Loving lately

Here we go again!!! :) The time has come when we are building anew and I'm DYING to itch my home decor scratch. There's not much I adore more than popping around looking for home decor items. Ode to having a blank check. Or winning the lottery. Things I'm saving away in the piggy bank for {Le sigh}.

Hellloooo perfect front porch swing/bed!!!! {drool} I would need pried off of this thing + my stack of books.

And this round mirror? Perfection!

New wall art layout for living room....

And these entry way lights?! Pinch me! 

I saw this round table at the home show and have been pining for it ever since. Round tables are rare. Rustic clock round tables?! I die.

Hurry hurry hurry...... February! 

Xoxo,

Andi 

Scenes from the Weekend! {Chicago}

Last weekend we went to Chicago for my dear friend Amy's Big Day. She married her sweetie, Dave, and they are quite the match. I adore the story of how people met, and there's is on the top of my favorites list. In short, Amy is always late. She ran out the door and barely made her train, while living in Chicago, so her hair was wet and her make up was applied once she made her train. While she was putting on her make-up she noted to herself to set an earlier alarm for future train hotties because the guy sitting across from her was incredibly cute. Amy is the furthest thing from shy, so she outed herself and said something witty like "of course I'd look like hell the day I'm sitting across from you". Dave is an IT guy, aka a bit alot more introverted than Amy and replied with something that didn't send signals to Amy that he was biting. They had playful banter back and forth and off Dave went when he reached his stop. Well, fate was in their corner as that very same night after work Amy & Dave went to a music venue with colleagues and ran into each other AGAIN. All the venues in Chicago, all the places to go, all the people and BOOM. This time Dave asked for her number, they chatted a bit as friends for a few months as he was in a relationship at the time (hence him being a gentlemen and not making a pass on the train) and when that fell through, in swooped Amy. Insert, happily ever after. People spend hours planning hot outfits for nights on the town for the hope to meet someone when 9 times out of 10 the love stories I know are of those connections made when least expected. Love it.

 

Their wedding venue was SO THEM. They are an artsy duo that's a bit granola, very loving & close to their family and friendships. They are huge music junkies which is always a plus. I may or may not have had a 'Van Morrison, Into the Mystic' moment to their First Dance song by Ryan Adams and cried. True story. Me, cry? Thatdoesnthappenoften. It reached right into my soul and got me.

 

 They got married at Salvage One which will do 0 justice if I try to explain it, but I'll try. It's off the beaten path, in what looks to be a run down warehouse. You walk in and it's all open with unique art pieces and furniture. It's dark, candle lit and swanky and when you step outside there's romantic gardens and cobblestone paths with fountains and more artwork. It really was unlike anything I'd ever seen, I loved it. The food & music were fantastic and the dance floor was bumpin. Weddings are not only wonderful as you witness your best of friends love for one another, but it's SO FUN to reconnect with old friends from allover. Insert, my old roomie Kelly. A weekend spent with him was just what the doctor ordered.

 

We had a great Saturday brunch, rainy day movie date, and strolled around seeing some of B's favorite spots from when he lived there during his Masters studies at Loyola University. 

Fantastic time had by all. Cheers to Dave and Amy, we wish you all the happiness in the world you lovebirds.

 

 

xoxo,

Andi

New Build Design Center-- check!

As much as moving and building again stresses me out, I will admit that I absolutely LOVE to decorate and plan the new builds. This time, we get a second shot at doing what we didnt do the first time or changing what we disliked. For the most part, we were really happy with the way our last build came together (it probably didn't hurt that we weren't there long enough to hate anything). We did however, complain about having carpet on the first floor with our dogs and wanted to make those wood throughout, as well as have a bigger master shower. We previously did a tub/shower combo but the shower was pretty narrow. So narrow that if I didn't want to wash my hair I had to put on a shower cap because it was gettin wet regardless! This house we are currently building, we did away with the soaking tub. I mean lets face it, I wish I had more time to drawl a bubble bath and pour some red but the reality is, I enjoy my nice long steam showers on the reg. So this time we did a big vanity walk in shower + sitting bench and called it a day. There's a guest tub if I'm ever feeling the need to Epsom Salt ;)

 

We also added a mud room off the garage with built -ins for the 'drop all area' and put the laundry room all the way upstairs vs. off the main floor hallway. We added stone up the fireplace wall to ceiling instead of doing the tile surround, and we picked a home with a front porch vs the last one which had none. The part that I'm looking forward to the most is the Craftsman details. We made some changes to the existing front door option, the porch posts and the garage to give it that Craftsman 'feel'.  I know I previously mentioned everything is brick in this town and we wanted to stand out a bit from all of the rest. I figure if I dont like the brick, at least that's offset with my 'dream home' details which are Crafstman. We did the Crafstman porch posts in white instead of' Colonial Round' as they are naturally designed, and added the windows and hardware to the garage doors as well as put in a door with a ledge and windows all around to tie it all together. It's really difficult to invision an entire home coming together based on the mere samples they show you at the design center but we did our best. We went completely left field and picked a brick we haven't seen on a home in this area (most are red brick or orange/brown brick) and we picked a white washed multi tone color mixed with earth colors and did a shake siding that I'm hoping to G turns out ok. It looks great with the brick but isn't a color I'd pick otherwise- think sage/taupe. Here's a pick of the brick color and the darkest color will be the sides/back of the home. The pic below shows the colors together with the black shutter tone and white garage/post color all tied together. You can see what a small idea in a brightly lit studio we had to go off of.

{Oh hey hottie. How cute is my Hubba Dub?! Luckily he comes with the house}

We picked really dark brown wood floors and tall white baseboards. The kitchen choices we went with were all white as well (even though the last house we had a dark granite contrast, this one I'm thinking all white as we now have a dark floor as contrast). Some pics I used for 'Pinspiration' are below.

 

 

 

This house has an eat in kitchen off the kitchen, before the sliding doors to the back yard, so I'm thinking of designing a built in off to the side like this one to still give us room to move & let dogs out, etc. Love. this. look.

 

 

Here are some of the craftsman front doors I love! Ours will be black to start with, but I may get fancy and pant it bold like the one below since the exterior is overall very neutral. It will however have the unique ledge and windows above and on the side.

 

 

 

 

Ugh, is it February yet? I cannot wait to see the final product.

 

 

 

xoxo,

Andi

 

Wedding Season!

Fall is my favorite season, and one that I always wanted as our wedding date. We ended up settling for Spring vs. waiting a wasted extra 6 months for Fall, just to have foliage, and it worked out just fine. Fall tones, rustic elements, crisp perfect weather & a caramel candy apple or homemade jam to go? Total bonus!

My sister in law, Paige, got married last Friday in Columbus. What started as a beautiful sunny day, turned into a shit storm of an afternoon {I'm talking total torrential}, but then cleared up after the full Catholic mass ceremony just in time for her reception. I was pretty relieved as I was certain we may have kicked off a rainy wedding day 'A' family tradition. Luckily, that wasn't the case. I wish I would have snapped some pics of the rustic centerpieces (large votive candles with different texture lanterns). Some were old barnwood material, others chicken cage wires mixed with some that were roped. I loved them! The flowers were all neutral toned roses stacked in mason jars, and their favors were my favorite; carmel & nut candied apples! Also, we lucked out with some extra "Spread the Love" jam to try out. It was delish! Some pics of the amazing day & absolutely breath taking bride......

 

Stunning

MOH

all the 'Sisters'

The Ceremony at Sacred Heart Church in downtown Columbhs where my MIL's parents got married many years ago. Vicki had doves released post ceremony when they were announced. They nearly took of everyone's heads & grasped onto the church bricks for dear life, but it was a great idea. Apparently they just fly home to follow & are used for weddings all the time. Cute touch that I haven't ever seen before. 

Vows

Husband & Wife

White Doves

The Brothers!

The after party was a BLAST! Paige and her Dad did a choreographed dance that had a surprise handstand (even took some walking steps, Go Jimmy) and everyone danced the night away. The MOH wipped out some tamborines when the party got started and made for a dance craze (B has bruises on his thighs). Paige didnt even stop to pee all night. I've never seen a bride dance the ENTIRE night away. It was a really fun wedding.

The Cousins

Cousin Maggie

DeSales buds

The sparkler send off

I hope they had the time of their lives & it was all they dreamed of and more. Here's to 100 years, you love birds! Enjoy Peru.

 

 

Lutmers!

Xoxo,

Andi