Burlap Wreath

I've been on a DIY kick lately and I'm LOVING it! I would like to thank (or blame) Pinterest. I found a burlap wreath tutorial from this blog and decided to give it a shot. I wanted a cute wreath for my front door but wasn't willing to break the bank. This wreath seemed to be just perfect!

I went to JoAnn's fabric store and picked up a big ol' pile of burlap. It was about $2 a yard. So I got 10 yards. You can always find a use for burlap, right Lindsay?

I grabbed a hanger from my closet and formed it into a circle. Easier said than done.

I rolled out the burlap and practiced my catwalk got to cutting my strips.

In order for my strips to be straight, I needed some guidance. I grabbed one strand of the burlap and pulled. This provided me an open space for my scissors to follow.

I cut away, cutting strips about 4 inches wide.

Now it was time to get scrunching and poking. The blog suggested poking the hanger through the burlap in 3 inch folds, but I found this technique to be easier:

Fold the burlap like an accordion,

Squeeze it together like an accordion-burlap sandwich (yummy),

Poke the hanger through the entire bunch, 

And feed it down the hanger.

I continued this until the hanger was full, probably about 5 yards of burlap. As far as connecting the ends of the hanger goes...I pretty much man-handled it with a pair of pliers and called it a day. 

I wanted to spruce up my wreath a little, so I bought some brown ribbon, and a wooden "E" from Hobby Lobby. Since I have a paint shop set up in my garage and plenty of black paint (are you feeling the suspense? Stay tuned for the post this week!), I painted my "E" black and wired it onto the wreath.

The finished product...

I like how the burlap is stringy and messy. I also like that my front door is decorated :)

 

Garage Floor

The first thing on our "to-do" list was the garage floor. We knew if we waited too long and got settled in we'd be less motivated to do it.

Frank and I moved within walking distance of a Home Depot. I hate Home Depot. Hate it. It smells funny, has nothing exciting to offer -- except maybe the doorbell section -- and you always end up forgetting only one item, which forces you to go back in order to finish your project. Ugh.

Luckily, we only needed this sweet little kit. My dad helped us do this, since my parents had done this to their garage floor a few years ago. 

Not to discourage you, but it's quite a tedious process and requires a lot of patience. We began by clearing out the garage (translation: back the cars out and move them to the front of the house). Check.

Next we had to scrape excess "gunk" off the floor. I'll spare you the gory pictures of us scraping the floor clean. Kidding, it wasn't gory, I just didn't have my camera. And it really wasn't gross at all, quite boring, on hands and knees with a scraper-like-tool. Check.

Then we applied the acid wash, called an "etcher". The directions said to dilute it with water, and use a watering can to sprinkle the solution on the floor. We sprinkled each quadrant, scrubbed it with a giant scrubbing brush, rinsed it with the hose, and squeegeed it. After we finished, we had to wait until it was completely dry. 

                                         

LUNCH BREAK.

When we got back, we were ready to rock. We painted each quadrant, a 4x4 square at a time. Frank and my dad painted, I decorated with the "sprinkles/fairy dust". (You can see the detail of the floor on the box. I thought I got a picture but I guess not. I suppose I could go downstairs and take a picture now, but that would require a lot.)

We finished in about an hour and a half, slowly painting ourselves out of the garage. Check out the finished product:

So clean you can eat off of it. And we did...that night. Kidding, we had to wait for it to dry which required us staying off of it for about 3 days. But it looks great! And it's a nice touch to a boring, dirty looking garage floor.

We're Moving!

Appliances have been installed. 

 Carpet is brand new. 

Blinds are up. 

Movers come this morning.

I'm exhausted.

But totally excited!

Proposal

Geno and Gina are getting MARRIED!!

9.17.11

Last weekend, we flew up to Ohio to celebrate Geno and Gina's engagement. We had known about this for a while and we were excited that the weekend had finally arrived!

Geno met us at our hotel on Friday evening and gave us a tour of his sweet, little town, Hudson, Ohio. We dined on fine, fine Mexican food and chatted about our excitement for the next day. We left Geno on Friday night with lots of hugs and words of encouragement. Anticipation was pouring out of the guy! 

Frank and I, my sister and my parents went to Gina's parents' house early on Saturday afternoon. We walked around their gorgeous property -- played with the ducks, fed the goats. We all ate lunch together, giddy to receive a phone call.

Geno and Gina arrived around 3:30. As if you couldn't tell by her shock/excitement/surprise, Gina didn't know we were there! She even called my parents and my mom had to make up a "story" about whatever she was doing in Atlanta at the time. Oh the love and joy in lying in order for an engagement to run smoothly.

surprise!

My brother. He did such a great job planning this out. Gina loved every second of it -- it was so sweet to see how Geno's planning was perfect for her!

Gina with her parents

We screamed and hugged, hugged and screamed. We regained our vision after being blinded by the sparkly friend on Gina's hand. Geno popped champagne and we toasted to the bride and groom to be!

happy happy girl.

Group photographs were taken. Normal and silly. I'll let you decided which is which. 

Geno had one more surprise up his sleeve. We headed to dinner and as we arrived, Geno and Gina's sweet, friends were there, holding "CONGRATS Geno & Gina" signs. I got chills when we pulled into the parking lot and they were all lined up -- talk about a welcoming/congratulatory committee. (congratulatory committee?)

yayy! friends

The rest of the evening was full of laughs, picture taking, and great conversation. I am so excited for Geno & Gina as they begin this new journey in their lives. They will be in the Lord's hands, with tremendous support and love around them.

You have to wait for your bling, brother :)

Game Days

There is one thing that I love more than anything about Fall -- a crisp, cool morning that smells of a long run followed by college football. I've come to love watching college football even more since graduating because it allows me an excuse to see friends every weekend. It's like an extension of wedding season. Perfect.

*Another reason I know it's fall is because the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back. Confession: I have yet to be able to fall in love with it. I know half of you are reading this with your jaw on your keyboard. Pick it back up. I promise to give it another chance.

Back on topic.

Frank and I headed to Athens last weekend for the UGA vs. South Carolina game. Frank's birthday always falls within a few days of the South Carolina game, so we made a point to sing happy birthday! Our bestcouplefriends, Lindsay and Travis have season tickets and go to every game, so we decided to hop in their car and ride with them. Road trips, not matter the length, are always fun! It gave us an opportunity to catch-up on each other's lives and get filled in on their wedding planning!! They are getting married next June. Frank and I couldn't be more excited to be beside both of them, celebrating their special day as they become husband and wife :)

bestfriend.

We stopped by the Beta Theta Pi house, Frank and Travis's fraternity, to see some new renovations. We mingled for a little bit then got the heck outta dodge. We're too old for frats.

We didn't plan the outfits. Coupletwins.

girlfriends

Frank and I didn't have tickets to the game, so we watched the game in a bar/restaurant with our friends, Mallory and Barrett. Despite an upsetting loss, we had a awesome time spending time with friends and cheering on the Bulldogs.

Pelotonia

I made my way up to Columbus last Thursday for Pelotonia, a cycling event that my brother, Geno and I were riding in that weekend. Pelotonia is a grass roots bike tour that expands from Columbus to Athens, Ohio. Anyone can ride in it and you can select the distance of your choice: 23, 43, 102, or 180 miles. Geno and I rode 43 miles, from Columbus to Amanda. In order to participate in Pelotonia you must reach a fundraising goal – the distance you ride, determines how much you need to raise. All of the money raised goes directly to the Arthur B. James Comprehensive Cancer Center at Ohio State for the purpose of one goal -- to end cancer! (I can assure you none of the money will benefit the OSU Football program…too soon?) 

Opening Ceremonies stage

On Friday afternoon, Geno and I arrived at the Pelotonia grounds for check-in and the Opening Ceremonies. Pelotonia doesn’t mess around – there were 2 giant tents packed with tables and a catered dinner, beer trucks, and an expo with tons of vendors and sponsors. We even ran into this guy.

Brutus!

The weekend was packed with great snacks, meals and drinks, bands and music. We were lucky to have Chuck Wicks serenade us as we carb-loaded for the next morning.

Checking-in the night before was convenient because we were able to leave our bikes over night, which made setting our alarms for 4:45 a bit easier. 

Bike corral...thousands of bikes!

On Saturday morning, Geno and I arrived at 6:15 and made our way to the bike corral to find our bikes waiting for us. The official kick-off time was 7:00 and the first to leave were the ones riding 102 and 180 miles. Once they left, the 43 and 23-milers made their way to the chute. Geno and I crept along, getting closer and closer, anxiously awaiting to start. We crossed the start line about 7:30 and we were so excited to get going! As we rode out of Columbus, people were cheering and ringing their cowbells as they lined the sidewalks to send us off.

We had our game/riding faces on.

We stopped about 13 miles into the ride because I had to use the "little girls room" and he wanted to see what the rest stop had to offer…

Worth the stop.

With 30 more miles ahead of us, we pedaled on. Check out that fog! It was cool outside, which made for perfect riding weather. The route took us through the country roads of central Ohio. It was gorgeous (who would have thought?!). At every stop sign or intersection we approached, we were greeted by a police officer. Although the roads were "open", the surrounding communities were aware of us, so they made an effort to stay off the roads. I felt extremely safe throughout the entire ride.

We didn’t expect to continue all the way through to Amanda, but we did. There was another rest stop for the 23-mile finish but we didn’t feel the need to stop, thinking (hoping) there would be another one around mile 30ish. We just kept riding, experiencing rolling hills, until Ms. Amanda, Ohio, greeted us! We crossed the finish line just before 10:30 where we found yet another giant tent with lots of tables and food. We gave our bikes to the Pelotonia volunteers where they loaded them on a semi-truck to be taken back to Columbus. Geno and I made a few phone calls to family (letting them know we were safe and sound) then made our way to get some lunch/breakfast/replenishment. After we re-fueled, we hopped on a bus that drove us comfortably (with AC) back to Columbus.

Pelotonia was such an awesome experience! Cancer is a terrible disease that can affect anyone's life. My heart goes out to everyone who has had to deal with the life changes and struggles associated with cancer. It was an honor to have been apart of this incredible movement! Here's to ending cancer, ONEGOAL.

If you want more information on Pelotonia or the Arthur B. James Cancer Center,
check out Pelotonia's website.

Here is a link to the Opening Ceremonies video they played to motivate and remind us why we were there. 

Year One.

Frank and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary this past weekend. I cannot believe how fast the first year went by! We wanted to do something special to celebrate so we decided on a fancy stay-cation in Atlanta. On Saturday afternoon, we made our way into downtown to check into our hotel. For dinner, we ate at the very delicious, South City Kitchen. We had heard so many wonderful things about this restaurant and were excited to try it out! We spent the evening remembering our “grown-up” moments and laughing about the fun memories we can't wait to repeat.

We stayed true to the tradition of indulging in 365-day old cake.

We were surprised that it didn’t taste that bad…it was just really dry. But the frosting was as sugary as we remembered.

We toasted with champagne and anticipated the excitement of what year 2 might bring!