Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Scandinavian Farmhouse Kitchen- Get the Look

A lot of pictures have been floating around of these beautiful Scandinavian farmhouse kitchens.....and I of course fall in love every time.  Instead of bombarding you with more pictures, I've compiled a list of my favorite links to get this look.  I'm heading out of town tomorrow for my grandfather's 90th birthday  celebration, so I will see you next week!
  


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

A Work in Progress

Ok guys, so I know I have mentioned that since our move, we have a mountain of projects on our to-do list.  I sort of wanted to wait until an area was finished before sharing it with you, but every area in our house is currently partly-done and our projects are on hold until we finish painting the rest of the house.  So, instead of being a perfectionist- I thought I would share one of those areas with you.  This is the current status of our dining room.  
What we've done: built the dining table, painted over the red walls, and found some chairs on Craigslist.  
What needs to be done: sanding and staining the table, building a bench for one side, replacing the carpet with hardwood, getting the head chairs, replacing the lighting, and finishing touches. 
 Today though, I'm focusing on progress made:).





Friday, June 21, 2013

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend enjoying the outdoors, hopefully in a pretty spot such as this.  Here are my favorite links from this week:


This made me smile
Love this little DIY
Combining my love for travel and effortless fashion, meet my new favorite blog
In love with these wall hangings
Our next trip to the Grand Canyon will include this spot
Crazy about the textiles from this etsy shop
In love with the design of this lamp

See you next week, cheers!


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

On My Radar

I have this thing for chairs.....all styles, all shapes.  Most recently, the Wassily chair in the picture below has been haunting me.  With all the craze for the black leather Eames lounge chair, I'm kind of loving the tan leather accent chair instead.





These awesome leather safari chairs below are from Emily Henderson's living room.  They actually look cozy (especially when compared to the safari chairs above).  Anthropologie currently has a re-make of them, if only they didn't come with the hefty price tag.

Monday, June 17, 2013

A First Birthday

As mentioned earlier, my little girl turned one last week!  Never a person to turn down a chance to throw a party, I still wanted to keep it simple (because after all- we are the only ones who will remember it, right?).  With a balloon as our only piece of decoration (that ended up getting popped by grandpa, oops!), and a simple menu,  we enjoyed a nice backyard picnic.  It felt like a fun family get-together rather than an over-the-top birthday party.  
Here are some snippets from R's day:
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I am officially not the best at icing a cake, but I tried to make up for that with her cake topper and the DIY party hat I made for her.

R enjoying her day.....these wooden maracas were the best $7 I ever spent.  She wouldn't put them down!

Here's a small tip that I have learned- when the menu is simple, presentation is key!  It makes everything seem more special- and your guests will overlook the fact that they are just eating sandwiches, fruit, and chips, and sipping a lemonade.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

On a Side Note

Life has felt especially busy as of late.....a short trip to Michigan this weekend (complete with exploring and my half marathon), trying to put our new house in order, making new friends, family visiting, and getting ready for my little girl's first birthday.  Then this weekend, we got some bad news from Red's old unit in Afghanistan.  Real quick, it snapped me from my to-do list and back to reality.... the reality that life is short and sweet....and hard.   My heart has been heavy this week, and honestly it's been difficult to post here.  But tomorrow is my sweet R's first birthday.....and I want to celebrate her beautiful life.  Though I always wanted to be a mother, I was also terrified of it.  I think it's because I mostly heard the horror stories that people like to tell you.  Sure it's not always convenient, and sure I'm often exhausted at the end of the day.........but when I think about being R's mother, these are the pictures that best convey my feelings.  She makes Red and I smile and laugh a little more every day, she makes me less selfish, and she makes the world a more magical place.  I wasn't prepared for her to steal my heart like she has.  Really, what an honor.  Happy Birthday little one! 
  





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Friday, June 7, 2013

Picnic Inspiration

I've had internet troubles today, hence me posting late on a Friday night.  My little girl is turning one next week and I can hardly believe it.  To celebrate we want to keep it simple and sweet with a picnic by a pretty stream near our house.  I still want to put some thought into it though, so here are some of my favorite picnic inspirations.  Happy weekend!
  




Monday, June 3, 2013

Dress your Bar for Summer

One day before we moved to Indianapolis, I just decided to browse their local craigslist to see if I found anything.  I could hardly believe my eyes when I found a vintage brass bar cart for $60 (this has been a three year search let me tell you!).  I called the lady right away and explained that I was in love with the cart but would not be moving for another month (ha) and she was nice enough to welcome me to Indiana and to offer to hold it for me.  I couldn't believe my luck.  Since then I have been thinking of ways I would want to style it (hint: in an effort to be real here, this is obviously if money were no issue....and we didn't have bigger things we needed, like furniture ha). 



1. Playa glassware
2. The Ultimate Bar Book
3. Hexagonal wine rack
4. Garden party straws
5. Serving bowl
6. Vintage brass pineapple ice bucket
7. Tequila salter