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Life Lately

May 20, 2025 by jessica Leave a Comment

*Looks back at the last time I checked in here, or even posted to Instagram before this week…*

Well, it’s sure been awhile. I don’t know if it’s worth going into a full deep dive of what we’ve been up to over the past few months, but suffice to say we’ve kept busy. I celebrated a full year in my position with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We’ve mustered up the energy to start with small house projects again. We’ve had wonderful dinners out and drinks with friends. Our bikes went in for full tune-ups in advance of the riding season. More plants were added to our yard and garden. I’ve been busy at the pottery studio creating pieces for a couple of wood firings coming up this summer. We purchased plane tickets to France for August (Paris and then the Cote d’Azur). We visited Chicago for a night to see comedian Fern Brady. We celebrated a robin that laid eggs in a nest she built on our back deck (and then mourned when a crow nabbed two of her three offspring). We had the “pleasure” of purchasing a new hot water heater to replace the 30-year-old one that started leaking, which kicked off an organization project in the basement. Two annual highlights began: bocce ball and rhubarb season. And here we are, on May 20, hoping to reconnect in this space.

It’s nice to be back.

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Filed Under: Life Lately Tagged With: life lately

Life Lately

August 9, 2019 by jessica Leave a Comment

What to Wear in Seattle
outfit details in this post

My goodness, it’s been nearly a month since I’ve last checked in here or on Instagram. I’ve been so focused on spending time away from a screen when I’m home that the blog hasn’t neared the top of my priority list. I’ve been soaking up this past month of summer visiting with friends, enjoying cocktails on our deck, attending Madison’s outdoor concerts, mastering our new grill, going for bike rides (even if I still haven’t lost the 10 pounds I gained in Portugal), and working on projects around the house that require nicer weather. It’s actually been really nice to take the self-imposed pressure of blogging off my plate so I can enjoy those perfect little moments.

Time away has also made me think about my relationship with blogging. I’ve been sharing my thoughts online ever since LiveJournal was a thing. When you’ve been “curating content” for that long, it’s easy to get discouraged by the numbers and the algorithms and the unbearably slow growth. I never wanted to make this my career, but I didn’t exactly want it to become stagnant. I really started to question things after coming across a disparaging comment about myself online that made me wonder whether or not any of this was worth it. I won’t get into the specifics, but it’s been a contributor to why I’ve pulled back.

Beyond that, I’ve been thinking about the content direction of this space. When I lived in an apartment, I wanted a blog that was focused on clothes and jewelry — and shopping for said clothes and jewelry. However, my interests have evolved in the past two years. Don’t get me wrong, I still love clothes and accessories (and just bought this perfect frock for summer), but I’ve been looking at purchases through a more sustainable lens. I really want each item I buy to be special and to earn its space in my closet; not just chase a trend or be an impulse buy. Plus, the majority of my online shopping time is now spent browsing for house items and debating things like window treatments and searching for the perfect vintage fill-in-the-blank. I think the natural progression of things is to have a blend between home- and style-related content, plus travel. Those are ultimately the three pillars that make me feel creative and fulfilled, and the aspects I’d like to write about and share with you. (On that note, I’d also like to be better about cross-posting house content to Curated Couple, which fell by the wayside, so that becomes a diary of our home that we can look back on.) I guess the only way to get my feet wet again is to jump in and create posts with topics that speak to me and hope you find inspiration or insight from them, too. We’ll see how this shakes out!

And, to catch up on a few random things:

  • While it seems wildly indulgent, we booked another trip to Europe this year. We’ll be heading to Brussels for the first week of December for Christmas markets and to restock our supply of Belgian beer (priorities).
  • We spent a weekend with Dave’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law up at his parents’ lake house in central Wisconsin. I’ve pretty much decided that anything that includes a fire pit and mosquitoes is camping.
  • Bacon has been more affectionate ever since his near-death experience back in May when he was extremely ill. He has also developed hairballs for the first time in his 11 years of his life. We’ll take the bad with the good.
  • I just ordered artwork for the bedroom, which I’m pretty darn excited about. Dave thinks it’s too moody, but I find it peaceful.
  • When we moved in, one of my biggest annoyances was that the screw covers were never installed on the trim of our patio door. From afar, they looked like black polka dots in the border of the windows. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find the manufacturer of the door anywhere on it. I thought about replacing the door entirely, but uh, a double patio door is effing expensive. Anyway, I randomly came across them when looking through a box of things we pulled out of the junk drawer on closing day. The joy and relief I felt were indescribable. Haha.
  • The most recent season of Veronica Mars?! Whoa.

–
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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: life lately

Life Lately

October 12, 2017 by jessica 1 Comment

Life Lately

This is the busiest time for me at work, which I’m sure you’ve gathered given my radio silence so far this week. It’s hard to set aside time for a hobby when a couple of hours to get through a post means I’ll be burning the midnight oil later that night on the work that pays the bills. Instead of staying completely mum this week, I thought I’d share some of the photos on my phone from the last few weeks. Most of these aren’t edited (our living room walls are white and not that weird cream color), but, hey, I’m crunched for time. 😉 And with that, a little peek into the life of Dave and myself over the last few weeks:

  • Our bar cabinet finally arrived and we couldn’t be happier with it. We haven’t had a chance to style it, but that duck lamp is totally staying on top. (Sources: bar, lamp, pumpkin, planters)
  • Enjoying lazy weekend mornings at home. The blanket isn’t cheap, but it’s such great quality. And I’m loving my new robe.
  • Trying on Halloween masks at Target. I’m still tempted to go back and buy this one. We’ve been throwing around a few costume ideas, but we haven’t settled on one yet. This would make dressing up so much easier. (I can’t wait for our first Halloween with trick-or-treaters!)
  • I think we’ve picked out our wallpaper! We’re going to hire someone to hang it because we’d hate to screw up something so expensive, so I’m going to wait a couple of months until I feel like we won’t be straining our budget to make this happen. (During the flurry of buying things for the house, we also ordered this media console.)
  • We went out for afternoon drinks last Saturday at one of our favorite bars. While I was snapping that leafy photo, a tornado unexpectedly touched down roughly a mile from our house. I’m so thankful that our house is fine. (It was a weak tornado, as far as those things go, and most of the damage was done to trees, signs, and awnings. Phew.) The shoes are from Madewell and required no break-in time.
  • There’s a random tomato plant that sprouted up in the small grassy area between our house and driveway. It’s been producing quite a few cherry tomatoes. It’s a fun surprise, even if it’s not the best place for it!
  • I casually suggested we buy a record player some day so we could adorably play vinyl as we cook together. Apparently when you express an interest in electronics to someone who loves technology, “some day” came awfully soon. Dave bought this turntable, and we’ve now been scouring flea markets and record stores for albums.
  • That bottom middle photo is pretty much what I come home to every day now and I love it. I love when the cat runs to greet me. I love our bar. I love the floors. I love that piece of artwork … that we still need to hang.
  • And our couch arrived!

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: life lately

Lately

January 21, 2015 by jessica 8 Comments

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  • Squealed over cute bottles of rum our friends brought back from Puerto Rico
  • Purchased a new purse (and gave Bacon the box, of course)
  • Enjoyed evening drinks in downtown Madison
  • Edited our Brussels photos and plan to post them soon
  • Freshened up the house with a bouquet of tulips
  • Paired geometric flowers with black and white stripes
  • Taken an impromptu road trip to Decorah
  • Wore a couple of Christmas gifts on repeat: a stunning necklace from Gerard Yosca and a wallet from my parents in the prettiest shade of blue

Follow along @bedknobsandbaubles.

 

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: instagram, life lately

Lately

November 25, 2014 by jessica 6 Comments

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LATELY, I HAVE:

admired a pretty window displays at Tiffany’s

worn my daytime essentials: big sunglasses, big jewelry, a Fitbit, and a hair elastic

strolled through Chicago

found a Christmas gift for a friend’s daughter

worn new earrings and a necklace c/o Gerard Yosca

embraced the holiday spirit in Chicago

found inspiration to wear a lilac sweater from the Michael Kors display window

Filed Under: Jewelry, Style, Travel Tagged With: life lately

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Hello!


Jessica Hamm
Hello there! I'm a first-time homeowner updating a 1920s house in Madison, Wisconsin. I have a penchant for travel and a love of costume jewelry.

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Our guest room wasn’t a design priority until la Our guest room wasn’t a design priority until late last year when we finally bought a bed, mattress, and a set of sheets. We used some of our own extra bedding (tucking in the generous overhang of our king blankets under the queen-sized mattress) and old bedside lamps from our bedroom: functional, but not quite the charming space I’d envisioned.
 
That started to change when I purchased the Popcorn Grid Coverlet from Schoolhouse — an item I’d been eyeing for years — plus some graphic floral pillows. Then came a bright blue round cushion and the sweetest Teig lamp, both generously gifted by Schoolhouse, and the room finally started to come together. You can shop my picks here: https://liketk.it/5f322

#Ad #SchoolhousePartner #SchoolhouseSpringStyle #SchoolhouseLiving #InteriorInspo #SlowDecorating #GuestRoom
Growing up in northern Wisconsin, lilacs always hi Growing up in northern Wisconsin, lilacs always hit peak bloom right around my birthday on May 30. My mom would fill a large crystal vase with fresh-cut stems, and their scent would waft through the house. 

Now that I live a few hours south and lilac season wraps up earlier, the blooms actually mark the start of my birthday month.

#Lilacs #LilacSeason #SpringFlowers #InBloom #BirthdayMonth #MayBirthday
Snapshots from the past week: • Spent quality t Snapshots from the past week:

• Spent quality time with my favorite cat

• Biked for Pacificos, chips and quac, and tacos at @bandit.tacos 

• Loved how the rain collected on the Lady’s Mantle I planted last year

• Dipped my toes (quite literally) into this year’s mesh shoe trend

• Snapped a lot of Lily content

• Drove home with a new lilac in the passenger seat
Finishing our guest room has been a focus of ours Finishing our guest room has been a focus of ours this year, and the cute Teig Lamp from Schoolhouse is such a charming addition to the space. It’s named for the German word for “dough,” which is perfect for its soft, petite shape.

Find this and the other Schoolhouse items we’re using in the space here: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/bedknobsandbaubles/posts/e01ae8c9-38af-11f0-b5c2-0242ac11000b

(The lamp and circle pillow were gifted. I purchased the other items.)

 #schoolhousespringstyle #schoolhousepartner #ad
Stripes, windowpane, floral, and a single polka do Stripes, windowpane, floral, and a single polka dot of bright blue to punctuate our guest room bedding. 

#guestroom #bedding #schoolhouseliving #schoolhouse #landsend #homedesign
I’m challenging myself to get through a backlog I’m challenging myself to get through a backlog of travel photos before we book our next trip. First up, photos of the gothic York Minster. I’m not religious in the slightest but I can’t resist stunning architecture and the opportunity to climb hundreds of cathedral stairs for a city view. This one only had a single rest stop about halfway up the flight of 275 steps for a closeup view of the flying buttresses — and a waiver you had to sign before your ascent to promise you’re healthy enough to make it.
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