It's fun to dream!

Real Simple is having another sweepstakes; this one for a dream closet! I'm going to add this, along with the one for the playroom, to the sidebar on the right. That one is hard to find, but you can still enter everyday until October 13, so maybe the chances will be better now that it doesn't show up on their home page! For the closet one, you can enter every day until October 19.

Good luck, and remember, we split the winnings. :-) (j/k)

P.S. I also found a link at the bottom of the RS home page (realsimplerewards.com) that has links to sponsor contests. Maybe I'll go into full-time contest entry?

Land of Nod

Land of Nod is to Crate and Barrel what Pottery Barn Kids is to Pottery Barn. :-) I got their catalog in the mail today (not sure why, because I don't think I've purchased anything there), and do they ever have some cute things. In particular, I thought these little suitcases were super cute and could be very handy for storing things with small parts, like Mr. Potato Head or our set of astronuats. They seem like a deal at $20. I am becoming slightly obsessed with baskets, bins and containers for toy storage, but amazingly still don't have a great system.

I also thought this was the cutest Tulip lamp. I must say that while I love being a "boy mom," a little girl's room would be super fun to decorate. :-)

I have no idea where I would put this, but I also thought this Daisy chandelier was adorable.

On a side note, I saw that this wall art had Caleb's name on it. Gabe was perusing with me, so I asked him, "What does this say?" to quiz him and he said "Caleb!" How did he know that!?

Trying Something New

I am not entirely sure where I'm going to go with this blog, but I really wanted an area where I could organize my thoughts about things that I like and ideas I'd like to try. I also wanted to have a record for myself of decorating and home improvement projects, befores and afters, etc. Blogs seem to be an easy way for me to organize and track things, and with the ability to transfer them into a book at some point, I've become a huge fan. It's also possible that I just wanted another beautiful template from Shabby Creations. I chose this title because I thought it best described my style, if I have such a thing. "Hodgepodge" may be more like it. :-) I've also been inspired by some "lovely" blogs that I came across. One in particular happens to be a girl that went to my high school, la la lovely things. She, and those on her blogroll, post lots of pretty things and ideas and they're really fun to look at. While I think this will be more specific to my own home, ideas and goals, I've definitely been inspired by some of those blogs. So, feel free to read, or not. :-)