love*birds: 6.19.13

things i am loving this week:

~ our parents celebrated their 46th anniversary on monday. what great role models we have for a happy life.

~ our little sister is in town three weekends in a row. lots of family time!!

~ i get to start setting up the wedding site today. chris and i are off the rest of the week, creating a magical wedding.

~ oh yeah, i'm getting married in three days!

and here are some other things we are loving this week.

megan bird

rustic peach gold stackable rings

i love the rustic look of these rings. they have such a great patina and are so dainty...they would look gorgeous on any hand!

vintage hibiscus dress

i love the crisp white paired with the bold floral print of the dress. and seriously, a 50s silhouette is flattering on everyone. this dress is so pretty!

vintage denim romper

for some reason, i have really been wanting a pair of overalls lately. i have no idea where i'd wear them, but that has never stopped me before. this romper might satisfy my need...and i can think of a lot of places i'd wear it, too. it's fun and summery with a great vintage feel to it!

chevron screenprint wall art

i love this piece. it's so simple, and so beautiful!

1970s platforms

i will never get sick of 1970s platform sandals. these ones are amazing. i love the color and the wood heel, and the little pattern in the middle. plus, they are in such great condition!

blog*love

Happiness & Love

melody of Happiness & Love looks both sexy and stylish in this fabulous outfit. i love the flowy dress with the high slit and that jacket...i never knew i needed this jacket, but now i do. in fact, i kind of need the whole outfit!

insta*love

follow along @meglets

i snapped this pic of me and my beautiful maid of honor at our groom's dinner last weekend. we have matching glasses (and faces, some might say), and are both so excited for the wedding!!

nora bird

pompom shorts

oh my gosh, you guys, these are seriously the cutest shorts ever! of course, i need a pair of hawaiian print pompom shorts! i just never knew until now!

navy blue tote

i adore this bag. simple, sturdy, big enough to fit all my junk, and super cute! all of my requirements in one handbag! perfection.

knitted statement necklace

such a gorgeous, statement piece. i love that it is knitted!

silver stacking rings

i know megan already included some stacking rings, but i had to share these as well! i am in love with these rings, made from reclaimed silver. so dainty and sweet, but still sure to make a statement!

denim bloomers

omg, so cute! is it weird that i kind of wish they came in my size? yes? oh well. i do.

blog*love

A Sequin Love Affair

shira is rocking the double polka dots in this post. i am also loving the pop of coral from her shoes and all of her cute accessories. such a fun look!

insta*love

follow along @mrsbeyers

megan actually took this photo of jim and mimi (at her groom's dinner), but i shared it on my instagram. it's so sweet. i am so in love with those two.

what are you loving this week?

xoxo, two birds

outfit of the day(bird): i got nothin'

shirt~ Old Navy

shorts~ Marshalls

shoes~ Steve Madden

necklaces~ Etsy and F21

i have been sitting here, staring at my computer screen, for about an hour. i have started three different stories and deleted them all. i have put my computer down and walked away for a few minutes, trying to gather my thoughts and think of something interesting to share, only to come back and stare at the screen some more, my mind blank. it's not like i lead the least interesting life ever. no, my kids are a constant source of entertainment and funny stories. my husband, sisters, friends, and i are always laughing about one thing or another. i just can't seem to think of any of those things right now. i think i am just tired. we have had a very busy few weeks. i feel like summertime is just so busy, with hardly a moment to rest. always on the go. trying to get outside and enjoy the weather and do something fun every day. not to mention getting all the boring stuff, like the piles of laundry and dishes, the grocery shopping, the vacuuming, the bathroom cleaning, the cooking (i think you get the picture), done. and everything is just a little bit harder, a little more tiring, and a lot bit busier when you have small children. i am not complaining. i have a lot of help. it am definitely not doing this all on my own. but i am just tired. and blank. and i am sorry i am a bad blogger because of that.

on another note, if you are thinking this outfit is a bit more fancy and/or shorter than something i would normally wear, you are correct. i wore this for megan's bachelorette party and i just felt like wearing something short and sassy. luckily, this outfit was also extremely comfy, which is a requirement for all my outfits! i wish i had more opportunities to wear formal shorts. i mean, really, don't we all?

xoxo, nora bird

inspiration monday: quirks

the inspiration

eva mendes

megan bird

 

 

jeans ~ Target
shoes, belt ~ thrifted
tank ~ Kohls
hat ~ Chris'

nora bird

shirt ~ Marshalls
shoes ~ F21
jeans ~ so old i don't remember
sunglasses ~ from kristin bird

 i have a weird thing with numbers. some might say i have a touch of ocd, some might just say i'm weird. to me, it's normal because as long as i can remember, i have had these "quirks", as i like to call them. and i have found that when i talked about these quirks, a lot of other people say that they have the same sort of habits. ok, a lot of those people are my sisters, so clearly this runs in the family.

anyways, laugh at me if you want, or tell me your quirks in the comments. but, here is a list of my weird number-related quirks.

1. i count stairs. i don't count them every time i walk up them, but every time i walk up a flight i haven't walked before. i hate when there are an uneven amount of stairs. i only like evens. luckily for me, even if there are uneven amounts of stairs, if you keep walking up, you will get to an even number.

2. when i walk, i count my steps in 8s. i am ok if i don't walk exactly 8 steps, but i count by 8s. after 8 steps, i start counting again. i loved being on danceline in high school because we always danced to counts of 8.

3. radios and tvs have to be at an even-numbered volume. if someone turns the volume to 15, i will turn it up one more. this tends to be an issue with one of my sisters because she needs to have it at a multiple of 5...so we  either need 10 or 20, regardless of how loud the tv might be.

4. if i am walking from a hard floor to carpet, the number of steps on the hard floor needs to be even. if i step on the carpet on an odd number, i don't freak out, but i will continue the count once i hit the hard floor again. i don't count on the carpet, probably because i can't hear my heels clicking on the floor.

5. i feel weird telling you these things. are you looking at me differently now?

6. i need to come up with two more things because of my whole 8s issue.

7. when i stretch my muscles after working out, i stretch each one for a count of 22. (i was born on the 22nd.)

8. i count sips when i drink water. i have to have an even amount of sips. i'll take super tiny sips at the end if i think i won't make it to an even number.

so there you have it....the weird side of me. please share some of your quirks so i don't feel so vulnerable today!!

xoxo,

two birds

bird.i.y.: spa day host(ess) gift

nora threw me an amazing bachelorette party last weekend. like, amazing. i had so much fun that the next day was pretty bad. but man, was it worth it. it was a mixture of my closest friends, manicures, drinks, good food, drinks, karaoke, drinks...well, you get the picture. needless to say, it was such a fun night, and i honestly don't feel like i can thank nora enough for planning it. i made her a little gift to show my appreciation, and thought i'd share it with you here.

i had never made any of these items before, so i was a little concerned that i would mess them up. but let me tell you, they are basically fool megan-proof. this was a really fun one for me, and i think the finished product would make a perfect hostess gift for anyone!

included:
candle
lotion bars
sugar scrub
flowers
wine (i did not make the wine...but i might need to learn how!)

for the candle, you need:

1. wax – i used soy wax that was already shaved. you can use beeswax, but you will want it to either be shaved or chopped for ease of heating it.
2. wicks
3. a container for your candle – i used an old thrifted low ball glass (nora's home decor is more mid-century, so i wanted to match that)
4. a wick bar (see below how brilliant i am) (sarcasm noted, i hope)
5. scent – i used an essential oil that i use as my own perfume


ok, i will be honest, i didn't measure here. i grabbed about half of the one-pound bag of wax and threw it in. i have always been pretty good at judging measurements for food, and i did the same thing for this project. for sake of the diy, i will say i used a half a pound of wax for a six-ounce container.

all you need to do is melt the wax in a double broiler, or in my case, a very old frying pan over a very old pot of boiling water. i now call that frying pan my candle pan. i will never use it for food, but i will say it cleaned up very easily, so it could be used for food. (we just happened to get new pots and pans as a shower gift, so i had old ones to spare.) (if you're not the daddy warbucks of pots and pans, an everyday pan will do.)

all the directions say to heat the wax to 185 degrees, but i'm telling you, mine got to 155 and stopped heating any more. so i called it a day, and let it cool to about 115 before i added two teaspoons of fragrance.

i used a little bit of the melted wax to place the wick in the glass, and then used this very fancy tinfoil concoction to hold the wick in place. who needs wick bars? not this girl!!

i then poured the melted wax into the glass using a funnel, adjust the wick as needed, and let cool overnight. when i woke up, voila, new candle!!

next up, lotion bars. what you will need:

(equal parts of 1, 2, 3)
1. wax – i used the rest of the soy wax. again, beeswax would be a good alternative, but the soy worked beautifully.
2. cocoa butter – shea butter would also work, but i had cocoa butter, so that is what i used.
3. olive oil
4. fragrance (same as candle)
5. silicone forms

just like the candle directions, i heated the wax, cocoa butter, and olive oil in a double broiler. in this case, i used about 1/3 cup of each item. (just make sure it is equal parts, other than that, you can wing it.)

once the concoction was fully melted, i added fragrance (again, i used about two teaspoons, but you may want more to cover the cocoa butter smell), and poured it into the silicone forms using a funnel. i let them cool overnight, and when i woke up, voila, lotion bars!!

for the sugar scrub, you will need:

1. sugar – i used white, but brown would work, too
2. coconut oil
3. a container
4. fragrance (same as candle and lotion...see a theme here?)

i filled the container almost full with sugar. then, i melted about two tablespoons of coconut oil in the microwave (how much you need depends on the size of the container). i added about one teaspoon of fragrance to the coconut oil, and poured it with a funnel over the sugar into the jar. *make sure you don't use too much, or like me, you will end up with a table top full of great smelling coconut oil.* oh well, after i cleaned up, my hands were super soft! you don't even have to wait overnight...immediately, voila, sugar scrub!

all the hard work is now done!! i just prettied everything up with cute containers and labels, threw in the flowers and wine, wrote a little "thank you" and tied it to the box. done and done!

xo,
megan bird

outfit of the day(bird): abrakadabra, sleep shopping!

shirt ~ ebay

jeans ~ Marshalls

earrings ~ hand-me-down

shoes ~ thrifted

if you know me at all, you know that i love to shop. i love to thrift, i love a good deal, and i love the thrill of the hunt. however, i also feel guilty if i spend too much money. i can often rationalize my purchases with some very good reasoning, but i think i found the ultimate purchase rationalization...

i was sleeping!

yep, you read that right. i sleep-shopped. you see, i had seen this shirt online earlier in the day and really liked it. and then i went to bed. when i woke up, i had an email not only from ebay, saying i had purchased the shirt, but also one from paypal saying i had paid for it.

so now i have a new shirt (which i paid very little for, by the way), and i don't even feel guilty about spending money on it, because i didn't know i was doing it.

is that a valid defense???

(even if it's not, i still love my shirt.)

xo,

megan bird

inspiration picture for june 17: eva mendes

 eva mendes

since it is the week of megan's wedding (omg! so excited! yay yay yay!) we wanted to keep this one easy. and we are absolutely loving this super casual, but still tres chic, look that eva is wearing! she seriously looks good in everything. we know you all have jeans and a cute t-shirt, so we hope you will play along with us! don't know how? click here for the rules. see you on monday!

xoxo, two birds

love*birds: 6.12.13

things i am loving this week:

~ it is finally feeling like summer here in minnesota! yay!

~ i bought a few new items for my closet over the weekend. i am super excited to show them off soon!

~ jim has been out of town since sunday, but he is back today. we missed him!

~ ben is this close to walking. he wants it so bad! it is pretty cute.

~ maybe a bit tmi, but mimi wore undies all day yesterday with no accidents! i am hoping that this is the end of pull ups for her! potty training her has been a loooooooong, slooooooow process.

and here are a few other things we are loving...

nora bird

tulip dress

this dress is so chic and look so comfortable, too! perfect for a summer date night!

striped bow bikini

this bikini is seriously adorable! how darling is that bow on the bandeau??? in love.

geometric cuff

this is such a fun and funky piece! the geometric, 3D design really makes a statement!

coastal bag

i am totally obsessed with this bag. structured yet feminine. functional, but still so adorable. it's perfect!

vintage platform sandals

these are way too cute. it makes me sad that they are not my size.

blog*love

Hey Niki

niki is rocking her jean shorts in this post. this is such a cute, casual, summer look. i feel the need to run to the thrift store this very moment and try and find some shorts like hers!

insta*love

follow along @mrsbeyers

mimi and i had a much needed girl's day on saturday. it included shopping and strappy sandals, among other things!

megan bird

rabbit chat print

does it get any cuter than this? seriously, i love this. every time i am having coffee with a girlfriend, i will think of this whimsical print!

rhinestone bow bracelet

if i didn't already have my jewelry picked out for the wedding, this cutie would be a serious contender. i am loving the raw ribbon tie and the gorgeous rhinestone beading.

1950s satin brocade dress

this dress is stunning! i love the color and pattern of it, and am amazed at the beautiful condition! this shape is so flattering on most everyone, too!

vintage growth chart

wow, this is amazing! we currently use a moulding on the door between our kitchen and dining room for measuring the kids, but i might need this one...if just for a beautiful piece of art!

flying pig with balloon tank

chris and i always joked that we would get married when pigs fly...so maybe i need this tank!! love it!

blog*love

Circa Sunday Afternoon

louisa is rocking the color block in this gorgeous dress! i love the colors and how comfy and chic it looks. also, those shoes! those shoes!!!

insta*love

follow along @meglets

this is how much i love my city...not only is it green and beautiful in the spring/summer, but amazing people also crochet stems and leaves for stop signs. seriously, how cute is this?

what are you loving this week?

xoxo,

two birds