Weekend Inspiration

Try: This weekend, I hope, will be a lazy one. Last Mother's Day, Ray woke up really sick so all of our plans went out the window and I was left feeling.. less than celebrated. This year, I just want to relax at home with my family. And maybe some flowers. Flowers would be good. ;) I'm picturing slow meals outside while Emmett plays, basking in the afternoon shade.

My hair is really long right now and in desperate need of a good haircut, so I've been looking for new styles to try that keep it out of my way while still looking put together and cute. I'm planning to try this one over the weekend.

Buy: I need a swimsuit! It's already summer here in AZ, and we're heading to a friend's pool for the first time tonight. I've been avoiding the idea of a swimsuit with all my might, but it's time. I loved this one from Madewell- so bright and fun and flattering, maybe. It's on the expensive side (aren't all good swimsuits!), so I'll be looking for something like it, but less expensive. :)

Make: For a weekend like the one I'm hoping we'll have, crock-pot meals are perfect. Low energy, low effort, big results. BBQ is on my mind these days. Summer seems to do that to me. So I plan to make this delicious looking Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed pork tomorrow morning to last us through the weekend.

Bake: Every good weekend needs a little baking. Ray plans to head over to the condo tomorrow to finish painting the last bathroom that needs painting (praise the Lord), which leaves plenty of time for Emmett and I to make cookies. :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!

Weekend Inspiration

I made these cheesy potatoes a while back, and oh my goodness they were good. I ended up finishing them off with club crackers, because as we all know, every starch just needs another starch to go with it. The blasted weatherman ("sunny, then sunny and hot, then hot and even more sunny") is predicting rain for this weekend. I'll believe it when I see it, but just in case, these are going in the crock pot first thing tomorrow. They are the perfect thing for a rainy day!



I want my hair to look like this. All.The.Time. Alas, I don't have perfect hair and no matter what I do, my braids always look like a 2 year old did them so it's probably never gonna happen. That's not going to stop me from trying to achieve this look this weekend!


Speaking of this weekend... We got a call from our new landlord on Thursday telling us the house is ready for us to move in right away! We are a little bit in shock, a lot excited, and more and more ready to start moving in. I haven't packed a thing, and it may or may not rain on our moving parade, but I'm taking deep breaths and telling myself it's all going to work out just fine. I can't wait to start organizing all of our things again. Hoping it turns out a bit like that photo above. :)


One of the things I'm looking forward to the most is starting fresh with Emmett's room. I almost called it a nursery, but he's a kid now apparently so let's just call it his room. I'm thinking lots of animals because he's obsessed with them, tons of books, and a little reading nook in one corner.

I'm hoping all of you have a wonderful weekend ahead, just maybe not as busy and hectic as ours will be. Happy Friday, friends!

Pinspiration: New Home

Follow Anna Kate Wilby's board Home Inspiration on Pinterest.

I've been thinking a lot about this new house we'll be moving in to. Ray and I are both anxious to move, but trying so hard not to let that spark discontent in our hearts for the place we are now. We have loved living with Ray's parents. It's been amazing for Emmett and such a gift to us financially. It has been a time of rest, of letting go of our worries and stresses and just being all together as an extended family. But we're ready to go out on our own again now, so the waiting is difficult.

Instead of sitting around wishing and waiting, I've started pinning! I have so many ideas for how I want our new space to feel, and of course Pinterest is the best place to keep ideas all together.

We are renting, so I'm looking forward to embracing the white walls and neutral tones in the house. I've been tending towards white anyway, with grays and natural notes and little pops of color as accents. I can't wait to take a blank canvas and make it ours, little by little. A friend of ours has been renting this particular house for a few years, but she just got married and moved away. So for me, it will be a nice little challenge to take her ideas for the house and rethink them to make the space work better for us. Luckily for me, Ray is really great at looking at a room and having a vision for the best use of space.

I'm excited to take the energy and excitement Ray and I are feeling and put it to good use on Pinterest. I hope it makes the waiting a little bit easier and helps us to really cultivate a vision for our new place together. When we were married I moved in to the home he owned and lived in with his friends, so while I was able to give it a woman's touch, it never felt like a place we would have chosen together. It will be wonderful to have a fresh start, in a place we can call our own, as a family.

Also, I really want to build a garden. If you have one, or have any expertise in gardening, I'd love to hear about it! I will be pinning lots of gardening ideas, and Ray's brother is an expert in sustainable gardening and agriculture, but I am clueless so I can use all the help I can get. I just love the idea of growing fresh fruits and vegetables in our own yard, along with flowers and herbs. Emmett eats berries like it's his job, so they are also at the top of my list for things I'd like to grow!

Follow me on Pinterest to see more of what I'm looking for in this new place of ours. And if you love Pinterest as much as I do, let me know so I can follow you!

Popsicles (Of The Homemade Variety)

Because Emmett's birthday falls in the Summer, and we live in Arizona, and we're in the middle of the world's hottest heat wave, I thought it would be fun (read: necessary) to serve popsicles at his party. And as I am super crafty and really know my way around the kitchen and everything I do is Pinterest-worthy, I decided to make my own. So you know, go ahead with the praise.

I started with Pinterest, of course. I found a few recipes that looked good, bought this adorable popsicle kit from Crate & Barrel (there are cheaper kits, but I'm a sucker for everything C&B), and filled my fridge with fruit and juice.

I made a few different kinds, starting with an easy one- lemonade layered with strawberry lemonade with tiny bits of strawberries. Pretty hard to mess up that recipe.

Then I did this awesome recipe for chili lime watermelon popsicles, minus the chili. These might have been my favorite! So yum and I'm a sucker for watermelon with sea salt. I also made these, and my mom made some really similar to these but miniature for the kiddos.

But the biggest hit were these watermelon mojito popsicles my mom made. My mom loves a good mojito, so when she got to town a few days before Emmett's party, she made a batch of mojitos with plenty extra to freeze for popsicles. So yum!

All in all the popsicles were a hit, and a great way to keep everyone cool in the 118 degree weather!

DIY Painted Twine Garland

I'm not crafty y'all. Not at all.

But Emmett's first birthday party is coming up (my baby boy will be ONE in 11 days!), and I'm trying to plan a Pin-worthy party for like no money, so I decided to craft.

I've been eyeing Confetti System's gorgeous tassel garlands for years now, so when I found these babies on Pinterest the other day, I decided it was time to make my own.

Inspiration garland taken from theminimalist.com.au

I invited my friend (and super-crafter) Rachel over on Saturday to help me, and I love how they turned out! Here's how we did it:

We made the tassels out of regular (and cheap!) garden twine from Ace Hardware by cutting tons of twine into similar lengths, bunching them together, and wrapping the top bits in more twine. We left one piece of twine in a loop over the top to hang them.

I had some leftover sea blue/turqoise paint from our kitchen remodel, so we used that rather than trying to dye the twine. We painted each strand, leaving a few inches at the top just like the yellow inspiration garland. I left the tassels outside over night to dry, and then pulled them apart and reshaped them in the morning.

To hang them, I strung them on a long piece of twine, tying a knot around each tassel so they don't slide around, and hung them in the playroom/dining room/hallway/living room under our Happy Birthday banner!

Before re-shaping the twine. Ignore the mess on the floor. This room is multipurpose.

And a couple of close-ups of the finished garland:

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with them (and myself for being so creative!). I might even hang them somewhere in the house permanently after the birthday party is over. 

I still can't believe my baby boy is about to be a year old. I remember the day we brought him home from the hospital like it was just yesterday. I sure do love that little guy!

Birthday Party Pinspiration

Emmett's first birthday is coming up, and I'm really starting to get excited about planning his little birthday party! I've been thinking about his party for some time now, but I haven't done much actual planning yet. I've been dreaming of balloons for days, a Pin-worthy dessert table, and the cutest baby boy with cake on his face and all in his hair. 

Obviously, when I need a little theme-spiration, I go straight to Pinterest. So, here are of few of my ideas!

I love this little elephant cake! I'm kind of obsessed with Elephants, so we have a collection of elephant stuffed animals and little elephant prints in his room. So.. maybe jungle themed? Or vintage circus?

I'm not sure where the party will be yet, but if we have to be outside, these super cute (and easy!) hanging forts will provide a little shade for the littles!

If we stick with the elephant/jungle/circus theme, animal crackers are super cute as snacks for the kiddos. Maybe we'll give them out as favors in bags like these:

These would be pretty easy to make using burlap bags and a cute animal stamp. I'm all about easy crafts! 

I'm not this good, but I do have a certain sister who loves to bake so..... Lucia, how much do you love your nephew..? Or maybe I'll hit up the girl who made me these cookies for my bachelorette party? Rachel..?

Now that's a little "craft" that I can do! This would be so fun as a centerpiece. 

And now, balloons, for days:

So many ways to decorate with ballons. Aaaand I might use all of them..

I love the idea of a little crown for Emmett's party hat, and this one is SO CUTE. I'm trying to throw this party on the cheap, so I might try to make a little crown for him.

I've got a lot of work to do, but oh my gosh it's so much fun! Can't believe my little boy is almost one!

All photos on this post are from Pinterest. Check out my 1st Birthday board for more birthday ideas!