Showing posts with label Nicole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nicole. Show all posts
Black and white
Labels:
Bathroom,
inspiration,
Interiors,
Nicole,
Nicole's Apartment
·
I have been really drawn to the Black and White trend recently. Of course I
love wearing the combo, but I am considering the clean palette for the guest
bathroom as well. Here are a few inspiration pics I have found so far. (Click
the picture to get to the original source.) These are all beautiful pictures,
but I will need to be very creative since I am in a rented space where
installing black and white tile or wallpaper is not a practical option
currently.
Let me know if you have recently updated your bathroom or have creative
design ideas for rented apartments.
XO,
Nicole
Still here.....{a catch up post}
One of our closest family friends (and Nicole's best friend) got married on June 22nd!! It was a very fun weekend for our family since we were actually all present!!
We both went to the bridesmaids luncheon, and Mom maid everyone monogrammed button ups to wear during the "getting ready" process. They turned out great! And, we had fun doing everyone's hair....
Here are a few (and I mean a few bc we didn't remember to take many) pictures from the reception....
....this is a rare moment to have all three Fontenot siblings together and ready for a picture!
The wedding was beautiful and definitely a fun night for the entire family. The reception was next door to the Methodist church in Hollandale at the Clarke's home.
It occurred to us, that if we share EVERYTHING we have done over the past couple of months that could get a little lengthy. So here are some of the photos from each of us.....
From Sarah....
We had a blast at "MPhA"!!!
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort
June
....and, the biggest news of all....
Sarah and Carey are expecting their first baby in December!
 |
| 14 weeks |
 |
| 14 weeks |
We can hardly wait to find out the gender in July, followed by a "Women of the family" trip to market in Atlanta {suspected guests include Sarah, Nicole (host), Whitney, Katie, Gayle, Maria, and Kit}. Let the shopping begin!! {on second thought....it already has}
side note: We couldn't be happier that "baby P" or "peanut" will have a big cousin, scheduled to arrive in October!
 |
| Whitney {Carey's sister} at 23 weeks |
From Nicole....
So many things going on in ATL... summertime fun!
We are so happy to continue blogging! Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Enjoy!
Sarah and Nicole
p.s. We gave up on the organization challenge :( we got a ton done and hope to share it soon, but we didn't want to abandon the blog because we could not stay on track!
Eight weeks to organized... Bathroom {part 1}
Labels:
Bathroom,
challenge,
clean,
Cleaning,
DIY,
Nicole,
Nicole's Apartment,
Organization
·
Since I have been sick with a sinus infection and ear infections, organizing my bathroom drawers seemed like a good task--I could sit in bed and bring the drawers to me. I had a long ways to go as the "before" picture below show....
I decided to take this project one drawer at a time and start with DIY cereal box drawer dividers inspired from a post on iHeart Organizing {one of my favorite blogs} that I had been dying to try. You can find her original post here. I should tell you now that this took me longer than I expected, but I did not have to spend any money which is always a huge positive. I started out by gathering boxes that I had been collecting for this particular project.
Then, I began fitting the boxes together in the drawer that I wanted to organize. Keep in mind that my boxes did not magically fit in the drawer like this the first time. I actually tried several different options {while watching tv} until I decided to stick with one. The cereal box was not in my original pile of boxes to choose from. I swiped that from the pantry when I realized I needed a few more options. So just keep trying until they fit together--think of this part as a puzzle.
Next, I traced around the outside edge with a marker. There are several ways you could accomplish this step. Measuring would work just as well, but at the time this seemed easier to me.
Then, I cut the boxes to be flush {or as close as possible} with the top of the drawer. This step takes some time.
Next, I used scrapbook paper that I had from a previous project to cover the boxes. I measured the paper and made the creases before using glue and tape to secure the paper in place. At the beginning, I was completely covering the boxes inside and out. Then, I decided that it was most important to line the insides and not worry as much about the outside since that would not be showing. Any pretty paper would work for this step. Maybe you have wrapping paper or large decorative sheets of paper that are sold at craft and art stores. It probably would have been easier if I had used wider paper for this step, but I was trying to use items I had on hand in order to keep the cost down.
After lots of measuring, cutting, gluing, and taping, I finally finished covering all of my boxes and here is how my organizers turned out.
Next, I wanted to make the other drawers as pretty but did not need all of the different sections. Rather than buying contact paper to line the drawers, I used scrapbook paper from the same book that I used to line the boxes. I matched up the pieces and taped it down to prevent it from sliding around.
Because I had created so much organized space in my top drawer, it opened up the space in the drawers below. Now the drawers look like this... Some of the items in the very back are not easily accessible, but those are items that I do not use regularly.
When I was cleaning out my drawers, I realized there were lots of product samples without a "home". For now, I threw them all into one of my spare baskets that came from the dollar store years ago. I am planning on putting the basket in our second bathroom for guests. I will probably add to this over time in order to make it a more complete selection. Currently, there are different types of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, sunscreen, mouth wash, and tooth paste. As well as being great for guests, these are all great sized products for travel, and any time I need something for a trip, I will know exactly where to find it.
Low budget organization may take more time {and patience while accomplishing it} but it was great to finish part 1 of my project still not having spent $1. Do you repurpose items in order to help with organization? I would love to hear about some of your ideas and projects.
Happy spring cleaning!
Nicole
go BIG or go home...
Labels:
Beauty,
Fashion,
Get.the.look,
Hair,
Nicole,
Southern,
Summer Style
·
Use large hot rollers to roll all of your hair
Spray your hair with hair spray while the rollers are still in your hair
Once the rollers have cooled, take them out leaving the curls in tact as much as possible
Flip your head over, brush your hair, and spray with hairspray
Flip your head back over and VOILA!?
Well maybe your hair is perfect at this point... but my hair is naturally curly so the front pieces around my face still usually need to be touched up.
Use a large curling iron and curl pieces away from your face to smooth any frizziness
Brush those pieces just a little to maintain the loose, natural look
Then, more hair spray!
Here is the beautiful blonde that flaunted the look on the cover of W Magazine.
Flip all of your hair to one side to get a totally different look than the traditional off center part shown in the first two shots. I think it portrays more romance and is an easy transition to night by simply changing your part.
Let me know what you think about this style and how your look turns out. Also, we would love to see pictures of your "Farrah" hair {email them to leveesandlace@gmail.com}.
Enjoy!
Nicole
Let's get organized...
Labels:
Interiors,
Nicole,
Nicole's Apartment
·
Since being organized in my personal life does not come
naturally to me like it does Sarah, I decided to make this my new year’s
resolution… GET ORGANIZED. Yes, I know that is very vague, but I do want to get
organized in as many ways as possible. I began cleaning things out in January
when the rest of the world was also still working strongly toward their
resolutions and just like most of those people with new gym memberships, I
started to lose focus on my goal. Well now I am finally getting back on track and
excited to share it with you {please don’t judge the before pics that you may see on some posts}.
When we moved in several months ago, there were boxes
stacked everywhere. We quickly realized that we needed to pick up a few things before we would be able to completely unpack. One of our first purchases{after living room curtains- more about those later} was a bookshelf to store
lots of books and also personal/sentimental items that would help warm the
place up since we had to deal with lovely “apartment beige” walls. We were not wanting to spend a lot of money on this- we just wanted something functional for now. Well, I would say that is exactly what we got. The BF came back from Ikea with what might be the best bargain EVER and it is the perfect size for an apartment {also I told him I wanted a back to the book case so he thought this was a good compromise}. He did good!
A couple of months ago, I managed to find a new home for the bobble heads that once lived on the top shelf :-/ I really hate that I didn't get a picture of the shelf back then. Needless to say, this has been a work in progress. If you are trying to decorate your own bookshelves, just remember to aim for a good balance between pretty pieces and personal items{and in our case, we also chose some funny things as well}.
Let me know what you think and if you have tried something similar in your home.
~Nicole
Ikea LAIVA Bookcase $25
We already owned most of the items on the bookshelf: the beautiful Fearless Entertaining books on the third shelf were gifts from my mom over the years, as well as many of the pretty cook books on the top shelf that used to be hidden inside cabinets, the white owl book ends were a Christmas present to ourselves from Z Gallerie, the pottery bowl on the third shelf-that happened to match the living room colors perfectly-came from my grandmother's house, the painting on the top shelf was a Christmas gift several years back from two of the cutest little girls-Addy and Aubrey, and if you look closely at the books on the selves, most of them are a funny assortment- everything from Psychology for Dummies to Mathematics for the Nonmathematician. The book case really helped bring some personality to our new apartment while avoiding taking up much space.
Lucky for me, I did not take pics of all of the boxes before unpacking, but here is what the bookcase looks like today.
A couple of months ago, I managed to find a new home for the bobble heads that once lived on the top shelf :-/ I really hate that I didn't get a picture of the shelf back then. Needless to say, this has been a work in progress. If you are trying to decorate your own bookshelves, just remember to aim for a good balance between pretty pieces and personal items{and in our case, we also chose some funny things as well}.
Let me know what you think and if you have tried something similar in your home.
~Nicole
Bring on the Wellies!
I love that these Hunter boots that have less of the "rain boot" look, which would be great if you end up needing to wear them all day long.
Henri Bendel always has a fantastic offering of wellies that range from fun prints to their classic stripe and are a good mid range price point.
I hesitate to spend much on rain boots since I typically end up not actually wearing them {I am going to try to change this habit}. Since I know my history though, I researched a third option that surprised me by all of the styles--Target!
Sometimes you just need some fun colors for that dreary rain. Both of these boots come in great colors to help brighten your day!
Hopefully these amazing wellie options will make splashing through the water puddles a fun activity this spring!
Enjoy~
Nicole
Levees in our backyard
So some of you may be wondering... why Levees & Lace???
Growing up, I was always super girly. I wanted to wear anything that was pink, sparkled, and had a skirt. As I got older, that didn't change much {although hopefully my sense of style changed a little}, but Sarah and I began to realize we did not live in the most convenient place to find the latest trends or try them out for that matter. Just beyond our backyard was not Neimans or Saks, it was a rice field field {see below}. However, thanks to our amazing parents who traveled with us all over the country, we were exposed to much more than what was in our "backyard". These family vacations helped cultivate our love for fashion, travel, food, and a world outside of the Mississippi Delta while at the same time giving us a great appreciation for where we were raised.
Here is a bit of a description about where the "Levees" of Levees and Lace originated and what it means to us.
It has been more than sixty years since Papa {our grandfather} moved to Mississippi to farm rice--a business that our family is still in today. As you can imagine, we grew up eating a lot of rice {had to support the industry}. Granny {our grandmother} rarely served a meal that did not include some version of it on the menu. Her famous white rice {recipe below} was delicious and really didn't need anything to help jazz it up, although there was typically at least one type of gravy for Sunday lunch.
I am often asked why I buy rice from the grocery store if we farm it. Well I guess you need to know a little more about the process of farming {if it was as easy as I am about to make it sound, everyone would probably be doing it}. After the rice has been planted and grown tall enough, the field is flooded. Levees {the small dirt hills in the pic below} are used to move water throughout the field from higher ground to lower lying areas.
The water is drained from the field before it is time for harvest-at which point the rice turns a golden brown color. We {Daddy} uses a combines to harvest the rice from the field {shown below}.
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