Happy Fall



Photo from Loves of Life



It's officially time for all things fall.  Even though the weather doesn't feel that way in Houston, Starbucks has their pumpkin spice lattes out so in my eyes, it's fall! 

Jason and I plan to decorate the house this weekend, but I couldn't wait to get my pumpkin candle going and display this awesome Fall Bucket List I found at Katie's Blog, Loves of Life.  Isn't this a great idea!  Go download it HERE, then put in an 8x10 frame, and check your items off as you complete them with a dry erarse marker. 



At our house!



Erin Condren Life Planner Update

I have been using my Erin Condren Life Planner for about a month now and I LOVE it!  I feel very organized and it's nice to have one item that keeps track of my busy schedule and millions of lists. 

My only complaint is that the tabs (which I do appreciate) are not laminated and were starting to bend and come apart.  Kristin from The Little Princess Diaries posted a vlog about how she fixed this problem! Watch her vlog for more info, but trust me, the Avery tabs work perfectly!  I just added them to my Life Planner this week.

Sidenote:  I ordered them HERE from the Avery website because I couldn't find them at my local Office Max or Office Depot.

Monthly tabs after 1 month of wear and tear



$5.85 on Avery Website



Erin Condren Life Planner - Part Two

Read Erin Condren Life Planner - Part One

It's HERE!  My Erin Condren Life Planner was delivered on Thursday afternoon.  I had an event after work that day so I swung by my place beforehand to pick up the delivery (yes, I was stalking the FedEx online tracker).  I was so bummed at 6pm (when the office closes)that the FedEx truck had not arrived.  I couldn't take one more day of waiting! 

As I was pulling out of my parking garage I saw the FedEx truck!  Yes, I pulled over and asked if I could grab my package.  Slightly psycho?  At least someone else was doing it too..a newlywed wanting his wedding gifts, I learned. 


Stalking the FedEx truck

Even the box is cute!

 Ta Da!  My new Life Planner!  Erin Condren is so great.  The staff was really great after the hacking incident in notifying me and sending updates.  My planner came with so many extra goodies.  Personalized gift labels, calling cards and stickers.  I even received a coupon for $25.00 off my next purchase as an apology for the delay.  So sweet (and smart)...I will definitely be ordering more items soon. 

I had a hard time choosing which pattern to go with.  All of them are so cheerful.  I almost ordered the peacock print since I'm slightly obsessed with all things peacock, but since I do work full-time in a professional, male-dominated setting, I wanted something a little less "cutesy."  This one is perfect for me!

You can read all about the new features on the 2011-12 planners online, but some of my favorite features are the monthly tabs, pocket folder, clear zipper pouch and stickers for marking your various events.  There are blank stickers for personalization and printed stickers that read things like: Hair Appointment, Vegas, Vacation, Wedding, Baby Shower, etc.  All of these are perfect for me!

So happy!  Jason still thinks I'm weird for getting so excited for a planner.  Oh, and don't judge my appearance!  I was just home from an outdoor happy hour in Houston...hello 100 degrees!

Has anyone else ordered an EC Life Planner?  For my Teacher friends out there, EC also has a personalized Teacher's Lesson Planner.

I'm linking up with Meredith so everyone can show their Life Planners! 

Happy Planning!
~Chels

Erin Condren Life Planner - Part One

If you are a regular blogger, blog reader, or tweeter, you have already heard the hoopla over the 2011-12 Erin Condren Life Planners.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, Erin Condren is a great company who creates bright and cheery custom planners, calendars, stationary, and more. 

Her fabulous team unveiled the new 2011-12 "Life Planner" about a month ago.  I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered a planner (using my 50% off Plum District coupon of course), but was unfortunately affected when her site was hacked and hundreds of orders were lost.  No worries.  I reordered and my planner shipped yesterday!  Just a few more days of waiting!!!

My husband thinks I have literally lost it for being this excited over a planner.  Last night he said he has never seen me so excited for anything before.  I think this is a slight exaggeration, and told him I was slightly more excited when we got engaged and married, but this may take third place...

I will tell you all about the new planner as soon as I get it.  Until then, jump on over to the official Erin Condren site to order yours or to Meredith's Life Planner Link-Up Party to see everyone's planner (this also makes me feel less crazy). 

Here's to a more organized year!  Just a few cute samples...

Get Organized!

Check out this awesome blog, I Heart Organizing.  She posts monthly projects to get you organized.  I sort of failed on my "Happiness Project."  I just never got around to cracking that book open.  This blog is my new happiness project and fits into my life much easier. 

March's project was a family binder, or in my case binder(s).  Now I'm super organized with tabs for medical, auto, Tucker, emergency, important dates, take-out menus (muy importante en mi casa), blog ideas, and on and on.  I had so much fun doing this.  I even went as far as to purchase the exact binder she used because it was so cute and matched the free templates so well. 

She will keep her amazing free templates online until April 9 so hurry up and download them!

This month - "30 Items in 30 Days" aka my heaven...I love getting rid of stuff!

Put a "P" on It

I already have a ring on it, so now I want everything to have a P on it.  I guess since I am super excited to really "own" my new last name, I am LOVING anything for the home monogrammed with a P.  We now have a monogrammed welcome mat, stationary and hand towels.  My new want is the Printer's Letter Stand from Anthropologie, $23.00.  Cute right?  You can pick them up at any Anthrpologie store or online HERE. 

Homework update:  Finished the boring book, Leadership is an Art  (book review not coming soon!)today in the car.  Just one more page to write of this paper...decided to blog instead of finish it.  Tomorrow-persuasive speech that I am giving Monday night. 

Pear Inspiration

I am obsessed with pears!  I can't get enough of them.  Here are a few items on my wish list...

Orla Kiely Shoulder Bag

Clock from Ballard Designs, $99.00

Doorstop by Ballard Designs, $24.00

Tote Bag from Ballard Designs, $20.00

Orla Kiely Umbrella

Set of 3 Assorted Decorative Pears from Crate and Barrel, $11.85

Pear Timer from Bed Bath and Beyond, $3.95

Pear-Shaped Cheese Board and with Knives and Cork from Bed Bath and Beyond, $39.99

And here are some of the items that I have and love!

Orla Kiely for Target Dish Towel

Orla Kiely for Target Canister

Ashley and I felt inspired last week when we visited a great hotel for a conference...look at the great use of pears to liven up the lobby!

Hope you have a Happy Monday!

Around the house...

Jason's favorite holiday is Halloween...I have no idea why. Needless to say we do it big in our house because of this. We started the decorating process this past weekend, followed by a trip to the movie theatre to see Rob Zombie's Halloween II...how appropriate!

Our back patio has now been turned into a graveyard.

Our front door is more tame with a nice, subtle Halloween/Fall Wreath, but Jason just added a skull and pumpkin to our windowsill (not pictured)!

Also, this weekend-Jason potted our palm that was in the front yard and put it on the back patio...much better! 

Our front yard got a MAJOR makeover last weekend.  Unfortunately, I do not have a before picture, but trust me it was bad.  So bad, we got a letter from the homeowners association saying we had to clean it up.  We (by we, I mean a professional that I hired) pulled everythig up and added a new tree, bushes, 2 rose bushes, flowers, mulch and rocks. 

Voila...so much neater!

Our new tree...it is a pineapple guava.  It will get much taller to block our window for more privacy and have
red and white blooms. 

Our House

Jason and I have been in such a whirlwind lately, that I just realized we haven't even told you where we are living. Although, we wanted to shop for our perfect "first home" together, we made a very adult decision and decided to live in Jason's current house for a few years until the market is better to sell in. Don't get me wrong- Jason's townhouse is great-it's just not our dream home and I was afraid it wouldn't feel like "our" home, but as "his" home.

It really is growing on me though. I feel very safe in it and it is so warm and cozy! Here is the grand tour...please keep in mind that we are still settling in and making changes to it.

Stats on the house: 3bdrm/2.5 bath/2 stories/2 car garage and a back patio

Here is the front entrance - view is from the top of the stairs.





Living room- I love the hardwoods and the fireplace. Jason loves our new TV.

Another view of the living room...our furniture and decorative items mixed and matched really great together!

View of living room from the kitchen...notice Jason in his usual spot watching a scary movie! You can also see Tucker's blankie where he likes to sleep behind the couch.

There is a space between the living room and the kitchen that could be used for a dining room, but we turned it into a cozy little sitting area. I like to read there, J likes to do work there...it also always ends up being where we have coffee together in the morning or talking about our days in the evening.

Another reading nook that J created for me under the stairs!

The kitchen...notice my Orla Kiely items...it is from her less expensive Target collection!

This is the cute fireplace in our bedroom...and yes our bedroom walls are red-not my doing, but we will hopefully change that soon. They make me crazy.

The master bedroom is great because it is huge, but the bathroom and closets could definitely be bigger...a girl can only dream!

This is our "guest bedroom," meaning soon it will be a guest bedroom. For now, it is my office/extra closet/place to put my girly decorative items/wedding registry central! That is a project for a long weekend. I do like doing my homework there though!

The other bedroom or really, Jason's office...very manly! This room also has another closet that is full of my clothes...basically I have clothes all over the entire house...can we say time to clean-out?

And yes, those are peacock feathers in a vase on his desk. We collected those at the site where we were married when we first started dating and no, we did not pluck them out of the birds...they were on the ground!

Jason is painting our upstairs hallway right now and he decided to leave me a message the other night!

Good night everyone! Please pray for me on Wednesday night- I have a huge Finance midterm that is stressing me OUT!