New bed!

So last night was the first night on my new california king sleigh bed. It. Is. Awesome! This day has been a long time coming. I am deeply in love. Especially since it only cost me $350 for the frame, box spring and mattress. Here she is:

Ignore the ugly bedding from my old bed.

Of course Hunter had to get in on the action.

The frame is a little beat up but that is okay with me because eventually I am going to be painting it white. So far I have only bought sheets for it ($50 Calvin Klein 350 thread count, thankyouverymuch TJ Maxx!). I really want to go out and buy bedding but I can't decide what I want. Plus I feel that I need to save whats left of my cash for locating a dresser and end tables.

I have really been digging the shabby chic/cottage/vintage/retro look lately and I have been considering this duvet from Target:

Shabby Chic Blue Hydrangea

While this bedding would go well with the (eventual) white bed frame, it practically screams GIRL! And that just doesn't seem fair to the hubs. I need to find a way to achieve the cottage/vintage feel I want without having flowers everywhere. I really like this one from Potter Barn:

Pottery Barn

It is GORGEOUS and I want it bad! I just worry that the white duvet on a white bed frame will be TOO white. I definitely still want to incorporate colors no matter what. Some rosey pinks, soft yellows and aqua.

In the mean time I am on the lookout for a dresser like this one:

The Nester

I love the shape and lines. It feels vintage without being too atomic or stark and all it needed was some white paint to make it shine. I'd like to find something hardwood like this but under $100 (this one cost The Nester $20 at a garage sale!).

As far as the night stands I am still undecided. I know it has to have drawers, or at least one drawer. I like night stands, small dressers and console tables for this.

Tomorrow morning I am off to some garage sales on my search, wish me luck!

A beautiful outting with the family

On Tuesday since it was such a spectacular day, the hubs and I decided to go out and enjoy this rare treat. First we went to Discovery Park. We were going to hike but instead we got a pass to drive down to the beach.

Hunter was very excited!

The Discovery Lighthouse

Hunter loves posing these days

Um, Hunter? Heh

He spent most of his time throwing rocks

Cool sailboat

Add caption

Walking back to our car

After we were done exploring Discovery we decided to head over to the Ballard Locks. I have lots of fond memories of the Locks from my girlhood. My Papa was quite the sailor and he loved taking us out on the boat. It was one of my favorite places to be, on Papa's sailboat. It had this total 70's brick red, green and yellow interior and kitchy sailing decor. I loved every square inch of that boat. Especially the little nook right next to the ladder that led down to the cabin. Nothing like letting the waves lull you to sleep. Anyway so because it was Tuesday the Locks were happily quiet and quite beautiful.

Posing at the entrance

Ballard Locks

There were quite a few of this beautiful tree

Boats in the locks

The powerful fish ladder

Unfortunately these cool sculptures were roped off

I love the terraced lawns. Perfect place for a picnic.

Bubs <3

Gorgeous lawns. Prefect for a wedding!

He was hyper beyond control at this point

Stunning blooms

It was a magnificent day and now that the sun is coming out to play I am looking forward to many more.

Pinterest

While I was busy drooling over all the wonderful blogs that I follow I stumbled across Pinterest . I found it on Thrifty Decor Chick , at this post. The author of Thrifty Decor Chick shares a link to a blog post that includes a video explaining how to use Pinterest and a link to a free invite to the site (you have to be invited to join). This is that blog post.

Pinterest is super easy to use and tons of fun. I use it to corral all my decorating ideas, inspirations and projects. It is addicting, I am warning you. Here is my Pinterest if you are interested! My Pinterest!

Diet, day 7

Today marks the last day of my first week on the Atkins diet. Chris and I had gotten gym memberships at Emerald City Gym in early April and we were working out faithfully 3 - 5 times a week. I wasn't losing any weight though. So we decided it was diet time. I had done Atkins before and lost 10 pounds in a little over a month. This time I have been on Atkins for a week and I am already down 7 pounds (woot!). It's been rough tackling my sugar addiction but I really want to drop this weight so I am determined.

Today for breakfast I had 2 hard-boiled eggs, a little ham, a slice of tomato and a slice of mozzarella cheese with some coffee (with cream and splenda). Let me tell you, I cannot WAIT until I can reintroduce fruit into my diet. A couple more weeks of boring phase one. But yay, results!

I think I wanna try this soon me-thinks:

The recipe

Oh the joys of being a mother

Had a good day today. Went to the playground, cleaned the house, made dinner. It was a nice relaxing day. Here are some pictures of Hunter from the past 2 days.

I know this is blurry, my camera suck. Hunter was showing me how strong he is.

Hunter's drawing of the solar system. I am teaching him about planets!

Can you tell he dressed himself today? Hah!

Goofy boy

Enjoying the reclusive sun.

 

Wee!!

Everything was going *swimmingly* (heh) until bath time tonight. Hunter can mostly wash himself up and because he is scared of getting his head anywhere near the water I feel okay leaving him to play and checking up on him every once in awhile (especially if he is quiet, which is never). So anywho I heard a great deal of splashing going on so I decided to check in on him. And do you know what I found? A lake. In my bathroom. The bathroom I just cleaned. So just as I got it all cleaned up (2 towels later...) do you know what Hunter did? He knocked over his bucket full of water all over the floor!! Lake number 2. So now I am doing my third load of laundry and enjoying some much needed mommy time :)

Decorating

I have given a lot of thought lately to how I would like to decorate my home. Nothing that I have suits my style. It was all hand-me-down and everything is starting to show its wear. The problem has been that I couldn't nail down my style. After thinking about it and looking for inspiration I have come to the conclusion that my style is "vintage cottage". It's kind of a combination of shabby chic and retro/mid century. The words I want to describe my home are words like: comfortable, vintage, whimsical, and fun. The colors I enjoy are different shades of aqua, buttery yellow, vintage (mint) green, pinks, tangerine and faded red. The color I want to go throughout my house is aqua. This picture sums up what I like perfectly:

http://cupcakesandcrinoline.com/

 I want all white furniture with some standout pieces that are painted aqua or yellow. I like the idea of having a neutral back drop so that I can switch up my style easily. Here are some more decor inspirations:

 
 I love ruffled buttery yellow curtains like these. So feminine but not cluttered feeling.












Kaboodle

Vintage suit cases make great decoration and also double as storage.














http://vintageleathersuitcase.com/

I love awesome retro clocks like this.











http://artdecoclocks.net/

I want this bedding set soooo bad. The challenge will be finding it in the king size.












Rachel Ashwell

http://akreativeknack.blogspot.com/

I want an open shelving hutch like this to display my white dishware.















http://europaintfinishes.blogspot.com/

I really want to find a super gaudy mirror that I can paint. In fact, I want several painted in different colors.












http://www.scroggiestudio.com/mirrors.html

I love the idea of mismatched dining room furniture. I would just stick with aqua, white and maybe soft yellow.













http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/

I want a mix of retro dishes/utensils and classic white.












http://vintagewindow.blogspot.com/

This is the living room of one my favorite bloggers. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!










http://www.thenester.com/

I have yet to find the perfect kitchen but this one definitely inspires me. I like the combination of cottagey cabinets and retro appliances.














http://www.countryliving.com/

I think the first room I want to work on is my bedroom because we literally have NO furniture for our bedroom. We want to upgrade to a king bed so I am hunting craigslist for a nice hard wood bed frame that I can paint white. I am also on the hunt for end tables and dressers. Once I have the base pieces I can start adding the smaller decorative accents like funky painted mirrors, picture frames, lamps, milk glass vases, vintage suitcases, etc.

I can't wait to have a house full of stuff I found, crafted and love :)

Happy Mother's Day

I know it's a day late but I am saying it anyway. I spent my day with my son at home and then I cooked up a feast for dinner.

Love my son!

I love my husband. The end.

Some of my favorite pictures from my wedding day