Fun Fact Friday 03.28.14

1. First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to the firefighters here in Boston. I can't exactly wrap my head around what a 9-alarm fire looks like. J and I were watching the news last weekend and the destruction a 2-alarm fire created was shown. I turned to J and said, "2-alarm?! That home is completely gone!" And I'm not kidding, the roof was gone and you could see that both the first and second floors were destroyed. So what the BFD experienced Wednesday was unimaginable in my book and I commend them on their efforts. Two men made the ultimate sacrifice and as a community the city will surely miss them.

2. Today is what some may refer to as my Champagne birthday. Though, for obvious reasons there will be no champagne celebration, it's still fun. (Definition- the age I'm turning and the date are the same.) Yesterday was my father-in-laws birthday and Wednesday was a brother-in-laws birthday - lots to celebrate!

3. Last year I put together a little list of items I wanted for my birthday...all a bit over the top, and not exactly birthday gift material. But, that's what want lists are for right? I'm excited to say that a year of hardwork has paid off and all of last year's birthday "wants" have been purchased! I never thought I'd see the day. You're all well aware of our new home and may have seen my new car pop-up at one point here. I've yet to share it here on the blog but I treated myself to a Kate Spade diaper bag and crossbody bag last month after a few hellish weeks at work. Both are from the outlet and were more than half off when combining sales...I couldn't resist. And well this week, we invested in an iPad mini for me. I am so excited! It's something I've really wanted and once my kindle broke a few months ago I decided I'd just go for a tablet instead. It still needs a pretty case so it has not traveled with me to or from work just yet. Plus, I still need to finish the book I'm reading on J's kindle....

via

4. This weekend my momma leaves her her annual trip to Florida. Which just means that there are only 2 weeks (ok 15 days) until I'll be joining her on the beach! (Past recaps here, here, and here). I say this every year but I am so ready for this trip. Very much needed girls week in store. :)

5. I've started going to prenatal yoga on Wednesday nights. It's not a sweat inducing workout by any means (which I'm seriously missing these days) but the deep stretch is great, its so relaxing, and its really refreshing to be surrounded by other pregnant women from the area. They are so supportive!

What are you up to this weekend?

We have a few family birthday dinners lined up and I have a date with the treadmill for sure. There have been a few slices of cake and heavy dinners this week... But other than that, we'll be laying low which sounds fantastic to me.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Guest Bathroom Update

In all honesty, I think I could write pregnancy/baby related posts daily for the next month and still not get all of the thoughts and ideas I have out. Is that normal? Because it is really hard to turn off the baby brain these days!

But with other projects currently going on at our house, I'll do my best to split my blogging time. I don't think you should expect a fashion related post anytime soon though...I'm in a what still fits phase right now and doing my best to buy only what is practical/necessary for the next few months I have left. Ok that's partially a lie - who doesn't get excited at the fact that the weather WILL warm up soon and want a few new spring/summer items? Plus, I'm only getting bigger, pre-pregnancy clothes will only last so long. But I am doing my best to be good about what's getting purchased. And sadly it's still freakin cold here so many recent purchases are more for my upcoming trips to Florida and Charlotte. Can't wait!

But I digress. This past weekend we picked up all of the big guest bathroom purchases we had ordered. Just call this free advertising for Lowes...other than the tile, yep it was a one-stop shop over here. And I'm totally fine with that this time. First of all, the prices were pretty amazing and the stuff met our quality tests. Second, we've seen some of these items installed and they look great! And third, the guys we worked with were so helpful - that really does deserve a mention in my book. So as I discussed in this post, practical won in this bathroom renovation. And as you can see, white, white and more white. Easy to clean, right? Let's hope.

*definitely not to scale

Besides the tile (our plan B splurge!), my next favorite piece is definitely the vanity. I knew I wanted a wood tone and loved the look of this one when I first saw it online. Well, lucky for me they carry the single vanity in stock at Lowes so I was able to inspect it. It's so warm, and a touch lighter in person. Just what I was looking for.

I'm pretty pumped about this toilet too. Why? Well see those flat sides? Yup, easier to clean my friends. 

Disregard the faucets in the picture above, those were just included in the online picture of the counter. Fixtures are next on the list. What we need to choose:

• 2 vanity light fixtures, maybe something like this? (going with recessed lighting overhead)
• 2 faucet fixtures - if we had ordered a custom vanity top like our master bath, I would go with an 8" widespread faucet fixtures. But the vanity top we went with is pre-drilled for a 4" centerset. These are my favorites so far. But I know good faucet fixtures are worth it so I'm a bit torn. Maybe give them a try and if we hate them in a year or two we'll switch them out? That's kind of the plan with the vanity top anyways...
• Shower head/bathtub/handle combo
• Vanity mirror - currently thinking a simple, big, builder-grade mirror to fill out the space above the vanity. Finding the perfect mirrors in our master bathroom was one of the most frustrating aspects of the project surprisingly. Time to keep it simple.

Then lastly it will be on to the small details that complete the look - possibly shelves, shower curtain (to go with this curved curtain rod), art, towels, etc. In the master bathroom we went with polished chrome fixtures to compliment the tiles we selected. But I think this time around a satin finish will work better with the pieces above.

via Bower Power Blog

Hopefully J can finish up the demo this weekend so we can get the plumber and electrician in here asap to get the rough work done before we put the walls back up. I can't wait to see this bathroom take shape!

Pregnancy Must Haves

First and foremost....Happy first day of Spring!!! Finally!

We're more than halfway through this pregnancy which just seems crazy to me. But I figure at this point, I can at least share what has made its way to my favorites list as of late. Many of these items get daily use, others are way up there in the rotation.

And as someone who appreciates reading others' must have lists, I figured why not share mine.

1 - These slippers. They are the best, whether you're preggo or not. Lately though, I've noticed the inner soles are getting worn thin from their daily use. Seeing as they are a couple years old at this point, I'd say I've gotten my money's worth.

2 - Thank you Mint Arrow for the greatest pregnancy list I've yet to stumble across. I found this list back before Christmas and immediately forwarded the BeBand recommendation to J as a stocking idea. Well he ended up getting me the BellaBand instead as its also sold at Target and I have to say, it is fantastic. I have yet to purchase a maternity pair of work pants. My bigger belly lately isn't so comfortable in pre-pregnancy jeans with the band but the lightweight fabric of work pants still works out great.

3 - Leggings have been an absolute must lately. Before I really started showing, I was a huge fan of these JCrew Factory ones. But lately, it's all about the full-belly maternity ones. Ridiculously comfortable after a long work day, for my weekly walks with Tucker (we're working on not pulling as much so he's ready for stroller walks), and weekend errands around town.

4 - A sweet friend gifted me this Palmers Lotion and it's been a great addition to my daily routine. I've been using it daily on my hips, backside, and even thighs. Hey, you just never know with stretch marks! And my skin scars very easily so I cannot be too careful.

5 - And in addition to the lotion, I'm still loving this body oil. This is used daily on my growing belly.

6 - Water Bottles are an absolute must. They recommend at least 8 cups of water a day so I've been using this 32 oz nalgene at work every day. I make it a habit to finish one before lunch and then another before I leave each day. And because I continued to miss my mouth with this bottle, I "splurged" on a easy sipper - totally worth it.

When it comes to working out, I highly recommend this Camelback water bottle. This was my go-to even before being preggo. But when I was running in the beginning of this pregnancy it was extremely important to watch my water intake. The best thing about this water bottle is not worrying about a cap while working out. I have definitely spilled water all over the treadmill before when I've had to buy a bottle of water instead of using my Camelback. 

7 - When I first started taking prenatal vitamins I did the only thing I could think to do - read reviews. And these vitamins seemed top notch so I bought myself a bottle and have been taking them ever since. Oddly enough, when I first found these using my Amazon app they were very reasonably priced and easy to find for the larger bottle. I've paid about $25 for 150 vitamins each time.

8 - I was doing my best to hold off on maternity clothing purchases until recently when they've started becoming more of a need. Much of my regular workout gear is feeling rather snug and a bit uncomfortable these days but I could seriously live in Lululemon tops. I loved this top before I was preggo but love it even more now. I swear it grows with me. It is so comfortable. Another one of these may have just become a maternity need.... ;)

9 - Maternity jeans. I can't say enough about my splurge on good jeans. I work in an office with casual Fridays so nice jeans are worn weekly. But last Friday, when I tried wearing my regular JCrew jeans and the BellaBand all day, I realized it was time to add another pair to the mix. One issue I'm finding with maternity clothes shopping is that no one carries it in store. Very frustrating. So I decided to check out Target first. Why not? It's so nice to try things on these days. And I have to say, these Liz Lange jeans seemed to be made for me. The fit was perfect, they're soft, and best of all, they are a steal of a deal. I'll keep you posted on whether the Target brand holds up as well as the Sevens. The Sevens have been washed and worn many, many times already and are still perfect. I have yet to wash the Target ones...

10 - Body Pillow. My sister is the absolute best and surprised me with the Bump Nest body pillow (the pretty gray one). It is a must! I am not a side sleeper at all so this pillow has been so helpful for me. It's the only one I've used so it's the only one I can recommend but it's pretty amazing and worth it in my book.