berkus design:

• works for both genders
• very good balance of textures/color
• its timeless
• thinks about all of the details

You wouldn't expect Nate Berkus to be my design inspiration because I LOVE color so much but there is just something about it that works and I would be 100% happy if he designed my house. Well...that will never happen but I can just go buy all of his stuff at Target and try to do it myself!!

sourcesource

                        sourcesource

Who inspires you?? Are you excited for the rest of this series?

I went a little Pinterest Crazy....

This weekend...

I went to a Virginia Bloggers event

(picture by Liz @ VA Bloggers)

I got to meet some great new bloggers as well as catch up with some ones I've already met!

Ashley, Robin, Valerie, Me, Liz, Kathy, Christa and Karisa (not pictured)

We had brunch at Water Coastal Kitchen. I got the Ham and Cheese omelet and it was soooo good y'all :)

Tim and I took Artie to the park

It was a beautiful sunny day!!

Went a little Pinterest crazy

I FINALLY made my homemade Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice

It tasted JUST LIKE IT! (cinnamon syrup not pictured)

Heres a better picture!

source

blurry picture of me enjoying the perfect fall drink!! and in my new sweater :) We did some shopping this weekend too!!

I also made something I have been drooling over for a while....

Yup! 

Apple Bacon Gouda Grilled Cheese

source

Are you drooling too? I apparently stopped taking pics of my food after the brunch...

AND

I made Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken for dinner last night!

source

I also made a few more watercolors this weekend! Can't wait to share...

What did you do this weekend? Tackle anything off Pinterest??

Need some Christmas Gift Ideas??

I was so excited to announce about a month and a half ago that I decided to open an Etsy shop. I have enjoyed creating some new ones lately and I wanted to share them with you. I love that each one has it's own unique style! 

If you are looking for an affordable, thoughtful gift for a special someone for Christmas I would love to work with you. You can see below that they make great gifts.

This was our wedding gift to Emily and Tyler. Check out their wedding recap {here} This example also shows what the watercolors look like framed (even though its hard to photograph it with the glare)

This one was ordered as a birthday gift. She wanted it to look rustic so I made it to look like a wood texture.

This one was purchased as a wedding gift. I used a silhouette of their engagement photo and used their peacock themed wedding for color inspiration.

See what people are saying:

I can't wait to share more with you!

Or on an even smaller budget, you can purchase a "digital" print that you can print and frame yourself for $5.

I have added a few more since I last posted. The State prints are very popular. Let me know if you would like me to add your state to the shop!

Also, there are 2 Fall prints to choose from and there will be Holiday ones coming soon!

Dr. Scholl's Active Series VoxBox

After seeing so many other bloggers receiving "VoxBoxes" (box with complimentary goodies for social media fanatics to review) I had to know what all of the hype was about so I joined Influenster. And months later after building up my profile, I was selected for one. I was giddy when I checked the mail and these Dr. Scholl's Active Series Insoles were waiting for me! My first reaction? They are SO cute! The packaging was very clear and it seemed like a high quality product.

What's so special about them?

(information pulled directly from the Dr. Scholls website)

Engineered with Triple Zone Protection:

• Zone 1: Thick ball of foot helps distribute pressure throughout push-off
• Zone 2: Unique arch design improves transition of weight from landing to push-off
• Zone 3: Deep heel cup helps stabilize the heel while absorbing impact with every step

So...what did I think of them?

• Comfortable! They felt kind of strange at first but after a while it felt like I was walking on air. And my feet and legs didn't hurt afterwards
• Stylish. I already mentioned that they are cute but I mean come on...they are pink and match my  tennis shoes perfectly.
• Supportive. I compared them to the original insoles in my shoes and it was a joke. The old ones were flimsy and didn't last long. These were designed for your entire foot. The best part was the arch support though.
• Motivating. Because I feel like I have a new pair of shoes, I am more motivated to exercise more (especially when it gets really cold and I will want to curl up on the couch).

Now I need to get Dr. Scholls insoles for all of my other shoes!!

Where can you get them?

Walmart

CVS

But first...get you a coupon for $4 off!

Wanna know what other influensters are saying about them? Check out their reviews here

Thanks Influenster! I look forward to the next VoxBox!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes!