Call Me Maybe: The President

This video is hilarious and I just had to share...

Colorado Fires: What You Can Do To Help

Friends, these fires are bad. When you think of Colorado, I'm sure your mind instantly goes to the gorgeous landscape and the beautiful mountains. Well right now those mountains are burning. It's horrible to see the fires uncontained and popping up in so many areas-- but when they start approaching homes, schools, hospitals, it's downright scary. Lots of our friends across the country have asked if we can see the smoke. The answer was no, but as of last night we can. Here's a picture I took from our balcony with my phone.

Most of my readers aren't in Colorado, and I'm sure you're wondering what you can do to help.


1. PRAY. We need rain so bad. Something I've learned since I moved to this beautiful state is that they don't get very much rain at all. We get thunderstorms, but they just bring lightening and not rain. Coincidentally, it was a lighting strike that caused on of the fastest growing fire

2. DONATE. Here's a great article on Couture Colorado about how you can help financially, and the organizations that are helping to fight specific fires.

3. FOLLOW. Start following @DenverPost on twitter for updates on containment and evacuations.

Some Randoms

Here's a new picture of the house from today, the porch is finally painted. They were installing all plumbing and electrical components and things definitely look like they're coming together.

And here's a photo I saw on Facebook today. Just hire a professional. I always cringe when someone has "a friend" doing something for their wedding-- especially photography (unless your friend is Christian Oth). Please and thank you.

New Year's Plans

New Year's plans in June? You know I like to plan ahead, so it's no surprise that Mr. SE and I already have our New Year's plans set. Looks like we'll be spending some time in labor and delivery! We're expecting our first child on New Year's Eve and it feels great to finally share the news!

It seems like there should be a photo with this post, so here's a bump picture that I took last week.

We are so excited to start on this journey!

House Progress: Granite Installed

It's official, friends. We have a closing date! A lovely Wednesday in early August will mark our ownership of the "Denver house". Today I had to drop Miss Lucy (our schnauzer) at the vet for a teeth cleaning, so I drove two blocks over to check on the progress of the house. Boy am I glad I did! So much has happened since we snuck a peek last weekend.

Our tile has been installed, all granite counter tops, and the banister was installed and stained. To give you a feel, the banister and hardwoods will be the same color. Also, the hole in our island will be the gas range. Our sink is located under the window. Mr. SE wanted this super industrial rectangle single-basin sink, and I'm SO glad I trusted him on it!

Building your own house is a completely new experience to Mr. SE and I. It's such a cool feeling to walk into a home and love everything! There's nothing to change or fix, just decorate!

Kona panels will be wrapped around all sides of the island once the floor is installed. 

Ryan's sink. Loves it!

Close up of island. Remember, the kona cabinets will be wrapped around once the floor is installed. Hole is for our gas stove. This marble makes me giddy. 

Master bathroom. Looks like mama got her marble counter after all!
Tub/shower granite is placed but not grouted yet. Grout will be white. The floor tiles make me drool. 

Guest Bathroom

Yummy Banister. Fireplace w/molding not painted white yet

Great Room, from the back corner. Front door is down the hall to the right (where the light is coming)

First Day of Summer

Grey or Gray?

Does anybody know if it's grey or gray? I see it both ways and get confused! Either way, I'm dreaming of grey walls in our kitchen! With our closing date approaching, I've started thinking about how we're going to make our beautiful new house a home.

We elected to have everything painted white, instead of selecting a taupe for the house. Here's the thing- whatever color you choose is also painted on your ceiling. I REALLY wanted white ceilings, so it was the choice we had to make. Also, I think it's hard to choose a color before living in the home. You want to figure out how light works in your house to ensure you're not going too dark or light.

Let's have a recap on our new kitchen: white outer cabinets, kona island, bianco antico counters, chunky nickle hardware. Visit this post for pictures. The below kitchen sort of has the same colors as ours. Do you like it?

from Houzz

I love the idea of painting our walls a soft grey. What do you think? Here's one of the shades I like.

Benjamin Moore "Ashley Gray"

A Delightful Design: M. Interiors

I love supporting other female business owners, so it’s no surprise that today’s post features my bloggy friend (who feels like a real friend) Abby of A Delightful Design.  So far I’ve referred several friends to Abby, before even getting a chance to hire her myself. But I promise you, when we close on our new house Abby will be the first lady I call!

Abby’s interior design company, M. Interiors, is based in Michigan—but the best part of her services is that she works worldwide through e-design services. Good thing! It’d be horrible for those of us non-locals to miss out on her fabulous talent.  She’s been published and her work was even featured on HGTV!

Mood Board

After Picture- amazing, right?

She offers services ranging from full decorating (for local clients) to Ask The Expert. Visit Abby’s website for more information. If you needed more convincing for this lady’s talent, take a look at some of the inspiration boards she’s created. Genius!

House Progress: Exterior Paint and Texture

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. Mr. SE and I have been traveling a bit, Nashville then Virginia, and we're finally settling back into quiet weekends and home. On top of traveling, I left my job of the past two years and I started a new (fantastic) one on Friday.

For those of you who are interested, it's still in IT; I received a promotion of sorts and now I've been afforded the ability to work primarily from home. I cover the Northeast, but the company coincidentally has their HQ in Denver, even though all the contacts I ever worked with were in their other HQ in Minneapolis. Small world!

Along with my day-job, my business has been taking off with leaps and bounds. I feel blessed by the reception that the Denver wedding community has given me, and I've already made great friends. I'm thankful for the 2012 brides that we've booked and stretching my creativity by covering lots of different themes (Day of the Dead, Hollywood Regency, and Burlap & Lace). Okay, so maybe I lied about the quiet weekends at home part.

Along with all of the work business, we're still trying to SELL the Nashville house and watching the Denver house be built. Here's an updated photo now that that painting has started underway. The body is complete, and the trim is moving along quickly. Our porch will be painted the same darker trim color, and our door is black. How do you like the colors?

Inside, the presence of drywall is starting to make the interior look like real rooms! After drywall, they texture and paint the walls. Yes, we're not crazy about the "textured" walls, but it's something that the majority of builders do here in Denver. When in Rome...

Master Bathroom-- vanity will be straight ahead.
Kona w/white marble top. Yummy!

Great room. Living on the left, kitchen directly right, and eat-in  is in the top right area.
Straight through the arch is the mudroom coat rack, powder room, and garage. 

House Progress: Drywall Up

It seems like the Denver house is moving faster and faster! The builders started installing drywall this week, and the frame is starting to look more like a real house. And our real porch is up! I think it looks way better that the last picture-- what about you? And I cannot wait to see the house painted!

Living Room- the space to the left of the vertical board is where we placed St. Joseph

Master Bedroom. Daydreaming of a reading nook below that small window.

Staircase going to the second floor. We love the window for light.
Looking forward to adding a fun chandelier in this space.

For those of you interested in the progress of selling our Nashville house... we have an open house on June 3rd, combined with a price drop. Please keep praying- we really appreciate any support!