Catching up!

Hi everyone! Sorry I have been absent for a while.  In preparation for the Inman Park Festival this past weekend,  my kitchen table looked like this for 2 weeks.

After a quick inventory check of all my jewelry,  I realized that I had sold a lot of it at my last show in Chastain Park last November and I needed to get creating for what is usually the biggest show of the year for Zafiro.

Trying to make jewelry while watching a 7 month old is no joke. Especially now that he is mobile.

I called my mom one day last week and asked here if she wanted to come hang out with her grandson while I make jewelry.  She and my dad were on a plane 2 days later.  God, I love them!  An extra big thanks to the best parents in the world for always being available to help. 

I managed to get about 20 new pieces made for the show.  Here are a few variations of one of my most popular styles, the bib necklace. 

{pink sapphires on gold}

{London blue topaz with apatite}

{citrine with orange garnet}

My sister flew in from Ohio for a long weekend and helped me work the festival.  Mateo got to spend a couple fun filled days with his papi.  He went swimming, ate fish for the first time, and went grocery shopping.  This is a text I received.

Oh Lord, are we in trouble!?
Later this week I will show you the raised garden beds that Ernesto built in the back yard and how all my "Ohio plants" are doing after the big transplant.

Seven Months Old {Mateo's Monthly Photo}

Dining Room Dreaming and New Craigslist Find!

Ever since we moved into our house, I have been wanting for a huge round table (60") for the dining space.  I think a round table is great for entertaining and I love the look of upholstered chairs surrounding it.
Here are a couple inspiration pictures:  (from my Pinterest)

Now, I have looked online for a table and there are several that I like, one being this table for $1600 (cough cough)

Room & Board's Adams table

Enter Craigslist of course!  60" dining table was one of my daily searches [for the last 7 months] and it finally showed up.
A solid maple table with 2 extentions making it 90" long.  Perfect for when my family comes for the holidays (ha!) and friends come over for dinner.

The lady was asking $100 including the 4 chairs (that I din't like) I asked if she would take $50 for just the table, she said $75, I countered with $65!  Done!  I love bargaining! 

Now I just need some chairs!

I love these from ZGallerie looking glam in all white with nailhead trim for $299 each.

ZGallerie Scallop Chair

This one from West Elm is great too,    also $299.

West Elm Curved Dining Chair

I found these chairs at a hotel liquidation center north of Atlanta.  

They are from the luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental in New York.  They want $55 per chair.  Hello?  These chairs are usually $300 upwards of $1000.  I love the shape and I am already dreaming of the fabric I can put on these beauties.  I would like a solid color on the fronts and a big bold print on the backs!    (mom, are you ready for this? It will be easy, right?)

I love how these chairs look, although I would never put white fabric (unless it's leather) on dining chairs. 
 
Im sure with enough searching/waiting, I will find chairs I love at a great price.  I mean this is what I do.  Decorating/furnishing a home is a process, right?  I could just go buy a set, but I like I to piece things together.  I think this is what gives a home character.  (This is what I tell myself anyway to help me deal with not being able to go out and buy everything I want.) Maybe it would be different if I had the $$$ to buy whatever I wanted, but then what would I search for on Craigslist??

Dear Mateo

 Mi querido Mateo,
I can't believe you are 7 months old tomorrow. Everyone had told us how fast time goes when you have a child, and although I don't understand how, it does fly by a whole lot faster than I have ever experienced.  And well...I guess time does fly when you are having fun!

And you Mateo, mi papasito, are soooo much fun!  You are such a happy baby.  You are constantly smiling and we can make you laugh so easily.  You are independent and love to play on the rug with your toys or in your exersaucer.  You love mama's iphone and papi's remote for the tv.  Your favorite toy though is a camera that tia Jenny bought you for Christmas.  I have learned the words to all 5 songs it sings (much to the dismay of your papi) and your eyes light up when I do so.

Your favorite book is Brown Bear Brown Bear, although Donde Esta mi Ombliguito? and Pajama Time come in a close 2nd and 3rd.

Oh, and you love Titi.  You intently watch him when he walks by; he always makes you smile.  You are a great napper and do so often with your papi by your side.
 
You have physically changed so much!  Your face has chubbed up and you also have a double chin.  You legs are fat little sausages and I want to just eat them up! Your hair is growing in, your lashes and eyebrows have filled in darker. Your eyes are a striking blue.  You are going to be such a lady killer. A latin lover, no doubt.

Not only have your looks changed, but you have hit some milestones this month.

• You sleep sin swaddle! Just after you turned 6 months, your papi and I decided to stop swaddling you.  Once you started to roll over in it, we thought it was time to stop.  We also wanted you to be able to soothe yourself.  It was a rough month on the sleep front, but with a little bit of crying, you have mastered it.  You love rolling around in your crib and changing positions numerous times during the night.

•  You are eating solid foods.  You leaned into the spoon with an open mouth and didn't spit anything out.  So far you have eaten boring rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado, mango, green beans, banana, watermelon, cantelope and probably a few other things that your papi has snuck you behind my back.  He likes to do that kind of stuff. 

• You are wearing cloth diapers

• You said "da".  Twice.
•  
• You started crawling  You may have seen this video already, but here it is again.  All I have to say is thank god for the Flip camera.  It's so easy to catch everything!

• The same day that you started crawling, you stood up in your crib. Yikes!
• 

• You now sleep in your own room. A couple nights ago, your papi moved your crib into the nursery.  We were sad, but you are still close with the video monitor!  Funny enough, from the night you moved, you are back to sleeping like "normal."  I guess you like your room!

• You are climbing on everything!  In a matter of days after first pulling yourself up in your crib you are now pulling up on anything you can get to. Boy, are we in trouble! 

Te queremos mucho!
mama y papi

Happy Easter [too!]

A New Bed!

It was time.  I am embarrassed to say that until a few weeks ago, we had been sleeping on a queen size mattress that we had before we were married! Yikes! We still slept just fine, mind you, but it was getting especially soft and I prefer a more firm mattress.  I was shopping around for months.  Sometimes it is more difficult when you read reviews because there are always people who love it and people who hate.  Who do you believe?

We went to test some out and decided on a Simmons Beautyrest Black.  King size!
(growing family=bigger bed!) It is a cushion firm and seriously comfortable.  What sold us is that there is absolutely no motion transfer.  Ernesto jumped on one side and  I didn't move one bit on the other!

We didn't need the box spring.  We wanted a platform bed, and since the mattress is one sided, there was no need for it.
Until last Friday, the mattress sat directly on our bedroom floor and made me feel like I was in college again.  Must. Buy. Bed.  Must. Buy. Bed.

Now, I just needed a bed frame.  I didn't want a skirt over a metal frame.  I have been dreaming of a tufted fabric headboard.  I love the platform beds where the rails are covered in fabric too, like this:

But ehh, I am sorry Restoration Hardware, even though this Chesterfield bed is on sale [for $2290!], it is a wee bit out of my budget this year...and most likely next year...and the next.

I also love this Tate bed from Crate & Barrel. 

It cost $1600 which is better, but still more than I am willing to pay.   I love the simplicity and clean lines, but I need a bit more glamour and excitement.... I mean it is the bedroom, right?!

  The ultimate headboard being Don and Betty Draper's bed.  Turquoise. Tufted. Oh my!

This is beautiful, but you know me, it has to be a DIY.  I found this step by step tutorial on Schue Love and it doesn't look too hard. 

Now, back to that bed frame that I needed.

Enter Craigslist (surprise, surprise!)

I found this king platform bed for a good price and thought...hmmm...I don't like the headboard, nor the color of the wood, but guess what?   I can change that! 

I just wanted the platform so I can attach my custom headboard.    I will also attempt to cover the rails with matching fabric like Daniel from Manhattan Nest did here to a plain unfinished IKEA bed.  (with gray army blankets- amazing!)
 The bed was purchased from Overstock for $600 and it didn't match the CL listers other furniture so she was selling it.  She hadn't even put it together!  It had good reviews so Ernesto and I went to pick it up.

Already our bed feels better being up higher.  It looks ok for now, but will be getting a major overhaul.....sometime [hopefully soon!]

It's Friday, Friday.....

{A BLACKBERRY SNACK}

What are you guys up to this weekend?  We are having some friends over for dinner tomorrow night, and cooking out with the neighbors Sunday.  Im hoping that we can build my garden beds one of the days too.  We need to get the vegetables going!  Ernesto bought a bunch of chili pepper seeds.  I hope its not too late to start!

We have had a very productive week.  Boy, it feels good!  We finally got the tile back splash grouted (I hate grouting!) and it looks great!  Curtains are hung.  Closet is organized.

We bought a platform bed last night (on Craigslist of course) Now our new king mattress is off the floor.  It is very sturdy, but is getting a makeover.  Ill share my plans for it next week!

DIY Picture Ledge Shelves

The other day when I was at Ikea, I planned on buying several of the RIBBA picture ledge shelves.

After taking a closer look though, I knew that I could make them myself much cheaper.   I want to use these to display some of Mateo's books in the nursery.  The Ikea's shelf was 21" and cost $9.99.
I wanted 24".

I went to Lowe's and bought the following:
2- 8' 1x4
1- 8' 1x2
Lowes cut them for me [at no charge] into 2' pieces, which gave me enough to make 4 shelves.
This cost me $11.

You will also need some wood glue, hammer and finishing nails. (I already had these at home)

Each shelf will use two of the 1x4's and one 1x2.  The wider 2 pieces are the back and bottom of the shelf and the 1x2 is the front piece.

Here is the side view.

I literally whipped these up in 15 minutes.

After they were glued and nailed together, I gave them a good sanding and wiped them clean with a damp cloth.  They were ready to paint!

I had a gallon of oil-based primer on hand, so I gave them all a quick coat with a foam brush.  After that dried, I put three coats of Valspar's "White Lacquer" spray paint.
I have to say they turned out pretty awesome!

To hang the shelves we used two screws on the back piece and added the plastic anchors.  They are super strong.  We centered them between the window and the corner and made sure little hands would be able to reach the lowest shelf.  Four shelves hold a lot of books, but Mateo has even more.  These were so easy, I may have to make more.   A longer one would be great for artwork and oooh, maybe a certain sand collection?!

So there you have it, another piece of the nursery comes together.  The fluffy chandelier, striped ceiling, and turquoise armoire are just a few of the other projects in this nursery design out.  

It's getting there, slowly but surely.

If you were considering buying picture ledges...DON'T!  You can do this! 

I'm partying over at:
savvy southern style
homemaker on a dime
blah 2 beautiful
my uncommon slice of suburbia
someday crafts 
diy by design
Creation corner 
Finding Fabulous 
Simple Home Life
my repurposed life
Common Ground

Weekend in Savannah

For Christmas last year, Smita and I bought our husbands a weekend in Savannah with golfing at the Westin Harbor Golf Resort & Spa. We both have Starwood points and knew this would be a great present for them (eh em...and us!)  Well the weekend finally arrived and it was perfect. 

Savannah is gorgeous!  A city made for strolling.  Everything was in bloom and I could not get enough of the HUGE oak trees draped in Spanish moss.

I felt like I wanted to live there.  The streets were so quaint with beautiful historic row houses and mansions.   Every few blocks there was a shady square with a monument.

We ended up staying at the Four Points Sheraton hotel [in the historic center] instead of the Westin [across the river].  The guys still enjoyed the awesome golf course of the Westin.  The Four Points was just more convenient for walking around the city.
The Sheraton had a cute rooftop pool and knowing how much Mateo loves bath time, we were excited to get him in the water.  Dressed in his new lobster swim suit, he was ready to dive in.

{this may be the cutest pic of Mateo yet!}

He splashed around like a pro.

We also wanted to spend some time at the beach.  Tybee Island is only 15 miles east of Savannah. New sand for me!!  It was overcast, but warm and breezy, great conditions for relaxing.

Our neighbors are from Savannah and recommended that we eat at the Crab Shack.  We love seafood so that was on our "must do" list.  The place had character...tons of outdoor seating, alligators at the entrance, cats roaming around and talking parrots! (my favorite) 

Most importantly, the food was delicious! Although Im sure this restaurant is a place where tourists flock, I think this is all you need know:

Can you say "low country boil?" BIG ASS crab legs, buttery raw oysters, shrimp & crawfish, Oh my!

This is definitely a repeater trip.  It was just 3.5 hours and little Mateo slept through both drives!
There is so much more to see and do here.  We concentrated on food (of course) and walking around.
 Here were our pics for eats in Savannah:
Paula Dean's restaurant The Lady and Sons.  It was 3 stories high and overcrowded with tourists. (I'm talking bus loads of people) It was in need of a serious renovation (in my opinion) but the southern classics were deeeeee-lish y'all!
Saigon on Broughton served up yummy Thai and Vietnamese food.  We loved it!
Two breakfast places were J. Christophers and Caraway Cafe. Great food with outdoor seating. I had to eat grits at both places! 

Check out more pictures from our trip here.