Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, guys! Can you believe it's Friday already? This week has blown by for us. But we've been so busy, I feel like I haven't had time to catch my breath. Hopefully we will be able to do just that this weekend.

Have anything fun happening this weekend? Today is my baby shower, thrown by my very lovely coworkers. And tomorrow is my other baby shower, with lots of my sweet friends, family, and running buddies. I am looking forward to catching up with everyone and celebrating Baby M with some of my dearest friends. It's a baby shower weekend!

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately:

1. I've been having a hard time sleeping these days. Sciatic nerve problems + loose tendons and ligaments + general restlessness = a grumpy preggo lady in the morning. Poor Andrew.
2. Have you ever put jam on your vanilla ice cream? I discovered it last week and have been doing it pretty much every night since. It's my new favorite thing.
3. We changed out all our winter clothes for spring/summer ones this week, so naturally the temperature dropped and we're back to frigid temperatures. I think we may have jinxed it.
4. We had our childbirth class last weekend. There was a lot of information we already knew but being able to tour the hospital and see where we needed to park was a huge relief for me. I can't believe it's only a few weeks away!
5. We have been doing a lot of yard work lately -- chipping away at the mess of weeds, leaves, and branches that some people call a backyard. We're making progress and I am looking forward to a summer of bare feet, cookouts, and naps in a hammock.

Hope your weekend is lovely. Have a great one, friends!

We love:

Have you heard of Canopy? Do you use it? It's a new design-focused web shop that "unearths Amazon's rare gems". Users post finds and you can link directly to the items to snap them up. We have an account and I am absolutely obsessed with it. I look at it pretty much every day. And then I add about 90 million more things to my wish list. That beautiful candle or sleek teapot -- do I need it? Nope, but I definitely have a strangely intense desire to own pretty much all of it.

Here are just a few of my favorite things I've discovered using Canopy:

one // two // three // four // five // six // seven // eight // nine

You should definitely check it out. But forewarned: it's beautiful and completely addicting -- a dangerous combination.

The master:

We've spent a lot of time discussing the master bedroom situation lately. As of right now, a bed is the only thing in the entire room and while we'd like to dive right into the whole decorating process, we have been focusing on other rooms (read: nursery) up until this point. Only recently have we diverted our attention to this space where we get our rest on every night.

We've done a lot of debating about what kind of feel we want the room to have and what we envision the room looking like when it's all said and done. I tend to play it safe when it comes to colors. I don't want to do this with our room. So, I have created a palette of deep, calming colors to make the space feel warm and inviting. I really want to be able to relax in this space, especially since very soon, this will probably be the one room in the house in which we will be spending the most time. I want to be comfortable. 

Here's where we landed: I love the wall color (I think it's called black pepper by Benjamin Moore). I think it will warm the space up and play off the wood tones of our bed nicely. For a pop of color, I think painting two small chest of drawers a deep rust/pumpkin color would pair well with the wall color -- maybe do some interesting knobs on the drawers.

I like the idea of having sconces on the wall above the bed but since our bed is positioned between two windows, once the curtains are up, there might not be room. Speaking of curtains -- we have some white sheers that we might reuse but I think I'd like to explore some pattern. Nothing too wild, just a subtle, tone-on-tone pattern to bring some texture into the room. Pair those with some blackout roller shades for sleeping and privacy and we're in business (as far as window treatments go).

I love the idea of a plush rug since our hardwood floors are cold in the mornings. I like this one from West Elm because it's plush and has a pattern while still being neutral enough to not compete with the rest of the room. Plus, look how pretty. I'd like to have some kind of sitting area as well. Maybe a chair or two with a small table. And some greenery. Plants would really bring some warmth to the space as well. We get plenty of light (we have three windows) so I think they'd thrive there. 

For bedding, I'd like to do lots of layers of white and grey -- mostly solids with a few light/small patterns thrown in. And texture. Lots of texture. It would really make that bed inviting. And with a newborn, that's probably where I'll be the majority of my days.

Now that we've got an idea of what we want the space to look like, we need to get to work painting and collecting all the different elements. Easier said than done when my back is hurting so badly these days I feel like I can barely walk. Thank god for online shopping.

Let's shop:

It's been a while since we did any kind of imaginary shopping so let's get back into gear with Provisions, a super cool kitchen and home goods online shop. I seriously love everything here but it's mostly out of my price range so imaginary shopping is about as far as I'll ever get. But look how pretty!

1. The Original Whirley Popcorn Popper -- Andrew loves making popcorn on the stove so I know he would love this.
2. Walnut Utensil and Knife Box -- We don't currently have anything to house our wooden spoons, whisks, and other utensils in so this is something we could definitely use. I love how it's wooden and square -- and completely beautiful and unique.
3. Gold ladle -- We got rid of our ladle because it was plastic, gross, and I think we'd had it since our college days. Definitely time for an upgrade. Plus, how pretty would this one look sitting on the counter in that wooden utensil box?
4. Citrus Press -- I want this so badly, I don't even know how to put it into words. Not that we have a lot of oranges hanging around or anything. I can't justify buying it in any way. But I love it.
5. Farmer's Pitcher -- I can totally imagine this on our table, used for milk or juice during Saturday morning breakfast. 
6. Walnut Pizza Peel -- I love a good pizza peel and this one is no exception. It's made from beautiful walnut and would get plenty of use at our house shoveling pizzas in and out of the oven multiple times a week (I may have an obsession with pizza). It can also serve as a cutting board and we all know tools that can multi-task are the MVPs of the cooking and food prep game.
7. Pizza Stone -- We had a pizza stone but it finally bit the dust and since then, our pizzas just haven't been the same. I am interested to see how this soapstone one would hold up. You could use it for baking other things too (read: cookies).
8. French Rolling Pin -- We don't have a rolling pin but we need one desperately. I only have eyes for the solid wood, keep forever, ages-well-and-looks-good-while-doing-it kind. They're hard to come by but this one seems to fit the bill nicely.

New reads:

This week I'm reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I didn't even know this book existed until the ladies in my book club suggested we read it for a short, relaxing read before summer break. And apparently, it's being made into a movie? And there are actually four novels? How did my radar completely miss this one?

I welcome the change of pace from the tomes I've been reading lately (see here and here). Have you heard of this story? Have you read it? I can't be the only one who had never heard of it.

In case you're like me and somehow missed the boat on this one, here's the brief summary:

"When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers -- boys whose memories are also gone.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out -- and no one's ever made it through alive.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying."

It's definitely interesting. And once you get through the first few chapters and all the story set up, it gets pretty good. I've heard a lot of people compare it to Divergent and The Hunger Games series and I'd say I have to agree. It's sort of a hybrid of the two. So, if you liked either of those, you'll probably be really into this one. I'm glad I gave this one a try, even if I didn't love it. I don't think I'll read the rest of the series though. I'm a little tired of the whole dystopian society thing, truth be told.

Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, friends! Can you feel it? Spring is in the air. The trees have buds on them, the robins are out in full force, and there is a cool breeze. I am so ready to get outside and enjoy the (finally) warmer weather.

Got anything fun planned for this weekend? We are taking a childbirth class this weekend (yikes!) and are a little freaked out by it. Things are happening! We've also got a very long to-do list that we'd like to tackle. A few things on the list: painting the quarter round and trim in a few of the rooms in the new house. And sewing a crib skirt. And working outside, weather permitting.

Have a relaxing but also productive weekend! Hope it's magical! XOXO.

New projects:

With all the home improvement projects going on around our house lately, I'm starting to feel a little worn out. So much of it is physical labor (not that I am doing much physical labor these days) and I really needed something that was more creative to exercise that part of my brain. Enter our new project. It's a pretty amazing idea, centered around Baby M. I'll share more in the coming months, but until then, here are some of the fabrics I picked out to get our little project started:

I'm pretty excited about this one. But did you know how hard it is to pick out fabric for a boy that isn't too babyish or just plain strange? It's been a challenge, but one I have really enjoyed. I am pleased with our picks and can't wait to tell you more about it!