Friendship

I'm joining the I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - "Friendship"

All Boy

 This week's photo challenge at I Heart Faces is "All Boy."

 

Twins

I thought it would be fun to photograph my younger twin sisters.  Very similar faces, and yet different features.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Girls

Spring Photo Challenge

Spring is barely here in Chicago so it was hard to capture "spring" photos.  Flowers and plants are just budding...like today.  So the closest I got was the two days of nice weather we had around Easter for some outdoor playtime.  

Here is my son with his first popsicle of the season.

 And here's the runner-up :)

Linking up with Bower Power

Back Door Entryway

Our back door entryway is right off of the kitchen.  Here's what it looked like when we first moved in.

The first little update we did was to add bamboo paneling.  (The post on this DIY project can be found here.)  We had ceiling damage and instead of tackling the daunting task of skim-coating the plaster, we decided to just cover it up.

Then we decided to add some board and batten to the walls to add some visual appeal.  But it could also be very functional by adding hooks for coats and bags.  Here's a look at the start of the project when we were working on our kitchen re-do.

And finally, here is the reveal.

We added the board and batten, hooks from Ikea, and carried the same paint colors from the kitchen.

We also replaced the original door with this full glass door.  It adds so much light to this previously dark nook.

This is the best look- functionality for little backpacks :)

Thrify Decor Chick

Making 2014 Count

My word for 2014 is live. 

The meaning behind this is multifaceted.  First, I would like to be more present with my family in the midst of the day-to-day routine.  I little less "have-to's" and a little more silliness and laughter.  My mom would always say, "make memories" and that's exactly what I want to do!

Next, I want to experience new things with my son.  Being 2 1/2 years old, he's at the perfect age to take to museums, parks, movie theaters, etc.  The whole world is new to him and I want to be the one to introduce it to him.

And lastly, I want to try new things for myself.  It would be my dream to become a skillful photographer so this is the perfect time to start.  I've had a camera for a few years and have slowly developed my own photography style.  Now I really want to excel in using the camera in manual mode.  My husband gave me Photoshop for Christmas so I'm excited to make my photos awesome!

In addition to making new year resolutions, I've put together a list of Chicago area restaurants we've been wanting to try.  It seems like my husband and I make a mental list of restaurants that seem cool but when it comes time for a night out we can never think of a place to go.  So I typed up a list of restaurants divided up by location- downtown or the suburbs.  The list consists of a mix of brand new, hip hangouts as well as oldie but goodies.  I can't wait to start crossing them off the list.

2014 will be about experiencing the big moments but living for the small ones.

Linking up with:

Casey Wiegand

In Honor of Design

Kelly Murray

Little Baby Garvin

Oh Dear Drea

Small Fry Blog

Summer Saldana

Very Merry Christmas Cards

On Thanksgiving Day, we had my brother take our family picture for Christmas cards.  We were already dressed up and the recent snowfall was perfect timing.  Here are some of the "keepers."

 I chose the last two photos for the Christmas card.  I used PicMonkey to edit the photos and uploaded them to Shutterfly for the cards.

 And what to do with all the cards we receive?  I have been corralling them in this vintage log planter I found at an antique store.

It also houses some vintage caroling booklets and tea bags.

And here are some photos I took at my mom's house for her Christmas cards.  She decided to capture some shots of her Christmas-y vignettes.

And again, I edited them with PicMonkey to make them resemble postcards.

Sharing with Simple As That