A Stately Cutting Board

Check out one of my many favorite Christmas gifts this year...

Illinois Plyboo Cutting Board by AHeirloom on Etsy

I think it will make a cute serving board, and possibly also kitchen wall decor if I can find a little hook to attach to the back.

Choose your own state and place the heart over any city you choose. My heart is over Chicago, of course :-) I'd love to eventually also get a Missouri with a heart over St. Louis as well.

West Elm Sale

I thought I would share a great sale going on at west elm.

New items were just added this week to the sale, including the white overlapping-squares daybed we have been holding out for. So I added it to the shopping cart as soon as I saw that it was $110 less!

To make it even better, they are currently offering an additional EXTRA 20% off any sale item using promo code: 20MORE

So we ordered our daybed, and we went with just the frame and plan to order a cheaper mattress from overstock.com to avoid hefty shipping charges.

Regular Price: $459
Sale Price: $349.99
Additional 20% off Price: -$70.00, $279.99

Total Savings of: 179.01 (before shipping or tax) :-)

Hopefully someone else can put this promo code to good use.

Mood Board Monday - Gender Neutral Nursery

This week, I thought I'd bring back Mood Board Monday!

It's really for selfish reasons, because I have been compiling images of everything we plan to include in our nursery and I wanted to see it all in one place before the room was actually put together.

We are planning a gender-neutral nursery since the sex of our baby will be a surprise. I knew I wanted light grey walls (Sherwin-Williams "March Wind"), white furniture and pops of bright, modern colors (read: no pastels) such as vibrant orange & aqua. The crib and dresser are purchased but it was the rug that we just bought which was the inspiration for the rest of the color palette.



Here are the sources of my inspiration...

Top (from left to right):
1. Abacus, from cb2
2. Dream Menagerie Rug, from anthropologie
3. Jungle Friends-Bamboo Mobile, from petitcollage, etsy seller
4. gion organic bed linens, from cb24.
5.overlapping-squares daybed, from west elm
6. owl lantern in light blue, from urban outfitters
7. orange changing pad cover, from The Land of Nod
8. Hemnes 3 drawer chest, from Ikea
9. Monte Alto Rocker in charcoal, from Monte Designs
10. Cutie Bear Print, from Delicious Design League
11. Gulliver crib in white, from Ikea

Enjoy!

Snug as a Jungle Creature in a Rug

We ordered this rug last night for the nursery and I can't wait to get it in my hands to see if it's as adorable in person as it is online.

Anthropologie Dream Menagerie Rug (5 ft Round) - $298

And some close-ups of the cute creatures:

Renegade Craft Fair Finds

This weekend is the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale in Chicago, so my sisters and I made our way over to Pulaski Park Fieldhouse this afternoon to see what we could find.

There were so many talented artists there, over 150, including some Chicago staples such as Circa Ceramics and Ork Posters. I noshed on a delicious vanilla cupcake from TipsyCake and also bought a few prints from a new favorite, Delicious Design League.

This print will be a Christmas gift for my sister, Jessica, the newest Chicago resident in the family. It's called "Chicago Style - 1893":

It will look cute in her kitchen next to her "St. Louis Style" print by Dan Zettwoch, which she also already owns.

The next print is one which I purchased for the nursery and is called "Cutie Bear". I think it lives up to its name:

Each 18x24 print was priced at only $20 and contains 3 colors/screens. And best of all, if you choose to frame the prints, they are a standard size so no custom framing costs will be incurred. What a great deal! Check out what other prints the Delicious Design League has for sale on their online store. All in all we had a successful trip to the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale.

Next weekend is also the Bucktown Holiday ArtShow.

It is held at Holstein Park Fieldhouse, 2200 N. Oakley Ave. in Chicago on December 11-12, 2010 from noon to 5pm each day. I hope to make it there as well and will report back with any purchases :-)

$5 Black Friday Find

As is tradition with the ladies in my family, we met bright and early the morning after Thanksgiving to go Black Friday shopping. Our meeting spot at the mall was outside Urban Outfitters so I took a peak inside with my sister as I waited for my aunts and cousins to arrive. Little did I know that I would find my best bargain of the day.

This Light Blue Ceramic Owl Lantern:

Original Price: $28.00

Sale Price: $9.99

AND THEN I learned that all sale merchandise that morning was an extra 50% off, making this a whopping... $5.00!

I think it will make an adorable little nightlight for our gender neutral nursery.

Bad Blogger with Big News

I rarely ever apologize for not blogging but since it's been 2+ months I think it's time to officially classify me as a "bad blogger". I have been a bit preoccupied though so I'll excuse myself this once. Preoccupied with what you may ask? Well on August 1st, we got some of the best news of our lives... we found out we were pregnant!

Dave didn't believe the first test since it only had a faint line, so the next day we had to go get a digital one just to prove it to him. I think seeing the word "pregnant" made it set in for him :-)

Thus, we began our journey of pregnancy and parenthood prep! The first few months have been a whirlwind full of extreme joy, nerves, morning sickness, fatigue, food aversions, weight loss and every other symptom in the book, but now that I'm well into the second trimester I'm feeling much better.

A Few Fun Facts:

• We are due April 12th; I'll be 19 weeks along on Tuesday.
• We are not finding out the sex of our child and are excited for a surprise on delivery day.
• I really have NO mother's intuition yet about the sex. I often refer to the baby as "he", but nothing is pulling me strongly in either direction nor do I have a preference.
• We will not be revealing our names in advance, but we have narrowed the list down to two names for each gender and will make the decision when we first meet our child.
• I have been busy brainstorming ideas for a gender-neutral nursery (more on that in future posts), and we just made our first baby purchase yesterday: a crib & dresser.

Now that I am "out", I will be sure to update the blog more frequently, with plenty of baby projects no doubt. Overall, we are overjoyed and I can't wait to meet "Baby C" in April 2011 :-)

Exploring Chicago - Devon Avenue

I know I left you hanging after Andersonville, so without further ado I will present to you our second stop in the Exploring Chicago Photography Course...

Devon Avenue:

Devon Avenue was originally known as Church Road, but it was renamed in the 1880s by Edgewater developer John Lewis Cochran after Devon station on the Main Line north of Philadelphia. The street has been settled by many immigrant groups, which is perhaps most evident between Kedzie and Ridge Avenues in West Ridge, Chicago. Here, one traveling eastward will encounter, in succession, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, a Russian American neighborhood, an Indian American neighborhood, a Pakistani American neighborhood, and a Bangladeshi American neighborhood. Portions of Devon in this area have been renamed in honor of Golda Meir, Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The main area we walked, was the "Little India" portion of Devon Avenue. Here are the photos from my afternoon there. First we have the food...















And then we have the fashion and decor...









And next, a little Indian-American pop culture...





And last but not least, we had lunch for the day at Tiffin, which was delicious:

Overall, this was an area not very far from my home in terms of miles, but it seemed like a world away. There were times on Devon that I saw such unfamiliar things that I forgot I was in Chicago, or even America. This is one of the many reasons that I love this course, and love Chicago as a whole. It's a big city made up of many tiny neighborhoods, each with their unique cultures and identities.

In this post we got a taste of South Asian culture in Chicago, and in my next post I'll take you to the Eastern European areas as we explore the neighborhood of Ukranian Village.

Vintage Bazaar Today

Today is The Vintage Bazaar!

The Vintage Bazaar is a modern, pop-up flea market based in Chicago, Illinois. Produced by Katherine Raz and Libby Alexander, this flea has vintage oddments, collectibles, & more all for sale at thrifty prices.

Basically, it's like a swap meet without the socks & overstock + there will be beer & pie.

Popping up TODAY Sunday, 8/22 from 12-7pm at Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee.

Last time I found some great things, but we learned our lesson and will get there EARLY this time to make sure we have first look at all the goods.

Can't wait to see what we find :-)

Exploring Chicago - Andersonville

I thought I'd catch you up on my Exploring Chicago Photography Course that I started a few weeks ago.

Each Saturday we go to one or two Chicago neighborhoods, hear a brief synopsis of the neighborhood's history & culture, and then set off for a few hours of photography, eventually reconvening at a neighborhood restaurant to have lunch. It is very enjoyable and I have also been learning much more about all of the manual functions of my DSLR. Also, all photos you will see are unedited, as we are not allowed to use Photoshop or any editing software when we present them to our class. So what you see is what you get from my camera :-)

The first stop was Andersonville:

Andersonville is characterized by an incredible diversity of cultures and lifestyles, a neighborhood whose predominantly locally-owned boutiques are found amidst quaint brunch spots, Middle Eastern bakeries, hip bars and gastro-pubs, and a strong Scandinavian presence from the neighborhood’s Swedish founders. Andersonville is also home to a vibrant gay and lesbian community, catered to by the neighborhood’s many LGBT-friendly businesses, restaurants and bars.

There was a great sidewalk sale going on which really drew me in and became much of what I photographed that morning. All i wanted to really do was shop, but I abstained for the sake of my art ;-)

Then I walked around and found some more natural treasures...

Next, I captured a bit of of that Swedish charm...

And lastly, how much is that doggie in the window? Well this one was fast asleep in a Barber Shop and was NOT for sale :-)

Next stop, Devon Avenue and a delicious Indian lunch!

Happy 30th Birthday, Dave!

July has sure flown by, and without a blog post at that! But what better reason to come out of cyber-hiding than to wish my wonderful, charming husband a HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!

Happy big 3-0, Dave! I love you and am so glad to have known you for almost half of your life and even prouder to be called your wife. Cheers to many more!

Mood Board Monday - 'Bamboo'zle

It's Mood Board Monday!

Today for the first time I'm not featuring a color combo, but a sustainable material instead...bamboo! Also, these are items that I recently featured in my first etsy treasury, if you want to check it out there. (Thanks to Sarah for introducing me to the world of etsy treasuries. They tie in perfectly with my mood boards!)




Here are the sources of my inspiration...

Top (from left to right):
1. Modern Baby Clock - Owl, by decoylab, etsy seller
2. Large White Blossom Bamboo Earrings, from theharbingerco, etsy seller
3. handmade bamboo glasses frame, from TAKEMOTO, etsy seller
4. Recycled Skateboard Bamboo Cuff Links, by sevenply, etsy seller
5. laptop stand in bamboo wood, by bbTuna, etsy seller
6. Eco-Retro Desk Clock, by VectorCloud, etsy seller
7. Forest Friends-Bamboo Mobile, from petitcollage, etsy seller
8. Slice Necklaces, by designerica, etsy seller
9. Addison Bamboo Wall Clock, by pilotdesign, etsy seller

Enjoy!

The Limited: Red Hot Sale, Super Cute Dresses

With so many summer weddings, parties and trips on the horizon, it's a good time to stock up on affordable dresses for such occasions. And I'm such a sucker for email marketing that I could resist clicking on this email from The Limited this morning...up to 70% off? Yes, please.

So I snagged FOUR fab dresses for a grand total of $149.20, that is $37.30 each including tax & shipping.

{One Shoulder Knit Dress}

Was: $59.50, now $34.99

{Pintucked Halter Dress in Ballgown Blue}

Was: $59.50, now $34.99

{Darling Ruffle Dress}

Was: $69.50, now $39.99

{Printed Flower Dress}

Was: $69.50, now $39.99

I also used promo code "405" for an extra 15% off the already reduced sale prices.

Success!