West Coast Vacation and Upcoming Projects

This past Wednesday evening Scott and I set out on our first vacation together since our honeymoon five years ago.  We missed our flight - one hundred percent, completely my fault - but the silver lining is we wound up flying into Chicago and got to spend the night with one of my dearest friends and her husband.  Spending even a few hours with them makes me wish even more that we didn't live so far apart!  Big thanks to Liz and Bradley for putting up a couple of displaced travelers for the night :)

Thursday morning we were back on track and on our way to Vancouver.  We enjoyed spectacular views of Vancouver from the top of Grouse Mountain yesterday afternoon and are on our way to Victoria, BC for the day today. Tomorrow we'll spend some time exploring the downtown of Vancouver.

We'll be staying here through the end of the day tomorrow and then are road tripping our way down the west coast for the rest of next week.  Our stops include Seattle, Crater Lake, Sonoma, and San Francisco.

I'll be checking in periodically but won't be posting next week while we're away. I'll be back up posting September 10th, which also happens to be my older daughter's first day of preschool.  I know she will love it and I'm excited for her but I have a pit in my stomach too, anticipating this small start to her life away from me during the daytime.  How have four years slipped by so very quickly?

I'm excited to really sink my teeth into some projects this September that I've had in the wings for awhile.   We'll see how much I'm really able to accomplish, but I'm hoping to make some new curtains for our kitchen, build an upholstered rocking chair for my niece's first birthday, paint our kitchen table bench, put together the boys' bedroom I'm working on, and refurbish a couple of recently thrifted pieces, including a small table I'm planning to turn into an upholstered hallway bench and a beautiful cane chair in need of some new upholstery. 

Wishing you all a very happy Labor Day weekend!

Simple Words To Live By

In my shopping for items for the boys' bedroom I'm putting together and shared with you yesterday, I came across a framed print that I loved.  I read it twice in the store before tucking it under my arm, thinking it would be perfect for a child's bedroom or playroom.  

I found myself rereading it again once I got home and every so often over the past few days.  It's nothing profound, in fact it's quite simple, but I think the simplicity is partly what has struck me so.  As an adult, and maybe especially as a mom to two little girls who I love fiercely and completely but sometimes run me nearly ragged, I've really connected to the general message here of being kind, saying what you mean, and finding happiness in small things.

Dream big.

Use kind words.

Say I love you.

Laugh.

Giggle.

Be silly.

Share.

Say please and thank you.

Be grateful.

Keep your promises.

Help others.

Don't whine.

Take a moment to breathe.

Try new things.

Keep calm and carry on.

Laugh out loud.

Plans for Boys' Bedroom

My friend, Karen, recently asked if I'd help her decorate her sons' bedroom.  As much as I love having girls, it's been so fun for me to think about decorating a room for boys!  

There's a piano in the room to the right of the quilt hanging on the wall, which I helped with earlier this summer.  I'm going to reupholster the piano bench in a durable outdoor fabric.  We're also reusing some navy and red pillows Karen already has in the boys' room so I chose a solid navy quilt for their twin beds.

See the board below for my ideas for the room and scroll down for sources.  And stay tuned over the next few weeks as we start to put everything together!

 Headboard

Navy blue quilts

Growth chart

Ikea Expedit shelving

Waverly Parterre fabric

Depot sconces

Monogram letters

Playroom Addition | Upholstered Footstools

Those of you who've been reading for a little while now might assume I made these cute little footstools.  Surprise, surprise...I didn't!  I'm sure I could have, but sometimes when you find the perfect thing and the price is right, well you stifle the do-it-yourselfer inside and pony up the cash (like I did when I came across those orange ikat pillows for my master bedroom).

When we were at my brother's and sister-in-law's house a couple months ago after my niece's christening I noticed this cute footstool they had in their family room.

 

My sister-in-law told me she'd gotten it at Target a few months earlier so I wasn't too optimistic it would still be available, but after a little hunting on their website, I found it still for sale (Sun Eclipse Ottoman).  I debated the purchase for a few weeks but ultimately decided to buy a pair of them for my daughters' playroom.

I often found I was wishing for a place to prop up my feet when sitting on the bench and these are the perfect height both for that and for sitting if we need extra seats down here.  Even with a 9-foot bench, you'd be surprised how quickly we run out of sitting room once we get a few moms and kids down there!

I love the yellow and white (more an ivory than a true white) diamond patten.  They're very lightweight and easy to move around one-handed but are sturdy as well.  I stack them up under the window when they're not being used and pull them out when we need them.

While I love making things myself, and especially love making furniture, I took a pass on this one.  Sometimes it's nice to just slice open a box and set something in place!