Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic
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Décor

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Décor

Fearless at Thirty with Olay (Plus, a Giveaway!)

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Olay. The opinions and text are all mine. Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.

In February, I celebrated a big milestone birthday when I turned thirty. I’d been planning a trip to Paris with friends for years, and it turned out to be everything I’d ever dreamed of. It’s funny, because when I was in high school, thirty seemed so old. As I neared my thirties, people constantly told me that their thirties were the best years of their lives. I believe it too. Every year on my birthday, Sasha asks me what my favorite thing was from the past year and what I’m looking forward to in the coming year. This time, he asked what I was most excited about for this new decade. I would love to have one more baby, I want to continue to grow my photography business and spend more time teaching, I want to be involved in the girls’ schools in whatever capacity is available, I want to take a few trips with girlfriends, I want to go on more dates with Sasha, and last, but not least: I want to spend more time loving the skin I’m in. As I mentioned, one of my main goals is to continue growing my photography practice. Since I started my business three years ago, I have dreamed of having an in-home studio space where I can photograph clients and also teach classes. I currently just have a desk setup in our master bedroom (Sasha does too!). I used to have so much self-doubt when I started my photography business, and it has taken a lot of confidence and courage to get to where I am today. I wanted to teach classes for a long time but was worried nobody would sign up to take them!

Fortunately, this hasn’t been the case so far, and I’ve gotten such an adrenaline rush while teaching them. Being fearless has taken work but is way more fun than being nervous about what others think of you and Olay has been empowering women for many generations and I’m excited to share with you how being fearless and thirty has led me to accomplish a big dream of mine. My dream of having an at-home studio a reality in the house we’re building, and I’m incredibly excited for this room to be complete (very soon!). I chose wood paneling which I have painted Sherwin Williams Alabaster White, there are two big windows for natural light, and I am having a custom table built that seats up to eight people. In this space, I can teach classes, but also roll the table over and take headshots and portrait sessions thanks to the amazing natural light. In the fall, I hope to teach four or more classes every month! Below you’ll see the plans I have for this room.

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Décor

Charlotte’s Bright, Mixed-Pattern Nursery

In November, I posted my gorgeous friend’s maternity photos – the post aptly named “Ready for Baby Charlotte.” Although, if you had asked Amanda, she would have told you she wasn’t quite ready, because she felt the nursery wasn’t ready. Well, Amanda is a perfectionist, so I thought she was just saying that! Now that I’ve seen the nursery, I understand. It would likely have taken me 18 months, not less than 9, to design. I am so in love with it. Amanda’s eye for design has always been spot on, so there’s no surprise there. But I would like to move into her nursery and live there forever. I adore the wallpaper on the ceiling, the painting that her talented sister, Shelley, painted, the gorgeous IKEA dresser transformation, and how all of the patterns and colors come together to create one colorful and bright, yet blissful, nursery. The light in the room is just to die for, and makes me so very excited to move into our new house with second floor bedrooms! Ha.

Sweet Charlotte arrived on December 17 – I posted a few photos of her, less than an hour old here. I had the pleasure of taking her newborn photos this weekend and am going to edit them after posting this!

I shared a photo of the nursery on Instagram yesterday, then got a slew of Direct Messages asking for sources, so I had Amanda sent me a list of where she got everything to field these questions! Thank you, Amanda, for letting me share this gorgeous space of yours and Charlottes!

Sources: Crib: All Modern // Glider: Target //  Rug: Target // Wooden Changing Tray: Buy Buy Baby // Dresser: IKEA // Dresser Overlays: My Overlays // Swan: Target // Bookshelf: Wayfair // Painting: Amanda’s sister // Wallpaper: Donghia // Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Alabaster SW7008 // Changing Pad Cover and Crib Sheet: This Spoonflower Fabric (Customized) and Rocky Top Design Etsy Shop // Crib Skirt: This  Spoonflower Fabric on top and this Spoonflower fabric for trim, made by Grace and Cruz Etsy Shop // Side Table: Home Goods (no longer available) // Ottoman: Target // Lamp: World Market (no longer available) // Banana Leaf Pillow: Anitas Casa Etsy Shop // Wall Sconces: Anthropologie // Mirror: Pottery Barn (no longer available) // Baskets: IKEA // Chandelier: West Elm // Pineapple Bookends: Target // Large Blue and White Vase: Amazon 

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Décor

Emi’s Floral-Inspired Durango Nursery

Today is our last day in Durango, and I’m so sad to leave! We love it here. Isla will be excited to get back to school though – her best friend at school told her mom that Isla wasn’t in class because she’d gone to college! Ha.

During our last trip to Colorado, I shared photos of Isla’s forest-themed room, explaining that it was a lot of fun decorating the tiny third floor bedroom. Emi had slept in a Pack ‘N Play when we were here in the summer, but we decided to order her a proper crib. On the third floor,  there are three rooms – Isla’s is the smallest, but Emi’s definitely has the lowest ceilings! It was really difficult to get really good photos/angles of the room, but I’m sharing some of this tiny little vacation room below. I decided to create a floral themed nursery space for Emilia, inspired by the new Bebe au Lait Winter Collection. The room originally had just a single bed, centered in the room. I pushed the bed to the right when adding the crib. It’s a small space, but perfect for little Emi Girl, who loves playing in her new room – she pulls out all of the books from the baskets about ten times a day.

I am already anxious to come back in May to spend time in this floral nursery again. Sources listed below!

Crib // Nightstand // Lamp // Rug // End-of-Crib Storage // Gray Storage Bins // Bebe au Lait Crib Sheet // Bebe au Lait Swaddle // Bebe au Lait Blanket // Pom-Pom Pillowcase // Aqua Pillow Case // Wreath // Gold Trash Can // Monitor

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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.

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The Eskridge’s ‘At Home’ Family Session

Breaking news: It’s snowing in Texas. Literally everyone is freaking out, including me! Poor Sasha. This is what he hears from February until well, today: “Ugh, Houston is so hot!” “I am so sweaty – I can’t wait until winter!” “When is it going to get cold?” And then, 46 degree days arrive and I’m all: “THIS IS MISERABLE! I NEED TO GO TO THE BEACH!” Ha.

I digress. Back to the topic at hand: The Eskridge family.

After my clients and I agree upon a date for their family session, I send them a document with photos of a few favorite locations across Houston and have them pick where they want their photos taken. A lot of the time, people choose the same spots – which really is fine, since being familiar with an area is very advantageous with photography. However, on occasion, I’ll have clients who want something a bit different (which is so exciting!). This year, I had two families who didn’t want the typical “green space” photos. One opted for an all-white studio (can’t wait to share some of these!) and the other, Monica of Paper Flour Ink (whom I’ve talked about on here quite a bit recently), who suggested we do them at her house. Well, I’ve been to her insanelystunninginteriordesigngoals house before and was totally into this idea.

Their front yard is gorgeous. The courtyard is gorgeous. The backyard is gorgeous. The recently renovated pool is gorgeous. The fining room is gorgeous. And last, but certainly not least: The Eskridges are gorgeous. And there you have it – a winning combination for family photos. Keep on scrolling to understand exactly what I’m talking about!

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