Hello 30, I Have Been Expecting You

Tomorrow I turn the big 3-0 and that is just fine by me. I started this decade of my life as a junior in college and I end it in such a different place it is crazy to think about. Looking back: There was the last year of college and graduation which seems like a lifetime ago. Somewhere in there I called a lot of places home: Oxford, MS, New York, Destin, Vail and Memphis before landing here in the 'Ham for the last 5 years. I was lucky enough to start dating Patrick at 22 and we made it through a lot (very long distances at times) but we have had so much fun together through it all. There was a lot of travel, most to see friends around the country, some more exotic-Africa, Chile a few times including Patagonia and Peru. After moving to Birmingham and working for the best mentor, life brought me my next big adventure- starting my own company. Who would have thought something could be so hard and yet insanely rewarding at the same time. I don't think the past decade could have possibly been more fun or exciting. It has been a wild 10 years and one of the best parts has been the friends I have made along the way. (I had plans to post a series of pictures throughout the years but that would involve more scanning than this girl has time for at the moment)

But as my ole pal Tom Petty says, "It is time to move on, time to get going, what lies ahead I have no way of knowing". My 20's have ended with a very settled and happy exsistence and I look forward to continuing that into my 30's. I love our little house, our quaint neighborhood and our easy going ways and routines. I can't believe how far the business has come and I can't wait to see where it goes. I spent the majority of my 20's with Patrick and I can't wait to spend next decade (plus) with him. And last but not least I can't wait for the changes that are awaiting us come the end of August....

So come on 30, I have been ready for you for a while now. Thank you 20's, you leave me feeling so blessed and very grateful.

Deep Clean Fridays at Our House

Every other Friday at my house is known as Deep Clean Friday.  I actually look forward to this day because I have the day off so I'm not scrambling to clean when I have a bunch of other things to do.  After Daddy goes to work, James and I usually lounge around and eat breakfast, I drink my coffee, we play or go to the park, and when he goes down for his 10:30 nap, I start my cleaning.  In full disclosure, I have help.  James' babysitter comes for a few hours and we clean together, chatting away and taking turns watching James and playing with him while he "helps".  She has become a good friend of mine and it makes the process go so much quicker with her help.  Also, I usually make us a Starbuck's run in the afternoon- she's a Venti caramel frappaccino, I'm a tall iced mocha:)  Is it more fun to clean while drinking Starbucks? I think so!

Floors- every room gets swept and mopped or vacuumed, including the stairs.

Bathrooms- sinks, counters, shower, toilets, and mirrors are cleaned.  Bath mats are laundered.

Bedrooms- the sheets are laundered, all surface areas are dusted.

James's Room- crib sheet and changing pad are changed.  Toys are put away.

Offices- dusted.  

Kitchen- sinks, counters, stove top, and microwave are cleaned.  The cabinets are wiped down.  Miscellaneous piles of stuff that accumulate on the counters during the week are taken to where they belong.  The highchair gets sprayed down outside and the splat mat is washed.

Dining Room/Breakfast Room- tables are dusted.

Living Room- end tables and media cabinet are wiped clean, the sofa is vacuumed and all the toys/pacifiers are fished out from under the sofa.

Mudroom- The bench seat is cleared of clutter, and the mirror is wiped clean.

Laundry- During the week, I usually do a load or two (typically of James' clothes and dirty bibs/washcloths) but the big laundry day is Friday.  

Replenish- I restock the diapers, wipes, toiletries, and soap dispensers.   

Once a Month Chores - wipe down the baseboards, blinds, windows, dust ceiling fans, vents, wipe the insides of drawers and cabinets.  

I have my routine down pretty well, and always start by opening all the blinds and letting the sunshine in.  Then I change the sheets on our bed, James' crib, and the changing table.  I sort all the laundry by color, James' clothes, towels, and sheets.  I continue the laundry process while getting started on the other rooms in the house and am usually putting the last load of clean laundry away around 4:00 p.m.

I love to add a small votive of fresh flowers to the nightstand after the room is all clean and fresh sheets are on the bed.  

Counters, sinks, shower and tub are wiped clean.

Fresh towels are put out.

The living room sofa and rug gets vacuumed and the sofa cushions and pillows get a good fluffing.  Also, the living room throw blankets get laundered.  We have the Dyson "Animal" and it's a great vacuum. 

The hardwood floors are the last thing to be cleaned.  The rugs are shaken out and I sweep the floors with a wide broom, then spray with floor cleaner and use a soft cloth mop that I got from Bed, Bath, & Beyond- the one James is holding below (I told you he likes to help! and p.s. that star rug is for Jimmy's office).   I've been considering getting the Eureka Steam cleaner I saw on JustAGirl, but I need to research whether its good for bamboo floors.  Our floors get so dirty so quickly, but are really pretty when they're clean.

It feels so good to have a clean house to kick off the weekend!  And I hope you have a great weekend!

Saturday I'll announce the winner of A Blissful Nest GIVEAWAY!

Amanda Carol Interiors

When I come across really amazing spaces, I love to share them with you.  Especially when they are created or designed by people I know and like!  Amanda of Amanda Carol Interiors is one of those women!  She is so super sweet and genuine and I had the pleasure of meeting her face-to-face at our blogger meet-up in May. I asked Amanda to share one of my favorite client projects she's done- an office makeover.  I just love it!

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I am so excited to be here today!  Megan’s blog had me at “Closet”.  I mean seriously have you ever seen such an amazing space?!

Megan asked that I share one of my recent client projects.  My client is a professional photographer and has her office in her home.  It happens to be the first room you see when you walk through the front door.  She wanted a space that reflected her style, complemented the rest of her home, and was a place where she could bring her clients in for consultations.  

Here is the space before:

Hardwoods replaced the carpet and the walls were painted Restoration Hardware Silver Sage.  We kept her glass top desk and had her Ikea chairs reupholstered to save on cost.  The round table purchased from Overstock is used for when her clients come in for consultations.  The antique round back chairs are from Restoration Hardware.  The printer and other hardware is concealed in the small accent chest from Ballard Designs.  We used the gray weathered console table to display photos and the clients antique camera collection. The antique window and distressed panels above the console were from local antique markets.  This office is now both a place of beauty and functionality.  My client claims its now her favorite room in the house.  Which is one of the many reasons why I love what I do!!

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Of course I can see why it's one of her favorite rooms- it's gorgeous! I love all the elements and how they all work together.  So pretty!

Love The One You're With- Velvet & Linen

If you have ever read Brooke Giannetti's blog Velvet & Linen, then you know it would be easy to love her whole house! I could spend hours on this blog. I am currently trying to figure out a way to make her weekend home below my permanent home!I'm so excited to be participating in Marianne's series "Love The One You're With"! Our kitchen in our weekend home in Oxnard is a great example of how we turned a room that we really didn't like into a room we love without completely pulling it apart.

This is what our kitchen looked like the first time we saw it (that's our realtor in the kitchen). Although I loved the fact that the kitchen was open to the main living space, I wasn't a big fan of the dark brown cabinets and counter tops.

Here is our kitchen after. We replaced a couple of the upper cabinet faces with inexpensive doors with chicken wire. We also added inexpensive Restoration Hardware knobs to give the cabinets a little more detail. The most dramatic change occurred when we painted the entire kitchen Farrow and Ball "Hardwick White".

In the second stage, we removed the stainless steel hood over the stove (I kept hitting my head on it!). A decorative grill now covers the vent and still does a great job in keeping my kitchen smoke free.

I usually like to use pendant lights over my kitchen island, but the ceilings were too low. Instead, we used table lamps on the island. We drilled holes through the counter for the wires and connected them to a switch on the side of the island.
Now that we have made these changes, I'm definitely loving the one I'm with :)

Thank you Marianne for letting me share my kitchen with all of your readers!

xo,

Brooke

Thank you Brooke, job well done as always! I love how you made the lamps work on the island!

New Sunglasses

My trusty old sunglasses bit the dust over the weekend.  I was running in the park with James in the stroller and it was so hot that my sweaty face couldn't keep the glasses on my nose!  I put my glasses into the storage compartment on the jogging stroller- with my keys!- and my already scratched glasses are no longer wearable due to the new large scratch on the lens directly over my left eye.



I definitely need a replacement quickly, but don't want to spend a lot of money!  And I always think sunglasses never look good on me, so I have a terrible time finding a pair I like.



My last pair were Oakley and looked something like this,

I had them over 2 years- pretty good huh??!



I like the classic Ray Ban Aviator, but I'm not sure they'd look this good on me.

Lots of brands make their own version of the aviator, and the Armani Exchange version is $65.

Is there a favorite style/brand of sunglasses you like?  How much do you typically spend on sunglasses? I hate it in the past when I've bought a cheapie $20 pair and they are LOPsided!  I have a gift certificate to Nordstrom, so I may stop in to try some on this week.  I need a replacement with all this bright sun we're getting!