Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Tuesday night, Doad and I got a spontaneous invitation to go to the Orioles game with some friends from our old church.

Mostly I went because, you know... I'm a concession stand junkie.  I love me some ballpark hot dogs, and popcorn, french fries, and chicken baskets.

Great, now I'm hungry.

*drool*  Delicious.

The food was pretty good too.  ;)

I also just love the atmosphere.  Loud, spirited fans, the smell of beer and peanuts, and a nice cool breeze to balance out the warm summer sun.  I know summer's not for a month yet, but yesterday night I could tell that it is lurking around the corner just waiting to pounce.  I can't wait. :)

Sadly, we didn't win the game. :(  But it was still a good time and I'm glad we went even though it was last minute.  I think hubby had a good time hangin' with the guys and I'm happy he likes it when I tag along too.  :)


Do you plan on going to some baseball games this summer?  What's the name of your favorite team?

Mani Monday: Gold Chevron

Happy Mani Monday!  And happy day after Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful time celebrating their mothers and/or mother figures yesterday.  We had a lovely time hosting my family including my grandmother (PTL!) for a Mother's Day lunch.  My aunt and uncle picked her up from the rehab center and I am so happy that she finally got to see our new house and have a day out of the dreary place she's currently living in.  *yay!*


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I've been in a little bit of a nail rut lately with designs.  I usually do at least an accent color or add some glitter to my manicures or something, but I've gotten lazy and rushed and have only been doing plain manicures.  Hence, the lack of Mani Monday posts - I had nothing special to share.

I think I've finally broken out of my rut and I'm really loving my current manicure.  I LOVE this color combo, what do you think?

Here's what I used:

Base Color: Lena by Julep

Chevron: Felicity by Julep and Striping Tape from Amazon seller

Top Coat: Butter London - Hardwear P.D. Quick Topcoat (Google Affiliate Ad)

This was my first time using the striping tape more as "painter's tape" instead of actual decoration.  I painted the accent nail with Felicity first and waited for it to dry.  Then I applied the tape in the chevron shape, painted over it with Lena and removed the tape so the chevron would show through in the gold color.

I'm super happy with how it came out and will be trying this method more often.  I've had issues with the tape not staying on my manicures when I've tried to use it as a design.  I've tried all the tips: cutting the tape shorter than your nail, applying top coat multiple times, etc... My tape always peels off within a few hours :(

The reviews are mixed on how well the tape has worked for other people so maybe I just need to try again.  Either way, I'm loving this manicure and am trying to make it last as long as possible.

Happy Mani Monday, friends!

...PS.  Just in case your Mother's Day wasn't as awesome as you hoped - here's an encouraging word from Kid President.  We love you, moms!

Linking up...

I love my little town

Today on our way to church we stumbled across the Fine Arts & Wine Festival happening on our little Main Street.  I don't know why, but community events like this get me all excited.  I think I just love the small town feel it brings and the fact that I "belong" to that community and get to be a part of it.

Also, I saw a sign for Chicken on a Stick.  If you're selling sketchy street food from a cart I'm totally there.  Sick, I know.  But it's always so delicious!

Anyways... we decided to check it out after we got home from church.  Awesome decision!!!

There are a ton of cute little shops and boutiques all along main street that I had not gotten to explore yet.  I dragged poor Doad into every single one of them today.  I couldn't resist all the cute decorative pieces - they were great inspiration for me since I'm in the middle of painting and decorating my craft room! :)

There was also a chalk station.  Anyone could draw on a square and then judges voted on them at the end.  Prizes were based on age category and ranged from chalk sets to gift cards for some of the local shops.  These were a few of my favorites:

After we got through all the boutiques we made it to the main festival area.  It was almost like Etsy in a festival! A large majority of the booths were handmade jewelry shops, but there were also hand carved wood pieces, candles, pottery, and my personal favorite, painted gourds!  Then there were the wine booths and of course a fresh local cheese booth (what wine festival is complete without cheese?)

Seriously, aren't those painted gourds amazing? I wish I could paint like that.


We live near the train tracks and what used to be an old train station.  It's a restaurant now, but next to it there are some old boxcars with model trains set up inside them.  I can't wait to take my nephew, The Cuteness, to see these trains.  I know he will love them.

Oh, and also there was belly-dancing.  

AKA, dancing with canes?  You're welcome for that.

Maybe I'm just a belly dancing newb, but I expected it to be more like this: (Without the candle on your head)

.... Moving on.  

I had so much fun feeling like part of the community, exploring with my prize of a husband who didn't mind being dragged to look at every jewelry booth on the street, and soaking up the wonderful, spring sunshine. I really love this little town that we've moved to.  How quickly and easily it has become home. :)

My Brother's Wedding

*Photo dump warning! :)

I've put all these pics on facebook already, but I wanted to write a post about it too so I could remember some of the details of the day.

We started bright and early with hair and makeup.  Early like I got up at 5:30.... Yikes!  My sister-in-law did my hair and I absolutely loved it!  I'm usually the one doing the hair so it was fun to be on the other side of the chair and get pampered and have someone else do my hair and makeup.  It brought back memories of my wedding day. :)

Instead of a limo, we rode in Lauren's uncle's motorhome/bus.  I have to admit, when I first heard we were riding in a bus I was NOT thrilled.  I thought it was gonna be like a metro bus - yuck!  I had no idea how beautiful it would be inside!  It was more like a motorhome than a bus.  So much fun. :)  This is the excited bride and her maid of honor.

Baby sis in her flowergirl dress and Lauren's niece, another of her four flower girls.

The lovely horse-drawn carriage.

Awwww

Cinderella Cake

Gorgeous sis and BF

So happy my grandmother could make it, wheelchair and all.  She's a fighter :)

I think the siblings/friends did a great job decorating the getaway car :) 

Ok, so I guess most of my details are just from the getting ready part.  The ceremony went pretty smoothly.  I didn't trip going down the aisle (thank goodness!)  and Doad was hecka handsome in his tuxedo.  I mainly just looked at him as much as possible :p  

Joel and Lauren wrote their own vows which was pretty sweet.  I thought about doing that for my wedding, but I know I wouldn't have made it through without crying and my words wouldn't come out nearly as eloquently as I would have wanted them to.  

We were late to the reception so that part kinda flew by.  We ate really quickly so we could get back on schedule.  The wedding party performed a choreographed dance to "Marry You" by Bruno Mars.   Apparently, my husband and brother stole the show with their sweet moves.  Thankfully, we don't have any pictures or video of that yet.  ;)  

We had a great time celebrating and supporting Joel and Lauren as they start their new adventure as husband and wife.  They are off touring Europe on their honeymoon now and we are all settling back into our normal routines and gearing up for the summer.  I'm hoping that includes more posts here and some pictures of the projects I've been working on.  I'll get the hang of blogging regularly one of these days.  I just know it. ;)

Sweet Sixteen

This past weekend we hosted my sister's sixteenth birthday party.  Our first party at the new house.  :)

It was quite a party if I do say so myself.  I had no idea this house could hold so many teenagers.  I'm gonna guess that there were about sixty people here, but unfortunately, I forgot to take very many pictures so the only proof I have is a broken couch and a doorknob-less door.  Broken couch = crazy party, right?

There was lots of dancing.

And an AWESOME cake - hacked from pinterest, and made by mom :)

I know, you're jealous.  It's ok.  

*sigh* Not everyone has an awesome sister who will let you bring a whole youth group into their home for your birthday.  But, not everyone has an awesome little sister who makes it all worth it.  :)

Happy birthday, J! :) 

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Mani Monday: My first ever Vlog!

Uh oh, she's posting a video?!?

Hehe, yep, I sure am.  Here's a look at all the goodies I got in my Julep Maven February golden box.  Enjoy!

Thoughts:

~ I sound so much different on video than I think I sound... weird

~ I'm having second thoughts about keeping my duplicate Rebel polish - I just have so many polishes already.  Maybe I should do a giveaway with it and a couple of other polishes?

~ Is it weird to paint each nail a different color if I can't decide which of these polishes to use first?

If you'd like to become a Julep Maven and score some awesome polishes like these for yourself, here's what you need to know:

Why I think you should join: 

-You get 20% off all Julep products and free shipping on every order

-Refer just 2 friends and get enough "Jules" (referral points) for a free Maven box!

-No commitment - if you don't like the month's colors or its just not in your budget this month you can easily skip the month with no charge and no penalty.  

-Did you watch my video??  :p  You get chances to win some awesome products and I ALWAYS feel like I got a great deal.

-Awesome customer service

Ok, I could go on, but I'll stop before I sound like a commercial.  I just really do love them. 

If you're interested in trying them out, I'd love it if you'd use my referral link. Sign up and get your first box for just FREE using the code FREEMAVEN.  Give it a try and tell me what you think! :) Happy Monday, Friends!

Settling in... And that time I found a bunch of money all over my house

It's been a little over a week since we moved into our new house and I am in love! I can't believe how much God has blessed us with this perfect, beautiful house. And with how amazingly the move went on Saturday.

I was honestly blown away by how smooth our moving day was. I will admit I was preparing for the worst - including a long, frustrating day, a broken piece of furniture or two, and lots of pressure to make sure everyone had enough to do so they wouldn't feel like we were wasting their time.

I couldn't have been more wrong and I couldn't be more pleased about it.

View from my kitchen window.  Gorgeous!

Blessing #1: Doad was second in line at the Uhaul pickup. No long wait or trouble of any kind. Guess who started their moving day on schedule? We did!

Blessing #2: So many people came to help us! We let our family and some close friends know about the move but I wasn't really sure how many people would be able to make it. It seemed like they just kept coming and coming! And with awesome timing too - a new "shift" came just in time to help unpack.

Blessing #3: We packed so much quicker than I thought we would. I was expecting the load up to take all morning. I don't remember exactly when we finished but we packed and caravanned about 9 cars to the new house (about a 40 minute drive) and got there before noon!

First fire in our wood stove! :)

Blessing #4: Everyone was the perfect amount of helpful. They knew when to ask for something to do and when to just grab things and take it to the truck. I never felt overwhelmed at all! They even helped me pack up my fridge and didn't judge me when we found moldy pasta hiding in the back :/ As soon as we got to the new house (and had a quick tour), my mom set straight to wiping down the fridge, restocking it, and setting up the pantry. Some of them even stayed til dinner helping to stock cupboards, set up and make the bed, and set up the entertainment center. A superstar moving crew to be sure!

Blessing #5: Nothing broke!

What? Does this happen in real life? I thought all moves were accompanied with at least one piece of broken furniture guaranteed. Amazingly, this was not the case for us. Happy HAPPY wife right here!

*We did purposely saw a beam off of our bookcase headboard for our bed in order to fit it upstairs, but it was easily reattached and you can't even see the "damage"! :)

Blessing #6: The weather was perfect! Ok, so it started out a tad on the chilly side, but the day actually warmed up nicely. No coats needed by the time afternoon came around. If you follow me on Instagram (@JessicaDanae7) you know that was not the case this past weekend - so glad we moved the week before all this snow!

Blessing #7: Hide and Seek with money. Someone found a forgotten dollar in our new shed and brought it in the house. They stuck it on the wall just for fun and somewhere along the way it started multiplying! Before we knew it several dollars and some tea packets were taped up next to the first dollar. We have since found dollars in our closets, in drawers, taped under stairwells... Everywhere! Our count is currently up to $13 and from what I hear, there are several more to discover.

To all of our friends and family who helped us move and who prayed for us that day - thank you from the bottom of my heart. These blessings are just a few of the wonderful things God did for us that day.  I was truly blessed and blown away by all the support and help and love shown to us last week.  And thank you for every dollar you've hidden.  As sappy as this sounds, every time I find a dollar it reminds me of God's love and how much he blessed us with an amazing group of loved ones to do life with. Can't wait to host some parties for all of you! :)



PS.  I posted pics of all the dollars and their hiding places below.  Sorry for the pic overload, but I wanted  a place where I could keep track of them and update when I find new ones. :)

Where it all started :)

*Found between 1/20/13 and 1/29/13.

* Found on 2/9/2013

*Found on 2/27/2013