Closing the Chapter.

I've been doing a lot of personal reflecting over the past few months in preparation for the New Year. 2014 was such a good year for me and the Mr. We literally received more blessings this year than I think I've ever had before. 

It was a year marked with so many firsts for the both of us, our first home and our first child among them. 

As I've been reflecting I've realized that 2014 marks the end of a decade of firsts for me. And also in some ways marks the end of my life chapter as a young adult. In the past ten years I've grown and shaped myself into the person I am right now. And wow, it's amazing to be sitting here and thinking about the last 10 years and to know that this is it. This is my life. I've finally, finally made it to the part where I know who I am, what I want, and where I want to be. 

Closing out this chapter in my life is such a feeling of accomplishment. Knowing that I was able to see and do so much over these last 10 years gives me a sense of preparedness for the upcoming chapters. And it gives me unexplainable joy and excitement to think about all that is yet to come for me and my family. 

I feel it's only fitting to close out this blog. I rarely update it anyway, so I'm sure most of you aren't super surprised. But it's time to move on to bigger and better things. Don't worry, I have a few things in the works, a new family blog and cooking blog among them. If you are desperate for updates in the mean time and really wanna know whats going on day to day for me, check out my Instagram acct. I'm on there far more than any other social media site. 

So with bittersweet feelings, I'll XOXO you one last time. See you around. 

XOXOXOXO

The Mrs. 

Nursery Remodel

(The original room) 

Well these last few months have not been lacking in things to do. We have been anxiously preparing and awaiting the arrival of our little bundle of joy. Who is here by the way! And we are so excited to have him in our lives. He is the best part of my day everyday! Even when I'm running on 0 hours of sleep. 

I wanted to post one of our main projects from this summer. Earlier this year we were fortunate enough to purchase our first home. A beautiful brick front townhome. We have slowly been going through and making it our own. And the nursery was no exception. When trying to choose a nursery theme I knew I wanted to stay away from sports (gasp I know, the hockey mom doesn't want a sports theme?!) I wanted it to be something different than your typical nursery so I settled on a Vintage aviation theme. Focusing mostly on hot air balloons and world travel, while still trying to keep it in the realm of a little boys room. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and we really didn't have to spend too terribly much money which makes it even better. I'll list out below everything we purchased vs what we refinished ourselves. 

John started by putting crown moulding and chair rail up. We did the chair rail higher than standardly done. It's about 2/3 up the wall. The paint colors we used were from Sherwin Williams. The blue is Resolute Blue and the cream is called Designer White. We finished all the trim in a gloss called Snowbound.

John and my dad wired the ceiling fan through our attic access. Finding one small enough for the room was a bit of a challange. The room is only 8x8 essentially so a standard fan was definitely too big. We found this little guy at Lowes for a steal of a deal.

 John and I had many conversations about what to do in the closet. We went to the HoDeDo and actually bought a pre-made built in unit. Upon arriving home John decided he didn't like it and wanted to try and custom make his own. I was 38 weeks and needless to say freaked out a little! However it worked out for the best. I made these size dividers out of scrapbook paper and rings I bought at the container store. I stamped the sizes on the top and love how they turned out.

This chest was an especially fun project. My Mother in law had this peice sitting in her garage. When my mom came to visit we cleaned it up, gave it a fresh coat of paint and then decided to custom fit it to the nursery theme by hand painting hot air balloons onto some old travel maps my mom had from a trip to Europe. I love how it turned out. 

It's probably my favorite piece in the whole room. 

 

 We are using it as a diaper changing station and used bins from Lowes to organize burp clothes, diapers, wipes, and swaddle blankets inside. My changing pad fits perfectly on top of it.

So here are is the finalized product of a summers worth of hard work. 

The rocking chair was my Mother in laws. She used it to rock my husband and all her other children. It fits perfectly in our tiny space! The hot air balloon mobile was hand made by my mother. 

The shelves were a great deal from The Container Store. I made the G and my sister made the two matching map cnvases. The binoculars were a score from a thrift shop in MD that my bestie Gentri got me. The banner was leftover party decorations from my baby shower. 

Johns custom closet. It turned out WAY better than the HoDeDo built in ever could of looked. I guess it was worth it. 

 The crib was a gift from my Mother in law and that amazing basket came from the PA's I worked with. It's full of extra diapers. But I love it because it totally looks like a hot air balloon basket. The rug was a lucky find off amazon but it worked perfectly and is super plush. Both framed pictures were gifts from my mother and my MIL. There are so many custom and personal touches to this room from family members and I think that really makes it even better.

Glad that's over with! Now we just have the rest of the house to go!

Graysons Nursery :

Crib - Babies R Us - gift from MIL
Hot Air balloon Rug - Amazon.com
Rocker - hand me down from MIL
Chest - refinished hand me down from MIL
Crown moulding - custom done by the Mr.
Closet - custom built by the Mr.
Clothes size rings - The Container Store/Michaels
Ceiling Fan - Lowes
Shelves - The Container Store

XOXO

The Mrs.

Spring in Arlington

hi.

It's me.

Anybody out there??

So it's been a hot minute since I was on here. In my defense, I've been busy. growing a human is a lot of work... Oh did I forget to mention.. I'm expecting baby Dow in August?

My bad! This growing a human thing is no joke. The first trimester was the PITS! But thats a different post maybe for a different day. Bottom line. Baby Dow will be making an appearance in August in our lives. Which means I may not be making an appearance on here for a while... We will see. 

Anyway Fast forward a bit to Spring. Which FINALLY decided to visit us here in NOVA. My darling family flew up to visit us this past weekend and we had such a great time relaxing and spending time in Arlington. My grandfather is buried in Arlington National Cemetery so we got to go visit his grave site, and then paid our respects to the Tomb of the Unknown and just wandered around the beautiful grounds. I can't think of a more beautiful place for the people that sacrifice so much to be laid to rest. The feeling of order and peace on these hallowed grounds is amazing and if you haven't been I highly recommend going. It's a beautiful experience and these images capturing my family and the beauty of Spring in Arlington were too pretty not to share! So Enjoy! And see you in a few months... maybe. 

xoxo

The Mrs.

Double Whammy... We are both expecting.... 

4 generations right here ladies and gents.