BEDKNOBS & BAUBLES

Weekend Links

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Notting Hill, London

Doesn’t this look like it was taken in Charleston? Nope, Notting Hill in London. I think it’s crazy that they get so much water and such mild temperatures that variations of tropical foliage can thrive. It was definitely one of the most surprising things I discovered in the United Kingdom! (I’ll have more photos up soon, along with an itinerary of what we did and a travel guide.) Plant life aside, happy weekend! We delightfully have no plans this weekend and are hoping to go on a few bike rides, work around the house, enjoy home-cooked meals, and maybe even break out the grill!

Weekend Links:

  • It’s Kentucky Derby weekend! Here’s a ranking of this year’s horses based on name alone.
  • Obviously, you’ll have to perfect your mint julep skills before Saturday. (And if you feel like throwing a last-minute soiree for the most exciting two minutes in sports, take a look at this guide.)
  • Tory Burch’s favorite scent-related memories.
  • Allie’s roundup of Nashville’s most Instagrammable spots makes me want to go back! (You can read my Nashville guide here.)
  • I just ordered this dress to try. The shape is typically a flattering one for me, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. (I’ve lost 13 pounds since Thanksgiving, so I’m in this weird transitional period with some of my fitted items.)
  • High school dress codes are unbelievably outdated and sexist.
  • The story behind Madonna’s slip dress in “Like a Prayer.”
  • If you don’t already have wanderlust, this list of the world’s most colorful places is sure to have you aching to book a flight.
  • How many flowers go into a bottle of Chanel No. 5?
  • The Boy Scouts of America will be dropping the word “boy” as they welcome girls to scouting next year. I was a Girl Scout from first through 12th grade, but I think it’s great that the Boy Scouts are forming a co-ed scouting opportunity.

Finds Under $50:

  • This is the best deal I’ve found on a woven tote bag yet, and there’s free shipping through the end of today!
  • Pair this beach dress with strappy sandals and you have a dinner-ready outfit on your next excursion. (Use code SUNNY for 40% off.)
  • I bought this dress last week and I absolutely adore it. It reminds me of something you’d find at Anthro. (I’m going to have the ruffled sleeves removed.)
  • We’ve had a lot of rain lately, making an umbrella my daily accessory! I love the preppy stripes on this one.
  • This is such a cute little gingham top!

Earlier This Week:

Review: Paravel Motorist 3-in-1 Backpack

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Review: Paravel Motorist 3-in-1 Backpack

As you may recall, last December I purchased my first Paravel piece: the three-in-one Motorist backpack. I thought it would be perfect for travel and now that I’ve actually taken it on a trip (see glimpses of it here and here), I wanted to give you a run down of the pros and cons in case it’s on your own wish list.

Pros:

  • This bag is ultra practical. As with many women, I get saddled with bringing all of the day’s necessities with me in my purse. Things like tissues, pain killers, and printed tickets don’t take up a lot of space, but I can’t tell you how annoyed I get by shoving my camera into a cross-body bag for our adventures. It doesn’t always fit well and the shoulder strain starts to bother me after a few days of lugging it around. This bag was a game changer. There’s more than enough room for the camera and other essentials, plus space to add any small souvenirs collected throughout the day. And, since it’s a backpack, the weight was evenly distributed and was comfortable to tote around.
  • When you unzip the bag, there’s a fabric gusset on the sides that extends about halfway up the bag. This helps keep your belongings from falling out when you need to get something.
  • It transforms into a shoulder bag (worn as such above), which is great for visiting museums that don’t allow backpacks. It’s also handy when you’re shopping. There’s a zippered pocket inside where I kept my wallet. It was easier to access when I wore it as a shoulder bag.
  • It’s durable and waterproof. It rained at some point just about every day in London, but we had one day where it drizzled constantly. I wondered how my things would fare in the bag and, as it turns out, they were completely dry. As for the bag itself, I never did wipe my bag dry after the rain, and it still looked new when it dried on its own.

Cons:

  • Even when the straps are all tightened to the last hole, the bag still doesn’t fit flush against my back. (You can kind of see what I mean here.) This means it’s always kind of dangling a bit. It’s an intentional design feature, as you’ll see in one of their shots here, but it made me paranoid that I’d whack someone with my backpack when I was in crowded areas. I’m planning to take it to a leather shop to have additional holes added to the strap so that I can shorten it more.
  • The outside pocket has a magnetic closure. When the backpack is clean, you can’t even tell that it’s there. But after each stretch on the plane, the front rubbed against something filthy and left a circle right around the magnetic closure. It was easy to clean off with a damp rag, however. (That’s definitely the benefit of coated canvas.)

Bottom Line:

I love it. It was incredibly practical for a week of exploring, plus it’s chic. (Always a winning combination.) It also gave me a lot of confidence for purchasing other Paravel items. I’ve already snagged the crossbody capsule (see it here) and I adore this foldable suitcase (although I’m kicking myself for not getting it when the green colorway was available). Sign up for Paravel’s mailing list at the bottom of their home page for 10% off your first purchase and keep an eye on their social media account as they sometimes offer discounts. They also extend a discount offer with your package so that you can continue to build your collection.

Review: Paravel Motorist 3-in-1 Backpack

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Mini Moments: April 2018

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Mini Moments: April 2018

It’s officially my birthday month! And, I’m happy to report that a couple of retailers share my enthusiasm for a month-long celebration. Yesterday, I came home to birthday discounts from Tory Burch and West Elm. I’m kind of disenchanted with West Elm after the light fixture fiasco,* but I’m very excited about the Tory Burch gift. Apparently I’ve spent enough over the years to receive a $50 coupon for my birthday month. I’ve had my eye on this scarf and it seems like a good opportunity to add it to my collection.

I feel like a broken record lately, but this month is going to be all about house projects. We purchased some deck furniture last weekend: this bench with these cushions (no one wants to burn their thighs on metal in the summer) and these chairs. They look fantastic, but definitely make the unpainted deck look rough around the edges! I’d like to paint the railings this month and stain the floor. We’re also looking into a few yard projects, along with a few interior to-dos that have fallen off the radar in the winter (painting doors, continuing to replace light fixtures, etc.). May won’t be all about work, however! We have a trip to Austin scheduled at the end of the month to celebrate my 35th birthday. (Where has the time gone?!) Let me know if there’s anything I need to add to my must-visit list!

Lest you think things are just sunshine and rainbows over here, they’re not. Haha. I had an ear infection last week and now I have an unexplained rash on my legs (my doctor said to just take an antihistamine and see if that works — great), and both our washer and dryer broke in the middle of washing our only set of king sheets Sunday night. But, there’s no sense in dwelling on the lame stuff. Here are my favorite mini moments from April.

Mini Moments (top to bottom, left to right):

  • When we moved in last year, we took the blades off of the 1980s ceiling fans so that we could paint around them. We didn’t bother putting the blades back on because they were awful, so we’ve been rocking our signature home aesthetic: the bladeless fan light fixture. I’m insanely picky about the light fixtures we purchase (even though just about anything is better than what we had) and I finally replaced the one in our office with this mid-century modern fixture. The globe is a bear to get on and off, but I only paid $29 and the LED bulb inside should last years.
  • I’m never going to be the person who takes obnoxious selfies with the palace guards, but I will take a pic of them on their own. (I’m sure they hate it.)
  • If you didn’t ‘gram your flight, did it really happen?
  • My favorite part about London was the number of flowers at every turn! There were floral arrangements like this one at Covent Garden, blossoms on trees, and gardens filled with tulips and daffodils.
  • I was so proud of myself for packing lightly for our trip. I even had extra space in my suitcase for the return flight despite buying a merino wool throw blanket that took up a substantial amount of room. You can see a list of everything I wore here.
  • Notting Hill was every bit as charming as you’d expect.
  • I just love these wallet-friendly slides from Old Navy. Now if it would just be warm enough for sandals!
  • Spotting signs of spring in London near St. Paul’s Cathedral.
  • Post-work cocktails with one of my coworkers.

More Mini Moments: January, February, March

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* Short version: I bought a light fixture, it arrived in two boxes, it was damaged, and it took weeks for the company to send a second return label for the second box despite calling and emailing numerous times. The replacement fixture was also damaged.

Wardrobe Update: April 2018 (Back on a Budget)

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Anthropologie Lucite tassel necklace

Now that we’re finally into spring and embracing the fresh start the season brings, I thought I’d give my financial situation a bit of spring cleaning. With house projects (which are all more expensive than you think they should be), savings goals, and travel dreams, I’ve got to button down on the sartorial front and keep myself to a more reasonable amount. I’m going to start with $200 per month, and put $50 per paycheck into a “splurge” savings account for whatever captures my fancy down the road. (That, along with blog revenue, is how I saved for my Gucci bag.) I feel like I’m in a really good spot with the foundation pieces in my wardrobe, so $200 should be plenty of money to freshen up my collection and add a few nicer pieces over the months.

TOTAL SPENT: $169
(Budget: $200; $31 rolling over to next month)

PURCHASED
See all of this year’s sartorial additions here.

  • Old Navy bow-topped slides in gingham ($15) – Aren’t these adorable?! They fit true to size.
  • New Look ruffle strappy jumpsuit ($32; worn here) – With black slides and statement jewelry, this jumpsuit is perfect for warmer days. I went up a size because I liked the looser fit.
  • Target short sleeve mini dress ($33) – As with most Target purchases, this was an impulse buy when I ran to the store for household needs. It’s such a sweet dress and well made for the price point. It’s lined and has great attention to detail with the ruffled hem. I’m not crazy about the sleeves and tried it with the sleeves tucked under, which I thought was much cuter and I’ll likely get it altered. It runs large. (I’m typically a size 8 and went with the small.)
  • Anthropologie Lucite tassel necklace ($68; pictured above) – We stopped at Anthropologie while we were waiting for our dinner reservations in London, and I fell in love with an oversize Lucite beaded necklace with a tassel pendant. I almost didn’t purchase it since I hate buying things overseas that I can get here, but I couldn’t bear the idea of not having it in my collection. As it turns out, it’s a good thing I bought it because it’s not on Anthro’s website.
  • London street vendor earrings and ring ($21) – I bought an oversize silver and lapis ring at Brick Lane Market and a pair of circular brass earrings at Old Spitalfields Market that will probably irritate my ears, but they were super cute and cheap.

DIDN’T WORK OUT
Things I tried and didn’t love.

  • Gap mid-rise skinny jeans in black – I own the blue version of these jeans, but for some reason the black pair ran exceptionally small. I couldn’t get them over my hips.
  • J.O.A. striped mini dress – I wanted to love this dress and even tried it in three different sizes to see if it could work. The medium was way too small, despite the claim that a medium fits a size 8. I tried the large and couldn’t breath with it zipped up. And I even tried the XL, which was too large in bust and waist. Sigh. It’s super cute, though!

Weekend Links

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Notting Hill

This week was an adventure on the home front. You may recall earlier this week when I mentioned that we reached out to our electrician for help with installing our bedroom ceiling fan because the existing electrical box didn’t look like it’d support the weight. As it turns out, we’re missing the required ground wire and installing an appropriate electrical box with a ground came to $320, which doesn’t include the cost of installing the fan and comes with some risk of damaging the drywall. So, I think we’re going to pivot and just go with a light fixture and a vintage-inspired tabletop fan on our dresser. It’s not at all what I wanted, but it’s much more cost effective. Plus, this is our first full summer in the house and there’s a chance we won’t even need a fan with our home’s air conditioning.

Then, as I mentioned on Instagram stories, we had four trees removed because they were all infected with emerald ash borer and were dying. It’s definitely a change! The trees were next to our house and offered a lot of shade in our bedroom and office, so it’s a lot more sunny in those rooms in the morning. On the downside, the fourth tree was next to our deck. I was originally pretty excited to get rid of that one since insects would randomly fall out of it while we’re cocktailing outside (ew), but I didn’t realize how much privacy it added. We’re looking at adding some lattice work to the deck to give ourselves a privacy wall from our neighbor. I’ll take photos and do an update on that as we spiff things up for summer. I’m hoping to get started on that project this weekend (or at least draft up plans and choose paint colors and furniture), along with cleaning up our yard, and possibly adding a flower bed next to the garage.

Weekend Links:

Finds Under $50:

Earlier This Week:

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