Olivia

Olivia Marie is here! She arrived at the end of August. She weighed eight pounds, four ounces and measured twenty-one inches long. Will and I are absolutely in love with her, and the pup is crazy about her too. It's been such an adventure already and we can't imagine life without her.

I'm going to take a bit of time away from blogging to simply spend time with her. I hope you all have a lovely couple weeks -- and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Photo by me.

Getting Close

Our baby is due in three weeks, and we spent part of the weekend putting some finishing touches on the nursery. I love spending time in this room already! Sunshine filters in through the trees outside, and inside there are so many sweet touches from loved ones. My mom sewed the pink and white crib skirt and bed pillows, and my aunt made a quilt and crocheted a cast of Star Wars characters as a gift to my husband. We're just so excited for what's to come!

Photos by me. 

A Dazzling Night

Happy Fourth of July! Last night, our city held a fireworks show. While I was too tired to go out to the park to watch it, my husband and I discovered we had a pretty good view from our house. Sitting on the bed in the nursery, we looked out the windows past roofs and treetops and watched dazzling fireworks light up the sky. It was amazing!

Photo from here.

Happy Weekend!

I have lots of plans for the weekend. I'd like to spring clean the house, tackle some organization projects and plant flowers outside. I may swing by some garage sales with my mom, and my husband and I have a party to attend. Or ... I might end up taking the next two days to simply relax. That's acceptable when you're pregnant, right? Hopefully come Monday, something -- my house or me -- will feel refreshed!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo from here.  

A Cozy Night In

Last night for Valentine's Day, my husband and I decided to stay in. I'm so glad we did! We had the simplest, coziest night. We started off by eating a few chocolates and ordered pizza. And my husband brought out the mixer and made his famous chocolate mousse. We talked and laughed and got to be with our other Valentine -- our little pup who's quite skilled at getting attention.

Photos by me. 

Starting Fresh

Happy new year! It feels wonderful to say 2012 has begun, and that's partly due to this nice long weekend. My husband and I spent New Year's Eve with my sister, her husband and their adorable baby. We had margaritas and burritos -- and a lot of laughs -- and then we went home and rang in the new year in bed with the pup. Neighbors even set off fireworks in the park behind our house at midnight! The rest of the weekend, we relaxed at home and enjoyed the last few days of our Christmas decorations (I love how the ornaments from our Disco Christmas party cast cool patterns on the ceiling). What's even better is the long weekend continues today.

I hope your new year is off to a fantastic start!

Photos by me. 

Nesting

As much as I love to travel and explore new places, it truly is wonderful to be home. I don't have any trips planned for a bit, so I'm looking forward to nestling back into my home. Especially as the weather cools, it will be nice to sink into the couch with my husband, our pup and a blanket and do nothing more than watch a movie.

This north London house, featured on House to Home, seems like a great place to get cozy. I like the Arts and Crafts elements with all those textures and, of course, some pops of bright pink.

Photos from here. 

Homebody

What a nice weekend this was. I went out to dinner with my sister and two of our old friends one night, and my husband and I spent an afternoon on a terrace by the lake. But mostly I spent the weekend at home, relaxing with the windows open, going for walks with my guy and our pup and enjoying the opportunity to not do much at all. Here are a few snapshots from around the house.

Photos by me.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Bed has been extra comfy lately, which is wonderful ... until it's time to get up. This morning the bed was perfectly cozy, my husband was still dozing and the pup had her warm little back to mine. The fact that it's cold, rainy and dark outside made it even more impossible to leave. Can we all just stay in bed all day today?

Photo from here.

My Baby

A huge reason why I love being home is our little pup. She makes everything, even just hanging out in the living room, more interesting, fun, lively and cute. My goodness, I love her!

Photos by my husband (on his iPhone).

Home Sweet Home

This past weekend was absolutely lovely. Believe it or not, that included cleaning my house top to bottom. It was so satisfying! While my husband and I still have lots of projects we'd like to tackle in practically every room, I love nestling into our living room when it's nice and tidy. Ahhh ...

Photos by me.

Wanted: A Cozy Spot

My husband and I are constantly tweaking our home. We like the idea of improving on the house and making it perfect for us.

We also love our weekends and have developed a little ritual in the mornings. My husband usually drinks his coffee while watching television from our beloved blue couch. And I like to read magazines or a book by the windows while drinking my latte.

But here's the problem: My spot isn't the most comfortable. We have a nice brown chair in the corner, but I never gravitate toward it on these mornings. Instead, I prop an oversized pillow by the windows. This works for awhile but then it's not so great.

What I want to do is find a cozy chaise for this corner. Something simple and clean-lined but also really comfy and inviting. I like Ikea's Karlstad chaise both for its looks and price. Hopefully this will be the answer to my lounging conundrum.

Here's the corner in question:

Here's where the comfy currently happens:

And here's what may be the solution:

Photos by me and from here.

Home Sweet Home

We're back from vacation, relaxed, tanned and happy. It's truly the perfect balance when you can enjoy a trip but also feel good to be back home.

And the timing of returning-- and being glad to be in our own house and sleep in our own bed and see our pup again -- is special. Today is the tenth anniversary of my first date with my husband. We were young college kids and the experience of falling in love with him is something I wouldn't trade for the world. I love the adventures we've had together and I hope for many more in the future.

Photo from here (you can buy this great AmeliaKayPhotography print).

Merry Christmas to All

... and to all a good night.

Photo by me.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

But just like the song goes, it's truly delightful inside tonight. A blizzard is raging outside, but we're safe and warm and happy. I'm not sure what the storm will do to our holiday plans tomorrow and Friday, but I really can't ask for anything more than I have right now.

Photo from here.

Glam Christmas

This year I've been having a bit of trouble decorating for the holidays. I'm trying to strike a glamorous and contemporary note -- without straying into overly traditional or cold-modern territory. These two photos from hgtv.com get the sparkly, festive, cozy vibe just right.

Photos from here and here.

Let it Snow

Ooh, what a crazy couple of days it's been, weather-wise. We had our fist blizzard of the year, which pretty much gave our entire city a snow day yesterday. I love that most people and businesses and organizations decided all the things on their to-do lists weren't crucial enough to make them attempt to drive through the snow and ice to work.

Our home was extra cozy. My husband watched a movie while I read by the fire, with the pup curled up next to me, of course. We saw kids playing outside in the snow and adults trying to unearth their driveways from heaps of the white stuff. We enjoyed our Christmas tree and even the fact that our Internet was down. We were snowed in truly, in a great, old-fashioned sense of the term.

Here are a few snapshots from our snow day. Stay warm!

Photos by me.

A Perfect Mix

The weekend's winding down but I have a huge smile on my face because this has been a fantastic two days. It brought the ideal mix -- for me, anyway -- of going out, staying in, relaxing and getting stuff done around the house.

And today my husband and I pampered our little pooch with a big walk and a trip to her favorite pet store for treats. So I think she had a good weekend, too.

Photo by me.

Happy Halloween!

Hooray, today is Halloween! I've already seen trick-or-treaters around town and they're sure to be out in full force tonight. My husband's been watching scary movies all week and I've been helping my mom plan a Halloween and birthday party for my dad. Hopefully tonight is a wickedly fun night of food, family, friends, laughing and dancing!

This photo is of our first jack-o-lanterns from our first Halloween in our new house last year. We attempted to carve likenesses of my husband, me and our dog. So they're not exactly portraits, but they were a lot of fun to make!

Photo by me.

Fueling the Fire

This morning, there was frost on the ground when I woke up. Frost! I can't believe how quickly autumn has come this year.

While I can't say I'm ready for it, I will try to embrace the best parts of it. The joy of warm meals. The particular brilliant way the sun shines this time of year. Crunching through leaves as I walk or run through them. Cozy sweaters and tall boots and belted jackets.

And fires.

We have used our fireplace quite a bit this week. I love it! It makes our living room so cozy. Wouldn't it be incredible to live in a house that had fireplaces in the dining room, bedroom or even bathroom?

I snapped this photo a few weekends ago in Vermont. I like the pattern and texture found in this stack of firewood -- and how someone else seems to be anticipating cozy nights inside by a fire.

Stay warm out there!

Photo by me.