Bargain baby clothes!

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Our Mother's Day shopping spree for the new baby girl was quite successful and so much fun!

After searching online for baby stores in our area we headed up to Manhattan Beach where there were four baby stores (plus Pottery Barn Kids) in a 2 block area. Our intention was to just look around and maybe pick up an outfit or two for fun.



The first store we found was a re-sale store (much to our surprise) and it turned out that they were having a 50% off sale for Mother's Day. How great is that? So instead of prices like $3.99 and $1.99 (already a steal, right?) our purchases ranged from .50 to $3.00 for the most expensive item. The clerk had to ring us up in two transactions because we bought so many things! Total price for 38 items: $76.96.

It was fun to see the kinds of clothing that my daughter chose - the colors and the styles she liked. She had definite likes and dislikes. This was one of her favorites:

We found a lot of Ralph Lauren Polo, some Gymboree, Carters, L.L.Bean, and quite a few upscale designer brands. I remember buying my daughter's baby clothes before and after she was born and spending a lot of money on clothing she barely wore. We were thrilled that we were able to find such darling clothes for so little. The clothes were all in good shape (barely worn) and without any stains. 

After we left the re-sale store we went check out the other stores on our list. It was fun to look but we already had what we wanted and after seeing what we could get at the re-sale store there was no way we could justify the prices in the other stores. 

We had a great day shopping and I can't wait to see the new clothes all lined up neatly in her closet!

The Container Store

Wonderfully made

"O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

     For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.

     I will praise You, for I am fearfully and 

wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,
         And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,
         When I was made in secret,
         And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
    Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
         And in Your book they all were written,
         The days fashioned for me,
         When as yet there were none of them." - Psalm 139 

It is official ... baby Soberanis is a GIRL! 

We could not be more thrilled! Let the shopping begin!!!

There is nothing like the awe of seeing your child's child in an ultrasound. We have been anticipating this 5 month ultrasound for a long time now and it was amazing. Can I also say that I have shown incredible restraint and have not purchased anything yet for this baby (well, I did get a butterfly mobile but that does not count!). But the waiting is over. 

What am I doing for Mother's Day? Shopping for girly baby things!

I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day too!

Sunflower inspiration

My sister created this invitation for an upcoming bridal shower. 

Remember this photo from the wedding at Strawberry Farms last weekend?  She used it to make the invitation. Want to know how? Check out her post here! 

Strawberry Farms Wedding!

One of my favorite parts of designing a wedding are the details. It is the little touches that make each wedding unique. This barn wedding had a lot going on and it was important to bring all the different elements that the bride wanted to incorporate together so that the end result was pleasing and what she wanted without it being 'too' much.

Her favorite flower is the sunflower and that was important to her. And even though she was getting married in a barn she made it clear she did not want the wedding to be too country. She wanted bright colors with a more vineyard look but with some vintage elements too. And she wanted it to be more elegant than rustic. To make it even more challenging, the groom who is Scottish wanted to wear a kilt. A red plaid one. And so did his 13 groomsmen. 

The bride's favorite color is purple and so chose that for her bridesmaids. 

The girls wore red shoes (I love that!) and the Rabbi asked for a Chuppah. (Did I tell you there was a lot going on?)

The beautiful bride wore traditional white ...

And I heard that the Rabbi married them with charm and meaning and a bit of humor thrown in ... 

And while the ceremony was going on, we were working on the finishing touches inside the barn where the reception was held.

The bride had chosen seed packets to announce the seat assignments and we planted them in burlap lined trays of grass and lobelia. 

Instead of a traditional photo booth, the bride asked for a photo vignette and then hired a photographer to take photos for them. We brought in my favorite settee, some old-fashioned hats and props, and a handful of large frames to make the photo shoot a fun and unique experience.

 We hung a vintage chandelier to add to the charm.

The tables were set with lovely lanterns ...

And on a few tables in between we placed some tall iron branches.

The result was everything the bride wanted it to be. 

The psychology of color

I wasn't able to get the photos of the wedding that I wanted so I thought I would show you what I was up to today (Monday). Do you remember this psychologist's office I designed last summer?  I posted about it here and here. I got a call from the doctor a few weeks ago saying the building she had moved to had been sold and she had to move again. The bad news was, she had just a few weeks to moving day and I was up to my ears in other projects. The good news was we only had to make a few changes (paint, new hardware, add baseboards and re-space plan her existing furniture). I met her at her office to take measurements and select paint colors.

While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Green is often used in decorating for its calming effect. For example, guests waiting to appear on television programs often wait in a "green room" to relax. 

We wanted to keep the existing furniture and her daughter's darling artwork so that was my jumping off point for the color selection. I chose three colors. One for the waiting room, one for her treatment room and one for a small office and hallway that connects the two larger rooms.

Her previous office had come with yellow walls so this time we decided to mix it up a little. I used Wythe Blue HC-143, Folk Art 528 and Pashimina AF-100 (all from Benjamin Moore) for the wall colors.  I had the vinyl gray base removed and replaced with 5 & 1/2 " white painted baseboard to pop the wall color and add a little architectural interest to the otherwise plain room.  We opted to leave the existing window treatments which look better in person than in the photographs. 

Blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, and orderly*.

I arranged for her office to be painted and the changes to be made and emailed her a detailed floor plan for the movers to follow as I could not be there on the move-in day. The painting took two days, and she moved in the following day. Today I just had to tweak the furniture slightly and hang the artwork. It turned out to be a fairly easy move for her and less disrupting than she had thought and she is up and ready to start seeing patients tomorrow.

She has two pieces of art that we will be incorporating and we ordered an ivory leather settee to add more seating in the waiting room.  After studying the photographs I think I would like to add a rug in the treatment room and maybe a couple of plants. 

Inside Out Weddings is born

After my daughter got married last summer, I thought it might be fun to add "wedding designer" to the list of "things I do".  It seemed simple enough. We already had a lot of the decor and I had figured out what the best resources were for things we didn't have.  Her wedding was very easy to put together and oh, so very fun! So why not do it again, right?

The bridesmaid's dresses were where we pulled our inspiration

I had approached the job of designing her wedding just like I would with any design project.  We started with a few good ideas, found our one inspiration piece, and expanded on that.

We had purchased a lot of the decor and had planned on selling everything after the wedding. We had a buyer who was interested in a good part of it but then, at the last minute, I changed my mind and decided to keep everything in case I ever wanted to use it again. I told her I would rent her the things instead.

My sister, (the one who the photographer) who is incredibly talented, creative, much more crafty and DIY able than I, came on board with me to form a new division of my company, Inside Out Weddings. We spent the last few months gathering props and putting together our business plan.

Saturday was our first event. It was a beautiful and unique wedding at a lovely barn in Orange County. The bride wore white, and the groom wore ... a skirt! A red plaid one!  They had 26 attendants, a junior bridesmaid and a flower girl. It was a big event!

I started the day with my car packed with everything that didn't go on the truck the day before ...

And grabbed breakfast to go!

The first thing we did was line the road on the way up to the barn with signs we custom made for the bride. My daughter painted them (thank you Hayley!!!).

And then we went to work on the inside of the barn. The colors were determined by the bride. Her favorite color is purple and her favorite flower is a sunflower. The bridesmaids wore purple dresses with red shoes and they carried colorful bouquets of flowers with purples and reds and sunflowers. And then there were the 14 men with red skirts ;)  That is where we pulled our inspiration. 

Sign on the men's restroom door

Men's restroom details

More photos to share tomorrow!