The perfect little side table.

I ventured into this little (well actually its huge) in door flee market the other day. I have passed this building 100s of times. It's connected to the same building my gym is in (which of course I go to the gym allllll the time) ok ok.. I could be better about going to the gym.. its part of my new plan. Yep I have a new plan. Don't get too excited I basically have a new plan every week. Hey at least I TRY to get my life together.. right?... right?! **silence**

Anyway.. so one day I actually went to the gym with the Mr. but he was taking FAR TOO LONG to finish his workout.. sooo I ventured next door in all my post- workout red faced glory. And do you know.. I walked right into the most wonderful place. furniture, lamps, frames, dishes... you name it! I was a tad skeptical of the prices.. I currently live on Long Island people.. this isn't usually the land of fabulous thrift shop deals (I once found a lamp shade at Good Will with the Target plastic still on it... priced for MORE then it was when it was for sale at Target.) But to my surprise the prices were sooo inexpensive!!! I often read wonderful blogs of women who live in the more southern states who are always finding these fabulous finds at thrift stores for pennies! Well no longer do I have to be the jealous northern girl! Look at this fantastic little side table I found! (I apologize for these horrible iphone pics .. but this is not the last time you will be seeing this table.. so I promise to take better pics for next time)

Isn't she a beaut! And the best part... she was mine for $4! Yes.. you read that correctly genuine mahogany beautiful side table (most likely from the depression era) for $4 buckaroos! She def needs a little love.. she is a little beat up. But I have big plans for her... big plans.

One month of blogging and.... Invitations!

Today I bring to you, as promised, INVITATIONS!! I know I know... its about time. But I hope it was worth the wait! Here are just a few samples of what I've been working on lately.

These are mostly wedding invitations except for the bottom one which is a baby shower invite. They are all made with high quality papers and ribbons. 

I hope you enjoyed the Chelsy Lee invitation debut! Let me know what you think!

Ho Ho Ho

As the Mr. and I decked our halls for Christmas this past weekend I was reminded of what Christmas really means to me. I feel that more and more it is so easy to get caught up in the gifts and material parts of Christmas.. but I think its important to remember the other parts.. they may not be as shinny but really are the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas to me is.....

snuggling under a blanket with my husband in our Christmas plaid PJs
Spending time with my family
Witnessing the joy and excitement that Christmas brings to my nieces and nephew
Watching endless Christmas movies
Hot chocolate with candy canes
homemade Christmas cookies!
Starbucks red holiday cup!

Don't judge me... I know that last one is a little bit of a material thing... but I just love them. And the coffee that comes inside. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside : ) How could I resist all those fun phrases too! They are so sweet  :)

Sooo looks like Christmas means a lot of food and laziness to me. hmmm.

What is the true meaning of Christmas for you??

Happy Friday!!

Friday has finally come!!! What's on your to do list for this lovely weekend??

My list includes:

1. Decorate for Christmas!! :) (super excited about this little ditty)

2. Head into the city to see the bodies exhibit/ finally use the groupon that I bought months ago that is going to expire next week... opps. Anyone else wait to the last possible second to use coupons and groupons? I apparently like to have a contest with myself to see how close I can get without loosing said deal. Add that to my list of things to STOP doing  .. especially with groupon.. cause yes it was a deal. But a deal I had to pay for.. so if I let it expire it becomes a REALLY expensive piece of  paper that can not be used for anything other then writing crazy notes and doodles on.... that would make my face look like this:

all puggy and mean. So I'm not going to waste it ... we are going on Saturday. For Sure.

3.  Get some invitation samples actually on this wee blog here!.. ya remember that.. this blog was started cause I make handmade invitations.. I bet you forgot.. cause I haven't posted one invite. Focus is clearly not one of my strong suits so bare with me here... there will be invitations and weddings and perhaps some wedding flowers.. and gowns and.. and..
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wait what was I talking about.. right.. invites! They WILL make an appearance this coming week.. promise! But I do have to warn you this blog will often be filled with a whole lot of other crap wonderful tid bits about me and my life... cause.. well... to be honest.. I'm random like that and I don't do well with only writing about one thing. So don't say I didn't warn you. And I hope you still come back!

I will leave you today with a few wedding pretties from Pinterest this week... do you pin? I do. You should. and you should follow me cause I pin good pins. Just sayin.. do it. http://pinterest.com/chelsylee/

The Knot via Pinterest 

 

Pinterest just said uploaded by user...

From ashelysbrideguide.com via Pinterest

 

Winter wedding can be so fabulous.. don't you think? Well until you class it up and do this: 

From Google.com

Anyway... Happy weekend bloggies : ) Enjoy!

31 like whoa

Someone turned 31 on Tuesday!!!

no.. not me!! I'm still young (I got carded for lotto the other day people.... yes you read that correctly)  but really.. I have a few years left in my 20s. My fabulous husband turned 31!

And do you know I did not take one picture.. no I lied I took this one picture with my phone:

That's the birthday boy.. isn't he cute : ) Sorry ladies he's taken.
And in true bad-blogger form I didn't remember to take said horrible blackberry picture (yes I still have a blackberry.. don't judge me) until after half of the cake was eaten... opps! I swear I will get better at this. Really I promise!

This delish cake (red-velvet boston creme cheesecake made by your truly.. ya I don't mess around) was enjoyed AFTER a fab slow cooker meal of ribs and roasted potatoes. Again.. I forgot to photograph said ribs.. BUT you are in luck I did remember to snap a few pics of the left overs we devoured had last night! I apologize in advance for any mid-day tummy grumbling these pictures create:

YUM-O!!
 Not to toot my own horn here.. but this was one amazing meal! (or 2 meals if you want to get technical.. maybe even 3) 

So that was the hubs B-day. Hope it was a great one babe! I love you more then you could ever imagine :)

weekend

The Mr. and I went to Jersey to visit friends this weekend. We had a wonderful time exploring their town, eating some delicious food and drinking some great wine!

Our first stop on Saturday was the Hopewell Village Winery. They have a lovely little tasting room and some pretty good wines. In summer they have live music outside to enjoy while you sip... so we will definitely have to go back!

We ended the night at Siam, a Thai restaurant in Lambertville. The food was incredible! We ended up ordering a variety of dishes family style so we could all try a few different things. We were so engrossed in conversation and stuffing our faces trying all this great food that I forgot to take any pictures!



Sunday was the perfect warm fall day so we headed back to Lambertville to explore.  Lambertville has tons of great antique shops that we had seen the night before so wanted to see the goodies inside.  Here are a few of the gems we saw!

Great leopard print chair

An old porthole

and the Mr.'s favorite.. the game table perfect for hours of poker!

The highlight of the day was bumping into this guy! I have a insane slight obsession with Pugs.. and this little 9 month old was just soooo cute and snuggly I could have brought him home with me! Much to my disway we had to leave him behind. One day I will have one of my very own (That I promise I will not steal from someone else.)

We ended our visit just across the river, in New Hope, PA with a little dinner outside! New Hope is a fabulous place to people watch and we saw some pretty impressive motorcycles.

All in all we had a pretty amazing weekend with some pretty amazing friends! How was your weekend??

Are you happy?

I truely believe that to be happy you need to do what you love.. and sourround yourself with people you love and who love you back. I have a wonderful husband, a fabulous family and the best friends a girl could ask for. That part of my life is happy : )

Doing what I love however... has been a struggle. I am not the girl who always knew what she wanted to do. In fact I am STILL figuring out what exactly I want to do! I work a full time job that keeps me busy and pays the bills.. but I know its not my passion. I love being creative.. so I started my own invitation business.

It not easy.. its a lot of work. But one day I hope to be able to make it my full time job. I am able to use my creativity and get a glimpse at lots of weddings. Which I love. I love weddings.. I love that you can make them your very own. I love what it represents. I love pretty flowers and cakes and place settings. I love wedding gowns.

After my own wedding I was depressed. I love my husband and was sooo excited to start our next chapter together. But I was upset that the planning was over. I wanted needed to find a way to continue planning. So.. I made a few samples of invitations and started selling them. People actually liked what I created... I still struggle with this concept.. but that's a whole other post! So Chelsy Lee & Co. was born!

 I love working with different fonts and papers to create fabulous invitations. My main focus is on wedding invitations but I also create some birthday, baptism and shower invites. But its what I love. And one day I would love to quit my "day job" and make THIS my day job.

So I ask you are you happy with what you do? Do you make your own happiness despite your day job?