Love.

I'd like to introduce Grayson Jacob born early Monday morning - 7 lbs 7 ounces, 19 inches!! Words can't describe my love for this little boy. Labor and delivery went fantastic and Mom, Dad and baby are doing great. I'll try to be back soon to post more updates!

House Progress - Kitchen Spruce Up

After a few mix-ups, my little kitchen make over is complete and I couldn't be happier. This isn't one of those really dramatic before and afters, but just a much needed kitchen "pick-me-up".

{BEFORE}

This is what the kitchen looked like before we started. Standard melamine white cabinets, shiny brass knobs that screamed 1992 (when the house was built).

For some reason my photos don't pick up the contrast of the paint colors very well, but the uppers are now BM China White and the lowers are BM Gray Horse (a blue-ish, green-ish gray depending upon the lighting).

I used the same drawer pulls from my kitchen inspiration (Ephram from Restoration Hardware).

New beveled subway tile has been installed and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I still need to install some new outlet covers. What color do you think I should use...white, stainless steal? I'm torn.

It has a nice bevel and crackle finish to it.

The french bistro table is from a local boutique and the chairs are from Pottery Barn.

The black granite has some gray and bronze colorations in it which the new cabinet colors and hardware now pull out. I wasn't too excited about the granite color before, but now really like it.

So, for very little money, our kitchen is now much more 2009. Here's a break down of what we did and approximately how much we spent...

1. Primed and painted cabinets (BM China White & BM Gray Horse): materials- approx. $200

2. Installed new cabinet hardware: 6" Ephram pull from restoration hardware-$13 pp retail (20% trade discount)

3. Installed new tile backsplash: manufacturer is Adex Tile 3"x6" beveled subway tile-$7 per square ft.

4. Installed new microwave: Kenmore-$250

Baby Showers

I was so fortunate to be thrown two fantastic baby showers by my friends and family. Each one was a total ball and I'm so grateful to have celebrated this exicting time with everyone who attended.

This one was held in my husband's hometown in Connecticut. It was a luncheon and everything was made from scratch by the hostest (the food was INcredible!). She made these macaroon favors for all of the guests to take home with them.

The cupcakes were also made from scratch and all of those candies had little personalized labels on them - too cute!

My darling mother-in-law gave us a stroller which I can't wait to use for walks with baby to her house (which is down the street from ours)!

***I've had a few people inquire about the dress I'm wearing in the photo above (it's actually a really long top that I'm wearing with jeans). It's by Olian Maternity and it's one of my favorite tops -super comfortable!***

The other baby shower was held at our dear friends loft in Brooklyn, NY. It was a "coed" cocktail party and a complete blast!

The flowers were absolutely gorgeous as was all of the food. Our hostess is from Japan, so all of that sushi you see was just mouth-watering delish!

Another cute flower arrangement - I love how modern it is.

Our hosts gave us an amazing little tricycle that they actually purchased in Japan and brought back for us. We have such great friends!!

Good times!

Baby's First Photo

Apparently our little guy seems hungry (and chunky)?

Alright, you can come out any day now. Really, you have mom's permission.

Kitchen Teaser

A few months ago (man, has it been that long?) I was so inspired by this kitchen remodel, I decided our kitchen needed a little sprucing up. Well, it's taken a bit longer than expected to complete, but it's finally finished. I still have some cleaning to do, so I'm leaving you this little snippet of the one clean corner. More to come soon.

It's Here, It's Here!

The glider finally arrived today! Now all the major elements for the nursery are here. The slipcover still needs some ironing. I have to say, it's amazingly comfortable!

This is the area of the wall that I'm contemplating painting a tree mural. I don't have any other art for the room yet. What do you think? Mural or no?

House Progress - Master Bedroom (almost complete)

I think this may be the only time I will be able to snap a photo of our bedroom looking so crispy and neat. I even ironed the sheets just for you (I let my husband think it was for him and he even noticed - wow!).

So, here's the run down of where I found the items in this room (since I had a few inquiries in previous posts): dresser is from Craig's List, the lamps I found at Restoration Hardware a few years ago.

I found these end tables at Overstock a little over a year ago and couldn't be happier with them. The lamps are from Circa Lighting.

The headboard is from Target and it's fantastic - the quality is great and it fit nicely over our old one.

The duvet cover and bolster are from Pottery Barn (the bolster is on major sale right now too!)

Here is a better detail of the wall and ceiling color. The walls are a soft white (BM Feathered Down) and the ceiling is the palest blue color (BM Seafoam). I love the way the ceiling looks. I feel like the blue makes the ceiling seem taller for some reason.

Here is my weird, little corner. I'm still not satisfied with the way this looks, but oh well. I may see if I can move the chair to the other side of the window and find a bench for the end of the bed. We'll see.

I'm still waiting to have the ceiling light fixture installed (should be in a week or so) and then all of the major work should be finished - thank goodness!

Chirp Chirp

We're in the midst of a huge winter storm here in NY/CT and all I can think about is Spring. It doesn't help that I just hung this mobile in the nursery. Oh Spring, when will you arrive?

The mobile is hand knitted by from a company called Blabla Kids. They have THE most adorable stuffed toys, mobiles and knitted clothing. Oh, and don't you just love ugly dolls (that's our ugly dragon named "Poe" in the background)? They crack me up!

I don't have much else to show you in the nursery. I'm STILL waiting for the glider from Serena and Lily (it's been over two months and I'm so not happy). I have no idea what is going up on the walls yet...I'm toying with the idea of doing a mural similar to this one from Pottery Barn, but since the room is so small, I fear it becoming too busy. I'm more of a less-is-more kinda girl.

I better get on this mural if it's going to happen...I don't have much time left!