Maternity Photos

These pictures are more like a Facebook album in quantity, so my apologies in advance, but it was really hard decide which ones to share. Obviously these are my favorites so I hope it's not too much of an overload. And if you get bored of looking at us goofs and my big ol' belly, check out that scenery!! Our friend Octavia who is an absolutely amazing photographer,  knew all the right little spots to take us up to at Sundance Mountain Resort in Provo. The leaves had just started to change so it was pretty spectacular. Andrew loves Aspen trees so this first location made him super happy. I'm just glad she was able to capture who we really are together. We are silly and don't take ourselves too seriously. We are so excited to be bringing a baby girl into our goofy little family soon. Enjoy.

Huge thanks go out to Octavia for capturing such special moments that we will cherish forever.  And if you are interested in booking a session with her, she is offering a great discount for all of my readers, $100 off a $250 couples or family session making it a steal at $150. She is fast, friendly and super talented, so don't miss this chance, Utah friends! The holidays are coming up fast so what better time is there than now? Email her at octaviakathryn@gmail.com to book.

Black Dress // Cardigan (sold out in regular sizes but still available in plus sizes here) // Striped Sweater Dress // Fringe Booties (old Zara) // Rose Gold Necklace c/o Park Lane

So Nice, I Got It Twice

Dress: So Pretty in Pink Bowtique (c/o) // Shoes // Bandana // Sunglasses: Prada (old) // Necklace: Park Lane  (c/o)

Have you ever owned a dress so comfy, you wear it to bed? That is exactly what happens every time I wear this soft oversized midi dress. well it's supposed to be a midi dress but on me, my height plus my bump make it right about knee length which is perfect for me.

Not only is this dress so soft that it doubles as pajamas, but every time I wear this one or my tan one, (Yes, I have it in two colors) I get loads of compliments. Really what more could you want in a dress? Maybe a discount? Ok! Use code HOTPINKSTYLE and get free shipping on your entire order!!

I wore this on a lady date to the new restaurant, Sweet Lake Biscuits and Limeade. Thank goodness I was feeling good enough to eat there because it was great. I fell in love with their Limeade at the Saturday farmers market and was pumped when I found out that I could get it anytime I wanted now, as well as some other super yummy drinks too. Hello Honeydew Cucumber Limeade!

Also don't forget to hop a post back and enter to win $400 in Bellacor Furniture! Quite the week worth of good stuff. A sweet furniture giveaway, A discount on a comfy dress and a tasty new spot to try out for lunch. Enjoy!

Modern Playroom with Bellacor

One of the questions I get asked the most is where I get my ideas for creative design projects. The answer is really simple: there is always one little thing that inspires me and I just go from there. The inspiration this time came from Bellacor's Manhattan Comfort line that has tons of easy, affordable storage ideas, which is exactly what I had in mind for our basement playroom that I'm about to conquer. 

And the piece that started it all is this.

Usually I show you guys the pretty "after" pictures but this time I'm going to keep it a little more real and you can go on this journey with me. Normally, after the inspiration bug gets into me, I get on a roll and will crank out an idea in days. But this one just isn't going to be that easy. 

For starters, being pregnant takes painting the walls off the table for me. The fumes and that one tiny window for ventilation just won't work. Unfortunately, that's where I would usually start. I like my canvas to be done before I add the details. Right now it's just a boring shade of beige that came with the house.

So here's the plan! As you can see, when you walk down into the beige abyss, it's pretty barren. The wall on the right is however awesomely hiding tons of built-in storage shelves behind those white doors. I just ordered brass cabinet pulls for them since they have nothing yet. And don't worry, a custom banister is getting installed in the next few weeks! We don't want baby Athena to tumble off the side!

Once down there I wanted something sleek and modern to rest against that first wall. This is where that first inspiration piece comes in. The plan with that wall is to give the illusion of wallpaper with a fun starburst wall stencil over the new paint color, White Dove, which is a personal favorite from Benjamin Moore. I'll do this stencil tutorial in gold on this wall. I love that this one leaves room for error and it kind of makes the pattern better. Above the tv stand (that will have no tv on it) I will be putting this gold rimmed circle mirror that I searched far and wide for above it. I also score this cute little brass lamp to put up there as well.

Turn the corner and you are in the land of misfit furniture. It's all the old stuff from our last two 

living rooms. I have this ottoman and rug to sell, but the main thing that just wasn't working was this red couch. About 5 years ago it worked perfectly in my old apartment but then the color didn't work when i went with a muted gray-and-gold theme and it was kindly babysat by our friends in their basement.

I would sell this couch too but it's probably the most comfortable couch I've ever owned! So my solution is to dye it. The whole cover comes right off to easily wash - which was a selling point when we bought it. I toyed with the idea of dyeing it myself and then realized it was too big a job for me to take on. I was scared it would come out weird and splotchy, or even worse, ruin our brand new washing machine. I found this company that will let me ship it to them and they will expertly dye it for me. I want the couch to be a dark ashy gray or black and they told me on the phone that is actually the easiest color to do so it wont take as long as another color might. I also have these yummy soft chenille pillows waiting for the couch when It's finished.

There is also a crisp white Bellacor bookshelf coming to replace my husbands old Ikea cube shelf. Thank God! I hate that thing!

Next we have this nook under the stairs. It's pretty deep so I think I may do the same stencil pattern in there. The plan for that space is to mount the tv onto that back wall and then line the base of the wall with these pretty white baskets from Target for Athena's toys with these cute Bellacor side tables on either end.

On the wall where you see the black book shelf will be replaced with the white ottoman you may see on the left of the nook. I got a cute rug to cover the top so that it wont show all the baby stains I'm sure it will be collecting.

I realize that this is going to take a while with a newborn so the "after" shots may take a few months but I'm hoping to have it done around the end of the year. That is such a slow timeline for a crazy person like me. This baby will be great practice for me to slow down in life!

Here is what I want the final project's vibe to be like...

And if you are like me and love to dream up fun design projects, here is an awesome giveaway for you from my friends at Bellacor! 

**$400 to spend on the Manhattan Comfort!**

 That's enough to get all three pieces mentioned in this post and then some! And if you just can't wait, their Anniversary sale is going on right now where you can save big on tons of home furnishings!

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Closet Office Reveal

Excuse this very picture-heavy post but I'm just so darn happy about how this room turned out!

When we were looking for a house, we knew we wanted an old house with a lot of charm. That's exactly what our neighborhood prides itself on: it has oodles of charm, but with the charm of an old house, you have the struggle that come with small closets, smaller rooms and lower ceilings. So I made sure the house we bought had an extra bedroom so I could turn the whole darn thing into a closet that doubles as an office. 

It's pretty much a girl's dream come true.

The idea was to turn the whole length of one wall into a huge closet. What we've got below is 140 inches of mirrored-door perfection. I designed it at Ikea with all the shelving and racks just the way I wanted it, and had it delivered and assembled. Think about it: Would you want to assemble all that? Well worth the money!

The mirrored doors are perfect for two reasons. The first being that it reflects this amazing Hygge and West wallpaper! I had my heart set on this wallpaper since before we moved to Salt Lake. It was a daunting task but I'm so happy with the way it turned out. It's like two walls for the price of one! 

The second being that I'm the kind of person who does not like to see the clothes until I want to. I like that I can hide everything away and keep a clean, sleek look with the doors closed.

This gorgeous desk is the best! Unlike most desks, this one has drawers that are deeper than a sheet of paper. That's exactly what I wanted because I do not like to get ready in the bathroom. I dry my hair and do my make up in this room, so everything I need is close at hand, including hair brushes in the top left drawer! The hair dryer is tucked away on a clever hanging rack below the bird cage! I hate seeing wires and cords too so this keeps them hidden. 

This CB2 lighting fixture was such a great find mostly because it was next to impossible to find a semi-flush mount light that wasn't too low (again old home, low ceilings) and cleared the closet door when it opened. Did I mention how gorgeous it is? And a pretty great price too.

This view from the doorway shows how the mirrored doors take up the entire length of the wall. Somehow they managed to fit them in with only 6 inches to spare on the ends and about 5 inches above the units too. Yet another reason I'm glad Andrew and I hired out for this job. 

Being tall has its advantages. Even though this closet is 93 inches tall, I can usually reach up to the way top where I store off-season stuff like winter boots.

I love to be able to see my shoes, especially if they are the pretty shoes. So all my heels and pretty flats are on this behind-the-door shoe rack so I can find them quickly. 

This antique bird cage was found in my grandmother's house when she passed away. I repurposed it by spray painting it gold and adding a spider plant. Makes for a super-interesting hanging planter... which is also a pain in the butt to water. 

From left to right, the three pieces of art I chose to hang above my desk all have fun meaning to me.

 The first is an old clipping from Time Out Chicago that shows a grave stone that says Marshall Fields 1852-2006. It comes off as kind of morbid to people who don't know what Marshall Fields is, but growing up in Chicago and going the department store so much as a kid with my dad made it such a special place and it was a huge bummer when it turned into a Macy's. So when I found this clipping, I framed it and it's been with me ever since.

The middle one is dried Bougainvillea flowers from our honeymoon in Greece. I don't remember tucking these in one of my books but found them a few months after we returned and framed them.

The third, and silliest piece, is the "Girls Girls Girls" poster. I got it from Parabo Press when at the ALT Summit in February. My husband thinks it's ridiculous, but this, I explained, is a closet room, so girls are taking off their clothes in here! That's why I thought it made sense and thought it was kind of funny. I guess I have a unique sense of humor.

The little step stool on the right comes in handy when I have to get up to the top shelves and do some investigating. Other than that it just hangs out and holds my Jambox speaker and cute little planter I painted. 

Just like my shoes, I need to see my necklaces otherwise I won't wear them. So I took a cheap pegboard from Lowe's and after putting various widths of masking tape on it I then spray painted it navy.  You can pick up pegboard hooks pretty cheap at any hardware store and they are perfect because you can move them around to accommodate different necklace lengths.

Since I hate having clothes laying out, I got this ombre weave basket from Target that seems like it was made for this room. I keep things that I need to sell or temporarily store in there to minimize clutter but also visible enough that I don't forget about them.

You guessed it, just like shoes and jewelry, I like to have my makeup out to see so I don't forget what colors I have. These little CB2 trays separate everything into categories quite nicely. You can tell why my nieces called this "Aunt Jill's makeup room."

This cabinet is an old score from a girlfriend back in Chicago. She had it since she was little and it had butterfly decals on the doors that got painted over. To hide those childhood touches, I put squares of marble contact paper on the doors and added some fresh knobs from Anthropologie. 

Two of my favorite scents are Orange Blossom by Jo Malone and Armani Si

Jeans: Topshop Maternity // Pleated top: Uniqlo // Necklace: Park Lane // Heels: Zara (old)

So there you have it. This room took so long to complete but I love how it turned out. I'll try to list all the details but let me know if there is something I missed that you would like more info on. Photos c/o my friend Sandy and her awesome wide angle lens!

Desk: Bellacor c/o // Rug: Wayfair // Desk Lamp: Pillowfort // Ombre floor basket:Target // Knobs: Anthropologie // Marble contact paper // Navy Curtains: West Elm // Desk candle: Voluspa // Desk Chair: Target // Light Fixture: CB2 // Wallpaper: Hygge and West

Magic at the Bonneville Salt Flats

Overalls // Top // Bandana (.99c and free shipping!) // Sunglasses // Adidas // Lips

A few weekends back I was having a good day were I wasn't feeling super sick so Andrew and I decided to make the most of it and drive out to the Bonneville Salt Flats. This had been on our bucket list of places to see in Utah since we moved here. Lucky for us it's not super far from our house in Salt Lake, only about an hour and a half.

We arrived just as the sun was setting so every minute became more gorgeous with the sky developing into such pretty shades of pink and purple. It was so strange to see people driving out on the salt because it looks more like a body of water than solid ground. It's even a little weird stepping out onto the salt for the first time. Coming from the midwest, it reminded me more of a frozen lake which is usually something pretty dangerous to go frolic about on. 

Although it may look cold, it was actually in the 70's when we were there. It's finally starting to feel like Fall  here and I'm loving it! You may remember awhile back when I posted these overall shorts. Well I bought them in the pants version you see here and they are just as comfortable. These will take me through the fall with the last 7 weeks of my pregnancy. I've also been digging the bandana trend all summer since they are so lightweight and cheap! Since I get them on eBay for about a buck each, I have them in 4 colors now.

With the weekend upon us, I'm super excited because I have so much fun stuff to share with you guys. Lots of fun collaborations (one with an awesome giveaway), home projects, new hobbies, the nursery reveal and our Maternity pictures! SO MUCH! Hopefully I can start getting this to you guys next Monday so stay tuned!