Weekend Warriors!

After a few months of not doing many DIY projects around the house we are back to tackling some outdoor projects that have been annoying me for the past 6 months! Why has it taken me 6 months to get sh*t done!??? Here's some "in progress" shots for ya!

My dream gate is below. I drew where I wanted it with sidewalk chalk and my brother just put this bad boy up yesterday! It looks SO good! BUT I don't want to show you it up until we paint it this weekend.

The herringbone brick path is getting extended and is tedious but kinda fun. We plan on doing some little brick walls along the sides where the plants will be....

Aaahhhhh..... the never ending work of this old fixer upper!! Can't wait to share some finished pics!

The Never Ending Bricks... Phase 2 of Front Complete!

The never-ending saga of our bricks continues.... over the weekend we tackled another "zone" of bricks that needed to be cleared of weeds, leveled, laid back down in a herringbone pattern and then filled with concrete between the cracks. Whew!

Here's what went down this weekend:

This latest "zone" we tackled was maybe 10' x 10' of the sidewalk. We decided to not overwhelm ourselves and just do this job in sections. Below is a shot of the bricks getting laid back down...

Random shot of sweaty Hubs playing air guitar... yes, we had to have some tunes blaring to get motivated on this one!

Aaaand the after:

 yippeeeee!

Another after: 

Oh and that crazy vine you see to the left is Confederate Jasmine we planted to grow up the hideous utility pole smack in front of our house! blegh. 

In this pic below you can get a better view of Mr. Jasmine and the rest of the bricks we need to tackle!

And another shot. Look at all that grass we need to dig out! Whhaaaaa!! I think we will have either 2 or 3 more "zones" to tackle before we complete this mission. This process takes longer than you would think. (at least what I would think!)

Notice above that we got the matching topiaries for the other side of the house!! yay! They need a little trimming but they lookin' good! I also want to get nicer pots for the little yellow flowers that are in the awful plastic faux terra-cotta pots. Ahhhh... one day. 

This is a fun on-going project because it's something we can do ourselves (meaning it's FREE!) and it's very rewarding  to watch the houses curb appeal get purtier and purtier! 

Any weekend projects you're tackling?? Share! 

Bywater Swimsuit Fashion Show! Come to Get WET!

The Aquarium Gallery, a local gallery that does some crazy cool events just had a "Come To Get Wet" fashion show for local swimsuit designers this past weekend. It was F-U-N!!

The designers in the show:

Alicia Zenobia
Elizabeth Chen
Dominique Kawoski
Rachael Granberry
Jacob Reptile

It was great to see so many different creative designs with swimwear. Here's my recap!

Below is the runway! How cool is this?! A sprinkler was on during the show and some models strutted with water guns, spraying the crowd. 

Swimwear for sale...

* Forgive me but I don't know some of the designers so I can't credit*

Aren't these dresses AMAZING!? I love the detail. 

Designer Jacob Reptile suits:

(who is also the gallery owner)

I love these crazy accessories he designed to go along with the suits!

Designer Rachael Granberry suits:

You can't tell in these pictures, but Rachael hand dyes the fabric, silk screens different patterns and then  sews the suit together. VERY detailed. 

I did a photo shoot with her for these suits the other day and really got to see the detail of their construction - can't WAIT to share those pics! ha! 

Don't know who the designer below is but they were CRAZAY COOL!

My favorite photo from the night: how sexy is she!?

And there ya have it! A fun Bywater weekend that was Wet & Wild! :)

A Mardi Gras Kinda Weekend...

This past weekend we had all kinda Mardi Gras related fun... it's really beginning to feel like the season for me now!

We went to a Mardi Gras Ball (Caesar Ball) with some of our best friends last Saturday night... I can't even attempt to explain a Mardi Gras Ball to you... it's totally bizarre to someone not from here. Let's just say you wear gowns & tuxes and roll in your ice chest full of booze into a fancy ballroom. The court is presented. Dancing happens. Drinking happens. Eating happens. Lots of fun happens. Go to one. 

Pics from ball:

The Maids & Queens costume were AMAZING! The detail in these headdresses is really impressive... not to mention expensive!

I love the colors in the one below. They even have neon lights hooked up to the headdress!

Me and The Hubs... yeah... he's wearing a sequined headband I made... I told you it's fun!

The next day we hung out in the hood and finally finished our Mardi Gras decorations...

Which involved spray painting vintage mannequin legs gold.  

Are you even surprised by this point that I would spray them gold!?

Here they are drying in the middle of the street. Our street has been closed because the city has been ripping out old plumbing which in turn makes fun block party without fear of getting smacked by a car ;)

And as we were painting the awesome legs what oh what do we hear?! A marching band, The Gris Gris Strut, practicing for this weekends parade, Krewe De Vieux! 

 

Yeaaahhhh!

Aaaaaand back to decorating...

 We used the legs as part of the Mardi Gras decor for the front of the house.... I have yet to get a good "after" pic of the finished decor due to construction men jack hammering in front of the house... so this black and white one will have to do ;)

All in all it was a great weekend to kick off the Mardi Gras Season!