WIWW: Stay-at-home Mom Edition

So it's been awhile since I posted for "What I Wore Wednesday" -- created by the lovely Lindsey at the Pleated Poppy. But I figured this is the perfect time to start up again. After much soul-searching, financial calculating and a horrifying daycare experience, J and I decided that I should quit my job and stay home with baby E. I was elated and terrified!

While I'm going to miss my work peeps, I love having this opportunity to soak in every moment with Easton. It's only been a week, but I can already tell some bad habits are setting in. Like not showering. And wearing hoodies and slippers. What Not to Wear would have a field day.

At least before I had the excuse of working from home while taking care of a squirmy baby {conference calls + crying baby = stressed out momma who didn't have time to even think about what she was wearing}. But now? No excuses really, just haven't found the urge to put in a lot of effort. Which is fine on some days. But what happens if it snowballs into weeks? Months? Years? I want to take pride in how I look, set a good example for Easton, and be the hot momma J dreams about.

It really does help to have accountability in these WIWW posts. And, it's fun -- it helps me take a second look at my closet, and I find fun ideas from other WIWW posters. With being a stay-at-home momma and all, buying new stuff isn't exactly a top priority for our budget right now. Will be interesting to see just how far I can stretch my closet -- and adds another ounce of motivation to keep dropping the baby weight.

playing with baby

North Face hoodie ~ Sports Authority

grey sweats ~ Kohls

cleaning house

old work tee

old Seven jeans ~ Nordstrom

grey slippers ~ Target

lunch date

sequin tank ~ Target

striped cardi ~ PacSun

jeans ~ Target

boots ~ Target

running errands

brown hoodie ~ Estes Park, CO

same Target jeans

fuzzy boots ~ Burlington Coat Factory

Wow, I looked worse than I remembered! Ohwell. Just know that -- hopefully -- this next week will look better. And, hopefully, I'll finally get into the eye doctor so I can swap the glasses for new contacts!

Baby Room: Before & After

Guess I missed WIWW again... oops! Maybe next week? :)

Super excited to get new bedroom carpet installed today, even if it means our house is now littered with bedroom furniture and crap. Over the last few months, we've finally gotten around to fixing up our room, so I'll show it off after the carpet's in... and every thing's back in order... maybe a week or two? :)

In the mean time, the baby room is really starting to come together. Which is a good thing considering we only have 4 weeks to go, if that!

So incase you missed the "true" before, you can see it here. But here are a few of the clean befores:

And the afters:

You can read more about hanging the moulding here and the not-so-great paint experience here. It was hard to find curtains in the right length without having to special order, but we finally found these brown ones on sale at Pier 1. Will be perfect for blocking out the afternoon sun!

LOVE this curtain rod from Lowe's. J thought it was a little girlie at first, but he likes it now that it's up.

J also hung the new ceiling fan (Lowe's again... I think we're paying their electric bill...) in place of the crappy gold flushmount.

And also hung a new light fixture over the sink. Guess where we got it?

Still need to paint the bathroom (probably just a brighter shade of white), but it's starting to look cute. And most of the accessories for the bathroom? Baby shower gifts from Target!

So the Potterybarn towels I ordered don't exactly match, but I still like them. Maybe I'll just stick them back for when baby's older...

Still loving the crib my parents bought us and the Target bedding (geez, maybe we're paying their electric bill, too!).

Added the little sheep rug...

And the vinyl tree from Babies r' Us.

We flanked each side of the crib with storage cubes from IKEA and storage boxes from various places for books and toys.

Still need to get the dresser upstairs, which we'll also use as the changing table, and I need to finish his letters and pillows. Also have some other adorable baby shower goodies to put out, too. Overall, I think it's pretty darn cute, and it's fun to finally see it come together!

Linking up to these fabulous parties:

Creative Bloggers Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Remodelabolic's Anonymous @ Remodelaholic

Friday Favs Party @ Nap Time Crafters

DIY Project Parade @ DIY Show Off

Gallery Wall

I can finally mark one of the projects off my "Forgotten Projects" list. Back in October, I started the gallery wall that I was super excited about... then completely forgot about it until a month or so ago. Okay, okay, so I didn't really forget ~ more like I shut one eye every time I walked past the half-complete project. And then, when the frames started falling off the wall, I decided it was time to just finish the darn thing.

So, we have a huge blank wall between the bedrooms upstairs. I always thought it would make a cool frame wall. My first attempt? Not so great.

Yeah, a little pathetic. And it made me realize the vast size of the wall. It was going to take a little inspiration to fill that sucker. I found this spread in the Potterybarn catalog and fell in love.

I just love the mixture of frames and random objects. So, I went around collecting random frames. Some from a Garden Ridge sale...

...some from the Target clearance section...

...and a few that I saved from the trash at work.

I also wanted to incorporate some random stuff, so I just starting laying it all out on the floor and included a couple of small cabinet doors I found at the Habitat Restore awhile back. I did measure the wall between the light switch and the AC control so I'd know how much space I had to work with.

After several rounds of arranging and rearranging, I came up with something I liked:

I even found a use for the black shelf I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby a year ago. The hard part: getting everything from the floor to the wall. J was out for the day, so I was a little scared to start hammering. He's usually the one to perfectly measure everything, and make sure it's all even and aligned. But I figured I could manage. The first nail is always the hardest, right?

I measured and leveled each one as I went along, but of course I got off at certain points. I even thought I'd be smart and use the sticky tape that says it'll hold a frame on the wall so I wouldn't have to contend with the little double-eye hooks on the back of several frames. And I got to a stopping point before I thought I was going to go cross-eyed.

Not bad, huh? Even J was impressed when he got home. And then it sat. For weeks. And months. And then the frames that were up with the sticky strips began to slowly fall off the wall. Seriously, I'd almost pee my pants in the middle of the night 'cause I'd hear a horrifying crashing sound. Luckily only one frame broke, and I never really wet the bed.

I digress.

Fast forward to several weeks ago. I was sooo tired of looking at it and stepping over the mess in the hall, that I just picked up a hammer, some nails and went at it. Because I was pretty frustrated with it at this point, I didn't take any pics. But I ended up using wire to hang the frames with the double-hooks. No measuring tape this time, no level ~ just me, a stepstool and a hammer. The result?

Not exactly the pattern I had planned, but I like it. I even included a clock we got as a wedding gift years ago that I could never quite find the right spot for in this house. I'll eventually paint the small cabinet doors, and I still need to re-mat some of the frames. Oh, and select pictures!

But I do think it fills up the wall nicely, and it gives you something to look at as you're walking up the stairs.

Once again, the before:

And the after:

At least it's {almost} done!

Linking up to these fabulous parties:

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table & Dreaming

DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Show Off

Creative Bloggers Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Accessorizing Baby's Room

Now that the baby room is moulded and painted, it's finally time to start adding all of the cute, fun stuff {that baby probably won't even notice or care about for years}, like:

...this cute cow rocker from Restoration Hardware. J grew up on a dairy farm, so we have to include cows somewhere!

...the hippo and frog towels I ordered from Potterybarn Kids {on sale, had a 10% off coupon, and I got free shipping!}. And is it sad I'm scared to take them out of the plastic? Maybe white towels weren't such a good idea for a baby!

...some chocolate brown curtains to help block the intense sun that pours in during the afternoon.

...and a cute curtain rod.

...can't forget new light fixtures.

...and fun storage baskets.

...wall art, too. I got a vinyl tree on sale at Babies R Us {I had a giftcard ~ thanks sis!} so hopefully it's as cute up as it is on the box.

...and a mobile for the crib. Why is it so hard to choose a mobile? I either like the top or the bottom, rarely both. But I think these two are sweet:

...and then there's the bathroom. Luckily, thanks to my wonderful work peeps, I have most of the cute bathroom stuff already. Just need to get it cleaned and painted.

I also have a neat idea for these Hobby Lobby letters I found on clearance awhile back.

Seems like a lot to do in the next seven weeks ... but the fun stuff always goes fast, right? :)

WIWW: Preggo Edition

Another edition of WIWW. If you're a new reader (welcome!), then you can catch up on all the fun here. Basically, working from home most days kept me in a pajama-clad funk. Then, I found Lindsey's blog and was totally inspired by her and the large group of ladies who join in each week. So check out her blog and start linking up! ;)

As for me, I'm kind of bummed that many of the wonderful comments from last week's WIWW post disappeared in the Blogger meltdown. Mainly because I don't really have anything cute to share this week, and you guys were so sweet last week. Although, I did find a couple of cute dresses at Target over the weekend that hopefully I'll put to good use soon!

Working from home / running errands

maternity sweater ~ gift from mom

maternity jeans ~ Motherhood Maternity

silver flops ~ Old Navy

More errands

green tank ~ Target

brown cardi ~ Kohls

same maternity jeans

brown flop wedges ~ Walmart ($3!)

Weekend of cleaning / more darn errands

blue maternity tee ~ borrowed

white tank ~ Target

wow, are those the same maternity jeans?!

Office meetings

white sweater ~ Ann Taylor Outlet

brown tank ~ Target

brown maternity pants ~ Kohls

coral sandals ~ Old Navy

gold & coral earrings ~ Target (new)