We are slowly adjusting to life as a family of five. I’m still very sleep-deprived and weepy most of the time, but Polly has started giving me longer stretches of sleep at night and I feel like a new woman those mornings (we had a 5 hour stretch night followed by a 6 hour stretch night, followed by waking up every 2 hours! haha). At three weeks old, I’m just trying to cherish it all and take it all in and attempt to bottle that new baby smell. I’m not ready to completely dive back into DIY, but we’ve been tackling smaller projects here and there during her short cat naps and I’m learning that I really thrive off of seeing things around here progress again. Now, I’m just trying to see proof of progress in other aspects of my life. I struggle sitting around, but sitting and nursing in a glider all day is progress in its own right.
Other fun things this week!
• “PERFECTION IS A LIE. AND I AM NOT A LIAR.” Oh Sydney, this is my new mantra too, k?!
• West Elm is having an amazing sale right now. An extra 20% off clearance items at checkout with code EXTRASALE. I found a few things that are already marked down 50%, plus you get that extra 20% and the prices are just ridiculously good. Here are my best finds, but there’s so many more here!
Velvet Pole Pocket Curtains $89 $32
Mid-Century Floor Lamp $219 $70
Expandable Dining Table $799 $320
Mongolian Lamb Pillow Cover $79 $32
Architectura Whisper White Pillow Cover $44 $16
Tidal Graph Wool Rug $599 $160
Luxe Velvet Urban Bed $1199 $480!
Diamond Crag Wool Shag Rug $399 $160
Peaks and Plateaus Kilim Rug $299 $120
Hourglass Wool Rug $399 $160
Sydney Sofa $999 $400
Warmest Throw $39 $8!
• Living in the path of totality for the eclipse this week was so special. I didn’t know what to expect, really. But it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever witnessed in my life. It was spiritual and moving and phenomenal. No picture I have seen illustrates even a fraction of what we experienced. We are already making plans to travel to see the next one in 7 years!
• Chris wears t-shirts pretty much every single day, so when one of our friends told him about Wohven, a t-shirt subscription, his interest was piqued. He is now hooked! He receives a plain T and graphic T every month and the quality and fit is outstanding and the prices ($11 + free shipping for a plain T and $15 for a graphic) are actually cheaper than going to the store to buy a shirt. He said, “You should mention this in your Casual Friday post.” So here we are. :) Check it out here. Chris Marcum approved.
• Do you have a specific way you introduce a newborn to a pet? As soon as we brought Polly home, we allowed Charly to sniff her while we held her close to us, but it wasn’t until this week that I let them lay side by side on the floor. There was nothing but love and peace and gentleness.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
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.
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We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen.
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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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Congratulations on Polly’s arrival!! So glad you’re taking your time getting back into the swing of things; soak up that squishy newborn, and give your big girls some extra love, too!
Julia, on your snap story the other day, it showed a video of you still pregnant along with your daily snap. You mentioned this was done with splice app. Since I didn’t look closely on the older snap you added, I was curious if the date or time still showed up in the left hand corner AND if it did, was it the current date or older date?
I don’t think any date was shown. It just said how many minutes/hours ago it was posted.
Oh my gosh, we are dead set on seeing the next eclipse too! It was seriously the coolest thing ever! We are now saying we’re going to become umbraphiles and chase eclipses all over. SO cool!
Sydney’s blog post! YES! Loved it. That eclipse picture of your girls is my favorite! Oh and Polly is perfect. 3 weeks!! I swear Faye was JUST taking baths in your kitchen sink. Time is a thief.
The picture of Charly with Polly is precious! Hope the long stretches of sleep continue for you.
I was able to order the floor lamp and warmest throw from West Elm and used TODAYONLY for 20% off plus Free Shipping! :) Thanks, Julia.
Babies and dogs are such a beautiful thing. When we brought our baby home last September my husband first went to pick up our pup (staying at his brothers) and ran her outside and got her good and tired. When he came in he got our baby then sat on the floor with her and let Obiwan (we’re nerds) sniff her and lick her. We’ve always let Obi have full access to her and even keep her bed in the nursery (so when i’m in nursing/rocking Obi has somewhere to lay – she otherwise sleeps in our bed at night). Now that Aria is almost a year the 2 are best friends. Aria lights up when she sees Obi and Obi adores her and is always close by keeping an eye out (even though Aria torments her ha!). My sister is due any day and has 2 black labs that already adore Aria so i’m dying to see how they react.
Very interested in the shirts!! My husband is tall like Chris, 6’4″… what size shirt does Chris get, never sure what will be an appropriate length. Thanks!!
He gets an XL. He’s 6’4″ about 215.