Haley and Dan Tie the Knot!

So, it has taken me way too long to finally sit down and blog again after all of the wedding festivities over the weekend! That's right, these two lovebirds (my sister Haley and now brother-in-law Dan) tied the knot Saturday, July 19, 2014:

After all of the planning and preparation, everything went perfectly, and everything was gorgeous, from the dresses to the flowers, to the decor.

(Photo by Ashley Biess of Artistrie Co.)

The weather was also perfect. It was sunny but there was a light breeze. The wedding weekend was a busy one - we stayed in Moline at the hotel Friday and Saturday night. Friday we decorated the reception hall, later that night was the rehearsal at the church, then the rehearsal dinner at Cafe Fresh in Moline. Saturday was of course the wedding, and Sunday we cleaned up and watched Haley and Dan open their gifts.

(Photo by Ashley Biess of Artistrie Co.)

The ceremony was short and sweet and just as rehearsed. I was pretty nervous to walk down that aisle but made it through without a hitch!

The reception was at the University Club and it was a great time. Everyone had a blast, and we all danced the night away. I really think the dance floor was full the entire time!

The toasts were all awesome. Jess and Krista (Haley's maids of honor and her best friends) both gave really sweet, teary-eyed speeches, and Dan's brother Corbin gave a both sweet and hilarious, thoughtful speech that included an actual speedo. It was pretty hands-down the best Best Man speech ever.

 (Photo by Ashley Biess of Artistrie Co.)

I felt extremely lucky to be a part of my sister's special day, and cannot wait for Trent and I's wedding next year. I definitely have a lot to live up to. Of course we're going the more untraditional route, a smaller, outdoor wedding. (fingers crossed for good weather). 

We're getting more and more into the planning process, and things are starting to roll. I hope it turns out just as perfect as Haley and Dan's did.

Bring in the Drama! Leo-Inspired Decor

This post was fun to put together! Leos (July 23 - Aug. 22) are the drama queens of the Zodiac. The symbol is the Lion, the element is Fire, and the ruling planet is the Sun. It doesn't get hotter than that! From Astrology.com - Leos are creative types that love being the center of attention. They are outgoing and born leaders who have ambition and a drive to succeed. 

It comes as no surprise that when choosing my decor picks for this sign, I went for drama. Purples and golds, animal prints, and elements inspired by lions, fire, and even the sun - Sunburst mirrors, anyone? Here are my decor picks, inspired by the Zodiac sign, Leo:

 

Sources, from top to bottom: 1) Lion print from Society6 2) Chairs found on Luella & June 3) Eames chair on 1stDibs.com 4) Gold lion head from Etsy 5) Mirror from Z Gallerie 6) Leopard print lamp found on Pinterest 7) Gold votives from Z Gallerie 8) Crowned lion head on Keep.com.

And just for fun, here's a room that fits the elaborate style and drama of a Leo:

(Image from here)

What do you think? A little much for me, but there are several elements I would love to set against a more soothing, neutral backdrop as accent pieces!

Dirty Dog (and the side yard)

What do you get when you mix a few rainy days, some dirt, and a side yard that needs lots of love? Apparently you get a pretty dirty dog.

The east side of the yard (where our foundation wall was rebuilt) still had lots of leftover pieces of brick and backfill from the foundation work. So on a nice day, we finally got to work cleaning it up. Trent even gave Saleen a bath earlier that day. Unfortunately, that didn't last, as Saleen enjoyed rubbing her face in the dirt there very much.

Nonetheless, after we picked up a lot of the bigger leftover pieces of brick, concrete, etc. from before the winter, Trent ran over the whole side yard with the tiller and leveled it out a little more.

The foundation crew had removed some of our landscaping bricks from the garden bed, so those were also put back into place.

A few of the larger brick pieces from the old foundation even had to be dug out of the ground, as they had gotten buried in the backfill.

After it was all tilled and more leveled out, we had quite the dirt-filled side yard.

The plan now is to lay down rock along the side of the house (like we did on the other side, but not with all of the additional landscaping), and plant grass seed back where it was before. Eventually all of the siding will have to be ripped off and redone here, since the foundation wall was not done correctly and there is a huge gap between the foundation wall and the siding. See that wood peaking out from under the siding? That's not supposed to be showing at all. Those are the THREE sill plates that they put on to fill in the gap, because the foundation wall was built too low, and we needed this side of the house raised. So this is what we have to work with! We have a long road ahead of us with this project, that's for sure!

Bedroom Shelves...Still a Work in Progress

As you might know, a few months ago, Trent started a small building project - a shelving unit for the bedroom. You can see more about when he first started this project here (Back in April!), a little about why we need more bedroom storage here, and the last Shelf update here. 

He has been trying to work on this every week or so, but several factors have affected the progress of building it - like tons of rain, working all the time, and the fact that it is quite heavy and takes both of us to carry it outside just to work on it. 

He has made progress though, slowly but surely...all of the trim pieces have been added to the front, and as you can see, he tested some stain in one of the sections. It will be a darker stain color, to match the rest of the bedroom wood. You can also see all of the wood putty to cover up the imperfections, like the seams and where the trim was attached.

He's been sanding this wood putty (which is stainable), to get it smooth and blend in with the rest of the wood. All that is left now is a little more sanding, then stain!

Here he is with the electric sander in action:

I'm hoping this project will get done sooner than later, as we definitely need more bedroom storage! It will be much nicer when all of Trent's clothes are organized! ;)

Planter Box Update

So it has definitely been too long since I've shared an update, but the weather lately has been fantastic! This is why I love summer! We've been outside working on lots of little projects lately, and have even been busy getting materials and starting on the basement...the next step in getting the living room and kitchen level.

Our 4th of July was pretty laid back this year - we just stayed around here, no Lake Geneva trip this year! We did see fireworks last Friday night and had a pretty fun weekend all-around.

I thought I'd share today a quick little makeover I did on my planter boxes. You may remember my Produce planter boxes I got from Joss and Main last summer:

Well...this year, they weren't looking so hot....(neither were my flowers at this point, by the way)

I only put two out this year, but they were noticeably faded, and looking very rustic! Not intentionally, though. And it wasn't really the look I was going for. Granted though, if I turned them around, they weren't as bad:



But still, I would much rather have a bright pop of color instead of the distressed look. Our porch floor already has that look going for it, unfortunately.

Enter a small paint pot I got free with a coupon at Lowe's:

You've seen them there, right? Maybe you've even picked one up yourself? I think they're like $2 or $3 normally, but there are coupons from time to time in various Home and garden magazines. They're handy for little projects like this one. This color was called Indigo Cloth, by Valspar.

I started by cleaning the outsides of my planter boxes with a wet rag, and rubbing off the rest of the label that was still there. It seemed to just be a sticker/paper-like label and came off pretty easily.

Once all surfaces were clean, I painted on the blue.

I only really gave them one good coat. Then just touched up some of the thinner areas.

And I had me some bright blue planters!

I ended up also getting a few new flowers to replace the dead ones in there:

I went with a patriotic, red white and blue theme. :)

I got some more petunias, which I like because they're pretty easy to keep alive, and some red Celosia. I have really grown to like those things! My hot pink ones have done really well this year, and these red ones are pretty cool looking - kind of like fire.

I can't wait to redo that front porch floor, but for now my planter boxes look a lot better now!

My flowers that are in the larger round planters have been doing really well this year. As you can see, I kind of have a red theme going on!

These red flowers have been doing the best out of all of them:

They're apparently called Salvia. I'll have to remember that for next year, because these babies are nearly out growing the pot at this point.

So that's it for now...Maybe I will be back tomorrow with a Shelf Update for you! ;)

The Firepit Gets New Life

Is everyone excited it's almost the 4th? Happy Fourth of July a little early! Woo-hoo for a 3-day weekend! Last year around this time, we were headed to Lake Geneva, WI for the weekend. This year it looks like we'll be hanging around here, and hopefully enjoying a Fireworks show or two!

I just wanted to post a quick update today, that is actually home improvement related! I know, it's been a while! It's a small update, but sometimes even the littlest improvements can seem like milestones when it's been SO long since a project has actually been completed! 

Today Trent gave our two-year-old outdoor firepit a little love. Here he is in action.

It was looking a little worn and rusty. Wish I had a decent before picture to show you... but it definitely needed a fresh coat of paint. We used Rustoleum's High Heat Ultra spray paint:

Here's what the sides of the firepit looked like before, to give you a bit of an idea how much this guy needed an update:

Trent actually laid out all of the pieces on a large, old board, then did a few touch-ups later:

Now it's as good as new and shiny as ever! All thanks to a little paint. It was also fast-drying, so it took close to no time at all.

We're ready to enjoy some more fires on the patio now!