the stondersons

this post managed to get away from me... last month, way back on January the 20th, i headed to lexington, kentucky for my culver friend, katy. i almost didn't make it b/c of the snow that blew through! i mean, come on! we've had literally 4 snows at all this year and i have to fly out in one of them. we boarded. then de-planed b/c the snow was too heavy. most of the later flights had already been cancelled. they said hang around the gate - we might get to go. so we did. and then we re-boarded thinking, yeah, right. but, we did get to go! we must have been one of the last flights to take off, but it was super lucky b/c otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get to the wedding in time even though it was on saturday. lexington is a super small airport and i say 'we' b/c my roommate for the weekend was a girl i had not met but was also a friend of katy's who happened to be on my same flight (coming from oregon). more on my roomie in a bit!

so. we got to lexington and took a shuttle to the hotel. neither of us had planned to attend the rehearsal dinner b/c we didn't know we were invited until we got there... so we through on some clothes and tried to look somewhat ok and then headed downstairs for the dinner. after the dinner, we all headed to the bar for some drinks and the local band playing that evening!



this is katy (in the black dress) and her soon to be hubby, mike.


the cute couple dancing away!


my roommate, demaree (dim-ma-reeeee - it's french and really pretty!), another one of katy's friends, and obv me.


the bride and groom surrounded by some friends. i'm next to katy, the bride.


we all liked that the guy was wearing a 'sound' shirt. b/c otherwise we wouldn't be sure what his role in the production was!


me and the bride!


me, katy, and demaree. luckily demaree and i got along really really well and we had so much fun that weekend. katy had mentioned that she was single coming out for the wedding and since i was coming by myself, she asked if i had wanted to share my room. save money? yes, please!


the next day, in the big presidential suite, katy got in to her custom made dress - i forget who - but i think her brother's wife's sister designed it for her. laura (our friend from culver) is helping her in to the dress.


this is katy and her momma. it was a super emotional weekend for me personally and i'm sure for everyone, especially katy and her mom. her mom was diagnosed with brain cancer last fall and doesn't have much time left. they are trying to keep her stable, but really she only has a few months left, if that. the wedding was moved up in order to make sure her mom would be there for it. as if this weren't sad enough to digest, katy lost her dad during our senior year of high school. it breaks my heart to know what she must be going through...

this is outside of keeneland. i love jockeys!

but to lighten the mood... the ceremony and reception were held at keeneland which is the big horse track. it was a really pretty setting. and i just had to take a picture of the wallpaper in the bathroom b/c it was AWESOME. wonder if i can find it for my house... :)



katy's mom is generally in a wheelchair b/c she is so weak. but she was able to gather the energy to walk down the aisle with two of katy's big brothers: kevin and mitch. it was so moving.


this is my friend laura's little girl, olivia. she's basically the same age as piper since they were born just days apart. she's precious! escorting olivia is her daddy, chris.


katy was given away by her younger brother, matt. she looked stunning!





the reception area. the cookies were jockey jerseys! and they made use of all the tvs for race viewing by playing slideshows of pictures.






these are olivia's grandmas: laura's mom on the left and chris' mom on the right.


the first dance!


me and demaree


super cute


me and laura: culver girls! i felt so honored... laura and i were the only culver friends in attendance.


the bridesmaids all got red hot hunters for their gifts and wore them on the dance floor. they all looked so cute!


dancing the night away!


culver girls 15 years later!! time sure does fly...

it was such a great weekend and i'm so glad i could be there. i did get rather emotional, but it was a beautiful ceremony and reception!

oh, and the stonedersons? well, her last name is henderson and his is stone... thus, the stonedersons!

while the mom's away, the cat plays!

last week while i went to mexico for some rest and relaxtion, otis had some fun of his own! his sitter sent me emails all week with these fabulous pictures letting me know that my little guy was doing great!

i mean check out these ginormous furry paws!

this ball track is the best toy ever!

his sitter even brought a dvd over with birds and squirrels for his enjoyment!

and when he was done playing, he spent loads of time on the bathroom floor cause it's nice and warm and heated. this might be one of my favorite pictures of Otis ever!

up next: a post about my trip!

for the love.... of wallpaper!

of wallpaper! wallpaper, you ask?! yes, wallpaper. i'm obsessed with my accent walls... and the paper that adorns it. i've had the paper up for a few months now, but am just getting around to post about it. when i found it at the wallpaper store, i was only looking for paper for one wall in my bedroom. as soon as i saw this fabulous paper i knew i had to use it... somewhere! it wouldn't work in my bedroom, but i brought home the sample anyways... and found the perfect spot for it!

so the sample is hard to see here, but this is my entry way with the front door there in the picture. this is the color of the wall the previous owners' had and i never cared for it... it grew on me, but i always knew i'd paint it. until i found that wallpaper. and then i knew. it HAD to be on that wall!

i mean it just matched so perfectly with my kitchen which is right there with that entryway wall. it works so well with the counters, the backsplash tile, and the cabinets! can you see how perfect it is?!?! i mean it even has the reddy/orange color in there that represents the previous wall and also draws in the the reddish squares in the glass bezel cabinet accents!


my painter jason is installing the paper! he did such a fabulous job with the painting and paper in my whole place!

this is how it was decorated for Christmas.

and after jason was done installing the main wall, he told me we had quite a bit of extra paper... i was sitting in my desk alcove area that looked up the stair case... and i asked... is there enough to do this wall at the top of the stairs?! and there was! you can see a peak of it in the picture above... and otis just chillin'. he loves his steps.

so. i have a bit more wallpaper left... and no other walls that should be covered it in. but, i would love to use it! any creative fun project ideas?! come on ladies, i need some help!!!

a small project.

i managed to hang up floating shelves all by myself with only slight and minor injuries! there may or may not be only 82 holes behind each shelf (or perhaps a few less)! as i was trying to secure the first (bigger) shelf, i managed to push so hard that i forcibly threw the thing down on my foot causing such seering pain, i couldn't even manage a noise. but! i was not going to be beat by a darn shelf and so i did get it on the wall eventually and also the other smaller shelf! and so this is some new decoration to go along with the new day bed!