Be Still My Heart

 It's been a good week for talking to some of my favorite (non-Saint Louis) girls in the world. Really, the only one I've missed is Meg (Meg, if you're reading this, we need to g-chat) but that's beside the point.

The point is that a great e-mail chain regarding very pretty clothes/shoes was started this morning by one lovely sister-in-law (Laura) and Kathia (another lovely sister-in-law) and I have kept it going. 

By the way, this is a terrible photo of me, but the only one I could find. We need a better pic of the 3 of us ASAP!

 There's been lots of discussion of vintage style, wedge shoes and my current obsession, these new boots:

And the discussion reminded me that I've not shown them off on the blog. They're Frye Jane 14 Stitch boots and they're divine. And yes, the first place I noticed them was over at the Pioneer Woman blog but at the time, I never thought I would want them due to an irrational fear of wearing heeled shoes for long periods of time. Of course, I fear has been abated because these shoes (after the first "stretching-out" day) are crazy comfortable!

They're not cheap by any means, and it took lots of soul-searching and prodding by friends much more fashionable than I, but I finally bit the bullet and bought them. They are absolutely going to last me for the next 20 years.

I love them.

If only we were experiencing a normal spring and not this unseasonably warm one (have I complained enough about the weather yet?), I may not have taken these off until May. Alas, boots and hot, sweaty feet do not mix, at least not in my book.

On a side note, you can see the extreme difference in quality between our old camera and my new favorite toy (the Nikon D7000) in this post. Whoa! Huge difference!

Sneak Peek!

As I've alluded to in the recent past, we decided this spring to jump into the real estate market. 

I won't lie, it's been an extremely trying and very, very stressful time in our young lives. Almost immediately, we found an amazing house in a truly perfect location and quickly put in offer in. Unfortunately, that house (actually a foreclosure) wasn't meant to be. (And P.S. to the people who offered 20k over the asking price: Woah!)

After that blow to to our confidence, we jumped back out with our agent (who was amazing! STL friends, I'd be happy to give out her info!) and after knocking a few others off of the list, we managed to find another house that we loved. 

And...

And...

It has an adorable 1/2 bath with a hand-washing sink.

(If you follow me on Pinterest, you know how obsessed I am with little hand-washing sinks.)

(Please ignore the awkward staging. And I'm sorry to report that it didn't stop with the bathroom.)

The other great thing about this little half bath is that it is mostly in amazing original condition and aside from a new medicine cabinet and lighting, will be kept intact. It may be one of the least demanding rooms in the house; which will meant lots and lots of doing-it-ourselves posts including an almost immediate total kitchen re-do. 

We close on the house on April 25th (we can hardly wait!) and will start moving/demo soon after.

Get pumped, people!

*And a side note*: I'm looking for a new blog title to replace "Metzing Around". No worries, the archived posts will remain at this site, but it's time store away the french sections of our lives in order to start this new and very exciting time in our lives. Unfortunately, I am coming up blank in the names category (Metzing Around was such a no-brainer!) so if any of you have a fabulous blog name idea, I promise to give you full credit. (Just leave a comment.)

A Somewhat Bearable Summer

Thanks to a 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupon, we enjoyed some delicious, homemade frozen yogurt as soon as Michael returned home from work after yesterday's record-breaking 89° day. 

And as much as I hate to complain this early in the "summer" season, I remember being appalled last May when we hit 85°.

In May...MAY! 

And this is only...APRIL?

And what followed that 85° May day but the "Hottest Summer of U.S. History". I'm thinking this early heat wave has some terrible implications for the summer to come. 

Prove me wrong, Mother Nature. Please?

Now, I'm off to run day-3 of week-7 of the Couch-to-5-K running program far too late in the morning since I've spent all of the cool time editing photos and writing blog posts. 

Not smart, Lauren. Not smart.