top: forever 21 | jeans: old navy maternity | shoes: love culture | necklace and earrings: pretties by meg

i don’t think i ever shared this, but ever since our little bean has been created, we’ve been tracking it’s growth with fruit.  i haven’t done it every week, but i’ve tried to keep up as much as possible.  i hope to eventually have it all compiled into a chart to show you my bump’s growth progress.  funny thing is, we keep finding ourselves buying these specialty fruits and veggies and then realizing we should probably eat them before going rotten.  it’s been probably YEARS since i’ve eaten papaya since i’m not that big of a fan, but it’s always nice to branch out and eat something different once in awhile, don’t ya think?  so there we have it, it’s our 22-24 week bump.  it’s kinda crazy to know that the baby is already about 1 pound now, we’re out of the ounces stage, haha!

while i have your attention, would the kaycie eddie, blogger of {redhead} memories, please stand up… because you just won the jean jean vintage GIVEAWAY!  congrats!  please send me an email to sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address and we’ll get your vintage heart locket out to ya soon!

it’s your last chance to get in on september sponsorship, email me if you are interested in seeing rates!  would love to have you!

You’ve asked, so I’m delivering. I’m SO SO SO super excited to finally give you all a tour of our new house, the one we finally just got all settled in to!  We’re still working our way unpacking all the boxes and it’s pretty much a disaster zone right now (I won’t be sharing those pics) but we’re so very happy as can be with it.  We’ve got a lot more space, live in a wonderful cul de sac neighborhood that is walking distance to an elementary school, and the closest shops are Target and Chipotle (can’t get much better than that)!

The front of the house, yay for a 3 car garage!

As you walk in, the first thing you will see is the living room with great big windows and a see through fireplace…

… that goes through to the hearth room (notice the hardwood floors, we got them refinished in a dark color, love it)!

Part of the hearth room is this beautiful built in desk which is like a mini mail collecting area, china display and working desk!

The hearth rooms opens up to one of my favorite rooms in the house, the KITCHEN… with granite countertops, a walk in pantry and double ovens!

We can’t forget about the little eat-in kitchen area where we have yet to find a table/chairs for~!

Here’s the formal dining room with beautiful wainscoting and ceiling details.

And it happens to be painted the same color as the master bedroom!  You can’t see it real well, but there’s a tall tray ceiling with rope lights if we want to make it ultra romantic and bowed out wall with 5 windows!

Here’s bedroom #2 which includes a full bath and a cool sitting area by the window.

Bedroom #3 is what we’re turning into the nursery! Notice the painter’s tape as we are in the process of redoing this room before Baby a la mode’s arrival!

And Bedroom #4 which has a BONUS room off of it too, we’ll finish that room later~!

Hold your horses, we aren’t done yet!  Here’s a view of the walk out basement!  And yes, the old owners left us a pool table – suh-weet!  There’s also a mini-bar off to the left side as well.

The rest of the basement is a sweet entertainment space, that Marvin’s already been setting up to be his man cave.  Then there’s a whole other half of the basement that is all storage, but I’ll spare you of those pictures.

And lastly, are some views of the back of the house.  Here’s the deck off of the main floor and our BBQ grill’s new home.

Walaa!  There you  have it. 

You can bet I’ll be blogging more about our home as we start decorating it.  It’s always so fun having a new space to design… although I know it’s going to cost us as we have more rooms and walls to fill then we’re used to.  We’ve decided that we’ll do it slowly but surely though, there’s no rush right now, except maybe the nursery! 

Hey friends!  I’m back again linking up to a {little} dash of ash’s camera phone link up party!  Another weekend has passed and we’re definitely closer to being all unpacked.  This past Saturday we unpacked ALL of our kitchen boxes and finished up the clothes, making progress folks, making progress.    I can’t wait to share pictures of the house with you later this week!  But for now, I thought I’d share a few photos taken with Retro Camera on my Android phone.  And btw, Easy Tether is the best app ever.  You can get internet on your computer through your phone from anywhere where your phone has service.  We still have 2 more weeks until we get internet/cable service at our house and Easy Tether has been a LIFE SAVER!  I mean… imagine not having internet at home for 3 weeks… it would be pretty brutal.

On the left are some chocolate chip cookies that a neighbor brought over to our house t welcome us into the cul de sac.  So sweet!  And on the right, is a deep dish pizza we got from a local joint called The Dish, so big and so good!

A few weeks ago my FIL introduced me to eating avocados on bagels, and boy was it good.  It might be my new favorite (garden vegetable topping was the previous winner).  And on the right, is some almond jello with fruit cocktail I made… because I was craving it. 

On Sunday, a couple friends and I hit up a Sunday brunch at a place called The Well.  Let’s just said I fed baby REALLY well.

And lastly, Marvin wanted to share his camera phone photos from this week too.  He was in Denver for a business trip this past week and look what the house keeper made for him on his bed?  This reminded us when they did this every night on our cruise… oh how nice it would be to be cruising again…

So yea, it’s not any surprise that this past week was full of food, is it?  Baby needs to grow, right? 

As you know, things have been SUPER BUSY around here! Both Marv’s parents and my parents have flown in to help us pack and move and unpack these past few weeks and I can finally say that we’re ALL MOVED IN to the new place! Well, the unpacking isn’t finished but our goal it to unpack at least a box a day until we’re done… we’re not in any real rush though, unless there’s something we absolutely need to use and then we’ll need to unpack the box it’s in. But one of the joys of moving into a new house is making the house into a HOME~! So far we’ve only been living there for a week but it almost still feels like a vacation home or something since not all the rooms are filled w/ furniture and we don’t have any pictures on the walls. And while packing, we realized that we had SO many pictures that were never hung up in our old home due to lack of space that I’m determined to get all the pictures up in our new place. So I’ve been brainstorming about some clever ways to get all the pictures up and I think a wall full of pictures is the perfect cure. Marv might need a little convincing though so I’m hoping this post will help sway him to let me fill a wall up with pictures!

via pinterest

love all the different designs and colors of these pictures and how they coordinate w/ the pillows

via pinterest

what a great way to display family portraits in matching frames!

via pinterest

what a perfect little custom picture wall!

via pinterest

can’t beat that colorful wall paper!

via pinterest

i heart yellow and all these great frames!

via pinterest

umm yea… LOVE this!

via pinterest

all of these fun and bright colors, it just amazes me!

via pinterest

loving the contrast of black and white against the light turquoise – so serene!

So what do you think?  Should we put up a picture wall somewhere in our house?  Please say yes. 

P.S.  If your name is Beth and you blog at Dot in the City… CONGRATS!  You just won the Noodle ‘N Thread giveaway!  Please email me at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!

P.P.S. And don’t forget to enter yourself in the Jean Jean Vintage giveaway for a heart locket, folks!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed, thanks for entering!

{shop} {blog} {twitter}

I first found out about this beautiful shop through a mutual friend and ever since, I’ve been hooked. Jean Jean Vintage has some of the most gorgeous and unique vintage pieces you will ever find. I even own a sweet little necklace from the shop and love wearing it (you can see it in this post).  So I’m super excited to introduce you all to her shop and of course there’s a little fun giveaway + discount code involved as well, keep on reading!!

{MEET THE SHOP OWNER}

1) Tell us a little but about yourself and your shop.
My name is Emily Duffelmeyer but I go by the nickname “Duff.” I’m 30 years old and I live in Michigan with my husband. I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years (archaeology volunteer, daycare worker, coffee slinger, specialty food buyer, etc.) but owning Jean Jean Vintage is certainly the best fit for me. I started my shop and blog (jeanjeanvintage.com) about 1 1/2 years ago. I sell vintage and antique jewelry as well as a sweet selection of handbags. My favorite era is Art Deco, so I try to keep a lot of 1920s-1930s pieces in stock!

2) How do you go about finding your vintage treasures?
I go on a couple big buying trips every year to my top secret spots (!) and I also do a lot of buying close to home. I keep my eye out for beautiful, wearable pieces in great condition. For every 100 pieces I look at, I probably only buy 2 or 3 for Jean Jean Vintage. I try to keep the shop selection very carefully curated.

3) What is one accessory you can’t live without?
My hexagonal 1930s locket. I wear it quite a bit. I also have a gold signet ring that I wear for weeks without taking off.

4) What are you looking forward to most this fall?
Soup is my favorite food to eat and to make, so I am always happy when it cools off and I can cook up big batches! Luckily, Mr. Jean Jean doesn’t mind when I experiment with recipes.

5) What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Coffee Heath Bar Crunch! I love to have a few bites in the afternoon instead of coffee these days.

{GIVEAWAY}

Win this beautiful vintage heart locket!

A sweet vintage heart locket with a brushed gold finish. The face of the locket is set with a tiny rhinestone in a starburst setting. The interior has space for two photographs and the locket closes with a tight snap. The pendant is 12K gold fill with a 14K gold fill chain. Great condition.

To enter:

1. Visit Jean Jean Vintage and leave a comment with your favorite item!

For additional entries, leave a separate comment for each action.
2. Be a Google Friend Connect follower of this blog
3. Be a follower of Jean Jean Vintage blog
4. Follow @sandyalamode and @jeanjeanvintage on Twitter
6. Blog, facebook, or tweet about this giveaway (make sure to include @sandyalamode and @jeanjeanvintage in your tweet) and include the link (one entry each)

Feel free to use this tweet:
Have you seen @jeanjeanvintage’s vintage jewelry shop? Come look & enter the @sandyalamode giveaway for a heart locket! http://bit.ly/n98etL

This giveaway is open to U.S./Canada readers and closes on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 12PM CST.  Good luck!

See something else you like?  Enter code SANDY15 for 15% off your Jean Jean Vintage order through Friday, August 26. 2011!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed, thanks for entering!