Vintage Holiday Cards with Basic Invite

Since baby West was born over eight months ago, I have discovered that all the cliches about motherhood are true. I watch him sleep. I love him so much it hurts. Time goes by too fast. You get the idea. I am not someone who likes to conform to what everyone else does and says, so this was hard for me to accept. I like to be a little bit different. This is why I held out so long to get an iPhone; I liked being different with my Blackberry. For my wedding, I had my nails painted in Essie "chinchilly" which is described as greige (gray + beige). Sidenote: I'm still obsessed with this nail color! I would argue that we traveled to Iceland (in 2014) before it was the "cool thing to do". But I digress...

Now, one of my favorite things we've done since welcoming the baby has been taking family photos (I know, I know... total cliche! But I am embracing it now!). In my last post, I shared that we took newborn photos when West was just five weeks old. Coming from someone who has over 1,000 photos on her phone of her less-than-one-year-old baby, my rule is that you can never have too many photos (especially professional ones!). Fast forward to last month, we took some special Fall family photos with Lyndsey Yeomans that I knew would be perfect for our Holiday Card.

Since this is our first year sending out Holiday Cards, I was so excited when Basic Invite reached out and asked if I wanted to work with them. Let me tell you about a few ways that Basic Invite is different. 

Nearly Unlimited Colors - They allow almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the littlest detail.

Custom Samples (my favorite offering!) - They allow you the ability to order a printed sample of your actual holiday card so you can see exactly how it will print as well as feel the paper quality before you ever have to place your final order.

Address Capturing Service - They offer an address capturing service that allows you to simply share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media to request friends and family’s addresses which will be stored in your account and can then be selected during the design process. They also offer recipient address printing at no cost on all Christmas card orders (which is a huge perk and time saver)! 

I always thought it would be too overwhelming, time consuming and too expensive to order holiday cards. But, I was wrong! Basic Invite makes it so easy.

First, I filtered, sorted and browsed the holiday cards. I created an account and added my top designs to my FAVORITES. Then I looked at my FAVORITES section and compared all the ones I "favorited". I decided I would order customized samples of my top five. I customized those designs with photos from our photography session.

Below are three of the samples that I ordered (images via online proofs):

Here is what they look like IRL (Photos taken with my iPhoneX, unedited):

So, which one did we end up choosing? It's a surprise and you'll have to wait and see what comes to your mailbox!

You may also want to check out Basic Invite for business holiday cards, vintage christmas cards or vintage inspired holiday looks. Until the end of November, you can get 30% off at Basic Invite with  coupon code "holi30". I can't wait to see what you end up ordering!

This is a sponsored post for Basic Invite. However, all opinions expressed are my own. #ad.

MASTER BATH REVEAL

Our Master Bathroom is finally done! While 98% of the work was completed in early February within seven business days courtesy of One Week Bath, there were a few loose ends that needed to be tied up. As I explained in my earlier post, we had to choose a new light fixture at the last minute which really threw us for a loop. And then we thought we had to choose a new toilet (but it turns out we really didn't) but we decided that since we were redoing everything that we should just order a new toilet anyway. That is what caused most of our delays finishing up the project. First the toilet we picked was ordered (or so we thought) but then we found out that it wouldn't be available for several months since it was a brand new model and hadn't been shipped out from the manufacturer yet.

So, we decided to pick out another one but we were debating between two different models and ended up going to a showroom to look at them in person. I've never thought so much about a toilet in my life. But, in the end we got the toilet (and bathroom) of our dreams (well, *almost*). I mean if it was my dream, I would have two vanities and a tub, but given our space and budget constraints I am absolutely loving our new bathroom!

To read more about our inspiration, click here. And planning, click here. The photos really speak for themselves, so without further ado....

Of course, I had to include a photo of everyone's favorite pup, Olive! We are coming up on our 5 month adopt-a-versary and I truly cannot imagine our lives without her. She is just the best! 

Here are some BEFORE photos so you can see what we started with.

So, if you are thinking the BEFORE photos aren't that bad, I would definitely agree with you. The main reason we had to redo this bathroom was because the shower wasn't properly waterproofed and we had at least two, possibly three leaks. Just knowing that those leaks were damaging our house was the absolute worst. I can't believe it's really done, we spent so much time thinking about it and waiting for loose ends to be tied up, it doesn't really seem real! It's so funny I want to shower twice a day now! I have always been a night shower kinda person, but I just get so excited to shower, I want to spend hours in there! So much more spacious than the old box shower that never really sealed in the water.

If you are in Southern California and are interested in redoing a bathroom, I highly recommend using One Week Bath. We are already planning to do redo our second bathroom with them and it is just a matter of time! Also here is my yelp review in case you are curious about the process.

A few of my favorite things:

Open Shower. I love the fact that we didn't add a shower door. We did have them brace the wall in case we ever wanted to add a door later.

The controls. How we put the shower control on the open side of the shower so that you can turn the water on without having to get wet.

The Floor. It's consistent throughout the entire bathroom, including the shower. I think it makes it feel bigger. Honestly, I wanted to do white flooring again but Jake vetoed it, and I do think the gray concrete-style does add more texture so I am happy with that choice. You guys know how I feel about white and that it's my favorite color. But, marriage is about compromise, right?

Overall, I have been very purposeful about choosing pops of color like plants and a pink bathmat because the bathroom is so neutral, I didn't want it to start looking like a hospital bathroom. So there you have it! Now that this project is done, we are embarking on some front and backyard landscaping. Jake will be prepping for that in a few days, so be on the lookout for more house updates coming soon (well, soon-ish)!

xoxo,

A Bathroom Update

Day 4 of our master bathroom remodel finished up yesterday. I have been sharing some behind the scenes on my Instastories if you want to follow along. The project was slated to be complete in 7 business days, but we've had a few minor setbacks - which project doesn't? Despite being super prepared and proactive, we had a few misses. Honestly, if these are our only two issues, I will be super happy. 

The first issue is the vanity lighting. If you recall, we spent weeks and weeks picking out the lighting fixture. Only to find out that bathroom lighting has to be integrated-LED in the City of Long Beach. Ugh. So, we have been looking non-stop to find a replacement light fixture for above the vanity. I ordered a few bath bars off of amazon, so hopefully that will look good in the space. If not, I will have to spend more time figuring out what I want to do. More to come...

The second issue was that the existing (presumably new) toilet wasn't as water conserving as it should be (i.e. it was low flow, not low enough). So, we had to go on a wild goose chase to find a new toilet and we didn't plan on spending money there, but you know what, it will be really nice to get a new toilet because then the entire bathroom will all be new! So, silver lining? 

But, the point of this post is that I wanted to share some parts of the drawings that the company put together for us as we planned out the remodel. Then, once the project is complete, I can show you the before and afters. Because, who doesn't love some B & A's?!

This first drawing is essentially looking in from the door (we ended up removing the window casing and it looks much better).

The middle view below is the view of the shower right after you walk into the room and then immediately turn left. The ones on the side are the shorter opposite walls.

After we had our initial design meeting, a few weeks later we received these drawings. We went back and forth on some of the details and after probably 6 or so rounds, we had the final drawings. I asked them to add the cabinet fixtures and light fixture that we picked out so I could see how all the shapes played off each other. So much fun, right?

Things I am super excited about:

• A waterproofed shower (I mean....)
• The X-shaped sink controls 
• The half moon shaped drawer pull (it's the little things)
• Picking out a rug and piece of art
• Maybe adding a plant in the shower niche?
• Adding a teak bench somewhere in the shower 
• Photographing the finished product! 

You can read more about the finishes and hardware we chose here if you are curious. We have never been involved with any remodeling projects before, so this is all new territory for us. This post is definitely not sponsored, but if you are interested in working with the company we are, please reach out to me and I can tell you about our experience once everything is all done. Before making our final decision to work with this company, I called one of their referrals and the customer only had positive things to say about them. And so far, that is what I am experiencing.

Before we decided to redo the bathroom, I remember saying to Jake, will you ever be able to shower in the master and not think about the water leaks? And he's like yeah, it will all be fine. For me, I was always paranoid showering in there even after they told us the leaks were fixed (hint: they weren't). Needless to say, this new shower is going to be amazing. I'll report back once everything is all finished.

Over halfway there!

xoxo,

Flipping a Flip

Hello Blogland! It's been a minute. 

We're only just over two weeks in and 2018 is already getting off to a very exciting start for us. As you know if you read this post, we bought a house a little over six months ago. We have had so much fun making it our own and even though it's only been a short amount of time, it is finally starting to feel like  it's "ours". Although honestly, it will probably take a few years for the whole concept to sink in when we don't have to look at rent increases or lease renewals down the line. 

You also probably know that the house we bought was a flip. Basically, anything in our budget in this market is either going to be really old, like 1940's old, or a flip. A flip is defined as a home that is bought and sold again within a 12 month period. And many flips are done within four to six weeks. So just like the shows on TV, there is no way that they can update the home that quickly and not take a few shortcuts. It's just how it goes. A lot of the homes we looked at while we were house hunting were flips and we knew they had a complicated/bad reputation but we didn't fully know what to expect. When we came to look at the house again after we put in our offer (and it was accepted), I think it set in that the house we were buying was 75 years old. To us, it looked brand new inside. We were never 100% fully sold on the exterior but we told ourselves that is something we could work on later. Since, you know, we sort of have all the time in the world since the inside was already updated. Plus, wouldn't you rather have everything look nice on the inside (where you spend 95%+ of your time)? That was my logic. While we don't hate the exterior, we do have a million ideas for how we can modernize it and make it more our style. But, that is a topic for another day. 

Today I want to bring you guys up to speed on our Master Bathroom or "MBA" as we abbreviate it.  Due to a few water leak issues we discovered soon after moving in, we decided to spend our money redoing this bathroom instead of spending it on repairs. Despite this little setback, we are still so excited about the house and actually it's been so fun picking out all of the finishes and fixtures.

Here is my "vision board/collage" that I created which includes all of the actual pieces we will be utilizing for the remodel. To say I am excited is the understatement of the year. This has been in the making for a LONG time!

(1) Wall Sconce / (2) White Subway Tile / (3) Towel Hooks / (4) Mirror / (5) Knobs and Pull / (6) Showerhead  / (7) Faucet  / (8) Shower Control Valve  / (9) Toilet Paper Holder / (10) Quartz Countertop  (11) Tile Flooring

My initial vision for the bathroom was black and white - totally minimalist with graphic bold cement floor tile. Once we learned more about finishes and costs, we decided to go in a slightly different direction. #youknowhowthatgoes The above is what we came up with after working with our contractor / designer and I couldn't be more excited. We ordered a few of the specialty things but our contractor is dealing with everything else - from permits to shower glass. The project is starting in a couple weeks and I cannot contain myself. I will do another post with some more sneak peeks including our drawings and what our design appointment was like (hint: it took 6 hours to pick out EVERYTHING).

Overall I feel like we are doing a really good job putting our "stamp" on the house and transforming it to a perfect urban oasis. As you know, I work from home 100% of the time. Jake does about 60-75% of the time, so our home has to feel cozy and warm and be cheery and bright. That sounded like a Christmas reference, but I think you know what I mean. 

So far, in the past six months we have:

• Updated some minor electrical 
• Had TV mounted above fireplace
• Installed roller blinds on windows
• Replaced Front Door
• Replaced Kitchen Door
• Updated plumbing connections 
• Repaired/replaced sprinklers
• Cleaned out attic (sort of)
• Added attic air vent covers 
• Had gas leak fixed by utility company

SPRING 2018:

• MBA Remodel - early February 
• Front Door to be painted - mid-late March
• Kitchen Door to be painted - mid-late March
• Planning front/backyard Landscaping - early Summer 

Have you ever worked on a remodeling project? Did you do it yourself? or hire out? What was your experience? I am so curious to hear how everything went as this will be our first rodeo dealing with, really, anything like this. Wish us luck!

SaveSaveSaveSave

home (noun): the place where one lives permanently

Well, it happened. Over three months went by without a new blog post from me. There are a lot of reasons for my hiatus, but one of them being... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE. Whoa, that still feels very foreign to say type. It all happened so fast but it was a few weeks after my last blog post that we were writing up an offer.  Where do I start? I guess at the beginning.

From the moment we arrived in SoCal, I knew this was the place for us. We had a bit of a rocky start getting adjusted to how things work here. But, it's California, you say and everything is so laid back and easy, right? Actually, not really. But, after a little over a year, I feel like we have figured things out at least a little. We are still rookies, but not the newest kids on the block by any means. 

We started thinking seriously about buying a house towards the end of last year and even though we weren't ready (I am not sure anyone is ever 100% ready), I was subscribed to daily emails from a local real estate company. Each morning I would anxiously await the daily digest email and get kind of depressed looking at how expensive everything was. 

One day in early Spring I suggested to Jake, "let's go to this open house". And he looked at me like he saw a ghost. I said, we aren't signing a contract that we are buying this house, we are just going to look and see what it's like. So, he agreed and we went. The house was a 'flip' and we were not impressed. We did get free subway sandwiches so they made it worth our while. That is when we realized that pictures online are not to be trusted. We went to a few more open houses on our own and then decided to get an agent. We had a meeting with her in April and decided to start going to open houses with her and start seriously looking for something. Our lease was ending in June so being the planner I am, I wanted to time it perfectly so we didn't have to end our lease early or have to figure out temporary housing. I was trying to make this as seamless as possible, but you know how that often turns out... 

We went to open houses a few times with her, but little did we know that on our first day of looking we would find our home. She brought us to an open house for a property that was already under contract so she could get a feel for what we like. We loved the inside but didn't love the outside as much (it wasn't modern enough), I think we rated it 8/10 so in our minds we really liked it, but we knew it wasn't available so we didn't even think twice about it. A few weeks later it fell out of escrow (which is fairly common, I am told). It was still out of our price range so we waited (some days patiently, others not so patiently).  We kept looking at other houses but nothing ever came close to this house. Nearly a month later, they lowered the price into our price range (we put in an offer that day -- we were also traveling to Seattle the same day so it was kind of hectic and we didn't have time to write a love letter). We knew it was a flip owned by investors, so we didn't think they would care too much about a love letter anyway...or at least that is what we hoped. The next day, we found out that there were two other offers higher than ours, so the owners did a multiple counter offer back to all three parties. We agreed on their price and signed the papers and waited to hear back. We were not prepared to get into a bidding war so we decided that we had reached our max and would drop out if the price went up again.

The day we found out was a Sunday a few days before Jake's birthday and we were in downtown Seattle, walking right past the Four Seasons, oddly enough. Our finance guy texted me "Congratulations" out of the blue and I was like "Whaaat? Did we get the house?" And he was like, "I think so!" A few minutes later our agent called with the good news. We were kind of in shock because we didn't really expect that they would accept our offer. We had heard how competitive things were and the SoCal market has been and still is on fire. Seattle is probably one of the only other places in the country that is this crazy to buy real estate in.

We went through all the usual steps, and had a super fast < 30 day close since Jake had a trip  pre-planned that he couldn't reschedule, we wanted to (1) move out of our rental, (2) close on the new house and (3) move into the new house by June 17th. Keep in mind our offer was accepted on May 21st. Somehow everything fell exactly into place. We did have to give notice on the rental by June 1st which was before our financing contingency was removed, but I just knew that everything would all come together. It was scary and nerve-wracking to say the least, but nothing could have prepared us for (how do I say this delicately)... some water issues that arose three days after we moved in. I will save that story for another day (if I ever tell it), but let's just say we made it to the "other side", got to know some of our neighbors really well, and are stronger now after going through it.

Here are a few sneak peeks of the house. I have been sharing a lot on Instagram (including Instastories) @thevintagemodern -- be sure to follow me in you aren't already.

I've always wanted to have an entryway! ... This was so simple but so fun to style.

So I bought Jake a house for his birthday. And we celebrated signing our lives away with IN-N-OUT because, duh. #typical #californian

..Expect more updates on the house in the coming months including more pictures of our updates and changes we've made so far. We worked with Laurel & Wolf on redesigning and decorating our main living area and we are currently in the process of getting a new front door. So be on the lookout!

P.S. Gosh, I've missed blogging!

xoxo,

Unconventional Apps + Friday Five

You might remember that I used to be a blackberry addict. Jake converted to an iPhone a long time ago and he would hand me his phone, while he was driving, to respond to a text and I wanted to throw it out the window. I was like I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THIS THING! I was terrified of giving up my keyboard. Little did I know that after finally converting in Fall 2012, I would totally fall in love with it. I am seriously obsessed with my phone and it's constantly at my side. 

One of the things I didn't like about my blackberry was there there weren't a lot of apps available and as a result, I couldn't use Instagram or my online banking app, or the Starbucks app. You get the point. Anyway, for Friday Five, I wanted to share 5 of my favorite unconventional apps. So, here goes... 

Run Pee 

I have used this app for about a year now. It tells you when you go to the bathroom (i.e. which scenes it's ok to miss) during a movie. 

Hotel Tonight 

You can book a hotel for the night. It's great for last minute deals and you can actually book up to a week in advance. We used this app and booked a hotel in Asheville for the weekend for less than $100/night.

Open Table 

I love eating out at restaurants. I hate calling to make reservations. Enter this app, which lets you make a reservation at many restaurants. I've earned a $50 dining certification and am on my way to my 2nd one... Woop! 

AnyList

The best way to share your grocery list with anyone. It's real time, so the hubby can see that I crossed something off the list and he can add stuff to the list while I'm at the store. Feels like magic!

Spotify 

Have you heard of Spotify yet? It's $10/mo to get this app on your phone but it's 1,000% worth it. I use this to interface with my car and home stereo. I have not bought an album in probably more than 5 years (except for that darn Taylor Swift 1989 album).  I also have unlimited data grandfathered from AT&T so that helps. 

Do you have any life saving, fun unconventional apps? If so, please share! 

Happy Weekending,

Bath Bomb Collab with Hodgespodges

Today I am super excited to share a collaboration I did with my friend and neighbor, Joey from Hodgespodges. We met last Fall and pretty soon after we started hanging out regularly, she mentioned making DIY bath bombs together.  I fell in love with the idea and before we knew it, we were buying citric acid and a kitchen scale. So -- we are basically bonded for life now. Read Joey's bath bomb post here. 

Over the years, I've purchased my share of Lush Bath Bombs but for as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to try making my own. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved taking baths. I probably prefer them more than I prefer taking a shower if I don't have to wash my hair.  I am also very big on self care and taking a bath is one of the things I do when I am taking time out of my busy day to take care of me. So -- without further ado, below is the recipe that we used (adapted from here).   

DIY Bath Bombs 

What You'll Need (each portion below makes 2 bath bombs):

• 4 oz. baking soda
• 2 oz. cornstarch
• 2 oz. citric acid
• 2 oz. epsom salt
• 1 1/2 tsp water
• 1 tsp essential oil (we used peppermint, lavender and lemongrass).
• 1 1/4 tsp coconut oil
• 1-2 drops food coloring 
• Molds (we used plastic christmas ornaments) 
• kitchen scale to measure oz. 

Steps:

1. Combine dry ingredients (baking soda, cornstarch, citric acid, and epsom salt) in a large mixing bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Be sure to melt the coconut oil beforehand in the microwave for 10 second intervals. This is what is going to hold your bath bombs together. 

3. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk as you go. 

4. Fill up your molds. Press two molds together and remove one mold. Let dry for 10 minutes before removing the other side of the mold. I think this is where we messed up with ours as the two sides did not stick together the following day after we let them set for 24 hours.

Tip: We used purple food coloring for the lavender, green for peppermint and yellow for lemongrass. 

The finished product: 

I had so much fun making these with Joey! Now, it's not a quick process but it's actually very therapeutic and calming -- it was my first time using essential oils -- but it will definitely not be my last. 

Have you tried to (or do you want to) make bath bombs at home? Please share your thoughts in the comments! 

xoxo,