Happy New Year :: From NYC

 

Kevin & I are spending our New Year in NYC this year!
:: Here we are on our way ::

 

NYC on New Years is actually something I've NEVER wanted to do. Ironic huh?
Well, Kevin and my best friend Katie who is a PR rep in NYC surprised me with a trip here to see the Rockefeller Rockettes! Something I've ALWAYS wanted to do.
It just so happened that this trip falls in line with experiencing the New Year here too!

Katie's company is a big part of hosting/putting on the new year celebration in Time Square.
She personally is in charge of the "Revelers" (among other things, that girl works more than anyone I know), which is what Kevin and I are and will be doing tonight on stage (reveling).
I don't know that we will actually make it on TV, but NBC and ABC will be filming the stage we're on.
We'll be on the Nivea Kiss Stage along with Bill & Giuliana Rancic & other performers.
We'll be representing Nivea to the fullest. ;)

Tomorrow we plan on visiting Hillsong NYC.
This I am SUPER excited about. I hope we get in. I heard you have to arrive early,
and even then it's difficult to get it. We'll see. :)

Monday, I'm not sure what we're doing yet.
Tuesday, we'll be seeing the Rockettes!! Front row too!
A true dream come true! :)

I have to admit, so far this has been overwhelming since the second we arrived in Jersey City.
This is my first time in such a large city (except for Paris, but Paris is amazing)...
...this concrete jungle on the other hand is different. Way different, in my eyes.
Last night when we arrived into Jersey my anxious spirit kicked into high gear.
I had a rough night of sleep, that is if I got any at all. I'm really praying and hoping that my nerves calm down, which they have a little this morning. Pray for me!!

Here's some shots from the trip so far.

:: Here we are at Katie's house in Jersey City. Smallest sink ever ::

 

:: Sink in our Hotel in NYC. It's basically a tub ::

 

:: Dunks being silly with the hotel goods ::

 

:: This hotels decor is amazing. Can you tell? ::

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years Eve!!

:: Cheers to 2012 ::

From Old :: To New

Since having a break from school and a few days off of work I was able to tackle some projects that I'd been putting on the back burner. 

Here are some items that were old and busted (not really busted though), but turned new (to me) when given the right paint, fabric, & TLC. :)

::  Before ::

This lamp was given to me by my Director. 

She had it in her office for years, and so did the Director before her.

 

:: After ::

I had a ton of sample paints leftover from redoing the guest room project, so I was able to pick one and use it on the lamp. Those little sample paints can go a long way!

I wanted to give this lamp some color in order to cheer up my office at work. I feel like theirs not a whole lot I can really do right now to make the office  my style, so this lamp is a good start. 

I bought a new lamp shade from Ross, and added the lace to it.

 

:: Before ::

Bought this mirror at a garage sale over the summer (can't remember the price). 

I've been waiting for the right moment to paint and use it. I decided to paint it the same color as the lamp and place it in my office on the book shelf. I love having mirrors in spaces, so it worked out well. :)  

 

:: After :: 

 

:: Before ::

I love finding chairs and reupholstering them! If I had more time (or no job) I think I'd really look into making this my job. I just love it. It's a easy way to make a piece of furniture unique and your own in your home. Anyone can do it. It's really simple when you have the right piece. 

Bought this chair at a garage sale over the summer (again, can't remember the price). 

I haven't done anything to the paint job on the chair, it came like this. I do think eventually I might touch it up, but for now I think it's just fine. 

 

Fabric from JoAnn's

 

:: After ::

This is NOT the best seat job I've ever done. I was in a hurry and just wanted to get it done .

Either way it turned out, and I like it. :)  

Here's the aftermath of a night filled with projects. Feels good to be done with them!

• Painted a lamp
• Added lace to a lamp shade
• Painted a mirror
• Reupholstered the chair
• Added fabric to a frame

Merry Christmas!

 

A friend on Facebook (Peter Stern) posted this as his status, and I thought it was really great.

I ditto his request.

"God decided to do the last thing we tend to do... He humbled Himself. He exposed Himself to danger, poverty and imperfection by coming in the body of a helpless baby to our world. May the story become more than a story to me; let my life echo it."

Guest Room

I'd been wanting to update our guest room for awhile, but never really found the motivation to get it done. This past September my friend Katie was planning to visit me for the first time in Virginia. So of course I HAD to get the room done by then! I was determined, so I set out and worked hard on the room before she arrived. Below is a series of before and afters within the guest room.

For starters here's some of the inspiration that I found on Pinterest for the room. 

I knew I wanted to make this room lighter and more cheery. 

A room that would one day (Lord willing) transfer well into a nursery. 

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Here are some old BEFORE Pictures of the room. 

I had taken better/more before shots, but can't seem to find them. :(
This room was originally "suppose" to be an office, music, lounge room.
Not so much. It quickly became more of a catch all, messy room.

I was having a lot of trouble finding the exact color I wanted for the walls.

Can you tell...
I ended up picking the one on the very top right.
It's a very beautiful color.
It looks more blue in some lights and then more green in others. 

I made these four pillows for the room.

The turquoise one was made out of kitchen towels from Target.
All the other fabrics were from JoAnn's.

I was wanting to buy a new desk and bookshelf for the room, but after some looking

I decided it would be more cost effective to try and paint the furniture. 

It actually turned out much better than I anticipated!

:: Before ::

:: After ::

:: Owl painted white ::

:: Before and afters of the globe ::



:: New sewing desk. It's not an ideal desk for sewing, but it does the job for now ::

:: Kevin found this chair at the dump when dropping off our garbage. Nice! ::

:: Bought these tins from Ikea awhile ago ::

:: Mirror painted white ::

Kevin found this frame at the dump too. He's quite the lucky guy!
I need to send him there more often.
:: Mirror and frame before ::

:: I was shocked to find this chandelier for $5 at a garage sale ::

:: Before ::

:: After ::

Here's the before and after of the knight I placed over the bed. 

This was given to me by some friends. It was originally in there house when they bought it,

but they didn't want it, so they gave it to me. :) So kind of them!
Can I pretend this is the Van Wynsberg Coat of Arms? 

:: Before ::

::After ::

The flowers, and Helvetica saying was inspired by Pinterest.
The picture is from my grandmother.
As a little girl I liked to pretend that the girl in the picture was me.
Can I still pretend? ;P

:: Flowers and vase from Michaels ::

Picture from my Grandma on my mothers side.

It was originally given to me in a frame,
but I took it out of the frame and did something else with it in my house.
I plan to reframe the picture though.

I'd like to eventually get a white bedspread for this room. 

My dream bedspread is this one in white from Anthropologie

I'd also like to add some sort of headboard.
Not sure what yet, but one thing at a time. :)

:: Final project (mostly) complete! ::

:: Rug from Ikea ::

:: Curtains from Target ::