Happy (VERY belated) birthday, America!

We love July 4th over here in our house! Something about the holiday just screams summer. We're so fortunate to have met a great group of friends when Mr. K first moved to DC after he graduated from Elon (I still had a year left). Mr. K lived with a group of the guys for three years in a row home close to the National Zoo, and they threw some of the best parties. July 4th was one of the biggest, if not the party of the year! As everyone grew up and out of the house, we thought we should carry on the tradition. We decided to cut out bobbing for airplane bottles and setting off fireworks in trash cans, and instead went for chalkboard signs and corn hole. A "1665" party can never be complete without a singing of 'Happy Birthday, America.' Oh, and red, white and blue jello shots, of course ;) (Hey Nicole!)

Happy Birthday, America!

So, this year, we gathered with some family and friends from all walks of life, and it was a blast! I was able to tap into some creativity/Pinterest-love, and turned our tablescape into something fun.Oh, and yes, we built a patio at the beginning of the summer! I'm a little late on showing that part of the house transformation ;)

My dad saw me taking pictures of the house and said he had to take one of me in front of it. Here you go!

Hey Dev!

Pre-Ada!

Thanks, Pinterest.

I think he was enjoying the So Icey Boys cake from the wedding!

Fall is Here!

So, technically not for a few more days, but the weather and temperature outside is telling me otherwise. I am so excited, I am a huge lover of all things Fall: sweaters, jeans with boots, leaves (though our new neighborhood probably won't have any aside from the 50+ year old trees surrounding the edge of the neighborhood which will definitely be absolutely gorgeous), pumpkins (and most things that have pumpkin in them or in the name).

I also am a huge lover of all things Pinterest. Surprise, surprise. I realized that I have a board for Christmas and another one for Holidays in general, but I don't have one just for Fall. So that happened this morning. Decorations, fall recipes, you name it, it will be on there. I found these super cute leaf placemats and coasters from Bed Bath and Beyond that I haven't yet ordered, but they're in my "save for later" cart, which I can bet will be ordered within the next week. Perfect timing for when we return from our second-to-last wedding of the year.

We've finally started updating our home - the accent chair I've been dying to have? - finally here! Our guestrooms - two out of three rooms are "done" (for the time being). We only need to put the headboard together that we've had for, oh, almost a month for the second guestroom. I can't wait to take more pictures and post these updates. It's been a long time!!

My DIY Valentine's Day Plans

Do you struggle when it comes to Valentine's Day and figuring out what to do and/or get for your husband? Are you not into Valentine's Day at all? The saying goes that "every day should be like Valentine's Day." Yes, it's true, you should always want to spoil your significant other, and shower them with nothing but love, hugs, kisses and presents. Love should come in constant, small reminders throughout the day. Mr. K is great at reminding me how much he loves me every day in small ways (sometimes he might not know it). But, if you are one of those who does like to take advantage of Valentine's Day as yet another celebration of your love for one another, but don't necessarily know how or what to do, I've thought of a couple things.

When we first started dating, Valentine's Day was a bigger deal for us. Mr. K took me to a Disney on Ice performance, we went out to a nice dinner even when I was sick one year (probably because we felt like it was what we should do since it was Valentine's Day. Ok, and maybe he probably thought we had to because I liked the day). But the last couple years, I have approached Valentine's Day as a DIY opportunity for a sweet, personal and unique gift. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am in no way a very creative person, so my DIY projects tend to look more like a 10 year old did it. However, Mr. K seems to love them nonetheless. His little chuckle and funny smile make it known that it was a cute gesture. Coupon books are always fun. Last year was a somewhat off-year for us around this time, so I can't quite remember what we did. One year I made a shoe box (covered in pink and red paper) full of romantic night things: candles, wine glasses, a nice bottle of red wine, chocolates and other fun, more personal things between him and me. Last night I found the perfect card, which I can reveal after he gets in on Friday (it has to do with me loving him more than being right ;) Perfect for any woman, I know). And with that card, I'm not quite sure yet what there will be. But I do know that I'll be planning dinner and I plan to make it a special one. See, he's on a cruise this week for a bachelor party, so this chick is flying solo, getting ample time to prep for dinner after I pick him up at the airport on Friday. It excites me knowing I can (try) to create something delicious for him since he cooks the majority of the time for us. You can imagine my panic when I realized he'd be gone for a whole (work) week and I'd have to fend for myself for dinner. But that's another story.

Anyways, so far I've got some sort of red/pink drink on the menu - I bought Cran-Rasberry drink this weekend at the store so I'm hoping to tie that in, with maybe some pink lemonade mix we have at home. Of course there will be red wine too, that's a given. Then I'm thinking some sort of red velvet dessert. If I'm daring enough, homemade chocolate-covered strawberries might be on the menu too, we'll see how that works out. Apps and entree will be decided soon. I'm looking at articles for healthy and romantic meals for Valentine's Day. And putting in our own favorite twists, too.

Overall, I want this menu to scream, "I tried!!" haha. No, more than that, I want this menu to say, "I love you. Thanks for doing so much for me all the time, here is my contribution to the dinner table!"

If a nice homemade meal and alone time isn't all you want to do, here are a few fun gifts I've seen:
Every guy loves bacon. Check out these homemade bacon roses for your man. Seriously, I'd say these are a given way to say "I love you." However, I don't necessarily like the idea of drilling holes in my muffin pan, so I might have to find another way to do it. I don't think the wedding gift-bearer of our baking tools will be too thrilled if I say, "Hey, thanks for giving us these really nice, expensive baking dishes. I'm going to go ahead and drill holes in them for the sake of a really awesome Valentine's Day gift." No, definitely not doing that.

Here's an easy one: a heart-shaped pizza!! This requires no drill bit, wrench, saw or other tools only found in your garage work bench. Just some love, pepperoni, pizza dough cut in triangles, and wine (not optional on Valentine's Day).

If you have any fun, creative ideas that you plan on doing for your boyfriend, fiance, husband or significant other, pass it along! Also, check out my Pinterest boards for other Gift Ideas, Holiday Ideas and fun Sweets and drinks I've thought about for Friday.

More on our house coming this week!

My First Post Here - Welcome!

Thanks for visiting! There are so many reasons why I've decided to start this blog - but let me start from the beginning...

I'm a suburban girl at heart, moved to North Carolina to go to college, met my college sweetheart during my second semester Junior year, Mr. K we'll call him. He got a job in DC which was so convenient for our relationship considering we'd only known each other for a few months before he graduated (*dating an older man, you know it). I moved back home after college, we continued dating, yada yada. We got engaged in April 2012, got hitched May 2013.

We moved into the city together after getting married and are having an absolute blast, but we're ready to settle down..in the 'burbs. Now THAT is where this blog really got started! We're building a house, and learning what it's like to cohabitate, manage money, wine and dine on a budget, and design what's sure to be our dream home. Since we've been in the midst of this project for a little over a month now, there's a lot of catching up to do (sort of, because at this point on Monday, Nov. 11, there has been no movement on our lot).

So stay tuned for some design tips from a not-so-creative person, but lover of Pinterest, and determined to do more DIY projects in the house. A gal who likes to cook, but enjoys watching her husband do it more. A frugal person and a couple on a newly established, fairly strict budget. Trying to balance having fun with friends and family, and saving money for our family and life together. This is going to be so fun!!

See you at the corner,
Krista