Happy 2nd Birthday, Puppy!

As many of you know, I love celebrating anything. Especially birthdays. Maybe I tend to go a little overboard sometimes and I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm crazy. Although, I do think he secretly enjoys it! So anyways, with Vega's 2nd birthday approaching - I was busy running around and preparing for our mini-celebration. Josh was also coming home after spending a month in India for his job, so even more reason to celebrate!

Vega on the day we took her home!

On Vega's birthday eve, I made my first ever dog peanut butter cupcakes from a recipe I found on The Scrumptious Pumpkin. They were super easy to make and it was perfect because I already had most of the ingredients at home. I ended up using whole wheat flour and vegetable oil instead (as I didn't have canola oil) and ditching the cupcake liners. I also added a dash of peanut butter to the cupcake mix (the recipe only used it for the frosting). They turned out great and didn't taste too bad - yes, I took a bite!

And being the ridiculous dog pawrent that I am, I also made her a special birthday hat and banner (tutorials coming soon!). I set up her birthday display outside on our patio using the wooden crates from our wedding, along with a photo of Vega as a puppy and some of her favorite Milkbone treats. Vega is one lucky and loved pup!

We can't wait to post-celebrate with her other puppy pals later this summer!

The birthday dog!

DIY birthday hat and banner.

My happy girl and her homemade cupcake. Cupcake stand from Bed Bath & Beyond.

Peanut butter cupcake = great success!

The FourNest / Living Room Ideas

I've been (secretly) planning my next moves for redecorating and rearranging our living room. We spend most of our free time lounging around in this room, and while it serves its purpose and meets all of our needs, I've been dyyying to give it a makeover.

When we first put together our living room, we bought and selected pieces that we both liked, not really thinking about the space as a whole. I didn't originally have a specific vision in mind, because I was more focused on trying to furnish and finish the room as quickly as I could so that I could invite family and friends over. So now that I've had more time to rethink our living room palette, I realized that it's lacking some color. Josh and I both love neutral colors - white, gray, black, brown - you name it. Our leather couches are a deep espresso color and our coffee table, end tables, and media console are all black. I love color, but I seem to use it sparingly in my home decorating. We've had the same accents in our living room for a few years now - so I thought that it was time to give it a little splash of color!

With that in mind, the biggest things I'd want to do for the living room is find a colorful area rug or set of pillows, replace our coffee table, and add more decorative accent pieces. If we have enough space for it (insert: money), I'd also like to add a chair of some sort to put near our bay window. I already found the perfect coffee table to help tone down our dark couches and furniture from World Market ($229). I'm leaning towards decorating with an apple color, a few whitewashed frames, and mercury candle holders to complete the space. Hopefully in the next few months I'll have a before and after post to share!

Other decorative items from World Market.