The Love Boat

See this boat? I LOVE it. Let me explain. First, it is important that you understand that my all time favorite band is the Dave Matthews Band. No contest. I have been a fan for many, many years and have seen them at least fifty times in concert. If my wallet and vacation time would allow that number would be higher. Over a month ago, I saw a notice in some e-mail from the band about a contest they were having. This one:

About 30 lucky DMB fans would win round trip airfare and a four day cruise to the Bahamas. The cruise ship will dock at an island where Dave Matthews Band will perform an ultra-private show for the winners of the contest. As you can imagine, I played some "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" style fast finger and clicked on the contest entry link saying a quick prayer that I would get picked as a winner.

Fast forward to yesterday. I open up my inbox to see the most glorious e-mail I've ever received. Here is the first line:

"Congratulations! You have been selected as the winner of the Big Warehouse DMB Cruise Giveaway Sweepstakes! "

Is there anything more to say than "I die?" Me:DMB cruise as Charlie Bucket:Golden ticket. I am Bahamas bound, my friends. Life is good. Check back early November for full details- praying that I finally get to meet the man behind the mic. What a dream come true...

Lately...

Has it really been a MONTH since I last posted here? Time is flying. Fall is upon us, the weather is perfect, and I've been a busy woman. What have I been doing? Let's see:

- I took on a leadership position for a local young professional's organization and have been busy getting our committee's activities off to a good start.

- I have been working on my list, mostly in the professional and crafty areas. I am working on a professional project that I really can't talk much about just yet, but it's going well. Getting some solid experience and taking lots of baby steps toward the ultimate goal.

Something exciting for you all from the home front- our new couch! Check it! Doesn't it look cute with the pillows and art? I found some cute paper at Smock and framed some of it in Ribba frames from Ikea. Cute. Easy. Cheap. Love. We also got a jute area rug from World Market (not pictured), and hope to get a new coffee table, some end tables, etc. but we're waiting until we find what we like for the right price. Husband is slowly getting over the fact that household remnants of his bachelor days past are slowly disappearing. Ha! We're slowly saving our pennies to buy a new house, but little changes like this make us feel more at home in the meantime.

I'm not a photographer. Sorry for the quality.

- Last, I've been working on narrowing down the hundreds of images that we had from our wedding for our album. I sent those off to our photographer this week, and am hoping we have an album in hand for our first anniversary which is just two months away. Better get moving on a gift for J! I might put some recaps up early next week to try to finish those up two for anyone that's been following those.

That's all for now blogworld. Enjoy the weekend!

Another year...

And boy did it go by in a flash. Yesterday was my birthday. It was a great day and a fun filled weekend. I took the day off work on Friday to await the arrival of our new couch (pictures to come) and spoiled myself with a trip to the spa for a facial and much needed massage. The masseuse told me I should be coming in more often- my back was so stiff! I think it knew it was turning a year older- haha.

My sister and mom traveled up the turnpike to visit for the day on Saturday. We had some lunch at one of my favorite local pizza joints, Danny Boys. After stuffing ourselves silly we braved the beach and spent some time at Huntington Beach on Lake Erie. It was SO HOT that day and very crowded, but still lots of fun.

I started off the day yesterday (my actual birthday) as I do every year- an 8:00 AM "Celebration of Me" dance party. This year's playlist featured "What Would You Say" by DMB, Captain Zoom's Birthday song, and "In Da Club." Go shorty, it's your birthday, we gon' party like it's your birthday... The dance party woke up my husband who was trying his hardest to sleep in (despite me jumping on the bed). He resisted for a little while, but I finally got up in time to treat me to breakfast at my favorite little creperie. We ran some boring adult-like errands, sat around for awhile, and later went to see "The Time Traveler's Wife." Figured I better get him to go on my b-day when he couldn't say no to me-ha! We finished off the day with dinner at Salmon Dave's and came home to relax. He also got me some great gifts- a new rug for the family room, some cute clothes that I picked out the day before, and a gorgeous new watch (I lost my old one). I felt spoiled- and I loved every bit of it. The celebration continues at dinner tonight with the in-laws. Then I will officially be eating salad for a month to recover from this weekend- ha!

I woke up today when the alarm sounded, and realized that I can no longer live in denial that I'm in my thirties. Really, it's not so bad. Here's to another year!

A new way to spend my Sundays...

On my new couch! I am beyond excited to report that J and I went out and bought a real grown up couch yesterday! "What's the big deal? It's just a couch" you may be asking yourself? Well, to give you a bit of background, I moved in w/ J while we were engaged. He lived in the bottom floor unit of a home built in the 1920s. The place has lots of charm- built in bookcases, hardwood floors, etc. but was lacking the decor department. Because we were busy saving for and planning our wedding, I quickly moved everything from my apartment into his bachelor bad and we ended up with a mismatch mess of coffee tables, side tables, random chairs and couches, old art, etc. Worst of all was the GIGANTIC black pleather sectional circa 1985 that my dear husband got for free when he started law school. The monster (as I affectionately call it) is complete with awkward angles, sinking cushions and cracked scratchy material on two of the five cushions. HATE. IT. and refuse to sit on it. Ick.

Anyway, our initial plan was to buy a house after we got married and figured we'd hold off on buying furniture until we saved enough for a new home. Enter sucky economy. Lack of job security due to layoffs at both of our companies left us in our rental for awhile longer. We just don't want to take the leap and become homeowners until we're certain that we're going to stay put for awhile. We're somewhat okay about this decision, but we were itching to make our rental more homelike in the meantime.

So, fast forward to yesterday when we took a trip to the Arhaus clearance center and walked out 30 minutes later with a receipt for this bad boy in our hands.

Image from Arhaus

It is the Filmore Mushroom collection fitted sofa (we got it in a misty light gray/taupe color), and we scored an awesome deal on it. Because it's a clearance center, you have to act fast. This baby was in mint condition, was so comfy and I loved the neutral color that I can punch up with some colorful pillows, accent furniture, etc. Love it!

I, of course, was so excited about the new addition to our home that I scoured etsy.com for hours in search of some cute pillows.

Image source (clockwise from top): 1. Etsy seller eleen 2. Etsy seller milkandcookiesCanada 3. Etsy seller pipdesigns 4. Etsy seller milkandcookiesCanada

Four pillows later and we're on our way to some prettified family room decor! Some are just slipcovers, but you get the idea. Aren't they cute?!

Eventually we'll get a new coffee table, accent chair, etc. We're scheduled for delivery on Thursday or Friday. Can't wait! I'll post some befores and afters so you get the full effect.

For all of you married readers, what was the first big purchase that you made together?

Evan or Moxon?

I am a big fan of "So You Think You Can Dance" and was so excited to see Jeanine take the crown this year! At some point over the past few weeks, I was looking at Evan and an image of James Van Der Beek from "Varsity Blues" popped into my head. For the finale, Wade choreographed a piece for the final 4 to Lady Gaga's "Boys, Boys, Boys" and did a little football/cheerleading theme. Cute, but not really finale material IMO. The highlight though? Further confirmation that = Jonny Moxon. See for yourself... Anyone else see it?

Oh, and I couldn't let the season pass without posting this piece by Mia Michaels. Loved it!



Video from YouTube.

Can't wait for Season 6 in a few weeks!