Home Decor: Fireplace Mantel

When we purchased our new home last winter, it was a construction zone. Though most major projects were completed before we moved in this past June, there are still many smaller scale items on the 'to-do' list (and if the shower would stop leaking into the basement, that would be great). This week we tackled the fireplace.

Wall paint, Sherman Williams Lazy Gray // Clock, Pottery Barn

Candle holders, Mantel, Wayfair// Lanterns, Plant, Pier 1// Vase, Bowl, Amazon

I found this simple crown-molding style mantel on Wayfair.com, and a few perfectly sized silver tone accents on Amazon.com and at Pier 1 (on sale of course!). The total project including all accent pieces cost about $150, not including the lanterns which are actual for indoor or outdoor use.

Fall Wishlist

This season my Fall wishlist is full of items that make me feel cozy and happy in my house. My little one loves his ice cream, and I can't pass up anything from Kate Spade's home collection so this bowl + scoop set is too cute to miss. Tea and coffee are just more delicious in a decorative dainty cup. And what kitchen table isn't better with a set of fun plates? Booties for me are a highlight of the summer to fall transition, I seem to buy a pair each year. Plum nails are as much a fall staple as the pumpkin spice latte (anyone know the release date this year? Starbucks throws us a bone and usually comes out with it in August!)

What are you eyeing for the cooler temps a few weeks down the road?

Baby Registry (the Second Time Around)

I'm aware that many of the challenges I faced when we first brought our sweet Tucker home from the hospital  5 years ago will be waiting for me this winter all over again. Sleepless nights, worry, and wet diapers are all temporary yet very real reminders of new parenthood. And while I may not be able to do much to prepare for these trials, I can shop more efficiently this time around in an effort to prevent frantically sending my husband to Target at 1am looking for new bottles because the brand we chose are just not working. I'm not a fan of the second shower (or 'sprinkle' as some call them) so our registry (at Buy Buy baby this time) serves as more of a shopping list for ourselves. Here are a few essentials we will be stocking in the next few months.

I beg you- do not buy play-suits with snaps. Imagine fumbling to align and snap 12 of these in the dark at 2 am while baby is crying. Stick to the zip-up variety.

The wub-a-nub is the only pacifier that stayed in our son's mouth and didn't require constant picking up from the floor.

Ill never waste another penny on any other diaper brand- pampers Baby Dry is it for us.

Not just for feedings, many nights the Boppy was my own pillow. 

Dr. Browns saved our lives with a colicky, gassy baby the first time around.

Aden + Anais blankies are still my sons' bedtime necessity. After the swaddling months are behind us Im sure they will still fill our linen closet shelves.

The $100+ sleepers, rockers and swings are a total waste in my book, this $59 Fisher Price bouncer with music and vibration setting are a must for mid morning naps, 5pm witching hour, and anytime I just need to put the baby down.

Thoughts on a Friday

Since moving to CT from Long Island in June, I have had a really tough emotional time. Yes, I'm 4 months pregnant and that is challenging but really I underestimated how much I'd miss my friends and the social interaction of going to work at my office everyday. In an effort to pull myself out of this (hormone/moving induced) hole, here are some promises I'm making myself:

      Get outside everyday, even if just for 10 minutes to eat a snack on the patio

      Smile when I feel like crying, until it feels like I mean it

      Read a few pages of my new iBook purchases every week day

      Be extra patient with (and grateful for) my 5 year old

      Cook something new each week using at least a few ingredients from one of the many local farms

      Eat ice cream!

Insta-Snaps

Happy Summer!

Best friends coming to visit us + fire pit + s'mores = best 4th of July

My favorite lipsticks for summer, YSL no. 44 and 43, Mac in Modesty, and BeautyCounter Lipsheer in Terra

Sneak peak at our baby (boy or girl!) nursery reveal, coming this fall

Papa and Grandma's beach house

Homemade blueberry and blackberry bread pudding with freshly picked berries

View from Rose's Berry Farm in our neighborhood

Loft fiesta dress for August workdays

CT shoreline with my little buddy

Off the shoulder frock for date night

New dining chairs from Pier 1 complete the look

Berry picking with my favorite helper

Essex steam train!

Maximum Space

Musings readers who followed me during the WWALD days will remember my closet room from my first house. While that was one of the painful things to leave behind, part of the impetus behind our move to Connecticut was to downsize our lives. This included purging at least 40% of the 'stuff' we owned, much of which resided in that very closet. In the new house, I had to make due with a significantly smaller space. Determined to make the new closet as calming a space as my original, we hired a closet installation company to work their magic.

Matching sets of slim velvet hangars are a must for a uniform look while still fitting as many hanging items as possible. Shelves spaced adequately and appropriately for classic heels, wedges and flats also makes the most of limited space. I have a small maternity section that will be much less robust than the first time around, and which I'm still not quite ready to wear yet (15 weeks and counting!). Its amazing how much order and mentality clarity an organized and functional closet can bring to an otherwise chaotic state of mind (don't judge me, I'm in transition this summer :).

Linking up with The Mix

Thoughts on a Friday

These have been among the hardest few weeks in recent memory. Moving is hard, and I've questioned why we did this at least daily since we arrived last week. I'm homesick for things that don't exist (my childhood home and two parents), and friends I still talk to everyday.

Dropping your 5 year old off at a day camp where he doesn't know a sole is harder then leaving him at daycare for the first time. I've done both so leave me to my opinion.

Working from home is hard and lonely. But driving over 3 hours each way to my old office is even worse.

I am trying to practice what I preach: This too shall pass.