12.29.2017

CHRISTMAS 2017 RECAP!

{our Christmas gift to each other was this new sectional which came a few days before Christmas, for those wondering this is the one!}

Hi guys! I hope you all had the best holiday with your families and are recovering from the chaos! This was the first year in many many years that we stayed home in Columbus and it was so nice to be able to wake up Christmas morning in our new house. We stayed in our pajamas all day long and watched Christmas movies and put together the boys' new toys (making a mental note for next year to stock up on all types of batteries prior to Christmas day, ha.) I made mimosas and my parents stopped over in the afternoon to celebrate with the boys! Billy's parents actually came the weekend prior to help us move in, and bought the boys a bunch of great gifts to open up on Christmas morning.

Camden practically flipped out when he woke up! He ran out of his room and looked over the banister to see all the presents under the tree and said, "Santa came! Geez oh man!" then ran into Grayson's room to tell him that Santa came. It was so cute and made my heart swell! Playing Santa is SO MUCH FUN...

Camden's favorite toys this year was the Tonka garbage truck he got (the first thing he asked for so no surprise here), a basketball hoop, and Magic Tracks. Grayson has been loving a few of the new Little People Sets and the stuffed animal pig from Moana. 

Grayson has 3 teeth coming in that have been really bothering him, so sweet boy has been really attached to my hip and his paci. Poor thing was napping by 11am Christmas day...


It even snowed on Christmas Eve so we had a white Christmas! We took the boys out in the snow to play and I couldn't stop taking pictures of it. It was so beautiful..


Another thing I really enjoyed doing with the boys was baking cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. After I went to bed I wrote a letter "from Santa" to the boys and had it sitting out with the plate and empty milk jug in the morning, and they absolutely LOVED it. Cam was totally shocked and so happy that Santa wrote him a letter! :)

 {these are the looks of two boys shocked and nervous combined..}

As you could probably guess, we are still working so hard on projects around the house + unpacking. It is fun, but exhausting and never ending at the same time. Camden's birthday party is at our house in just over 2 weeks so we are trying our best to get as much as we can put together before then. I hope to have a big update // share more pictures soon. I've also been sharing some things I've bought and projects we're working on over on my snapchat and instagram. 

I hope you all have a great NYE!!

12.19.2017

OUR HOME: THE ENTRYWAY


Happy Tuesday! This is my first official post writing from our NEW HOUSE! We got all moved over and semi-settled in this weekend (semi because not really...the basement looks like a tornado hit it with all the boxes we have to unpack/sort through), but we are so happy to be able to spend Christmas here and are really enjoying the new space. The boys have their own playroom upstairs so they are really excited about that, and overall they seem to be doing well with the transition. Both of our families helped us with so much this weekend from unpacking, bringing food over, to watching the boys so that we could get stuff done. We couldn't have done it without them.

I will be sharing all the rooms one by one as I get them decorated and furnished, but since we're only on day 2 of living here basically nothing is put together...except our entryway! The entry really sold me on this house because of how wide and inviting it is. It gets a lot of light and I love how long the hallway is...



Our carpenter did all the wainscoting you see here (and more in our dining room) and I painted the interior of the front door black (Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams.) The gray paint on the walls is Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams, which I'm convinced is the best gray paint out there. It is such a good warm gray and is not too light and not too dark.

This table is exactly the look I was wanting for this space and has two drawers. Love that it has that lower shelf. I plan to add some bronze hardware on the drawers to spice it up a bit. And I'm sure I will be switching up what I have styled on that table all the time (the eucalyptus smells so good!), but I'm really happy with how it looks so far!

SOURCES:

Foyer Table // Mirror is sold out now from Kohl's, I got it for $55! Such a good find and great quality! Here is a similar one that I love // Wood Nesting Houses // Wreath // Glass Lamp // Bronze Metal Lantern // Candle // Wicker Basket , old from Target-similar one here) // Rug, sold out // Metal Vase // Birch Wood Logs are from Kroger




12.13.2017

CURRENT WISHLIST

Happy hump day! It's a happy day for us for a few reasons: 1. The carpenter who we hired finished the work on our fireplace last night (I'm seriously so excited to show you guys what he did!) and the painters finish painting it today so they are pretty much ALL DONE! 2. Billy's brother and our good friend moved almost all of our entire house yesterday (the big things) for us! Do we owe them or what?! We are so thankful! We have movers coming on Friday for just our beds, a couch, and a few other smaller things. Our house is pretty much empty right now.

Anyway, since it's Christmas coming up and we bought our new house I've been seriously cutting back on shopping for myself, but that doesn't mean I don't have a wish list going with all these pretties on it...

 Dolman Sleeve Sweater (also comes in black)




I'm also debating between the Ninja Coffee Bar or a Nespresso? If you have one (or both) I would love for you to give me your input on them!

What is on your wishlist?!

12.11.2017

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES + A HOUSE UPDATE!

Hi friends, long time no chat! I miss you all...I feel like I'm out of the blogging loop! I have so many random updates to share today since it's been a bit since I've given an update. We closed on our new house last week (yay!) and got possession of it right away, so we have been slowly moving things over each day. Our first official night in the new house will be this Friday (!!!), if all goes according to plans. The painters are almost finished at this point, so once they do I will do a whole post sharing before and after pictures with the paint colors we used! I was going to do just a post with before pictures, but I figured since it's almost all done I might as well wait to do just one post with the befores & afters.

But for now...here is a picture of the entry way hallway and our backyard! It's amazing what a little paint + wainscoting can do! We still have to switch out the hardware on the doors (to bronze) and paint the front interior door black, but it is coming along and we are loving it so much...

Can't wait to show you the console table I got for this space (and to style it!)

Already looking forward to watching the sunrise + sunset from this room!

In the midst of the packing madness, we are still trying to take the kids to fun Christmas events (like Breakfast with Santa and to the Christmas lights at the Columbus Zoo-pics below!) to try to keep things as normal as we can for them, so every minute of everyday has been filled. The holiday season is busy as it is for everyone, but add in moving and I know that I wouldn't be functioning without many cups of coffee and then I'm ready for bed at 8pm. Make that 7pm.

 Cam followed Santa around the restaurant (three times) before meeting him, so we thought for sure he would be all smiles when meeting him but he was strictly business! Garage truck, please! And he threw in a Merry Christmas too ;) All Grayson cared about was that no one stole that sucker that was in his hand. 

(Seeing the reindeer and riding the carousel were their favorite parts this year!)

AND a bunch of other random updates...

+I took these pictures in our yard last week and I seriously started tearing up! All of the memories in this yard...big sigh. I know I will be thankful to have these when we're older.


+Kona got her last round of puppy shots last week! She is 14 pounds now and the boys are still crazy about her. Girlfriends loves to chew (their books especially) so if anyone has any great bones for puppies that you would recommend, pass them along (we did try the bitter apple spray which seems to help a little bit!)


+I'm also working on planning Camden's THIRD!! birthday party, which will be a construction theme. When I asked him what he wanted for his party, he said backhoe! bulldozers! Not surprised by this in the least... :)


+I got hooked on the TV series Shameless on Netflix. This doesn't help things you have a shit ton of packing to get done.

Phew. Only one more week of pure crazy with the move and then I'll have some fun house posts (and others) coming your way! Thanks for sticking with me you guys and still reading. Hope you all had a great weekend!

12.04.2017

HOLIDAY CARDS 2017

(back)
 
It never fails that it always takes me forever to pick out a design for our holiday card every year. I don't know why because in reality it's just a card, but ordering them always has me reflecting on the year and makes me realize how much we (and the boys) have grown. It makes me so happy! This year I ordered our cards from Minted and really really love how they turned out. They are probably my favorite design (that wreath!) and I loved the option to add text on the back so that we could share our moving news with friends and family!

I've ordered from Minted in the past for the boys' birth announcements and have always been pleased with the quality then, too. If you haven't ordered your cards yet, you can browse all the designs they offer here. There's still time (and you'll love having them to look back on!) 

Do you order holiday cards to send out to family? I just want the boys to stay little forever so I always have an excuse to plaster their face on them for many years to come. ha. 

(PS this is not sponsored in any way - just wanted to share because I think they have the cutest cards)

11.30.2017

GIFT GUIDE: FOR THE HOSTESS, GIRLFRIEND, OR BEAUTY LOVER!

Happy Thursday!

Thank you guys soo much for all your comments and messages about our new house! It's hard to believe we move in less than two weeks. Today we head to our new house to meet with the painter, so I might try to post some pics or a video on snapchat and instastories when I'm there!

This gift guide is my fav. It's those gifts that work for anyone and everyone AND don't break the bank! I think any friend or family members would love any of these gifts! My favorite curling iron, dry texture spray and budget sunglasses are included in the round up...

womens gifts, womens fashion, home decor, shopping
T3 Convertible Curling Iron (you can't get better than this iron!)
Oribe Classics Set (this is a great deal and all their best products are included-I love the texture spray and these sizes are perfect for traveling!)
BaubleBar Aimee Choker (I have this exact one and get compliments each time I wear it)
 Marble Tray
Rosefield Tribeca Leather Watch (you can't go wrong with leather-so classic)
 Chanel Healthy Glow Eyeshadow Palette
Quay Australia 60mm Aviator Sunglasses (love love)
Monogram Herringbone Throw
 Butter Slipper Socks (these are the best socks-3 for $19 or 1 for $8!)
T3 Compact & LUXE Lavendar Styling Set
 Stemless Copper Wine Glasses (so pretty!)
Voluspa Pedestal Candle Set
Copper Monogram Bottle Stopper
Round Wood Cutting Board

 ๐Ÿ˜ I'll take one of each!

11.28.2017

We Are Moving!


It's true! I'm so happy to finally be able to get that out - feels so good! ๐Ÿ™Œ Blogging is hard when you have to hold in fun secrets!

So we went in contract on our new home the first weekend in November and then put our house on the market the weekend before Thanksgiving. It has been a hectic past few weeks (mainly just trying to get our house de-cluttered to put on the market) but it has gone really fast + smooth for the most part, especially for being around the holidays and having 2 kids at home with me that don't want to help pack. ๐Ÿ˜‰ We received a really amazing offer on our current house the first day it was listed that we couldn't resist, which is obviously a huge huge huge blessing! They offered to take our house as-is so we haven't had to do any repairs and what not. So thankful for that! We get possession of our new house next week, but won't actually be moving out of our house until mid December. We will still have our current house until Dec. 27th, which is nice because we can slowly take things over and not be super rushed around Christmas! We do plan to be fully in our new house for Christmas and we’re really excited about that!

Our new house is about 20-25 minutes away from where we live now. It's in a great city that we absolutely love and the school district that we wanted for the boys. The neighborhood has a ton of young kids too! It's also only about 10 miles from Billy's work (his drive now takes him about 45 mins each way) and from my parents house, which will be so nice. We had been house hunting for awhile and looked at so many homes that never ending up being "the one", but when we pulled out of the driveway after seeing our new house for the first time, Camden said "Mommy, I like that house!" He had never said that about any of the other homes that we saw, so it totally pulled at my heart strings and will always be something I remember.

I can't tell you all how excited I am to do a full home tour, and share all the projects/ideas we have up our sleeves. It has a very open layout with high ceilings (and a 2 story great room that I soo badly wanted!) Our house now is much more closed off with a small entryway and the stairs in the front, so it being really open with lots of light was a must for me! We love that it has a first floor master bedroom, and a screened in porch. It has a bonus room upstairs that I plan to make a playroom for the boys. We have painters coming the first few days and also will be having some trim/wainscoting done right away, but I plan to post some before and afters for sure.

I am already super emotional about leaving this house + all the memories we have had here. When we sold it, I immediately started tearing up and was flooded with all the fun times we've had in this house. We've lived in this house since we've been engaged and brought both boys (and Rocky and Kona) home here! We are also really sad to be leaving our neighbors. We have become really good friends with the neighbors right next door to us over the years and our boys play together with their two boys all the time. Camden watches them get on the bus daily and is always asking to play with them. They are the kind of neighbors that have stayed over at our house with Cam when Grayson had to go to the hospital...they bring over drinks after long days...we have family dinners together...they treat our kids like their kids. Ugh, we are just going to miss them so much! Pass the tissues. Anyways, this house and neighborhood will always hold a special place in our hearts.

PS: If you have any moving//packing tips, send them my way! I'm all ears! And if you're local and looking for a good realtor-I can't recommend Jennifer Williams enough. I could talk about how great she is for hours...seriously. She truly went above and beyond in every aspect. I actually plan to continue bugging her even after we move because she is just that awesome and has really great home decor taste (her and her husband flip houses on the side!) 

11.22.2017

Early Black Friday Sales Picks!

Six of my favorite retailers have started their Black Friday sales early and you can shop them right now! And they are GOOD! Here are the current sales they are having + then I rounded up my favorite picks from each one! You can easily shop these items by just clicking the picture!

JCREW: 40% off everything & free shipping with the code THANKU!






SHOPBOP: Get 20% off orders of $200+ with code MORE17.




FRANCESCA'S: BOGO 50% OFF - All clothing, jewelry, accessories, shoes.




URBAN OUTFITTERS:
Also BOGO 50% OFF EVERYTHING! Starting TODAY!





T3 MICRO: 25% off the best hair styling tools with code FRIDAY17! (I've talked about how much I love them so many times-totally worth it!)



TORY BURCH is also offering 30% off $250, including sale items, with the code THANKS.

Get your shop on! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

11.21.2017

LIFE LATELY // CURRENTLY



WONDERING: Does anyone wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas anymore? I feel like this year I've seen so many people put up their tree so early (which I'm not hating on-I've had the itch to put ours upthis whole week!), but our tradition the past few years has been to put it up the day after Thanksgiving. I just bought a new 9 ft. tree (last night actually) and can't wait to see the boys' faces! We’ve never had one bigger than 7.5! Camden has been begging for an inflatable for our front yard sooo I think he may give in and get one (just a small one ha) soon! 

ADDING TO MY WISH LIST: My favorite lip balm has this awesome gift set - they are the best! 




+and just about the cutest shawl collar cardi ever ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜


LOVING: +This video of Camden trying to talk to Santa on the phone (at Target) SERIOUSLY MADE ME SMILE SO BIG! He was so happy...

+Our fall family pictures we just got back! 


+This picture of Camden playing in the leaves


+All the cyber week sales (I will have a guide with all the BEST sales posted tomorrow!) 

WORKING ON: Getting our Christmas cards ordered! This is next on my to-do list this week...

LOOKING FORWARD TO: To no surprise, spending Thanksgiving with our family. There will be 60 of my family members that I don't get to see often at my aunt and uncles house. I'm also REALLY excited because for the first year in a very long time we won't be traveling to Cleveland for Christmas, but instead having our families over to our house the day after! We have yet to wake up on Christmas morning at our own house and spend it just as a family ever since we had kids, so I'm really excited. But I'm also really excited for our families to come to us...it is so hard traveling for the holidays with kids!