Phase 1 yard overhaul

Mark and I have been discussing our plans for our landscaping recently. It's definitely been at the front of our minds, because after I put in about 2 hours of yard work on Sunday after lunch (details later), Mark was ready at 5:30 to head to Home Depot and start what I'll call "phase 1" of the process. 

This is what we've been living with:

We have a LOT in store like ripping out concrete, changing the flower bed shapes, laying in a path, putting down a patio, and building a pergola. But for Sunday night, here's what we accomplished:

We started by clearing out the ground cover that was in the bed to the right of our back doors.

We picked up four common boxwoods at Home Depot as well as 8 bags of cypress mulch and 18 7x7" stone pavers.

This side of the yard is the bane of our existence. TOTAL overhaul coming soon!

First, I planted the boxwoods while Mark leveled the area under the kitchen window.

We want a dedicated place for the grill out of the way and off of the 1960's sidewalk, so we laid down pavers with about 1" of space in between.

I took a break for photos, clearly. ;)

...and Mark posed for a Home Depot plug. (not sponsored, but wish we were!)

After everything was planted and set, I filled in the pavers with as much fine dirt as I could. We were winging this, so we might come back with sand to really set the stones, but so far this has worked. Then, Mark laid down the mulch.

Details, people!

And there she is!

Y'all, this is SUCH an improvement to what we had. 

SIDE NOTE: Yes, the beds look really bare right now, but only because we went quickly to Home Depot to grab the boxwoods. They didn't have the rest of the planting I wanted, so we will go to a nursery soon to get the rest of the items. In the meantime, we have a dog that likes to get muddy and dig in mud, so we wanted to make sure we mulched the freshly dug up beds to deter that. Soon this will be lush with flowers and grasses. :)

I really can't believe we got all of this done AND went to the store in 2 hours. I can't wait to see what our yard looks like in a couple months! Get ready, it's landscaping season!

...I'm SO sore...

A finished bedroom

When we first moved in, I wasn't super focused on our bedroom. I had dreams of it looking good, of course, but there just wasn't a lot of thought put into it. Fast forward 9-ish months and I think it's the most complete room in the house. 

We put up curtains about a month ago and I've also moved some "art" around. Lately I've been searching for a large piece to go above the dresser and bring some height to that side of the room. I was inspired by these two pins:

via

via

I ended up doing a combination of both and this is what I came up with:

The project was really easy and basically fool-proof. I just picked up a $12 piece of plywood at Home Depot that looked roughly the right size. Then I stained it using leftover counter top stain from our kitchen remodel and painted my words on!

I love the verse and I think it's perfect for our room. 

I'd say our room is basically complete, unless we decide to replace the flooring down the road.

I can't say the same about the bathroom...disaster! Update on that coming soon! ;)

We were busy this weekend so I have a lot more DIY posts coming down the pipeline. Be sure to check back!

Have a great Monday!

Random and casual five on Friday

I promise I will get in the habit of blogging again...maybe.

I haven't had the desire to blog lately, and I'm not sure why? Sometimes I just feel like I'm talking to myself. I can do that without logging into blogger and typing it all out! Anyway, here are a few random thoughts for your day:

-I can't really get over this missing Malaysia flight. It's NOT a movie, but I just want to read the spoilers to find out what happens at the end! What a crazy world we live in. Meanwhile, Mark has been watching LOST all over again...

-For some reason my posts haven't been showing up in the Bloglovin' app on my phone. Has anyone else noticed that? Any tips?

-It's finally SPRING! Texas weather has been a roller coaster for the past month so we are being adequately teased. We are in a weekly cycle that goes from rainy and 50 degrees and slowly climbs to 80 degrees and sunny. Then, as soon as it gets nice, it drops again. Unfortunately those rainy and cold days have been coming on the weekends. Boo!

-We are in TALKS of starting our backyard re-vamp and I have mixed feelings. I know it will make a huge difference but I am not thrilled about putting in the work. Yard work=the worst.

-Here are my favorite pins from this week:

Here is another inspiration for the backyard. Genius!

I DIE for this nook, seriously. Perfection.

I'm getting antsy to switch out some art at home. How sweet is this?!

Well that's random and casual version of Five on Friday! Link up here! Happy weekend!

Kate Spade GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

I'm starting this week off with a bang by teaming up with these ladies for a GIVEAWAY!!! 

It's my very first giveaway and I'm glad I waited this long because this is a GREAT one! We are giving away the Kate Spade Sandra wallet in Baja Rose (valued at $168!) just in time for Spring! 

Here is an image of the wallet:

It's high quality leather in one of my favorite colors EVER! One lucky lady is going to win this!

Fotini from Glamorous, Affordable Life got this same wallet for Valentine's Day and she is LOVING it! We are excited to give one just like it away to one lucky winner. The winner will be chosen at random next Monday.

Just enter the rafflecopter below and check back to see if you won next Monday! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Monday!

Five on Friday, 2014 volume 7

It's another Five on Friday with April and crew!

Not much happened this week, but there are a few things I forgot to blog about over the past couple of weeks, so here's kind of a recap of the month of March for you! 

-one-

Mark and I went to Arlington last night to celebrate my dad's birthday. We got to hear lots of words and funny things come out of this little girl! 

This was her "please give me candy" slash sleepy slash wiping her eyes...

-two-

Jody invited me to go to a concert with her a few weeks ago that was put on by the Dallas Chamber Symphony. I had never been to the concert hall and I loved it! It was a nice intimate size and the concert was the perfect length. The ballerina cancelled (due to sickness) but the second half of the show was the score to a classic black and white movie. It was so interesting! I loved getting into the Dallas culture scene, even if it was just for one night!

-three-

Here are my fave pins from the week:

I just LOVE this picture. It is such good design! I would totally have this in my house. Although I might hang the antlers a liiitttllleee higher. Ouch!

I'm thinking of adding this scripture as art on canvas in my office/guest room. Love it!

I posted this this week and got a lot of feedback via Pinterest. This idea is genius! We finally have a backyard to get some sun, but no pool. I'm SERIOUSLY considering this, y'all. SERIOUSLY. 

-four-

I met my friend Macie for dinner a few weeks ago. At her suggestion, we tried Hopdoddy in Preston Village. Oh. my. word. It was a delicious hamburger!

When I got there, the line was out the door. It was about a 20 minute wait to order food and then sit down, but it was pretty dang worth it.

They have a few different locations and they all seem to be doing REALLY well. If you like a good burger, go to Hopdoddy! You won't regret it. YUM!!!

-five-

Be SURE to come back Monday because I'm hosting my very first giveaway!!! I picked a good one too...

EEEEE!!!!!!!! :)

Happy Friday!