Thursday, August 22, 2013

Ashley Warnock Photography

I had to share a few photos from our session with Ashley Warnock from early this summer.  Ashley is such a dear friend and talented doesn't begin to scratch the surface when talking about her.  AMAZING is what I like to call her.  Let me just show you a few pics from our shoot.  I love how she captures our little life.  Candid, real moments on a Saturday in May....




These two.
I love this because I know what G is saying...."Bruhder...are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  That's become his new phrase.  No idea where he came up with that one, but I love it!!













  She is not only a talented photographer but also an incredible organizer.  This is a whole separate business where she will take all of your pictures and organize them into one album.  You can do yearly albums or lump several years together for one album.  I gave her 6,000 (literally) photos from our life in 2012 and she combed through, edited and brought them together into one beautiful book.  Amazing!!!!  You need to get on her list, because I know she has one a mile long and get a session and an album made. I mean, well worth it people!!!  I would never have taken the time to go through that many photos but she will and loves it!!!  

Here are a few pics from our album....look how thick it is!!!!





These above pictures are all ones I took but Ashley doctored them up a little lot!  Go here to get her contact info.



Monday, August 5, 2013

Exterior Paint

So, I am helping a friend decide on what colors to paint the exterior of her house.  It is so hard to decide and such a large and lasting decision.  Curb appeal is everything, right?  I know we had the hardest time last year deciding on what colors to paint our brick house.  One thing that helped me was going by the Farrow & Ball paint chart because not only do they have a beautiful selection of timeless colors but it is also a rather small grouping. I get so overwhelmed by the other paint companies and all of the color variations!

We ended up picking Farrow & Ball "Pointing" and "Downpipe" for the trim, shutters and porch and we could not be happier!!!  I love the risk we took going with such a dark color on the trim/shutters!  It was so worth it and I really have my brother to thank for that.  He helped us with the entire design of our renovation so I trusted him when it came to what he thought would look best!!! 

I did go through a lot of paint combinations that could have worked and that would be good choices if we had decided to not be so bold.  
F&B
Lamp Room Gray
We used this in our foyer and I love this gray so much.  It looks here like it has a green tint but it really doesn't at all.  It is the perfect shade.  We considered this for the body of our house and cut it by 50% with white.  It really was a pretty color and could have worked as the body color had we not gone with "Pointing."  

F&B
Cornforth White
We used this in our master bedroom and it is a great shade of tan/gray a neutral that goes with everything.  This could work as the body color of the house? 

F&B
Pointing
We did use this as our exterior paint color for our house and I love it so much!  It looks so yellow here but it does not at all on our house.  It's a great cream color that actually has zero yellow tint in it, I think.  


F&B
Pavilion Gray
We did not end up using this color anywhere but I do love it.  It could be a good trim color with any of the above, yes or no?  It may not be enough contrast though since I have not tried it out on the exterior of the house yet?

Here a few inspirational pictures



unknown??



I would love your input on good color combos too if you have them, please comment!!!  

Friday, August 2, 2013

Steals + Deals

Let me start by saying I NEVER score at TJ Maxx, ever.  I have to believe it's because I don't go often enough to find the good stuff.  I have friends, don't we all, who always have the BEST finds from there or Marshall's....ehh hmmm Natalie and Liza come to mind.  Well over the last month I have been frequenting more often than I should, it truly becomes an addiction.  Once you get one good deal you keep going back for more...

It all started with this guy....


I have never owned a nice pocket book really ever.  So this was still a splurge for me but at 50% off it was a deal not to be passed up!

And just this week I popped in and found another bag-I'm a collector of bags in case you didn't know-and found this guy.  



Have you ever heard of Olivia + Joy?  I feel like I have seen the brand at TJ's before.  It's not a super expensive line to begin with.  Most bags are under $100, so finding this one marked even less than half of that, at  $39.99, was exciting to me!  It's huge with a million pockets yet structured simply which I love!  I'm thinking it will be the perfect carry on for our trip this Fall!  Go check out their website...they have a lot of bags marked down!
And speaking of marked down, check out these guys....marked way down on the Badgley Mischka site.

Have you had any good finds lately?  I want to hear!