Next HGTV stars?

So I've been watching a lot of HGTV lately and decided I'd browse the website to see what kinds of shows I could apply for. And boom - the second one down was specifically for South Florida Residents. Here is what they were looking for and below is my submission. Cross your fingers and toes!

If you own a home in the South Florida area, this is your chance to receive a home project makeover in just one weekend! We are searching for homeowners who've wanted to tackle a project for a while, yet find the thought of it to be entirely overwhelming for just the two of them. Our host will show you that it isn't too hard to create the room of your dreams in just one weekend.

The couple should be handy, since they'll be working alongside the host. The projects can range from bathrooms to backyards, mud rooms to porches and kitchens to closets and more! The home should have either an empty garage, backyard or driveway to act as a workspace. All applicants must live no more than 90 minutes from Miami.

Hello, my name is Lindsay and my husband and I are entering the HGTV project makeover for South Florida. Below is the application information. Please contact us if you need us to provide any additional pictures or information!

Lindsay and Ryan Dean

809 NW 126th ave

Coral Springs, FL 33071

Lhdean7@gmail.com

321-480-2777

* Detailed photos of the space from top to bottom and square footage of the space and house

The room is 11'5" x 9'9" for 111.31 square feet. The total house is just under 2000 square feet.

* What is your favorite design style?

I like modern, bright, simplistic styles with 2-3 colors. Bold wall colors and patterns interest me, as well as interesting accent furniture pieces or wall art with a possible antique yet modern spin. I also find faux wall finishes neat and illusion type designs that draw your eye.

* A detailed description of who you are and why you feel you need this home makeover

We are newlyweds, married this August, and moved to South Florida in April of last year for work. We are 25 years old, graduated from the University of Florida in 2009, and loving the new home we purchasef early this year. Ryan is a Sales Engineer who's office is out of our home, but travels the state visiting waste water treatment plants weekly. I am an Assistant Store Manager at a SuperTarget working the wonderful schedule of retail! We enjoy playing tennis together and visiting our friends and family all around the state. Ryan's second love (after me, of course) is Texas Hold 'Em. We even have our own custom poker table instead of a dining room table that I let him beat me on every now and then. While he's busy making some extra cash at cards, I love working upstairs in my office doing scrapbooking, invitation making, or anything crafty for that matter! It's a passion I've had since I was a little girl and I have a scrapbook for just about every trip we've taken, and have recently done all the stationary for a few friends' weddings (including our own!). It's been a dream of mine to someday start my own business doing this, but as you can see by the pictures, my workspace isn't exactly the most effective use of space to even try to make that happen. I need better storage and organization in this room, because I've caught myself buying supplies I already own because I didn't realize I already had them! I want this to be my escape room for when the effects of retail have worn on me a little too much. I want my friends and family to like my scrapbook room just as much as they like the scrapbooks themselves because I'm embarrassed to even leave the door open when I have company as it is. My husband is all for this because he know's it's something I've wanted and will make me very happy, and as he says - "A happy wife, makes a happy life!".

* What's been holding you back from tackling this project and how will your life be so much better once it's completed?

Busy is an understatement for both of us. We're new in our careers and putting in over 50 hours a each week. By the time we get home all we want to do is relax. Owning a new home has been quite a handful and we've had many other projects that have taken priority over this one. And I can't forget to mention I spent the last year planning our wedding by myself. Besides not having two spare minutes between us, we just honestly don't even know where to begin with this room. I consider myself pretty creative when it comes to decorating ideas, but this one just stumps me. The room has what we call "secret" room attached to the closet and we want to somehow incorporate it as part of the room, but can't figure out how. When it comes to finding decorative ways to maintain lots of storage and a semblance of organization, we are at a standstill.

Our home will finally be complete if we could just get this project tackled. It's the last room in the house that needs a makeover and we will finally be able to enjoy our new home even more once it's done. Ryan knows how OCD I am when it comes to being clean and organized so I'm sure he'll be happy when my anxiety levels come down once this room is complete. On top of it, I may actually be able to live out my dreams of owning my own stationary business one day - which will only make me that much more busy right? But like they say "if you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life!".

* A photo of you and the front of the house, the garage/driveway/yard which will act as a workspace

The front of our house:Ryan in front of the house:

The driveway/yard area:

Us at our wedding:

* Do you have children? Pets?

No children or pets at the moment, but plan on getting a puppy in the next few months to start our little family.

Thanks,
Lindsay and Ryan Dean

Embarrassing

What's embarrassing you ask? That October 26, 2010 was the last time I posted in my blog. Way to go with keeping committed to your blog, Lindsay. Anyway, it goes without saying that the last year has been the busiest in my life thus far, and I couldn't be happier. Here's a quick highlight reel of the last 12 months

- I bought a house

- I started a stationary business on the side

- I planned my entire wedding

- I got a promotional raise!

- I had awesome bridal showers and bachelorette parties

- I got married

- I went to Paris, Rome, and Venice

- I remodeled/redecorated my spare bedroom

- I bought a dog

I think that about sums it up. Our new house is in Coral Springs, about 20 minutes north of our old apartment in Plantation. The location is amazing, including a gated community and neighborhood gym and pool. We have a 4bed/2.5bath house of our dreams. We are slowly but surely putting in a little TLC to make it pretty and make it OURS.

As far as the business goes, as of right now it's more like a "business". As most of you know, I absolutely LOVE scrapbooking and anything of the crafty sort. Friends and family started noticing the invitations, stationary, etc. I was making for my wedding and told me I should make money at it. It sounded like a pretty good idea so I ran with it and created a Facebook page for "Formally Invited" and have done quite a few orders so far :) I've done anything from baby announcements, graduation announcements, wedding invites, to recipe cards! I had to put the business on the side for a while during the last few hectic months before my wedding, but now that the wedding is over I'm ready to start it up again and see where it takes me~!

Planning my entire wedding was quite the adventure and lots of fun. [Of course, don't forget the stress, tears, and disappointment that come standard with that]. But it's par for the course right? My wedding turned out to be more than I could have dreamed of and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to literally have my fairytale wedding dreams come true. My parents and friends were a HUGE help and I can't forget about Ryan - who dealt with my bridezillaness for almost a year AND the tears I cried for days on end while we were on our honeymoon in Paris - the place I've wanted to visit since 7th grade! The poor guy thought I was nuts but I was just SO devastated that the big day I had anticipated for over a year and spent every spare minute planning was over in the blink of an eye. It's so hard to explain the emotion but the best way to describe it all is a "whirlwind". We are still waiting to get the video back [Dec. 6] and can't wait to re-live that day!

Target is going really well and I still don't mind not having to figure out what to wear every day. This past June I got a promotional raise and before you know it I will have been there 18 months and will be ready for a new position! They will probably move me around Feb-March of next year and I can't wait to see what's in store for me next. My Target peers are some of my best friends and I love them all so much. I feel very lucky to have such an amazing team and work at a fun and exciting place :)

Our honeymoon was just "WOW". I literally felt like I was walking through a postcard for 11 days. All the pictures we took don't even look real. Just like the wedding, it all felt like a big whirlwind. {Like, am I really in Europe? I've dreamed of coming here for 12 years.} Anyway, it was amazing minus the food. Shocking right? We thought the food was supposed to be the best part, too. Don't get me wrong, we had some pretty great food here and there, but it just wasn't the {OMG THIS IS AMAZING FOOD} that we heard it was going to be. Maybe it's because we American's eat so poorly and do everything we can to make food as unnatural as possible that it makes it difficult for us to appreciate real, natural, cuisine. Hmm...

I am SO proud of our new spare bedroom, that it makes me want to run upstairs and gaze at it some more as I type this. I do have to give some credit to my mom for suggesting what to do with the baseboards and furniture placement, but overall, I think Ryan and I did a pretty damn good job :) The room had nasty dark green and yellow walls with terrible baseboards before hand and we ripped up the baseboards and put down fancy new ones and painted the room gray. We even replaced the light fixture and put in a pretty chandelier. [Yes, chandeliers can go in bedrooms, too.] Anyway, it's absolutely beautiful now with a modern white and gray base and a few splashes of purple. Ryan still thinks it's way too girly but he's entitled to his opinion ;) Basically what I'm saying is, COME VISIT US! :)

And finally, we are proud to announce the newest member of the Dean family, BRUISER. Contrary to what you may assume by the name, it's a GIRL. Long story short, Ryan's always wanted a BIG name for a little dog and despite the fact we wanted a girl, it didn't stop him from wanting to keep the name. And to be honest, I think it's cute. So Bruiser it is. She's a mini yorkie and should only be around 5-6 pounds full grown. Ryan's only rules with Bruiser is that she can NOT be put in a purse and she can NOT wear any outfits. [Crap, my plans are ruined]. Bruiser is only 6 weeks old and we can't bring her home until she's 9 weeks old. So in the next post I'll let you guys know how many times I've cleaned up her accidents and how many sleepless nights I've had...until next time.....

[and hopefully next time isn't October 26, 2012!]