Five Months

To see tons of pics and read up on her stats, check out Rilo Jane's blog.

Sorry for the lack of real posts today...I've got a few things I need to get done.  Blog headers, photo editing, party planning, room inspiration boards, and sewing.  Lots and lots of sewing.  And I need to take pictures of the final Rental Redesign makeover!  Phew!  And I'm hoping to enjoy the gorgeous Chicago weather while I'm at it too!

Vintage Pillowcase Skirt

I recently picked up 2 vintage pillowcases that are a bit longer than a normal pillow case.  I was just fiddling with them a few days ago trying to decide what to do with them.  They're too long to make pillow case dresses for Rilo...I would just feel like I was wasting so much material.  I have found my answer and I am kicking myself for not thinking of it myself!  It's a woman's pillowcase skirt featured on May Arts.  So this is what I'll be tackling today!

  {found via One Pretty Thing via May Arts}

Dress Refashion: Part 1

I've finished the first part of my ripped dress refashion.  I'm still working on Rilo's little dress.  I attempted to sew it without my pins from my pincushion (it was missing!) and it was a disaster.  So I'm pulling out my stitches and trying again now that I've located the missing pincushion.  I just did a simple skirt for myself.  I'm not a red person, but I happen to like the primary colors of the skirt.

Before:

Part One After:

Sorry for the poor quality on both these pics!

Max Wanger's Wedding

Even though my wedding has long been over, I still love to browse some of my favorite wedding blogs for inspiration.  I just stumbled on Max Wanger's wedding via Once Wed.  Max is a fantastic photographer...you may have seen his images around the web before.  Of course, his wedding is amazing.  I just love the creative and personal details.  All of these images were taken by Our Labor of Love. 

I adore this style of invitations.  And the fabric covered swing is perfect.

This setup doesn't even look real to me.  It is gorgeous.

Potted succulents as favors.

{images via Once Wed via Our Labor of Love}

I'm definitely storing away these ideas for future parties and events!  I have a few friends who have asked me to help plan their future weddings, so I am crossing my fingers they meet someone soon!  There are 5 posts up documenting this wedding...click here to check out the rest of the photos!

Color Me Katie

Can't think of a better way to start out the week than going through old posts from Color Me Katie.  I love to look at her work.  Every time I visit her blog, I end up going through almost all of her posts all over again.  I think she is so insanely creative and every little project she does puts a smile on my face.  Plus, you can't go wrong watching any of her videos from Improv Everywhere.  Hilarious!

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To put a smile on your face, click here.

Tiny Party

Love Armelle's Tiny Party she threw for her little girl.  Everything at this party was, well...tiny.  So cute!

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I love a well-thought out party.  I know I still have a long time until Rilo's first birthday, but I am keeping ideas stored for next February!  Happy happy weekend to you!

Fruit

I took some photos yesterday of some fruit that I picked up at this little produce market down the road. It has great produce for dirt cheap...10 peaches for $1!  I love summer for all of it's fresh fruits!  Yum!

And speaking of food, I want to make homemade bread...Do you have any recipes you love?  I've only ever made banana bread.  Please share if you do!

Fabric.com Sale

Sadi gave me the heads up on a great sale on Fabric.com.  Hurry and checkout the sale on their Westminster fabrics.  They are $2.49 a yard!  Plus, if you spend $35 you get free shipping and you can use the code ANNV1 for an extra 20% off!  Here are a few that I ordered! 

I actually got this in 2 other colors too!  I'm sure I can find something to use them for.  Two others I picked up:

Sale ends July 26th!  Check it out before it's over!

A Day in the Life

Ashley, over at The Domestic Wannabe, asked me to guest post for her series "A Day in the Life".  It's a fun series she's started documenting a day in the life of different mothers.  If you're curious as to what my day looks like this summer, head on over here to check it out.

Merchandise Mart

For about a month,  I've been trying to get to downtown Chicago to the Merchandise Mart.  It's a huge building with tons of showrooms, chock full of design goodness.  Tiles, bathtubs, kitchens, and on and on.  A few of us packed up and headed downtown last Friday.  Unfortunately, we got stuck in some major traffic and the Merchandise Mart closed an hour earlier than we had thought.

All was not lost though...All of the showrooms have glass windows and doors so you can peer in and check things out.  We are still planning on going back some day soon so we can really get to look at all there is to see.

I think what I liked the most was seeing the many different tile options.  I have never seen so many unique and interesting tiles in my life.  Here are some of the pictures I was able to get:

Aren't all of these fantastic?  I had no idea there was such a selection of modern and interesting designs.  I guess I've only seen the typical styles.

LOVE the color of the vanity!

Can't wait to go back and really admire the awesome designs!

Today is the last day to vote for my nursery.  Click here to vote! Thanks!

Weekend and a Garland

The weekend just flew by, but it was a fun one!  Our apartment complex threw us a party on Saturday night and Sunday night we played games with some of the couples until 2 am!  Needless to say, the intended post I had for today is not happening.  For now, enjoy this great garland tutorial from Me Oh My!

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Click here to see how she made this!

Adam's Yard Sale Finds

One of the things I love about Adam is that we have really similar taste in just about everything.  Clothes, art, design, etc.  So when Adam tells me he has a surprise for me, I know I'm probably going to love it.  Yesterday he came home with some yard sale finds that I LOVE.

These 3 frames will be a great addition here and back at our home.

And how cool is this old birdcage?  Can't wait to give it a fresh coat of spray paint!

{excuse the iPhone photos!}

Enjoy your weekend!  Sure hope I can finally finish some things up around here!

Refashion

I picked up this red dress at a thrift store a few weeks ago.  Upon examining it more closely at home, I noticed a small hole near the waist.  Boo!  But luckily it was only $2, so it wasn't a total waste.  Plus, inspired by Melissa's awesome refashions, I'm going to attempt to turn it into a skirt for me and a dress for Rilo.  I'm blogging this now, in hopes that it will put pressure on me to finish it up today.  Hopefully, hopefully, I'll take some pictures of the finished product later today!

Here is the before:

The stripes are white, blue and yellow, thought it's hard to tell.   Wish me luck!

F21 Maternity

There aren't many things I plan on doing differently next pregnancy, but there is one thing I vowed to do in the future: buy maternity clothes!  I only bought 2 pairs of pants and a handful of shirts.   It's not fun wearing the same clothes you wore before, during and after your pregnancy! The only thing that held me back from buying maternity clothes was the cost...It just didn't seem worth it.  That's why I'm excited for Forever 21's maternity line!  Cute and cheap!

 {found via Sensibly Styled via Forever 21}

If You Wouldn't Mind...

I normally don't ask for this type of thing, but I entered Rilo's nursery into a contest sponsored by Sherwin Williams.  The Grand Prize winner gets a vacation + a Sherwin Williams gift card and 4 runner ups will also receive a gift card.  A vacation and paint...can't go wrong there!  So if you want to help me out, you can vote here.  And if my nursery isn't really your cup o' tea, well there are plenty of other nurseries to draw inspiration from, so head over and check them out!

You can vote once a day until July 21st.  Thank you!!  Vote here.

Leather Headbands

Here is an adorable (and seemingly easy) DIY headband that does not involve any flowers!  Disney at Ruffles and Such posted this tutorial, just before she announced she was going to stop blogging.  I love looking at all of her tutorials and I'm sad that they'll be coming to an end!  She also takes the most lovely pictures of her end results.  You have to browse her tutorials section...you will be so inspired!

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Such a sweet photo of her and her daughter!

Anthro Rugs

Hope you had a nice weekend! Last nigh we had a fun-filled evening playing games with some of the couples out here.  We played Scattergories, Mad Gab and some Wii games too.  I love Sunday game nights...It's a fun little tradition we have!

Can't believe it's already Monday again.  Here are some lovely Anthro rugs to start out the week.  I, of course, am drawn to the yellows!

Found here.