Your Weekly Pins

Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? I'm headed to Steven's Point, Wisconsin to run a five-mile race that will occur while it is eight degrees outside. EIGHT DEGREES. On MARCH 1ST. BUT, there will be beer there, so I will take comfort in the fact that it will be waiting for me, assuming, of course, I don't freeze first.

Anyway, let's get this show on the road. You know what Friday means: Another week of pins! Here's what caught my eye on Pinterest this week...


HOMEY

[This bathroom. Am I right?! Those wall-spanning shelves are just superb and I will never tire of claw-foot tubs. And that tile? Well, of course I love it--it will soon cover the floor in my own bathroom!]


[I love this soft and pretty room. The colors are fantastic, and everything coordinates so well without being over-the-top matchy-matchy. And let's talk about that copper light fixture. Gorgeous.]


[Tell me you wouldn't curl up in this little bed nook and just read your heart out. And I'm gaga over that quilt, as well.]

[If you've got decent handwriting and a favorite phrase or lyric, please create this cursive accent wall in your own home. I think this is such a cool idea.]



I WANT TO EAT THAT

[For a Meatless Monday, these roasted cauliflower steaks with meyer-lemon relish would be a delicious (and beautiful) dinner.] 


[The recipe for a guaranteed pin from Rachel: Pretty colors + sprinkles + anything having to do with birthdays. These Ice Cream Birthday Squares have it all.]



[You love cupcakes. You love funnel cakes. So of course you would love a funnel cake cupcake. Too good to be true? I sure hope not.]



RACHY LIKEY





[Make a vertical chalkboard herb planter for the kitchen. I love this idea - fresh herbs right within reach!]


[I was introduced to the Electric Blanket shop in San Francisco via SF Girl by Bay this week, and I instantly fell in love. Part art gallery and part vintage clothing boutique, this is one of the cutest little shops I've ever seen. The styling is just perfect - laid back, pretty and full of charm.]


[I mean, just look at Electric Blanket's adorable coffee station. I want one just like this at home.]


SHINDIGS

[This is literally one of the cutest birthday ideas I've ever seen (again, this was total pin-bait for me). Decorate a match book, stick a candle inside and gift with a cupcake on the side. Best birthday card ever.]


[Doughnut holes are reason enough for me to attend any party, but skewered and dressed up like little glittery arrows? I am all over that.]



ADORABLES

[If this photo doesn't melt your heart into a gooey puddle of hearts and rainbows, you, my friend, need to talk with someone.]


There are plenty more where these came from! To see everything I pin all week long, follow me on Pinterest.

What I'm Loving Loving Today: Vintage Seed Packet Stamps

This time last year, I was trolling the US Postal Service web site, hoping they'd soon release a pretty, colorful spring-like stamp that would look beautiful, fun and unique on the envelopes of our wedding invitations.

Sadly, my dream stamp (a phrase I'd never thought I'd hear myself say) wasn't released on time, so I was forced to use the plain ol' boring wedding cake stamps you see on pretty much every wedding invitation you receive these days. Fast forward to last week. I found myself at the post office for the first time in a while, in need of a few stamps. I looked over at the selection available and was instantly struck by the soft colors of the Vintage Seed Packet sleeve of stamps. They were so pretty!

The stamps are based on actual seed packets dating from 1910-1920. Apparently these stamps were originally released last April, just a couple weeks after we sent out our invitations. Aw, nuts.That I'm just learning of their existence now is a testament to the fact that I do not mail things in the actual, physical, paper mail more than probably three times a year. But now that I have these pretty little stamps, I think I'll find some excuses.

I just thought these were so pretty I had to share. So buy 'em up if your local post office has 'em for sale.

So now I've managed to do two things today I never thought I would: Type the words "my dream stamp" and write a blog post dedicated to postage stamps. If 21-year-old me could see how far I've come....

Your Weekly Pins

Happy Friday, gang! After two days of above-freezing temperatures (break out the shorts, folks!), I awoke this morning to blustery, 45-mph winds swirling new snow around the neighborhood, smacking me in the face as I stepped out of my house. Have I mentioned yet that I am so. over. winter? I am.

Let's move on. It's Friday, and that means a whole new week of pin-worthy finds. Here's what caught my eye on Pinterest this week...


HOMEY

[You know I love a big white room with pops of color, but I'm ultra wild about the white-painted boards on the floor, walls and ceiling of this space. It makes everything seem so big and bright!] 

 

[I love this big, grid-like shelving unit. It's both a storage solution and a beautiful art piece on the wall. And the way it's styled here? Just perfect.]

 

[How pretty is this gallery wall? I love how it has a specific color palette and everything hanging fits perfectly. However, it's just mix-and-match enough to be interesting and not matchy.]

 

[What a fun little office-space corner. Colorful, bright (thanks to the hanging globe lights--love those) and filled with inspiring prints and sayings. "Today I am excited about everything" just may be my new mantra.] 

I WANT TO EAT THAT

 

[Oh, hi Indoor S'more Sundae. You look delicious. And like something that I should be enjoying right now. Can I have you?]

 

[Maybe I'm a cat lady for saying this (and maybe I am anyway), but I would scream and die of happiness if somebody baked me this cat cake for my birthday. You've got six weeks to learn how.]

I CAN HAZ STYLE?

 

[I've really been loving on ankle boots hard this season. Some days you just don't feel like wearing tall boots, y'know? I like these because they're fun, could go with anything and have just a tiny hint of cowboy boot flair. Want.]

 

[This girl looks like she's having a blast. Probably because she looks cute as heck in that striped midi skirt and knotted blouse. See? This outfit's so cute it got me to voluntarily say the word "blouse." That's big, people.

RACHY LIKEY

 

 

[Grilling season is just around the corner (please?), but who needs meat and veggies when you can make a gummy candy kabob?? These are the things my dreams are made of.]

 

^^^^ The above, times a thousand, to you all.


There are plenty more where these came from. To see everything I pin all week long, follow me on Pinterest!

Little Things

While we may be in the midst of a major bathroom renovation, there hasn't been a shortage of little projects around the house. Just teeny tweaks here or a refresh there. For me, winter is the perfect time to make little changes around the house; if I'm going to be stuck inside all day, I might as well be stuck inside with pretty things around me.

So today, while you wait with bated breath over the onslaught of bathroom-reno posts to come, why not check out some of the little updates, projects and additions I've been making around the house for the past couple of months?

First of all, we got new bedding for the guest room! I'd been wanting something a little less busy than our previous bedding, and I've always loved a plain white, big, cozy comforter, so I wanted to incorporate that in the room. I brought down the quilt that previously lived in the master bedroom to add a pop of color, and grabbed some toss pillows for some interest up top. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect shams for this thing, and maybe another bright pillow, but it's on the way to looking how I'd like it to.

 

The guestroom also got dressed up with a new desk and rug! I wanted a sleek, simple desk to work on, and I found the one above at Target marked down about to something like $80. It's pretty and sturdy and just what I was looking for. 

 

In that same trip to Target, I found this black and white rug from the (impeccable) Nate Berkus line. The flip-side of this rug is more white with black arrowheads, so I think it would work as a reversible rug, if desired. But even though I'm a color lover myself, I'm totally digging the black. Still can't wait to get rid of that rickety old chair, though...just holding out to find a great one.

While we're on the subject of the new desk, I've been having a blast styling it different ways pretty much once a week. Right now it's got antique blue mason jars, my Instax camera, some colorful pens, a framed photo of the mister and me, and, of course, this gold wire basket filled with washi tape. Because why wouldn't I have a basket filled with pretty patterned tape displayed on my desk?

Colors!

While on a recent pilgrimage to Anthropologie, I spotted this woven coral rug and, because it was in the clearance section for $24, I bought it. The color isn't coming through right in the photo, but it's pretty much a dead-ringer for the color on our bathroom walls. I'm hoping that once the renovation's complete in there, it will make for a perfect bath mat. If not, I'm sure I'll find another place to use it eventually. Which is exactly what I said to Eric after I brought it home with no place to live. "Rachel," he pleaded, "You can't just buy a bunch of rugs just because they're on sale..." But I'll show him. I'll show you all. I will find a space for this thing!

On that same Anthropologie trip, I picked up these pretty knobs for something like $2.49 a piece. Again, the coral matches our bathroom perfectly, so I thought it might be fun to swap out the hardware on the vanity in there with either one (or both!) or these. Little did I know a few weeks later we would have no vanity and no bathroom to put them in. However, they will be used somewhere down the line. Maybe as part of a mismatched coat-hook display, or maybe on a refurbished dresser or just as pretty decoration somewhere. Believe it or not, this is not the first time I've purchased interested knobs with no place in particular to use them...

Nothing like a few new trinkets to brighten up the middle of a dreary winter. Now, onto the big stuff!

 

Well, this is happening...

Happy Presidents Day, everyone! Perhaps you're not celebrating, but I've got the day off, and it looks like this outside...

...So obviously I am celebrating the fact that I don't have to be out in the world fighting the big ol' snowstorm that's laying the smackdown on Southeast Wisconsin right now. It's been a pretty great day so far, spent finishing up a DIY project that will be up on Make, Do & Mend tomorrow. I also hit the treadmill while watching the Olympic Ice Dancing finals. Y'know, I love the Olympics. I get swept up in it all, devoting my nights to watching sports I only truly care about every four years like bobsledding, ski jumping, biathlon, alpine skiing, curling and... ice dancing? For the first time in my life I've been wrapped up in the ice dancing competition, mostly thanks to USA's gold-medal hopefuls Meryl Davis and Charlie White... they're nearly flawless and just beautiful to watch out there. Anyway, this morning, I found myself genuinely filled with nerves over their free skate program, barely able to watch their performance (the final of the night) because I didn't want to see them falter. I literally watched with fingers over my eyes because I was so nervous. For ice dancing. Who am I? Just two mornings before, I'm jumping up and down, screaming over the USA/Russia hockey game, totally bro-ing out over their win, and this morning I'm glued to the TV watching ice dancing as if I had big money riding on the results (I don't). I won't spoil the outcome for you in case you're holding out to watch during prime time, but the final group of five pairs were all something special to watch.

But Olympic ice dancing, believe it or not, was not why I came here today. Today I'm here to show you what I came home to yesterday after an hour of running errands.

This. This is what I came home to. Actually, more accurately, I came home and the first thing I saw was this:

That's our bathroom sink. And that is also our kitchen. That is our bathroom sink in our kitchen. 

Oh, hi, Eric. Why have I come home to see our bathroom sink sitting in our kitchen? 

That's when he walked me into the bathroom. And that's when I saw what once was our bathroom had now become an empty, cavernous white-tile wasteland.

We had maybe, possibly, planned on starting to tile the bathroom floor yesterday. It would be a relatively simple job, as our bathroom is teeny-tiny with not much square footage to cover. So Eric said he'd start on things while I ran out to Home Depot for my (what seems like weekly) visit to the paint department and, while I was in the area, a visit to Target to pick up some face wash and photo paper (...and two shirts, new sheets, a new pillow, earrings, foam-core board and a box of fruit snacks. Because, Target.)

So I came home, threw my shopping bags on the floor and out came Eric from the bathroom, looking a little overworked. He explained that once he took the vanity and sink out of the bathroom, then looked up on the bad tiling job that we've always hated around the lower walls of the bathroom, he thought, "Hey, might as well just do the whole damn thing now that everything's already torn up and out of the bathroom." 

So naturally, what came next was taking crowbar to tile and tearing apart the bathroom.

There we were, halfway through a Sunday afternoon that we originally had no plans for, suddenly with the bathroom in shambles. My afternoon now meant spending a few hours online shopping for new vanities, tile and inspiration for our soon new-to-be bathroom. Life is hard, you guys

Oh yeah, and our toilet was just sitting there, hanging out in the living room.

Hi, toilet.

So what comes next? Well, we'll be spending the week re-tiling the bathroom walls. This time, with the same subway tile that we've got going on in the kitchen. Why mess with a classic look?

The floors will be vintage-inspired black-and-white tile, kind of like this:

In my big, fat, totally unrealistic dreams, we'd have an old-school deep wall-mount sink, like the Kolher Brockway,  below.

 

One small issue, though: Kohler's Brockway sink would set us back over $1,100.... and, as much as I puppy-dog-eyed it, Eric was not going to give in to paying that much for something we only use to wash our hands in. No matter how absolutely brain-bustingly beautiful it is.

If I want a sink like the Brockway, I'm going to have to roll up the sleeves and do some digging at places like Habitat for Humanity's ReStore (where I've seen sinks similar to this in the past...) or flea markets. You know I enjoy a good dig, but we kinda need a sink pretty soon, so I don't think I'll have the time to scrounge for the perfect doppelganger. 

Anyone have a spare thousand just burning in their pocket? 

A new bathroom was not on our agenda for this time of year. You see, we're planning on a totally, major, huge project this spring, and now that project may have to wait a few months now that we've got bathroom stuff to do (ehhh... that was totally not the right way to phrase that. Sorry.).

So stay tuned for plenty of stories to come about our brand-new bathroom. I'm excited to plan and shop and hopefully get the bathroom we've always wanted (well, the bathroom we've always wanted that is also about three feet by five feet), but work and dollar signs are are lying so stubbornly between now and then. So. Brace yourselves.

You never know what Sunday may bring you.

Your Weekly Pins

Another Friday, another week of pins! Here's what caught my eye on Pinterest this week...


HOMEY

 

[The first image I saw of this nursery was a straight-on photo of the crib, with its cute pillows and that adorable kint heart blanket (the photo of the donkey overhead is pretty sweet, too). But when I saw this angle, with the gold triangle-painted ceiling, I think I mouthed "YES" as soon as I saw it. So, so cool.]

 

[Who needs upper cabinets when the ones below are decked out in amazing colors? Love the bubblegum pink and tangerine orange mixed with wood. And the hanging pots, pans, towels and utensils overhead? Just lovely.]

 

[Oh hi, lofted bedroom. I love your barn-style ceilings, your stark white walls and pops of color. What a great little space.]

 

[I've got a few dream pieces of home decor, but I think the one that may top my list is a scene-stealing spiral staircase. Not the most practical, but can you imagine cascading up or down one of these babies every day?]

I WANT TO EAT THAT

 

[I think with all the snow and frigid temperatures, fresh summer food is on my mind. These honey chipotle chicken bowls with lime quinoa sound both light and refreshing and filling, too. That's one gorgeous bowl up there, filled with some of my all-time favorite ingredients.]

 

 

[Could I eat sweet potatoes at every meal? Probably. And happily. This roasted sweet potato huevos rancheros dish looks super delicious. I'd gobble it up for breakfast, lunch or dinner.]

[I guess I've been craving Tex-Mex, because I also want to make these lightened-up beef enchiladas right away. Any kind of comfort food that can be healthified and still taste comforting is totally alright with me.]

[And finally, because not all things can be healthy, but they should involve sprinkles, I want these, the happiest cupcakes in the world, in my life right now.] 


I CAN HAZ STYLE?

[Can it be summer yet so I can wear this cute stripey dress? No? Well can I wear it now anyway?]

 

[Well, if it can't be summer, can it at least be fall so I can wear this cute striped shirt with tulle skirt? No? Well can I wear it now anyway?]

[I'm not sure what kind of person could pull off this bold of a dress, but I'm pretty positive it's not a person like me. It is fun to dream about wearing, though.]

I'MA MAKE THAT

[Pallet projects seem like they're kind of on the outs right now, but that doesn't mean you can't make these cute mini pallets out of wooden paint sticks! Adorable!]

[What would I do with these mini wire hangers after making them? I have no idea. They're just cute. And I wanna.]


FUNNEE

[Nothing's more awkward on Valentine's Day than being in a kinda-new relationship and not really sure if you should be celebrating with your significant other... or person you're talking to.... or that guy you've been on three dates with or....... So, why not make things even more awkward (and hilarious) by giving him/her this card?]



There are plenty more where these came! To see everything I pin all week long, follow me on Pinterest.