Come and knock on my door....

Our home has been quite a work in progress. We went from 0-60 in quite a short time. My husband bought the house before we were married, and spent the first year and a half tearing things down, and ripping things up. After our wedding, we "vowed" not to do a single thing to the house. When I say it was a blank canvas, well, that is a understatement. It was nice not to get swallowed up in house projects for a year, and it was fun compiling tons and tons of tear sheets, and bookmarked websites/blogs of what we liked. By the end of that year I was chomping at the bit to get started, and of COURSE we got pregnant, but that didn't stop us. We have done so much in the past 2 years, and have a few major projects that we would like to tackle in the next year or so (refinish floors, demolish 2 bathrooms, paint the exterior--you know, easy peasy). What I love the most about our house, is that we truly have made it our home. It is a good representation of who we are, and pretty much everything we have acquired tells a story.

The light was $10 from Urban Outfitters. The photos were made my my sweet husband.

This is our entry way...the table was bought at a thrift store for 20 bucks. I had it in my loft when I first moved here-it's actually a vanity for a little girl. The frame, owl, and candelabra are all vintage. Candle is Voluspa. The dish that the candle is on is from the rose bowl flea market in Pasadena. Iron squirrel from Anthropologie.

The floor in our enrty way is something that I will never change. I love it. I also love our black doors that my dear husband painted.

Mirrors were a wedding present from my husband's uncle. Crate and Barrel.

Our living room/dining room. This room is very challenging as it is one long room. We tried to divide it up as best as we could without making it feel "choppy". This is the living area. Everything pictured is vintage/antique.

I found these birds in a local thrift store, and I immediately peed my pants.

Gigantic mirror from Z Gallerie... The white frame hidden behind the chair should not be there. Another project my husband is working on.....

My husband and I found a piece of furniture on Craigslist for the nursery. When we went to pick it up, the owners of the home told us they were moving out of state. I asked if they were selling else because their decor was ah-mazing. He said he had an antique 6 ft tall birdcage for sale. In that moment I wasn't interested, but as soon as I got home, I couldn't stop obsessing about it. We went back to get it the next day. Paid $35 for it....it was in pretty rough shape, but we had a painter power wash it, and paint it gold. I am going to put a huge plant in it.

This antique buffet also came from Craigslist (I have a problem). $60 bucks...painted it glossy black, and got some new knobs. We painted the inside neon yellow. It's pretty rad.

Vintgae glassware, and a lamp from an estate sale.

More to come.......

Some things never change.

I have been M.I.A.

My bff from Chicago, Emily came to visit, THANK GOD!!

We haven't seen each other in over a year, and I was going MAD! To say Emily is my best friend doesn't even sound right. She's my sister. I have been blessed with several friends that feel like family, but Emily is the original gangsta.

We have been through SO much in the past 14 years, that if Mr. Woody Allen was smart, he would contact us for a screen play.

Her visit here was business as usual: eating, drinking, talking non stop, and of course, shopping. Lots o' shopping. Oh, and remember that hard liquor hiatus that I was on for about 7 years? It broke. If there was anyone that could do it, it would be Em.

While the visit was short lived, we really packed it in, and I am forever looking forward to seeing her again.

The lady in red...

My little red head.

My little 5 month red head.

Tonight as I snuck in your room to watch you sleep, I wanted nothing more than to crawl into your crib and snuggle.

I can't get enough of you. I still have moments where I can't believe that your mine. What a blessing you are--everything about you has been such a great surprise-from finding out you were in my belly, to seeing your gorgeous red hair.

These past 5 months have been incredible.

Thank you for completing our family sweet girl.

I love you.

A brief synopsis....

This weekend was super busy. I have a very full belly, and need to be asleep ASAP, so I will keep this brief.

I decided that for this recap, I am only going to focus on the positive. I am not going to do a Joan Rivers and dog anyone out.....except for you, Nicole Kidman. I feel I have the right to do this given the shout out I just gave you a couple of posts below:

Nicole, Nicole, Nicole, you are a gorgeous specimen....you are also a bean pole, but that dress needed some spankage, and sadly, not the fun kind. You, my dear, needed full on spanks. When you were talking to everyone's favorite little person (Ryan Seacrest), I about lost my breath, and not in a good way.....I will save you the embarrassment of posting a photo.....since a non desperate housewife is THE blog everyone goes to.

My. FAVORITE. This woman can do NO wrong. She kills it every single time.

Normally I cannot stand what she wears, but I thought she looked beautiful...in a bride of Frankenstein sort of way.

Flawless. 46??? Amazing. I wish her bangs were a smidgen shorter, but really, who cares?

I go back and forth with this. The color? Off the charts. The shoes? BEYOND. I just felt it had premature poof-a-lation. In other words, if the bodice was slimmer, and the waist longer, I would be drooling.

This is hands down, my second favorite. The photo doesn't do it justice. And her earrings made me weak in the knees.

I am sure this is the dress that will cause the most controversy, but I think it's supberb.

I'm usually not one to like something so, well, obviously sexy, but she is perfection. The shoes on the other hand.......

So simple, but the color and the fit are perfect on her.

Beyond. Knocked my socks off.

This dress is to die for.....but Lord, she needs a stylist. This dress could go very Dynasty, and with her hair like that, she is well on her way to Linda Evans territory. Even a simple slick backed pony would have been soooo much better.

Looking forward to hearing all your opinions!

The morning after....

After a fun night out with some girlfriends, I woke up to this pile on my vanity. It made me laugh--it looked like the aftermath of a night I might of had in my 20's.

I sure didn't feel like I was in my 20's when I woke up.....gone are the days of having a few cocktails, and not even breaking a sweat the next day. Actually, I don't even touch hard liquor. Haven't in over 7 years. I L-O-V-E me a gin and tonic. I actually earned the nickname "gin-Gina" by some dear friends many moons ago. The problem isn't my love of gin, it's the fact that gin doesn't love me back. And tequila? No, no, no, no, no, no. I miss Margarita's like nobody's business, but that stuff is off limits. Gives me the shakes when the sun comes up.

I am a wine devotee'. Almost always red, but in the summer, I'll switch to white.

I pretty much have a 2 glass limit, and that is even pushing it for me. It's not that I get all loopy or sloppy, but the next day, I just can't muster up any energy.

And WHY on EARTH is it, that children just know these things??? It's as if my little lambs send each other signals at night, and make a pact to wake up early the mornings after mommy goes out. Happens every time.

Those are the days I am most thankful for concealer and highlighter.

A Tall drink of water.

This just arrived in my mailbox this afternoon, and I gasped when I saw it.

Nicole has never looked better--I don't care if her forehead is frozen in time, she looks fierce.

That dress.

Those shoes!

And her hair!! Right now, my daughter's hair is the exact same color...so naturally she should be on next month's cover.

Are any of you planning on seeing Rabbit Hole? My husband and I watched a preview in the theatre, and I completely lost it. Sobbed from a 60 second preview. I don't think I could sit through the whole thing.

But I could stand to have that get up on the cover.

Taking one for the team...

I love Rodger Berman. I think all of the "gay" rumors surrounding him are absurd and ridiculous.

Yes, he very well may be Mr. Rachel Zoe, but he doesn't seem to mind according to this article that he wrote for Bazaar. Not to mention, she is providing a pretty fabulous life for the two of them.

I think it's awesome that he let's her be who she is, and that he appreciates fashion as an art. Sure, he might go a bit overboard with the scarves, but don't we all have some sort of trademark?

I am sure that he is thrilled to be having a bit more testosterone in his Missoni filled home in a few months!

May I please see your I.D.?

I'm sorry-yes, miss Elle Fanning is adorable as adorable can get.

But a style spotlight?? Gimmie a break, Nell Carter-she's 13 years old!!!

I'm just waiting for the next issue of Vogue or Bazaar to show up with her and Suri Cruise on the cover.

So dumb.

California Dreamin'.

I just had one of those moments.

As my husband and son played out in the snow, I watched from our kitchen window with a giant smile on my face. The 2 dudes were having the best time--snow forts, snow balls, the whole 9 yards. I had a cup of hot chai waiting for the mister when he came inside.

The best part of this whole moment wasn't the father/son bonding, nor was it the chai.

The best part was that I was inside the house, and not in that crap snow.

Snow is rubbish.

Winter is rubbish.

I know...I am from the Midwest! I am a Chicago girl!

Living in California for 4 years ruined me. I am pining for that state right now! As I type, the people in California are HIKING! They are sitting outside at coffee shops!! They are shopping OUTDOORS!! They are wearing open toes shoes!!

I have been reading the latest Joyce Meyer book on positive thinking, and as far as winter is concerned, this book is doing me NO good.

So, to make matters worse, I revisited some photos of our trip to Cali last April.

Bad idea.

Are any of you crazy enough to admit you love winter?? And I'm NOT talking about 1 or 2 days of snow...I mean December through mid March.

If so, WHY??!!

Somebody needs a sandwich.....

While perusing Shopbop for a new dress, I came across this photo:

It isn't the dress that caught my eye, but this woman's LEGS. Good grief. While, I love me a skinny model, this girl is on a whole other level. And if the camera really does add 10 lbs, I can only imagine what the real her looks like. I don't even know how one would walk with legs that skinny.

On a much more important note, I am LUSTING over this Parker dress:

I heart everything about this little number from the color, to the length, and the off the charts sleeve. Those shoes are begging for me to open my wallet and whip out the plastic.

While I normally buy vintage, and alter, alter, alter to achieve my "vision", sometimes it's lovely to just buy "off the rack".

Martin Luther King day calls for a new ensemble, don't you think?