Doing What's Right For Us...

Good afternoon ladies - I hope you're having a great week so far - and it's already almost time for the weekend - hell yeah! Is it just me or have days/weeks been flying by lately? Anyway... today I wanted to write a somewhat personal post, not just to get your wonderful opinions, but it's good for me to write about my problems to get it out of my system, and sometimes reading back what I wrote helps me realize my own ridiculousness. So here goes...
I'm sure you're all aware of the phrase - keeping up with the Joneses. The hubby and I have been having a big "keeping up with the Joneses" crisis lately.  When we moved here to Franklin, TN we knew the cost of living was a lot higher than in Indy and buying a house would take a lot of discipline on our part in terms of saving money. We've been spending a lot of our time researching areas in the city to live, looking at home prices, comparing neighborhoods and we're slowly coming to realize that we aren't going to be able to afford the big beautiful home in the big beautiful neighborhood. At least not now... 
If you've ever visited this area (and I'm hoping some TN girls can vouch for me here) you know that the homes here are amazing, and it's extremely hard not to get caught up in looking at these houses and feeling ashamed and envious that we can't swing that kind of mortgage payment. So instead of feeling down all the time and worrying about what we don't have or what we can't do,  I've been trying to change my thinking from - I want a dream house that everyone will be envious of  to all that matters is that we make the right and comfortable decision for us. 
We need to be happy that we can afford a house of any kind and that we have our health and happiness. Just because we won't be purchasing our dream home, doesn't mean we aren't successful. Being satisfied and content is sometimes difficult when you allow your mind to roam, but at the end of the day, as long as I can say that I live my life to fullest, can pay all my bills on time, I'm nice and fair to people and am proud of myself and my husband - then that's all we need. :)

Have any of you found yourself in this situation and how did you handle it?

Oh, How Pinteresting...Summer Hair

Happy Wednesday ladies! It's time to link up with Michelle from The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday! This is week is all about hair.  I decided that I'm going to try and grow my hair out this year and see where it takes me, if I end up not liking it, I can always give it a little chop chop. With this in mind, I've been scouring Pinterest for cute summer hair looks that will keep my hair out of my way and leave me not feeling super hot in the sizzling Tennessee sun. 
Here are some of the looks I'm currently in love with...

What are you planning on doing with your hair all summer??

Oldies but Goodies

Good Morning lovely ladies - hope your day is going great so far! Today for "Blog Everyday in May" with Jenni, the topic is to share some of my favorite past posts that are on my blog. I've had my blog for a year and a half so far and I've had a ton of fun writing each week - here are just some of my favorite posts that I've shared with you in the past...

Wedding Ring Question

Learning to Accept Yourself...

My Sunburst Mirror!

Makeup Essentials

A "Grown Up" Wardrobe

My Top 5 Etsy Shops

My First Vlog!

And of course, my thoughts go out to everyone involved in the Oklahoma tornado tragedy, I hope they all find comfort very soon.

Weekend DIY Project - Memo Board

Good Morning ladies - hope your weekend was fantastic! Mine was great - the hubby and I went out to  dinner, the farmers market, took the dog to the park, and my friend "S" and I went to the movies and saw The Great Gatsby - which was amazing!!  
I also squeezed in a quick DIY project. I've been wanting something to hold greeting cards - we don't have much kitchen counter space to display cards, so a memo board was the best bet for us. It only took about an hour from start to finish, so I thought it would be fun to share with you. I was able to pick up everything I needed at Target and I had some left over fabric from the wreaths I've been making. 
Supplies you will need...

A 16x20 frame - or you can use any size you prefer

A glue gun and scissors

Pack of wooden clothespins

Fabric of your choice - I decided to go with 2 different kinds 

Assembling your memo board...

I took the back off the frame - all you really need is the shell of the frame

I cut the fabric in strips and started making a Z - attach the ends with hot glue to the frame

Here is how the back looks when it's finished 

Finishing touches...

Here is how the memo board looked before adding cards

And it's finished!

I love how it turned out!

The total cost of this project was...

Frame - $12.99

Clothespins - $3.99

Fabric - $2.00

Total = $18.98

If you have any questions about this project - please let me know! :)

My Favorite Picture

YAY! It's finally Friday! I'm excited for a nice and relaxing weekend with the hubs! We are also trying a BBQ place here in town that I'm so excited about because I've heard nothing but great things about it :) Today I'm getting back into "Blog Everyday in May" with Jenni at Story of My Life. The topic is - a favorite picture of me and why.
I had a few pictures in mind, but here is the one I ultimately picked...

This picture is from my wedding day - right before we left to go to the actual wedding. My hair and makeup were done and I was ready to get the show on the road! The reason this is my favorite is because A. It wasn't a planned shot B. My hair and makeup turned out how I planned and C. It was right before I became a married woman! There were a lot of things I was looking forward to when this picture was snapped - getting married, our honeymoon, buying a house soon, and getting back to our sweet dog, who at the time was a little puppy! I love looking at this picture and thinking how I had no idea all the great things that would happen in the coming years :)

Happy Friday!

Getting Crafty!

Happy Thursday everyone - hope your week is fantastic so far! Today I want to share something fun with you, especially since my post was a little depressing yesterday... 
One of my best friends from college lives here in Nashville, she has been here for several years and was a big part of the reason we decided to move here - a great friend, support system, and tour guide for the city! I will call her "S" for privacy purposes :)
Any who... we love to go thrift shopping and doing crafty things on our down time. Luckily, S found this adorable place in Spring Hill (a suburb of Nashville) called Vintage 615 Antique and Vintage Market. This market allows people to rent booth-like spaces where they can bring in their own creations to sell. S jumped at the chance for us to get a spot! We both have been working like crazy to get things ready for our booth, which is called, The Vintage Raven. 
Last time I was there I snapped a picture of our booth so far...

I love making wreaths and fun rosette items, so that's my task for the booth! Here are some of the items I've made so far - I'm so excited to drop these off at the booth to see what people think!

Wreath #1

Wreath #2

3 cute burlap cosmetic bags - with rosettes added

Little 3 packs of rosette pins 

Here are the rosette pins from the back...

I have also been scouring Etsy and Pinterest for new craft ideas and here are some of my favorite pictures - I can't wait to get going on making some items similar to these!

I can't wait to share what else I make with you!