Ella A., I adore you!

Totally saved $$ on Ella's birthday invitations today by doing the graphic art ourselves (And by 'ourselves' I mean Michael, who intervened as I was about to purchase invitations on Etsy) and having them printed at Staples... total cost $16.01 for 12 invitations ( $11.45 for the printing/cutting/file conversion, $4.56 for envelopes bought at Doodlebugs for 35 cents/ea plus tax)! Would have spent $55.50 for 20 (min. amount allowed including design, invitations, envelopes and shipping to me). 

Total savings= $39.49

Then again, if I was less picky I could have driven over to Walmart and gotten some for maybe 5 bucks or drawn some and made envelopes out of paper and double-sided tape that we have at the house... unfortunately I was pretty stuck on a certain theme and wanted the invites to match my "vision" :).

Image from Cooking Light

Can't wait to get everything together and done for the party and post pictures after the event!

if life were a jar of sliced peaches...

If life were a jar of sliced peaches, I'd have a sewing and crafting room and in it would be artwork by Edouard Vuilliard whose depictions of people doing everyday things include gorgeous prints on the clothing he painted them wearing and the interiors he painted them in. Edouard was raised by a mother who was a dressmaker by trade, which vibrantly comes through in his work. If only...

I'd also have this print, as a reminder that God gave us this life and he wants us to have joy in it, and as such, not to deprive oneself of all the wonderful miracles he's made:

print by Etsy seller Hijirik

and mounds of velvet, silk and my very own gorgeous prints. If only...

Sunshine, Won't You Be My Mother?

My favorite part of the day is in the morning when I realize the blinds are shut and I open them and let the daylight in. I am a huge fan of natural light; it makes me happy. That being said, we currently live in the state of Washington. You know the one with Seattle, and the rep for rain? Although we are about 2 hours away from the metropolitan city, we still see our share of gloomy days. Ironically, the city we live in, Sequim, goes by the nickname Sunny Sequim. It's not intended to be a sarcastic nickname either, it's just that we get the least amount of rain in all of Western Washington, about 16" a year which is supposedly less than Los Angeles. Having lived in Los Angeles for 16 years, I can tell you that that is a dirty lie.

When I open the shades and it is one of those  'sunny' days 3 out of 4 times it is bittersweet. In Sequim, when you see the sun shinning it usually means it's a cold, cold day. This is because there is no cloud cover (aka gloom) so even though the sun is oh so pretty and the sky so clear that it makes you want to go outside and enjoy it, once you (or maybe it's just me?) open the door and go outside you want back in. No, you can not break out the shorts and flip-flops, people will think you to be insane.

Having said all this, we have one window in our bedroom. It is 5'x4' and although I love it so because it brings me light, one is not enough. I want more. I 'd love to just get rid of it so that we can put our sleigh bed on that wall which would lend the floor plan of our bedroom much more usable space, as our bed is currently somewhere in the middle of our room. In place of that window I would put 2 tall windows (maybe 3' x 6') on the wall that is the exterior side of our house. Because, removing the one window we already have would be costly and time consuming since we we'd have to fill in the hole and since we already have new siding on our house, it would look really silly from the outside of the house to have a patch of mismatched in size siding, it would be simpler to just add one or more windows to the room.

Personally, I think bedrooms with tall windows on either side of the bed look amazingly dreamy. Here are some examples of what it may look like with one or more windows on either side.

Top image from HGTV.com

Bottom image from Decorpad.com

Ring Around The Posey

Costco had this great deal on primroses, 15 for $10.99 so with a little pleading I convinced the Mister to let them be mine. We both knew we really didn't have anywhere to put them anywhere he'd let me put them, but once they were home living on our dinning table next to the baseboard heater starting to wilt, we came to the conclusion they could go out on the easement beside our line of trees. So off I went to plant them when the Mister said he thought they should be in a circle around the address marker. I took this literally and mapped out a circle for them, then showed him. He said he meant the term circle loosely but I told him it was too late (it obviously wasn't, but just wanted them in), and planted them. So now they live there! Yay for our flowers and their new home.

Couch Contenders

Because I'm cheap ahem 'frugal' the couches on my list are also 'frugal' finds. But I still want a stylish seat for my tush which makes these couches the most stylish ones I could find without sacrificing the ultra-essential prettiness. Macy's is having a home sale which means you get an extra 10% off these already-on-sale babies. If you read about my unrequited couch saga then you'll know I desperately am longing for a deep gray couch in oh-so-soft and luscious velvet, also you'll recall I only truly have 74" to work with without 'stepping' onto the bamboo trim that separates the tile (to the left the wood stove, and to the right the off-kitchen dinning area) on either side. Here are my top couch contenders:

This is the Chloe Metro Living Velvet Sofa. It is 76" wide and comes in a color called granite which online is not so much the deep shade of gray I'm hoping for but a trip to Macy's will confirm whether it is a good match. It also comes in a larger normal sofa size which are available in additional custom colors, for those of you with ample room to place your your tush cushion.  The normal price is $899. It is on sale for $699 plus an extra 10% which brings us to $630.

Option two is the Tory Apartment Sofa. Regularly priced at oh my gosh, I CAN'T AFFORD THAT!! ($1069). It is on sale for $769 plus an extra 10% off which brings us to $692.10. It isn't available in velvet, insert sad face, but maybe that's a good thing?? With little Ella turning 1 in like, way too soon, and the way she loves to climb over anything she can, maybe the poly/cotton fabric it comes in is a better option.... :(. The good thing about this one is that it is 74" wide and according to a review left, it is 72" from leg to leg. which is a definite pro for us. I also like that that it has no cushions to fluff, and it's just so darned gorge.!. The color pictured is called Charcoal and is a custom color (there are 8) priced at the same price as the non-custom colors.

Z Gallerie makes near identical couches to the Chloe and Tory, but they are too big for my space and are currently a little spendier than these as well.  I'm still in the dreaming stage of couch hunting. Once I find 'the one' at the right price/size/fabric for our lil' fam, I'm hoping we'll have the spare change to make it ours.