new decor

barclay's fat chef wine holder!

eat, drink and be merry.

the home sign on the shelf. and i got this little baby for $3!

this was $3 too and it's the only easter decoration i have!

i love home goods!

here are some things we added to the house this weekend...

easter cake

i'm making a raspberry lemon cake for easter tomorrow.

it's from scratch and a little difficult but i think it's turning out great!

if you'd like the recipe go here.

the actual cake recipe was pretty simple. your basic lemon cake. but the icing and assembly was totally different than anything i've done before. so here's the pics!

beating the sugar, lemon juice, cream of tartar, salt and egg whites together over boiling water.

after the sugar is totally dissolved, take off the heat and beat with a standing mixer {i don't have one of those so i had to do it by hand mixer} for about ten minutes until you have almost stiff peaks.

here are my stiff peaks!

then you beat in 3 sticks of butter...it's a lot but it's yummy!

hear are my cakes cooling.

you cut each cake in half so you have four even layers.

get all your layers ready and your jam and icing.

spread the jam on the first layer.

spread the icing on the second layer.

repeat alternating the jam and icing until you have your last layer and then ice the entire cake with the left over icing.

i added raspberries to the top of the cake for decoration and more flavor!

enjoy!

p.s. i'm not sure why my pics got bigger! but i hope you love the cake!

dallas' new "toy box"

so i got dallas a basket to put all his toys in so they're not laying around the house for me to stub my toe on!

he kinda flipped out a little bit!

dal's pastimes

so here's what dallas has been up to.

and just in case you were wondering who gary is...

snug as a bug in a rug

i'm looking for a rug.

i'm not really looking to buy one just yet. {did you know rugs are really expensive?}

i just really want one in our living room and i've been looking around but everything is waaay to pricey.

here's a few i really like...

pottery barn

target

pottery barn

target

pier one

what do you think?

adjusting

so i was so afraid of dallas adjusting to life on our own again.

why?

well, i was afraid of the noises he'd hear and start his bad barking habits again. i was also afraid of the time i'd be away from him. i didn't think he'd be okay with being at home for ten hours by himself.

so again, why?

i was totally wrong.

he's adjusted so well and he's loving his new home. he loves the other dogs in the complex {and there are A LOT of them!}. he loves the extra room we have. and he loves not being in his cage anymore!

he's been so good and the weather is finally nice so we've been walking every night this week and i only hope that continues {for both our sakes!}.

i couldn't be more pleased with him. and i don't think he could be more pleased with himself!

playing with mommy's hair stuff {he may or may not be a little gay. i have no comment!}

new pad

Well it's finally time to tell you all about the new place!

{I know you're falling over, dying to know, peeing your pants right now.}

The name of the apartment complex is The Grand Reserve at the Pinnacle. It is a huge complex, with 35 buildings. It has an amazing pool and gym. Lots of dogs, for Dallas. And so many different kinds of people. We like not living in a strictly college complex!

The apartment itself is more like a town home. We have a neighbor to our right but nothing on the left. There is so much room and it just feels more grown-up!

I'll just show you a slide show with captions, it'll be easier since there's a lot of pics! :)

WELCOME!

Our front porch. We've never had outside space. Like the 'P' flag? Luckily we both have 'P' last names! Notice my concrete owl?! LOVE.

End table Grandpa Pfau made. Coat closet. A few decorations on the wall.

Powder room...essential for two floor living!

Desk area. Two MACS!

Built in book shelves above the desk. Lots of knick-knacks! See the owl stuff? :)

View of front door from the living room. Still need more pics on the shelf on the wall and that cabinet is strictly for Dallas!

New t.v. Barclay bought. It's huge and in HD and we love it. It's going to be mounted above the fire place there.

Another view of the living room and Dallas on his thrown {aka the ottoman}.

New couch and Dal.

Kitchen view from the living room.

Love the decor above the kitchen cabinets. A little bit of Texas, vintage charm, flowers and UK!

Upstairs and of course Dal wanted to be in the pic!

Barclay's room. She's going to kill me for this pic so let's just not tell her!

My bathroom. I finally get to put up the super awesome and nice towels Myra gave me!

Upper bathroom cabinet. This bathroom has more storage than any bathroom I've ever had. And it's the biggest best shower too!

My DIY necklace storage. Got the idea from Real Simple.

Window seat and dresser in my bedroom.

My focal wall above my bed. Finally got the keys from Pottery Barn I've had my eyes on!

New bedding.

Close up of bedding and another pic of Dal. Man, he's an attention whore!

Bookcase and to the left is my closet and to the right is my bathroom.

Dallas' cage and my diploma frame!

So, what do you think? We've had so much fun decorating and making it our own place. We found a place here in lexington that sells home decor for really cheap called Home Goods. It's owned by TJ MAXX but it's even cheaper than that! I love that place and haven't had to spend too much to get the house the way I like! We also went to IKEA yesterday and wow! I love that place. We spent two hours in the store and didn't even go through every department. You could spend a week in there and still miss a lot!

Well, that's it. I'm sure we'll add more and move things around but we're already loving it!