"you smell like a hair salon"

is something i'm frequently told by my husband.  i wanted to share some pictures of my salon.  i love my shop and how everything looks.  it's not something everyone can appreciate, but i don't care.  it makes me happy.  i have a dream of a new salon some day in a building that i own and it will have a completely different look.  i'll share that inspiration in another blog. 

this is part of my waiting area

and here is the "cutting room" and my station

this is our check out counter.  i absolutely love it.  it used to be in my mom's antique shop as her register, and now i have it.  it's special and fantastically great!

up next is our lights.  i used to have old ceiling fans and i just hated them.  they were so not me and terrible to clean.  not to mention impossible to reach since we have 12' ceilings.  i got these bad boys at ikea for a whopping $30/each!  then my fabulous husband installed them for me.  he's great.

these are my fabulous chandeliers i got from delias magazine.  i get compliments on them all the time.  i do love them and so easy to clean. just unscrew the bulb and wash in the shampoo sinks!

 

these next few pictures are just some of my stuff around the shop.  a great picture i snagged from urban outfitters, a collection of antique hair stuff gifted from my mom, giant scissors from my dear friend ashley, and a wall decal that is so fitting and...

PRANCER!

and my two favorite girls.

brittany

she's the blonde in the bunch.  when she started working with me she had long blonde hair and we cut it off short and dyed it brown.  now we've turned her back in the a HOT blonde and cut her some FANTASTIC bangs.  she's an amazing stylist with lots of talent.  i am so glad to have her in my team.  not to mention i love her to death!

casey
here's the brunette!  she's so darn cute.   she's always the brunette that rocks the platinum blonde chunks.  she's had long, short, and a-symmetrical hair.  she's currently rocking the "side swipe", but you can't tell from this pic.  she's also an amazing stylist with lots of talent.  i'm so very happy to have her working with me too.  we're very similar in our styles and it's great to have a friend that loves the same things i love and understand that they're cool not weird. i also love her! 

 i hope you like my salon.  it's totally me and it's out there, but hey i love it.  i love my job and the girls i work with.  i'm so blessed to have found the job i love and the people that  make everyday fun.  my favorite part of the day is when i spin the chair around and my client says "i LOVE it!  thanks maggie!"  not only do i make them look great, but i turn their average day into a day where they are confident in themselves.  and that's what it's all about.

beautiful blessing

i can't believe it's been almost a year since we found out we were going to become parents, and now our baby girl is 4 months old! last year on the 17th we took the test and it was positive.  it was the best birthday gift i've ever had and it was two days early!  who can beat that, an early gift and a baby?!  we were so excited, but held it in until christmas.  except i had to tell someone so i called my best friend, hillary that night.  but other than her it was mums the word till christmas day.  talk about a hard secret to keep!  but we kept it and totally suprised our families.  mostly because on the 14th we went to dinner with my parent and in-laws and told them we were trying, but no success yet.  little did we know 3 days later our minds would be blown.  anyway,  here's our first sonogram of our little bean.

ten weeks and very tiny!

now here's our chunky beautiful baby girl.

look at those gorgeous blue eyes.  just like her daddy's.  i just can't believe she's four months old.  i can't imagine my life without her anymore.  she's the best little baby.  she rarely cries and if she does, she calms down very easily.  she's a wonderful sleeper and a just such a sweet happy girl.  she's starting to laugh and it's the best thing in the world.  she truly lights up my days and ALWAYS puts a smile on my face. we have an amazing family full of love and support for her.  we are so thankful for them.  looking at her makes me wonder how people can look at babies and not believe there is a God that created them.  they are just some of the best miracles He blesses us with.  i AM so thankful for her.

words can't describe

but i'm going to try!  today, i stepped into a store in dectur and it felt like a dream.  my dear dear friend casey (www.caseydavis.etsy.com)  sells her handmade jewelry there and told me i would love it.  after weeks of wanting to go i finally made it!  unfortunately i only had 10 mins to look.  i was dying over it.  it truly is my dream.  i want to have a store like this with my sister annie.  abbie too, but she's a chiropractor, so that won't happen.  i absolutely love my job, but i think this is my dream.  mostly because i grew up helping my mom with shows and her shop and i just would LOVE to have a cute store like that.  a store that everyone goes to and talks about and always comes to to pick up a gift for their family and friends.  a store that people travel from other towns to come and shop.  oh my how i want this so bad.  ok, so you want to know the store right?  it's called tournesol.  it's a mother and daughter.  they used to have separate shops but now they are combined.  it's adorable.  they're website is www.tournesolretold.com  it doesn't even do the store justice.  they had the cutest things from garden to jewelry to candles to papers to baby items.  in the words of rachel zoe "ba-nan-as!" "i die."  oh goodness.  i wish i had my camera to take pictures and share.  but believe me it's beautiful.

my big dream on the prairie

Here it is, my dream home!  Kylie and I have plans to build this beauty in 2011.  We'd love to build now, but we want a mortgage we can afford and that would be impossible right now.  There are a few changes that need to be made like changing the car port into a garage and adding a half bath in the downstairs, but other than that it's perfect.  I've searched and searched and searched, but after TWO years I believe I found it.  It's the cottage house I've always wanted.  I wanted a two story house that looked small but was actually really spacious inside.  And look at all that character!  Not to mention the beautiful spot we have picked out for it it.  The back yard will be lined with gorgeous yellow trees in the fall AND my sister will live just through the trees!  I can't wait to live in "Fox Creek" or "Fox Crick" We're starting the lane in the summer!  I don't know how we'll stop there and not keep going with the house.  We got a renter for our mobile home, so maybe we'll just save it all for the house, or use it to pay off our car!  Looks like the second option!

Here's the inside:

The Upstairs:

Glitter=Christmas in my home!

Where to begin?  I love Christmas time so much!  It's a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, spend time with loved ones, buy gifts for the people you love, and it's my birthday!  Such fabulous things to celebrate!  I finally got all of my Christmas out, just have to finish the porch.  Here's a few pictures, I hope you enjoy :)

Our lovely WHITE tree topped off with a giant pink ornament topper, oh how I love thee!

These next three pictures include my vintage glass ornaments.  My mom picked me up a few boxes then I scored some at a church rummage sale for 50 cents, I gave them $3 though because they were worth it and it was for a fundraiser.

 Up next is my antique village collection.  They are my mom's but she's not using them, so I got them this year and I LOVE them! 

with your nose so bright...

My neice pretty much believes anything you tell her.  So, when she misbehaves my sister calls in reinforcement...or Rudolf, who just happens to me my husband, Kylie.  Annie first called and said "Hi Rudolf are you busy?"  And Kylie went into to character with a crazy voice and everything.  Then he thought he was on speaker phone and got embarassed and switched back to his regular voice.  But he told Aubrie to be a good girl and listen to mommy and daddy, that Santa is watching, and to go right to bed.  Annie said she hung up the phone and said "I must go to bed now, goodnight." and ran to bed.  So it worked!  Aubrie called again last night to talk to Rudolf to tell him that they saw a picture of him with no horns and it was funny.  So he told her to be a good girl and that the elves were watching for Santa and to go to bed when mommy and daddy told her too. As far as I know, it worked again!  I just love her, she's so animated now and it just adds to her personality! My niece and nephew are fabulous, thanks Annie and Jade!

where miss caroline sleeps

welcome to caroline's room.  it used to be a beautiful spring green, but then we moved unexpectedly and now it's just tan.  oh well, still adorable.  here is a picture from her doorway.  her changing table and dresser is to the right then the rocking chair i got at my shower in the corner.  above the rocking chair is something i made out of a real tree limb, some paper, and some little birds.  it is one of my most favorite things in her room.  i also LOVE her little rocking chair my mom got her.  too cute!spring green, but then we moved unexpectedly and now it's just tan.  oh well, still adorable.  here is a picture from her doorway.  her changing table and dresser is to the right then the rocking chair i got at my shower in the corner.  above the rocking chair is something i made out of a real tree limb, some paper, and some little birds.  it is one of my most favorite things in her room.  i also LOVE her little rocking chair my mom got her.  too cute! this is a picture of her crib and closet doors. they are massive and i hate them, but her closet is HUGE!  i got the decals at target when they had dorm stuff and i'm searching for more so i can make her doors a tree heaven! btw, my mom snagged this crib from an outlet store for a mere $100!  it's fantastic, it has a few dings on it, but nothing that bothers me, AND it turns into a toddler bed and full sized headboard.  how terrific is that? on the wall is a frame i made and a chalk bird my mom got from a friend.   i love them both, and who could forget that fantastic chandy above her bed.   it's her little night light at night. she loves it and so do i.  she also has a fabulous pink fluffy rug on the floor from target but i figured that would be a boring picture.  hope you enjoyed, coming up next bathrooms and kitchen....then my room but i still have a few things to hang up! oh and here's little miss.  she's precious and 12 weeks old tomorrow!