Stars Nest Curtains

Hi Friends!  It's one of those quiet kind of weekends, you know?  Jordan and I have had a great day tinkering around the house, so I thought I would do a little catch up post on the happenings of the last week.

I've been adjusting to my new job lately (which has it's ups and downs), but it seems that Jordan will be going through the same thing shortly!  We want to officially announce that Jordan also has a new job now (don't worry, he is still doing financial planning part time)!  Both of us are transitioning into new roles with our existing companies and will be spending the first part of 2015 focusing on that area of our lives, I'm sure.  I'm very excited for Jordan and wish him well!  

One of the fun perks of my job is that my department will occasionally get tickets to a game or concert at the American Airlines Center.  Last week, we had the pleasure of watching our Dallas Stars hockey team play against the Winnipeg Jets.  Spoiler alert, Dallas lost, but we still had a lot of fun.

Top: Jordan and I checking out the arena from our "suite" view.  My company's suite is so spacious and just an all around fun experience.  We got to visit with some work friends and, of course, enjoy some of the treats that come with the tickets.

I failed to get too many pictures of the food during the game, but I at least got a picture of this amazing cake.

Later in the week, I got a wild hair and suddenly felt an overwhelming need to get rid of our terrible vertical blinds.  Does anyone else have these in their house?  Eesh...they can really kill the vibe in a room.  I don't know why it's taken us so long to change them (5 years).  Jordan was extremely patient with me and it surprisingly, it only took us one trip to the hardware store!  (I think that's a record.)

Top: This is the "before picture".  The blinds do their job well to block out the sun and they are easy to clean.  Never the less, I feel like they scream 1990.  

Bottom: This if the "after" picture.  I just LOVE the new look!  We kept it pretty simple, but I feel like it makes a big difference in the ambiance of that space.  I really should have given ya'll a close up of the fabric, but hey, you get the picture.  We chose neutral color panels with bright sheers.  Jordan did a fantastic job installing them too (level, centered, and in studs).  Of course, I was his lovely assistant.

I will say that it was tricky to install the curtains while not stepping on a certain tiled area in the kitchen.  You'll remember from a previous post that we have some strange title situation happening in our kitchen.  The tile is "teepeeing".  

We thought the tile problem was a symptom of a foundation shift, so we had a guy come check it out.  After lots of measurements, the foundation guy actually said that our slab is "just fine".  We have a spot that is just a little bit high in the corner of our house, but it's not causing any problems and the foundation guy doesn't see a need to do any foundation work.  Amazing huh?  Soo.... what's wrong with the tile?  The foundation guy seems to think it could have been a slight foundation change (very slight but normal shifting of a structure).  

We are feeling relieved with this diagnosis, but are planning to get a 2nd opinion just to confirm.  Until then, we are stepping lightly so we don't crack a tile.

Yesterday, Jordan and I had a leisure Saturday.  Lately, I've had my eye on a pair of earrings from Kendra Scott so, being the good sport that he is, Jordan went with me to the store to check it out.  I ended up finding two pairs of earrings and we did a little window shopping downtown.  

Top Left and Right: I liked this particular style earring, but wasn't crazy about the stone color.  At KS, they customize it for you!  So, this is a picture of the sales lady fixing up my new earrings with exactly the color stones I wanted!  They have trays and trays of different colored stones and I opted for a jade green.

Bottom:  Word of caution: Kendra Scott jewelry is really popular, it seems, so the tiny store was packed!  I had fun looking at all the pieces, but it got a little stressful in there.  I suggest going during the week if you decide to make the journey.  Also, if you go during the month of your birthday, they will give you 50% of any single item of your choice!  Since Jordan just had his birthday, I was able to take advantage. ;)

Here are some of the "gems" I found!  

Left: My jade earrings!  These are really light weight and simple.

Top Right: Midi-rings seem to be in fashion at the moment.  I'm not completely sure I can pull off the trend, but I couldn't resist this cute set of midi-rings!

Bottom Right: These are my rose quartz earrings!  They are a little larger than the green and the stone is a different shape.  I'm very excited to wear these soon!

Later that Saturday, we met up with our friend, Jenn!  It worked out well since we both had similar errands!  It was great to see her and catch up in person!

Saturday night, we installed a new gadget that Jordan was very giddy about.  The newest addition is a Nest thermostat!  I was a little indifferent about the idea at first (what could be so special about a thermostat) but now, I really love it!  Here are some pictures of Jordan doing the installation.  

No really, Jordan was super pumped about the Nest!  (thank you Jenn!)

The installation looked complicated to me, but Jordan got it up and running in no time.  This little guy allows me to adjust the air using an app on my phone!!!  That means I can get the house warmed up when I'm on my way home from work!  The nest is to a household as heated seats are to a car.  Delightful.  

While Jordan worked on the Nest installation, I did some of my own tinkering.  Of course, I love our new curtains, but I decided that they needed a little more personality.  I wanted to see if I could make some sort of bead accessory to hang from the curtain rod.

Right: This is the finished product.  I tried to make a design that was a little random but still pleasing to the eye.  I seemed to have a lot of peach, beige, white, and pearl beads, so I focused the design around those neutral colors.

Left Top and Bottom:  Years and years ago, my brother, Scott, had made a couple of shell pendants for my Mom and I.  We had found lots of these shells at the bottom of the lake and Scott crafted these amazing pieces of art!  He'd made me a set of twin pendants for earrings but sadly, one of them broke over the years, leaving a single lonely little pendant.  Well, this project seemed to be the perfect time to use it!  It turned out great and is that much more special since my brother made it from a shell from the lake house!

And that's all I have for ya'll today!  Have a great week!