before and after.

I feel so lucky to have such amazing friends and family who have blessed Thomas and I with so many great things for baby girl! Auntie Lulu snagged this gorgeous armoire for baby and I decided to paint it the same color as the opposite wall. Grey! Love how it came out and it is just striking against the tall ceiling. It's the first thing you see! Now to find some perfect baskets and maybe some fun wallpaper for the inside. Click through to see the after!

friend or foe.

To be honest, I still get creeped out a little having this guy in the house. But there is no way we are getting rid of him. He is like a pet. A very easy to take care of pet. We love him. I don't think baby will know he exists for a period of time, but I believe there will definitely be a time when she will notice, and I don't want to miss that transition, so Master Yoda is going to go in the closet until we have a home with a super awesome entertainment room (I think that's the sort of space he belongs in). Once baby girl is able to open closets – we may have to cover him up. Don't want her scarred for life and scared of things in closets. Gotta make sure we don't ruin Star Wars for her. She's gotta love it first. Yoda might be in the closet for quite a loooong while.

fresh paint.

Grandma Brown and Aunt Heather came over early this morning to paint for me! Just one wall in the baby room. And I think they were both skeptical of the color at first (or lack of color), but of course they went crazy when we finished. Love how much more the items in the room pop. 

new pillow.

Had a gift card from our wedding still in my wallet for Crate & Barrel. Lauren I were just shopping at The Container Store for organizational bits for the studio, and there was a Crate & Barrel next door! So popped in and splurged on a few fun items. Including a super great pillow for baby room. Looks great on the rocking chair! Everything looks great on the chair :D Hung curtains recently too. Will be painting tomorrow. Excited to see what the room looks like afterwards!

hamburger time.

Lauren brought over an epic gift for baby (photos to come later). And Thomas and I had gotten back from the lakehouse with leftover beef, so it was epic burger making time for the three of us. Double-decked, cheese, bacon, sauteed mushrooms and onions, various fixings, and some sides. They were. So delicious. 

the organic butcher.

Stopped at The Organic Butcher in McLean to get some ground beef for burgers at the lakehouse. They were super darned delicious. And this place was awesome! Totally want to go back for some of the fun extras, like the roasted veggie raviolis and spinach gnochi! Yum! 

extras.

Delivered flowers to the lovely wedding of Daniel and Lariah today. There were a few leftover stems, and I got to replace the poppies from the baby shower in the nursery. Love having flowers around. I'm becoming quite obsessed.

progress.

Grandma Bridgwood, Uncle Matt, and Aunt Emy stopped by last night with a special delivery for baby girl. A crib! Feeling so blessed and the room finally feels like a nursery with that special piece of furniture present. Got to chip away at a few things in the room today. Hung some special bits of art from Lauren's mama across the whole wall, and hung curtains finally! I have paint and am excited to get that on the walls at some point. Going to make all the things POP!

found its way.

Thomas came home with a little something something last week. Makes me smile. Baby better prepare herself.

leftover poppies.

Recently decided that poppies are one of my favorite flowers. Lauren was able to get so many poppies from local farms and markets for the shower and she gathered a group of leftovers for me to take home. Happy to have these beauties in the baby room while I'm organizing and prepping for little girl.

everyday it seems.

Loving having flowers in this studio all the time. It's unbelievable really. This is just another photo from the flowers Lauren was putting together for yesterday's wedding. Went so well and was such a blast.

flowers for shower.

After working on bouquets yesterday, Lauren got out a dish to work on a low display for the baby shower tomorrow. Love how soft yet wild it feels. Can't wait to see lots of friendly faces and eat delicious scones and look at gorgeous flowers all day. Sigh.

working.

I usually just sit and watch Lauren work on flowers. It's really fun. Today I got a few more things done, like answering emails and cleaning up, but of course I had to snap a photo. Loving the look of these bouquets for the wedding tomorrow!

redrocks.

Stopped at RedRocks for pizza with Lauren and Priscilla because we were starving. Was a busy day in traffic to and from D.C. for Aby and Kristina's wedding rehearsal. Gorgeous church! And gorgeous day though!

quick veggie chili.

My mom made this recipe the other night from the Cooking Light cookbook, and goodness it was super delicious! The avocado salsa topping was so good. My mom usually doesn't have to make massive amounts of anything containing avocado because my brother's "don't like it." So what made them both decide they wanted to actually try the salsa that particular night? I wish I knew, so I could have stopped it. Now they apparently love it and there will be no seconds for any of us ever again. So I made it tonight for Thomas and I and now I'm sharing! Love that this recipe has all the makings of your basic meatless chili. But has a fun mexican flair with the avocado and tortilla chips! Read below for details and a few photos.

printing.

Working on some special details for baby shower. Including some fun prints of my recent maternity shoot with Jewel! Can't wait to hang these up! Raffle gifts are wrapped, flowers are purchased, furniture has been moved and food has been bought. Baking and designing will begin tomorrow!

bright space.

I don't usually take photos of bathrooms. But this bathroom is one that I'm really excited about. So there you go. Just hung curtains, put a plant on the bench and unpacked some bright white towels in a basket. Feeling to bright and big and fresh. All of this just feels so surreal. Can't wait to have it all done and to be working and gathering here all the time.

four years.

Four years ago today, I got asked to be someone's girlfriend. I'm so very glad I said yes. And kept saying yes. 

the mail.

Receiving packages is one of the most exciting things ever. An old friend friend that I haven't seen since 9th grade asked for my address and sent me a special blanket for baby girl. It was all wrapped in orange tissue paper. Something impressive about that. Love when friends that you haven't seen in so so long remember small things about you. I like her so much.

mallards.

And of course Kid Architect played as well. Such a fun relaxing venue with the smell of the bay and crabs on everyone's plates. Loved hearing the little bits of people's conversations between songs and all the approving nods. So proud of my babe and the boys. They really are so amazing at what they do. (more photos below)

primrose.

Hearing Colleen and Aaron perform at Mallards was well worth the long drive to Eastern Shore. Her family fed the whole group sandwiches and DELICIOUS potato salad before we headed off to the venue. Found myself a chair and sat there most of the night swatting at little bugs and laughing with friends and enjoying good music. (more photos below)

fresh juice.

Went over to mom's today to visit since my day had cleared up. Her recently bought watermelon because the experiment of the day. She juiced it and we enjoyed it and made a few decisions about how to serve it for the baby shower. My goodness it was so refreshing. Yum yum!

favors.

Bought some supplies the other day and along with some bits my mom had already purchased, I put together a bunch of favors for my baby shower next week. I'm so bad. I'm way too involved in my own shower. I'm just having too much fun adding details and such.

perforated.

Had to go out a buy a handle that would house a perforating blade. Excited to have one of these in my possession. I might just go around perforating everything. The final step of these invitations completely! The stack all packed up in a box and prepared for mailing feels so good! They are so different once they are all put together and I can't wait for my lovely friend to get her hands on them and hopefully be just as excited as I was!

saddle stitched.

Saddle stitching. I always liked doing this. When I first learned what it was, I was blown away by how a simple process suddenly made my work look so much better! So chopped up stacks of staples, measured and marked holes into each invitation, and wiggled a staple into the holes and closed them on the inside. Ah! Such a good feeling. (More photos below)

folded.

I usually like to do most everything by myself, and sometimes I choose more difficult paths. Maybe I just like mundane tasks because I feel so accomplished when I've finished a stack of something. But, goodness, I am so happy I had a bone folder for all of these. Definitely streamlined the process. Ee! Each step completed gets me more and more excited!

trimmed.

One hundred invitations doesn't feel like a lot, until they involve multiple pages! Had a lot of trimming to do. I'm so anal about using my knife, ruler, and self-healing mat to cut things out. I even brought them to the printer to test the drafts. I was told I could use their paper cutter, but I don't trust those things.

printed.

After several draft prints and some perfecting, felt so good to see this stack of wedding invitations on my table ready for assembly. Everything seemed to come out perfectly!

another addition.

Actually picked this up yesterday while Lauren and I were all over the place running errands between Manassas, Chantilly, Springfield, and Alexandria. Stopped unexpectedly at a yard sale and spent $40 on this fantastic dresser. So so happy with this piece. Love that it's beveled and has little wheeled legs. Excited to find some time to perhaps exchange the knobs for something with a little more personality.

derby day.

My cousin Elizabeth threw such a fun themed bridal shower for her sister Jessica today. A mint juleps and kentucky derby "how to be a good wife" party in D.C.  Picked up some lilacs and greens for Lizzy and Lauren arranged them in mason jars, and I brought them with me to the party! Arrived early enough to help put together all sorts of fabulous tasty foods that Lizzy had planned and got to see several family faces that I hadn't seen in quite a while. 

See some more photos below!

kinfolk mag.

Susannah found an amazing craigslist deal on a seriously amazing couch that we picked up with her hubs and a truck to take it to Alexandria this morning. Mail was waiting for us just inside the door. Excited to finally have a place to get these delivered to. And can't wait to be all set up!

peachy morning.

So grateful to this lady for taking me out shooting, chatting, 

and adventuring for the whole morning.

Jewel Peach

spider time.

Story from today: While I was swinging about barefooted, a large spider made a home in my boot. Jewel poked, prodded, shook, and explored my shoes and socks (a real friend) to find him. When they eventually made their way back onto my foot, mister spider was nowhere to be found. We assume he was probably laughing from afar as my shoes were beaten with a broom.

side table.

Snagged a cute dark green side table from salvation army today. The perfect height and size for my bird lamp to slide right next to the rocking chair.