LOOKING FORWARD...

Even though the break from this blog have been lengthy, I've been thinking about it often. I mentioned in my last post that I was doing a lot of thinking and brainstorming on what I want to do with it and what I want it to be. Blogging is a funny little world. Over the past year or so, it's become one of my favorite things and I love it, but it can also be my worst enemy. I love reading others' blogs and have even developed sweet friendships with some fellow bloggers, but I kind of reached a point where I had to stop reading blogs for a while. I know that's weird, but it became really tricky for me to not compare my little blog to what others were doing, and by extension, compare what my life looked like to what theirs looked like. And that's just silly. Blogging offers such a small and controlled look into others' lives and it's all too easy to forget that the messier parts of life aren't often shown there.

It has caused me to think a lot about this blog and it's a big part of why I want this blog to include a lot more about our life. The awesome parts, the messy parts, the funny and silly parts, that parts I love and the parts I don't. We're working on a house and I love love love working on it and want to share that with you. I'm not an amazing cook, but I love trying new things, and frankly, sometimes I just nail it with dinner... and when I do, I'll try to share recipes that are worth sharing. I'm constantly learning and growing in my faith, and I want to share what I'm learning. I love design and I still want to share things that I love and that inspire me.

But know this... my house looks a frightful sight more often than it looks tidy and perfectly styled. We rarely take fabulous vacations to exotic places. On any given day of the week, my outfit errs on the side of comfy instead of fashionable. Curling and straightening irons are wonderful things, but without them, my hair is a wavy, frizzed out humidity victim. I live a stupidly blessed life, but it's also messy and as imperfect as anything ever was.

And so since a new year is upon us, and since this is the time when we typically look to start anew, let me take this opportunity to tell you how excited I am to start trying new things with this blog and I really hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Cheers ya'll.

A LITTLE UPDATE FROM ME

So this little blogging break I've been on was unintentional at first. I just could not seem to find time to get inspired, let alone to put posts together. Then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to take a short break and regroup, think about what I love about blogging (there are lots of these), think about what I don't love about blogging (there are a handful of these too), and mainly, think about what I want this blog to become and the direction I want to take it in. Unfortunately, I don't know if I've quite landed on an answer yet, but my gut tells me that it's equal parts what I've been doing with this blog, which I've loved, and some new things as well. Whatever it winds up being, I'm really excited to do it! I've really missed my little corner of the internet these last few months.

But believe me, I haven't exactly been just laying around painting my nails and braiding my hair. I've done both of those things, but I've also been wrapped up in some other fun and exciting things, so I think a quick photo update is in order!

1. First things first. In my family, Summer isn't Summer unless you find at least one weekend to get to the beach. Having spent the previous few Summers in Colorado meant that we missed out on this annual pilgrimage, so getting back to the salty sea and 187% humidity made everything seem right with the world again.

2. We also grew our little family with the addition of this pup. Her name is Bailey and she's cuter than your pup. There, I said it.

3. We love our nieces and nephews and while my sister and her hubby were away on a trip this Summer, we got to go into super aunt and uncle mode and take care of them for several days. The hubs and I can get 3 kids in and out of carseats like a BOSS.

4. At long last... we bought a house!!! It is what you would call a "project" or a "new hobby that takes up all of our time and money", but we love it and are so grateful for it.

5. But literally, since then, all we have done is work on the house. And there's so much more work to be done. I think a new part of this blog will probably be a lot of before and after pictures and a bunch of DIY's.

6. This is what we look like these days.

Hope to be back to regular blogging really soon!

MY FAVORITE THINGS | SUMMER EDITION

You know the drill, things have been really busy and I haven't had much time for blogging. But we've been working on some things that I'm pretty excited about, so more on that soon. But for now, I wanted to share a few of my favorite things for summer, even as it starts to wind down. I recently stumbled across a site called Keep, which is basically Pinterest for things you can buy. I haven't spent much time on it yet, but it looks promising and these are a few of my favorite finds so far.

You know I love my neutrals, and I love the earthy tones and light summer fabrics here. I definitely think Keep is worth checking out!

THE BAR CART

Hope that everyone is in the throes of a lovely Summer and that you all had a great 4th of July! I've been away and/or busy for the last few weeks, so that is what accounts for the lack of posting. But I'm here now, and that's what counts, right?

I'm here today to talk to you about the bar cart. I've seen some really great bar carts lately that are both fun and sophisticated and I think they're a really great addition to a space.

I know, I know... not all of these examples are actual carts, but you see what I'm getting at. A cleverly styled tray can take the place of a cart if you have available space on a table, credenza or shelf. Plus, I think it's a great way to display some of your favorite barware that rarely ever sees the light of day.

And while we're at it, let's not forget to give a nod to the bar cart's morning counterpart... the coffee bar. I love both of these dedicated coffee stations, and who of us doesn't need all of the necessary tools handy for a pick-me-up on a Monday (or any other) morning?

So all of this has me wondering, what would you stock your bar cart or coffee bar with?

(images via)

LOOKS OF THE WEEK

I don't think much explanation is needed for this outside of the fact that these have been some of my favorite fashion pins of late, and those that I have found to be the most inspiring.

Let's be honest, shorteralls (shorts + overalls) aren't something I ever thought I'd want in my closet again, but those (from Zara) are kind of a game changer as far as that's concerned. The rest of these are just fun, bright looks that are oh so Spring/Summer cool.

It should also be noted that some of these come from great fashion bloggers that I definitely think are worth checking out. So do that, and have yourselves a lovely week.