Altitude Design Summit

Is anyone else planning on going to the Altitude Design Summit in January?  I wanted to go last year but I wasn't sure how I would fair being 9 months pregnant.  I heard great things about it and can't wait to attend the 2011 conference.  You can read more about it here.  The early registration discount ends today! 

And here's something fun...if you check out the blog for the conference, you might recognize a picture.

There's my dining room in the second photo!  Thanks to my friend Melanie for including me in the website design.

Country Living: Halloween

I love these ideas from Country Living magazine. It makes me wish I was throwing a Halloween party. The white sheets over the chairs are perfect. It makes the room look eerie but not cheesy.

 See more ideas here.

Coralie Classics

Another designer has taken classic novels and redesigned their covers.  I blogged about the first set here.  This set, by Coralie Bickford-Smith, is so glamorous looking.  The metallics and great geometric patterns would look so nice out on display.

{imagesm found via Creature Comforts}

Rilo and I are headed home!  Can't wait to get back to our house!

Little Green Notebook

Am I the only one who thinks everything Jenny from Little Green Notebook does is perfection?  I love how she makes a room look designer but still lived in.  Her rooms are never overstyled.  And I love how she puts so many colors together that I would never think, but it just works.  Here are some pictures from her recent work at Joanna Goddard's house. 

{images}

Check out more on Jenny's blog and even more on Joanna's blog (you must look at the nursery they collaborated on).

We're headed to downtown Chicago for a few hours this morning.  Today is my last day here!  Can't wait to be back in my house!  Happy Monday!

Herringbone

Adam and I have an affinity for herringbone patterns.  Clothes, fabrics, furniture...you name it, we like it.  Our couch even has a herringbone pattern.  I had never contemplated herringbone painted on a wall though.  I saw this on Design Sponge and loved it!  I think this would only work in nice neutral colors, like the ones used here.

{image}

And though it's not a "need", I've always wished our house had an entry way.  Our front door just opens into the living room so I can't have a little side table, accented wall and a place to store my rain boots.  Maybe in our next house...

My Family

While I was in PA, we were hoping to find a fun location and take some nice pictures.  Well, obviously other things came up, but we did manage to head to the backyard for some quick photos.  Tali and Shane dressed up in their Sunday best...kind of.  Unfortunately Cyle had to go to a meeting, so he's not in any of these.  I love these crazy people.

Please note they posed themselves in these next three. :)

Tali is very proud of her calf muscle I guess...

Tomorrow I'll be back with regular posting!  Thanks for hanging in there while I took a little break.

Baby Ava

And on a happier note, here are some pictures of sweet baby Ava.  She is the granddaughter of one of my Mom's friends.  We took a few pictures of her while I was in Pennsylvania.  I forgot how little newborns are...even though she's not a very little newborn.  She was almost 10 lbs. at birth and at 2 weeks was 11 lbs!

How gorgeous is Ava's mom, Ashtyn?

In Loving Memory: John Robb Jr.

My Grandpa Robb moved to Pennsylvania in May to live with my family.  They were about 2 days away from finishing his apartment in the basement.  Yesterday, while getting ready to leave for my sister Tali's soccer game, we found my Grandpa upstairs.  He had passed away peacefully, doing one of his favorite things...napping.  It was shocking and so unexpected.  He was 70 years young and had just been working in the yard and eating the world's largest apple.

It is no coincidence that Rilo and I came here to Pennsylvania right now.  I tried to book my ticket to leave on Sunday, then Monday and finally settled on Tuesday because the rates were better.  I'm so grateful that I was here...that I could be here with my family...that Rilo and I were able to see him one last time.  While I am deeply saddened, I feel peace and comfort.  I'm thankful for the knowledge that families can be together forever, that this isn't the end.  I am thankful for the happy memories I have and will continue to hold onto.

Posting will be a bit light this week.

Halloween Already?

I keep seeing talk of Halloween and thinking it is way too soon.  But I just realized it's the middle of September!!  So when I get home in a few weeks, I'll need to get my fall/Halloween stuff up right away.  And if I want anything new, I need to start making it now.  Here are some things I'm thinking of crafting:

I actually bought the gourds to do this last year, but never got around to it.

{Via Martha}

Simple.  Cheap.  Cute.

{Via Be Different Act Normal via Family Fun}

I really like these frames...I think you could do something like this for other holidays too! 

 {Via Tatortots and Jello}

Adam and I brainstormed and came up with a great family costume idea.  I think we'll keep it a surprise though!  I can't wait to begin making them.  Have you figured out what you will be this year?

Celebrate Yellow

I reallly wish Google could get it together and fix the glitch that turns my scheduled blog posts back to drafts. Sorry for the late post!

Dana over at MADE is dedicating the next few weeks to all thing yellow.  Is it getting redundant to say I love yellow?  I pretty much wanted to re-post everything she's already posted because I love it all. 

I really love the way her chevron pillow looks, though I'd probably save myself the headache and buy the fabric already in the chevron pattern. Then again, I think the quilted look adds something extra.  And really, I still love this whole chevron thing and don't care that so does everyone else.  It just looks so fun!

{images}

If you are also a lover of yellow, be sure to check her site daily for new yellow posts.

Granola Cookies

I started off my morning yesterday with my favorite breakfast of cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit and some granola.  I was looking at the back of the box for the granola and saw a recipe for cookies.  They sounded too good to pass up so Rilo and I made them together.  Well, Rilo watched while I made them.  They have a nice texture and just a touch of the maple flavor.  The recipe called for nuts, but I'm not a fan of nuts in cookies...so I added chocolate chips instead.

Granola Cookies

1 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 c granola (I use Cascadian Farm Organic Granola Maple Brown Sugar)

optional: chocolate chips, nuts

Combine butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until creamy.  Add in flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix in granola and chocolate chips (or nuts).   Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Delicious!

Thrifty

Rilo and I needed to get out of the house on Saturday, so I decided to stop by the thrift store.  I was really hoping to find some vintage clothing for Rilo.  I saw this beautiful vintage coat on Dear Baby and it pushed me to head out and see what I could find.

{image}

Isn't this the most perfect coat?  She got it for only $5 on eBay!

Unfortunately, there weren't a whole lot of vintage items at this store, but I was still able to find some great clothes in good condition.  I spent $27 and got: 2 dresses, 4 winter skirts and 3 belts for me and 1 pair of pants, 4 pairs of shorts, 2 dresses, 1 shirt and 2 hand knit sweaters for Rilo.  So in case you weren't counting, that's 19 items for $27!  Pretty awesome.  All of Rilo's items were from Gap, Gymboree, Old Navy or Target.

This particular thrift store also must have some sort of partnership with Target because they have a whole section full of Target items in all different sizes that have never been worn.  Tags and stickers were still on.  They have so many of each item, you feel like you're at Target (except for the dim lighting and weird smells).  So 3 of the shorts I picked up for Rilo were from this past season at Target and were only $2.  I got them in sizes for next summer!  They were my most expensive items!

And aren't these hand knit sweaters adorable?  I couldn't pass them up!

I need to remind myself to stop by more often!

25

I had such a nice birthday weekend!  Adam surprised me by getting a babysitter (thanks Tianna!) on Saturday night and taking me out to a yummy dinner.  Following dinner, he took me to get some old-fashioned ice cream.  It's always nice to spend time, just the two of us.  We spent Sunday, just lounging around and hanging out as a little family.

Adam is always an excellent present giver.  He got me a new lens I've been wanting, some camera related equipment and this super cool vintage serving piece (that I should've taken a picture of).  Overall, a perfect birthday...so glad I could spend it with Adam and Rilo!

 {Adam knows I love a nicely packaged gift.  I wish I would've taken a picture of the coordinating wrapping paper he used as well.  So thoughtful.}

I also went to the thrift store on Saturday afternoon and scored big time.  I'll share what I got tomorrow.  And don't forget to check out Rilo's blog...my new favorite pictures are up today!