living for the weekends.

It's been a good one. 

I rushed home Friday from work in hopes of recreating a nice little happy hour spread for Blake and me. Chips, salsa, Jalapeño Ranch (finally got to use my food processor!) and homemade Sangria. 

Blake brought home Chilis, and it was a nice night in. These nights are kinda the best.

My favorite thing about happy hour at the house... no judgement for wearing pajamas. 

 

Saturday, we took Blake's new shotgun and shot it's first shot at the gun range in Irving. I think it's been about 17 years since I've shot a gun and I've never shot skeet before - it was so intimidating.

I like this one. You can see the clay splitting in the air.

picture break!

 Beside the fact that neither of us could say, "pull" (we required a countdown from the boys) I'd say that Hope and I were decent...

Blake's gun pose?

I think I shot about 50%, and I can totally feel it in my arm shoulder today...

That night we got Olivella's next to SMU - so delish.

"The Dream" pizza is my new favorite. Panchetta, tomato, jalapenos, and mozarella. I might be drooling right now thinking of it. Look at their ceiling tiles!

and, their walls!

After pizza we headed to PCPC for a Younglife Caperaum benefit concert with Shane & Shane, Bethany Dillion, and Christopher Williams. It was a sweet night, and their music is beautiful.

Sunday was a lazy day of homemade bread making, crockpot dinner making, and Grey's Anatomy watching. Also, a little bit of reading. I love these Dallas weekends.

computers in quarantine, and a mirror face-lift

Some Friday afternoons your work computer comes down with a life threatening virus and you have to shut it down immediately and place it in quarantine. Some Friday afternoons your amazing boss tells you to just go home, because the world stops spinning when there's no computer at work. Some Friday afternoons you come home to a house where you recently got rid of cable, which leads me to.. some afternoons you just blog.

We have a floor length mirror in our master room that I've been dying to paint practically since we got it. We needed a large mirror, and when we found one for a great price, we just bought it disregarding the color, because I knew a little spray paint could fix anything.

I'm trying to transition the master to a more natural space. Whites, creams, wood-tones and black accents. Also... deep green.  I wanted a matte, dark finish, and I really just couldn't ignore the can of chalkboard paint already in our garage. Free money baby! So I went for it.

brassy huh?

I totally used Blake's old Aggie calendar to shield the mirror from the spray paint. I still don't know if he noticed. 

He will now - eek! 

See the right side? I originally tried to paint it with leftover sample paint and a brush, but the mirror would not grip the paint - and, I'm lazy and didn't want to figure it out - so enter spray paint.

I applied two thin coats and let it dry in between.  

 Now, I'm not totally in love with the chalkboard paint craze, though it seems to be taking over my house, a vase there, a frame here... I do, though, love that it's black, and matte. Love it a lot.  

 We're also trying out a spot for the mirror. I've wanted it here for a while now. It fits perfectly in between the entry door and the closet door. 

 It reflects the light from all our windows just beautifully.

 I couldn't resist.

I'm about to go wipe it off as soon as Blake gets home and sees it. 

I always hear Blake say 'I love you' this way... in those exact words... with the most assuring tone possible, and I like that. 

our first snow!

 

sorry Dallas, that I'm from Houston and that the wonder of snow still amazes me. 

(There have been some cranky office people around now that it's cold --cmon, it's Janurary!)

 

dog in the snow.

 

 dog using the restroom in the snow.

   

 it's just too pretty.

 

 thank you Jesus, and next time could we have a bit more, maybe enough to close the roads to work? 

winky face.

pieces of the master

What do people hang above their beds? These are the serious questions that constantly run through my mind.. normal? not sure, but, it's true. I mean, mirrors are always pretty.. photos? a shelf? art?

Well, here's what is above ours..

This PB ledge was one of our first big married couple purchases, after the couch. I really do love it... and I'm so glad I can still say that after 2 years. That's like a decade in "lauren-decor-for-the-house" years. (I get tired of things prettttty quickly - sorry Blake)

 The left holds three stacks of books with varied heights and colors. Most found in Canton. On top you'll find an Ikea plant and pot, a delicious smelling candle, and a bridesmaid gift from one of my bff's Kate.. it's our engagement photo on a wood block (so cool, how does she think of these things??)

 aw, presh. 

I was looking through these photos the other night, and just thought.... my goodness, we look like babies. It's weird how things change in only 2 1/2 years. 

 Above the ledge I added a personal touch and some art. The left - our place-card from our wedding "Mr. and Mrs. Blake Johnson" and the right - some art that we found in our garage when we moved into this house.... I painted the frame white (it looks much happier), and I just love it now.  

 And finally, the right side. A duck and two lanterns. I pretty sure all of these items were found at Marshalls or HomeGoods. I'm a sucker for anything with a cut-out. And Blake would be the duck-lover. It's sort of perfect. 

The end! Dun Dun Duhhhhh!!!! 

PS. while in Houston this weekend, my mom and I scored at a discount fabric store (they were going out of business) with a whole bolt of this olive fabric for 20 bucks... can you imagine the joy???

My loving and talented mother sewed for me these two beautiful euro shams, and I'm in heaven. 

I want... eventually... to add an upholstered headboard, and an all white duvet cover, and the pièce de résistance, a black and white herringbone bolster/lumbar pillow!!! I can see it now.. and it's lovely :)

auld lang syne.

Well, Christmas is over, and my new 2013 planner is all up to date with birthdays, vacation plans, and the Aggie's upcoming football schedule. I can't believe it's January again.

This upcoming year I only have a few goals that I'd like to accomplish.

One being this little guy. I really do love journaling, I just feel like when I do sit down I end up writing pages upon pages. I think it'll be a good way to stay focused. Focused on what is good, and what is real in day to day life.

The second, watch more movies. I started it off with this.

I can't believe how good this was. When the priest tells Jean Valjean that he also forgot the most important candlesticks was one of my favorite parts. The grace there was just beautiful.  Second movie of 2013 will be....

can't believe I still haven't seen this.

Third on the list, start working on one of these...

minus the whole sister wife thing.

Fourth and last on the list, host a wine and cheese party. This has been on my mental list for about 2 years now, and every time we try to plan it, something comes up. Well, this year, I will have one of these.

I think this year is going to be really, really good.