2010 Emmy Fashion

Did anyone watch the Emmy's last night? I mainly watch the award shows just so I can see the fashion. There were lots of navy blue, white and sequenced dresses on the red carpet this year. Some of the dresses I really loved and some just didn't cut it in my books. So here are a few that made my list:

Sometimes I wish that I could just dress up like this for one night and hit the town glam style! Wouldn't that be fun!

I don't think so...

So I will say it now and I will say it again, I am not that great of a cook. Ok not that I am not great, but when you have a husband that really loves to cook and is amazing at it, then what is the point of me doing it. I would rather do the cleaning.

One night after watching Food Network I was inspired to just "whip" something up. I wasn't in the mood to doing anything super elaborate so I took a look in my pantry to see what I could muster up. Voila...

Bear Creek Cheddar & Broccoli Soup

No it was time to make it my own. So I went into the freezer and pulled out some frozen broccoli and shrimp and steamed in on the stove top.

Once the broccoli and shrimp were done steaming I minced up alot of fresh garlic.

In our eyes you can never have enough and it tastes so darn good.

After that I mixed the ingredients per the bag instructions (not a big task since it was just the mix plus water...real intense I know) and then added the steamed items and garlic and let the mixture cook.

It came out to be the easiest most delicious soup possible!
Seriously Chris and I ate it for 3 days straight! I hardly ever do leftovers but this was amazing!

Not hard but a perfect meal after a long day of work that doesn't take much effort.

I was going to do a post on fall fashion shoe wear today but I must admit...I DO NOT LIKE the shoe styles right now. I don't mind the rider boots and will probably purchase a pair this year but whats up with the biker boots. It reminds me back in the early 90's with the grunge period where we all wore Doc Martins. Been there and I have no plans of going back.
Sorry just not going to happen. So the search will continue!

One more day and then the weekend begins!

I Love Scarves!

Good morning ladies! I am so thrilled that the week is halfway over! It's hard to be motivated at work when you have a million other more interesting things on your mind. As promised today is all about scarves and a big DIY project we just completed at our house. So let's just get to the good stuff! Beware this is a long post!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE scarves! I like them in all shapes, sizes, materials and colors. Over time I have collected quite the collection. They are the perfect accessory to any outfit and it also helps stretch your closet. I am a girl whom loves to wear black. It's slimming, it's my go to color and let's face it, a girl on a budget needs her basics. But pairing a fun, colorful scarf changes the outfit entirely. And the great thing is that you don't have to spend a fortune on these items. My favorite places to scope out scarves are the Gap, Old Navy, Target, Forever 21 and Francesca's. Here are a few scarves that I am dying to have the fall/winter season!

I just love how different the orange scarf. The navy blue one at the bottom is also a must have from Old Navy that save Peace & Love all around the rim of it. LOVE it!

I love the texture and shape of the purple scarf above and leopard print is really in season again this year! Now I just need a better way to organize all my scarves in my closet, lol! Any suggestions?

A few months ago my parents decided to sell their house and move to a newer one story now that they are empty nester's. With doing this they wanted to start fresh and buy new furniture. Their existing furniture was purchased before they were even married and were pre-owned even before that. With being a new homeowner ourselves and of course being on a major budget they asked us if we wanted any of their pieces. I literally jumped at the chance and picked a few items (ok not just a few but a ton) that I knew would be perfect in our house and would also fill of some of the empty rooms we have. I honestly feel that they don't make furniture like they used to. The quality of furniture these days is no where near what it used to be so these pieces really are amazing. All they needed was a little tlc to make them look new again and to fit our style.

Two of the pieces I received were my parents dresser and nightstand from their bedroom. I loved the details and especially the hardware. I also loved how length of the dresser and how much storage it provided. I instantly new that I wanted these pieces for my front room that was completely empty minus a large square mirror hanging on the wall. Part of my inspiration came from a post here that my sweet and super creative friend Meredith did awhile back. She transformed her late grandmother's hutch into an amazing colorful console table. I knew I wanted to have it serve that purpose as well for us. I loved how bold she went and choose that beautiful color blue. I was a little scared to choose a color as I had no idea what color of fabric I wanted to use to recover the couch and chair that will go in there in the future so I opted to use an off-white that would pop and also match the chair railing in the room. I also knew that it would help that beautiful hardware stand out which is what I really wanted to accomplish.

The first step was to remove the hardware and all the drawers and start to sand the pieces down. Ok I am going to be honest here. I didn't do much sanding. The pieces are really old so over time it had worn down on the shine and top coat protecting the stain. So I just focused on a few spots and began painting. First I used a roller brush to coat the piece but then went directly over it with a paint brush because I liked the way that it looked better. All in all this project was fairly easy. It took a total of 2 days for drying and reapplying paint and 3 coats. I started this project on a Saturday and by Monday night it was in the house in its new place. I made sure to take lots of pictures of the progress along the way. I want to make sure that I am documenting all of the projects we have done in the house. It's always fun to look back at them years from now and see all the before and afters.

Here is the dresser after removing the hardware and drawers.

See how gorgeous the hardware is! I wanted to make sure that this stood out more.

After all 3 coats of paint had dried.
The nightstand. Look at the detail metal pieces at the bottom. Love it!

All the drawers painted and ready to put back in their place

And here it is in the house! It is still a work in progress. I just went shopping in my own house for the decor to go on top. I am also still searching for the perfect lamp to add to the mix. But all in due time. Overall I am very pleased with how it all turned out! It is great for storing all of our games and some of my favorite magazines that I just can't seem to part with. It's the first step to pulling this room together.

I accomplished my goal of making the hardware really be a key piece to the furniture

So what do you think? There are still lots of projects ahead to show you and we are almost done with one that has seemed like we have been doing FOREVER! But it always feels good when they are completed and totally worth the wait!

Tune back in tomorrow for some more fall favorites and a super easy meal that both the hubby and I recently enjoyed! Happy Hump Day!

Craving Fall: Part 2

School has officially begun in Texas and you can feel it on the way to work in the mornings. The traffic is just awful. Hopefully it is only like this for a week or two. With the start of school it makes me long for new pens, a sharp stylish backpack and spiral notepads. I always loved back-to-school shopping. Just not the actual school part, lol!

The sounds of school bells and buses also means that fall is not too far behind. Now in Texas fall doesn't really exist. Our leaves don't turn the pretty shades of orange, red or yellow. The weather doesn't really cool down till December and then it just turns cold. But despite all that we sure do love to fake the fall. My favorite part it is the decor. The warm colors and pumpkins all around. Here are some of the home decor looks I will be going for this fall.

Think of sitting here for a drink of Apple Cider and yummy desserts!

I long for the days where we stayed outside and played in the leaves as kids then coming inside to the smells of cinnamon and apples. That's what this reminds me of.

Doesn't it all look inviting?! Letting the outdoors make their way inside. Love it! I can't wait to hit up the HomeGoods to see what I can find!

Tune in tomorrow, it's a post all about scarves and a DIY project I just completed! Happy Tuesday!

It's a PAW-TY!

What a fun and eventful weekend! I hope all you ladies had the same! Since we don't have babies yet some of us have to make do with our fur-babies and what better way to do that than throwing a doggy birthday party. Yep ladies and gents, Brixie just turned 1! What a year of potty training, many chewed up flip-flops and of course lots of loving! Brixie has turned out to be quite an amazing dog! I feel like it was just yesterday when she first arrived in the Lenz household! She was so tiny. Now she is a full 60 lbs! Crazy how time flies by. Not only did Brixie have her birthday but she got to share it with her friend Abby whom has the same day birthday and she also turned 1! In total we had 7 dogs attend and surprisingly it went really well. No fights just lots of playing in and out of the pool, chasing each other around and trying to stay cool in the heat! So without further adieu here is a recap of the party in pictures!

Happy Birthday fence drawing

Adrienne ready to party. This one is for you Gigi!
Yummy Puppy Chow I made! It was the first thing to be devoured! It's been sooo long since I have had this treat and it was delish!
The birthday girls! Abby & Brixie!

Lots of food...
The boys getting into some sort of trouble.

Adrienne's best friend Chance...oh how she misses seeing him everyday!

Our little "big" fur baby

And guess who made an appearance...sweet baby Nora! I can't get enough of this little one!

Even Lauren enjoyed her presence! We hope she has a honeymoon baby next year!

I made doggy cupcakes and totally forgot to get a picture but we did get video!

Unfortunately it doesn't want to load. Lovely!

All in all it was a great turnout, lots of fun and a great excuse to have a party!

There is lots to come this week! Each day I will post something fall related. Things I look forward to and some of the things I am eyeing for this fall. Also in store, a few DIY projects that Chris and I have been working on and a few meals that we have been making! Hope you all had a great weekend and can't wait to keep in touch all this week!

Craving Fall

Good morning!!! Is anyone else as excited as I am that tomorrow is Friday?! Today I am sore from working out, ready for the work day/week to be over and ready for my dryer to be fixed. Despite all that I am really in a good mood! Any special reason...nope. Just am.

So last night I changed out the scents in my house. I am so ready for the fall weather that I wanted to get a jump start. Right now I have the oh so yummy Honey Pear Cider going in the kitchen and the living room. It's making me crave for cooler weather, big sweaters and boots. Scarves, jackets and warm colors. I have so many things I want to get for the fall season both for me and for my house!

Just a few of my wants

More to come next week!

This weekend my friend Lauren and I are hosting a doggy birthday party for our little dogs that just turned one. Yep you read that right, a doggy birthday party. Hey I don't have kids yet and any excuse to have a party is a good one for me. Everything will be dog related. Hot dogs, Puppy Chow and even Doggy cupcakes. We have a pool for the dogs to play in and there will be toys galore. Should be a good paw-ty!

Yummy Puppy Chow

Hope yall are all having a great week. Only one more day of work and then our weekend will begin! xoxo