DIY Fall Wreath - Success!

Okay, so I started what I thought was a small project Labor Day weekend and just finished it. But I love the way it turned out and it was really cheap so I am happy! I got the idea from Pinterest. I like Pinterest but I am not as obsessed and don't get as much from it as others. But I did find this fun wreath that I thought would be cute and easy to make:

This picture is, of course, better than any of my pictures.

 I like the white a lot but I wanted to make it more fall so I decided to make mine multicolored. I chose red, dark red, marigold yellow and antique white. Basically, this is how you assemble the wreath:

• Cut circles out of felt
• Fold each circle in half twice
• Pin each circle to the foam wreath close enough to cover all the pins
• Read this blog for detailed "how to" if you care/would actually like to make one

Also, the materials were pretty cheap. The felt pieces were $.29 each and I used 36 of them - total $10.44. The foam wreath was $4.99 and the pins were around $3. Total for the wreath - $18.43 plus tax. Not bad to keep me occupied during a holiday weekend. 

So, I started making my wreath over Labor Day weekend because we didn't have a lot going on and I wanted a project to keep me busy. Well, don't let the fact that there are only four bullets above fool you - this thing takes time. Now, I love working on something where I repeat a mindless process so that I can watch TV at the same time. If you do not like doing the same thing over and over again do. not. make. this. wreath. Here are photos of my progress:

Getting started...

Labor Day weekend progress.

So, at the end of Labor Day weekend I ran out of antique white. I am a dumb-dumb and I bought less of it (because they had less of it at Michael's) but I didn't use it any less. So... I waited ever so patiently for three weeks for them to get more in stock. I finally got more this past weekend and (drum roll please).....

  
Yep, still not finished. Sunday night I ran out of pins. Let's just say that was a great moment at my house. But...

 
 

I bought more pins after work on Monday and now it's complete and on my back door! It looks bigger in this picture than it really is. But I love it and am SO very glad it's finished!!

Happy Tuesday!!

Memory Monday 9.26.11 (Gross-Out Edition)

Happy Monday! As you can tell by the title and this little green guy, today's memory is kind of... gross. But, it's one of the craziest experiences of my life so I thought I would document it and share. 

So, this memory came to mind because I watched Bridesmaids again this weekend. Okay, fine. I watched Bridesmaids twice this weekend. And for anyone who hasn't seen it (rent/buy it immediately because it is hilarious) the craziest scene in the movie includes food poisoning. A lot of food poisoning. For those of you who have seen it, chill out. I am not going to be as disgusting as that scene here on Happy Peeples. So, exhale and read on....

So, a few weeks after my high school graduation in 2004 I went with my sister, parents, grandmother and some of my grandmother's friends on an amazing trip to Italy. We spent a month traveling to different areas of the country and to this day it is one of the most fun, educational and life changing experiences I have ever had. However, it got off to a rather bumpy start. 

My mom, Susan and I set off from America a day early and flew through Paris before starting our Italian adventure in Venice. We were in Paris for exactly 24 hours so we trekked around that city like mad women. We saw the Eiffel Tower, drove by the Arc de Triomphe, basically ran through the Louvre and then ate dinner at a cute little Parisian restaurant. I decided to start my trip out right and ordered scallops. Well, that was the last time I have ever ordered scallops. 

The next morning we woke up and realized that jet lag had kicked our butts and we were WAY late leaving for the airport. We hauled those butts to the airport and checked in just in time. One problem - I did not feel well. And this was not jet lag. I ran to the bathroom while mom was checking our bags and got sick. (Okay, I would like you all to know that "got sick" means that I threw up - I don't want to repeat threw up throughout my blog but I would like everyone to know that this was a sick "north" situation and not a sick "south" situation. There, I got that out of the way and will use polite language from here on out.) So, I got sick and had my rally moment so I thought everything would be okay. I came out of the bathroom to see my mom standing near the security line looking not pleased with her hands on her hips. She seriously looked like she was going to kill me. For now I thought it best just to get in line and explain later. 

So... we get through security, find our gate and immediately get in line to board. We were that close to missing our flight. It was just about this time that the rally started to wear off. I told my mom why I had disappeared to the bathroom. She looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Okay, I am sorry that you are sick but you HAVE to get on this plane. If we miss this flight we will miss our train in Rome and those tickets were NOT. CHEAP." So, I try to put my, "I feel fine" face on and get my ticket and passport ready. Yep, rally was officially over. I then proceeded to get sick several times while giving the steward my ticket, making it down the jetway, and then getting on the airplane. "Wait, how did you get sick and make it all that way?" you may be asking... because I swallowed it. Yep. If anyone has EVER wondered if I know the value of a dollar I would like to direct you to this piece of evidence. I. Was. Getting. On. That. Plane. 

Now, for comedic value I would like you to know that we were flying Alitalia. And, if you've never seen or been inside of an Alitalia plane this is what it looks like:

GREEN. EVERYWHERE.

So, I finally make it onto the airplane and every old person in Paris is on that thing trying to get their bags into the overhead compartments. Oh, and the only bathroom is in the back of the plane. Sweet. Okay, so I finally get to the bathroom and then in my rally phase take my seat for takeoff. We're in the air. And I am sick. I proceed to get sick seven times on an hour and a half flight. At one point I go to sleep... on the floor. Suffice it to say, the flight attendants are nonplussed and a little freaked out. When we land in Rome it is announced over the PA system on the plane that there is a sick passenger that has to be removed from the airplane before we are able to go to the gate. That's right. I was removed from the plane on the tarmac and then taken to the airport infirmary in a Roman ambulance. 

Once we made it to the infirmary I was given fluids in both arms. Keep in mind that, while my mother loves me very much and was somewhat concerned for my health and well being, she is mostly VERY concerned that we are going to miss that train. So, I get fluids for about a half an hour and then they decide that it is, indeed, food poisoning and I am good to go. I will not be passing along SARS or bird flu or any other crazy communicable disease to the country of Italy. Thank goodness that was cleared up... with exactly zero actual tests.

Now it's time to head to the train! Oh, yeah... our bags. Mom realizes that our bags we checked are being held past security. And, in a post 9/11 world that is a problem. She talks to a guard (which is WAY scarier in Europe, btw. Yeah, they have machine guns. That's not intimidating...) and explains the situation. He agrees that she and Susan can go get our bags but none of their carry-ons or purses can go with them. So, I post up against a column in the entry way of Leonardo DaVinci International Airport with three bags, three purses and two holes in my arms from recent IV's. 

Just about the time mom and Susan disappear around the corner here comes a group of about 40 Korean tourists all with the exact same bright orange plastic suitcase. 

I am literally engulfed in a sea of orange suitcases because the group leader decides to set up shop at MY COLUMN. Thanks a lot, dude. Also, my memory of this scene is that they were Korean but I have no idea why. Anyway, it's hard for me to stand up because I'm trying to keep all three of our bags and purses on my person because they have laptops, passports, money, credit cards, id's, pretty much everything we need to survive in life and especially in a foreign country in them. Mom had put the fear of God in me not to move one inch while they retrieved the bags so when they came out and she didn't see me I think she almost passed out cold. But I hopped up, she spotted me and we headed toward the train station. 

After a super hot trolley ride, a train trip that included a much-needed nap, a train employee asking me to remove my feet from the partition, a super dirty look shot to said employee by yours truly, a water taxi ride to our hotel and an excited hug fest when we met up with the rest of our group I went to sleep in Venice - 24 hours after eating those stupid scallops. 

The rest of the trip was flawless and absolutely unbelievable. I will share photos and stories from it some time soon. But for today please remember not to eat scallops in Paris, try to hide your illness from flight attendants and, seriously, get to your train on time!

Happy Monday and PLEASE read my blog again even if this post was hard on your stomach. I promise, it was harder on mine. 

Going Shopping

As I mentioned yesterday I am SUPER excited to go shopping this weekend! I received a shopping fund from a certain amazing person in my life and it is burning a hole in my pocket. Time to get some new fall digs. So, since I don't get to go on special shopping outings very often I decided to do a little online shopping research first - just to see what's in for fall, what I love, what I want to look for, etc. And here are some of the things I found:

Boots

As mentioned before - I LOVE boot season. I have seven pairs of boots that I wear on a regular basis. Is that enough? Too many? I don't know the answer but I DO know that I really want some booties. I mean, those are totally different. Right?

Flat/Casual boots that I love.

Little bit of a heal but still comfortable - best case scenario.

Fun booties!

Pants 

I really like to find pants that are fun for weekends but that I can still wear to work. Here are some that fit that description, with one obvious exception... no leather shorts in the workplace. That's got to be a rule somewhere. 

 

Skirts/Dresses

This is another department where I have learned to appreciate the art of buying work appropriate but cute and fun things. I like that "midis" are in this season because that helps a lot with the whole "work appropriate" aspect.

 

Tops

Okay, I honestly didn't find a lot of tops that I love. I think it's because I am really loving the slouchy look lately and so everything that I really liked looked like just another t-shirt. But here are some that did stand out a little for me.

 

Accessories!! 

My favorite... I always say that you can tell when I didn't feel very cute in the morning if I have on five necklaces. Jewelry just makes everything better...

Okay, hope you enjoyed my girliest post ever. Have a great weekend. 

Happy Friday!

 

What I'm Loving Wednesday 9.21.11

 

Welcome to What I'm Loving Wednesday... which I am getting very good at posting on Thursday... Que Sara, Sara. Here's a list of things that are making me smile this week:

1. Premier week. Hi, my name is Caroline... and I am a TV addict. Are you ready for this... my DVR is recording  FOURTEEN HOURS of television this week. Oh my gosh. I cannot believe I am admitting that on the interweb. But there it is. I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem. But I don't know how to take the next step... you know, getting better. Here's hoping that a lot of the shows are terrible this year and I don't want to watch them anyway. Bleh.... 

2. Three's Company. Come and knock on our door... that's right. I just quoted a 1970's TV show theme song. Deal with it. But I am excited that we are gaining a roomie today. Robbie is coming to live with us for a month while he does a rotation at Vanderbilt Med. Super pumped to have Robbie in town, even if it does mean that I will become a third wheel to Robbie and Will's relationship for a while. 

Besties!!

3. Shopping! So, I received a little gift from a certain fairy godmother recently... money that is only to be used for shopping for fun fall clothes! So pumped. And I will be devoting an entire entry (or two) to my shopping trip. But for now I am excited that I am going this weekend and have been excited all week. I've also been internet "shopping" to see what's out there, what's fun right now, what I will be looking for, etc. Here's a sneak peek: 

Fun Skirts and Dresses I've found.

Fun, short brown boots!

4. One Week 'Til Baltimore. I know that I keep talking about it but I'm pumped and I will be there one week from today!

Can't wait for quality time with the Ben Holmans!

5. Girl's night tomorrow! So, Bridesmaids came out on DVD this week and Will is going to the Hog game in Tuscaloosa this weekend. Do you know what that means? Yep, girls night at my house tomorrow to drink wine, have fun and watch Bridesmaids. Cannot. Wait. 

Happy Thursday everyone! Even if I am pretending that it's Wednesday in the blogosphere. 

Memory Monday 9.19.11

Breaking tradition today's Memory Monday will be about this past weekend instead of a more distant memory. As I've talked about here plenty in the last few weeks, this is a month of three day weekends! This past weekend Will and I headed to Little Rock on Friday morning for fun with family and then I kept on traveling to Dallas on Saturday for a friend's wedding. Weekend breakdown:

Will and I left Friday and started our road trip. Conversation that happened before leaving: 

Will: I'll drive.

Caroline: Are you sure? I don't mind.

Will: Yeah, it's fine I'll drive. 

Caroline: Okay, well... I will have a long day in the car on Sunday having driven from         Dallas to Little Rock that morning so I am not going to drive that day and do not want this to be held against me...

Will: Okay, you drive.

Yep, that's called marriage. Haha.

So, we got to Little Rock and dropped Dexter off at Will's parents for the weekend and then headed to Ray and Amy's for Mary Win's birthday dinner. It was SO GOOD to finally see Ray, Amy, Ada and Mary Win again! Ada has grown up so much and Mary Win looks like a different kid from the last time I saw her! We had delicious barbecue (Will and I are disappointed in the lack of good bbq places in Nashville so it was GREAT to eat some yummy Whole Hog), sang Mary Win Happy Birthday and had cake that Amy made. Here's a video of the end of Happy Birthday and Ada blowing out the candle. Ada is such a helpful big sister! So funny! 

Birthday girl in the birthday chair!!

Will and Ada eating dinner in their birthday hats .

After dinner and birthday festivities Will, Ray, Amy and I went with a group of Ray and Amy's friends to see Robert Earl Keen at Rev Room in the Rivermarket. It was SO fun to spend this time with Ray and Amy and to see friends that we don't often get to spend time with. Good times and great memories. 

Will is kind of mid-blink but the night was fun!

Fuzzy but I had such a great time with you, Amy!!

 Saturday morning EARLY SATURDAY MORNING we went to the JDRF walk with our team "We the Peeples." Will and I don't make it to this event enough but it is so fun to see friends and to come together to raise money for a cause very near and dear to all of our hearts - curing Juvenile Diabetes. In case you don't know, both Will and our precious niece Ada have Type 1 Diabetes and so we support JDRF as much as we can! It's a great organization and we especially love the group that works at the Little Rock branch. Some time soon I am going to write a guest post for Amy's blog about being married to a diabetic. But for now just know that we are committed to finding a cure - even when it means waking up super early after a fun night out!

At the Walk in our awesome t-shirts provided by the RPeeples fam! Love this new tee!

With M Dubs at the Walk. I loved holding her so much that I didn't want to give her to anyone else. Then my arms were sore the next day. True story.

When everyone set off on the walk I got in the car and headed toward Dallas for Chevis English's wedding. I stopped in Bryant, picked up Rebekah, got Chik 'n Minis from Chik-Fil-A and we were off! Not kidding, the drives to and from Dallas seemed like they took about an hour total. Rebekah and I never stopped talking and it was SO much fun! We covered every topic from her kids to my dog to our husbands leaving cups out at night so that the first thing we do every morning is pick them up to chatting fall boots! It was so great. And, for the record since I mentioned the cleaning up the cups thing, our ride was not a husband bash-fest. We really talked about how amazing out hubbies are and how unbelievably blessed we are to have them! Aaron Boone and Will Peeples = winners. And not in a weird Charlie Sheen way.

We got to Dallas and laid around, talked even more and then got ready for the wedding. After some worrying about our wardrobes (black tie optional = a little bit confusing) we were dressed and headed to the wedding. The ceremony was perfect (we discussed afterward what a great job the preacher did - it was a very meaningful but not overly-long ceremony) and Chevis looked absolutely gorgeous. Not kidding - favorite wedding dress ever. The group that was there was so fun and the night was a great mix of catching up with old friends and seeing people that I haven't seen in years. GREAT wedding, Chev! Rebekah also posted about the wedding here if you want to see more pics, including some of Chevis!

Yesterday Rebekah and I drove back from Dallas from about 9:00 - 2:00 (again, felt like 30 minutes) and then Will and I drove back from Little Rock from about 3:00 - 8:30. It was a long day in the car but the weekend was worth it. 

And now the countdown to Baltimore commences - more memories to be made. T-minus 10 days!!

Happy Monday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday 9.14.11

This blog is quickly turning into JUST What I'm Loving Wednesdays... not okay. I'll be sure to post a Theater Thursday tomorrow. And them I'm out for the weekend because tomorrow is actually my Friday! More on that shortly. But here's what I've been loving this week while I've been MIA from the blogosphere.

1. Boot season is here! If you are male (1) you're reading my blog? and (2) skip to the next entry... Anyway, boots! First of all, let me state for the record that I detest cold weather. You will not ever here me outside complaining about the heat because I know better than to complain about it. I would ALWAYS rather be hot than cold. Well, that's not totally true. Okay, unless I am sleeping I would ALWAYS rather be hot than cold. And if I am sleeping I would like to be the perfect temperature, thank you. Back to the point - I hate cold weather. But I do feel that the ONLY redeeming quality about it is that I get to wear boots. Boots go with everything and are so much more comfortable than summer shoes for me (high arches = summery flats really not being that comfortable). Also, there are so many different kinds of boots! Cowboy boots, slouchy boots, booties, hooker boots. Eh... not that I have any hooker boots. Alright, I just got way to excited about this subject. But here are some boot pics that make me excited for the fall ahead!

2. Four day weeks. Oh, did I mention that last week? Don't care. They're always awesome. And tomorrow is my Friday!!

3. Mary Helen. Her planning skills are INSANE. Will and I got a super long email today with our trip to Baltimore (9/29 -10/3!!) all planned out day by day. Love how excited she is for us to come and really love how excited I am to go!!

4. Road trippin'. Will and I are leaving Friday morning to head to LR for Mary Win's birthday Friday night (for the record - cannot wait for some QT with the Ray Peeples family... haven't seen them in almost FIVE MONTHS!), the JDRF walk on Saturday morning and then I am heading to Dallas with Rebekah for Chevis' wedding! I am so excited to see old friends at the wedding and especially excited to spend the road tripping time with Rebekah. We hardly ever get to see each other and when we do it is never uninterrupted bonding time... 10 whole hours in the car (on top of the 10 to and from Nashville, btw) that I should dread but I am SO EXCITED about!!

5. I love the fact that I wrote this on time and didn't post it yesterday! Ugh!

Happy THURSDAY!

What I'm Loving Wednesday 9.7.11

Hello there and Happy Wednesday! Here are things I've been loving this week:

1. Welch's Fruit Snacks. Yep, I'm five years old but I don't care. I love these things. They are an easy snack and I eat two packages a day at work. *Side note: I forgot to grab any this morning and I really want some right now! Mmmm... 

2. Learning new things. Listen, I will admit that I am a little prideful at times. But, I try to always be teachable. Now, this can be a very sensitive situation when the person teaching you is your spouse. And even more so when the conversations starts with, "Can I tell you about something I saw on your blog?" Last night Will (very kindly and carefully) pointed out that I had use "i.e." incorrectly. I really meant "e.g." In case you are curious, here is the difference (this is per Wikipedia because I'm lazy and it's the easiest source - sue me): 

      i.e. - "That is (to say)" in the sense of "that means" and "which means", or "in other words", or sometimes "in this case", depending on the context. It is often misinterpreted as "in example." In this situation, e.g. should be used instead. 

So, now you have your English lesson for the day. You're welcome. And, thank you Will for telling me that in a totally non-condescending way. :) 

3. Four day weeks. Obviously this week is a four day week for everyone. Well, everyone who is not in law school with my husband. Because they had class on Monday. But I digress...  I looked at my calendar yesterday and I have three four day weeks this month! Ah... so pumped. Next Friday I am taking a day to head to LR and then on to Dallas with Rebekah for Chevis' wedding! And then the last weekend of this month Will and I are going to Baltimore to visit Mary Helen and Ben for a long weekend! So much to look forward to this month and so great that I only have one five day week of work. Thrilled.

4. Adele station on Pandora. Edie set this up for me at the pool a couple weekends ago. It seems like an obvious choice but I hadn't used Adele as a station header and let me tell you, if you like her... do it. 

5. Blog Stalking. I have written about Google Reader and how awesome it is. Now that I have the RSS app on my iPhone I am subscribed to even more blogs so that I always have something new to read. I thought I'd share some of my favorites: Ornamental Habit, Sugar Savvy, The Boone Fam, Georgia James, Suri's Burn Book (incredibly silly but so hilarious), Team Bradley, Truthful Conversations and there are many others but these are the ones that I most frequently read and that I am not ashamed to say that I stalk. ;-)

Hope everyone has a Happy Wednesday!

Memory Monday 9.5.11

Today I spent a lot of time on the couch - woohoo for a day off! I worked on a fall wreath that I found on Pinterest last weekend and it has turned into QUITE the time consuming project. But it is fun and I've taken progressive photos so I'll share those later on this week once I have a finished product. Anyway, today's Memory Monday will be photos (and captions) only because I am kind of sick of sitting around so Will and I are grabbing dinner soon. I literally scrolled through my iPhoto and grabbed these at random. And they're in totally random order. So... enjoy the randomness. 

Bid Day 2004 - can't believe how many of you girls became my best friends and we didn't even know each other that night!! Except Haley - 9th grade. Ha.

Eden's wedding weekend - unbelievable amount of fun.

The night we went and saw New Moon at midnight. In t-shirst we made. What do you think about that, Will? :-)

Bid Day on the KKG lawn 2007 - Senior Year. 

Vegas. Ahh.... Vegas.

Christmas break at the beach with Susan and Mom 2007. I love this picture because this trip was so great and because I remember how much Susan made fun of me for my hair being so big. You were right, Suze. Too big.

Handy man shower with the new sisters 2008. Love. These. Women.

After the Alabama game 2010. That weekend was SO much fun.

Whitney's bachelorette party in Nashville 2010. You all have GOT to come back for another girls weekend.

Beers from Dierks Bentley 2011. NBD.

Rachel's Wedding 2011. I am the adopted Davis sister in this pic.

Dancing at Ray and Amy's wedding 2006. Can't believe this was 5 years ago! Happy late Anniversary Ramy!

I, of course, do not actually remember this. But the picture sits on my vanity and I love looking at it everyday. 

After Mary Helen's wedding. Mustang Sally!!

First day of forever. Ahh... what I wouldn't give to relive that night just once...

Age 3. Once a diva, always a diva.

Peeples family vacay 2010. Already pumped for Peeples vacay 2013 (hey, when you're family is so big you have to plan that far in advance, okay).

Yep, Senior Prom 2004. We were hot stuff. 

*I would also like to clarify that Andrew Tunnard told Will about HBO GO and has, therefore, changed our lives for the better. Thank you so much, Andrew. You're the best! 


Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend! Happy Labor Day!