The Sketch Book - Inslee Haynes

Love these fresh watercolors for Spring!





The Sketch Book - Inslee Haynes

Halloween Party I wish I had attended!

As I was dreaming up the perfect Halloween party I could have for Payton and her friends when we move into our new house, I realized that if life goes accoridng to plan (which it rarely does) we will be moving in the week of Thanksgiving! Given this fact, and that my dear friend, Kathleen, has her own rockin' Halloween party, I decided the best fix was to live vicariously through others' fab. party ideas.

And this, my friends, is the most adorable party I came across. Whitney, of The Smith Family, totally killed it. :) Those are some seriously lucky munchkins!

How cute is Whitney with her two little skektons?!

Hello perfect use of the Zig Zag fabric in this pic.!

Spookiest little snack plate around!

They even made popcorn witch hands! Delicious.

Hopefully, I can come up with something this adorable next year, but in the mean time I will look forward to Kathleen's Halloween party this coming weekend and Payton in her Pony costume...

Happy Halloween to all of you, too!

I am so doing this with baby #2!

Every week this savvy couple takes a picture of their adorable daughter on a new background and photoshops in how old she is. This is a truly clever idea and I love that you can literally see baby Clara growing from week-to-week. :) I highly recommend clicking over to their blog to check out the larger photos.

{Week-to-week pictures of  Sherry and John's baby Clara}

Check it out! These two are seriously clever DIYers and I just love their pictures and hilarious step by step remodeling stories... Young House Love Blog

I may be the only one dreaming of Fall dresses but...

{Eliza J Lace and Faille Dress, Nordstrom}

I can admit it! I am really loving lace right now and this dress from Nordstrom is so beautiful!

Seriously, though. After reading J Crew's Fall Inspriation Campaign and scouring the Fall Lines at Nordstrom online,  I am so excited for Animal Print and Lace together!

{Edie Purse, J Crew in Italian Calfskin}

{Kate Spade New York Eryn Calf Hair Flat, Nordstrom}

Update on the house!

We have made some serious headway in the past weeks! I cannot believe it has been six weeks since we took possession though...

{Branches coming down to bring in more light!}

{Rejuvenation lights going up in the kitchen!}

{Benjamin Moore Accolade Paint, Miller Color Wayfarer Gray for the kitchen walls}

{A vintage Italian Chandelier I found at Monticello's Antique Mall in the breakfast nook}

{The original entry chandelier gets a deep cleaning and the door gets a coat of B.M. black}

{Schoolhouse Electric lights go up in the hallway (they will have clear glass shades and Edison bulbs!)}

{Payton playing in the newly painted Living Room (Color is Miller Light Showers/ B.M. Accolade Paint)}

Off to take measurements for the new Baldwin knobs and locks we are ordering for the doors! My mom has been such an incredible help painting. I cannot believe how straight she can cut-in! I am so lucky to have all of this help.

I also need to take pictures of my husband's amazing handywork with the Family Room recessed lighting! Looking so much better!

This weekend we will be painting a whole lot of doors and trim! :) Happy Friday to all of you!

Jill Rosenwald is so talented!

Check out her gorgeous Etsy shop. I really love her graphic prints and earthenware!

{Coper Bowl in Newport Gate Navy}

{Chevron oval lamp in Navy}

  And then I found out she also designs gorgeous rugs for Surya! Hello new living room!



{Fallon Rug FAL 1054-58}



{Zuna Rug ZUN1043-58}

 

{Fallon Rug FAL 1048-58}

And now I can also follow along with her blog. You should too... I love her post this week on finding the perfect hallway color.


Also, here is an interview that Annechovie did with Jill this Spring!

Enjoy!


Demolition on our house is in full motion!

Wow! I just realized how long it has been since I posted. My, how the days have flown by these past two weeks...

Here is an update on our progress:

• July 1st we took possesion of the house (Which also happened to be our 5th Wedding Anniversary!)
• 4th of July weekend we pulled carpet, linoleum, started to strip wallpaper, sold our hot tub and gazeebo, took down some trees and limbs and large hedges.
• The entire next week we sanded wood work, removed moss from the roof, continued to strip wallpaper, took out all light fixtures and outlet covers and upstairs bathroom got demo'd to the studs. :)
• The next weekend was spent sanding, priming and more priming with some ceiling painting too (Who knew how much time sanding and priming wood work would take?)

Luckily for us we have the most amazing family! A special shout out goes to my Parents who have and continue to tirelessly help us during every single stage. My father even stopped by between kidney transplants to put in a few hours while he was on call last weekend! I am a lucky girl :)

Andrew finally had to go back to his real job on Monday so we have slowed down a bit, but the electricians were over today putting in a new updated electrical box, installing a light fixture over my dining room (Can you believe no one ever had a light there in 70 years?) and adding in some seriously needed 3 prong GFI's for our family room! I heart the guys at West Side Electric btw...

I also want to say that the guys at Dick's Color Center (who specialize in Benjamin Moore and Pratt and Lambert) have been awesome. I practically live there and with all of the walls, ceilings, trim, mouldings, built-ins and doors being painted I thinkIi might have to pick up a side job there...

Anyways, here are some pics. of the progress so far:

{The day we took possesion. Yes, that is Green carpet.}

{Carpet out, check. Two layers of linoeum out, check! Wallpaper gone!}

{Hardware and light fixtures removed, walls and ceilings patched, oil based primer applied!}

{Enough said.}

{Ahhhhh. Empty.}

{Just so we are clear, my husband is a genious with this paint sprayer! Seriously. And, no, we won't be putting those awful flourescent lights from the previous photo back up.}

In fact, we are going to get creative and possibly put recessed lights in to those wood panels. TBD.

Nighty, night.

The perfect Summer Plates!

I am so in love with the entire website from iomoi, but especially with their adorable children's plates. Their functionality reminds me of the ones I designed in elementary school that my mom still has in her pantry :). However, they are much more sophisticated and would even be cute for adults to use on the patio for Summer garden parties! My favorite of this moment would be perfect for the little ones...

{iomoi Hippo plate}

But if I were buying one for myself I am thinking it would be...



{belt frame in green)

Or perhaps this one...

{stripes pattern in navy}









p.s. Sorry for the leave of absense! My daughter was having some asthma issues and the blog had to take a back burner... I appreciate all of the email inquiries. :) Hope everyone is having an amazing week!

Monday Musings: I love you DVF!

{So glamorous!}



{I love her.}



Gorgeous shots from the CFDA awards. Found here : Jamie Beck's photo blog What an incredible photographer, right?

I am really loving the silk Marmara dress personally...



{DVF Marmara dress}



Monday Musings: Lake Merwin

We had so much fun this past Sunday at Lake Merwin, which is outside of Woodland, Washington. It was about an hour northeast of Portland and absolutely stunning. The water was extremely clean and the lake was not too crowded. My father-in-law took the three of us up to go Kokanee fishing and to lounge on his boat. Payton was so excited to help bait the fishing rods and drive the boat! She was dancing around all day and she caught her first fish!

{Payton's first catch!}

{Payton and Andrew driving.}

It was such a lovely way to spend the day with family and we have decided it should be an annual event! I hope everyone had an equally great weekend!

Happy 2nd Birthday Payton Katherine!

Happy Birthday to my daughter Payton! She is two today! She is so in love with horses right now and was running around the house this morning with her new "Nay Nay" pretending to be a jockey! She had a lovely time frolicking at the Play Boutique this afternoon too!



{Sloane, Payton, Pitt}

{6.7.11}



{6.7.10}



{6.7.09}