FarmHouse table

My friend Brie and I hit up NYC city this past holiday weekend, and let me tell you we had a blast! More on that trip later.....
While we were gone, Andy had a big surprise for me! He stayed back with Zion to enjoy the weekend and hit up grad parties. But, He did more than that! I have been begging for a table for our dining room. We were using the outdoor glass top patio table from Menards. Since last fall, we have been planning on building a table. When I say "we" I mean the hus:) We have talked about using our remainder of barn wood we used in the studio. Or building a concrete top table, using pieces from a organ that is broken from church. All which we still want to implement  with other pieces.
Andy decided to use the barn wood.  The table is 80x42 for the size. It is gorgeous!

This picture is the beginning stages of the build. He spent all weekend on it. Thanks to our amazing neighbors and friends that helped with building it or playing with Zion.

Here is the top of the table during the process. Isn't the wood awesome! The wood is from an old shed that Andy's parents got us;) I m in LOVE.

This is a picture of it in the dining room before I got home. We will easily be able to seat 10 people and probable jam more in when hosting holidays. We still have to get more reclaimed wood to wrap the legs with. Andy treated the wood with an outdoor stain to protect the wood and a clear coat of varnish to shine it up a bit. I love the simplicity of the design and the character it has! It's awesome!!!!!!

If only all wood had this much charm.

When I got home from my trip at midnight on Memorial Day I knew something was up when I smelt the lovely aroma of stain in the garage. I went straight to the dining room to see the lovely present! Andy even picked a rose from our yard and put in a vase:) So sweet. I love what this table represents.....LOVE. work. It will host many gatherings and conversations. It will bless many! The Cass Fam will cherish it forever!

We used existing chairs that we already had. They are all Target, but we purchased them at Goodwill for super cheap. I really want a bench on one side and eventually we will have a banquet at the front window with a cushion. Oh the dreams.....

more later...just wanted to get this up and share the love. call my hus for a consult on table today at 507.319...jk. loves. 

the things that get me excited!

oh man. the things that get me pumped up in my 30's....this week it it a popsicle maker that is A-Mazing! I got it on amazon for $50. We love it.

You can get one that makes 2 or 3 molds at a time. We went with the one above that makes 3 at a time. It is the easiest thing to use. You store the unit in the freezer always. You allow it to freeze for 24 hours and take it out and pour your popsicle creation in. We used juice and fresh fruit. It takes 7 minutes to make. that is it.

You can do 2 to 3 batches at a time. So Andy and I made 9 and put them in the freezer. It is so great knowing you are having a healthy alternative for a snack. Especially considering it costs $5 a pop to buy a box of popsicles at the grocery store.

Here are two of ours that we made. I used organic natural apple juice, bananas and kiwi. They were delis!

Lil Miss Zion was a huge fan as well! So this will be a Cass staple this summer for cooling off Prego mama and keeping the 2 year old refreshed!

Process of building my Studio 1.

I thought it would be fun to go back and share the process of building the hair studio with you. It is so crazy to imagine it not being here now :) It was always a BIG dream for me to have my own studio. Especially when I became a mom, I wanted to make it happen fast. The typical Christy gets pretty impatient and wants things to happen asap.
So Andy and I started looking for a house we could construct a studio. We looked for about 4 months when we found our house! I knew the minute I stepped foot into our living room that this house was ours. I fell in love with everything. Originally, we were going to build an addition/four season porch concept for the studio. But after evaluating the situation, we decided to finish off the basement and build a studio where the "guest bedroom" would be. We started with putting in the concrete outside. Our awesome neighbor/friend Mike and his team put in the steps and patio area.

Here are some shots of the process of the concrete. The photo above shows where the patio outside the salon is. The window right there is where the studio is, and to the left of that is now the the door for the salon. After the concrete was framed in, Andy and I decided to add a curvy sidewalk and another patio off our sliding door in the family room. Below is a shot of before....

Doesn't it look awesome!? I love how it is unexpected! So next up was the framing of the basement. Nothing was done when we moved into our house for the basement. So it was really fun to be able to do the project start to finish....well we are working on that:)

Here is a shot of wall where the transom window is now. In this corner is where the fireplace is now. And the right wall is the where the processing area is with art on the walls.

This is our friend, Ernie working away on the framing. This is a shot from the "family room" looking into the salon. Pre/ walls and doors and windows that we added. So the left wall with the window on the left is the bathroom. and the window on the right is in the studio.

Here is a shot of the framing being put in where my "station" is. On the other side of the wall is the bathroom.

This picture is another shot of the wall for my station. You can see the bathroom being framed up too. The hallway leads to the family room as well.

You can see the framing for the transom window here. After standing in the room and envisioning everything I knew that I needed more light. So I begged Andy to add the transom and he was game. :) Also, to the right of the window is where the door is now.
Thats is for now...more tomorrow...

Summer 2012 Hair I m Lovin'

Had my eye on some looks right now that I m a fan of...thought I would share.

obsessed with the bun! high bun to be exact, if only my hair was long. if you don't have much hair, try the  sock bun as shown below:

I m also loving short hair styles for women still. I think if the cut is done right, Short hair can look incredibly feminine and effortless! nothing better than dangly earrings and some fun short hair.

Aren't these fun?

And then there is always red hair that draws me in like no other. It is so distinct and more uncommon which I enjoy.

This is so 1960's classic. the long bob. the natural red tones.  I really LOVE the whole look. speaking of 60's, I really love using silk scarfs for something different when styling hair.

and you don't have to have long hair to pull this off. I do it all the time. It is a great alternative for bad hair days or days you don't wash etc.

not the best picture of my head wrap, but you get the concept. All you do is take a square scarf and fold it in half so its a triangle. Then fold it up, and tie the knot on top. I tuck the ends under the scarf. Its so fun and a great way to add color!

Isn't this updo Gorgeous? I love the simplicity of it. I have played around on some updos with this concept. It is just twisting or braiding it back and doing a messy bun. Easy, right? :) It can be hard if you haven't done many updos..but it is fun to try!

On to men, I love variations on this cut. I have done many different tweaks to this. It is the best of both worlds: having groomed sides and some length for the top. Yet, it is still biz profess! 

Oh Mad Men, how you have turned us on to a new era! Retro. Classic. Sophiscated. I love the 1960's look for men too. :) It is definitely a look that never leaves. Many men can pull this off. Whether it is for a one night out or daily wear.

I really like this look too. It is fun to have non clipper cuts done as well. Experimenting with some texture with the razor and being creative. This is a great look for a guy with a lot of hair that needs to typically be thinned out or texturized. 

A great cut for someone that wants some youthful edge!

What do you guys think? What looks are you liking? It is endless with ideas! 

Zion Leilani Favs

It is crazy how when you become a parent how often we say, "It goes so fast." or "I never want to forget this." Andy and I often say that we are in the "best days" of our lives right now. makin the mems:) Then there is the guilt of I should be taking more pictures, more vids, journaling more etc. But, it is true. All I want to do is put these moments that are so simple that overwhelm my JOY jar of life and remember them forever. I thought I would jot down a few of my favs right now.....

First off, Zion lingo. Holy cow is this girl talking sooo much....

"surkey" is turkey. which is she is obsessed with watching in our backyard/woods. she even copies how they eat. ha.

"ay" is hair. so, "mommy, do my ay" is a normal thing I hear. along with, "fe-her" for feather.

"apple juice" is all smoothies, juice. she loves. Inta Juice is her fav of course! minus the strawberries and dairy.

She loves wearing her Dora underwear over her diapers. comfort I guess.

She loves playing with daddy outside/in the woods.. We have awesome neighbors that she plays with. "Syd" Sydney, "Bom" Brom, "Colun" Collin, "Care-Rine" Caroline.

"Bub-ules" Bubbles. obsessed. we seriously have to bring them with everywhere.

"bight out" bright out. this child is so sensitive to the sun. in the car, she has to have her "ga-ga's" googles, aka sunglasses on to protect her from the rays. We constantly have to re-direct her so she is looking away from the sun. Also, when I give her breakfast, we often have to close the curtains in the kitchen so the sun is not in her eyes.

She loves everything with pockets. So her sweatshirts must have them. I love how she stands like her daddy too. It makes my heart melt.

"fip-fops" flip-flops. are worn a lot. It is between fip-fops and rain boots on a daily basis.

"mommy sa-fe" is mommy coffee. I m a fan I guess. ha.

I love how when I ask Zion, "How much does mommy and daddy love you?" she responds with, "very much". Also, when we put her down for naps and bedtime, she always says "mommy daddy nap?" when we lay her down in her crib. Which we say, "yes, Zi. We are going to bed too. "

When I fill up the water pitcher in the morning for Tala, She knows right away that mommy "wer" work.

Z loves to paint and color.

Z loves the color pur-pur (purple)

Z loves to hold and take care of her babies. bouncing with them. shhhh-ing them like I do with her when she is upset. feed them. change their diapers. etc.

Z loves pointing out mommy and daddy's "sar" car.

Z loves her almond mil(k) and goat cheese.

Z loves playing with her little friends.

Z loves to say hi to my baby in my belly! and give her kisses and hugs. precious.

Z loves to sing Baby Beluga, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Happy Birthday.

She is tender hearted! Sensitive. Hilarious. Loving. Crazy and our little blessing!

the making of a dining room

It's funny how moving into a new home takes awhile to get acquainted. It is a lot like meeting people and building a friendship. Andy and I moved into our home on Dunlap a year and a half ago and I am slowing making it ours. I have learned to not rush things when it comes to paint colors, decorations etc. I have been in the "I want to get to you know you phase" with our home.
Especially with the basement finish/Tala Hair Studio open last fall, taking up a lot of time and mula. But I have been really excited for our dining room as of late. When we moved into our house, the previous owners used it as a study/bonus room. (picture below)

Zion was 9 months old when we moved into the house and we originally went with the same concept. Except we added toys to the mix :) But after further thought, I really want a dining room. At our old house, we had one and I have missed the formality of it. I love how cozy a dining room can be. Also, we love to host, so it gives us way more space for dining and that way the cook doesn't have to see the mess in the kitchen post prep! So Pinterest is my friend like everyone and I have been pinning and dreaming for our "dining room". 

Around the holidays we received a gift of a "broken chandelier" that needed some Cass love. So we switched out the old chandelier that is in the above photo (which is now for sale...hint hint) for something that was more us! I have been eyeing this amazing coconut chandelier from West Elm for awhile and we got the blessing of getting a damaged one that basically needed a light kit. 

So when Andy's fam was here for Christmas, Andy's dad and him put it in for me! They hit up Lowes and bought a cheap light and used the "kit" essentially to make ours up and running. 

This is a shot of Andy's dad the day they were taking down the old light. You can also get a peek at the hot mess my room was before. No theme. No concept. and Plastic table :) Classy Christmas in the Cass Casa. Next up, was PAINT! PTL for paint. I knew I wanted this room to be the darkest in the house for some mood lighting! I love a cozy, romantic and relaxing environment while eating. So we went with the same color we have on our TV wall in the basement. It is Sherwin Williams, Urban Bronze in Satin. It is part of their HGTV line for color. It instantly changed the dynamics of the room. I love it. 

Next up, was some colorful art to liven up the space. My BFF, Jody sells amaze fabric, which I have mentioned before. Well, last summer she ordered the new Amy Butler line called "Lark" and I fell in love.

 It was during my salon build and decor planning. I fell hard for anything with "ikat" and "chevron" right off the bat. But, even 9 - 12 months ago it was hard to get your fingers on items with those patterns. So when Jodes ordered this line she knew I would be obsessed. She was right! So Jody and I decided to do some wall art with the fabric. I bought 14 canvases that were 12x12 in size from Michaels. 

     

So we went ahead and stretched the fabric on the canvases. We used a staple gun and it worked like a charm! It is such fun art for a small budget while making a big statement! So finally, a couple weeks ago, my amazing hus hung them for me! I love it. 

So here you can see the amazing Urbane Bronze paint, as well as the Chandelier! Doesn't it make a diff? I love it!!!! We hung the canvases on the wall with a few inches in between to balance it out! I had fun deciding where to put each pattern. 

Here is a close up of the detail of the fabric. Seriously, LOVE! 

So we obviously hung the canvases 4 across/4 down with 2 "filler" square frames from Target to balance it out and to switch it up a bit! Do you likey? I do:)

Just another shot to it. When we put these up I decided to switch up my entryway too. I used everything that I already owned. I just went in a few rooms to retrieve some goodies. 

The ottoman and big plant is from Target. I got the table at Goodwill, but it was originally from Target too. The lamp is from Pottery Barn which happens to match the paint perf. I love moving things around, makes you feel like you are shopping! 

So that is the progress on the D.R. We have a long ways to go.......the current D.R. table is our outdoor patio table. ha ha. Oh the magic of a table cloth. Andy is going to be building us a harvest table to seat 12 soon! I can't wait. We have some really fun ideas for that....updates to come. We are also going to build a banquet at the front windows with storage and built in shelving on both sides. I want all of that to be white, so it will really pop out against the dark grey. We also have to hang things on the two opposing walls...but it all comes with time. hope you enjoyed....ta ta