it's friday already?!

Seriously, where did the week go? Things were very much back to normal around here this week, which brought lots of busy-ness. It's all good things of course, but, I am sorry I haven't been around here much. To be honest, there is not much decorating inspiration of any sort going on around here these days. It seems to kind of come and go, and right now I feel like my time and energy has been focused on other things. Like facebook- just joined, I'm a nerd, I know- but now I am totally hooked, which is why I didn't want to join in the first place. Anyway, it is so nice to reconnect with people, some, whom I used to be very close to, and hopefully will again. But the point is, when I can pull myself away from the computer, there is lots of laundry, cleaning, and other responsibilites to tend to. I am feeling that initial stalking obsession of facebook is wearing off, and before I know it, I will be back to my daily reads of decorating blogs- which is where I really prefer to waste time.

Anyway- so, here we are at Friday already, and I owe you not only a post, but an Etsy Friday post. So, lets see...

Mother's Day is next Sunday, and although I prefer a gift certificate for a pedicure (hint hint to Rob), I thought it would be fun to pick out some pretty things, that I know I wouldn't mind receiving!

Who doesn't love a pretty necklace?

Silver Flower Petal Necklace

These are just my style- love them! ( I take a sz 8- jk, these are pretty pricey)

Handmade Leather Flip-Flops

I love big bags for toting around all of Aiden's stuff while we are out and about

Vanilla Tote

However, when I have a date night with Rob, I prefer just a small clutch.

Full Bloom Clutch

I would use this pretty dish on my bureau to throw jewelry on at the end of the day.

Lacy Bird Bowl

Hopefully you feel inspired to go out and get your mom, or someone you love who is a mom, a great gift, I'm sure she deserves it! :) Have a happy weekend!

This too shall pass

I've been having kind of a tough week...I won't get into all the details, but highlights include keys locked in the car, and Bailey (our dog) having lyme's disease. But, the toughest thing is my mom is having some minor surgery on Friday. So, of course with that on my mind, all of these other things have really been testing me this week. I usually try not to get too personal on this blog, but I know that we've all been here before. When I take some time to slow down and remember that I have a lot to be thankful for, and more blessings in life that I could have ever imagined, it makes me remember that "this too shall pass". Something my mother and my grandmother have said to me many times.

So, I'm sorry that I haven't been around too much recently, but I am sure that things will feel back to normal soon. And today is a new day- the sun is shining, and Bailey has some meds. in his system and can actually walk today. So, things are already looking up.

I won't be around tomorrow, but I will share some random inspirational images with you until I'm back.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Jenna's backyard

Design Sponge

via LivingEtc.

Lonny

Etsy Friday

My grandparents built a house in the poconos before I was born and I have so many childhood memories there. Sadly, the house was sold a few years ago, and since then, Rob and I have been talking about the benefits of having a vacation house in the poconos. Rob's family owns a cabin in Maine, which we love, go to every summer- and plan to always do, but it is so far away. So, Rob and I talk about having a pocono house to go to on the weekends in the summer.

We dream about buying land and then building a pre-fab house on the property. It would be a really simple and modern cabin, so I think it would be fun to decorate with a vintage mountain/camping theme.

I thought I would check out Etsy to see what I could find. Lets just say there is an abundance of this stuff- I found so much that I loved, it was hard just to pick a handful to share.

I love these colors together

{Vintage Melmac Prolon picnicware}

I would make a pillow out of this fabric

{Happy campers fabric}

for this stool

{Vintage wooden folding stool}

Some signs for the kitchen

{Vintage Dr. Pepper sign}

{Vintage creamsicle sticker}

and just some fun things to decorate with:

{Cherry red lantern}

{Cream and Red enamel double-broiler}

{Vintage Coleman Summer fun Cooler}

Pretty things

I received a set of nesting bowls from the Liberty of London Target line for my birthday from my MIL {that stands for mother-in-law :) }, which I was excited about because I never ended up buying anything myself from the line because Target had sold out of almost everything when it first came out.

But, when I was in Target this past week, they had gotten more stuff in and had a ton of the storage bins. They had the same print that is on the biggest bowl in the set, which I've had sitting on the shelves in the kitchen. I've been liking how the pink looks with all the green. The bins have bright green on the inside too. I've been looking for a couple bins for these shelves since we redid the kitchen, and I thought I would try these out. I thought it would be too florally, but I think I really like them. What do you think?

I also got this sweet vase from Anthro from my girlfriends as part of a birthday gift- they know me well.

I thought this pic was funny because you can see me in the lamp.

Hope everyone is having a good week!!

Etsy Friday

Sorry that I am posting this at 9:30pm, but it's still technically Friday, right?!

I've had a really good week. Thinking back on it makes me happy- it was my birthday, I got a night away with Rob, lots of playing outside with Aiden, Rob's work schedule allowed him to be home more this week, I had lunch at The Tea Room with my mom, it was a good week.

So, this post is just things that are happy...no other explanation needed.

{Daisy Daisy Print}

{Sock Monkey Gift Tags}

{Mid-Century floral glasses}

{Sailor tote bag}

{Floral throw pillow}

Have a happy weekend :)

No cost project

When we got the new sofa, we knew that we wouldn't be able to use both of our end tables because there wouldn't be enough room. We aren't quite ready to get rid of the end tables because we like them so much, so they are currently sitting in our basement. Which actually goes against my strong belief not to keep any thing that you don't have plans to use as to not collect a house full of clutter. So, we'll see how long they last down there.

ANYWAY... I wanted something in between the sofa and chair that wouldn't be very deep and that would offer a little bit of storage. Rob mentioned that the small Ikea dresser in the second floor hallway would probably fit perfectly. I had wanted to paint it anyway, so I thought I would paint this one and try it out in the space for a little bit to see how I liked it, and then if I wanted to get another one to put upstairs I could.

I also remembered that I bought these knobs on clearance from Anthropologie last year with plans to eventually use them in our bathroom. But, since there are no plans at this point to redecorate the bathroom, I figured I would make use of them now.

I used leftover paint from the kitchen, so it is actually a very pale gray. I think I might like bright white better, but am not sure. I am thinking that when I get another one I will paint it white and then decide which one to use in the living room and which one to put back in the hallway. It would also be a lot easier to paint before putting it together.

I also moved our end table lamps onto the buffet since we only have space to use one table lamp in the living room. The lamp that was on the buffet got moved to the living room.

So, I used everything I already had, even though I plan to get another dresser to use back up in the hall because we need the storage. But, I wanted to make sure I really liked this first before committing to buying another one. Ideally, I would love a small antique dresser, but you never find those types of things when you are looking, so I think this will work great for now- what do you think?

City Love

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Rob and I enjoyed an overnight in the city Friday- Saturday to celebrate my birthday. It was great. The weather all weekend was gorgeous (and still is). We had such a relaxing time just walking around, going into shops, getting coffee, going out for dinner and ending with bruch at Parc. Aiden didn't join us on this trip- we (I) needed a night away. Although, when we got back I was a little hurt that he preferred "Pop-Pop" over me, but I guess that's better than him missing us terribly while we were away. My mom assures me that he asked about us a couple times, but she may just be trying to make me feel better.

Anyway, we didn't take our camera, so these are pics from the blackberry- so, sorry for the quality.

We stayed right in Rittenhouse, which was lovely. I have never seen so many people in the park. It reminded me of college when the weather would get nice, everyone would just come and hang out on the quad.

And of course, Anthropologie is right in Rittenhouse so we had to stop by.

Although it makes me a little sick that people spend $58 for a t-shirt there, some of the smaller housewares can be affordable. Here's my anthro loot:

Hope everyone is enjoying this weather!

Etsy Friday

Sorry I haven't been around much this week. For some reason, it has been a very busy week. I am exhausted. So, this post is just going to be about one seller- but a good one!

I finally ordered some prints for the frames in the dining room. It has been over a year since we re-decorated the dining room and I have been looking for prints for these frames. I have just had fabric in them in the meantime.

I found a photographer whose work I love. And, he is local, in Bucks County, which I thought was great. He has a studio that is open on the weekend in New Hope, so I will need to check it out some time.

Here's the photos I picked out in the frames- I had a hard time taking pictures because of reflections, but hopefully you can see them pretty well. And, if not, you can find them at his Etsy Store.

Here are some of some others I like...actually, I really like all of them.

{Waiting for the Tides}

{Lazy Afternoon}

{Retro Laundromat}

I think these 3 would be fun to use to decorate around when I eventually make a "big boy" room for Aiden.

{Nice Day for a Ride}

{Teal Truck}

{Orange Ride}

Happy weekend and Happy Easter!