A Moment

Tonight I had one of those moments--when I carried my sleepy girl up the stairs to bed and marveled, again, that she's here and everything has worked out. Motherhood can be stressful, but please, please, may I never forget how she felt tonight, her soft body in my arms, her toes encased in ladybug pajamas, and my heart overflowing.

That's why I blog, scrap, write--so that I will always remember the things most worth remembering.

Happy Wednesday:)

Q & A (and Odds and Ends)

So...about home decor Wednesday.  There was a good reason for missing it this week, I promise;)

Since this week is packed to the gills, my hubby surprised me by whisking me off to a birthday dinner Tuesday night! We headed to Nobo in Teaneck, and enjoyed a super amazing gourmet meal, all completely kosher. I love New York:)

Then, we spent time planning for a fun BBQ with my officemates last night:

I'm so lucky to work with people that I really, really like. I know it's not that way for everyone, and I really appreciate it!

I want to pop in today to answer some recent questions!

First, a few of you asked about modest bathing suit.  This has been the BEST solution for me, since I don't wear normal bathing suits for religious reasons. With one of these bad boys, I can go to water parks, the beach, pools, etc and join in the fun!

I purchased my swimsuit from Hydrochic, which has a wide variety of styles/lengths to choose from (not a paid endorsement, just a happy customer;))  This is the one I have, in addition to a maternity suit.

I've also gotten a few questions about Shabbos:

You may have answered this before, but do you also rush like crazy to clean your house on Friday?

The answer to that is yes, although "clean" is a relative term. Ha!  I do more in-depth cleaning at other times, but I do some basic cleaning and a lot of tidying so that we can begin Shabbos with a comfortable, clean home.


Do you keep several sets of dishes?

I do! I have a dairy set of dishes, a meat set, and both dairy and meat sets of pots and pans. I have two of some frequently used appliances, like the blender. My dishwasher is meat only (although one day I may have to add another one!)

Thanks for popping in!  Today I'm off to enjoy some birthday extravaganzas?

What's YOUR ideal birthday activity? 

Where I've Been....

Doing a little bit of this....

A whole lot of this....

With a bit of this thrown in:

Yes, my friends, it's finally vacation time in the Starr household. I realized that even though I've taken time off from work this year, it was to either (1) take care of a newborn, or (2) move, which does not a vacation make. So driving down to the Jersey shore with my in-laws was just the ticket! (Although think more WASPy and less Snooki for this shore town).

I also discovered that baby + swimsuit + beach gear = CUTEST. THING. EVER. Seriously.

I also got to rock my modest bathing suit:

Vacation was fabulous, and I'm so happy to be back in the swing of things!

Are YOU taking any vacations this summer?

What a difference a year makes....

After not doing anything crafty for a while following the move, I'm finally getting back in the swing of things, making layouts (that I'm so excited to share soon!) and catching up on over two months of Project Life. I get the "don't catch up, just move forward" philosophy, but since I have so many photos and written down memories of these months of E's first year, I just can't bear to leave them out. While going through some photos to add to my album, I came upon this one, taken on June 2nd:

If you're been around here a while, you may remember me writing about last year's June 2.

As S and I unpacked our apartment to move to the house, we took down this card that I had made for him the year before, to tell him the good news:

And realized that it was just about one year since the day we found out E was on her way.

Just 365 or so days later, and we had a beautiful, smiley baby girl in our arms.  G-d has been so good to us.

Amazing what a difference a year can make, right?  I hope I always remember through the hard times that life is always changing--for the best.

Home Decor Wednesday--Inspiring Rooms

Hello and welcome to another edition of Home Decor Wednesday! I hope this week is treating you well!

I can't wait to share how our house is coming along (peeks will be appearing soon!), but today I want to share some super-inspiring rooms I've been finding all over the web.  How did people decorate before Pinterest??

First up, how fun is this boy's bedroom from Life is Sweet?

Love the blue and orange!

Who says boy's decor isn't fun, right? Love the color scheme and all of the bright, happy little details. Even though this is a boy room, it's completely my style.

Next up we have a drop-dead gorgeous nursery from a la mode:

This is a bit more "haute coutoure" for me (I mean, where does my MESS go! Ha!) but I absolutely love the colors, details, and fun mix of colors. Especially the navy--I am loving navy for a girl room lately!  And this is not helping my glider obsession in case you're wondering:)

And last but not least, I am in LOVE with this beautiful girl's room from This Girl's Blog. You can see why....

Yellow and blue are quite possibly my favorite color combination, so I'm VERY inspired by this for E's room.

Which room is YOUR favorite?

If YOU have anything fun home decor-esque to share, link up below!

Write. Click. Scrapbook. August

Well, I'm mildly in shock that the summer's almost over.  I feel like it's barely begun!  That's one of the sad things about working a traditional job; summer carries on the same as every other season. I do enjoy the vacations, sunny days, and frequent iced coffees though:) 

Today I'm here to share my Write. Click. Scrapbook. layout for August!  The topic was summer, and I immediately thought of Carvel. A new (kosher) one opened near our house, and the last time we went they were pushing the Girl Scout--ice cream combination. Which I don't need much convincing on, after all.

I used some Studio Calico bits and pieces for this one: 

And the full view:

Clearly, I still need to find the "sweet spot" for photographing layouts in my new house. Soon, soon.

What's YOUR favorite part of summer? 

SIX months!

My, how the time flies. Ellie is now SIX months old!  Where did my tiny little newborn go?

At six months, you roll everywhere, and I can tell you're thinking about crawling. I can't believe I'm going to have a mobile baby before too long!

You love to laugh and play little games.  You start giggling even before your daddy tickles you:

And you laugh hysterically when you stick your fingers in my mouth and I "nibble" them.

You sleep through the night (thank you!!) from about 8:00 to 6:30 in the morning. You sleep on your stomach, always, with your tushy stuck up in the air. Cutest thing ever.

Every morning when you wake up, I feed you in bed. You get completely distracted when your daddy gets ready for the day, whipping your head from side to side as  you watch him put on his socks, etc. We call it the daddy show.

You are just the loveliest little girl.  I've been thinking a lot about infertility lately, about how stressful and complicated it was to go through all of the testing and treatment to have you.  Now that you're here, I can truly say it was the most worthwhile thing I've ever done. I would go through every shot and medication round, suffer every painful disappointment, a hundred times over, since it meant having you.

Happy six months:)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Hello and welcome to the second installment of Home Decor Wednesdays!  If you're new here, a brief introduction: my hubby and I just bought a 1950s in-need-of-some-updating home in NJ, and thoughts of decorating fill my days!  Since my wallet isn't nearly as accommodating as my Pinterest board, I have fun (and some frustration) trying to choose the right things and create a beautiful, happy space on a budget.

Today I want to talk about my new obsession: mirrors.

Not just any mirror, mind you. Huge, beautiful round mirrors. The kind that generally cost hundreds of dollars, but may just be worth it because they can really make a room.

It all started with one much like this, discovered for chump change at TJ Maxx:

I've also developed a penchant for beveled mirrors,

And, of course, the sunburst:

For the past few months, I've been on the hunt for a mirror to put above the mantle of my fireplace in the living room. 

If you'll forgive the VERY VERY in progress-ness of the room, here's the space right now:

I think I'd like something with a beautiful border ala the Young House Love folks....

And although I'm very tempted by this lovely, I think it may be too busy for the space.

Thoughts? What items are YOU obsessed with right now?

P.S. If you'd like to participate in Home Decor Wednesdays, link up below!