No-Sew Seams

Is it just me, or is Heat'n Bond pretty awesome? Literally love this stuff. It's an adhesive tape that acts as a hem after you apply heat (your iron) to it. It's very inexpensive and very easy to find - any craft store. I mean don't get me wrong, it isn't the answer for all things, but when you don't have a sewing machine (it's on my Christmas list) and need to hem something it works wonders.

We have this awkward window in our bathroom, that blinds don't fit on because of the way the tile was laid around the tub, and there isn't a curtain made that fits it properly. So what do you do? Find the curtain you want, cut it and hem it! It's important that you leave at least 1-2 inches longer than your desired length, so that you can fold up to create the hem. I always stick with the super strength because it works on thin fabric, or thicker quality fabrics well - and you can never go wrong with a little extra hold.

All you do is apply the tape, hold the iron over the area, and then go back over the entire curtain one more time so that you have left a pretty strong crease, and you're done! Now I have a set of curtains that fit the window perfect. The fun part about that is, I had enough fabric from the curtains left over that I plan on using to recover my vanity seat in the bathroom. Another real clever curtain trick is adding fabric to a boring blackout curtain. When I was decorating Owen's nursery I went to the fabric store and found some subtle patterns in the colors of his bedding. My mom & I made the addition to the bottom of our curtains. In this case the curtains weren't long enough, so we had to actually cut and add these pieces in between to make them longer. But you can use this stuff for anything - go have some fun! 

(this picture was taken before I owned a camera haha)

Curtains: World Market / Heat'n Bond Super: Joanns Fabric or Wally World

6 New Mom Musts

Alright, now for some brutal honestly. As most of you know, once you have kids things are a little different. The reality is that there isn't a "you" anymore, it's all about "them". I'm sure you are thinking "well duh, I was born to be a mother," but save it. I hate to break it to you, but it's not always butterflies and rainbows, occasionally there will be some boogers and blowouts thrown into the mix. Oh, and add another one into the picture - it's a whole nother ball game. And while your days now revolve around everyone else, it's important to make sure to take care of you.

One thing that saved my sanity, and saves most parents is to develop a routine - and try to stick with it (for the most part). This was a little harder for me because although I consider myself somewhat organized, I'm not as much of a routine person. But once you've got that down pretty solid, and are feeling a little more confident with yourself, there are a few other important things that I think any new mom (or new mother of two) should make priority.

1. Eat Breakfast

Go ahead and turn on the Keurig & whip up a bowl of oatmeal, because you're going to need it. This mom thing will drain you, and it will happen fast unless you refuel in the morning. I admit sometimes I don't have a lot of time for a full breakfast before we have to be at swim lessons or a play date, but a to-go protein shake is better than nothing. 

2. Take a shower

It sounds silly, but when you've been up all night feeding or dealing with a fussy baby, this does not happen on a regular basis moms. Your new best friend will be baby powder - which you should have plenty of by now. But, when you do get the chance, the second you get out of the shower you will feel like a new woman ready to hit the town. But take it easy the first few weeks, and stick to the grocery aisles.

3. Do Your Hair

When I had Sawyer, as most of you know I had extensions in. BAD IDEA. It would literally take me close to 30 minutes just to blow dry the horse mane that was on my head, and it was a lot of work. So ultimately I made the decision to chop my hair shorter, and now it takes me maybe 10 minutes. Now, that doesn't mean everyone should chop their hair off, but you will feel so much better if you take just a few minutes on your locks. It takes no time to throw it up in a cute bun, braid, or spray it with some beach hairspray - messy is in! Just make sure it's not dried spit-up, knotted rats nest messy, that's not going to make you feel any better. 

4. Regular Clothes

I think everyone's definition of regular clothes is a little skewed, so let me rephrase it - put on any clothes other than workout clothes. Don't get me wrong, I have mountains of leggings and racer backs, and of course they're my go-to most of them time (like the time I'm actually working out). I don't know what it is about moms in workout clothes, maybe it's that we will feel like if we wear them we might get a quick jog in? Or maybe if we wear workout clothes, other people might think we actually do work out? Unless you really are going to get a work out in that day - which I applaud you for, I think this is an easy out. If you make it a goal to put some effort into changing out of your all day pajamas or workout clothes at least a few days a week, you'll be proud of yourself. 

5. Mascara

I don't care what you say, mascara is magical. You can pull off the bright eyed and bushy-tailed look when you're only running on 3 hours asleep, it's awesome! Let's face it new mommas just don't have time for your normal beauty regimen. Make-up, what's make-up? But I can guarantee that you will have enough time for that little tube of glory, even if your toddler is smashing your Chanel blush into the shower door, and your baby just spit up all the way down your shoulder and into your Kate Spade purse. Hmmm, better yet, invest in some waterproof mascara. That way, no one will know you've been crying.

6. Me Time

I think this one is sometimes the hardest, but most rewarding thing for moms to do. Whether it's sneaking away first thing in the morning to grab a Starbucks, or later in the evening for a bubble bath, its necessary to have some quite alone time. And when you're husband gets home from work, it's time to sub him in. I literally can't wait for my weekly me time. Of course it's not a nightly occurrence because I don't want to miss out on time with the kids, but I do take some time to either catch up emails, or just read a magazine. It's so relaxing and it really clears the mind. 

Now I know what you're thinking, that was the most ridiculously simple list I have ever read, and you're right. But yet as ridiculously simple as those things are, they get overlooked. These are easy mood boosters and you'll feel so much better! If you're not taking care of yourself, you're not going to be the best mom you can be. There will be days that nothing gets done, and you don't leave your bedroom. I'm plenty guilty of throwing on a baseball hat over unwashed hair, wearing the same clothes from the day before, or walking right past my oatmeal in the microwave all day long that I didn't get around to eating. But I promise you, I've done the mom thing twice over now and can attest that things do get easier.

What are some mom musts for you? Even if you're not a mom (yet) what are some mood boosters or priorities that you make sure to take time for? Let's hear them!

Pool Play Date

I know I've mentioned it before, but I feel like summer break just started for us, and we're jumping in feet first! Almost every single day for the past two weeks we've made it to the pool and I've been ecstatic. Today our friends Alissa & Carter invited us to a pool play date. Owen & Carter have been buddies since the Lamb Room when they were 9 months old, and let me tell you, the way they bicker you would think they were brothers. Owen gets so excited when he sees Carter, but boy when those toddler two's come out it's not a pretty sight (notice how I avoided the "terrible two's" term - HA HA denial). We always have so much fun, and love going on play dates with those two and my SIL Allie & cuzy Stevie. When we arrived there was a festive spread of snacks complete with a shark melon & the kids loved it. The Chick-fil-a nuggets brought it in for a home run - thanks Debbie & Stacey!

As I sit here and think about how excruciatingly hot this Texas heat has been, I'm so happy we've made it out of the house as much as we have. And as much time as we've spent in the pool I just know my little mermaid is going to be a fish next summer, and I can't wait. She absolutely loves being in the water - just like her mama. But any chance I get to spend time with other mamas, I'm there. It's nice every once in awhile to have someone else besides a toddler to talk to. Not to mention it makes me feel a little better knowing that my child isn't the only one who likes to dip his Cheetos into the pool. But hey, that's what summer days are all about.

Balancing The Blog

As with everything, the newness kind of fizzles off. I am a teacher so during the summer I figured I would have a lot of extra time to be writing on the blog. Somehow, with two kids, shirts, and the scheduled activities, I have struggled to balance my time. I feel like I'm a circus act trying to juggle it all while hopping on one foot. But trust me I'm not complaining, I enjoy staying busy - that's what keeps life fun. If you ask my husband, he would attest to the fact that I get bored easily. That might explain why when I start a project, I'm already moving onto a new one before the first is even finished. And then all of the sudden our garage is filled with like 50 half finished projects - ooops! But it's true I always have to keep busy and be doing something, so thankfully we have a lot of fun planned for the rest of the summer and I'm thrilled.

This past week was just a preview of whats to come. We had fun at birthday parties, pool hopping, and seeing familiar faces. I know a full weekend of Vitamin D did Owen some good. It's obviously July and I've been on summer break for quite some time now, but it wasn't until recently that it became much easier to take Sawyer & Owen places together. Having the second baby changes the game completely, but I have gotten much better about developing a routine. I might be busy, but I'm having so much fun along the way.

Balancing my time will always be a work in progress, especially as they get older. But just like this blog, the newness of being a mother of two is all very fresh and fun, and I will be sure to keep sharing these moments with you.

Email Accounts..Who's Counting

It must be a Monday thing. I wake up, and I have 67 emails first thing in the morning. Now, if the bank account is looking good, then of course I scroll through and check out all of the different sales and promotions going on. If it's near the end of the month, then I just do one big mass delete, because I know that it's just not going to happen and I don't want to even get my hopes up. But what I have learned is that there is always a sale going on (this is something that my husband always tells me, but I don't like to acknowledge when he says it).

I've had the same plain jane first and last name email for so long, but obviously when I got married I had to get a new one - a new plain jane first and last name email naturally. My original email account had become so infiltrated with retail emails that it was almost a little psychotic. Secretly I was excited about having a clean email account that would only be used for shirts and school - real emails with real people.

And then it hit me. Smack dab in the middle of my computer screen...

Like, seriously?? I only wanted to come check out the new Color Bar. But if you insist..

I bet you can guess where this story is going. I now have two email accounts, two sets of coupons, and retail emails oozing out of my inboxes, but who's counting? It's a sickness, really. These sales and discounts somehow brain wash you, and you feel like you'll get left out unless you subscribe. Lately though I have been really proud of myself because I haven't spent much of anything at all this summer, but when I do I'm getting a good deal! That's what I have to keep telling the husband. Hey, at least I have good intentions. 

Chalk it Up

While I was out on my weekly Target run (sick, right?) I decided that I wanted to get some sidewalk chalk for Owen to use outside. Of course you just can't go wrong with Crayola - and there were 24 different colors! That's like scoring the box of 64 crayons with the built in sharpener, but in chalk talk. Any who, if you know my son he's a little rough with his stuff. I knew he was going to immediately break them all in half (48 pieces, not a bad idea) and never again would they fit into the same box, which would be ripped and falling apart. Just an eye sore on my pretty patio and I just wasn't going to have that. I needed a fun container to hold the chalk in outside so I wouldn't have to look at that mess. Then a lightbulb when off - a planter! Lucky for me Target doesn't disappoint, I mean they just don't. I found the perfect little coral planter, and we had ourselves a match made in Heaven. I mean seriously, how cute is that? And the best part is you could use any type of planter, have fun with it!

 Target: Planter / Feeling a little crazy? Here's 48 Different Colors

Pretty Patio

Our patio has good bones, but just needed to be beautified. Most homes our size are built with a smaller concrete porch that extends off of the back of the house. Our previous homeowners had added on a larger slab of concrete, as well as a pergola. The only part I didn't enjoy was coming out to just grey concrete, which turned brown and muddy once it rained and the dogs ran back and fourth across it. So we decided it was time to make the patio prettier - stain it!

We power washed it to make sure the concrete was clean and free of debris (of course right after we did so it rained for a good three days, that's Texas for ya). We bought a semi-transparent stain from Valspar in the brown, because I figured brown would be a more earthy neutral color. The semi-transparent stain also keeps it looking more natural as opposed to just painting the concrete, because you can still see the variations of the concrete underneath. I purchased a paint roller that is made specifically for concrete, and I put the handy husband to work! It was really streaky after the first coat, so the second coat was necessary to even the stain out. We let it dry for a good 24 hours (crossing our fingers for no rain), and then sealed it with the Valspar Protective Seal. The seal keeps the stain from fading, and repels the dirt and water out of the concrete. It also has a nice sheen to it, which makes it look a lot cleaner. What a big impact just a little can of stain can make - I am so excited with how it turned out. I rearranged the furniture, added a few finds from an antique mall, and we now have a prettier patio to enjoy!

Stain: Valspar Vaquero Brown / Protective Seal: Wet Look / Roller: Wooster Synthetic

Anthropologie Almost Broke My Heart

Doesn't your heart just stop when you walk past the gorgeous window displays at Anthropologie? I mean literally I have to pick my jaw up from off the ground before walking inside. And when I go inside I have to whip out the iPad to occupy Owen long enough so that I can soak it all in. Well if you didn't already know, you get a special little 15% off code for your birthday month. So of course it's what I look forward to every year.

But this time was a little different. I had my eye set on a new Capri Blue candle, the gorgeous mercury glass with the gold lid. I've had them spread throughout my house forever, and when I went into the store I knew exactly which one I wanted. Just my luck, they were sold out. How devastating! They only had the mercery glass with the silver lid, and a few others. I didn't want to order it online because I'm iffy about shipping candles especially in this Texas heat, what if it melted or got disfigured? The Veruca Salt inside said "I want it NOW!" so I settled and got the candle, along with a few other things (hello, it's my birthday).

Ok, this is literally a silly DIY, but I mean paint is the fix-all for everything! I have a favorite gold that I use by Krylon, since I did a lot of DIY for my wedding. I tested out a few different gold paints until I found one that wasn't so yellow, and had a more vintage hue to it. Rustoleum also makes a good metallic gold that doesn't have a yellow hue.

Of course I had to throw another candle into the mix. A little touch of paint and voila!

Candle: Capri Blue Jar Candle

Fun After the Fourth

I had such big hopes on sharing a really fun Fourth of July post, but literally none of my pictures from yesterday turned out. And of course, you can't ever ask your man "Here, take a picture of us!" because he's probably not even looking through the camera. My sister-in-laws (Kristina & Allie) and I were having fun with the sparklers and Reed somehow managed to get pictures of everything else but us. Literally, I have pictures of our feet, one hand, and the three of us with our heads chopped off. Tell me how you really feel! I need to give him a few pointers. But thats ok, because we had fun today and I got some really good pics to make up for it.

I went to see Magic Mike XXL with Kristina & Allie - our Sister Sunday is what I'm officially calling it. Reed says we should do it more often, and I agree! The only problem is when there is free time on the weekends it somehow gets booked for a tee time on the golf course. We'll have to work on that. Anyway, back to the movie..it..was..MAGICAL. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Definitely fun to get out of the house for girl time, plus who doesn't like to watch Channing Tatum or Joe Manganiello for a solid 130 minutes.

When I got home Reed was outside getting ready to wash the cars. For Father's Day I thought it would be fun to get him a bucket, some sponges, towels and all the car washing essentials - don't worry, that wasn't his whole Father's Day gift. Of course anything daddy does, Owen has to do too. So while the guys soaped up their rides, Sawyer and I lounged in the yard. Perfect ending to a fun Fourth of July weekend.

Mermaid Wishes & Starfish Kisses

As most of you know, this was probably by far the most favorite of projects I have ever done. One of my favorite movies growing up was the Little Mermaid. The story, the underwater setting, the seashell bikini, and not to mention how awesome Ariel's hair was! I knew I had to give my baby girl a little mermaid room, but a room that she could grow with. When the time came to find out the gender of baby #2, Reed & I went to breakfast the morning we had our ultrasound, opened the envelope, and tears of joy streamed down my face. I had my plane ticket purchased and my bags packed to fly to the beautiful beaches of North Carolina where my best friend Katelyn lived, to shop for sweet baby Sawyer.

I'm an antique junkie, and there's something so special about the antiques you find on the East Coast. The architecture, the details, they're all so different from what you might find in Texas. It literally felt like Heaven on Earth. I wanted to find a lot of one of a kind pieces from these beautiful beach town shops, but also include a lot of DIY projects to make her room that much more special.

One of my favorite pieces in the room just so happened to be in my grandmother's room when she was a child, and that was the chair. After giving it a little love, chalk paint, and a new outfit, she was a show-stopper.

I also chalk painted the bookshelf and antique dresser to match, and adorned them with some gorgeous knobs to tie the two together. The dresser and mirror is literally perfection. After I change Sawyer we now have a daily routine of sitting in front of the mirror and just play. It's fun to watch  her take it all in. We found a really neat vintage buoy that fits right in. On the bookshelf I wanted to bring in touches of gold using the classic Little Golden Books, and a fun pineapple candle. Katelyn and I had a blast rummaging through old postcards, saltwater salvaged picture frames, and of course beautiful seashells. We even spent an afternoon on the beach hunting for our own shells to take back, and snapped a few pictures along the way. And if you didn't notice, the infamous dinglehopper did make an appearance.

With my experience with Owen I knew that Sawyer, being a girl, would have many more clothes that he did, so I didn't want to use any of her dresser drawers for diapers. I purchased a fun cart and utilized it as a diaper station. It came in really handy rolling around our bedroom when she was a newborn by our side. Although we have carpet in the room, I wanted a small rug to add some texture, and for baby #OOTD pics of course.

The bedding is a combination of pieces from a custom bedding company and Etsy. If you didn't already know, Hi my name is Summer, and I'm an Etsy-holic. It's amazing what you can find on that site. I had big plans for her gallery wall of course, but after hanging everything else in the room I decided to keep it simple. There was no way I was taking away from the wooden mermaid art, the ombre anchor hooks, or the dreamy dream catcher.

My sister-in-law Allie was so sweet to give me the beautiful tissue tassel and a paddle, and I knew they would pair perfectly together. The DIY trick here was that I actually used small hooks on the underside of the paddle, and a thin wooden dowel from the craft store to hold the curtains up. It turned out quite nice!

I could go on for hours talking about this room, it's our own little sanctuary. I know it was a lengthy post, but It's so magical I couldn't wait to share. Hope you enjoy!

Cart: paint this one or this one / Candle: so pretty / Knobs: with gold details / Little Golden Books: had to, these are classic / Rug: soft sheepskin / Prints: salty air, gorgeous mermaid or watercolor / Linens: crib sheet, bumper & skirt & changing pad / Rag Doll: maddy mermaid

Defining Me

There was always one big question I asked myself when I began this little project. What kind of blog would define me? I wanted to talk about it all - the fashion (both mine & the kids), interior design, parties, health and fitness (I'm working on it), the budget finds, and the biggest part of my life, motherhood. So I created this space - a lifestyle blog of my everyday!

I wanted somewhere I could come and have a conversation. If someone asked me to describe myself, what would I say? There is a lot that comes to mind. My husband Reed is the total package. I have two incredibly cute kids - and no I'm not biased, my family says so. My family is imperfectly perfect. My friends are my rock, they keep me sane - if that's even possible. My favorite movies are comedies, I could eat chips & dip every single day, and I have a soft spot for animals. I love a good gallery wall - if only I had more walls in my own house. My nail color is unpredictable, just like the weather in Texas, and I love flowers, football, and cherry limeades (ask my husband about that one). This could go on for days, but I feel like I've already written enough on my About Me page, so I'll spare you. The point is, there isn't just one thing that defines me, and there isn't just one thing that I could sit here and talk about. You've hit the jackpot!

Who knows where this could lead, but right now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the scenery. I hope that you will come along for the ride. The rants & raves, the fabulous finds, the creativity, the memories and special moments, the sincerity, and the raw reality that is me. Welcome to my days.