New Paint

So as of about 3:45 yesterday afternoon with a little encouragement from Pinterest and my co-worker, Lauren, I've decided I'm going to re-paint our kitchen and dining room!

Our dining room is a really dark color and there's not a whole lot of light coming into the room, so it's very depressing. Also, our back door and main entrance to the house is in he dining room and I feel like it is not the most inviting space right now. It could be the fact that we have a majority of our wedding presents sprawled out all over the room, but I'm going to say there are other factors as well. We have two floor to ceiling built-ins on each side of a window that I would love to fill up with all sorts of decorative goodies, but those are in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint as well.

Then there's the kitchen..from day one I've never been a huge fan of the blue walls. Fortunately, we have a brown tile back splash that covers most of the wall, so the blue is only in-your-face in a couple areas. Brown and blue makes me think of that Vera Bradley pattern from years ago and to say I'm #overit is an understatement.

Here's a few inspirational ideas from Pinterest that I'm loving.

SWOONING over these chairs

Love these color pallets. Could one of these be my new paint color?! Stay tuned. 

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5:30 AM

Olive and her new favorite bed buddy. I've been snubbed.

I'm really feeling this early morning blog post. Probably because I've been up since 5:30 AM!!

Side note: now playing: "World Spins Madly On" by the Weeples. For those of you living under a rock, this is the song playing after Ellie dies and P. Sawyer takes Ellie's (her Mom) ashes to the field where she describes her happiest moment hearing "Here Come's the Regulars". (reminisce with me here) Talk about an early morning One Tree Hill GUT WRENCHING memory courtesy of Amazon Prime Music.

Back to my early morning. I've set my alarm for 5:30 three times this week intending to get up and run, but it never actually happened until today. *snaps for me*. Matthew gets up to run that early frequently so I figured I'd join in. Even though I didn't actually make it out of the bed until 5:45, I still got up and knocked out some early morning exercise. Which was much needed considering the 4 cookies and 2 pieces of cake I had yesterday. No...I didn't stutter.

Matthew's Grandparents, Aunt & Unlce, and their triplets AND twins (yet again..not a typo) are in town and insisted on celebrating my birthday (a week early) while they are here. I got 2 pieces of cake out of it in addition to the leftovers so I can't complain. #notmadaboutit

My coworker and I have decided to try and drink a gallon of water everyday. It's kind of a good thing to do together because every time I hear her chugging, I pick up my water and start to guzzle. It's also a good thing the bathroom is right outside our office.

Despite my high sugar intake, I am trying to counteract the potential diabetes development with water intake and exercise!

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Crew

I'm attempting to create a photobook with all our wedding pictures this weekend. *prayers for patience accepted* You know I have commitment issues so there's no wonder it's taken me so long to finally arrive at this point. I'm going to keep this short and sweet because it's Friday and I'm not feeling chatty, but here's a picture I just stumbled upon that never fails to make me laugh. I don't know if it's the look on Matthew's Dad's face or the "everyone please cooperate so we can be done and start drinking" thought in the bridal party's mind, but I think it's great. 

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Death by thank you notes

I feel like I have been playing a lot of catch-up lately. Catching up with home cleaning, catching up with friends, catching up on episodes of Real Housewives, and catching up on the dreaded thank you notes. I'm swimming in them.

Right before the wedding I got to the point where I dreaded receiving the call that we had gifts to pick up because I knew that once we opened them, it would only add to the mountain of thank you notes we need to write.

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How I feel about the weekend

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Thursday @ 4:32 ...TICK tock!

Staring at the clock PRAYING it hits 5 soon. It's been one of those days where I feel like I have more to do after work, than actually AT work. As you can see, the blog is a little bit under construction! Still trying to figure a few things out but hopefully we will be up and running normally soon.

The worst thing happened to me on Monday.

So we went fishing on Sunday and the grass was really tall and snakey in one area, so we moved to another area where we weren't up to our knees in brush. Well before we left, I kept feeling bugs land on my legs and was having to brush them off. At one point, I went to brush a bug off and it was a TICK. From that point on I was super itchy and paranoid that I had a tick infested body. Not to mention when we got in the car to leave, I found another microscopic one on me that only added to the paranoia.

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Married Woman

Hello World! Mrs. WALDROP hereeeee!

Still not used to that. Wow! I can't believe it's been such a hot minute since my last post. Needless to say things were a little crazy leading up to the wedding and at the time, wearing make-up to work was a huge accomplishment for me.

The wedding was more than I could have ever hoped for! (cliche, right?) Of course we had a few bumps throughout the day, but all the stress was completely worth it when we were celebrating with all of our nearest and dearest at the reception.

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22 Days

I hate that I keep going so long between blog posts, but I'm going to continue using the "I've been a little busy planning a wedding" excuse. At least for the next 22 days.

YES. 22 DAYS! I'm trying to avoid a mental breakdown just typing that number.

Matthew always asks "what can I do to help?" which is always nice to hear, but the truth is there are about a thousand little things to do and I'm just going to have to handle it myself. My inner control freak is starting to show a little...

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Hump Day

I'm incredibly happy it's Wednesday because tomorrow is Thursday and technically my "Friday" because I'm headed to the beach for my BACHELORETTE WEEKEND! #reality

To say that I'm in desperate need of a vacation is an understatement. Honestly, just any trip out of town to somewhere other than Atlanta would be great. Thankfully...that's just what I'm doing!

I can't wait to be reunited with ALL of my bridesmaids (for the first time) and simply relax. And laugh. And not have to do something wedding related. Side-note: I'm in the running for Palest Person in Mississippi, so I plan on loading up on sunscreen and soaking in some rays.

*Send me good vibes for good weather!*

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Snow Day!

Two great things happened today.

1. My boss bought us all Pizza for lunch (literally my favorite food) because he didn't want us to have to drive in the rainy/snowy/slushy conditions

2. We got to go home EARLY because it was snowing so incredibly hard!!!!

So here I am on the couch with 2 kitties who think the snow is for the birds. It's still coming down and I'm already one hot chocolate in! There's a chance that I might get some of my thank you notes written with all this free time...but don't hold your breath!

I hope everyone finds some time to relax today...snow day or not!

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Dry Shampoo Review

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not big on the whole showering thing. Clarification: In my mind, a 'shower' requires washing your hair, 'bathing' or a 'bath' means washing everything BUT your hair. I am all about being clean and fresh, but when it comes to washing and taming my mane, it's not always high on my priority list.

I learned many life lessons during my two years of living in the sorority house. One of the most important lessons I learned was to not wash your hair everyday. Now there were some times when I took that to an extreme...aka showering on Monday and not seeing the shampoo again until Friday. Whoops! I used PLENTY of baby powder to make it through the week, almost to the point where I was claiming "baby's bottom" as my signature scent. Bless. But then..I was introduced to a new angel friend: Dry Shampoo.

I'll have to admit that at first, I was not a fan. I pretty much stuck with the baby powder for the rest of college. But once I started working and realized that my coworkers (with babies) would most likely recognize my scent, it was time to give the dry shampoo another try!

So that brings me to the point of this post: Dry Shampoo Review! I'm going to give you the low-down on my thoughts and true feelings about the different brands of dry shampoo I've tried so hopefully you can find a love of your own!

 

Okay. So this was what I used when I was first introduced to the  dry shampoo world. And no wonder I didn't stick with it...it made my hair feel extremely gunky and only added more grease. I did try it again at a later date and still walked away unimpressed.

I tried this brand on a whim when I was at CVS one day and could not find one of my go-to's ANYWHERE! I've seen it at a lot of stores and decided I might as well give it a go. DISAPPOINTMENT PEOPLE! I basically sprayed more grease into my already greasy scalp.  I tried it again another day and still had the same result. Needless to say, if this was my only option I would result to washing me hair. THAT BAD.

I'm lumping my review of these two together since they are both Suave products and honestly the only difference is how good the Keratin Infusion smells compared to the regular. Both products got the job done, but it required a little more product than I would like and it was a real battle trying to get the white residue to disappear.  

THIS my friends. THIS is what really spurred my love affair with dry shampoo! A friend of mine was using the NYM hairspray and the bottle immediately caught my eye. The next time I was at the store I saw the dry shampoo and figured I'd give it a try. LOVED IT! Great smell and easily disappears. The only issue I had was that by the 2nd day of dry shampoo, I had some serious build up. But let's be honest people...no one needs to go that long without a shower. This is another one of my favorite products from NYM.

I think the name of this dry shampoo is so funny and fitting. I actually tried it for the first time this morning (because yet again I was out and couldn't find my go-to) and it worked like a charm. The smell wasn't too overwhelming and a little bit really did go a long way. I will definitely purchase this one again.

Last but definitely not least, the DOVE. Aka the MECCA of all Dry Shampoo!! I literally Kim cannot say enough about my love for this product. Props to my sister for introducing it to me. It is so light, yet absorbs any and all oil. The best part... it's only like $3 at Walmart!!! I rarely ever just buy one bottle. It smells SO good too. That just might be my favorite part! Even though my hair isn't technically "clean", it still smells super fresh. Yay!

For anyone who has made it this far, I sure hope you enjoyed this post!

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Friday Fave's

SO happy the weekend is here! Although, nothing can top last weekend! My parents and MANY friends were in town for our engagement party and it was seriously a blast and a half. Friday night Matthew threw a frat party at our house (JK not really...but I was only 1 of 4 girls in a sea of 25 fellas) and had all his friends over to grill out and take advantage of his outdoor TV.

On Saturday, the rest of my friends crawled into town and the craziness began! It was so fun having people stay at our house. **MY FIRST HOUSE GUESTS** Thankfully, my Mom arrived early on Friday and brought some extra bedding items to make sure the house was fully furnished.

The party was absolutely perfect! I was literally Kim on such a happiness high that it flew by so fast. I loved being able to eat, relax, and laugh with all the special people who came. I was loving life. Only missing my sweet sister and brother-in-law!

BIG NEWS! I'm OFFICIALLY an owner of a washer & dryer! CLEAN LAUNDRY FOR EVERYONE! So pumped. Matthew is probably more excited to not hear me ask "when will the laundry be finished?" anymore. And the kitties have officially moved out of the guest bathroom. Praise!

I'm going to end this post with my Friday Favorites. Here's where I'm at:

I ordered this book on a whim and it has not let me down! So many helpful tips in this book and I've barely scratched the surface.

My sweet Ollie girl looking presh in her new collar!

Engagement Party with Wally

LOVE these awesome spices that Santa put in Matthew's stocking! They do magical things to chicken breast.

MECCA!!! This is obvi a given on my Friday Favorites list. My new favorite room in the house! 

Matthew and I surprisingly have zero plans this weekend and I couldn't be happier. That means no hunting, no traveling, NOTHING! Just lots of kitty cuddling and TV watching. Even though things should be pretty uneventful, I'm sure I will find a way to squeeze in some wedding stressing planning.

Enjoy your weekend!

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Home Renovation

I have been battling a serious un-diagnosed cold/sinus infection since Saturday and I think I am finally on the downhill. After much mucinex, sudaphed, emergen-c, and nyquil, I'm almost back to breathing without sounding like Darth Vader. #mis.

What's been going on with me lately? Well, our house has basically been "under construction" since we moved in. We had no washer and dryer and a sad pathetic excuse for a laundry room that just wasn't up to my standards. Our kitchen appliances were outdated and we noticed that the back patio has a mount for an outdoor TV (which according to Matthew obviously means WE should have one too), but no proper electrical wiring.

Insert Bob the Builder... aka our good friend Hunter who works in construction.

We now have new appliances (mostly test units from Viking), french doors to replace the dated siding glass doors leading to the backyard, and a laundry room that is about 60% complete. Still lacking the actual washer and dryer...which you kind of need in order to have a laundry room. We will be making some minor updates to the wet bar and adding an ice maker which I don't hate to the mix as well. I will definitely share some pics once everything is wrapped up.

Say a little prayer that everything is finished before our engagement party next week! I thought planning a wedding was stressful but LAWD. This renovation just might be the death of me.

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Happy New Year!

My mood today = #depressed to be back at work. BUT it's Friday, so I can't really complain.

What an absolute whirlwind my Christmas vacation was. I spent about a week at home in Atlanta and visited with friends and family. Not nearly long enough either. There's nothing like being home for Christmas. Here's a summary of what I've been up to...

 

Meeting our sweet niece for the first time - Carolina! And trying not to get baby fever.

 Wrapping presents like a BOSS (this nutcracker paper is one of my all time favorites. I snagged it during a trip to TJ Maxx and I'm so mad at myself for only getting one roll!)

Matthew FINALLY arriving at the Barnes house for Christmas #truemaroon

Matthew's feelings after 2 days with the Barnes family. (Thank goodness that beard is gone!)

Installing new appliances and using new tools from Santa to take apart, and put back together our "new" range. Good thing he does that for a living. I guess I better learn to enjoy cooking...

Lots and lots of kitty cat snuggles to keep warm during days off.

 

My New Year's resolution should be to step up my blog game. It's a good idea...but I'm not making any promises!

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