- Coming to a mailbox near you... -

...our Christmas cards!  One of my very most favoritest things about Christmas: elfing/scribing warm wishes to our beloved friends and family!  My friend Paige took some anni pics for us juuuust in time to order up some fun cards and spread the Christmas cheer!  

Hope your season is MERRY and BRIGHT! 

Love, B & B

- Anni Pics -

We love posing for my friend Paige and we love having new fun pictures to hang up in the house [and by "we" I mostly mean, well, "I"...]...so in honor of our first anniversary we had a little photo sesh!  Brian is the man of all men for being such a sport and Paige is the photog of all photographers for so effortlessly capturing our love! 

Here are some of my faves... Happy first anniversary to us and Merry Christmas to you! ;) 

...And let there be light... [Anatomy 101 and photo sesh all in one.] 

Thanks a million, Paigey Poo! And I love you, Brian Boo! :) 

- Harlow: 1 hour new! -

My, how the times change...

A few years ago we were tiptoeing through the county fair dirt in our sparkly dresses and high heels, and now we're birthin' babies... Somehow life happened and we all grew up, but we will never [ever ever ever] outgrow our county fair family!  I was beyond excited to help bring this future fair queen into the world this weekend!

Welcome, Harlow! 

Congrats Britney and Stephen, and thanks for inviting me to the birthday party! She's a beauty! :)

- Movie Marathoning -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Christmas movie marathoning juuuuust in time for Thanksgiving.

Perfect.

"Buzz, I'm going through all your private stuff...... You better come out and pound me!"

Other week highlights: 

-- Happy Blackout Wednesday!

-- Happy Thanksgiving!

-- Happy Black Friday!

-- Happy weekend working to me.....

- Friendsgiving -

Urban Dictionary [<-- yeah, that just happened] definition of "Friendsgiving":  the celebration of Thanksgiving dinner with your friends.

[^^ That was definition #1, and we won't discuss definition #2 because it be toooo crazy.]

Forget Blackout Wednesday at the bars and Black Friday in the malls; all we wanted to do was have a cozy little night full of wining and dining with our favorites. 

So we did.  Friendsgiving...minus the turkey.

I was semi-nervous to cook in "bulk" for the first time in 24 years, but these peeps are ultra forgiving + the wine was flowing so all was well.  AND Rob is an Italian after my own heart and took over the noodle cooking so phew.  Thank the Lord.   Father, Son, and Holy Spirit........AMEN.

If you don't recognize these crazies, they are the blessed musicians who pulled off our musically-flawless wedding ceremony! 

Cheers to great friends and the upcoming Thanksgiving and "Friendsgiving!" 

- Closet Shelves -

Closet shelves are innnn the making! Booyah. Finally.

Goodbye house, hello home! 

- Happy T-Day! -

Why did the turkey cross the road?.....

...It was the chicken's day off!

[Insert laughs here.]

That's the best I've got... Thankful today for family and friends and feasting!  Happy Thanksgiving to all you gobblers! :)

- B&A: Kitchen -

The kitchen was a sad sad sad HOT MESS when we bought this house! :(  The flickering fluorescent lights were the first thing to go, but the mouse poop in the cabinets was a very soon second.  I was game for keeping the original countertops and faucet and "refinishing" the cabinets by way of some sort of cool Pinterest-y tricks, but Brian had a vision of something drastically different [and when he has those visions I just nod and agree because everything he touches turns to gold!]. Looking back, I think his vision was directed by thinking that giving me a nice kitchen would equal me cooking nice meals... Still debatable? ...But we're working on it.

We moved into the house in May with half of the new cabinets and zero of the new countertops, but I'd say it was worth the wait..... ;) So so so happy with the finished room and so grateful for all the hard work and help our families gave to make it possible! 

Project: Goodbye House, Hello Home!

~ Kitchen ~

~~~~~

Brian: *stressed* Did you move that washrag and those bananas out of the way before you took the picture?!??!

Bridget: No. They're part of the kitchen.....

Paint colors:

• BEHR - Special custom color that I conned the man at the counter into mixing. None of the 3,000 paint chips did the job. [It looks green but in fact is not; green tint is the result of a faulty cheap been-dropped-too-many-times-in-college camera and/or perhaps just a faulty camera user.]

A few details I love: 

• Granite countertops.  We had a hard time picking a pattern, but after many trips to the E&B Granite showroom I finally made up my mind. [And you will not be surprised to hear that the granite man talked me into a "lighter" version of slab we almost chose... Dark and twisty decorating. This blog is turning into therapy because I am now realizing the dark attraction is definitely an obsession and therefore a problem.]  The people who lived here before had a dining table and chairs pushed up against the wall, but Brian changed it to a peninsula [same height as the sink side] with cabinets underneath. I blog here, craft here, and cook here! ...Well basically I do everything except sleep here.  So useful!  And we prefer high-top chairs and dangling legs so it's a win-win. FINALLY, to put a cherry on it, the E&B installation men were just as lovable as the counters. 

• Appliances.  All brand new from Best Buy because there were none in this house to begin with.  We looked around at the scratch-and-dent Sears and a) everything was SUPER scratched or dented [don't know what we were expecting?!] and b) realized it wasn't a whole heck of a lot cheaper than new stuff. To heck with a budget, no? Plus Best Buy gave us a huge discount for buying in "bulk," so whaddya know? ...There's some kind of method to this madness! 

• Wine rack.  A wedding gift from my friend and bridesmaid Emily!  

• Lighting.  One of Brian's "brightest" visions...in my opinion at least! ;) I thought he was literally going nuts when there were ten gaping holes in the ceiling [also thought it would be hideously BRIGHT in here if a light was actually going in every single hole...], but now it looks great! The can lights are from Menards and the under-the-cabinet lights are from A&D and the sink light and peninsula hanging light are also from A&D. ...And they're from the same "family" as the living room chandelier, which is awesome considering the kitchen and living room are basically like one room.   

• Dark cabinets.  ...Because why turn to the light side now?  Of course not. 

Posting the progress:

• And so it begins...!

• Hardwood Floor 

• Kitchen Cabinets -- Part I

• Kitchen Cabinets -- Part II 

• Dirty Work

• Kitchen Appliances [Installed]

• Handyman

• Countertops [Installed]

• Faucets [Installed]

Goodbye house, hello home!

- Sister Act -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

My favorite thing about Brian's job [well, besides his suga' daddy paycheck OBVI] is getting free tickets for The Fox!!!  Every so often, he is offered club level seats and we sit in this box that has a perfect view of the stage AND its very own waitress! 

#spoiled

#loveit

#ifyousuckuptomemaybewe'lltakeyousometime

The show this time was Sister Act, and we both agreed it was one of the best shows we've ever seen there. [Tasteful] Catholic jokes all over the place..... Ha. Ha. Haaaaha.  Briana and Dan were our box buddies and The Fox was decorated head to toe for Christmas and it was pretty much the best day ever.

Other week highlights: 

-- After The Fox, we crashed Julie's house to celebrate Hubby Mike's birthday! Three things I loved: her two adorable children, this AWESOME hot spiced [and spiked] apple cider she made on the stove, and her cute decorations!  Oh, and the homemade cheesecake birthday cake. Julie: you are a killer momma, wife, and homemaker! Me want to be like you. 

-- Happy birthday Alicia!

- B&A: Guest Bedroom #2 -

This may or may not be my favorite room in the house................

...Ok, it totally is.

Project: Goodbye House, Hello Home!

~ Guest Bedroom #2 ~

~~~~~

Paint colors:

• BEHR - Dophin Fin

A few details I love: 

• EVERY DETAIL. Obviously. This is basically our "old bedroom" at the apartment with a few new special twists.  I loved it then, but I love it even more now. 

• Photo collage.  A little collection of our parents' and grandparents' wedding pictures + some more randoms of our great- and great-great-grandparents!  "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."  Brian and I are so blessed and lucky! Love our fams and love their smiling faces on our wall!!!  I made this "standing collage" for a fireplace mantle display at our wedding reception hoping to work them into a "wall collage" some day!   

• Black + white + purple color combo.  Be proud: here is displayed a minor diversion of my dark and twisty decorating tastes! But 75% of the room is dark purple and/or black, which is probably why I'm attracted to it. #laughoutloud

• Reused furniture/decor. Did you notice that alllll the furniture in here is IKEA stuff that we had in the apartment?  Bed and nightstand and dresser and comforter and purple rug and purple vases and white sticks and white globe lights ALL reused. A few pieces we added: a vase of purple flowers from our wedding and word pillows on the bed.  Reusable stuff totally floats my boat.

• The clock [in the collage]. My dad loves to hate on this clock because "it doesn't match the decor" but I disagree and I love it!  So there it hangs.  One night when we were in the bedroom hanging up the frames, Brian was mysteriously messing around with the clock dials. 
• Bridget: What are you doing?!
• Brian:  Just setting the clock...
• Bridget:  But I took out the batteries.
• Bridget: .....
• Bridget:  And I don't want it to tick, because when guests are sleeping in here it will be right over their head and it will be really loud and annoying.
• Brian:  I know, I'm just setting it permanently to our wedding time! 
• Bridget: #socute #lovehim

Posting the progress:

• Collage Obsession

• Closet Doors [Installed]

We have had a handful of guests sleep in here so far and are ready for more!  Come visit us anytime!! :)

Goodbye house, hello home!

- B&A: Guest Bathroom -

Project: Goodbye House, Hello Home!

~ Guest Bathroom ~

~~~~~

Paint colors:

• BEHR - Raffia Cream

A few details I love: 

• Granite vanity top. The splotches in this countertop really tie in every color of the bathroom!  We got it in "remnant form" from E&B Granite. 

• Crosses.  I wish that I was a crucifix person [mostly because I am a Catholic person and it comes with the territory], but sadly I am nottttt. I hope my plethora of Irish Catholic ancestors are not cursing me from heaven... Hmm. So instead, I picked out this collage of crosses; I think it really does the trick!  50% off at Hobby Lobby.  Cant' beat it! 

• Same toilet as our master bathroom, so I will re-profess my love from the master bathroom post.  Hot off the rack from Lowe's. Super-sucker flush power + handicap height so we don't have to squat toooo low + elongated bowl which is perfff for big-booty-Judies [like me]. Three stars for three stellar qualities. So glad this toity is mine.

Posting the progress:

• Watch out! ...Who would ever pick this hideous green color, anyway???

• Toilets

• Toilets [Installed]

• Vanity Mirrors

This is Brian's favorite place to poop..... It could be yours, too! ;) 

Goodbye house, hello home!

- Baby Tree -

Our baby tree is up and sparkling!  As one of our favorite wedding gifts [thanks Tommy & Chelsea!] and the very first Christmas tree we had as husband and wife, we couldn't wait to get it out again this year!  A huge coveted 8-foot tree took the cake in our living room, but our bedroom window was a perfect place for this quaint beloved 3-footer. 

Besides, all good things come in small packages, no? :) 

- Christmas Shopping Commences -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

The Christmas shopping has officially commenced, and I now have purchased/wrapped/stuffed under the tree the PERFECT gift for my dad and Brian...

...[drumroll]...

*ta-duuuuh!*

This gift-o be perfect-o for Brian because a) GO CARDS!, and b) he is skinny and always cold and hates the winter and has to wear like three pairs of long underwear and pajama pants to stay warm.  And Dad?  Well, he'll probably be sweating his balls off but it's mostly just payback returning the favor of the gift he sent to my bachelorette party...

Yes, no need to adjust your glasses: that IS in fact a pink footy zip-up with a padlock on the zipper! [Sorry to say that those did not make the honeymoon suitcase!!! And did not he know that I much prefer something of this fashion? ...But let us not regress or focus on my ridiculously awesome fun carefree tan blonde and SKINNY bachelorette days...........]

ANYWAY, back to Christmas and shopping and the original intent of this post. I debated on writing this because I didn't want to spoil a most secret Christmas surprise; but being that neither of the two most important men in my life are avid blog readers, I decided to spill the beans.  Maybe I should let them open early so they can be twinzzz on our family vacation to Arizona in December?! ;)

Yeah. Most definitely.

Other week highlights: 

-- We took some one year anniversary pictures with Paigey, and I can't wait to get them back and order some Christmas cards!

-- Friday night dinner at Jonny's...nom nom nom. And we finally met Baby Dominic! Love him and his chubby little cheeks! 

-- Annnnd Saturday night dinner at PW Pizza with our favorite Mercy friends! The pizza was delish and the sangria was to die for and the laughs were, well, constant and continuous. We always have a great time with these crazies!!!

-- Can anyone tell I've been drinking coffee today?!

-- Ok that's enough.

-- Bye now.