Callin' All Pickers...

 I keep getting sweet messages and texts from people wondering how they can help find things for the wedding. I need all the help I can get while I'm in school and working so I decided a post sharing the things I need most would be the most efficient and help people know what to keep their eyes peeled for! If the price is right for my Sweet Southern Blog Followers, Ordy and I might just make a weekend road trip!!!

So, for all my antiquing, thrifting, yard-saling, estate sale pros... I'd love for you to help me find:

Free or Affordable Wooden Pews

Lots of Stumps

Barrels, Barrels, and MORE Barrels!!!

Mason Jars- Both Clear and Blue

Calling all Starbuck's Drinkers! I NEED your jars to recycle!! PLEASE!

Dramatic/Vintage Queen Anne Furniture

Random Vintage Furniture to Create Lounge Areas

Vintage Chandeliers

Ornate Full Size Mirror

Outdoor Commercial Cafe Style Lights

Galvanized Tub

Rustic Doors

Crates

Windows

I know that's asking a lot- but I'd rather have more there than less. I know a bunch of y'all live in towns other than Atlanta (where we notoriously charge $500 for junk...) and might get lucky with a gem for $5... I'd rather you know what I might be looking for and shoot me a quick text or email {ordyandjoon at gmail dot com} about what it is, where it is and how much! I feel like I can plan this wedding with some help! So, I'm asking you to keep your eyes peeled!

The Chandy

Ok, so the pictures look grainy because it was dark and I wanted the only light to be from the chandelier- so here the pics are!

i am in lovvvve with it!!! I still can't believe that Ordy got this for me. I love the lighting it gives off. so cozy. it's gonna be awesome around the holidays to have this and the fireplace with some old christmas classics playing...

the pillow bugs me... sorry

This is random, but HOW EXCITED AM I to have found this mirror in an antique store in Blue Ridge... when we went to the cabin I got TWO mirrors, this is one of them. The other looks different but i just love this one and how awesome it can be with a coat of paint!!!! (just use your imagination) I can't paint it until my friend uses it for a photo shoot. It's gonna be so cute :)

Please vote for me!

Ordy's Surprise

Since I reminded you guys I am dating an amazing guy :) I know in the midst of all the decorating and redecorating and crafts and projects, it's easy to forget

1. I'm a full time student
2. I have a bf

Ha- but I promise, i find a way to make crafts work while juggling the above two priorities... 

Ordy has been so amazing this past weekend with my dad in town- meaning 24/7 family time. It's been confirmed this week that my family likes Ordy Boy more than they like me... other than the fact I can't walk in the house without them hounding me where he is or when he'll get there- he spent the ENTIRE DAY Monday (early afternoon-LATE) hanging out with my family. Sans Me. Whattttt. While I was responsible and headed off to class after my long but fun weekend at Sher's Monday afternoon, my bf stayed. Until 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. unreal. i never thought i would be so lucky to have family + bf get along so well! i mean my dad was genuinely talking with him and laughing, it wasn't forced or anything... i love it. 

I love how respectful he is and how i don't have to worry about what he says next to embarrass me, or make me cringe. i can walk away and know he is OK. we had a lot of fun at Sher and Frankie's and i never laugh so hard as i do when we're all four together. {think: cupcake fights wars, bean bag battles, etc} instead of couples against couples it's usually boys against girls... 

This Sunday, one of the family outings {after breakfast at the oh so delish Flying Biscuit}, we {all 10 of us} headed to the auction. 

mmm. french toast and veggie scramble. amazing. 

I loved going, i thought it was a guy thing Ordy and Frankie would do every sunday, but this sunday we tagged along and i might make Ordy take me from now on! They were actually filming a show, Auction Kings, there and we had to sign waivers and get our picture taken and stuff just to get in... they even interviewed the boys! i'll have to figure out when it'll be on the discovery channel to catch em. 

Check OUT those chandeliers! 

film crew

64 1/2 mustang!!! and chandeliers

two of my favorite things: old mustang and chandeliers

the birthday boy

It was around 2 pm (Kian's naptime) and it was hard to get comfy with him trying to nap so we decided to leave the boys and head to my house... which is a great thing we did because of the disaster that was waiting for me when i got there... well, while i did damage control for 6+ hours- Ordy was STILL at the auction! i was getting annoyed because i was sad he didn't care that i was stuck with no car, no mop, and left to clean up old sewage from my floors. they finally came at 7:30 p.m. to pick me up and take me to my car and Ordy Boy had a surprise for me...

Venetian  Crystal Chandelier

the prettiest chandelier i have ever seen... seriously. i was shocked. i didn't know if it was a joke or what... i'm obsessed with chandeliers and have been looking online for years. i want my future house to have a chandelier in every room {i'm not joking, even the closet AND kitchen} and I KNOW that these bad boys aren't easy to come by.... I can't believe he got me one, and one so amazing at that... i'm still in shock and feel guilty, even tho there's nothing TO feel guilty about. i just feel bad he spoils me so much...  i promise i didn't drop hints or anything, he just knows me. i asked him why he would do that and where the heck i would put it and he said he hadn't gotten me a surprise lately, and decided this would be a good one. um, yeah it is. i can't believe it! i don't think you get me and chandeliers... 

Thank you Ordy Boy for being so good to me {and my family} and for putting up with all of the madness. I am so thankful for you!!! <-- with or without an incredible chandelier!

Uh-Oh... Bit By the Redecorating Bug...AGAIN.

I know, I know... I really need to stop and focus my energy on other things... like school perhaps? But I can't help it. Enough is enough. I caved. I realized I hate how I spend 95% of my time upstairs. I'm NEVER downstairs! The 5% I am downstairs it's to use the kitchen- not the living room. Well, that got me thinking, what makes my living room so unlivable?? I've always known I reject my downstairs, but it was confirmed by a friend who didn't want to watch a movie here because it was "uncozy". *GASP* Uncozy has always been a bad, bad, bad word growing up in my "cozy" household... It was used to describe New York alleys, and freezing floors with no socks on... how could a Parast have an uncozy living room??? I immediately started brain storming uncozy features:

1. Large, white marble tile flooring. I HATE carpet. I vowed to never have carpet because of the filth that gets trapped in them and we fail to see. So, I have white marble floors and as open as it makes the place, I don't know if the trade off for being uncozy was worth it... I bought a big brown rug to add warmth but it seems like that's not enough
2. Modern furniture. I have 2 really nice couches that were given to me by my sister and her husband a few years back that I know weren't cheap and I LOVE them, but they're just so uninviting (to anyone other than Bandit). Bandit isn't allowed on them because they're so nice, but I know his hair doesn't just float to the top... he obviously sneaks on when I'm away. I wonder if I need a darker brown...
3. The color scheme: chocolate and brown. I know this color scheme was/is huge and I just went with it. But now I'm so over it and am debating to just sell everything and start fresh, or work with everything. I have a baby blue wall that I recently painted about 2 months ago, and the accent wall on the fireplace is brown... so I wonder how impractical changing would be... 
4. The layout. I can't do much with the door/stairs/fireplace/laundry room doors... so I'm limited to seating arrangements and tv. I just decided my 32" tv was way too small for the living room and too random on a side wall, so I sold it today to get a bigger one to place on my mantle. The 32" looked awkward on the big shelf so I'm looking to get something that would be a better match. I'm not big on tv (NEVER watch anything) but I hate that a lot of my friends are and I can't offer them comfortable entertainment. So, for all the friends that have come over and voiced their opinions, I'm listening :)

So those are some things to consider. I'm trying SO hard not to act spontaneously and do the whole make over tonight... I asked Ordy Boy to bring his drill just in case hahaha. 

Here are the only pictures (please excuse the graininess- phone pics!!!) I have of my living room, but they are from when I first moved in. So the rug is different (the new one is brown with baby blue and beige leaf pattern) and a few other stuff. I swapped the brown recliner with the bookshelf from the picture so that's different. 

I really wish I had half the guts as most designers do to experiment with color (in places other than my office haha). I realized, I'm single (not married) now and it would be BEST to get to do whatever I want before I have a husband to run ideas by!!! I mean, now is the time to get away with a pink throw pillow (NEVER thought I'd hear myself say that, but for design purposes and nail polish- I can manage pink...) but that's just an example. Just saying, while I'm young and "free" I should experiment! Before I have to go into "neutral" world hahaha. I mean what husband would allow my adorable, chic rose pillows?? (It adds such a soft touch to the masculine chair!!)  I might as well get all my "glamorous" out of my system... haha

Another "staple" that I love (that I'd like to work around) is my amazing beige mirror. 

So far, I have beige "modern" couches, a brown leather recliner, a glass "modern" coffee table, a beige studded mirror, and brown damask drapes + rug that I spent more money than I'd like to ditch so soon. I guess I need to accept the living room and just do small changes to make me happy (different tv over mantle, rearrange...) or do what I always do and go drastic. Ha, I honestly don't have time to even be thinking about this right now, I can't believe I'm even blogging instead of reading... I know one person who's going to yell at me for this! 

In a dream world, I would love this (I'm still researching):

and this for my dining room:

Any suggestions/ideas? I know I am blessed to know design savvy friends... am I wasting time? To be honest, I'm probably going to do something, and it is more than likely GOING to be drastic... so might as well shoot me suggestions/pictures/etc! I'd love to see any ideas that I've missed!