We are heading home from the beach today. We had the best time and I will share more next week. This is the work of a self timer. It only took a ridiculous amount of tries to capture one decent family picture. I will treasure it always. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a happy mother's day to all the mama's.
A Date
I always love a date night with my hot husband. I think this pretty dress would do the trick. A high pair of wedges would make it easier to sneak in a quick kiss or two. Maybe for this date I will even wear a bit of makeup and what would be more perfect to carry it in than the Ellie bag? Why such a big tote, well lets be real the kiddos will probably be going out on the date with us and I will need a place to store a few notebooks and pens for entertainment while we wait on our fabulous meal. When we get back to the house we can put the kiddos to bed light some candles, throw down some pretty fabric and a few pillows and enjoy a dessert under the stars in the backyard. Pure bliss if I do say so myself.
Beach Bound
We are beach bound and I could not be more excited. The beach is my most favorite place to be. As we head down to the sand I will sport a one piece because that is how I roll. My towel won't be nearly as pretty as this one, but it will get the job done none the less. Of course my sun protective self will be sure to have sunscreen and a lovely hat. A simple beach bag will be filled to the gill with sand toys and a good book for me. A pair of sandals are a must and will be sure to protect my feet from the hot board walk. Oh, and that pretty urchin vase can hold the a few buds that I am sure my husband will get me. Why so blue? Well, it simply reminds me of the ocean.
A Cottage: Before & After
I grew up in Massachusetts and as a little girl visiting Nantucket gave me such fond memories. This 1920's Nantucket cottage was returned to what it once was by Jeffrey Bilhuber. Although the outside of this cottage looks quite idyllic the inside was worse for ware. Mr. Bilhuber bought the property without first taking a look inside, well can you say buyers remorse, but of course being the great designer he is he was able to make this place into a show stopper. Of course I could dissect every picture into what I enjoy, but I think I will just let you all enjoy.
{via Architectural Digest}
Tracery Interiors, the Shop
Tracery Interiors Shop and 30A Funn hosted a fun-filled afternoon. We got to decorate party hats for the New Years which made for a perfect afternoon date for Ellie and I.
I had the pleasure of visiting with Bess, the Tracery Interiors blogger, once again. She is absolutely adorable and was gracious enough to allow me to take some photos of the shop. Let me just say that I would be more than happy to have the whole store move into my home.
Recognize this coffee table? It's just as gorgeous in person...
I really wish I learned how to do these from Bess, aren't they fabulous...
Of course I could not walk out of there empty handed so Ellie helped me pick these out...
This very well may be my longest post ever, but there was too much goodness not to share. I hope you all have a wonderful New Years. See you Monday in 2010, so crazy right?
For Sale
I love to browse real estate especially real estate that I can not afford, maybe it's the dreamer in me. Anyway I came across this home in Rosemary Beach real estate. It is owned by the woman of South of the Market and it was featured in Coastal Living some time last year. I love getting to see more of this gorgeous beach home and if any of you have an extra 5 million lying around then yes I would love to visit anytime. Oh, and it does come furnished which makes me giddy.
A Day at the Beach
Our first day at the beach could not have been any better. The kiddos rode their new bikes. Ellie is a champ KJ can use some more practice. The weather is cool, but perfect. We took strolls on the board walk and truly just relaxed.
Even though we never actually plan it Kellen and I always seem to match our children. I really don't mind dressing like my daughter, she already has more fashion sense than I.
That evening we headed out to Seaside and went to my favorite cupcake stand. There is a row of air-streamers serving up what your heart desires and mine always desires a cupcake. This time around I went for the special and got a salted caramel cupcake. I am not a huge frosting person, but this one I could eat a tub of.
As for the rest of the week, well not sure, but I do know I will be attending this.
Tracery Interiors
While staying at Rosemary Beach for our vacation last week I was able to pop into Tracery Interiors shop. I made it a point to stop in especially after falling head over heels for their work and blog. I got to meet a couple of the lovely ladies and they were as sweet as can be. While chit chatting Bess, the blogger for Tracery, happened to mention my shopping hiatus. Oh, did I happen to mention I was mid purchase? Well, needless to say I have not done very well the past couple of months. I have a few home projects in the works and that's never cheap. Okay, I may have done a bit of shopping at the J. Crew outlet while at the beach too, you guys sure know how to drag it out of me. Anyway, for now I am not going to pretend that all my purchases are justifiable. I have thought them through and, lucky you, for the next couple of months you will be able to see my home come together even more. Being a stay at home mom plus a home body makes it hard for me to let projects sit. I am just ready to get it done, well as if it can ever really be done, ha!
I bought 2 of the above sconces to flank the large window in my bedroom and boy are they heavy. I would have given you all a full picture, but that will have to come later. I am still in need of that perfect curtain.
Taking a Walk
I am so happy to be back! It seems I have a lot of catching up to do on your blogs and can't wait to get started. We had a wonderful trip. The weather could not have been any more perfect. Anyhoo, my dear husband and I have fallen in love with The Biggest Loser. As some of you may not know husband and I do not have cable, dish, etc. It's a life style choice we made years ago, but at the beach there is cable and we did watch a few shows. The Biggest Loser was one of them and now we are going to watch it on Hulu every week. It really made us reevaluate how we treat our bodies. For me, having a box of Cheez It's for lunch is no good so we have a plan on eating healthier and keeping active. I went from being an avid runner to basically nothing in less than a year, ouch. One activity that we did do at the beach was take long walks, when I mean long I mean a couple of hours long. Everyday the kiddos would climb into the red wagon and we would walk to here...
So the kiddos could play on this...
This is one of the views that we admired everyday, I just adore the symmetry of it all...
Then my sweet husband decided to take some lovely photos for you all, that way you can feel like you were with me, well sort of...
This puts my fire pit to shame...
Oh yes, my husband has no fear of peeping into people's courtyards. Nothing but the best for my readers I say...
He did have a problem with stealing when I asked for him to carry this home though...
I just adore the beach, sigh*...
If you actually read this whole post then I am quite impressed, way long, I know. Long walk makes for a long post, sorry.
UPDATE: we stayed in Rosemary Beach, Florida. My favorite.
{Oh, and we did arrive home with a few days of vacation left and we worked on our bedroom. Yes, I know it was only a mere 8 months ago that I re.did it the first time, but it just was not working for me. Tomorrow I will post a tutorial on how to make your own headboard, yeah!}
A Good Day
I am taking the week off for some much needed family time. We are heading to the beach which also happens to be my favorite place ever. We haven't even got there yet and my little Ellie is already asking if we can stay forever. I hope one day I can tell her yes. For now I will leave you with some of my most recent favorite photos of my babies...
Oh and here are a few of my favorite reads that for some reason have yet to make it on my blog roll...
For the decor obsessed... Blue Hydrangea.
For the foodies... Amy and Ann.
For the one's who love it all... Johns Journal.
For those who are having a wedding or those who just love them... 100 Layer Cake.
For the fashion lovers... Unabashedly Prep.
For those who need hope and inspiration... NieNie Dialogues.
I hope you all have a lovely week and will miss you, really.
{images via my love Kellen Jacob Photography}
At the Beach: Outfit to Room...
So I have an addiction, it's called J.Crew. I love their spring line. So while I am away at the beach I thought it would only be fitting to use one of their fabulous creations for my series. A simple cover up...
Her outfit as an outdoor lounge area...
{Pottery Barn}a few of these...
{Sprout Home}filled with this...
{image via here}
{via here}
{DWR}
{image via here}of course you will need these, it's hot outside...
{via here}basking in the glow of a fire would be nice as the evening unfolds...
{DWR}Oh, and yes I would love to have this set up when I arrive home. Also a pool would not be too bad either. I will be returning home soon, so sad. This also marks the end of my at the beach series. Hope you all leave with a safe tan too.
At the Beach: A Home
I would love to live at the beach. A dream that I will not let go of even if it really is quite impossible. Since I am dreaming I thought it to be only fitting to share where I would live, ha! Close to where we stay is Aly's Beach. It is a Mediterranean neighborhood that is Eco friendly all the way down to the building process. It reuses or recycles up to 75% of construction waste. It is beautiful and green, yeah! This could be my home... (well, if we had millions)
I know this post is incredibly long, but I could not choose which photos to show from this home. They are all so beautiful to me.
Where would your dream place to live be?
Update from the beach: My little man thought it would be fun to throw my blackberry into a pot of water. Needless to say my phone fizzled. I also found out my phone replied to many of your post comments. So sorry for any random e-mails you have recieved. I can't wait to visit you all when I get back next week!
At the Beach: A Date Night
We are lucky enough to have good friends vacationing at the same time as we are in another close by beach town. They have a baby boy, so we thought it would be fun to exchange a night of babysitting so we could each have a date night. We haven't had a date at the beach in years. I am so excited about the prospect of going out to eat without little hands wanting to eat what I have on my plate. This is the outfit I would have wanted to buy if I were shopping. Comfy yet pretty I think. I added a watch, because on this trip I would love to not bring the blackberries, but I still would need to know the time, right? Of course that would never happen, oh well.
{top two pieces from J.Crew, sunglasses from Banana Republic, watch by Skagen, purse and shoes from Anthropologie}
At the Beach: Shopping Hiatus
This marks the 10 week mark of the shopping hiatus. Since this, at the beach, series is pre-posted I can only tell you how well I did through Friday. Well, I did great. No real buys, just necessities for the beach like sunscreen. I must admit it will be very hard not to shop while on vacation. We are close to a Crewcuts and a J. Crew outlet so I can't see it going very well. The good news is that a very close friend gave me a visa gift card as a gift for my helping with the re.do of their home. It's almost done and I will be posting it soon. Anyway, what I did while not shopping was learn how to roast a chicken. I love the idea of being a brilliant cook, but that does not seem to be the case with me. My husband does the great majority of the cooking because I am really that bad.
This is my friend, who gave me the gift card, and I preparing our chickens. Easier than I thought it would be too. We actually were roomies in college way back when. I love that we remained friends.
This is that same friend stuffing her chicken with lemons.
These are the hands of our lovely instructor/friend chopping up the bread to make home made croutons. This was harder than I thought. I burned a few.
This is the three of us. I love having such amazing friends. The one in the middle finds out what her second child will be today! She married one of my good friends in college and she and I have become the best of friends over the years. Oh, and she is also an amazing cook and she is teaching us the wonders of her ways.
This is my completed project. Looks good, right? My family loved it all except the asparagus. I thought it was good, but I guess we will go back to broccoli for next time. Oh, and this was all served with brown rice, so over all this meal was very healthy.
Okay, so this really doesn't have to do with the beach, but it does have to do with the person who has given me money to shop while at the beach. Close enough. Besides I couldn't wait to share my new cooking adventure with all of you.
At the Beach: My Beach Bag
It all starts with a good bag. My favorite is the Maggie b weekender. It folds up tiny when not in use and expands to a size that easily accommodates my, my husbands, and my two kiddos stuff that I inevitability will be carrying. Having a skin cancer scare has made me become so much more careful of the sun's rays. So now you will always find me with a lip balm with SPF, strong sunscreen, big sunglasses, and a hat. All must have's for extra protection. I also love a sunscreen as a spray, so much easier with two kiddos that are ready to play. Of course a swimsuit that makes me feel good is a must. Believe it or not, but my favorite suit comes from Old Navy. Finally, getting to read a good book while lounging around while hubby and kiddos make sand castles could not make me any happier.
{Maggieb weekender fold up bag}
{Burt's Bee's Lip Balm}
{Swimsuit}
{Sunblock}
{Hat}
{book via here via fiddlesticks and funny girls}
{sunglasses}
At the Beach...
Well, almost at the beach. We head down to Rosemary Beach this weekend and will be staying a whole week! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My hubby has been insanely busy at work so some quality time with me and the kiddos is in much need. We are blessed enough to have some friends that own a fabulous house there and they are kind enough to let us use it. Next week I have a line up of my favorite beach everything. I hope to visit you all too, but my computer is table top so I may be scarce. I will have hubby's laptop, but as I said we need the quality time so I will just have to see how it goes.
This is from our vacation there last year. Those are my little man's feet basking in the sun. Hubby winning 1st runner up in the Coastal Living amateur photo contest sealed the deal of us starting the photography way of life. Oh, and did I happen to mention that I am so meant to live at the beach. Now that would be the life!
*Outfit to Room will be back next week, I've been much too busy getting ready for the beach and next week's line up!