store front

a retail space is available on mass ave near downtown indy. one side of the store has an entire brick wall. it is lovely. I can totally see myself running a store there. my swil and I have been talking back and forth about an antique store. I think it would be so fun. bry thinks it should be a tiny sprouts store/antique (kind of like how anthro does it). either way, I think it would be a success. this is what I'd like my store to kind of look like (this store is www.westcoastbaby.com) if it were to be a tiny sprouts store.

state fair

we ventured to the fair tonight. they had that homemade lemonade.
it is so good


i love her face




and this kid. he is just too cute

breakfast

we are hosting our 2nd pancake breakfast in august. I can't wait.


I love to have people over. to have the house full of chatter and the kitchen full of yummy food. and then everyone gathered around a table enjoying the big feast. my uncle says I make the best pancakes he's ever had. I think bry makes the best whipped cream I've ever had. the two go together and it makes for one very yummy breakfast!

europe

I have been wanting to go to europe for quite some time. we were supposed to go on a cruise last year but because of a number of reasons, it didn't work out. I am trying to make this dream of mine a realty. here are the places I want to visit if I am able to go


photo by www.aviewoncities.com


www.irelandpictures.net, Knut Øyvin Skaar

porch pillows

I was really excited to make pillows for all of our new gliders. I found a vintagy tablecloth at an antique store last week and I cut it so that I could use the whole cloth. now I have these great new pillows in all different sizes. today I picked up the sugar sack. I love it for a pillow!


now we just have to get the gliders painted!!

sometimes I just miss

old friends. lately I have been missing some people I used to work with several years ago. especially this guy, hanley, as we all call him.


we bartended together at outback for a few years. honestly, those were some of the best times I had while working for outback. he is just one-of-a-kind. while working there, I met some really great customers (pam, steve, & evan) too. sadly, I don't have any pictures of me with them but I miss them. funny how some days it just sneaks up on you!

check this one out

this morning (actually afternoon) bry and I went to our new favorite place to have breakfast, petite chou. I will have to bring my camera next time we go because the decor is awesome. they have the best crepes and the first time we went they had snickerdoodle coffee. it was so good. one of the reasons I love going is because we drive through broad ripple. all older homes, some good, some bad. there are a set of homes that are set off the road that have HUGE front yards. I noticed one was for sale today so I looked it up. if only it were the time for us to buy and if only we had that much $$ to spend on a house. check out this beauty!


I love a front and a side entrance to a home. that is so fun to me.


the back of the house. I love the white snow. so pretty!


this family room! I would LOVE to decorate it. I can so see it with the carpet up, the walls painted a beautiful color to make the fireplace and bookshelves stand out


love the spindle staircase


I love this dining room too. repainted with a HUGE table and lots of kids gathered around.


I think the shape of this room is really cool. so sad though, that the original doors are no longer


I love sun rooms


one of my dreams is to have a fireplace in our master bedroom


love all the natural light


these built-ins really make my heart skip a beat. I love unique pieces like this!


though it may be hard to imagine, I can really see this kitchen as being beautiful by keeping the existing cabinets and refreshing them. paint, new hardware, a new back splash, new countertops and sink would make all the difference


this house is HUGE though. total square feet 8460! WOW!

i scream, you scream

we all scream for ice cream!

today bry and I picked up elsa and brennan for our date day with them. it makes the week so much more fun when I know we have a date with them! we love to be with them. they are so fun. elsa wanted to go to bouncertown again so away we went! we had pizza there today and it was so good! the only way we could convince them to leave was to tell them we were getting ice cream! we got them each their own cone. I love to see their little hands holding a big ice cream cone and by the end it is all over their faces, hands and shirts. so fun to be a kid!

a few of my favorite new products

I am in love with my new site. it is so easy to use and navigate and I love the simplicity of it. I am almost done with all the descriptions, rearranging pictures, etc. I've been trying to do a little a day so I didn't get overwhelmed.

here are a few of my favorite new products I just added:

footie pajamas


I know I've already shown these a dozen times but I am in LOVE with these hand-knit booties!


and one day when I get to bring our baby home, I am for sure bringing him/her home in this new take me home outfit. it is super thick interlock cotton and I love the crochet trim.


I also started a new tiny essentials line. it is my tiny sprouts clothing without embroidery. I get a lot of requests for it. more of that coming soon...


more new products coming soon!

antique week

I guess we are getting really lucky with great finds this week


found this great table for our patio today. it was $19.50!


and another glider


and matching chair


the painting begins tomorrow! I can't wait!

find #2

my dad always takes us to this flea market in franklin. it is depressing inside. it is a bunch of junk for most of the store. however, each time I go, I find a unique piece. the first being my thread box. the second is this quilt:


I saw it at the very last booth yesterday and it was $30! can you believe that? it is super thick and has lots of years in it. I love that. it reminds me very much of this quilt from pottery barn


except I love mine so much more and it wasn't made in china!

glide with me

just when I had given up hope in finding a glider, I FOUND ONE!!!! my dad, sister and I went antiquing today and visited a new shop and once I turned the corner, I saw it. after a little paint, this will be perfect!


I got it for $50! it doesn't glide but that is possibly fixable. I purchased a huge vintage table cloth and plan to make big throw pillows for it. stayed tuned, pictures soon!

it's up!

well, it's up.
but not perfect yet.
still lots of descriptions to add, pictures to fix and somehow figure out how to make my site faster. it is running really slow and that drives me NUTS! I hate slow sites. nothing drives me more crazy.

seems a few years back I would be super stressed about it and get a huge headache but have learned to just chill out about this stuff. because it really just doesn't matter and over time will be fine.
like last august, my site crashed for five days while we were on vacation. I freaked out. cried. then finally it was fixed (thanks to my brother-in-law) and I sighed.

I don't know why I am feeling more like these little things just aren't so important. I think I am learning (finally) to have some patience with things. all this not-being-pregnant is making me that way. because I can't have it NOW and I want it NOW and since I can't have it NOW, I am learning to relax. it will all happen (I suppose and hope) someday.

then I read one of my favorite blogs, nie nie and she makes me realize what is important.
family. health. jesus. friends.

just look at her family:


oh, how I feel for them. she is one strong woman!

happy friday!

over a week, really?

I can't believe it has been a week since I blogged
AND
since I promised my new site would be up.
getting a new site up and running is really time consuming. I am so picky about every little detail. so that is why it takes so long. I want it to be perfect since I am having it redone
and promised for it to be awesome! (it really is).

recap of this past week:

-attended a family reunion and did not get car sick. we all had to wear matching shirts and I can honestly say the only one who can pull it off are kids


there is just something about a square cut baggy hanes t-shirt that just doesn't look good on a girl!

-enjoyed seeing three movies this week in theater. with popcorn and a diet coke, of course. YUM! I can't sit through a movie without popcorn. it just isn't right!

-enjoyed a new sushi restaurant with bry. it wasn't nearly as good as my brother-in-law's though. he really makes the best I've ever had.

-bry and I took brennan and elsa to "bouncetown". it was SO fun. I loved watching them climb really high and then sliding down yelling "weeeeeeeeeeee". love them.

-worked on adding text to pictures for my new site. then after they were all done, realized I had added the text too low and had to redo them all. sigh.

-elsa came to spend the night but woke up and missed her mama so we only had a mini slumber party. (I guess my purchasing a hideous little mermaid pillowcase was not enough to make her stay!)

-found out who zac efron is. I think he is seriously the cutest person EVER (besides bry). I feel weird saying that because he is 9 years younger but he is CUTE!


-enjoyed this AWESOME indiana summer. (my porch is still not done and I have not been able to find a glider anywhere!)

I hope your week was equally fun!

my favorite so far!

once my new site launches, this will be my 4th site since I opened in 2005. and this will be my favorite site of all. here is the homepage, it still has a few changes. click to enlarge and see more detail.


some really cool features my new site will have:
*size chart. I know this is so basic but it is something I've never had.
*zoom feature for product photos
*clickable pages on every category so you can go directly to the product you like
*thread colors listed on pictures as well as the product name and price
*easier navigation to other products on the site
*really great photos!

I know I keep saying it will be up but for real by the 15th!

this little dog

this morning as we were headed out, a dog crossed in front of a car

i closed my eyes, praying she wouldn't get hit.

she made it to the side walk and slowly walked.

she looked sad.


then I noticed she was a mama.

she needed to nurse.

I burst into tears, feeling the heavy weight of the day's news
on me that we'd just received.

I wondered who had taken that mama's babies from her?

I wanted to take her home

I wish people treated animals better.

I wish everyone loved them and gave them a safe home.

for bry

maybe one day I will pick this up for him so he can grill out with our kid(s). how cute, huh?

happy 4th of july!

this morning we attended our neighborhood parade. it was so cute!







have a great 4th of july!