Window Shopping

These days I seem to have no time (or money really) for shopping, but that doesn't mean I don't stay up too late online shopping and leaving fabulous shopping "bags" all over the internet!

I wanted to share some fun things I'm really considering for this fall - especially because this year I have a person much cuter than myself to shop for! I mean, she looks great in everything, lets me pick every part of her ensemble, and never scuffs her shoes!

It's not the most diverse list, but these are pretty much all the places I shop! And seriously BabyGap has THE best baby clothes. Like, I would wear all of them.  Not sure what that says about me.

In the height of corny, I combined my girl Jules' and my outfits to show how great we'll look when we actually leave the house and I wear something besides yoga pants to Target.i

It's all very mix and match-able, obviously, because it's very possible I have a navy, tan/cream, and stripe problem.  I like what I like! Hopefully you'll have fun clicking around and going "shopping" too!

J. Crew Denim Shirt & Sweater Blazer, Old Navy Jeans, Frye Boots

BabyGap Onesie & Sailor Jeans (!!!)

 Just for Mommy -  Gap - already sold out!, Anthropologie, and Loft Blouses

J. Crew Cardi, Ivanka Trump Flats - who knew?, BabyGap PIG onesie (!), Cardi, Jeans, and little boy mocs

 J. Crew Cashmere Sweater, Gap Tassel Loafers, BabyGap Pants, Top, Sweater, and girl mocs

Gap Dress, Old Navy Dress, Anthropologie Cardi, Tory Burch Flats, Zara Baby Dress, & BabyGap mocs

Anthropologie Dress, Piperlime Flats, Etsy Booties, Zara Baby Dresses

Gap Cardigan, Frye Boots, BabyGap Dress, Onesie, & Tights

Don't Call it a Comeback

Due to popular demand, I'm really going to try to reinstate the blog after this 6 MONTH absence!

We are a brand new family and everything is new and different.  I am not in an office anymore, my free time is almost nonexistent, and I feel like with all the social networking I participate in that I am almost over-exposed.

I mean, you can see Lemon and Jules being cute 24/7 on Facebook,

know what I'm thinking about any given thing on twitter (though not that often),

see Julia fake living in the 70's on Instagram,

and see me being completely unrealistic aspirational on Pinterest.

Still, I wish more than anything I got to spend more actual quality time with my loved ones, and this blog is a great way for people to keep up with us on a slightly more personal level, and of course read me ramble on as much as I do in person.

I'm thinking follow up on Julia's room, a receipe, comprehensive baby stuff - some of my friends are joining me in the whole procreation thing and I'm more than happy to share what works for us, and maybe some clothes I'm crushing on? Ohh or baby clothes.  Jules' closet is unreal guys!

So! Without further ado, I'm going to try to post every day this week, let me know if there's anything you'd especially like to be updated on!

I'm back baby!

So, what can I say? I commit.

I didn't just buy a house, we bought a house in a suburban neighborhood.  With friendly neighbors. And a yard. And a school. And extra bedrooms.

Well, one less extra bedroom... And one extra Marin!

Yep, as (I think) all of you know, we are expecting to add a little lady to the mix in mid March.  I decided to stay off the blog for the duration of the pregnancy - a) because pressure about house stuff stressed me the hell out, and b) because I am kind of private and not just a little cautious about pregnancy stuff and wanted to keep it off the general interwebs.

But from my limited science know-how I can understand that the babe is all formed up, and just plumping these days (thank god, is there anything better than a chunky baby thigh?!) so I feel comfortable hopping back on here to share lots of house, baby, and life deets with you all.

Let me know what you'd like to see first! Baby Room, Master, Dining Room... nothing is actually done but ya gotta like progress :)

Sorry!!!

Ok, I really do feel super bad and guilty about this blogging break. It turned into a big one! We have had some weird health issues going on (everything is fine) so house stuff majorly took a back seat and I felt like I didn't have much to contribute blog-wise.

And lots of spare time has been spent with family as well; most of mine is abandoning us moving to Charlotte, NC for: new jobs (my dad, brother), college (other brother), and to finally get that pool they've been wanting for years (my mom).  I'm doing everything I can to hold on to my sister though, including recruiting her as free labor a roommate while she finishes up classes this fall!

We also, full disclosure, just got really sick of doing stuff. I wouldn't recommend moving at the start of your favorite season (mine is summer) because you really don't get a chance to enjoy it and you start getting all whiney and house-resenty even if the nice little house didn't do anything to you, per se. Note: in typing this I realized Mike's favorite season is fall...I hope he doesn't have the same season-based resentment I do, or we're going to be propping up a Christmas tree with a ladder and tools...

BUT we have made some fun updates (that didn't involve power tools or a contractor) that I'm looking forward to sharing.  But sorry again for gettin you hooked (your words) then leavin you hangin. So rude!

And because I like to include pictures, here's a day in the life of lazy homeowners (you can see the new rug and bedspread though!):

 

What, did you think those were going to be like actual photographs from a camera of Mike and I working away?  I told you, we've been bums! 

Bums whose phones are embarassingly full of pictures of our dog. 

What?! She's freaking adorable.

Let's be democratic about this...

Update: I also found this to be in the running:

I need a vote friends. I am lucky to have such people around with wonderful taste, because I am having the hardest time ever picking a coffee table. 

For reference, this room has two dark brown bookcases on either side of a dark brown table stand, all fairly traditional and pretty plain. 

Then there's a dark leather couch, a patterend white, black, and khaki chair, a khaki ottoman and a light gray rug.

I also have two very vintage slightly femme side tables with carerra marble tops (gray/white) - I haven't decided what I'm going to paint the bottoms of those yet, depends on the coffee table somewhat! But that's why I'm thinking a cleaner coffee table is best. 

Oh and PS I'd prefer not to spend over $500 or so. And yes I have looked in stores, but haven't been thrilled, and online prices seem to be better. 

As you can see by the pics below I'm not set on a style, but would love to know your thoughts!

Simple but classic

The room is a little narrow, so thought this could be useful. Essentially the same color as the other furniture

Nice leggggs

A bit utilitarian. I like it a lot, but it might be TOO different?

Probably the most like the other furniture we have

My fave. But it's on the large side and of course the most expensive.  I like the grey tinge, but I'm worried about bulk

The only non-wood option, but love the lines and it might be nice to do a metal? But I don't want it to look like glorified outdoor furniture

Fireplace... In Progress

Thought you'd enjoy seeing the fireplace progress (plus another biggie)

This weekend we were able to paint over the previously poorly painted stones - for the record, I would have just left it natural stone if they hadn't painted over it and ruined it already!  I tried sanding paint off but that didn't work unfortunately.

Let the cleaning begin!

This is as clean as I could get it; that soot is burned on. And I wasn't planning on cleaning the inside!

Almost done! I'll explain the mantle paint below...

Mike came in to help me finish

So this was the fireplace. Definetly better than before, but still looked odd to me.  So I impulsively painted part of the mantle, since we had to repaint it white either way. Oops! Looked awful.

BUT I think I found a solution - see the white trim on the right side below? It really made a difference, especially in person, so I think we are going to build (hold the laughs please) a little frame out so the mantle won't look so just plopped on there, which I think is the problem. Stay tuned!

And did you notice? The FLOOR?! More on that later...

Floors: Before!

So I don't have pictures ready yet of the NEW floors, but we were prepping all last weekend for our new kitchen, powder room, and den floors to be laid (we thought a professional was best for this, the floors are a bit uneven).

The den before

Close-up of the floors - yuck

Why it's a subfloor

The kitchen. Pretty obvious why this one needed to go

Another (bigger than anticipated) project was the powder room.  Smallest room = biggest grief!  It was wallpapered, so we cockily were like oh we'll just get some goo gone business and strip it down.  But it was barely coming off like that. Torture. So we bought a cheap steamer (I wanted it for cleaning anyway) for like $40 and that seemed to do the trick a little better.

And then the walls were in terrible shape. Awesome.  But sanding helped, as well as some spackling. But basically, it looked like a total crack den in there the night before the floor people came, observe:

Hole behind the old medicine cabinet?

Mid project (I was sitting on the trash bag)

Realized we needed to take the baseboards down because the wallpaper went under them. Ugh!

Mike does the stuff that requires the ladder. Also, we took the door off. But not before I sweated my face off with it closed like an idiot

After photos coming soon! Sorry to be such a tease, but it looks great :)