Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone, and Happy New Year!

Love, The Marandos

Here are a few pictures from our Ugly Sweater Christmas Party....

Thanks everyone for coming we had a blast!! Hope you all have a great Christmas break. xoxo

Pinterest Inspired Wall Collage

Hello everyone, hope you had a great weekend. I wanted to share something with you that I worked on last week for our house. I have been on Pinterest a lot lately, and one thing I kept seeing that I loved were wall collages....so I decided to make my own.

First I went to Michael's to get everything I needed: different sizes of black frames, letters, black spray paint, and scrapbook paper. I also ordered the pictures I wanted to use online and picked them up from being developed at CVS. I got home with everything and didn't really know where to start, so I decided on an easy task..spray painting my letters black. I got a small "K" for Katelyn and a small "R" for Ryan. I also bough a big "M" for Marando, or so I thought. (Later when hanging the "M" on the wall, I noticed the holes were in a funny spot, and no way it was going to stay on the wall. That was because my "M" was an upside down "W" -- so I scrapped the "M/W" idea all together, but if anyone wants a black "W" let me know.)

Next I started to put all my pictures in frames. I went back and fourth on black and white versus colored prints but ultimately decided on the color, while having everything else in black and white. I chose pictures of places we have recently visited on vacation: Charleston, SC; Carmel, CA; Miami, FL; and Marblehead, OH. I think they turned out pretty neat. In the other frames I cut to size black and white patterned scrapbook paper.

Finally Ryan watched and gave advise as I laid the pattern out on the floor below the wall. Once I had it how I wanted it I began to measure and hammer nails into the dinning room wall. A great tip I learned on Pinterest: place a dab of toothpaste on your picture frame hook. Then hold the frame up to the wall exactly where you want it. The toothpaste will leave a small mark on your wall and this is where you place your nail...genius! This worked great!

I'm sure everything is not perfect, but it looks good to me, and Ryan loved it...

More Pinterest inspired projects to come....

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I just realized that I had not posted on my blog in exactly one month! November was a really busy month for me at work, and also for Ryan and I at home. So naturally this past month flew by. I can't believe it is already December, and with Christmas and holiday parties right around the corner, I have a feeling December is going to go by just as fast. A few posts ago, I did mention we were going to have a busy, but fun November. So I should probably back track and let you know how it went...

The first weekend in November I headed up to Chicago to hang out with Taryn, Katie, and Jackie. We had such a great time in the windy city. We got to see Jackie's new apartment and hang out with two of her sisters, Tiffany & Vicki. Football & drinks, then some getting ready and we went out for the night. It was so nice getting to catch up with everyone, and I can't wait to do it again.

The second weekend in November, Ryan's Birthday, we had both parents in Indy with us. Friday night we all went to Ruth's Chris to celebrate Ryan turning 26. Saturday we did a lot of shopping, the girls, and had dinner then went to the Stacked Pickle to hear Dave & Rae. We finished off the weekend with breakfast at the Roost before everyone headed home. It was such a nice weekend with family : )

The following Thursday we were off to Miami. This was such a nice break from everything. Neither one of us had ever been to Miami before, but I can assure you we will be back; we loved it! We stayed at the Fontainebleau and it was first class, just amazing. There was a lot of relaxing by the pool, fun dinners, shopping and partying. We were lucky that LIV, an amazing night club, was right in the lobby of our hotel. Friday night we got to meet LMFAO and then see them perform there. We also met up with Molly and her sister for sushi, and it was really nice getting to see them again. I love everything about South Beach from the actual beach itself, to the shopping, restaurants, and night life...I can't wait to go back!

So we returned from Miami on Sunday, then re-packed our bags for Wednesday, and drove up to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. The weather in Cleveland was no Miami, but it was surprisingly nice for this time of year, with temperatures in the high 50's. I even ran outside almost every day we were there. Thursday we had the most amazing Thanksgiving dinner. Ryan's mom makes the best meal for Thanksgiving, it was so good! I think we probably spent Thanksgiving how most people do: eat, drink, nap, football...repeat. Friday we got up and worked off some of our Thanksgiving dinner and then headed to the Public House to see all of our friends from Cleveland, some of them we had not seen since our wedding! We really are lucky to have such great friends, even if they live all over the country now. Okay, so Saturday of course we watched the Bucket Game, but my most favorite part of Saturday was going to Lola. It is in downtown Cleveland and a Michael Symon restaurant. This is a pretty bold statement, but I think I am going to make it...Best Restaurant I have ever been too! From the amazing wine we had to everyone of our dinners I tried, perfect. Oh and I can't forget about the "6:00am" dessert. French toast with a maple, pecan, bacon ice cream and fried apples. Amazing!

Well I think that brings us to this week, and the end of our November...wheww. December is going to be another busy month, but it's the holiday season, and I wouldn't want it any other way. This weekend Ryan and I are going to decorate for Christmas and go to the first ever BigTen Championship Football game at Lucas Oil. Sunday we will probably finish decorating and that evening Taylor & I are going to the Nordstrom card holder party. We have a lot of Christmas parties to go to, including ours. On Friday, December 16th we are having an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. Let Ryan or I know if you want to come!!

I have a lot of good blog entry ideas to come, I just hope I get around to posting...Pinterest has really inspired me lately to be more domestic & crafty haha. Happy Friday, hope everyone has a great weekend!! xo