Looking Back at 2014

Something I love most about Christmas is that it allows for the time to look back and reflect on the year.  This year was chock full of blessings.

At the start of 2014, I was newly pregnant with the greatest surprise of our lives – Miss Grace Katharine herself.

In August she arrived and she has made life all the sweeter.  She is one of those dream babies that you talk about quietly, knowing that you won’t make any friends at the park because of sheer jealousy.  Honestly, I didn’t know these type of babies really existed.  I thought they were an urban legend.

She sleep trained herself at eight weeks.  Say what?  I know – not making any friends.  She can go with the flow, probably due to the fact that’s the only thing she knows.  If she has to wait a bit to get her bottle because I’m dealing with a melting toddler, she gets it.  I mean sure there will be tears but sometimes Grace’s tears will stop and she’ll just sit there and watch me with this look of, “let my sister be dramatic, I’ll wait my turn”

Grace laughs huge guttural laughs.  She will giggle when she gets attention.  She’ll giggle when you touch noses.  And she will shriek with laughter when her sister does pretty much anything that is within her view.  Josie, you have your number one fan.  You’re welcome.

Grace is a mover.  Since birth she’s been constantly kicking her legs.  I don’t even know how many marathons she’s run yet in her mind but it’s a lot.  And in the bath she is the fastest of all.  She loves water.  Bath water mixed with her sister playing is pretty much Grace’s dream combo.

Josie has stepped into her role as older sister with gusto and delight.  Her first word when she wakes up and her last word as she drifts off to sleep is consistently, “baby.”  She gives Grace kisses and hugs and is delighted with her new audience member.

But the blessings didn’t stop there.

We have a house of our very own!  Since May we have been proud home owners and suburbanites.  While I miss the city, the move has been wonderful for our family.  The girls are flourishing, running around in their own space.  We couldn’t be happier knowing that these walls are ours.

And what walls they are, if I do say so myself.  Every day, I fall a bit more in love with our home.  From the iron window casings to the juliet balcony, the home is filled with character.  We are so in love.  And it is truly a dream to slowly make this home more “us” from ripping up carpet to changing out light fixtures slowly but surely we will get there.

From our happy filled home to yours, wishing you all the merriest and brightest of Christmases and may your dreams come true in 2015.

Christmas Tablescaping

Oh, hey there.  So, I’ve been away the longest ever since I started this blog almost five years ago now.  I’ve been hanging with my sweet little ones and not doing much in way of design.  Grace is four months old now and she is scrumptious!  She has the sweetest disposition.

Yesterday, I did do something design wise; I set the table for an early Christmas dinner that we had with my mom, since we won’t be spending the actual day together.  There are few things I enjoy more then putting together a tablescape.  Here’s what I put together for the table –

The runner is silk Ikat fabric that I got from this ETSY shop based out of Turkey; the wreath is Trader Joe’s; then three pillar candles that I picked up from Cost Plus; the napkins are from there as well; the china is my wedding china and I absolutely love taking them out and the gold silverware is a thriftstore find.  There you have it.  All stuff I already had around the house just layered together for a festive dinner.

It was also so much fun to use our new dining room chairs and we already have a rug, people.  Alleluia!

I got it off of One King’s Lane.  I loved the pop of fuchsia around the border –

Thanks to my assistant for sleeping on the job, it actually was really helpful.

If I don’t write again before Christmas, Merry Merry.  I hope you have a wonderful, special, beautiful holiday!