Our weekend in pictures

Happy Monday! Hope everyone's week is off to a great start. So far, ours isn't too amazing. Because it's so nice out, I decided to take the boys and Isla for a long walk this morning; out of nowhere Porter had a seizure. I laid with him for a while, gave him some water, and he seemed better. Then he got up suddenly, tried to run off and ended up having a second that was a lot worse than the first. It was pretty terrifying for both Isla and I, and I ended up having to call Sam to pick us up since we were so far from home and I wasn't sure he'd be able to make it back. He seems to be better now, but we're going to get him to the vet to try to figure out what's going on.

On to happier things...we had a great weekend! It started out with a bang when Sam gave me the go ahead to pick up these gorgeous blue and white gourd lamps from TJ Maxx. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw them. They were kind of a splurge, but I've wanted a pair for a really long time, and I can literally move them from room to room in my house. The colors work with all my furniture and decor. Sam hates the phrase "investment piece" but that's what I consider them. 

Saturday was gorgeous, so we hung up a new flag (ours was getting torn and dingy) and some buntings. Bring on the 4th of July! 

|  pleated fan  |

You may have seen my Instagram pictures of us rolling out new sod two weekends ago. Well, it has taken pretty well thanks to diligent watering and tons of rain. We love it SO much now and can't wait to break it in with an al fresco dinner party :) Our dogs killed most of the grass last fall/winter, so we decided it'd be easier and faster just to start over. Sam found a really cheap sod farm nearby and he and my dad tilled the yard and laid it. I think our total cost was $250, which isn't bad considering it makes our yard 1000 times nicer and more usable. And don't worry- we've now trained our dogs to go on the side of the house, where we just have mulch and some hostas. So there's never that fear of stepping in a pile of poo. Always a good thing! 

We have two giant trees in our backyard that are flowering. The yard is covered in flowers, and I find it really beautiful.

We drove by this by this amazing house on Saturday, and were so inspired by the exterior that we decided we now want to leave our house white and paint the trim black (you can read about all our other exterior plans here). I totally dig how classic a white house with black trim is, and it'd save us a ton of money that we probably won't recoup when we sell. That's always always always something we consider. I am super excited to bring this vision to life, especially since it won't be too expensive or time-consuming (I hope!).

We also stumbled upon this gorgeous restaurant near downtown St. Paul (apparently we do a lot of driving around gawking at houses), and were inspired by the wrought iron fence. We want to get something similar for our front yard, to put at the top of the hill by the arbor. We have to get a permit first, and then have it approved by the historical society, but I think it'd really up our home's curb appeal. I love that it's another area to decorate- can you even imagine how charming some live garland would look swagged from it during the winter?!- and Home Depot has a no-dig version that's really affordable and easy to install. Win win! Can't wait to get started!

When we weren't driving around, we were assembling Isla's birthday present...only 3 weeks late. Oops! We still need to put together the microwave hutch, but I've got more birch pieces to paint before it's ready (I'm using this hack as inspiration). I also need to figure out a solution for the counter. Originally I wanted to stain it dark, but then I thought a faux carrera contact paper would be really cute. I'm just not sure how the corners will turn out. Anyone have any ideas/experience with that? Though it's not done, Isla is obsessed with it, and has given her babies quite a few baths in the sink already. :) 

|  play kitchen  |

 Finally, we finally got the powder room floor grouted! Next up is another coat of sealer, and then it's ready for the vanity. You know, the one that's been sitting in our dining room for the past 5 months.

|  marble subway tile  |

We really wanted to get our new dishwasher installed, but ran out of time. Hopefully this week. Our current dishwasher does a pretty bad job of getting everything clean, and I have to rewash frequently. Plus, there is something so magical about using a brand new appliance for the first time. I can't explain it. But it is amazing.

How was your weekend? Tackle any projects? Or did you get to relax? I won't lie- as much as I love working on our house, grilling out and having a few cold ones in the backyard sounds pretty amazing too.