My First Ever Furniture Makeover!

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you my very first furniture makeover! I have been wanting to makeover a piece of furniture for a looonngg time now, but I've been to scared to screw it up miserably. I'm not really sure what inspired me to suddenly grab our TV stand and go to town, but I'm so glad I did! And good thing it turned out nicely or we'd be stuck with some major suckage in our living room!

So how'd I do it? I applied a coat of primer that we had in hand and then used our white paint that we used for doors. We ended up needing about three coats of white paint on this baby. I would recommend two coats of primer to avoid so many coats of paint. 

The stenciling was a last minute decision, that I am very happy with! I think it's my favorite part. I just love how it ties in the wall color. 

Of course my first furniture makeover is far from perfect. We made a lot of mistakes and some are still even visible if you look closely, but I don't mind. Getting over my fear of making over furniture is what this project was all about. And now I feel prepared to tackle all the furniture piles up in our basement just waiting for me. Also, this tv stand is patiently waiting for some shelves to accompany it along our wall. If only the hubby would get on that... just kidding... well sort of.

Was anyone else nervous to makeover their first piece of furniture? How'd it turn out? I would love to hear about it.

Is anyone still avoiding their first furniture project? I say just go for it!!

On The Nightstand: Vision In White by Nora Roberts

"Wedding photographer Mackensie "Mac" Elliot is most at home behind the camera, but her focus is shattered moments before an important wedding rehearsal when she bumps into the bride-to-be's brother...an encounter that has them both seeing stars.
A stable, safe English teacher, Carter Maguire is definitely not Mac's type. But a casual fling might be just what she needs to take her mind off bridezillas. Of course, casual flings can turn into something more when you least expect it. And Mac will have to turn to her three best friends-and business partners-to see her way to her own happy ending."--GoodReads

Ever since I was little, I have loved the idea of weddings. I had the most fun spending a year and a half planning my own wedding. And even still, when I receive a wedding invitation in the mail, I can't help but become incredibly excited. I think my love for weddings is what drew me in to this book in the first place, and immediately hooked me. 

Thi story is about a group of friends who run a wedding business (my absolute dream!!), particularly the photographer, Mac. This story is about Mac's dysfunctional family, and a guy who has had a crush on her since high school. As she learns to say no to her mom, she begins falling for the guy.

While I can't exactly relate to Mac's dysfunctional relationships, I did find myself very interested in her life, and I couldn't wait to find out what happens between her and Carter. A very good read!! I liked it so much I already picked up the second book! I even ran, yes literally ran, to the library and got there 5 minutes before they closed so I could continue reading. The blisters were totally worth it though.

Celebrating One Year!

Well, I'm sure by now everyone is getting a bit bored with me talking about our anniversary! I promise this is the last post you will have to read...until next year anyways.

So how did we celebrate our one year of marriage you may ask? We dumped the dog at the grandparents and headed to Tawas for a wonderful three days of camping! But before that, we made a pit stop in Augres at my favorite winery (the only one I've ever been to I might add).

We arrived to our campsite shortly after 5:00 and managed to set up camp in only 45 minutes! We're becoming pros at this whole camping thing! 

Once camp was set, we went to Bikini's, a fun outdoor bar and restaurant right on the beach. We spent the evening downtown and walking the pier. It was beautiful. 

Friday morning, we decided to take a canoe trip down the Au Sable River since neither of us had canoed in years. We had a blast and practically had the whole river to ourselves! 

After our canoe trip, we headed back to the campground, filled up our plastic mugs with adult beverages and went on the.longest.walk along the beach. 

We made dinner over the fire, and watched the sunset on the beach. We even snuck wine glasses and a bottle of wine along with us. Rebels, I know.

There is absolutely nothing better then a Michigan sunset on the beach. 

Saturday, our actual anniversary, we were reunited with our fur baby. Adam's parents took us out for a celebratory dinner, and we spent the rest of the evening repainting some furniture.

Sunday, our last day of 

celebrating, we woke up early and took Lucy to the riverwalk in Bay City while we patiently waited to get our anniversary cake. We made dinner at home and used the china for the second time since the wedding. We finished off the night watching our wedding videos and eating delicious lemon cake! 

It was the perfect extended weekend to celebrate our anniversary, and my last weekend of sanity. Grad school starts back up tomorrow, and I am in no way prepared for it!

Okay, now I promise, no more anniversary talk until next year! 

Happy Monday!

One Year Anniversary!

It is crazy to believe that one short year ago, I was sitting in the church waiting to see my handsome groom, and anxiously awaiting the moment I became MRS. Adam Muszynski. I never could have imagined how incredible our wedding day turned out to be. It was a day full of love, laughs, and dancing and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

This past year has had it's extreme highs and a few depressing lows. Our relationship has been tested more times than I ever wish for anyone in their first year of marriage, but we have managed to survive it all. I truly believe now more than ever that we can make it through anything, and we have only come out of our first year that much stronger. 

Adam, if you are reading this, I hope you realize that you mean the world to me. I wouldn't have been able to make it through the past year without you by my side. You are my rock, my best friend, and my shoulder to cry on. I am so lucky to be able to spend the rest of my life with you! 

Here's to one year down, and a lifetime to go!

The Anniversary Series: The Honeymoon

Thanks to me starting school the Monday after the wedding, we were unable to take a honeymoon right away. Instead, we waiting until I was on winter break. We traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic the day after I finished finals, and had the most amazing week long vacation. We stayed at the Grand Palladium and as soon as we arrived to the resort, we were greeted with cocktails. We knew then that we had picked the right place to spend our honeymoon. 

We arrived to our resort having no plans for the week. We just wanted to spend the week relaxing and sipping coco locos by the pool or on the beach, and that is exactly what we did. The pool had a swim up bar and people constantly walking around to take your drink orders. The beach had three different bars as well. 

We spent seven blissful days sun bathing, walking the beach, and trying every cocktail we could imagine.

Towards the end of the week, we decided to get a couples massage on the beach. It was Adam's first massage ever and he was very impressed. My favorite part: hearing the waves and smelling the sand. 

I spent the entire week trying to convince Adam to go zip lining with me, and when he finally agreed, I chickened out and assured him that we really didn't have to. Only regret of the whole vacation. 

Our seven days in paradise flew by far too quickly, and we can not wait to find the time (and money) to go back! We would recommend this place for anyone who is planning a honeymoon some place tropical!

Well, that concludes our anniversary series. It is crazy to think that tomorrow marks one year since we have been married. Where has the time gone?!

If you missed any of the Anniversary Series posts, you can check them out here:

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

The Anniversary Series: The Wedding

It is so hard to sum up our wedding in just one post, but I will try my best!

When we were planning our wedding, the most important thing to us was that it be FUN! Adam and I have so much fun together, so we thought it was important that on our wedding day, everyone have fun with us. When the morning of the wedding came, I never felt nervous, not once. I could not wait to see my groom standing at the end of the aisle waiting for me, and I could not wait for him to see me in my beautiful wedding gown. 

After months of planning, the day had finally arrived, and I could not wait to be MRS. Adam Muszynski!

I spent the morning with my girls getting my hair and makeup done and dancing and singing "Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married" over and over and over. When we arrived at the church, I slipped into my gown and got pictures taken with my bridesmaids. I was then tucked away into our bridal suite where we cracked open a bottle of wine and relaxed. My flower girl ended up running into the room with a letter from Adam, and as I read it I thought to myself  "I am the luckiest girl in the world to be spending the rest of my life with this man."

I remember peaking through the curtains of the bridal suite and watched as guest after guest was seated thinking "Wow! All of these people are here to see Adam and I get married." And before I knew it the bridal party was lining up, and I was about to make my grand entrance. 

As I stood at the back of the church, I couldn't keep my eyes off my handsome groom. It took about 2.5 seconds for the tears to stream down Adam's cheeks. The ceremony was over in a flash... quickest catholic mass ever, at least for us. All of a sudden we were kissing and making our way back down the aisle as husband and wife!

We took pictures right after the ceremony and finally had a few moments to ourselves (well almost) during our private photo session. It was great to have some "alone" time, but the bridal party was waiting for us and the reception was about to start. 

We were welcomed in to the reception as Mr. and Mrs. to the song "I Gotta Feeling" and the song could not be more fitting. We did things a little differently and cut the cake before dinner, and as you can see, we got more on our faces than we did in our mouths. 

We shared our first dance together to "Then" by Brad Paisley. It was one of those songs that we knew the first time we heard it that on our wedding day, it would be the song we would dance to. Our time together on the dance floor was amazing. While all eyes were on us, it was great knowing that it was the first time all day we were able to converse without anyone hearing us. The song was over before we knew it, and we joined our bridal party at the head table.

The night only continued to get better from there. The toasts before dinner from our best man and maid of honor were seriously the best! I know that's a crazy thing to say, because who wouldn't think that one their wedding day, but both really did a great job of embarrassing Adam, complimenting me, and keeping the crowd laughing.

It wasn't long before dinner was over and everyone, and I mean literally EVERYONE was out on the dance floor. Remember when I said we wanted the day to be fun? Well it was a freaking blast. We hired a band from our town called CEYX and they play anything and everything. They knew how to get everyone on the dance floor and how to keep them there. The dance floor was full the.entire.night.

Overall, we had a fabulous day. It was perfect in every single way and we could not have asked for anything more. We got hitched, we were surrounded by family and friends, and we had an absolute blast! In fact, it was so much fun we have received multiple requests from wedding guests asking if we could throw another party like that for our anniversary every year. 

I really don't feel like I did our day justice in this post. It is hard to sum up the best day of our lives in just a few short paragraphs! If you would like to read more about our day, check out the following posts:

Our Wedding: Before The Ceremony

Our Wedding: The Ceremony

Our Wedding: The Reception

Our Wedding: The Details

Also, come back tomorrow for the fourth and final post in the anniversary series: the honeymoon. And in case you missed any of the other posts in our anniversary series, you may view them here:

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

The Anniversary Series: The Proposal

Adam popped the question on March 5th, 2011. While I would like to say it was completely unexpected and a huge surprise, I would be lying. The days leading up to the proposal, I had a feeling it was going to happen. Adam had taken a few trips to see his parents without inviting me (which never happens) and had been acting very weird about our plans for that night. Here's how it all went down:

Adam had me convinced that we were attending a work party at a fancy restaurant, and had suggested I go to the spa beforehand. H had bought me a spa gift certificate for Christmas that I had yet to use, so he made me an appointment to have a day of pampering and he shipped me off. 

As soon as I came home, I could tell he was extremely nervous, but tried not to get myself too excited. When it came time for the "Work Party," we ended up in the fanciest restaurant I have ever been in. We spent dinner joking around about how perfect everything at the restaurant was. When Adam got up to go to the bathroom, a server came over to our table, took his dirty napkin and replaced it with a clean one. I got a kick out of this, and told him about it when he returned. I then told him he had to see for himself, and I left the table. Our food was delicious, and while I thought we were about ready to leave, a mysterious dessert plate with a cover appears on our table.

You've all seen it in the movies I'm sure, and I instantly knew what was happening. Adam told me to dig in, and I was in instant shock. Although I had a feeling he was going to propose, I didn't think it was going to happen during dinner, and I had a sudden moment of shock because I couldn't believe it was actually happening. I looked at Adam and kept saying "Oh my god!" "Is this seriously happening right now?" "I can't believe this is actually happening" I finally regained my composure as he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. He was shaking, his words were shaky, and I thought it was adorable. I finally managed to say "YES!" and got my first good look at the beautiful ring. 

Our actual dessert arrived immediately after, as well as complimentary champagne. Our server came over to congratulate us, and even noticed my manicured nails. 

Little did I know, the night was far from over. Adam had booked us a hotel for the night and when we walked in, it was covered in candles and rose petals. We decided to wait until the morning to tell our families. We wanted the night to be just about the two of us and our future together. We spent hours discussing wedding plans, everything from the date to the colors of dresses and what song we would dance to. We talked about the events of that day, how nervous Adam was, and how I was completely expecting it, but in shock all at the same time.

The next morning, Adam and I traveled to my parents house to deliver the news. As I ran down to the basement to show my mother my ring, I could tell she already knew (apparently my dad is bad at keeping secrets). Adam had given my dad all the details and had arranged for my family and his family to meet in Frankenmuth for a celebratory dinner that night. During dinner, everyone admitted that they were very worried the proposal didn't go well. They were all expecting phone calls as soon as it happened. So I guess we did manage to surprise them a little bit. The rest of the day was filled with calling grandparents, family and friends to share the wonderful news.

It was a beautiful weekend full of love and I couldn't have asked for anything better. 

I would love to hear your engagement story if you would like to share it!

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

Also, I am linking up with Sydney at Bumps Along The Way for the first ever Something Borrowed Link-Up Party