Too Much Fun

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

I feel like I owe an apologize to my awesome blog readers for my unexplained slacking. I’ve been working a lot more at my part-time job and, as a result, my blog has been on the chopping block. Fortunately, my extended work hours are about to be a thing of the past – whew! So… what’s been going on?
We got our bowl on with friends. It’s seriously been years since I’ve bowled and my score definitely reflected that. I kept getting all the pins or none which I like to think reflects my personality a bit:)
We spent a rainy Sunday reading on our front porch (Cali napped). I finished my YA fiction series AND Mad Men Season 4 all in one weekend. Downton Abbey saved the day (love it!) and I’m still in the market for a new book.
We went to an album release concert in our friend’s backyard. Have I mentioned how much fun it is having friends who live in artsy Midtown?
We are still loving our new Paleo lifestyle! The pounds keep coming off and Ben keeps having to buy new dress pants (there are worse problems – ha!).
We splurged and bought a membership to the Memphis Botanic Garden. Side note: a 13yo boy walked up and started talking to me about the book I was reading. I was both excited and humiliated.
I like to call this one Super Cali – just look at those ears! She was very excited by a visit from her grandparents on their way through to Destin last weekend.
We saw Wilco at the Mud Island Amphitheater right on the Mississippi River – such a cool concert and venue!

I guess, looking back at the last few weeks, I have managed to squeeze in a lot of fun stuff. Maybe work has little to do with my blog-slacking after all;) Who has a good book series suggestion? Anyone else gone to 3 concerts in 3 days? Is it odd that we take pics of ourselves reading books in random places?

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Posted in Outside the Box

How To Create Gratitude Board

Posted on May 17, 2012 | 3 Comments

Ben sent me the link to this touching video which caused me to sob like a baby in the middle of Starbucks. Grab a kleenex and enjoy!


I loved the ‘Board of Gratefulness’ that Ian and Larissa created as a daily reminder to be grateful. My wheels started spinning. The stager in me wanted to use something that we already had instead of buying something new.
I’ve been wanting to do something with this piece for awhile now. We got it at Pottery Barn Outlet a long time ago. I love the size, but it lacked purpose.
I knew we needed cork board to make our pins stick. Due to the size, we opted for roll-out instead of the thick squares. Ben cut it to size and I grabbed duct tape to hold it all together. Then I wrapped it all in burlap to add texture.
It was curling up at the edges quite a bit so, instead of stacking books on top, we threw it under our memory foam mattress. Ben said it was like carrying 18 dead bodies when he and a friend moved it in, so we figured that would do the trick!
Here’s a close-up of my very professional duct tape job. I didn’t want that baby going anywhere, so I put loops of tape to secure it to the back board.
We printed off a quote by Thornton Wilder which says, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” I loved it, but it was definitely lacking some style.
Nothing that a trip to Michaels can’t fix! There were too many options to choose from, so I decided to bring all my favorites home to test out.
These were the first ones I ruled out. They were too simple and uniform.
I didn’t like these buttons as much as I thought I would. Not enough “wow”.
I absolutely loved the different tints and shapes of these guys.
These were also a winner. The pops of color had me at hello. In the midst of all this, I decided to change the quote paper from green to an airy yellow.
I tacked up more of my two favorites and decided to let you all decide!

When it was all said and done, I spent about $15 on this project between the cork board, burlap and craft supplies. The joy this will bring having everyone who visits our home fill out a grateful note and doing it ourselves will be priceless!

So what do y’all think? Who else owns an 18-dead-body mattress? Any other gratitude board ideas out there?

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Posted in DIY Projects, How To, Living Room

Fabric Field Trip

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Yesterday I went on a highly dreaded fabric field trip. Why would I torture myself in this way you might ask? When you’re fed up with your living room curtains/pillow combo, you resort to drastic measures.
I started at Hancock Fabrics because I had a coupon and knew they were having a blow-out sale. Then I ventured to a local fabric store called Discount Fabrics which was recommended by a friend and finished up at Pier 1.


Here’s a sampling of some fabrics I was drawn to. Now, if only I had a designer friend who could help me figure out my style and how to put this all together! It’s hard for me to envision the final product.

Anyone else have a case of the fabric blues? How did you figure out your design style? Who likes brainstorming, but hates shopping?

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Posted in Decorating Dilemmas

Exciting Stuff

Posted on May 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of Staging by M? Well, today is your lucky day! Here are a few highlights from my life lately…
We went to see the Blue Like Jazz movie which Ben and I were Associate Producers for. Yeah, our names were in the credits and we’re kind of a big deal:) I also got in another viewing of The Hunger Games which I liked way better the second time. Even though the midnight premiere was fun, I was exhausted!
Last Friday I reached my weight loss goal! I’ve lost 17 lbs and am well on my way to competing for the Best Beach Body competition between us and my bro and sis-in-law for our vacation to Mexico in August!
We spent a wonderful weekend in Oklahoma with family and friends. It doesn’t get much better than an OK sunset! I watched my brother run part of his third marathon AND witnessed him having a great attitude when he had to stop at mile 11 due to a knee injury. I couldn’t be more proud of him!
I couldn’t not show y’all a pic of my adorable 4 month old niece! We got to spend some 1-on-1 time with this little girl and she definitely gave me baby fever. Like her cute onesie? Check out my friend Jen’s Etsy shop to get your own!
Cali did not join us on our trip to OK. She opted to stay at what we call The Resort with some of our close friends:) Ben bought her some beef knees that a guy at our dog food store swore would last a month. It was gone in 2 days.

In my free time I’ve been working hard on our new marriage blog, reading The Mortal Instruments series, and we’re on Season 4 of Mad Men. What have y’all been up to lately?

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Posted in Outside the Box

An Unexpected Accent Color

Posted on May 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

Happy May, everyone! I’ve been doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred lately, and this has been my annoying view when I turn to do the Running Man…
There is some serious “wow” missing from this section of our living room! I started noticing how the off-white lampshade clashes with the bright white ceramic cow. The height of the lamp didn’t look good with the mossy T either.
I just threw this vignette together after the holidays and called it a day, but the beautiful spring summer weather inspired me to bring some life to this space.
Enter my good friend, orange! I’d been eyeing this Love vase for awhile now at Stein Mart so when I stopped there to get my dad a birthday gift, I finally gave in. The lamp height problem was an easy fix by stacking a couple of fun books underneath (thank you Chip and Dan Heath for making your book orange!).
See how the mossy T can still be centered on the mirror, but the lamp looks better being a little higher up? No? It’s just me and my crazy staging perspective? Now this space has some personality and a couple of conversation pieces that just happen to be two of my and Ben’s favorite books.
It also helps tie in this flower candle on our coffee table. Now, if only I could find some accent pillows with some orange. This isn’t the first time I’ve flirted with this Vitamin C filled fruit – remember this orange-inspired summer display?

What unexpected accent color have you used in your home? Any other orange lovers out there? Who else will admit to almost passing out while doing a Jillian workout video (I’m sticking to the excuse that I hadn’t eaten breakfast;)?

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Posted in Living Room

Family Photo Shoot

Posted on April 26, 2012 | 2 Comments

“When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss
“You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.” – Sam Keen
“Love one another and you will be happy; it is as simple and as difficult as that.” – Michael Leunig
“Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.” – Rose Franken
“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.” – Roy Croft
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Bronte

A few weeks ago we had a photo shoot in downtown Memphis with our friend, and brilliant photographer, Jen. She was so much fun to work with! We were in dire need of some new family pics since between us we’re 40 lbs lighter (thanks to Ben’s willpower and the Paleo diet lifestyle). Have a great weekend!

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Posted in Outside the Box

Living Room Refresher

Posted on April 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’ve been eyeballing our living room lately. Not like you would ogle at Ryan Gosling, but more like if someone has a tag sticking out of their shirt. This is the first room I tackled when I started this blog and I’m ready for a change! I love the soft gray walls + hardwood floors combo, so my focus will be accessorizing.
One of the first projects I tackled was making these curtains out of tablecloths. They were an awesome solution at the time, but I’d like to find some fabric that speaks to me and redo these babies. I’m thinking something like this…I’m leaning towards light and airy because I want these rooms to have a fresh vibe. We spend a lot of time in this main area reading, writing, and brainstorming about our businesses, so this needs to be a creative space!
Another easy, but impactful, change would be adding more pillows to the couch and chair. I really love these West Elm pillows I got for a steal at a house sale, but I’ve never found the perfect accent pillows to go with them.
The new curtains would extend to the dining room as well. I’d also like to add some ribbon around the lampshade I attached to our ceiling fan awhile back.
Thanks to my avid blog reader, Denise, I balanced out the pops of color on our frame wall – great tip! This wall makes me smile every time I look at it. Oh, and look who finally found a non-reflective camera angle – Oh Happy Day!

Just writing this post makes me want to sprint to the fabric store! Who else has a bee in their bonnet about a room in their home? Should I attempt pillow making for the first time (gasp)? Do you have a thing for paisley too?

Curtains image found here (they’re no longer on etsy.com).

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Posted in Decorating Dilemmas, Dining Room, Living Room