Leaving

Every time we leave the house, Rachel has a whole armful of items, Mimi the lamb is always there, and whatever random thing she sees as we are walking out the door. This particular day it was all stuffed animals, George the monkey and elephant (no name as of yet). Other times it's a bracelet, a bucket or a book, and usually there is a ball or two, she is obsessed with balls and can spot any round shape within sight. 

As adorable as it is it makes it difficult to keep the car clean since she never remembers to bring them back in and my hands are usually full with other things. Someone recently gave her a gift and she has been using the gift bag to carry things out to the car and collect various treasures as we are out. It is always interesting to see what catches her little eye!

My home to-do list

I am writing up my to-do list here to help motivate me to get them all done this summer. I have had some good luck lately on craigslist and at my local Goodwill's for furniture items. More luck than time actually since I now have a backlog of things I need to paint! What makes it difficult for me is I have to time my painting projects when Rachel is napping or when the hubby is home so he can keep her out of trouble so I have to work quickly, which is also why it takes me so long to finish something. I try to have everything taped and ready to go so when the opportunity arises I can get as much of it done as I can. I think painting furniture/crafting is my way of nesting this time around! Along with the given scrubbing and organizing, with a toddler underfoot though, those tasks are a bit harder than they used to be.

Here are the items I am going to be painting this summer:

1. Rachel's dresser and nightstand. These are the pics from the craigslist ad, I just never got around to taking my own pictures before I started painting. I am actually done painting the dresser, will post a picture once the side table is finished. Still working on the side table, I painted it turquoise and it's a little brighter than I thought it would turn out so it needs some work to tone it down. Really need to buckle down and finish Rachel's room so she can move into in August, well before the baby is born so that is at the top of my list.

2. A:rmchair: Once I decide exactly where it's supposed to go I can get started on taking the fabric off and painting it. The two places I am debating putting it is in our living room or in Rachel's room. She loves to look at her books and we still read her a bedtime story each night so she needs a chair in her room. If it goes in her room, I would do the upholstery in a bright pink, if in the living room a neutral color or I might go a little crazy and do a print like this:

Aviary in Robin

(I am lol at Rachel photobombing here)

3. this is one of my favorite pieces, I love the faux bamboo details. I would love to paint this a light aqua blue, it would give our living room some much needed color in a sea of brown, (and would tie in the fabric print above if I use it in upholstery or pillows) but a soft white may be a better choice, since everything else is white or espresso. Leaning towards being risky and doing the blue though

4. Bedroom dresser, this is a handme down from hubby's parents via his sister. It is very solid and in good condition other than the finish, it is pretty bad, there are dents, watermarks, permanent marker stains and crayon scribbles on it from a very hard life with 10 kids, so I am going to try my hand at sanding it down and restaining a dark espresso. It's the perfect project since it is already in bad condition so I can't mess it up more. This is such a big project though I may not get around to it this summer, it may next year before I can do it. I am ashamed to admit that yes, it is usually that messy, it's my dresser and no matter how much I try and keep it neat, sooner or later it ends up like this.

I have already upholstered a headboard for the master bedroom, it was soooo easy, it took more time to shop for all the items than it did to make it! Here it is right after finishing it, will take a picture of it over the bed one of these days. The fabric is Waverly Chippendale Fretwork in mist, I love it soooo much. I tried to do a nailhead trim around the edges, but it would have none of it, the nails wouldn't go in and after bending 3, I called it a day and left it as is. It's a little blah so I will try my hand at tufting it someday, but not right now

 I am working on another side table, no picture of it but I am experimenting with antiquing it, it's very...interesting so far. Also on the paint list is the console in our foyer and waaay down the list is repainting our bedside tables. They are a light oak color and very blah, not the Hollywood regency/french look I am going for in our bedroom.

I am also learning to sew, yay! My mom is going to help me make curtains for the new nursery and I need to make some throw pillows for the living room and bedroom, very excited to take on those projects.

 

So look forward to some updates on all these projects, now that my list is public I have more motivation to get them finished!

OOTD: Coral Rush

I love it when I find dresses that aren't maternity but still work with my growing bump, it saves money because I can wear it later after baby is born. This dress was on clearance at Target, I never thought to check out the Calypso line until I read some reviews on the Target website from some other expectant moms, so I am happy I did! I love the embroidery around the arms and hem, it's really well done and makes it look more expensive than it is.

obligatory bump view:

dress: calypso for target

belt: gap? fossil? can't remember to be honest

shoes: target

initial necklace: etsy

working on some paint projects that I hope to finish up soon and share, things take so much longer these days since I can only work during Rachel's naps and once she is in bed I am too tired to do much. I will be going home soon to visit my family and my mom is going to help me sew some curtains for the baby's room! So excited to learn how to sew, I would love to make some throw pillows for our living room and do a few other small projects once I get some practice.  

I also wanted to share the sweetest shop on etsy for children's artwork, trafalgar's square. I found it through a facebook friend (thank you Rachel!) and I bought this one for Rachel's new room. I purchased it before we found out we were having another girl, but now that we know there's another little girl on the way, it makes it more special since it looks like two sister bunnies having a tea party together, so precious!

OOTD: Butterfly Kisses

I have been meaning to post for awhile but things have gotten a little busy around here so sorry it's late! We did have the ultrasound done 2 weeks ago and everything looks fine, baby has all it's toes, fingers and a perfect heart so we are happy! We are also excited to be having another girl! She already has a name, we are just having trouble finding a middle name, hubby and I like a few different ones but it is hard to settle on one. Rachel's middle name is after my mom, so hubby would like to use his mom's name but I don't really like the name to be honest, never have and he doesn't like his mom's middle name so we are looking at other family names on his side.

This is the outfit I wore to the ultrasound, in hindsight wearing a dry clean only shirt was not the best option  because of all the goo they use for the ultrasound, but I was super careful to cover everything up so none got on the top, whew! I really love the whimsical butterfly pattern on the top, and it goes perfectly with my new cardigan from JCrew. I love the color yellow, it makes me so happy.

bump view!

top: nanette lepore (!!!!)

cardigan: jcrew

skirt: old navy maternity

shoes: cynthia vincent for target

belt: gap

 This top was a very generous gift from a friend, she sent me a box of stuff that was too big for her and I love everything she sent, some of it will have to wait till after the baby arrives because it doesn't work with my bump, so it's nice to have some things to look forward to wearing after giving birth. If you are reading, thank you again Becca! She also sent me the famed Enzo no-clip curling iron, still need to try it out, I just never seem to have the time, I am lucky these days if I can run a flat iron through my hair! Plus now that it is warm I try and use my heat styling tools as little as possible because my bathroom gets very warm quickly, maybe the next date night the hubby and I have I can build some extra time in to try it out.

Favorite Nurseries

Since we find out today what the baby is, I thought I would post some nursery photos that I love. I can't wait to get started planning the nursery and buying some new items for the baby!

 Pottery Barn Kids

Pottery Barn Kids

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via Design Sponge (I think)

Pottery Barn Kids

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 Pottery Barn Kids

Pottery Barn Kids

Dream Girl Rooms

Since I am currently working on putting together a big girl room for Rachel, I thought I would share some of my favorite girl rooms. I have been collecting pictures for awhile so I am afraid I don't know who they all belong to, so I can't give credit to the designers or photographers except for the first two, the first photo is from Serena and Lily and the second photo is from Pottery Barn Kids.

(this is actually the color palette for Rachel's new room, yellow and pink!)

 

OOTD: Chocolate Cream

I love this dress so much, I am sure I have posted it before but it is worth reposting to me because I love it so much. It has an empire waist which is the only reason I can still wear it because my belly is starting to get big, I don't have a side shot in this dress, but I promise I have some coming!

I am shopping for maternity clothes now, but am also spending a lot of time shopping in regular stores, it is harder to find things that work but totally worth it since I will be able to wear them after the baby is born vs. maternity clothes are harder to pull off post baby. So if you see any cute empire waist dresses or tops, let me know, especially if it's a maxi dress!!!

dress: patrick robinson for target

sweater: gap

shoes: target

sunglasses: marc jacobs

necklace: (even though you can't see it) etsy

sharing a few pictures of my little fashionista, she loves to put on my heels and wear them around the house, she gets so frustrated when they fall off though, it's cute to see how hard she tries to walk in them but it's more of a shuffle lol.