For A. Rae of Sunshine

If you need to brighten up your day, head on over to my new blog For A. Rae of Sunshine inspired by the new light in my life:

Ms.  Annie Rae Downs

-jd

Day Three

Ebay rug returned, new temporary rug in place. We got the ebay rug back from Stanley Steamer and it looked wonderful:

It was a little faded and stained, but it was also from the 1940's and had the best colors to start a palette in the house. We sat on the sofa and the smell from the rug hit you in the face like 'whoa'. I got on all fours and started smelling the rug. "Stanely Steamer didn't do crap to this rug". My mom came over and brought her steam cleaner. Drew went over it FOUR times and

each time emptied filthy water, a ton of dirt and hair, and the smell was starting to permeate the house.

Here's just one bottle full of what we found. I could have filled up a truck load of these. Finally, we threw the rug outside in hopes that fresh air would help. 5 hours later, I go outside and I can smell the freaking thing the minute I open the door. Grossed out beyond belief, I told Drew to just return it through Ebay. We opened a case and are out the $31 it costs to ship it back. Lesson Learned!!!! I mourned my beautiful rug for a while and almost felt a slight depression from finally finding something to kick start the major design element in the house. Oh well, press on.

I did still want a rug for a multitude of functional purposes and I knew if I waited, I might not ever have the time or energy to look after the babe is here, so I hopped on craigslist and found this replacement:

Is it my dream rug? Not in a million. Are there any colors in it that I can pull into pillows and art? I don't think so.

But

Does it stink? No. Is it soft? Yes.

Did I mention that it was $45? It could be worse, I know, but it just looks so...........generic and the colors with my sofa aren't ideal.

But it will be staying for a while until I find my dream serapi colored antique oriental that doesn't smell like straight ass. Where are you rug?!?!?

In other news,

I go to the doctor at 10am today in hopes of some news that I've progressed and will not have to be induced on Thursday. I'm trying to stay positive, but I just don't "feel" like anything is happening :(

-jd

Random thoughts of an overdue pregnant woman

Just some simple randomness I've thought of since being on Maternity Leave (day #2)...

1. Grocery shopping while everyone else is at work totally changes the experience.  It was actually enjoyable.

2. My house is the cleanest it has ever been and it's amazing. 

3. When I don't 'have' to get up for work, I only sleep about 15 minutes later than I would waking up to an alarm.

4.  It's weird being able to do stuff when you want and not having to schedule 9,000 things in "after 5" or "on the weekends" or "during lunch".

5. To all of you people who have kids and see a pregnant woman, it's not necessary to tell her  to "get her rest now" or "how hard it will be to leave the house soon" or "how her life is about to change".  Trust me, she hears enough negative random comments.  Try saying something positive or just a simple "congratulations".  If I'm not on my death bed from exhaustion, going endless days without showering and not ever leaving the house, I must say, I'll be a little disappointed because that is definitely the consensus with a newborn!

6.  There's nothing sweeter to me right now than sitting in the house, in silence, listening to my dog sleeping (snoring).  I can't imagine what it will feel like when it's the baby that Drew and I made that I'm listening to.

7.  It's a lot easier to be healthy when I'm at home and reps aren't bringing in sweets and I don't get that 10am, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm urge to snack from boredom at work.

That's all.  Hopefully pics of the temporary rug to come soon....or pics of the baby.  Either way, stay tuned ;)

-jd

T O T A L L Y O B S E S S E D: Orange and Blue

So, for whatever reason lately, I've been obsessing over navy blue and a combo with pink, orange, salmon or anything in those tones.  I'm thinking I might use the new "temporary" rug in the dining room to test out this color combo in la casa.   I'm having technical difficulties uploading pics of the new rug, but hopefully tomorrow.  We're in the process of giving it a good clean now.  It's not my dream rug by any stretch, but for $45...I'll make it work for a while.

Here's some of my inspiration pics.


I would give my right arm for this rug.




I like the brown up in the mix. 

-jd

bookmarks

I've been seeing these vintage inspired ribbon bookmarks everywhere and had planned to make some for Mother's Day as a tester, but I ran out of time. 

Here's my inspiration:








I busted some out yesterday and this is how they turned out:

Bear with my POS camera, but these are my first three "testers"

The end charms are too long, so I think the next round will have shorter embellishments.  I need to start stocking up on vintage jewelry for the baubles at the ends.

Cute, but I'm thinking not as functional too have such long charms...

But it does make for a cute display like this just sitting on a shelf, in a bookcase or on a table!

This is the other end of the bookmarks which I think has a more appropriate size.  Maybe this end will just receive a silver ball.

Velvet ribbon has been proven kind of difficult to find.  I think I may try some with a burlap type ribbon next.  I want to make a few to lay around the house....

Happy Sunday

-jd

Drew

I felt overwhelmed with pride today.  We woke up early to go garage sale-ing and with this being my last Saturday to junk for a while, I was hoping we'd pile up...or at least find a desk for our new computer.  We headed out and about 30 minutes into our venture, Drew got called into work.  Bummer.  I peeled around to our house on two wheels to throw him out of the car so I could get back to it. 

About an hour later I get a picture message from him with gold nesting tables followed up by a call to see if I like them.  Now Drew is down to ride around with me occasionally and junk, but for him to go to a garage sale on his own in between work appointments, find tables that I love, and send me a picture!  What a turn on!  lol.  They were $25, so I told him to load them up!  He called me back a couple of minutes later and said he got them down to $12!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reason #4,987,569 why I love him: he's more frugal than I am.

Not quite sure where they'll go yet, but here they are:

I see these all the time, but neva for twelve bucks!  The white design on the top looks cute next to white upholstery. Probably not going to stay next to that chair, but next to something white...

I'll be celebrating my due date tomorrow by laying out in the pool with Drew and my mom.  Maybe the baby will decide to descend...

-jd

Happy Friday!!!!!

I've been a little MIA lately working on the nursery (pics to come soon), getting ready for my maternity leave, and just being pregnant in general.  But today I am freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.  Free from the eight to five that is.  Starting Monday, I will have four months off of work! 

I started my day at the doctor's in hopes of dilation news.  No such luck.  Baby girl is quite content in my belly and It doesn't look like she's going to make her appearance by her due date on Sunday.  I'm not mad at her though.  My sciatic nerve pain is gone and I'm feeling pretty good.  I get out of breath walking to the bathroom and am not sleeping all that great, but that's to be expected.  I've had two mini freak outs this week thinking about the pain of birth, the babies health, what I'm going to do with her when she gets here, if I'll be a good mom, what a baby will do to my marriage...you know, the normal things moms to be get to think about at 3am!

My induction is set for Thursday at 6:30pm, but I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning and if "things are progressing" then they're going to leave me alone (I'd rather not be induced).  If they're not, the date is probably going to stay as Thursday depending on how the doctor and I feel at that time. 

In other news, the nursery is turning out to be my new favorite room in the house and has actually opened the door to color in the rest of the hizzy.  Can you believe it!?!?  COLOR.  IN.  MY.  HOUSE.

I accidentally bought a rug off of ebay last week and it's at Stanley Steamer right now, but pics soon to follow.  I am an avid craigslist-er and as you all know, I love a good bargain hunt.  I'll e-mail low ball offers and once I get the item down to the lowest possible price, I determine if it's worth it.  Horrible, I know.  Well, Drew is an avid ebay-er and I browse on there from time to time under his account, but have never really been as into ebay stuff because you can't see if before you purchase which makes me nervous.  I'm not a huge online shopper.  So, anyways, I figure out that I like Oushak Turkish Serapi rugs (I know you're thinking "What in the hell is she talking about").  It took me about a month of research to figure out which kind of oriental rugs appeal to me so I knew what to search for.  I liked the Serapi colors and the faded look of an oushak and the patterning of the turkish rugs.  SO, off to ebay I went to browse around.  A few caught my fancy and I saw a little things that said "make an offer".  I'm good at that, so what the hell.  I made an offer of $400 on a $800 rug.  Figured there's no way that deal was going through and if it did, maybe I'll consider the purchase.  Skip to the next night when Drew is like "You bought a rug?"  "No, I just made a few offers on some"  "Um?  It doesn't work like that and one of your offers was accepted....so you bought a rug???"  "Oh."  "Yea, this ain't craigslist honey" "Um".  Of course I freaked until the rug arrived looking at the pictures online like a psycho, e-mailing the seller after the fact asking if there were any stains, if it stunk, etc.  Yesterday Drew calls me that the rug has arrived.  I flew home my heart pounding and walked in.  He had already laid it out and arranged the furniture exactly how I had the past 4 times I've brought living room rugs home from Tuesday Morning (ended up returning every one).  I LOVED IT!  It adds so much color depth to the room.  I can't wait to post pics, but unfortunately it did have some staining and Drew said it smelt "old", so we dropped it off for a good clean just to be safe. 

I finally feel like I have some sort of design direction as far as colors for the abode!

As for next week's agenda: I'm going to clean the house in preparation for the babe's arrival, finish the little onsie and hat I'm making her to come home in, and just try and relax (we all know how that goes).  I'm sure my rambling blog posts will get longer and more frequent now that the eight to five isn't in the way...

Stay tuned!
-jd

look who's BACK

Guess who's computer has finally decided it loves her camera...mine, that's right!!  Whooohooo!! 

So in honor of my first day back I am going to share my favorite completed project in the house so far!  This is a wall in my living room and I am just loving it these days.

We got the dresser at our favorite antique store and have been adding ever since.  A dresser in your living room is SO practical!  I have blankets, pictures and books stored in that pretty thang and you never even have to look at them! LOVE IT!

(ps-who is that t-tiny baby with angel wings...my soon to be FIVE year old! watch out JD annie will be five before you know it! tear...tear)

A fan, art and mustangs...three of our favorite things.  Are you serious with the color of that fan...it's

A-MaaaAZING!!  Just an added bonus that it actually works!

This Pepsi crate we picked up a few months back at lakewood and I have had it on the cart, but I randomly moved it over to the dresser and I fell in LOVE.  I KNOW being in the ATL we should be representing coke, but sorry guys the red just wasn't working for me.  I have always loved sunflowers and I think they are the perfect addition to the whole shabang!  (sorry the water looks like a hot mess of puke green, i think its the wall color...wait, what does that say about the wall color???)

Hopefully those bad boys are never out of season...ha!

 That's all for now and as long as my lame awesome computer holds up, I will be back sooner than later! 

HELLO, HELLO... ADAM...do you read this...I need an I-pad!!!

-fd

garage sale finds

Well, baby girl is technically full term today!  YAY!  I had a baby shower yesterday in Clearwater which just happens to be one of my favorite places to go junkin' so I took full advantage of the drive over.  The shower was at 11:30am, but I woke up bright eyed at 6am to hit garage sales over there because Clearwater garage sales are where it's at! 

This is what I picked up:

These two lamps for $15 (total)!  I have been looking for a matching pair of lamps for the buffet which I'm thinking of painting black.  I got those frames (a little while back) for $1 a piece at Goodwill, but not sure what I'll slap in there yet. 

Maybe black and white modern paintings?  DIY...

Aren't they cute?  The shades have seen better days and could be replaced, but they'll work for now!

Also picked this puppy up for $3.  I think it'll be cute outside on the picnic table as part of a table setting or even as spring decor for, Oh...I dunno...a first birthday party.  I mean, not that I'm planning that already.....but it would be cute ;)

Last, but not least, scored this frame for $2.  It's pretty big and will be perfect for a vintage botanical print!

Close up.

I was on the hunt for a dresser/changing table, but no luck so far :( 

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful Sunday!

-jd

Nursery Progress

I have been totally MIA recently, but I promise I have been busy and have a ton to blog about.  I'm totally redesigning most of my house in my head and it should make for some pretty interesting posts   : /

I'm 2 days into week 36 and besides baby girl resting on my sciatica nerve which is almost unbearable...I'm doing great!  Last Monday I started having a little back pain and by Friday I was crawling around the house.  No lie.  C R A W L I N G.  Other than that itty bitty thang, I still feel pretty good   :) 

Baby,
You will be full term this Sunday...I'm just sayin'  ;)

You're loving mommy

I'm still plugging away on the nursery design which has proved to be the hardest room in my house.  It's tiny, only has one tiny window, brown carpet, and has to be hands down the cutest room in the house for the cutest occupant of the house.  Here's where I am:   

Here's the view from the door.  Daddy...in his panties.  BAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA.  Just kidding.  I still haven't decided what to cover that chair in.  If I was brave, it would be a pattern....but you know how I roll.  I'm sure it will be some sort of neutral, probably gray.  I think the elephant table will be receiving a fresh coat of white paint to match the armoire.  Note: I still have to repaint the frame of that chair to be the soft white of the armoire and not the primer white it is currently.  I need a new lamp or a new lampshade, but I'm digging a floor lamp in that location.  I'm keeping my eye out for a {cheap} replacement. 

I don't think I've blogged since we {and by "we", I mean "Drew" repainted the nursery .00001 shades lighter than it was before.  SO much better, right?  I scored that armoire off of craigslist for $75 and painted her up right.  It might be my favorite find to date. 

This is the crib that we got off of craigslist for $150!  A custom bedskirt and window treatment are coming soon....as soon as I make a decision on the fabric.  OH!  ps.  The reason we were hanging in the nursery tonight is beacuase we {again, just Drew} rearranged the furniture in the nursery in every possible configuration before returning it to exactly how it was when we started.  Reason #1,456,987 why I love my husband.  I have three vintage botanical prints that will go over the crib.

Closet doors.  I'm just going 'round the room so you can get a feel for the {tiny} space :) 

Remember this?  It was some sort of buffet piece and I picked it up at Salvation Army for $25.  Well, it's a hot mess.  I can't stand how junky it looks and am currently looking for a wee dresser to put in it's place.  I know...

Also hunting for vintage corbels to make into a shelf to go above the future dresser.  That piece will be repurposed somewhere else in the house; don't you worry!

Now back to the window treatments and bedskirt.

This color looks kind of whack in this pic, but this is really closer to the wall color...

I picked up a boat load of this antique lace at a thrift store that I'll put at the bottom of the window treatment which will look a little like:

This is Drew's attempt at humor.  Not funny.  He got one of my double chin zoomed in like 45x too while I was thinking....thinking of what?

This teeny tiny fuscia silk I have carried around in my purse for months.  Hmmmmmmmmmmm.  It would look super uuber cute with the lace, BUT....you know how I do with color!

Maybe it would be better than the neutral silk and spice it up a bit?  Or maybe I would hate it or get tired of it in 2 months...who knows?

Whatya think?  I know everyone will probably say the pink, but I'm just SO SKEERED.

The neutral option is on the right {that's how much the colors change in certain light...the top and bottom are the same fabric}, the pink on the top, and the lace.  The lace and whatever fabric I go with for the window treatment will be incorporated into the bedskirt as well.  Probably with a neutral sheet.

Also toying with covering the back of the armoire in that black and cream dot paper.  I've started to accessorize the inside, but still have a long way to go.

That's that.  My goal this week is to get set on the fabrics.  That will be quite a feat if it gets accomplished!

-jd

baby bedding

Light internet surfing while watching Dancing with the Stars...


You know I can't go wrong with  a GRAY crib sheet!  Find it here.

These rag quilts from etsy seller southerncharmquilts are too cute.  Worth browsing through the whole store...its all pretty darn sweet!


I LOVE the colors in this one from StarlitNestGifts, but it's almost four hundred dollars!  What the?

So far, it's looking like the new color scheme for Ms. Annie Rae's room is going to be gray {could you have guessed?}, pink {all shades}, turquoise, yellow and white.  Think modern country meets shabby chic....whatya think?

Wonder if that'll be easier to work with?  Seems like from my mini quilt obsession that I just started, it might be just as challanging.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Well, it's getting late and my computer is acting ghetto, so that's it for now.

-jd

R E D O

Where do I start?

So, back when I wrote this post I was all jazzed about my gray sophisticated nursery.  I wanted the nursery to flow with the rest of my house and look "designer".  I wasn't going to have the typical pink girl's nursery because how boring would that be?  Since I got the crib and painted, I've been at a hault.  I haven't been able to find anything {affordable} for the nursery that goes with the sophisticated neutral gray that I was going for.  Then I had the shower.  Home came TWO TRUCKLOADS of baby crap.  Guess what I learned?  99% of baby clothes, toys, stuffed animals, affordable nursery bedding, artwork, and anything else cute and baby related is PINK.  Can you say "REALITY CHECK?"  I have spent 2 weeks stressing out about how to hide all of the loud colors and pink.  Can I buy neutral bins to put it all in?  Where do I find neutral toys that she can have out?  What if she gets attached to a bright colored toy and it totally puts a kink in her beautiful room.  Where for the love of god, do I find neutral colored affordable cute shabby chic stuffed animals?  I have been searching for months...

As some of you know, my neighbor is pregnant with twin girls!  How exciting right?  I have been helping her decorate the rest of her house, so naturally, I am helping with the nursery.  The first advice I gave her was what I recently learned.  "Look.  Everything that's cute for baby girls is pink and loud colors.  Find bedding FIRST that you like and build the room around that.  Don't try to do something outside of the box, because it isn't practical".  As I've been thinking about her nursery, it has turned out cute {in my head} and WAY easier and cheaper to accomplish than the madness in my house. 

So, that brings me to today.  I'm at Babies R Us just doing the usual: browsing around totally overwhelmed trying to add the "last minute must haves" to my registry when I passed my 5th cute pink item that I thought would be perfectly suited for my neighbor's nursery {which I have designed to be pink, teal, taupe, and white} and I got that "feeling".  You know that feeling when you're not about to cry, you're not mad, but you realize that....YOU WANT TO TOTALLY START OVER AND REDESIGN YOUR NURSERY AT 32 WEEKS?!?!?

I dismissed it thinking "I can make what I have work.  Hide the loud stuff and continue on.  Pink can work with the paint color and gray/purple chair fabric.  It's too late in the game to switch concepts".  On the ride home, I thought about my sweet baby Annie sitting in her gray room, playing with her neutral colored toys {cannot find} that I searched for months for and probably paid 4x the amount of a regular baby toy so it would match her room.  I thought about her laying in her bed and looking up at her neutral artwork {that I still haven't found} and wishing she had some fun loud colored artwork and could pick up a toy at Wal Mart and play with it without giving me anxiety.  {Oh, the hard knock life of a designer and the stress we go through}. 

Then I started thinking, all I would have to do is repaint and call the upholsterer ASAP to put a hault on the chair until I could find a more suitable fabric.  I haven't been able to find bedding, art, accessories, NOTHING because of the current scheme which means...not alot to "redo".  

I had a mini panic attack at first thinking about it, but then I realized...finalizing the design will be WAY easier if I just go with the mass market colors and baby girl will probably thank me for not having to reside in a boring room where the only way you can tell a kid lives there is from the crib....

Could I work in some color with the current paint color and chair fabric?  Sure.  Would it be as cute as if I started fresh?  Hell no.  So fresh start, here we come...

The new inspiration will be bedding that I can find at a local Target, Babies R Us, and/or Buy Buy Baby mass market retailer.  It will be fabric that is fun and playful.  It will be more colorful {lets not get crazy though...this is still the queen of gray we're talking about here}.  It will have pink.  It will be FUN!

Stay Tuned!

-jd

T O T A L L Y O B S E S S E D: initial charm necklace

I'm totally one of those women that would get their kid's name tattooed somewhere on their body, but unfortunately {or fortunately} Drew doesn't really dig tats and I have promised him no more.  So, the next closest thing is an initital necklace with a little A that I been in search of for about a month. 

Here are some of the contestants in the running:


I like that this esty necklace from madebysam has more than just the initial, but worry that it might be a tad too busy.  You can choose your stone though which I'm digging {I think I would go with the coin pearl}


That same seller also makes this one...I dunno.  It's still not there for me...


This one from moncadeau on etsy is so cute and dainty.  You can get both the heart and necklace in silver or do the heart in yellow gold as shown in this pic....hmmmm....


Oooooh, this one is cute and only $28!  It's from LuxeAdornments on etsy.

Luckily, jewelry is soooooooooooooooo low on my priority list, so I have a while to look and obsess over which initial necklace to settle on ;) 

Any suggestions?

-jd

O+P

We just got a sneak peak of a mini O+P shoot that my good friend and awesome photographer Rebecca did for us while Fallon was down for my baby shower!  Just wanted to share a few of my favorites from her blog.  I can't wait to see the rest!!!







I have my maternity shoot on April 10th; I'm anxious to see what Rebecca will have in store for that!

-jd