nine

This little lady turns 9 today! I can't believe it honestly. She is the kindest, most loving, and strongest Jesus lover I know. This year she wanted a small party/sleep over with a few of her closest friends. I can not tell you how happy I am to see her do life with such a sweet group of girls. They are the way I believe all girls should be... uplifting to each other and always full of giggles.

 This is by far the simplest party I have ever thrown. Not only was the decor simple, but at this age I realized I did not need a dozen activities set up for them. They made friendship bracelets, put on shows with glow sticks, and simply let their imaginations go wild. It was such a joy watching them all. KJ was a good sport mostly and gave up his room upstairs so the girls could have it all to themselves. Here are a few before the party photos. I am also so grateful for Oh Joy for Target  who most definitely came through on party supplies. They are as fun as can be.

The Mr made the cakes again this year. He took a cue from all the naked wedding cakes we have seen and made it a bit more fun for our color loving girl.

The week was really was all about Ellie. She spent the week at horse camp. At the end the girls put on a drill team show that took my breath away. I may have been the mama that cried, but that surprises no one. She hung with all the older girls like a champ and the routine was magnificent. Then on Saturday she a fun horse show and she came away with a couple ribbons. I really am just so proud of this girl...

The Bath {in progress}

This home being a rental means all the changes have to be super budget friendly. Our landlords of sorts are good friends and are really open for us to do whatever. In the next few years this bath needs to be gutted. The floors are so warped it makes the toilet sit on an angle. It was once so wobbly it could tip over, but my sweet papa managed to rig it so it no longer moves on a dime. A whole gut is not something I really want to tackle as of yet so we are making do with what is there. We had it painted the same color as the rest of the house, Martha Stewart Talc from Home Depot. As you can see I am in the beginning stages of painting the vanity Annie Sloan Paris Grey. You can't really tell here, but the vanity is quite beat up. I found the new hardware from Anthropologie. I won't be 100% sure about them till after I finish painting. I simply changed the glass on the given light fixture to save money. I shared the new faucet before and I feel it takes the whole bathroom up a notch. The shower curtain was one of my hoard items that I had stored away. So happy I kept it. It's from Serena & Lily. The stools are from here and for now make a great toilet paper holder. The other stool sits in the kitchen for now. The hand towel is from West Elm and came from the old house. I still need to find some sort of hook or ring for it. The cup was a TJ Maxx find, but I found it's match here. The mirror I came across at Home Goods and it really pulled my whole vision together on making the tile work for us rather than against us.

Here is the bath in progress. The old mirror was already removed and the toilet seat changed out. The tile in the bath still needs to be repaired, but do you see how white I got it all! It used to be black, so gross. It only took me a mere 4 hours to scrub it all down. HA.

The Living Room {it's getting there}

We are finally getting to the stages where our new rental home is starting to look like an actual home. It's far from being "done", but at least we are to the point where some of the spaces aren't complete safety hazards. I am crossing my fingers that all the real deal safety hazards are finished up this week so Ellie can have her birthday party here over the weekend. This year she wants it small and intimate. My girl is growing up.

This is the front living room. It slopes here and there, so much so that even a marble would have a hard time knowing which way to roll. The room is still pretty stark and I am going more minimal this time around, but it still needs quite a bit of life breathed into it. Our new rug came in {I bought it for 75% off} and Ellie was ecstatic that is actually had fun color. Currently I am trying to decide whether to keep our pillows neutral or add something fun {listed below} for even more color. What I still need is actual window treatments. I think these will add some much needed texture and privacy, but still keep the moulding as center stage.

The fireplace we are giddy about. It burns real life wood and I hear can heat this whole house in no time. The more I tried to add to the mantel the more I felt it looked more cluttered. I really do love all the old home charm and don't want to distract from it in any way. Our old home was a new build and I loved adding layers upon layers to add the character and charm in lacked. This home simply does not it. To the left of the fireplace I am adding this print. I like the graphic punch it will add, but hopefully not distract from the blow up I want to do of our Colorado trip that will be on another wall.

Most of the items you see in this space I already owned. The rug is new of course and the crazy dimensions worked wonderfully in this space. What we did not own, but needed were end tables. We popped into West Elm over the weekend and came across these . I like the simplicity of them, but the bone adds the texture I like. I also feel like this room could handle some pretty.

This wall will house our piano once it gets brought in from our old house. This is also where the big Colorado print will go. The end table all the way to the left we tried by the sofa {from Target}, but it was a tad too petite. I do adore it so I may end up keeping it and moving it into the tv room or Ellie's room. Oh, and here it is just a couple of weeks ago...

Also let's not forget where it all began!

sofa by Robin Bruce {similar}

chair by Best {similar}

lamps from Restoration Hardware years ago {similar}

candle holder mine are brass though {here, here, and here}

small art of mantel {here}

rug

end tables

pillows {these, these and these are new contenders though, with HUGE sale of course on the latter}

leather square pouf found locally {similar and maybe even more fabulous}