Hola

Just wanted to let you know that I am still alive... This summer has been full of really exciting things... Here is the run down!

- My 28th birthday! Which I got to spend in Kansas City with my family! PERFECT! (I got to do some shopping at Crate & Barrel - LOVE!

- Acquired some new artwork - Ok it is Casey's but my walls now have more artwork on them!

- My 1 year house birthday - Which I was in Kansas City for, not at my house, oh well.

- A couple of Friends from Nebraska came into town! It was so good to see Lacey and Pat.

- Went to Shrimp and Grits with Maggie

- Cassie's Bachelorette Party

- My 10 year high school reunion that I celebrated with Allison right here in Nashville...

- Lauren's Bachelorette Party

- I got to celebrate my friend Lauren's wedding!

- I got to celebrate my friend Cassie's wedding!

- We had a Neighborhood Sundowner

- Had a very nice 4th of July.

- The Nashville Huskers became an official chapter of the Nebraska Alumni Association!

- Coach Ron Brown came to Nashville to speak to the Nashville Huskers and Franktown

- My brother and I joined a kickball team! If it moves we hit it.

- A the frist Kickball game of the then proceeded to tear my quad in the first game and was out for the season. I became the team cheerleader/photographer/beer girl.

- Made headway on starting a Collegiate AMA chapter at Vanderbilt!

- I went home to Colorado!

- I celebrated Mark and Angie's Wedding !

- Helped out with Sculpture in the Park.

- Purchased my first Sculpture.

- Kicked off another year on the NAMA board, as VP/Chair - Collegiate Relations.

- Had my first tooth pulled :(

- Casey sprained his ankle playing Kickball - We have both been banned from the sport.

- Another really exciting this is that my best friend, Allison, got engaged this past weekend, to Bill, an wonderful gentleman. LOVE!

- My brother Casey's 27th Birthday. He was on crutches but we made the most out of it!

So that is my summer in a nut shell! I am sure there will be more updates to come!

E

Bathroom Makeover

So, the long awaited blog post of my bathroom makeover is here! -- OK, so maybe you really haven't been waiting on it, but here it is any way...

When I painted my bedroom I decided to paint my bathroom a much much much lighter shade of the dark purple that is on the ceiling in my bedroom... If you missed that post, you can check it out here.

After living with this light purple bathroom for a couple of weeks, I had had enough. It was the perfect color for a 5 year old, princess, purple bedroom. I could NOT stand it. I had thought about using other colors, but just couldn't find the right one... But something had to change, and change in a big way.

After doing the "insane" wall I had a bit more confidence in my painting skills, and a little inspiration from a Kleenex box mom sent me a picture of, I thought I might give painted wall paper another try.

This time... BIG FLOWERS...

(On a side note -- I will say that I typically am not one for liking faux finishes, or stenciled anything...but for some reason this is different and I've been so pleased with the way things turned out.)

I did this much the same way I did the "insane" wall, however this time I made my own pattern.

First, I found a picture of a flower graphic that I really liked, and used the bro's projector to project the image onto some poster board. Then I traced, and cut out the pattern.

Second, I traced the flower on to the wall, making sure to overlap the petals and shift the pattern so the flowers were not all going the same direction.

Third, I determined which colors each of the flowers were going to be, before I started painting (I would not have looked right if two flowers of the same color were overlapping). Then I started to paint. It was just like a coloring book... Stay with in the lines.

I did all the same color at once, then moved on to the next color. The purple needs 3 coats (between you and me, I still have one more coat to do), the dark gray needed two coats, and the light gray should just be fine with one!

Now, these colors may look a little familiar...And you would be right if you said the light gray looks like the gray that is in the living room and bedroom...same with the dark gray. I say when you find a gray that you like and works in you house, stick with it! (However, if I tell my mom that I am going to paint yet another room gray, she might think I've officially gone crazy, he he he) Andy yes, that purple is the very same dark purple that is on the ceiling in my bedroom. Two reasons for this: 1 - I didn't want to go out and buy more paint, I had plenty left over from doing my bedroom, so why not use it AND 2 - I really wanted it to be cohesive with the bedroom colors.

However, I will give you a bit of warning about these colors...There is no natural light in this bathroom, and with the walls being a light purple base, the grays look a bit green. I decided after finishing that it wasn't bad enough for me to go back an repaint.

I am not going to lie I was a bit worried that the insane wall pattern and the bathroom wall pattern would fight each other, but I was please when I stepped back and saw how well the complemented each other!

So there you have it!

E

AIM Awards

So, as many of you know, the AIM (Achievement In Marketing) Awards were last week and here is the award the Nashville Huskers won!

Here is what the brochure had to say:

Catagory: Special Event, Event Marketing - Event Under $100,000 Investment
Nashville Huskers
Team Lead: Emily Fay

Emily Fay loves football - and in particular, the Nebraska Huskers. Although he University of Nebraska has one of the winningest college football programs in history, she quickly learned that didn't matter in the middle of SEC territory. So Emily set out to create a community of local Husker fans who would gather to enjoy some football. The only problem was she had no budget, no support for the University, no place to meet and she didn't know any other Nashville Nebraskans. But Emily convinced a bar to turn off the SEC game and turn on the Nebraska game. At the end of the 2010 football season, the Nashville Huskers boasted a community of 361 members. Average attendance at the viewing parties was 102.

I am so blessed to be able to watch football with each and of the Nebraska fans here in Nashville. This is such an amazing group of people! I am looking forward to seeing everyone again soon. I think this season is going to be really exciting...new teams...new challenges...and hopefully more fans.

I am also so blessed to be surrounded with some of the best marking minds in Nashville. With out their support and encouragement I would not have applied for this award. They helped me realize that what I have been doing with the Nashville Huskers is in essence is direct marketing...and that I do marketing for the fun of it!

GO BIG RED!

Emily

Apparently I've been a LAZY blogger...

I know that you want to see some of the finished bathroom pictures...Let me tell you it turned out better than I could have even imagined! BUT...I am going to keep you in suspense just a little longer!

I am going to however, going to show you one of the cute things that I put together this weekend.

My door was in desperate need of something, so I thought I would make a wreath for it...and it turned out so perfect! It was in expensive (under $10) and I can change the flowers and ribbon as the summer goes on if I so wish :)

Ok here is another one... I also like playing with my new camera on my new phone...

Yay!

E

Bathroom Makeover: Sneak Peek!

So as many of you know, when I get the itch to do something creative, I just have to do it. I'll get antsy and irritated if I don't. When I painted my bedroom I went ahead and painted my bathroom too. I painted it a very light shade of lavender...

After two days, I realized that I didn't like the color at all. I LOVED how my bedroom turned out, but my bathroom...not so much... My bedroom is so classy, and my bathroom looked very 5 year old girl, something had to be done.

I was considering painting it another color, maybe a coral or a dark blue... But the thought of painting another dark color made me think twice about painting it navy and I just could not find the right shade of coral...

Then I got an idea...

After painting my crazy wall, as I like to call it. I've become a little more confident in my painting abilities, and am taking on a bigger project... And here is your sneak peek!

I can't wait until the room is all done, so I can share it with you!

E

2011 AIM Awards

The winners for the 2011 AIM awards have been announced....and guess what!

MY SUBMISSION WON!

I entered the work I've done for the Nashville Huskers, and it was voted a winner, check it out!!!

I am so excited. My frist professional award. :)

E

New Look!

I've been itching for a new look for my blog... I am not sure if I like it... Let me know your thoughts!

E

Bedroom: I'm insane wall

I've had some ups and downs with my bedroom lately... Some of you may remember my color palette from a previous blog...Well I have made the decision to abandon those colors, after I painted the ceiling purple and the walls gray. I love the colors, and still might try and incorporate some of them, but they really made the room much younger and less lux... But, the room is looing great!

The awesome chandeliers I ordered from Urban Outfitters for my bedroom came in on Friday and I was so excited to hang them, it was the first thing I did yesterday. They are bigger than I though and wanted but they still look good!


But as I was sitting there observing the room, I knew this room was in desperate need of a pattern. Since I haven't been able to find a fabric I like as much as my inspiration fabric... And the fabric I ordered from www.spoonflower.com hasn't come in yet, and I don't think I would want a whole lot of that fabric in the room... I made the decision to do something insane.

I got this idea from a friend of mine, Kim, she did this in her hall and it looks amazing! Kim, got the idea from the Jones Design Company blog (which has the stencil I used). Tank you Kim, I am so glad I did this!

I will say that mine turned out a bit more "organic" than the other two did, but it is that "organic-ness" that is just what was needed in that room... There were so many solid colors and sharp clean lines...It needed something different. So, here we go!

This is the before:


And....after:


Each of these blogs have tips as to how to do this...So here are mine and the supplies that you will need:


- Stencil, From Jones Design Company blog - I used two a paper one for corners and those tricky spots, and a cardboard one for the rest of the wall...
- Level - When I was traceing the pattern onto the wall, I started from the bottom and moved my way up and to the right... So I used the level on the first couple of rows on the bottom and the first two columns on the left. I figured if I make sure the those are straight and level I can work from there.
- Pencil - to trace... make sure you have a good eraser.
- iPod - not pictured but was necessary
- Paint Brush - I think the brush I used was wider than the other two examples... but I was happy with the way that it turned out so I am happy.
- Paint - The best part of this is that I had everything I needed here at home... I just used left over paint from when I painted my accent walls downstairs... It worked perfect!
- Beer - I can be a bit OCD sometimes and want to make everything perfect and often get irritated when it isn't. It usually bothers me, but with this I had to think that the imperfections were part of design...they make it "organic" and beautiful! With a beer in hand I was less concerned about making it perfect, and just had fun with it...
- Time - This took me 8 hours start to finish...That includes cutting out the pattern and clean up.


This was not a hard project at all... it just took some time!

E

Bedroom: Headboard

While I was on the cruise there was dark stained wood everywhere -- doors, table tops, even on the walls and knew that was my inspiration for my headboard!

And, really... It was Casey who did most of the work and thought behind the project So I have to give him the credit for my headboard!

I like to be thrifty when I can, so I knew that I didn't want to go to West Elm and buy a massive headboard... I just wasn't in my budegt... and I couldn't justify spending that kind of money when I knew it was possible to do it for much less with a trip to Lowe's. In total, the headboard cost just about $100.

On trip #1 to Lowe's we picked up two hollow doors...Here are the really cool things:
- The holes for the door knobs are not drilled in them
- No sanding needed
- $26 each
I also picked up some stain and rub on polyurethane... which was another $15 bucks.

My "dining room" was then turned into a shop and we stained the doors....

I think we ended up doing 2 or 3 coats of the stain, and one coat of the polyurethane.

Next there was another trip to Lowe's to get fasteners ($10) and a trip to big lots to get rope light ($20)... Yep this sucker is back lit!

Casey worked his magic, and I stayed out of his hair... but did manage to get this picture in the process..


And here is the final product!


I am so excited with the way that it turned out!

THANK YOU CASEY!!!

E

Spring Time!

It is spring and my house is getting quite the face lift... As you all know I have been working on my bedroom... But, Casey has updated his bedroom a little, I have some new pop art and I got some new outdoor furniture...

Casey has been at his new job for about a month and a half now, and he comes home with some interesting "scraps" if you will... Last week he came home with some of the signage from one of the events they did. As we know Casey is quite creative... and turned that signage into this...


It looks like reclaimed wood, but really it is foam core!

He also came up with this...


These two were apart of the signage but are now my new pop art in my office area! I love the look she is giving him!

I was also in need of some new porch furniture...Last summer as I was trying to enjoy a sunset on my front porch, I managed to fall through the seat of one of these chairs...Wonderful for my self esteem let me tell you... And the other one fell of the front porch and broke. I saw a set at Target that I LOVED and wanted to get, but by the time that I got to Target they were long gone.


Fast forward to the other night, and I was walking through Target and what did I see?! The outdoor furniture that I have been wanting for a year! AND it was on sale... So, I got it! And, I think it looks great, and so comfy!


I am ready for spectacular sunsets now!

E

DDD what do you mean to me?

I've been asked to speak to the Vanderbilt Chapter of Delta Delta Delta about what the sorority means to me post college...

So, I thought what a better place than my blog to write my speech..

Thinking back to college and all the experiences I had in Tri Delta I didn't think it could get much better. I had some of my best friends by my side, girls that I could trust and confide in, someone was always there with a hug if I needed it. And there was always something to do, fraternity party or Sex in the City marathon. I just knew that these were my best friends and would one day be the brides maids in my wedding, they would always be there for me, and there was no way we were going to be pulled apart...

Then we graduated...and some moved away...some went back home...some went back to school...some got married...and we quickly found ourselves at different places in life.

I, moved to Nashville... I knew 2 people in this whole city, my best friend from 3rd grade, and a girl I was in youth group with in Colorado. I moved here with out a job, with out a network, and with out a clue.

The first place I turned to was the Nashville Alumni Chapter of Tri Delta. I remembered how much DDD did for me in college, and thought that maybe just maybe I could meet some new friends. I was just in luck they were having a young alum get together, so I went. And, ended up meeting some of the most important women in my life. Now, let me tell you the first night I met these girls I was not sure what I was getting myself into...I was a Tri Delta at Nebraska, and these girls went to southern schools...I wasn't quite sure what to make of them. I'd never been to a horse race...I didn't wear pearls...At Nebraska, we watched football and wore t-shirts and jeans.

The 5 of us, Lauren, Kim, Liz, Emily and myself decided that we were going to get together for happy hour each month, we invited other young alums and the group grew and grew...there were 35 of us at one point. For me these monthly get togethers were what got me through my, very trying, first year in Nashville. These girls encouraged me, supported me, loved me, celebrated with me, cried with me...

See, I move here with out a job...I found temporary work at Starbucks, but wasn't doing what I wanted to be doing. I went on interview after interview and it still took me a year to get a job. With out these women I doubt I would have survived my first 6 months in Nashville. They sent me job leads, put me in contact with hiring managers, and most importantly they kept my spirits up.

We as a young alum group have been through so much in the past 4 years, there have been engagements, weddings, and babies, there have been break ups, loss of jobs and girls moving away. And, yet we are there for each other through thick and thin. These are the girls that I do life with. Girls that I can turn to, when I am having a rough day or when I have good news and want to celebrate!

I'm not saying that my sorority sisters from college aren't important in my life, because they are. We are just not as close as we once were.

I am sure the girls that are going to be listening to this will be rolling their eyes with the next statement, because, well I did the same thing... But the DDD has meant more to me post college than it did while I was in college.

Being a Tri Delta is more than 4 years in college... it is a lifetime membership, and something I am so so grateful for!

E

HELP

I am looking for a new location for our Nashville Huskers to meet... and am not finding much! If anyone has any ideas let me know!

Here is what we are looking for!

Background of the Nashville Huskers:

This group was formed in September of 2009. Our fist watch party was for the Nebraska vs. VA Tech, we were expecting 20 people to show up and had over 80 people come to watch the game. Attendance grew as word got out. The Alumni Association did not assist in the development of this group in 2009. However, we started working with the Alumni Association in 2010 and anticipate further assistance in promoting this watch site location for the 2011 season.

The Ideal watch site location will have/be:

- Centrally Located

- Sufficient parking

- Sufficient number of TV’s

- Sufficient space for 50-100 people

- Food

- Family Friendly (There are families with young kids)

- Smoke Free

What a watch site location can expect from Nashville Huskers:

- On average Nashville has 100 people show up each week. However, there will be some weeks that there are closer to 150 -200 people and other weeks were there are closer to 25 people. The biggest factor is the game time.

- As soon as I hear about game times and TV stations I will let the location know.

- We will promote the location on Message Boards, Websites, and in E-mails.

- The location will be the Official home of the Nashville Huskers and THE place to watch Husker Football in Nashville.

What Nashvillians for Nebraska would like from a watch site location:

- For the Nebraska game to be shown with sound every week.

- For the Nebraska games to have priority over other games that are on at the same time. (Example: Say Tennessee and Nebraska play at the same time. The Nebraska game will be on the big screen and will be shown with sound.)

- If for some reason the Nebraska game would not be able to be shown the location needs to give 5 days advanced notice, so other arrangements can be made.

IF YOU KNOW OF ANYTHING THAT MIGHT WORK, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

E

UPDATE: Bedroom Makeover

So, I did it! I took the plunge and painted my room... that really means this bedroom makeover is a go!

I said that there would be some unexpected things in this makeover, and I think the pictures show some of the unexpected! I selected 3 different colors for my bedroom and bathroom... The first and probably boldest is my ceiling color: Olympic - Royal Indigo (C43-6). The wall colors is a familiar color in this Fay house: Valspar - Polished Silver (is the same light grey that is downstairs...Check it out). The bathroom got a light lavender: Olympic - Lazy Lilac (C43-2) a distent relative of Royal Indigo!

Here is how it turned out I LOVE IT!

This picture was taken in the evening...

(Look organized my closet is :) If only it would stay that way, ha!)

Here is a shot from the bathroom looking into the bedroom...

This picture was taken in the morning light, I just love the way it turned out!

A couple of tips from a non-painting expert:

1. Whoever swears by painting the ceiling has obviously hired people to paint the ceiling and has never done it themselves. Don't get me wrong I love the end result, it was just a pain in the butt to paint. It took me 4 coats...1 primer, and 3 paint.

2. When doing a dark color, get the grey primer, you will be so glad you did!

3. Olympic paint doesn't cover nearly as well as Valspar does, spend the extra 5 bucks and get Valspar, it will save your neck, back, and a lot of frustration. I think I am going to have to go back and repaint the bathroom, the paint didn't cover very well around the trim, or in general. (Note: I went with Olympic because that was the paint color I liked. Next time I will stick to the paint chips that are Valspar or have them match the Olympic paint chip.)

4. Have ibuprofen handy for the next day.

5. It is so much more enjoyable with a glass of wine in hand!

E

Bedroom makeover...sneak peek!

A year ago around this time, I became fed up with my bedroom... Just couldn't stand how it was decorated, it was time for a change...

Instead of swapping out my comforter I bought a house.

Now, a year and lots of $$$ later I still have the same decorations in my bedroom. It is time for a change!

So I wanted to give you a taste of my inspiration....

The color palette...

And a little something unexpected...

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

E

I really thought that...

...things were going to slow down after the holidays but I guess I was wrong! I have no clue where the month of January went...And I know where the first part of February went... :)

So here is a recap of the past couple of months!

Nashville has had one of the snowiest winters ever... This was the evening of our first snow days...
We only got a couple of inches but that seems to shut down the whole city. And little did I realize when I bought my house, exactly how much trouble it would be to A.) get out of my parking lot and B.) to get off this hill. Thank goodness I can access my work computer from home. It has saved me this winter.

Garth Brooks put on 9 benefit concerts for the city of Nashville, to help with the flood recovery process. I got to go to one of them thanks to my wonderful neighbor Kelly!


Our company ended the year strong, and we were lucky enough to get bonuses... So, I got new chairs for my living room!!!

(Purple Velvet, they look awesome!!!)

Casey and I didn't get to go back to Colorado for Christmas so we ended up trying to Skype with Mom and Dad on Christmas morning. Casey and I found some pretty awesome surprises under the Christmas tree. Casey got a drill, and I got the stand mixer I have been lusting after for years...expect baked goods!!!

The December parties didn't stop...there was still fun to be had there were birthdays, happy hours, and football...needless to say I didn't get much sleep.

New Years was the BIG party. My Brother, Casey, and rung in the New Year with our Neighbors at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. It was fun!

(Don't we clean up nice?)

The next thing I knew it was recruitment for Vanderbilt (boy did that sneak up on me this year)...And, as the recruitment adviser, I was at the Vandy Tri Delta house every night helping them select a new pledge class, which they got an amazing group of girls!

After recruitment was over the countdown to Family Cruise 2011 started!!!

But there was on last thing I had to do before I left town for 10 days. I had to put together my submission for the AIM awards. I really wrestled with putting together an entry, but in the end I am glad I did. You may be wondering what the AIM awards are and what my entry is... Well, AIM stands for Achievements In Marketing, and these awards are put on by the Nashville Chapter of the American Marketing Association (NAMA). These awards really focus on results. So, I put together a entry about the Nashville Huskers, I know it might be crazy but with the amount of success we had, I wanted to share it.

My reward for accomplishing everything was a 10 day cruise to the Caribbean with the family... but that is another post....

So now you are up to speed!

E