New Faves from Rosanna

My brief stint in retail as a newlywed introduced me to Rosanna. When we got married, I didn’t register for regular ol’ everyday dishes because I just couldn’t find anything that I really loved. If there had been somewhere to register for the Rosanna stuff, I would’ve been all over it. I like Rosanna because of the fun colors, classic and sometimes quirky designs, and the price point is so reasonable. And OHHHH THE PACKAGING!

The aptly-named Gelato collection. We probably don’t need this: it would only force us to eat more ice cream in our house. :)

Confetti!

How darling are these tiny little cupcake pedestals? I could have a lot of fun with those.

I would have LOVED a sweet tea set like this when I was little.

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A more grown-up space

Jude - 28 months

In the past few weeks, I’ve been tweaking Jude’s room a little, helping it to grow from bitty baby nursery to a more grown-up space. It makes my heart twinge just a little bit, taking away his baby bumpers (yes, he was still sleeping with them) and seeing a toddler bed occupy the room now. I loved having a baby baby. Now I’m loving having a big boy, a bonafide toddler.

When I came back from having my first surgery, I wasn’t able to lift Jude in and out of his bed, so my sister and her hubs sweetly donated Luke’s firetruck toddler bed to Jude so he could hop in and out of it without my assistance. And Jude really took to it for the time that I needed him to. After awhile, we put him back in his crib, but the firetruck bed has stayed because sooner or later, he’ll graduate to it completely.  We like sitting in it, reading books together, and he thinks it’s just the coolest thing ever.

I found these awesome vintage cinema marquee letters on Etsy, and the seller, SalvageNation, gladly put together a special listing just for me w/ Jude’s name. It was extremely inexpensive, and I love them. I’m tempted to paint them, but I like their authentic, original black color. They’re lightweight plastic, and SalvageNation has a ton of them.

j u d e

Did I ever show you the final setup of Jude’s play kitchen? I picked up a couple of short shelves from IKEA, and now they display (empty) Sprinkles cupcake containers, as well as all of his play dishes that my mom bought for him. All in all, an inexpensive, and completely fun little setup.

playing in his kitchen

The firetruck bed! I rearranged the furniture the other day and I’m still not totally thrilled with it. Eventually it’ll look less cluttered when I get the crib out (sob!).

the friendly firetruck bed

Oh! I’m also loving vintage felt pennants, and I found these (below) from another Etsy seller. Too cute.

Jude's room

Big kid — getting into everything!

playing in his bigboy bed

I’ve also been on the hunt for cute toddler bed-sized duvets, much to no avail. Jude likes sleeping with a pillow and these small, lightweight down blankets that I’ve had since college, from Target. I thought I might find something else cute, but I hated everything I did find, although for the most part, the genre is nonexistent. So I decided to make my own using one of those Target blankets. Turns out that they’re nearly the same size as a toddler-bed-size comforter, so already, this was looking like a cheap project. I ordered some fabric (Paula Prass chevron stripe) that was very inexpensive, and I backed the duvet with an old white sheet we already owned. So all in all, a very inexpensive and easy project. AND I have enough fabric left over to make a little roman shade for the window in his room.

Here’s what the blanket looked like before. It has seen better days, but is so warm and comfy.

before - the blankie

And here it is after — it was a fairly simple 2-hour project.

new zigzag quilt

Now I need to research how to make a roman shade for that window… hmmmm.

Jude and his new quilt

Or I could just go read books like Jude. :)

wait, there's something under the bed

Big kid.  Where’d my baby go?

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Places I have Never Been {via I am a greedy girl}

Fellow Oklahoman graphic designer Caroline Duke runs a fun blog called I am a Greedy Girl. She talked about these prints from JHillDesigns the other day, and I just can’t stop thinking about them. Places I Have Never Been is so fun.

I love the color, the typography — the imagery is fun, too.

Framed or unframed, a group of these on your wall would look fantastic.

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An Ode to Wallpaper

When we were snowed in at my parents’, I decided to photograph (almost) all of their wallpaper. I’m short a couple of them, but you’ll get the idea. There’s a definite love of blue and green going on here.

Amy’s bedroom (my childhood bedroom)
Amy - bedroom wallpaper

Amy’s bathroom
Amy - bathroom wallpaper

The hallways – I wish you could see the texture of this. It’s like a seagrass-type material.
Hallway - wallpaper

The dining room.
Dining room - wallpaper

The living room
TV Room - wallpaper

My adolescent bedroom. I picked out this wallpaper from Laura Ashley. I loved it then, and I still love it. It’s such a soothing, happy room.
Rachel - Bedroom Wallpaper

My bathroom. Laura Ashley also.
Rachel - Bathroom wallpaper

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A Little Sussy: The Handbook

More than a little curious about favorite photographer Nicole Hill’s new textbook…

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Tiered Bath Storage

I really like the look of this tiered storage unit from the Pottery Barn. I think it would be cute on the countertop, holding my hair accessories. Or in the kitchen, for fruit and other snackies.


They remind me of vintage gym baskets like these…

How fun is this? I’m thinking it could be fun, too, with some brightly-colored soda bottles.

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Paperwink Stamps

Seems like custom stamps are everywhere these days! Recently, new fave blog Little Green Notebook did a giveaway of one of the Paperwink stamps and I had to go check out their site. I really like the design of these. They’re different enough, and not too expensive. Sadly, they’re not self-inking, which is uber-convenient, but I think I could muster the strength to lift the stamp from inkpad to paper. :)




They do more than just stamps, too. There’s some darling little blank notebooks, as well as matching stationery to go with your fun stamp.

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SNOWPOCALYPSE 2010

Dramatic? Of course. It’s Oklahoma weather! The weathermen told us that the ice and snow combo coming our way this past Thursday would rival that of the Big One in December 2007. That was the storm that hit right after Jude was born and left us all at Mom & Dad’s with NO POWER for a WEEK. Why didn’t we go somewhere else, you ask? Because nobody had power. We really all thought we were going to go crazy. We were eating sandwiches by candlelight. Finally, some hotels started getting power, and so we moved into a hotel (even Mazie the Chihahua got to go) for a few days. Jude was only a few weeks old. He was at the height of colic. I remember it fondly well. Apparently other Oklahomans still remember that storm too. It was enough to make everybody consider getting a generator.

Plus, after the crazy Christmas Eve snow we got this year, I think everybody was thinking they ought to take the weathermen seriously this time. Hence, the Snowpocalypse. I went to the dreaded Wal-Mart on Wednesday (which was, incidentally a 65-degree day) and it was insane. The aisles were a mess. People were acting like we would never see civilization again.

But on Thursday, the ice came, and then it was followed by snow. We thought we might go crazy being cooped up at home another day, so on Friday we decided to make a go of it, and leave the house. Taking our lives into our own hands. Mom and Dad thought they were going stir crazy, too, so it was good to come over and hang out. The snow really is pretty; we don’t get enough of it to be sick of it, and still think of it as a novelty. Jude LOVED it. He and Simon went to the park by our house and got interviewed by the news. They were on Channel 5, and it was pretty cute. I even took pictures of the TV, that’s how proud I am.
Simon & Jude on TV
Poor kid – I had dressed him SO crazy in multiple layers. He was wearing 2 hats, 3 layers of pajamas, and his firetruck boots along with his puffy coat and mittens. He couldn’t put his arms down — they stuck straight out because he was stuffed so tight.
Jude on TVHe was tasting the snow. Pretty cute.
Anyway, nothing like a few snow days! We’ve been holed up here at Mom & Dad’s now, eating and watching movies. Last night we had Williams-Sonoma’s chicken chili and cornbread, and it was divine. We are also STILL eating the giant pan of Pioneer Woman’s lasagna that I made earlier in the week. Hop over and try out the recipe; it was delish.
Backyard - snow
Wrought Iron fence
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I got out in the snow to, um, go get the mail. Yeah, that’s right … actually, it was my excuse to get outside and play in the snow. I just love it. Now it’s Saturday, and it’s slightly warmer, maybe 35 degrees. The snow is starting to melt, but the ice is still underneath, and it’s probably going to be pretty messy for a few days.
801 Snow
Today we got out to play in the snow. I didn’t get to really have fun in the snow at Christmas because I was still recuperating from surgery.
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Once again. Dressing my kid so silly for the snow. We left his boots at home, and I didn’t want his feet to get wet in his normal sneakers, so I wrapped his feet in plastic bags. I know, I know. So humiliating for him.
IMG_4888

He loves eating the snow. Little cold red hands!

IMG_4889

Here, Daddy — try some!

IMG_4890

Rachel the Snow Angel

Snow Angel Rachel

Try it, Jude!

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Grandmother & Grandaddy watched from the comfort of the indoors.

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Chic TV Stand

Ooh, wowza! I am loving how chic this dresser looks as a TV stand! The new-to-me blog Get It Girl Style is too cute, and has a ton of great ideas.

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I wish these were mine

I am so in love with these custom invitations from Orange Beautiful. Designed for her sister’s wedding and inspired by the locale (the fab Jonathan Adler-designed Palm Springs getaway), they just ooze style. I wish I’d done them! Well done, OB!


Oh, le sigh. That marbled paper! The pale pink! The reverse type!

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