I blame it on my mom. I can remember as a little girl looking up into her closets and seeing so many stripes I thought I might go cross eyed. There's something so classic and sophisticated about stripes and when I'm wearing them, I feel put together.Momma obviously felt the same way.I've already found myself with approximately half of my closet selection being of the stripe variety and I'm not even mad about it. I love to mix pattern and a good stripe is the perfect foundation.When I found this bell sleeved baby blue sweater last week, I immediately swooned! My general rule before purchasing something is that I need to be able to have at least three different ways I could wear it in order for it to make sense. I love this sweater with white jeans or front tucked into a suede skirt. It's also long enough to wear over leggings for a relaxed feel. The price also needs to be right. This one is under $38. Check the boxes and welcome to my closet, my friend. 
I love that the color of the sweater is slightly lighter on the bottom and gets a little deeper at the top. I also love the cutout detail by the hem.Sweater linked hereBlush loafers linked here
Reese and Rowen's Birthday Party
Hey Y'all! Thanks so much for stopping by today to share in the FUN of Reese and Rowen's double birthday party!We have been celebrating birthday parties together since Rowen turned one and Reese turned three. They each get to be celebrated and spoiled on their actual birthdays but as a courtesy to family and friends, we have decided to do joint parties up to this point and we ALL love it! It's fun to see the girls celebrate each other and I have loved watching is nurture the sweet bond between the two of them.This year my goal was to keep everything super simple. We pretty much just invited immediate family (still a huge number when you consider how big my fam is!). I didn't send invites and we just planned on an afternoon of desserts and hanging out. Since I have find sisters, Reese and Rowen's built in besties are also their cousins, which works out great in times like these.When I'm planning a party, I normally like to have a focal point in one room rather than feeling like every area of the house has to be touched by decor. I light candles and place fresh flowers throughout the house, but I like to put as much bang for my buck in one spot. It's normally (always!) surrounding the food. Duh! We had a little spread of fresh veggies, pita chips, and a few dips on the dining table. Then the real fun was the spread of sweets on the serving table.
The Menu
Sweets:Angel food cake with strawberries and whipped creamChocolate Peanut Butter CupcakesVanilla CupcakesChocolate Chip CookiesStrawberry Cake PopsMini Sprinkle Vanilla CupcakesSavories:Fresh veggies and ranch dipPita chips with Pine Nut HummusThe Theme
I really didn't go for a actual theme this year. I just tried to keep everything soft and sweet. As you'll see, our colors were baby pink, whites, and a few hints of green in the eucalyptus.
Later in the week, I'll be sharing the tutorial for the balloon garland! It ended up being much simpler than I thought so all the praise hands for that!Thanks for stopping by, sweet friends! Hope you have a great day!Laura
Memory Verse Monday - August 14
Hi, friends! I just shared on this week's memory verse Monday on my instagram but I decided to share it here too just in case! "For we are God's workmanship created in Jesus Christ, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 One of the reasons we taught this one to our girls is because we want them to always remember that God loves them AND He has a plan for them. So after we recite this one, we talk about God's love and His plans. Both are placed individually on each of these precious lives and that is something to celebrate! Hope y'all are having a great start to your week! Laura
Master Bathroom Reveal
Hi, friends!I'm so excited to finally be able to 1) have our bathroom done 2) share it with you! It was a long time coming and like most projects, we had some major hicups we had to deal with along the way. We made it thru and lived to tell about it tho.For starters I wanted to share a little bit about why we chose to do this bathroom renovation. In our little house, our master is on the main level and the layout has confused me from the first time I walked in. The closet was tiny, the bathroom was tiny, and the bedroom was huge! It just didn't make sense to have all this wasted space in our bedroom and not even be able to have two people standing in the bathroom at the same time.So we decided to blow out a few walls in the existing bath and closet to give us twice the space in both rooms!Here's a little before shot of our bathroom:
And here's an after shot:
So as you can see, we extended the wall in the bathroom and the wall in the closet into the bedroom and placed sliding doors in front of both new entrances, which are now side by side. I chose this dark grey double vanity because of what a statement piece it was, not to mention it was very affordable and included faucets and that cute basket. I obviously chose a pretty bold tile for the floors. I couldn't help it. I fell in love with this concrete tile look alike and never turned back. I originally chose beveled glass mirrors to hang over the vanity, but once I saw them in there, it was starting to feel a little sterile. I wanted to add warmth and make it feel more cozy, so I went with these beautiful wood mirrors from World Market. I love how they turned out.
I've linked all the sources at the bottom of this post but please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about anything we used!Since the renovation process is so fresh on my mind, I just wanted to share a few tips to keep in mind if you're also planning a reno or maybe in the middle of one!
- Your contractor isn't perfect: Our team we worked with did an amazing job but we still had junk we had to work thru. A few things were done incorrectly but the important thing is that when we had a problem, we worked together to resolve it. Now everything is great and we couldn't be happier with the outcome!
- It will cost more than you think: One of the issues we ran into was that when they pulled up the old floor, the subfloor was totally rotten. This was obviously something that had to be fixed before we could put down new flooring. It was a pretty big ding in our budget BUT if you go ahead and plan about 10% of an increase for unexpected things that come up, you won't be quite as frustrated when they do.
- It will take longer than you think: We had originally chosen to start this project while we were out of town at the beach because our contractor was pretty confident that he could get the whole bathroom done during the time we were gone. Well, thanks to the crazy amounts of rain we had and drywall that did not want to get dry, the project ended up taking two weeks longer than we had planned. We ended up having to stay with family for a while but it worked out since Matt's surgery was also during this time. Crazy town over here, people.
- You still need to be kind: Depending on the contractor you have, there may be times that you have to be firm in your communication. That's totally fine! But just remember to maintain mutual respect because when that goes out the window, it's just not pretty. Most of the guys in this industry are super hard-working but they're spread very thin so if you want to be on their radar, you have to communicate clearly and often. But you can still be kind while doing it!
Dear Reese
It's your fifth birthday, my sweet girl and I literally can't believe how fast time has flown since I held you for the first time.You were born into what felt like very incapable hands. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I felt the most intense love followed immediately by the most intense anxiety that I was going to mess it up for you somehow. Everything was hard for us in the beginning. The nursing. The soothing, The sleeping (or lack of it!). I couldn't put you down long enough to eat and I remember thinking to myself "Will I ever eat with both hands again?" The postpartum hormones play dirty.
But then as days (and really long nights) went by, we found a little rhythm. I could breathe again and started to feel the weight of anxiety lift as we found our stride going to lunch together, walking through target, reading books, and snuggling. You weren't just my daughter. You became this amazing little friend.
You have taught me more about myself and my own need for sanctification than anything else I've ever experienced. To know your sweet spirit is to love you. You have such a forgiving and gracious spirit. I have failed more times than I'd like to count and every time I ask for forgiveness, you are so very quick to say "I forgive you mommy! I love you so much!"
For someone who loves words as much as I do, it's a testament to your incredible character that I literally can't describe you. You're just something that words fall short of wrapping themselves around. You are so joyful. So sensitive. You see things other people miss. You notice people in their pain and you love to rejoice with others in their joy.You have been a gift from the moment I found out you were growing in my tummy. I'm forever grateful for you. my baby girl.Thank you for making me a mommy. Thank you for being so patient with me as I've fumbled thru this thing called Motherhood. You've been a gracious teacher.I love you, little one. I hope I get to celebrate a hundred more birthdays with you!Love,Mommy