House Tour: Part Deux

The past few days have been an absolute whirlwind! Remind me not to do renovations on a house anytime soon. Then again, after this one, I won't have the budget for a long, long while--ha!

I have really been enjoying watching the house come together, though. I took some risks with the paint colors and so far I love the result! Can't wait to show y'all the "afters" and wax rhapsodic on Benjamin Moore colors.

Without further ado, here's some more house!

Continuing on the first floor, we run into an office (which I apparently forgot to photograph--just think square room with wood wainscoating on the bottom and grassy wallpaper on top) and then....the PINK bathroom.

It needs no introduction. It will be a while before we can afford to update this, but in the meantime, I always like a challenge! I also think that removing the frilly "toilet hat" (for lack of a better term) will help.

Then, we have the technical master bedroom, which we're using as a guest room/playroom for now.

Lots of window treatments that block out light and pink dental molding, as you can see!  A view of the other side of the room:

Then, up the stairs we go.....

To the right is the room we're using as our master:

It has lots of window seats...

And lots of vintage details.

Next up, is the munchkin's room:

Then, back through the hallway we have the upstairs bath...

Check out the koalas:

And there you go! Stay tuned for house tour, part 3. Since I like to give my clicking fingers a rest build up the suspense, I'm all for breaking things up.

So what's YOUR take on house hunting? Did you find your current home quickly, or after a long search?

This girl....

is melting my heart today.

It's 11:45 pm, I'm tired right down to my finger-bones (is there such a thing?), her daddy's working late, and I'm trying to decide my theory on the "crying it out" method within the next four minutes. But I turn to this photograph and think, ohhh.  My sweet, sweet girl.  I think of how she read books with me this afternoon, how she looked up at me with such a funny expression during tummy time, and the mischievous smile on her face when I took her out of bed earlier this evening.

Life with her is a whirlwind, and it pretty much was from the moment she was on the scene--in utero. She has always surprised me, changed the game on me, and forced me to handle more than I thought I could. But oh, she makes the ride so sweet.

What's on YOUR "sweet things" list today?

House Tour: Part 1!

I love reading house tours on blogs, so I decided to share one with you all!  Mind you, these are all "before" pictures, so I'll show you what things look like before we move in!

Here's our new little place with its sold sign:)

When you walk in the side door, you're in the kitchen:

(the view from the door)

(closer up in the kitchen)

To the side of the kitchen is ye olde laundry room.

Now back to the kitchen! We're hoping to extend the kitchen floor to avoid the great floor/carpet divide over here.  And there's a lot of wallpaper love in this house. Serious wallpaper love.

The eating-in nook has tons of windows:

In the corner of the kitchen leading into the dining room is the butler's pantry:

Which leads into the dining room...

Currently filled with Craigs List finds.  But my favorite part of the dining room is this little lovely...

Yay for built-ins!

Out of the dining room, you face the living room

Which has pretty bay windows...

and my beloved fireplace!

One of the first things I'm hoping to do in the house is change up the window treatments. A lot of the ones currently installed tend to block out light, where I'm a big fan of letting the natural light stream in! Any and all advice on window treatments is much appreciated!

And to knock off this segment of our tour, meet the foyer (this is the first thing  you see when you walk in the front door):

I'm trying to choose a paint color for this area, but need something light since it's a darker area. Anyone have a soft beige/sand/gray color they love?

That's part 1--stay tuned for more house tour photos!

And since I'm a sucker for a good house tour, feel free to link up if you have one posted!

Tell me, do YOU share my love of house tours? Any House Hunters fans out there?

Cute, Cuter, Cutest

Happy Friday everyone! Friday is now the day I get to spend cuddling with my girl all day, so I have extra love for it:)

I have a layout to show you today--finally!  I created this one a few weeks ago with the April (? the months are running together!) Studio Calico kit using some photos of E.

Cute, cuter, cutest indeed. This kid cracks me up! And it's crazy how much bigger she is already in just a few weeks.

Here's a close-up:

After a long scrapping slump, I've been trying hard to focus on just having fun. No rules. No expectations.  If I make something truly horrific-looking, then so be it.  It took a little while, but I feel like I'm really enjoying crafting again.

What's YOUR favorite way to spend Fridays?

And on a separate note, how do you feel about the sizes of photos on this post--too large?  Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Perfectly Imperfect

Hi y'all!

I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day. And for those of you, who are waiting to become mothers, I hear you.  I know how hard it can be.  If you ever want some internet support, I'm here.

Today I want to talk about non perfection.

There are so many imperfections in these shots--my face all dark, a crooked pink bow and hello spit bubbles!  I thought kids were supposed to be cooperative in photo shoots for the beginning at least!

But I love these photos so, so much anyway. Mostly because of her eyes, which look bright and happy and mischievous all at once.  How I love those sweet grey eyes, and the beautiful soul that shines out of them.

Sometimes the strength of my emotions surprises me, and at random moments. Like today, when I watched her in my rearview mirror and thought, I love her more every day.  I love all the bits and pieces of her. I can't believe I had a hand in creating her. I just can't wait to see what she does in this world of ours.

This real, flesh and blood, wakes up in the middle of the night, perfectly imperfect baby, is more than I ever could have dreamed of all those years of waiting.

A New Address....

Life is full of change right now, and we're about to add in one more!  In just a few weeks, the Starrs will be moving into this casa:

Isn't it cute?

It's in our same neighborhood, about a twenty minute walk from where we currently live. It doesn't have everything that was on my mental "magical I-have-no-budget" checklist, but it does have plenty of space, a big basement, room for a separate scrappy space for Mama, and oodles of charm--built-ins, fireplaces and hardwoods.  I can't wait.

The actual packing up and moving part? That part I can wait on. Ha!

I can't wait to share some photos and home decor projects with y'all!

Join in the fun--what do YOU like best about where you live?

Write Click Scrapbook May!

It's a new month (or at least, 7 days or so into a new month?) and time for a new Write. Click. Scrapbook gallery!  The theme this month was "everydaily" so I decided to record a very everyday occurrence in the Starr household--Ellie's stretching.

When I was pregnant, I would often feel this weird sensation as a little limb not-quite-kicked, but still determinedly stretched against my belly. As soon as E was born, I realized what had been going on in there: lots and lots of stretching. Girl likes to stretch when she wakes up in the morning, after a 5 minute nap, and anytime she finds herself on her changing table.

I had fun whipping up this layout to document the stretching-good times!

I used my April Studio Calico kit for this one and added some nibs from my stash. I also decided to get on board with the hand-cut arrows trend. This layout was just calling for them!

For the photo, I used a professional shot by our awesome photographer, Rina. 

Go check out the rest of the gallery right here!

In other scrappy news, I've held out for a while, but it's happened--I'm starting to want a Cameo.  I've been resisting because (a) I don't love gadgets, (2) it's a lot of work to learn how to use a new tool, and (3) it's a lot of money for a fad. What's winning me over are the scripty titles and dreamy quatrefoil cutouts.

What do YOU think? Is a Cameo worth the money or not?

These days....

These days, life is busy. A little too nutty for my tastes, but I hope it'll calm down soon.

These days, we've been missing a hubby/daddy who's been working late

And passing the time having fun on Photobooth:)

This one has been just as cute as ever...

(a little blurry, but what can I say? I love the baby grins. And boo the bad light ALL WEEK this week that prevents me from taking decent photos!)

...and she's starting to look around all the time. She actually watches and plays with the toys in her playyard now, which is crazy!

These days, truthfully I'm having a challenging time balancing mommyhood/work/marriage/life. I'm getting the sense that sometimes that balance plays out smoothly, and sometimes, it just doesn't. But in the interest of focusing on the positive, I really have been enjoying going to work, seeing my co-workers and doing what I do. And taking some Project Life shots in the bathroom:)

And when I'm not at work, I love having free days to hit the town with this little lady:

These days, life has been one heck of a balancing act, but I'm so happy to have so many wonderful things to balance. And so so so very happy that Shabbos is less than 24 hours away.

Tell me, what is YOUR best and worst thing these days?  How do YOU balance your commitments?

Check back soon for my Write Click Scrapbook project for May!