It's the Most Won...Hectic Time of the Year!

Last night was a mess. We had multiple loads of laundry to finish, packing for the extended weekend, wrapping all of the presents, a house to clean, hours of freelance work for Beau, and most importantly: the finale of American Horror Story to watch. If that wasn't enough, I decided to tackle a last minute Christmas order for an custom iPad cover. Clearly, I wouldn't have made it through without a few glasses of wine. After finally getting to bed at 1:30 this morning, I am exhausted today!

I don't know what it was about this year (possibly owning a company), but we both felt extremely rushed this Christmas season. This is really embarassing, but I still don't even have presents for Beau yet! Okay - one I've ordered, but I still have to pick up the other one at lunch...from the mall. That traffic is going to be a LOT of fun. Can it just be Christmas, already!?

We Will be Boarding Shortly...

Danes update! Yesterday, I loaded up the danes it my little Jeep and drove off to the vet for a last minute visit so both Duke and Cooper could get their bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine. Beau and I will literally be traveling all across southern Louisiana for Christmas, and there's no possible way we could bring two great danes to my parent's, his sister's, and then to his parents. With that said, we (very sadly) have to board them for a few days over the holidays. I feel TERRIBLE, but we don't have a choice.

Either way, the vet visit was a hot mess. Clearly, half of Baton Rouge had the same idea as us because the vet waiting room was packed. Worst of all, I was that person with the bad dogs! Duke was okay...sort of, but Cooper was terrible! Literally, he non-stop barked and shrilly whined from the moment we got in until the moment we left. My arms are sore from them pulling on my leashed trying to play with other dogs. Omg, I was so embarrassed. They're lucky I love them!

My favorite part of a vet visit - weight in time. This time around, Duke stayed about the same - just under 150, but Cooper grew tons - he's now weighing in at 120 at just 10 months old! He's going to be huge, and I can't wait!!

PS - please excuse our floors in these pictures. Things have been INSANE at The Mended Nest with last minuted holiday orders.

Simple Snack

This is one of my favorite simple snacks. It's about 3 calories, and surprisingly filling. Best of all, you can eat as much as much as you want until you're full, and it's all good for you. (I love that!) All you have to do is peel and chop up cucumber as well as red onion super thinly. Add a dash of salt and pepper and finish with a little balsamic vinegar. Light and crisp. Yum.

Christmas Card!

As you know by now, through The Mended Nest, llc, Beau and I create...pretty much everything under the sun. Repainting furniture, custom invites, photography, and DIY tablet covers are only a few of the things we can now add to our resume. However, custom announcements and invitations are our bread and butter. This was part of the original plan we had for The Mended Nest, and it's something that we still love doing.

Above is an example of a custom Christmas card we were asked to make for our great friend, Lissa Weston. She loved the cards (and we couldn't be happier either). They came out looking great! It's always so much fun to work with Lissa, and we're looking forward to all the work she'll bring our way!

If you're interested in a custom announcement, invitation, etc., please email us at themendednest@gmail.com!

Dreaming of a White (Chicago) Christmas

As it's humid and roughly 76 degrees today in good 'old BR, LA (in December!!), I can't help but let a little nostalgia set in as I reminisce on our 2010 Chicago Christmas/New Year's trip. To catch you up to speed, Beau and I are both completely infatuated with Chicago - especially in winter. Negative degrees, muddy snow, and layer upon layer upon layer? Yes, please!! I am completely over short sleeves and shorts in December. It feels like it sucks the Christmas spirit out of everyone. Too much?

There's just something about a city like Chicago that makes me feel alive, independent, and unstoppable. It seems it's full of endless possibilities, with fun and excitement around every corner. Our plan was to move immediately after I graduated college in 2009, but life had a different plan for us. Since that time, Beau and I both landed incredible jobs, we bought a house, and brought a new love into our lives (Cooper). Furthermore, we're within close driving distance to our families - something I feel we wouldn't realize how special utis until we didn't have it.

I'm certainly happy with how our life is unfolding, and I wouldn't change it for the world.  Howver, every time I look back on these Chicago pictures, I can't help but wonder - what if?

Mended Furniture - Bedside Tables

Good morning, Mended Nesters! I am pleased to bring you the newest set of furniture I repainted and reknobbed (clearly not a word considering autocorrect tried to change it to "reckoned"). How typical is it that I don't have any "before" pictures? Either way - I hope you like the end product. Christine, this super skinny and cute lawyer, dropped these off a few weeks ago, and unfortunately I'm JUST finishing them. I've been slammed with other furniture projects, not to mention these pieces took a while, themselves.

I started my mixing Provence and Arles (Annie Sloan) to create this custom green. Originally, it looked a little minty, but after adding a water/French Linen mixture then a water/Old White mixture, the green was toned down just enough. I'm so pleased with the final color. In fact, I'm going to try to match it when I start working on these little wooden filing cabinets for our office. Also, if you look closely, you can see a hint of gold leafing. Per Christine's request, I added this at the last minute using this incredible gold leafing wax. At first it looked a little gaudy, but after sanding it down a little it came out great.

We want you!! Please email us at TheMendedNest@gmail.com to get a quote for something you'd like me to repaint for you! Also, be looking out because we have a few items that'll be coming up for sale soon!

Deck the Vases with Boughs of Faux Holly

Colder weather is upon us; unfortunately that means that flowers are freezing to death (too morbid?) and I don't have any more fresh flowers for my house. Sure, I could buy them, but it's always a hassle. I either have to make a special trip to the florist with in my nonexistent free time or pick some up when I'm at the grocery. The only problem with the grocery is that I try to strategically get them at the very end of shopping so that they're not out of water too long, but I ALWAYS forget to go back and get them! So what's a guy gunna do?

Try using the holly you can buy at any Hobby Lobby, Michael's, or even Walmart or Target. It doesn't die, you don't have to change out the water, and you don't have to throw them out! Plus, as long as you're keeping it simple, they'll look surprisingly chic.

Are We Out of Raffia?

This holiday season, I feel like we're going through more raffia than ever! That sentence seems a little strange, I'm sure so please let me explain. I've mentioned this in former posts, but I wanted to dedicate a whole day to it: bringing a (small and inexpensive) present when you're invited to a party is such a great gesture. Jeri's Corner time: whenever my parents go somewhere, my mom brings a tiny little vase with a few fresh flowers from her garden. The flowers are free and the vase was probably $2.99, but it's the thought that counts.

My go-to gifts are a bottle of wine or a little food something-or-other. Just add a little raffia and a serving spoon or cheese knife for example, and you're good to go! I wouldn't bring these to the same party - just two different examples of how you can incorporate raffia to finish off your gifts! Beware - it goes faster than you thing and one day you'll be out when you need it most and you'll be devastated!! Exaggeration?

Isabel is 3!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend and is trying to stay positive about this upcoming work week...or is that just me? Especially the great weekend part. For one, Beau's parents and grandmother were in town for his niece, Isabel's 3rd birthday, so we got a chance to visit with them for a majority of the weekend. In fact, Grams got to sleep on our sofa bed we have in our new office (post coming soon!) In my family, on my mom's side (which has all of the grandkids living in one city) has only one granddaughter out of 9 grandkids, so I'm not used to little girl birthdays at ALL. Well - they are hilarious.

Laurel, Beau's very pregnant (yet somehow still thin and as always beautiful) sister hosted Isabel's party at La Petite Tea Room in Metairie, LA and it was so cute! If you have a young daughter, I cannot recommend this place enough. The girls seemed like they had the time of their lived dressing up as their favorite princess, dancing to fun music, decorating their own picture frame, walking in a "fairy princess" fashion show, as (of course) having tea (apple juice) and cake!

For more pictures from the party, visit JenkinsFamilyJourney@blogspot.com!

Sweep the Floor

While I'm not particularly fond of this expression when it comes to food (like pizza)...it IS a little catchier that "Raid the Cabinets" which is essentially what I did when I created this meal. We were (and still are) WAY overdue for a Calandro's trip, so we had to either get really creative in terms of food...or order out. Well, glad I did [get creative] two nights ago because the meal turned out kind of amazing - not to toot my own horn. I actually think I just got a little lucky. Either way, here's what I did:

- 2 cans of drained cannelloni beans
- ~2 cups of chicken broth
- 1 can of fire roasted red bell peppers
- salt/pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
- Tony's seasoning
- Fresh basil leave
- Curry powder
- Finely chopped red onion

Stir all of this over the stove for ~20 minutes on medium heat. You're not cooking any meat, so you really can't go wrong, but twenty minutes seemed to work perfectly for me.

DIY - Felt Flower

Happy Thursday! If you read yesterday, you may remember that I mentioned a tutorial for the little felt flowers that were attached to the wreaths that are for sale. Well - this is it! These little flowers are perfect for so many things. Just wreaths, for example: you can use these flowers to use as accessories for wreaths for Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mardi Gras, Easter, summer, birth announcements, etc. Speaking of birth announcements and babies, how cute would little light blue or pink felt flowers look in a faux bouquet or strewn across a table at a baby shower? Purple and gold at an LSU game? 

So - to make them yourself, you'll need:
- Felt Squares
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun (and glue)
- Patience
- 1+ glasses of wine

Directions:
- Pour a glass of wine
- Cut a circle out of the felt square
- Sip
- Cut circle from outside moving inward in a spiral motion (staying ~.75 to 1 inch from the outside)
- Begin cutting a wave pattern on the outer edge of the spiral all the way to the end
- Sip
- From the outside of the big spiral to the inside, start rolling and hot gluing along the way
- Cover the bottom with the extra little circle of felt
- Finish your wine because you are done!

These felt flowers are for sale at only $2 per flower! Email us at TheMendedNest@gmail.com!

DIY - Christmas Wreath!

Greetings! Yesterday, I was asked to make a Christmas wreath for a dear friend, and before doing any research at all, I said of course! I love wreaths; not only are they beautiful (at least most of them), but also very important to society. I mean, without them, how could we possibly know what season it was when driving down the street? Christmas? Easter? Fall? Mardi Gras? Think of the chaos.

After saying yes, I did a little research on Pintrest, and discovered wreath ideas that I had never seen before. Originally, I was going to make out out of Christmas tree branches, holly, etc. However, I loved the more modern/2011 versions I saw on the website, so I decided to move in that direction. Again (and to be totally clear), I completely credit Pintrest.com and the awesome people on there who take the time to share their ideas!

So here's what I did...

- Purchased round wreath (I couldn't find styrofoam, but that would be ideal)
- Covered in strips of linen fabric to create an earthy look
- Wrapped (twice) yarn around the wreath. Any pattern would look great (stapled in the back to hold in place)
- Once complete, I made all of the yarn roses (tutorial coming soon...hopefully tomorrow!)
- Hot glued them onto the wreath
- Added the holly for a little extra kick

What do you think? I love it and (as always) want to make one for myself. However, more than that, I want to make one for YOU! If you're interested, please email us at TheMendedNest@gmail.com! Note: there are many color/yarn/fabric options available.

Price: $47 + tax

Ornament Tradition

Every Christmas growing up, my mom (Jeri) would give my brothers and me a special ornament to remember each holiday season. Not only did it help us start our own collection for when we moved out on our own, but it gave us something special to look back on the fun times we had decorating the tree with Christmas music blaring in the background. There were usually tears at SOME point, but all I remember is the laughter, fun, and love.

Beau and I have carried this over into our Christmas each year, and I'm so happy we did. The tradition is so dear to my heart, and it's something we'll do when we have children of our own. Like I previously mentioned, each time you pull one of these out of your Christmas box, you'll be able to reminisce on each Christmas season. If nothing else, It keeps your tree from having boring, matching green and red ball ornaments!

Friday Finds - The Laundress

My friend, Matt showed me this website, and I am in LOVE. I feel bad cheating on Mrs. Myer's, but this is just too awesome. It's so chic, "New York", and sophisticated. AKA - it's so fancy, y'all! This would look so great in a pure black and white bathroom, don't you think? See Below for the description I pulled from the website. Happy Friday!

"Lindsey Boyd and Gwen Whiting, co-founders of The Laundress®, created this eco-chic line of specialty detergent and fabric care to take the chore out of doing laundry. Frustrated with dingy white t-shirts, ruined items from the dry cleaners and chemically treated cashmere, they researched and developed their own solutions to simplify and master the fine art of laundry. “We knew about 90% of our items that were all labeled dry clean only were washable” says Boyd. “We knew we could eliminate the need for expensive dry cleaning with toxic chemicals, we just needed the products” says Whiting. They value the importance of properly cared for clothing and home linens so they formulated the most effective ingredients for each specific fabric need with their favorite scents to create a sophisticated, efficacious, green and easy to use collection."

Hairs Cut (Re-post)

"Hey, Man. How are you? Would you like a drink? Whiskey or PBR?"

This is what I hear last night at as I'm walking into Gaudet Bros. for my much needed haircut appointment. So, as Micah Nickens (owner) finishes up with another client, I do just that. I love running a little early because it gives me a chance to walk around his studio, enjoy the Big Band Pandora station, and check out the new art work that is constantly being refreshed. 

Located right in the heart of the Garden District, Micah's studio shares a space with an ajoining art studio. One of the things Beau and I love about coming here is that when we step into his space, we step out of Baton Rouge, and into a hole-in-the-wall NY studio. (not $300 per cut NY studio with glass and chrome everywhere -  think funky/swanky SOHO). Dressed in cuffed jeans, Dock Martins, a button up with rolled sleeves revealing his tattoo sleeve, bow toe and/or suspenders, and fedora, Micah is a breath of fresh air - the "anti-frat-guy" look which has become all too popular in BR (the frat guy look, I mean). 

However, regardless of how he dresses or what his studio looks like, we cannot speak highly enough of Micah as a stylist OR person. Everyone who either Beau or I have referred to him has called afterward and said how much they love him and their hair. Obviously, we're never surprised - it's why we keep going back. As the stylist for NOLA Fashion Week, you'd think Micah would be booked for months, but that's not his style. He doesn't advertise in 225, on billboards, or anywhere else - for the most part, it's all word of mouth. If you knew him, you'd know he's much too chill for that. That's why we love him - he has the skills of the best, but the attitude of the quintessential guy next door - if you happen to live in SOHO in a studio apartment at $3000/month.

Hands down - Gaudet Bros. is one of the best kept secrets in Baton Rouge. For more information, please check out Gaudet Brothers on Facebook - or click here.