project dreaming.

For now, this post has been brought to you by bed rest, which allows me plenty of time to dream big dreams, but not ability to execute. My brain is in full on brainstorm mode and I'm itching to "get back to work." 2 weeks down, 1 week and a few days to go. Third trimester nesting is being put to the test. 

I have low expectations in terms of what I am actually going to be able to accomplish once I am off bed rest and what I am able to do really depends on when baby sister decides she's really ready to come. Let's just say it wouldn't be my dream for my water to break in a thrift store. 

So in the spirit of hopefulness, here is my list of things I hope to accomplish before baby comes:

-Recover blue thrift store chair. 

-Relocate our TV to the basement and finally say goodbye to the broken TV stand. 

-Find and paint a thrifted dresser for Audrey's big girl room. 

Once the TV is moved I can also start working on the ugly space that it leaves behind, but I am excited because it has great potential. To make this project more fun, I am making a goal of not spending more than $100. Here's to hoping I can pull that one off. Since I have to buy a sideboard and refinish it this could be a challenge.

Forgive the iPhone quality pics, bedrest keeps me pretty limited these days and I think you get the idea, it needs help. Thank heavens for Pinterest and if you follow me on there you may have noticed these pretties that I've pinned for inspiration for this space: 

(source: pinterest)

 (source: pinterest)

(source: pinterest)

(source: pinterest)

And one last thing I am so excited about, is after long last a new blog design is coming and I can't wait til its finished. I'm not a designer and blogger templates aren't my fav, so it was time to start thinking about a change and find something thats cleaner and simpler and truly more my style. Here's to hoping its up and ready soon!

a baby girl update.

This week wasn't one you can really plan for. Anticipation of Valentine's and a low key night at home we what we hoped for in terms of celebrating that holiday and the daily routines of our week were expected to roll along. On Monday night (while Seth was out) I started having some strong and consistent contractions that continued into the evening. Thinking I had overdone it, I woke up on Tuesday morning, with more of the same. After a few calls to the midwives office and finally getting an answer, they sent me to L&D to make sure everything was ok and to try and get the contractions under control. Drinking water and staying off my feet didn't seem to be enough.

Becca was seriously the hero of Tuesday. Picking me up, taking care of A and Behr that morning (I feel like I made her an overnight mother of two), and waiting in the waiting room for the results. The good news is everything is good with baby sister, there are no signs of infection,  and it seems my body just doesn't like the end of the third trimester.

Two bags of fluids, one shot of terbeutaline, and 8 hours later we were finally home. And it felt so good. Just to be in my own bed, to not have to stay in a hospital, and to have our family together. Albeit, our life has been significantly modified. I was optimistic when they got the contractions to stop I would be free as a bird to go on my way, but I've spent the last week on total bed rest and will be into the next few weeks.

It's been a change to our somewhat "busy" life. I feel like someone literally just hit the brakes, but I'm sitting in the car wanting it to move. Quiet, simple, and slow are not words I would use to describe our life, but for the good of this little one, I'll take it. A has been so well cared for and we have received help from many sides. She has spent many mornings with Becca, "Dre Dre", Behr and "Titi." And I am so glad she has come to love their house as a home away from home and Mommy. Seth's Aunt Cindy and cousins came Friday and she saved the day changing the sheets on my bed, getting us caught up on laundry, running errands and watching A. We have been very blessed.

Seth and A have been my heroes. Doing laundry, changing diapers, dishes, trash, vacuuming, feeding, and the list could go on. I don't know what I would do without him. A has had to adjust to a lot in a short amount of time and all things considered, she has been a gem. She survived hospital day with no nap, being shuffled from house to house, and has embraced this time with amazing grace for a 2 year old. She keeps telling me "doctor make Mommy alllllll better." She has been a very bright spot in this time.

Target trip with Titi. She has been asking me to ride in the infant seat every time she sees it, but I kept telling her it was for baby sister. She knew that this trip was special and how can a Titi say no to that?

Waiting room fun with her favorite little buddy, Behr. These two are really the sweetest together and they are both def my favorites. Things like this cheer me up so much. 

Finally getting to come visit Mommy with Daddy. She was very interested in all the wires and wanted to drink all my juice.  

Waiting for Dre Dre in the morning. On this particular morning it was very important to her that she have her backpack loaded with everything a little 2 year old could possibly want.

Here we are at 33w 4 d and we wait, knowing the God who made this sweet girl knows her birthdate and planned it before he laid the foundations of the earth. Truly, we can't wait to meet her and we pray she wants to hang out for a little while longer before she makes her appearance.

Many thanks to all who have prayed for us, texted, emailed, called, brought us meals, and cared for our girl. We cannot thank you enough.

another project & some thoughts on thrifting.

Hello blue chair with lots of potential. 

This was my $5 find at the thrift store this morning (thanks to my favorite stores 50% off sale this week). I can't wait for Seth to pick it up and bring it home for me to start throwing all my fabric swatches over it and brainstorming ideas of which one I want to use to recover it with. These kinds of finds are wonderful little treasures.

While on the topic of thrifting...I have gotten several questions in regards to where I go. If you're interested here's a brief run down of places I have been.

Life for Animals-Gaithersburg (this store hands down has been my favorite. It's small, but their prices are usually the best and I usually find something when I go in. Right now they are running their 50% off sale til Friday so if you haven't been out and want a fun place to start you might find something good.)
Salvation Army-Gaithersburg
Goodwill-Rockville
Montgomery General Hospital Thrift Store
Village Thrift-Laurel
Laurel Thrift Store
Salvation Army-Columbia
Unique Thrift- Falls Church

For our area, there are so many more places you can go and try (I still haven't been to Frederick). Each store is different in terms of what they carry, the prices they sell items for, and their selection. A lot of these stores run sales on given days of their choosing so its hard to plan if you're going to hit it right or not.

The biggest lesson I have learned so far is that thrifting requires a lot of patience and a lot of visits. I have gone home empty handed on more occasions than I can count. But for us we really love doing it because of the adventure and when you do finally find that perfect piece it makes all the hard work worth it. The stock in thrift stores turns over quickly so if you fail one week try again the following week.

Bring a friend with you. It really helps in the decision making process. If we aren't out doing it as a family, Kristen usually comes along with me and Seth ends up getting lots of texts with pictures of the finds I like. Its especially helpful in moments when you have to decide to leave it or buy it. Since the stock does turn over fast (especially items that come in pairs), if I really love something it's not often that I leave it behind. When we found our side tables I knew that we had to leave with them when we saw them.

Shop with a purpose. I have a running list in my mind of things that I am looking for, it helps me stay focused and not get distracted with things I don't really need. I have seen several beautiful desks, bookcases, and headboards but where am I going to put that?

These are just a few tips from an amateur really. There are people who have been doing this a lot longer than I have and know a lot more than I do. If you have any questions that I haven't answered, feel free to ask. It's been a fun journey for us so far.

a bedroom on a budget.

Lord knows if I had a huge budget I would spend it and the process of completing a room like our bedroom would be a lot easier. But I like challenges and having to accomplish the look I want for a fraction of the cost has been a lot of fun. It's been an adventure along the way and I have had to be patient and wait for the item I want for the price I can afford. Not always easy and lets just say there have been several frustrating moments along the way, including calling several different TJ Maxx's in an attempt to find a matching lamp. I failed.


All in all, I am happy with the finished product. It's not completely where I expected to end up, but sometimes those outcomes really are the best.

I blogged last week about our thrift store finds with the side tables and thankfully, I was also found a dresser at Goodwill too. This was an ugly thing, with lots of potential.

The finished product with new hardware and all...

As for the rest of the room, here is a little before and after peek into the finished product:

(the before pictures were taken when we moved into the house almost 4 years ago)

A few of the details: 

Here is the budget breakdown:

Side tables $44
Dresser $45 (new hardware: $5)
Curtains $41 (including blackout from Joanne's with a coupon)
Rug $156*
Shelves from Ikea $36
Lamps(2) $119
Shams $43
Bedskirt $25
Paint $35

Total spent: $544

*I had to explain that price. I did a post on it awhile back. That was about as much as I was willing to spend for an 8x10 rug, but the rug we ended up with was far more than I could have asked for. And really the only reason we got it for such a great price was because of a website fluke. Happy accident. 

Also, having a husband as an artist saved me a huge chunk in terms of figuring out what to put up on the walls and I knew that budget line would be a big $0. 

The transformation was dramatic, but this whole project from start to finish took about 6 months. Add in pregnancy sickness and that really slowed us down. All that to say, it feels very good to be done.  

a new love is found.

Over the Christmas holiday, Seth always takes off for a week and we get to enjoy a little family staycation. This year, by far, was the best one yet. We had so much fun being together as a family and having little adventures planned for each day.

One of the mornings, we set aside for going thrifting as a family (inspired by the massive amounts of stuff we needed to drop off), but it seemed like an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. We've been working on our bedroom and basement and were in search of several different pieces. We had somewhat of a vision and an idea where we were going, but in the thrifting world you can't always plan that what you are looking for will actually be in the store and for the price you want to spend. Thankfully on this occasion we scored big on our first stop at Salvation Army. Two beautiful matching side tables for $44 total (the best part was we hit it on a day they were offering an additional 25% off all furniture).

And thus began the transformation. We started off sanding and then used Behr premium plus primer + paint in one to finish the job with two coats. Amazingly, we were even able to salvage the hardware. 

The finished product came together exactly as we wanted it to:

You might have noticed a little green chair in the "during" pictures above, Audrey had her first thrift store find too and she came home with a $3 old schoolhouse chair. It was in need of a lot of work, but nothing a little sanding and paint can't fix. 

Here is a little thing Seth and I learned in the process, even after being married for 5 years, we are still learning new things about each other. We both are pretty different in our interests, but I think we finally found something that we truly love doing together. And the timing couldn't have been more perfect in light of where we are in making progress on some huge projects in our house. It was as if all the right events finally came together and a light came on, I almost felt a little bit like John + Sherry from Young House Love, minus half of their skills, but we're learning. 

I'm working on all the final details of our bedroom, but thanks to a lot of hard work that room is so close to being done. I can't wait to share. 

This post has been brought to you courtesy of 3rd trimester nesting. 

5 years.

On Saturday, we celebrated 5 years of marriage. And its been a wonderful 5. I can't wait til 10, 15, and beyond. 

In 5 years we've bought a house and a new car (and almost 2 now), a 2 year old in tow, and another baby girl on the way. So many more milestones have been reached and as I think about 5 years, I can't help but feel we've just begun. 

Seth, I love you more than words can even say. You are the best man for me and I'm so glad you asked me to be yours. There isn't a day that passes that I don't thank God that he gave you to me. We've come a long way.