Mirror Mirror on the Wall

I have decided what my next project is... Can you guess?

Every day I see our cheap $5 full-length mirror leaning up against the wall, sitting on an upside down hamper for height. True story. This comes after not having a full length mirror in our apartment for the first two years we lived in Chicago.  IT IS TIME! Obviously all the tall, wood, leaning floor mirrors I love and of course would work perfectly in our home :) are WAY out of the price range. 

This West Elm Parson's mirror is gorgeous and $499.

Now originally I had planned to DIY that little cheap-o mirror. Not anymore. I figure, the mirror really isn't that great and wouldn't make me as happy with the end result, especially as a longer term item I am hoping it could be.  I would spend money on the wood supplies and such, all that work putting it together, and use a crummy mirror. Doesn't make sense right? So I am looking to possibly buy the IKEA STAVE mirror, not necessarily cheap at $50, that would upgrade the entire product without breaking the bank.  As for the process, I am looking to mix a bit of Swoon Style and Home with Bower Power Blog. I like the idea of using pine wood that has the grooves for the glass to fit but for a more substantial heft and support I also like the idea of having a thin plywood backing.

Bad note: we live in an apartment in Chicago and don't tend to do many woodworking projects- we have no power tools! I was thinking I might try to have them cut it where I decide to buy the wood, but I would rather be able to do it at home while putting it together so I could make appropriate adjustments as I go. 

What is a girl to do? I just might ask my father-in-law how realistic it is for him to bring it with them when they come up for Thanksgiving... 

So in the meantime... time to gather supplies! Looking forward to this weekend- little material shopping and relaxation coming up! Oh- and some Hunger Games!! SO EXCITED!

xo Jess xo

Is it weird to be in love with a wall?

It's done. And I am in love.

I have finally gotten the gallery wall where I want it to be! Soon will be getting other bedroom accessories up to snuff.. but for now, I will just lay in bed and stare at my pretty wall. :) ahhhhhh

To recap, this is where we TRAGICALLY START... with a terrible "Pinterest fail"(can read about it here) and a stack of frames on my bedroom floor.

So.... off to find INSPIRATION and my favorite was from Style Me Pretty. I liked the combination of colors, looks very classic, and it was easy to imagine around our TV obviously.

IN-PROGRESS included laying out some frames and following a "paper-hanging method". I got my paper method hanging by following these awesome blogs' instructions at Young House Love and A Beautiful Mess. They do an awesome detailed job explaining that I would not even come close to.

And after sitting like that forever, eventually frames came up in the paper's places and nothing went in them.... UNTIL I slowly filled it with meaningful things for Tim and I. :) I made some of the "written" prints and purchased a few printable quotes from Etsy (here, here, and here) and got them printed @ Nations Photo Lab. They were very easy to upload your items, pick your paper/size/etc, printed quickly with good customer service, and overall very reasonably priced. I definitely have a few more things around the house I want to get printed and I will be going back to this company.

Now I am not so great taking pictures of this and our room does not have much natural light (so sorry for the creamy/yellow overhead light look.. it does seem a bit more crisp in person. Eventually I will try to take some better photographs.)

Anywho, without further ado, THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

The overall look from our bed... well technically standing on it so I can prevent some glare ;)

Clockwise from left: The 6 photo frame holds personal things between the husband and I such as our lucky number 13, favorite quote "It's the little things", important dates in our lives/relationship, first dance song lyrics, Mr. & Mrs. ring art I did, and a photograph of the Normal Theater's marquee for "It's A wonderful Life". Next, just another quote we like that translates to "I regret nothing"- very positive outlook we think. Next, a canvas of one of our engagement pictures in "our seat" at Normal Theater.  Lastly, an old school picture of the 2 of us from... 2005?

Clockwise from left: A map of our new home of Chicago <3, a photo from a night out with friends in Milwaukee this year, a picture from our first dance at our wedding, XO (no comment needed right?), the quote "Let's grow old together" (reminds me of "i wanna grow old with you- from the wedding singer" which I LOVE and Tim would always let me know when it was on :) ), and lastly another photo from our wedding. 

AS I SAID- I AM IN LOVE! 

I'm just going to go lay in bed and stare at it!

happy monday!

xo jess xo

Sweet Home Chicago

A little bit of some skyline as seen from an Amtrak trip.

As I was finishing up with grad school and just before my husband and I got married, we had the discussion... where do we want to live? We had of course LOVED where we did undergrad at Illinois State University (Go Redbirds!) in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. We also LOVED Omaha, Nebraska where I did my grad schooling.  PLUS, we were thinking... do we want to try something completely out-there for the next couple years before we settle settle down? Like... Hawaii! Alaska! Seattle! Ultimately, we really didn't want to be too far from our families and we wanted a little "bigger" city life than what we were used to- so 3hrs (more with traffic) from our hometown of Rock Island, Illinois (Quad Cities) was... wait for it... CHICAGO!
We thought maybe the big city for a year or two before deciding if that's what we wanted for the longer run or just for a taste, etc.  The day after we got back from our honeymoon, I had two interviews and within a week had accepted a position in Chicago! Luckily we had friends that let us crash with them for the month-long back and forth process of trying to find a place. BUT in the end, we feel we got a steal of a deal for our place in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood. We are walking distance to the grocery store, wonderful restaurants (even one with our fave QC style pizza), 10 minute bus trip to be in the heart of downtown, close to transportation, and near our friends! We love it! Going on year 3 in the same place! We say we will re-evaluate every so often to make sure we are still loving it here- but we are feeling kinship with Chicago that is still going strong!

But even though we are going on year 3...
Ever notice when you live somewhere, you end up not doing some of the cool touristy things? Thank goodness for visitors! Gets us around the city! This weekend and next weekend we have visitors, my parents followed by best friends, Nikki and Nathan, from Omaha! Beyond excited for our visitors and for going out and doing some exploring in this lovely city of ours! Don't know the plans yet but it will definitely be a mix of touristy, museum-ing?, food and drink, shopping, and nice relaxed hanging out time.
In honor of our kinship with our home of Chicago and our upcoming touristy adventures with family and friends... here are 51 reasons Chicago will ruin you for anywhere else! :)

Have a good weekend... I will!

xo jess xo