LOVE {All Things White}

White is my favorite color. It's so pure, clean, simple, and pretty. It's no wonder my house is filled with white couches & white flowers, I have a white car, and I love the wintertime. I could be perfectly happy surrounded by white things my whole life. 

How to Have a Lovely Day

I found this on the web somewhere and loved it. Wanted to share.

What's Your Decorating Style?

Head on over to Sproost.com to take a quick quiz to see. I took it, and it sounds just about right! Here are my results:

Your specific style combines three more general styles:

40% Classic
30% French Eclectic
30% Nantucket Style

Classic
What's old is new again! The beauty of Classic Style is how well it takes all of the beautiful forms, colors and textures of the past and reinvents them in a way that feels both fresh and inspired. The style itself is a mix of European influences and French, English and Italian antiques and replicas are often used together. Furniture is well proportioned and comfortable and the rooms give off an air of sophistication and grace. Oil paintings depicting a still life or nature scenes and emphasizing symmetry of pairs helps maintain the Classic nature of the room. Windows are often covered with opulent fabric shades and/or drapery. Classic rooms give off an air of history that seems to say: "I was here long before you, and will remain long after you've gone." And yet, even with this level of sophistication, the rooms are soft and inviting.

French Eclectic

Parlez-vous français? Even if the answer is no, you can confidently say your home does! French Country, like its name, somehow manages to both be formal and casual, classy and unassuming at the same time. You like your spaces to feel inviting from the moment you (or your guest) opens the front door and this feeling should continue even after you've entered your most formal room. Even though there are French antiques here and gold details there, the rustic elements provide a balance and warmth that seems to say, "come in, relax and stay a while." Your love of antiques leads you to flea markets, garage sales and hours of eBay hunting.

Nantucket Style

Oh how you love the beach! Who doesn't, right? And so your dream home is either perched in your favorite beach town, or you've brought that favorite beach town into your house. (I think I lean towards this style mostly because I love using seagrass rugs, lanterns, slipcovers, and light furniture)

All photos courtesy of www.Sproost.com

Chic Hostess Gifts

With all the sweet ladies that have offered to host a baby shower for me, my mind has been racing to come up with the perfect hostess gifts. I won't reveal what I have chosen to give (since many of them read this blog) but here are some other great ideas if you are in need of the perfect hostess gift for under $50.

P.S. If you can't tell, I love personalized gifts best. They just seem more special.

1. Clairebella Personalized Cutting Boards, $41

So stylish, these would make chopping onions fun. They come in all different colors and patterns and I'm lusting after all of them.

2. Pottery Barn Matine Toile Cosmetic Bags, Set of 2, $36

You can personalize them for an extra $6.50. They come in 3 different colors, but I especially love the dark porcelain blue pictured here. I think it evokes softness and femininity. One word: Pretty. Add in a bottle of bubble bath and you've got yourself the perfect hostess gift.

3. Oval Monogram Linen Hand Towels, Set of 2, $18

These are on sale right now, down from $36, so it's a great time to buy and stock up for future gifts! I think you can't go wrong with an elegant hand towel to place in a guest bath. I can't get enough of them. If you want to add a little something extra to the gift, throw in some beautiful hand soap.

4. Round Flourished Personalized Stationary, 15 at $35

Minted has so many beautiful options for personalized stationary, but this is my favorite for it's vintage yet modern feel. It seems stationary is something that we never buy ourselves, but it's so nice to receive it.

5. Anthropologie Monogram Candle, $26

Another goodie that is more fun to receive than to buy for yourself. I love to enjoy a scented candle while I soak in the tub or read a good book. This one has scents of Italian bergamot, lemon zest, pink peppercorn and cedar leafadorable. And it's adorable.

So, what are your favorite gifts to give and receive?

No Gestational Diabetes Here!

That's right--I got the great news today that I passed my gestational diabetes screening test! When she told me that, my first thought was, "Are you sure you are looking at my results?" I was so sure that I was going to have it, for these two reasons:

1. First off, because I was a 10-pounder at birth (10 lbs., 1 oz.), my doctor has always kinda thought that maybe my mom had it and just didn't know about it. With a family history of big babies (My great-grandfather weighed 12 pounds AT BIRTH!!), I thought maybe I had a family history of gestational diabetes too.
2. I have been feening for sugar non-stop since day one of pregnancy.

But it looks as if I am in the clear. What can I say--We just have big babies in this family! I am so relieved. And I celebrated with a big 'ole slice of carrot cake at lunch today. Mmm!

Just 10 more weeks until Baby Preston arrives! I can hardly wait!

I'm an Aunt!

My sweet little nephew, Holt Cannon Kummer, was born Tuesday night around 7:55 pm. He weighed 8 pounds and was 20 1/2 inches long, and he is just as precious as can be. I can't wait to meet him this weekend!

Congratulations Shea and Kyle!

Nursery Progress {Part 4}

Preston's dresser has arrived and is all ready to be filled with his things! I am so happy with the way it turned out.

The dresser was purchased from Altar'd. Mandie is an amazingly talented woman who lives in League City and sells and refinishes furniture. Check out her website above for other before/after images of projects she has done. Also, this is her blog.

Here are the "before and after" images of the dresser that I purchased from her.

BEFORE:

Before: Just a Bassett French Dresser

AFTER:

After: She painted and glazed it white

The dresser drawers are lined and ready to go. Here is a view of the inside of the drawers, which I lined with a fun wrapping paper from Paper Source. I used this tutorial on Young House Love's blog. If you've never visited their blog before, it is filled with all kinds of DIY, crafty ideas. I am not so much a "do-it-yourselfer" but occasionally I get the urge and their blog is really inspiring.

Mandie also painted and glazed two other things for me. This mirror (which was my grandmother's and originally a gaudy gold color) and this end table (which was dark brown to begin with).

I found Mandie's prices to be incredibly reasonable, and I am so glad I found her. She also holds workshops on how to refinish furniture yourself. Maybe one of these days I'll take it!

Next up: Waiting on the crib, bedding, and glider to come in!

Oh, one more thing...Did I mention I am waiting on my sweet nephew Holt to arrive today? Shea is in the hospital right now and I am anxiously awaiting the call! We'll be going up to Dallas this weekend to meet him, and I simply can't wait. I think being an Aunt is going to be so much fun!

What I look like this week

A lot of you have been asking me to post a preggo picture, so here it is.

28 weeks pregnant (starting my 3rd trimester)

Nursery Progress {Part 3}

The nursery is really coming along and we made a lot of progress this week!

First we installed new closet doors. The new ones are 6 panel which look a lot nicer than the old slab doors that were there before.

Then, Brett and I went to Lowe's to search for the perfect closet solution for Preston's closet. We currently only had one long rack for hanging clothes, but what we wanted was double racks, along with some shelves for blankets and baskets for pajamas, socks, etc. We also needed a place to put his cute little shoes. Basically, we envisioned an organized closet where everything will have a space. Here is what we came up with, and we are very excited about the results!

Brett showing off his masterpiece. He installed it all on his own--I'm so lucky to have such a handy husband.

There's basically 4 different hanging areas, so I plan to divide his clothes based on the sizes. (0-3 months in one area, 3-6 months in another, so on...)

When we remodeled our master closet 2 years ago, we used the elfa closet system from Container Store. You go in and give them dimensions, and they will plan out your closet based on your needs. However, the elfa can be so expensive, and honestly, this Lowe's closet system is the exact same thing. It's made by rubbermaid and you can plan out your dream closet on their website, print out your shopping list, and head to Lowe's to buy the pieces. After that, it is really easy to install on your own!

Look at Mr. Winston. He likes to watch Brett every step of the way. We wish we could put him to work and teach him to retrieve tools.

I can't wait to fill up the closet with all kinds of cute little seersucker outfits and jon jons! I need to enjoy dressing him like this while I can, before he wants to dress himself and wear transformers and spongebob squarepants t-shirts to school. Yikes!

My Husband's Back!

My husband is home!! For the past 5 weeks Brett has been working overseas in Macedonia on a project for his company, Fluor. I didn't want to blog about it too much (for fear of creepy stalkers knowing I was home alone) but now that he's back I could not be happier! Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Well, I've always been fond of my husband. But since he's been home I've been following him around like a sick puppy dog. I just want to be in the same room as him. Even if he is talking on the phone to someone, I just want to listen to his voice and be near to him. It's easy to take forgranted having a loving spouse, until he's halfway around the world and the only communication you have with him is a terrible computer connection on skype.

I picked him up last night at the airport and security let me leave my car in the pick up line (I know, unheard of!) so I could run inside to the baggage claim area and surprise him. They even let me take Winston inside, even though pets aren't allowed. I guess they felt bad for the pregnant lady who hasn't seen her husband in 5 weeks. Winston and I snuck up behind him and gave him a great big bear hug. We both couldn't stop smiling! It's just so good to have my best friend back! And I'm so proud of Brett.

Nursery Progress {Part 2}

I have slowly but surely been making lots of progress on Preston's nursery. The painter came last weekend and I chose Sherwin William's Silver Strand for the walls and ceiling. It is a really pretty blue-grey, and I just love how it came out. We had crown moulding installed and all the trim is now* painted white.

 *I say now because it was quite the ordeal. While the painter was here, I chose a taupe color for all the trim and doors. Why? I guess I was trying to do something different than the regular white, and I had seen a picture where the trim was taupe and I loved it. Well, as soon as he was done with all the painting and he left, I immediately hated it. It just looked like a dirty white. I knew I was going to have to repaint it white or I would not be happy with it. But I refused to have him come back because I would just have to pay more money to have him repaint it. So, I fixed the problem on my own. Yes, that's right. I climbed on a latter. I painted all the trim and doors by myself while 6 1/2 months pregnant. I wore a mask, and the paint was latex, so I'm not too worried about the fumes I inhaled, but I am just a little. I didn't tell my parents or Brett what I was doing, because I knew they would talk me out of it. I just called them after I was done and said, "Well, I fixed that problem." Yes, Brett was mad at me for not waiting for him to get home so he could fix it, but I couldn't look at the ugliness for one more day. It just made me mad everytime I looked at it. Anyways, now it looks great with the white trim. Note to self: Always just paint trim white. Even if it looks amazing in magazines painted alternate colors, this does not ring true in real life.

This week the electrician came to hang the chandalier. I was like a little kid on Christmas morning--I was so excited to see it hung. I kept peeking in the room to see his progress. I'm sure he was annoyed. But, it looks great and I am so glad I didn't let people (ahem, My dad and Brett) tell me it's too girly. I think it's just beautiful for a sweet baby boy!


Here is a picture of the room now...

The chandalier is from Custom Lighting and Hardware in Houston {on Westheimer near Eldridge}. It's a great source for lighting fixtures and so much more!

Next up... This weekend Papa (my Dad) is installing new closet doors and a closet system. Then, the carpet is getting cleaned next week and finally I will have the perfect canvas as we await the arrival of all the furniture, which should start coming in early August.

Eeeee, I am so excited!

Elegantly Chic Vow Renewal

Tori Spelling does it again. She's so talented at creating elegantly chic parties. I can't stress enough how much I want to be friends with her. Tori, are you reading this?

I can relate to her in so many ways. For example, we both stress over every little detail whether it's party planning or decorating. {Yet we enjoy that stress.}

Her latest creation was her and hubby Dean McDermott's vow renewal ceremony. It aired on the finale of Tori and Dean a few weeks ago, but here are some pictures I wanted to share of the event itself, in case you are in need of some inspiration for an upcoming soiree. I like the idea of centering a party's theme around a color palette, especially this chic one.

Color Palette: Grey + Yellow + White

I absolutely love how Tori always dresses the entire family in coordinating colors for her events. I think it makes for fabulous pictures, and I'll be doing this for the Kummer family for all our events to come.

Left: The invitation. Notice it asks the guests to dress in black, grey, or yellow. I always want to do something like this, but not sure if it demands too much. What are your thoughts?

Right: The cake

I love how she made the outdoor setting feel like an indoor one. If you can afford to rent furniture for your event, go for it. It really cozies up the space. That view=to die for.

All of the yellow/gold details were gorgeous!

The couple had a typewriter set-up beneath black and white family photos where guests could type messages to Tori and Dean. What a cute idea!

The couple wanted to display things that reflected their interests.

Left: For Tori, that was shoes. Right: For Dean, a motorcycle spray painted yellow.

Left: Buckets with the couples names

Right: These say "Toss a Feather, Celebrate Forever." I suppose they were given out to be tossed as they were walking out of the ceremony. I love that-I've never seen feathers used for this. How chic.

The couple renewed their vows inside a small sandbox {painted yellow of course}, which was reminiscent of their original private wedding ceremony on the beach in the sand. How adorable are Liam and Stella?