Favorite Gallery Walls: A Roundup

 

Hi! My name is Robin and I have gallery wall obsession. 

Whew, I said it. 

I've been reading that gallery walls may be heading the same way as the accent wall, as in becoming outdated, but I swear that I will never give in to such nonsense and plan on becoming an old lady surrounded by my gallery walls. I say walls as a plural because yes, I have more than one, and yes, I want more than I currently have. 

Here's the thing about the gallery wall. I have kids, I have a past, and I like pretty things. I'm not alone in this and I find that if you want to display your personal and beloved objects, art, and photos you have two options. The first is buy a bunch of little frames and display them on every flat surface in your home. The second is to put them up on the wall and create a gallery display out of them. One can make your adult home look like your dorm room, and the second can make such a beautiful impact that you can't believe how empty your walls looked before. Trust me on this. I spent the first 33 years of my life with option one, and the last three with option two... I'm not going back!

I think my main hesitation in creating a gallery wall was that I just had no idea where to start. We had a bunch of random frames (most of which were white) and not that much small art. Sure, we had more photographs of the kids than we knew what to do with, but could I really make a bunch of pictures of my kids look aesthetically pleasing? I wasn't so sure. 

Giving 'Em The Shoulder

 

If there is one big trend for summer, the off the shoulder look is it. Mark my words, you are going to see fashionistas everywhere rocking this trend and I could not be more onboard. I remember wearing my skirts like dresses to get this look as a kid and as I've aged my affinity for the shoulder-less look has only grown. Something about it makes me feel like I should be drinking negronis in Positano and lets face it, for most women it's hard to find something wrong with baring your shoulders. I feel like this is the most flattering part of the female body, and baring your shoulders gives off just the right amount of sexiness, without being too over the top. I have been lusting over this top from tibi since I first saw it on the runway and even though it sold out quickly I'm thrilled to find they replenished their stock, and added new colors! 

Whether it's a dress or a top, shoulders are going to be everywhere this season and for those of you who aren't afraid to show a little skin during the warmer months I've rounded up a few of my favorites at every price point down below. Negroni not included ;)

7 Popsicle Recipes for Little (and Big) Kids

FIG, VANILLA & SOUR CREAM POPSICLES

Are any of you big fans of the Popsicle?

I'm usually more of a baked goods girl myself, and pretty much only bought them for the kids in the past, but after my husband and I got hooked on these store bought ones I'm starting to realize that Popsicles aren't just for the kiddos. I recently began looking at recipes and I was surprised to find that some of the most delicious looking ones required very little effort. I bought these molds last year and was super boring and just filled them with lemon-aide, but this year I'm inspired to step up my Popsicle game and you can bet I'll be trying out the one with the vodka in it first! (In related news how is it possible that the kids have only been out of school a week... surely it's been at least 5? ;))

For those of you looking to make a sweet treat of your own, here are 7 Popsicle recipes for little (and big) kids that I'm dying to try out this summer!

Style Crush: Amber Interiors

Once again my husband is talking about moving to California and as I've mentioned here before this is pretty much a cycle in our marriage. Every 3-4 years the topic comes up, we argue, we look at houses, we argue some more, we stay in Boston. I'm not saying we will never switch coasts but right now three out of the four of us are incredibly happy where we are, and unless its for work, we're not moving anytime soon. 

That being said, it's always fun to dream and even though part of the fun will be designing our own home (hopefully from the studs up) so I won't be hiring an interior decorator, BUT if I were, I can say with 100% certainty that the designer of my dreams is Amber, of Amber Interiors. 

The End of an Era + 7 Going on 17

It's the end of an era! Today marks the last day at our beloved nursery school and while I'm thrilled at the idea of one drop off and one pick up, I'm just heartbroken to think we will never again walk through these doors. In the last few years I've developed some serious anxiety when it comes to saying goodbye and after a sleepless night last night I am currently preparing myself for those last hugs and trying to not ugly cry like I did through my entire wedding. 

Found: The Perfect Drink For Summer!

The other night I went to a "girl's night in" with a few of the 1st grade moms to celebrate the end of the year and along with the sushi and wine which was flowing aplenty, one of the other mothers made a cocktail that was pretty much the best thing I've ever tasted. Strike that, it was the best thing I've ever tasted and I haven't stopped thinking about it since!

Oh The Places You'll Go

Every year I have the greatest intentions of capturing the day to day minutia with regards to the boys, and every year I find myself coming up a little short.

My Sister's Wedding: The Linens Part 2

Remember back when I was at a loss regarding what to do for the linens for my sister's July wedding? If not, you can read the full post here but the short version is that we had learned the hard way that 1) linens are expensive, and 2) what we were envisioning wasn't really out there in the rental market. After I posted about our dilemma one of my readers commented that she would be up for the challenge and I'm happy to report that we finally have a plan for the linens! (Reason 1,000,000 why I love this blog!)

A few weeks ago we touched base, and at the time I was debating runners vs full tablecloths. There were pros and cons to both. The pro of the runner was that it would use less fabric (read: be less expensive) but the con was that we were dealing with smaller circular tablecloths and I was having a hard time envisioning if in the end we would be getting the effect we were looking for. The pro of the full tablecloth would be that result would be exactly what we were looking for, but con was that we would need a TON of fabric, and it would be impossible to do the whole table without a seam in the middle. I was torn between the two and was really hoping that Susan would have another idea. Well, the stars aligned and after talking it through she suggested that maybe we should do a square tablecloth on the round tables. After a quick google search to see what this would look like I was sold!

Susan mentioned that because the fabric was a little stiff, it might be good to tie something to the corners and when the idea of tassels came up I pretty much lost my mind (in an incredibly good way!) After a little back and forth we had our plan and we tracked down these affordable tassels from etsy!  I wanted to bring some mint into the wedding after picking up some of these lanterns to use as decor and we figured the tassels were the perfect way to do this! My sister had ordered some cocktail napkins with gold in them, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that as well.

Up until yesterday this whole thing was just a vision in our head, so imagine my delight when I received these pictures via text last night.

Never did I think that I would get so excited about a piece of fabric and a tassel but just getting a sneak peak of the final product is so exciting and I am more confident than ever that we absolutely went the right direction by having these custom made. The icing on the cake is that all in, this custom job is actually going to be $200-$250 cheaper than it would have been for the rentals! The caterer is providing the white tablecloths to go under our custom ones (for free) and I think they will look great with our bright fabric choice. 

This just goes to show that when you can't find what your really want, a little help and a lot of creativity can go a long way!

Summer Hair Care

Considering all that I've done to my hair over the past few years it's somewhat surprising that my hair isn't all that damaged... yet.