Wedding Wednesday // My Pink & Gold Bridal Shower Tea

posted by Amanda // Collections, DIY, Events, Food, Home, Wedding

May 01, 2013

My bridal shower is coming up in a couple weeks! I’m beyond excited for some girl time with the women closest to me. We’ve kicked up the planning into high-gear making crafting lists, seating charts, and menus. I know I probably shouldn’t be so involved in this, but I just can’t help myself. Wherever there’s a party, I want to be involved. I just get so much joy out of it, I kind of forget that it’s for me.

Here’s the inspiration board for the bridal shower. I’m actually not that much of a “pink person”, but this time, it just seemed right. And gold… always, gold.

No. 1   //   No. 2   //   No. 3   //   No. 4   //   No. 5   //   No. 6

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Currently // Blogger Brunch + A Practical Wedding + Home, Sweet Home

posted by Amanda // Books, Events, Home, Travel, Wedding

Jan 28, 2013

I’m back from Alt Summit! It was fantastic. I feel inspired, encouraged, and exhausted… It’s going to take a few days to get back to my crazy schedule, but that’s ok. For now I’m trying to relive all the memories, and let all the information absorb.

So I know I just hung out with a lot of bloggers, but I want more! We’re organizing a casual LA blogger meetup this upcoming Sunday, Feb 3 at 10am at Bottega Louie. They have some of the best brunch in town (obsessed with the salmon eggs benedict), and the restaurant is just so beautiful. We’re going to discuss big plans for 2013, so if you’re a local blogger, please join us! (photo via LA I’m Yours)

My future Mother-in-Law sent me a couple books last week, one of which was Meg Keene’s A Practical Wedding. I am obsessed. This book is amazing. Meg distills the whole wedding process to it’s fundamentals—you, your fiancée  and the amazing joy and love surrounding your commitment to one another. Weddings are simple, magical things that don’t need to be brutally expensive. Meg also has a blog by the same name. I am now a devoted follower.

I am so glad to be home. I realized that M and I have kind of been inseparable for the last 5 months. We’ve traveled together, worked together, and duh… lived together. It’s been fantastic, but I didn’t realized how much so until he dropped me off at the airport and I embarked on a little journey by myself. Add to that bad cell reception and a jam packed schedule, and you get a girl who just really wants to spend all day with her man. And that’s what we did yesterday. It was heaven. I loved Alt, and I do think that little bits of separation is necessary for a healthy relationship, but oh man… I am so glad to be home. (Lukas & Suzy took this photo of our apartment as part of our engagement photos! You can find the rest here.)

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Winter Decor // Non-Holiday Specific

posted by Amanda // Home

Jan 17, 2013

My mom decorates for every holiday. Our attic is filled with boxes labled “Halloween”, “Valentine’s Day”, and there’s a whole corner devoted to “Christmas”. I think growing up like this has prompted the opposite response to decorating my own home. Instead of changing things every month, I prefer to keep my home seasonal, changing the bedspread to a light quilt in the summer, and filling the house with flowers in the spring.

For winter I scattered evergreens, pinecones and white candles on tables to bring the feeling of snowy woods into my Southern California bungalow. And I think it worked! This has been quite a cozy winter. The best part is that this cozy, homey feel can stick around until the temperatures start to rise.

What about you? Do you celebrate the holidays or the seasons, or maybe a bit of both?

all photos by me

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Reupholster Your Dining Room Chairs // DIY

posted by Amanda // DIY, Home

Dec 05, 2012

I inherited my grandmother’s dining room table and chairs when M and I moved into our apartment. It’s solid wood, and very classy, but I wanted to update the seats with fabric that was more “us” and complimented our new home. We fell in love with this colorful stripe fabric at Ikea and reupholstered the chairs ourselves. It’s a fairly simple process, but I definitely needed M to help me with the staple gun.

What you need: staple gun with staples, scissors, screw driver, enough fabric for the chairs (be generous), and an extra piece of fabric to make a template from (not pictured).

Step One // Remove Seat

Our seats were just screwed down and very easy to remove. This might be harder depending on how your seats are fastened to the chair.

Step Two // Create A Template

This was M’s genius idea. We took a spare piece of fabric, folded it around the seat cushion and cut it to size. Then we cut the real fabric based on this pattern. We decided we wanted all the seats to have a vertical stripe. Keep your pattern in mind when you’re cutting.

Step Three // Cover Cushions

Pull the fabric tight and staple gun to the seat. Start with front and back, then fold in the corner fabric. We experimented with many different folds, and they all looked pretty good so I don’t have a technique for you. Just keep the folds neat and the fabric as tight as possible.

Step Four // Secure Seat

Screw the seats back on the chairs and you’re finished!

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10 Days of Gratitude // Day 6: Our New Apartment

posted by Amanda // Home, Inspiration

Nov 18, 2012

We had been talking about moving in together the whole summer, but just couldn’t find a middle ground. I had to be on the west side, and M wanted to be anywhere else. So we put it off. And then I got laid off, and I didn’t have to be on the westside. We applied for the first apartment we looked at, and signed a lease on August 31. It was perfect—hard wood floors, 2 bedrooms, old and charming, in a perfect, central location. Also, half the price I was paying in Mar Vista.

But the best part? Sharing a space with my man. He works 12 hour days and crazy shifts sometimes, so it was always a bummer being so far away. Now we share an office, a house, and everything in it. Going from not much to constant contact has taken some getting used to, but it’s wonderful. I have really enjoyed decorating our new space, cooking meals for us, and calling No Hollywood home. I hope we’re here for a long time.

I am so thankful for the perfect timing of it all and for M’s continued guidance and support as we start this new chapter together.

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Pre-Thanksgiving Family Dinner Decor

posted by Amanda // Food, Home

Nov 16, 2012

Yesterday we went over the menu, and today I’m sharing my decor ideas for our family day-before-Thanksgiving feast. Our dining table isn’t huge, and with 6 people sitting around it, plus all the food, I can’t go too crazy with the tablescape.

I’m planning on a simple centerpiece that we can easily move when it’s time to eat. I found the cutest little white pumpkins at Trader Joe’s and I’m planning on pairing them with some pillar candles and fresh artichokes. My dishes are plain, so a plaid table cloth will add some color and warmth. And if I have time I’d love to make a simple pinecone garland.

What do you think? Traditional, but uniquely me. That’s how I like my holiday decor.

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Apartment Improvement Update // Bookcase

posted by Amanda // Books, Home

Nov 08, 2012

It seems like forever since I posted about our new apartment. That might be because we’ve kind of hit a wall with all the improvements. M and I both got really busy at the same time, and since the bare necessities were unpacked, we focused on more immediate worries, like work.

However, a couple weeks ago when I was home alone one night I tackled the bookcase. This is a big feature of our living/dining area because it takes up half of a large wall. The bookcase itself is the IVAR system at IKEA. Our friend’s have this in their house, and we really loved the simplicity and utilitarian, industrial design. It’s just plain pine wood. We decided to leave it natural, but I might decide to paint it in the future. Here’s the before and after:

When we unpacked, everything got shoved into the bookcase. And then it sat for a long time. It took a couple hours to alphabetize all our books and DVDs, but it was worth it. I love a well organized bookshelf, don’t you?

Styling the shelves is my favorite part. I wish I had more pictures to share, but the lighting isn’t great today, and most of them came out too dark.

The rest of our apartment might be a mess, but I love looking at this bookcase and seeing all my cherished books and objects. It inspires me to keep working on the rest. Next task, reupholstering the dining room chairs! If everything goes as planned, I’ll have a DIY for you next week (fingers crossed).

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Work From Home Outfit

posted by Amanda // Collections, Fashion, Home

Oct 25, 2012

I hardly ever need to get dressed now that I’m freelance, but after a couple days in sweatpants staring at a computer screen, I long for fresh air and human interaction. I might run to the grocery store, grab a coffee, or just take a walk. So it’s important for my work outfits to be comfortable and convertible.

On any given day, my uniform consists of yoga pants, a tank top and a sweater. Our apartment doesn’t seem to be well insulated, so I wear big wooly boots too. It’s really comfortable and if I need to leave the house I can easily pull on some jeans and scarf.

The coffee, candle, notebook, chapstick and lotion are items found on my desk. I simply could not work without them.

Do you work from home too? What’s your daily outfit look like? What are your desk essentials?

Outfit curated on Polyvore.

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Urban Apartment //

posted by Amanda // Collections, Home

Oct 10, 2012

Right after I found H&M’s home line, I stumbled across Urban Outfitter’s Apartment line (available in the US)! And wow. So much “mid-century” furniture, native and geometric prints, turquoise, and metal… I’m in heaven! It’s super cheap (which means it probably won’t last) but also means you can afford to cycle things out.

And that raises a great question. Do you splurge on a few good pieces that you can hand down to your kids? Or do you prefer to buy cheap and buy often? For the most part, I think I’m a quantity over quality kinda girl. I buy and purge seasonally, saving up for one or two big purchases. What about you?

No. 1   //   No. 2   //   No. 3   //   No. 4   //   No. 5   //   No. 6   //   No. 7   //   No. 8

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Home Sweet Home //

posted by Amanda // Home

Oct 05, 2012

We’re slowly settling in. We assembled our sweet couch last weekend, and set up the TV a couple nights ago. Now we’re starting to hang art and organize bookshelves. This is the fun part, and I’m excited to see it all come together. I’ll be posting more pictures as the various rooms get put together so stay tuned.

In the meantime have a wonderful weekend!

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