Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Memorial Weekend 2011

It may have been two-and-a-half months ago but I wanted to share some photos taken during Memorial Weekend. We went to the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens (one of my favorite nearby places to visit). I used to hike there with my dad when I was younger, back when there was nothing but a few wood chip trails. Now they have a visitor center, paved trails (along with wood chip trails) and many beautiful gardens!

After a lovely home-made picnic on this shaded bench overlooking the pond we lathered up our fair-skinned babies and took a stroll through the gardens.




Peony (my favorite flower)...
This was a great time to visit (end of May) because all the peonies were in bloom!


Looks like Angelia loves peonies too!
We then took more rugged terrain (the wood chip trails) through the woods...
Chiara napped.
...and we took a watermelon break.
...this girl LOVES watermelon!

The four of us had a wonderful time! And we actually went to the Arboretum again last weekend! Soakin' in the last bit of summer!


What did you do for Memorial Weekend? Do you have a place like this you like to visit?


XO,

   Jaclyn

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Beach and Garden

There are two decorating styles I love... I like to call them "Beach" and "Garden," but the more technical term would probably be "Coastal" and "Shabby Chic." My love for Coastal decor blossomed with the help of the talented Sarah from A Beach Cottage. Though since I live in a land-locked state, smack-dab in the middle of the country, I didn't choose Coastal for the main style of our home, but I did want to incorporate it somewhere. (I would have so much fun decorating a beach house... one can dream!) So I thought of an idea that lets me enjoy both worlds/decor styles. The majority of our home is decorated in "Garden/Shabby Chic" and our bathrooms (we now have two since we finished the basement) are decorated in "Beach/Coastal". I love the idea because the majority of our home feels very natural and soothing (like it's part if it's surroundings) and the bathrooms feel very fun and relaxing (like you just stepping into a vacation resort). It started with a shelf display I put together in our upstairs bathroom...

But I didn't decide on the clear division until after I made this display inside a glass urn in our bedroom...
I filled it with some sand I picked up at Target and a few shells I had gathered during a vacation.


Although I loved how it turned out, it just seemed out of place to me. I guess it's because we live in Kansas and don't have anything else "sea" in the room. So after a few weeks of enjoying the sand and shells, my displays went from "Beach" to "Garden"...
I just replaced the sand and shells with some river rocks I pick up at Hobby Lobby.



I l.o.v.e decorating with things from nature. I think it adds a lot of warmth and comfort to a home.


As for the sand and shells, they have already made there way into a new display in our master bathroom, can't wait to show you!

Is your style more "Beach" or "Garden?" Do you think your geographical location effects how you decorate your home?


XO,

   Jaclyn

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