More New Home Inspiration

The construction of our new home is progressing fairly quickly at this point.  We broke ground in December, rough plumbing has gone in, and our foundation should be poured in the next week or two.  After dreaming up this home for the past 2+ years, it is so wonderful to see it start to come to life. Once the foundation goes in, we should start cruising from here!

Back in December, we retained a new interior designer, Bria Hammel Interiors.  I have followed her on instagram for quite some time (view her feed here for some dreamy inspiration), and when we decided to part ways with our previous designer, I had her and a few other firms in mind.  We flew up to Minneapolis towards the end of December to meet with her in person and that sealed the deal.  She does projects all over the US, flying down every few months to dedicate 3-4 days solely on our home.  It has been such a pleasant process to far, and I'm blown away by the creativity of her + the Bria Hammel team.  I only wish we would have had her on board from the beginning!

Last week I shared a few photos on instagram that have served as major home inspiration for our interiors and I wanted to share them with you on here as well.  I had so many people reach out to me and ask if these are on my Pinterest boards as well, and the answer to that is no.  I have found that following designers on instagram is a much better source of inspiration vs scouring the depths of Pinterest for images.

As I stated in this post, my style is very classic.  I'm drawn to dark hardwood floors, white millwork, marble, polished nickel, built ins, and lots attention to details.  I also like clean lines, and not a lot of clutter.  We want to build a more traditional style home, but with an updated present day feel (if that makes sense).   I want the overall aesthetics of our new home to look effortless, peaceful, and approachable.

Below is a sampling of photos that I find inspirational, and hope to be able to bring certain elements of each photo into our new home.

Which photo is your favorite?

Have a great week - thanks for stopping by! xx

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Cookbooks That You'll Actually Use

One of my most commonly asked questions is for recommendations on cookbooks that I frequently use.  Most of the time I don't use recipes, but whenever I'm feeling the need for a little inspiration in the kitchen, or I want to turn out a stellar special occasion meal I'll turn to the following cookbooks below.

All three of the cookbooks above have been so influential in culminating my love for cooking true Italian foods.

Ina is my spirit animal.  I'm being 100% honest when I say that I want to be her!  Her latest cookbook, Cooking For Jeffrey is so great.  I forced Adam to go with me to hear her speak at her book signing last year when she was in my area :)  Healthy in a Hurry is also a great source of inspiration for quick weeknight meals.

I feel like The Skinnytaste is such a no brainer, but whenever I bring it up in conversation to people, they most often have never heard of it!  There's so many wonderful low calorie + low fat recipes in here that actually taste unbelievable.  This cookbook is far superior to her newer cookbook in my opinion.

My brother gifted this to me over 10 years ago, and it has been one of my most beloved cookbooks to date!  This is the bible for anything baking related.  

I couldn't leave out cookbooks for the littles.  I don't really source many recipes from these books any longer since Isla is out of the learning to eat stage, however when she was younger these cookbooks had so many great ideas for flavor combinations, and different ways to introduce spices in a really tasty + healthy way!  I'll be holding onto these for when we have another baby.

Pasta Night is a Williams-Sonoma cookbook series, and contains some really great recipes for quick pasta meals.  The Elements Of Pizza has some wonderful (harder to make) pizzas for more experienced home chefs and the basic dough recipe is fantastic!

Lastly, this is the newest cookbook that I've added to my collection (I just bought it last week).  Tuscan cuisine is my absolute favorite, and I'm really excited to try this out as it has amazing reviews!

And in case you were ever wondering what cookbooks Queen Ina loves, here's a list of what she recommends.  I took this screenshot off of her blog years ago and recently found it in a file on my computer.  Annnnndddd now I'm off to purchase all of them 😉

Shop These Cookbooks:

Favorite Discoveries of 2017 Part 1

I love discovering really good new products.  I further love when I find myself continuously reaching for them over and over again.  Today I thought I'd share the first of a 4 part series that I'll be posting over the course of the next couple weeks.  I'll be highlighting some of my favorite, and most used new discoveries from last year that I'll continue to use and repurchase throughout 2018.  I'll be breaking down the series by category; household, beauty, personal, and baby/toddler with today's post being dedicated to beauty related products.





Beauty



Korres Rose Brightening Oil  - I love this oil! I normally apply it at night, unless my face feels extra dry in which case I'll use it during the day before applying my moisturizer.  It's also great for when you're traveling and your skin is feeling a little parched - instant glowing, luminous skin.  The little rose petals that float in the bottle are an added luxurious touch.


Korres Rose Night Cream - I loved the brightening oil so much that I gave the "sleeping facial" a try. It's equally as great as the oil.  Read all the positive reviews on it here.


Kiehl's Calendula Face Wash - I first tried a sample of this when we were on vacation in Mexico last year.  Upon returning, I instantly purchased the full size version and haven't looked back.  I'm typically pretty picky with my face washes.  I like a good cleanser to be foaming, non drying but still able to remove waterproof mascara, and not sting my eyes.  This one checks all the boxes and is the hands down the best cleanser on the market.  I own the mega 17oz bottle and it has lasted forever!


Living Proof Shampoo, Conditioner, and Dry Shampoo -  I've been using this hair care line since last summer and it's so good!  I've noticed a dramatic difference in the appearance of my hair since I started using it.  I've tried sooooo many professional products on the market, and this is the best in my opinion.  The dry shampoo from the line is basically a mama's bff!


Travel sets of eye shadow - I used to weigh down my travel sized  cosmetics bags with multiple small eye shadow palettes, or I would pack full size versions that simply took up too much room.  At some point last year I discovered the two best travel sized palettes.  This one by Smashbox features 8 universally flattering matte shades, and this one from Urban Decay is equally as great.  They're both matte palettes only (no shimmer), but are so great for basics and they take up zero room in your makeup bag since they're so compact.


Tom Ford Ultra Shine Lip Gloss - This extremely flattering shade (in tawny pink) is the prettiest nude pink lip gloss.  I find myself consistently reaching for this over all my other lip glosses as I'm walking out the door, and I constantly get asked what I'm wearing when I have it on.   


The Seaweed Bath Co. Firming Detox Cream - I'm not really a believer in "firming creams" being a total fix for cellulite (only a clean diet and strength training has been a fix all for me), but this cream is extremely moisturizing, and I do feel a slight tingling when I apply it, so I know that the ingredients are doing their job.  The cream is thick, applies nicely, smells great (I prefer the awaken scent), is non greasy, and absorbs really quickly.  I love that the combo of pure essential ingredients are all natural and detoxifying.  I've also heard great things about the body scrub from this line, and I want to try that next!

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Have you tried any of these products?  Feel free to leave any feedback + comments below.  Thanks for reading! xx

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