A Peek at my Living Room

Happy Friday! Even though I work from home now, I'm always excited when the weekend comes. It gives me extra time to do some tidying up, deep cleaning and have some of my favorite people over (only when it's clean though, ha). Even though I've lived in my loft for over a year, it's taken me a while to feel like this room was "finished". And confession: I still don't feel like I'm totally finished with the space! But I'm making progress on the rest of the space, so I wanted to show you what I'm working with in the living area.

The main room in my loft is a big area that I've chosen to split into two living spaces. This is the front one — what you see as soon as you walk in the door — and I'm using the other half of the space as a dining area. I don't have any partition up or anything like that, so you can still see this part of the room even if you're eating spaghetti or something at the dining room table.

I've had so much fun playing around with this space and making it feel cozy and welcoming. My sweet roommate, Merry, and I shared the space for a year, and now I'm making some updates as Austin, my future husband (omg HUSBAND), is going to move in after our October wedding. All exciting, fun things!

I rearrange my coffee table pretty often, but it's usually some combination of candles and plants (#millennial), and usually, it's because the plants died. Whoops! (I'm working on this. I promise.)

I personally like a living room that's not centered around a tv, so I've done my best to make the tv feel like an 'accessory' in the space rather than the room's focal point. Although, for practical reasons, I totally understand why most Americans center the room around the tv — and I kind of have too — so... I guess Netflix won.

Although my loft is pretty industrial, I've tried to make it feel more modern by adding some brighter, airy touches (like the CUTE curtains I bought but haven't found a ladder tall enough to hang them with, ha). Someday I'll have curtains. I look forward to that day. 

Also, shoutout to these IKEA sofas that are way more comfortable than any IKEA sofa should be. The seat cushions on them are extra deep, which means they're great for cuddling up on to watch a movie or just a few dozen episodes of New Girl.

Annnnnd there it is! Thanks for letting me share!

Sources: Sofas - Ikea, Rug - Vintage (Similar), Coffee Table and Console - The Market in Springfield, MO, Pillows - Target (Similar), Blue Jean Candle - Nordstrom, 

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To the Max

Hi, friends. Here I am in a maxi skirt, sharing my thoughts with ya on all the things I define as "to the max". Or, in other words, "let's take this (insert noun here) to another LEVELLLL!"

One of those things is maxi skirts, which I tend to wear often in the fall — or in the early summer, when it's still a little on the cool side. (Full disclosure: I took these photos a while ago, which is my hair is a different color than it is now, if you notice things like that.)

I found these shoes at the beginning of the summer and have worn them nearly every single day. They're SO comfy, and they're on super sale now, so I'm considering buying another pair to hoard for next year. That's normal, right?

OK, as promised, here's a list of things I'm defining as "to the max". It's up to you to determine whether or not they're over the top. 😂

- any Google search of the Madonna Inn. I've been to this hotel in California, and it's a sight.
- since I'm admittedly interested in food, my old roomie from Wisconsin has told me stories about how the bloody mary's in her home state come topped with all the food. Here's the one that Huffington Post has determined to be the most extra.
- These shoes from the fall 2017 runway.

Hope you all have a happy Wednesday and enjoy it to the max!

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The Sweetest Bridal Shower of All Time

Of course, I'm biased, because it was my bridal shower... But my bridesmaids and dear friends Kalee, Merry and Beth threw me the sweetest shower just a couple weeks ago. I'm getting teary thinking about it! I feel so blessed to have all these lovely ladies in my life, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside and learn from so many women.

As evidence of that, the very next day, I had another shower with my close family friends — people who were initially my parents' friends, who became my friends, too, because becoming an adult is cool like that.

Anyway, I could blab for days, but I wouldn't blab very eloquently, and these photos from Beth Solano are more fun to look at:

The. Sweetest.

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