it cant be that hard..right?

yes! apparently it can. why is my blog header so big?! im a big person with a big personality. i do. not. need a big blog header!

someone help me.

another area in which i need help....deciding what to dress this little girl up as:

this was her halloween groom for last year. that collar doesn't even fit anymore. (sad mama moment)

she was a pumpkin last year, but she was also 3 months old and 5 lbs last year. she is now 15 months old and 12 lbs...aka: we've had to retire her pumpkin costume.

im deciding between these two:

i think i like the flower? i could wear a lilly skirt, and BAM! we match. easy peasy.

xo raa

ps. how do you like the centered blog rather than the strictly left alignment? im taking alittle direction from on of my fav bloggers, Southern Vogue

a whole bunch of understatements

to say that i'm inspired would be an understatment. i feel as if, something in my head and heart (this is when you think, "get over yourself, rachelamy") have finally clicked.

i have alot of things going on, both personally and professionally, to be proud of. with that being said, i  also have a lot things going on, both personally and professionally, not be proud of. i promised ya'll honesty, and that is one area in which, i will never back out of a promise.


i think I'm going to start an etsy shop. with the combined efforts of my ma & pa, we will have refinished furniture, frames, wreaths, and scrapbook pages. ill post all of our items here first for opinions, of course!


im blessed with a very crafty family; to say i grew up at antique shows would be a GROSS understatement. as if that wasn't enough, i grew up with my mom and dad stopping on the side of the road to pick up someone else's discarded "treasure". meanwhile, i would duck in the back seat (of our Mercedes, no less) hoping none of my friends saw our version of a Sunday outing. my mom would say one of her famous last words, "you have to see BEYOND, rachel." now, 22 years later, i finally got it.


btw, this is not the only lesson of hers that's taken me 22 years to learn, but that is a whooooleee other story for another day.


i don't want you to think i grew up in one big "curb alert" (don't you wish they still said that on craigslist?), my childhood home is filled with price-less antiques and artwork; actually to me, they have a price tag, and its high. much higher than say, my ikea/target/turner's wknd sale furniture. BUT! we have finally realized we really enjoy refinishing furniture, and to be honest, as you've seen in previous posts, we like stuff. if we can BUY stuff, re-do STUFF, then SELL stuff, to y'know, buy MORE stuff. its a win-win situation.


some people play sports as a family, we buy & craft & build (my dad doesn't really "craft" per say, but he can sure as hell, build).


pictures coming soon.


xo raa

my second home

i, of all people, have an office. an office! i really have not spent the time to decorate it. is that even allowed? how old do you have to be before you have a say in office decor? regardless, i have taken the liberty of adding a few accessories to my desk.

 can you see the pink Kia AutoSport koozie? i may have ordered those just to match my desk. they're actually for a few women-centered events we sponsor, but i like to pretend the world revolves around me.

you cant really notice, but im a kinda obsessed w/ lilly pulitzer desk accessories: folders, note cubes, note pads, highlighters, pencils, and picture frames (yes, mother, i addressed the empty picture frame in this blog post.)

and, i finally finished a craft project! the in box tray was originally silver; i picked it up for $1.00, and with a coat of pink spray paint, its now perfectly pink and perfect for my desk!

like i said, there are still a few more additions. i have a HUGE, office depot style mirror, that i have to (get someone else) to hang. i thought about hanging a wreath down the middle of the mirror, like so:

but i want the wreath to look like this:



i want to make this wreath in different colors. im thinking pink fabric with a green, glitter bow.



and finally, because i know my mom saw an empty frame on my desk, i want to comfort her with saying, i plan on printing and filling it with either of these:

empty frames are creepy, and confession: my house is full of them! i just, as of late, have been awful with taking pictures, and more importantly, lazy with printing them out. sorry, ma.

ya'll, make your working space as beautiful as possible, because as im learning, sometimes, you have no control over your work environment. sometimes, you have to deal with nonsense at work, so you might as well deal while looking at an attractive space.

xo raa

i'm alive. kind of.

been in a big ol' blogging slump.
ill be back this wknd

xo raa

somedays..

ive mentioned it before, but it is a constant effort for me to be at my best. some happy pills, nice clothes, and a shower are my daily efforts. lets be honest though, some days, it just takes alittle more than that.

today is one of those days; heres how i plan to combat the nasty-ness that can easily become my attitude.

there you have it. my secret to my cheery personality (count to three before you laugh out loud at the thought of my ever being cheery.)

i really need to write a second post on the west wing because it plays a MAJOR role in my life. by major i mean, after my clothes, my west wing dvds are my most prized possessions. ive literally memorized the majority of the episodes on all SEVEN seasons. ive had awkward moments in history classes where i call out answers based on knowledge ive learned from the west wing and President Bartlet.

xo raa

some lilly lovin'

i just cant resist a good sale. i'm going to type the next sentence while trying to not sound like an asshole. i love to shop. its not only that i love it, im really good at it. its really the only thing im truely talented at. gross, i know.

heres the catch: contrary to what i choose to believe in my head, money does not grow on trees, and i do not have a never ending supply of it. seeing how it is the 25th of the month, i actually have hardly any of it.

so whats a girl to do? write a blog post about it and remember that there is always another sale.

BUT! i am going to post pictures of what i wouldve bought, if i somehow came up with a money tree:

i actually did buy this; ive watched it ever since it came out. i love, love, love the cissy skirt.

lilly pulitzer's sale was pretty amazing; the prices were incredible. i rarely pay full price for things; some retailers are notorious for, eventually, slashing prices dramatically enough that it is worth the wait. lilly pilitzer is not one of those retailers. with that being said, ive noticed that if you have a department store that carries lilly, you will find some great pieces on sale. our local dillards recently started carrying lilly, and let me tell you the deals ive gotten!

i hope everyone made it through their thursday and, like me, are ready for friday and wkdn lovin' !

xo raa
*the spell check isnt working, so you're seeing my true colors in this post. i am a college graduate with terrible spelling but a decent sense of style. something had to give while i was growing up.

wednesday wednesday wednesday!

i'm never as productive over the weekends as i plan to be. isnt that what everyone says? i had grand plans to get a lot of painting done. there are several projects that im really itching to cross of my list. thanks to pinterest, that list keeps getting longer and longer. here are some pictures taken from my boards on pinterest. they are source of inspiration projects i was supposed to get done if there werent marathons of various tv shows: real housewives, big rich dallas, guiliana & bill...you get the picture. (wonder why im single? re read that last sentence .)

i have two peices of furniture in my living room that have been given to me by family members, and i love them, but i hate dark wood. for my mom's old dresser turned tv stand, i'm imagining pink (as the color in the 2nd picture). then, i have a entry way table given to me by my aunt that i have a pink mirror above, so i'm picturing teal, either the first picture's teal or the 3rd picture's teal. decisions, decisions.

look at this fan? HOW EASY? c'mon...anyone can spray paint a fan! for a bedside table? my office? hell, i can make two of them! would this be a weird gift? "hey, hope this helps with those hot flashes!" i dont know.  

this was my main goal: to refurbish old frames. i see them on etsy for outrageous prices. i bought one at a thrift store for $11! plus same spray paint from my fan project (unless i get crazy and run out of spray paint because i gifted all 4 of my friends them for christmas..in august) still! cheap, cute, and easy! my three favorite adjectives for projects.

i'm going out of town fri-sat for work. (doesnt that sound GROWN); it makes me feel grown for sure. with all that grown-ness going on, i dont know how much ill get to, so im not making any promises via blogger. i dont want to be an indian giver of sorts.

reason #94776290 i didnt get as much done as i planned? i joined a gym! an overpriced, all women, gym! ive made it to the gym every day that ive been a member (3 days). i have to admit, it feels really good. i love the elliptical, like really, really love it. except when im on the higher incline, and a good rap song comes on my ipod, and i dont have enough breathe to (silently) rap the lyrics along to my ipod. hard life i lead.

once, i was around 9 when i asked my dad to buy me tennis lessons (i had just finished a week of tennis camp), and my dad said "sure, why not." and i quickly followed the agreement with, "so when should we go to the store to get all the outfits and matching shoes?" he backed out of the tennis lessons and bought me a bike instead. or maybe a kids meal at mcdonalds. i cant remember. needless to say, physical activity and i are not meant to be. its a real push for me to go to the gym and keep up with it. its the sweat mainly. that and various areas of my body just bouncing around at free-will.

that was a lead in to my next post about the sweet workout clothes my mom bought me to intice me into forking over $40.00/month for a gym membership and y'know, using it. i like to circle around my point before actually coming in for a landing. kinda like a vulture. cute, right?

xo raa

buy me friday

i'm telling myself that the title kind of rhymes. by rhymes, i mean if you close your eyes, slant your head, and pretend it rhymes, it will, in fact, rhyme.

moving on.

i love stuff. like, i really love stuff. one day, i was about five, and my dad had gotten so annoyed with the amount of stuff we had in the house. he confronted my mom; she responded with "big girls (mom)  AND little girls (me)  like stuff. get over it!" that was that, and he went on his merry way, probably out to the garage where he has 10 of the same hammer. lets be honest, i like stuff because my parents likes stuff. its hereditary. we cant help ourselves. why have 1 when you can have 5? (especially if they're on sale, c'mon!)

so, i'm thinking every friday, i will post a list of things that are on my mind, that if money were no object, id buy in a heartbeat. it will also serve as motivation to do certain things: bring my lunch to work ($8/day x 5 days...that's a new necklace!) one less happy hour/week equals $30 saved x 2 months, thats a new watch; i have my eye on a certain xl rose gold michael kors...

i think ill focus on jewelry today. i might as well make these posts organized, right?

i love this bracelet. oh, i just can't even say how much i love it. jcrew has had this bracelet for ages. dear sale gods, please reduce it from $88!  actually, $88 is not a terrible price, but still.



I remember the first time i saw this necklace. its by a great new york designer oliphant; i saw their ad in an online publication; i think high gloss mag (may it RIP)? regardless, oh its just so fabulous!




this necklace. how classic? i have lusted after it for years. YEARS. my mother had a much smaller version from the 70s, but it was silver and does not compare to the 14k gold, much larger version. i've promised myself that for every 15lbs i lose, i will buy myself something. this will be among those things. (HEY! thats an idea for next friday's post. the weight lose buy me list)



the cartier love bracelet. enough said. (dream on, racham.) but on a more possible note, that skull bracelet is divine! (skulls, divine? weird.) i just love this picture. so simple and beautiful.

so thats enough for today.

i'm planning to do some serious home adventures this weekend. there are two peices of furniture ive been putting off painting and a lamp ive been dreading purchasing. those. must. be. done.

oh! and for anyone in tallahassee this wknd, the womens club of tallahassee is putting on a garage sale; i'm on the hunt for old, antique frames that i can refurbish with spray paint and chalkboard/corkboard/fabric, ect.

pictures & tales of my refurbish adventures to come.

xo raa

choose to be happy

i dont know about you, but being happy is a choice i have to make every day. every. single. day.

side note: i know exercise increases endorphins, and i also know, i HATE people who talk about exercise/diets all the time. as a person, who needs all the help she can to be balanced, i know i need to increase the amount of exercise in my life.

with that being said, please recognize that i do not intend to be that very person who goes on an on about workouts/sweat/loving to work out; however, i feel that if i make an effort in posting about it, and if i know my readers are, well, reading...maybe it will serve as some form of accountability. i commit that for every time it appears that im bragging that i dragged my size 14/16 ass to the gym, i will also be honest about every meatball sub that i stuff in that same size 14/16 ass. gah, i love meatball subs. they are my for real, downfall.

enough about that.

back to the important stuff: my house. i cant wait to show ya'll this fabulous chandelier i added to my dining room later tonight!

xo raa

first thing first

i've finally made the jump into blogging. here goes nothing, right? so now what?

i spend the majority of my day in front of the computer, so there has to be a reason for which i would want to spend more in front of it for fun. well, there is not. other than, like the rest of you, i'm so full of myself that i think others want to know exactly what i'm up to at all times.

i should, first of all, introduce you to the crazies that i call family. they will be involved in most posts because, well, i actually like them. i am fortunate enough to spend a lot of my time with my mom and dad. it is just the three of us, so we are lucky that we genuinely do enjoy each other's company.

this is my dad. this picture says a lot about him. too much, probably.

this is talulah grace. she is a pekatese (1/2 maltese, 1/2 pekingese) she is my baby girl, and i will rarely refer to her as a dog. to me, she is the baby that i am far too young to have. i could go on and on but i wont.



this is my sweet mama. she is sweet sometimes and a mom all of the time. we are true soul sisters. i'm old enough to say that...10 years ago she would've backhanded me for referring to her as anything other than mom.


moving on (a PUN in my first post...what an accomplishment) a big, HUGE, part of my life these days is my home. i did all of the things 22 year olds are supposed to do: graduate, get a "big-girl" job, and move out of the college area of town. (i think buying a new car should be on there, but alas, i prefer expensive beer/clothes to a new car payment. hint, hint, salary gods.) back to the point: my new home is the source of all my creative energy these days. it is in the most beautiful part of town; a part of town, i've always imagined myself living in.

so, if you've managed to make it through my ramblings and lack of capitalization, i invite you to join me for, what will hopefully become, a fruitful relationship for all involved. ill try to make it entertaining at least. thats weird, that is what i tell prospective dates too.

xo raa