Treat Yo Self
Blogging has taken a back burner and I’m thinking it’ll get a bit infrequent for a while. We’ll see. I can only write when inspired and with a little one and a business to run, inspiration runs dry quickly. Josie rarely naps longer than a half hour during the day. I need to read some sleeping books so mama can fit in some time for this dear old blog. Until then, please sit tight my friends. I do appreciate all of you!
This week has been a bit crowded and rough in terms of the mommy/work juggle so yesterday I decided to treat myself by buying a little (Baby Gap on clearance) outfit for Josie. Here she is in the number…
It’s funny how my treat yo self purchases have switched to Josie. I texted a pic to my sister-in-law and she very sweetly said that I could pull off the denim romper. This got the wheels turning. You know I love a matching outfit session with Ms. Thang…
Perhaps, I should treat my self to a denim romper. I actually happen to have a denim onesie myself…
It’s a little Vince number that I bought resale as a semi joke/semi love. I wear it strictly in the mission when I’m trying to fit in with the hipsters. Well there and to theme parties as a Canadian Tuxedo (sorry Canadians)
But the “gas attendant suit” (as Graham calls it) doesn’t fit me yet. Plus, I need a shorts version to truly match Josie. So…what about these treat yo self numbers…
In all honesty, this is probably a treat yo self, I’ll refrain from. What about you? Would you romp yourself? Sounds so dirty. And on that note, Happy Friday!!
Happy Friday!
Let the summer games begin…
I figured I’d kick this memorial day weekend off with some fun affordable ETSY beach options to get us all in the mood for summer. With the prospect of Josie donning a swimsuit, this is set to the be the best summer yet. We’ll be kicking it off with a visit from two of my besties from college. Thank goodness they both married men from wine country so they fly to me (or perhaps their in-laws) all the time!
Go on and get after it this weekend.
Designer Inspire: Anne Hepfer Designs
Good morning. How are you doing? We have been fighting off a cold for what feels like forever around here. First Graham had it, now I do and it seems as though little Josie may be starting to get it as well.
I’ve been thinking I should introduce you to the designers who inspire me and perhaps try to do a very mini, non-scheduled, “series” on it. First up is actually a designer that I just discovered this week and I am completely smitten with her work: Anne Hepfer of Toronto based Anne Hepfer Designs.
All Images from Anne Hepfer Designs
Isn’t Anne’s work beautiful? I love how she is able to present a very coordinated look that stills feels relaxed. I am a pattern and color girl myself so I love to see this in her work and how she carries a color story throughout a home. A key take away is how she repeats the same bold fabric throughout the room thereby giving big impact without taking a trip to crazy town (like the first image of a kid’s bedroom). To feast your eyes on more Anne Hepfer beauties, check out her website, here.
Retro Chic
Guest Blogger: Allie
It all started with the lastest edition of West Elm’s catalog and their SMEG Refrigerators; love at first sight!
I knew, right then, at that exact moment…that I must do a blog post so that someone, somewhere out there would recreate my retro chic dream kitchen! Let’s start with the actual kitchen, shall we?
White and turquoise, I die! In order for the appliances to really be appreciated in their full glory, everything else should remain white, from the cabinets to the subway tiles. So obviously, the SMEG fridge is the first thing to go in, followed shortly after by the Big Chill Stove.
Now, I understand if you can’t fully commit to the white kitchen/turquoise appliance scheme. The fridge, well anyone should be able to say yes to that! But in case you are tentative about the stove and would rather just add the turquoise in kitchen accessories, this my friend, is for you….
Every kitchen needs one, so why not make your’s a statement? Moving right along to another necessary kitchen gadget, the kettle! I don’t know how you beat $14.99 from Cost Plus?
This looks truly adorable sitting on top of any range. For the much needed countertop storage, time and again, Target comes to the rescue. Enter Threshold canisters.
Anthropologie, always a great source for your fashion and home needs, makes these precious half dozen egg crates. Yes, I’d recommend turquoise, but it comes in other colors as well.
Now for everyone’s favorite part of the kitchen, the cookie jar! Except this is no cookie jar, this is a beautiful aqua glass cake stand from Shop Sweet Lulu, an exceptional online store for beautiful kitchen accessories and paper goods.
Your kitchen, like any other room in the house, is not really complete without some artwork or a personal touch of some kind. So, without further ado, the final touch to your retro chic turquoise kitchen!
Show your bacon pride and do it loudly with this print from Etsy.
Josie: 14 Weeks
It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on my little love bug. She has come out of the 4th trimester and woken up to the world and it’s so much fun to see! Now that she watches me more intently, she has her opinions.
Sometimes, she thinks I’m crazy…
Other times she thinks I’m hilarious…
But she always thinks her dad is the most fun of all….
Or well, she will, once she is more used to riding on his shoulders.
Framing Clothes
The other day, Allie and I were in a frame shop framing artwork for a client when I turned to her and said, “I want to start framing clothes”
This is an example of the random sort of unexplained fragments of thought that Allie is used to hearing from me. She laughed and replied, “You want to frame your jeans.” I laughed too. My pre-pregnancy jeans are about all Allie really hears about. And honestly I probably could frame my pre-pregnancy jeans at this point, they are a relic…cause I still can’t imagine fitting into them. One day.
Anyway, I digress. Yes, I would like to start framing clothes for client projects. And no, not my old jeans.
I’m thinking old swimsuits…
Julia Edeleman
I’m thinking mittens…
I’m thinking baptismal dresses…
I’m thinking vintage skirts…
Anna Spiro
You feeling me?
My Bedroom Before and After
I can’t believe I’m going to show you the before – cause it’s real bad y’all…real bad. I find time and time again that everyone puts off the master bedroom last. Well, I did just the same.
My headboard from my last apartment wasn’t working in our current space because we have really tall ceilings and I wanted to accentuate that. So I sold this gorgeous headboard to a wonderful friend so I know it’s in a great home…
And then my room looked like this for a few months…
In my defense, I was pregnant and working like a dog. But, then the January Cure came along for Apartment Therapy and I chose to concentrate on my bedroom. I’m so happy I took on the challenge the month before giving birth to Josie because I now log a lot of hours in our bedroom with my sweet girl. Here is the after…
Here’s a little breakdown of what I did. The biggest change of all was bringing in this bed from Cost Plus that was on crazy sale. I loved the shape and the height it brought to the room and it’s linen, people.
As you can see it’s a very tight space so I needed small bedside tables. I used to have a beautiful garden stool as my bedside table but it didn’t hold any books. I found this wonderful morrocan side table at Home Goods and I love how it fits my bajillion parenting and sleep training books so I can access them whenever I need them, like all the time. I also framed a pic of Graham and I from our wedding and Little’s Ultrasound when she was the size of a gummy bear (let’s be honest, I usually don’t have fresh flowers by my bed).
The bedding was the Home Goods score that I blogged about here. I’m so happy I kept it as a “you’re about to have a baby” gift to myself. The throw pillow is a love and it came frame a local shop. The JuJu hat above is what I lugged from South Africa home four years ago (you can read about that here). It was in our living room and I decided it needed a new spot As I said, I wanted to play up the height of the bedroom so I moved the JuJu hat to above our headboard and I felt like the throw pillow played off of it well.
We only have a built in corner cupboard for a closet it our bedroom. A corner cupboard…terrible! The upside? We literally needed to get storage pieces for our stuff so I went with the beautiful bone inlay armoire. Oh and the settee I found on Craigslist years ago for a steal sits at the foot of the bed with a pillow I picked up in Mexico on vacation. There you have it. The tiny but very much loved master bedroom of mine.
All photos of current bedroom taken by the wonderful and talented Alison Reiter…she can design AND photograph! Photo from previous apartment by Michelle Drewes
