Happy Hour No. 4


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To us, Happy Hour is a time to sit back, relax, and catch up with friends. Itโ€™s a time to chat about everything and anything, and thatโ€™s exactly what we want to bring to DIY Playbookโ€™s monthly Happy Hour.happy-hour-graphicWe want these monthly posts to be a chance to catch up with friends and bring just a little extra happy to your day. So grab your coffee (or champagne) and letโ€™s catch up!

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Casey

  • The TV show I produced for the past 3 years was nominated for another Emmy (just a regional one), so we’re going to the awards ceremony on Saturday! Even if we don’t win, it’s fun to get a little dressy for a night on the town. I ordered this dress from Rent the Runway, and plan to wear it with these new nude heels. I’ll post of a pic of the Mr. & I all gussied up on Saturday over on Instagram for you guys to see! Fingers crossed we come home with another big win!casey-fall-fashion-11casey-fall-fashion-4
  • I ordered a few things during the Nordstrom clearance sale including these black jeans and these Zella leggings. I’m obsessed with both and have been wearing the leggings non-stop to workout class. They’re super comfy and really suck everything in.
  • For some reason, we’ve always had a lot of trouble with shower organizers. They either don’t suction well, or they fall down, or they break…we’ve seriously gone through multiple in our master bath shower. Recently we decided to stop buy cheap ones, and instead picked up this one from The Container Store. It works so well & keeps all of our shower accessories organized & easy to reach. Definitely worth the price tag for something we use everyday.

Bridget

  • The zippers on my old pillow cases and duvet had busted after having our comforter and shams for a few years so I SPLURGED big time on a new duvet from West Elm. Casey has this exact one and every time I sleep over, I’m reminded how amazing her comforter is. When ours had started to see better days, I knew exactly what new duvet I wanted. And I’m here to report that this new blanket is FAR better than we expected. Heck, even Matt comments about how nice the new comforter is! <— that never happens!casual_heels_macys
  • I scored these super comfy and very versatile wedges for $30! I feel like these wedges are a dressy version of my everyday TOMS. I love both because they are comfortable, versatile and they’re a perfect closed toe shoe to wear all fall/winter long. And for $30?! Between these, my TOMS and boots, I think I’m set for winter shoes.
  • I also treated myself to this military jacket from the Gap Outlet when it was on sale and have been wearing it pretty much everyday since. My sisters got me an amazing winter coat, but I didn’t have a “not yet winter coat” so when I found one that was versatile, stylish and warm… at an OUTLET store, I was sold!
  • I bought this scarf on sale for $20 on Black Friday (over 60% off!!)

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  • We LOVEEEDDD following along with all of the One Room Challenges and admire how dramatic these before and afters were, especially given that each blogger only has 6 weeks to transform her space. Cassie’s from Hi Sugarplum, Julia’s from Chris Loves Julia and Gwen’s from Makerista were also some of our favorites!
  • Vintage Revivals’ Bathroom Makeover for under $1,000 = Can you even?!! #sogood
  • So honored to be included on this list of “Top 10 DIY Women Bloggers”. We don’t feel nearly as deserving as the title suggests but are extremely grateful to be among such talented and inspiring women.
  • This black & white condo has some major style!
  • We’re a little late in sharing, but we loved this post on 10 Thanksgiving Outfit Ideas. Although Turkey Day has come and gone, the outfits are still really cute… and they inspired us to use what we already own to create “new” outfits! Thanks for the inspo, Mallory!!

Casey Updates

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Earlier this month, Finn & I spent a weekend away in Cedarburg, WI which is just a short drive from Chicago.

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It was kinda nice to get out-of-town without an agenda. We did some shopping in the cute little town, visited a winery, and just enjoyed a carefree fall day side-by-side. The foliage was absolutely stunning and we were so lucky to have a gorgeous Saturday of weather.

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We also took my mom’s Christmas card picture on Thanksgiving day using all of the tips from this post. It only took us about 5 minutes (gotta go quickly when it’s cold and you have a toddler to keep happy!), but we got it done. Finn & I also hosted Thanksgiving for the first time ever and it was a great SUCCESS!

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I created a menu board using wrapping paper, some string, and some eucalyptus. It was sooooo easy and really did look pretty gorgeous hung near the table. 

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Speaking of the tablescape, I kept that very simple with wood candlesticks, silver chargers, personalized place cards, and even more eucalyptus. 

But the decor wasn’t the best part of our holiday…it was that we were all together for a laid-back day filled with family. Finn cooked an amazing turkey, everyone brought delicious sides, and we had a wonderful day together with plenty of laughs. I’m thinking this may turn into a yearly tradition at our house…

Bridget Updatesbridget-plaid-scarf-laughing

This month was a lot less busy and a lot more “ordinary” than months past, which was a welcome change of pace! Although I stayed busy starting to think about my design plan in our guest room /soon-to-be office and even started a few DIY projects in there, I was able to get a lot of seasonal stuff around the house done (finally!!).

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DIY Modern Address Tutorial here

We managed to put away our patio furniture, gave our house a DEEP clean, planted mums in all of our flower boxes for the first time and even started taking some of the Christmas stuff out… slowly but surely. Our weekends were filled with a lot less plans and a lot more productivity, which was totally okay with me since things will surely be different now that it’s almost December.

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Probably the BIGGEST event in our household this month was the Cubs winning the World Series… for the first time in 108 years!! Matt is a lifelong Cubs fan & clocked a lot of late nights watching the playoffs this month. I was happy for Chicago and extra excited for Matt but I wasn’t as “glued to the TV” as he was. It seems like forever ago that we traveled to Arizona to watch their season opener against the Cubs for Matt’s 30th, I can’t even believe it’s the same season?!

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I’m not a die-hard Cubs fan (for any team for that matter), but watching the city “bleed blue” and drape W flags all over town was so. much. fun!! And knowing that the TV is finally free from baseball games for the first time since APRIL is something worth celebrating. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Go Cubs Go!

Bridget&Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.