DIY Christmas Wreaths.

It's finally starting to feel like Christmas around here!!

A few days before Thanksgiving we put up some of our Christmas decorations. (We were really excited about the holidays) From the lit garland, to the tree, I think one of my favorite Christmas decorations is the front door wreath. 

(Our front door!)

I love the idea of a DIY wreath. They are SO much fun to make, and everyone can get involved! Ours is as simple as they come, but I am pretty darn traditional when it comes to Christmas decor. I love simple. Here are some DIY wreaths that caught my eye that I just might consider for next year!

 (Gathered Ribbon Wreath)

(Man's Tie Wreath, how cute for Father's Day!)

(Paper Cut Holly Wreath)

 (Paper Origami Wreath. Love this one!)

(Yarn Ball and Ornament Wreath)

Do you have holiday wreath ideas that you love? Share them with us!

Catch Up.

Thanksgiving was incredibly successful. Black Friday was again, successful. 

I guess that today we still were in the giving spirit because look who we brought home:

We named her Penny Lane.

(We aren't sure what she is exactly. It said terrier/yorkie/golden retriever mix but who knows at this point...)

Little backstory:

We have been talking about adopting a rescue dog for Violet for a lonnnng time. She is crazy about our very good friend's dog, Tucker. He is a small curly, white haired dog (not sure what breed) and he can make her laugh like no one else can. The joy that she exudes when she is around that dog is priceless. Because of him and a few of tail wagging friends, we made the trip to the AZ Human Society. While we found a couple of dogs that we liked, they were not available to come home with us for a couple of reasons. They were too big, they needed a LOT of activity, or they were not good with Violet's age group. Not exactly discouraged, we asked the desk lady at the Human Society where she might direct us. She recommended a few off-sites and showed Josh a picture of a curly-haired lover at a Petsmart. He liked her photo so much that we were soon after on our way.

We got to the Petsmart and she was there. We spent some time with her, and after hearing her story, we fell in love. She is only 9 months old and has lived most of her life in a crate. Because of this, she is incredibly shy and is not potty-trained. She had only been on a leash a couple of times. She has such a sweet spirit that we couldn't say no. Bean loved her, we loved her and we had to take her home. 

We brought her inside our house and she looked pretty comfortable immediately. She started eating, drinking and wagging her tail. It is only day one and we have a lot of work, but I think that she is going to work out wonderfully.

Turkey Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm about to eat my weight in stuffing and pie like this one I made this mornin':



I'm so thankful for a healthy happy baby, a wonderful husband, great family, my first house and the best friends. What an amazing year for me and my family. I can't wait for next year!

What are you thankful for?

Party!

With the holidays right around the corner, there will be many occasions to get fancy. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years; just too many to count.

I have been looking for the perfect holiday outfit (head to toe) and I think that I may have found some winning options...

I know, the picture is really small, but anything bigger than this would not have fit. (Ugh.)

You get the point though, right?

The dress is from Anthropologie, the shoes and bracelet are from Urban Outfitters, the tights are from Gap, the bag and belts are from Target, and the nail polish is from O.P.I. I am loving this look! Isn't it classic?

These are some of my favorite things. What are some of your go to holiday wearables?

20% off!

Last year, Josh, my brother and myself did the "Black Friday" thing. Needless to say, it was insanity. I have no idea why, but this year we are about to do it all over again. 

We hit up our local super mall (because they really do have everything) and in two hours, we were finished Christmas shopping. This year, with our family's Christmas lists in hand, we will embark on our 2nd Black Friday. 

In honor of our new found holiday tradition, I am offering 20% off my Etsy shop Linen Lovelies only on Black Friday! The coupon code for WFB readers is, you guessed it "WAITINGFORBEAN" I am going to have three different coupon codes; one for WFB readers, one for Facebook followers and one for Twitter followers so pay attention to your specific code!

If you make a purchase, just apply the code at checkout and magically your 20% will be taken off! This discount applies to all items in my store! I am adding some new ones this week, so check them out and maybe you can scratch something off of your shopping list!

Day 2.

I know, I know. I just couldn't wait until Monday. Here are some highlights from our trip so far.

See you all next week!

5th.

So it's official. Tomorrow morning we are driving out to L.A. for my son Cameron's 5th birthday! He's the big 5 this weekend, and we are going!

This trip is huge for me for so many reasons. This will be the first time that Violet gets to meet her brother. This will be the first time that Josh gets to spend a whole lot of time with him. I haven't been out there in 3 years. I am anxious, excited, and nervous all at the same time. My boy is 5! I am amazed and can't wait to share this weekend with him and his family.

We leave tomorrow morning at 5:30 and will be coming home Sunday night. I promise loads of pictures, videos and stories. 

What an exciting time this is going to be!

Christmas Cards.

I literally cannot wait until Christmas. I love the decorations, the food, the family time, and most of all the cards. I have a thing about receiving real mail. Rarely ever do you get a letter or a post card anymore, but when Christmas rolls around, we get tons! I love sending them out, a cute or funny picture with a sweet little message. Holiday cards have come so far in the last couple of years and I am so excited to send them out this upcoming holiday season. 

Last year, we sent out Christmas cards from Shutterfly. They had tons of layouts and styles to choose from! I took my own Christmas photos of Bean and uploaded them and voila! There was our holiday card! It turned out beautifully and everyone loved them!

This year, these are the styles that I am thinking about:

"Wonder Trees Noir" Holiday Card

"Holly Berries" Christmas Card

"Snowflake Damask" Holiday Card

 "Full of Love" Christmas Card

Aren't these so cute? I think a great holiday family photo would look perfect in any one of these! Can anyone say matching pajamas?! We'll see about that...

Here are links to Shutterfly's

Holiday Cards

Christmas Cards

Hanukkah Cards

I can't wait to share mine with you! Do yourself a favor and go to Shutterfly right now and check them out. They have something for everyone!

This is what I'll be doing with ours when we start receiving them!

Come On...

Hey friends, have you seen this before?

These are my followers! If you read Waiting for Bean every once in a while or all the time, I would love for you to follow me! This not only shows my faithful readers, but it also links me to your blog so I can share the love! I would love to become more connected with you, that is if you want me to! It's located at the bottom of my sidebar. Go on, follow me! (This may seem like a shameless way to get readers, but it's not! It's a sincere request!)

So follow me! Leave comments! Get connected!

I want to hear from YOU.

Hope you're having the best weekend!

25 before 25.

If you have read my post "25 before 25" then you'll know what I am about to reference. 

The time has come. My 24th birthday came and went and it's now time to start crackin' down on my list. I have thought about how I am going to approach this, and my goal is to work through 2 items a month. So, being that this is the first month I suppose that I have to choose 2. Going easy on myself, I have selected. #2 and #15.

#2: Organize my office closet. 

#15: Minimize the stuff in our house.

While these two seem to go hand in hand, the reason I chose them is important. With the holidays coming up, we tend to accumulate more in the holiday season because of gifts, decorations, etc. I am hoping that I can make this happen. Of course I will document my progress along the way and will try not to show the scary amount of stuff we need to get rid of. 

Wish me luck, I only have a couple more weeks to make this happen!

Linen Lovelies

My cousin Chelsea from Green Apple Foto sent me the proofs to my first line of vintage clothing for Linen Lovelies! Tell me what you think! There are only a couple, but lots more are to come!

24.

Yesterday was my 24th birthday.

(I know, only 24.)

It was one of the most magical, love-filled days that I have had in my life. I rang in my birthday at midnight at one of our favorite bars with pumpkin cheesecake, candles and wonderful friends. I was awoken to a spectacular breakfast in bed. It was gorgeous!

Danishes, champagne, freshly squeezed orange juice, my choice of 2 newspapers; my lover knows my heart so well. We laid in bed and shared breakfast together and talked for a while. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, did some shopping, gift giving/receiving, and then later in the afternoon I had to go work at Brosenbrus. Little did I know that I was working so my husband and closest friends could plan yours truly a surprise party! 

I walked in the door home from work expecting something, I wasn't quite sure what, but I knew something was going on. I was pretty darn surprised! They had lit candles, made gourmet pizza, bought wine...it was wonderful. The house looked great and I was surrounded by the people that I loved the most!

One of the gifts I received: the most amazing set of ceramic canisters!

I got an amazing pair of boots from Josh, very sweet cards from my friends, perfumes, coffee and the best set of mugs EVER, and so much love! We all sat around the fire pit in my backyard and played the birthday game. For you who are not familiar with this game, it's where everyone in attendance shares a favorite thing/memory/story/thought about the birthday girl/boy. I sat in my backyard amazed by every single thing that each person said. From my besties, to my husband to my bosses; I was floored by their words. 

It was the best birthday ever! I wish I had more pictures, but I was too busy having a good time! Here is to 24! I can't wait to see what this year holds for me!

Feelin' the Heat. (Hopefully.)

While fall decided to creep up on us just this past week or so, I have been missing my fireplace really bad. It added so much warmth to my house, both in feeling and in heat. Josh and I have been talking about/looking for an electric fireplace. If we can't build one, let's get something that looks/feels like a real one, right?! Look at these beauties...

 

I would love something like this in the little nook by our kitchen. I want somewhere to hang Christmas stockings, somewhere to curl up with a good book and some wine, and I miss the feeling that it brought! All of these have that "real crackle" sound to them and have somewhat realistic wood inside.

What do you think about something like this? Is it corny, or could it be beautiful?

LR.

Just a sweet little home birth story that I got to be a part of!

Read about it here!

I have shared plenty about little miss Linden Rain, but I think the account from the mommy is even better. That day and a half was truly one of the most magical days of my life and I can't wait to be a part of it again!

I mean, my goodness! Look at this face! Go check out her birth story!

Woosh.

I have officially started the shopping extravaganza that is going to fill my Etsy shop. It has been such a good time. I don't have too many items yet, (10 dresses, a few skirts, some vintage beaded cardigans and a couple of handbags) but I am planning on finding/purchasing more when the time comes. I need to make sure that this is not going to be useless purchases.

Well, if no one buys anything, I really could keep everything. That's the great part about this all is that I would wear it all! While some of the pieces I got don't fit me, I am crazy in love with everything that I have purchased so far. 

This week:

Photography everything.

 

Designing photo tags for sales.

 

Celebrating my 24th birthday.

 

 

 Sometimes I think that I have too much on my plate. I love discovering something about yourself that you are passionate about, for me, I just have several things instead of just one. 

I can't wait to share it all with you next week!

 

 

 

Lately.

Vintage.

Among all of the amazing talks that I have had in the last couple of days, one of the most inspiring was one that I had with my newest, dearest friend Brittany. She is such a delight, but anyways, let me tell you about our conversation:

I recently started working at Brosenbrus. I had a conversation with my boss/friend about how amazing it is that he owns a business doing what he loves. This is his dream, and here he is, living it out everyday. While it is crazy hard work, he is still at it every single day. I told him about my love for vintage anything (particularly clothes/housewares) and that my lifetime goal is to have a store and sell the beautiful things that I love. 

That's the plan.

Brittany, carrying the same love for vintage, discussed with me kind of how we can make this happen. I think that I have a talent for finding such wonderful things. I LOVE it and really would love to somehow make this happen. Yesterday, still thinking about our conversation, went to one of my favorite second hand stores and purchased 8 dresses and two skirts. While I would wear every single thing that I bought, I can't wait to see what the response is going to be like. I'm crazy about this idea, and if it doesn't work, well then more clothes for my closet.

Just wanted to get this off of my chest because I am really excited about this! (Pictures/Items to follow soon in my Etsy shop.)