Hooked on Nesting

As our countdown to baby is fast approaching, our nesting has become a part of our daily life. Every other thought we have is baby related. My husband and I keep thinking baby is still months away when in reality, baby is only eight days away. It's crazy to think that in only eight days, our lives are going to change. Our lives will never be the same again. Instead of putting each other's needs before our own, we're going to be putting our baby's needs first.

After watching a lot of HGTV home makeovers, and seeing before-and-afters of room transformations, our baby's room was our own "makeover" room inspired by our favorite designers from those shows.  From the theme, to the colors, to lighting, we drew out the room and pictured what we wanted the room to look like. Our goal was to make the room a very peaceful place where baby can be calm, and relaxed (along with very exhausted parents to find peace and quiet).  Our baby's room includes:

Theme: Airplanes

• Light grey walls (inspired by "Flipping Vegas" @Amie_Yancey) who taught us that grey walls are perfect for small rooms becuase it makes it look larger and brighter. 
• Dark blue accent wall with hand painted clouds drawn by my sister-in-law @elinasinanyan 

• White Furniture: Crib (DaVinci Porter 4-in-1 Convertible Crib) and Changing Dresser (DaVinci Porter 3 Drawer Changing Table)

Other Accents include: 

• Airplane Curtains 
• Blue and White bedding set 
• Navy Blue Wool Rug 

One of my favorite parts of the nursery is the bookshelves that my husband and I created. We used basic spice racks from Ikea, spray painted them white, and started his Dr. Seuss and Elmo Collection. 

My favorite feature of this wall is the "M". It's dark brown stained with gold finish which brings some warmth to the room since everything is mostly white, grey, and blue. With the colorful books, it really stands out on its own.

Here is little Ms. Fallon anxiously waiting for baby's arrival. I feel like she knows he's coming soon. She came in the room (which she never does) and sniffed every corner of the room. Even though I told her to leave the room, she sat on the rug for a good twenty minutes and would not move. She was smelling the rug and constantly looking backwards at the crib. I wonder if she knows something we don't...

I wonder what their first meeting is going to be like. 

Hooked on Tree Lights

Story and inspiration behind Tree Lights:

My husband and I took a very relaxing day-cation last month to Ojai Valley Inn and Spa (http://www.ojairesort.com/) and were inspired by The Oak Grill balcony seating. We were having dinner during sunset, where behind us was a beautiful giant oak tree where the bark and branches were lit up with string lights, along with some  rustic lanterns hanging from it. After dinner, we couldn't help but walk to the giant oak tree and sit on the bench and feel the romance in the atmosphere. We looked at one another, and said "We have to do this to our oak tree at home!!"

Our Inspiration at The Oak Grill:

Now that we knew we wanted to put lighting on our Oak Tree, we had to find a way since there is no electricity on the outer side of our house. My husband's genius idea of Solar Panels was born. If we had solar panels outside, we could easily use the solar energy to power the lights. And so it begun:

The Tree: 

Days 1-2: Connecting the Solar Panels

My husband had put it in his mind that he was going to get the solar panels working properly before we got the lights to put around the tree.  By the way, we decided to put the solar panels on top of the pool shed which is only about 30 feet from our Oak Tree.

Day 1-2: CHECK! 

Days 3-6: Clearing the vines, and wrapping the lights.

There are a lot of vines that grow beneath the tree which have decided to start growing on the bark as well. In order to get our lights to show, Arthur started cutting the vines, and clearing the barks for the lighting. Don't worry, he was extra cautious. He was wearing a harness which he tied to the thickest bark, and even wore a helmet just incase (either way, I was still very nervous for him).

Then came the lights. Still harnessed up, and tied to the tree, Arthur wrapped himself around the tree and very carefully put the lights around the bigger branches. Some of the smaller branches had too many vines on them, and were difficult to cut, so we decided to be safe than sorry and just avoid the smaller branches. 

The final project:

While waiting for the sun to set so we could take a nice picture of the tree, our dog Charlie wanted to join in on the fun with wearing Arthur's helmet. I think he's better off staying off the trees, and enjoying all the doggie bones there is.