Free People for a Free Spirit

 Let's be honest...as much as I love fashion I do not have the wallet for high end brands and designers. 

I grew up an MK(missionary kid), and we did not have great wealth. I still don't.

While my husband and I have a wonderful home, full of style, comforts and conveniences; I can not bring myself waste money on big labels. 

Therefore, over the years I have learned how to style myself and my home on a discount store budget! I am not ashamed of that fact.

I love when someone asks me where I got something, expecting it to be pricy, and I shock them. 

That being said...I can still look, appreciate, and get inspired by big labels.

One store I specifically love the style of is

Free People. 

Just looking at their photographs and lookbooks make me happy! 

I am a free spirit at heart. I would be perfectly happy living in the country, soaking up sun in the fields, and running around barefoot! (I actually do the latter even though I don't live in the country!)

While I love their soft flowy and floral dresses, I also love Free People's ethnic looks.

Here in Texas it is pretty much to hot and humid to wear anything tight and restricting, so I prefer to wear pretty much all dresses in the summer. 

I have a few go-to discount stores that have great dress options! With the heat coming I am going to need to go scavenging! :)

 

~ Elle

A Night at the Oscars

It has been a while since I have had a themed girl's night, so I felt the need to start March off right! 

I thought, "Why not have an Oscar's theme night?!?"

Take a look and tell me how you think I did!

All my VIP guests had a red carpet entrance!

As they arrived I had a guest book waiting for them to sign with little miniature Oscars!

Oh...and our butler (Mr. Equis) was also waiting to great the guests!

 

Mr. Equis was nice enough to serve our drinks for the evening!

(FYI: found this guy at a garage sale and cut out the Dos Equis from his hand and replaced it with a cocktail!) 

 I made little gold drink tags so that guests could pick the tag that represented them (ie: best song, best director, best actress, most likely to trip, best dressed, etc)

  An Oscars night wouldn't be complete without photos on the red carpet!

 

 Beth El and I accept our Oscars for "Best Song" and "Best Hostess"!

We would like to thank the Academy!

And of course I had to make Oscar Bingo cards for all the guests to entertain us as we view the Academy Awards!

 I would say the evening was a success and a lot of fun!

~ Elle

My Italian Guestroom Makeover

A while back I blogged about my inspiration for a guestroom makeover, "An Italian Villa Retreat".

Hence, that is part of the reason I have not blogged in awhile. 

I have been quite busy redecorating my guest room.

I have a few more finishing touches to do I am currently distressing some shutters I hope to put up next week! But here is my handy work so far!

I am quite happy with the results!

 

 First I tested TONS of paint samples to see if I wanted to go blue or creamy yellow...

I finally chose a creamy yellow...but it looked so dull....

 

After painting it, I knew it still needed something...so I asked my mother-in-law for help!

 

My mother-in-law is a professional faux painter, and she showed me how to do a simple aging technique with this block stippler brush!

 

 1 day later, and some exhausted arms...

 

Below is a stock photo of the quilt I bought for the room..."Mansfield Park" from Kohls.

 

Next, I needed to update the closet. While it is a guest room I still want it to be useable space for me when guests aren't here. So I decided to turn it into a transitional desk space for me!

First I painted it "Tame Teal" from Sherwin Williams.

 

Then I had my husband cut shelving for me, which I then sanded down and distressed with two different shades of stain to give the boards an aged look.

 

It was easy to install the shelves because the closet had a built in closet system so I could adjust shelves to my preferred heights!

 

Added some books, flowers, wrought iron accents, Italian wine bottles, and tah dah!

 I found this cute little frame at a garage sale, distressed it, and added a cute Italian picture.

Now I can sit at my lovely little desk and enjoy views of Italy!

 

 My next step is to paint a view of the Italian countryside for my new guestroom!

Now I am dying to visit Italy! 

~ Elle 

 

Much Ado About Nothing

This weekend I was able to watch the new Much Ado About Nothing with a good friend.

I realized how rusty I was on my Shakespeare though! If you haven't seen it I would highly recommend it!  However, I grew up watching the 1993 version, and wished I had watched that recently to brush up on all the characters and who's who since I'm so rusty with my Shakespeare!

I always loved the poetic song "Sigh No More, Ladies" that they read aloud in the version with Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson. They incorporated it into this new version as a background song playing at a party.

"Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever,

One foot in sea and one on shore, 

To one thing constant never.

Then sigh not so, 

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe 

Into Hey, nonny nonny.

Sing no more ditties, sing no more

Of dumps so dull and heavy.

The fraud of men was ever so, 

Since summer first was leavy.

Then sigh not so, but let them go

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into Hey, nonny nonny!"

Other great quotes from Much Ado About Nothing:

"I would rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me." (Beatrice)

"When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married." (Benedict)

Hope you had a 'bonny' weekend!

~ Elle

 

Political Kindness

"Political Kindness"

Does such a thing exist?!?

There has been a lot going on lately in American government. 

While I do not like to get into politics on my blog and keep my views to myself, there is one thing I feel the need to talk about...

Kindness.

No matter what your view or what party you represent PLEASE be respectful and kind when openly discussing your views and opinions on social media outlets. 

Don't get me wrong, I am all for standing up for what you believe in!! I am very vocal about it in other media outlets (Just not my blog). But the bashing, name calling, bullying, hurtful comments that I have heard from BOTH political parties makes me sad. BOTH sides can be quite ignorant and rude in there arguments in the government and in social media. 

When did it become wrong to have an opinion? When did it become a bad thing to disagree and discuss differences of opinions?  Can we not be willing to listen to what others have to say, and then if in disagreement, KINDLY explain your viewpoint and why you have that viewpoint? 

I guess all I am asking is that we show a little kindness, and respect (regardless if we agree with the person), to those who have different ideas. 

Don't give you opinion if you are unwilling to listen to other viewpoints.

Alright, that is all the "politics" I am going to talk about on here! :)

I will end with this lovely quote, that I think is so true! 

Imagine if everyone took this quote to heart...there would be a lot less angry people in the world!! 

(via pinterest)

Happy Weekend Wishes

This is the first weekend in a long time in which I have been home and nothing planned!

I am taking advantage of it and painting my guest bedroom. I love productive Saturday mornings at home! They make me feel energized and content!

I thought I would share some photos I took a few weekends ago when my mom was visiting. My sister and I took her to a state park nearby that has a swampy lake full of alligators!

 We went around sunset so it was really beautiful the way the sun was setting through all the trees.

There were lily pads blooming everywhere!

 Below is my sis, Jenn, with her husband who joined us on the walk.

 The path along the lake was peaceful.

 That is my husband below, keeping an eye out for alligators! He never misses them!

 Check out this one! He wouldn't budge!

 This spotted this one before he popped his head above water, because we saw the lily pads moving as he walked along the bottom of the lake!

 Here is my husband again...looking for more alligators!

 I loved all the spanish moss hanging from the trees. It looked so cool.

 My sis again, catching her breath for a photo opportunity! You should check out her blog, Contemporary Harbor!

 And here I am attempting to get the last bit of rays from the sunset...however, the sun was quickly fading.

I hope your weekend is an enjoyable one, whether you are just relaxing, or keeping busy!

~ Elle