inspiration

Holiday Decor Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Every year I get an itch to completely redo all of our Christmas decorations, but then there is a part of me that just loves what we’ve created over these last few years and how we’ve made our home a cozy Christmas wonderland.  So I mix things up on a smaller scale, our outdoor space we’ve been doing different lighting variations and and the dining room is always my play space to create a magical setting.

So although I am not completely redoing our decor this year, I love to share future inspiration for holiday decor around the house… enjoy!
Holiday Decor Inspiration - the bee life
Classic. I love keeping decor classic with white lights and pops of color, you can’t beat the feel good sentiments of Christmas and a nice lush evergreen.

Pops of Color. This centerpiece is what dreams are made of and reminds me of the vintage ornaments I’ve found over the years from my grandma and at antique stores – pinks and blues and golds are so fun to play around with!

Simple. I hope one day I can work up to simple, right now it’s a complete flip of decorations in the house; picture frames are put away and the house is completely transformed with greens, lights, multiple trees, candles and ornaments.

What are your favorite things about decorating for Christmas? What theme or color palette are you dying to do?

 

 

Photo sources are linked above. 

Fireplace Makeover Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Since we’ve been on hold with house projects with all of the wedding planning and expenses – I’m admittedly already secretly planning some projects that B and I can conquer this winter, while the cold and snow surround us outside.  So because I just can’t contain myself, here is some inspiration for a project we’ve had our eyes on.
Fireplace Makeover Inspiration - the bee life
Refacing Our Fireplace: This project has me a bit conflicted – but at the same time I’m curious to see how it would work in our space.  We have built-in’s on either side of our fireplace and these are the original oak color with beveled glass windows.  The brick had been already painted white, which we like and still flows with the space, but I can’t decide if white wood over top of the brick would work or if the mix-match of textures is what makes currently work. We definitely don’t want to paint the original built-in’s… they’re original features with original wood, and it would be so painful to do that!  Check out our current fireplace!

New Tile in Front of Fireplace: Because the refacing is a bit more conflicting, we may end up doing this project before jumping all in, since this might be the only update we need to help with the space.  Currently we have maroon tiles in front of our fireplace that meet up with our original oak floors.  We’ve been talking about replacing these for awhile, and since we finally have one tiling project under our belts – we are feeling confident, plus it’s a small space! Updating these dated maroon tiles with some white marble would really make this space pop and be a clean look.

One of the reasons we love our house so much is because it’s a century home and we love a lot of the original features, like the natural woodwork, the built-in’s in both our dining and living room and our hardwood floors.  So whenever we’re updating a space,  we make updates that only enhance and highlight those original features we love!

Photo Sources:  Left Image | Right Image

Fitness Friday 10.17

| The Bee Life

It’s been 9-straight months since I set out on my latest fitness journey and committed to my bootcamp classes. And it feels awesome. I’ve recently started trusting and listening to my body more when I need breaks or when I need to push myself, it’s the balance without completely forgoing the routine or workout that has been key to my success lately.
Fitness Friday 10.17 - the bee life
And as much as the half-marathon seemed like a failure based off of how our actual race went, it also felt like a much needed re-boost to this journey.  I think another game-changer is that I’ve finally really started watching what I’m eating and cutting out those damn, delicious carbs! As much as I try and preach everything in moderation, the crap just weighs you down, literally.

So after hustling and not quitting for these 9-months, I am FINALLY seeing significant progress even through the moments of doubt, including the moments of weakness when I was about to start accepting that “this is just the way things are” – and I’m SO glad I didn’t, and kept striving and pushing. It’s all part of the journey!  I realized not everything that worked for me 3-years ago still works today, and I am not nearly as active (or have the time to be) as I was then – and that is OK, so I’ve adjusted and realigned and I love these results.

Planning My Dream Living Room

| The Bee Life

My house is a constant work in progress. With my ever-so-changing ways, I’m always looking for new ideas to improve and fine tune each room using different color paints and pieces of furniture. For me, there is one room in particular that would require a larger makeover, our living room – mainly because of the layout. Don’t get me wrong, I love our current furniture, our century home built-in’s and calming color pallet. But you can always dream of better things!Living Room Inspiration - the bee lifeSources: Top Left || Top Right || Bottom Left || Bottom Right

When thinking of pulling my dream living room space together in our current house, I would first and foremost need a completely different floor plan.  Our living room is long and narrow, with two openings along the one side so it makes for limited layout options, so in order to have my dream living space, here are the 6-qualifiers that would help make my dream living room a reality;

  1. Flexible Layout: I love to rearrange furniture, so having options to move larger pieces into different spaces is key for me.  I would also love the option to be able to have multiple areas within the space, for example a more intimate/formal seating area behind the larger living space.
  2. Neutral Bases & Pops of Color: When designing a room I like to start with big, neutral pieces; like this amazing sectional I found on Arhaus (see below). These types of pieces are the perfect starting point to build from. From there I like adding in pops of color with accent pillows, rugs or lamps, because these can always be switched out!  My go-to colors are navy’s and white’s with hints pink or yellow to really highlight the neutrals.
  3. Comfy & Cozy: Since my fiance is 6’6″ finding a couch that is wide is important, this also makes for cozy family snuggles including the pup! To finish this feel, extra large and easy to grab blankets or pillows (you can never have too many pillows), in nearby baskets are a must.
  4. A Statement Piece: Like an awesome chair, a bold ottoman, or a show stopping mirror will help create a secondary focal point in the room.  This could also be accomplished by dressing up the fireplace/mantle area with those pops of color or bold accessories.
  5. Metallics & Texture:  Again, this is where the accessories come into play, whether it’s a fuzzy blanket or a fun metallic pillow, lamp, or picture frames, adding these different textures to the room creates depth and movement. And a little bit of glam.
  6. Family Photos: This is the finishing touch and a must in my book. Adding vintage and current family photos keeps loved ones close, while adding an element of history plus it’s a great conversation starter with guests. Pull this look off with a great symmetrical gallery wall or lined table or mantle filled with gold or silver frames.

Living Room Inspiration (2) - the bee lifeShop the Look: Arhaus Outerbanks Sectional, Faux Fur Throw, Arhaus Amelie Mirror, Target Deniz Side Table, Gold Frame 1, Gold Frame 2, Arhaus Velvet Pillow

My dream space would be traditional and classic, with a little bit of glam mixed in.  It would still be practical and livable, it would be inviting and cozy for friends and family to enjoy.  It would be big with lots of windows and a killer fireplace. My dream living room space would be a lot of things with killer unique and functional pieces.

Share your dream living room must-have’s in the comments below! Looking for more inspiration? Check out these other luxury living room selections from Arhaus for your dream living room!

Fitness Friday 08.17

| The Bee Life

Woah! It’s the last Friday of August <wide-eyed emoji>

With it being the last week of August, that means we are quickly approaching half-marathon month, EEK! We are three-weeks away from breaking our 3-year break from halfs.  I must admit, I am a bit excited to conquer this feat again! Not to mention, a completely new race and course, so it’ll be a fun experience in a different city… and state.

Training has been going pretty well, I was in a good groove of running and bootcamp every other day, even in the summer heat.  I’ve had a few weeks where I haven’t run at all, except for my long run – and those have surprisingly gone well! I’m not stressing out, but I am also not letting myself slack off.

My favorite run so far was seven miles the weekend of my bridal shower – I was up super early, and my stomach grumbly, I wasn’t really feeling so hot, but it was going to be a long morning on top of a long day.  So I decided to go and give seven a try.  Since it was so early, on a Saturday it was quite and peaceful, and the stomach pains and weakness I was feeling eventually went away – I conquered those 7-miles, only stopping to pet a puppy.  It felt so good.  And since I still had time to kill after, I went to yoga for an hour.

Bootcamp has remained a constant these past 7-months, I’m stronger and I’m pushing myself to pick up the heavier weights – plus my trainer got me to write by fitness goal up on the board with the rest of the members, so now I can see it every day I go! And remember what the end goal is, beyond a healthy me.

Happy Training!

 

Fitness Friday 07.17

| The Bee Life

Happy Fitness Friday!

So I’m in a funny place with my workout routine, I feel motivated but at the same time am feeling discouraged – which both contradict each other.  Motivate is defined as a stimulate interest in or enthusiasm for doing something and discouraged is defined as having lost confidence or enthusiasm; disheartened.  Complete opposites!
FF 07.17 - the bee life
I was thrown off my normal routine these past two weeks, so I understand that is probably where a lot of the discouraged feeling is coming from.  And I’m motivated knowing that half marathon training is just starting to pick up, and I’ve actually been running! I’ve been making progress with sticking with my workout routine and growing stronger, but admittedly I haven’t seen some of the progress I’d like to see with my weight.

I am also day three into no sweets for 30-days.  It’s going to be tough with a bridal shower and wedding thrown into the mix, but practicing self-control for 30-days is a personal thing I want to challenge myself with, and something I know I can do.  I just need a few extra jumpstarts to accompany the exercise.

How do you push yourself to new limits?  What is standing in the way of your goals?

Fitness Friday 06.17

| The Bee Life

Woah! We’re half way done with 2017, how have your fitness and health goals been treading so far?  I’ve stuck it out for the last 5-months, and I’m not stopping! It feels so good to have the routine of working out, me time to sweat it out and work on myself, to keep myself accountable.  Not to mention half-marathon training is officially starting next week, eek!
Fitness Friday 06.17 - the bee life
Let’s talk about this half marathon training… it’s been a hot second since I’ve trained for a half marathon, the mental preparation is just as hard as the physical. Honestly, I’m not looking forward to it, but I am trying to have a positive outlook and approach to it. I want to do well and stay on top of training, I’m just not feeling very confident about it. My body can’t handle the running like it used too.

But I am also curious and excited, because I have the cross training part nailed down (first time ever in all my half trainings), and I feel like the half training will help me be more accountable for my in between days to get nearly a full week of working out in, #weddingdiet.

Needless to say, there is going to be many runs (especially the hot ones) when I want to stop, not only do I need to train my legs again, but I need to train my brain to get ready for this half!

Happy Training!

American Flag Decor Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

In order to kick off the holiday weekend and the unofficial kickoff to summer, decorating with the American Flag is a great way to be festive from Memorial Day, to the 4th of July to Labor Day!  You can leave it up, and your set for the summer so you can travel, entertain, enjoy the warm weather and socialize with friends.  Here is some inspiration for an easy and classic way to feel festive all summer long;

I love decorating with an American Flag, the colors are bright and timeless. Get your house prepped with a statement piece inside or decorate and show off outside, or better yet, both!

Enjoy!

Sources: Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Fitness Friday 05.17

| The Bee Life

Happy Friday!  I just wanted to share a quick check-in on my fitness progress this far. Since the beginning of February I’ve been religious with my workout routine, sticking to my 3-days of bootcamp and enjoying every minute of it, well almost every minute of it. It’s hard to think that it’s been almost 4-full months meaning the big day is now only 6-months away.

Since results have been a bit slower, than I was hoping, I’ve started to work to get a few more workout sessions in, including Wednesday doubles. But like clockwork, as soon as I’m getting into a rhythm and groove, it’s going to be thrown off with a trip or a weekend full of parties and places to be.  This is when we are challenged the most, are we going to maintain and stick with our habits that we’ve worked so hard to build? Or are we going to slowly fall off that ladder and fall back into old, easy ways?
Fitness Friday 05.17_the bee lifeAnd this is when we’re reminded, that in order to maintain this healthy lifestyle, to continue to feel good and be healthy – we need to push through the obstacles that face us. We need to wake up early, we need to eat better, we need to pick up that heavier weight, and we need to push ourselves a little harder each workout.  There is not finish line or point when it stops, it might just change.

I’ve gotten to the point where I am tired of the excuses and I’m ready to continually kickass every day so that I have no more excuses.

Happy Lifting!