Introducing.. Coleman Dunn!

He's here! And OMG I am so completely and utterly in love. Cole arrived early Friday morning 4/25/14.

I always enjoyed reading birth stories of my favorite bloggers, so I thought I would share the condensed version of mine. It was such a hard, yet amazing experience.

At exactly 41 weeks (Thursday) my water broke around 2 pm and I started having contractions right away. This was exciting because I had no contractions or anything before that... We had just had an NST that morning and the tech even said I wasn't contracting. We even had set a date for an induction that morning!

I was really surprised that the contractions came on SO fast and hard. They went from about 30 sec and 10 minutes apart to 1 min and 1-3 minutes apart in 2 hours. I labored on the birthing ball during the time and Matt was at work finishing up some things. Once he got home we really were contemplating whether or not to go to the hospital - I had always planned to labor at home as long as possible. But the contractions were so long and close together and had been for at least an hour, so we left for the hospital around 5.

By the time we got there, I was shaking and could not talk or walk through the contractions and we were admitted immediately, I was 4 cm. I wanted to wait on the epidural, so I got into the birthing tub. It helped me relax in between contractions, but since they were so close together I didn't get much relief. I decided it was time to get the epidural at 7 pm.

They checked me immediately after getting the epidural and I was 7 cm! Woohoo! I was able to relax and get some rest and was complete at midnight.

The hardest part of everything was the pushing. They turned the epidural way down and I could feel everything for pushing.. It was intense and painful but I'm glad I could feel it all - because pushing took 4 hours!!!  It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It's true what they say.. It was like running a marathon. But finally, he came into the world at 6:27 AM on Friday morning and it was the best moment of my life!! He was 8 lbs 6 oz.


Here are some pictures!

 

 

I'll post pictures of the nursery very soon! I still have a couple last minute things to do to it :) But for now, I'm spending every waking moment I can snuggling this little guy.. I'm so obsessed!

Another Change

It's crazy how life can change so much, so fast! Shortly after I made the decision/plan to work as a full time designer at Isabella, we found out we were pregnant!

We definitely were planning/trying for a baby, but it was a bit overwhelming how it all happened literally at the same time! I was adjusting to my new routine of getting up and going to a 9-5 again while battling morning (ALL DAY!) sickness. Luckily, I had both Zofran and Erin (owner of Isabella, who was very supportive). But as I have mentioned before, I had little time/energy to do anything else... which can explain my blog hiatus!

I'm finally getting back into the swing of things and feeling better, but I haven't quite mastered the art of regular blog posting AND working full time. But I'll get there!

And somewhat related to interior design, I cannot WAIT to decorate the nursery!! Our kitchen is almost finished, and this will be my next (and probably final) project in this house:

It's pretty much a blank slate... I bought the glider YEARS ago when Crate & Barrel had it on major clearance. I'm glad I have that purchase out of the way ;) This room had the ugliest 80's wallpaper ever, and we've already peeled it off. So now we just need to find out the sex, and I can get going! :)

Thanks again for sticking around while I've been going through these crazy life transitions... I think I'm on the upswing now :) Life is good, and we are SOOOOOOOO happy & excited about this baby!

Change

Remember this post? For the past month or so, I've taken a bit of a "blog hiatus" because things have been changing quite a bit for me. I've been in a crazy state of transition, but things are settling and I'm ready to tell you all about it!

I started blogging in January of 2008 (here is my very first post if you are curious!) When I first started, I literally blogged about whatever I had going through my head.. which was mostly about decorating.. (and on a side note, I sometimes cringe at the things I used to put out there in the universe, ha! But I've never deleted any posts.. so you are welcome go back in time... but most of the image links are broken, etc.)

Some of you have followed me from the beginning (talk about humbling!) and have seen me go through some major life transitions. When I first started blogging, I had such a passion for interior design and I had a background in graphic design, so I started making design boards for people. Then people started paying me, then after a couple years and a transfer with my husband's job to Charlotte, NC.. I decided to leave my day job in Advertising/Marketing and do what I love full time!

When we moved to Charlotte from CA, the cost of living was much more affordable and it allowed me to launch my career as an interior decorator, Bryn Alexandra Interiors. However.. I still wanted some sort of steady income (because I really had no idea if anyone would hire me here in Charlotte as a decorator!) so a friend of mine (Thanks, Sarah!) mentioned that a local interior design shop here in Charlotte has an opening. I interviewed, and got the job!

For the last three years, I have run my own decorating business (Bryn Alexandra Interiors) while working at Isabella every Tuesday and Friday. I have been blessed, and my own business really took off and things were insanely busy. It started becoming a struggle to juggle both. I knew deep down that in order for my business to continue to grow, I needed to eventually leave Isabella. That was a year or so ago... and the problem was, I never wanted to leave Isabella.

So I had to sit down and really evaluate what I wanted in my life. I obviously love doing interior design and being a decorator.  But I would see other bloggers-turned-interior-designers continue to grow their business, hire employees, get studios, etc and the idea, to me, was daunting. Because let's be honest - being an entrepreneur/business owner is scary. And I had to really be honest with myself and ask myself... is it for me? Did I want to have employees, accountants, overhead, etc?

And while struggling with this question, I continued to work at Isabella and loved it so much that no matter how badly I needed those extra two days a week for my own business, I never wanted to leave. There are so many reasons I love working at Isabella. Every day at Isabella I grow as a designer and I learn something new. I learn from one of the most talented designers I've ever met, and I love being able to bounce ideas off of her. I get to work with beautiful, high end products that I normally wouldn't be able to work with on my own. I also have fallen in love the retail side of things, too.

So, one day I decided to bite the bullet and approached Erin, the owner of Isabella, to see if she ever thought about me possibly coming on as a full time employee. And I was ecstatic to hear she had been thinking the same thing! And when I heard the news, I knew which direction I was meant to go in.

So, after I wrote an entire novel, my big life change is: I'm now working (almost) full time at Isabella.

I'm sure some of you have a million questions for me. I'll try to answer some of them!

What will you be doing at Isabella?  With my new position, I wear many hats. I'm a full time interior designer at Isabella, but I'm also going to be in charge of the website, blog and social media (which you know, I love to do!) I also, of course, will work on the retail side of things. Helping customers and also going to market and selecting products, etc.

What is going to happen to Bryn Alexandra Interiors? For local design clients, I will now only be working through Isabella. But it will still be very similar to how I worked through Bryn Alexandra Interiors. When working with a designer through a store, sometimes you have to purchase all of the items through the store. But we are flexible at Isabella, and still source pieces at West Elm, Restoration Hardware, etc depending on the budget. So if you ever thought of working with me locally, you still can!

However, my schedule at Isabella is Tuesday-Friday. I have every Monday off and I still will be taking on e-decorating clients. It's funny how life turns out.. because it's like a full circle from where I began (working full time and doing design boards on the side).

Are you sad to leave your own business? Yes, it's a little bitter sweet. It was obviously really great to have the flexibility of being my own boss. But with the pros, there were definitely cons. I realized that I missed working with other people, having a steady paycheck.. and I am very excited to not have to deal with business taxes and accounting anymore! ;)

What will happen with this blog? As I mentioned, one of my new roles at Isabella is to work on the website/blog/social media. Right now I'll be blogging here at Bryn Alexandra on a regular basis, very much like how I always have. But I'll be posting more about the shop now, which I think will be very fun for you guys, the readers! We'll be starting some new blog features, like Home Tours, Scenes From The Shop, Design Schemes, Good To Know (featuring other talented people around Charlotte), etc.

While I continue to blog here at Bryn Alexandra, I'll also be working on developing a new Isabella blog. Then, once it launches,  I'll be blogging from there on a daily basis. I hope you will follow me!!! But I'll definitely keep this blog to post on about my life, etc... very much like I did from Day 1 :)

I'm so sorry this was such a lengthy post! But I really wanted you to understand this new stage in my life and why I decided to go in this direction. I've been working full time at Isabella for a month now and I haven't looked back! I absolutely love my (sort of) new job and I am so excited for what's to come in the future.

Tomorrow I'll be posting some pictures of the shop that I took last week so you can see the beautiful place I work in!!!

Thank you, my dear readers, for always supporting me and sticking by me. It's amazing to think many of you have been "with" me through all of life's transitions.

A Note About Life & Some Etsy Picks

I'll be honest with you guys... life right now is a little crazy. And it's not crazy like "omg I am so busy I can't breathe." But instead, crazy in the sense that there are a lot of big transitions going on in my life and it's leaving little time for me to focus my thoughts and energy on my blog. (I've also hardly been on Pinterest or Instagram.. craziness!!)

There are other bloggers that I have followed for years that I've seen go through the same thing.. and I think that's the great thing about following your favorite blogs. You see these bloggers grow as people as they go through life.... even if it means there is a little "down time" on their blogs once and a while.

With that being said, I cannot wait to share with you all of the exciting transitions that are happening in my life. As you know, one of them is our kitchen.. which currently is at a stand still. The tile is in, but we are still waiting on the counters. I'm ready to get this kitchen update past us!!

But stick around, and I'll definitely be sharing more with you soon :)

In other news, I haven't done an Etsy pick update in forever! So I thought I would share some fun picks with you today:

"Drive To Charleston" Painting on Fabric

What a sweet little painting!! It's only 4" x 4" and I love that the artist painted directly on a classic ticking fabric. I also love that the artist is in Charleston.. I'm starting to think this would be a great anniversary present since we will indeed be "driving to Charleston" for our anniversary ;)

"Landscape on Unstretched Canvas"

Another beautiful abstract from Etsy.. I really love this artist, Brooke Wandall. And this piece is priced really well because it's not stretched (you could easily have it done locally).

Peru 16 Pillow

 I love, love, love the gold applique on this pillow. It's graphic and pretty at the same time!

Gold Knot Ring

I wear a thin gold band on the middle finger on my left hand and I'd love to add more to it to create a stacked look. I really love this very small and sweet little knot ring.

Citrine & Labradorite Necklace

I love the color combination of these stones.. they are so perfect for fall!

Happy 30th Matt!!!!

Today I have to take time away from my usual talk of trivial pretty things and talk about the most important person in my life... my amazing husband!!!

 Today he turns 30 :) He is seriously the best husband EVER.. he is so kind, supportive, CUTE and could probably take on Bobby Flay and win in a showdown.

Man, he's hot!

I always jokingly call him my manager, because let's be honest, I usually walk around with my head in the clouds. I posted this on Instagram a while back, it really shows how he's always looking out for me..

(On a side note, a friend of mine saw this and said that it would drive her crazy! But I seriously love it. He's always there for me in ways that he knows I need but don't want to admit haha)

I have to take this opportunity to share with you this picture:

JULY 2003

OMG! So funny. Yes, that was almost 10 years ago (crazy!!) And yes, we both had bleached blond hair. Never again....

I'd like to think we keep getting better with age ;)

SEPTEMBER 2012

I love you so much, Matt!! Happy 30th Birthday! I know our 30's will be the best! Love you forever xoxo!

And then I was off to Denver....

After the hustle and bustle of my work related weekend in San Francisco, I stopped in Denver for a couple relaxing days with my roomie from college. It was always the four of us in college... me and her and the boys (who also lived together), and now we are both married to those boys :)

They hopped on the baby train before us, though, and it was so great spending time with my little "niece" Claire! It's really crazy how fast they grow!!

We all got together in Charleston last year:

And now she's an adorable 2 year old that I couldn't seem to get focused on my camera since she's always on the move ;) 

The weather was beautiful on Monday so we headed to the Denver Zoo:

And then on Tuesday, the snow came!

But it was fun playing in the snow with Claire (she is definitely a CO baby.. the cold didn't phase her).

She is obsessed with gymnastics.. too funny!

 The snow created a stay-at-home day for us and it was really great hanging out just like we used to do in college...

 Queso was our college tradition... we used to make it for dinner! ha! So Erin made the most amazing Tex Mex while I was there :)

Can I get an AMEN from my fellow Texans??? ;)

It was a great week away but I was so ready to come home to my husband and my animals (and 75 degree weather hehe).

I'm Back from NYC

Yesterday evening Matt and I came back from a four day trip to New York! It was my mother-in-law's birthday on Sunday and we all gathered in the city to celebrate since my brother-in-law now lives there. 

It was a great weekend of eating and drinking and exploring. The temperature wasn't much lower than here in Charlotte, but it felt FREEZING when you're walking around most of the time ;)

It's completely overwhelming finding things to do/eat in New York since there are so many choices, so here are some highlights that I would recommend:

- Chelsea Market Food Tour: This was the best tour I've ever taken and I am not completely obsessed with the Chelsea Market. I highly recommend it, especially if you love to eat. :)

- Yotel: This is where we stayed.. it's a tiny little room with no frills, but it was comfortable and so budget friendly.. we got this room for around $100/night. Crazy good!!

And maybe it's just me, but I would much rather stay in a small, all white box than a larger room decorated badly.

- Da Andrea: Thank God for Yelp!! That's how Matt and I find every restaurant we go to when on vacation. We found Da Andrea on yelp, and it was some of the best Italian food I've ever had, and very budget friendly. Even our waitress was Italian. You know you're at a good restaurant when you want to have a little bite of everyone's dinner!!

- Balthazar: This is where we had Joan's birthday dinner. We all really loved this place!

- Rocco's: Amazing dessert, need I say more. It was SO GOOD! I ate so many desserts in New York (and the scale showed it when I got home!)

Red Velvet Cheesecake... that was mine. And it was so, so good!!

We always love visiting the city, but it's nice to be home! (Although whenever we do go, we joke about moving there. Matt's career has many options there, and I love dreaming about being a decorator there. Fun to think about, but I don't think we could survive there!)

In other news, today is a really fun/exciting day. I'm having a photoshoot of a space I decorated. I can't share all the details yet, but I will as soon as I can! 

Happy Monday

Happy Monday (especially to those of you who don't have work today!)

This weekend was a good one... I got some things done around the house, we had a great dinner with new friends and it snowed!!

A good snow fall makes me so happy, it's just so pretty. But I also love that we only get 1 or 2 a year here in Charlotte :)

Henry loved it! I don't think he's ever seen one in his little life.

It made for a really beautiful morning the next day...

I also worked on the guest bathroom. I have been painting this vanity for a couple weeks now, haha. I finally finished it and put the doors back on.

 The vanity color is the same color that's in our master bedroom, Gunmetal from Benjamin Moore.

I'm not completely finished yet, I still have some things to do (new pulls for the vanity, paint the shoe molding/trim, and some other things).

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going to paint the mirror the same color as the vanity.

This weekend I installed the shelf above the toilet (omg it was such a pain.. it was on sale for $30 at Lowe's and now I know why.) I also installed this mirror from IKEA:

And reorganized the linen closet. I have no idea why but I was hoarding so much old bedding. I'm donating anything that I wouldn't currently put on any of the beds and that didn't have a full set. As you can see, I love white linens ;) (on a side note, that pink duvet set you see was my set from college. I just can't part with it, I loved it so much! And I actually still really love the soft pink and cherry blossom pattern, so I kept it).

I was so tired after organizing and cleaning on Sunday, I took a hot bath and then climbed into my fluffy, clean bed at 9 pm (you may have seen my instagram). Is that not one of the best things in life??

Also, this weekend I received the sweetest package. Remember this post with the Madewell bag? Well, Cathy from Mabel and Jean sent me one of her handmade leather bags and a business card case!!

It was so incredibly kind of her, and I love them so much. She's actually located in Oklahoma, which is awesome since I have Oklahoma roots (my grandparents live in Tulsa and I went to OU).

Please check out her site: www.mabelandjean.com and shop etsy.com/shop/mabelandjean

Also, she was so generous to send me these beautiful pieces and I want to pay it forward.. I'll be giving away something on my blog, but I need to pick something first :)

Confession: I've got the itch..

Lately, I've had a really bad itch to buy a new house. But before I go on and explain, you must know it's not happening.

I love our house, I really do, and I'm not finished with it yet (I still need to figure out the kitchen floors, and I do still want to bring in granite and a backsplash). BUT we live about 30 minutes away from downtown Charlotte and there are so many days that I am frustrated and stuck in traffic wishing I could live closer.

I also have a major itch to buy an OLD house and renovate.. in my dreams it would be from the 1930's or 1940's.

I pass this house all the time and it has so much potential.. I would LOVE to get in there and fix it up! (It even has the perfect side entrance/room for my office. Do you see the second door? It's perfect... sigh.)

2627 Providence Road, Charlotte, 28211 - $350,000  

(even if we could move, it's out of our price range.)

I think another factor (other than my long commute) is that there are so many of my favorite bloggers right now who have/are moving and renovating, and it's hard not to want that for yourself. Don't get me wrong - I am so happy for them and I LOVE watching their progress. When I see a new post, I can't click on the link fast enough... But that's the thing about blogs and social media, you are constantly exposed to lives that you want to live on budgets you don't have.

I'm not writing this post to whine or complain, but because maybe some of you out there can relate?

And whenever I get this feeling, these are some of my very favorite words that I try to remember:

I also need to stop looking on Zillow ;)