{The Nine Month Project...}

Happy Monday! I hope everyone's weekend was wonderful! We got back from Ireland Sunday evening so I'll be back on Wednesday with the beginning of an Ireland rundown! Can't wait to share all of the fun we had!

Remember when we tore out all of our carpet and hired someone to redo our hard woods?

Yeah probably not because that was almost a year ago!

Well we had some work to do after the flooring guy left...and only did half of it...until a few weeks ago!

This was pre-sanding and staining...not so pretty right? I actually think that was when there were thousands of staples in the hard wood too...that was fun :)

This is after staining...so much better, right? 

But we were still left with these ugly risers and what I failed to take a picture of is the gap between the step and the riser. It wasn't huge, but in some spots there was a few centimeter gap...no bueno.  

There were also tons of little holes and scratches in the risers from nails and such...

So Wendel filled the holes with wood filler and then sanded them.

And here's where I failed as a blogger ya'll...I only have after pictures! Ah! 

To fill that little gap, Wendel stained and cut from quarter round that is curved in. 

The change makes it look so much better! I'm obsessed and thankful for a husband who will do little projects like this for me! 

{Flashback Friday: London}

While I'm traveling through Ireland with Wendel's family {and Wendel of course} I have some automated posts for you! I'm so proud of my very planned blogger self! To see me in real time, follow me on Instagram here! See you on the 19th! 

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Since we're traveling in Ireland right now...woot woot...I thought I'd share our trip to London in college! 

Wendel and I had the opportunity to study abroad in London for a month right after Christmas. We were taking an art and theater class, so we were in the art museums and theaters the entire time...rough life, right? 

Here's a peek into our time there! 

{Oh and this is pre-weight loss Lelia...so there's that...}

I was a lead in Blood Brother in high school and our professor surprised me by taking us to see it...I was so excited! 

We got to celebrate New Years...in London...amazing! 

Harrods for ice cream! 

Cutest cupcake shop ever! They were the best cupcakes and the shop was just precious...really hope to find them again someday! 

Modern Art Museum...my favorite!

Never got to ride The Eye...my single biggest regret ever!

Portobello Road

Really hope to go back again someday! I'm sure Prince George will want to hang out with Future Wendels so we'll have to make the trip over :) 

{New Back Door...Eeeee}

While I'm traveling through Ireland with Wendel's family {and Wendel of course} I have some automated posts for you! I'm so proud of my very planned blogger self! To see me in real time, follow me on Instagram here! See you on the 19th! 

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I shared with you here that we are finally getting a new door to replace the old {and original from the 60's} door for our huge overlook of our backyard/pool! 

Well guess what? 

It's done!!! 

The pictures do not do our pretty opening justice! And these pictures were really hard to capture...so sorry! You'll just have to swing by and check them out for yourselves :) 

Before I share more pictures, here are a few snapshots of the process...

Wide open...lovely! 

The door was out, and everything was going great...and then...

Yup...that would be totally rotten wood that was under the door. 

Our basement leaks at times, and this is why. So thankfully, these amazing guys fixed us right up! 

We are totally in love with the after! The door actually works, I love the molding and trim, and it just brightens up the entire room! 

Pretty decent view right? We feel so incredibly blessed...believe me! 

Now you'll notice the curtains are done. We want something very light and bright and haven't found the right ones yet, but when we find something...we'll share, I promise! 

We used a family friend, Bill Reinhart, from Select Kitchen Design {yeah...not a kitchen...I know} and he was phenomenal! Super professional, fast, and easy to work with! The workers were professional and sweet {remember when we had a not so nice experience with some Lowe's guys?} and cleaned up after themselves! I would recommend them time and time again and we will for sure use them in the future {hello new future front door?}

{Tie-Dying Fun}

While I'm traveling through Ireland with Wendel's family {and Wendel of course} I have some automated posts for you! I'm so proud of my very planned blogger self! To see me in real time, follow me on Instagram here! See you on the 19th! 

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I had a sad thing happen to one of my favorite summer skirts...

While I was being domestic and cleaning our sink {because all people clean their sinks while dressed up for the day, right?} a drop of bleach came flying right on the front of my beautiful skirt. 

No real big deal, but this is a "tuck your shirt in" kind of skirt so it was very obvious and sad...

I know it looks like a speck in this picture...but it was worse in real life...promise!

So I decided to be adventurous...and ti dye it! That's the obvious solution, right? 

First off, I bought a pack of Rit Dye that takes the color out of your clothing...like bleach but supposedly better...

Didn't exactly work...this is what it looked like after soaking it in the Rit Dye and THEN in good old bleach for over 24 hours! 

But it was going to be all dyed up, so this was good enough for me! 

I picked up this cute little tie-dye kit from Michael's for about $10 and I was ready to get messy! 

Pretty much all I did was just follow the instructions on the tie-dye kit...they had lots of pictures with ideas of how to rubber band your clothing so this is what mine looked like pre-dye. 

And here I am mid process. I really didn't need all of that dye...like not even close! In retrospect, I should have just chose two or three colors, but I had already mixed four by the time I thought about it and the dye is only good for 30 minutes...so four colors it was! 

In case your wondering...that would be a succulent...in our sink. What, you don't keep your succulents in your sink? Hm...

Back to the skirt...then it has to soak {in a plastic bag} for 24 hours. Then I washed it and dried it...and...

Here she blow! Bright, right? 

I think I'm terrified to wear it out on the town, but I kind of love it! It's bright, fun, and different! 

Have ya'll ever ruined something and then found a thrift solution to save it? 

{Flashback Friday: Early Samford Years}

Wendel and I both went to Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

My freshman year, Alex had his sister take some pictures of us on campus. Thinking back, it was super cheese-ball, but I'm so glad we have these to look back on!

Thanks Andi!

And now...we're off! We leave for Chicago at 3:00 to meet up with Alex's sister, Andi and her husband Braedon, then we're jetting off to Ireland for 8 days! 

I have automated posts ready for next week {go me!} so you won't be able to miss me too much!

Follow me on Instagram {leliawendel} to see what's going on in real time!! 

{Corn Hole Bag...Bag}

Happy Thursday! Sorry I was MIA yesterday...I've been crazy getting ready to leave for Ireland on Friday {Eee}, cleaning the house, doing projects, and finishing up some school stuff! So I have a special little Thursday post for ya'll! 

A long long time ago Wendel and I re-did our corn hole set to give it a little make over! 

Well my mom whipped up some new corn hole bags for us using this tutorial and then I finally got around to making a bag to hold the...bags... :) 

I picked up an $8 canvas bag from Michael's and used some Rit Dye I had on hand. 

I attempted an ombre but it only slightly worked. And then I just used some paint I had on hand and painted away. 

Shorts: Loft

Shirt: Loft {old}

Shoes: Chucks

I have to admit though, we still haven't used our corn hole set...sad right? Hopefully this month we'll whip it out! 

Happy "It's Almost Friday!"

{Weekend of Weddings}

Wendel and I had quite the weekend! We were honored to be invited to two weddings on Saturday and it just worked out that we were able to hit both! 

First up, we headed to the gorgeous Basilica in Covington to see my cousin, Kathleen get married...she was a stunning bride and I have to say...Catholic Ceremonies are growing on me! 

Like I said...the ceremony was pretty phenomenal! 

Sadly we weren't able to stay for the reception because Alex's cousin {who he works with} was getting married that evening. So we headed home for a quick lunch and dress change, and we were off to the next wedding! 

The second wedding was at the stunning Pinecroft Mansion. 

This was our first time to this venue...and I have to say...it was gorgeous! 

The bride was beautiful and the aisle was pretty much Alex's dream land! 

They had these cute little poppers for when they walked down the aisle together...again...I was pretty much dying! 

After a cocktail hour in the garden, we headed inside the gorgeous tent for dinner and dancing! 

Wendel's family owns a company that makes identification tags {i.e. dog tags, plant tags, cow tags} so they made these cute little bands and used them as napkin rings {we used tags as wine charms in our wedding}

I never tired of seeing Mr. and Mrs! 

And then there was the photo booth...it was such a blast! Love that I have some playful in-laws to have fun with! 

It was a fabulous weekend, but boy are we tired! We helped out with a high school lock-in Friday night and with all of that combined...I'm sleepy! 

But guess what? We leave for Ireland on Friday...ah! So I've got lots to do...no napping here :) 

Happy Monday!!