Belated Birthday Post & Update

I've been so busy with traveling, job hunting, and little projects lately that I keep forgetting to post! :) My birthday was a week and a half ago, and I "celebrated" by taking the day off work! Pretty uneventful - errands, shopping, and cleaning up the apartment, but much better than sitting at the office all day. Eric came home with a cookie cake and we made "homemade" pizza.

Eric got me a sewing machine so I have new projects to learn/work on! I managed to successfully sew 3/4 of a pillow (after 30+ minutes of trying to figure out how to thread the machine!), and then when I went back to stuff it/sew the rest, I couldn't get the machine to work again (I guess it wasn't threaded exactly right!). I think a sewing class needs to be in order. ;)

I went home last weekend and one of my big "projects" while I was there was to make some progress on the decorating I'm doing for my friends Jean and Roy. I've known Jean since junior high, and her and her husband Roy recently bought a new house that's been in desperate need of some decoration and color. I offered her my services, so I've been shopping around for her the past few months. Here's how things are starting to come together (we still have a good chunk left to do!):

The dining room table and chairs will be stained a dark brown (to match their cabinetry), the seats will be upholstered in the green fabric on the left, and the 4 pieces of artwork are going to go on the wall to the left.

Their dining room was FULL of tan before. We're starting to add color to bring in some of the reds from their office (on the right side of the room), nd we're adding in some blues, too (since that's Jean's favorite color). I picked out the lamp, artwork, pillows, and suggested the chair/ottoman and curtains in this photo.

And here's the mirror I picked out for their mantel. We're going to be adding some glass vases and other accessories soon to fill it up.

The big thing we have left is artwork to fill their wall behind their 10' long couch! That's been a challenge!

In other news, we found out that Eric has been offered to continue his internship through the fall, with pay and a huge tuition waiver! We were both SO excited about that!

We're heading to Memphis this weekend for the 4th, so I'll be sure to have an update when we get back! Happy 4th and Happy Birthday, Grandma Ivah!