Holy Hell 30 Already

Thirty…for women, that is a somewhat dirty word. A woman is told that they are no longer young once they are 30+. Which is not something women look forward to; as they are told their entire life that being young, thin, and beautiful means you have great value.

Maybe now I will feel less pressure to BE young, thin, and beautiful all the time. After all, now I am old! YAY!

But you know what? I feel exactly the same. I look exactly the same. I am exactly the same.

On a lighter note, I had a phenomenal 30th birthday. I spent the day *celebrating* with close friends, by getting dolled up for our Pin-Up Party (more on that when I get the photos back) and having a great time. The atmosphere was light, the food (OMG Cortney's cupcakes!!!) was delish, and my friends were AMAZING.

Then we headed out to a large dinner gathering at Claddaghs; where we continued *celebrating*. The food was great and I loved catching up with people I don’t get to see enough. Several people decided to come back to the house to continue catching up, *celebrating*, and partaking in Karaoke! Which is when I found the balloons my parents secretly left for me, knowing I would love them.

I have the most amazing family and friends.

I should have had someone take pictures of everything; but I was trying to be in the moment (as Mark is constantly reminding me to live in the moment, not outside it as the photographer). So I really don’t have many photos, which does bum me out a lot. As pictures, for whatever reason, mean a lot to me.

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Wedding Felt Animal Masks

Sarah redesigned the animal masks for me and I could not be more pleased with the results (we are referring to them as the chibi versions)! They are much more appropriately proportioned for smaller faces and printing ease. She even remade all of the patterns for me! Head over here to see how I made my very first felt animal mask. This is going to be a long post, as I am going to share all of them here. However, I am not going to go into the details. This is really more of a way for me to show off Sarah's amazing designs and my hard work! Bat: Bear: Fox: Giraffe: Golden Retriever: Hippo: Liger: Owl: Panther: Red Panda: Sloth: Snake: Tiger: Wolf: If you're interested in buying these masks or the digital templates (with instructions) to create your own, check out my Esty shop: MarstenCo !...

New House Colors

Our new home is not open concept. It has many distinct rooms, which I'm currently loving and enjoying picking out paint colors for. I love a house with character and color, but I don't think it should overwhelm. When deciding my colors, I chose some basic neutral grays, bieges, whites, and blacks that could be used as connecting colors throughout the house. I also made sure any connecting rooms had colors that complemented each other. Next, I determined a focal design element (painting, furniture, flooring, etc.) that helped defined the room's aesthetic and took into consideration the era the house was built in. Lastly, I used Sherwin Williams to make personalized color schemes for each room to keep me inspired and focused. Below are the colors I've chosen for each room - don't judge until you see how phenomenally each room turned out (click the links to see)! Living Room : Dining Room : Kitchen: Library: Master Bedroom : Nursery : Guest Room: Upstairs Bathroom: ...

Nursery Remodel

There wasn't a huge need to do much more than update the paint colors and refinish the hardwood in the upstairs. But I was excited to get our son's room ready to go and inviting for him. It was the top priority when we started working on the house, as we wanted to make the transition as comfortable for him as possible. The carpet was down when we bought the house, but outside of that, here's what we started with: If you haven't noticed, I am very partial to blues, teals, greens, grays, and oranges. I think it would be hard to leave my house without being aware of that. Hopefully, our son is into that as well! You might have noticed that his bookcases and changing table have fun backings. As He outgrew his muslin blankets and I needed to start hiding cords from him, I temporarily adhered the blankets to the backs.

Happenstance

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