Wall Organization System

Some of you may know, I used to have a blog called [just had] A Bright Idea where I focused mostly on interior design & decor and some DIY-ing. When I started Style Oyster, I wanted to incorporate those things along with my love of fashion and all things, well, stylish. Unfortunately, leaving that blog for a new url posed it’s challenges. I lost the readers I had acccumulated over the 6 months of having the blog as well as the content…but wait, that content is NOT lost! Thanks to Blogger, I was able to move it over to Style Oyster. However, it was a little outdated (the wording in some, etc.) and of course the pictures were all tagged with my JHABI logo (and a few with even older blog logos than that! I had some name change issues…) I am putting this paragraph here as a preface to these posts because even though they are from the past, they are still projects that took a long time and are dear to my heart and I didn’t want to lose them when I officially take my old blog off the Internet. So I apologize to those of you who have followed me since [just had] A Bright Idea, as you will be experiencing some deja vu, but I know some of you are new and this may all be new content to you. So bear with me, I plan on posting these once a week until they are all on Style Oyster. Thank you so much, and I do hope you enjoy. xoxo

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It’s back! My wall organization system! I had it in the kitchen originally, but it didn’t look like it does now. I had actually taken it down and hung the boards in the office/guest room, but since there is limited traffic in there, the message posting became useless and I didn’t update the calendar as I should have been. It was much better utilized in our kitchen…the central hub of our lives. So I put it back…but better!

I picked up a little black wire magazine/letter wall file at TJ Maxx for $14.99 – knowing it would be perfect for corraling all of Tanner and Breckin’s art projects/schoolwork each week until I got around to storing it in their schoolwork file boxes (which I try to do once a week). There are even places to put labels with their names (plan on getting that done here soon).

I already had all the boards from before. They are all from Target, made by Board Dudes. They have the Pottery Barn look without the Pottery Barn price.

I made this sign on the computer in order to fill a blank spot above the black wire files:

I also was so excited to find the perfect place the hang our family pictures! I had to take them down from the mantle once we got our flat screen TV a couple months ago.

I even added a menu organizing area on the side of the refrigerator next to the organization wall. I got the calendar and file system from Target. The grocery shopping list pad is from Walmart.

I’m so glad to have it back where I know it will all be utilized. It makes me smile every time I see it! Do you have a wall organization system? I’d love to see it! Post a link in a comment below!

Weekend & Off To Visit Family

This weekend wasn’t too exciting…I worked overtime shifts both days, super-cleaned house {I must officially dub myself a Super Mom because the house is clean down to the baseboards} and started packing because tomorrow Jake, the boys and I are off for a much-needed and long overdue visit to Idaho to visit my family and friends. We will fly back on Breckin’s 2nd birthday, August 8th. {Good thing he’s only going to be two because there’s no way he’d let us live this one down if he was old enough to realize we are spending his entire birthday flying back across the country!}

I haven’t been back to Idaho since Christmas of 2007. Tanner had just turned two and it was just him and me. {Tickets are crazy-expensive, so Jake stayed behind…in fact, Jake hasn’t been to Idaho since we stopped through on our way to move to Charleston when I was pregnant with Tanner.}

Check out the sweetest picture ever of this kid in Idaho snow:

Oh, he just melts my heart. I don’t get to see them bundled up like that here in Charleston. I can’t believe this guy is almost SEVEN. Where does the time go?

I’m also excited about seeing this girl:

My Shelby. {Pardon this terrible photo of me! And don’t mind her creepy red eye…she has one blue and one brown and this always happens to just the blue one in pictures of her.} She is turning 14 on August 9th. I know this will likely be the last time I see her…it’s so unfortunate that dogs don’t live as long as we do. I remember bringing her home in 1998, just a bouncy little puppy…I basically forced her upon my parents knowing that they couldn’t say no if they had a chance to see her and hold her. She turned out to be the best dog. I always won those kinds of battles when I was younger {that’s why at any given time, we had two dogs and six cats…}

Here’s a picture of my old stomping grounds…Twin Falls is a quaint town with a lot of mom-and-pop retail…but it does have its character…and beautiful views like this:

The Perrine Bridge – Snake River Canyon – Twin Falls, ID

That bridge is actually one of the ten best bungee jumping spots in the world. {I’m not speaking from experience here.} I am definitely taking the boys down in the canyon for some hiking and beautiful scenery.

My mom lives in Boise, ID, so we will have some decent nightlife opportunity at least and are also getting a tour of the famous Smurf turf {my mom works at BSU}…

via

She says TV doesn’t do it justice; that it is the most amazing royal blue. I’m hoping to get to touch it…maybe roll around a little…do some cartwheels…

In other news, there are TWO big things that happened this weekend…and they’re actually considered milestones in my book.

#1: Breckin went from this:

To this:

I can’t even believe how much older he looks! It kind of broke my heart a little…but he’ll be 2 in a week and 1/2…Tanner got his big boy haircut at 19 months. He does look super handsome though {in my expert opinion!}

#2: Literally. Breckin’s first semi-successful attempt at the potty and it was a #2! By semi-successful I mean it was only a little bit, but it’s SOMETHING! And he came to me and said “Momma, poo poo potty.” I have a feeling this one is going to learn a lot faster than the first. {Thank you to the Elmo potty video he is obsessed with!}

While I’m gone, I will still be posting on here as I regularly do…and I will let you know all about the trip when I return. It’s important to see family, and I’m glad we finally get the opportunity. xoxo

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4th & Weekend

Sounds a little like an intersection, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I greatly apologize for taking so long to post this…there were so many pics taken over the holiday and weekend and I finally finished uploading and cropping them to perfection last night.

We managed to sneak away to Myrtle Beach for a quick weekend trip. We left Saturday morning and returned Sunday night. We squeezed in a lot of fun in the sun in that short time. Luckily Myrtle Beach is only an hour and a half drive from Charleston…great when you have young kids and not much time. Jake’s parents own a timeshare up there and invited us to come along…the resort had an awesome pool area with loads of slides and water-squirty type contraptions for children as well as a lazy river. The boys had a great time.

Here are {tons of} pics – please excuse my pasty-whiteness…I have not been in the sun long enough to sunbathe yet {darn being a working mom!} I at least got to work a little on it this weekend, but even so, I don’t tan easily regardless and I’m a sunscreen Nazi, so I’m still pretty pale in comparison to many. Hopefully hittin’ the beach this weekend will remedy that a little bit.

I didn’t get much of us actually watching the fireworks. It was of course dark out, so not a lot of good ones and I was also holding Breckin for most of it, trying to hold his ears when it was loud and keep him from being afraid of the fireworks!

If you’re still with me, thanks for looking at all of my pictures. I know we didn’t get as many of Tanner in the pool as we did Breckin, but that’s only because Tanner’s a natural swimmer who needs little to no supervision in the pool and he was off going on the big waterslide or the lazy river for the most part. We had such a fun weekend. It’s nice to get away to some new scenery every now and again. Hope you had a great weekend.