A BABY BOY // STAYING ORGANIZED

 If that sunset isn't a sign a good weekend was about to happen, I'm not sure what is...

Oh my goodness guys.

My heart was so full this weekend. 

We had a birthday party for my niece Lia (she turned 5) on Friday night at my stepsisters house. 

The evening was spent listening to concerts (The Wanted inspired) by the boys, rocking out on a purple kids guitar (oh wait, that was just Billy..), and playing with the girls.

Guess what news we woke up to Saturday morning?

My best friend Marissa and her husband Mike had their BABY BOY!!!

You may remember the baby shower (complete with the mustache photobooth) we planned for them. 

Marissa's water broke overnight and shortly after beautiful Maddox James was born.

We woke up to messages from them, ate a quick breakfast (you know I don't skip a meal), and got our

butts to the hospital to meet the newest member in our friends family. 

Marissa and Mike were glowing.
 Baby Maddox was breech so Marissa had to have a c-section, but I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing she looked for all she just went through.
She was such a trooper!

...now let's talk Maddox. 

He is SUCH a sweetheart and one of the cutest babes I've ever seen (I'm not just saying that Marissa!).

We decided he looks a lot like his Daddy right now, but see some of Marissa too. 

We love baby Maddox so much already.
And obviously he knows that we are the coolest as well.

Can we all just stop and pause at how cute/adorable/handsome Billy looks with Maddox? 

My heart was bursting at the seams! 

Saturday night we had a fundraiser dinner event downtown at The Westin with my parents. The Westin is one of my favorite spots downtown because it is so elegant and gorgeous! Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures this night so I don't have much to show you, but it was so much fun.

You can bid on different items at the event and I actually won $100 in Mary Kay products and Billy won us tickets to COSI (science museum here) and lunch afterwards! 

Sunday was spent organizing. One of my goals {notice how I didn't say resolution there-who sticks to those?}for 2013 is to be more organized. I bought some cute wire baskets from World Market and plan to show you guys soon what I've used them for. My weeks seem to go so much smoother when I have things in order and plan ahead...go figure. ;)

Other ways I'm trying to stick with this goal are:

+Making sure to keep my planner with me at all times (from Target)
and keep it updated.

+Meal planning on Sunday's:
Buy all ingredients before Monday hits so you are prepared!
Works like a charm.
I made big pot of clean eating chili (recipe found here) last night for leftovers this week.

+Keep notebooks in your purse to log your workouts (+ your eats if you want) or to-do list.

+Use binders for household papers/things you need to find quickly:
I have a binder with dividers specifically for all our recipes.
I also just made a binder to store all our important documents like tax information, passports, etc.

How have you been staying organized?

Linked up with that cutie Sami for Weekend Update! Go join in on the fun.

Make it a great Monday, friends! :)

SPD: EASY BURLAP WREATH

I'm about to blow your mind...with a craft.

Today for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It I have a tutorial for the easiest burlap wreath, ever!

I mean it. We're going to get our craft on...not to be mistaken for freak on (thanks Missy).

Recently I've tried staying away from making wreaths because honestly some can be downright tedious 

and not so easy to finish. This one is SO simple and I finished it in less than an hour!

My inspiration for this wreath actually came from different types of wreaths I've seen on Pinterest and also from good ole Instagram. Jessica ordered a wreath (similar to the one above) and I fell in love with it when I saw it on her Instagram. I was about to order one because I need a wreath for our front door for everyday use, but then heck, I will give it a go for today.

That's when I started my burlap research (yup-that's what my life has come to these days. Crafting research...) and found the 2 most helpful tricks about burlap in all the land. Either I've been living under a burlap rock prior to this research, or you guys have been holding out on me.

2 Tricks You Must Know About Burlap:

1. Ever have trouble cutting it in a straight line? Simply pull out the thread where you want to cut and it'll give you a straight line to cut. 

2. (the most mind blowing) Did you know you can easily create ruffles by simply pulling on 3 or 4 threads towards the center of your burlap section? I didn't and it saved me SO much time and created the most perfect ruffles for my wreath in a matter of minutes!! (see below)

This wreath was basically free (who doesn't love free?) for me to do because I had an extra foam wreath form and burlap laying around. Even if you don't have those, this wreath is under $10 to complete. I did it differently than any of the other burlap wreath tutorials I've seen, so let me give you the run down.

What You Need:

-Burlap (cut into wide strips-about 8-10 inches wide and 8 inches long)

-Scissors

-Foam wreath form

-Hot glue gun

-Small letter for your last name

-Acrylic paint

Steps:

+Cut your burlap into 8 or 9 inch wide strips and 8 inches or so long.


+Paint your letter with acrylic paint so it has time to dry

Here's where trick #2 above comes in.
+Simply pull (gently-not so hard that you pull out the thread completely) 3 or 4 threads towards the middle of the burlap section to create ruffles. It's as easy as that! They will look like the picture above. You can get creative with them and even pull some threads on other sides to make them look how you want.

I made about 15 ruffles and it filled my entire wreath. 

TIP: Tie the ends of the threads you pulled into a knot to ensure the ruffles stay put longer. I then cut some of them to be a little shorter.

(then my memory card decided to delete some of the next few steps I had pictures for....boo.)
 

+Glue the back of the ruffles and stick them to the wreath form. 

TIP: Start by making an inside layer and go all around, then glue more ruffles towards the outside of the wreath so that the wreath looks really full!

+Add your polka dots to the letter (or skip this step if you don't want them-but who doesn't like polka dots these days?) with a Q tip!


That's it! It's seriously the easiest (and the cutest) wreath I've made.
Well, I think so. Don't burst my bubble. ;)
I wanted mine to be a little bit more "messy" with some threads hanging out,
but you can also tuck the ends of the burlap under and hot glue them if you want.

Did you know a burlap wreath could be so easy with those tricks?!

Now I'm off to read {and be really impressed} with what YOU made this week! 

Here's some fun ways to share your project with us: Post it on instagram with the hastag: "#SPDlinkup" and also share it on twitter. If you tag me (@katiewkrysh), I will RT your post! :)

the fine print:

+Link up using the linky tool below.

+Link back to Steph and I's blogs in your post so other people can know about the link up!

+Include the button below by pasting the HTML into your post. Pwetty please?

VISUAL INSPIRATION

I should be happy to see hump day, but really I'm just trying wrap my head

around the fact that it is only Wednesday.

How can this be?!

Anyhow,

You guys. The feedback from yesterday's post rocks my socks off.

I have loved hearing your thoughts and seeing you communicate/find similarities with one another.

Fun stuff!

 This week (er, maybe last week as well) spring fashion has completely taken over my mind.

I can't help that all the stores are already coming out with such cute bright colored items and swimsuits (what? this is not OK). Why do they do this to me? I still have 2 solid months of winter left. 

It's only natural to turn to Pinterest to show me what items will be must haves in my closet this spring

 and what color I need to be rocking the most.

(you know that Emerald is the Pantone Color of the Year, correct? If not, now you know! 

I'm THRILLED about this because I love emerald. Wear it! and often!)

 

 

 

 via

via

 via

 via

 

 via

If I could wear that last outfit everyday, I would.

It's the definition of my perfect outfit. Love, love.

I've decided once it gets a little warmer, I'm going to start sharing more outfit posts as well.

Not sure if you guys enjoy those or not, but I've got some good ones lined up!

So, what have you been eyeing for spring?

Have the stores sucked you in yet?

 

Lastly, don't forget to come back tomorrow for another awesomesauce round of SPD!

 The craft I'm sharing is one of my favorites and get this..takes the LEAST amount of time.

 I've said it before and I'll say it again....my kind of project right there. 

Linked up with Shanna for Random Wednesday!

See you manana, friends!

ON MARRIAGE

Yup-taking it up a notch today.

The most frequently asked question I get (besides the infamous baby one)
since being married is....
"Does your relationship change when you get married? If so, how?"

or
 "Isn't it the same as dating if you've already lived together before getting married?"

Really think about those questions for a minute.

I'm not an expert on this subject, considering I've only been married just over 2 years
and we're definitely not perfect {what couple is?},
but I'd like to give my perspective on this topic and get your feedback, too. 

I was that girl before we got married who always said I didn't think our relationship
 was going to be that different once we got married.
I mean, we already lived together for a year on our own before we got married
 (and he practically lived with me and my best friend Lindsay before that)
so what would possibly change?

 

Wrong.

 I honestly thought our relationship together would be the same because we already
went through the whole adjustment of living with friends to now each other...
sharing things (a closet-HELLO, that's a big deal!), learning how the other
 likes to clean (or not to...), etc.
I didn't understand what couples meant when they said marriage is different
and changed things, but I do now. 

I always try to explain to my friends when they ask, but it's hard to explain in words
 just exactly what I mean. 

The best way I can describe it is this-
when you are dating there is always an option to throw in the towel..

to fight over really petty small things, to nitpick..

to wonder constantly if they are or are not right for you.
you may not work as hard at it-therefore you don't get the most out of it.

When you are married, you have more passion and willingness to make your relationship work.
{or maybe it's that you just don't want to kill each other at times...}
you don't want or care about the petty arguments as much. 
 you come together as a team.

 

In my situation, marriage has completely changed our relationship for the better.

Do we still get in arguments? Of course (and then feel really silly after...)
But do we fight over the small stuff anymore? No, not as much.
Our communication is better and it just feels good that we are on the same page!
One of my favorite things that I hear from friends (besides how I'm the coolest person ever, obviously..)
is how much they can see the change in us. That makes me so happy to hear.

Truth is - marriage really is the best and I'm thankful for Billy everyday.
Sometimes I will just look at him and think about how far we've come since our college days
and am so proud and thankful.
 
Marriage takes work and "they say" that.....
 

So, here's what I ask of you. 

It's difficult to describe, but how do you think marriage has changed your relationship?
What do you think is different? or has it stayed the same?

I might use some of your answers for a future post of some sort!
{And if you're not married-just be patient. You're time/prince charming will come! :)}

to be continued....