Current Obsession: Lorena Canals Machine-Washable Rugs

*I was provided a rug of my choice in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and photos are mine.

When we originally decorated R's nursery two years ago, I wanted to buy a rug but could never find one I liked. Plus I knew that any rug I bought for the nursery would most likely end up getting dirty, and a lot of the rugs I looked at seemed hard to clean or just didn't add much to the space, so I didn't want to waste my money.

When I was given the opportunity to try a rug from Lorena Canals, I knew I wanted to find something for the nursery. Their rugs and cushions are all machine washable and fit in a standard washer/dryer! They are handmade in India of 100% cotton, and proceeds support schooling for children in India. The production process consists of non-child labor and uses all-natural dyes, so they are safe for children. (And pets too, I suppose, if you're into that kind of thing.)

It was hard to decide which rug I liked the best because all the designs are unique and fun. These aren't rugs you see anywhere else! I couldn't get away from the idea of a round rug, and I ended up going with the Round ABC in Vintage Blue. I also loved this world map rug and this Azteca print! This puffy cloud rug is really fun too. It has a built-in pillow, how cool is that?

^^^ A note: The color of this rug is more of a muted gray-blue than a true blue, which is perfect for our nursery space and I'm very pleased, but I just wanted to point that out.

Obviously these rugs are not cheap, but for a fun splurge, I honestly couldn't be happier with my rug from Lorena Canals. When it came in the mail, it had some wrinkles, and the instructions said to pop it in the dryer for 10 minutes or so to get them out. 

To me, the rug feels just thick enough without being too thick and isn't super heavy. I'm pleased with the quality of the stitching and fabric, etc. Since it's on carpet in her room, I can't say whether or not it would slide around on wood or another surface, but if so I think a thin rug pad would do the trick. (If anyone reeeeeally wants to know, I can take it into my kitchen and see how it feels on the tile. Let me know.)

I love that Lorena Canals Rugs are made with non-toxic dyes, an ethical production process, and can be tossed into my washing machine when it's dirty! It's suuuuper soft and just what I was looking for to complete this space. Also a bonus is that R can practice her letters while we're hanging out in her room on our new rug! Win win for all.

Currently June

reading: I'm in the middle of The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which normally I would be all over because I have all the heart eyes for the Little House on the Prairie, but I seriously lie down in my bed to read at night and get about three pages before my eyes start to close. Some day I won't be tired, but that day is not now.

watching: Jordan and I are obsessed with The Flash. The first few episodes are super nerdy and kind of cheesy, but oh man this show is so good. Plus you can barely find good shows these days that aren't full of swearing and sex!

feeling: Anxious for Baby Bum to join the party on the outside. My due date isn't officially until the 23rd, but I keep hoping he will take after his big sister and come early. The week of R having hand, foot, mouth followed directly by a week of me having the strep totally killed it for me, and I am over everything right now. My hips hurt all the time, I basically can't roll over in bed without a colossal effort, and being at work is dumb. Motivation, where are you?

working on: The crib to toddler bed transition. And by that I mean we going to make this happen because Baby Boy will be using the crib in a few months, and we can't be dealing with this bed madness once he comes. I like to think my mom and Jordan's mom have useful and helpful parenting advice seeing as how they each raised four kids, but in this matter they give us a blank stare and respond with: "Hmmm, I'm not quite sure how we did that." Thanks for nothing, moms! It's just confusing because no one seems to have any specific advice about this. Not even the Internet, which is weird because usually the Internet has a lot to say about everything. Needless to say, we don't know what we are doing, but like everything else involving parenting, I suppose we just move forward and hope for the best! Would anyone like a post about this? I fear it might bore everyone to tears, but if there's interest I might write something up, at least for my own reference later on when we are doing this with Baby Bum #2 down the road.

eating: Let's just say if you cut up a watermelon and want to eat any of it yourself, don't tell me there's watermelon because there might not be any left after I'm done with it.

making: Gifts for our L&D nurses! I didn't do this for R because I didn't know people did things like this, but I saw a printable on Rachel's blog and thought it was so cute and also easy and cheap (important!), so I made some last weekend. I don't have a hospital bag packed, but I do have M&Ms for the nurses so I'm winning at one thing, at least. Also making padsicles for post-delivery because they were the best ever last time. I'm living a glamorous life right now, friends.

organizing: The nursery closet! I mentioned a few posts back that Jordan was going to put a shelf in the closet. I'm thankful it's a walk-in, although it isn't huge, but he did finally add a shelf to one side, and I feel like it gives me more space to work with. My mom stayed for a few days last week and helped clean my house and organize things, and I do think this is an improvement! I totally forgot to take a picture of the before closet, but I have a during and after for you. P.S. That recliner/rocker is from Babies R Us, and I looooooove it.

I don't know how many more posts I'll get up before the baby comes. My motivation and ability to stay away in the evenings after R finally goes down is dwindling quickly. I do have a couple of sponsored posts coming up that I'm excited about, and I also want to do a roundup of baby stuff I've been loving lately from around the Internet! Until then, I hope you all have a great week!

Preparing for Baby #2

*I suppose I should apologize for taking a leave of absence from the blog without announcing myself, lest you think I'm in labor. No, I am not in labor. But I am lacking motivation to blog regularly, and I've been filling any evening free time with other creative projects that I plan on blogging about if I ever get around to it! 

I posed a question to my blog’s Facebook page, asking what topics people would like to see me write about. A couple of people suggested I write about how we are preparing for Baby Bum 2.0, so I figured I’d sit down and see what I have to say about it. 

Social Activities Are My Cardio

I cannot believe how much stuff we have had going on recently. It's kind of ridiculous. Last week Jordan and I realized that we hadn't even turned the TV on one single time from Sunday to Sunday, and obviously it isn't a bad thing to not watch TV, but it should tell you something about how busy we've been!

R has been such a dream child, going to all these different things with us, staying up past her bedtime and still getting up in the morning at the same time to head out the door with us for work/daycare. The bright side is that she goes down for bed so easy and we don't hear a peep from her during the night. Probably because she's passed clean out with her limbs hanging out every which way (see exhibit A).

On Monday, Beka drove down from Kansas to take maternity pictures for us! We first connected online via our blogs and had a chance to meet up in person a couple of times while she and her husband lived in Oklahoma. The first time we met was at a Starbucks (isn't that how all the cool bloggers do it?), and her husband waited in the car to make sure I wasn't a serial killer. Jordan stayed home and just told me to "text him if I got killed." He loves me. 

Beka recently started a new photography business and was kind enough to offer to take our photos! I know maternity pictures aren't everyone's favorite thing, but I love them. You can see my maternity pics with R here.

My mom was here last weekend and that was awesome, as always. We made a bunch of freezer meals. We made a few from this post and also we made this (I had a 4-pound roast that we cut it in half and cooked half for dinner that night and made the other half a a freezer meal for later!) We also rearranged a few things around the house. I figured since I'm almost 32 weeks pregnant maybe I should actually start doing something about the nursery. You can check out pictures of the nursery in this post. 

We aren't doing too much to it, but I did get gray curtains (these) and I'm replacing one of the two animal art prints with a fox with yellow balloons from the same Etsy shop as I got the original prints from. The goal is just to make it look more neutral with less pink stuff and more boy colors. Easy and cheap! We originally painted the room mint green for a reason.

We moved the white cabinet out (see how it looked in the nursery in this post), flipped it on its side, and made R a little play area in our office/extra dining room. I am kind of in love with it. Now her toys and books aren't piled in the living room! 

With the space created by the cabinet, we moved R's toddler bed (that my in-laws found at Goodwill for $50!) into the nursery. Now to start the transition from crib to toddler bed... We have no idea what we are doing but at least R sleeps on a cot at daycare for naps every day so she's used to not always being in a crib to sleep. That should help, right? Help.

In other news, the Oklahoma City Arts Festival is in town this week! It's one of my favorite weeks of the year and since I work downtown, I try to go to the fair every day during my lunch hour. I have already plotted out what I want to eat, and today was this delicious BBQ sandwich. I also have my eye on the giant egg rolls (had them last year and YUM) and also trying out the bread pudding that people raved about last year. In case you are wondering about budgeting, I pretty much use up my April blow money on eating at the festival and I have no regrets.

After months of staring at it, I finally stained and hung up this "gather" sign over our kitchen table, and I love it! I think maybe I need to find something to go over it or around it or something, but for now I'm happy I at least accomplished getting it on the wall.

 With that and the nursery stuff, Jordan is all, "So, I guess you're nesting?" 

I mean, I guess so, but I haven't had the urge to scrub my baseboards yet so I can't be sure.

What's been going on with you?

$150 Minted Giveaway

I've talked before on the blog about how much I love Minted. I order our Christmas cards from there every year because the quality is great, they do free address printing on the envelopes, and the designs are unique. So I was super duper extremely excited when Minted asked me if I was interested in reviewing their art prints and hosting a giveaway on the blog. Um, yes thank you. Scroll to the bottom of this post for your chance to win $150 to spend on Minted!

Minted has a ton of original art prints for every room in your house! They work with independent designers to bring you high-quality art and a lot of it is customizable, which is fun. Also (I feel like a game show host "Yes! There's more!") for an additional fee they will even frame your print! From wood to metal, they have a lot of color and style options for framing.

I probably could have spent days searching for just the right print, but ain't nobody got time for that, so I basically skimmed through, chose the first two that caught my eye, and went for it. And I love them! 

First, a customized print for R's nursery. Obviously it spells out her full name, but I blocked it out to show on the blog. I wanted something that could go in her room now but also something that would work for when she's older. (See more pictures of her nursery here.) I went with a distressed white wood frame, and I was very happy to see it came with hooks on the back so it was ready to hang when I opened it. I hung it above the art R brings home from daycare. My child is so advanced writing her own name and drawing stick figures at her age.

Second, a piece of abstract art. 

Jordan looked at me like I was a nut when I showed it to him, but for some reason I really liked the look of this simple print. I chose a gold metal frame, and I absolutely love it! I ended up hanging it in the guest bathroom, but I really could have hung it anywhere. What I think is fun about these is that you can choose to have the author's signature on the bottom.

So cute, right? I did receive these prints for free in exchange for hosting this giveaway, but all opinions are my own. *Affiliate links are contained in this post.

>>>>>>>

Minted is offering one reader $150 to spend on anything on their site!

To enter, click here. 

Giveaway ends one week from today, and the winner will be emailed.

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Note: This giveaway is only open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia who are at least 18 years old as of the date of entry, except officers, directors, members, and employees of the Sponsor, the judging organization (if applicable), or any other party associated with the development or administration of this Promotion, and the immediate family (i.e., parents, children, siblings, spouse), and persons residing in the same household, as such individuals. This Promotion is void outside the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and where prohibited.

Because the Elephant Needed a Friend

Hello! Welcome to Baby Bum's nursery! I actually wasn't sure a nursery was going to happen at all because every time I thought about decorating the nursery I had a near meltdown.

TOO STRESSFUL.

Seriously, what do I not find stressful these days?

Let me list them for you:
1.

See how I make jokes?

^^^That white cabinet is from Target. We've had it for years, and I just painted it white. It was black before. We're thinking when she's older we can turn it horizontal and put books and toys inside so she can play!

We never had a theme for the nursery, and I never made a Pinterest inspiration board, and I never thought more than 2.5 seconds about the pattern of a crib sheet. Amen. 

The only thing I did was pick out colors and items I liked, and slowly it came together! Note: the only reason anything is hung or looks good at all is because I had help from my family. Have I mentioned I love those guys?

The first thing I did was paint the walls mint green (mint condition from Sherwin Williams). The color is perfect! I love it. It's gender neutral and also room neutral, for that matter. It doesn't have to be a kid's room later on down the road once she's older (or once we have more kids!). 

After painting the walls, I bought mostly white and gray stuff and added touches of pink here and there. It wasn't intentional, but I just kept registering for white/gray and decided I would just go with it. 

The elephant/giraffe theme was entirely accidental. We just kept getting elephant stuff! Like, people would get her an elephant toy or a stuffed animal or a blanket with elephants on it. We didn't register for elephants, but it just happened that way, and so we were like, "Let's do elephants." We added a giraffe because the elephant needed a friend.

^^^I'm slightly obsessed with the prints from this Etsy shop. They are exactly what I never knew I wanted. I saw them and HAD TO HAVE THEM. You could say it was love at first sight. The frames were purchased using a 40% off coupon from Hob Lob.

^^^ We have so many books! I love it. Baby Bum is going to be a reader just like her mom and dad. At a few of my baby showers, people brought books instead of cards, so I am stocked full. Surprisingly, out of all the books we only had 2 repeats.

The crib and dresser are hand-me-downs from his parents (crib) and my parents (dresser), which is awesome because expensive much? I don't have time for that.

^^^The elephant and giraffe statues are from Hobby Lobby. The mom/baby figure I already had. I ended up going with this maternity picture; thanks for your help with that one! My favorite suggestion was to choose a picture to frame where either neither of us or both of us are looking at the camera. I thought that was smart.

So that's basically it! Considering I had no theme and no "inspiration," I think I did pretty well picking things out. I'm so glad I had help hanging everything and painting and putting the crib together or this might have never gotten done. And just in time too!