j'adore pretty things...

1. My husband sent me this link in an email with the subject "something for our little girl" and my heart skipped a beat. Isn't this video awesome!?

2. Another great link about postpartum bodies. As well as a guest post about returning to work after baby. Her nursery is also super super cute.

3. I love this inspiring house tour by Young House Love.

4. This little RN has such great fashion sense - I am enjoying following her on instagram for outfit ideas.

5. Thanks to the Giuliana and Bill show on E! I am obsessed with her home decor and style. Traditional Home did a spread on her design and I can't get enough of these pictures.

6. How precious are these composition book IPad covers from Kate Spade?!

7. I think I'm going to try this DIY from Rue Magazine. Don't you think they would make creative gifts?

8. I have been going nuts over paint colors - trying to decide what to do in each room. I am thinking that this is one of the best neutrals I have seen so far. What do you think? My list of color names is literally 4 post-its long on my desk...

9. I am grateful for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me in 2013! I am a wife and soon to be mother, I have a very supportive and loving family on both sides, we bought our first home, we have wonderful friends, and we are in good health!

10. J'adore Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful day filling your belly with the most delicious treats! See last year's Thanksgiving here.

{j'adore pretty things posts}

a little nursery update...

We have been little weekend warriors in baby girl's room! This is what we have been doing in the nursery thus far...

I am obsessed with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Thank you, husband, for your tireless efforts in this space! It is really coming together. I am excited to get things on the wall, recover the chair, find a rug and finish her crib linens :) xoxo

j'adore pretty things...

 {a thursday throwback picture of me and my sisters}

1. 5 tasks to check off your Thanksgiving to do list early!

2. These amazing playlists from an awesome DJ in California

3. This adorable video from Girls with Glasses about Kid Proof Style

4. Learning about 1st year baby must haves from the Honeybee as well as her inspiring one year postpartum photos.

5. As Mr. T and I just celebrated our 6 month wedding anniversary this weekend, it was fun to find these wise marriage tips on bleubird vintage.

6. I love that I started my blog when Lauren and I were still working together. In a special way, when I blog it reminds me of her. She has really expanded her "brand" recently with sidda wears, sidda writes, sidda snaps, and the all inclusive siddathornton. I love that I get to stay connected to her through her words, videos, and snapshots even though she is states away. Bloggers are the best ;)

7. The always creative cupcakes and cashmere blog talked about the importance of mentors and I couldn't agree more.

8. The beautiful decor from One Kings Lane has been a resource for home ideas.

9. Another reason to not go anywhere without my camera.

10. And the stunning photography in the Ruche lookbook.

lately through the linz...

life according to my iphone:

What can I say- pregnancy is tiring! By the time I have done the things, I am too tired to blog about doing the things! I have, however, been snapping photos along the way. Here is a "lately through the linz" update for ya...

We did some house hunting and we played some mini golf. I used this specially-for-me reserved parking.

I've craved burgers, I've watched my belly grow, I bought an outfit for little girl, and I have loved the fall.

We went to the new Dunkin' Donuts and it was so good- the chocolate filled ones are my new favorite, but their lattes are even better than their donuts!

We celebrated Andrew turning one, I visited Mom's Day Outs, I got to see baby girl sucking her thumb. AND we signed our lives away- err- I mean, bought a new house!

We said goodbye to the Dudley- my home for 5 years... we traveled to Canton and found this adorable halloween outfit for next year ;)

 We went on a road trip to Tahlequah, Oklahoma with Russell and Tiffany for Nick and Angie's wedding.

We held a successful work meeting, Tison finished the fence and the boys were welcomed into our new home, and I picked out chalk paint at Milling Around for the nursery furniture!

I read Divergent and loved it- Allison threw an amazing book club. We are currently reading Gone Girl.

We painted the nursery walls and the furniture and picked out bedding...

We celebrated Halloween at Kate's house with delicious treats and pumpkin carving.

 We made smores.

I went to Paul's wedding and watched Maggie dance, I started noticing Christmas items in stores already. We had special visitors from Chicago over for dinner. Aiden is such a precious baby girl! And Tison and I both dressed up for Halloween at work. Aren't we festive ;)

 Our friend Leslie threw a Halloween party and her house was decorated to the nines! Loved it. There was also a pretty heated debate about the rules of beer pong... yep, my husband led the discussion.

 The boys are having a ball in their new backyard. I am enjoying watching them play in this bigger space. We had the family over for 'family dinner' and Tison made homemade french onion soup!

I have been looking around at TJMaxx, Marshalls, Tuesday Morning, and World Market for home decor ideas :)

I am 26 weeks pregnant! Whoohoo!

 And we are still going strong with Movie Night every Thursday- last night we watched White House Down (a very silly movie) while dining on bbq bacon wrapped chicken, bbq beans, salad, hawaiian rolls, and rice crispy treats (a very good meal)!

Well, there ya go! We are all up to date now :) xoxo

baby blueprints...

Like most creative things, I procrastinate until I have a vision - and then once I "see" the space, I want to do it all in a day! Last weekend Mr. T and I painted the baby girl's nursery in Benjamin Moore's revere pewter. We are both in LOVE with this perfect neutral gray color.

The obvious next step is the furniture. After watching Annie Sloan chalk paint tutorials throughout my lunch break on Monday and Tuesday, I went to Milling Around on Tuesday night and purchased French Linen and Old White, the clear wax sealer, and an Annie Sloan brush to paint the glider, the bookshelf, the dresser/changing table, and 1930s bassinet I found in Canton, Tx. Once I started (at 6 pm) it was really hard to stop (at 12 am). With no prep work required with this amazing paint, I gave everything but the dresser a coat of paint and it looks fabulous. I will show you before and after pictures once I sand it to give it an antique finish and a clear wax it to seal it. I am going with very neutral and calming tones in the room - French Linen, Old White, Blush, and Gold Accents. I hope it is going to turn out very French Country, but we will see! We ordered the crib yesterday and it will be in Friday. Eeeek! T and I are super excited to see it all come together. I have pinned a million nurseries I love on Pinterest. This is a sketch I made of the layout I am going for in baby girl's nursery. (please no making fun of my drawing!)

I have been busy sending links to my mom and sisters to see what they think of crib bedding I have found online and getting their opinion on rugs, sconces, prints, basically everything... I am having so much fun dreaming up this little room that I decided to go ahead and draw out the front room as well. I don't have 1/2 the stuff I want to make it look this way, but that's the fun part - the search- right!?

I found out pretty quickly that I am really terrible at drawing chairs and anything to scale!

I am going to go with soft blues and tans in the front room area. This is my inspiration room from Blue Egg Brown Nest, whom I found on my crazy chalk paint youtube video time warp. She is just amazing.

Anyway, what do you think? Any tips on discount places to search for cool stuff in the Shreveport/Bossier area? I went to TJMaxx at lunch break today and had to walk away from some pretty pottery and glass vases... gotta finish that baby room before I move to another one! Hope everyone is doing well :) xoxo