out of order

puff daddy would be a good name for the little tyke after the eating of tiny star shaped puffs saved our colorado trip, one day at a time.  whoever invented tiny dissolvable snacks for tots, i thank you.  over and over again.  who would have thought such a thing could distract a baby for two hours on a plane?  ok maybe most parents knew this, but i'm clearly still a noob.

with that said, here are a few more pics from our trip.  all in all, mr. H did so very well and we're thrilled to have made the memories + snapped the shots that will last for years to come.  [commence weeping worthy of bachelor woman. what's that? which one? does it matter?]

some of us are content to look + not taste.  others, not.

possibly my favorite....that tiny squeak of a cleft....the glistening nose....THE LASHES.  oh yes and the EARS, DID I MENTION THE EARS?

from his perch 8000+ feet above sea level.  clearly this kid owns the world.  ok maybe not the world, but a woman.  ME.

and lastly, peering down over the crunch + sparkle of snow-bedecked chicago on our last night of vacation.  you might think i'm swooning for the petite paw or the perfectly curled lash thats screaming for a maybelline contract, but its the monster that kills me.  gaaaRRRRRRRRRR!!!  here i come!  slobberslobberslobber!  

yup.  

this one's a framer.

skirting the issue

i got an early start on spring cleaning this year.

i got out a box.

i filled it with clothes.

i placed it by the back door.

i wrote out a list for goodwill.

and i patted myself on the back.


and i walked by that box.  which i filled too big, so i can't lift it by myself to get it into the car.  i walked by it again.  and again.  and again, the day after that.


and a few things may have snuck back out.

so either i'm really resourceful or someone needs to re-explain to me what spring cleaning means.

but i'm thinking these could be really fun throw pillows.  like, cut 'em up, sew 'em back together [who?  not sure.  i am still mostly clueless about sewing] around a pillow form and call it a day.

as for where....let's see.  i picture this guy in the living room.

maybe him too.  because layered patterns are the coolest.

and this gal seems like she'd be an awfully fun playmate in the guest room.  beading + pom poms, oh my!  the navy-white duo would be a nice crisp pop against all the solid + patterned green in there.

my gray-dar is most certainly going off with this one!  see how the 'stitching' is a lovely light gray?  i know.  how did i dare to donate it.  oh yeah.  so someone else could enjoy it.  and because its too small.  right.

ideally, the pom poms would be salvageable for trim on the pillow. because pom poms are my fave.

so....thoughts?  have you ever kept an item of clothing so that you could re-use a piece of it?  or am i as crazy as i feel sometimes?

cya, co.

so we're freshly back from colorado.  gllllghhhhgorgeousness.  that's the slobbery sound of me drooling as i reminisce.

here is a peek.  you know, of the peaks.

 

the first three photos are from estes park.  this next one is a reservoir near nederveld, co....in the mountains above that beautiful hippie-den, boulder.

 the rest are a mixture from estes, and the mountains near boulder + golden.

 

this one really makes me take pause.  the feeling of topping the world, framed in 4x6:

 

c'est vraiment incroyable, n'est-ce pas?!  translation: those views are totally dope.  yup.  i said dope.

i snapped the majority of our photos however the hubs took what is arguably the best picture of all....the snap of that amazing fallen tree we drove past in estes park.  here's another view of it....have you ever been so smitten with something dead before?  [don't answer that]

in attempt to embrace the concept of editing, and avoid the reaction of too-long-did-not-listen, i'll finish up with these last few photos.  as you can see, we had an absolutely lovely time.  thanks so much to our friends for drawing us out to denver + for being the consummate hosts!

happy new year!

from our backyard to yours....

hate it or love it....isn't winter breathtaking?  here's to a spectacular year ahead!

get in line

so the lightbulb went off a little late this year [lightbulllb!], but next year i have a fun idea for our kitchen chandelier.  i mean, its already dressed to the nines 24-7 with [coughfauxcough] crystals aplenty dripping from its entire length.  but you know me! i love to switch it up if i can.

....in fact, see here how i originally had the crystals displayed.  oh + bring your magnifying glass.  [eeps.  sorry folks, that was the old template.]

i'm picturing either clusters of glossy ornaments strung all the way along the main bar [with the crystals still in place], or, using an approach like the foyer chandy this year + hanging a very minimalist row of orbs in a straight line parallel to the chrome bar.  with the crystals removed, so that the lights bounce off the sparkly ornaments alone.  oh and trust me, i'd find a place to use those crystals too....somewhere else where they'd have a completely different spin.

i have a couple other tardy-to-the-party ideas for next year as well, but i'll just have to wait on that for approximately 11 months.  this year was just a little too whirlwind [we already took down our tree....SHHHH....i know].

+ + +

oh and here's a little aside, while i'm looking at the picture above.  thoughts on our white grates-on-black-wall look we have been rocking out for over a year now since we moved in?  yeah i mean that glowing white rectangle that's been staring you in the eye while you try desperately to ignore it and move on to prettier pastures.

every so often we [interpretation: i] debate painting it black + changing out the outlet covers on that wall to black as well, but we always come back to the conclusion of leaving them all white.  personally, i think it gives a more urban air to our singular inky wall.  and, leaving them white = no work or expense.  but i always notice in other homes where grates have been painted to disappear into the wall color [hmm.  so perhaps that defeats the purpose?  well i do have an especially nosy eye, i'll admit.]  anyway.  if you have an opinion, feel free to share!

while i'm at it

i know, i know. i have a son. but i JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

after doing a baby-done-growed-up boy's room post i feel compelled to follow it with a big girl bedroom moodboard [ish]. 

because i'm a girl's girl, and while i love my son, I CAN DREAM. TRY AND STOP ME.

here's what i'd do if i had a daughter's room to transition in the near future:

+ a splash of scandi style.  red, pink, light blue and white, white, white.

+ fresh, whimsical, but not overly feminine.  a bit of edge.

+ large scale fairly neutral pieces that could easily move into other areas of the house later on. because we can try and lie to ourselves that baby girls won't fall in love with dora and minnie mouse and three thousand shades of pink, purple, and that pinnacle palette-topper purpley-pink....but let's not.  let's just accept it as fact and move on.

via etsy

via life interiors

via classy mirrors

via kaboodle

via pottery barn

via rubie green

via yvestown

ok i better stop now.  i am loving this scheme wayyyy too much and i still have a son to think about!  maybe the hubs will let me decorate the spare bedroom as a big girl room....for myself. 

biggie smalls

well it seems time does indeed fly.  here we are about to jump into january '11 and my mind keeps wandering to what i'll want to do with baby H's big boy room [SPOILER ALERT: not announcing anything here! sorry folks.  we're just enjoying the one!]  i merely mean the wee man isn't so wee anymore and it will be fun to re-decorate a room for him that suits a little boy vs. a teeny tiny beebee.  plus, we didn't find out H's gender before his arrival so it would be my first time decorating specifically for him.

on that note....here are my initial thoughts!

+ eclectic will be a key word [again, and yet even more this time].  a fun mix of things that don't look like a pre-packaged set.

+ a bit of a traveled look would be a plus.  like, this little boy has been places.  like, this little boy must have dual citizenship to a foreign country.  oh yeah.  HE DOES.  could totally tell from his room.

+ a bolder dose of pattern and/or artwork.  something large scale.

here are some images for you.  shaken, not stirred.

via ACL

via shoponline2011

via designova

via cococozy

via etsy

i definitely wouldn't be buying all new gear.  let's get that straight, right from the get-go.  those of the perceptive eye would note that the antlers + ikea canvases are already owned.  as are the chartreuse ikea pillows which i think would be sharp with hits of red, grey + tiny touches of blue in the room as well. the dangerous book for boys was an amazingly spot-on christmas gift to our little tyke, and we were also gifted a much-loved-upon vintage bowling pin.  ours has hot pink details, but i think H is oozing enough manliness to make even a dash of hot pink in his room seem ever so cool.

as for other elements in his current nursery, many would be easy enough to switch over to a whole new scheme.  the vintage pendant light?  paint it!  the letters?  spray 'em, baby!  the curtains?  re-trim in a new color!  why not!

so now you know what decorating dallying my brain's been doing....anything to distract me from that pesky master boudoir that i can't seem to finish.  oh + speaking of master....we would never forget the master rhino himself who would be a perfect fit for our all-grown-up-little-boy room.

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