Tag: sponsored

Style: Primary Colorblocking
This post is brought to you by Nordstrom.

I’m growing out my bangs. Also, I tried my hand at false eyelashes for the first time. (Because ZOMG, I saw that Katy Perry had a branded line and I laughed so hard! All the way to the register!) Then I didn’t put my glasses on because my they were touching my fake lashes. So… I look a little different here.

I figure I can always cut my bangs again, but I’m trying my best to lay off the scissors.

This is the first of four style posts this week in partnership with Nordstrom. They’re having their big anniversary sale, there’s a ton of new stuff on sale right now, and I’m sharing my favorites with you.

I’m wearing a mix of new (from the sale) and old here. I’ve had the bag for ages, but I like the idea of subbing in a yellow pouch for it. And I’m wearing a tiered ruffle shirt that I wrote about last year, but I like the idea of wearing a simple white tee or tank and adding a big beaded necklace instead. Get the look, below.
Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content.
July 23, 2012
We Are Art

I’m part of a group of 25 bloggers that are partnering with Art.com. We met up with their team in San Francisco last month, and we were all impressed with their new video (below). It’s pretty amazing.

(That kiss!)

Everyone in attendance chose a piece of art that they loved beforehand. I (coincidentally) chose something by Eisenstaedt, the same photographer that took the famous photo of the sailor and nurse kissing.

Uniformed Drum Major For University of Michigan Marching Band Practicing His High Kicking Prance – Alfred Eisenstaedt

Each of our pieces were hung, gallery-style, in the San Francisco space of The Bold Italic. We took turns standing up to discuss why we chose what we did and I’m sure I gushed and stammered on when it was my turn, but the gist of it was that I love Eisenstaedt’s Drum Major photo because it makes me happy. It’s pure joy! I don’t know if that prancing drum major could exist in the same way today, but in that moment, those kids behind him think he’s the coolest person alive. I have a huge framed print of it coming my way, and I think it will go upstairs, near our bedrooms. I feel like that kind of joy needs to be around all of us.

Art.com just launched a major redesign, and we were able to discuss the changes they’ve implemented when we met with their team in San Francisco. Had you been on the old version of the site before? It was fine if you already knew what you wanted to find (they boast the world’s largest selection of art), but it wasn’t easy to browse and it wasn’t much to look at. The new site is gorgeous, and it’s set up for exploring and finding new art. I especially love the curated collections. I’m creating a gallery (you can too), and I’ll be sure to share it with you when it’s ready. Until then, I’m having fun adding to my virtual collection.

This post was sponsored by Art.com. Find your art. Love your space.

July 9, 2012
Boost Your Roost $20,000 Contest
We’re fond of major before and afters around here. Brandon and I have taken on some big projects, like redoing our kitchen, making over our backyard, and fully refinishing our basement.

We’ve improved our home a lot over the years, but we’ve also improved our life at home. Do you know how nice it is to do laundry in a basement that isn’t scary? Or to cook with the kids in a kitchen that is not only cute, but that actually functions (and isn’t falling apart)? Making my home, well, lovely, makes me and my family happy. These things take some planning though, and a bit of work, and of course you need a budget to work with.

Do you have a space that needs some attention? Maybe you want to create a laundry room too, or give your kitchen a facelift. Maybe you have a bathroom that has seen better days, or you dream of a wall of windows to let the light in. What would you want to do to your home if someone were to come in and give you the budget to do it?

I’ve partnered with HouseLogic to offer homeowners a chance to win a $20,000 home renovation to “Boost Your Roost!” To enter, send me an email (boostyourroost@gmail.com) with the following information:
- Describe the room you’d like to renovate with a $20,000 budget in 300 words or less. We want to hear about why your home improvement project is important to you! How will it help you enjoy your home? How will it impact your time with family and friends?
- I need at least one photo (5 photos max) of the space. Your images are part of what people will be voting on if you’re a finalist, so make ‘em good! You can host your photos on free sites like flickr or post them to your blog if you have one. You can also include drawings or a link to a video if you like.
- Include your full name, email address, phone number, and home location. (Your information will be kept private, but we’ll need it to contact you if you’re a finalist.)
I’ll be narrowing down the entries and choosing the best submission, which will go on to be one of six finalists (five from other participating bloggers). The finalists will then be voted on by the public to see who will win the $20,000 home renovation. So get creative, start dreaming, and let me know how you plan to “boost your roost!”

This post is sponsored by HouseLogic, a website for homeowners from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Entries will be accepted now through July 16 at 11:59pm (CDT), and you must be a homeowner living within the continental U.S. More details can be found at houselogic.com/boostyourroost.
June 20, 2012
Family Movie Night (at Home)
Thank you, COOL WHIP, for sponsoring this post.

Join us on Facebook for inspiration and recipes for everyday treats. What you add makes it. #coolwhipmoms

Brandon and I like to have stay-at-home movie nights with the kids. We gather snacks, dim the lights, and pile the couch with pillows. The other night, I spelled out the evening’s activity with our magnetic letters, and Eleanor got very excited when I told her what the words said. “Movie night!? YAY!” She ran to her brother, yelling “August, it’s movie night!”

It doesn’t take much to make an ordinary evening special. It’s in the little details, like jelly beans in a pretty bowl, getting drinks from a dispenser, and eating popcorn out of fun containers.
We all help to choose movies, but some are more family-friendly than others. (“All right, Ratatouille it is, kids. Let’s save Crank 2 for another day.”)

Do you ever make ordinary nights into something a little more special?

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content.
June 5, 2012
The View from the Chicago River

This post is sponsored by Chase – a strong supporter of the Global Cities Initiative, a program that helps foster local economic development. Learn more here.

I’ve lived in the Chicago area my entire life, and Oak Park is just fifteen minutes West of downtown by car or train (the ‘L’). I know the city pretty well, but sometimes it’s nice to see it from a different perspective. Like a scary open body of water perspective.

In all fairness, it’s only scary because I can’t swim and I’m afraid of water. Adding “Take the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s River Cruise“ to my Lovely Life List was really in large part to get me on a big boat.

The tour was fantastic and thankfully the boat ride itself was uneventful, save for a passing barge blasting its horn at us (presumably having some fun with the tourists). I jumped in my seat.

The view from the river isn’t the most beautiful way to sightsee, but if you’re at least passingly familiar with Chicago, it’s an interesting new view of the city. Many buildings along the river, especially the older ones, completely turned their back to it. Our tour docent explained that “the river was toxic, whereas now it’s merely polluted.” Brandon succinctly said “no one wants to overlook a toilet.”

The city cleaned up its river eventually (magic, I assume, or maybe magic green dye), and people began to view it as a desirable location a few decades ago. Couple a newfound interest in riverfront living with the go-go eighties economic boom, and you have a recipe for city growth. Chicago holds itself to following a larger plan as it grows (a blessing to come out of the rebuilding following The Great Chicago Fire), and city plans call for all new structures to include a riverwalk. There is some access today, but the Chicago River will someday have public walkways all along its bank.

Chicago is still seeing new buildings go up too, with Trump Tower and Aqua being two of the most notable recent additions to the river. The Spire would be noteworthy too, but it’s on hold after having only the foundation built. Its drill bit design isn’t my favorite, but it is admittedly interesting and I hope to see it completed.

There are still plenty of new buildings going up all around the city, including along the Chicago River. New buildings bring new residents, they stimulate the local economy, new money begets new growth, and so on. We have an ever-changing skyline.

May 31, 2012
Kathryn’s Finished Bedroom

I have been working with American Express to redo a room for a reader.

I’ve been busy redecorating a bedroom for Kathryn and her husband, Finn. They live in Oak Park with their two kids, and they asked for some help with finishing their bedroom. The space was an attic once upon a time, but previous homeowners had remodeled it. Poorly. They longed to make it feel more put together, but their kids came first and the bedroom kept getting pushed back. I showed the space to you, in progress, last week. Now the room is finished though, and I love the way it turned out! I think Kathryn and Finn are pretty darn happy too.

American Express had provided a $1500 budget, and I used their Prepaid Card to help keep me on track. It was great because I could login to check my balance anytime I wasn’t sure, which was so helpful while decorating quickly and on a tight budget.

Kathryn and I swapped the Prepaid Card back and forth a few times as I would send her to pick up things like painting supplies and the wardrobe, and then I took it back to get the smaller decorative details. I was even able to pull a little cash out to pay for the end table I found on Craigslist.

Lighting was my biggest concern when it came to budget. The room is large, but it only has one window. And that window? It directly faces their neighbor’s bathroom. Not exactly a room with a view.

I wanted to be sure to provide plenty of light, but nice lamps tend to be expensive. It’s fairly easy to find inexpensive furniture that still looks good, but lamps are different for some reason. Luckily, I found some clear glass lamps on sale. They had a clean, simple shape with good proportions, and the added detail of the blue cord gives them some interest.

Originally, I thought I might put one lamp on the gateleg table and put the floor lamp I picked up on the other side, but I thought the room needed symmetrical lamps to balance the mismatched tables. The floor lamp ended up on the other side of the room, next to Kathryn’s pair of Eames chairs. A small task lamp that the homeowners already had was perfect on top of their dressers.

I hung art and photos that the homeowners already had in black frames, along with the print at the bottom that I created for them.

The doors to the kids’ bedrooms were curtained off. Perhaps Kathryn and Finn will add a sliding barn door in the future, but for now the curtains are a good solution. Such a simple thing to do, but it made a huge difference. Instead of feeling like an open area between two smaller rooms, it feels like a bedroom in its own right. The freestanding closet that we added helps too.

There were already four dressers in the room, but two were used as bedside tables and two were hidden beneath pipe and drape along the slanted end of the room. Pushing all four of them together made them look more deliberate in the space, and it was fun to decorate the top.

I loved working on a room in someone else’s home, and I hope to do more work for others in the future. Thanks, American Express for making this one possible. And thank you, Kathryn and Finn, for letting me takeover a room in your home!

* I’ll answer questions about where everything came from in the comments, but you can also check my Pinterest board for the room. Nearly everything (and more) is on there!

November 30, 2011