Fantasy rooms for my littles

Most of you know I love to paint and change things up in our home. I basically have DIY ADD. It’s a real thing. No really, it is. And the only way to treat it is to give in and go with the urge to decorate till my heart’s content.

I’ve painted and repainted pretty much every room in our home, and I love painting and decorating so much it’s hard to stop once I get started. Does this ever happen to you?  My kids rooms are no exception. They’re constantly growing and changing, and I love it when I can change up their rooms a little to reflect a little of their personality at the time.

Right now my son’s room still has big bold stripes on the wall, and the color scheme is still turquoise, teal, orange, and some bright green thrown in.

  

Pretty much the only thing that has changed is his bed and bedding. He now has a full size bed in his room, and we moved the twin bed into my daughter’s room after she outgrew her crib last year. The bigger bed, meant new bedding, just in the same color scheme. But I’m already in the mood to update his room, and I found tons of inspiration from the Land of Nod.

My son is only 4 but he is at that age where he is obsessed with dinosaurs. If he’s not watching a show about dinosaurs on Netflix, then he’s playing with his dinosaurs, or pretending to be a dinosaur himself. This When Dinosaurs Roamed The Earth Bedding from the Land of Nod would probably make his whole year.

Of course, if I had my way he would have the Faculty Mixer Bedding (Below). I love the subtle colors and I could definitely see this bedding being perfect for him as he was a little older. 

I’d paint his walls, get him a cute chair for his room, and maybe even this awesome dresser too. It’s got the perfect mix of vintage/mod look that I’d love for his room. And I love any kind of storage for a kid’s room that hides away toys, clothes, and messes, don’t you?

My daughter’s room is still a work in progress. But isn’t that just how things go with girls? I want to find the perfect mix of happy, sassy, and whimsical for her room. After seeing this room and the As You Wish Arched Headboard in the Santa Maria Desert Flower print below, I knew this would be exactly what I’d want my little girls room to look like. Right down to the bedding and the furniture and that lamp! (Can I just say how much I love this room?!)

Seriously, if I won the Land of Nod’s Win A Room Sweepstakes (more info at bottom of post), I don’t know which room I would choose to do, my daughter’s or my sons. Maybe I’d make the Land Of Nod designers pick for me, because there are just some decisions that shouldn’t be left in the hands of a gal with DIY ADD and money to spend.

My husband is lucky that there isn’t a Land of Nod too close to us, because I’d probably spend enough time there that I’d be on a first name basis with the employees.  Unfortunately for him, there is a brand new and shiny Land of Nod opening up at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, on May 31, 2013. I say unfortunate for him because I happen to go down to Costa Mesa for work trips, often enough where this might be a problem. ;)  And since I’m going to be in the area that week, I’ve got a hot little invitation to the VIP Grand Opening Party the night before. I see my car being loaded up with plenty of goodies before I head back home. 

If you’re in the Southern California area be sure to check out the new Land of Nod store at the South Coast Plaza, and if you’re not in the are, check them out online. They’ve got great décor that any kid would love to have for their room.

You can also find the Land of Nod on:

TWITTER / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / GOOGLE+ / INSTAGRAM

The Land of Nod Win a Room Sweepstakes runs from now until 11:59 PM CT June 17, 2013.

GRAND PRIZE AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE: One (1) Grand Prize is available to be won. The Grand Prize winner will receive a Room designed by The Land of Nod, including:

(1) Design consultation with The Land of Nod design team.

(2) Room makeover with selected product from The Land of Nod.

(3) Feature in The Land of Nod Real Families section of an upcoming Catalog.

Total ARV of the Grand Prize is $4,000.

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

Happy Friday—Here's to new hips, comfort food, and husband’s who rock

There are so many things to be thankful for today. One of those being a husband who is a freaking rock star. Two is having amazing friends and family members who said lots of prayers for him and wished him well during surgery. Three is having one of the best orthopedic surgeons in California to do his hip resurfacing. Four is having insurance to cover all of these procedures and hospital stay. And five is having a God who manages to take care of all of these things for us, without fail and without ceasing.

We left Wednesday to head down to Torrance for Justin to get his surgery done early Thursday morning. Despite saying over and over that everything was going to be fine, I was still worried and stressed. And I might have maybe decided to eat some of those feelings away.

Nothing says comfort like a double double, protein style from In N Out, and a chocolate shake.  

We got to Torrance and checked in to our hotel, a Travel Lodge near the hospital. I would not recommend staying there. Our room smelled like someone had emptied 12 cans of air freshener into it. And no matter how long we left the window open, or the air on, the smell was not going away. We eventually called the front desk and told them about the problem. The manager came down and said he couldn’t smell anything wrong with the room, and asked if I wanted him to spray a lemon air freshener in the room. My first reaction might have been to say, “F@!# NO! Are you kidding me?!” Luckily I restrained myself from doing that. He eventually offered us another room. One that didn’t smell like a Febreeze bomb went off in it. The only problem with it was that it was right by the stairs and we could hear people walking up and down them, and in the room above us from about 1-3 AM. Since we had to get up at 4:30 AM on Thursday, by the time we made it to the hospital we were both exhausted. 

See all that nervous excitement Justin’s got going on?

We checked in, and soon they were calling him back to get prepped for surgery. This was ok for me at first, until the first 5 minutes had gone by, then I was sitting in the waiting room, wishing I didn’t have to be there alone. Wishing that I could be back in the prep area holding Justin’s hand.

I finally was allowed to see him once they had gotten him prepped, and did the epidural.  But we only had about 10 minutes with each other before they were taking him away. I got to snap a quick picture of us before they wheeled him away.


The next 3 hours went by slowly. I grabbed breakfast from the hospital café, I wondered to the waiting room for families of day surgery patients, I waited…. I waited some more…. then I waited some more.  His doctor finally asked to talk to me once the surgery was done and Justin was headed to recovery. He told me everything went great and that it went as expected. Yay for that big blessing.  I then had another 2 hour wait until I could see him.  Seeing as how I am not a patient person, and that Justin has never once been in the hospital in the 7 years we’ve been married this was super hard for me to do.  I went ahead and grabbed some lunch from the cafeteria, then decided to try and catch a nap in our car and wait for the call that I could go see him. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect once I was able to see him. I thought maybe he’d be in a lot of pain, or really drugged up, but by the time I got to see him he was doing great. Other than a little slurring, he sounded and looked pretty amazing to me.

I spent about 15 minutes with him in recovery before he was taken up to his room, and I met them up there.
The room he got was super big for a hospital room, and private which meant I could stay the night. Big blessing there.  Do you know that besides me going to SNAP Conference in Utah both times, that we’ve never spent more than 1 night apart?  He’s been there for me throughout all of my hospital stays, and our son’s hospital stays, so I just couldn’t imagine not being able to be with him right now.

He’s doing an amazing right now after surgery, and I am so proud of him for being so strong and dealing with all of this so well. He’s managed to stand a few times, and they’re even having him sit up in a chair this morning. Pretty soon they’ll have him walking.  And then soon after that we’ll be able to head home where he can recover there.


I still can’t thank you guys enough for all the prayers you guys have said for both of us. I know it’s helped my stress levels for sure.  So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  I promise to keep updating you all on his recovery, whether you like it or not, hehe.  And you can always catch my updates on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter.

Remember to count your blessings this Friday!! And be HAPPY!

Less than 48 to go before the husband gets a hip makeover…

Some of you know that my husband Justin has been dealing with hip issues for quite sometime. What we always thought was just his hip, has actually led to him being diagnosed with a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis. (Ankylosing spondylitis is a long-term disease that involves inflammation of the joints between the spinal bones, and the joints between the spine and pelvis. It mainly affects those joints, and can cause eventual fusion of the spine. There is no cure for AS, although treatments and medications can reduce symptoms and pain.)

We first heard about the possibility of Justin having AS in February when we went down south to see a new orthopedic surgeon. After seeing a rheumatologist, getting tested, and having his doctor review all of his symptoms, x-rays, and MRI, they finally diagnosed him with having AS in April. He has been prescribed Humira (a twice a month injection that is supposed to help with the pain and reduce the AS symptoms) and in just a couple of days he’ll have resurfacing surgery on his left hip. 

I feel like this has been a long time in the making, wanting this surgery for him, wanting anything that could help make him better. And now we’re just 2 days away from the surgery. 2 short days till my husband has a new hip. 

I would love it if you guys would all say a prayer or two for him, and me, or send him some good vibes/thoughts. We know that lots of people go through hip replacement surgeries all the time, and that he’s got an excellent surgeon, but it’s still scary when you have to go through surgery, or watch someone you love go through it. 
  
Thank you guys! All of your support and prayers mean so much to both of us.

What I’m loving right now–Lisa Leonard Designs

*(This post is not a sponsored post but does contain affiliate links.)*

So I work for this amazing company, and have pretty amazing bosses. They gave me this gorgeous gift for Christmas:


                                                                     Lisa Leonard Chevron Necklace

I’ve always loved Lisa Leonard’s jewelry and décor pieces, but this was my first actual piece.  Today though I got to add to my “collection” when I opened up the mail this morning and saw my new Lisa Leonard necklace.


                                                                                   Lisa Leonard You Are Necklace

The Lisa Leonard You Are Necklace is simple, yet beautiful and makes a unique statement about the wearer. I say that because each necklace can be customized with a different word to show just how much you care or know about the person you are giving it to.  Or you can choose your word to reflect how you see yourself.  The words are BEAUTIFUL, LOVED, SOULFUL, CREATIVE PASSIONATE, GRATEFUL, MAGICAL, BRAVE, HAPPY, ADVENTUROUS, INSPIRING, LUCKY, SPARKLY, and BLESSED. 

I love that it’s a little reminder of how much I have to be thankful for. I have a husband who loves me, kids that love me, family & friends that love me, and a Father in Heaven who loves me.  Nothing else in life can make me as joyful as I am when I stop and think about all the love I have in my life. 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13;13

Right now the Lisa Leonard You Are Necklace is even on sale, making it hard to resist!


                                                                              All images from Lisa Leonard Designs

Which word from the You Are necklace list best describes you or how you feel?  Or maybe you’d get one to give to a loved one, what word would you choose for them? 

Shop till ya drop at the Queen Bee Market

Part of the excitement of going to SNAP is definitely hanging with friends, meeting new people, connecting with others, but imagine doing all that while shopping! Yeah, shopping. And not just any kind of shopping. Nope, you get to shop and browse some amazing handmade artists and vendors.

This year I saw way too many things that I just couldn’t pass up. And once I broke out the card it was like I just couldn’t stop.  I came home with several things, and I’m excited to show you some of them.

hoop-La

I bought 3 pairs of cute earrings from hoop-la and I love that they are all lead free, nickel free, so my sensitive ears can wear them without any problems.

TRINKETS & BUTTERFLIES

I bought this beautiful necklace from Trinkets and Butterflies that I just love. It is two sided so you can wear it and show off whatever side you want.

ALEXIS MATTOX DESIGN

I just love this chevron engraved bamboo cutting board from Alexis Mattox Design. My husband loves create awesome things in the kitchen just like I do and I knew we’d both appreciate this cutting board design.

INSPIRE LOVELY

I saw this cute little accessories bag and it called out to me. I loved simplicity of it, but the color combination is one of my favorite things about it. I am using this in my purse to put a few items that normally float around loose in my bag, and take forever to find (like my 5 or 6 different tubes of Burt’s Bees Lip Balm I carry at all times. I may or may not have a problem).

THE PRINTED PALETTE

I couldn’t come home without picking up something for my kiddos. And my sweet girl looks so cute in this t-shirt from The Printed Palette. I loved the ikat design.  I even ordered a different shirt for my son from them too since they didn’t have his size when I was shopping that night.  These shirts are so soft, you will want to wear one too! Check out their online store for more designs and adult and children’s clothing.

Did you get to go to SNAP Conference? Or maybe shop the Queen Bee Market? If you did I’d love to see what goodies you came home with. Let me know in the comments!

Saying goodbye to a SECOND couch and loveseat

So our living room is once again without furniture. A few months ago I repainted our living room, and picked out a new couch and loveseat from JCPenney’s Home Store. (SEE ABOVE PIC)

I don’t think I even showed you guys what we got. Which is best, because today we had to say goodbye to them.  We had them for a week or so before we noticed a BIG problem with them. They were recliners, which was awesome let me tell you, but when the foot part was up, if you leaned forward just a little bit then the whole couch started to tip over. Can we say SAFETY HAZARD?  Especially with having two little kids.

So I called up the 1-800 number JCPenney’s gave us in case there were any problems, and let them know the issue we were having. Two weeks later a technician came out and said that there was definitely a problem with the way the loveseat and sofa was made, a design flaw is what he called it, and he told us he would put in his assessment and we should call and let them know we wanted to return them.  Well they called me the very next day. Fast call back time, major points for them. Unfortunately this is pretty much the only points they’re getting right now.  They scheduled a pick up a week after they called me, and today just happened to be that day.  So now our living room is without any seating, besides Justin’s recliner that we ordered from La-Z Boy a few months ago also.  JCPenney’s told us it would take 7-10 days before they refund us our money, and unfortunately we can’t go shopping for a new couch or loveseat until we get our refund.   

We thought about ordering the same model of couch and loveseat we just had returned, but the “power recliner” models instead, thinking the extra weight would help keep them grounded, but there is no way to try them out because they don’t keep them in store anymore. Which means we wouldn’t know if the power recliners have the same issue as the regular reclining models. (And I bet you’re wondering why we didn’t notice the issue in store when we ordered to begin with, right?  That’s because in store when we ordered they only had a sectional model available, and it being a sectional actually helped anchor it to the ground instead of having it tip over.  And it also seemed to be built a lot sturdier than what was delivered to our home.) 

Did I mention that in just 2 weeks (May 9th!!)  Justin will be getting his hip replacement surgery done?  Which means there is little to no time for us to get our refund from JCPenney’s, look for another couch, and hope like hell they have them in stock so we can have somewhere to sit when we get back from his surgery taking place down south.  At this point I am a lot stressed out about it, and not sure what we’re going to do. But I am trying to look on the bright side, which is we got rid of the safety hazards and we’ll get a refund to get something else. 

Anyone else have a bad experience with furniture shopping?  Or maybe suggestions for great, comfortable couches?  I can’t tell you what a pain it was to shop for and finally find couches we both liked. I am not looking forward to doing the experience all over again…

Back to life, back to reality… SNAP Recap

I’m sure if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter you’ve seen all the crazy pics and updates I’ve been sharing while I was at SNAP Conference. And if you haven’t seen them, you’re probably glad I wasn’t flooding your feed last week. 

I had an amazing time at SNAP, just like last year, but this time there was no guilt about leaving the kiddos or the hubs, well maybe a little because I do love them quite a bit, but I was so ready to get away and hang out with all the awesome peeps headed to Utah.   I had a lot of friends going this year who also went last year, but I was really glad I got to meet new people and ladies who I had been friends with online but had never met yet in person.
From the pajama party to the breakfast, to the afternoon in room breaks and hangouts, all the way to the classes… new friends and old friends were everywhere.

(Summer, Alissa, and I took a “Pollinate” girls pic at the pajama party)

From Left to Right Michell, Heidi, and Michele…. I finally got to meet the awesome and sweet Michell from Girl In Air after being friends with her online for so long.  And of course I always love hanging out with Heidi from Honey Bear Lane and Michele from The Scrap Shoppe.

I got to meet, hang out, and dance my but off with Cobi from Entirely Eventful, Megan from Brassy Apple, and Aly from Entirely Eventful. All three are amazing and have got skills. And I’m not just saying that because they know how to break it down on the dance floor.

I also had an awesome time taking the classes they offer and learning from some awesome ladies who KNOW what they’re talking about, and were kind enough to share with all of us.

Brooke from All Things Thrifty and her husband taught a class about upholstery that I absolutely loved. I wish it was video taped so I could watch it before tackling my next upholstery project.

Shelley from House of Smiths, Rhonna from Rhonna Designs, and Susan from Freshly Picked taught what I like to call the How to Be #InstaAwesome class. A class all about enhancing your presence on Instagram. All three ladies are funny, sweet, and awesome at what they do.

Rhonna even has cute fonts you can download to add to your Instagram pics.  I love how cute they make your pics look.


I had such a great time, and can’t thank Tauni and her whole SNAP-tastic team enough for creating this wonderful place we can go to for 5 days, so we can build relationships, make connections, and just be US!  From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who made this past weekend possible!

P.S. When I get a chance I’ll be sharing how awesome Queen Bee Market was, and showing off all the amazing things I came home with.