What I'm loving

First off, I have to give a shout out to Pottery Barn for these hydro cotton towels. Oh.Em.Gee.  Drying off after a shower is like wrapping your body in a cloud. That's what my husband says anyway! Seriously though...they are the softest towels to have ever graced my skin. For whatever reason, the white is softer than any of the colored ones. I have the porcelain blue for hand towels and white for the bath towels.

Loving the chevron print trend that's popping up all over the place...

via UO

via West Elm

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via

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LOVE the subtleness of those painted zigzags on the wall in the last one. It makes a normally busy pattern very easy on the eyes.

Last of all...
How cute is this salt and pepper shaker set?! And so affordable too!

via

Cloth Diapers

Any moms out there use cloth diapers? I'm considering making the switch just for the purpose of saving money. The idea of cleaning poo off a diaper doesn't exactly thrill me, but it's something I might be willing to do if it makes sense. I just had no idea there was so much to cloth diapers! So many brands, types, etc. My poor girl inherited my extremely sensitive skin. The only diapers that don't give her little bum a rash is the chlorine-free, all natural diapers. So we use Seventh Generation exclusively. It gets pricey. Not to mention the idea of all those diapers going in the landfill...I've changed over 700 diapers since she was born. Yikes!

I'd love any advice/tips/suggestions cloth diaper mamas have to offer on brands, types, how you made the switch, etc. Thanks friends...sorry to use this as a mommy blog, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

As a quick side note...I'm getting ready to do my first commission piece. I plan to use Annie Sloan's Old White with some dark wax for the project because the look this client is going for is perfect for chalk paint. I'm kind of waiting to find out if we get this house to start it because I'll either be painting it in my own basement, or I'll be painting it at my client's home (she only lives a mile away and is a good friend). Hopefully we'll have an answer on the house by the end of next week. I'll be sure to post a before/after when the armoire is done!

daydreaming

We still haven't heard back on the house yet. 

This is the house we made an offer on at the beginning of June:

It's an old craftsman style house that was built in 1918. It needs a little TLC and some major yard work, but we're really hoping it works out! As I said before, it's a short sale, so it takes forever to get an answer. We should know within the next 2 weeks or so. 

I'm trying hard not to get my hopes up or to get too excited about it. I just can't help but daydream about the way I'd decorate the inside. 

I saw this color palette on decor8blog.com, and I love it! I'd love to do this in my sewing/craft room (because I will have one if we get said house). It would be adorable in Eden's room too. The funny thing is that I loathed the color pink until I gave birth to a baby girl in April. I think I was traumatized as a child. My mom decorated everything in my room pink. Walls=pink, bedding=pink, dresser=white w/pink stenciled hearts, decorations and artwork=pink. I'm not kidding. And because of that, I think I just got "pinked out" or something. I love the variations of pinks in this palette and the hues of green and blue. So happy and cheery. A room in this palette would do me some good, I think! 

 

Inspired by paint

Have any of you ever heard of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint?? I'm reading a bunch of tutorials on it and doing some research...and let me just tell you...I cannot wait to get my hands on this stuff! Yes, it's pricey at $35 a quart, but from what I can tell, it seems to last a long time. You don't have to use as much to cover your piece as you would with regular latex or oil-based paint. And you don't have to prime or sand (you'd want to sand if you were going to use it to paint over something super shiny or laminate, but that would probably be the only time, from what I've heard). I've heard nothing but marvelous things about it.

Now if only I just had a place to paint and get my hands on some furniture!! The one downside to our quaint little apartment...no garage for painting. I will say that we put an offer in on a fabulous craftsman-style house and are waiting to hear back. It's a short sale, so it will be a long process, but our agent is pretty sure we can get it (as long as the inspection doesn't bring up any major repairs or serious issues that we can't afford to fix). And it has a huge basement for all my painting...which was a must in our house hunt! So as soon as we get in there (or get into a different house if this one doesn't work out), you can bet I'll be going crazy with the painting!

Any of you used the chalk paint? I'd love to see your pieces or hear about your experiences! I'm seriously dying to use it. If we don't get this house, I might have to make my living room into a makeshift studio. This paint doesn't have that toxic odor, so I wouldn't have to worry about that in the house and having it around the little one. Eeek! I'm excited :)

Where I've been...

It's been over two months since I've posted! Wow! Where does the time go...

Well, to my credit, I've been a little busy with this:

My little bundle of joy! Those are her newborn photos. She's actually a whole month old now...

Yes, I'm totally baby bragging. She's pretty stinking adorable, in my opinion :). Anyway, she came 4 weeks early (April 7th), so things have just been crazy. I'm starting to get the hang of this mom thing, but she consumes my time. Blogging is on the back burner for now. Loving on her and giving her attention is what's important right now. 

So that's my life. Because she came so early, we weren't exactly prepared and done with the nursery. I'm slowly working on finishing that. I'll get pictures up when I'm done. Just thought I'd let you all know that I'm still alive. I'm just a mom now :)

Diaper bags

Diaper bags...why is it that the cutest ones are the most expensive?? *sigh* I'm one of those people that doesn't really want my diaper bag to *look* like a diaper bag. Apparently I have expensive taste. I happened to see a woman with a diaper bag at Target (doubt she bought it there, but she had it attached to her stroller) that I fell in love with and wanted. And then I saw it again on a blog. I had no idea what brand it was...I just knew what it looked like. So I googled the general description and was able to find it. Guess what? It's from Nordy's (well, that's where I found it anyway). Which means it costs money. After my family baby shower and getting most all the things we needed, my very sweet hubby told me to go ahead and order it. I used the remaining balance of a Nordstrom giftcard I had from Christmas to help with the cost and ordered away! I promised him I'd use it for all our babies and take good care of it. So without further ado, here she is...

Is she pretty, or what?! And oh, so nice! The outside is made from a wipeable (like vinyl...except it's not) material that's also antibacterial. It comes equipped with a very cushy changing pad that detaches for washing...has a travel-sized wipe case to keep your wipes moist and air-tight. And has a few pockets inside that also are detachable for washing. I am in love with it. Thank you to my hubby!! Can't wait to put it to good use :)

Baby girl clothes

I've got an obsession with baby girl clothes. Luckily...we're having a baby girl! I just have to show off a couple of BabyGap sale finds from this weekend...

The cutest little dress! We're going to take her newborn pictures in this! :)

And an adorable little shirt I couldn't keep myself from buying!

Aren't they adorable?! I think she's going to be super spoiled on clothes. Or maybe I'm overdoing it a little now because I can't really buy any clothes for myself with the growing bump on my front end. I can buy maternity clothes, but I hate the thought of spending a bunch of money on clothes I'm only going to wear another 2 or so months. I'd rather save some money to buy new clothes when the baby belly flattens and I've got my figure back :)

The nursery projects are coming along slowly. I'm working on cutting her quilt top still. I'm thinking chances are good I won't have the quilt finished before she comes, but that's ok. She'll have plenty of other blankets to use, and she probably won't need a thick quilt until autumn anyway. At least that's what I'm telling myself to take the pressure off. I just don't know if I'll get it done along with the other sewing projects I had in mind within the next ten weeks!

Happy Monday all!!