For the love of {icy blue}

Normally in the winter I am all about bright, warm hues to bring life and heat back into the cold, dreary world. I crave bold colors and rich textures and warmth. But sometimes you just have to embrace the cold and take your inspiration from what's going on outside you. Find your hues in the snow and ice and pale wintry skies. I'm majorly inspired by this icy blue, aren't you?

Images via: nordstrom, photowall, the chic department, you broke the internet, blue eyed boutique

A peek into my bedroom

Over the weekend, Phillip and I met my grandmother at a furniture consignment store she's been telling me about. We've been looking for a dresser to turn into a vanity when we remodel our hall bathroom and my grandmother had seen one she thought we'd like. 

And she was right! There was a really great sideboard at a really great price, and we bought it and promptly stuck it in the garage to wait. 

And lo and behold, just to the right of the sideboard was this beautiful headboard:

I stared at in longingly for several minutes, checked it hopelessly for a price tag, found none, and walked away. But then I mentioned it to my grandmother. Being much more assertive than me (and less afraid to know how exorbitantly expensive that piece was), she promptly asked the store owner how much the headboard cost. 

$100.

One. Hundred. Dollars.

I mean, I know. It sounds like a lot of money when you say it out. But go ahead, google this beauty. Look her up. I found two very similar headboards sold for $500 and $700 and a third being suggested to retail at $5000. This headboard was steal, I tell you!

So I talked Phillip into buying it. 

And I love it.

It also inspired me to clean my bedroom up, especially the dreaded chore of organizing my jewelry and cleaning off the tops of my dressers.

I totally should have closed my dresser drawers.

I've had this IKEA wire hanging thing for months because, like a true hoarder/shoppaholic, I just *knew* I would do something with it! IKEA normally hangs curtains or postcards and stuff, but I find it perfect for my million necklaces. Hurray! 

Ah yes. I still have to fold a huge pile of clean laundry. Keepin' it real, ya'll.

Tiny changes make me super happy. I hope your Monday is as motivated as mine!

{silence}

Today I attended a training at the pregnancy center and we spent some of the time focusing on silence. We did a few breathing exercises and practiced quieting our minds and trying to be comfortably mute. Practicing peacefulness is good for our own self awareness and is also such an important skill in listening to others. No matter how uncomfortable we feel with it, sometimes we just need to sit with another person and be still. I love that part of the Jewish tradition of Shiva includes visiting those in mourning and remaining silent until the mourner speaks. Silence is such an eloquent a way to express sympathy. But this concept can of course be applied to many, many situations that don't involve death. I am often so uncomfortable with silence and I jump into any topic at hand to dispel the quiet. I need to learn to slow down and allow myself and others time to really think before we speak. I hope to practice the art of eloquent silence in my relationships. Because it really can be the most peaceful, eloquent reply.

Thursday's Child: Yo-ho!

My sister-in-law is pregnant with a boy! Huzzah! She and her husband have a long history of piracy - pirate costumes, jokes, etc are rampant in the whole family, in fact. 

So don't mind me if I'm a little shocked to find out that they're NOT going to use my brilliant idea to have a pirate-themed nursery! 

Watch out, you two! If you don't do this, maybe I will! 

If you want to add just a touch of piracy to your kiddo's room, check out Target's current pirate collection! I'm personally totally crazy about the octopus pillow. 

Happy Thursday! 

Thursday's Child: Teal, mint, blue

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I have several girl friends who are pregnant. And lots of them are having girls! 

One of my best girls just painted her baby girl's nursery turquoise with a sweet yellow reading nook. So, because I apparently have no other inspiration this week, here are some pretty nurseries to stare at. 

In other news, I have a sore throat, I slept on my neck wrong, and I'm eating a cup of ice-cream and coffee to perk me up before soccer practice. 

I hope you're having a happy Thursday!

Tea and blankets

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I can't really believe how long this stubborn cold has stuck with me! All I want to do today is curl up in some clean, beautiful bedding and drink huge cups of tea. 

Actually, that's not true. I want to go for a run, clean my bedroom, wash all my dishes, cook, play with the dog, and work on the kitchen remodel. But alas, I don't feel up to even half of that. 

Tomorrow I will be inspired and write a post not pertaining to me and my ridiculous cough. I promise.

{life is better}

So...I'm a busy, bad blogger. And I plan to continue that way until further notice. I'm leaving town first thing Wednesday morning for a short trip to Albuquerque to visit my family and friends. Then I'll be riding back with my brother and his girl, who are coming up to visit! So for at least the next week it'll be pretty unpredictable around here. Don't miss me too much!

{pick one}

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This post is an ode to indecision.

My husband loves me, I know, but I can tell when I'm driving him nuts. It's almost always due to indecision on my part. I hate picking a restaurant, a movie, even choosing a drink at Starbucks is difficult for me. My tastes are so extremely varied. It's a good thing, I tell myself, that I have such a wide variety of favorites, that so many different styles and flavors appeal to me. But it's not always a good thing, like when we waste gas driving around and around because I can't decide whether I'd rather have hamburgers or Thai food. 

My older sister, who is obviously about my oldest and closest friend, was complaining to me at Christmas that I'm really hard to shop for. How can that be? I love pretty much everything! When I go shopping or internet exploring, there are so very many things I am just dying to posses. I can't afford to buy even a smidgen of the items I adore. But I know she's right. I love almost everything, but at the same time I'm picky and I know I make it difficult to shop for me.

I love looking back through my inspiration folders and Pinterest boards, because sometimes the most unusual things end up sitting right next to each other, and the contrast really strikes me. What moods was I in when I pinned these two bedrooms? Both are completely funky, but in such very, very different ways. And it makes me wonder if my style is ever going to stop evolving, if I'm ever going to settle on one favorite color, one favorite style. Am I ever going to get decisive when it comes to home decor? 

Right now I've been vaguely contemplating paint colors for my future home, and so far the only colors I've come up with are white and black. Because I don't know what else to choose, there are too many options, and I don't want to lock myself in! And when I look at the second picture above, I think "ah, white, definitely perfect for every room, so bright and light and neutral." But then I look back at the first picture, and my dark side takes over and demands dark colors, bohemian curtains, and dramatic patterns. 

Will I ever really settle? Will the decisions ever get any easier?

How about you? Do you have a fairly stable sense of style, or are you a manic decorator like me? 

If you could pick one, which one would it be?

Thursday's Child: Yellow Stripes

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Yellow stripes, especially on the ceiling, seem to be really "in" for children's rooms at the moment. I'm loving them. So bright and cheerful! However, I also really like the more subtle impact of just a single yellow stripe here and there. Which do you prefer?

Thursday's Child: Pink vs Blue

If you were a little girl, which would you choose?

Weekend Room

I want to spend my weekend here.

Unfortunately, I'll be spending all day today and tomorrow (in addition to yesterday) in a client advocate class for the pregnancy center. It's fun, but I'm getting sleepy! 

Have a great weekend!

Days like this...

S

Today wasn't a bad day necessarily but it sure was a Monday!

Phillip had a PT test this morning, so I got up early to make him breakfast. I tried to sleep a little more once he'd gone, but it wasn't very restful. I really accomplished almost nothing this morning, and then I went off to work at the pregnancy center. On my way I got in a minor fender-bender in the parking lot of the mall, where I'd been getting quarters at the bank to feed the meters downtown. Fortunately no one was hurt, my bumper was just scratched from a woman backing into me. But the exchange of information made me late getting downtown, and the office was incredibly busy, and the traffic coming home was absolutely horrendous.

And now poor Phillip has gone to bed. He think's he's getting sick and has had a horrible headache all afternoon. I might be catching it, too, but my  headache got much better after dinner. 

Lucky for me, the day also provided a nice long chat with my sister and several delicious cups of coffee. Not to mention a book I simply can't put down!

Monday, I hope you lead to better things in the week ahead! Have a wonderful week, ya'll!

PS Don't forget to enter the giveaway before it's too late! 

Thursday's Child: Blue & Orange

I'm really loving this blue/orange color combo for a nursery. It's very gender neutral without feeling too gender neutral, if you know what I mean. I guess I've never seen a green and yellow gender neutral nursery that I loved as much as these blue and orange ones! And see how well it translates into an older girl's room? Or guest room, for that matter! I know blue and orange would also make a wonderful older boy's room, even though I don't have a good example today. 

What do you think of the blue and orange color scheme? Too grown up for a nursery? Too "Broncos"? Or if you love it, which room above is your favorite?

Thursday's Child: Rolling

Last weeekend, I went to an antique show with my grandmother.

For some odd reason we were talking about the pros and cons of co-sleeping with your baby and she told me the cutest story.

She was an only child, and her parents were always very strict about bed time. They would put her to bed and then tiptoe around the house quietly with the TV turned way down and no loud noises allowed. When she went away to college, she had a really hard time sleeping because of all the noise and activity constantly going on in the dorms. She said there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't get up in the morning saying "I am SO tired!" 

When she married my grandpa, she was still a very light sleeper. Nine months later she had my dad, and she became an even lighter sleeper! She'd never been around a baby before. She said that if there was any sound at all, she would jump up to check on the baby. She would lay awake trying to hear him breath and be scared all the time that something was wrong. She wasn't getting any sleep. 

Apparently he slept in a small bassinet on wheels. She solved her sleeping problems by putting him to sleep in her room, laying him in his bassinet, and wheeling it out into the hall right outside the door. She could shut the door and go to sleep but still hear him if he actually cried! 

I love imagining my grandmother as a young girl and the mental image of her wheeling my dad's bassinet around the house, for some reason it is so funny! But now that I think about it, why don't more cribs have wheels?! 

Did you/would you co-sleep? Or would you wheel your baby out into the hall? 

- nothing is really very frightening -

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This week, Phillip and I have been spending quite a bit of time planning. We've been discussing our future, our plans for moving or staying here, for what we need to accomplish this year and how to go about it. There are so many unknowns in the future, and so many choices and decisions we have to make. I've been praying really hard that we'll be given guidance to make the best decisions and the wisest choices. Sometimes the unexplored future feels so uncertain and scary, but I know there's a plan for us. I love this quote, because it makes some sort of silly sense to me. Frightening is all a matter of perspective, after all! 

I hope you have a delightful weekend! Don't be afraid of what the future holds!

{to be with those I like}

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Sorry to be so absent yet again, but I'm beginning another fun-filled week with almost all the people I like!

My parents and several siblings and soon my parents-in-law, plus aunts and uncles and cousins galore are visiting Denver this week, and I plan to wear myself out playing hostess and running amok. 

But now, to bed. I have to get over a silly little cold before I can begin the week in earnest!

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Thursday's Child: A Private Playhouse

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I adore the idea of having a special playhouse area, either inside or out, where kiddos can hide away and create their own private wonderland home. My parents built a secret room in their house (shhh) that my dad planned to use for storing luggage, but it is definitely empty of suitcases, as it's been appropriated by the kids as a secret playhouse. There's nothing more magical than a private playhouse! And although these ones aren't actually secrets, they're certainly fun and beautiful! 

Don't you want one?!