Lunch Bag

Poor Adam...I've been telling him for over a year that I would make him an oilcloth lunch bag. I finally got around to making it for him. Much better than the huge reusable grocery bag I was sending with him to school. I originally found the idea from Martha Stewart, but I like this tutorial even better.

Shoes

I am anxiously waiting to be cleared for exercise! I can't wait to shed the rest of this baby weight. I have decided to wait to buy any new clothes until after I start exercising. I'm trying to avoid looking at clothes so I'm not tempted. In the meantime though, there is nothing stopping me from checking out shoes!

I tend to like shoes that are a bit of a statement themselves...I love interesting colors as well as funky prints and patterns. I'm loving these shoes right now.

Fancy J.Crew heels

Pretty floral flats from Anthro

Orange and grey flats from J.Crew

I love the muted blue color of these heels from Endless

These would be a great summer flat also from Endless

I love the idea of Tom's shoes, but I generally don't really like the look of them...I think it's something about the shape of the toe. But I saw a picture of these red and white striped Tom's worn on a model on their site and I actually think I like them.

On an unrelated note, I dove into 5 different projects this past weekend. It feels so good to be accomplishing something! I have a hard time putting Rilo down (I just can't seem to get enough of her), but I've been trying to put her down when she naps so I can do "me" things. Lots of sewing going on around here. I hope to share a few things this week, including that Urban Outfitters dress tutorial I mentioned!

Picture Wall

Our living room wall has a collection of photos and art prints. My goal when we first moved in was to keep adding to the wall so that nearly all of the wall was covered with prints. Sadly, I don't think we've added any frames since our first few months in the house! I have been browsing Etsy, looking for some new prints to hang. Here are some that I've found ( I'm apparently into prints with text these days):

This Etsy seller has a couple of cute prints I like and currently is having a buy 1, get 1 free sale!

I already have 2 of these peacock prints in my living room from Jen Skelley, but there is something so sweet about these prints, I wouldn't mind having a few more.

Colorbee has this Live, Laugh, Love print.

Happy Happy print

This shop is full of inspiring quotes. I also really liked her personalized prints that would be great in a nursery.

Love this house print. This shop is currently closed for a little bit while the seller moves, but I may have to check back soon.

This sellers prints have been heavily blogged about. I love all of the happy colors.

I think I just need to pick a few and start ordering! I'm open to more suggestions though...do you have any prints you are loving these days?

One Month Pictures

Don't forget to check Rilo Jane's blog to see her at one month old!!


I'm hoping to finish up a few projects I've been working on...a nursery project and a dress based off of an Urban Outfitters dress I saw while in California. Look for a tutorial next week! Hope you have a warm weekend!!

Mini-Bathroom Redo

Our bathroom used to look like this





Then we decided we wanted it to look more like this:



And so now it looks like this. I apologize for the bad pictures. I just wasn't able to take any with good light/good angles/good editing, but oh well. Thus is the life of a new mom!

Nothing too fancy...there are a million things I would do to it if I knew we were staying here longer. But it is much better than it was! Brighter and way more functional! We can actually walk through the bathroom without bumping into the sink.






Maybe someday I'll take nicer pictures that actually show it a little better...but this is as good as it gets for now!

C is for Cookie

{image via Stephmodo}

If you know me, you know that I love anything dessert. Especially cookies. And I'm realllly choosy about my cookies. I would say I'm a cookie snob. I'm always trying out different cookie recipes to find "the best" one. Well, I think I finally found it! Stephmodo posted the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and I had to try them. I even messed them up and they were still awesome! They are soft and bake up perfectly (which is often a problem I have since we are at such a high altitude).

How do you mess them up you ask? Well, you rush making them while you have a sleeping baby who you know is about to wake, and you grab the Maple flavoring instead of vanilla and just dump it right on in. Oops! But, they were still great...even with that slight hint of maple. (I also woke up the next morning after making them smelling maple syrup and could not for the life of me figure out where it was coming from. Well, it turns out the smell from the flavoring does not wash off your hands very well!)

This is taken off of the Cafe Zupas blog.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temp if possible)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (feel free to throw in the whole bag if you like them super chocolate-y…why not?)

Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together in a mixer. Then add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until creamy. Add the vanilla.

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together before slowly adding them to the creamed mixture. When combined, stop the mixer and add the semi-sweet chips. Mix up and then drop by the teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Mold them into a ball as best as you can with the spoon for a more shaped cookie.

Bake on 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Take them out of the oven and allow the cookies to cool in the pan for a couple of minutes. Then, carefully place the cookies on a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

And now that I have way over-hyped our bathroom by delaying it so much and talking about it endlessly, I will be posting it in a few hours! Check back in to see the small makeover!

Swimsuit Season

Summer starts for us in May because of Adam's job. That means I need to have a swimsuit for my pasty post-baby body! And a pasty post-baby body means I want something with some coverage! It's still a little early in the season, but here are some of my favorites so far.

I have liked a version of this suit for the past 3 summers. I love the vintage vibe. From Urban Outfitters.

Anthropologie

Limericki

Victoria's Secret

DownEast

Shade

Top & Bottoms from Old Navy

Along the Way...

If you've ever traveled with a newborn, you must know that it takes you several more hours to arrive at your destination. We stopped about every 2-3 hours to feed and snuggle Rilo. It was nice for us to get out and stretch our legs and take in the scenery.

Along the CA-58 is a little town called Tehachapi (my great-grandma would tell you there is a woman's prison there), that is so beautiful. It is full of green rolling hills, with a house on each hill. It was like something out of a movie. I wish I could've taken a picture of the houses on the hills, but I did get some pretty photos of all the green.










In addition to all of the pretty places we stopped, we also stopped at some not so pretty places. Ones with mattresses along the side of the road (yikes!). And dead animal skulls.











Hand sanitizing was very necessary after this stop...

Living Room Seating

A few months ago, we were looking for a big comfy chair to go in our living room. I had the hardest time finding something I liked. I finally found one that works great in the room.

However, I just spotted this most perfect chair for our living room, from Crate and Barrel. It's in the right color palatte...grey, yellow and an aqua type blue. Too bad!




While we're talking about great patterned chairs, here are some others I like. This one is from Pottery Barn.

This one is kinda funky, from Urban Outfitters.


Love this gorgeous chair from Anthro.
And while this isn't an upholstered chair...I am dying to figure out a place to use these chairs, from West Elm.

Sawyer Sitting

We were gone for nearly a week last week visiting Rilo's Great-Great Grandma and her Great-Grandpa. It was a spur of the minute trip and we realized we needed someone to watch Sawyer. Luckily, my friend Allison was willing to house/dog sit for us (again)! From what I hear, I think Sawyer might actually be sad that we are home. He went nearly everywhere with her...met new friends, tried out new parks and lots of other fun things that he has not had the chance to do since the new arrival in our house.


Yep, I think he had fun! Jessica took these awesome pictures of Sawyer and co. at the park. If you like to look at pretty pictures, then you must go take a peek at her photography blog.