Interior Design: Master Bedroom

I waited all weekend long for a day of sunshine to snap a good pic of our master bedroom. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. Monday. It would not stop raining in Dallas, y'all! The lighting is tricky because our master bedroom is an addition to the house, and the only natural light is from the French doors that lead out to our patio in the backyard.

Which means, on a good day (read: sunny) it's hard to get the lighting right. I tried numerous lighting situations and this pic was the best out of all the rainy day shots I took:

Adding to the challenge is the fact that the room is an L shape, with the bed having an alcove - an alcove away from the French doors and away from all natural light at that! (Which makes for an excellent sleeping situation, BTW). Anyway, enough with the photo excuses, lets talk design elements.

First, the walls are a light grey and the floors have a cherry wood stain. Neutrals, whites and greys seem to be incredibly popular color schemes for bedrooms lately. In fact, our former duvet cover was a deep grey color from West Elm. But in a grey room that has minimal lighting, it just seemed so... I don't know, grey.

So we decided to spruce up the room with some new details. We went with a duvet cover and shams from The Hotel Collection at Macy's. It's a silvery-blue-purple-grey and the pattern running through it is a metallic silver. I liked how the color complimented the walls without blending into them and  popped against the floors. The metallic pattern brought out the silver lamps we already had (one from West Elm, the other from Pier One). I love how the lamps are similar in size and the same color, but the shapes are different to provide an interesting focal point in the room.

I mentioned in this post that I enjoy doing some crafty things, and the K and P you see above the bed was made by me. I picked up all the supplies at Michael's Craft Store. To DIY, you'll need to pick out your letters, the paint colors you wish to paint them, foam board, frames (glassless, backless, "in-the-raw" frames will allow you to construct this project freely), and then the paper you want as the background for the letter. Paint several coats of your desired color over the letter (I used acrylic paint), letting each coat dry fully before the next one. Cut your foam board with a razor to fit your frame, then rubber cement your paper background to the foam board (make sure the paper you select will fit the size of the frame). Hot glue the frame to the pre-cut, paper covered background foam board. After that has dried and your letters are painted, dried and ready, hot glue them to the paper covered foam board. It's much easier to center the letter within the frame if your frame is glued down and ready to go first!

TIP: I used a white foam board, but you can see the frames are dark. I used a Sharpee market to darken the quarter inch of foam board around the edges so that the white didn't stick out on the wall. Also, I used 3M wall adhesive (you know, the kind that come in strips and that you pull one side and it releases? Yeah, those) to get the finished frames on the wall.

We love how the master bedroom is calming without being boring (you know, like shades of grey tend to be!) There's just enough purple and blue in the duvet cover for it to be interesting yet still "gender neutral" enough for both of us. The personalized wall decor is perfect for such a personal space, and is pretty easy (and fun!) to make. The best part is that you can craft it to look good with any color scheme you have in your room.

$#*! That Happens In Yoga

If you've ever been on a yoga mat, even once, even five or more years ago, you likely know that you've heard and seen some pretty crazy things. The guy next to you breathing SO LOUD. (Does he have a cold or something?! Dang, I don't want to get sick...) The instructor pacing the room, telling you to breathe joy into your back. (My back?! My back doesn't have lungs, chick!) The crazy looking hippie in the back, who smiles the WHOLE time and grips mala beads. (Wait, are beads necessary for this?! Is there an arts and crafts portion of this class later?!)

I've been taking yoga classes for years and years now, and these yogic stereotypes still manage to crack me up. Allow me to address them:

"That Guy" who is breathing so loud it's distracting? He's actually doing it right! It's called ujjayi breathing, or "the ocean breath." One performs this by constricting the back of the throat so that you control (basically, slow down and deepen) how much oxygen you take in and release in each breath. Coincidentally, this makes a sound. Ujjayi breathing helps you move from pose to pose while focusing more on your breath, and less on if your Warrior 2 is perfect. It also helps you to breathe entirely through your nose, regardless of how fast your flow is moving (the goal in yoga is to "train" yourself/your lungs to function via the nose so that you're more mindful about your breath). Yes, not only did I just give you permission to make strange sounds in your next yoga class, I'm encouraging you! It's a bit strange at first, but I now LOVE being next to loud people as it reminds me to do the same, and almost "gives me permission" to be louder in class.

"Inhale joy into your lower spine; exhale out negativity." In teacher training to become a yoga instructor, we actually get tested on our verbal cues on breath and body placement. Some poses work better on an  inhale, others are best for an exhale. That's why the instructor is telling you when to breathe. For example, you wouldn't want to take a big breath in for a forward fold - by nature of anatomy, your inflated lungs would inhibit your ability to fully bend over, limiting the stretch you would/should get.

When the instructor adds something like, "inhale into your lower spine", s/he is bringing your attention to that part of your body. Are you holding tension there? Probably. "Breathing into it" is a way to remind you that 1) it's there and 2) let that tension go. Give it a little shot of oxygen and release those muscles! If you have an extra-verbal instructor who tells you to "inhale joy into your lower spine" s/he is attempting to remind you to do exactly what I said above, but that it should also feel good. If you're like me, I get caught up in how dumb that sounds and completely forget about the joy, the inhale, and the tension release. So overly verbal-happy instructors aren't my vibe, to say the least. A "let it feel good!" is kosher; a "let the light radiate from your toes!" is enough to elicit an audible snort of laughter from me. Let's get serious here, nobody's toes are radiating anything. Or, radiating anything good...

Crazy-smiling-mala-bead-wearing-hippie. The mala beads have 108 beads on them, which is a sacred number in traditional yogic practices. The beads are used as a "counter" of sorts, so that s/he can repeat their own personal mantra in their head that very specific number of times. I can't personally multitask to the level of listening and practicing a flow AND repeating my own mantra 108 times in a class. The five or so minutes you get in savasana at the end isn't remotely enough time to make it through 108 repetitions, so I don't personally wear them in a class. But I certainly don't judge those who do! They have more yogi skills than I do, that's for sure.

Why are they so dang happy looking and smiling?! Remember that personal mantra I was talking about? I can PROMISE you it's something positive, whether it's reflecting internally (about themselves - "I am loved. I love") or it's external ("The world is good. The world is beautiful.") When you start to repeat positive messages over and over again, and you focus on your breath in a class and release tension and stress, there simply is no way that you wouldn't smile. That crazy hippie in the back practices this everyday. Frankly, they've got it figured out, readers! I used to think, "Damn she looks insane!" and now I think, "Man, she's got it together! I'm going to work to be more like her. She looks 15 years younger than she really is and is clearly happy... Wait, where are my mala beads?!"

The thing that's so great about yoga is that you can take the parts that work for you, and leave the parts that don't. However, I'd encourage you to look into and experiment with the part of yoga that you judge or make you uncomfortable. You never know what you could be missing! At worst, you conclude that it's indeed not for you; at best, your whole life is changed for the better.

*You'll notice in the photos that my hands aren't flat on the mat - they appear as though they're cupping something. That's intentional! Your wrists host TONS of nerves that go to your hands and fingers. Cupping your hands like I do in these photos is a way to take the weight off the center part of your wrist where those nerves travel, and prevent pain that can come with long-term yoga practices/poses that carry a lot of weight in your upper body (such as arm balances and inversions). This effect is magnified in pregnant women. I was about 28-29 weeks in this shoot, so my hands are "extra cuppy" to protect my wrists. Hey, the more you know, right?!

Mommy Monday: Weekend / Yoga / Bed Rest "Style"

Most of you know by now that I was put on bed rest last week in attempts to curb my preterm labor. Going from someone who didn't sit down for longer than 30 minutes at a time to being confined to the house and laying around for most of the day has been, ummmm... Interesting. And by interesting, I really mean the opposite of interesting because actually it's quite dull compared to my former life.


Since I am fortunate enough to get some move about time to shower and such, I immediately realized creating a daily schedule (like I did when I started working from home) would be KEY in still feeling like a normal, productive human. Showering, putting on some makeup and doing my hair is crucial to not feeling like a hermit-slob-preggo! I think my husband appreciates it, too.

However, since so much of my time is confined to a horizontal position, it really doesn't make too much sense for me to get FULLY dressed (you know, jeans would dig into my hips as I lay on my side; a "real" bra would do the same and the wires would shift about, etc). So upon the second day of my "bed rest sentence" I realized I'd have to utilize some of my yogi style skills so that I felt normal, but could still stay comfortable.

Presenting my yogi solution to bed rest style:

Charcoal grey yoga pants from Destination Maternity; "washed melon" top from Target; gold monogram necklace from Mark and Graham

Essentially, I determined that I needed to get "ready" enough so that I felt pretty and normal, but not enough to be uncomfortable all day long. Normal for me happens to be yoga clothes, which just so happen to ALSO be comfortable! WIN! So, my yogi wardrobe will remain in high rotation despite the fact that I'm banned from my mat for the next six weeks. I don't normally wear any jewelry to the yoga studio, so I decided to include a necklace/earrings/watch/etc with my daily look to be a little more "fancy."

As you can see, this "look" is completely appropriate for those of you lovelies who are not on bed rest but want something comfortable yet functional on the weekends. Maybe you're not pregnant but want some new ideas to wear on your yoga mat, or just out running errands. Any way you slice it, I'm a huge fan of dressing up my yoga clothes to become an actual outfit!

Beyond the "what to wear" question, it also struck me as ridic to put a full face of makeup on when not only am I not leaving the house, but I'm lying down (hello bronzer stains on throw pillows!) So, I decided to do a super-toned-down makeup routine. It consists of under eye concealer, blush, brow highlighter and mascara. Juuuust enough to make me look good and alive! Not enough to waste too much of my treasured "up" time by doing extensive makeup that nobody besides my husband and doggies will see. Bueno! My hair has become INSANELY STRAIGHT during pregnancy. So the hair you see pictured above has zero product in it, and is a byproduct of simply blow drying it. No round brush, no hairspray. This is just how my hair rolls. Loooooooooove my low-maintenance hair!

One final note about THIS top:

I've mentioned on social media before about how disappointed I am in Target Maternity, and was NEVER a Target clothes shopper prior to pregnancy. There always seems to be threads hanging from every seam and the sizing doesn't work for tall, lanky people such as myself. That's my disclaimer for this review!

The irony here is that I had initially typed up a review of this top that was SCATHING. I put it on, looked in the mirror, and stared straight at my nipples peeping through the cheap, sheer fabric of the "double lined sports bra" top. I was so disgusted, I ripped it off and put it back in the bag to return it (after I took a shot of it to share with you all that you SHOULD NOT buy it - muhahaha!)

Now. I'm 31 weeks preggers. I'm huge. I have an extensive collection of expensive yoga wear from high-end brands that I abso-freakin-lutely ADORE. Which is why I went and attempted to get some "cheap stuff" - I don't want to stretch out my pre-pregnancy yoga clothes so that I can't wear them post baby. But since I only have a few weeks left, I didn't want to go and spend my husband's entire paycheck (you're welcome, babe) on some new outfits. So I gave Tar-get one more go. I managed to find this top, AND it was 50% off.

Anyway, I will say this about the shirt: It's not maternity, so any of you lady-readers can get it and fit into it. You WILL need to wear a sports bra under the built in sports bra (yes, even you lucky A cup ladies), not only for bounce-protection but for basic decency and coverage. However, it is super lightweight (a bonus for all my Southern ladies) and it IS comfortable. It's also pretty cute on. So for me, at the price point and now considering my bed rest situation, it's a keeper. If you like quality, I'd just go right ahead and skip clicking the link, 'cause this ain't it! If you're like me and price is your primary concern, I'd check it out and pair it with other brightly colored sports bras (you can barely see it, but mine was neon yellow in the first pic.)

High Five for Friday!

If you read this post, then you know this week was on a whole different level.

Which means, a whole different level of High Five for Friday. Not that I'm not thankful for "little things" this week, but preeeeeeety much all of my thankfulness surrounds the fact that I did NOT give birth this week to a 3lb baby!

Given that, here are my top five moments of the week:

1) Baby Boy is still a little bun, bakin' in my oven! ThankthegoodLordandbabyJesus

2) My bed rest is a two hours on, two hours up situation. I don't HAVE to be horizontal All. Day. Every. Day. I can still shower and do some normal-people activities!

3) In fact, I used one of my "two hour breaks" to run to Micheal's Craft Store and get some crafting materials for the nursery. HINT: These are indeed baby boy's initials/monogram. We've have his name picked out since the beginning, which was good because we only had a boy name picked out. The story goes like this: Me: "Babe, I want to name our baby _________ if it's a boy; I've loved that name for YEARS." Hubby: "I like it! Done." Which, frankly, is how most decisions are made in our household; me asking for what I want/what my husband thinks, and him (very wisely!) giving the go-ahead. What can I say, I know what I want.

Monogram painting and picture frame crafts are underway!

4) Last weekend, I mentioned that my sister was in town and that we were having our maternity shoot. Well, the weather was beautiful and we managed to get some FANTASTIC shots! I can't wait to see the rest of them and put a few up in the nursery and our master bedroom. Until then, here's another one of the preview shots I got to check out:

Paige and Baby Boy at 30 weeks

5) If you follow me on Instagram then you likely know about this pic. I've gotten TONS of dog snuggles since being laid up on the couch! My little man Otis Beaufort is the BEST at dog snuggles.

Happy Weekend everyone!

And Then There Was... Bed Rest

You read that title right.

Bed rest.

Two words that literally encapsulate my own personal definition of hell. Bed bound. Couch bound. No exercise. No activities. No outings. No life. I have been put on bed rest for essentially the remainder of my pregnancy: for the next six weeks or until my condition stabilizes and improves.

I had initially typed up a whole novel, describing what happened - not in extensive detail, but the post got lengthy anyway. To spare you the boring, medical heavy read, I started to go into preterm labor. My contractions were painless, but I did have "back labor" that was INDEED painful. These painless contractions (called Braxton Hicks... Until you start to have them ten minutes apart) even started to dilate me so that this little 30 week gestation babe would come out. No no no!

Thankfully, my midwives were able to assess my situation and give me some tools to stay out of a hospital and keep this baby in and cookin' for a while longer. Best rest is a surprisingly controversial topic and medical practice. It's not my or my midwives goal to keep me on this obnoxious path; but drastic measures had to be taken to stop my body from going into labor, relax my muscles (including that big bully of a muscle, the uterus!), and get things back on track to having a full-term baby. I have another appointment in two weeks to reevaluate how things are going, and there is a chance I could  have some of my restrictions lifted. Then again, I potentially could stay on this path for a full six weeks. Exercise (at least, in the forms that I'm used to) are O-U-T until 37 weeks when I'm full term and baby boy can safely enter the world, but that's ok with me. I'd be happy with the ability to leave the house at this point!

I've now been on bed rest for two days. Oddly, it's FLOWN by. The truth is, I was feeling really, really crappy. With the nonstop rest, I'm actually starting to feel normal again! Go figure. I have to be horizontal (i.e. laying on a bed or couch), but am allowed a "two hours on, two hours off" ratio where I can get up and shower, make a quick meal, and stay seated/upright long enough to eat it and put my dishes in the dishwasher. So, it could be worse! I really believe in finding the positive and bright spots in a bad situation, so this is exactly what I'm drop-to-my-knees-thankful for right now:

• I'm writing this from my bed, not from a NICU. I'm feeling my 30 week old son move inside me, not staring at him wiggle and struggle to breathe in an incubator. He's still exactly where he should be and still getting exactly what he needs to make a successful entrance into the world.

• I'm not in a hospital with synthetic drugs running through my veins in attempts to stop a preterm labor AND I get brief periods of time throughout the day to get up and move! (I'm technically on a hybrid of modified and strict bed rest.)

• There's a chance I won't have to spend the remainder of my pregnancy on bed rest! If things have improved at my next appointment, I'll likely be able to incorporate light daily activities back into my day with scheduled rest time. I'm very encouraged that even in the short time I've been on bed rest, my contractions have DRAMATICALLY decreased - what I used to experience in an hour, I'm not even having in a 24hr full day. This is promising! At my next apt, I'll be 32 weeks and having multiple, painless contractions a day will officially be in the "normal zone." Yay!

• I have some amazing friends and family. Friends who have gone "on call" in case I need anything, and family who volunteered to fly to Dallas immediately or upon me/my husband's request to help out. Seriously, we lucked out with some great people in our lives.

• I got to spend what could be my last "baby free, bed rest free" weekend with my sister! We took AMAZING maternity shots, went to lots of yoga and ate good food. I have a lucky habit of going out with a bang (my husband and I took a weekend trip to New Orleans; two days after returning we found out about our surprise pregnancy!) and this was no different. Excellent :)

• All MAJOR baby preparations are done. He has all his furniture ordered and it will start to trickle in over the coming weeks; all important gear (i.e. car seat) is already in our home; registries are created; most new born necessities bought, etc. Any remaining things I need can be bought online and shipped to my front door, and I can use my two hours of "up time" to organize the nursery. THANK GOODNESS.  

And since sharing a pic of me on bed rest wouldn't be very interesting, nor is my view from said bed/couch, nor are my activities, here is a preview shot I received yesterday of our maternity shoot I referenced above! We lucked out with a beautiful, sun shine filled day to spend at White Rock Lake and the Dallas Arboretum. I love that we can have a March outdoor shoot in tank tops and blooming flowers in Texas!

Interior Design: Common Living Space Wall Decor

I mentioned in this post that I was working on a project for the living room. Last week, I posted this post about blending styles to create a comfortable living space when you and your spouse have, uhhh... errrrrr... Different styles.

I'm happy to report that I was finally able to complete our living room decor this past weekend! This project has been on my brain for well over a year. I had every intention of doing this in the townhome that we used to live in... But never quite found the time to select what prints with what frames to create a cohesive theme. Yadayadayada. I just never did it, end of story.

Alas, I did manage to get around to it in our new home! Without further commentary, our living room wall decor:

The silver frames are from Crate & Barrel; the black frames are unknown! You'll see there's room to add more frames as we expand our family and we also have the option to rotate out the pictures within the frames to keep our wall "current."

We have a "great room" type of setup in our home, so that the living room, dining room and kitchen are all open to each other. While this is a large space, we also have four massive, floor-to-ceiling windows. These windows let in a wonderful amount of light into the room, but REALLY limit the wall space for any sort of artwork/decor. So while we have this big space, it's broken up quite nicely with the windows so that we don't have one (or more!) massive, blank wall to attempt to cover up.

What I like about creating a "larger image" by grouping together multiple smaller items/frames is that you can customize the look and size to the room and the wall space you're working with. So, if you have a reeeeeeal big space, you can use a larger number of larger prints/frames to cover the space; if it's smaller, you can mix and match sizes to achieve the effect you're after. Also, we happen to have four large pieces of furniture in the room (sectional couch, 6' bookshelf, 65" TV and entertainment center below wall-mounted TV - men and their large TV's, amirightladies?! Every time my husband wants to go to the movies, I ask, "Why?! We have a home theater complete with blinding screen and surround sound, better food, cleaner bathrooms and no obnoxious teenagers on their phones texting throughout the whole movie!" But I digress...)

The same concept applied with four pieces of art, all the same size in the same mat and frame. This is the only wall space left with all the large windows in our Great Room! The curtains also work to add some texture to the room.

Having smaller pieces on the wall provides some balance to the room, so that it's not dwarfed by all the "big" things in it. Creating a wall decor look sufficient for the space out of smaller items helps provide balance when dealing with a large space full of large furniture. It can also break up consistent shapes in the room. For example, if you have a rectangle couch, with a rectangle coffee table, with the rectangle of your TV all in the same room, you can "break up" that shape by creating an array of frames creatively on your wall. In the picture above, I used a square to break up the long rectangles of the windows.

That wraps up our common living space updates! Up next: our master bedroom. We're juuuuuuust about complete with what that room will look like, so expect a post about how I got creative in that large, dark space (it really is the antithesis of our Great Room from a lighting perspective!)

Simplifying Your Cleaning Routine

Whether you hate cleaning, or you're insanely busy with work and hobbies and don't have time to clean, or you "make" yourself busy with work and hobbies in order to not have time to clean, one thing is pretty clear: Cleaning is a massive pain in the rump!

When both the hubby and I were working extra-full-time hours, we hired a cleaning service to come in every other week and get the job done. Outside of wiping down kitchen counters, we simply let the dust bunnies (really, these should be called the dog hair bunnies, because that's exactly what they were) pile up until our fantastic service would come and clean everything away.

Now that I stay home, a cleaning service seems a tad excessive to me. But staying home didn't manage to change the fact that I, like you, really dislike cleaning! So I had to get creative when devising a plan to keep this house clean. This is what I've come up with to stay on top of the cleaning without feeling like I'm ALWAYS cleaning, or that the house is ALWAYS dirty:

- Do a little bit each day
For me, I have my "daily" areas and my "rotation" areas. The kitchen gets wiped down and dishes get done daily (ahem, multiple times a day). I also run the vacuum daily, but have divided the house into two sections and alternate what part gets vacuumed each day. Now, this is because we have hardwoods throughout the whole house (zero carpet) and one massive doggie shed-er and one who tracks in grass, leaves, various forms of nature, etc. Bottom line, just figure out the part of your house that has to be attended to regularly given your life circumstances and add it to the "daily" list. I would try to keep it to two to four things that you can't stand seeing a mess - your whole house can't end up on this list :)

Major time saver: Dirt Devil Express V6. It's cordless and bag-less and perfect for picking up dog hair in corners and along baseboards of hardwood floors.

-Pick a task, not a room
The "rotation" consists of a task. I won't pick a room in the house and break out the duster, floor cleaner, Windex, and whatever else may be needed to clean it. Rather, I pick one cleaning item related to one task and do it throughout the whole house. For example, today I broke out the duster and dusted every room in the house. Tomorrow, I'll likely get a few bathroom cleaning products (say, toilet cleaner and soft scrub to clean the sinks) to work on our two bathrooms; then possibly the next day I'll break out the floor mop and cleaner to get the bathroom and kitchen floors.

Picking a task over a room means that you only have to prepare and put away one to two cleaning items. It's a huge waste of time to get all the stuff out to clean "just one room" - you'll spend half your time prepping and then cleaning up after your clean, as opposed to actually cleaning! Breaking it down by task enables you to get what you need out, get your work done and actually spend your timing cleaning, and then clean up only what you used for all the spaces in the house that used that cleaning item.

The Swifter Dusters makes dusting furniture and wall decor super easy: the replaceable wand covers actually trap dust so you don't push it around your house, nor have to spray toxic chemicals and then wipe them up for a proper cleaning. I can dust my entire house in 20 minutes with this little guy!

I've found this to be a really helpful cleaning "hack" that helps to simplify the cleaning process and make it much more bearable. Remember: Have your "daily" list of things that need daily attention and limit that list to no more than four items. Then pick your "rotation" that uses one cleaning agent, and clean all areas in the house that use that particular cleaning agent. Happy reduced stress and more efficient cleaning!

If anyone knows of any similar tactics to use for laundry, by all means send me an email! I despise laundry and would love to hear about any ways/methods you have to make that a more enjoyable process.