Designer Crush

Lauren Liess is one of the first bloggers I started following.

I have enjoyed watching her career and design business flourish these past few years.

I particularly admire her incorporation of natural elements.

You can find these pictures (and more) here.
She blogs here.

Lauren showcased a project in this months Better Home and Gardens magazine. 

It was awesome!

But,  I am really excited to see her home!

She and her family recently renovated a home in Washington DC. She has shown small snippets here and there, and it looks fabulous!

The full reveal will be in the spring issue of Domino, due out next week!

I can't wait to get my hands of a copy!

Have a lovely weekend!

xo

Simplicity

Both Found Here

(Here)

It is very quite in my house right now.

I think I am going to sit back, have some coffee and enjoy it.

I know it won't last.

A Review of sorts..

Do you read the reviews on products before you buy? I do.

(Sometimes I feel bad because I rarely go back and review the products after I get them. Last year we bought our composter and rain barrel from Wayfair, they actually called me to get a review. It was much easier! but I regress.)

Anyway, probably about 3 years ago these chairs were all over the blogosphere. The are the 

Safavieh Deco Bacall Slip Cover Side Chair from Overstock. I was in the market for two host chairs and the price was right, so I decided to give them a try. 

(Safavieh Deco Bacall Slip Cover Side Chair)

I actually got a pair of what appeared to be an oatmeal linen color. Overstock was great (as usual). But, unfortunately when they arrive, the linen was more like a chenille. It really did not jive with my house. I knew I could return them. Instead, I decided to have a white slip cover made for them. I think I just ordered the white canvas fabric from Pottery Barn.

The pillow fabric is from here. The chairs are fairly comfortable. They are pretty well made for that price range. The back is really tall. Most of the time they live against the wall.., I thought a tall slender chair would look better than a short squatty one.

(A few glimpses of my gallery wall I have been working on.)

So here we are two years later (or was it 3?)

Would I have bought the same chairs? Most likely not.

Experience has taught me to find what I really love and I will never get tired of it.

Found here

This chair is what I really wanted back then. And to tell you the truth, probably wasn't much more after I bought the fabric and paid for the slip cover.., but what can you do?

As my mom would say, live and learn!

Workin' out..,

I started teaching exercise classes two years ago this Feb.

Pretty sure the first class I taught, I looked a bit like this.

(unknown)

Eek!

But really.

I am so glad I took the plunge and did something that terrified me!
It has been so much fun, and such a big part of my life.
Plus the Lulu discount is kinda nice as well:)

I thought I would share some of my exercise essentials!


For the Gym

I know Lululemon has had a tough time lately. But they are still my Jam.

Pretty much every moring you can find me in one of the above, or a combo of them.

There is nothing better to work out in the wunder unders. Period.

I really love no limits tanks.

Lets be honest, the last thing you want to see while working out is someones muffin top.

This hides mine nicely.

This jacket is the bomb. 

I have it in a few color combs and I really do wear it all year long. 

Its prefect for the mornings in the summer (maybe, if its not too hot).., and in the winter I wear my puffer vest over it, very cute!

And worth a mention, lulu has the best underwear.

Ok, so this might not be work out wear.., but around here its pretty cold when I leave for the gym about 5:45 am. I got this jacket earlier in the season and it is now an essential. 

So warm, I really do live in it.

These running shoes.

I have registered for a half marathon the first weekend of May.

Haven't even gone for a run yet.

I'm kinda a wuss for running in cold weather and I don't like treadmills.

It could go badly!

But, I am looking forward to training (and warmer weather), because I have these shoes to train in. Everything I read, says they are great!

I'll let you know!

Hang in there.., the weekend is only 2 days away!!

Mexchic

This weekend I was on a mission..,

a mission to clean and organize some of our closets.

But,  then I got distracted.

Found some old magazines to go through.

Domino had a little article about Mexchic.

I was so intrigued I went to their website.

Some Ah-Mazing products

Mexchic works closely with Mexican artisans and  follow the guidelines set by the world fair trade organization. 

I have yet to see their designs in person. 

Some of their blankets are very temping.

As well as this sweater and shirt.

You can find everything else here.

Garland!

I am not a DIYer. 

I've tried. 

It never turns out.

Last christmas, I saw garland everywhere.

Land of Nod [among others] had some great strands.

Reasonably priced too.

But.., it seemed pretty easy to make.

I had visons of my children and I sitting around by the fire.., stringing garland together.

They like crafts.

So I ordered some felt balls from here and here.

But then I realized the felt was so thick, you needed a really  big needle to get through it.

I grabbed a bone needle from work. 

Yep, you read that right.

But, you could get a big needle from Joanns or any craft store.

Not something that a 5 or 2 year old should use.

So I made all the garland. 

It was actually kind of fun (and simple.)

It was everywhere in my house.

I had some white leftover.

So I decided to make a few stands for E's big girl room.

It took about 10 min. to make.

After christmas I left some on my mirror (I talked about the mirror here).

[I did paint the mirror a different white, so it didn't look so antique-e]

For the colored garland I used hemp yarn.

Now I'm working on some Fuchsia garland.

Keepin' it a little tighter this time.

Look at me, maybe I am a DIYer.

Probably not.

Have a good one!

A living room..,

Hi There! I am having a little bit of an off week. But, This room makes me happy

Art | Sofa | Lights | Rug | Table | Chairs | Pillows | Fiddle leaf fig tree | Basket

That sofa needs some pillow friends, but I couldn't decided on any. I didn't want to kill it with pillows. You know?

Etsy love 2.16.2014

Platter | Necklace | Print | Kantha Quilt | Garland | Painting | Arrows 

Happy valentines day!

Hope ya'll are having a fantastic V day.

My kids were bouncing off the walls this morning with excitement to exchange valentines.

Isn't it tricky? You see so many wonderful valentines everywhere, pinterest, blogs etc. etc.

Half the time, you know the kid didn't do it, mom did.

So, I always try to involve the kids. As they get older, the definitely have more input!

Last year I took this off pinterest.

(Link here)

They were pretty cute.

This year, Owen is in Kindergarten. They do not allow food or candy of any kind, to be given out.

I am totally cool with that. I prefer not to give more candy to the kids.., in fact I am totally that mom whom doesn't hand out candy on Halloween. Instead we give little trinkets. 

So O and d I went shopping. And he picked up pencils in the dollar bin at target. Then we found plastic bags, wasabi tape and stickers at Michael's.

The best part? He assembled them all by himself.

Then we made crayon hearts for E's friends

Baked in the oven at 250 for about 10 minutes, then placed in the freezer.

We made these for O's class a few years ago. I got the mold at Ikea.

We quickly learned to separate the colors or the heart just turns black.

I got this note this morning..,

Best gift. period.

So I left him this note..,

I love these little holidays with little people!

Hope you have the best valentines day yet!!

xo

Stuff

This guy showed up on my pinterest feed.

He looks shockingly similar to this guy.

Our Gustopher Cyde.

We call him Gus or Gussy

Just for fun O and I put one of O's winter hats on him...,

Clearly he's not a fan.

This happened yesterday

Molding going up in Ellie's room!!

One of the reasons I loved the nursery in yesterday's  post!

E's is going to be similar, but way different.

We had a lot of this going on at our house..,

Preparing for V day.., more to come.

I tried some of this. It was pretty yummy.

I'm not sure where it came from (?) maybe a friend during Christmas?

I goggled it and it's not very pricey., perhaps I need more.

I also made these for dinner. They are my favorite veggie burger.., no other brand even comes close!

That's pretty much it for random stuff going on at our home!

Have a great day, stay warm!