Man, life has been good lately. I haven’t been feeling that way on a daily basis necessarily – in fact – quite the opposite some days! But after browsing through my Instagram feed it feels hard to deny it – life is good.

The weather is finally warm and weekends are being spent outside on patios overlooking the city and eating delicious food from our favorite local food trucks. I’m constantly aware that we’re making some of the best memories during this time in our lives – hanging out with friends on the weekends, seeing our favorite bands live, having a beer and chatting on the couch into the late hours of the night!

Nate got his first tattoo on Sunday – there’s a little sneak peek of him on the table in the above photos! Some of you may have seen the tattoo already but I took some good shots with my big ol’ DSLR and I can’t wait to share those with you guys, along with the story behind what he got. It couldn’t be more perfect for him!

Don’t you all just love the bridesmaid card that my friend Kristie made and sent over? How perfect is the idea to give out paint swatches when letting your bridesmaids choose a dress in a various shade of a color? AND, how great is it that she chose various shades of mustard? I mean if I have to buy a dress in my favorite color *I GUESS* I will. Don’t be surprised if you see an inspiration board of mustard dresses plastered up here soon! There are a few events coming up that I need to buy dresses for- shew! Better be counting my pennies and saving up! Especially since I’ve started getting my hair professionally done to get back to platinum! It’s been so easy to get carried away with going out and having fun that we’ve realized we need to take it a little easy and save up for some of the things we have planned. I still have so many things I want to do/buy for our home. I can’t wait until we can fence in the backyard and I still need to work on a photo collage leading up the stairs! Oh and I want a record player (that works) almost more than I can stand it! Oh life, we’re just never satisfied are we? ;] But this evening I can thank Instagram for helping me realize that I should feel plenty satisfied and thankful! That’s my favorite part about these posts – reflecting back on my favorite pieces of the days! Have a great rest of the week and make sure to check back to see if you’re the winner of the Shabby Apple Giveaway over the next few days!

Sunday lunch at Logan’s Roadhouse. Yes, I’m aware that one of my eyes looks bigger than the other!
This weekend went by in a flash – as they all do. I spent most of last week sick and even had to call out of work on Wednesday for the first time since I started my new position. I’ll still be playing catch up this week – crossing my fingers that it will all go by quick since I have Friday off! Nate and I leave Friday afternoon to head to Louisville for his marathon on Saturday! Then on Sunday two of my very best friends from Sebring are stopping in to hang out with us for the day and spend the night! I am so excited to see them and have them here – HERE – in my house – in my city! The drive from Florida to Kentucky is quite a long one so I’m pretty understanding about not having a lot of visitors from home. It just makes it that much more sweet when friends do make the journey up here!

This weekend was a relaxing one and for that I’m so thankful. I jumped into my pajamas almost immediately after getting off of work on Friday and had no shame! I watched the last half of the first season of Hart of Dixie (again, no shame), stayed up late, ate pistachio gelato, and slept in way later than I should have. We did manage to do a few adult tasks – we bought all new pillows and enough paper towels to last us until next year. Ok, not really but – there was a ridiculous sale on paper towels at Target and we felt pretty awesome about the great deal we got. See? There is nothing more responsible than having the foresight to stock up on paper towels when they’re cheap. Saturday night Nate fell asleep on the couch and I went on to bed. He has slept on the couch a little to avoid coming down with whatever I’ve had and even though I was feeling mostly better I went on upstairs without him – he just looked too comfy to move. A few hours later I finally just came back down stairs and asked if I could sleep on the couch with him- ha! I literally couldn’t go to sleep without him after just a few nights apart. We slept cuddled and squished on the couch for a few hours before we both woke up like, “Uh… there is a queen size bed upstairs … what?” and made our way up to bed. It was just nice to sleep in our squished little ball for a few hours. Sometimes I think about these times where we’re doing just what we want – just the two of us. It’s fun to picture what our life will look like when it’s not just us anymore. That’s still a ways off my friends, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on my mind! Like .. all of the time.

Have a great Monday!! (..and if you’re reading via a feed reader please stop by and check out my new design!)

January seemed to last forever, and yet? It kind of feels like it also flew by! Life has felt a little un-inspired this month. BUT! I wont go on and on about that. We all know that it’s January’s fault, right? The dreary Winter months do it to us all. Lately I’ve been daydreaming about what it would be like to live in San Francisco. I can’t even imagine! After our trip there last year it’s all I can think about! I certainly don’t want to live further away from my family or far away from Nate’s – but I really do think Nate and I would feel so at home there. It’s easy to see yourself somewhere else, isn’t it? The grass is always greener, right? Well, don’t worry – I’m pretty content with my beautiful yard full of grass. Can’t blame a girl for dreaming though!
I don’t know about you guys but I’m beyond happy it’s finally the weekend! I’m looking forward to getting my house organized, going through my closet/planning outfits for the blog, and having a little get together at our house for Super Bowl Sunday! I’m busting out my Valentines Day Owl decor that my awesome Sister-in-law, Erin and my sweet Nephew & Nieces got for me last year! Can’t wait. Here’s to a very inspired February!

PS: There is a lovely little giveaway going on over at MissHammer.net! Everyone loves a cute little bow, right? =) You could win two of them!

PPS: Show me your favorite iPhone 5 cases!! I can’t seem to choose one!

Well, my goals for 2013 are in full swing! I made it to the gym 5 times last week and I’m back at again this week! Sharing my resolutions with my blog readers really kicked my butt into gear! I feel a sense of accountability to myself of course, but also to you guys! It seems a little silly but if it works, who cares? Obviously (see above photo) I’d like to take a moment to thank ‘coffee’ for it’s role in helping to motivate me as well. I’ve also been snapping a photo a day for my 365 project. I feel like I may be a little overly excited about one week of keeping my goals on track but I’ve always been a firm believer in celebrating small accomplishments and taking everything one day at a time!
Managing my time more efficiently is still a work in progress. I’m constantly striving to achieve the perfect blogging schedule for my life. Creating a rough draft of what I need to accomplish each week on Google Calendar has been working fairly well! It helps me to schedule posts out a bit in advance if I need to and keeps me on my toes about sponsorships! Weekly outfit photos and YouTube tutorials, vlogs, and reviews are at the top of my list for Take-Hart this year! I think incorporating more video might be a fun way to reach a bit of a different audience. Basically, I just want to make this a place to interact and share the things I love the most while hopefully inspiring you guys to find something new and different that you may love too!
As per usual – I’m looking forward to the weekend already! It’s only Tuesday evening! This last photo is an accurate description of what we spent the past weekend doing. My Mother-in-law’s kitchen is undergoing a complete remodel and we’re DIYing it! Or should I say; Jonathan and Nate are completely DIYing it! I did learn how to cut drywall so I’m feeling pretty great about my future as a construction worker. Or maybe just as the kind of woman who decides she wants to move the walls around in her home. Another possible profession on the list: hair colorist. You may have noticed my hair is not quite the same shade red up there in that first photo! I mean, you probably didn’t notice because it’s hardly noticeable and didn’t really turn out like I planned it (I should keep my day job). The good news is that I really like it and I think it’s probably a healthier step toward the lighter/brighter red blonde copper color that I want to achieve. I definitely want to do a review of the products I used – hello YouTube! ;]