coffee, blue jean & a cuban.

last night after packing some boxes (we have 1 month until we move eeekkk), bethany came over & we walked to cafe intermezzo for coffee and cake. i love this girl. she is a true gem & one little lady i will miss when i move. she is one of those people that i feel like i can share with. share things i wouldn't normally with others. i just really want to take her with me & i am sure cory would love her boo h.b. to come too.

we talked about everything you can imagine. husbands going on tours. marriage. babies. vegetables. gardening. dreams. a little bit of everything. she is genuine and i appreciate that in her so much. sometimes i feel like i am not a good listener when i am with her because i just want to tell her everything hahaha. i got home last night & said to myself, geez evanda, you talk a lot. haha. oh goodness. 

you will be hearing a lot about her on an upcoming feature i will be doing on the blog. a little interview and some pictures of her amazing business she has started right in the heart of atlanta. i am seriously so excited about her interview!

o yea & i guess i should mention that is going to be a new thing i will be introducing on the blog. interviews. not lame interviews with just a bunch of questions, but interviews with heart & soul & a touch of photography in there as well. so exciting!!!

wore some blue jean & print today & for lunch had a cuban sammich.

what are your plans for the weekend?

tell me.

i really want to know.

cheers,

mrs. estes

change is good & scary.

a lot of change is happening in the estes household. change is good, but scary right? cory & i were talking last night when we got home from some friends about how it is scary all the new things that are coming our way. things that we are not used to & we both agree we have become comfortable with where we are. with that being said we sign our rental agreement to a house in carrollton the end of this week or beginning of next. we won't be living full time in carrollton until jan.

                                        i introduce you to the new estes rental. so charming.

i absolutely love it. 

things i love about it- big basement for all of cory's music gear & room for storage- fenced in back yard with a cute little patio for a grill- huge old tree perfect for my eno- a swing on the from porch- 2 bedrooms- all hardwood floors- open kitchen.

you can literally walk to the square & church from where we are. some of our best friends live a few houses down!

another new thing that wont happen until the summer is school. i am going back for cosmetology. i have been wanting to go & learn this trade for a while now, but have not had the opportunity. i feel like if i want to go & get this degree now i need to do it before i have kids, right? 

finding a new job should not be difficult, but it is still a little stressful.  

moving in itself is a little crazy, but i am excited to be back in the country. i am sad to leave all of our friends in the atlanta area that we are used to seeing on the regular, but we will just have to make time for all of them. 

cory has a lot of opportunity that has been thrown his way & we are just praying for guidance & clarity.

i cannot wait to post picture of the rooms as i get them decorated, all the diy projects that will be happening in this little home, all of the new memories, all of the dinners, & our upcoming halloween party.

YAY!

i am on the lookout for a new sectional couch & i like this one, but i am not sure how comfortable it would be. i need comfort. 

from ikea here

can you believe that i might have my first kid in this house? 

i get little butterflies thinking about it.

on a side note i have left over cake from my birthday & our friends made us a yummy dinner last night.

cheers,

mrs. estes

p.s. let's all take a moment a realize how blessed we are. my heart is a little heavy for Israel after reading an article this morning. we are really blessed to be able to live the kind of lives we all do.

weekend recap.

i celebrated my birthday with family & friends on saturday at my moms house. i haven't had a chance to get those photos off the camera yet so i will make that a later post.

my husband went all out & bought me the best gifts!

love this purse so much. 

i love this tele plus- it is going to be so fun for me to play with!

a new bag & a 70-300mm zoom lens. yesssss.

my mom made me the coolest gift & stocked my vitamin pantry. she also  made me the best coconut cake ever.

seriously, this is a pencil that she made that i can hang on the wall. def. going in the craft room.

after my party we took tony & rebekah to gumbeauxs.

sunday after church i had a meeting and then hung out with my sister all day & spent the night with her. i had a dentist appointment to get my crown on monday so it was fun to hang with her & talk wedding talk. we also snagged some pretty nice purses from salvation army.

we literally could not make up our minds on dinner so we went to kroger, publix & zaxbys and got an assortment. chicken wings, pita chips, brie cheese and salami and iced tea from zaxbys.

sweet buddy.

cory picked me up from carrollton & then we headed to corner cafe to have some lunch and then headed home.

atlanta sure is pretty at night.

cheers,

mrs. estes

birthday weekend.

started my birthday weekend last night. picked up some fried chicken from publix for dinner & watched some sherlock holmes. why is there only 3 episodes? that show is so good.

tomorrow is my little get together at my moms house. i think i will always celebrate my birthday's at my moms. it reminds me of my childhood & i always feel young. i am turning 29 you guys. i feel like i have learned so much in my 29 years. i have grown a lot in the last few years. learned a lot about myself. learning how to say no to things. learning what true friends are. learning how valuable family is. learning to laugh. learning to celebrate everyday as a gift. i am looking forward to the last year in my twenties and plan on learning everything i can before i turn 30. who knows what the next year will bring, but i am really excited about it. what does the lord have in store for my life? that is the question. to all of you who will be celebrating my birthday with me- i love you guys to the max.

not going to be posting this weekend as i will be enjoying celebrating all weekend long!

wore my high-tops to celebrate early.

it's FRIDAY YA'LL

cheers,

mrs.estes

rentals- cheap tricks to add color.

i have been looking all over the place to find cool projects that can spruce up our soon to be rental home & i have found a few ideas that really stuck out.

simple & cheap. with rental properties i feel like there are all kinds of rules. one of my least favorites is the "you cannot paint the walls" what? wall color is magical even if you are painting the walls bright white. so. pinterest & my mind have been on this daydream binge of finding the remedy to my dilemma.

i plan on hanging colorful art- & using furniture as statement pieces. my sister is an artist & i want her to do some pieces for me as well as buy this one piece i have been wanting for a while.

                                                 these living room ideas are my favorite.

i am on the lookout for a really cool functional couch. i love this burnt orange!

i also love the idea of hanging old art work from when i was a kid. i have a ton of that stuff just boxed up so i plan on having a craft day & framing some!

DIY wood ideas to brighten up the space too.

i thought about doing this one, but changing hello to welcome.

or this piece where they blew up a hymn & framed it.

you can also add some color with a rug. i have always loved those cow hide rugs & ikea has a black one that i really really want. 

add a couple of throws to a sofa of your choice too!

i am a black, white & grey girl through & through, but bright colors do not scare me. 

add some color to furniture you already have! i have this really cool cabinet that i cannot wait to paint and use as my craft closet! that will be a full post in itself. sometimes the closet space in rentals are really small, but you can make do utilizing furniture you already have.

i am thinking of doing this color with the cabinet i have! its bright & will look so good with the black & white throw folded o top!

lamps are another way you can add some color or make them a statement piece.

there are plenty of ways you can add color by using things you already have to spice up a room. i am really excited to be moving and take pictures to show you guys the changes i will be making.  i love DIY projects & hopefully by then i will have another computer and can use my camera again.

in case you didn't know someone stole my husbands bookbag with our mac in it :( sad day.

cheers to future makeovers,

mrs.estes

antico date.

i love pizza. i love good pizza, but i love GREAT pizza. antico's is great pizza. have you been? if not, you should go & don't forget to take a bottle of wine with you.

i always get the margherita pizza, because i am a sucker for picking something amazing & sticking with it every time. 

we took a bottle of wine with us & my sister brought a bottle with her as well.  it was fun to take her somewhere that i love so much & see her enjoy it too.

this is  my soon to be brother in law & his friend antonio.

after dinner we headed to the gelato place & it was so good as expected of course. 

i had the caramel. yummy!

those little ice cream trash cans are the cutest!

one of each please?

she is the cutest. 

i LOVE that she is engaged now. 

my sweet man. love him so much.

cheers,

mrs. estes