What a Doll!

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I was a bit Barbie-obsessed when I was younger. In fact, there was one room in my parents' house designated as the Barbie Room, where I spent hours dressing Barbie and her family and redecorating her mansion. The Barbie Room was a small town complete with a pool, McDonald's, office, hair salon, news station, and all the other Mattel-made Barbie buildings.

Green Mountains Escape

As I mentioned yesterday, the Sailor and I had a super-relaxing long weekend in Vermont. We broke up the short road trip by stopping to hit the Manchester outlets and the Long Trail brewery. Located on the banks of the Ottauquechee River, the brewery has a beautiful porch overlooking the water and offers a self-guided tour that takes just a few minutes.

Best Bunny Ideas

The Sailor and I just returned from a long weekend in Vermont. It wasn't the tropical escape I've been longing for but it was a truly relaxing three days of being unplugged and pampered. Full recap coming soon!

In the meantime, here's a roundup of a few easy and adorable Easter ideas.  A day late, but Pin 'em for next year!

My semi-successful bunny bows from Pinterest
Via Ten Cow Chick

Southern Sensibilities

Just as soon as I get my hopes up-- Winter rears its ugly head again here in the northeast?! After a beautiful weekend (hello, perfect temps in the high 60s!), there's snow in the forecast here in upstate NY AGAIN. Yuck. 

Guess I'll just have to keep bringing spring inside and buying fresh flowers in the meantime...


Fortunately, the Sailor and I were able to take advantage of the nice weather this weekend, and we spent a ton of time outdoors. I got in my first real long run of spring on Saturday afternoon. And we fulfilled the role of happy homeowners on Sunday morning with a trip to Home Depot, where the haul included a power washer. Not going to hide the fact that I'm psyched to give it a try one of these days!

My parents came for a BBQ on Sunday afternoon. The warm weather inspired menu included pulled pork, cole slaw, cornbread and sweet tea. I finally perfected recipes for pulled pork and cole slaw, but the sweet tea neeed help. Any advice from my southern friends would be more than welcome!

Here are a couple of other things on my radar this week...

Moon and Lola
I found out about this jewelry website (actually a shop based in NC) this week, and it was instant love! As soon as I stumbled upon it, I knew that it would be a great find since the name coincidentally combines two of my favorite personalities --one of my dearest friends and #LolaLove.

This one's from the iphone archives...
Here she is the day I adopted her.

In step with the theme of all things southern, I found this Moon and Lola piece that was featured in Southern Living. It's quite the statement necklace!

Ashley Ella Design is my new crush! She's a teacher by day and graphic designer in her spare time. But it's her eye for interiors and fashion that I envy. Check out her nest, where you'll see palettes like the one below--pink and green and animal print. We're kindred spirits!

Happy (almost) hump day!

WIWW: Christian Louboutin Pumps

Welcome to "What I Want Wednesday." Christian Louboutin Decollete cork pumps. My obsession with snakeskin lives on. 

Life Lately

Busy weekend wrapped up around here...We packed in a lot of fun activities which made it seem gloriously long! I started out early Saturday morning with my new favorite breakfast. Ezekial 7 sprouted grains bread topped with 1/4 avocado, fat free shredded cheddar, an egg and salsa. Toast with smashed avocado is no new thing, but it's become ridiculously popular on instagram and food blogs lately-- and with good reason. The combination is so simple and packed with nutrients. Avocados have twice the potassium of bananas and have healthy monosaturated fat, which curbs hunger. Plus they have fiber and can lower bad cholesterol.

Fortified for my road trip, I headed off to visit friends and attend a birthday party in Connecticut. Nineteen munchkins ranging in age 2 to 5 demanded that I kept up my strength! The venue: A nature center complete with taxidermied animals, reptiles and insects. The kids were SO brave -- They couldn't get enough of this corn snake and all wanted to pet the hissing cockroach (gasp!) that the nature guide next held. Not this girl! I couldn't get far enough away from the action. 

                                                    

After the animal demo, we all took a walk through the very muddy woods. It was pretty chilly, so we didn't see any wildlife. But the kids loved it anyway. 

                                                      

Although Saturday was really windy, the weather forecast for Sunday looked to be perfect for skiing-- sunny and mid-40s. So, we made one last trip to the mountain for the season and got in a few runs before the snow got too soft to ski. Finding a women's golf league is on my agenda for this week. Feels like spring has finally arrived!  

Office Options

Springtime means lots of cleaning out and reorganizing-- and that's just what I've been doing in our "home office."

I tried to make the the best of the space when we first moved in. The room has a jade green carpet that had to stay, so I decided to use my favorite color combo of pink and green. I found this Animal Crackers print from Lilly Pulitzer for throw pillows for the desk chair and futon.

Playing on the theme, I added a knock off Dash and Albert pink leopard hooked rug. While it was a steal, it probably wasn't the best decision. It's not nearly as durable or attractive as the real Dash and Albert rugs, and it's too small for the space. I've tried to fix my mistake and replace it with the real thing, but...everyone must love pink leopard. It seems to be discontinued or sold out everywhere!

I still like the color combo and theme, but I'm longing for some new shelving and a few upgrades. Moving my desk underneath the window would be an easy change.

                                                                   Via Pebbles Studio

This desk area has bright pops of color with tons of space to organize.

via Everything Etsy

I'm still in love with my lucite ghost chair from Ikea. Although I've never sat in the style below, I imagine that the design of mine is far more comfortable. No arms on mine, but the sloping seating area and flexible back make it one of the most comfortable desk chairs I've ever used.

via The Doctor's Closet

This color combo- leopard and tangerine is so beautiful. A corkboard is a must for any home office, and Julia from Pawley's Island Posh (love her!) made hers one of the focal points of this area. 

via Pawley's Island Posh

With the Sailor's encouragement, I've used some pretty bold colored paint in our house. But what I would really like to do is try a patterned wall-- The question is whether to try stripes...

via Ashley Ella Design

Or dots...?

Another area incorporating some of my favorites-- Bright colors and animal print. Fresh flowers help pretty it up too! If I had a photo like that one above my desk, my productivity would definitely suffer from me getting lost in the beach scene all too often.

This is a work-in-progress space if you can believe it! Head on over to the Nesting Place to see the before photos. 

via Nesting Place

I already have some of the elements I want in my home office, but I guess mine should be considered a work-in-progress too! Stay tuned for more office updates.