Summer Blogcation

I hope everybody is having a great summer!  I have lots of blog ideas I'm looking forward to sharing soon.  Keep an eye out for me to return to blogging in August, after Pretty Little Bare Feet moves up to preschool, & we adjust to our new fall routine.  In the meantime you can always find me pinning!

Guided by Glitter

I apologize for blog neglect.  If you've been a longtime reader, you'll recall that I did not start blogging until Pretty Little Bare Feet was more than six months old, & I did not actually post with any regularity until she was more than a year old (with a somewhat established naptime).  So, considering My Little Man is six days from being a year old...

(I can't believe it!)

...it's not that surprising that I haven't been the best blogger lately.  I'm also planning a relatively big pirate-themed 1st Birthday party.  & summer is always a bit more chaotic since regular "school-year" activities quiet down.

(Yes, even for three-year-olds.)

Furthermore, even though it is glaringly obvious every evening that Pretty Little Bare Feet still needs an afternoon nap, she rarely takes one.

I do intend to commit some more time to the blog once I get an updated header, & start editing the sidebars & updating the look.

You can find me "posting" a lot more frequently on Pinterest.  I do love&adore Pinterest!

Anyway, while I'm taking this downtime, let me share with y'all my current favorite daily blog read. Are y'all following the Glitter Guide yet?  You must!

(all via the Glitter Guide)

Rag & Bone

Whoa, hello, crazy new Blogger look!  Am I the only one who really resists change & prefers to just be a creature of habit...comfortable with the old, the routine?

Well, I'll try to deal with it anyway, since it's been a bit since I updated. ;) Maybe the new Blogger look will inspire me to get my old blog clean&updated, too!

I've been meaning to post about this for a couple weeks...am I the last one to notice how great Rag&Bone is?!  I know I tried on a pair of their jeans at a boutique a couple years ago, but it's not a designer I consistently expect great things from or keep an eye on.  Or at least it wasn't until recently!

I have been really admiring some looks in their current collection...& thinking how well they'd carry me through some of my current routines -

church,

the country club,

the dance school,

the gym (for Pretty Little Bare Feet's gymnastics - I exercise at home alone! LOL),

the Junior League,

Montessori nursery school,

the occasional cocktails & chick flick date with a girlfriend,

parties...

(Just a few reasons I haven't been the best at updating! Sorry!)

Adeline Dress

Christopher Jacket

Sofia Skirt

Hanalei Ballet Flat

Leonard Dress

Beach Tee

Cornish Dress

Wide Brim Beach Hat

New Projects

Where have I been? Tangled up in new commitments&projects, of course.

I have taken on an appointed position on the Board of Directors at Pretty Little Bare Feet's Montessori school. I am also in the newest provisional class of our Junior League.

(I deferred last year because of everything going on with My Little Man at that time. & yes, I really must set away the $ to get a new header with My Little Man in it - I know, I know!)

I also recently decided,

after seeing a friend make some fantastic children's clothes,

& seeing a gazillion strangers on Pinterest make fantastic children's clothes,

& looking at some fabrics&patterns&PRICES at Hobby Lobby

...I must sew!

(via: Lil Blue Boo)

(via: Made)

(via: Clever Charlotte)

I have been avoiding my sewing machine, which I received from my sweet mama for Christmas back in 2008 (right before Pretty Little Bare Feet was born). I have been intimidated by it, but I've decided just to get over my mental block about not knowing what I'm doing. Surely if I can get a law degree (it ain't easy!), I can figure out how to sew. Right? Right?!

So I've been planning&doing, finally turning a portion of our gigantic third bedroom into an office/sewing area for myself. My inspirations?

(via: Heather Bailey)

(via: Classy Clutter)

What have you been up to?

Think once I get my office like I want it, I'll be better about cleaning up the blog & updating it as regularly as I want to?

(I've also cooked up another idea for another blog, but I think it'd be NOT-anonymous, so not sure how I'm going to go about that just yet.)

"I'll think about it tomorrow." ;)

Spring Break Staycationing

This week is Pretty Little Bare Feet's spring break. You may be thinking,

"Hmmm, isn't she only three? Is spring break that big a deal for y'all?"

Well, it definitely is, as Pretty Little Bare Feet is pretty married to her typical routine, & things that throw it off...

(like missing a whole week of nursery school)

...drive her crazy.

& when she's crazy, I'm crazy. & when we're both crazy, the house is crazy.

My Little Man? He's his usual

calm,

cool,

laid-back

little self. We should all be so zen!

So although I'm smack in the middle of a cabinet&pantry cleaning-out-&-reorganization...

...& I have laundry to change over...

...this morning's stir crazies have got me needing a break.

So I want to do just an itsy bitsy bit of blog catching up & share some fun with y'all.

No surprise, I have a sticky of ideas for Pinboards. I don't want to have a bunch of lame, one-or-two item Pinboards, so I wait to create them until I actually have some great things to put on them.

I keep getting excited about bracelets, which are very probably my favorite pieces of jewelry, but I haven't ventured out into creating a Pinboard solely devoted to bracelets. Instead, they keep getting pinned to either my Pretties Pinboard or My Style Pinboard.

(Depending, of course, on whether they're more dainty&pretty...or classically stylish. ;))

Bangles by Erica Courtney

Crystal&Leather Bangle Bracelets by House of Harlow 1960 at Bloomingdale's

Scrolled Link Bracelet in Gold at J. Crew

Striped Bone Bracelet by Marni at the Outnet

Katie Double Wrap in Shock Red by Marc Jacobs

Our Boring Staircase

We have lived in our home for almost three years now, & it has been a slooow process getting things decorated.

(& in some cases, even furnished!)

We bought more house than we had furniture for. With both My Prince & me being straight out of professional school, we had accumulated mostly odd hand-me-down furniture & inexpensive college apartment staples. We have bought some new items...however, we haven't made it a major priority because we have small children.

(I'm sure I don't have to tell y'all that our furniture is getting some pretty serious wear.)

Also, we don't want to spend money on items we aren't going to love. But we can't always budget for the items we truly want to have!

One of my biggest challenges has been decorating our walls. We have quite a bit of art, actually. Some of it is really great, like original hand-painted works from local artists & travels abroad. Some of it is less exciting, just cute stuff I've found at places like Hobby Lobby.

The issue for me is that I don't want to hang something that has not been properly framed&matted.

(& professional framing&matting can be pretty expensive!)

& in the case of family photographs...I do want to display the large, beautiful ones we have had professionally done - but I also don't want to completely overwhelm our shelves&walls. ;) I always second-guess my editing!

So although there are a few things hung here, & a couple over there, there is still a lot of work to be done on the walls of our house.

One area that is still completely bare is our staircase.

(Except for the wall that forms the base, but I think of that more as part of the little walkway that leads to our master bedroom.)

Our home has one of those stairwells with a small landing in the center, which U-turns the staircase the rest of the way upstairs. I see design ideas for curved&"straight-up" staircases all the time, so I decided to look around a bit for some ideas for what I have to work with. Do you love any of these?

(via: Home Klondike)

(via: Smith&Vansant Architects)

How cool would it be to have a built-bookcase on the landing?!

(via: Southern Accents)

Thank you, Pinterest, for letting me know that I am evidently the only person whose staircase does not have a window anywhere along its path. Also, for reminding me that design here may be thwarted by the fact that Pretty Little Bare Feet can reach many of the points along the stairs' walls, making anything that is hung there vulnerable to the whims of a tired little girl on her way to bed. This is especially important since apparently the only design option here is to just plaster a gazillion framed photos or pieces of art on the walls. ;)

Tory in the Fall

It's hard for me to even wrap my head around fall/winter collections, but that's how the fashion world turns! Even though I've been drooling over the new spring/summer collections for children for weeks now...

(& praying for some warm, sunny weather!)

...it's time to look at what we (adults) will be shopping for in the fall!

My favorite (ready-to-wear) collection I've seen yet? The always chic Tory Burch!

Here are my favorite looks from the Tory Burch fall/winter 2012 runway show:

What runway looks have you ready to fast-forward summer & kick off football season?

(If you're like me, there are not actually any clothes worth skipping summer for!)