Barstools: To Splurge or Save?

The second we started the kitchen vision board, I had my heart set on these Serena and Lily's barstools.  These stools were the perfect height and the wood color was perfect!  I loved how they weren't a typical option for a kitchen. Since we have finished the kitchen, I've even saving my pennies for all the decor items to finish off the attached rooms like the living and dining room.  We still have to finish painting the fireplace, add built ins and a couple bigger projects but the decor elements are really starting to come together.  This is where all those pennies I've been saving can add up.  My perfect Serena and Lily stools aren't super cheap and I wanted to be practical with this purchase.  The chairs were going to be used pretty often with sticky fingers and plenty of crayons.  Durable and easy to clean were top priority! They needed to be attractive from all sides as they are seen from all angles in kitchen and living room.  We have a couple different wood colors flowing through the rooms so the wood on the chairs needed to compliment.  Little checklist to work with on requirements.  I started searching for similar styles of stools and found some great options.  Here were the top two contenders!  

Summer to Fall transitional outfits

Were we live, summer hangs on for quite some time.  Our summer wardrobes need to stretch a little longer yet have a transitional feel for when nights get cooler.  I have been eyeing some great classic pieces that will get me through summer, the cooler seasons of Fall/Winter and even into spring.  I love all these picks because they can be layered, mixed and mingled or worn separately and work seamlessly together. This is my method of shopping always.  I only like to add pieces into my wardrobe that can be worn at least 3 different ways.  Here I have slightly paired everything in outfit suggestions in each row to help you envision how I saw each piece working as an outfit. 

Look 1: Striped sweater, Navy bow tank, distressed denim

Look 2: Blush sunglasses, rust sweater, white denim shorts, tan strappy sandals

Look 3: Blush trench, White embellished peplum top, distressed denim

Look 4: Beaded earrings, Striped peplum blouse, white skinny jeans, tan loafers

Mommy Monday- Summer tutoring, delirium, groceries and game day

We have heard nothing but daunting claims that 3rd grade is the most challenging  academically. Man, I thought 1st and 2nd gave me a run for my money with my not so studious big girl.  She comes by it honestly though.  The academic part of school was not my specialty.  Ha!  I had the social part down though!  Learning new skills still are hard for me.  I have to work really hard to master something and Algebra was never one of those things.  We are supposed to tackle multiplication, division, long addition and subtraction and ALGEBRA!  What the heck!!  I was planning on doing some tutoring with both girls this summer to hopefully get a head but we are into August and mostly have been just partying!  I decided that since all I've done is work on the fashion part of school next year, I should probably get going on this "getting ahead biz".  Math is her biggest struggle.  I called a couple local tutoring centers and they were all so pricey!  I thought maybe I would skip a formal atmosphere and get them something online that they would think is fun.  Challenge accepted. We do Jiji math at their school but I wanted to try something not as familiar for them to hopefully keep it fresh.  We landed on Splash Math and it seems to be going well.  They start with an assessment and then we move on slowly through the different lessons to really hit all angles of the new skill.  Both girls seem to be enjoying it and most of the time they are able to get the hang of it themselves.  So far so good!  

Today was filled with church and solid delirium for both the girls.  They were so giggly and looney!  This makes me nuts!!!!!  I love the giggles but the loon nonsense makes me crazy! They just start getting ornery and stop listening.  We have been staying up really late and I've decided it might be time to start inching towards our normal bedtime to avoid days like today.  The day ended nicely thoug.  I fired up my Chris Tomlin worship music and sent them outside to jump on the trampoline for 4 hours.  Work that energy out while mommy get's rid of her crazy eyes.

Next thing that I can't understand is the sheer amount of food my family eats during summer!  Any other mamas find this to be a struggle to keep up with?  I'm talking meals and snack plates every hour!  I really try my best to feed my family fresh and organic.  I know this isn't for everyone but it's really important to me and something I try to stick to.  We have a great produce stand around the corner from us that I make weekly trips to stock up on all of our fruits and veggies.  I recently tried Butcher Box for our meats and we gather fresh eggs from our hens daily.  My girls are super picky as I mentioned last week in my Mommy Monday post and my hubby is pretty picky too. I'll eat anything so I'm super easy I think!  Erik is a big guy so to feed him is literally 3 servings of our dinner or meal.He likes what we have coined "goulash" meals.  That means basically anything that looks like a casserole and is all wet and mushy together.  He also is trying to keep the lbs. off so he wants me to make healthy " goulash" . What?!  He loves mexican food, won't eat fish, no pork, minimal fruit and some veggies.  Okay, good luck to me!    My struggle is not spending an million dollars a week on feeding everyone.   How does anyone else battle this?  I think it may be time to get back to Costco trips!  

Lastly, I had such a happy mommy heart this week with my whole gang together.  If you have followed for a while you know my hubby is a police officer.  We don't see him as much as we would like to.  When he is home our time together as a unit is gold!  He took the kids with him running errands the other day and came back with two games. They picked up LIFE and Battleship.  We decided on LIFE first.  We got our snacks all ready and gathered around our sweet new breakfast nook table to play.  We giggled and played together for about an hour.  Man do I love my little group.  Time like that is so priceless and makes my heart so full. 

Capri's gallery wall

I finally finished Capri's gallery wall!  I have had this artwork for months now and have been dragging my feet on completely the project.  Well, this past week was the week!  I knew I wanted an eclectic yet polished feel for the wall.  The gallery was being done above her day bed on a large wall.  I had super cute artwork with a coastal, fun feel. I found this adorable striped umbrella print and this  ocean wave illustration to kick me off in the right direction.  I consulted Framebridge to help me with the layout and some design ideas.  They have this great design program for $100 that you can send them the sizing of your art and they will design a couple layout and frame options for your wall.  This also includes the hanging measurements of each piece too on your wall.  I love it!  Sort of everything I needed.  You can of course choose from their huge variety of frame options or take the basic idea and replicate the look on your own.  I did decide to take full advantage of a frame sale going on a Michaels and get some similar frames to those Framebridge picked out for me.  I just adore how it all came together.   

Kitchen farmhouse sink

There were a couple changes I made to my original kitchen plan and the sink was one of my favorite switch ups.  I thought that I could save a buck by putting a stainless steel undermount sink and call it a day.  As I festered more on it, the idea of mixing metals that close to each other was bugging my eye.  I was dead set on a brass faucet and brass hardware and I felt that the stainless steel sink would though my off.  Not to mention would be harder to keep clean looking. 

Once I had decided that I was going the farmhouse sink route, I went on the hunt for something in the right size (36 inch) and reasonable. I wanted a single bowl option.  I found a great option in the right size at Ikea but the apron wasn't long enough.  This was apparently a thing that I didn't know I was supposed to pay attention too.  I moved onto another option on Amazon  and ordered the longer apron to find out that this option was now to long for our cabinets.  Kill me now!!!! I jumped back on Amazon and ordered the shorter version of the white farmhouse sink. This time was perfect!  It's such a simple piece in the kitchen but I feel like adds so much!  So worth the shopping around! 

In my research, I was shocked at how many cool farmhouse style sinks there were.  There are stainless steel options, textured white options, copper and even black sinks for the edgy kitchen.  

Mommy Monday-Back to School, chore charts and picky eating

So many mommy things going on this summer!  We have had the best summer and never want it to end!  With that said, we went to school today to drop off our next year's tuition (OUCH $$) and our principle mentioned that our school year packets are coming in the mail early next week!  Yay!  I wasn't expecting them for a while!  Something about these packets gets me all excited!  I love paperwork and schedules and stuff!  I love inputting the school calendar, looking over the supplies list and thinking on back to school cute outfits.  We will also find out who we are getting for teachers next year! So pumped!  The girls are going into  3rd and 1st grade which is just the saddest!  I feel like time is going to fast!  So anyway, back to cute outfits. I LIVE for back to school outfits!  I have the best memories of my mom taking me to The Limited Too ( anyone with me on how "little girl chic" Limited Too was??) We would go for hours and do fashion shows and pick out loads of cute things for the new school year.  We'd go home and do another full fashion show for my dad. To fun!  Of course, this is one of my most favorite things to do with my littles.  If you have followed us for a while, I'm sure you have seen our Instagram fashion shows.  They are VERY serious!  We don't start back to school until after Labor Day and last year I made the rookie mistake of waiting until the end of August to do my back to school shopping.  So many schools in our area go back mid August and I'm seeing all the sales pop up now.  This mama is not messing around this year!  I've hit our favorites and saved so much $$.  We destroyed Old Navy, J.Crew and Cotton On Kids.  Peyton is very into dresses and will rarely tolerate shorts.  Capri got funny last year about ruffles so we are now into a sportier look.  We are doing stripes, white denim, comfy dresses but really no frills.  She is super girly but the ruffles just didn't make the cut.  It stays so hot in our area until about October so I didn't put to much attention on winter items yet. I will go through ZARA and Gap later in the year for warmer things.  Here are some of the things we got.

In other news, we have started chore charts.  Capri is getting to the age were we need to start instilling the value of money and saving.  Both girls have been spoiled with loads of luxury travel but we aren't big toy consumers.  They very rarely get any toys are goodies outside of their birthday and Christmas.  Still, chores are on the radar.  We officially started our charts two days ago and neither of them have completed their days.  KILL ME now!! I'm talking easy chores too!  Like making their beds, brushing their hair etc.  Come on now!  To much frolicking to do apparently.  So hopefully today is the day.  We worked out a system of $5 a week for all their chores completed every day and then bonus chores for .25 each.  Capri is saving for an American Girl doll and Peyton (little sissy that she is) has no real clue but says she is going for an American Girl doll too.  Any other mommies have luck with getting this chore chart biz?  

I also had a major mommy win this  last week with a dinner that they would eat!  Can I get a HALLELUJAH!!!!  Man these two have pulled a fast one on me in the eating department.  One eats broccoli sometimes and other won't at all.  One eats pbj and the other only pb and honey!  This goes on and on!  I made them ravioli the other night and you would have thought I was trying to poison them!  I tried my luck with a toss together crockpot meal and WON!  I had 4 chicken breasts that needed to be cooked so I tossed them into the crockpot with two jars of salsa, approx. 1 ts coriander, chili powder, cumin and garlic.  I cooked the chicken on low for 8 hours then shredded it and left in juices to warm.  I found a random can of refried beans in the pantry. We topped whole wheat tortillas with the beans, sprinkled on mexican cheese and topped both with the chicken!  Both girls gobbled up their burritos and gave a thumbs up!  I WIN!!!  Anyone else have a go to meal that the kiddies will eat?  

Styling Series: Christina from Hello Blue Photo

My dear friend and Orange County fine art photographer Christina of Hello Blue Photo works with me in the wedding industry. When I say this girl is a girl boss, I mean girl BOSS.  Her work has been featured on top wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty, Grey Likes and Brides along with major print publications like US Weekly, People and Instyle.  

 Our wardrobe for wedding days and meetings with clients has to be fairly specific.  With the work load of a photographer on a wedding day you have to look chic and polished but be able to be on her feet all day, bend, sprint and get all sorts of athletic all while blending in perfectly.  Tricky right?!  When Christina reached out for some advice on work looks I jumped right in!  There is nothing more fun for me than to play dress up with my fab friends.  Christina is a major babe and has a super cool, feminine and boho look.  Very different than mine so I thought picking looks for her would be a super fun challenge.  When we discussed her likes and dislikes, we ruled out form fitting, anything off the shoulder ( not so practical for wedding days) and of course anything overly patterned or white. 

Taking full advantage of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, I curated a large selection of dresses, jumpers, jogger pants, shoes and bags to piece together for a closet full of chicness.  

Here are a couple of my favorite pieces that I've created looks around.  I like to aim to create capsule collections so every piece in your closet can be mixed and mingled and worn multiple different ways.  Add a blazer or chic suede moto jacket over any of these looks to change the whole feel of the outfit.  

From left to right: 

Floral Blouse, Black Joggers, Metallic loafers, Navy Blue Jumpsuit, Pom Pom suede flats, Olive Green brocade shift dress, Tan suede sandals, Black floral blouse, Leather leggings, Black bow slides

Here is the whole round up of pieces I curated for Christina.  All can mixed and mingled with each other and paired with heels or clutches to take the look from day to night.  

Living room blue couch inspiration

I've started focusing on the living room  now that the kitchen has been pretty well under wraps.   I still have to finish up my floating shelves and then I will be sharing the final reveal soon!    The main focus of our new set up is getting as much seating as possible in every corner of the house. We have added the breakfast nook, barstools (hopefully soon) and next up is a great big sectional.  With two active kiddos, hubby and pups I know a white couch is out of the question.  I have been obsessed with bringing in loads of happy color into the house and the couch will be no exception.  I am smitten over this Interior Define sectional in the color Evening.  I feel like it's just the right pop of coastal color that I love.  I can just envision us all sprawled out with the pups on movie nights or entertaining with our friends for game night.  The fabrics are ultra durable and kid/pet friendly.  Does it get any better?!  I plan to keep it layered with colorful pillows in stripes and textures and fluffy  throws.  I love a jute rug and will play with that idea under the couch.  Still working on coffee table ideas but love the idea of something  woven raffia like this and this option.  Here are some dreamy living room inspiration pics I've been gathering on Pinterest!  

To see the before picture of our kitchen visit this and this post! 

Nordstrom Anniversary SALE Early Access

It's that time of year! The Nordstrom Anniversary sale is the by far the biggest sale of the year!  Thousands of staple pieces, sweaters, boots and coats are all on major mark down!  It's the perfect time to snag all the best Fall and Winter pieces for when the weather cools down.  I love winter dressing!  

All these picks are shopable with your Early Access to the sale.  In order to be able to shop early, you will need a Nordstrom Debit or Credit card. 

I've rounded up all my most favorite pieces for the chicest winter wardrobe!  

Sweaters

Pants

Coats

Shoes

Cozy night in

Summer workout outfits

It was time for me to get my booty back into gear and start working out again.  If you follow my insta stories you know I started BBG before our kitchen remodel.  I hung in there for about 6 weeks but found with my schedule it was tricky to get my workouts in.  Now that I'm back on my wellness game, I've started daily workouts with Tone it Up and am following their nutrition plan.  Both are really conducive to my summer schedule and I'm feeling great!  The nutrition plan focuses on clean eating 5 mini meals a day!  That is my favorite type of eating because I get to stuff my face constantly!  FAVE!!  I am not a picky eater and love all healthy veggies and fruits. I've been whipping up veggie packed frittatas for quick mornings, chopping up fruit and munching on super yummy salads with all the veggies I can find.  I've also upped my water intake to 90 oz a day which keeps my system flushed and my energy up.  I am horrible at water drinking so I'm making a super conscience effort to mix up my infused water options and this must have bottle with me all the time to sip on.  The workouts are great because they are quick on most days.  I even break them up  into morning and night deepening on our schedule to feel less daunting if it's a longer 40 min workout that day.  Because working out is that much more fun in super cute workout gear, I've rounded up my favorite summer J.Crew Sport items for you!  Everything but the sneakers are 30% off right now with CODE YESPLEASE!

Tennis dress, Navy racerback, Blush sneakers, Palm leaf sports bra, Striped racerback, Palm leaf shorts, Blue and pink top, Pink capri, Navy capri, White skirt, Navy sneakers, Blue and pink capri, Striped cropped tank

Magnolia Market recap

Outfit details: Hat, Bag, Dress on sale now, Sandals

My mom and I have always loved traveling together and like everyone in America we are big Fixer Upper fans!  Who doesn't adore Chip and Joanna and an eyeful of shiplap? NO ONE!!!  We decided on a little spur of the moment trip to Waco to visit Magnolia Market and see the Silos. We did a bunch of asking around on what tips and tricks we could put to good use on our visit. Our last trip just the two of us, without the kiddos, was 8 years ago.   We thought we would leave the babes at home and make it a mother/daughter trip. Capri and Peyton are actually really big fans of the show too and were bummed to miss out!  Taking into account that we were making our visit during June, we know the weather was going to be HOT and lines could be long.  Although, it would have been great to have them there we decided for our first trip we better be safe than sorry.  When asking around, we found out that the best days to visit are Wednesdays and early in the day.  We knew that the trip would only take about 3 hours max for us to go through the market and bakery and explore a bit.   My mom did some researching on accommodations and we decided to stay at the Lake Austin Resort and Spa.  More on that delightful place in a later post!  The resort was about 2 hours away from Waco but an easy drive.  We decided to go on Wednesday and be there as it opened.

 The bakery opened at 9:00 and we rolled in at 10:00. The lines were a piece of cake!  ( pun intended)   There were maybe 5 people ahead of us.  We were offered a menu and ordering card at the door.  We weren't really sure what to get so we got a variety of goodies.  We decided on a Elderberry soda, Cranberry Orange biscuits, Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies, Lemon Lavender cupcake and a Classic cupcake which is chocolate cake with vanilla icing.  Piglets party of 2!  We both have major sweet tooths and are cupcake consesuers.  We both decided that the desserts were some of the best sweets we have ever tried!  Beyond delish!  That Joanna knows how to whip up a treat!  Not only was the bakery precious but the staff was lovely and got us in and out.  

We mozied over to the market for some shopping. It's huge!  The whole place is a renovated grain warehouse.  Every piece is handpicked by Joanna.  We asked if she ever comes in to visit guests. The lovely staffer said she comes in later in the evenings before closing mostly.  She will come for her meetings and then the whole market will be rearranged in the morning. The market is full of pure Joanna goodness.  Sweet tablescapes, soft textiles, kitchen goodies and endless floral displays for oversized vases.  I recommend keeping a very tight list of what you are wanting to take home because you can easily swept away but all the pretty things. I  picked up a beautiful salt and pepper caddy and my mom grabbed the cutest wooden recipe cards.  If you do pick up large pieces for your home they have a really convienent shipping station to send your finds home.  Chip has a cute little area of items with his "chip-isms" on them, fun shirts and trinkets for the guys in your life. I was also on the hunt for treats for the girls.  I really wanted to bring them home these sweet egg collecting aprons I had seen on Magnolia's website.  We found them in the adorable Seed shop. The shop in surrounded by the sweetest herb and veggie garden and is full of items to build your own dream garden.  They had cute seed packets, gardening tools, fairy garden accessories and watering buckets.  We weren't hungry after our sugar fest but peeked through the food trucks.  They had a smoothie truck that served smoothies out of hollowed out watermelons and another truck serving sweet tea out of mason jars.  Just adorable!.  The silos weren't open but we hear that they are being worked on as a "his and her" duo and  that Chip sneaks into his when the big Baylor games are on. I'm predicting a home and furniture store in hers. What do you think? 

We can't wait to go back and do another tour of the Silos once they are done and take a tour with Waco-Tours.   The tours include trip through a handful of the Fixer Upper homes, Harp Design, local shopping tips etc. in a party bus atmosphere! Girls trip, Bachelorette you name it they do it!  So fun right?!!  

Fourth of July outfit inspiration

We are headed to Hotel Del Coronado for the Fourth of July!  We love it there and they know how to do the Fourth right!! Coronado Island has a annual Fourth of July parade honoring veterans and those in active duty. Back at the resort they host outdoor movie, smores, crafts and the biggest fireworks show we have ever seen all to music! I rounded up my favorite eats at The Del the last 4th of July we visited for the foodie!  I love dressing for the Fourth!  So festive! I've rounded up all the pieces I plan to sport on our trip!    

Romper, Sunglasses, Bow tank, Red striped one piece, Red ruffled tank, Blue striped one piece, Red ruffled eyelet dress, Blue gingham off the shoulder dress, White denim skirt, Straw tote, Red sandals

Peyton turns 6

Our sweet little peanut Peyton turns 6 this week!  Can't believe how time has flown!  There is nothing sweeter than this little girl!  We celebrated with a handful of her school friends in our backyard.  The party was super simple and just as she wanted it. We did a Moana theme with the cheesiest of Party City party supplies.  We ordered pizza and sang happy birthday with an ice-cream cake! Do birthdays get any better?

Kitchen update week 8- Demo, Wall removal and Cabinets

We have been rocking and rolling through our kitchen renovation.  As many people told me, this would be much longer than anticipated and not nearly as fun.  I can absolutely agree with the fact that it has taken longer than we thought but I have been having a great time seeing the progress come along.  I update my Insta Stories daily on our progress and love the feedback that you guys give!  

First up was demo day!  So cool!  They crushed up the old kitchen and removed all the cabinets.  Then they moved onto supporting the ceiling so the wall could be removed to create an open floor plan.  We did have to keep on entry way small wall due to electrical and budget constraints. Small sacrifice to get that huge wall out!  The week the wall started disappearing was so exciting! I happy danced so hard!  

After all cabinets were stripped and wall was officially out! 600 lb beam was being delivered that week! 

We are into week 8 and I think on the home stretch!!!  I am getting super eager to wrap it up and do some summer entertaining!!  We have now completed our cabinets, ordered our countertops and floors and are painting this week.  

Kitchen after wall was removed, drywall redone, lighting and fresh coat of paint

We have had a couple hiccups but nothing major thankfully!  First, issue we had was that the farmhouse sink we ordered had a long apron and we needed the shorter version.  Then our microwave was the wrong size.  Again small issues just a little pain!  What I've found interesting is that there are very little resources for sourcing the products that I was looking for.  I plan to do little mini posts here on the blog reviewing and explaining the reasons why we got what we did so hopefully any of you doing projects can find some products easier.  

Our saving grace has been having a back room for our make shift kitchen.  It's starting to get a little old but I'm happy to be almost done.  We set up a table with my lunch making items for the kids, a toaster and coffee maker.  I thought in the beginning of our process that I would be doing dishes outside but quickly ditched that idea.  Total pain!  Now, I'm almost exclusively using paper and plastic which has been ideal.  We are grilling a lot and thank goodness the weather has been lovely.  I've added a handful of grilling recipes to my Pinterest that we  have been trying and loving.  I am definitely missing easy access to things and dish washing.  Who would have ever thought I would miss dish washing?!  

We should have our countertops in maybe late next week and then floors in 3 weeks.  So excited! Check back on my Insta Stories for daily updates! 

Summer Plans

via Pinterest

I've taken a hard pause on blogging for a couple months.  I was finding myself getting sucked out of the moments of my life and only capturing "blog worthy" content.  It was becoming not as fun as it was before.  After some time away, I've refreshed my perspective on what I want this blog to be.  I want to capture our life as it comes.  I want to share our adventures organically even if that means not perfectly edited.  I hope to help other women find their joy, balance and inspiration in their own lives as I aim to find all of those things in mine!  With that said, I'm so excited to be back!  I can't wait to share what we have been up to and what we have on the horizon! 

If you have been following along on my Instagram you know that our life  has been swamped lately with the kitchen reno and wrapping up the school year. I am getting into the season of a crazy schedule of kid's activities and am loving it!  We have been doing ballet for about 4 years and now jazz since Fall.  We just this week added on swim team that will run through summer and I am contemplating competition team for Capri with her jazz studio this coming season.  

We have travel plans on the horizon including a trip with my mom to Waco!!  I have been a big fan of Fixer Upper for years now and can't to see the Silos, shop in Magnolia and taste some yummy treats in the bakery.  I hit up a couple of the weekend holiday sales to get some cute outfits together for our trip!  Around Father's day we are going to try and squeeze in a camping trip either to the mountains or the beach.  We love to play at Hotel Del Coronado over Fourth of July.  Then later in the summer, my mom, the girls and I take our annual girl's trips which will include our favorite repeat Omni La Costa and new this year is Disney's Grand Californian.  Am I a spoiled girl or what?!  I love to travel and creating these special memories with the girls.  So priceless!  I can't wait to fill our summer days with homemade ice-cream, swimming and beach days!  

Kitchen renovation plans

When we bought our home a year ago, the potential of the home was just to much to pass up!  The home was beautiful but needed a freshen up big time!  Today we start the process of my dream kitchen!  It's DEMO day!  I couldn't be more giddy! I'm sharing all the fun on Instastories if you want to see some behind the scenes! 

Here is a before image from last night. All ready for a wipe out! 

I've spent the past few days moving everything out of our living and dining room and everything out of the kitchen!  We luckily have a spare room in the back of the house that we have made into our makeshift kitchen for the next 5-6 weeks. Everyone has been warning me of the hideousness of living without a kitchen but we are looking at it like an adventure!  Sorta like camping!  I've set up a table in the back room with all my breakfast and lunch making supplies for the girls and they had a little picnic breakfast this morning.  I plan to do a lot of grilling for dinners and sunny back yard lunches.  I'm actually looking forward to it!  

So here is what is happening with the kitchen. We envisioned an open concept for the living and dining room.  Our kitchen is a galley style and was really dark.  It has oak cabinets on both sides and white tile countertops.  Lots and lots and lots of oak!!!!  No thank you!!!!  We are replacing the oak with clean white shaker style cabinets, clean white with grey veined countertops ( most likely quartzite) and gold hardware.  We are replacing all our appliances which is really exciting too!  

Here are some of the inspiration pics I've been pouring over!  

via : Nicole Davis Interiors 

via: Studio McGee

via: Pink Peonies 

4 ways to style collared button ups

I love the classic look of a clean button up!  The sillouette is so flattering and feels so timeless.  Here are 4 ways I love to style a collared button up look.

Shirtdress

This sweet shirtdress is one of my faves!! I've been finding so many fun similar options this spring!  How cute is this dress and this simple white midi option? I also love the ruffles on this one, the sweet bow on this option and the super on trend tie on this striped number

Tied up

Tying up a structured blouse nips in the waist immediately and look so cute with skirts and jeans for both spring and summer!  Just so effortless!  The bow on this chambray top is so cute and I adore the little cactus on this.  

Layered

This trench doubled as a vest here but I love it alone too.  I collared vest is an uber chic topping to make any outfit more interesting. The tan utility dress is so cute, love this luxe white vest and this flowy olive green trench is perfect on top of any sundress. 

Blousy

This easy breezy striped blouse is just so perfect!  I love that it's classic yet still feels casual. I love the little anchors on this blouse , the buffalo check on this one, and the pink stripes on this one are just perfection! 

Capri's room- Ikea dresser DIY renovation

I am so smitten with the outcome of Capri's dresser!  I am not a big DIYer but thought I would wing an Ikea hack on our dresser.  With her room being bright white and cheery a black dresser just wasn't gonna work. We also added gold bar pulls and rose up the whole piece on legs from Pretty Pegs to make it fit the space better.  I topped it with a simple gold mirror and sweet little accessories.  Be sure to check out the major before and after pic below. 

What we used to transform this piece: 

Laminate covering primer ( we used this one )

White paint ( we used Vista White from Vista Paint) 

Gold pulls

Legs  ** make sure you order the universal plates for these legs.  I didn't the first time around and had to wait for them to finish.  So annoying!!

We applied about 3 coats of prime with a small sponge roller.  The primer dries quickly.  We then applied about 3 coats of the white paint.  Her room is so sunny that I wanted to make sure there wasn't any black peaking through.  I had my hubby measure to the middle of the drawers and screw in the pulls.   Screw on the universal plates for the legs and then add the legs.  You have  brand new gorgeous dresser!!!

Before and After

Spring break must haves

We are headed to Palm Springs again this year for spring break!  I'm so excited to blob it out by the pool under the desert sun!  We typically stay at the Omni Las Palmas but due to not knowing my hubbies schedule we got in on that gig a little late.  So we are changing it up this year and trying out La Quinta Resort and Spa. 

With all the lovely weather ahead of us this spring it was the perfect excuse to pump up my spring essentials.  Enter sundresses, sandals, sunnies and swimsuits.  I mean check out that alliteration!  

Capri's room- Wall art

I have been having so much fun working on the girls rooms.  They are both so different that it's been fun to ask them what they like and work in sweet accents that make their own spaces feel special. I have a hard time focusing on more than one room at a time and getting the vision all together so I started tackling Capri's room first.  Capri turned 8 this January and I wanted to make sure her room felt like a big girl and had lots of room to grow with her.  She is full of life and energy so I wanted her room to feel happy to carefree.  She loves the beach and bright colors so I aimed for a beach feel that was bright and cheery. My grandma always told me that when decorating your house you should only fill it with things you love.  I've been keeping that close to mind while working on these new projects.   Here are a couple of the prints and wall art that brought joy right away!  The room is coming along so great and I can't wait to share the whole room when we finish it up!  For more house renovation projects keep checking back under the  or #LifewithLipstickOn on Instagram.  Loads of fun stuff coming!  

Lifeguard tower, Waves, Striped umbrellas, Ferris wheel, Cali girl