Viva is an understatement...

Fabulous Las Vegas....sin city for some, but just a fun-filled family getaway for us! Ryan and I are lucky enough to both have amazing families who enjoy a good time, especially in Vegas! Jack & Susan were so gracious to include my parents for the weekend, and after seeing how much fun my mom & Susan had at my bachelorette party in Vegas last year, I knew this trip would be no different.

The weekend started with the token Bloody Mary on our Southwest flight. Ok, two token Bloody Marys on our Southwest Flight. We got picked up at the airport and headed straight to the hotel!

welcome!

We rushed to get ready and opened gifts for Jack's birthday, after all we were in vegas and were looking for any excuse for a party...

happy birthday Jackson!

my partner in crime

a break from school & work equals a good time to party

the trio

my fun new family

the vegas crew

dinner at Shibuya

We went to XS at the Encore and danced for what felt like only minutes! The night flew by and we ended it with a fun game of Baccarat in the casino at the Wynn (followed by late night pizza & french fries of course).

Exausted after our 5:00am curfew from the night before, we all decided that a big breakfast followed by the pool sounded pretty nice. After stuffing myself with eggs benedict, pancakes, fruit, bacon, toast, coffee, & orange juice (not to mention the previous late night 4:00am feast) I got the news that Victoria Secret Angel, Marisa Miller would be at Wet Republic. Great, just how I had always envisioned meeting one of the hottest supermodels in the world, hung over and bloated. She was in the cabana next door to us and was nothing but nice. She was gracious enough to pose with all of us!

As if the day could get any better, we all headed back to the room to get ready for another big night out. Ryan got ready much sooner than the rest of us and decided to randomly call some old friends we hadn't seen in a while, Marcus & Audrey. As fate would have it, Marcus & Audrey were actually in Las Vegas for business and had no plans for the night! We invited them to dinner and they joined us at the Bank at the Bellagio after.

pure fate!! two of our favorites.

all the girls at the Bank

Words cannot describe the fun & excitement that the weekend had to offer, so I put together a little video with our theme song from Vegas.

Press play to watch the full Vegas experience! Enjoy :)

how-to-headboard

the finished product...read on to learn how

Working as an interior designer you learn to use your resources, and you learn to use them well. At work, we're resourceful in a way that helps us to be efficient, to get things completed in a timely matter. You need to know the size of a half basketball court? Google it. You need to know where that pillow came from in that Betty Lou Phillips book? Call her. You need to draw a custom furniture piece and need some inspiration for an authentic period style? 1st Dibs it.

Being resourceful at your own home however is a different ball game. At home, us designers use our resources in a way that helps us to be FRUGAL!! Yes, I said it. Frugal is an ugly word, but I've learned to use it, and I've leaned to 'use' it wisely. Being a newlywed and young designer, let's face it- I'm slightly broke, but in a good way. Broke in way that keeps me on the seat of my pants striving to make more and stretch my dollar further. Broke in a way that makes me tap into talents I didn't even know I had. Even doing small side jobs for some extra fun budget (ill explain the fun budget thing later). I even got so thirsty for some new gladiator sandals that I offered to make my dads 35th medical school reunion name tags on photoshop!

proof! very vintage -eh?

Point of the matter is this: Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you work in a field of luxury and are surrounded by it for 8 hours a day with upscale clients and high demands, you learn to crave nice things... and well my budget can't satisfy those cravings... Therefore I have come to the conclusion that when life gives you lemons you make your own silk dupioni Pottery Barn-knock-off headboard!

The How-to-Headboard

Items you will need:

1. Picture of inspiration

2. Carpenter

3. batting

4. hot glue gun

5. staple/nail gun

6. fabric of your choice

7. cording

8. buttons

9. patience.

Step 1: find a headboard shape that you like. Some may be tricky depending on the complexity of the shape, but any carpenter should be able to carve what you want according the the dimensions you specify. Pictures are always helpful to show your general inspiration.

my Pottery Barn inspiration

(Priced at $899)

Abby, (my friend/coworker) and I were able to draw our headboards on CAD (CAD is the computer program that we use to design floor plans and elevations, and custom furniture pieces). Our boss, Jeff then generously had our carpenter make the frame of our headboards. (It was a very nice surprise and saved us even more money!!)

Step 2: cover the entire headboard with batting... for us cheapos, hot glue guns work wonderfully in our demographic :) Trim edges, leaving 3-4 inches around to pull and wrap the fabric.

1: cover with batting

2: trim edges & leave 3-4 inches to wrap around

Step 3: Turn head board over or prop against a wall and pull fabric around edges and fasten with staple gun.

3: pull edges and staple to back of board

Step 4: Piece fabric together for most efficient coverage and sew it together!! (Luckily I had Abby to help me with this part, but I felt very domestic none-the-less!)

Step 5: My headboard had two parts, the outermost portion on bottom and the small piece on top that created a 1/2" edge for dimension. I placed the fabric over the headboard and used pins to keep the fabric in place as I positioned it. Then I went back around with a nail gun, and at that point, there's no turning back, so make sure and get your fabric right where you want it.

5: Nail fabric to top edge of board

6: Now staple the remaining fabric to the back of the board. If you have curves or sharp corners it may take two people to get fabric positioned correctly.

6: staple fabric to backside of headboard

7. Sew cording and hot glue (carefully) to the raised edge to give the headboard a polished and tailored look. Then cover buttons with fabric and measure where you want your tufts to be placed. Mark with a pencil then hammer a nail into the wood to make the fabric pucker. Finally hot glue the buttons to the top of the nails you placed as your tufts.

Ta-da!!

A few things to keep in mind. Pick your fabric wisely. I chose a taupe silk dupioni, which matches my bedding, but is very risky! The fabric shows all puckers and wrinkles and stretches slightly, but in the finished application looks very refined and tailored!

my custom creation!

(made for less than $100)

Total savings?? About $800!!!

Now thats being resourceful.

This takes a VERY long time! It took Abby & I the ENTIRE weekend to complete our headboards, but we sure had a blast (and some wine) while making them! Check out Abby's fun headboard!

Abby's custom headboard

If anyone has more questions about how to make a custom headboard or is interested having one made for you, let me know!

Round Up at the Ranch

So Ryan and I had planned to go on a spring break trip last weekend but changed our itinerary as soon as we heard it was round up at my dad's ranch. In the Thames family, this is big. The entire family gets together (with authentic cowboys of course) to round up cattle, pick guitars, drink beer, and most importantly eat lots of good home cooking. This year's round up would obviously be no different.... We headed to the ranch on Friday afternoon to meet up with everyone. My sister, Ginger, and brother, Sage, got there late, so Friday night was really just the calm before the storm.

Saturday arrived with a bitter wind-chill and icy frost, so luckily my dad moved round up to Sunday morning for us wimps. The Thames family, always ready to make lemonade out of lemons, decided to spend Saturday doing leisurely activities.

These activities include, but are not limited to:

waking up and eating a huge brunch, drinking a beer after breakfast, driving around to look for hogs, going back to the ranch house to play an early game of power hour (parents and grandmother included)

sibling push up challenge

more "games" by fire pit

picking guitars

Sage & Chris sharing a moment on the swing set

dancing & tequila for the men

eating, watching movies, and FINALLY sleeping :)

Our day of leisure was great, but the 6:00 am Sunday morning 'cattle call' sure was sobering. After a stout coffee and two Advil, I was able to appreciate the beautiful morning that it was. I've always loved the ranch but more than anything I respect the incredible determination my dad has to keep the place going.

He is such a Marlboro man!!

This year was particularly fun because we had so many people to help out! Everyone had their station and some of us would hop in to brand, vaccinate, or castrate as needed (and no, I did NOT castrate for those who were wondering. Branding and vaccinating are as far as I go!)

Branding

sorry boys, castrating

everyone who helped with the cows

the kitchen crew

Ginger and my Emma bear

My boss gave me a great camera for my birthday (A Canon Rebel that is so nice I don't even know what all the buttons do yet!!) I barely know how to use it but am planning on taking a class to figure it out!! I have a new found interest in photography and would love to maybe one day get into it. Here are some fun shots I snapped during the weekend that I had a chance to doctor in Photoshop.

my brother, Sage, getting ready for round up

Cowboy Colton (aka the cutest ring barer ever!)

Ryno

cow feeder

THE cowboy himself.

good 'ole west texas sunset

The T Lazy T Ranch

There's just nothing like food fun & family!!

our wedding story

Ryan and I have been married for almost 9 months now, and although it may be far beyond our wedding day, we're still newlyweds for at least 3 more!! So... before ANY more time flies by, I'm dedicating this particular blog post to our wedding.

Let me start with our engagement, and oh man, do I have a story for you. It all started when I received an offer to work for Mark Hampton, a very prominent design firm in Manhattan, the summer before my last year in college. Being a self proclaimed home body, I was very indecisive on accepting this amazing offer. Even though it would only be a one month-long internship, I found myself worried that I would get home sick and be way out of my league in such a city! Ryan, being an opportunist, was so supportive and encouraging of this incredible offer and said that if I ever wanted to be a serious designer that I couldn't pass up working for Alexa Hampton herself! (Little did I know the plans he had in store!)

Alexa Hampton

{side note: I will definitely be blogging about my internship experience. Alexa was so amazing to intern for, and I learned a wealth of knowledge during my short time there}

After much encouragement from my mom & Ryan, I accepted the offer and headed to New York City with visions of Reese Witherspoon from Sweet Home Alamaba in my head :)

So I take the plunge and head to New York. Unfortunately my interior design friends received internships else where so my amazing mom went with me to "supervise". We sublet an apartment from MR. BIG himself. I swear. This guy was foreign and straight out of a movie....navy sports coat, jeans, & prada shoes....not my type, but certainly easy on the eyes! The internship was going 100% as planned and my mom and I were fitting right in. The city was amazing and the possibilities were endless. My mom stayed for 2 weeks and decided it was time to head out. Luckily Ryan was coming to visit the next day.

my mom and I in front of the

office building where I interned

Ryan arrived on a Friday evening just as I got off work. I met him at my apartment and we headed out to a really quaint dinner on the Upper East. Saturday we woke up and went for a nice jog in central park. The day was going to great... we went for frozen hot chocolate at the acclaimed Serendipity and continued to peruse around New York. I took Ryan to store after store and never heard ANY complaints (looking back that should have been my first clue that something was up.) Finally at about 4:00 Ryan mentioned that we may want to go home and get ready for dinner. He mentioned this place that he had heard of called "the 21 club" that he thought would be nice for dinner. He said that it was mainly a bar but that they had a small dining area that would seat 21 people (should have been my 2nd clue.) I had been there before and knew that it was no casual dining...I put on a black dress, he a suit, and we headed on our way. As we passed Central Park he had the taxi driver drop us off. We were early for our reservations so he though it would be a great chance to take a carriage ride. (my 3rd clue.) Unfortunately, the city was experiencing an unusual heat wave and the horses were not permitted to be out in the sun. Ryan became unusually flustered and I could tell he was in panic mode... No more clues! Now I knew, something was up.

Living in the moment, Ryan asked if I wanted to go for a walk. My heart sank and I knew what was coming!!!! I played along and hiked through Central Park in my black dress and 4" pumps. We dodged marathoners as we headed to a quaint little grove with a creek inside the park. Luckily the crowd was starting to thin a little and I could feel him slowing down... looking for the perfect spot. Just when the sweat started rolling down the back of my legs and my feet couldn't take it any longer, he stopped- got on one knee-

and asked me to marry him!!

We were so in the moment that we didn't even acknowledge the small crowd that had gathered and started applauding when he dropped his knee!! I mean I felt like I had fallen straight into a jewelry commercial!

I couldn't have dreamt it any better!

So we head to dinner and of course I try to call my mom straight from the taxi (the most important call of a girl's life, and my own mother didn't answer!!) I called my dad...no answer...

surely they were expecting this!! Where were they? Ryan told me not to worry about it that we would touch base later. He said that he had champagne waiting for us at dinner.

We get to the restaurant and follow the hostess up a small elevator to the private dining room. He opens the door, and BOTH OF OUR FAMILIES WERE THERE TO SURPRISE ME!! I thought I might faint.

so shocked

amazed by his planning

the ring

our wonderful family

It was the most exciting moment of my life and to think that someone I love had planned the whole thing out, just for me, was indescribable! We had an amazing meal, then went to The Marquee to celebrate!! Our families stayed in New York and celebrated together for a few more days. New York was the perfect backdrop, to what I felt like, the perfect engagement! My mom and I decided to take advantage of our last week in New York to do some serious wedding planning!

I tried on dress after dress, even going into the very high dollar places that I knew I couldn't afford, but just to say I did! Being two peas in a pod, my mom and I had the most fun time brainstorming about all the meticulous wedding details we had to look forward to.

my beautiful mom- isn't she cute?

The life leading up to one's wedding is actually quite morphed. You put unyielding emphasis on "life changing" decisions such as satin or lace, Vera or Pricilla, formal or semi-formal... When inside the wedding bubble that society has so conveniently created, one feels these topics are perfectly normal. Flowers, food and wedding fundamentals become daily jargon inside your already hectic head, to the point where you actually start believing that your napkin design could quite possibly determine the future of your marriage.

Luckily I had my wonderful mom to conquer all the meticulous wedding decisions....Being the polished city girl from Houston that she is, she faced each step of the wedding process with creativity and class. We had so much fun together as we made our day trips to Dallas- squeezing any time we had to shop details between work and school! It was such a busy and stressful time (working, graduating, & wedding planning) but my mom always found a way to put things in perspective and lend a helping hand. She has always been my go-to-girl and planning the wedding was no different. Haha- I wish I had recorded the countless late night phone calls we had when designing the graphics for the save the dates- no one would have believed us.

bridal portraits.

So the planning continued and our mother-daughter team seemed unstoppable...Nothing could get past us...."flowers: check. band: check. specialty lighting: check check."- we had this thing beat....Two computer crashes and one forgotten garter later, we can now look back and laugh, cry, and celebrate the amazing wedding that it was.

Picture credits go to Kristin Bednarz. She is the most amazing wedding photographer and she captured every moment perfectly! Check our her blog and book her for your next big event!

the ceremony

the reception

our toast

yummy cake

amazing party

our first dance

our best friends

the most incredible parents

that made it all possible

the wedding.

The wedding was simply amazing. It was everything I had ever hoped for and more. We were so grateful to have had all of our friends and family with us to share in such a memorable time.