inspiration workshop [pamper yourself]

when i visited my family in new jersey during my birthday week, my sister and i went and got massages! heather works for a resort and gets gift certificates from time to time. she was wonderful enough to treat me to an hour long massage! so now i have until her birthday in november to think of something as awesome to do for her! (: my mom booked a pedicure. my youngest sister, laura, tagged along, and we had ourselves a ladies’ morning at the SPA!

it. was. incredible. we checked in and were given keys to a locker, where we got to change into white, fluffy, fancy robes. just like in the movies!

while we waited for our masseuses, we were treated to tea, a fruity granola mix, and [no kidding] sugar-coated rose petals. for real, they were delicious!

my massage was incredible. have I ever mentioned that my stud is a licensed massage therapist?! yeah… life is good for this girl. (: i love that God gave me a man who dreamt of treating his girl to massages and made me a girl who loves massages!

after the massage, we were brought out to a foot bath, filled with sugar and rose petals.

the spa and a massage are things i never get to do, so it was such a lovely way to pamper myself. [thank you, heath! (: ] massages are definitely one of my favorite ways to pamper luxuriously!

dining and decorating

[warning: lots of pictures ahead (: ]

in march i moved from this apartment...


to the one next door. i have a dining room in my new place, a room i've never had in an apartment before. it's such a treat! over the last few months i’ve been working on acquiring pieces for it and decorating the space. and now i'm ready to share (:


first came the dining room table. after a few weeks of scouring craigslist and visiting stores to see what was available new, i finally settled on a set from big lots. [note: i had no clue big lots even had furniture – and nice stuff at that! – but had mentioned my search to a friend and she told me about them. thanks, rachel!]

i have some pretty awesome handymen in my life, and they had this bad boy assembled in almost no time.

i love that it came with a bench. (: 

you may remember the shutters i found at a huge garage sale in april. i had envisioned putting them in the dining room windows, but also wanted to find curtains that would coordinate for a nice summer-y feel! thanks to a trip home to jersey last month and my two lovely sisters who let me drag them to IKEA on the one night we got to have sister time, i found curtains!


my stud installed all things window-related for me last weekend. have i mentioned how incredible he is? he helps with all my home projects… mostly because i don’t think he trusts me with power tools! just think how much we can do when we're married and have our own place together! [if i were you, i’d imagine him rolling his eyes at this point.]

add a couple of decorative pieces i already had or picked up...

and ta-da! i am so happy with this room so far!

i'm still on the hunt for a buffet for the wall currently occupied by our bikes, but i’m holding out for a good find at a wallet-friendly price that could use some tlc and provide me (and john!) with another project. [sound good, babe? (:] and i have a huge mirror clock to hang on the wall above the bench, but it arrived with a piece broken and we just made some adjustments to it this weekend to take care of that. i'm also looking for a way to update the light fixture, either by spray painting it or finding a DIY to replace it. so there are still a couple of things left to do to finish the room [in my mind at least!]. 

for months this room held the overflow of boxes and things i didn’t know what to do with when i moved. for months i’d walk into my apartment, pass through the kitchen, sigh and shake my head at this room and settle in for the evening in the living room. but now?! now i love walking in and seeing this room. i love sitting down at the table with my dinner or my laptop or a card game. and having made this room into a place i love has made my apartment feel even bigger and made me feel more at home! 

on my heart :: friends

on my heart this morning are friends! two in particular -- let me introduce you to becky and lauren [or SAL, as i call her. another story for another time!].

aren't they lovely?!

i've known becky since i was four and lauren since i was 10 (or 11?). they are what i call lifelong friends. after two decades [two?! decades?! what?!] of life, we've gone through a lot with one another... high school, first boyfriends, breakups, college, finding the one, engagements, weddings, marriages... all while pondering the finer mysteries of life. we live in three different states right now, and we're very different people than we were as girls growing up in the garden state. but these two ladies have seen me through good, bad, and worse times. they know my heart. they love me for who i am, and they always have. they're the friends i can pick up the phone and talk to as though time hasn't passed. they've been my personal cheerleaders through so many times in life. and most importantly, they point and push me towards Jesus. 

there are a couple of other ladies who are a part of this lifelong group. all in all, we live in five states, and we joke that we only get to see each other for weddings and funerals anymore. unfortunately, that's been kind of true the last four years or so.

which is why i'm so incredibly excited for this weekend with beck and laur, because it's simply a girls weekend.two days of catching up on life, sharing our hearts, drinking wine, and enjoying the beautiful weather and landscape of western new york. it's going to be such a treat for me and my spirit. i feel so blessed to have these girls in my life and am so thankful to have this time with them.


now hurry up and get here, ladies! (:

displacement

Source

don't fret or worry. 

instead of worrying, pray. 

let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, 

letting God know your concerns. 

before you know it, 

a sense of God's wholeness, 

everything coming together for good, 

will come and settle you down. 

it's wonderful what happens when

Christ 

displaces worry at the

center

of your life.

phil 4: 6-7 (the message)