Re: A Fond Farewell

Way to bite the bullet and start writing.  Especially on a random week nonetheless.  I'm very into starting things like this on the first of the month, yes I'm anal, but you...you just jump in on November 15...and to top it off it was a Tuesday!  I'm so lucky to have you in my life to shake things up!
Well, first of all CONGRATULATIONS!!  Even though I've known for how many weeks?!?  I'm so excited the cutest little girl is going to have a handsome little brother!  You are on your way to become the perfect nuclear family!

I cannot wait to decorate the nursery with you, and I am sure I will be in Tally early next year.  It will be internet/in-person decorating.  So is the plan to scour the internet for great ideas, post them to our Pinterest here and here and then write about the final product on Peach & Lass?  I love the direction you are going in, and would expect nothing less than a Mad Men/Don Draper-esq nursery for your little man.  You need to start look for a vintage bar cart to hold bubblegum cigarettes.

As Casa de Richman we've made some improvements over the past few months and a few more are on our list of to-dos.

1.  The mantel has been given a facelift for the holidays
2.  The upstairs guest bathroom has been given a facelift because it was boring and blah and borderline fugly
3.  We are on our way to redoing the master bathroom...tile to be ordered this week!  WOO HOO!
4.  The dining room now has a table!!  HOORAY!
5.  I thrifted a fun chair for the master bedroom
6.  I bought and repainted a mirror from Ikea for the guest room based on my inspiration
7.  The dining room also has chairs
8.  Something amazing is going to take place next month upstairs

I think that's about it, although I must admit I was hoping to write a #9 and #10.  I told you I'm anal and stopping on #8 just seems weird.  Promise to post pictures of the latest and greatest in the coming days/weeks.

Time to wrap this bad boy up.  I leave you with these images just so you know where we left off last as far as master bath inspiration and vision.  I am getting excited!!!  Hope you are too!

Subject: Ikea Shopping List

Melissa -

I'm not sure if you know, but Thanksgiving is next week. Seriously, what has happened to November? We are going to see my parents on the east end of I-10 and I am kind of excited because in the works is a solo trip for me down to Ikea...err, Orlando. I have been in desperate need of going, but the closest two to where I live are both 4-5 hours away. Being in Jacksonville will put me halfway there, so I will just go the rest of the way for a day trip on Friday. (So annoying that to the rest of the world it's Black Friday but to me I just need to grab a few things from Ikea...although I don't think they draw a huge Black Friday crowd, right?!)

I was kind of nervous about going by myself because the two other times I have been there I got a stomachache both times because I was completely overwhelmed and could not think straight. A friend of mine whose family is down in Orlando will be there for Thanksgiving, so we are going to mee at Ikea and offer one another moral support. I'm actually super-stoked for this trip (even the four hours in the car by myself seem nice) and have been making a shopping list to avoid any anxiety-induced stomach pains.

I wanted to run a few things by you...

First, do you remember approximately 10.5 decades ago when I told you I had found my dream bathroom mirror? Well, I finally got around to painting it and hanging it up. And I love, love it:

What I don't love? The bird print. With the darker paint color, it just does not look good anymore. And I'm kind of liking the idea of clearing the counter off - right now there are two containers holding cotton balls and Q-tips, as well as the hand towel. If I could get everything (except the soap pump that we both adore) off the counter, I think it would look cool to have a plant or something in that corner, just to bring in some color. So I am considering these from Ikea:



They hang on hooks from a bar that can be expanded to the length you need. I could hang the bar above the outlet and then hang two containers to hold the cotton balls/Q-tips on the end closest to the wall and then hang the hand towel on the other end. Thoughts? Will it be too modern looking? I will need to check to make sure they are bright white like the mirror and the rest of the trim. Sarah Richardson used them once and I kind of liked the end result.

Another item on my list are some of these spice racks, which I will then turn into some clever book storage, a la Domestic Simplicity:



So adorable, right? These will be perfect for Suz's "big girl" room. I am going to turn the space where her changing table is into a little reading nook - it's already a little alcove that's too small for any furniture. I'm going to put a few floor pillows and then these spice racks on one wall and a chalkboard on the other. I think it will be really cute. We'll still keep her little bookcase in there too because I'm a little obsessed with children's books so our collection is growing rapidly, but maybe I'll rotate some through the racks to keep things interesting.

What else am I going to get? Uh...my mind is going blank. I really need to write these things down...now!

Looking forward to your feedback!
Kara

Subject: A Fond Farewell

Melissa -

Ahh! Wasn't that a nice three months off? Well, vacation's over! We have work to do. Here is my guest room as it sits now:

Not too bad, right? But now I am going to have to send it off with a tear and a wave to make room for...(imagine the dots are a drum roll) - a new nursery! Yes, it's true. Suz is getting a new baby brother for her birthday in March. He will be the Bobby to my Sally. Speaking of which, I am drawing on some Mad Men inspiration to for this nursery.

Here are a few pictures that I love (all via Babble):

I want it to be very boy-ish and sweet, but also sophisticated. A room I will want to be in. In my head I keep saying that if Don Draper had a nursery, this would be it. But then I realize that's weird on many levels. So maybe if my husband were to design a nursery for himself, as an adult, this is what it would be. Maybe that isn't that less weird...but I think you get what I'm saying.

The good news is that I have all the furniture already (plus a surprise piece I can't wait to share later on), so basically we'll just need to focus in on accessories (!!!). I'm going to need lots of help on fabrics, I think. So get your creative juices flowing! Plus, in addition to this nursery, Suz is getting upgraded to a Big Girl Room (bye bye sweet nursery), which means a twin bedding and new bedding!!

So lots to work on and, even though you're not physically here to help (unless...?), I will be relying on your awesome Internet researching skills and impeccable taste to help me pull this off in the next 20-ish weeks (yikes - I hate hard deadlines!).

Xoxo,
Kara

Subject: Rehoboth Houses

Melissa -

Hello and happy Friday! So today I am going to show you the pictures I took of my favorite houses in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Some of them reminded me of houses from a movie and I absolutely drooled at the thought of spending a weekend living in one. Or just a night - I'm not greedy. The details on the houses were great too - lots of stone mixed with wood siding and cedar shingles. And the yards were immaculate. I was very jealous of the climate up there. It was hot, yes, but not the kind of hot that just zaps flowers in the middle of the afternoon if you are not out there holding a garden hose to everything. Basically - not like here.

I don't even know if these pictures will do the houses justice, especially since I took these on the last day we were there when the sky was gray and cloudy (the best kind of weather to be leaving a beach vacation, in my opinion). But I hope you get the idea. Oh, and I saved the best for last!

I included a close-up of the yard on this next one because I thought it was so charming:

The house that went with this next yard wasn't all that memorable to me, but I loved this little stone wall and garden behind it:

This house seemed a little out-of-place among all the others, but I loved the red geraniums in the pot and the manicured box woods. Plus the American flag against the gray (with the red geraniums) is really nice, so I decided to include it:

And this one is called The Grey Goose and it was my favorite house of all. Can't you see why?

Don't you just die for that pink door? I don't know how well you can tell from the pictures, but the house was this amazing gray with white trim and a pale pink door. And the house is on Queen Street - how perfect is that? I also loved the little walkway on the roof - I can only imagine what the view is like from up there. Seriously, if they were selling tickets on the driveway, I would have bought one just to see what the interior was like!!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend and I will see you back here next week!

Subject: Rehoboth Beach - An Introduction

Melissa -

So our big 10-day trip included five days staying at my aunt-in-law's beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I had no idea what to expect, but Mr. Lass said that what the Hamptons are to NYC-ers, Rehoboth is to the DC set. Yes, please! I have never actually been to the Hamptons so I have no way to make a comparison, but the houses in Rehoboth were super-cute and the main street was within walking distance to where we were staying and had so many local shops and restaurants, you would need an entire summer to experience everything.

Here are some pictures I took along the main street:

Okay, so I only took two. So now I will talk about what is in the shops. Most of the shops were very boutique-y, meaning they were small and locally-owned and included merchandise that I had never seen before. It was so fun to look at everything - longingly, for the most part, since whatever I bought would have to jammed into an already-full suitcase or carried through security and on board an airplane, which is hard to do with a toddler in tow.

However, I did find this little gem and had to have it:

Isn't it gorgeous? I carried this on-board, which meant carting it around on a layover while pushing a stroller, but it's totally worth it to look at it everyday. It is really unique - the top is smooth glass, but the underneath is some kind of scrolled medal that is textured and has an amazing patina on the base. It's one of those things I will love forever. I asked the shop owner about it, hoping it would have some kind of cool story, but she said it was a reproduction and they had another one in a box in the storeroom. Oh well.

One thing about Rehoboth Beach that I found so interesting is that it is a very Northern beach town. Meaning the beach isn't that great (compared to the crystal clear water and powder sand we enjoy on the Gulf) - for one thing, the water is absolutely frigid. Of course, Suz didn't seem to notice - she squealed with delight every time a wave would come and water would cover her feet and legs. But one of the main draws is the boardwalk, which is right along the beach. It is really long and seems classically Northern. There are tons of places to buy what I call fair food - hot dogs, French fries, cotton candy, ice cream, pizza - you name it. And also a few arcade areas that had rides and classic games like Wack-a-Mole. The whole thing reminded me of Coney Island, which I have never been to, but I think is kind of the same set up. Did I take any pictures of this? Of course not...ahh! :( But here is a picture from the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk website:

Except add hundreds of people and tons of pelicans. Funland was just that - super fun. We did, however, leave our stomachs on the Sea Monster ride, but otherwise had tons of fun.

Okay, tomorrow I will show you my favorite houses in Rehoboth Beach. You will love them!!

Subject: Catching Up

Melissa -

Hello friend! I am back in town and after having tackled a mountain of laundry and restocking our refridgerator, I am now ready to report on our trip and comment on your posts while I was gone. I feel like I have so much to share, so let's get started.

First things first: I loved your post about the Land of Nod Blog! It was new to me as well and I am excited to spend some time perusing it for ideas. What little I saw of it after following the link you posted has me intrigued. I saw one post by one of my favorite blogs - Making It Lovely - which was exciting. I didn't realize she was a contributor, so it will be fun to see what she has to say. The one post by her that caught my eye was about her daughter's new "big girl" room. Although it is still early (Suz just turned a year old in March), I find myself already daydreaming about what I will do for her room next. While in Rehoboth Beach, I found this amazing print that I think would be so fun in a little (or big!) girl's room:

Isn't that fun? I found the same one on eBay that is a fifth of what it cost in the store (the eBay one isn't framed). I think this is such an original idea for wall art in kids' rooms. This is an obvious choice for a boy's room, but it seems especially creative for a girl's room. I may have to keep this in mind! Plus something about it says Mad Men to me, which makes it even more appealing :)

I'm super jealous of your brother's new life in LA! I never had the nerve to move somewhere so far away, but I do enjoy living vicariously through people I know who do! Please keep sending pictures and stories via Brother Peach...especially any juicy celeb sitings!

Okay, I feel sufficiently caught up. Can't wait to share with you pictures from my trip this week!

Subject: The Picker Sisters

Have you seen this show??

I think it started last week, but I discovered it on OnDemand.  

Here's the synopsis...

Starring best friends and renowned interior designers Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"), "Picker Sisters" reaffirms the classic saying “one person’s trash is another’s treasure” by following the design duo as they crisscross America in search of rare relics and materials to create stunning pieces for their Los Angeles home décor pop-up shop.

And here's just some of the awesome pickens':

Looking forward to the next episode!!  It make me want to go drive to North Georgia and hit up some junk yards!! 

 

Synopsis and all photos courtesy of Lifetime TV.