Funny story from this week. Greta is fiercely independent and social. She loves playing with friends and making new friends and inviting everyone she sees over for dinner. We love her for this and I’m even a little envious of her social skills at such a young age. We have pretty strict rules to protect her that she’s not allowed to play with anyone whose family we haven’t met. For days and days over the past week, she talked about a boy, Ethan, that she wanted to play with and I kept reminding her that we don’t know Ethan’s family so we’ll have to meet them before she is able to go play at his house. Wednesday morning, she was sitting on a stool in front of the ranges and staring at the minutes pass by. “Greta, what are you looking at?” “I’m waiting until 10am because that’s when we’re going to meet Ethan’s family.” I’m not sure if I didn’t fully process what she said or I just didn’t believe her, but at 10am, she bounced off the stool and told me she’d be right back. I watched her out the window, hop on her bike and within minutes a parade of Ethan’s entire family was coming toward our home. Haha! They ended up coming in (I hadn’t even vacuumed!) and chatting for over an hour while Ethan, Greta, Faye and their 3 other children played downstairs. I heard from the mom that the day before Greta asked if they would be available sometime to come over and meet us and she said, “Tomorrow at 10 could work?” Greta made it happen. And we met our lovely neighbors and now they’ll probably play together all summer long.
More fun things this week!
The above photos are from a barbecue we had at our place last weekend with a few friends. Pizza on the grill, ribs and s’mores with Reese’s aka the only way to eat s’mores. (This s’mores basket is amazing!)
Wow! Kim and Scott’s vlog is so very refreshing and fun! I love how us DIYers are mixing up the blog game a bit!
I’ve been on a pillow hunt for our sectional downstairs and I’m obsessed with this simple striped kilim pillow cover at an absolute steal! Paired with this pretty vintage one–dead. Yes!
All the feels with this commercial.
We ordered this big, rectangular black and white striped umbrella for our outdoor dining table and I can’t wait for it to get here (backorder–boo!). I just think black and white stripes will never go out of style and can go with any style. Here’s one for $219, $144 (love the variation in stripes!) $49 and another for $49.
When we did a little get-to-know-us on Instagram this week, a few of you asked me where I shop being so tall (I’m 6′). The answer is no where special, really. My favorite jeans are currently these $34 ones and I have a closet full of gray t-shirts.
Hope you have a really great weekend! By now, we’re probably on a plane headed to Pittsburgh for the kitchen renovation of our lives! Follow along with all the progress on Instagram and SnapChat (juliamarcum). It should be pretty drastic and entertaining. I have a special Saturday post scheduled for tomorrow and a few posts scheduled to go live next week. So although we’ll be renovating our little hearts out, we’ll still be checking in here.
Our wood grain Shaker cabinet fronts were designed for busy, high-traffic homes like ours. Clad with durable textured thermofoils, this line is compatible with Sektion, Akurum, Godmorgon, and Besta cabinets from IKEA. It's the perfect, practical way to add the warmth of wood to all the rooms of your home.
We have teamed up with Loloi to create a line of rugs that are as affordable as they are beautiful. This collection houses a great mix of traditional and modern rugs, in cottage-y colorways, as well as vintage-inspired beauties that you’ll want to roll out in every room.
We partnered with Stuga on a line of hardwood floors — The Ingrid is really livable, and the color is very neutral. It doesn’t lean warm or cool, it’s that just right in-between. We have really loved putting it everywhere in our house. It’s the best jumping-off point for design, no matter your interior style. In addition to being beautiful, Ingrid is really durable — we have three kids, and we always have a home construction project going on. Ingrid stands up to it all.
SHop all
Looking for our favorite things? A place to shop our home room by room, or just catch up on what Julia's wearing / loving right now? Browse the CLJ shop.
Befores, afters, mood boards, plans, failures, wins. We’ve done a lot of projects, and they’re all here.
We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen.
Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.
A reader recently asked me if I’m starting to fully embrace traditional style and whether we still consider our house to be a “modern Colonial” and why. It was a really great question and so timely — I had really just been thinking about my approach to this home and how my style has changed […]
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Pizza on the grill?? Please say that we’re going to get a recipe ;)
Great kid! A woman in charge!
Greta! She is awesome lol. Miss you guys.
WOW – I just love how Greta just made that happen! I am very impressed and slightly jealous of your 6 year old— I wish I could do that! I say Who, I say When! (Name that movie!)
Ha! Before I read ‘name that movie’ I was all, awwww Pretty Woman. :D
Also, Julia and Chris, GOOD LUCK! We’re all cheering for you.
What a cute story!! And I love your go-to housewarming gift… saved!
That commercial made me well up. :-)
Oh Greta!! What a sweet story.
Ha ha! That’s a great story about meeting the neighbors. So cute.
Greta is soooo funny