Thursday, March 22, 2012

rearranging is my game.

well i'm at it again. and by "it" i mean rearranging my furniture. well, sort of. basically we are trying to fit about 8 rooms into 1. we have to fit a living room, family room, office, dining room, cat furniture and soon lots of baby things all into our living space. our apartment basically has 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms and the kitchen/living room/sunroom/dining room are all one big space.

so it has become my mission to fit all those rooms into one space and still make it look pretty. and make it functional because i have 3 cats who use their big scratching post and cat tree every day. plus i will soon have baby furniture, like a swing, pack n play, jumperoo, bouncer and all sorts of things that will also need space. so that is what i have been up to lately. every weekend phil and i sort through just STUFF. i cannot believe after a move only 2 years ago and going through our clothing every year we still have so. much. stuff.

we really donate boxes full of stuff every year and end up throwing away bags of stuff that nobody in this world has need of.. and yet we are still going through our closets and taking loads of trash to the dumpster and boxes upon boxes to donation centers. it's pretty outrageous. in fact, our latest project was trying to get at least one side of the closet in the office emptied so once it becomes the nursery, that can be the baby's side of the closet. we succeeded, but now all my christmas boxes are sitting in my living room until we figure something out...... i don't love it.

soon i will show you guys some of my solutions. once i figure out what they are.. but for now i have something a little more fun.

after christmas i decided i really liked having a bright color with all the neutral and cool tones in my living room.. however, i didn't want red. so i went pink:











all this really cost me was the price of the pillow covers i found on etsy for around $30 for both and purchased with christmas money, a can of spray paint, and then my mom found that picture at garden ridge which happened to be so perfect for my apartment. i think it was also about $30.. it just so happened to have blue, green, pink and obviously i loved the bird. it ties all the colors together in here and i love it. you will have to forgive the cardboard on the corners. i was trying to decide if i was going to keep it.. you know how that goes : ).

so besides my abdomen and the growing baby, those are the major changes happening around here lately. and in case you were wondering, i am 18 weeks along and the baby is now apparently the size of a sweet potato. we find out next week (a week from today!! eek!!!) whether we will be welcoming a girl or boy into our crazy little family, and of course we will be thrilled with either (come on girl!!). okay, yes. i want a girl.. but i'll be happy as long as our little baby is healthy like a good little mommy : ).



come on girl!! ; )

Friday, March 9, 2012

Evelyn's Shoppe.

recently my good friend megan opened up a shop on etsy. it's called Evelyn's Shoppe and here is what she says about it:

"Welcome to Evelyn's Shoppe! I am a newly stay at home mom who wants to spend as much time with her daughter as humanly possible. I just recently left my job and I'm now trying new things to bring in a little income. I have always had a love for fashion and hope that I can share some of my inspirations with you! I would love your business so please check things out!"

i love her shop! she has the cutest scarves that she hand makes! and for being good quality, lovely and handmade scarves, the prices are pretty reasonable. of course i am a scarf addict. i love them! i mean, you can change any outfit just by adding a scarf. come on. what a great way to save money! just buy different scarves to change up your outfits instead of buying new outfits all the time! it works wonders.

my favorite thing to do is just throw on a cardigan over a tee or plain shirt, then add a scarf. there you have it! cute outfit! and her scarves are lovely! plus there is the added benefit of knowing you're helping a woman be able to spend more time with her little baby! i mean, basically a win-win : ).

Floral square fashion scarf
here is one of her adorable scarves that works way into the spring and cool summer nights.

Floral Spring Fashion Scarf
here is another adorable pattern. she has such good taste.

Handmade Knit Two Tone Eternity Scarf, extra-wide L56" x W40"
and this is the one i ordered from her.


i ordered the two tone eternity scarf, but i wanted different colors. well, megan can custom make them to order so you can really get any color you want!

this is me, hobbes and the baby showing off my scarf that i ordered. : )


i wanted white and tan to be able to go with lots of different outfits. actually i wanted something neutral, and megan suggested the colors. and i love my scarf! it is sooo soft and cozy. it has the feeling of a really soft tee that you wear around your neck. i have never had a cozier scarf, and i have been looking for something like this for so long!



i obviously love this scarf.


seriously. order a scarf from megan's shop. you won't regret it.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

so. much. fun.

okay. i love color. i mean, even neutrals are colors. i love picking out color schemes and seeing new palettes put together. in fact, my idea of a fun afternoon is to browse the paint chips at home depot, lowes or wherever and think about what colors i might put together. since a lot of you guys who read this are into decorating and design, i think you know what i'm talking about.

i am unsure if i am just late to the game or something, but holy cow i found the most fun thing in the world for a person who loves color schemes. do not laugh at me if i'm just out-of-my-mind late to the show here, but i found this incredible website on this woman's awesome blog. it's called design-seeds.com and when i saw it my mouth dropped open and i thought, "where has this been all my life?".

okay. what they do, if you were unaware like me until now, they take beautiful inspiration photos and pull colors from them to create gorgeous color schemes. like. for real. beautiful. i went there to see if i could find inspiration for our nursery. i realize this has become baby central any time i blog lately, but what can i say? when a baby hijacks your body, it kind of takes over your brain also. but this doesn't have to be about babies for you guys! you can use this website for anything you want!

the point is, i was having real trouble focusing on what i want. i love everything. all different styles and color schemes... my focus is nonexistent right now. but this website helped SO. MUCH. just looks at these gorgeous works of art.






i am in love. for real. i am already so inspired. and the good news is i am inspired with a girl's color scheme and a boy's color scheme. i really love the spring brights for a girl's room. i don't think i would do any purple textiles, but i would bring it in with some art and accessories. for a boy i really like the springtime hues. it's interesting to me because both images have a lot of the same colors and cool green and blue tones. i wouldn't have figured that out or realized my focus so easily if it hadn't been for this amazing website. seriously go there if you haven't. but make sure you've got some time. it's so fun and addicting. and the pictures are dreamy. do it. : )