holiday home made lovely tour

would you like to come on inside our casita for a little holiday home tour?

then pop on over to heather's place for a visit.

i'd love to have you over and share a hot drink next to the twinkle lights.

xoxo,

annalea

a move, an award, and an upcoming birthday

Christian and Cameron, April 2010

today, my brothers move across the country.  since i am not at all ready to confront the reality of not seeing them until christmas, let's change the subject, k?

(but if anyone wants to fly me to washington, just let me know.)

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the fun folks at houzz have awarded the above photo a best of 2012 title. this design award is given to the most popular images among the 1.2 million users on houzz.  that is kinda cool. :)

(and we were recently featured in one of their recent ideabooks.)

Browse Outdoor Products on Houzz- For Example:

Firepits · Gazebos · Greenhouses · Irrigation Equipment · Garden Sculptures · Holiday Outdoor Decorations · Outdoor Planters · Swimming Pools And Spas ·

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oh yeah.

my birthday is sunday.
i am feeling decidedly unbirthday-ish this year, which is so unusual.  there is a whole lot more i could say. . .

. . .life is just so heavy right now.  even in the easier moments, there is a weight on our days.  the what if factor.  this makes it hard to celebrate.

today, i am holding tight to the "it will get better".  to those parents who have walked the road ahead of us  - i thank you for that encouragement.

please pray for perseverance and wisdom with these kiddos.
a joyful and peaceful weekend to you, my friends.
xoxo,
annalea

p.s. i'd reeeeeeaaaallllly like to see the hunger games movie this weekend, but that probably won't happen, so maybe i'll just reread the books (it has been almost a year and a half) and pretend that it will be better to go when the theater is empty.  right? :)

featured on the etsy blog

our home is featured on the etsy blog today!

click on over and read my interview. . . 


have a lovely sunday and end o' the weekend, friends.
xoxo,
annalea

nashville public radio and me

over the summer, i was approached by a rep from a marketing firm working on the latest press kit for nashville public radio.  i was shocked to read her request for one of my photos to be included!  seriously? 

spend three days in a city and all of a sudden you are famous.  well, not really.  at all.  but still cool. :)

um, i mega heart taking pictures.  it is by far my easiest creative outlet in this season of life.  

and my wish list right now includes a snapshot class, a tripod, and a second lens.  a girl can dream.

bolig liv

a major eeeek! moment, folks.

i mentioned back in june that a DIY project of mine was to be in a real print magazine.  seriously.  completely unexpected and way fun.  the september issue of bolig liv (translated: residential life) arrived this week.  all glossy like.  so pretty.  with a sweet note of thanks inside.

i was raised on pretty shelter magazines - victoria, country living, cottage living, domino.  before design sites, blogs, pinterest, houzz, and what have you, print magazines were our steady source of inspiration.  there is still something so satisfying about holding one in my hands. 

to be honest, over the last couple years i had this growing desire to be in a magazine.  it felt kinda silly.  seriously?  why?  how?  really?  not super likely. not something to pursue.

weird for it to be a reality.  yeah, this is a definite highlight.  thanks, bolig liv!

so how does one go about getting a lil' danish translated? 

you ask facebook and twitter for help, of course.  i had several generous offers and thanks to my college roomie, lizzie, i was hooked up with a danish speaker willing to translate. 

here's what our translator came up with. . .

article title:
Wild with Garlands

blurb with my photo:

If you're decorating a room for party, then grab scissors, paper and a sewing machine, and let a star filled sky take shape.  The idea comes from Annalea Hart's beautiful blog. There you'll see a nice mixture of American family life spiced with loads of DIY projects.

they're making me blush.

if you have access to the magazine, check it out.  or just enjoy browsing their site.  i am a huge fan of danish style.  (i mean, have you ever seen rice?)  which made this all the sweeter.

okay, thanks for letting me gush a bit.  and for celebrating this small thing with you.

xoxo,
annalea

summer is not half over. . .yet

the fourth of july is two weeks from today. what!?!?!  i always feel like summer is half over at that point.

but instead of dwelling on how fast time moves, let us savor what we have remaining.  last year, i whipped up this fast and festive sewn paper garland on july 3rd and it was a sweet lil' addition to our celebration of america.  i plan on pulling it out again this week and maybe adding some buntings to our porch as well.  (if i can find a moment to make them.) 

this starry welcome photo is my most pinned right now.  it also was the cause of a much exciting e-mail last week.  the danish magazine, bolig liv, asked to use it in their september 2011 issue!  um, yeah, i don't know if it is wrong to talk about it before it is published, but i just wanted to share that unexpected and fun news.  

a project i spent very little time and thought on. . . a project that was created for a crafternoon with my littles and teaching luca some machine skills. . . a project that was simple and no stress.

happy monday lovelies!

xoxo,

annalea

faith blogs

faith blogs is a new site connecting people who write blogs, read blogs, and love jesus.  love it.

i am super honored to be included.  thanks katie for your time and effort in a great contribution to the amazing blogging community.

go and check it out.

the handmade olympics

remember when i mentioned i had been nominated for the handmade olympics?  well, the finalists for each category were posted this afternoon and . . . my wreath was picked!  how cool is that?  i am extremely honored to be among such talented artists.  i really am kind of shocked.

head on over and check out all the nominees in each event.  there are some super fab finds.

voting is open until february 23rd.

coupla things to mention

ohdeedoh featured our indoor snow play last week.  and snow ice cream has been pretty popular lately.  i wonder if it has to do with the tiny storms hitting most of the country.  have you tried it?  what variations have you made?  i have noticed almond milk and chocolate soy milk.  yum.

and i just want to say i really like ohdeedoh.  i know i have mentioned it before, but they are pretty neat.  

in other news, the rikrak studio is hosting the 2011 handmade olympics.  one of my shoppe items has been nominated for favourite handmade item that inspires loveliness & wellness.  that was a big surprise.  i am so honored.  (thank you lindsay!)  if you get a chance, nominations are open until 11 est tonight (2/4).  there are eight neat categories and i am sure you can think of a creation, shop, or blog that you would like to highlight.  (oh and you get two nominations per category - one also for your own creation, shop, or blog if you are interested.)

we made it to the finals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can you tell i am a bit excited?  i mean seriously excited.

(flu?  what flu?) 

only four rooms made it to the finals.  that means we have a one in four chance of winning that trip to new york city.  eeek!
 
will you take a moment today and vote?  that would be grand.  thanks so much for your help in getting us to the finals.  and if you get a chance, you could even share the link on twitter, facebook, or even your blog.  that would be super grand.

love ya!

xoxo,
annalea

p.s. i just want to add that i entered this contest on a complete whim.  the night before our texas trip, i took a quick packing break to upload the photos and write out a few answers.  i never expected to get this far and it kinda blows my mind.  thanks again for all the support!  it has been very fun.  :)

news-gazette feature

as i mentioned earlier this month, our home was featured in the local newspaper.  news-gazette reporter meg thilmony sweetly asked me if i would be interested in an article about our home, since it was "gorgeous and kid-friendly at the same time."  (i told you she was sweet.)

i love that you can see where our cat flaco gnaws on the back of the chairs.  yes, our cat gnaws.  he draps his body over the top of the chair and gnaws.  this is real life people.

meg and i "met" through twitter.  i was familiar with her writing through the paper and she recently began reading this blog.  i might be a stay-at-home homeschoolin' mama with a teeny tiny etsy shoppe, but it sure is neat how social media can connect me to all sorts of cool people.

and here is where i cue the newsies lyrics. . .

look at that pape with my face beamin'

tomorrow they may wrap fishes in it

but i was a star for one whole minute!

this was such a fun experience.  totally unexpected and fun.  thanks meg for the ask.  i promise to invite you to my next craft night.

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oh and a quick and last reminder:

the first round of voting for apartment therapy's room for color contest ends today (noon pst).  we are holding steady in first place for the northern division, but if you haven't yet, feel free to favorite our room to help us secure a spot in the finals.  so exciting. . .

a favor and a feature

i have a favor to ask of y'all.  our room was selected as one of the entries for apartment therapy's room for color contest.  will you take a moment and favorite it?  (you do need to sign-in or register with the site, but they are super cool and do not bug you with anything.)  i figured the room was clean and the photo was recent so why not, right?  that is about as much as i can expect at this stage in life.  more, actually, than i can expect.  and the grand prize is a trip for two to nyc.  where i have never been.  so go vote, okay? 

and speaking of why the room was clean. . .
for the local peeps, you can find our house featured in the at home section of tomorrow's (10/16) news-gazette.  that was the the interview i mentioned last week.  i am looking forward to reading meg's article and seeing heather's photos.  (thanks so much meg and heather!  you were both so sweet.  it was great to have you over.)

i am ready for a fantastic weekend of family filled fun.  see you on the flip side!

p.s. next week i have a couple easy tutorials in store for y'all.  come back then to check them out.

simply smashing ohdeedoh feature

well, look at this.  we are over at ohdeedoh today for a room tour.  pop over to check it out. 

thanks sarah for asking us to share our shared space.  and thank you as well for all the kind words.

i feel like i should write something clever to end this post.  i don't know why.  instead i will just say, happy monday lovelies!

where i've been lately

in the bloggy world that is.

a couple of my projects have been featured in the last month 'round the internets.

• the robot shirt on dollar store crafts (for the april stashbusting challenge) 
• my spring pillows on craft gossip, one pretty thing. sfgirlbybay and several other lovely lovely blogs.

thanks so much for the love!

the bad and the fun

bad idea of the month? plan luca's birthday party two days after dst.  i didn't realize how much i was going to miss that hour.  i guess the extra sunlight will have to console me.

or this fun thing can cheer me up. check out our dining room on ohdeedoh.  they are just so nice.  :)

ohdeedoh is so fun

see our nursery featured here on ohdeedoh!

feelin' the love

this was fun to see today. thanks for loving our little stitched doll.  check out the feeling stitchy blog for lots of great embroidery projects and tutorials.




(and my cashew embroidery was featured back in october, but i missed it at the time.  once again, thanks!)

it is funny to me that until last year, i had never embroidered a thing since girlhood.  i just love it.  such a great lap craft for the end of a long day.  or when fibro pain is keeping me on the couch.

odds and ends

• thank you for all of the encouragement and camaraderie after my last post. i appreciate all of your thoughts and stories. :) i love you guys!
  

• luca, gia, and i constructed a super cool robot over the last two days - can't wait to introduce you to "roby" (nicknamed button) later this week.

• i made it through my first week back to the gym! i totally rocked zumba.

• we have primed almost all of the upper cabinets and have finish coated about 1/3 of them - progress, yay!

• gia's doll bed was featured on ohdeedoh yesterday. very fun. find the post here.

• i actually slept 4.5 hours straight on monday night - my longest stretch since november 20th. felt awesome and not nearly long enough at the same time.

• i have decided that crocheting is much more my cup of tea (compared to knitting). on monday, i completed luca's knit scarf (2.5 months in the making). on tuesday, i whipped up a crocheted scarf for gia (start to finish) in one evening.

• enzo continues to be the cutest baby ever. he enjoys flailing his arms about and watching his crazy siblings work out their cabin fever.

• i cut luca's hair over the weekend. let's just say it was part one in a miniseries and i am not sure i want to see part two anytime soon.
  

• we ate this most amazing french onion soup (a la pioneer woman) for dinner - thanks ree for the yummy goodness. you need to make this.

• jesse has been a working like crazy this week. i miss him!

that's it! just some bits and pieces of life that are bouncing around my head that i thought i would share. good night!

not so blah anymore

the alarm went off and i just wanted to pull the covers over my head and go back to bed. we have had a seriously slow start this morning. sick kids, a tired mama and gloomy skies = a long day.

what is good medicine for a case of the blahs? for me it was seeing this post on apartment therapy today. sitting in my jammies and sipping steamy sweet chai, i loved seeing these photos of our house. this place gives me so much joy - a testament of the love i have for my family and the home we are creating together.

you know what is even better medicine for my soul? getting long awaited phone time with one of my besties. better get the kids set up with a movie so i can talk to her uninterrupted. ttfn!

blog love

while on the unintended internet disconnection last week, our nursery was seen here. thanks heather for including our photos in your "cute as a button, kid's rooms" post. she has a really great blog featuring vintage inspired design.