Christmas Wish List

Everything under $250 wish list 

A little Christmas wish list that I put together because I think it can be hard to give gifts, especially to people that seem to have everything! I also think that when you are shopping for gifts, especially last minute you tend to spend way too much. I love all of these items above and they are all under $250 which is even better. I used to give gifts thinking I didn't want to buy them something that they already had but then I realized that I personally want things that are similar to what I already have because its what I like!! Not to mention, I personally can never have too many grey sweaters! Ha! 

Each one of these items is a personal favorite of mine to give and to get. I actually would be pretty happy if one or all of these things were waiting for me under the tree come Christmas morning....{major hinting there}

 Oh and did I mention this is all from shopping on line. Who needs to fight those crowds or the cold? Not me! 

Twill Slim Pants 

Woven Hooded Cardigan 

J Crew Satchel

Tocca Cleopatra Parfum

Short Pea Coat 

Sorel Boots 

Watch 

Suede Booties 

New Years 2016 Party Inspiration

Can you believe that 2016 is just around the corner?!! I am so excited to ring in the new year and of course that means party planning is on my mind! 

I love the idea of lots of guests all tucked in snug around our family room, sipping cocktails while listening to old jazz music and the roar of a fire in the background. With new years party's on my mind I had to sit down and visualize it all coming together. Of course that had to mean creating a design board of my perfect gathering space. 

Lot's of white and gold with just a bit of gray is how I envision my perfect party palette. I'm just so happy with my new Jonathan Louis furniture and I wanted to see what our family room would look like with more of a mid-century modern touch. I'm pretty much in love!
I need a few more rooms in my home because this design has me seeing with heart eyes! This Jonathan Louis Maddock sofa paired with the Mike Accent chairs.....so good!
I think that to have a great party you not only need good food and great drinks but you need good seating and enough of it! I have been to so many parties where the seating was minimal and you just end up squished in a corner with one or two people. I want my guests to fill a room and that means providing a place to sit and also a place to put their drinks. The space has to be inviting so I keep the furnishings close together which creates an atmosphere for conversation. I hate when the furnishings are so spread out in a room that you can't even hear what the other person sitting across the room is saying!
I added in the Randell Estate Cocktail Ottoman because its sleek and beautiful and it also reminds me of an amazing leather gray dress I once saw and still can't get out of my mind...the dress is long gone but this ottoman is forever!
I love the idea of a bench or in this case the Wright daybed across from a sofa. Perfect for a smaller space where you want to provide a lot of seating but you also don't want the room feel closed in or cramped. The backless design provides an obstructed sightline and the softness of the bed encourages sitting and chatting for long periods of time. Exactly what I want at my party! You don't want to throw a News Years party where everyone leaves before midnight.....that would be terrible!
So what are your New Years plans this year? Are you more of the black and gold kind? No problem...all these Jonathan Louis furnishings come in a array of fabric and color choices HERE so you can choose your own perfect palette.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

my love

16 years ago today we had our first date....steak and shake after a night out. Very romantic.
But he stole my heart and has kept it safe every day since....Happy Anniversary my love!

A New Mattress

We had been talking about getting a new mattress for about a year now. I would say it was around the time we both crossed over in to the forties and all of a sudden waking up feeling achy didnt have anything to do with how much dancing we did the night before. Not to mention my dear sweet husband has the back of a ninety year old man and not to be insensitive but seriously, I couldn't listen to the moaning and groaning one more day! 

So we started looking and like many of you know, a mattress is going to be a huge investment so you better get it right! 

Thats when I came upon the Leesa and I was intrigued. I first heard about them HERE and because I have been reading Jenny's blog for years I appreciated her honest review of the mattress. 

I also read all of the reviews on the Leesa site and I liked what people were saying. The kind folks at Leesa were so great to work with and a few days later we had a box sitting on our doorstep. 

How cool is this..

I was surprised to see how small the box was for a king size mattress and actually wondered if we had received the wrong size at first!

The mattress is compressed but all we had to do was take off the wrapping and the mattress started to take shape. Anyone thats ever had to haul a king mattress up a flight of stairs will appreciate this!

 

Let me just say this.....that night I got in to bed and people I am not even lying, it was like sitting on a cloud. It was so soft yet firm and I couldn't believe how well we both slept that first night! We have been sleeping on the mattress now for about 2 weeks and I will honestly say that I can only recall one time that I have had to ask my hubby to roll over from his snoring. If any of you have a husband or wife for that matter that snores, you will know this happens all night long, every single night! But not anymore thanks to our new mattress! My answered prayer! 

I would highly recommend a Leesa mattress so much so that while my sister was here over the holiday, I kept saying, "Seriously, go lay on my bed, seriously, you will love it!" I think I drove her a little bananas with it!

Use the code HERE and receive $75 off your Leesa mattress purchase!! 

JL Furniture Update

So I wanted to update you all on my JL Furniture from the first post I had written HERE.  I have nothing else to say other than I love it! Well, maybe a little more to say.....
I really do love it you guys! I think the one thing that surprised me the most is how comfortable it is. I used to really love my sectional that was in here but now that we have had our new sofa and chair for awhile now I don't miss that old sectional one bit!
I love how you sink down in to the sofa because its so deep and the chair is exactly the same. I really struggled with whether or not I wanted a matching chair but I really fell in love with the Clarice chair so I got over my hang up and I'm super happy with my decision. Its big enough for me to snuggle up with my kiddos and yet doesn't feel bulky.
The sofa and chair are very well constructed. I tend to be a little picky about how things are made and I want my investments to last the test of time...okay, who am I kidding...I want them to survive my kids! I will say every stitch is tight and the piping is perfect and so comfortable!! Have I mentioned that part yet?!?

 The Jonathan Louis Clarice sofa can also be ordered with a chaise on the end which I also love. It was a hard choice but I'm very happy with the sofa we decided on although I think that if our living room layout was a bit different I may have gone with this one instead.

I really can't say enough about this fantastic company and their high level of quality! Its such a rare thing to find both in a company these days and I would say that Jonathan Louis Furniture has definitely raised the bar for my expectations in the future.

Blogger Stylin Home Tour Christmas 2015

Welcome to the Blogger Stylin Home Tour Holiday edition. I'm so happy to be a part of this wonderful tour of bloggers which is hosted by Lindsay from The White Buffalo Styling Co. If you are visiting from there....

Hello and Happy Holidays!!! 

If you have been here in the past few weeks you will know I recently decorated for the holidays with a mini tour here but since then I've added another tree and changed things up just a little. Its always a process for me to get everything exactly the way I want it so I hope you enjoy the past tour and also the little changes I have made too! 

Our family Christmas tree...its not perfect and its a little messy but the girls helped with this tree and I think its just beautiful. Whether its everyday day styling of your home or holiday decorations, it needs to work for how you live. Our life is always crazy, sometimes messy but always full of love and thats exactly what I see when I look at this tree! 

My middles room got a little more festive with some easy string lights and a holly wreath over her bed. 

Thank you so much for stopping by on your tour and now its time to head over to Bliss at Home and see how she has pulled everything together this season!! 

A Giveaway with Rugs USA

Working as a stylist I am always on the search for a great rug and Rugs USA always has what I'm looking for and always at an incredible price. The jute rug that I have here in my dining room is my go to natural fiber rug. I love the texture and the weave is beautiful. Its not rough on your feet and it makes the perfect addition to just about any space. I also love that Rugs USA is always running an incredible sale too! Today this rug is 80% off!! 

My moroccan style rug is seriously the softest rug I have ever felt!! Its so plush and is the perfect addition to our ever changing living room. If you are debating buying this rug, like I have heard so many of you are....GET IT! You won't be disappointed! I will say I have heard the rumor that this rug can get really dirty....its white, so yes it certainly will get dirty if you aren't careful but so far we have had no trouble keeping it clean.  No shoes please! 

At this very moment Rugs USA is giving away a $200 gift certificate on my Instagram account!!! 

Head over here for your chance to win!! 

A winner will be chosen on black friday!! 

{Contest rules}

                                                                            One time use only

Valid in the continental US
Expires in 1 year 
Cannot be combined with any other coupon codes
Valid on www.rugsusa.com only (this can be for site wide)

A Simple Christmas

A simple Christmas. This is my theme for the holiday season. Creating a home full of cheer but with a simplistic approach.

I love this time of year. The holiday season is upon us and I will admit, I've already had a red cup and listened to hours (yes hours) of holiday music. I can't help myself.
I love all the anticipation and excitement of Christmas. The parties, the food, the cheer! It truly is magical.  But what I am really hoping for this year is a simple Christmas. Not a holiday season surrounded by "stuff" but instead, one where our home is filled with visitors, loud bursts of laughter, giggling children running around, lots and lots of delicious food and of course wine!
This year, Martha Stewart Living for The Home Depot Holiday Collection had exactly what I needed to create a beautiful and simple holiday decor starting right here at our front door!
This year its all decked out in garland and a beautiful wreath along with these little lit trees. I love how it all frames our door and welcomes you in!

Our dining room is our busiest room in the house over the holiday season. 

You may recall it was just last week I had it all ready for a Thanksgiving feast.

Well, because this is where we we do the majority of our entertaining all season long it has to be ready! These chairs will hold our loved ones and I wanted this space to have a simplistic charm about it. I love my old chalkboard flanked by these wreaths. I added the linen candy stripe ribbon to them for just a touch of red. 

The felted ball garland is so sweet and such a perfect little touch to our holiday decor. 

The berry boxwood wreath will always be a Christmas favorite!

Our Family Room just recently had a makeover of its own and I was so excited to start preparing the space for the holidays! 

Along with keeping it simple it had to be cozy. Curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and read a book in front of the fire kind of cozy. I kept the room neutral and allowed my simple Christmas decor to add in just enough color. Our snowy tree is my favorite and it fits so perfectly in here. I love that I didn't need to add in a lot of decor to make the room festive but these simple choices alone where enough to make it feel like Christmas has finally arrived. 

I added in wreaths to all of our windows along with the tree and wreath above the mantle. Can I tell you how excited I am to finally have a mantle I can decorate for the holidays!

 The holidays have arrived and I want to enjoy every single moment so I'm keeping it simple here. I  hope your holiday season is one filled with friends, family and tons of good cheer! 

Merry Christmas

Jonathan Louis Furniture

Marriage. It's a complicated little arrangement and thankfully after 12 years and 3 kids ours is the best its ever been! But the one thing that I have learned and wish I had even known earlier on is that its a work in progress with one key ingredient....Compromise.
It comes in many different forms....what to eat for dinner, where to spend the holidays, how we spend our money....compromise.
I love design. I love a beautifully styled room and all the accessories perfectly in their places and pillows everywhere. I love pillows!
My husband....he loves comfort! He wants a room he can fall in to. Where he can lay his head down on the sofa and not get the side eye.
This is hard for me. I want the pretty part and he wants to feel comfortable in his own space. We needed to meet somewhere in the middle...but where?
When we moved in to our home three years ago we had to make some decisions together. One of the main ones was what kind of furniture we would put in our main living area. We went back and forth but eventually decided on our sectional. I didn't want such a large piece in the room but he really wanted a sofa he could fit comfortably on. We fortunately found one we both loved . I liked that it was pretty and he loved that he could lay on it and put his feet up. We were both winning! Well, guess what...three years later and our biggest complaint is that its way too large! We realized that we used to snuggle up together at the end of a long day and now we find ourselves on either end. We hated it! We also wanted more room. Neither of us were happy with the way the sectional divided the room so here we areon the hunt for something new!
Thats when I discovered the Clarice sofa from Jonathan Louis Furniture. I loved the style of the english rolled arms but it had to be comfortable! We chose it in the Belfast Linen with feather blend  seating. Its a feather and fiber fill and its perfection. It arrived just the other day and we are in heaven!!

Not only is it gorgeous, it's so comfortable!! I honestly have never sat on a brand new sofa and been so pleasantly surprised and I love how the overstuffed cushions look in the room. I think I went right to styling them as soon as they were delivered. How could I not!?!

Jonathan Louis was such an incredible company to work with. They helped me so much by giving me a ton of options with not only the design off the sofa but also the fabric choices. The options are endless!

We also chose the matching chair because we need more seating when we entertain and I love the look of the two side by side. I've never been one to go with a "matching set" in my design choices but these just work so well together. The lines of the sofa and chair are so beautiful, I was sure of my decision the moment I saw them in our space. 

The Jonathan Louis sofa and chair have been the perfect addition to our home! I am happy to say we have also spent a few nights and mornings cuddled up right here in front of the fire with all the kiddos happily in the loft on the old sectional. This is compromise I can live with! 

I can say in all honesty that if you are in the market for a new, beautiful and well constructed piece of furniture than Jonathan Louis is a great place to start! Beautiful design, comfort and excellent quality! All the ingredients for a perfectly styled room you will both enjoy! Check out where to find your own perfect piece HERE. 

*sponsored post /all opinion's are my own*