Really Ties the Room Together

 This fall I somehow found some time to take on some projects that have been brewing in my mind for years!  So fun to finally make them happen and I love what they've added to our home.  First it was this family photo wall in our guest room (inspiration here).  

 I started by gathering all my old, outdated brass and wood picture frames and spray painted them all the same off-white color.  I put burlap and a fun ribbon behind all the frames, and anchored them at the top of the wall with fun doorknobs I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  The hardest (and most fun) part was choosing which pictures I wanted to display.

 

I saw this project on Pinterest and have always wanted to tackle it in order to display my Instagram prints.  I LOVE instagram, and was SO excited when Walgreens released an app to print instagram photos straight from your phone.   I found a funky, brass frame at Goodwill (it even came with a horribly ugly painting) and spray painted it.  Wire and tiny clothes pins finished off the project.  So happy with how it turned out.

 

I've been looking for a way to store our growing record collection for some time.  We were quickly running out of room in our existing entertainment console, but I didn't really want to buy a new piece of furniture for this purpose.  Enter IKEA Hack!  I became a big fan of the IKEA hack concept when we installed our built-in bookshelves on our second floor, so I thought it might be a great resource for this project. 

 I bought two inexpensive bookshelves at IKEA, and made the cushions myself (tutorial here).  It took me one night to make these come together and I think they are so much fun.

And Sadie LOVES her new window seats!

Some Other Fun Stuff I Should Mention (and link to)

We've had some lovely nights out which have included DELICIOUS food, drink, and entertainment.  Thought I should give a shout out to all this fabulousness....

We celebrated our anniversary about a month late with dinner at The Bonefish Grill.  We LOVE Bonefish.  The service is always great, the atmosphere is nice, and the food is delicious.  AND, my favorite thing about it is that you can eat a healthy dinner and still feel like you're splurging.  Unlike most dinners out, I don't leave feeling like I've sabotaged my entire healthy nutritious lifestyle. ;)

And then we headed to one of our very favorite local music shops, Twist & Shout, and splurged on a big old pile of records (yep, vinyl...we're into it).  Faves include Brandi Carlisle's new album Bear Creek, Todd Snider's Acoustic Hymns & Stoner Fables, Widespread Panic's Live In the Classic City II, the new Old Crow Medicine Show; and some great used selections including: Uncle Tupelo's No Depression, some choice Hot Rize and Red Knuckles albums, and something called aerobic clogging.  No seriously.  And it's great (for old-time fans like us...)

It felt like the old days (in my 20s) spending the evening with earphones on at Twist & Shout, actually spending money on music (!), and hanging with my man in the big city on a Friday night.  Fun!


In October, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law took us out for a very fun night on the town to celebrate my birthday.  Margaritas at The Rio, dinner and delicious beers at a great new find, Freshcraft, and more drinks and skeeball (and Ms. Pacman!) at 1-Up Arcade Bar! 

 The night before our most recent house concert we finally got a chance to dine at one of the hippest, hardest seats to get in Denver, Linger.  (I know, don't we sound so fancy???).  It was an anniversary gift from my parents and it was AMAZING!  Such a delicious dinner..the hype and anticipation were worth it.  And then we went and saw one of our new fave bands, Elephant Revival atone of Denver's best live music venues, the Soiled Dove Underground.


Last weekend, courtesy of a vendor I use, Origins Laboratory, we had great seats to watch our Denver Broncos and our new quarterback Peyton Manning win against the New Orleans Saints.  We had a chance to tailgate on a beautiful, cool fall day with our neighbors Ryan and Amanda...a perfect Sunday. 

We sure are lucky that we have family in town and we get to go out and act like grown married people every once in a while (pretty often, in fact).  I swear, this is one of the most important things that we do to keep our marriage happy and healthy.  And all thanks to our village!!!