flowers for friday #163

happy friday!

my mind is already reeling with the holidays.

this year i am chomping at the bit for them to get here.

i might put my tree up this weekend. for real.

and i'm on this kick where i want to make our little (soon to be) family of 3 a set of stockings. anthropologie/free people-esque. hand-made that we'll love for a good long time.

i'm still pulling inspiration but if i wasn't so swamped with photography during christmas card season, then i would probably be making those this weekend, too :)

cheers.

JILL

{image via ruffled blog}

a BOY!

you guys, during my absence from this blog, i found out that the little nugget

is most definitely

a BOY!

we were told it was most likely a boy at our 12 weeks sonogram but

i can't go making decisions and hopes and dreams come true, off of 'most likely'.

so we held out for our big sonogram at week 20,

to be officially told,

so we could officially tell,

that he is in fact, an active (KICKING) little boy :)

and so.

to announce it to our family that night,

i made one of those giant 3' balloons that i love.

they knew it was either going to be pink, or it was going to be blue.

and BLUE!

(and here's my disclaimer: i am way way better behind the camera than i am in front of one. oh good lord. my hands get all weird and i don't know what to do with my legs and i end up looking bizarre. which, i just scheduled my maternity session for the beginning of january, and i'm nervous! ha... DEAR LORD, please let there be snow so at least the background will be beautiful and interesting to look at and can take some of the pressure off. thank you. amen.)

here are some of the photos i had husband snap as we were getting in the car with our ginormous balloon. with an iphone. with the sun at full force. and the wind.

it was difficult. i should have used my big camera, they could have been arty and glorious, but i can't take them and be in them at the same time.

i used crepe paper streamers, cut in half for the fringe. in cobalt blue, light blue, mint green, grey, cream, and white with blue polka dots. i also threw some gold ribbon in there because i'm still me.

the B-O-Y was made with a gold poster board found at hobby lobby.

then i tied them all the balloon and voila.

not anywhere near geronimo balloon status, but it did it's job and it's still going strong hanging out in our living room :)

note-- they last for a really really long time!!

JILL

(ps - i am so stinking excited to be having a boy. i know i'd be just as excited if it were a girl, but a boy! things are getting very real. i hit the 5 month mark in 11 days.

i have lots to do in the next 4 months, my friends.)

fall nails.

those over at beautylish have decided these are what's hot for nails this fall.

and i can get behind almost every single one of them.

i have an oxblood from last past 2 years when i was (still am) obsessed with wine and magenta, and lucky for me, it's still cool.

and just the other day, when i was buying my new DOMINO!!!!!!, i also bought a dark hunter green polish on a whim. which i thought would be pretty for christmas.

lucky for me, they say that's also cool.

(cheap brand you can buy at walgreens... sorry i don't remember the name or the maker.)

and remember that holographic chanel polish from last week... still cool.

and glitter.

also pretty for the upcoming holidays, no?

what colors are you picking this season?

JILL

flowers for friday #162....

i'm just going to pick up where i left off with these.

at #162.

fall is officially here.

the leaves are changing and stuff!!

my brother is getting married this weekend.

and i have to wait 3 more weeks until i know the gender of this baby i'm carrying.

the first two things- awesome.

the last- not so much.

but here's to beautiful weather, a pretty wedding, and three more weeks of mystery ;)

JILL

{via oncewed}

some random good things.

today is an unloading of some of the things i think are

pretty ok.

i know hologram stuff has been around since spring.

and to be honest, i kinda wanted a small little party clutch since.

and then a few weeks ago, blair eadie

(from atlantic-pacific)

wore this skirt from milly and there it was...

i was intrigued all over again.

and then i found this clutch, also by milly.

and for a cheaper, quicker, less commitment-type of fix, you

can paint your nails in hologram, thank you chanel.

while we're on the topic of atlantic-pacific,

the other day she posted this asos sweatshirt....

and i think it would make the raddest ku game day outfit.

not actually kansas affiliated but everything works.

and it's so awesome and old-school.

and then there are the magazines.

lately, they've been pumping them out.

i'm not always a huge fan of matchbook in the past, but lately, i like it!

and then domino.

don't even get me started.

i've told everyone around me who doesn't give a-you-know-what

all about how my favorite magazine is coming back after a 4 year hiatus.

i have every issue (minus the quick fix things which i thought were silly)

and i was pumped to add another to the stack.

(hoarder).

but domino and matchbook: 

i love the art above your barcarts.

also,

the other day on hbo i saw this movie was about to start:

so i quit photo editing.

then laughed and cried until my face was red.

i can't believe i waited so long to see this movie.

it was truly great.

truly funny. a little gritty.

and a whole lot touching, which surprised me a bit.

i loved it.

rent it or dvr it or redbox or netflix.

whatever you gotta do.

OHHHHHHHH.

and in less than an hour,

i get to find out which type of baby we're having.

pretty excited about that, too :)

happy tuesday.

JILL

a great bowl of fire.

it's fire season.

and that is exactly the kind of "pit" i want in my backyard.

a big old bowl of fire.

i've had these 2 images saved on pinterest for forever:

from ablogaboutlove

and this one

from hannah maple.

the question is....

concrete or iron/steel/metal?

i prefer the metal but as you can see, it turns this

gorgeous shade of "i'm old and rusty"

and with a kid on the way, should i be bringing such traps into the back of my yard?

but are any firepits kid friendly anyway?

and so,

we peruse.

from houzz.

certainly pulls at the concrete heart strings.

but the other question is...

with kansas city deep freeze winters, will it survive out there?

or will i have to lug and then store these things inside?

you see, this is a very deep topic.

and then this one, from indulgy, says... concrete who? rust is amazing. you want me.

i wonder if this one is made of some sort of weather impervious material.

couldn't find any info on it, from stonemarket in the uk.

  

from planete-deco in france

tumblr.

from sunset magazine.

(and while youre looking.... that patio!!!)

also from sunset.

the really cool ones (like this one found on flickr)

are vintage old kettles used for who knows what.

i read some that were used for sugar?

i would love this guy in my backyard.

and at only $1200, i'll get right on it.

so the hunt continues.

what are you using to roast your marshmallows?

your stove top or microwave like i did when i was a kid? :)

JILL

oh hey there.

you guys, i guess, if anybody is still out there....

i've been absent for way too long.

i don't really have any excuses, just to say that my blogger mind was turned off.

i have been a little preoccupied.

and as much as i still obsess over really great decor and junk (hello pinterest, i was never far from there), i just wasn't focused enough to bring you anything worthwhile.

i still thought about here, and you, and missed it occasionally but....

i'm actually expecting a lil baby. in mid-march!

and i'm like, insane excited! (and very insanely insane nervous.)

there is alot of back story behind the nervous part.

but i try so hard to just focus, and my husband too, on the excited.

starting a family hasn't been the easiest road for the two of us.

there were road blocks, then ups, then downs, and finally, after a goooood long time, we are here.

i am 16 weeks and things are looking pretty great!

lil nugget is healthy (as far as we can tell), she/he's passed all the tests so far, and!! the sickness is finally letting up. i still get waves of gross, but honestly, i kinda cherish(ed) it.

being morning (noon, evening, night, middle of the night) sick meant that my baby was healthy and sending out tons of prego hormones that in turn made me feel sick. so, when i felt sick, i felt good about it.

it's weird, i know.

this is the first real "hey!! i'm having a baby!" for me. and it's a little stress inducing, honestly.

if you follow me on instagram, i guess i haven't been keeping it a secret there, but facebook still isn't any wiser. and i actually think i like it that way, at least for now. (here comes a tangent.) i just don't like fb. and i'm sure you do, bc i'm sure i'm the only one who doesn't, but we just don't get along very well. so i side-eye it and keep a little distance.

my husband and i have been so nervous (more so in the beginning, less and less so now but it's definitely still there) that things weren't going to end the way we hope and pray. when a women gets preg, she's like hell yeah. in 9 months i'll have a baby to hold! but sometimes that doesn't happen for whatever God's reasons are, and it smarts like you wouldn't even believe. and so.

when the miracle of life happens again, your naivety has been robbed and you're cautious. even more than, you're down right scared.

we didn't even tell our families until we were 10.5 weeks. and close friends not until 12, not even my besties! and everyone else, we've been trickling out the good news since.

and there's no hiding it now with a belly that looks like a chipotle burrito and a half!

but that's one tough secret to keep in the summer time. seriously. fruity cocktails and teeny bikinis are lurking around every corner!

so. along with the nerves, has been my reluctance to purchase anything for baby.

until today!

hoorah!

after work i'm headed to pick up this beauty.

thanks, friend craigslist.

to snuggle and feed and rock my little nugget in for days and nights on end.

vintage and quirky and wooden perfectness,

that fits in perfectly in both of my secret pinterest boards. one girl, and one boy.

i think this was the beginning and now, maybe the flood gates have been opened?! ha.

and in true fashion, the whole time i was writing this, i was thinking to myself... gosh. i probably shouldn't be doing this. so if i could ask you for anything, just keep us in your prayers. hopefully God's plans and our plans are aligned and come mid-march, i'll meet him or her.

and so there you have it.

a nice little essay for my first day back in like 2 months.

:)

JILL