Hallelujah and amen...

So my phone fell in the toilet on Monday. What's ridiculous and unfortunate is that, just before I heard the telltale splash, I thought to myself, "Oh wait! My phone is in my back pocket. Maybe I should take it out. Nahhhh.... it'll be fine."

The moral of that story is that, if I am ever blessed with psychic powers, you can count on me to do absolutely nothing with them.

Fortunately, the phone is just fine. My screen was being a diva for a few hours, but apparently everything dried out, and I have avoided, for the time being, having to go buy a new phone. #hallelujah (#yesIknowblogginginhashtagsislame)

And that Whole30 number 3 I was doing? Well, I made it solidly to day 16 when I cheated in an epic way. And then I squeezed through to day 22 before I enthusiastically gave up the charade. Ugh. I'm definitely doing the moderation thing okay right now, but goodness gracious. I don't need moderation. I need motivation.

Thankfully, a friend at work has been persistent in encouraging me to join her in her workout sessions. Our firm just installed a gym in our office, which really renders my ready-made excuse ("I'm too busy to schlep all my stuff to the gym and spend 45 minutes working out!") sort of moot. The workouts she does (mostly strength training with some bursts of mountain climbers, etc. to get her heart rate up) take 30 minutes at most, and the gym is right there. So I've gone with her the past week and am really liking it. I sort of overdid it yesterday (which is so lame because I was going super light on the weights), and my quad is on fire today. Let's all say a hearty "amen" that today is rest day.

Compounding the soreness of working out, I've also made the switch to a stand-up desk at work. It's adjustable, so I can move it back down when I need to rest, which is nice. It's probably the case that, 20 years down the road, the research will demonstrate that stand-up desks are no healthier than sitting on our rears all day, every day. But for now, I feel like I'm doing something good for my body for standing up a bit more each day. And, I swear, I feel more productive. I think it's because I tell myself that I get a sit-down break as soon as I complete a task. And for a person who really despises standing, that's a pretty good incentive.

(Also, how pretty is my new painting? I got it from One King's Lane, and I'm really liking it. The artist has several pieces that I'd love, as I feel like they're the perfect mix of, "I'm a professional, and I hang serious art in my office" and also "I've totally got two X chromosomes.")

One other thing I forgot to mention here, though you may have seen it on Instagram: I'm a brand-new contributor to Dallas Moms Blog! So crazy, right? If you're a mom in the DFW area and are not already a reader of this blog and/or following them (us??) on Instagram and Facebook, you're definitely missing out. I had been reading for over a year when they announced an open call for some new contributors, and I just thought, "Hey, I think I want to get to know those women!" Because it really is a diverse group of moms who have tons of great ideas on doing life well with kids. I think I'll most certainly be the underachiever in the group with not a whole lot to contribute, but you'll nevertheless be able to find me there once a month, rambling as I do here. :)

Last, but certainly not least, Gracie is still cute.

Just in case you were wondering.

I'm linking up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff and Things. What stuff and/or things do you have going on this week? Link up and share!

Friday shenanigans...

I swear I didn't fall off the planet, y'all. We've been busy (both at work and at home), so I took some time away from blog-land to maintain my sanity. But you guys know I can't stay away for too long.

So here's what we've been up to:

Fourth of July-ing. 

We spent the morning on the lake in the new boat, which was a blast. Gracie likes to "go fast" and go "fimmin'" in the water. (I'm not a huge fan of swimming in the lake because an alligator is obviously going to come by and eat me for breakfast.) And then my best friend turned 30 on July 5th, and her adorable husband threw her an awesome "surprise" party in the evening on the 4th. (I say "surprise" because Lauren is nosy and knew about the party way ahead of time, so we didn't even go through the charade of hiding. She just showed up when the rest of us did.)

We had a ball listening to people sing karaoke, splashing around the little kiddie pool they had set up for all the toddlers... and then watching Grace puke all over everywhere.

We still have no idea what that was about, but she took a turn when it got dark (just as all the fireworks were going off around us!), and we had to hightail it home.

Recovering.

Thankfully, she didn't puke again, but from Saturday through yesterday, she consistently ran a 100-101 fever and had a sore throat. (She also thought now would be a good time to boycott the thermometer and all medicine, which was super fun.) So Micah, his mom, my dad, and I have all tag-teamed staying home with her this week, which has been crazy for me at work. (Of course it has.)

(I have no idea about the antlers.)

Given that all her cultures came back negative for bacterial infection, we think it must have been viral. From what I can see on my Instagram feed, it looks like it's going around. We've watched a ton of movies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Sophia the First. (If I hear the hot dog song one more time, I may lose it.) And I got to pretend to be a stay-at-home mom for a couple of days, which was fun (and hard - kudos to you ladies!). HomeGoods is so much less crowded at 10:00 on a Thursday morning!

Decorating.

Speaking of HomeGoods, I've also gotten motivated to really try and get my house finished up. I'd say it's, like, 80% decorated now, and I'm mostly just working on finishing touches. (And switching out all the bad decisions I made when we first moved in...)

Certain parts are coming together. Like this little vignette on the buffet in our dining room.

(The fact that the cloche isn't straight over the greenery is annoying me, too, friends, but I forgot to snap another picture after I straightened it.)

What I really struggle with are walls. What are your go-tos for decorating a blank wall? I've got about a 7 foot by 9 foot alcove above our stairs that's been torturing me since we moved in in 2011. I feel like I won't be able to find something I like without spending one zillion dollars.

Whole30-ing.

Oh yeah. So I'm on day 17 of my third Whole30. It's a lazy girl's Whole30, though, because I haven't been sticking to all the rules the way I did before. I've had some green juice, a Paleo cookie, and I had donuts with Gracie for breakfast yesterday. Ha. But at this point, my focus is really just to regain some semblance of moderation and get my mind back in the game. And I figured y'all have seen enough pictures of my eggs and Louisiana Hot Sauce that I probably don't need to blast them all over the blog and social media again. You're welcome.

And even though this post isn't technically in confession style, I can't resist linking up with Leslie because I'm SOFREAKINGHAPPY that she's back and healthy and just as lovely as ever. I'm a broken record, I know, but if y'all don't follow her, you are just really missing out.

Monumental things...

Before I forget, I want to say thank you so, so, so much for your encouraging and supportive comments on last week's post. To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting such an overwhelmingly positive response given the divisive nature of the topic. But you guys lifted me up, as always. And, judging by the insane number of hits that post has gotten over the last week, you guys must have been sharing it, as well. Just know that I'm always thankful for this space and your unyielding support. Always.

Hi friends! I'm quickly typing out this post at nearly midnight on Sunday evening. I just finished up a work project and have a 7 a.m. flight to Austin in the morning. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a ridiculously busy ten days that I'm hoping will fly by. I've got three work trips, two weddings (one of which will involve a certain two-year old in a flower girl dress), and a rehearsal dinner to conquer, and I'm tired just thinking about trying to fit it all in.

But before I disappeared (because you know something's got to give), I just wanted to drop in and share a couple of things that we've been up to. The first is sort of monumental, given that Micah's been waiting for this moment basically since we started dating nearly 13 years ago.

The boy got himself a boat!

It's a bay boat, and he'll be able to use it in freshwater and saltwater for fishing. It'll also double as a playpen for Grace when necessary. Ha. She definitely likes playing "in [her] boat."

This purchase marks a dream come true for Micah, and I'm over the moon happy for him.

Also fairly monumental, we finally got around to getting built-in bookshelves installed in our home office, and we even managed to get paint up on the walls. Given that we've lived in this house over four years, I'd say it's about time. I'm still working my tail off decorating the space, but I'm making progress, and I've got a plan. Which is definitely significant. You may have already seen a sneak peek on Instagram, but here's another one.

(I spent several hours covering books with craft paper this weekend. Nothing will take you back to the days of high school like putting book covers on textbooks while watching Friends re-runs.)

I'm going for an understated nautical theme, and when you see the wall paint color, you'll understand why.

Last, but not least, figured I'd share this lazy girl hairstyle with you guys.

It looks complicated, but if you can french braid your hair, you can do this, I promise. I just sectioned off about 2-3 inches in the middle, french braided it back, and then threw it up in a high pony. This style is perfect for straight or curly hair that's too dirty to wear down, but not dirty enough to justify getting up early to wash and blow-dry it. Ha.

That's all I got.

Hi from Delaware!

So I'm in Delaware.

I'm here for a deposition (just for one night), but for once in my life, I got everything prepared ahead of time, so I thought I'd take a minute to pop in and say hi.

Things have been insane for us lately. Work is busier than it has been for awhile. I've been bringing my laptop home and working after Grace goes to sleep most nights (which isn't my favorite thing to do, as you might imagine). 

I also thought now would be a great time to start working on our home office. Ha. I'm getting help from a designer on this one because I'm so out of my element, and we had the initial consultation last night. I'm so excited to get that room done, and a vision is starting to come together in my head. I'll be sure and keep you guys updated on our progress.

Whole30 #2 is still going wonderfully! I mean, I'm basically just on autopilot with my food choices right now, which is a really good thing for me. I have been eating some really delicious stuff, as you've probably noticed on Instagram.

Left: Ahi tuna salad with balsamic vinaigrette at dinner tonight

Right: Cage-free eggs scrambled with Aidell's Chicken and Apple Sausage + sweet potato hash + Trader Joe's Cruciferous Crunch mix with Tessamae's Southwest Ranch dressing

Left: grilled chicken salad with pecans, heirloom tomatoes, blueberries, and Tessamae's Southwest Ranch

Right: eggs, bacon, and spinach scramble with blistered tomatoes + carrots with homemade Paleo ranch

Micah snapped this picture the other night while we were on a walk through our neighborhood, and it makes me happy every time I look at it. And also heart-wrenchingly depressed about what a big girl Grace is becoming.

She has been such a funny, little thing, lately. She's been saying "'kay" or "okay" in response to just about everything, which kills me. She's still O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with "fo-cen" (Frozen, obviously) and asks to watch it nearly every night.

(Micah loves it when we watch Frozen because Grace gives the sweetest snuggles snuggled up under a blanket on the couch, even if her eyes stay glued to the screen.)

I crossed off one of the things on my 30 Before 30 list this weekend. We went to a surprise 30th birthday party for my best friend's husband, and the opportunity presented itself. I'll share the photographic evidence soon, but for now, I'll leave you with this.

Man, I love her.

A few Christmas updates...

I posted all about our Christmas decorations a couple of years ago, so I won't bore you guys with all the details.  But since we are trying to simplify and focus our approach to Christmas, we did a few things a little differently this year.  I didn't come close to putting everything out, and I'm totally okay with that.  Instead, I stuck with the things I really love, and that has kept me from feeling overwhelmed with Christmas clutter.  

We did get a new wreath this year.

I got it on Etsy, and I seriously love it.  It's very us.  (And, for the record, I would have preferred "Merry Christmas," but this ribbon was prettier. :))

I also switched up the mantel.

I'm crazy about this sign I ordered in October (also from Etsy).  Oh Holy Night is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and these are some of my favorite lyrics.  The other things were scattered throughout the house, and I found them a new home here.

This is our dining room table.  It's similar to what we've done in the past, but I added the burlap runner back in this year, and I'm loving it. 

Here's another shot of the tree.

(I've still got a lot of wrapping to do...)

One thing I started doing this year was displaying our Christmas cards on the tree, itself.  I'm using tiny clothespins that I had laying around from another project to attach them to the waffle ribbon.

(Hi, Lauren!  :))

It really personalizes the tree and reminds us what a blessing our friends and family are.

So those are a few festive things we're loving this year.  What are your favorite Christmas decorations?

Wanna party?

I'm alive, I promise. It's just been a crazy combination of work stuff and life stuff this week, and the blog had to take a back seat. But there are definitely some things worth sharing, so if you're in need of a brain break, grab some coffee, put your feet up, and stay a minute.

Our long weekend has consisted of lots of morning snuggles...

... some sweet, quality time...

... and lots of laundry. :)

Micah also got this gorgeous Aimee Weaver sign hung up in our breakfast nook.

I've been eyeing Aimee's gorgeous wooden signs for over a year now, and I finally just broke down and bought one.  She's got TONS in her shop, but this one was custom and is meant to be a happy reminder that life really is so sweet -- there is so much to soak in and be thankful for.  Micah and I have been talking a lot lately about what it is to live with intention and purpose, and we've been pondering our short and long term goals.  Hopefully I can find some time to share some of those things with you guys soon.

Let's see... what else?

Oh!  I'm headed to Charleston tomorrow for a couple of days for work.  This will be the first time I've been away from Gracie without Micah to keep me grounded, and I anticipate some teary FaceTime sessions.  Actually, I'm tearing up now just thinking about it.  But I know Micah will enjoy having some daddy-daughter time, and I've always wanted to see Charleston, so I'm sure we'll all survive.

I've been listening to my Francesca Battistelli Pandora station at work lately and am loving the small opportunities it gives me to worship throughout the day.  For me, out of sight is out of mind, so I definitely need constant reminders of His love and presence, and (the right kind of) praise and worship music really helps.  (Anyone else out there picky about their Christian tunes?  I always feel bad when I skip a song about Christ - ha!  But I feel sure that He totally gets that some of it is completely unrelatable.)

And last, but not least.  I've been contemplating doing an Instagram "party" next week.  I was thinking that it'd be fun if we all posted pictures of our homes throughout the week.  I know I'm always in need of some inspiration, and I think it's fun to see how other people decorate.  Would anyone be interested in joining me?  If so, I'll organize it and get you all the details sometime later this week so that you can get your photos ready.  (Or, if you're like me, you'll totally procrastinate and wait until the last minute to get them together, and that's completely okay, too. :))

Alright, friends.  I've got more work to do, a suitcase to pack, nails to paint (why, oh why, did I peel off my perfectly good gel manicure?), and a little girl to snuggle.  Talk soon?

Premature, but not altogether inaccurate...

As it turns out, the feed on the front page of Project Nursery IS automatically generated.  Ha.

So as of last Friday, we were just one of many entries submitted last week (but at least I caught a screenshot of our [literal] fifteen minutes of fame! :))

BUT.

Apparently Gracie's nursery has been selected as one of the finalists for their Rooms and Parties We Love This Week contest.  

So, to the extent you find yourself perusing the pretty spaces on Project Nursery, feel free to cast a vote for "Gracie's Girly Nest."  But no pressure - the only thing at stake are the bragging rights! :)

Alright, friends... we're off to enjoy the rest of our weekend.  Hope you have a fabulous one!

House update: game room...

We've been working on our game room for awhile now.  And although it's definitely not done, I figured I could at least give you guys an update on our progress so far.  Thankfully, we've nailed down all the big things.  I just think it needs some softness - some fun throw pillows for the couch, curtains, cozy blankets, and whatever other pretty things I find for it down the road.

So come on in, y'all...

The first thing we bought for the game room was the pool table.  It was a Craigslist steal, and hopefully we won't regret getting it later.  (It just seems like so many people buy pool tables and end up getting rid of them after a few years...)

Next, we found the couch (also a Craigslist purchase), which was a great bargain and exactly what we were looking for.  It came with the throw pillows that you see in the picture above, but I sort of hate them.  I've searched the world over for some that are acceptable to me and I haven't had any luck yet.  But I haven't given up... :)

At some point, I decided that a "travel" theme would be pretty cool for up here.  Shortly thereafter, I found the subway wall hangings at Home Decorators, and I couldn't pass them up.  They were SUPER cheap and went well with the slightly industrial feel I was going for.

I also liked the travel theme because it gave me a place to display at least some of the pretty pictures I took in Paris and London.  I bought a few Groupons from Canvas on Demand at the recommendation of my photographer best friend (who indicated that they had great quality for great prices). 

Lauren edited these pictures that I took of London and Paris to make them black and white, and then I placed the order with Canvas on Demand.  I absolutely adore how the canvases turned out.  It's sort of hard to tell, but they're massive (24 X 36), incredibly sharp and crisp, and totally look like something you'd find in the art section of Z Gallerie.

Love.

Here's a better glance at what's on the other side of the pool table.

The media center is a dresser that I bought and had painted and converted to a media center by removing the top drawers.   Ideally, I'd like a tree of some sort on one side of it, as well as some fun, knick-knacky things on top, but we haven't gotten there yet.

The dartboard was Micah's idea, and the London-ish chalboard was a Hobby Lobby clearance find.  I like the splash of red in the room, which isn't like me, as I'm not normally drawn to red in my own home (although I LOVE seeing it in other people's homes).

Spinning back around toward the couch...

I found the clock on clearance at Hobby Lobby and just loved the pocketwatch look of it.  The frame next to it has resulted in some serious conflict between Micah and me.

I made this collage of all the Instagram pictures I took while I was in London and Paris (and am considering doing a tutorial on how I did it - would anyone be interested in that?).  I think it gives the fairly serious room some much-needed whimsy, but Micah hates it.  He thinks it crowds the wall above the couch and that we should move it to the hallway.  I literally started crying the other day during an argument we had about whether it should stay or go (I may or may not be slightly hormonal right now...).

As of now, I'm winning. :)

Again, we're definitely not done up there, but I'm pleased with how it's looking so far.  I have a slight suspicion, though, that this space will end up filled with toys and stuffed animals here before I get around to finishing it...

Linking up with Rolled Up Pretty and Works for Me Wednesday.

House update: upstairs landing...

Looking at these pictures makes me realize how badly I need a real lens for my camera.  I adore my 50mm/1.8 prime lens, but it's just not practical for shooting pictures of my house, so I'm stuck with the stupid kit lens for now.  I'm thinking a new lens would be a fabulous "push present" from Micah.  Who agrees?

Anyway, I wanted to share just a few things we've updated around the house lately.   Having the nursery at our house was a fabulous incentive to finish up several projects we had been meaning to get to but never did.  For starters, here are a few shots of the little landing at the top of our stairs.

It's kind of an awkward space, so I struggled with what I should do up here for a long while.  I found the table at the Wisteria Outlet here in Dallas (if you haven't been, you should definitely check it out).  I bought it intending to put it somewhere else, but it didn't work there.  So we stuck it here, and now I think it's just perfect!

The flowers and vase are from Pier One, and the frames are from Hobby Lobby.

The window seat was one of my favorite things about the house when we first saw it.  I adore window seats.  I had originally planned on having a cushion made for the space, but when I priced them, they were about $250, so I opted to throw some pillows on there instead.  (Truth be told, the ledge isn't quite wide enough to sit there comfortably, so it's all for looks anyway.)

So I scoured HomeGoods/Marshalls/Hobby Lobby for cheap pillows and ended up with this assortment.  The sconces are also from Hobby Lobby.

Lastly, here's the project I promised you pictures of a month ago.  It's in an awkward place that makes getting a straight on shot impossible, so this was the best I could do.

I was inspired by this project on Pinterest:

The centerpiece is actually a garden fixture that I found on clearance for $14 at HomeGoods about a year ago.  It had been leaning up against the wall all by its lonesome since then, and Micah suggested mounting it to the wall.  I ended up liking the way it looked, so I decided to arrange the frames around it.

For the frames, I tried to find more weathered gray ones like those in the picture (and the ones sitting on the table) at Hobby Lobby but never did.  But I'm glad I didn't because the frames I ended up with are from Michaels, and they ended up working perfectly (and were SO cheap!).  They were already the perfect creamy white, so all I had to do was remove the glass, wrap the backing in burlap fabric, and then distress them a bit with some gritty sandpaper.

Getting the pictures attached was a teensy bit more complicated.  I searched heaven and earth for the adorable clips from the inspiration photo but couldn't find anything that would work.  So I got real simple and decided to use pushpins.  It was harder to get them straight, and I feel sure something else would probably look better, but I was ready to be done.  The "H" was in the raw wood section at Hobby Lobby.  I spray-painted that sucker white and slapped it onto the burlap with a hot glue gun.

Here is a (blurry iPhone) picture that shows the frames up close:

And there you have it!  Our thrown together upstairs landing that almost no one ever sees! :)

Sickly rambles... (plus a new rug!)

I'll just go ahead and state the obvious:  being sick while pregnant really sucks.

I started getting a sore throat the day after Christmas, and it has been downhill ever since.  I've now got a case of what I'm pretty sure is full-blown bronchitis.  (It hit me when I woke up about 30 minutes ago, coughing up my lungs and struggling to breathe, that this might be more than a bad case of allergies.)  So now I'm up, hoping that an urgent care center won't be too packed tomorrow, with nothing better to do than pop in and say hello! :)

Micah and I spent all day today running around town, picking up furniture.  First, we went and picked up the crib (yay!).  While we were there, we decided to order a dresser that looked to be almost the exact same color of the crib, even though it was made by a different manufacturer. 

After going through all the paperwork for getting it ordered (and scheduled to come in no less than 10 weeks from today - be forewarned, if you haven't already discovered this little gem, that you'd be smart to order baby furniture just as soon as you know the sex of the baby, particularly if the baby shower's going to be at your house and you'd like the nursery to at least resemble a furnished space when your friends and family come to generously shower your baby with gifts... ahem.), we asked them to make sure it wasn't at another, nearby store.  Turns out it was, so we put it on hold there and then proceeded to try and pick out a glider.

I showed you guys this rocker before, and while I definitely still love it, (1) I'm scared to order a large, upholstered piece online for fear that the fabric won't be accurately reflected in the picture, and (2) I became increasingly convinced that I needed a big, cushy, comfy chair.  So after about an hour of looking at fabric swatches (no joke, y'all...), we settled on a white, upholstered glider with a gliding ottoman that didn't look too tacky.  There was a note on the back of the fabric swatch that said something about piping, but our (not-so-bright) sales clerk indicated that it was merely suggesting a particular color piping for that fabric. 

Lies. 

Turns out, that fabric was suggested by the manufacturer as being appropriate for piping only.  So I'm going to have to call Buy Buy Baby in the morning and cancel that order.  So now, because that was the only fabric I found acceptable, we're back at square one, and I've pretty much resigned myself to shelling out the big bucks for a PBK glider.

After we picked up the dresser from the other store, we brought it all home, unloaded it into the garage, and then headed right back out to pick up what I'm pretty sure was one of my best purchases of late.

I had popped into Home Goods with Faith on Friday because she had never been, and that was, in my opinion, too great a tragedy to leave unaddressed.  I was hoping we'd go in there, and she'd see a bright light and find all kinds of stuff she couldn't live without.  Turns out I read the cards wrong, as I was the one who ended up buying up the store.  After snagging some really fun pieces for the walls in the game room upstars (that I can't wait to blog about once I get some other stuff done up there), I stumbled across the perfect area rug for the living room.  Micah has been bugging me about getting a rug in there for months, and I had planned on going to a carpet store and having one bound until I found this one.

It's a super-thick, enormous (8 ft. by 10 ft.), plushy, shaggy rug in the perfect cream color, and at about 1/3 of the price of what I'd pay to have one made.  I'm in love.

(sorry for the terrible picture and lighting... it's 3:50 a.m., and this picture was one I snapped with my iPhone this evening before bed.  I love you guys, but I just couldn't muster up the energy to turn on enough lights to get a good shot with my big camera.)

 

Of course, now that my OCD husband has discovered that our vacuum can't actually traverse the rug because it's so thick, it looks like a new vacuum purchase is in our not-so-distant future.  Who's surprised that actually vacuuming the darned thing never even crossed my mind?  :)

Alright, lovies, I think I'm sufficiently loopy to attempt sleeping again.  Hope you guys have a lovely Sunday!  (And if you actually made it through to the end of this post, you're a champ.)

Show Us Your Life: Decorating Tables...

Although you've probably already seen these pictures in separate home tour posts, I thought I'd combine them all here and link up with Kelly to show you guys how we've decorated our dining room table, coffee table, and side tables.  My style is pretty simple, but we're pretty happy, for the most part, with how things look right now (although it'd be fabulous if you could ignore our chandelier... I've been searching for the perfect thing and am having so much trouble!).

This is our dining room table (from Pottery Barn, chairs also from there, as well).  I found these cloches at World Market last Christmas and ended up putting pine cones in the smaller ones with the candles in the larger one for the holidays.  After we took down our Christmas stuff, the smaller ones stayed empty for what seemed like forever until I stumbled across the greenery at Southern Simplicity a few months ago.

I had also picked up the table runner (on Etsy) last Christmas but felt like it was too busy with all other stuff on the table.  I added it back a month or so ago and really like what it adds to the simplicity of the cloches, so it's staying for now. :)

Here's our coffee table (from here).  I scored the lanterns on clearance last year, and the candles are from Target.  The book was a Pottery Barn find.  After coveting it for a few months, I finally broke down and bought it.

Here's the side table in our living room (from here).

More glass, apparently.  The pears are from Target, and I can't remember where I found the greenery.  The @ is also from Southern Simplicity.  The messy stack of books definitely need to find a new resting place.

As a bonus, here's the buffet that sits in our dining room (from here).

I'm actually not in love with what we've got going on here, but there are too many other projects in line before this one for me to even think about changing it right now.

So that's how we've accessorized our home so far.  Do you guys have any tricks/tips you can share?