{P. Barn & a Cadillac}

So....the crib is done, and the dresser/changing table painting shenanigans have begun. I am going to wait for the bedding to arrive before I share the crib reveal, and by then, the dresser should be loaded in and ready to share as well. :) Yay for things moving along.

In other news, a while back I had ordered the "French Wire Hamper & Liner" from Pottery Barn. I wanted to use it as baby Oliver's laundry hamper. Long story short, I ended up with gift cards to PB (as a result of a debacle of an order for nightstands that took place several months ago) and have been holding onto them tightly and waiting for the right items to come along. The hamper was pricey ($149.00) but I HAD to have it, so I ordered it. It was back-ordered (as all of the things are that I want from there - LOL) so I had to wait almost 2 months for it to arrive. I finally got the notice that it shipped and was so excited!! When it arrived yesterday, I was super surprised......they sent me two!!! Now, those of you that heard the original PB story know that the gift cards are a result of something similar to this situation. Are they CRAZY!!? Why does this keep happeneing??! Are they testing me!!?? or are they just that unorganized!!? Ugggh!! My moral compass is continuously confused and torn about what to do. The right thing = call them and send hamper #2 back, BUT, the more fun thing = give one to my favorite sister!!! At the end of the day, the devil on my shoulder won, and now Ali and I are both proud owners of one of these......

It is HUGE and it is AWESOME -- even better than I had hoped it would be!! I do feel bad (I really do), but I also feel happy that Ali gets to have a fancy hamper too & if I'm going to the hot place downstairs because of it, then ah well, so be it. If accepting redundant PB shipments is the worst thing I've done, then I guess I feel ok about it. I hope you don't think I am a terrible person :/ I just couldn't help it!

Moving on -- in regards to the "Cadillac" listed in my post title, I feel that I have been pretty good about not going HOG-WILD with baby item purchases. Aside from the adorable clothes that I have been hunting for, the rocking chair that I pined for and won (and got at a HUGE discount if you'll remember), and the crib bedding that I designed/ordered on Etsy (that didn't cost any more than a regular old pre-fab set would have cost), I haven't really splurged on anything. I am using Ali's old crib and cradle, and found a Craigslist dresser to re-vamp. All of that said, the one SPLURGE I wanted to make was on our stroller. I plan to be out and about A LOT and to take long walks A LOT with our little man, so I knew that a good quality, multi-use, grow-with-us stroller was what I wanted.

After doing a ton of research, we ended up choosing the 2011 UPPAbaby Vista Stroller. It has all of the amazing features that we were looking for and then some! It is the Cadillac of strollers!! At any one time, it can hold up to 3 children -- sounds crazy, I know, but it's true, so it'll be the only stroller that we need to have. They only have it at specialty baby stores, and the price is STEEP!! The retail price is $679.99, and that is for the stroller and bassinet attachment only. No other accessories come with it, they all must be purchased separately.

So, I registered for it at the local store that carries it (OCTykes.com) along with all of the desired accessories, but knew that at the end of the day it would probably be something that we would end up buying for ourselves. As I was updating my registry one day, I saw that the price had been slashed to $499.99. WHAT!!? Now I know, that is still A WHOLE-HECK-OF-A-LOT of money, but that is almost $200 off. It turns out that because the 2012's are coming out (not unlike a real Cadillac - haha), they have decided to try to sell through their 2011 inventory. My hubby and I LOVE a good deal, so we pounced and didn't look back! Here she is in all her glory....

It may not look like much, but there are 2 really cool tutorial videos on the OCTykes website that show all of the coolness that is UPPAbaby. The possibilities are ENDLESS! I am SO excited about it and cannot wait to push my little guy all over the place!! Yay!

Happy Sunday and Halloween Eve! I hope you have a great start to your week!

:)
-L

{24 weeks :) }

Today I am 24 weeks along with our little Oliver Cash
:)

The doc said that everything looks great and we are getting more and more excited! Look at that little face!! :)

Oh, and although a lot of you live far away (boo!) I thought I would share my cute baby shower invitation . . . . .

(ordered from tinyprints.com)

I loved that it was gray & yellow to go with my nursery color scheme :) Ali helped me pick it out and I am so happy with how they turned out! And coincidentally, I found the PERFECT thank-you note's at Target - they match perfectly!!

I am so excited for all that is to come!!
:)
Happy Wednesday!

-L

{Shower Curtain Refresh}

So, we are ALMOST there with the crib. I know, I said that before, but this time I mean it. Ali's sweet hubby brought it over to my house to set it up, but once inside, we noticed one of the side rails still had some white patchiness throughout. Those darn spindles are so hard to paint because they look different from every angle. It's hard to be sure you have complete coverage. Doh! Anyway, my AWESOME sister is home as we speak putting on the final touches, so by tomorrow or Thursday it should be done and set up. :) I still have to wait another 2-3 weeks for the bedding to arrive (if she is on time with her delivery), but for space planning, setting up the crib itself will be a huge help.

On to the real topic of the day -- my guest bathroom shower curtain. Since I totally failed to complete my home tour (oops), I never got a change to show my guest bathroom. It's not tiny, but not huge. I really like the finishes - the same Carrera marble as the kitchen and a really cool wall tile to complete the look. We had been using my husbands old shower curtain. It wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't anything to look at.

It was cream - It was waffle-knit - It was . . . nice. But I wanted something more stylish and fun. Some of my "dream" shower curtains (if you can really truly dream about shower curtains - LOL) are these....

The Flamenco shower curtain from Anthropologie - $118.00


The Chaffinch shower curtain from Anthropologie - $118.00


The Penciled Hypericum shower curtain from Anthropologie - $98.00

and the Striped shower curtain from West Elm - more reasonable at $39.00


The one I picked was kind of random (and cheap at $16.99 - Homegoods), but I like it. I think it makes much more of a statement than the boring cream one, don't you?


It is white with black penciled images of vintage French chairs/settee's/perfume bottles/etc. Like I said, totally random, but overall kind of fun (and please excuse the crazy wrinkles....I am planning to iron it asap).

Funny enough, they have a very similar looking one at Urban Outfitters - The Apothecary shower curtain - $29.00.

I wonder If I would have bought this one for $29.00 if I would have seen it first.....hmm.....probably not, but the one I picked is good for now until I'm willing to splurge :)

Happy Tuesday!

-Lisa

{A little update}

The crib is ALMOST done....ugh!! It's been so moist around here so things are taking a lot longer to dry than normal. It is looking great though, and once it's done, I will show it set up in all its glory :). Cannot wait!

Also, the glider is in!!! I picked it up this past weekend and am so happy with it! Here it is with a fab ikea throw blanket draped over the back.....

So pretty, right?! It's still a bit stiff, and has sort of a "new" smell about it, but once I wear it in a little bit, it will be perfect. And again, what a steal at $279.00! I really can't complain!

Also in the nursery, there is a long window seat. It is currently covered with a bunch of stuff that I need to go through, and the cushion is in desperate need of some re-covering (it is currently a light yellow with an ugly red/blue/black fish pattern). I plan to recover it either in a solid color (black, gray, linen...not sure) or a subtle pattern, and want to accessorize it with a bunch of fun eclectic pillows. I have found a few so far that are totally random but could look really cool sitting next to each other I think.....

Like this mini-houndstooth pouf pillow that I found on clearance at a fancy design store in town

(The name of the store escapes me, but it is a super fancy place. This pillow was originally $69, but we snagged it for a mere $20! YES!!)

And then there is this AWESOME owl pillow from Urban Outfitters.....

I love the expression on his face, don't you?!

And finally this awesome pillow with a peacock felt applique that I found at Homegoods....

It's not too girly, is it? Hmmm.....I'm on the fence about this one.

So, like I said, the pillows so far are super random, but I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for others to really complete the look. I think they will look cute all tossed together, don't you? And, in truth, I have never like the feel of the lumbar pillow that came with the glider. It is WAY too stuffed/full for the shallow seat of the chair, so I always planned on tossing it aside.

I think this guy looks WAY better.....


Don't you? :) Of course, you do!

Happy Thursday!
-lisa

{Fall fun and nursery stuff}

Happy Monday everyone! We had a great busy weekend. We watched Noah play soccer, started the painting-the-crib fun (lol), went to the Pumpkin Patch, and went to a baby shower and wedding shower on the same day! So much fun!

Here are a few pictures of the good ole Pumpkin Patch....

SO Fun!!!

In regards to the nursery, so far, the crib is the only project moving along at the moment. Ali helped me start panting it but we ran out of paint before we could finish (ok, SHE painted it, but I taped off the hardware and chatted her ear off while she painted)

We went with a Krylon spray paint in "smoke gray". At first, I really wasn't sure if I should go light gray, medium gray, or dark charcoal on the crib. The rocker is a "slate" gray (bordering on blue-ish purple-ish gray - not my favorite gray color to be honest), and the Ikat gray and white fabric is more of a true light/medium gray, so I am a bit worried about all of the gray colors clashing, but this was the best "basic" gray color, so we thought it was the best choice. My hope is that they will all compliment each other rather than clash, but we will have to wait and see. Also, I originally wanted a matte gray finish because it would be a bit more boy-ish, but the smoke gray spray paint only came in a gloss finish (not even semi-gloss), so we just decided to go with it. I think it will look "richer" as a gloss now that I see the finish. I think it is going to be awesome!! We plan to finish it up this afternoon and will share the finished project ASAP.

On another note, the glider came in (YAY!!) so I am headed off to BabiesRus to get it now :). The next decision will be what kind of ottoman/stool/pouf to get since I passed on the matching ottoman. I originally fell in love with those leather Moroccan pouf's that I mentioned in my previous post...
... but they are anywhere from $169.00 and up (closer to $250 at most places), so I am exploring other options. If only I could really sew, then I could just make one myself. UGH! These are some fabric ones that I love that I found on Etsy. The prices range from $60-$80, so they are much more do-able, and I can pick my own fabric/colors which you know I love to do. They are super cool and seem really well made.....







Decisions, decisions!!

Have a great day!!!

-L

{22 weeks and all is good :) }

I had my 22 week Dr. appt today and everything with little Oliver is going well :) He's moving around in there a lot now. It's so cool!

(22 weeks)

Nothing really blog worthy to report other than that. I am going to finally paint the crib on Saturday with the help of my beautiful sister, and I have to wait another week or two to paint the dresser (I am still waiting on a fabric swatch so that I am able to match the yellow color as closely as possible). Oh, and also, we finally ordered the rocking chair/glider - YAY! It was on SUPER SALE for Columbus Day weekend, so we got it for $279.99 (30% off of the original price). Such a score!!! I feel the pieces coming together slowly, and can't wait to officially get the room together!

Yay for baby boys!

T.G.I.Almost Friday!

:)
-lisa

{A Subtle Halloween}

It's not really spooky, but this is what our subtle simple Halloween looks like around here this year.....






Add to that 2 pumpkins on either side of the front door, and that's all she wrote at the moment. It's simply festive. I like that the craft pumpkins can be carried through to Thanksgiving. I am going to add a few things still -- some framed vintage-esque Halloween art (that is being printed as we speak), a paper pennant banner, and maybe some of my sisters famous pom poms. Then the look will be complete :)

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!
-Lisa

{Wreaths, embroidery hoops, ETC...}

As I sit here at my desk on this Fall day, I am loving the sound of the rain outside my window and the fact that I am still in my pj's and it's 4:00 in the afternoon (hehe - our little secret, k?!).

A little earlier in the week when it was still sunny, I finally got around to changing out the wreaths on my doors to be slightly more Fall-ish. I totally suck at creating Fall-ish wreaths, I've decided....
I was going for simple and understated, yet festive. I kind of missed the mark. They need a bow......or something. I plan to make them cooler at some point, I just need to mull it over a bit.

In other news, I had inherited some embroidery hoops from my sister a while back, and want to somehow incorporate them into the gallery wall that I am planning for the nursery above the changing table/dresser. Here is some of my inspiration for the gallery wall & hoops.....



Being that I have never done them before, and I am not a whiz at "embroidering" in general, I thought I'd just sit down and give it a shot.....

Supplies....
Stage 1...

Stage 2....

and......done!

My lines are less than straight, and my skills are limited, but I had fun trying it out. Ali said that she would have thought I would have done it with the hoop sitting vertically....but....I guess I felt like the little knobby thing should be at the top. Yes? No? I don't know, but I went with it. Maybe it threw me off because it wasn't a round hoop....? I don't know. I think it's kinda cute. I will play with them some more to see if I can come up with something fun to add to the gallery. I think I only want one or two in the mix anyway.

Regarding our baby boy, I am 21 weeks today :) over half way there. I had my 20 wk appt last week and they said that everything looks fantastic!! Yay!! Here is his tiny foot......that I can actually feel kicking me from time to time now!! So cool!

And we have officially locked in a name. BIG TIME YAY!!! After much deliberation, we have decided on . . . . .

Oliver Cash Vinograd
:)

We are SO excited and can't wait to meet our little Ollie!

I also ordered a custom baby blanket & burp cloth with that scooter fabric that I showed you a few posts back. I decided to keep it simple and to not add it into the crib bedding, but I definitely wanted something made out of it, and it turned out perfectly....


Since I am sewing challenged, I enlisted the help of Kristina at Sirbubbadoo. I found her shop on Etsy and she was terrific from start to finish. She finished everything super quick and shipped everything out crazy fast. I am 100% happy with the end result. If you have any baby shower needs, I HIGHLY recommend ordering from Sirbubbadoo! Thank you Kristina for bringing my vision to life!

While all is well with the baby in my tummy, unfortunately, little Sadie (my furry baby) has a bum foot. She has torn into her pad on the bottom of her right paw for some reason. She is super bummed, but I can't help thinking that she is too cute when she is all coned-up...

Poor little thing. And when I take the cone off, she tries to eat through the bandage on the hurt paw, or starts digging into the healthy one, so I have no choice. DOH!! She's killing me! Hopefully she heals up soon.

So, that's all for my randomness today. I hope you are all having a great week so far. I definitely am!

:)
-lisa