Christmas Dinner Decor

Evan and I hosted his family's Christmas celebration for the first time this year! We finished the kitchen in the nick of time! (Well, we still have some work to do, but at least its functional and pretty!) I had SO much fun setting the table :) 

My favorite part are these "Kitchen Papers" placemats (here). 

I then alternated between monogrammed linen napkins and tartan plaid napkins (I only had 6 of each, and we had 8 people for dinner so it was a necessity!). I tied everything together (literally!) with red striped grosgrain ribbon.

Here is a shot of the kitchen! I'll walk through all the details in another post :)

And here is it just before sitting down to eat... champagne glasses full, snow falling outside, and of course, plenty of fat hydrangeas :)

Merry Christmas!!

We've enjoyed an absolutely wonderful Christmas and hope you have as well! (Below with Evan's family)

I'll provide a full recap tomorrow, when I'm undoubtably snowed in... 10-14 inches expected! Let it snow!

Merry Christmas!!

Finishing the Kitchen - Starting in the Bath

We are working our butts off to complete the kitchen and 2nd bathroom renovations before Christmas! My brother-in-law and his wife are staying with us for a week, we are hosting Christmas Eve with Evan's family, and I'm hosting a dinner party for all the girls I work with on the 21st! These rooms HAVE to be functional before then!

I'm happy to say, we made a lot of progress this weekend. The new gas range arrived on Saturday (we got a great Black Friday deal), and we laid the tile floor in the bathroom on Sunday.

Busy, busy! But I love that soon these two main rooms will be COMPLETE! It will be life changing - truly :)

Hopefully I'll have LOTS of additional updates over the next couple of weeks! Stay tuned!

Christmas Pajamas - A tradition!

I love Christmas pajamas. They are WAY better than regular pajamas!  They are not only cozy, but they are festive, colorful, and they get you in the mood for a bedtime snack milk and cookies :)

This year on Thanksgiving night, we watched "Arthur Christmas" with my family, and it got us in the Christmas spirit right away! Evan and I enjoyed it so much, we have decided we should make it a tradition to always watch a Christmas movie late on Thanksgiving night! Additionally, we decided a future part of the tradition would be to give our children a pair of Christmas pajamas on the night of Thanksgiving before watching the movie :)  Sounds like such a special way to kick-off the to start the Christmas season! I'm not even a kid and I love it!

Here are some of my favorites for the whole family:

Going clockwise from the top left, here's where you can get these snazzy pajamas:

• Abercrombie & Fitch Women's Caroline Sleep Shorts
• J.Crew 'Crewcuts' Girls Union Suit in Snowflake
• J.Crew Perfect Fit Tank
• Madewell Jackalope Print Leggings 
• J.Crew Cashmere Scarf in Douglas Plaid
• J.Crew Saturday Pants in Heather Coal
• J.Crew 'Crewcuts' Boys Waffle Union Suit in Buffalo Check
• Madewell Printed Bloomers
• Minnetonka Cally Slippers
• J.Crew Flannel Sleep Pant in Bedford Blue Plaid
• J.Crew Women's Vintage Pajama Set

Oh Christmas Tree

Loving this room right now :)



New Entry Rug! (& Sneak Peek of the Tree!)

I recently bought a new, beautiful, striped rug for the entry from Crate & Barrel (Olin Grey Rug). After the kitchen renovation and the floors FINALLY being finished, I didn't have the heart to put the old rug back in this location.. Even though I loved the design, it was dusty, and if there is one thing this kitchen renovation has made me despise, it is DUST! The old rug had to go.

Anyway, here is the new rug! I LOVE it! It makes the space feel so much warmer. And it was 15% off the weekend after Thanksgiving, which makes me love it even more :)

AND, I love my tree :) And I love that the house is finally starting to come together! 

Is it too late for a Thanksgiving recap?

I hope not, because it was one of the best Thanksgiving's EVER! :)

Evan and I went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving this year. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, the food was amazing, our wine glasses were full, we had Aunt Elvira's black bottom pie, we played multiple games of Scrabble.... what more could you ask for? It was perfect. I love my family :)

Kitchen Floors!

The floors are stained, woo hoo! I love the look :) The iPhone photo doesn't quite do it justice, but STILL you get the idea.

Just need two more coats of polyurethane and a few days to completely dry, and we will actually be able to start LIVING in this kitchen again! So excited!

Magnolia Wreath

This year I decided that magnolia leaves (in the form of a wreath and garland) were going to be the center of my Thanksgiving and Christmas decor.

It is so beautful, I love it!

This one I got from Pottery Barn (link). I love the size and the burlap bow! (Which ties very well with my linen curtains in the dining room, which you can see a peak of from afar!)

Renovation Clean-Up

SO, since we are DIY'ers, we knew the renovations of the kitchen, mudroom, 1/2 bath, and 2nd floor bath were going to take awhile. Rental of a dumpster 20-yard dumpster is roughly $300 a week, so we didn't want to rent one for 6 months (obviously!) SO, in the meantime, we decided to put all of our renovation debris in our garage. Since June, the remnants of the kitchen plaster walls and ceiling, 5 layers of kitchen flooring, mudroom tile, and bathroom tile had been building up in there! It was a MESS!

Now that destruction is certainly done and construction is nearly done, we decided it was time to rent the dumpster. Thankfully we had one of the most beautiful weekends of the year this past weekend to faciliate our hours of outdoor work! So warm, sunny, and nice.

With the help of a couple of friends, it took us about 6 hours to load the dumpster and the clean the garage. I'm SO SORE I can barely move (still!). But the garage looks GREAT and it feels so good to have it all cleaned up! Just in time for snow :)

(Some) Progress on the Kitchen!

The drywall is done, the walls are painted, the new faucet is installed, the backsplash is finished, and the electrical work is complete!

Here is what it looks like in its current state:

Here is what is left to do:

We're getting there, SLOWLY but surely :)

VOTE!!!!

I love the feeling I get after voting! I contemplated voting early or voting via absentee ballot, but there is something very inspirational and exciting about going and casting a vote in person on election day! (Even if I did have to park half a mile away and then wait in line for an hour!)

Praying for a PEACEFUL day of voting across our country! 

Boys, Boys, Boys!!!

I have 8 friends who are prego right now, and they are ALL having boys!! 

So Karen, Kelly, Kelly, Rebecca, Meredith, Jess, Sarah, and Ashley -This is what I love for a little boys room from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child :)

Thanksgiving Pretties

I love Thanksgiving :) 

Here are some of my favorite items for the season, clockwise starting from the top left corner:

1) 'Perfect Setting' paper placemat (Nordstrom)

2) Harvest Pumpkin Placecard Holder (Williams-Sonoma)

3) Turkey & Football Invite (Etsy)

4) 'Give Thanks' Print (Etsy)

5) Blessings Card (Etsy)

6) Turkey Platter (Pottery Barn)

7) Mercury Etched Pumpkins (Pottery Barn)

8) 'Give Thanks' Serving Fork (Etsy)

9) Fall Wreath (Etsy)

10) Pumpkin Souffle Candle (Anthropologie)

11) 'Gobble Till you Wobble' Tag (Etsy)

Fall Decor - Neighborhood Tour #2

SO, in this neighborhood I did not find quite as much fall decor, but I did find some amazing eye candy worth sharing even if it didn't quite fit my theme. And believe me when I say AMAZING!!! I think it was absolute love at first sight for me with the house below. Although we used to live in this area, this one is still in the process of being built so I hadn't seen it before. LOVE the contrast, love the windows, love the gas lanterns.. amazing! Can I please take out a 150 year mortgage so I can buy this today?