Monday, March 28, 2011

baby bedding

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

Gray Damask Crib Sheet 500x500 image
You know I can't go wrong with  a GRAY crib sheet!  Find it here.
Crib Rag Quilt,  Dolce, LAST ONE
These rag quilts from etsy seller southerncharmquilts are too cute.  Worth browsing through the whole store...its all pretty darn sweet!

VINTAGE - MODERN LAP QUILT.  One of a Kind.  Featuring Japanese Prints, Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, and More.
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

Sunday, March 27, 2011

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

Thursday, March 24, 2011

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:

THE ORIGINAL VERSION -Personalized  Silver orchid , 1 initial disc , light purple amethyst  sterling silver chain necklace - custom initial and stone /gold optional
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}

AAA grade white Coin Pearl and Stamped Initial Disk sterling silver necklace, great bridesmaid gift
That same seller also makes this one...I dunno.  It's still not there for me...

Initial tiny heart necklace by hand stamp -14k yellow gold with sterling silver - MADE TO ORDER
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....

A LITTLE LOVE  Handcrafted Sterling Silver Heart Necklace PERSONALIZED
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

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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

Saturday, March 19, 2011

30 weeks

I will be entering m 31st week tomorrow and I thought before week 30 is up, I need to blog about what a wonderful week it has been.  I think this has by far been one of my favorite times in pregnancy.  The time changed so the bright sun stays out longer which is allowing me to take pretty good walks after work.  I used to walk at a fast past with my ipod blaring thinking of the million things I need to do once my butt hits the car seat.  Now, I walk with no music and enjoy the peace and silence of the trail at a much slower pace {but still as fast as I can comfortably walk, haha}.  I think I realized this week that slowing down can be good.  I've always had "issues" relaxing, but this week I think I did a pretty good job.  I am consciously savoring my nightly bathtime that has been a routine since I was a little girl {I take a bath every night...in bubbles....for a long time} juuuust in case I have to introduce showers into my routine once little miss A.Rae gets here.  The house is getting organized and that makes my nesting instincts simmer down a bit.  We had a garage sale today and only made $150, but I am now rid of most of the stuff that we haven't used in the past year.  Hopefully I can start organizing what remains. 

My belly is growing what seems to be daily and miss thang is getting stronger and stronger with her movements.  I am finally at a point where I'm not obsessing over every pound I gain and I am starting to appreciate the beauty of being pregnant and the miracle and insanity of having a human being that Drew and I created growing healthy inside of me.  I've always thought pregnant women were beautiful, but then when it happened to me I was kind of like "maybe not so much". lol.

Daydreaming about what life will be like on maternity leave pretty much consumes me.  I fantasize about playing with Annie, taking her on walks, getting to know the new member of our family and hopefully working hard on getting on a routine so my life is not total hell when I go back to the cubby. 

Well, I'm anxious to see how things will progress on the home stretch and I'll keep you all posted!

-jd

Monday, March 14, 2011

while I was OUT

I have totally been MIA for like the last two months.  I really apologize!  I have a TON of stuff to blog about.  I just spent the last half hour taking pictures of recent projects only to realize that my lap top is not compatible with my camera!  AWESOME!  So you will  have to see a few updates via  fancy i-phone pictures! 

While I was out, I was busy learning to sew.  And I LOVE it...with a capital L O V E!!!  However my first projects were all done on the down low as they were all for baby A. Rae.  I started with a blanket

this is my first row and the first thing I ever sewed!!  It turned out pretty darn cute, the finished project will have to be in another post.

Next I moved on to matching burp cloths. 


My machine really wanted to EAT the burp cloths but I was patient and was pleased witht the overall end result.  YES that is an A that I busted out freehand! HA! (loving my socks)

We (the dream daughter and I) were lucky enough to roll out and see Jacq and her baby bump.  We even made it to the shower.  It's so special to be able to share those 'moments' with your girlfriends. One of her good friends is a fab photographer and did some pics of the two of us for this here blog.  What a concept...pictures...of us...together...on OUR blog!  Can't wait to see them!!


So for now that's all I can share with you.  Hopefully soon I will have my desk top back and can share a few pictures and stories of the last two months!!! 

Oh and just so you know that I have been doing a few things around my own house.  Here is a picture of a really cute head band holder that I made for the dream daughter tonight! 

 Total cost $1!! That's right ONE DOLLAR...score!
-fd

Thursday, March 3, 2011

garage doors

Planning projects to start in 2013....

Residential Carriage House Doors By Fimbel ADS
I've been dreaming about a pergola over my garage for quite some time.  It was denied by the HOA in my hood {lesson learned: never live in a deed restricted community again}.  Also, since 1/3 of my house facade is a garage door, I need to make it cute!  I priced out snazzy carriage doors like these, but at over $1,000 it just ain't happnin'.  I did however think I could slap some carriage hardware on my existing builder standard metal garage door and possibly swing a knock off.


I would love to get that french or english garden look with the carriage doors, vines, and lush casual landscape, but with the concrete box that it is now {and oh, do I love that box}, we have a looooooooong way to go.  Our landscaping currently consists of two sad little oak trees that are barely taller than I am and a few plants that are the size of some of my shoes : /


heart.


Another thing I've been looking into is faux painting my garage door {and possibly front door} to look like wood...but I'm not sure that with the real wood shutters it would be the right solution...


I'm still thinking about a fun color for my front door, but haven't come to any conclusions on that either....


I might age it a little...

I guess that's it for now...bedtime {yawn}.  I'm taking the afternoon off tomorrow to work on the house!  yay!!!  Hopefully new pics soon :) 

-jd