My Auction Find

My MIL invited us to join her at a furniture liquidation auction this past Saturday. While she bought a bunch of things for their lake house renovation, I scored this cute pedestal table and chairs to go in our basement:

Last Purchases Before the Big Freeze

Just days before I knew about the tax "situation", I purchased a few items I have been lusting over for my home office. I'm glad I could sneak these goodies in before the big spending freeze!

First, these Linden Street Grommet curtain panels in cool white, not navy, from JCPenney:

The curtains should be arriving any day now, but it may be a while before I can buy hardware to hang them.

And, the Serafina pillow covers from Pottery Barn:

The pillow covers are backordered until October 30. I guess I wasn't the only one who was a fan! :) It does give me time to buy pillow inserts!

Our Home Improvement Continues!

Last night we made another trip to Lowe's. We went specifically looking for two outdoor light fixtures (one for the service door and the other for our back patio). We found both lights for less than $50! What a bargain!

A light similar to the one we bought for the service door:


A light similar to the one we bought for the back patio, but ours is slightly bigger:


Buying these two fixtures was yet another step in our attempt to completely rid our house of brass. One more brass light fixture to go! And, Ryan and Laura are going green! We bought compact fluorescent light bulbs for the outdoor lights. This is a HUGE step for me. I hate the look of fluorescent lighting. I do not think it's flattering indoors, but I figured I'd give it a try outside. As an additional bonus, we get brighter light for less wattage. Can't beat that! :)

The second thing we searched for at Lowe's was tongue and groove beadboard for the kitchen backsplash. We made the decision to go for the beadboard backsplash and Ryan's uncle Scott is going to help us install it. We had priced out sheets of faux beadboard panels, but Scott suggested the individual planks for a seamless look. I'm very excited to be finishing another element of our kitchen! The only question that remains is how to trim out the beadboard.

We are not doing a backsplash with our granite, so I have been scouring the internet for inspiration photos of beadboard backsplashes, especially those without a separate stone backsplash. What do you think of these options:

Thick molding where the beadboard meets the countertop:


Or thinner shoe molding:


Or no molding:


Thoughts?

The Search for a Hat.

I just joined the Indianapolis Junior League and I am officially a Provisional Member! I'm really looking forward to getting to know my new coworker a little better (we joined together) and meeting all kinds of new and interesting women.

Our first event is the Gala, which happens to be held on the same day as the Kentucky Derby, May 3. It is a big event with cute summery dresses, Derby hats and mint juleps! What more could you want? :)

Unless you have been to the Kentucky Derby (which I sadly have not), one cannot completely understand the traditions. As a result, I turned to Wikipedia for information on the historic race as well as its historic traditions. I had no idea that the race started in 1875!

Armed with my newfound Wikipedia knowledge, THE most important accessory for a Derby party is the Hat. The search is on! The fine art of hat-making, decorating and embellishing is called millinery (don't I sound smart?). While stunning creations, these hats are expensive! I have found some online upwards of $400. Four Hundred Dollars for a hat. For the sake of my bank account and saving my marriage, I have been smartly directed to Ebay to view the fine millinery.

I have not committed to the dress I will be wearing, but it will either be a red and white seersucker strapless dress or a black and white flowered sundress. I've narrowed my search down to these choices (not to be Mr. Obvious but red for the red dress, black for the black and white dress). Without the benefit of seeing the dresses, I'd love your opinions on these choices:

5 Ideas for my Birthday Wishlist

Countdown to my 30th Birthday: 4 days. eek!

5 things I'd love for birthday gifts, are you listening Ryan?

1. The brown Zebra rug from westelm.com. I've been lusting over this rug for months and I think it would look lovely in my new brown bathroom! In the 3x5 size, please!



2. This beautiful white trench coat from White House Black Market. Isn't it just gorgeous?



3. The aqua and camel Conservatory I area rug (5x8) from Home Decorators Collection. It would be perfect with my new olive sofas and the new grommet panels I ordered for my living room in chocolate brown. If it weren't for the $400 price tag, I might have just ordered it myself!



4. A king sized bed and mattress. Of course a new bed would lead to new bedding! I really like this pewter bed from JCPenney and I found a memory foam mattress from overstock.com.



5. These prints from allposters.com. I think they're stunning and they would look great in my dining room!