Summer Party Ideas

| The Bee Life

I love parties. I especially love planning and hosting parties. Although I don’t feel I have all the means to pull off my ideal party, because when it comes to planning I’m All-Out Emily. And as much as I like to make items, and use things in clever ways – money is usually a factor. And, for me it goes down to every little detail, from the napkins to the lighting, from the invitations to the music. But money  usually doesn’t stop me.

We are planning an upcoming house warming party, I know a little late, but I wanted it to be warm! Bad joke? It is also our houses 100th birthday this year, so I am calling it our Centennial Party…because I love a good theme.

To get some inspiration I went to my favorite place and pulled some ideas that I hope to incorporate and adapt.

Hope to share some of my finishing touches and pictures from our upcoming party!

Until then,

House Hunters – Backyard Living

| The Bee Life

Memorial Day Weekend is the official ‘summer’ kick-off party weekend. Which means outdoor living spaces are becoming needed and used. With this in mind, I can’t help but think of ideas on how we can turn our backyard into a functional area for summer entertaining. I feel like the options are endless, making decisions harder to make.

Inspiration:

Wish list:

  • We don’t have a patio or a deck, so we have the option although I like the idea of having both, a deck that leads down to a patio
  • I love pergola’s and would love to try and incorporate one over our potential deck area
  • Comfy/lounge seating and dining options are needed
  • Considering outdoor speakers to compensate for our neighbors horrible country music
  • Keep enough grass space for Moz to have room to run hog wild
  • Incorporate a veggie/herb garden by using minimum space

We might end up waiting a season before any final decisions are made and see how our first summer in the house goes.  Our sun room is nearly complete and once we get some furniture for the front porch we’ll have some outdoor options to hold us over with. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Happy entertaining season!

Transformation Tuesday no. 6

| The Bee Life

Our living room is finally looking grown-up, and I absolutely love it. One afternoon of; “Let’s just go look at furniture” turned into us actually pulling the trigger and buying it. One of our challenges was finding furniture that was deep enough… B is 6’6″ and I wanted him to be able to fit and be comfortable, plus once he tried out a deep couch he was sold; that was what we needed.  Mind you 45″ deep couches aren’t that popular; nor do they come in a lot of styles. With our oblong living room I wanted pieces that could be versatile and could be rearranged. Our other sticking point was the fabric and color, we wanted something light colored and also more lineny – no microfiber in this house! So once we found our pieces, we knew they were it, hitting our size/color/fabric requirements while being the perfect mix of the style we wanted.

Before:

The listing photos
The listing photos

After:

Luckily we could keep some of our original pieces: the coffee table was a steal from an antique store, while the light blue ‘car seat’ chairs were from B’s parents.  The rug was a steal from target being $40 and it’s Moz’s favorite – every time we get a rug she just goes and lays on it. It’s the cutest thing. There will always be finishing touches, but I am loving how this has come together so far.

throwback thursday – may 2014

| The Bee Life

This time last year, we were in the final stages and days before the Rite Aid half marathon… with full weekends before and after, the entire month! And this month, we have had a few busy weekends, but nothing nearly compared to last year.  As much as I complained and wanted a free weekend last year … and as much as I like to keep my free weekends this year, I feel like I am already off to a boring start to the “summer” with no real vacations or trips (just one) in the future sights.

So many great memories and milestones happened a year ago this month; #DazzleCLE, my cousin’s senior prom, B’s sister’s college graduation, our three year anniversary, we ran our 6th half marathon, our friend’s got married, my cousin’s HS graduation party, and B’s first time in NYC.

I’m grateful for all these memories and times, and can’t wait for all the unplanned moments this upcoming year!

Happy Thursday!

10 miles on a Saturday

| The Bee Life

This past weekend we ran the 10-miler Hermes race. A new race for us, so we did not know what to expect. I didn’t have high expectations for myself, simply because I haven’t been training/running… at all! I just wanted to finish.

B’s brother came up to run this with us, so I knew they would blast ahead of me at some point, mainly because I wanted to stick to my pace. And they did… eventually I couldn’t see them. Between mile 8 and 9 I ran into B’s brother, but kept running.  I did not stop at all! I definitely lost a lot of momentum in my last few miles – especially when this woman just stopped completely in front of me at a water station. But I kicked it up into the finish.

It felt great to run this entire race, and beat my target finish time AND to run the whole thing without stopping. My ending time was 1:36:38.14 – B finished 11 minutes ahead of me! And his brother finished right after me.  The weather was perfect conditions for me; cool 40’s overcast with a little bit of sun.  I’m definitely ready to find another race, although I know any sort of training is going to be tough, so I want to stay on the shorter end of miles.

It was a productive start to our Saturday! We were all finished well before 10:30AM – the rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing and low key so it was the perfect balance of both.

Wednesday Reminders – Life

| The Bee Life

My daily quote box in my office inspired me once again:

FullSizeRender

Sometimes our goals are life related but often times they’re work, or school related; which can lead to hard and negative situations that can so easily get us down or set us back, it’s only human nature.  It’s true at times that negatives/set backs can push us forward and make us work harder. But I think more importantly than the negative; we as humans often forget about the positive (guilty) which I think at times so much harder to be cognizant of.  As the quote above reminds us that life needs to be enjoyed before our goals can truly be rewarded.  To put the icing on the cake, I read another perfectly fitting and great reminder scrolling through my instagram feed last night, @alexajeanfitness posted;

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of replaying negative situations from the day that you wish you’d handled differently. Regardless of how badly the day went, the best thing to do is avoid that pessimistic spiral of negative self-talk because it will only create more stress. Remember to take some time to reflect on the positive moments of the day and celebrate the successes, even if they were few and far between.”

Yes! I did this all day yesterday, replayed a conversation that I wish hadn’t happened, and I wish I’d responded differently towards – and I read this and realized that the entire day I was grumpy and miserable and stressed because all I focused on was the negative. We need to remember to reflect and talk about the positives; and not in a coincidental way (my mom did that yesterday.)

So this morning I finally got a good laugh to snap me out of my grumpy funk, all at B’s expense but it was so needed, so thank you B ❤

I am owning situations, I am owning my actions and I am going to start talking about the positives and start enjoying life beyond my goals. Happy Wednesday!

Mad Men – The Forecast

| The Bee Life

So Mad Men is ending, and by no means will this become a weekly occurrence, but last night’s episode was so classic and brilliant I can’t get it off my brain. I’ve thought of blogging about Mad Men – but I read so many other blogs that kill it, I didn’t even want to try. (My favorite; Tom and Lorenzo)

Reasons why I love Mad Men;

1. It revolves around advertising
2. It’s a history lesson (in more than one way)
3. The characters are amazing
4. Roger Sterling
5. Last night’s episode (The Forecast)

Minor spoilers – you’ve been warned.

Favorite moments from last night; Sally’s reappearance. It’s about time she showed up in this last leg of the season, although from the looks of it we won’t be seeing her that often for the remaining four episodes. With Sally’s return came some great highlights; including the return of Glen Bishop, who not only fabulously rocked the 70’s side burns but was the same boy he’s always been; disappointing his mom and step-father and head over-heels for Betty. Not to mention, neither Betty or Sally had any clue of the others “relationship” with Glen, Betty proclaiming; “You’ve kept in touch all these years..” Despite Sally’s weak freak out over Glen’s news, she ended the night with a bang when she let Don have it before she left on vacay. I could tell during the restaurant scene, it was coming – another woman in Don’s life calling out his flaws.

I loved that we had some more Joan time last night, although her typical Joan swagger was a little off.  She’s not the type to fall in love so quickly, but we were proven wrong.   The pre-show scenes recapped Joan telling Bob Bensen, “I want love” …do we think Joan might’ve found love?  I am not so sure; his outburst and her remark to leave her son don’t show as promising characteristics these two bring out in each other.

Last but not least, this episode left us guessing… still.  From the looks of it Don really doesn’t have much of a future in sight – which makes me think again maybe the series will end with his death.  I half-serious/half-jokingly tweeted after last week’s episode that Matthew Weiner is trying to make us hate Don (mainly because of his pathetic obsession with Diana) so that when he does die, the viewers won’t be mad. But I also know it can’t be that easy. The last scene of the show last night was so symbolic and the second time an episode ends with Don is in a blank space, alone, with nothing.

New Buisness 4.12.15
The Forecast 4.19.15

What’re your thoughts on Mad Men so far?

House Hunters – Sun room

| The Bee Life

Since the weather is finally starting to perk up, there has been one room in the house that has been completely neglected – our sun room. This room is strictly a 2-season use room (for now) since it’s all windows and horribly insulated, thank you 100-year old home. So knowing this; I don’t want to put too much time or money into it, but I still want it to be a warm, inviting space that will be used on weekend mornings, rainy nights or afternoons.

Here’s the space we’re working with;

It’s basically a square with windows on three-walls and a door with two smaller walls from the camera perspective. First things first; it will need a coat of paint (the only room in the house that hasn’t been painted) – that dull yellow is going to turn into a crisp white. The ceiling and floors are a dark color, I am considering painting the ceiling white and maybe doing some antique texturing. A new area rug is also needed to add that cozy feel.

Inspiration:

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05

These pieces might be a little big for this space, but I like the idea of it just being a room with a couch so all you can do is relax and enjoy the weather without actually being outside. We plan to go furniture shopping soon for our living room, so maybe we will throw in a piece or two for the sun room! First thing’s first; PAINT!

Last Minute Easter Prep

| The Bee Life

Now that we have 3x the space and 3x the doors, our space hasn’t been as Eastery as I would hope, with it only being 2-days away.  I recognized that this will take some time to figure out the perfect pieces for our spaces, but I also love decorating, especially for holidays! Easter is the ideal segue to spring so it’s a perfect time to pull in a mix of the two.

Here are some Easter/Spring essentials:

1. Front Door – DIY vs. Store

DIY – This tulip wreath is a perfect DIY opportunity (look for a future post!) Not to mention it allows for flexibility in choosing your own wreath size and tulip color based on your preference and house, and it can stay up before, during, and after Easter!

Store – Target (and many other stores) have these beautiful egg wreaths.  They’re chic and simple and I love this as an option.

2. Centerpiece – Mine vs. DIY

Mine – This is my first attempt at an Easter centerpiece working with what I have.  The tall tea light holders are my current year-round piece, along with the black place mats, although I would love to find the perfect ones with some color! The bunny was a gift from my “future” mother-in-law, which added the perfect touch. All of these pieces (minus the bunny and place mats) were purchased at the Dollar Store; $9 for this look!

DIY – I love this DIY option because it brings in the perfect mix of spring and Easter.  The fresh flowers give this dimension and life, simply switch out the eggs for more flowers or just more “grass” and you have a piece that can stay-up after the holiday.

3. Mantle – Dream vs. Reality

Dream – I LOVE this mantle, and wreath’s over mantles – especially for Christmas.  Sadly this is not an option. B and his 55-inch TV won the battle over the mantle. So while I have some options on the sides and under the TV, it can’t be as dramatic as I would like.

Reality – We have a 55-inch TV over our mantle. So I switch out small pieces and add in elements of the current season or holiday when and where I can.  My picture frames and the lights are a current fixture (along with the TV) – so I am sure this will change a million times over throughout the year.

What are your Easter/Spring holiday essentials?

Happy Easter!