Look for Less- Maxi Dress

Slacker-I know. I haven't even been busy- just lazy. Oh, and there is nothing too exciting to report. I am not in labor, but my doctor won't let me travel more than an hour away. The 4th of July just got a lot less exciting.

Remember this dress that I wanted, but didn't quite have the 551 bucks for it? I found a casual version of it for $22.19!

Sofia by Sofia Vergara Women's Dress Banded Maxi Hot Rod

Not an exact match, but really cute and a great price!

Chewbeads

Let me start out by saying I have one sweet husband. He knew that I was majorly bummed that I couldn't go to Chicago. He surprised me Saturday morning with breakfast in bed and a present! He ventured to a children's boutique and bought me a Chewbead necklace!

What is a Chewbead? I like to think of it is a way of combining my old life with the soon-to-be new. The company consists of necklaces and bracelets that are safe for children to chew on. They are BPA free and dishwasher safe (apparently, things that are super important for babies.)

I love a big, chunky statement necklace and can't wait to wear this. (I know, I will probably cramming this in Jammer's face to chew on it right after delivery.) They are so cute, and a perfect gift for new moms. If you haven't seen them in a store, you can buy them here.

3.5 More Weeks!

My nesting and project days are slowing down. I am sleeping in late and enjoying Kathie Lee and Hoda while I can. The swimming pool has become my hang out for the majority of the afternoon. By the way, did you know that Pinterest has like a gazillion ideas on what to do with paint chips? I am also trying to take full advantage of child-free dinner nights with friends.

My girlfriends are flying out tonight for Laura's Bachelorette Party. Apparently, it is a terrible idea to fly in your last month of pregnancy. I am majorly bummed that I am missing this trip. However, I plan on Face Timing with them before dinner.

Random Pregnancy Updates:

• I feel pretty good. I was miserable in May when school was going on, then I felt awesome the past three weeks. Now, I am definitely tired and ready for this baby to drop out of my chest, but things could be much worse.
• Luckily, I am not swelling too bad. After a long walk, my feet swell some, but it is not awful. I drink tons of water and stay in the pool all day, so I feel like this has helped to keep it to a minimum. I would also like to thank my mother, her fantastic skin, and Palmer's Cocoa Butter for no stretch marks. 
• Don't fear, I have some unpleasant pregnancy symptoms that nobody wants to read about. 
• About two months ago, I found out I was anemic and have to take an iron supplement. Unfortunately, it makes me really sick unless I have a very full stomach. I will be glad once I don't have to take it anymore.
• Also, at about 20-24 weeks, there was some fluid on Jammer's kidneys. We were told that it could be nothing, but they wanted to monitor it to make sure the levels didn't rise. The upside was we got to have a lot more ultrasounds. At 33 weeks, the levels had actually dropped into the normal range! Very happy about this news :) 
• Jammer is head down and moving a lot. Shim loves to hiccup too.
• We won't discuss my weight gain.... May discuss after Jammer is born....maybe.
• The nursery is basically finished. The only thing left is window treatments, and then I will post pictures. 
• I went to the doctor on Monday, and I will go back on Wednesday. My midwife says that everything is going great. Husband was proud because he found the heartbeat.
• People ask if I think Jammer will come early. I think not. Since my sister had to have an emergency C-section at 36 weeks, I have tried to get ready, but I think we have a while. Jammer is high (to me.)
• Gender? So proud we stuck to our guns not to find out. (Sorry friends and family, I know you found this really annoying.) It has actually been less stressful/ much better for our finances not to find out. I also like knowing that we will find out what shim is on shim's birthday...when we officially meet shim. shim. shim. (I am getting kinda tired of that word though.) Pretty much everyone thinks it (sorry, tired of typing shim) is a boy. I think it is a girl. Husband thinks it is a baby (good job.)

This is a long post- I know. I get pretty annoyed when all people talk about is there baby, but my mom reads this blog, and she likes to be updated. 

Look for Less- Studded Loafers

I have been coveting these Jimmy Choo studded loafers. Unfortunately, at $650, the reality of buying them was comical.

Then, I found these from Hallelu Boutique.

And they were only $32. So I bought them. (I want to be an intimidating teacher.) I also wore them to a doctor's appointment yesterday, which really confused Husband on what message I wanted to send. They are really comfortable. They run a little big, so I would order a 1/2 size down. 

Everyone Loves a Party

Including me.

Saturday, I helped host a shower for my dear friends, Laura and Charles. It was good times- stayed up way past my bedtime and enjoyed some yummy Jaliscos.

Beautiful Bride. Her groom to be sat on the other side of the couch. 

Will and Allison's new pup, Lilly

Susannah and Laura

Allison (a hostess as well), Susannah, Laura, and me...look pregnant much?

All the Lovely Ladies

Carrie Ann, Allison, Sus, Laura, Tippi, me, Karisma, Bethany

Susannah's husband, Alex, took this picture. Hubs and I tend to migrate to sleepy pups.

He also took this sweet pic of his bride...

The B&G with the hosts and hostesses

(Will, Allison, Laura, Charles, Husband, me)

Cannot wait for their big day in September!

Projects!

Being at home is tough. I feel guilty lying around. A two-bedroom townhome can be cleaned in 30 minutes. I have been banned from shopping by Husband. (This is why I got a job last summer.)

So, what do I do? Projects! There are big projects (like painting my kitchen cabinets), but I have also enjoyed my daily small projects. Several of these have been for Jammer's room (which I will show once I get some last finishing touches up.) However, here are some other things I have been working on...

Sofa Table

Husband and I found the desk above at Target for $20. I used it as a vanity when Jammer's room was my closet. We moved it downstairs to throw out once we started working on Jammer's nursery, but soon discovered the convenience of having a table behind the sofa (especially since we don't have room for end tables next to the sofa.) I painted the legs gold and did a striped top (with paint I already had.) Ta-daa, we now have a twenty dollar sofa table. 

Jewelry Cabinet

It's not pretty, but a necessity. This baby contains all my jewelry. Again, use to reside in my closet room, but, yep, Jammer. Husband decided to move it next to his side of the bed and use it as an end table, but it was laminate and ugly. I first wanted to paint the whole thing, but the top was getting scratched. Turns out, Home Depot has really pretty contact paper (for less that $4.00 a roll), so I covered the top and painted the sides.

.

Table Runner

My dining room table was a little....brown. I L.O.V.E. some color. This fabric had been used as curtains in the kitchen, so I used some hem tape (this girl don't sew) and made a table runner for a pop of color. 

(Sorry all of these are phone pictures. I was lazy.)

Happy Thursday!!!

Like It, Love It, Gotta Have It

Like It:


I found this dress on Pinterest....

I really like it- Halston Heritage. But it is sold out. Maybe that is a good thing. It was $551.

Love It:

I am going to be honest. I was really worried about Jammer cramping my style. Then I heard this song...

Baby Mama

 I feel now like Amy Poehler is Mean Girls when she said, "I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom."

GOTTA HAVE IT:

Saw these on Peppermint Bliss yesterday...

To say I am obsessed is the understatement of the century. I'm not sure how well they would work in teaching Jammer about gun safety, but I doubt shim will care. Shim will be too bust thinking of how cool I am ...while listening to Baby Mama.

I have been also busy searching for "gun chairs" This was not what I was looking for.

Courtesy of

Evolution of a Kitchen

This was my kitchen on April 7, 2009- Closing Day.

Now you know why I cried for a week after we bought our house. I hated everything about our kitchen. The wallpaper, the appliances, the cabinets (especially that mysterious hole in the upper right-hand corner), the multiple dog treats we found when we pulled the appliances back. I literally just didn't go back into the kitchen until May...

In case you didn't see that wallpaper.

This was my kitchen in January 2010.

Everybody has big dreams for their kitchen. Usually this dreams come with a big price tag... which Husband and I were without. So we did what we could. We bought now appliances (on major sale), gave it a back-splash, and painted it with oops paint- dark grey (kitchens should be ominous places in my book.) Oh, and thanks to Husband's aunt, we added hardware that she had previously had in her kitchen (we love a reject.) And I liked it...for a while.

Fast forward to Summer 2011. I decided that I don't like the paint color, and changed it to a color called celery bunch. Sorry, I have no pictures of the kitchen during that phase...

And then, last Tuesday. I knew I should wait, but I just had this fear that it would NEVER get done. So I just went to Home Depot, bought Behr's Paint and Primer in One (color: Graceful Grey) and sandpaper and got to work. Here were my steps:

1.) Remove cabinet doors. Luckily, we have internal hinges, so that made the process easier.

2.) Sand it down. I didn't use our sander, just did it manually with 120 grain sandpaper.

3.) Get to painting. I didn't prime the cabinets- just gave them two coats.

Husband got on board on decided that we should update the hardware and finally replace the blinds that came with the house. 

And the finished project...

Husband actually installed these a while back, but I love them. Since our kitchen is so small, it can easily become dark (especially when I had it painted dark grey.) These lights were from Ikea, and were really easy to install.

And a BIG thank you to my parents for donating their old kitchen table to us. We love it. Also, you see that green wall? Hopefully a door will be there soon... we are on our third contractor...

To Be Continued!!

It's Friday- Hooray

Old news, Drew Barrymore got married. The real shocker? She looked gorgeous. Karl Largerfeld can't disappoint.

Courtesy of People.com

I saw this on Pinterest, and I couldn't help but to smile...

The cabinets are almost completely finished. I plan on a "Project: Complete" status by Sunday. As for today, my buddy, Sus, and I will be by the pool all day :) Have a great weekend!!

True Life: You Called Too Late

Ring Ring

Me: Oh hey Mom!

Mom: Hi Lindsey. Saw your blog. I think it is not a good idea to paint your kitchen cabinets before Jammer comes.

Me: Whoops.

(Taken as I hung up the phone.)

I couldn't help it. Before I knew what was going on, I had removed the doors and was sanding away. I was able to finish all the lower cabinets yesterday. I told you my kitchen was small! The rest of this week I plan on tackling the upper cabinet doors. (Don't worry, I won't be on a ladder doing the upper cabinet bases. I am going to make Husband do that.... and I won't judge his painting.)

This picture shows that the cabinets were. And this is my final (major) project.

Painted Cabinets

Let me begin by expressing how much I LOVE when it is raining outside and my Jack Russell acts like she just drank ten 5-Hour Energies. It is going to be a long morning inside.

In all my nesting, I have fallen in love with painted cabinets. It began when Mom redid her kitchen. Then, I started seeing beautiful painted cabinets all over Pinterest (including DIY ones.) I told Husband I would wait until after Jammer comes, but...

I want them now.

Love that grey color- would go well with my walls

Do you have any experience with painting cabinets? We have a tiny kitchen. Literally- four cabinets on the bottom, five on top.

(All images courtesy of Pinterest)

Deal of the Day

Doctor's Appointment? Check. Jammer is doing great (besides the fact that this is the most stubborn child when it comes to ultrasounds.)

And even though my summer is headed for a short-less season, doesn't mean yours has to! I love Lauren Conrad's line at Kohl's. And these white eyelet shorts make me melt.

LC Lauren Conrad Eyelet Shorts

Regular $50.00

On Sale: $37.50