Photography Challenge

I received a new camera for Christmas- the Nikon D3100 digital SLR. It was the only thing I wanted and my husband surprised me with it on Christmas morning. I am obsessed with it! I taught myself the basics and I'd like to eventually take a photography class to learn all there is to learn about it, which I know is a lot! I've always loved taking pictures, but this is my first "professional" camera. Ellie has been my subject for most of my photos. I love capturing all of her faces, smiles, and movements.

I came across this photography challenge on Pinterest. For the month of February I will be taking a picture of a different item every day. I thought it would be fun to share and also help me take a variety of shots. Of course, I'll still be taking a ton of pictures of Ellie, in addition. :)

I will try to post that day's photo every night, but in reality it may be every couple of days. I'm looking forward to the first challenge!

Unexpected Seating at Target

I was at a friend's house Friday night (for a Bunco game night- very fun!) and she had a super comfortable armless chair from Target. She said it was only $100 online. It was also a colorful floral print that really brightened up her space. I can't find the exact one nor can I find one for only $100, but I did find a few others that I'm loving:

A warm golden wing back chair. I love the sophistication of the nail head trim:

Wing Back Chair with Nailhead Trim

I love these 2 benches in the chevron gray and the ikat pink fabrics. Plus, they provide hidden storage!

Storage Bench in Gray

Storage Bench in Pink

This deep teal colored chair is so rich looking. Looks very comfortable, too!

Turquoise Velvet Loft Chair

I'm loving the fun geometric print:

Dolce Arm Chair

An unexpected metallic pouf. Perfect for extra seating or a foot rest. I could see this in my pink dressing room!

Decorative Pouf

Overall, I'm impressed with the variety of seating at Target. Not only with the colors and fabrics, but also the style. Target has never been a place to look when I was shopping for furniture, but it definitely will be in the future!

What I've Been Up To

While I haven't been as committed to blogging lately as I'd like to be, I've been keeping busy with house projects and, of course, my daughter. Here are a few of the things that have been keeping me occupied:

Ellie is on the move. She just turned 9 months (already!) and is pretty quick these days. She doesn't do a traditional crawl, but instead scoots on her tummy or scoots while sitting with 1 leg out. Pretty funny to watch.

She almost always has something in her mouth whether it's my thumb or a toy- she is getting a tooth any day now. I also went from being a blonde to a brunette and I'm loving it. I've gotten tons of compliments so it may be staying for a while. Ellie and I have been keeping ourselves busy during the days with meet ups with other Moms and babies in addition to our weekly play group.

Pinterest: my obsession (find me here). I'm always pinning! Right now, I'm brainstorming ideas for Ellie's 1st birthday party. On a side note two of my friends just opened up an Etsy shop on paper creations. Very cool! They do everything from invitations to cupcake toppers to banners. Check out their Etsy shop, R&R Creations, and here is a photo of cupcake toppers from a Winter Wonderland party:

Since Ellie's birthday is in April I'm thinking a flower theme. When I think of her birthday I think of the day we came home from the hospital to a front yard filled with just bloomed daffodils and tulips and a pink dusting all over our yard from our cherry blossom trees. Very fitting since we were bringing home our baby girl!

I've also been working on our office/guest room/workout room. We have an elliptical machine and a day bed in this room, but it is primarily used as our office. I'm working on the office space. After weeks of looking on Craigslist for a white desk I finally found a perfect one for only $10. Right now it is in our front room (formal living room) until we sell our current desk. Here is a photo I snapped:

One of my recent projects was spray painting a file cabinet. LOVE it!! It was fairly easy, too. I went with a bright aqua paint. Here is a photo, and I will add more once the room is complete. I stenciled an 'e' and an 'n' on light blue damask scrapbook paper. One drawer for me and the bottom for my husband. It feels great to file away all of our paperwork!

Other items on the office checklist include a diy fabric bulletin board, mail storage, prints, and window treatments. A separate post will follow as more progress is made so check back soon!

File Cabinet Makeover

I bought an old two-drawer file cabinet from Craigslist for $10. It's probably been sitting in our garage for 8 months. I finally was fed up with the piles of paperwork and file folders waiting for a home. I bought turquoise spray paint (two bottles were needed for two coats) and painted the cabinet in our breezeway outside (a covered walkway between our house and garage).

I first took out the drawers, then wiped down the cabinet with a damp cloth. I added tape around the hardware and only did the front of the drawers. After the cabinet was finished and dry I added labels on each drawer using scrapbook paper and an "e" for "Emily" and an "n" for "Nick" to keep our files organized. I love the final project!

The "before:"

And, the "after:"

HGTV Dream Home 2012

While flipping through the channels yesterday I came across a segment on HGTV of the 2012 dream home. Although not one of my favorite dream homes of HGTV I would, of course, still love to win! It could definitely be my dream home- especially with the amazing view from every window. It was built in Park City, Utah and is very rustic. Lots of stone and beautiful woodwork. I am showing you my favorite spaces of the home and my favorite decorating pieces:

2012 Dream Home in Utah

Foyer

Great Room

Kitchen

Dining Room

View from kitchen into great room

Dining table

Master Bedroom

Bathroom of Bedroom 1

Outdoor Space

The great room is my favorite room in the house. It reminds me so much of our great room with the stone and fireplace. I especially love the framed ikat fabric over the mantel. I plan to replicate this! I love the coffee table with the glass tiered candle holders. I like that they are clear yet they still make a statement without competing with color. I love how the designers brought in the color scheme of blues and greens to bring the outside colors in.

I also love the functionality of the kitchen and the dining room. It's an open floor plan and the size is perfect for a family setting. Not too big. I love the wood dining table and the chairs with the reoccurring blue ikat fabric. The dark wood blinds pair perfect with the space and, again, remind me of our house. We just had these blinds installed in our front room! I love the simple accessories, the rustic feel, and the calming colors. The outdoor entertaining space looks so cozy and inviting. I could definitely vacation here!