Sunday ramblings...

Whew...I'm pooped...I've been cleaning our house all day while the hubby worked out in the garage, changing the oil and washing and cleaning my Rav...(Whoo hoo! She was pretty dirty!) I'm trying to get as much finished around the house today as I can...I have the nursery tonight at church, and I want to be able to sit and relax tomorrow on my day off...Let's see what I've got checked off my list thus far:

• Vaccuumed, dusted, changed the sheets, and made the bed in our room.
• Vaccuumed the dust bunnies throughout the rooms with hardwood.
• Finished several loads of laundry (I can't imagine how much more I'll have to do once Ava gets here! N and I create a TON of laundry, I honestly don't see how it's possible!).
• Cleaned out and organized our (2) kitchen junk drawers.
• Wrapped a couple of Christmas presents.
• Cleaned out and organized the junk drawer in the utility/laundry room.

Now, the list that I would like to accomplish by the end of tomorrow the month:

• Clean out and wipe down the refrigerator.
• Organize our hall linen closet.
• Clean the guest bedroom.
• Finish cleaning and organizing the utility/laundry room
• Finish wrapping presents!

I think I've officially started my "nesting." At least Baby A's room is ready and waiting for her!

Before & After: Master Bedroom!

We painted, installed new carpet, and put in a new ceiling fan/light fixture. And then later bought new furniture! Whoo hoo!

Before:

As you can see, the maroon carpet also made an appearance in this room...and this is really the only before picture I have of our room...

After, but before the new furniture...

And Ta-Da!

It's amazing what an actual bedroom suite will do to a room...LOL.
And we actually have more on the walls, particularly above the bed, now.

Another view:

The door on the left is our closet, and you can see out through the hall into the now-nursery.

I still don't feel like our room is "finished," but it's definitely come a long way!

Office/Studio Inspiration...

I've been on a kick lately of drooling over cute little offices, studios, craft rooms, work spaces, whatever you want to call them...here are a few of my faves:

From Decorology , found at Martha Stewart

Tiny House, from the adorable Lori Marie, at PrettyLittleThings

From the awesome Nicole at Making It Lovely

All from Jen at The Cottage Nest ...very vintage-y and comfy!

As you can tell, I love colorful, light, and airy spaces...would love to incorporate these ideas into my own home!

The Goods...

We had the best time in TN with our friends Brian and Rachael...the condo we stayed in was amazing...even though we only got to stay for one night! :( Rachael and I hit up the Coach Factory outlet, while we dragged the hubs around with us...We actually had to wait in line just to get inside...it was kind of crazy...Nick said it would be a single man's heaven to work there...LOL...there were women everywhere with arm-loads of bags and wallets...I loved every minute of it! And now for the moment I'm sure you've been waiting for...my Christmas present! Whoo! It's extra roomy, so when the baby gets here, it'll be plenty big enough for all those extras! We also found handbags for both of our mothers, which were probably the two hardest to buy Christmas presents for! Score!

Us posing in front of the fireplace...this is the first picture we have of us together while I've been pregnant!

Rachael and I...the kitchen was beautiful! I want an exact replica in my next house!
(More on that later...)

Getaway...

Tomorrow we're off to TN to visit Nick's old roommate and his fiance' in Knoxville, good friends of ours...and then stay in a super-sweet condo in Pigeon Forge...(River Stone Resort) Can't wait for this little getaway, it'll be nice to just go and visit...and we're also hopefully going to wrap up some Christmas shopping...for moi in particular, we're hitting up the Coach Factory Outlet store...Here's a sampling of some of my current favorites that are on the shelves right now...I really like the "satchel" style...but who knows...I may find a baby bag that's a good price...and then again, I may come home empty-handed, (but that's doubtful!) ;)

The "Op Art Sabrina," $298.00 retail
(I love this style and color)

The "Zoe Signature Top Handle Pouch," $178.00 retail (not bad!)

The "Hamptons Vintage Leather Mini Shopper," $398.00 retail
Gah, but this one is my fave!
This one *needs* me to bring it home...immediately...

The "Hamptons Signature Carryall," $298.00 retail
I love the structure and style of this one...

The "Signature Stripe Patent Multifunction Tote," retail $398.00
A.K.A. the "baby bag," would also be an adorable work tote!

Anyhoo-That's just a small sampling of goodies that I would be more than happy to bring back with us, er, me! The hubs already knows his gift...(we aren't very good at keeping secrets!) But I knew that if he thought I didn't get it for him, he'd go out and buy it himself...so I didn't have a choice, really! I fought the Black Friday crowds for this, waking early because I was paranoid the stores would be sold out, and it's really the only thing he's asked for:

The X-Box 360

I'm tired of hearing about...

We should both be pretty happy this Christmas! I'm suddenly feeling a tad guilty, what with the economy and everything all crazy right now...but I promise we are pretty frugal with our money...we rarely buy things like this for ourselves...except on occasions like birthdays and Christmas...so there...I feel justified. Hey, we should all indulge every now and then, right?
(And hello, I'm outlet shopping! It could be a lot worse!)

And I absolutely cannot forget to mention what Sunday will bring for us:

Breakfast at the Apple Barn! You must eat here if given the chance...you won't regret!

It is absolutely delicious!

So hopefully on Sunday I'll return with some cute pics, good memories,

and maybe even a shiny new handbag!