Sneak Peak

I've received a surprising number of requests for pics of our apartment here in Chicago. I've been hesitant to post any because we still have some boxes to go through and pretty much every room needs some final touches. However, to sate the curiosity of my 3 blog readers, here's a few things I feel comfortable sharing:

The list of foods Liesel will willingly eat is rapidly shrinking. Too many times I've found myself staring into the fridge and pantry waiting for something to speak to me. Until now. This simple dry-erase board divided with electrical tape saves me time and anguish. Just 10 min on Sunday night and my week goes SO much more smoothly! It's also nice when Brent's on tap to feed her because he doesn't have to ask what to prepare. Love, love, love this! Wish we'd thought of it sooner. You may wonder why there is no spot for Sunday's meals and that's because Sunday is Mom's surprise.

We have no mantle or shelves for pictures so I grouped these together to decorate one wall of the girl's bedroom. It looks much better than I thought it would!

I always thought that if I decorated a home, the very first priority would be the master bedroom. Everything else can be mayhem if I have somewhere to retreat, relax and recharge. So it stands to reason that the first room in our apartment that's 100% complete is the girl's bathroom. But that's mostly due to Target having a Circo line of bathroom items in a duck theme.

When both the girls have turned 9 months we've taken them to get professional bathtub photos . Cliche? Perhaps, but they look so cute with their smooth and plump baby skin. Note the long ribbon of different colored bows (above). I can never have too many bows for my girls!

The inspiration to do a bathroom with a duck theme came from my SIL Lisa who hung pics of her little ones in their bathtub photos. It's so fun and whimsical, I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Boston apartments are notorious for having little to no closet space. I am beyond thrilled with our walk-in closet here in Chicago! My shoes finally have a home and I can see all my clothes at once. I've never liked the idea of packing away seasonal clothes. Now I don't have to!

Another organization favorite? The dual-sided hamper. When I do laundry, a chunk of clothes are pre-sorted. Love it.

Currently our bedroom is decorated in engagement and wedding photos. I know that's kind of cliche, but seeing those images definitely sets a romantic tone. I feel strongly that a master bedroom should not look overly feminine or masculine. It should look like a couple lives there and both have a say in the relationship. We've chosen shades of dove gray and charcoal gray to get that sense of yin/yang. I'm waiting to buy some new pillows that have some stripes on them and will balance out the bedspread which looks slightly girly to me right now. The runner for our dresser has plaid on one side and a swirly pattern on the other.

When we got our desktop a couple of years ago I didn't care much about memory or ram options, I just wanted the cordless keyboard and mouse. It makes the desk a cleaner place. When Liesel's watching something from iTunes we can quietly put those to the side so she can't do any damage to the computer. The diplomas are honestly not meant to be an ego wall. We're hoping the girls will always have an understanding of how important education is for our family. Brent and I coincidentally saved our tassels from graduation. When we visited BYU after we married, we were thrilled to find they had diploma frames that incorporated them.

Another organization favorite! If there's something Brent needs to take care of, I can slip it in his inbox and vice versa. We try to go through our inboxes once a week. We get a lot more done and again, things don't get lost. Yes, Brent's inbox is empty while mine has a few things. He has been cleaning, organizing and filing at amazing speed. He almost has fewer things than I do when you count my sewing, scrapbooking and memorabilia. If you know Brent at all, you know how amazing that is.