Friday loves

these curtains from Urban Outfitters. 

why am I just now realizing how affordable their window treatments are? 

I'm thinking these may be residing in our living room soon. 

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a thorough spring cleaning checklist. 

also known as: I'm nesting and I need help. 

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I'm usually not a fan of wall decals at all. 

however, I am really digging these circle name designs. 

I think they'd look great on a nursery wall above a crib or changing table!

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fo free: 830 printables - from lined paper, to budget sheets, to music paper. 

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I want to print this and frame it. 

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DIY: chalkboard paint + basic wooden blocks = creativity & fun for hours.

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how to: introduce pets to a new baby. 

I will definitely need these tips in a few weeks.

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this site is chock full of creative and unique gifts for all occasions.
like this modern personalized drink tub:

how awesome would this be as a housewarming gift?

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Mrs. Stroller's thoughts on breastfeeding.
I love this, as breastfeeding is one of the things I'm most worried about when it comes to having a baby. 
I really want it to work for us, but I am aware of all the issues that could arise.
fingers crossed that Ronin & I have a successful BF relationship.
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these baby shoes. 

anchors and sail boats?
SQUEEEEEEE.
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Happy Friday, lovahs!

Thursday thoughts

play along with Sar today...

[1]

we watched a video of a vaginal birth in our birth class on Tuesday night. I've seen one before (my 11 year old brother's), so nothing about the process really shocked me. what DID surprise me was how emotional I felt watching that baby being placed on his mother's chest. I had to stop myself from bursting into uncontrollable sobs and embarrassing myself in front of a room of strangers. I cannot wait to have that moment with Ronin.

[2]

baby LBL's nursery makes me happy. I want to live there. he/she is a lucky little baby to have such handy parents! I'm so excited for Cole & Jus and can't wait to "meet" their little bundle.

[3]

I changed my mind on the bedding for Ronin's room. after finding sheets at Pottery Barn Kids for MUCH less than most Etsy shops, I decided to change it up a bit. I'll post sometime soon about the actual shop and the quality (the pieces arrived this week) once I wash them and get them in the crib, but here's what I ordered:

[4]

my official last day of work is August 3rd. it's pretty surreal to think that for the first time in 12 years, I won't have any income. frankly, it scares me quite a bit. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to be able to stay home with the babe, but I know that a part of me will miss the independence that comes with having a (paying) job.

[5]

I am SO FUCKING TIRED of people telling me that we will give up on cloth diapering. look, I get it... people tend to be threatened or intimidated by ideals that are not "the norm" in their social circles. but guess what? it's none of your fucking business to begin with! if I mention that we plan on cloth diapering, don't shake your head and respond with "yeah, good luck with that... we'll see how long it lasts." I don't know what it is, but it seems as if people inhale some stupid in their brains when they're around pregnant people. 

[6]

on a happier note, Mama cat loves little brother already. you're welcome for the cute. 

also? I just realized that I can't talk about anything non-baby related to save my life. 

WTF happened to me?!

Happy Thursday!

and the (paint) winner is...

VOYAGE!

[far left]

looking at the paint chips alone (that I showed in this post), I was really torn between Atmospheric (3rd from the left) and French Court (2nd from the left). it just goes to show you how different paint colors look in various light situations. French court was too denim-y and Atmospheric was a little too muddy grey for my liking. Misty Morn (far right) was actually really pretty, but too light for the space overall. we may end up using it in the closet or something down the line.

I feel that Voyage will look great in any light in the room. it'll also allow the furniture (white), crib (grey), and glider (navy blue) to pop against it. it's a very rich grey-ish teal - not too bright and not too dark. 

also? it's a cool name. my little seal of bright fame on his VOYAGE of life. haha, so cheesy. 

Daddy Q will be painting the room sometime in the next week (he's picking up a gallon tonight), so I'll be sure to post finished pictures when it's complete. it feels great to finally have something taken off the to-do list for Ronin's room!

Happy Thursday! 

PS - I know my Friday loves posts have been slacking, but I'm hoping to pick them back up next week! stay tuned! 

Friday loves!

Sherry's DIY Christmas ornaments that she revealed through their Fall Pinterest Challenge. 

I'm definitely going to make my own ornaments this year, along with holiday cards. 

I also love the idea of using bright colors... weeeeeee! 

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this little kitten that I added to my 2011 wishlist has found a forever home. 

cheers to that! 

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discovering illustrator Sujean Rim. 

I love watercolor more than any other form of art, and it's probably because I wish I could be successful at it. this lady is seriously talented. 

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this roundup of paint chip related projects. 

that green calendar at the end? yes please! 

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my tattooer and his shop were featured in this article on BuzzFeed. 

they are great artists and deserve the recognition and exposure. Mike has tattooed all but one of my pieces, and I can easily say that I would never have a reason to go to anyone else for tattoo work. he's one of best guys I know! 

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Martha Stewart tutorials for homemade holiday cards. 

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how to make the perfect snowflake. 

can you tell I'm on a holiday decor kick lately? 

I love Christmas. 

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Jimmy Kimmel & moms who tell their kids they ate all their Halloween candy. 

specifically, this one. 

"YOU SNEAKY MOM!"

hysterical. I can't wait to do this to my kids one day.

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we're going to see Louis CK for the billionth 4th time this evening. 

we're dragging Kaycie & Adam to Baltimore with us tonight and I am SO EXCITED!

I'll be spending the ENTIRE day tomorrow prepping and cleaning house because I'm hosting a Scentsy party with Kathy on Sunday. I've never really had a big group of people at my house before, so I'm a little nervous, haha. lots to do and as usual, not enough time! ;)

Happy Friday ya'll! 

IKEA goodies!

we made our first trip to IKEA over the weekend. insane, I know. I feel like I've been there before, maybe as a kid while shopping with my parents or something. but this was our first trip there together, as homeowners, and it was everything I expected it to be AND SO MUCH MORE. since we moved into our house in December 2009, we've had an ongoing "IKEA list" so needless to say, we spent a few hours acquiring everything we needed! 

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our main goal was to get everything we needed for our dining room, including a dining room table. yeah, that's right, we don't have a dining room table. we've been eating in the living room at the coffee table for the last year & a half. we went with the BJURSTA dining table because we are able to extend it to seat 8 people. 

once we get it put together, I will take pictures of it in the space! I can't wait to see how the dark wood looks against the light walls and trim! 

along with the table, we knew we wanted to purchase 4 side chairs. I wanted something more modern casual with the chairs so that they'd be easy to keep clean (ie: not upholstered since we have a multitude of felines). 

I loved the look of the grey TOBIAS acrylic chair, but I felt like it just didn't fit with the table. so instead we chose the ERLAND chairs in white (which were also $40 cheaper per chair... bonus!), which will really pop next to our grey walls (Gravity by Valspar) in the dining room. 

we plan to find two apple green leather Parsons chairs for the ends of the table in the near future, at which point we will probably buy this piece of art for the large wall in the room. I'm so excited to see this room finally come together!

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along with the big ticket items for the dining room, 

we also picked up a bunch of random little kitchen items:

a dish scrubbing brush

a pasta spoon

a grill pan

a flour sifter

a chopper

(6) little ramekins 

green coasters

cork trivets

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another item we really wanted to invest in while we were there was a nice duvet. we "tested" them all out... basically squeezing and petting (sexual, no?) and comparing softness... and eventually chose the MYSA 2 - we both like a cooler covering, so it seemed perfect. the true test will be once we get it on the bed! 

I also picked out a new duvet cover for the bed, but can't seem to find it online. whomp whomp. it's a basic grey comforter with horizontal pleats across it. I'm pretty confident that it'll look wonderful in the room. oh, and this pillow is a new addition to the bedroom as well. looks SO good with the other pillows and our rug. 

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as far as decor goes, we really didn't pick up a whole lot, which was pretty surprising considering little doo-dads seem to be my weakness. it may have been because by the time we got to the accessory section, I was SO worn out from hiking that morning and walking through the entire store. anyway, here's what we picked up there. 

(2) orange KASSETT boxes with lids

(2) orange KASSETT magazine files

(2) RIBBA frames in white 

a few candle holders:

BIGARRA

SKIMMER

RONAS

and this cute vase

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whew, I think that's it... although I'm sure I'm forgetting something! kudos if you made it through all that. oh, and IKEA didn't pay me to tell you all that I spent an obscene amount of money on their products over the weekend either... however, that would be nice. 

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend! 

did you take advantage of any sales like we did?

Happy Wednesday!

oops, I did it again.

if you've been here for a while, you may remember me talking about the stray cats we have running around here at my place of employment. the office building I work in is surrounded by construction debris and equipment, so there are an endless number of hiding spots for sneaky felines.

so, being that it is kitten season, it was no surprise to me to find out that our residential Mama Cat was knocked up again. she has frequent litters of kittens and usually abandons them or they run off to another yard on our street. I've always been kind of scared to try to catch her WHILE she's pregnant, because I can't have that kind of chaos in my house, and I wouldn't even know where to start with taking care of a stray (read: scared of humans like woah) kitty with freshly born babies. by the time we see her babies, they're already so scared of humans that they're impossible to catch. 

I knew that she had given birth to her kittens, because one of our employees stumbled across them in our construction yard a few weeks back. I looked out my office window yesterday to see four little babies outside hangin' out with their mama. I decided that if I didn't get a hold of them now, she might move them and I wouldn't have another opportunity to do so. also, the younger they are when they are adopted or fostered, the better chance they have at a domesticated life. I could see that at least two of them were of a calico breed, which meant they were females, which also meant that if left out there, they'd become just more Resident Mamas to our area, so I knew I had to catch them while I could.

so that's exactly what I did yesterday - I had Sean bring me one of our cat carriers to work and I grabbed three of the four babes and took them to the vet. of course, I was worried that the fourth one (who scattered when I came near her) would be left behind, but thankfully, I looked out my window this morning to see Mama nursing her. the other three are doing well at home - they are being quarantined from my cats for everyone's safety - according to my vet, they are about 4 weeks old, giving them a birthday of April 25th. she says they're healthy as far as weight and overall eyes/ears and heart exams go. we gave them a dose of deworming meds and they will go back in two weeks for a check up. 

right now the plan is to try to get a hold of the fourth kitten (she is a calico like her two sisters) and get her home with her siblings. I also borrowed a live trap from my vet, who will spay the Mama for me so I can release her back here at work. I think she's too feral to become a house cat. some people might not agree with my decision to take them from their mama so early, but they are eating solid food (moistened down with water) and are capable of getting around just fine. 

um, so yeah. long story short? ha! I get to spend a couple weeks with these cute faces until I can find some wonderful healthy homes for them to go to.

Happy Tuesday!

I'm looking forward to...

CHRISTMAS EVE.

this is the day that we celebrate with my entire family. we start the day off at my dad's house, cooking a big meal all day... it's complete chaos with everyone in the kitchen and kids running around, and I love it. we eat our big dinner there, and then play our steal-a-gift-game. it's always fun because we all have a good sense of humor, and the gifts are usually hilarious. 

from there, we head to my aunt's house on my mom's side and spend time with family there. the crowd is a little older, so it's nice to have some more adult interaction for a few hours. we play another round of the gift game at this location, and there are WAY more people that participate (my mom has 5 siblings, and each aunt/uncle has at least two children) so it's a riot. 

 Christmas Eve 2009

I love being able to catch up and socialize with close family on my mom's side. we always have funny stories to tell about her, and it allows me to remember her during the holidays from a different perspective. 

Christmas Eve is also when Sean & I open our gifts to each other. we are horrible when it comes to waiting... we can never stand to wait until the appropriate day to give gifts, so we cheat and open them a day early. this is what happens when you become an adult... you can do whatever the hell you want to do. :)

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CHRISTMAS DAY. 

another day of running around, but a good one, none the less. we drive over to my dad's again in the morning to open gifts and give our gifts to family (which includes a dad, three brothers, a dad's girlfriend and her two kids). we usually eat breakfast over there and hang out for a little bit while the kids play with their new toys. now that my little brother is old enough to enjoy the holidays, it's fun to witness him opening gifts and getting excited. 

 Christmas 2009

this year, we're spending Christmas evening with Sean's family. we'll head over there in afternoon and exchange gifts and have dinner with his family. his aunt, uncle, and cousins are coming in from out of town, so it'll be great to see them. we haven't seen some of them since the wedding! 

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CANDY CANE BARK. 

I grocery shopped last night and bought all the ingredients to make some peppermint bark... but instead of little mints, I'm going to use candy canes! I'm really excited, since I don't normally make anything special for the holidays... or any other occasion for that matter. the good thing is that it's a no-bake treat, so it should be easy peasy. I bought ingredients to make it with milk chocolate AND white chocolate, so we'll see how it goes!

if you'd like to make some yourself, check out the recipe right here.  

 NOM.

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NEW YEAR. 

we don't have plans for New Year's Eve yet, but I know that we'll have fun either way. I'm excited that we'll actually be spending NYE together this year, because Sean was working the night shift last year. I'm looking forward to a new year and setting new goals for myself and for us. 

 New Year's Eve 2007

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SECRET SANTA/UGLY SWEATER PARTY. 

it's our fourth annual Secret Santa party, and this year, we're adding the ugly sweater twist to it as well. all of our friends gather together for one whole day. the ladies usually spend the afternoon cooking a big holiday meal while the guys sit around and bullshit all day. we make a HUGE meal, consisting of turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc - basically, your typical Thanksgiving meal.

source

after we eat, we participate in a gift exchange and then spend the evening drinking and enjoying each others' company. the gift exchange usually includes several bottles of alcohol, so it's interesting to see what'll be passed around through people. it's always a LOT of fun to get everyone together, and I think the ugly Christmas sweaters will be a huge hit this year.

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NESTIE GTGS. 

super duper excited for this one. I've been a frequent poster on my wedding month message board on The Knot/The Nest since August of 2008. needless to say, I've become friends with quite a few of the ladies on our board. we've shared a lot of good (and bad) times together and we've become family. unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to meet any of them... until now. 

two of my faves, Krystyna and Tara, are coming to the DC area to visit with family and friends during the month of January (not at the same time, boo). I'm really looking forward to meeting up with them (and some other local ladies from DC/NoVA) and getting to know them in person, as opposed to over a message board. I'll get to meet Krystyna on the 1st, and Tara on the 15th. I'm SO excited! SQUEE!

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BLOGIVERSARY. 

can you believe it? on January 19th, I will have been a blogger for exactly ONE YEAR. amazing. I've loved being involved in the blogging community and I'm proud to say that I've met some wonderful people in doing so. it's such a joy to be part of such an elite group of people, and I look forward to meeting many more in the future. I'm thinking of hosting another giveaway, so make sure you check in around the middle of next month! 

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