26 January 2011

[haute mama] w39d1 ~ happy birthday to BHG

This past Friday the gals over at Badder Homes & Gardens threw a 2nd blog birthday soiree at Beauty Bar, and we rolled out (literally, in my case) to join in on the festivities.
Beauty Bar is really kitschy & cute - it's a bar, but all decked out like a 60s salon.  I really liked the ambiance and look forward to going back for Martinis & Manicures night when I can take advantage of the former!

Oh, and also?  I'm HUGE!  In case you didn't gather that from the photo.  As I write this post, I'm T minus 2 days from my due date, and I'm not sure my tummy can stretch much further.  Please send me non-late vibes!

Sarah & I

All three fab BHG ladies, plus Sarah's awesome family


my duds: top & bubble necklace: JCrew, jeans: Old Navy, boots: Seychelles, clutch: H&M

Thanks for the great party, ladies, and here's to many more years of wit & snark!

Hope to be posting some news SOOOOON.... 

18 January 2011

stalking success

Remember how I cursed Anthropologie for their overpriced drawer pulls in my last post?  I take it all back - the very ones I've been eyeing for months went on sale for $2.95 (from $10 a pop)!  I'm so glad I held out all the times that I nearly caved & bought them at full price.



Won't these look perfect on our blue dresser/changing table?


Sorry for my harsh words, Anthropologie, let's be friends, 'k?

13 January 2011

[adventures in domesticity] our nursery

I'm so excited to finally reveal the finished nursery!  It's been a work in progress for a long time, but I love it even more for the time we took and the care we put into the details.  Nothing in the room is part of a set*, which gives each piece of furniture & accent more of an eclectic, hand-picked feel.  But yet it all ties together so nicely.  Sorry to be tooting my own decorating horn here, but I'm so in love with this room that I can't help it.  I've been sneaking in there to sit in the glider and admire everything.  And of course to imagine being in there with the final sweet thing that's missing...!

It's difficult (if not impossible) to get a shot of the entire room at once, so I'm starting with the view as you walk into the room.

Here's the opposite view, from the glider:

...and the view from over by the shelves:

Now for the details!  The crib - here is where my asterisk comes in - the bedding is the only set in this room, from Pottery Barn Kids.  I originally didn't want to do a bedding set, but this one was a little too perfect for our nautical theme:

The art above the crib is from Etsy (Keep Calm Shop), an original pointillism piece by a close friend of my grandparents (the lighthouse), and a rusty anchor from a local antique shop.

Moving across the room, I love this Ikea Expedit shelving as both a display and storage unit.  The shelf above it with hooks is also from Ikea:
The red rocker, like the rusty anchor, came from Alston's Antiques in Garland, TX.  Alston's is one of my favorite antique shops in the DFW area.  It houses endless treasures, and this chair was certainly one of them.  We didn't paint it or anything - this is how we found it, and we knew we had to have it.  A couple other detail details - art is from Etsy again, Studio Lyon for the alphabet chart, and African Grey for the narwhal and otter prints on the wall.  The other frames on the Expedit shelf were custom created for me by my friend Cassie of Hi Sugarplum and are awaiting pics of the little guy to fill them!

Speaking of Cassie, she was awesome enough to hand us down her glider since her babies are not so tiny anymore (and she's totally overhauling her daughter's room - stay tuned to her blog for the big reveal SOON, I hope! :).  I can't resist a good before & after, so here's a shot of the chair when we adopted it:
It was cute to begin with, but the yellow didn't tie in with our nursery...and Cass won't mind me saying that light colored fabric needed a little TLC after two kids!  $10 worth of Ikea fabric later, et voila:
It's pretty hard for me to pick a favorite piece in this room, but this one's a real contender.  My mom and I (okay, mostly my mom) recovered this baby in about 2 hours, and I still can't get over how great it turned out.  The oar side table is from Christmas Tree Shops, and the rug from World Market.

Another DIY gem in this room is the changing table.  We picked this up at a thrift store in Oak Cliff for all of $40, and it was glossy black, tagged with graffiti on the back.  We left the graffiti because it's kind of humorous (and not visible), but Rod covered the hideous black with a couple coats of Behr Paint + Primer in an inky blue.  I want to add some pulls eventually, but the ones I love currently are from Anthropologie and cost twice what the dresser did.  Screw them and their stupid prices - the search continues.

And since I can't resist jumping in a photo, an outfit shot in the nursery...this was sometime in my 36th week:
dress: Gap, cardigan: C&C California, boots: Steve Madden, headband: Lacoste, leggings: Target


Finally, I'd be completely remiss if I didn't mention the great help I had in the creation of this stunner of a room, especially in the final stages.  First, my mom who recovered, assembled, painted, moved & lifted heavy stuff, etc. etc. etc.


...and Bill who helped my mom paint on his day off so that I could avoid fumes and backache...


...and last but not least, Rod who painted, assembled, hung stuff up, endured shopping with me and most importantly, had opinions & took an interest in this stuff!  Love you.  :)

Thanks for taking the tour with me!  We are beside ourselves with excitement at this point...hopefully I'll be posting soon with some big news!!

09 January 2011

should auld acquaintance be forgot

Is it too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year?  We're only 9 days in, so I think I'm okay.  I hope you all had great holidays and are recovered from all of the festivities & excitement.  There was no travel for yours truly, so we had our first Christmas in the new home.  My parents flew in from the Great White North of Wisconsin, and we did a lot of eating, relaxing and working on the nursery (post to come!).  We also threw a little soiree for New Year's Eve and my mom's birthday:
 Me 'n' the tree...36 weeks!

Cute, cute parents.  Happy Birthday to Jean!

 Sarah of Badder Homes and her festive frock & self-made tiara.

 Sarah's awesome mini-pie maker, a very important guest at the party.

 Great pic of Bill.  He needs to write a novel & put this on the back cover.

 Dad & I stationed by the food. 

 Me & my boo.

El Bebe's first New Year's kiss from grandma at midnight.

All of these photos are from our amazing new camera, courtesy of my parents for Christmas.  We're still plugging our way through all the bells & whistles (i.e. Rod is reading every single page of the manual and giving me the highlights I'll be most likely to remember/use), and will hopefully be pros by the time el bebe makes his arrival.  It's less than 3 weeks away at this point...I can hardly believe it.  

Happy 2011, y'all!  Stay tuned for a nursery tour later this week.