entertaining / syd's bon voyage party

sorry for the radio silence the past few days! i have been way too distracted helping syd get ready from her mission (and exhausted at the end of every day). we finally sent her off today! she will be serving a mission in costa rica for the next year and a half. this has been the first missionary our family has sent off and i'd say we are doing pretty well so far. we are so excited to hear all about her experiences in costa rica.

before she left we threw her a little going away party. like most parties that bobette and i throw, we ended up doing everything last minute and throwing it together really quickly (exhibits a and b). we decided to go with a bon voyage/map/globe theme (although syd wouldn't let us write bon voyage because she won't be speaking french but spanish). we borrowed tons of globes and maps from our friends.

for the entry we put up some bunting and made a little (hand-drawn) adios sign. this was my first time ever using a sewing machine, and let me tell you, i am terrible at it. we had a bunch of strings of cut papers from this wedding, but i made a few that had map paper in them to go with everything else. we threw a couple of globes on the table and that amazing succulent vase. we added some baskets underneath for people's rainy shoes and umbrellas. you'll get details on our new favorite light later!

we put our dessert table in the dining room. we moved the dining room table against the hutch and put a vintage school map up as the backdrop. we used the leaf from the table as a pedestal for the globes we put on the table. we put a gray tray with the dessert napkins and plates, and had our emerald striped ikea tablecloth down. we used various white platters for serving the dessert.

this is our 'sydney shrine'. we got a large poster of her made at staples (the engineer prints are huge and only $3- we are kind of obsessed with them right now). we layered a world map, a map of california, and a map of costa rica. i got those ranunculus at the farmers market this weekend and have been adoring them ever since. i am a little bit too obsessed.

at the party we had to serve the classic carpenter sliders (that we served at my wedding and which my dad is famous for). we debated on how to present them without just having a pile of burgers and some disgusting toppings. we decided to put the burgers on their buns and have those on large platters. we still wanted everyone to make their dream slider, so we put toppings in little ramekins with little spoons. we had a platter of sliders and their toppings on each side of the table for crowd control (spreading the wealth is always a good idea). above the table we hung more shapes streamers and bunting. we had a giant globe as the centerpiece. oh and that tablecloth is actually my old shower curtain. it was 72x72 and fit perfectly on our square table- don't be afraid to use literally any linen that you have. 

this was such a fun and easy party to throw, and we were so happy to celebrate syd with all of the people we love!

my bedroom makeover / it's finished!

i am so excited to share the pictures from our bedroom (and my whole family is ready for me to be done talking about it- they keep telling me i'm putting way to much thought in to the smallest room ever!). but, this small room is home for the next few months and i want it to feel like it. plus, whatever i get for this room will carry over to our next place (until i get sick of everything again, of course). anyways, sorry if i overload you on pictures of my room- they all looked so awesome it was hard to trim them back.

{ps. find the before pictures here}

the desk area:

we started out with this same desk top from ikea, but in the smaller size. then we started buying the pieces to add to it (the drawers and shelf), and realized we needed the bigger desk. i got the glossy table top- which was totally worth the extra ten dollars. we painted the legs and brackets gold (with spray paint from home depot). i found that amazing chair at a thrift store and covered it with blue velvet that i got at a fabric store in san diego. most of the desk accessories are from target's clearance sections from the past couple of months (it's dangerous living only 1 minute away from target). 

hanging above the desk is my pendant from world market that i got from my bridal shower and still love. it is combined with my west elm terrarium and ikea planter (that i may have macramé-d myself- i'm super craftsy these days). next to the desk are ikea shelves with some of our collection of books. the curtains are actually shower curtains from west elm (we got them for our old house and still love them!)

the bed:

so we used our bed frame that we got from west elm when we first got married, but added a headboard. somehow when we went out to a sketch storage unit in santee with our friend, we found this amazing headboard and the guy sold it to us for $20! i was so excited. i was originally wood, and apparently a very funky wood because every time we tried to spray paint or just paint it little bubbles would come up. so jarman painted, sanded, and repainted that baby about 5 times. he was so sweet- he promised he would fix it as many times as he needed to for me to like it. and i love how it turned out. we had our gold dots on the wall made, and i spaced them 6 inches apart. the painting above the bed is from my old house, and was from home goods.

i love my art wall next to the bed so much. i get to lay in bed and look at all of my favorite art and maps of some of the places jarman and i have lived. i got most of the frames from ikea and target- i will probably do a whole post on the wall at some point. i have another ikea shelf that acts as my nightstand. we don't have enough room to scooch the bed over because our bed is so dang big (we can't and will never give up our king bed). i have my old urban outfitters lamp on the shelf where i charge my phone and computer at night. 

my emerald green sheets were from ross (i love them but you get what you pay for, they already have a hole in them). i got the grey blanket at the end on super clearance at west elm ($20- i didn't even want a blanket down there but how could i pass it up!). i love my nate berkus geometric duvet cover from target oh so much. i got all of those serena and lily pillows at home goods, which were another thing that i wasn't planning to buy- but how could i pass up sequined gold and silver pillows. i lucked out in my shopping for this room!

the dresser (and rest of the room):

you may recognize my dresser from my wedding. we painted it chartreuse so that it could be one of the only things that was my true wedding color (it was before it became the most popular color ever!). we skipped the priming/sanding so it is chipping super badly. and, it is still missing the drawer that my dad threw away. i still love it though. i have an ikea mirror and target light for my 'dressing station'. i stole that little geometric wooden stool from my mom.

lets just take a minute to talk about that necklace holder. this was my biggest splurge on the room. it is from west elm and is possibly the most amazing thing i have ever seen. more amazing than justin timberlake's future sex love sounds concert. i don't even know what else to say.

my lamp is vintage from my aunt, so is the mirror tray. all of the jewelry is my own. looking the other way you can see my teeny tiny closet. we took the doors off to make a little more room. i put up my old world market curtains to cover the clutter.

seriously though, i love my room (like you can't tell). i ask jarman every morning if he is so excited to wake up in such a cute room? he usually is. thanks to jarman for a. putting up with all my crap (how much i can talk about the tiniest little things), and b. putting up all my crap (building the desk, painting the room, hanging all my shelves and rods). also thank you mom for helping me with all the little details. she (literally) nailed the art wall and the desk area.

closet essentials / the pencil skirt

for this week's fashion post i teamed up with emma burton from inspire and instyle to show you four easy ways to wear a pencil skirt. we each chose one skirt and created casual and dressy outfits. pretty much anyone will tell you that pencil skirts are a fashion staple, and it's pretty easy to see why. you can style them up, down, tuck your shirt in or out, wear a belt over the skirt or shirt. the options are limitless. for my two outfits i used my leather fronted emerald green pencil skirt that i got from anthro around christmas time (similar here), and i haven't stopped wearing it since. it can be styled literally a thousand ways. 

i wore my casual outfit while running errands around town- it was super comfortable and i felt glamorous all day. i paired the skirt with a lacey t-shirt, some brown pointed flats (purchased recently at tj maxx), and my new red purse from target. i had been dying for a red purse ever since i found an amazing rebecca minkoff bag that was quilted and studded and way out of my price range. this one was from target and was about 20 bucks- score! i am also wearing my warby parker (home-try-on) glasses (these ones were my favorite!).

to dress the skirt up a bit, i threw on some hot pink booties (steve madden from a couple of years ago), and a peplum shirt (that jarman picked out for me for christmas all on his own- so proud!). i added a hot pink belt, a nude clutch and so pretty pearly jewelry. i love that with pencil skirts you can wear your shirts tucked, or untucked.

here is what Emma has to say:

I was excited to style a pencil skirt two ways because you more than likely have one in your closet already; it is effortlessly chic and immensely versatile! For my casual look, I paired the Banana Republic cream lace skirt (purchased this last summer on sale for $30) with a casual, batwing shirt with a fun pastel/chevron print from Forever21 (I found this shirt in the guest bedroom closet at my mom’s house, so I can’t tell you when it was purchased, but apparently it belongs to my little sister and I believe in finders-keepers.) I tucked the front of the shirt in and put on a skinny, neutral leather belt from J.Crew that really tied everything together. I found this pair of gorgeous Tory Burch sandals at Nordstrom Rack a couple months ago (for $99 and worth every penny) and swoon over them every time I put them on. I piled my dirty/mom hair into a braided bun to dress down the skirt and kept my jewelry casual with a Michael Kors watch and a couple of gold Alex and Ani bangles I usually wear every time I leave the house. The tan leather bag is a couple years old from Nordstrom, and the whole casual combination really makes me excited for spring and summer and sunshine. Can February be over now please? This outfit is casual enough to rock anywhere yet put-together enough for any lunch date, Sunday brunch, or baby/bridal/wedding shower.

The sheer cream top from the dressed-up outfit is another gem found in the magic guest bedroom closet, also purchased at Forever21 (my family is really into bargain shopping.) It was a little bit long for my liking, so I tied it in a bow instead of the knot I’m sure it was designed for. I wanted to go for a white/black contrasting look, so I wore these Valentino Rockstud knockoff flats via Forever21 (I wasn’t lying about the bargain shopping!) that I got on sale for $8 a couple months ago. I borrowed some black bracelets my mom was gifted, put on a necklace of vintage pearls and wore my fancy-pants studded sunglasses (also from Forever21…no comment.) A pale pink lipstick (NYX Strawberry Milkshake) put the final touch on a dressed-up look perfect for a wedding reception, a business meeting, or church function.

be sure to check out emma's cute blog here!

currently obsessed / warby parker

have you guys ever tried ordering glasses online? i have looked in to a few companies, but i'm always nervous to buy glasses without trying them on. you never know what they really look like until you see them on your face. i have tried those sites where you upload your pictures and they put the glasses on you too, still doesn't give me the right idea. 

i recently discovered warby parker. they are an online glasses site too, but with them you can order 5 pairs to try on at home for 5 days. it's almost better than shopping for glasses in person, because you get to have them for so long and wear each set for a day. i got my home try-on warby parkers last week and have been playing with them ever since.

when you order the glasses, you get a fun box in the mail that looks like this:

the glasses are all packed neatly inside...

i ordered four pairs of regular eyeglasses and one pair of sunglasses just for kicks. the sunglasses and the reddish glasses are from the new spring collection which has tons of fun colors to choose from.

so which ones do you like best for me? (oh and having the glasses for a few days means you can take lots of shameless selfies with them).

{going clockwise: 1. finch 2. holcomb 3. walker 4. marcel}

i'm liking the top right best so far! i think the cat-eye style suits me.

their glasses are also relatively inexpensive! they are $95-$145, which includes the anti-reflective, prescriptive lenses. also, whenever you buy a pair of warby parker glasses they give a pair to someone in need. so even if you don't really need the glasses (other than to be really cute), you can justify buying them for the good that you are doing! 

be sure to look for the upcoming style posts featuring my favorite warby parker glasses!

from my camera / st. george

last weekend we went to st. george to visit our aunts and cousins. it was kind of our last hurrah before sydney leaves to costa rica (even though we will have lots more 'last hurrahs'). we spent our time shopping, seeing movies, lounging, and eating. oh, and we went on a hike (which somehow was the only thing i photographed all weekend). we kind of have this tradition of going on a hike every time we visit, and my aunt, joylyn, outfits us in all of her workout gear. because carpenter girls don't really own workout gear- everyone thought i looked goofy in my nike getup. we had the best time in st. george- even though it's utah and kind of boring- the people make it worth it.

we wanted to take a sisters' picture, but farah really wanted to be in it- we happily obliged!

is her sweatsuit real???

the whole gang!

lots of cousin love going around!

i'm kind of obsessed with cacti right now.

he posed like this on his own.

the one other picture i got of the weekend.