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Inspiration

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How Organized Life Design Helped My Sanity

I am typically a very Type-A person, and I love being organized; however, sometimes things spiral out of control and so long as they’re ‘out of sight,’ then they can become ‘out of mind.’ Emi’s nursery was once our guest room – a room that literally was used maybe twice in the four years we had been in the house. So the drawers in the dresser and the closet became the catch-all for all of the ‘stuff’ that didn’t have a home (just yet). Wedding albums, gifts, gift bags, party supplies, stationery, etc. It was all piled into the drawers or closet in a complete cluster. When I got pregnant, I knew that I needed to clear it out to prepare for Emilia. The task was so overwhelming to me, so I contacted Meggie of Organized Life Design to come and help. Meggie showed up with her notepad and a bag full of useful tools and got to work. We first tackled organizing the drawers and closet – we recycled, trashed and saved everything that was in the guest room. It was shocking how much needed to get tossed. After we had things grouped, we put them into storage containers then went to the room where all of the stuff was going – the playroom closet, which was largely empty at that point (except for media equipment). Meggie told me what things I needed to buy and build (which Sasha did!). I had it all setup for her next visit. During this visit, we filled things from the guest room into the newly structured playroom closet. The transformation is unreal from one closet to the next (see below!). I am obsessed. Meggie also cleared out all of the under cabinet space in the playroom and bookshelves (again, lots of tossing!), then tackled my desk drawers.

I don’t know about y’all, but organized spaces are so good for my soul! Ha. I walk into the playroom to look at the storage situation about five times a day – I’m not kidding. I made Sasha go in on Saturday after a refresh and wanted him to tell me his favorite parts. He thinks I’m nuts!

I loved working with Meggie because she taught me organization tips that I used for Emi’s closet (details here) – one of those “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” benefits. Also, just having someone come to the house to force you to go through your junk is very helpful. I shouldn’t have waited to need to organize because I was pregnant to have gone through the closet and drawers.  Meggie was practical in her approach on what to keep and what to toss. Sometimes you need someone without emotional attachment to items to say, “I get that you want to keep all of the extra X, Y, Z from your wedding, but really, let’s just keep one and recycle the rest.” Right?

Lastly, Meggie is like an energizer bunny. She is very petite, but has so much positive energy – I loved having her come over to make a seemingly horrible project become fun. I highly, highly recommend you reach out to Meggie if you’re in need of organization help! You can follow her on Instagram here.

Our 2015 Family Photos

AwakePhotography5119Remember how I was going to wait to share our family photos (taken by the absolutely incredible Paige Budde) until after our card was sent? Well, here they are… on November 4th. And I haven’t even given thought to our Christmas cards (although I’m eyeing a few Artifact Uprising ones that are ah-mazing). That, my sweet friends, is the embodiment of impatience.

But do not fear – I’ve saved three of my favorites that are top contenders for the card so that there will be SOME element of surprise when people receive theirs in the mail!

We took our photographs with Paige at 6:45am on Sunday… in the rain. Thankfully, we had already discussed taking them at the Menil Collection, which has a covered sidewalk. I’m also so grateful that Paige showed up with the gorgeous chair you’ll see below (she also owns The Foundry Rental Co.), which gave some extra flair given that we were limited to where we could shoot with the rain. When I saw this sneak peek, I was very excited. And then I saw the email in my inbox this morning and got teary eyed looking at all of the photos. I feel so incredibly blessed (I’m “so basic,” I know) to have these two in my life. Sasha is the best best-friend and husband I could ask for, and I didn’t know it was possible to love anyone like I love Isla. 

Thank you, Paige, for capturing these special moments. It’s amazing to see how much she’s grown since our photos last year, and even since Isla’s first birthday photos. Please don’t retire from photography or move before 2037.

50 days until Christmas! I can’t wait!

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Planning the Perfect Picnic with Kids

PlanningPerfectPicnicKidsMonths ago, the idea for a picnic photoshoot popped into my mind, and I immediately began looking for the perfect blanket, as I knew this would be the starting point for the rest of the styling. As soon as I saw the blankets in Lindsay Marcella’s gorgeous shop, I knew I had found “the one.” Flash forward a few months (I posted about the blanket back in July here) and a whole lot of planning later, we held the picnic this Sunday at our local Spring Valley park. We invited our good friends, Jenny and Bailey, who, may I say, is the perfect little model. I adore her!

In addition to the blanket from Lindsay, we had unbelievably gorgeous cookies from Miss J’s Sugar Cookies. Jessie is so talented. I seriously did not want the girls to eat the cookies because they were so pretty, but alas, they won – Bailey knew she wanted a pink cookie (and got three!). 

Nashville Wraps sent us the beautiful scalloped boxes, which I love so much (I’m a sucker for scalloped edges!). They also sent oodles of gorgeous ribbon, which I want to use on everything in our house. I made four little picnic bites for each box (in their own divided sections), which I’m sharing details about below. Two of my favorite details about the food were the adorable corn holders from Talisman Designs and the fun umbrella party picks (from Emerson Sloan via Meredith).

We also had berry baskets and clear juice bottles from Shop Sweet Lulu, as well as colorful plasticware, which I wrapped a napkin around and secured with a candy bracelet. Meredith of Cake & Confetti made vinyl lettering for the bottles that said “Sweet Like Me,” as well as creating “You’re One in a Melon” for the cooler that she lent us.

Leah at The Monogram Shop gave us a tray and ice bucket, which was perfect for the juice to be chilled in. Last, but certainly not least, were the girls’ outfits. Esther of cuteheads dressed Bailey in the Kennedy Seersucker Dress, and she made a custom design for Isla, which I adore. You can order this ‘Isla dress’ in any color or pattern you like, just send an email here! Bailey chose one of the Willow Crowns pink glitter clips for her pretty blond locks, and Isla wore my favorite navy heart clip

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Coastal Contemporary Home Tour

You know how there are some people in life who are just quintessentially cool? Like, whatever they do, you kind of want to do, too? Well, for me, that’s Nina. Sasha has known her since they were little, as Nina’s parents also immigrated to the US from Serbia. Coincidentally, she married one of Sasha’s fraternity brothers, who is genuinely the sweetest – and a pretty impressive entrepreneur too (ahem, see house below). Mike and Nina moved into their custom built home (by Renaissance Builders) earlier this year, and I’ve been lusting over it ever since. The white paneled wood walls, large windows (I’d kill for that much natural light in our house!), gorgeous modern (warm and comfy!) furniture, dark wood ceilings, massive closets, fun wallpaper… I could go on and on.

When I asked Nina if I could feature their house on Snapshots & My Thoughts, she kindly and enthusiastically agreed. They opened up their house for me to photograph the inside and although Mother Nature was against us, I was around again to take outdoor shots. 

I hope you love the house as much as I do (cue me now pinning everything to my Dream House boards on Pinterest). Nina sweetly sourced most of the items featured in these photos (it’s a big house, and I had a hard time narrowing down pictures, but there are rooms and pieces not shown!). If you have any questions for her, please email me and I’ll do my best to track down answers.

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Sugar & Cloth + BHLDN (Plus, A Familiar Face!)

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A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I spent my afternoon with the Sugar & Cloth team for a styled shoot with BHLDN. I was ‘modeling’ (it feels wrong to not put that in a quote as I’m the furthest thing from a model) alongside Aelish and Meredith (who could both actually be models). We had a ton of laughs while having the photos taken (by the very talented Jared). Ashley was directly all of the shots, and their sweet-as-can-be intern, Kayla, was helping style too.