Wednesday Five - 5

We've made it to our 5th edition of the Wednesday Five! Today's edition is jam packed with shopping new/ideas/suggestions because we have two momentous shopping  "holidays" coming up. If you're a shopper, it's probably the most wonderful time of your year. And if you're not a shopper, then this is the time of the year to pretend to be one because it really is THAT good. 

1. Amazon Prime Day was announced - July 16. It's a day (technically 1.5 days) when Amazon deeply discounts tons and tons (and TONS) of stuff. The catch: you have to be a prime member to take advantage. So, if you're not a prime member, now's your moment to jump on the wagon. It's a good wagon. Or you can work the system and do a free 30 day trial just to take advantage of Prime Day. College students can actually get a free 6 month (!!!) trial. So, you can really work the system by having your college aged offspring/neighbor/distant acquaintance get a free trial and use his/her account. Even if you don't use the prime membership for any other reason during any other time of the year (which you definitely will between free 2-day shipping, movie/TV streaming, music, etc.), you can save enough during Prime Day to pay for your membership and then some. 

Our plan is to pull together a post for you on the 16th with some of our favorite deals - it can be overwhelming/impossible to sift through all the deals, so a little guidance is helpful. Also, the Echo Show is already on sale! From now until Prime Day it's $129 (normally $229).

2. I was dismayed to learn this week that the majority of our Instagram followers do not watch The Bachelorette. Ouch. We took a poll through Instastory and the results were not close. The good news: everyone who does watch is Team Blake. I mean...phew. If you're in the minority and love The Bachelorette like me, I highly recommend checking out the blog All the Pretty Pandas by Sharleen Joynt (former Bachelor contestant from Juan Pablo's season). She breaks down each episode in a way that only an insider can, it's super interesting...in the way that something as low brow as The Bachelorette can be...

3. We are constantly on the hunt for amazing Etsy sellers. We like to shop local and shop small business whenever possible. Well, we found one this week that we love - the product and the seller. We were looking for a plant stand, something simple and wood. We found a 3 legged, mini stool from Candlewood Furniture and Custom Designs and it's awesome. It comes in tons of different finishes and you can get the legs dipped for a pop of color. For this project, we went simple with the honey finish. Check it out below. 

4. The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is coming!!! It starts July 20 and ends August 5. And, if your a Nordstrom credit card holder, then you can get in on it early - July 12 (tomorrow). The cool thing about this sale is that it's not an end of season clear out - it's everything that is on trend for the coming months. The new stuff! Things sell out, so take a peek at the catalog to scope out what you want and don't wait to pull the trigger. Click here for some tips on the best way to approach this epic sale.

5. Summer time is full of 3-day weekend and weekend trips. A good half of our summer thus far has been spent packing and unpacking (and doing laundry to pack again). So, we rounded up some fantastic weekender bags. I have the Longchamp bag (bottom right) and it's amazing. I've owned it for about 15 years and it looks brand new. 

From top left (clockwise) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

If you have early access to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale - HAPPY SHOPPING tomorrow!

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 4

Happy 4th of July! We hope you have a truly wonderful day, full of all the classics - hot dogs and popsicles. Maybe some corn on the cob? Or maybe a few games of corn hole? And, of course, there are the fireworks. My dog is absolutely petrified of fireworks (as many dogs are) and I've recently learned that many veterans are really sensitive to fireworks. I felt quite embarrassed (and a bit ignorant) to have not known. So, firework displays are a mixed bag around my house. But, we do love us some sparklers!!!

We also hope you take a minute to consider how it feels to be an American these days, the good and the bad. And if there's anything in the "bad" column...and there will be because there's simply always room for improvement...both for our country and for our homes (the home projects are never done, never!)...today might be a good day to figure out some big or small way you can be a part of the solution. A little DIY project for the state of our nation. Just like the smallest update to your home, maybe updating a light switch, has a true impact on the way you feel about your home, the smallest act can have a true impact on the way you feel about our country (and yourself). 

Yikes. That got a little heavy. And a little weird..."DIY project for the state of our nation"...did I just parallel home improvement projects to country improvement projects? 

Let's move on. 

1. You know we're huge fans of Cynthia Harper around here. We interviewed her not long ago and shared her pearls of home design wisdom on the blog. This week she shared a super easy (and real) plan of attack for recreating your home without spending a dime. It's a fantastic blog post, check it out - click here.

via Cynthia Harper Living

2. Authentic African mud cloth is still peaking on the trend scale. Mud cloth pillow covers are The. Rage. And, make no mistake, we're totally raging along with everyone else. But, slightly under the radar and just as rage worthy, are pillows made of Chinese wedding blankets. Here are a few from Etsy. They're stunning. I want them all.

Starting at top left (clockwise)  1 / 2 / 3 / 4

3. Did you know that H&M and Moschino are colloborating?! It's sort of old news, but I just found out...so, new to me! The collection comes out on November 8. Mark your calendars.

4. Ever wonder why some chocolate chip cookies are thick and cakey while other are thin and crispy? Being someone that was on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie for some time, when I saw this blog post I squealed with delight. It's like a chocolate chip cookie dictionary. And it would have been highly useful to me before I discovered the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which I didn't so much figure out how to make, but how to buy...ha. And I buy it from Sugah Butter Flour. This is a local baker (if you're in the Boston area) and her chocolate chip cookie is literally and truly perfect. 

via Sugah Butter Flour

5. With Mother Nature gifting us some gorgeous weather for this holiday week (maybe a bit hot...but hard to complain when winter lasted 8 months this year), my family has been spending as much time at the beach as possible. A few summers ago I learned an amazing, works-every-time trick for getting wet sand off at the beach - baby powder. Take a poof of baby powder in your hands and rub it over the wet, sandy area. It's magic. I promise. It's my kids favorite thing to do. I swear they slather themselves in wet sand just to then slather themselves in baby powder and watch it all dust off. 

Again - I hope you're having an epic 4th! I'm off to eat more popsicles and rub more baby powder on my wet, sandy hands...

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 3

The past week has been a lot of fun over here. There have been beach trips, lots of pool time, sprinkler parties, gardening (aka stepping on things that I planted) and so. many. hot dogs. We've continued to share some photos on Facebook and Instagram from a (nearly completed) family room project we recently installed, make sure you catch those. And we're secretly (not anymore) binging on the Jersey Shore Family Vacation. Okay, "we" is really just "me" and me is Leah. It's always Leah writing these blog posts by the way...just in case you were wondering.

Below is the built-in from the family room. We just love the way it turned out. Modern, clean. Lots of room for plants. 

1. If you follow along on Instagram, you may have noticed that we've been trying to step up our Instastory game. So, when I went strawberry picking with my minis last week, I shared my plan on what to do with all those teeny tiny strawberries. My plan, which is always my plan when it comes to baking, was finding a recipe from Joy The Baker. If you haven't yet discovered Joy, you're in for a treat. Literally and figuratively. She's witty and smart and a fantastic baker. I'm no pro baker, though I love to do it, and I find her recipes to be totally approachable, but a little extra special than the standards. Her books (this, this and this) are serious eye candy (and great kitchen decor!).

I went with the strawberry pie bars (Instastory pics below). Crazy delicious.

2. With summer officially starting, it's time to dive into your summer reading list. If you don't have a summer reading list, I'm here to help. I've been recommended two "beach reads" (aka low brow page turners): 1) When Life Gives You LuluLemons, the youthful cousin of The Devil Wears Prada, and 2) The Selection, a five part series which my friend described as "The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games". Pure gold. For slightly more high brow recommendations, I was sold on NPR's 2018 summer read list when hearing each book described over the radio. There are a couple detective thrillers and even a great book for the kiddos.

3. I made a quick trip to World Market this week, primarily for a client project, but of course I grabbed a few things for myself and I want to share my finds! First, I bought two packs of white buffet napkins (they come in sets of 6). Not an exciting purchase, but a versatile one. I recently got rid of all my white cloth napkins. They were super old and super stained and ready for napkin heaven. These fresh beauties will get great use for the holidays this year. But, also, white, linen napkins are fantastic dining room decor. Rolled up in a basket or tied up with some twine (like in image below), they're so pretty. 

Image source

4. My second purchase from World Market was an outdoor accent table (below). If, like me, you stalled on making some outdoor furniture purchases back in May, there's good news - what's left in stock (and there's not a ton) is on serious sale. 

5. Most of our Instagram feed is full of home design inspiration. No shock there. But we also sprinkle in some other fun accounts, one being Tada Style. Tara, the crazy talented makeup/hair styling guru behind Tada Style, presents some transformations of everyday peeps, gorgeous photo shoots, makeup and hair tips, and (our favorite) product recommendation. She recently recommended a makeup remover that I bought, I use and I'm obsessed with - S.W. Basics Makeup Remover. It removes everything, it moistures my skin, it has 3 real (aka non-chemical) ingredients. 

We're a week away from the 4th of July. Slow down summer! Please. 

Have a fantastic day!

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