9.28.2012

BOOT-E-FUL.










Happy friday party people!


Looking for a cute pair of riding boots that won't break the bank?
Look no further.

The Bandolino Clotida Riding Boot meets all my requirements for the perfect boot this season. Besides the fact that it's a fraction of the cost of Frye's (I do love Frye boots but I can't justify spending that right now. Now, if they showed up under my Christmas tree...that would be another story), here's what I like about them:

-the cognac color goes with everything (the color is lighter than the picture above. they have black and a two-tone color as well)
-they are 3x more durable than some of my other boots that cost me $50.00, and they look way more expensive than they are. Spend the extra $50.00-it's worth it.
-for those of you that complain about having wide calves...they have this option!
-perfect sized heel. My other favorite boots are flat and look less dressy. The heel on these boots is perfect to dress up or wear with a casual outfit.
-they are so comfortable! I promise. 

*Bonus? You can get 4.0% cash back on these boots by shopping with EbatesI've mentioned this before, but I do all my online shopping with Ebates because you can earn cash back on all your purchases. I'm pretty sure if you're new to the site you get a $10 off gift certificate as well.

Shop them and sign up here.

...thank me later. :)




What is everyone's weekend plans?

We will be working hard on finishing up our kitchen, but I also have a bachelorette party tomorrow night for one of my good friends and we are taking a pole dancing class (I'm thinking I may need to video tape some of this), and then going out for sushi and drinks after! My only goal is to NOT come out of the pole dancing class with a concussion. It should be pretty interesting to say the least.
And no Billy, we aren't "DIY" and putting a pole anywhere in our house so don't even think about it mister. 

xo

9.27.2012

FALL TO-DO LIST




1. Go to our favorite pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins, drink apple cider, and go on a hayride.

2. Host a "Friends Thanksgiving" the week before Thanksgiving.


3. Make pumpkin protein pancakes or pumpkin spice protein balls. Last year, I made these.




4. Carve/decorate pumpkins. Last year ours looked like this.

5. Go to a haunted house. Billy loves them and there are some really great ones in our area.

Funny story: Last time we went to one and finally made our way out to the end, I noticed I had my hands on the girl in front of me. I apologized and then she proceeded to tell me I was pretty much grabbing her back and neck throughout the whole haunted house (to try and hide from the chainsaw men-don't act like you don't do this). A year later, we were out to eat for lunch somewhere and she remembered me (as the girl who choked her at a haunted house, obviously) and we had some laughs about it. 

6. Attend Circleville's Pumpkin Festival. If it can be made from pumpkin, they have it! Oh my word, so fun. {UPDATE: CHECK! Pictures to come next week}


I took this picture last time we went. 
That number on the pumpkin IS the weight..crazy, huh?


7. Bake an apple pie or pumpkin pie.

8. Go horseback riding. This one might be stretch due to time, but I hope to make it happen since it is one of my favorite things to do. {UPDATE: CHECK! See my post: here}




how good do I look in this helmet on a scale of 1-10? 11? 


9. Get Rocky a new Halloween costume for when we pass out candy to the neighborhood on trick-or-treat. Priorities, right? Last year he was a shark, the year before a bumble bee...decisions, decisions. {UPDATE: CHECK! He's going to be a lion. Fitting right?}




10. Roast pumpkin seeds

11. Have our kitchen remodel finished! {UPDATE: CHECK! See our kitchen transformation here}

12. Clean up my blog design (thank you Whitney!)



Living in Ohio in the fall is without a doubt the best time of year, and quite possibly my favorite thing about living here. The leaves are gorgeous when they change color, the weather is perfect, and there are so many fun activities you can do to enjoy this wonderful season. 


This year I hope to check off all the things on my list, and maybe even some more if I'm lucky.







Also, I'd like to share that I crossed another item off my to-do list. I got to have a phone conversation with the lovely Pink Lou Lou yesterday, and she's even more sweet than she is on her blog. How is this even possible? I dunno. Love that girl.

What is on your fall to do list?



9.25.2012

DIY {WOOD PLANKED WALL}


After instagramming (@katiewkrysh) only a little teaser last week and being out of the DIY game a bit, I'm here to share this awesome DIY project we worked on last week!

drumroll, pahlease....





...a Wood Planked Wall!

Who would've thought this would be the perfect addition to our bedroom?

As you can see, we have a very tall random wall in our bedroom, and I never knew what to do with it. But once I saw the idea for a wood planked wall on Sarah's blog, Thrifty Decor Chick (who you should all follow if you don't already), I knew it would be perfect for our space! See where Sarah put hers in her home: here. It's so cool!

The wood planked wall only took us (okay, Billy) 2 nights to complete and actually gives off a "fireplace" (or cozy) vibe in our bedroom since it's across from our bed and next to our tv. It also gives our room so much more character. Billy was skeptical at first about this, but since I wouldn't shut up about it he was forced to try it and luckily we both LOVE it!

Here's what you need:
-Evertrue pine wood planks. $10 at Lowe's-we needed 3 packs for our wall.
-Saw
-Nails and a nailgun (or you can just use a hammer like Billy did)
-Wood Stain, in your preferred color. We used Minwax in Dark Walnut.

Since we already had the stain we wanted to use, this project only costed us $30. 

How to do it:
-Install the planks just like you would any beadboard project. These certain planks are tongue in groove so they just pop right in next to one another, and then you nail them in. 


{the only "before" pic I took & it was with my iPhone}

-Tape off the walls surrounding and the ceiling and put down a drop cloth on the floor (be extra careful with stain!)

-Use a paintbrush to stain the wood making sure to work somewhat quickly.
-When the stain is dry, you can wipe it down, but we didn't and it still looks good (slackers..)

...that's it!





then just stand back and enjoy what you did!
(which for me, wasn't a darn thing except tell Billy of the idea and take a picture here and there...)

Now, what do YOU guys think I should put on the wall to decorate? Any and all ideas would be appreciated!!

Would you ever do this to a wall in your home? Did we do a good job?
-It could work in so many different areas!


Also, when writing about the wall, I realized I forgot to share some "after" pictures of our kitchen table that Billy refinished (other than an instagram pic). It was oak before, and he stained the top the same color as our wood floors, and the legs/sides an off-white color. 

Billy worked so hard on this table, so it's only naturally to give him some blog bragging time and show the final result.
Nice comments about how good of a job he did are only encouraged, not required. ;)


(the vase, flowers, charger, and pinecone candle are all from Target!)


This is the only before pic I could find and this was after it had been sanded down...



Lastly, guess who's currently going through a kitchen remodel?

...US!!

We are beyond excited!! Over the weekend, we finally bit the bullet and took down our cabinets to give them a makeover. We are almost finished painting them (we had them 99% done in just 2 days over the weekend-if you are thinking about doing it, it's not that bad!), have new hardware picked out, and a few other cool finishing touches that I'm going to keep a surprise for now! 


I'm anxious to get it finished and to share in the next upcoming weeks, so be on the lookout! Eek.


xo.


9.24.2012

EVERYDAY AT 5


or whenever I get home for the day and Billy gets home before I do, 
I pull in the driveway and get that extra special warms my heart
kinda feeling when I see this...




Billy tells Rocky "mommy is home" and lets him off his leash
and then I see this little fur ball running as fast as he can towards me
and all is right in the world.

No matter what kind of day I'm having, 
No matter how bad of a "Monday" it was,
it all erases in this moment and I'm smiling from ear to ear.

It's the little things and is surely my favorite way to come home.

...dogs are the best, aren't they?


*Notice anything different around KC&CO? My friend and the fabulous blogger/designer, Whitney from I Wore Yoga Pants, beautified my blog a bit! She knew exactly what I wanted (a simple but bold look and easier to read/navigate) and is wonderful to work with. Not to mention, she is hysterical and has me laughing out loud at her blog posts and twitter almost daily. You should go check her out: HERE!

Hope you have a happy Monday now!
and remember: it's the little things.

PS-I have a pretty cool DIY project and recipe to share this week..so make sure you come back. or else. 

9.21.2012

Carmel {+Our 2 Yr Anniversary Picture}




We're on the last leg & final recap of our west coast trip!
--->Lake Tahoe-Napa Valley-San Francisco-now Carmel.
If you missed any of the earlier cities, I would recommend starting here

Is anyone else sad about this besides me?
Don't answer that if the answer is no. 
It hasn't been fun recapping all of this..it's been real fun.
I mean, I may be biased, but looking at these pictures again and again definitely makes my day a little brighter. This trip was by far our favorite that we've done and we will remember it forever. 
Enough with the sap, let's get started!

After driving the PCH into Carmel, we decided to go visit Point Lobos State Reserve.
Point Lobos is the common name for the area including Point Lobos State Reserve and two adjoining marine protected areas: Point Lobos State Marine Reserve and the Conservation area. It is known for it's sightseeing, scuba diving, hiking, picnicking, etc. 

We took two different walks and one that led us to a big rock where there were a bunch of seals, sea otters, and sea lions! The views were breathtaking and the trees in this area were half cool, half spooky. 
*I would highly recommend going here if you visit Carmel!







At the end of one of the hikes, we turned the corner and walked into, literally, a couple of deer. They weren't scared at all and just kept walking around us. Billy laughed at me because I thought this was pretty cool.

After Point Lobos, we went to check in our cute b&b that we were staying in for 2 nights in Carmel By The Sea. If you aren't familiar with Carmel, it is such a romantic, old, charming city and Carmel by the Sea is the "downtown" area that has a bunch of shops and restaurants and is a good place to go by the beach. It couldn't have been more perfect for the last stop on our trip.






We stayed in the San Antonio house, which is just an old house converted into an inn/b&b. The house is on San Antonio Ave which is just one block up from the Carmel Beach and is located in the heart of Carmel By The Sea. 
*tip: I would recommend staying right around this area if traveling here because it's close to everything.

Much like the place we stayed at in Lake Tahoe, we were just looking for an affordable, clean place to stay. Nothing fancy. This place was really cute, had a fireplace, great location, and a nice sitting area in the room (room was a bit outdated but we didn't care). Two thumbs up.

After we popped bottles (wine-remember I told you Billy turned into a wino at this point?), we went and explored all the shops and had a romantic dinner at The Grill On Ocean Ave. The dinner and service was fantastic. We walked around to the shops and stopped in the candy shoppe to get some sweet treats to bring back to our room. 







The next day in Carmel, we woke up early and made the 20-25 minute drive to Big Sur,
and had a pretty special stop on the way. The views of the coast on the way to Big Sur were crazy stunning, and I knew this is where I wanted to do our 2 year anniversary picture!


I saw the idea for annual anniversary type pictures on Pinterest, 
and before I left I spray painted an old picture frame red and put chalkboard paper
 in it and wrote "two years".



I'm so happy with how it turned out (first pic at top of post) and I love seeing last years picture when we were in Boston and this years together. 
Just an easy, cute little tradition.



Moving on, Big Sur was really cool to see. Would I do it again?
Eh. Probably not. Unless Edward Cullen was hiding in the trees, or something.
The trees were massive and the smell of evergreen was so lovely, but I think seeing it once is enough. We did a short hike (only a mile) that led us to a waterfall and then made our way back to Carmel to head to Monterey.







While we were in Monterey, we went to Fishermans Wharf, had lunch, and watched the sea lions play from right across our table. 






Next, we did the famous 17 Mile Drive, which I was so looking forward to for Billy!
I knew he was excited to see it.
The 17 Mile Drive goes pretty quickly, so I'd recommend getting out on the stops to take in the views and learn about the different stops!




This tree is the Lone Cypress. 
It is 250 years old and the only tree to be still standing out there after all the storms!



Our favorite part of the 17 Mile Drive was, of course, the ending at Pebble Beach.
We got out of the car and explored the country club along with the surrounding areas, and then made our way to the 18th green. You are allowed getting pictures by it, so if you go here, remember that! 






Later that evening, we went and walked on Carmel Beach (the sand is so white!)
 and had a few drinks before we got ready for our last night of vacation. 

Since we hadn't had enough wine on this trip (I hope you sense my sarcasm), we went and did a wine tasting in Carmel by the Sea! It was SO fun. 
I tried some great wines and they gave us a free hummus appetizer to share during it. 




{ahem, this wine is delish.}

Once we were finished, we just walked right next door for our dinner reservation. 
We ate at a greek restaurant called Dametra Cafe, which is supposedly one of the most popular restaurants in the area. This place was a blast...mainly because the owner is really outgoing/fun and comes out to play music and have people dance/clap while he plays.
 If you like greek food, I definitely recommend this place. 




It was such a fun ending and perfect last night to our vacation! 

The next day we explored Carmel a bit more in the morning, but then it was time to head back to reality. Flat lands, no gorgeous ocean views, and no vineyards = an extreme bummer.

When we first planned this trip, I kept telling Billy "you're going to love it! you're going to want to move! you won't believe how pretty it is". Like most things (kidding), I was right.
As a couple, we've found our ideal trip. 
We like jumping from city to city to see what all is out there and we like to keep busy, do tours, and make the most out of our time in new places. 
Relaxing is for those beach trips in the dead middle of winter, right? 
I could've easily kept traveling California for another week and I want to do it again ASAP...who wants to go with me?

So, to wrap this up, all you girls who live in California--
Count your blessings!
Get out! Explore! Do it! No excuses!

*If you are a planning a trip like this or stopping at one of the cities I stalked about and have more specific questions, feel free to email me! 

PS: Congratulations to Jane, you are the glam grab giveaway winner.
Email me your address!