#iamenough

today, as i was picking out what picture to post of jeffery and me from last night on our date, i had to laugh at myself. here i was judging a picture on what i should be sharing with the world, when really it's only a few people from college, old classmates, some new and old friends and family. they don't really care, let's be honest. but for some strange reason i did! i never hangout with these people or talk to them except for the select few that i cherish. so again, why do i care? they don't know what was going on during my day. the fun moments that i got to experience or the crappy day that i ended up having. but i had to make it a perfect picture so that everyone could see how much fun i was having with my husband. i could've posted a goofy, unedited, poorly light picture and people still would have gotten the clue. "oh how nice, jeffery took julia out on a date." and they would have kept scrolling. the end. that's all. only my super close friends or my mom would've asked me what we did, how did it go. only they would be interested to know the #BTS of my date. and that's what i care about! right?

wrong. not completely wrong. but not completely truth either. i still would've thought is that the right picture? the right caption? did they notice how good my hair looked? (i did just get a new hair cut, so that's crucial you know) what about the background? that looks like a cool spot right? ugh. so much weird things to think about over one picture that people will look at for a matter of 3 seconds. i can't be the only one that does this?! if i am, well welcome to my crazy life. but i know i am not alone. girls do this. all girls. and those that don't, are happy. are happy with them, that one moment, and the picture.

i had a great time with jeffery last night. he had been gone for 2 weeks and he just got back the day before. so i was excited to just be out with him! and we went on a triple date to get sushi downtown, so like it was an awesome date! as soon as we got in the car i was already trying to pick a picture (face palm). i was using my quality time with my husband on my PHONE!!!! another ugh. but in my head, it was ok. i wanted people to see that i was having fun with jeffery. but i was on my phone, i don't think that is very fun for him. uhm and super lame. i caught myself and decided to put the phone away. for what like 20 min. i did this realization about a dozen times i bet. checking my phone. putting it away.

this morning. what did i do? check my phone. hangout with jeff and olivia. check my phone. i think you get it. going through my phone i was looking at pictures we took last night and thinking how fun it was. welp, time to post a picture right? ugh. found the one i wanted, but of course i had to edit it. WHY?! we already looked good, it was everything a picture should be really. and a selfie to add to it. when i was editing i telling myself that i wasn't good enough to show you who i really am with my husband. who i am with my husband is my best self. and here i was trying to change my appearance. i would say it was for you, but really it was for me. sad.

it totally sucks that we are in the constant demand of knowing and seeing the "perfect" or "unperfect" lives of other people. will it change? probably not. but maybe someday when we are old and "grandma-like" and wise we will understand it. for now we are going to have slowly catch ourselves when we do this to ourselves. the world is already telling us that we need to keep changing to be who they want us to be. in my book, i say that is incredibly lame. (my book is really good)  we are enough. i am enough. you are enough.

so i am going to end this on my perfect moment with my sweet husband from last night. and say that this is enough. hashtag it, or else it's not real. (haha that's a completely different venting session.)

#iamenough

                                                      

Boise Heart Art

a few months ago i fell in love with this Idaho shaped cutting board {yup, it's a cutting board}, & i just had to have it. as if we already don't have enough from the wedding haha. i have one that i am using as a tray, few i never use, & another one sits on our table for decoration. but this one was obviously for a craft that i had been wanting to do! everyone sees those pinterest heart state signs. some are printable, some are the reverse of mine {meaning they go away from the heart to the border}, & so many others! i wanted to try something my way, & i am pretty happy with how it turned out!! the only thing i am having trouble with is hanging it. but don't worry i have a trick up my sleeve & i will tell you later! so this is my take on the whole lovey dovey sign trend hitting the internet lately!! I <3 BOISE, IDAHO!

 honestly i don't even know why you would want a cutting board of Idaho to use in the kitchen. i love Idaho and all but not enough to eat off or cook with haha {you can find this one or other states at Bed Bath & Beyond}

 thankfully i still had all my paintbrushes & other things from when i was in Interior Design for college. save $$$

 i took an angled brush and free hand drew the heart with acrylic paint.

 half way through finishing the heard i decided that i wanted to throw in some gold glitter later on. that is why this big blob is behind. i wanted the glitter to pop out.

 the supplies. acrylic paint, elmers glue, nails, embroidery floss & glitter! duh, everything needs glitter

 i ended up not needing the rubber cement because i noticed the glitter i purchased came with glue. i'm and airhead.

 thus began the nailing process. it got a little tricky towards the end because there wasn't much room for your fingers to hold the nails.

 this part was actually fun! what i did was i started from the bottom nail and i wrapped it around and then continued to wrap around the next nail & back to the bottom. i would skip the one i just did and from the bottom nail i went to the next one and again wrapped it around. i did that to each nail using the bottom nail, then i went to the next nail doing it to all the others. while doing it i had to keep pushing the thread down so i would have enough room.

 i tied the last part to the beginning part of the string and then i cut off the excess.

& there you have it! all done! noting too fancy, but fun!!! all you need to do is pop in the movie Frozen & work away. it's a lot more fun when you can watch a kid movie haha. good luck!!

 



Boise Goodies, You Light Up My Life!

this past weekend the husband & i were able to drive up to BOISE! i was so excited to be back there, even if it was only for a couple of days. being in a small town can get to be kind of claustrophobic at times, so going to the city is a nice break!! also i get to shop around! and that's what i did :). first of all i love Target, like a lot. {they are actually the only place that carries my size in shoes...embarrassing. jeffery married a sasquatch!!} we had a gift card, so it was a given that we had to go there. in our little home, if you have been following along {if not you should!} i have been trying to make the small space seem more open and bright! some things that i have done to help achieve that is lighter colors, whites, space planning, adding a mirror/floor lamp & of course keeping it clean! but that's a whole different subject i will get into later haha. but there was corner that needed attention! to fix that, i purchased the cutest lamp!!! i love it. it's so simple, sleek, & modern. also i was having a hard time to figuring out what size of lamp was good to place on my end table {you can see the end table here}. but i found it! & it's amazing. another thing that it i like about the lamp is that it is, i guess you could say see through. haha idk. but it defiantly isn't bulky which is nice because it helps keep the space airy rather than crowded. if that makes sense!?

the last thing i was able to do was pick up some pictures! i believe every home should have some piece of art that they love. family pictures, canvas art, paintings, mirrors, shelves that hold books or pottery. either way fill your home with things that you love! that's what i have done & it has been fun to see how everything has turned out. but something that i was missing in our home was a picture of the temple. living far away from a temple has actually been harder than i thought. in Boise i was fortunate enough live about 15 minutes away. & in Salt Lake i lived right next door to it. i really did take it for granted. now that we have to drive either 45 min-2 hours i know how important it is to me. so the pictures that i was able to put into some frames were of the Twin Falls, Idaho Temple & a quote by Thomas S. Monson that i designed. Weird how some art that you really love & it means something to you can make a house a home.

 before

 after...so much better :)

this is what i was talking about...see through much?!

 even though the elephant is beach themed...i like it! so i kept it!! and that torn book i did on purpose haha so don't think i am this huge reader that destroys books. only for decoration ;)

 i spray painted this frame like right when we moved here & i couldn't just have it be empty. so i guess i decided a dream house seemed appropriate for the time being!

 an old doodle in need of a face lift!

 Twin Falls, Idaho Temple....muchhhhh better

 "choose your love. love you choice." -Thomas S. Monson

 by the way thank you everyone who has been keeping up with us! it's really cool to hear from you guys saying that you have. i didn't know people actually read this thing other than my mom & sister haha. so i think you are pretty cool :).

  

Anchor Cake Topper

the weekend is almost here! which means the Super Bowl is on SUNDAY! i love Super Bowl Sunday for many reasons...this year my Broncos are playing! oh and my QB is on that team :). bonus! and i am so excited for the commercials, they are always the best!! oh and the food, & lots of loud cheering, & being with my family! yeah, jeff thought it would be fun to be there this weekend for the big game! just to bug me tho, he is going for the Seahawks...he might have to find another place to sleep ;). good thing his family lives there too haha. anyways i am super pumped! and then the next week my old roommate Ashlee is cominggggggg! lots to be excited about it the life of julia ;).
with that aside, i have a new little project to share with you people of the interweb! when jeff & i were planning to get married i was on Pinterest & Etsy...as any other girl in the world! i was looking for anything anchor {my wedding was nautical & the anchors were a must duh. incase you haven't seen our wedding décor click here to get an idea}. i happened across this super cute anchor cake topper that i jusssst had to have! you have to check out her Etsy page, she has lots of cute wedding toppers.

 i couldn't get it out of my head & it was a must for the wedding. weird how you have to have everything for your wedding, when in reality it is only a piece of metal that is stabbed into the top of cake that you only get one bit of...just something to think about haha. but like i said, i fell in love with it & so i got it. the only thing that i didn't like, is that it was silver. easy fix. have your fiancé spray paint it gold. because again it has to be perfect!
my awesome sister in law made our cake & i loved it :). it was a simple thought, but she put in so much hard work into it! she's awesome. it was strawberry cake with lemon filling in the middle tier and the other two were lemon cake with strawberry whipped cream filling. it was delicious!

 

i loved everything about our wedding from the man i married, even to the topper of the cake. i couldn't have had a more perfect wedding. something that i wanted to do was to keep our topper & display it on our house to remember the day. thankfully i didn't have one of those toppers that was like a bride and groom kissing or something like that, because that would've been weird to just have in your house. especially with the thousands of wedding pictures that we already have. i try to make sure our house isn't like a museum of jeff & julia...it probably is tho. what i was able to do was just place it in a black frame, & now it rests on the wall above the couch. seriously the easiest DIY ever! cut of the wire that was in the cake & smash it into the frame. it is literally smashed in there, which is actually cool because it looks like its floating. go me! 





 

{click here to see the rest of the Holderness home}

i love it, i think it's kinda cool to have a piece of art in our house that was from our wedding. our little house is turning out so nice, & it has been fun to make little projects here & there. i look forward to owning our own home someday. dream come true! what are some of your little projects that you just love & have a cool story behind them?

color of the year: RADIANT ORCHID

in case you didn't hear, the color of 2014 is RADIANT ORCHID! to be honest this is not my favorite color...like at all! i tend to always stay clear of this color {no purple at all in this girls closet!}. i don't know what it is about the color purple, but i do not like it! maybe i am just stubborn, that's probably the real reason. but hey, everything is worth a try...right? i actually don't like change either haha. wow, maybe i should list all things i don't like. how depressing. NO! even though i am not totally excited about this years color, i am excited for new fresh things! i have been exploring this trend a little bit more, & there are some things i am digging. even though i don't like purple, i will look at it as the color we are calling it. maybe i will like it if i call it that, & not purple. who doesn't like orchids? and who doesn't like a little radiance in their lives? so here's to the color of the year! RADIANT ORCHID! {oh gosh i never thought i would like this color, but i do!}

 yes! simple & right amount of pop...perfection

 the true color!

 even tho this a pretty color this is not it! needs to be more vibrant

this is something that i would probably do in my own house. just one large painting & call it good!

 i wish i was brave enough to color my hair

 ok i am obsessed with this lady! Lupita Nyong'o has been beautiful on the red carpet this season. oh & i like her lipstick.

 classy. i love how she mixed it with maroon pants rather than a denim or black. {to see more of her outfit check her out}

even though the flowers are little bit more on the pink side, i think it's just the right amount! not too much, but it's defiantly a statement.

 

i think one thing that everyone should know about this color is that it is strong! this color is not just a purple, but a bright fuchsia almost with obviously a purple hue to it. it's not eggplant, a dusty lavender, or Barney the dinosaur purple. it's meant to be vibrant and happy!! so if you are wanting to incorporate this new color into your space, wedding, outfit, or even beauty routine do so with a purpose. if you are going to go all out with it, go all out & have fun with it. or if you are more like me and want to add just a touch here & there pair it with some neutrals like creams & greys. it's such a beautiful and "radiant" combo {like how i did that?} whatever you end up doing, fall in love with it! what do you think about the new color of the year??

I like Pillows OK

back when we were Boise we bought our first couch from my work {RC Willey}. we like it and everything but it came these ugly pillows. so I've been wanting to recover them with something that would go along with the rest of the living room. a couple of months ago we went to Utah to drop jeff's mom at the airport, since we were there i figured an Ikea trip was in order. duh. i ended up getting this simple pillow covers for $7 each. score! and it was super easy, all i did was throw old pillows in them. done! now i don't have nasty pillows laying around the house.

 front & back. i guess they aren't bad...i just no like them

the turquoise one is almost like a velvet and the white is more of a burlap.

DIY Entertainment Center

yayyyyy another DIY! i think my living room is almost done, & i am seriously loving it! i just have a couple of more art projects that i would like to get done....and it will be COMPLETE! even though our place may be super small, not in the ideal location or kinda old. i still love it, because it is all ours! owning a home someday will probably be one of the coolest feelings for me {other than adding little babies to our small fam bam ;)} so in the meantime i will just continue to fall in love with this place :).
last saturday jeffery & i decided to redo our entertainment center {it's actually more like a console, but the way i am designing it it will feel more like a whole piece}. my parents gave it to us, so once again we had an awesome deal! i believe this was from target & it had a top piece on it before. we decided to not keep it because our tv wouldn't fit in it. it's not a big change but it does look a lot better & it makes more sense with the rest of our white furniture. it cost us nothing! so that just makes it better too ;).

here is the before. i do not like the lip at the bottom at all, it clashes with modern stuff we have too much. & the color is so off! yes i kinda already have a beachy theme going on, but i want to make it more light & modern. so here we go! {yay for accidental Pandora in the background}

 what a mess! i hate cords...blek

 always make sure you clean it down, no matter how clean you think it is!

 we had to sand it down because when we took the top part of it previously it left these ugly little guys.

 he had the idea then to use an exacto knife to get the bigger parts and then we sanded it again.

 all clean!

 then there was this ugly smile {lip} at the bottom that just had to go. we thought there would be like screws or something to take it off...nope. so we broke it.

 we were right...there they are. so dumb.

 supplies! this is why it was free, we used old paint. save money!

 even though it was already white to begin with, we still ended up doing two coats! i wanted to make sure it was alllllll white!

 all done!

 

& there it is! all done :). i love that it is the same white as the other furniture pieces & it does look a little bit more modern. & GOODBYE TO NASTY CORDS!! if you are struggling with knowing how to organize or decorate your piece. first know if you want it to be more contemporary/modern, rustic, eclectic, or traditional. if you are wanting more simple, i suggest boxes for all your toys/belongings and only up to three accessories {books, figurines, pictures} and then create space around them. but if you are more like me and want it to feel a little more comfy/homey add some textures into the mix like pillows. yes they are for your head but now they are a nice embellishment to the space! want more ideas? just comment or contact me! {remember i am hirable ;)}  

 

it may not be perfect but hey it was free! and it was a fun saturday project for the two of us :). and it looks so much better with the rest of the room, not soi much of an eye sore now. one thing that i was glad that we did it was because we were able to fix that dumb mess of cords and some fullness to the bottom of it with my pillows. {jeff says i have too many, i say i don't have enough!}. but there you have it! i love it! what other projects should i do!?