Living Room Upgrade

Blane and I have had this rug in our living room ever since we moved into our house.

We loved the color and how it softened the room with its fluffy presence. Unfortunately, it was also the source of a never-ending stream of dust bunnies that somehow wafted off of it every. single. day. The rug fibers were long and matted and no amount of vacuuming could get that rug clean! It was aggravating to say the least. 

So with baby incoming in less than a couple months, we were on the prowl for a rug replacement. The qualifications were simple: no long, shaggy hairs; a darker color better to hide spills and baby stains; at least an 8x11' size and this all had to be found at a decent price.

From several design blogs that I peruse, I found an online rug source: Rugs USA. Their quality and customer service seemed to be good and I liked that they had customer reviews for a lot of their rugs. I signed up to receive their e-mails and over the course of a few weeks I looked and stalked out a few rugs that caught my eye. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I received an e-mail from Rugs USA announcing a big 80% off sale that weekend only. 

So we dove in and purchased this new guy. (Hi Mom :)

We love it. It fits our space (check), is made of wool so no straggly hairs (check), and it's a charcoal grey color (check). The best part was that it was listed for a whopping $1100 and we got it for under $250-Score!!! That's a bargain for a big 8'x11' rug for those of you unfamiliar with the world of home decor :).

The best part is that our new rug looks fabulous with pink peonies. Did I mention that requirement too? :D 

Happy Tuesday!

Aim

Ready to Pop

Saturday was a super special day. My two besties, J and Meliss (with the help of Mom), threw me a baby shower! We had 26 women crammed into our little house that was decorated to the nines for the occasion. It was fun, touching, hilarious, generous and just a good time with the best women God's given me in my life.

A pretty homemade banner to set the tone for the day. Love the colors!

My sister has become quite the baker since she moved up north. Here are her "looks professional" made-from-scratch cookies that she made for the afternoon. So pretty <3

 Meliss made homemade cupcakes that were topped with these oh-so-chic "it's a boy!" handstamped scalloped circles. I love all the little details :)

The shower's theme was "Ready to pop!"and was reflected in these miniature Martinelli's that were placed at each table alongside little brown bags of popcorn. The prizes for the games were bigger Martinelli's and popcorn wrapped with beautiful navy ribbon with white polka dots. Tres chic ladies!

 The living room was also decorated with tons of letters that each spelled out a possible name that we had picked for the baby. The yellow letters (shown above) were first name guesses while the blue letters were for middle name guesses. At the end of the shower everyone's guess was read and then we revealed the chosen name! (Shout out to Gracie, Ri and Court for all the letter cutting! And to Dawn and M for putting the names together and hanging them all!)

The two hostesses with the mostest running the show. We played two games-one was pictionary/charades having to do with all things Blane/Aimee & Baby. It was hilarious to say the least. The other game was to answer questions based on how either Blane or I had previously answered. There were questions like "Which grandparent would spoil the baby the most" and "What physical characteristic from yourself do you want the baby to get?" It was funny to hear what Blane had said vs. what I had said and what everyone there guessed as well. Well done ladies!

 Then we ate and opened gifts. In lieu of bringing cards, J and M asked everyone to bring a book signed for the baby. I loved it and really enjoyed seeing which books everyone picked out. You can see the results of my Bell's Palsy in this pic above. I had been praying that I'd be able to smile by the shower, but that didn't quite happen. It IS getting better though and I am thankful for that!

Two homemade "cakes" that were part of the gift table. Mom S made the one on the left by sewing cloth diapers together. The "roses" are rolled up baby washcloths. She's so talented! The big "cake" on the right was made by Mads-you wouldn't know by looking at this that her engineer mind isn't known for its creativity! It's filled with enough diapers for two to three months!

 All the ladies crammed into my living/dining room. It was cozy but intimate and fun!

 Towards the end, J and Meliss had both Moms (and future Grandmas!) come up and share a few words. I am so blessed to have both of them along for the journey with Blane and I and I love them both very much.

We concluded with a group prayer and it was neat for me to have Kiku (she's on the left in the dark blue pants and blue patterned collared shirt) pray over me, Blane and the baby. Kiku is a prayer warrior and has literally been praying for me for my entire life. I love her dearly and am so thankful for her faith and prayers influence over me all these years. 

 Laur, Gracie and Kiks enjoying the festivities! :)

 My amazing Mom put together this blue-themed candy and dessert bar. I wish I had a better photo of how amazing the table looked, but this was all I could find :( She had branches coming out of a tall vase that were hung with little blue baby decals and things, and all of this blue candy, gum and other treats that she personally bagged for everyone's favor to take home at the end of the afternoon. It was incredible and all the women really loved it. Thanks Mom!

And to these lovelies~thank you for making this journey all the more sweeter with this incredible outpouring of love and support. Everything was beautiful! I know you put many hours and lots of thought into this shower and I loved every. single. minute. of it. You two rock and I love you both very much!

Not-quite-Ready-to-Pop! ;)

Aim

Nursery 1.5: Final Stretch

I'm so excited to share the almost done pics of the nursery! In truth, it's been this way since last Thursday, but I had to wait until after the events of this past weekend to post because I wanted everyone on Saturday to be able to see it in person first.

Our wonderful handymen-Jesus and Carlos who helped us with our house after we first got it-graciously stopped by after work Thursday evening to install the light in the nursery as well as to put up the rod for the drapery. They are the masters of all things house related and B and I are very thankful for their expertise.

We ordered this pendant light from online retailer Serena & Lily. I had high hopes for it because Serena & Lily are known for their upscale products and my expectations were that their product would be high quality. Unfortunately, I can't say that I would order from or recommend ordering from them again. The lamp is cute (I love the polka dot detail on the inside of the drum), but the hardware is cheap and Carlos actually had to go out to the hardware store twice because there weren't enough parts to make it function as it should. Disappointing.

On the other hand, I am extremely happy with the rug that we ordered from Urban Outfitters. I signed up to receive e-mails from them and they sent me a 10% off code so the rug came in under $70, tax and shipping included. That's a steal for a 5x8 rug that really pulls the room together!

Because we literally just painted the house a few months ago, Blane didn't really want to repaint the baby room and I didn't blame him. So I had to get creative with how we were going to get some color onto our walls. Enter our drapery! We originally bought a rod+drapes at Pottery Barn Kids but I was walking around Target one day and found some other (cheaper!) drapes (and a rod) and they ended up working perfectly so we took the PBK stuff back. I love that the drapes inject much needed color into the room and having them go across the entire wall not only serves to effectively cover all light sources (we have both a door and a window in the room) but it creates the illusion of "paint" on one "wall" of the room. Perfecto!

Everything is coming together and it makes me so happy :D. There's still some finishing touches left-a side table for the glider, another lamp, bedding and some wall decor but all the major things are done. Yay! 

12 weeks and counting...

Aim

Nursery 1.4

Big news in nursery-land today guys. Our replacement dresser was delivered and switched out yesterday and the new and improved dresser is better than what we had hoped for.

Let's recall the first dresser...the Camp Dresser by Pottery Barn Kids.

 Pros: loved the color, tons of storage and built to last.

Cons: Way too tall for it to be a changing table

Enter new and improved dresser...the Camp Extra-Wide Dresser also by Pottery Barn Kids.

Pros: Still the same great color, even more storage, built to last AND it's about 10 inches shorter in height than its counterpart making it the perfect changing table base. Score!

On top of all this goodness comes something else I've gotta say-Pottery Barn Kids has THE BEST customer service out there. No kidding. And I've had to deal with a lot of companies in the past year or so what with wedding planning and all. (Don't even get me started on the "kill me now" service that Macy's provides. I don't think they should even call what they do "customer service" since everytime I've dealt with them has been horrendous and akin to a full blown hernia. Sorry, enough about them haha) Anyways, PBK not only switched out our dressers FOR FREE (and the new one cost $150 more and they didn't even charge us for that!) but I noticed yesterday that the dresser had gone on sale online so I called today and they're sending me a credit for the difference...a couple hundred dollars credit!!! No questions asked, just nice and friendly and efficient like they always are. 

Moral of the story is-although they may be a little bit pricier at first glance, IT IS WORTH IT. Not only do you get a superior product (solid wood and detailing that will last for years and years) but you also get superior service (awesome and efficient delivery with no mess clean up, great furniture customer service reps). That, my friends, is well worth the buck.

So thanks, PBK, for an excellent experience!

From one happy Mama-to-be,

Aim

Nursery 1.2

An exciting addition to the nursery arrived this week! I was on the hunt for a dark blue dresser after seeing an inspiration board on one of the baby websites awhile back. Then, my in-laws graciously offered to buy us one and the hunt began.

My criteria for the nursery dresser was that it not be specifically a changing table, that it have the capability to grow with our son, and finally that it be well made so that it would last for a long time. I'm envisioning him using this dresser well into his adult years. Hey, a girl can hope right?!?

This is the Camp Dresser from Pottery Barn Kids. It is sturdy, extremely well made, and I love the color! Since most everything else in our house is neutral (or as my sister says, "blah") I wanted something that would pop a little bit in the baby's room. We saved some money when the PBKids sales lady dismissed the changing pad wood holder and gave us a tip that attaching velcro straps to the underside of our changing pad would affix it firmly to the top of the dresser just fine. Awesome. Thank you sales lady.

We are trying not to go overboard with the baby stuff. I know of people who had one, sometimes two or three of everything for their kids and their homes just become crazy baby messes. So Blane and I decided that we're only making three "bigger purchases." Each of these purchases must be useful past the baby stage, save for the crib which we got for a steal so I was okay with that. Two of our three largest purchases are now officially here and I'm getting excited to finish this room up. Crib-check, Dresser-check...still awaiting the third but I'll keep you posted on that one. :)

25 weeks and counting!

Aim

The Doors.

Last week was a crazy frenzy of 7am wake up calls, our house imbibed with workers and my dear father-in-law, the smell of paint and a fine layer of sawdust, some massive cleaning and reorganizing and what do we have but...

...doors! We now have interior doors everyone, so you can feel free to use the bathroom to your heart's content without feeling like you're an exhibitionist ;)

They have since been painted to match our wonderfully white walls, but that's what they looked like in all their solid goodness glory last week. It took five days to hang and paint four doors (who knew doors were so labor-heavy?!?) but they are beautiful and we love them!

In other "what-went-on-last-week" news, Blane's dad, who served as general contractor (his title in general for anything house related), organized and cleaned our garage as well as our second bedroom aka the future nursery. While some may think I am crazy for letting my FIL lose in my house, I enjoyed his presence and was very thankful for all the hard work he put in to getting this place in order. Thanks Dad!

Last but not least, my new sconce. It's nice to see this beauty on our living room wall now in lieu of the open hole with wiring that was left there before the wedding. 

The house is coming together! Just in time too. 22 weeks and counting!

Aim

FIL+Paint

This is my future FIL and I at the paint store picking out the final glosses and things for our paint purchase. We have officially picked a "white-winner" and the standout favorite is...drumroll please...

DECORATOR'S WHITE!!!

After searching through the gazillions of whites that are out there this one came out on top. It's Benjamin Moore's top white seller and I found it mentioned again and again on blogs and in design magazines. The swatch we painted at the house was the best with our dark wood floors so the decision was made and today my future FIL and I brought home 12 gallons of paint+4 gallons of primer! I am also happy to report that we went with the low-VOC grade paint which has far less toxins than your standard paint. I learned all about that over at my favorite DIY Home blog: Young House Love.

Not that any of you care :) but our walls will be done in an Eggshell finish while our trim (baseboards, crown molding, etc.) will be done in a Satin finish. Who knew there were so many more decisions to make once we'd picked the color?!? Haha. It never ends!

Here's to my fFIL who will be painting the entire interior of our house (can you believe it?). He's painted every house that he's ever lived in by himself so I know that it will be done well. Go get 'em Tiger! ;)

DecoWhite or Bust,

Aim

Mr. Clean to the Rescue!

This guy has been my week's must have. You know we've been moving out of our apartment and you couldn't imagine the layers of dust and grime that accumulates after just one year of living. In short, it's been disgusting. :)

I've heard of the miracles that this eraser has been known to produce so B and I caved and bought a 4-pack at Home Depot the other night, sans coupon! *Gasp.

But you know what? I don't even care because he has been worth all $3.48 that we paid for him. My apartment walls are gleaming white again, marks on the baseboards have been magically erased and today I'm going to take one of these bad boys into the kitchen area of doom with me to see what damage we might conjure up. ;) 

Thank you Magic Eraser for restoring my apartment AND my sanity!

One clean apartment-check!

Aim

Scenes from a Labor Day Weekend

Hi all five of you who read this blog ;)

How was your weekend? Hope it was lovely and full of good friends such as mine was.

B got off early on Friday so we grabbed a bite to eat at the ever-cute Jackson Market. They have really yummy made-to-order sandwiches and the vibe of the place is so cool and laid-back too. A perfect start to a long weekend!

From there we meandered over to a few paint stores before landing at Home Depot. Here's B sawing off a piece of baseboard to take back to the house for comparison and matching purposes. We've learned recently that owning a home comes with many, many, many new experiences such as this one. :)

Saturday was full of celebration as the women of our family "showered" my cousin P with a special time to honor her and the soon-to-be arrival of her baby girl. It will be the first child of the next generation in our family and we are all oh-so-excited! 

The fam on my Mom's beautifully decorated back porch.

Monday was our annual Church Labor Day picnic with softball, frisbee, food and games for the little ones. These two photos make me smile and capture some of the fun of the day!

Directly after the picnic these wonderful people came out to help B and I move all of my stuff and furniture from my apartment over to the new place. We were very grateful for all of their help! 

*And yes, they all worked hard. My cousin and "cousin" were the beast movers of the day (as noted by their bare-chested glory in the first pic) although everyone worked hard to get us all moved out in one afternoon. God always provides!

One laborious Labor Day down :)

Check!

Aim

White Paint

Who knew that there were so many options for plain 'ole white paint? Today B and I have to go and pick out paint for our home and in the truest sense of minimalism, I want white. Thought it would be easy but apparently I was so wrong on that one! After doing some research this morning I came up with no less than 25 different whites that I narrowed down as potentials from over like a bazillion choices.

Some yahoo search results, a few home decorator magazines and one blue list later, we are armed and ready to tackle Home Depot. Wish us luck!

Paint or bust,

Aim