I’m going a bit out of order here as I have yet to post pictures from my 10th college reunion (TENTH! Sigh, I’m getting old.), which happened between Dubai and San Francisco, but our little jaunt to the left coast over Easter weekend is still fresh on my mind so I thought I’d share a few pics! We mainly went out there because the Braves were playing the Giants that weekend, so we saw games on Saturday and Sunday and absolutely *adored* AT&T Park.

In the midst of all of the baseball, we also managed to hop around town a bit. Our hotel, The Handlery (thanks Anne for the rec!), was in Union Square, perfect for sightseeing. After landing on Friday afternoon, we checked in and hiked up the hills through Nob Hill to Chinatown for dinner, where we ate at the House of Nanking (thanks Ashley!). Yum.

Saturday was our first time at AT&T Park! It’s a beautiful stadium, one of my favorites (still doesn’t beat Baltimore, I don’t think, but definitely top 3 of the 20 I have been to). And of course the Braves won, so it was an awesome day! After the game, we grabbed a taxi and went to Lombard Street, where we and the other tourists walked up and down the curviest street in the world. Then we headed to Pier 39 for a view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Easter Sunday was a gorgeous day in SF, we met with the lovely Anne and her husband for breakfast, then enjoyed a sunsplashed day at the park where the Braves won again. Oh, and the new American Airlines terminal in SF has a Pinkberry. When oh when is Pinkberry coming to Chicago?!

All in all, it was a whirlwind, but a super-fun trip! It was my first time in Northern California and I’d love to go back and explore more of the Bay Area.

I just got back from Easter break and my mind is filled with decor ideas. Why? I spent hours watching HGTV and yard sale-ing with my mom. Tampa is full of communities that host huge yard sales. Instead of one yard sale tucked away in the middle of nowhere, it’s dozens. Full of great furniture. We set out early on Saturday morning and came back with our biggest scores yet.

All images are courtesy of me!

This Pottery Barn Bedford Desk for $40, originally $700.

An antique vanity table for $20.

A glass fuse cover, purple goblet and 10 lb weights, each $1.

I’m not a huge fan of Pottery Barn because it’s so overpriced. But the desk was exactly what we needed for less than it would have cost to build ourselves! Do you shop at yard sales?

We had the best time in Dubai visiting EAD Living’s own Amy I!  Amy and her husband have been living there for a few months now, and so I thought what better excuse to visit a new, awesome country than to go visit a friend?  So off to went to Dubai, which was somewhere I had wanted to go since I saw that episode of the Amazing Race (anyone else remember that one?  Seriously, you won’t go down a water slide for a chance at a million dollars?!  But I digress.).

We went from Chicago to Dubai via Heathrow.  It was a total of 17 hours on planes, but we were lucky enough to have a 6 hour layover at Heathrow, and we decided to get a hotel room – such a great choice, after a shower and a 2 hour nap, we felt so much better!  Due to all of the time changes, we landed in Dubai around midnight, and got to our hotel, the Al Manzil, around 2am.  A good night’s sleep, and we were raring to go the next day!  First stop, the Dubai Mall to meet up with Amy and pick up the Big Bus tour.

The bus tour took us on a loop of the main sights and got us acquainted with Dubai.  We hopped off to shop at one of the souks and also to take a riverboat.  Check out the awesome weather we had – that sky is right out of the camera, folks.  No Photoshop needed!

(Even the sidewalks in Dubai are amazing.)

You may recognize this landmark we snapped from the top of the bus – this is the Burj Al Arab (aka the “Sailboat Hotel”).

On our second day, we had tickets to go to the top of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.  Well, not the top exactly, but close.  The observation deck is the highest round pod on the left in the picture below.  If you don’t think it’s *that* tall, have a look at this, which compares the Burj to some of the other tall buildings in the world.  It’s crazy how tall this thing is.

Looks fake, doesn’t it?  The roof in the bottom left corner of the photo is the top of the Dubai Mall (the largest mall in the world).  Our hotel is across that horizontal street, just to the left of the middle.  The water is amazing, at night the fountains are choreographed to music, similar to the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

After going to the top of the Burj, we skiied at Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates!  Hands down, this was one of my favorite things we did.  Snow skiing in the mall?  It’s crazy.

I am a big fan of what I fondly call “touristy crap”.  This includes not only activities like indoor snow skiing, but also water parks and gigantic shopping malls.  :)  And let me tell you about this mall.  The Dubai Mall has Marks & Spencer (yay!), Laduree, Garrett’s Popcorn, Magnolia’s Bakery, Galleries Lafayette, Bloomingdale’s, you name it, and it has it.  It’s freaking awesome.

Speaking of freaking awesome, this is the lobby of the aforementioned Sailboat Hotel.  You can only go in if you eat there or stay there, so we decided to take a visit for afternoon tea.  View of the hotel from the lobby:

The bar and our awesome scones:

View of Jumeirah Beach from the bar in the Sailboat Hotel:

After tea, we took a drive to the Palm.  Yes, those crazy kids in Dubai built islands shaped like a palm tree, and another set of islands in the shape of the world.

I was super excited that Abu Dhabi was close enough to Dubai that we could take a day trip there!  We went to see the Emirates Palace Hotel (another so-called 7* hotel) and the Shiekh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The mosque was unbelievable.  Not only was the outside stunning, but there were handcut inlaid marble floors, Swarovski chandeliers, and the largest carpet in the world.

Our last adventure in Dubai was an Arabian Desert Safari!  I really wanted to ride camels, so we signed up for a nighttime tour that took us dune bashing in 4 Runners, camel riding, and then we enjoyed a dinner in a “bedouin camp”.  I use this term loosely, as of course it was super-touristy, but it was still a lot of fun, and the desert at night is so peaceful.  The stars are amazing!

On our last full day, we hit the Atlantis resort water park, and I did the “Leap of Faith” slide that chick on the Amazing Race wouldn’t do.  Seriously not that scary. :)

So there you have it, our trip to Dubai!  I absolutely LOVED Dubai and I would recommend it to anyone, especially those like me who love “touristy crap”.  :)

When I moved, I was gifted with a new queen-size mattress and box spring.  Since my previous bed was a full-size, my old bed frame would not work. This was advantageous because I was looking for a bit of a change. Like everyone else, I scoured the internet for ideas. Initially, I thought of buying a new headboard. After searching both online and in brick-and-mortar stores, I just couldn’t find anything that appealed to me that was affordable or my style. Eventually, I came across this image in an article on the Better Homes and Gardens website.

{photo from Better Homes and Gardens website}

The article outlined how to make a lightweight headboard with fabric. While I didn’t necessarily want to make a headboard out of fabric, it inspired me to want to make my own headboard rather than buy one. So, I continued to troll the internet for more ideas.

I found an article about wallpaper on ApartmentTherapy.com. They specifically mentioned paintable wallpaper from Graham & Brown website. If you haven’t been on the Graham & Brown site, you should take a gander. It’ll make you rethink wallpaper because it’s definitely not your grandma’s wallpaper. I fell in love this pattern.

{Squares Paintable from Graham & Brown}

I ordered the wallpaper from Graham & Brown. For those that don’t want to spend too much for paintable wallpaper, I have come across textured, paintable wallpaper at Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Wal-mart for good price. Once I ordered the wallpaper, I headed to my local hardware store to buy the rest of my materials. I originally had planned to buy a 48″ x 72″ MDF board. After consulting with one of the helpful employees, I purchased particle board at a whooping $8.98 for a 48″ x 72″ sheet. In addition to the wood, I purchased Kilz paint primer, wallpaper glue, paint for the wallpaper and a paint roller.

Here’s how I made the headboard:

1. Sanded and primed the particle board with paint primer. This was important because the particle board was a little rough because it’s made with pressed wood shavings and sawdust. Primer is key because it gives the wallpaper a good surface to adhere to.

2. After the primer dried, I applied the wallpaper. Rather than go through all the steps of applying the wallpaper, here’s a link to About.com article on How to Hang Wallpaper. Don’t be afraid to use a little pressure when applying the textured wallpaper. No matter how hard you press, you won’t permanently damage the wallpaper.

{images courtesy of author’s personal collection unless otherwise noted}

3. I let the wallpaper dry overnight before I proceeded to painting. For this, I recommend applying interior wall paint with a roller made for textured walls. Do not use spray paint. I tried spray paint and it was an awful mess. I ended up painting my headboard two different colors because the first color I selected was too light. Thankfully, the wallpaper is very forgiving and I was able to paint over it with a darker color.

4. Install the headboard. I simply placed it against the wall behind my bed. No hanging hardware needed. If you live in an earthquake-prone area, you may want to secure the headboard with hooks and wires.

After 2 days and $60 of materials, I had a new headboard. Here’s a photo of my completed project. Sleeping Myles the pup not included.

When we first moved into our home, the backyard was a disaster. Weeds five feet tall, an awkward flowerbed, half dead plants, etc. It isn’t a huge yard, but it was such a mess that we never used it or enjoyed being out there. Living in Las Vegas, we can use the patio almost year round. This year we finally decided to do something about it. We kept the existing patio cover and concrete floor, but hired a landscaper to remove all of the old rocks, concrete barriers, and plants and start from scratch. The yard looks a million times better!

Now it is time to decorate and bring more container plants into the patio area. We have a table and chairs, but want an area for lounging and relaxing, and need to do it on the cheap. The weather is warming up quickly, so it is time to get the ball rolling! I have been on the hunt for ideas and wanted to share some outdoor living inspiration with you.

{images via Pottery Barn}

I love the look of the all-weather wicker Palmetto collection in black from Pottery Barn shown above (photos 1-3) and the Portsmouth collection (photo 4), but unfortunately I don’t love the price. Since we won’t be in this house forever (thank you, Air Force), I don’t want to commit to something this pricy when I don’t know if it will fit with future homes. Either way, Pottery Barn’s outdoor styling is incredibly inspirational and somewhat doable. The black wicker mixed with rusted, brown metal pieces would be something I might be able to recreate. The abundance of multicolored pillows could easily be reproduced – I can afford the pillows! :)

{images via Style at Home, photographer Michael Graydon}

This space is fantastic and is a great example of bringing the indoor decor outside. The candles mounted on the trellis and the fountain add another dimension.

{image via House & Home, photographer Donna Griffith}

{images via House & Home, photographer Brandon Barre}

The spaces shown above show the divided spaces I am looking for – one area for dining and another for lounging and relaxing. Now let’s see if I can bring some of this inspiration to life on a smaller budget. Do you have any plans to re-haul your outdoor living spaces before summer officially hits? Or is your patio summer ready? If so, do you have any recommendations for fabulous, but not outrageously priced patio furniture?