Two of my favorite blogs, Young House Love and Bower Power, have issued a challenge, not just any challenge, a Pinterest-inspired challenge!

Image Credit: Katie Bower

I have discussed my love of Pinterest before (here and here) and my Pin boards have continued to grow to over 149 Pins (I know, JV, heck even freshman effort compared to varsity Pinner Sherry at Young House with 744) but I've only gotten to create one thing I have pinned. Basically this is a stop pinning and start doing challenge which I happily accepted.

I chose to create something for my second home, my classroom. I find so many great ideas for classroom decor and teaching at Pinterest, it is freaking fantastic! My classroom is going to look awesome this year partially due to a new paint job but mostly because of Pinterest.

The door to my classroom is nothing special...I tacked up some generic "Welcome" poster when I arrived two years ago and never looked back, so I thought it would be a great place to start. I had seen a whole bunch of crayon inspired gifts, including this wreath.

Image Credit: The Ballard Bunch

And then I hot glued on the crayons and stuck on some glitter letters to make my name. Yep, that easy!




You can't really see it but I used a measuring tape to make a hanger on the back. All in all, cute, colorful, and easy to make. It will look great hanging on my classroom door. And if your wondering (all 5 of my readers) I only used 3 packages of crayons, so the extras that I bought will go straight into my classroom supply.

This was definitely fun and can't wait for future challenges!

If you are making your way over from Bower Power or YHL and like what you see, you should follow my blog or follow me on Pinterest...seriously, it will be nice talking to someone besides myself!

I am making progress on my to-do list with work on the kitchen.

 My inspiration from the kitchen is coming from the DIY King and Queen over at YoungHouse Love. John and Sherry recently painted their kitchen "grellow", a mix of green and yellow and I absolutely loved it.
I love how bright it looks with the white accents and I thought that I would love looking into my kitchen and seeing an awesome bright pop of color.

But once I got some samples on the wall I realized my space just isn't big enough for such an intense color. A word to the wise, paint samples are our friend. It is better to spend $2.98 on a sample of paint than $25 plus on a whole gallon and then end up hating it. (I currently have two gallons of unused paint sitting in the basement because I didn't like it once it got on the wall...oops) And this time around with painting the kitchen I am glad I got samples because one of the colors I was considering I ended up not liking at all.

Maybe I went with the wrong shade of  "grellow" but it turned out way lime-ier than I liked. I have about 20 other green-yellow shades to consider but they all are way more green. So I think I have decided to go with the bottom color shown below in the picture.
Fresh Cut Honeydew from Glidden. It is definitely yellow but it is more subdued so your eyes won't hurt when you look in the kitchen. Plus, it will complement the color of the cabinetry nicely since those ain't going anywhere. (Yes, I just said ain't.)


Also, I decided I am painting the red tile border white, not black as I previously thought. I tested it out and I didn't like the fact that it took away the white grout lines. So I'm just going to keep it white and clean.

Painting is going to begin on Monday once I finish my final projects for my grad school classes...yay!

After my lovely list post from earlier this week, I felt like I have made some progress. Isn't fun crossing (or "ticking" as the Brits on our favorite BBC show, TopGear say) items off your list? Having a list always makes me feel more focused and makes things easier to accomplish. Here is what I was able to accomplish so far...

House Stuff

• Paint the kitchen a yet undetermined color.
• Paint the maroon kitchen tile border to white or black..still haven't decided.
• Touch up kitchen baseboards.
• Find some GD place mats for the dining room table. (I feel like I have looked everywhere!) I took the search out to St. Charles today and found some place mats that weren't available at the Bed, Bath, and Beyond I went to in Brentwood. And I got them on the cheap because the were on clearance...HOLLA!
• Order this fantastic bedding from West Elm for the bedroom.
• Curtains..I want  need curtains. Opening and closing a bajillion blinds everyday is beyond annoying. Plus they're hideous.
• Get a hamper for the laundry room.
• Buy a BBQ grill and make a fabulous grilled dinner.Again on the cheap because we used a gift card we received at our housewarming party. Can't wait to grill up some dinner!

School Stuff

• Attend 3 days worth of curriculum revision
• Supply shopping - markers, colored pencils, desk calendar, air freshener, post-its, and pens.I just couldn't resist buying some supplies that were on sale, 99 cent Crayola markers at Target and some GIGANTIC post its...seriously, there like 8x8..and freaking awesome.
• Frame this for behind my desk. 
• Create some other classroom decor...Martha pom-poms and new door hanger.

Me Stuff

• A haircut is in order. I have been rocking the ponytail with bangs pushed back in a headband for 8 solid weeks now, I doubt that would be considered professional dress... unless I was the gym teacher.
• New clothes. I have missed going to the mall and buying clothes for myself since purchasing the house. I have saved a little cash to put towards some new back to school gear to coincide with birthday shopping.
• Lose 5-10lbs. Did I mention I haven't bought new clothes because I currently can't fit into anything I own without an elastic waistband? It might sound backward to not buy bigger clothing but I pretty much refuse.I went to the gym! And ohmygoodness my thighs burn so bad! I took the "Butts and Guts" class up at Club Fitness and I was cursing at myself within 5 minutes but ultimately I do feel better about myself and am looking forward to working out more next week.
• Turn 26.

Other

• Read The Help and New Moon Read The Help in 48 hours and it was great. Definitely glad I picked it up.
• Finish up my two Master's classes
• Move all my Cricut stuff from parent's house.

 Can't wait to mark off a few more things this coming week!

So today it hit me that I only have about 24 days left of my summer vacation. Wait, what? 24 days? After the wave of panic washed over me I immediately got into list mode. Here are some things that I hope to accomplish before the start of yet another crazy school year.

House Stuff

• Paint the kitchen a yet undetermined color.
• Paint the maroon kitchen tile border to white or black..still haven't decided.
• Touch up kitchen baseboards.
• Find some GD place mats for the dining room table. (I feel like I have looked everywhere!)
• Order this fantastic bedding from West Elm for the bedroom.

• Curtains..I want  need curtains. Opening and closing a bajillion blinds everyday is beyond annoying. Plus they're hideous.
• Get a hamper for the laundry room.
• Buy a BBQ grill and make a fabulous grilled dinner.

School Stuff

• Attend 3 days worth of curriculum revision
• Supply shopping - markers, colored pencils, desk calendar, air freshener, post-its, and pens.
• Frame this for behind my desk. 

• Create some other classroom decor...Martha pom-poms and new door hanger.

Me Stuff

• A haircut is in order. I have been rocking the ponytail with bangs pushed back in a headband for 8 solid weeks now, I doubt that would be considered professional dress... unless I was the gym teacher.
• New clothes. I have missed going to the mall and buying clothes for myself since purchasing the house. I have saved a little cash to put towards some new back to school gear to coincide with birthday shopping.
• Lose 5-10lbs. Did I mention I haven't bought new clothes because I currently can't fit into anything I own without an elastic waistband? It might sound backward to not buy bigger clothing but I pretty much refuse.
• Turn 26.

Other

• Read The Help and New Moon
• Finish up my two Master's classes
• Move all my Cricut stuff from parent's house.

I better get busy!

Chris and I hosted our first house party last night and it was a blast! I was so nervous about planning a party, worrying about the weather, the food, who would come, what the house looked like. annoying the neighbors...just about everything...but it went perfectly. We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was hot during the day but by the time everyone came over in the evening it didn't feel to bad sitting outside.

I took a few pics before everyone arrived. Chris and I worked hard on Saturday to get the house ready, he took care of the lawn outside (in the 100 degree heat, yikes) and me on the inside, dusting, vacuuming, and cooking.

Cookie Dough Cupcakes compliments of Natalie

The spread.

Strawberry Cake Balls

Pigs in a Blanket...these were delish, even at 1am!

The whole scene.

 We definitely had some fun once people started showing up. Chris and I gave house tours, passed out jello shots, and enjoyed the company in our new home. I think I spent the whole night smiling, it was just great to have all our friends over and just hang out. It was even better because we didn't have to go anywhere...just another perk of owning a house. The only casualty of the night was the picture frame I just put up the night before broke into three pieces. No worries though, it was cheap and can easily be replaced.

Congrats to the newly engaged!

Things died down around 2am and thankfully, my friend Natalie and I, cleaned up before going to bed. It was nice waking up and not having trash all over the place, definitely made for a more pleasant morning. Unfortunately, all the fun from the night before made us pretty pathetic today. We have been laying around all day, loading up on Jack in the Box and caffeine.

We definitely look forward to more good times in the new casa!

This past weekend was my BF Elyse's 27th birthday so to celebrate we packed up the car and went on a little road trip down to one of Missouri's best cities....Cape Girardeau. At least twice a year, I really get the urge to visit my old college town, there is just something about it that makes me want to take the short 1.5 hour drive and have way too much fun. I don't drink much anymore but Cape brings out the party girl in me...having cocktails at too early of an hour, bar hopping to all our fave places like Bel-Air, Ragsdales, and D'Ladium, taking God-awful shots (I'm sorry D'Ladium girls, but shots have never been your specialty...maybe that is why they are $2), and eating McDonald's with best friends at two in the morning.

Here are some shots of the gang at the start of our adventure. I didn't get to take too many other pics, my hands were full... with beverages.


Throughout the night, I kept yelling, "I love Cape Girardeau!" and it is true. Cape was and is home to  some really great times, unfortunately now as I get older, the day after a visit to the glorious city has me feeling like death. The car ride home from Cape G is always WAY longer than on the way down.

But it was definitely enough to satisfy my jones for my ol' college town...until about October.