We received an old comment on this post this week. I hadn’t read that post since I wrote it so many years ago and as I reread it a few days ago, I couldn’t help but tear up being on the other side of that huge trial. How wonderful our home feels with both of our girls these days. Life is full of ups and downs and a lot of unexpectedness and while my mantra back then became, “Be Open To Whatever Comes Next” these days it’s “Focus on the Good.” There’s so much good, isn’t there?

Good things this week!

-My nephew, age 26 (I’m only saying his age because when most 30 somethings say “nephew” people might assume he’s 10 or under), moved in with us this week, and his puppy, Luna, too.  They’ll be staying for a month, which means our guest room is being utilized! Over the past several months, since our last guest, it became a sort of dumping ground for boxes and decor we weren’t currently using. So we got to sort it all and purge a lot of things–some boxes we hadn’t even opened since moving in 3 years ago. We found a couple nice surprises in those boxes, old recipes, my journal (!), Greta’s paper butterflies from our last home, but mostly–it was stuff we thought we’d want but actually never missed and don’t need.

–4 Ways to Style Your Bed. Not only did this post have me pinning away, but this picture stopped me in my tracks for more than its perfectly made bed. I’ve talked about this briefly before, but I really want to improve my interior photography. This photo is so crisp and gorgeous, and I am working on achieving that with my own camera, while at the same time, pining for an upgrade. But it also made me realize one mistake I make over and over again with my pictures: you don’t have to capture everything that’s great about a room in one picture. There’s a lot of missing information in the photo above, you can’t see every detail of the room. But you can feel the room. You can see the texture on the white pillowcase and that there’s natural fiber wall-to-wall-carpet. You can see a lot of softness on the windows, which means someone probably spent a lot of money on those curtains. And I’m sure there’s something beautiful on the other side of the room, too. But, zooming way out or changing to a wide angle lens, something I’m guilty of over and over, doesn’t let you appreciate the intricacies of the details you can see in this slightly cropped image. I’m excited to try more of this!

–These masks sheets are my new favorite thing. They leave my face dewy, unbelievably soft and bright–even though I scared my children for 30 minutes while wearing it.  After I tried one, I sent all 11 to my girlfriend across the country–a perfect under $10 gift for your bff!

–Interior Define has one sale a year–ONE–and it’s going on right now until Sept 20th. The entire I/D collection is 15%–including our Ainsley sectional pictured above. Feel free to check out an interview we did for their Online Journal here.

-Chris and I started the Whole 30 (for health reasons) and I hate it. We’ve done it twice before and the worst part is…how awesome I feel the entire time. Ha! The results are undeniable, even if I miss my nightly treat. Chris’s meals have been fantastic, and this veggie spiralizer has saved me a time or two.

– It’s September, which means it’s okay to start burning this Pumpkin Soufflé candle. Mmmm

Have a fantastic long weekend! We’re headed to my niece’s wedding…Chris is the youngest of 8 kids so we have a few nieces and nephews not too much younger than us.