NUMBER 275

GET IT GIRL! if you’ve been holding off on a new blog design, now’s the chance to check it off the list! start the new year off right with a fresh look! let santa bring YOU something [a little early!]. do you really need an excuse? hop over and select your design package, fill out the quick design request form, and let me do the rest of the work!

HAPPY SHOPPING!

NUMBER 274

happy thanksgiving, friends! in my life i've always had much to be thankful for, but this year, i can remember several times saying “life is pretty good” – out loud, just to acknowledge it! it’s so easy to get caught up in the fuss of the holidays…or any day for that matter. those days when our problems seem so big and out of our control. today, squeeze the ones you love a little tighter and thank the good Lord for the many blessings in your life...i know i will.

NUMBER 273

i'm not a huge football fan, but at least once a year, andrew and i try to schedule a trip to my [our] beloved blacksburg for a hokie football game. it’s GORGEOUS this time of year and theres’s always fun to be had in southwest virginia! we've been fortunate enough to have some great friends that live in town and are nice enough to host us for the weekend! really couldn’t be luckier! we always have a perfect time, and the weekend is the perfect mix of nostalgia and cold weather! we’re packing up this afternoon and heading up 81 for the weekend, and i could not be more excited!!
in my previous life – before i was a hokie – maroon and orange, just didn’t seem quite right together. some would even argue that the colors clash [how dare they!] after 4 years of seeing nothing BUT the chicago maroon and burnt orange together, it’s now in my nature to snatch up anything and everything that resembles it. or at least snap a picture of it and send it to my college girlfriends in case they want it!  i was in jcpenney not too long ago and was truly shocked at the amount of items that had my beloved college color combo. for my five on friday [christina, april, darci, & natasha], i've compiled a little list of their online selection! you can bet i'll be sporting that striped top with some skinnies and my boots tomorrow at the tailgate!

shirt  |  scarf  |  earrings  |  basket  |  cardigan

HAPPY [HOKIE] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 272

download the FREE desktop wallpaper

this week has been crazy busy in the best possible way. i'm forgoing my usual “five on friday” post [still love you gals] for a little download. i haven’t shared one in a while, but i thought it was pretty fitting since design work is what’s been filling up my evenings this week. hope you have a wonderful weekend – maybe go crunch some fallen leaves and sip some hot cider!
*tip: to download this wallpaper: click the link above, download the image, and set as your desktop background.

HAPPY [FALL] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 271

rug  |  desk  |  chair  |  bulletin board  |  garland  |  trunk [similar]

it seems like once i wrap up one project, i'm already focused on the next one. it’s a curse and a blessing, just ask andrew! we were having breakfast saturday morning, just talking about how much we loved our house, listing rooms that were “finished” or “almost there” [a short list], and here i am already…focused on 1 of the 2 rooms in the house that still look like we moved in last week!

i've been spending more time in the office lately, and since business is good [!!!] i hope to be spending even more time there in the future. andrew’s dearest aunt gifted us an heirloom antique trunk before she passed away last spring, and i'm using it as a jumping off point for inspiration. it’s a gorgeous piece and “industrial chic” is where i'm headed with it. i've never been a huge girly-girl, so a bright white office with hot pink peonies [as gorgeous as it is] just isn’t my style. so let’s see if i can make this happen!

NUMBER 270

cardigan  |  necklace  |  sweater [for him]  |  slippers  |  sweater [for me]

fear not! you may not can count on me for a saturday-thursday post, but i'm not going to miss my five on friday with darci, christina, april, and natasha. we were total scrooges [is that applicable for halloween?!] and left our house [and the lights off] last night! the perks to not having kiddies on halloween is that instead of trick or treating, you get to just "treat yo'self". that was our motto last night when andrew and i made a last minute decision to head down to south carolina and hit up the [empty] outlets! it was a ghost-town, and we pretty much had every store to ourselves. the majority of our damage was done in j.crew and you can see just a few of our goodies above. they were having a massive in-store only sale, and we scored some really great fall and winter pieces for next-to-nothing! we had such a great time, just us two, and finished off the night at an old standby restaurant – outback!

a big congrats to my blog [and real life] friend, april, on her big baby bump announcement! you and ian will make great parents to that little babe! xoxo

HAPPY [NOVEMBER] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 269

it’s been one of those weeks where watching scary movies and curling up by the fire has taken priority over blog posts, that’s allowed right? however, i'm staying true to my friday gals by linking up with darci, april, christina, and natasha for five on friday! woo hoo! let’s go!

fall is here, and with it has been some gorgeous carolina sunsets. this is one of my favorite skyline scenes in charlotte, and we just happen to drive by it every day on the way to work. there have been several evenings where i'll park the car and walk over the bridge just to get a better shot of this gorgeous city.
andrew’s gotta be commended on his dedication to healthy eating. in the past couple of weeks, he’s lost about 12 pounds just from being conscious about what he eats and working out [mostly] every day. he worked late one night this week, so i got dinner ready while he was at the office. after eating this salad for 2 nights in a row, we’ve declared it our FAVORITE salad!  get the recipe here for the skinny grilled buffalo chicken salad [and don’t forget the homemade skinny ranch – it TOTALLY makes the meal].
ummm… i don’t really have words for this, other than: she sleeps like this ALL the time, and i wish i could sleep this comfortably on the couch.

i decided to give a new local coffee shop a try this weekend and it did NOT disappoint.  i grabbed a chai latte from “not just coffee” in atherton mill and was so pleased! not only is their logo cute, but the chai hit the spot! p.s. would you believe that i've never had one of those pretty latte art drinks? i'm adding that one to the fall bucket list!
lastly, my mom is heading to town tomorrow for a girls weekend! we’re spending the day antiquing, brunching, doing girly things, then wrapping up the day with the michael buble' concert in uptown! i'm sure there will be a good amount of screaming 20-60 year old women in the crowd, and i'm SO excited to be one of them!
hope everyone has a great weekend! stay bundled up, it’s supposed to get COLD [and i secretly love it]!

HAPPY [GIRLS] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 268

finally! it looks and feels like fall outside! this week has been a perfect 10 in my book! here are a few things that are making me smile: we found out mrs. carolina charm is having a baaaby, i had a perfect catch up dinner with a good friend last night, the house is clean, bbq is on the agenda for this weekend, i wrapped up a really cute design for a really cute friend this week, and had some time to work on my own site a little.

you might [or might not] notice that i made some changes this week. not only is laura wyatt designs a separate site now, but i've developed some fun new design packages too! this will replace the long, drawn out a la carte, back and forth estimate routine i was doing before! i'm really excited! blog design is something i really LOVE doing - the creativty involved with making a design, the excitement i get when my code actually works...ok i'll stop before i totally geek out on you. anyway for my five on friday post, i've hand picked some of my recent [and not so recent] favorite designs:

as usual, i'm linking up with these sweet girls for five on friday [darci, christina, april, + natasha]

HAPPY [FALL] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 267

this is the lipstick post for gals who don’t wear lipstick. my lips are pretty pigmented, so i feel washed out with most nudes, and i don’t have the confidence level for a bold red. i can’t count the times that i've swiped a bright hue on my lips…only to end up wiping it off before walking out the door. is that just me? red girls – what’s your secret? i'm slowly getting more comfortable having some color on there, and i've found a handful of creamy natural colors that are helping me make the transition. here’s a quick lineup of my favorites that i've kept on for longer than 10 minutes…(left to right)

maybelline  | color whisper 80 – made it mauve

maybelline  | 245 blushing brunette

cover girl  |  265 romance

revlon  |  613 just enough buff

bobbi brown  |  2 biege

NUMBER 266

happy friday! i'm back with part 2 of “laura spends the whole weekend being super productive” with the much awaited chalkboard and table reveals! yay! along with those fun things, i'm doing the “friday usual” – linking up with my favorites for five on friday! [christina, darci, april, and natasha!]

a little while back, i saw emily from jones design company post her fall wreath on instagram, and i went out of my way to pin it because i knew i wanted one JUST like it! $20 later, i had my own, and i LOVE it!

THIS guy is at our house for the weekend, and i could not be more excited! my parents are visiting arkansas until sunday, so we’re keeping my puppy brother until they’re back. our life is about to get a little more crazy as a 3-pet family!

is there anything better than a man that cooks? i made a HUGE pot of vegetable soup sunday and we’ve been eating it all. week. long. wednesday night, andrew decided to reward our healthy eating efforts by making a batch of his mama’s homemade buttermilk biscuits. that man knows the way to my heart!

drumroll please….

YAY! TABLE! ok, so it’s not all that crazy and exciting, but it’s beautiful and perfect to me! i spent the better half of the week sanding, staining, and polyurethane-ing, and i'm so happy to see the final product looking beautiful in the dining room. our $30 bought the table and 2 leaves that will accommodate more friends! now on to the chairs…i'm thinking of these beauties from world market or these…or these…[on major major sale, obv. you know how this lady does shopping.] sidenote: should i chalk paint my china cabinet?

can you spot the big kitty?

and finally…my chalkboard! i'm not going to show you my freehanded attempt [definitely not my best work], but trust me - darci’s tutorial on chalkboard art truly saved the day!  my artwork is from clarendon lane – i just love it! i still think andrew thinks i've lost it, wanting a chalkboard in our living room, but i think he’ll become a fan soon: he has free reign over the board at the end of every month. how nice am i?

it’s supposed to be goooorgeous this weekend [i think?!], and i'm looking forward to being home in charlotte for the 4th weekend in a row! hope you have a good one too!

HAPPY [FALL] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 265

this is part 1 of a 2 part series called "laura spends the whole weekend being super productive". it's a rarity. i'm seriously coming off of some sort of DIY high right now. my weekend activities included: thrifting, priming, painting, thrifting [round 2], sanding, washing, cooking, sanding [round 2], staining, weeding, designing. quickly followed by sleeping, and not enough of it. here’s a wrap up of the before shots of this weekend’s projects:
 

i know andrew thought i was certifiably crazy when he came home thursday to see this lovely swan portrait hanging in our entryway. no girl nowadays can resist a good gold frame, and i wasn’t going to let this beauty at the salvation army go to waste. i spent some time this weekend saying goodbye to the swans and jumping on the chalkboard bandwagon. the finished frame is back in the entryway, now decorated for fall! after pictures to come!

saturday morning we grabbed some iced chai lattes and headed down the road to charming gastonia. the backstory: i've had my heart set on a round pedestal table for our dining room for some time now – spending too many hours on craigslist for the cause. i like to think that i'm pretty frugal when it comes to spending, so i've been holding out for the best deal possible on this table [under $100]. after passing up a pretty perfect antique table for $140, we took a chance and stopped at a hole in the wall “discount alley” on the way out of town. after being directed to the basement [no joke] for the furniture selection, i spotted it. andrew and i both couldn’t believe he only wanted $40 for the table. i honestly could have passed out, my hands were shaking i was so excited! we walked out of there with a new table and $30 lighter. yes, even at $40, i still negotiated!

 this is the before shot – before any sanding or staning. i've got 2 coats of poly to go before it’s finished, and i'm so excited to show you the final product!

NUMBER 264

friday is here friends! hopefully this weekend will bring us some cooler temps. eight degrees just doesn’t say “october”, am i right? this week has blown by, and i can look back and say it was a pretty good one! i'm participating in my favorite link up today with darci, christina, april, and natasha for their weekly five on friday!

1  |  some poor target marketing intern probably got fired yesterday. they’re buy one get one coupon was available for a short period of time yesterday afternoon, and i was able to score this gorgeous necklace for free [with the purchase of my $8 earrings]! you can bet i'm sporting it today [and maybe all weekend]. i feel like such a jerk – of course i was so excited about the incredible deal, sharing it with my friends, only to have target take down the coupon almost immediately! sorry for getting y’all’s hopes up! maybe another intern will screw up sometime in the near future!

2  |  andrew and i are BACK on the weight loss/get fit wagon. this happens about 3 times a year, if we could up that to 12 times a year, i think we’d be in good shape! after eating well most of the week and doing some sort of physical activity every night, i think we’re on the right track! keep up with my progress and cheer us on here, on my fitness pal.

3  |  i'm on the hunt for a new dining table, and i'm not afraid of a little diy project if it comes with a low price tag! i love this table makeover by kristen davis designs.

4  |  speaking of diy... i know i totally missed the boat on the chalkboard trend, but i got an awesome deal on a gold frame at the salvation army store yesterday. planning on some chalkboard action this weekend – pictures to come!

5  |  one of our favorite brunch spots in charlotte, zada janes, has this jam on every table. after the first bite, i was hooked! i left thinking that i would surely have to order it online [and would inevitably forget about doing it], so i was so surprised to find it in my local harris teeter in the produce area [on our little local rack]. looks like andrew will have to make a few of his mama’s biscuits this weekend…

HAPPY [FALL] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 263

DISCLAIMER: i’m a total coupon amateur, but i saw this deal and couldn't pass it up! maybe i'm late to the party on this one y'all, but i had to share the news before it's TOO LATE for you to get in on it too!

i got the 2 items above for $7.99 plus tax. [disregard my basmati rice purchase]. i used target’s mobile coupon for buy one get one free on jewelry, watches, and sunglasses. here’s how you score:

1. download the target mobile app
2. sign up for the mobile coupons under “deals and coupons”
3. pick your 2 jewelry items of choice [the cheapest can be a clearance item, the most expensive can be up to $58.99]
4. have your cashier scan the barcode for this week’s mobile coupon [expires tomorrow]
5. your most expensive item will be the FREE one!

like i said, i’m very green when it comes to couponing. i chould have scored a $50 new watch with a $2 clearance item, but instead i got two items that i know i'll wear. another amateur move: i didn't get a picture of my full receipt. my final total was $11.11 because i needed rice for lunch...so there's that.

HAPPY COUPONING!

*update: i've had mixed messages from some iPhone users saying they can’t see the coupon. i can still view mine which makes me think target may be trying to take this down to save themselves a little $$