last week and an office remodel

When your 3 kids get sick and you are stuck inside cleaning up vomit for one full week, you can do one of 3 things:

1. cry (this is the most obvious and likely answer)
2. hide until it’s over (wish i coulda)
3. or turn into a crazy organizing lady and redo your office that you’ve been meaning to get on for the last 3 years (in between cleaning up after the sick)

luckily, i chose #3

I sort of wish I had taken a before photo of ALL of the office (you will see that I did take a before of one side) but not really because you would’ve reported me to hoarders association (I’m guessing there’s one).  All of you that the whole neat thing comes naturally to will probably think…’um that’s still a mess’ but I’m not one of those people and this is very tidy to me.

Here is the one side I took a before shot of (not tidy)_

and here is the after of that same side:

Keep in mind i couldn’t leave the house so had to use things I already had.  I made the useless box (that is where our return to AC (think that’s what it is called) on the other side of that wall) into a reading nook.  Long ago I had a foam mat cut for the pack n play that is no longer needed so I put a crib sheet on it and voila!  A pad for our reading nook. 

dangerous?  maybe a little

Now, on the opposite wall is my desk and yes there is still a PILE of papers to file but who wants to do that? (if you do come over)

and just to keep it real i stuffed some things under the desk and hired a secretary

that i let play with thumb tacks

 

and on the window wall – i added the girls desks that santa brought in hopes we will all do homework/work together as a happy fam

      

That’s not all we accomplished….we ate 53 popsicles

 

this was day 5 – i made everyone get dressed as if we could will ourselves to be well

made cookies, picked flowers

made a train

 

organized drawers

 

slept on sofas

 

while they slept i filled up 5 bags of toys to take to Goodwill (molly thinks Good Will is a boy and doesn’t understand why he wants all these girl toys…i finally just told her he has a little sister) and  had to hide the bags as they were willing to give up 1 thing each and that wasn’t going to cut it for my mania clean out week.

and decided i had to have this

 

Maybe we should get sick more often :)

here’s to a productive week ahead (but a well one would be nice)

another (unmissable) bit about atlanta

we served champagne (among other cocktails but since i'm writing this post it gets to be champagne-centric) with these adorable cocktail napkins that i may or may not be obsessed with.

they're perfection anyway but we decided to up their chicness with a little personalization (inspired by Kate Blanchett at the Oscars ;) ).

oh and if you weren't at our atlanta show, you'll have another opp to see these babies as we are currently in the planning stages of more s&j road trips for summer 2011 - get excited.

p.s. i love these napkins so much that i used them for a baby shower for my newest niece a few months ago - they play well with hot pink, too. so that's good

Being Followed By

We promised you a new series, so here it is: 'Being Followed By'

Hopefully we'll have one profile per week and it will go something like this: a little info on who reads us and if they have a blog of their own, we'll include a bit about it too (and hopefully send readers their way - this is a community after all).

I'm super excited about our first follower, so without further ado, here's the new series aaaaaaaand,

Cassie!

She and I celebrating her at-the-time impending nuptials - that was two years ago (note to self: take more pics with Cass)

Cassie is actually a dear friend of mind from childhood (and beyond! i spent the night with her two weeks ago and got to hang with her again just this past weekend - score!).

She is super girly, nice to the core and so. much. fun! I'm pretty sure she's everyone's favorite.

You have to meet her -

Found!
I think I was either persuing the Stewart & James Facebook page or website and followed the link to your blog!

Favorite s&j Reads:

Everything! I love learning about new inventory and frame parties of course, but I also love being inspired by Arre's latest cocktail or fashion finds, and Kristen's ridiculously cute and creative Mommy party-planning skills :)

 

Give Me More:

Like I said before, I dig it! Maybe just post more consistently?

Daily Blog Lovin':

I am not too much of a blog-reader overall. The handfull that I follow besides Stewart & James are my friend Amanda's with witty stories from everyday life, my friend Margaret's about her family so that I can watch her kids grow, and sometimes other facebook friend's blogs when they post links and it looks intriguing. In addition to that, I sometimes follow links from Stewart & James to other's blogs and get caught up with precious people like Joni and her new "all things baby" blog. . . as you guys would say, "How cute is SHE?!"

Why (read) Blog(s)?

It's interesting to find out what makes other people tick. . . There is just something appealing about listening to or reading what someone else is passionate about and stepping into their world for a minute.

Thanks for following, sweet love - we are so glad to have you! xx



p.s. sorry to anyone who reads us in reader, etc. for the multiple posting - i'm having some technical difficulties. grrrr

how cute is...

Allison?!

Allison has always been such an avid supporter of stewart & james.Our frames are literally all OVER her house - and we love it!

Atlanta

In case anyone is interested in a follow-up, our Atlanta show was a blast!
We had a gracious hosts, excited attendees, great sales and a lovely time!

The trip was a whirlwind. We were in Atlanta for less than 24 hours :( but we did have time to grab a quick bite with a dear friend and with that took the only picture of the entire experience.



if you've read this blog for long, this shouldn't be hugely surprising ;)



puppy love

i've been wanting a dog for a couple of years now but i don't think we are going to get one. not a real one anyway.

maybe this guy instead.



Isn't he so stinkin' adorable?!

we're being followed

we've never really made too much noise about being followed but let the record show we l♥ve it. we just (yes just) reached 50 and are super pumped. we are so super pumped that we are going to create a little follower feature series. the particulars aren't worked out yet, so there's nothing more to share. except for our love and gratitude. thank you for following us. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

image source

Welcome Spring

We've had an unusually appropriate few weeks here and it has been oh-so-nice. Mild warmness seldom finds us, so I'm trying to embrace it.

I once read something about the beauty of spring being a gift after the gray of winter. That makes so much sense to me. Bright sunshine and twisty breezes are the perfect antidote to months of dark and dreary days.

We've been dining on the porch and riding with the windows down. My nails are lavender and I'm even wearing a skirt without tights today (yikes!).

Our backyard has been putting on quite a show. Camellias and Japanese Magnolias are wrapping up, Dogwoods are filling in and Azaleas are just getting started.

My personal favorite is the ombre flowering peach tree. Evidently it was spliced years ago and it's current blooms are spot on - love!

oh - and in other news, I was at my husband's shop a few week's ago checking on a project for a client when low and behold what did I see?! MY LAUNDRY ROOM WINDOWS (which have yet to be installed but still - it's visible progress - so... woot!)!



xx

a balloon party!

I hope this Monday finds you well!   Here are some pictures of Mills celebrating her 2nd year on Saturday with Cellie .We were lucky to have a beautiful day for the party.

previous posts on the balloon party: invitations

party favors: punch balloons

cake idea:  inchmark

 

pink lemonade, sprite, or water served in small mason jars with straws from HeyYoYo

 

can’t beat a dress tucked into bloomers and loving ab in polk a dots

    

4 layer cake (2 box mixes, 2 cans icing, red & yellow food coloring)

 

happy days to all!

stewart & james 2011 Atlanta Show

Did you get your invite?   Make sure you stick yours in your pocket, wallet, bra or wherever you put things to keep up with them. 

Invitations by Chocolate Butterbean

And join us THIS Thursday March 10th from 5-9. 

terrific twos!

ok so the twos may be very far from terrific some most times but with these two cuties (mills & cellie) we are celebrating two in two weeks.  They are both the 3rd kids in their families and the babies..two seems so old to us as for the past (almost 6 for me/ and 8 for cellie’s mom) years we have been loving on some babies so we are sad to see them grow up but thankful they are healthy and happy.

they were born 3 weeks apart and what better way to celebrate their lives than with a balloon party (their favorites!)

Here are the invites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

supplies: white cardstock,2 shades of pink and one of orange vellum, printer, scissors (how simple is that?!)

inspiration from here

bright stripes

for your Friday!

Just a little window into the first s&j Atlanta show…don’t forget, it’s next Thursday! 

 

email us for info: hello @ stewartandjames . com

we can’t wait to see you there!

Atlanta here we come

We apologize for the lack of posts but instead of starbucks or poolside meetings and we have been putting our noses to the grindstone and are so excited to show the big city of ATL what we have in store…

sorry for the tease but we’re not ready to reveal all the goods just yet ;)