{holiday time}

While I did not get around to taking pictures of any Christmas decor this season, or doing any type of blogging about the house,... I did manage to take some pictures while hanging out with both sides of our families for the holidays! 

On my brother's birthday {December 23rd} we almost always go the the plaza for dinner... I got a picture of all us siblings together, which I think turned out great! And according to Leanne she resembles "a linebacker," but she's actually just a cute pregnant lady in a winter coat! :)

The Prince clan...

Birthday boy & Lainey...

Mom & Hank...

And with Caleb's side of the family, there were some great photo opps during a playtime in the snow on Christmas Day!

So that's what I've been up to lately! Happy Holidays!

the new {old} house before pictures

Well after being in the house for about 3 weeks, I'm finally getting around to gathering all my "before" pictures to show.  Most of these pictures I took at our inspection of this house... which was back in July or August {before the first sell of the Hickory House fell through - read about that here}. So if you pay close attention to the outside pictures you'll notice the seasons aren't the same.  I did forget to take pictures of certain rooms during the inspection {like the front of the house and the kitchen... my mind was absent that day...}, so a few pictures I recently took.

A couple of facts about the house...

• it's 100+ years old
• we nicknamed it the "rainbow house" when we first looked at... you'll soon see why.
• the style of the house is folk victorian, not to be confused with a traditional victorian with lots of bay windows and gingerbread trim... folk victorian is more simple and usually the house is a square or "L" shape.... ours is pretty much a square.
• 3 bedroom, 2.5 half {3 bedroom is a step down from our house we just moved out of which was 4 bedroom... but we were fine with that}
• 2 story {all the bedrooms are on the 2nd floor}, and it does have a basement, but not one we could ever "finish"
• this house is part of Caleb & I's attempt to live more simply that what we did before {smaller house, lower mortgage payment}

Let the tour begin....

Front - I don't love the colors... but I don't hate them. For now they will stay as is.    Can you spot Lola??

And lets transition back to the summer season... :)

Anyone else need deck stairs that 20 people could stand on at a time?

I love the old details like this door handle and the trim - this is the original front door of the house.

Foyer/Entry

Did you know red is one of my least favorite colors on walls??? Lucky me! Don't worry... these are short-lived.

 

Standing on the landing of the stairs, you can either go up or take a back hallway to the kitchen

Living Room

Dark purple? Also not a fan...

The first of two fireplaces

Standing in the dining room looking into the living room

Dining Room

Ugly green? Yes!

Fireplace #2... that's the previous owner's wood, not mine.  I inquired about buying it... she wanted $200... ummm no.

Kitchen

 Pumpkin orange, anyone?

I already changed the lights over the kitchen island... they were too big and horrible looking! I forgot to take real pictures before they came down, so here are phone pics of Caleb and his dad taking them down...

They were as wide as the island itself!

And two of them! I couldn't wait to get rid of them so I could stop ducking my head while cooking!

And here you can see what I replaced them with... simple globe lights! One still without a bulb. :)

Laundry

Washer/Dryer coming soon! They will be stacked in that corner!

Bedrooms

This room also needs painting and that crap taken off the wall... are you seeing a pattern here?

This is a VERY old dress that was found within the walls of the house during renovations years ago... it stayed with the house as part of the history.

Hall bathroom

I love the classic black & white tiles in this bathroom

Master Bedroom

Master bath

Walk-in shower tile floor... so glad her tile choices weren't anything like the wall color choices!

That's pretty much it! Lots of painting has already taken place so those pictures will come as I get more rooms in order!

my christmas {& birthday} wishlist

Christmas & my birthday are only 3 days apart... {this year I'll be 28 on the 28th - my golden birthday!}  Some of my family members like to know specific items I'd like for gifts, so around this time of year I make a wishlist of things I like.  Here's pretty much everything that made the list... :)

1. Nate Berkus Bath Rug in Mint - Target // 2. Foldover Clutch in Gold Stripe - Etsy // 3. Tasseled Hand Towel - Anthro // 4. Perpetual Blooms Hand Towel - Anthro // 5. Little Book of Lettering - shopruche.com {or Amazon} // 6. Poppies Art Print - Etsy

 

1. Skinny Sweatpant - J. Crew {or similar elsewhere for less $$!} // 2. Marled Colorblock Sweater - J. Crew // 3. Fair Isle Striped Sweater - Madewell // 4. Flannel Popover in Buffalo Plaid - Madewell // 5. Softfleck Sweater - Madewell {I like the lilac color too}

And of course I can't forget my list within the list... stuff from Rifle Paper Company...

1. Hairbrush Print // 2. Citrus Floral Tin Recipe Box // 3. Baker's Recipe Cards // 4. Holiday Pine Wrapping Sheets // 5. Wildflower Wrapping Sheets

I have WAY too much fun making these wishlist! :) Also, I find it very scary that Christmas is less than 8 weeks away!!!

We're moving

That's right... It's for real this time. Moving in one week from today! So excited! 

Lots more to come... :)

baby shower {traveler by sea}

This past weekend, my friends {Katie & Melody} and I were able to throw our friend Natalie a baby shower for her expectant baby boy! We had so much fun putting this all together for her {and the little guy}! Our theme for the shower took off from Natalie's plans for his nursery, which has a travel theme to it. When I was going through my graphics to make an invitation, I happened to have some really adorable nautical graphics that are perfect for a baby shower.  I went with a ship on the invite and that is what sparked our decision to make this a "traveler by sea." Here's the invite...

We went brunch style for this shower, which meant really good food. {I happen to LOVE breakfast food}. Melody is an amazing cook/baker so she made some amazing staple food items. We also came up with really cute names for all the food items to tie in with our theme! :)

We tied in lots of maps & globes into the decor.  Gathering everything for decorating was very easy and it's definitely a theme that could work for gender neutral showers too. Melody had an antique standing globe and she provided a lot of the serving dishes. Katie had lots of great items in her house that worked well, including a framed ship print, a globe, and a small suitcase. I downloaded free map prints and printed them on just regular paper.  I choose mainly maps with a vintage vibe because all of the colors were softer and had blues & aquas, which paired nicely with black & white stripes for our color scheme. I made the garland using the map prints, ribbon, & twine. I also purchased a 6 foot piece of pom-pom trim off Etsy for less than $1/yard.

We purchased a couple of things for decor use at the shower that would be part of a gift from all of us hostesses to Natalie.  The small ship print and the "P" {for the baby's name} that was mod-podged with one of the printed maps, were our group gifts to her to use in his room or wherever she sees fit!

Paper straws in mason jars & little flags were also a must... because they are adorable! Our beverage of choice for the brunch was OJ + ginger ale! Here's a full view of the food table...

Of course we played a few {non-cheesy} games... including "Name that Tune" with songs that had the word "baby" in the title or lyrics. :)

Afterwards we snapped a few pictures of the relatives & hostesses with the guest{s} of honor...

There's 3 sets of sisters in these pics... :)

Katie, Natalie {and baby}, Melody & I

We all had so much fun throwing this shower! Now we all can't wait to meet the little guy!