Back to it...I hope!

Hello, all! I have decided to start the blog back up. I'm really hoping I can keep up with it this time. Am I the only one that has difficulty keeping a blog running consistently for more than a few months?

Anyway, I'm right in the middle of interterm-a month long semester in the middle of the traditional fall and spring semesters. I have a little more time now than I usually do since I am only in class for a few hours a couple days a week and I rarely have homework. I thought this would be a good time to try to get back on top of this thing!

I've decided to focus more on just my day-to-day life rather than having a specific topic or theme that I write about. I think that will make it easier to always have material and be most interesting to my readers (since most of them are family and friends that see us rarely).

Thanks for reading and for starting this journey with me...again!

A few of my favorite things!

I was recently browsing Pinterest (shocker, huh?) and saw a thing about throwing a "favorite things"party. It looked like such a cute idea! Here is the premise: invite a handful of people over and instruct them to purchase one of their favorite things (set a price limit) to share with the group. Go around the room and share what you've brought and hand them out to the other guests so that each guest leaves with the same set of items. Am I making sense? Anyway, I think this would be such a fun girl's night! Hey local friends, be looking for invites soon :)
It got me thinking that it would be fun to do some semi-regular posts featuring my favorite things so that I could "share" them with my readers!
So...drum roll...here is the first installment of My Favorite Things!!

Bedhead Headrush has been one of my favorites since 8th grade when I would steal my mom's (sorry, Momma!). Just spray it on after you're done styling and it adds shine and takes away static and frizz. It's super light so it never feels like you sprayed anything in your hair and it's never weighed down or greasy. And it smells so good, too! A 5.3oz bottle runs about $15 and will last you quite some time! I got a bottle last Christmas and it still feels like a full bottle.

What are some of your favorite things?

Summer Patio

It is finally feeling like summer outside and with that comes my urge to sit outside, eat outside, play outside, read outside, sleep outside...you get the picture. The neighbors in our duplex were recently on a vacation and they let us borrow their bistro set. We ate on it a couple times and lounged outside after our girly went to bed a handful of times. We really enjoyed it so we decided we want to invest in a patio table of our own. There are some really affordable 3 piece bistro sets at Target. I like a couple of them but after online window shopping I'm starting to think a more full sized table would be fitting for us. So, because I am who I am, I went straight to the moodboard! Here is what I've come up with.

I've been wanting to make a sunshade using this tutorial for a while now. I love the french feeling of the black and white stripe. I would add outdoor pillows in coral and light blue as accents. And, of course we would have our grill and plants. My husband is planning on making a screen for us to put at the far end of our patio to kind of separate us from the close driveway of our neighbors. We want to put a string of lights in a kind of v-shape from the patio to the back porch. I put paper lanterns in the moodboard but I think I would like the simplicity of good ole twinkly string lights.
Well, now it's on a moodboard-ready to make it a reality! We'll see...!

Exactly...

Being Lovely

A while back, I talked about what I think it means to Be Lovely. I talk about how loveliness has to do with surrounding ourselves with beauty, filling our minds with good things but being able to take the bad when it comes, and loving who we are inside and out. In my blog title, it says, "Setting the stage for a life full of all things lovely", but what am I really writing about that is setting a stage for anything? So, here is the rundown of the topics my blog will be covering and how they contribute to holistic loveliness.

Family and Motherhood-The most important job I have and the loveliest, at that. Being a wife and a mother is very fulfilling but can be trying at times. I'll talk about the joys, the challenges, and share tidbits or products that I find. This will also include yummy recipes.

Mental Health and Psychology-This is my passion. Don't worry, folks: I won't lecture or share any rambling journal articles-just interesting findings or tips to live a happy and healthy life.

Interior Design-My hobby. As I said earlier, part of living lovely is surrounding yourself with beauty-however you interpret that. I'll share my journey to make my home and the home of loves into a beautiful place.

Books, Music, Movies-What goes in, will come out. I have always felt at my best when I've been reading, writing, listening to good music, and treating myself to comfy socks and a movie.

Spirituality-This is the core piece to who I am. I am on my own journey so I'm not going to preach or act like I have all the answers.

I feel like I've been on this train before, so I apologize if this seems repetitive-it's probably because it is. I just want to clearly map out the purpose of this blog for the readers and for myself.

Thank you for continuing to read during all my weird transitions!
Be Lovely!!

Grown Up Grilled Cheese...Yumm

Normally, Tuesdays will be reserved for a recipe run-down. My plan is to bake or cook something delish on the weekends, photograph the process, and write about it for posting on Tuesday. But, because the 3D living room was such a process and didn't go up until this morning, I'll be doing a mini post today.
Today's recipe comes from Jana Laurene via Pinterest. My little family and I actually had these a few weeks ago and it was so yummy.

We called it "Grown Up Grilled Cheese" and naturally, Abbey didn't partake-she opted for her usual "haaaam" sandwich. It was so quick to make and a really cheap meal to boot!
Ingredients:
-Sour dough sandwich bread or loaf cut into slices
-Bacon (we really liked Turkey bacon on it)
-Pepperjack cheese slices
-Avocado (squished up for spreading, of course)
-Apples (yep, you read that right!)

Just make the sandwich and grill it like usual! Rusty opted for no apples but I loved the crunch and tang that they added. This is a must-try summer sandwich!

Living Room Makeover!

FI.NA.LLY. These pictures took alllll daaaaayyy to load. Totally worth it in my opinion! The program I use does have some limitations. First of all, for some reason it automatically puts all the wall art at this weird level. If I had it my way, I would put them a bit higher. Also, I have some fairly unique art that I couldn't find (Casablanca movie poster, my lovely Black Apple painting, and a few prints from Urban Outfitters). And because we're renters, we can't change any of the wall, trim, or fireplace colors. The wall and trim colors honestly don't bother me much, but the fireplace is another story. More on that another day. So now, the moment you've all been waiting for (at least I have!), our living room:

I'm in love with these red stripe lamp shades. And that turquoise console table is actually 2 put together but I'd love to find just one long table at a thrift store and repaint it myself. The chair is representative of a chair I have now that I'm going to be reupholstering-more on that later.

How great is that little mustache man pillow? I have to find it in the US.

So, those big shelves are a bit heftier than I wanted. Ideally, I'd like them to be a bit slimmer and a dark walnut or espresso color instead of black. And I think I would want the tops to only be flush with the top of the television so I could still hang a big family photo. I'll have to have my hubby build us some!

The curtains. The curtains, the curtains, the curtains. They looks super grey and drab in this picture but they are really supposed to be an oatmeal color. And there's that floor pillow again!

Now that our daughter is a bit older we are going to try a real coffee table! I love the rustic look of this one. Maybe another project for my hubster? See that side table by my favorite chair? Not really indicative of what I want, just small enough for that space. I'd love to find something more streamlined and not so "Hey, look how modern I am!". What I really love about this shot is the little Mozart bust on the side table and the cluster of goodies on the coffee table. Octopus vase and black and white stripe candle? Yes, please.

This would be the view from said favorite chair-where I am sitting as I write this. I think this view (with the addition of my missing art) would make me a very happy girl.

The best part of this plan? Husband approval! Yessss!

My hopes for this plan is that most of these changes can be DIYed (sew my own pillow covers, re-do and makeover garage sale or thrift store lamps and tables) or bought inexpensively. We are at the point in our lives where we have a limited budget but are beginning to see the value in splurging where it's needed.

So, what do you think? What are quick fixes you enjoy doing in your own homes?