My First Giveaway....

I am not sure about you ladies, but once I finish using my Chi I was always scrambling for something to rest it on so it wouldn't burn anything or leave a mark on the countertop. I typically would lay it on a towel..not the best idea, but it worked. It always seemed I would be using it and then needed to pack it up for a trip..hence the towel.  Well a few months ago I stumbled across this lovely item. Who knew that someone had made such an item?!? And quite honestly I LOVE IT! It is so nice to not have to scramble for something or worry about burning a whole in something in my suitcase. So ladies the rules are simple to win your very own Chi Cover.

The Rules for My First Giveaway Are.....

1. Become a follower of this blog

2. Leave a comment

3. Mention this giveaway in one of your blog posts.

Seems pretty easy to me. So if you do one of the abovementioned rules, you will be entered once, if you do all 3 you will be entered 3 times.

I will announce the winner next Monday October 5th..as we are moving this upcoming weekend into our new house and will have limited time on the computer!

Thanks for playing.

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Fall is in the Air!

I was so pleased today to walk out of my room at school and feel a nice breeze..such a dramatic change from the HEAT yesterday!!! Jonathan and I have been tying up all the loose ends this week with the upcoming closing of our first home. We have called everyone and set up all the accounts that we need as far as we know. We have some great friends that have offered to help us move and paint this weekend and we are very lucky to have such amazing friends to offer up their free time to us. We will be thanking them of course with a home cooked meal once we are in the house! Both sets of parents are coming over on Friday to kickstart the weekend. Pizza, drinks, music and painting..it is always fun when the six of us get together. The dads have informed us that they will be "in charge" of the food on Friday and supervising the rest of us! I told my dad that he does not have to paint, but that if he happens to help me remove some shelves in one of the rooms that a small prize might be in it for him. Needless to say we feel blessed to have such great parents and friends. Tomorrow we are doing our final walkthrough and then we are heading over to Home Depot to buy the supplies for the weekend. Thursday we close at 4 and then will head over to the house to start taping and hopefully finish since there will be 3 of us there! We shall see. I am going to close this post with the quote my mom has said to me at least 5 times in the past two weeks:

"Rome was not built in a day Megan."

This is very true mom and luckily we have the entire month of October to move into our house!

That's all for now..heading over to the mall while JJ is playing softball..shhh don't tell!

Stay Tuned..

Later this week I will be doing a giveaway..I can't take the credit. After enjoying a great lunch with Meredith and Carson, she texted me later on telling me I should do a giveaway with an item I gave her. Needless to say the thought never crossed me mind, but I am excited about this opportunity. So later tonight or tomorrow I will post the details. I am hoping to also post the incredible design Ashley Brooke came up with for Jonathan and I. 

Keeping it short for now the hubs has a pretty bad knot in his neck, so I need to be paying attention to him!

Sorry I have been MIA from the blogworld..we are down to one laptop at the moment, so blogging has taken a back seat to setting up the electricity, water and so forth for the house. We are set to close Thursday afternoon and get the keys Friday morning!! Pics to come once it is a done deal!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends..I know I did..gotta love a 3 day weekend.

Terrific Tuesdays...

More like snoriffic tuesdays. Each week at my school a different group of kids does the morning annoucements and I love to here what the come up with for each day such as Fabulous Friday, Marvelous Mondays..and so forth. Well today, tomorrow and thursday I have full-day inservices for the district..hence the SNOREffic tuesday!!! Serioulsy they could cut half of the breaks and hour and half long lunches and actually start on time and we could get it done in one max of two days...See the thing is I LOVE MY JOB! Have I mentioned that before??? I love that I am making a difference in these kiddos lives everyday..it's quite rewarding.

So here is what I will be daydreaming of for the next two days...

T-Minus 15 Days...ahhh can't wait!

This is Why I Love Fall....

The reasons why:

Jackets, jackets and jackets! Since i am in Texas this doesn't allow me to justify buying several jackets..but I do love them!

Love this one from Francesca's

One of my favorite jackets! It was a steal from Forever21 last fall.

Got to break in my camel long coat in Chicago last November..

I also LOVE scarves, boots, sweater and FOOTBALL. It was a great Monday Night in the Lenz House..the Colts won again..2-0 BABY!

PS I am addicted to Starbucks Hot Chocolate come winter..ask anyone.

Here is What My Weekend Looked Like...

We be packin!

Our 20 boxes so far.....

Our garage sale pile!

We packed, packed, and packed some more!! We are up to eyes in boxes at this point. Sadly we have some more packing to do, but are all out of boxes. I am making some stops tomorrow to pick up some more..oh joy!! I did however returning al the extra wedding gifts today! Thanks Jenn for helping me out on that one. Now I have more money to spend at Bed Bath & Beyond than I know what to do with..new pillows are calling our names as well as some other items..We can't wait to go on some shopping sprees once we move! Jonathan has been quite a helper...he is keeping me grounded thankfully!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Are You Ready For Some Football????

My husband is a sports enthusiast. He loves almost all sports..golf, football, baseball, basketball, and tennis. He is apart of three fantasy football leagues this year, so you are catching my drift.... Luckily I LOVE sports too, so it all works out. I scream and yell at the TV as much as he does! We have spent all day today packing and watching football and I wouldn't have changed a second of it. His beloved Michigan Wolverines won today..whew! My Vols lost..but they didn't get blown out so that was a HUGE plus! And now we are watching the Horns play Tech...all I can say is Hook'em Horns!! I am a fan orange..can you tell??? Since I brought up the color orange..Nordstorm has Tory Burch Reva Jellies in orange and yellow on sale for about 50 bucks! So if you are in the need of some now is the time to buy them!

Must get back to the hubs..hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Photo Fridays a Day Late

This week's theme is.."The photo that I am looking forward to most!" Jonathan and I are heading to the Valentin Imperial Maya Resort on October 7th with some great friends. We are very ready for 5 days and 4 nights at this all-inclusive adults only resort!!! Granted we are moving into our house the weekend before we leave..I cannot wait to be on the beach sipping on a Corona!

The pool.....

Our room...

Every room is a suite at this resort..so needless to say we cannot wait to be catching some rays in Mexico. We leave in about two and a half weeks...it will be a crazy two and a half weeks, but oh how the beach is calling me. Jonathan and I are embarking on an exciting time in our lives: buying a home, traveling and making plans for the future. We are simply blessed.

On a side note..I feel truly blessed every day that I get to wake up and go to a job that I absolutely love. I know there are several thousands of people who are as fortunate as I am, so I thank the Lord everyday for blessing me with a career that I love.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!! I know I will..packing and doing laundry..woohoo!

Wishful Wednesday: TV Star

I was just introduced to Kelsey at the Seattle Smith's blog. She does a weekly edition called "Wishful Wednesday" and I decided to play this week.

I WISH I could be________________.

Kelly Ripa. Why you ask?? Because she is in great shape, super cute and has great clothes. Not to mention she has one good looking husband and lives in Manhattan! Umm please can I???

On a side note..we have started packing..oh joy! WE have packed 8 medium sized boxes so far! I think I am most looking forward to the garage sale portion of this move!

We have picked all the paint luckily and the hubs says he wants to paint...I said..I am going to sit this project out! Many of you fellow females are probably cringing at this thought, but Jonathan is one of the most OCD people I know. So I know between him, his mom and my mom they can get the job done! There are several DIY projects we have been discussing and can't want to get started on them! Not going to share the projects just yet..but once we start I will be posting pictures!

Hope everyone had a great Wednesday! I am so ready for the weekend.

Name Change Part 3

I am OFFICIALLY done changing my name. Part 3 of this oh-so tedious process was the passport. I was not exactly thrilled that I had to pay the 75 bucks again to simply change my name. IF YOU HAVE GOTTEN YOUR PASSPORT WITHIN A YEAR OF GETTING MARRIED OR NEEDING TO CHANGE YOUR NAME YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR NAME FOR FREE!!! SO TAKE ADVANTAGE LADIES. I sadly had gotten mine about two years ago! Ss not only did I have to fork up the 75 bucks I had to take a new picture..oh joy! So I sucked it up and went to Walgreens because we are leaving for Mexico in about 2.5 weeks! So I got the picture done and filled out the application. Headed over to the post office by my school..actually not too bad for a post office. It is tucked off of Dairy Ashford between Westheimer and Briar Forest. I OF COURSE paid the 15 bucks to overnight the application there and OF COURSE again to overnight it back to me thinking it would take at least two weeks for it to get here! NOT the case....the turn around was about 7 days! Seriously..I paid an extra 30 bucks for nothing! I guess it pays to be safe than sorry. Must have the passport before we head to Mexico in a few weeks. I am so ready for our vacation..I will post about the vaca spot another time. Off to make a yummy dinner for the hubs! Hopefully it will turn out!

P.S. why do the ladies have to do all the work??? Guys are so lucky!

No Way I WON!

Me??? That's right!! I won the fabulous giveaway that Nina was hosting on her site. It is the opportunity to work with the incredible Ashley from Ashley Brook Designs. I am so excited!!!

I think I have figured out what I would like her to design. We will see. So many ideas and different wonderful paper items I could have...my friend Mer has helped me with the overall picture! I am sure Ashley will blow me away with her creativity and what she comes up with. If you have not visited her blog you need too! She has some amazing pieces. So go check her out!!

I don't think I can link you to anymore sites in this post!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Why Don't you have a Seat....

Say Hello to Our NEW couch! It is EXACTLY what we were looking for in a couch! Three cushions, upholstery, 99 inches long, and comfortable! I went on Saturday with my mom and Lisa in tow to find a couch! And I found the perfect one at Star Clearance Center on 45. So since Jonathan was out of town..I bombarded him with texts..telling him I had found our couch! He went today since the location is VERY close to his office. And he bought it!!!! I am soo excited. All we need now his a recliner for the hubs and we have everything we need! It feels so good to have the couch checked off of our list.

I went by the house today to pick up boxes and paper the seller's left us to use! So we are going to start packing this week since we will be closing here in the next few weeks. We have picked colors for every room, but the few that are staying. I have not figured out what color I would like in the kitchen just yet, but we will soon.

So that's the house update for now. The new roof is on and I get my second paycheck this week. Things are moving right along!

Pictures of the house to come once we close!

Shopping in YOUR Closet: Scarves..

I am so ready for fall it is insane. That is one of the few downfalls to living in Houston..it is HOT pretty much until November. So sad especially since I love scarves and coats. I feel I am truly meant to live somewhere cooler with actual seasons. I have a ton of scarves that I love, but these 3 are my favorites.

This scarf is so soft. It is pink with tan and cream and it matches my wonderful long camel colored pea coat that I cannot wait to break out this winter. My sweet brother gave it to me last Christmas.

This purple scarf with lace detail is simply one of the greatest 15 dollar purchases I have ever made. I was returning something to Jubilee a fabulous little store in the Heights and decided I had to have it for our honeymoon in San Francisco.

This turquoise on turquoise peace sign scarf is also from Jubilee. My mom was buying my "little sister" Emily one and I decided I needed one too. I also wore on the honeymoon. It was just the right material and weight for the trip.

Well there you have 3 of my 10+ scarves that I wear pretty regularly. They just add that something extra to a plain tee and jeans. I can't wait for the cooler weather to arrive, so I can start wearing them more often.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. A weekend recap post tomorrow. The hubs is home from Florida..so I need to corner him and have him take care of all the loose ends on the house front.

Oh Tory Why Do You Do This to Me???

So as I am still pining for this beauties.....quite frankly I am in love with several of these shoes..red, orange, black, gold..you name it!! Any pair will do...
I discover this LOVELY promo on Tory Burch's website!! Who couldn't use a cute new fabulous Tory Burch for FREE??!? I call myself the baglady all the time, but my collection could use this little boost! I might just be ordering something from the site tonight!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

So today I am officially 25! Yowzas!! I woke up this morning to 2 text messages wishing me happy birthday and they kept on coming all day. I am for sure feeling so blessed to have so many people to send me birthday wishes. Not only did I go to UH with another in my department that has my birthday...i NOW work with two other ladies who have the same birthday!! Crazy huh?!? So today the special ed team (the best one of course) had a small birthday party for us. I racked up..pound cake, gift cards, water jugs and so forth. I am so fortunate to be working with these ladies. They have taken me under their wings and shown me how the school system works! After work I treated myself to a spray tan and then headed home. Jonathan called and said to meet him for sushi...ok?? we had that last night! He then proceeded to tell me..I was upgrading to a blackberry..so I am sure you are wondering why there is a picture of an iPhone instead. Well Verizon has annoyed me for the LAST time. We went in to get me a phone and give JJ the promotional free blackberry to replace his cracked one. They proceeded to tell us he couldn't have it because he can't upgrade until October. Umm it's September 1oth..seriously?!?? So we left. Jonathan told me it was stupid of them and that if I really want the iPhone to get it!!!! So hence the picture. AHHHH so excited! Not sure when I will be making the switch, but I am thrilled!!!
Tomorrow night I am excited to head to Cyclone Anaya's for my birthday celebration with all of my girlfriends..well not all of them but a good bit of them! After dinner we are headed out for drinks. Should be a great night to wrap up the birthday festivities!

I am hoping to spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and hopefully start the packing process. I need to make a run to goodwill or purple heart..i don't want to move half of the crap we have accumulated over the years!! We are headed for a BIG garage sale!

PS..I am still hoping for those Tory Burch Revas..maybe I will indulge this weekend! I think I deserve them...

Your must haves..

So Jonathan and I are in the process of purchasing our first home. We are super excited, but are also starting to realize that we will need to make several trips to Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart and everywhere in between before we are "up and running." So I have decided that for this post I am asking for some tips from people who already own homes or have in the past.."what would be the first 10 household items you would go out and buy???" I have been given some advice obviously from some friends and family members, but am sure I am missing an oh so important cannot live without item...

Here is what we have been told thus far:

• step ladder
• trashcans
• energy efficient bulbs
• wrench set
• level
• shovels
• water hoses
• holder for water hoses

So if any of you fellow bloggers have more items you recommend we would greatly appreciate it!!

Tonight I celebrated my birthday eve with dinner at RA Sushi with Danielle & Chris. It was nice to meet them for dinner and chat. Of course the guys talked about one thing and Danielle and I talked about house stuff. I am starting to dig this whole week long celebration of my birthday! Who knew that turning 25 was so celebratory! Looking forward to Friday night as well..dinner and drinks with some great friends! Should be a birthday to remember!

Hope everyone is staying dry this week! This weather is not working for me..guess I will be praying for rain once we own our house in October!

Kitchen Table~

I am soo thrilled to report that Jonathan and I found a kitchen table that we both like on sale this previous weekend! It is made by Ashley, solid wood, and its a Pub Table..which is what I wanted! So excited that the hubster pulled the trigger on this yesterday! HA! The color is perfect for the new house. I am excited to set the table with all the linens from Crate & Barrel.


Now if we can just find a couch or sectional life would be great. Who knows we might be sitting on the floor for a few weeks after we move in! Jonathan would prefer to wait until we are in the house, so he can have a better feel for what would work best and I am not sure about that idea?!?! We shall see.

The packing will begin this weekend..so not excited about that, but we have boxes and a pile ready for donation already! I can't wait to clean house that is for sure!

Busy night tonight..hope everyone stayed dry this afternoon!

Early Birthday Festivities..

This upcoming Thursday is my 25th birthday and honestly I am a bit depressed about it. To think I will be 25, married, have a Master's degree and soon to be homeowner just sounds so old! So this past weekend my family and I decided to celebrate my birthday a little early since my brother Ben was in town for the long holiday weekend. We had a great time together. Ben and I helped my mom out of the stone age and into the 21st century with a new phone! We looked for furniture and he even got a tour of the house we are buying. He has specifically requested a plasma, xbox and tempur-pedic mattress! I told him..anything else?? HA. We grilled dinner both nights and have a great weekend. Well what is a birthday without presents! My sweet sweet mom always knows how to give a gift! I would have never guessed that she would buy me the two travel pieces from VB that I have had my eye on for weeks..saying "oh that would be great for Mexico!" Well she didn't disappoint. My mom (and dad) gave me BOTH pieces! I must be one amazing daughter! (wink. wink) My brother..who I told to NOT get me anything..got me Starbucks gift cards, which will come in very handy..since I am NOT a morning person!

Toiletry Bag..mine is in Bali Gold.
Weekender..which I am OBSESSED with!

Today Jonathan and I set out on day 2 of furniture shopping! We have been to Star, Macy's, Dillard's, Rooms to Go, Gallery (new galleria location), and Ashley furniture. We did find a kitchen table set today for a steal!! So I am VERY pleased that we came home with that. But I am starting to get a little discouraged on the couch front..I know we have time and we will find the right one, but it seems like we will either have to settle on one we don't love or spend more than we would like to. So this upcoming weekend I plan on heading to the Star Clearance Center on 45 and the original Gallery furniture..since the place is HUGE!! We have decided either leather or upholstery, 3 cushions, 97 inches or longer..crossing my fingers for a sectional and of course COMFORTABLE!! I cannot tell you how many couches we sat on that were stiff, to cushy or flat out made poorly! It was quite annoying. But I have faith that we will find something..just hoping sooner rather than later. Don't want to sit on the floor!

Hope everyone enjoyed there long weekend! I don't have another holiday until September 28th! Then we close and then we head off to Mexico for 4 days! So ready!

Furniture Smurniture...

In hopes to cash in on the Labor Day Sales this weekend, I have been scouring the web for a couch! Since we will be moving in about 5 to 6 weeks..I feel we should start looking now. I have been to Rooms To Go, Roomstore, Macy's, and looked online at several other stores. Who knew it would be sooo difficult to find a 3 cushion, fabric, couch long enough for JJ to lay on and his feet not hang off for under a 1000 bucks! Seems like it would be pretty easy. So not the case. I totally understand that a couch should be an investment, something you have for a long time. My only thing is that I am NOT going to spend 2 or 3 thousand dollars for said piece. The color on the walls in the living room has a touch of yellow, so I want something neutral but NOT boring. I am envisioning a tan couch with two chairs with a print..sounds easy enough! Jonathan and I are headed out on Monday to see if we can find something..Macy's, Gallery Furniture.. who knows where else. Jonathan has reassured me that we will find the right couch..just like we found the right house when I was worried we weren't going to do it. So I am going to stay positive and certain that we can find something this weekend or soon after!

In other news...my school's Open House was tonight and it was successful. I went from one PPCD class to another introducing myself and answering questions. It was nice to meet some of the parents..and let them have the opportunity to meet me. I was rewarded for my good efforts as well. One of the teachers made homemade pound cake ...I am about to indulge in a piece as we speak!

Looking forward to this weekend with the family. We are going to BBQ and head over to the house again. We just can't get enough of the place. My mom has been scouting out Home Goods and Marshalls for items..she is so excited! Plus the location couldn't be better. We are about 10 minutes away from both sets of parents. Just close enough but also just far enough away. I am also excited because we have a great friend that will be about 30 yards away with an amazing pool and my friend Katie also lives in the neighborhood as well! So I am looking forward to having automatic friends once we move. We are so ready to get out of this apartment, but I am NOT looking forward to packing this place up. We have stuff everywhere. I have a storage unite full of furniture, we have stuff at his parents, stuff at my parents plus all of our wedding gifts..it will take us weeks to move in! But will be soo worth it in the end. We are so ready to start making memories there.

Hope everyone enjoys their Friday. I am looking forward to tomorrow afternoon..Tina and I are hitting up Happy Hour!

Weekend Round-Up

A lot has happened since the last time I have blogged, so I will be bulleting!!

• I successfully made it through my first week of school with the kids. I was challenging and I am still not used to the early mornings.
• We signed our contract on the house...we have also had the inspection. Looks like we are on our way to closing.
• Went to a warehouse auction..no bueno! My mom and I drove around for an HOUR trying to find it and then didn't have much success!
• We had dinner with one of our favorite couples and their precious son on Saturday. We grilled and drank wine like we usually do!
• We scored a washer and dryer this weekend for FREE!!
• I think I am FINALLY done setting up my room. I need to take some pictures for sure!
• I made my schedule for the school year and it is filling up fast!
• Went to Ross with Lisa and about DIED!! It was so gross...ugh! The items are CHEAP, but the stores are DIRTY!!!!
• I am on the hunt for a couch! It is proving to be quite the task and I am not enjoying it! I don't want to spend a fortune, but would like a nice couch! We shall see with the sales this weekend...
  

I know that I am leaving something out..haircut tomorrow and Open House on Thursday at my school. Excited, but nervous to meet the parents! Brother is coming in town this weekend and I can't wait to show him the house and start figuring out where to put things...