What Sarah’s wearing…

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She’s an attorney, a mom of two, and a friend of mine, who always looks pulled together. When I told her so, she scoffed – but guys I’m serious.

We’ve recently bonded over motherhood, major house renovations, and most recently a love of clothes (and the amazing brand MM Lafleur, have you discovered it yet? If not, you’re welcome).

Let’s hear what Sarah has to say..and a sneak peek of her closet…


On Clair Underwood, and MM LaFleur: 

These days, the most put together I feel is in MM LaFleur. I am obsessed with Claire Underwood’s style (House of Cards) and their clothes remind me of her, but are ridiculously comfortable, which is great, because my goal is pretty much to find clothes that feel like PJs without looking like them.

A favorite dress, for winter or summer:

This Aditi dress is a favorite and I cannot wait to wear it in the summer because the neckline is amazing and you can’t really appreciate it in a cardigan. Since it’s winter, I wear opaque tights with it and great waterproof booties. For now, I also wear a cardigan with it and a favorite is from Nic and Zoe – you can wear this cardigan open or as a wrap. It also comes in thick, sweater material or light, linen.


On pulled together comfort:

If I have court or client meetings, I’d go with a jardigan instead; totally passes as a suit coat, but, again, way more comfortable.

On Sarah’s wish list:

As spring hits, I’m dying for this combination – the Mona dress in Cherrywood, with the Crossover belt. I feel like it’s soft/feminine because of the cherrywood color of the dress, but the belt is a little edgy.

Thanks Sarah…you’ve introduced me to MM Lafleur (for which my credit card loves you and my bank account hates you), and you’ve given me the nudge I need to order that Nic an Zoe cardigan that I’ve been eyeing for some time!

Shop Sarah’s closet:


1. Jardigan/2. Belt/3. Mona Dress/4.  Nic and Zoe Cardigan  /5. Aditi Dress/6. Boot

Tackling the “to do’s”

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We are finally getting around to crossing off the items from our to-do list. First up, the dining room. 

Here is a reminder of how it looked, and what we had planned to do:

– rug: bring in oriental from family room (pictured below).
– install curtain rods (and pick curtains).
– replace chandelier (go for fresh/younger/funky vibe)

Here are the choices we made:

And ta-da! The finished product, (set for our Christmas dinner):

In reality, it felt much less like a “ta-da” and more like a marathon – who knew it was so hard to pick curtains? And curtain rods? 

So let’s go back to the beginning…I started out with the two inspiration shots below.

(Photo credit: @changoandco )



(Photo credit @amberinteriors)

I wanted somewhat traditional, but with a little funk. Is that a technical design style? Traditional funk? 

It also had to be approachable and comfortable. Not too formal or stuffy.
We already had the table and chairs, and the rug was a family heirloom that we moved in from another room. So the key items we needed were:

– chandelier

– curtains and hardware

– side table for storage/serving

For the chandelier I wanted a bit of a statement piece, a more modern counterpoint to balance out the decidedly traditional rug, table and chairs. A little funk. A little whimsy. Here is the roundup of the contenders:


In the end, we loved the sputnik look, and were comfortable with Restoration Hardware quality, so we went with their Sputnik Elliptical Filament – and I’m in love. It really brings warmth to the room with the gorgeous filament bulbs.

Here it is right after install:

I also wanted to use the side table/storage console to bring in some modern, clean lines. It also needed to be very functional, with lots of storage for linens, candles, placemats and silver.

We decided to go with a bureau, because we wanted lots of drawers, as opposed to shelves. I’ve long admired the furniture at room and board, and settled on the Berkeley Dresser – with clean lines, beautiful walnut wood, and satin nickel pulls to echo the nickel metal in the chandelier and curtain hardware.


Here it is in our space, partly set up for thanksgiving dinner:

And another picture, including the chandelier:

For the curtain hardware I knew I wanted a simple design without any end filial. We priced out Restoration Hardware and compared it Pottery Barn, and the price difference was minimal – so we went with  the Endcap and Rod set from RH, where everything was in stock and ready to be shipped. 

At first, I thought I wanted a bit of subtle pattern in the curtains – and so we tried a pair of Linen Ikat beauties from west elm. 
Here they are mid install:

 

And up close- peakaboo!

I really did love them, but they weren’t perfect for this space.

Next, we tried an all white pair, that had a little bit of chevron texture:


Again, they were beautiful, they draped so well and had a lovely subtle pattern/texture. But they were too light for our room.

We ultimately fell in love with the Belgian Flax Linen curtains from West Elm. I absolutely love how they turned out:

So that’s the story of our journey from this:

To this!

What I’m wearing…winter 2017.

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The holy grail of clothing is versatility – finding a piece that works for both work and weekends. This sweater does just that, and is decadently cozy to boot.
 

On sale for $35, Ill admit I got all three colors.

Pair it with the Maddie pant in the heather saddle for a “non-little-black-pant” work look. I own these and love them – plus they come in tall. 

Calf hair pumps add a bit of interest, and a delicate necklace (made locally in Hingham MA by Falk Jewelry Design) completes the look.

Shop this outfit:

1.Maddie pant/2.Wrap sweater/3.Labradorite necklace/4.Calf hair pump

How do you breakfast?

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Our 2yr old has been on a pretty impressive hunger strike. Im not sure what exactly she is striking for. And I’m not sure she does either, besides a vague sense of power and control.

We try to hold steadfast. Don’t give in and serve cheerios 24/7.

There are always frozen waffles and boxes of cereal on hand, but I strive to stay as creative and varied as possible – I read somewhere that kids fall so quickly into food ruts, that it’s important to try not to serve the same thing more than once or twice in row. Keep it varied to keep them open minded.

(Pancakes are on frequent rotation)

Ellyn Satter writes about the “division of responsibility”, a concept that I find so comforting.  

As she reminds us, we as parents are responsible for the what, when and where of eating, and children are responsible for the how much and whether of eating. 

We generally follow this rule – our kids don’t have to eat, but we won’t make them another option. Either they eat the healthy family meal, or they don’t eat. This often means that meals are skipped. Sometimes two meals in a row are skipped.

So that brings us back to breakfast – what are good options to start the day, besides cereal, cereal and more cereal?

Here are four of our recent attempts at thinking outside the (cereal) box:

1.) Smoothies, of all kinds. Sneak in some fresh spinach if you can.

2.) Hard boiled eggs with butter and sea salt.

3.) Avocado toast. A surprisingly HUGE hit.

4.) Sourdough toast with raw honey, orange slices.

So how do you breakfast? 

One friend suggested these muffins with carrots and zucchini baked in – they were awesome. Another friend has been known to serve homemade apple pie (brilliant – feels special, but is really just apples and bread).  

Demo day

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Demo started today on our master bathroom. 

Within three weeks I am hoping it looks like this:

Rather than this:

We are updating the shower with 4×8″ subway tiles, a slightly larger size than the traditional 3×6″ with the hopes of fewer grout lines.

The shower floor, bench and threshold, as well as the new vanity counter, will all be carrera marble.  

For the floor of the shower we chose a chevron pattern – we had considered a more traditional basketweave but the chevron felt a bit more fresh.

 The new shower walls and door will be frameless glass, a huge improvement over the current glass block situation.

1. Sconces – we recently used these in our family room and playroom, and love them in person. So this was an easy choice for us. 

You can catch a glimpse of them from afar on the walls of our family room next to the fireplace below:

And here they are in our playroom:

2. Mirrors: I had admired a similar one at Pottery Barn, but this is a fraction of the price.

3. Faucets: We will add a second sink with a new vanity. There is plenty of room, so I’m not sure why there weren’t two all along – this will be a nice update. I saw them used here and love the classic look:

4. Accessories: We will use the same Moen line that we used for the faucets to update all the accessories (toilet paper holder, towel ring and bar, etc).

5. Vanity: I’ve seen this used on a few design blogs, (most recently by Emily Henderson) but was skeptical of the quality. It turns out that a friend of ours had used this same brand in their master bathroom reno a few years ago and so I was able to see it in person. It’s a beauty, with soft close drawers, and marble top. It has held up really well, and the price cannot be beat. We will plan to change out the hardware when it arrives.
Here is one of my inspiration pictures:

6.  Shower head and trim: Classic, matches well with the faucets, and price can’t be beat.

The goal is to have the bathroom work wrapped by by February 15th. I’ll be back with updates!