and so it begins...

now that i am 28 weeks (how did that happen so fast?!), renovations on the nursery are full steam ahead!!! the color palette is going to be peach, coral, white, with pops of metallic gold and navy. this is my inspiration room...i just love these colors! here is the very, very messy before shot. we have removed the gross old carpeting and ordered new flooring. pat is going to paint this weekend. the color we selected is a fresh peachy hue, apricot lily, by behr.

more updates to come!

hi again.

(finally!) i can't believe this is a saturday where we have no plans. none. a very rare occasion. after a lovely night with friends kath, dan + reagan, spent this relaxing morning with pat drinking coffee, catching up on my fave blogs + even some karate kid. the past few months have been filled with work, gardening, fixing up the house, working on our loveleigh studio, dance recitals, the italian market festival, lots of invitations, 1st trip to the national stationery show + some bbqs. quite the busy start to the summer...

tomorrow my mom and i are heading to the beach for a very much needed mother-daughter day of relaxing in the sun!

easter brunch.

just wanted to share a few pics from easter sunday. it was very low key and just a beautiful day. my parents came over and we enjoyed a delicious meal of creme brulee french toast, fruit salad, mimosas and of course apple cupcakes for dessert...my mom made those! while breakfast was cooking, we sipped the mimosas on our back patio and enjoyed the sunshine and amazing weather. i found the french toast recipe on allrecipes.com. here are baking instructions:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 6 French bread
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Remove crusts from bread, and arrange in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange brandy, and salt. Pour over the bread. Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature.
4. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.

enjoy!

fab.

i have been on a very long search for unique wallpaper for our downstairs hallway. it has been pretty tough convincing my husband how fabulous wallpaper is these days and that it isn't like our grandmother's floral prints anymore. check out these amaaaazing designs by italian designers wall & deco. i absolutely love these first two (letterpress + sans).

some other really fun patterns.

before + after.

my mom and i are currently in the process of re-finishing my bedroom set to match the new bed pat and i purchased a few months ago. we already had a night stand and armoire and purchased a fabulous dresser from the holy redeemer thrift store in warminster for $45! i am documenting the entire process from start to finish...

day one. sanding + priming.

the new dresser from the thrift store.

day two. painting + searching for hardware.

first coat!

after two coats of paint, hopefully we only need one more!

we couldn't find hardware to fit the existing holes, so we needed to fill them up to drill some new ones. more to come....

we are getting there...

this is what it looked like when we first moved in...




aren't these the cutest, someone at our realtor's office made them for us!


this is the progress we have made in the past 2 weeks:





more before and after's soon!

finally!

well now i can finally make our big announcement....we bought a house! it was official as of yesterday. we are moving to lansdale...yes suburbia! we will definitely miss the city, but are very excited for the yard and driveway :)

i still don't think it has fully set in yet. here are some pix, we love it!



living room


dining area


kitchen



my office


bathroom



den...aka pat's man room


back patio


back yard


we are officially moving in on july 26th!!