Free is my Favorite.

It will come to no shock to you all that I am always looking for a deal.  I love getting the best price on just about anything and when I score something awesome I get WAY too excited.

Speaking of, remember my sell out post a couple weeks ago?  You know, the one where I gushed about Shutterfly?  Well here comes some more gushing.  I LOVE SHUTTERFLY.  Why, oh why?  Probably because I just got the 50 free holiday cards I earned by blogging about them.  You read that right, 50 free cards.  And Envelopes.  And I barely had to lift a finger.  Talk about a steal--- that is a $119 value steal.  WOOT.

To continue the love fest, I must admit, the cards turned out awesome.  I cannot yet share their beauty since I want everyone to be surprised when they get them in the mail.  Eeeeeee!

Shower Preview

I can't wait for tomorrow.  And I'm sure that Little T is just bustling with excitement as well.  That's right folks, tomorrow afternoon we will have our first shower! My mom has planned the event for our family and friends and she has been literally working overtime planning and making all of the arrangements.  She has attempted to keep most of it a secret from me, but I have been privy to a few details and I am too excited.  

Alas, with all good parties and showers alike, the mood is most definitely set by the invitation.  My mom definitely did not slack on this aspect in the slightest. Knowing that our nursery theme is Dr. Seuss she went all out on the invites.

You only have one chance to make a first impression.  Imagine pulling out your mail and finding a giant bright lime envelope.  This was step one of her invite design. A giant, and I do mean GIANT envelope.  She customized it with a Cat in the Hat holding a sign which read, "The Time is at Hand, So an Invitation for YOU! We'll Celebrate and Party Before Baby is Due!" Talk about making a first impression.  I have never received an invitation larger than life like this before!

Inside the envelope was an equally large Hat from the Cat in the Hat. My mom had to cut each one of these out individually!

All of the information for the shower was on the back of the hat.  She even used a very Seussian poem:

"What is that you say?

Lauren & Matthew have a BABY on the way!

From there to here, From here to there,

We will shower the new parents to help them prepare!

May is the month.

Saturday the first is the day

From 1 to 4 at the Lake House

We will par-tay!"

I know it is just personal opinion, and maybe some pregnancy hormones, but this is the cutest shower invite that I have ever seen. Seriously. And it is mine, which makes it all the more special to me. 

 

Just one last look... just so you can appreciate how large and in charge this puppy is. You'll notice the ruler--- yup that envelope is 13" wide.

I can't wait to see what else Mimsy has up her sleeve for Saturday. I also have a little surprise of my own for her--- shh!  It's a secret!

Nursery Progress

This weekend was like an episode of Divine Design took over the Tal's.  Only instead of having a crew of people all with extensive knowledge and crazy unlimited budgets, we had the two of us, a few extra bucks and a floor plan that I drew out in sharpie.  But, in the end I think that Candice and especially Chico would be proud of what we accomplished.

While the nursery is far from complete, the hard labor aspects are out of the way.  We still have all of the decorative pieces to put in as well as our staples (crib, rocker, etc).  As you recall, we were inspired by a Dr. Seuss themed nursery that we found online.  While the inspiration was exactly what we were looking for, it was not exactly our style.  We wanted something that could really grow with our Little T through the years.  Without sharing ALL of our secrets, we soon decided that what we really wanted was a simple painted room with a thick border that would literally glow in the room.  The border itself has some secret elements that you will see soon enough.

First things first, our color scheme.  We chose a periwinkle for the walls, white for our border, and lime for an accent color.  I have always loved periwinkle and I think that Little T will be a fan as well.

Matthew got to work right away with the painting.  Unfortunately there was A LOT of prep work that needed to be done in the room due to the previous owner's poor taste level.  Once it was all prepped, up went the wall color! (I am showing you the swatch so you can visualize it a little better, iphone doesn't take the best color pics and I am too lazy to pull out the digital)

Next we went to work on prepping for our border.  This involved me and power tools, and was therefore my favorite part.

After all of the wall cleats were in place and attached to studs (in case Little T is a Little Monkey and ever wants to climb the walls), we were ready to start attaching our lighting.  Yup, you are looking at 96 feet of rope lighting.  The lights have their own wall switch which will make them great for late nights with Little T.

Once the lights were all installed, we covered our support boards with hardboard.  This hides all the messy bits, but allows the light to shine from the top and bottom of the floating border.

We still need to prime and paint the border white, but next to the installation that will be a breeze.  I can't wait to show you how we plan to dress up the border and how it will look with actual furniture!  But for now, I'm pooped.  I think I will go back upstairs and admire our hard work some more.