"I treat my clothes like my veggies...

...I wouldn't buy 'em if they weren't fresh!" - Joe

I think I am going to start a feature on my blog about my brother's wardrobe. {Need help coming up with a good name for it, so if you have any ideas let me know!} My little 6'2" brother, Joe, is constantly getting dressed up and has a seriously preppy fashion sense. Which makes it easy to break down some of his best outfits this summer. He has always been like me growing up by making it a priority to look presentable at all times – whether it’s to school, church, or appointments. Another similarity is our closets. I always had my closet color-coordinated going up and my brother loved how it looked.  So he started doing it. I will never forget the first time he organized it all and took a picture saying “I learn from the best.” A few years later and he became obsessed with anything and everything Polo. His groups of guy friends even do “Polo Mondays” at high school which means nowadays he is always on the hunt for Polo swag.  
The amount of clothes he has accumulated is getting so ridiculous that he now has 2 closets – one for his dress shirts and pants and the other is for his casual clothes.

So to start of strong, I am going to blog about his outfit this past Sunday. It was high school graduation and as part of his community service for National Honor Society, Joe had to be the guy to walk seniors to their proper row. So this was the ensemble he decided to wear:

1.   Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt

2.       Armani Solid Blue Silk Tie

3.       Coach belt

4.       Polo pants

5.       Steve Madden white shoes

It’s fun to see the different outfit combinations he is able to come up with and even the principal tells him all the time “if only I could dress like you.” I am just hoping he gets best dressed by the end of his high school career!

That's how it's done, sweetheart.

So after taking the longest shower of my life trying to scrap off dried paint and the smell of bug spray, I decided to have the rest of the night last night to just lounge with a movie and give myself a manicure. I picked up a bottle of Essie’s “Nice is Nice” last weekend and have been dying to use it. So I said goodbye to the silver shatter and hello to the simplistic yet stunning light purple color. Now my nails look soft and clean, that is until I pick up a paintbrush later on this weekend.

The movie of choice for the night was Country Strong. I received it from Netflix yesterday morning and I wanted to see it but I wasn’t overly excited or anything about it… Well I should have been! I am now planning on purchasing this movie SOON because I want to replay the scenes between Beau Hutton & Chiles Stanton {Garrett Hedlund & Leighton Meester} over and over again. Especially the “door scene at the hotel” between the two of them. Those of you that have seen the movie know what I am talking about {or refer to the quotes below}. Ohh, plus their duets were amazing. I think I am just obsessed with guys who sing with their love ones. But honestly I highly recommend seeing Country Strong.  It has a great storyline/plot and it yanks on almost every emotion.

Chiles Stanton:  Don’t make me say it.
Beau Hutton: Say what?
Chiles Stanton: You’re being very rude right now.
Beau Hutton: Tell me what you want.
Chiles Stanton: Nothing.
{They kiss.}

Better believe I am listening to the soundtrack on repeat throughout the workday today. So do you guys have any movies you have fallin’ in love with lately? I need to keep my Netflix queue filled with good ones!

Paint Fight!

This is a continuation of the post from yesterday... The house painting series of events! 
While Jordan and I were at work for 10 hours yesterday, Scotty was at the house teaching himself how to use a paint sprayer. He did one coat of the Antique Copper on each side of the house and seriously kicked butt at getting it done in a timely fashion. I headed over after work to see the handiwork in person and then grabbed a brush to do the bottom edge and any places the sprayer left “blue” and needed a touch up.

can't wait to get rid of the "pink" shutters & strip down the
balcony and the deck on the other side.

This is where things get interesting… Jordan left to go to Home Depot in order to buy the accent and trim paint, leaving Scotty and I alone. Well with how ADD we both had become from the hours spent painting, we ended up getting into a huge paint fight. By the time, Jordan got home {2 hours later}, Scotty and I were both soaking wet from the garden hose and covered in paint. My favorite go-to move against Scotty was the paintbrush slap. It works wonders because you are able to commit, by slapping the brush against a forearm or leg and then quickly getting away. He had muscle while I had problem solving skills, so the way we went about "the war" was so different from each other. I am sure we looked like children as we giggled and flung paint… But he definitely needed a little fun after a day of being in the hot sun, not to mention I needed it to from sitting in my air conditioned office. Win-win!

Later I taped off the shutters and trim around the windows to start the first coat of the Nile Sand accent paint. By the time I had gotten 8 out of 10 shutters completed it was already getting dark and dinner was done. Jordan made insanely delicious pork chops on the grill with sides of rice and corn. We looked like a happy family sitting around the dining room table, as I led Grace and we talked about our day and the future plans for the house.

It’s raining today which means no more outdoor painting for a bit, but Jordan and I are still going to go look at hardwood floors for the interior. And start brainstorming paint colors for the living room, kitchen, and dining room. I love that we have momentum on this project and that its making us better friends. I love being able to have a drink in one hand, paintbrush in the other, while laughing awithgood company.  I am so blessed! {Jordan & Scotty owe me a manicure though…}

As I am writing this, I got a text from Scotty {who conveniently left to go out of town for business the rest of the week, meaning no more painting for him this week OR the final showdown of the paint fight} saying that he can’t get the copper color off of his hands or his body. {Which I think looks like a good spray tan!!} He sent me a picture as proof… I automatically start laughing because I am having the same problem! I currently have a streak of the lighter color paint down my left leg. You can only see the tail end of it from the bottom of my capris, but the paint seriously runs from my hip downward. Its safe to say that we were such embarrassments at our jobs today... But hey it makes for a good story.

Antique Copper with Nile Sand Accents.

I honestly don't think I will ever get tired of saying it, but don't you just love good friends? Lately, I have been in a depression and it was about time that I was no longer the one getting taken care of and instead I wanted to help others. So when I received a phone call from my friend, Jordan {J}, I didn't even think twice to help.

J: "Sarah? I am at Home Depot right now and I need your artistic opinion. Can I come pick you up so you can help me pick an exterior house paint?''
S: "Yeah no problem. But I thought Scotty was with you."
J: "Ohh he is, but he JUST decided to tell me that he's color-blind. He honestly can't tell the difference between any of these colors."

So a few minutes later, we were driving back to compare and contrast different colors of brown. Poor Scotty was made fun of the entire evening, but he'd get himself into it. For example, Jordan and I decided to put 3 paint chips together in order to see what the color would look like on a larger scale. As we are standing back from it discussing, Scotty walks up from a side aisle, stops and says "Ohh, I really like the one in the middle." Jordan and I automatically start laughing and telling him that they are all the same color as he walked away defeated. Jordan finally decided on {1.}Antique Copper as his exterior paint with {2}Nile Sand as his accent color for the shutters.

Since we are not heartless people, we decided to take Scotty to dinner as an apology. Then finished the night off with Kilwin's ice cream in its new location near my house. Ahh, cappuccino chocolate chip ice cream... there isn't anything better than that.

I love telling everyone else at work that we are currently painting Jordan's house Antique Copper with Nile Sand Accents, and he always rolls his eyes saying "you are making it sound so much fancier than it really is." I even used Behr's website to see a demo of what the color would look like on an example house. It turned out just how Jordan and I envisioned it. His house is a ski chalet located near one of northern Michigan's famous ski hills, Boyne Highlands, so the color needs to be neutral and earthy to complement its gorgeous surroundings. Ohh, did I mention that the color of the house now is.... light blue with red {now hot pink because its so faded} shutters. Its horrible, so anything would make it look a thousand times better. Ahh, I am SO ready to get out of work and start this project, but be expecting many more posts about this endeavor because it has taken over my life!

Jewelry as Art.

Before I moved into my studio apartment last semester, I created a jewelry board in order to organize and de-clutter my apartment’s tiny bathroom. From the beginning of brainstorming, I have wanted to design something that would allow me to see all my pieces at once as well as display them beautifully. So I decided to revamp an old corkboard to make it more useful. Funny thing is now that I am home for the next few months; I already found myself seriously missing the organization. {I had to put it in storage in Ohio since it wouldn't match my bedroom & bathroom color scheme in Michigan.} So now with some pretty blue fabric in hand, I am ready to redo an old message board has been a passdown gift from my sorority family for years. I love a good DIY project.

Need:

• Corkboard
• Fabric
• Ribbon
• Pushpins
• Cup Hooks

First of all, I ironed out all the creases & folds out of the fabric. After centering the fabric on top of the corkboard I started with one side and fastened it down with a staple gun along its edge. Then stretched it to the opposite side and stapled. Each side you fasten make sure to pull and stretch the fabric for the opposite. Then its the easy part of deciding how many rows of earrings to display. I chose to do only 2 on this smaller scale corkboard and staggered the pushpins to create a space where the earrings can hang. Then on the 3rd row, I took cup hooks and screwed them into the board to dangle necklaces. Its such an easy organizer to create and it makes digging for earrings a thing of the past. :) Now I wake up some mornings and a pair will catch my attention which makes me think, "What outfit can I wear today AROUND those earrings?"

So now I have created two different versions that both serve its purpose. The one at school is more detailed with hooks for rings and bracelets; however, while home I have a jewelry box that is dedicated to those so all I needed was a space for my necklaces and earrings. Now I find myself staring at a new pair of earrings thinking “Awe, those earrings would look great hanging on my organizer.” Yeah like I really needed another reason to buy more jewelry!

Pop of Color.

What's the best way to shake the "Monday blues"? Well for me it's a new shade of fingernail polish. So this week's colors are OPI's Sparrow Me the Drama topped with Silver Shatter.

One of my best friends had an appointment to get her haircut and since I was accompanying her, I thought I'd get a manicure. After several minutes of standing in front of the polishes trying to decide, I picked these two colors to brighten up my usual dark/deep nailpolish colors. It turned out so funky and fun. How can this not get me through the work week?

To top it all off, I went on a movie date last night to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I swear Johnny Depp can make anyone laugh with his humorous movie lines and awkward facial and body movements. In my opinion, I liked the previous three movies more than this one, but just like the others I was laughing so hard at times. I can't help but be a sucker for this series, its pure entertainment regardless of the storyline. {Random sidenote: at the very beginning when they show the Disney castle logo, I love that a pirate flag is flying on its highest pike and a mermaid jumps out of the water. I am obsessed with little details like this...which made me even more excited to see it... and the movie hadn't even started yet.} Ahh, I am a dork.

But hey, everyone needs a little Jack Sparrow in their lives... even if its only on your nails.

In Loving Memory.

Sorry its been ages since I posted, but sometimes life decides to switch on you without notice. Sadly, one of my best friends, Greg, tragically took his own life this week. It has been hands down the hardest thing I have ever had to overcome in my lifetime so far. My grandpa passed away a few years ago from old age so that was hard yet understandable to percieve. But someone who I have known since the age of 7 and spent a year of college together dying definitely hit me hard. He was the nicest guy ever... from one look he knew if I was sad or mad & wanted to know everything {I mean everything} about my lovelife and the current "possibilities" in my life. In addition to that, we also would spend every summer together because his family had a cottage next door to where my family lives year round, so we have been close for years. It wasn't until Greg transfered to Miami University that our friendship got even stronger. Before I knew it, we shared a car together, went to every Miami hockey games together, and spent our weekends dancing at the bars.

Greg, Me, and his brother Jon

Once I heard his funeral service was going to be on Thursday of last week, I knew I had to make the trip down to Ohio. Luckily, I was surrounded by amazing friends and family who got me through the week and this weekend.

I'd give anything for just one more "hello gorgeous" text message or phone call. i miss you Gregory. I love that I can look out onto the lake and know that our "Boulder Lane Love" is forever. I will miss our high faves and yelling "short hair don't care." You made me laugh and smile everyday.

"There are some people in life that make you laugh a little louder, smile a little bigger and live just a little bit better."