the (fun) baby wishlist

I say "fun" wishlist because there are certainly plenty of things that I still need that fall into the "practical" and "necessary" camp, but damn if it isn't more fun to shop for the cute things, am I right?  Granted there are some things that are both cute and necessary, like crib sheets, or swaddle blankets, but I probably don't need a fox hat or tiny moccasins.  But, also I totally need them.  I mean, come on.  I have concluded that my child will probably become the most fashionable member of our family because tiny human clothes are super fun to shop for (though I will say I'm looking forward to giving myself a postpartum wardrobe refresh).

I want to keep things pretty minimal and natural for toys and such, especially because a newborn doesn't need a ton of toys.  I'm a big fan of natural textures and avoiding as much bright, ugly, plastic stuff.  I've found myself drawn to toys made of fabric and wood and the graphic designer in me is in total and complete love with these gorgeous typographical blocks by House Industries. Gotta try to instill a love of great typography in this kid from the get-go, you know?  As far as textiles and bedding type stuff goes, I want to have a pretty black and white/neutral color palette, just because a) gender neutrality is my jam for decor in general and b) black and white stuff all matches.  Easy peasy.

Bedding + Toys:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Clothing:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Who knew that dressing a tiny human could be so fun?  I mean, I've always known that tiny versions of things are cuter, but tiny outfits are so fun.  Also: apparently dressing your kid like an animal is the pinnacle of cute because I just want all the animal outfits.  But also: I need to get myself a whole drawerful of Freshly Picked moccasins so that me and my child can go around twinning in our moccs (though all my moccs are super basic, Freshly Picked has about a thousand designs that are way cuter than any of my moccs!).   It's gonna be fun having a newborn in the wintertime, I'll get to have all the fuzzy, bundled-up-type things (with animal ears, preferably, duh).

Decor: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

I have my crib (a Babyletto Hudson) and if you follow on instagram, you saw my semi-DIY'd changing table/dresser, and the room is going to be generally graphic/southwest-ish in terms of decor.  I have enough art that I don't need any wall art, really, which is nice!  I'm not really into making a baby nursery that is super baby-ish.   I figure, this kid won't care what the room looks like for a long time, and I'm the person who is going to be spending the most time in there, so I might as well make a room that I love, right?  And I love decorating a room/house more than most things.  This list is definitely more of a wish list simply because I'm going to do my best to work with what I've got to put together the room, but dang if I wouldn't love to be able to put together a room with my dream elements!  The room already has a light, so my dream sputnik chandelier will probably have to wait till a later date, but a girl can dream!

Living Room Inspiration

Our new kitchen is a pretty big project that will be a little more intensive, so in the meantime I'm focusing on breathing new life into our living room.  It's already changed a ton since the image below was taken (what it looked like when we moved in), mostly just because our furniture and artwork is in there now, but I really want to give it a fresh coat of white paint (especially on the dark, heavy fireplace), some pops of color and pattern, and lots of plants!

We've got a door with a window similar to the one second to last in this post, and I've already got yellow paint to brighten it up.  I think the other walls will end up with white, but I might do a fun statement wall on one of the smaller walls.  Since we don't live here permanently I can't do super crazy stuff, so I may end up using removable wallpaper from Walls Need Love like I did in our last house, which was a really great way to update without the pressure of committing to a crazy paint job (or committing to a crazy paint job that takes months to finish.  Walls Need Love actually made that pattern into a wallpaper so you don't have to become a crazy person like me).

Images sources (except before image below): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Mostly I just want the space to feel inspiring, bright, and happy.  I want lots more plants (I need a snake plant and super tall cactus, like, yesterday), and I have a couple of vintage chairs that my parents got at a garage sale that I really would love to reupholster to bring them into the vibes of the space I have envisioned.  Luckily their upholstery is super simple (basically just 4 rectangular pads), so I think I can DIY that!  

A super big project that will probably be down the line is putting built-in cabinets/shelving on either side of the fireplace.  As you can see, that whole side of the room has a sort of weird step up that makes it virtually non-functional for furniture, so building in some shelving (much like Elsie's white shelving) would make that space much more useful and I would even love to put some upholstered pads in front of the shelving next to the fireplace for reading nook seating!  Like I said, that's a huge project that probably won't happen in the next few months, but who knows, maybe I'll get a huge burst of nesting energy and go for it before the baby comes!  Now to convince my dad to help me build this cabinetry...

Our Home Tour

As we roll into our new town and start the process of moving into our new apartment, I wanted to take a look back at our little Tacoma home.  We spent 3.5 years in this house transforming it into something super special and completely loved.  Driving away was tough, but since we decided to rent it for now, there is the possibility that some day we'll come back to this lovely little house.  I've done room tours before, but I've never done a single post with a tour of the whole house, and what better time to do that than now!

Goodbye little house!

The Best RV + Van Instagrammers In My Feed

I've lived in the Brave for long stretches of time, 3 months on my first cross-country trip, a couple months while I worked at a summer camp in 2011, and then 6 weeks earlier this year.  During this last trip I decided to follow some fellow traveling souls on instagram, and let me tell you, there is no shortage of amazing people with amazing feeds who are doing the full time rv/van/trailer life thing.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite ones!  Get ready to start clicking "follow" because these traveling souls are inspiring and follow-worthy!

@thewandering_eye

This photographer and her man are traveling around the US in the most stunning Winnebago ever.  If my Brave was bigger and more modern, she'd definitely be channeling these decor vibes.  It's super inspiring to see someone showing that you can totally make an RV look just as gorgeous as those jaw-dropping pinterest apartments.  These two actually just ended up settling down in a house, but if you go back through their feed you'll see all their travels.  Still, her feed is beautiful, definitely worth a follow.

@birchandpineairstream

Kate + Ellen renovated an Airstream to be a fresh, modern and airy home on wheels.  And then they sold it and they're doing it again.  So if you're looking to get inspired by a full renovation, this feed is following along with the entire process.  Get inspired!

@freshoffthegrid

First off, I'm most impressed that these two are doing the mobile living thing in a car.  And not like an SUV or anything, a tiny little car.  Impressive.  They write a camp cooking and lifestyle blog, and so their instagram feed is full of adventure and tasty things.  And who doesn't like that?  Go follow along and your appetite for food and wanderlust will be satisfied.

@poseidonsbeard

The cutest family traveling and adventuring in a van.  While Dan + I don't yet have kids, I've always been super inspired by families doing family-hood in different and unique ways.  Seeing these guys living life on the road makes me really excited for the day when Dan + I are parents, showing our kids around the world.

@tinyhousetinyfootprint

To be honest, one of the things I love most about this account is that their trailer has a similar layout to my Brave.  It's fun seeing a familiar looking space to be inspired by, even if it's not a Brave.  They have a blog as well, and, as their name suggests, they're all about inspiring people to live small with a small impact, sharing stories from other people who are living small.  

@therollinghome

These two cute humans built out their VW, and share their life and travels through their instagram, blog and in a gorgeous book with the same title.  They're traveling around Europe, which is definitely a change from the mobile dwellers I usually follow traveling the US.  They have incredible taste and each photo they share is beautiful and inspiring.

@idletheorybus

This hippie pair in their bright orange bus are adorable.  They're creatives, an illustrator and a photographer, and they just launched a kickstarter for their book "Orange is Optimism."  In addition to beautiful photos of their adventures, they always post lovely prose in the description of their images to encourage and empower their followers.

@outsidefound

These two built out the most incredible bus home I've ever seen.  I most definitely read back through their entire blog archives to see the whole build out process. I'd be lying if, after scrolling through their blog, Ididn't' want to trade out my Brave for a bus like that!  If you want to build out a bus of your own, they give tons of info on how they did it for anyone who want their resources.

@ladyadventures

We actually ran across Lady Adventure IRL while we were in Joshua Tree!  Her little Toyota RV is so cute and she goes all over in it on outdoorsy adventures.  If you want some lady power in your mobile living feed, Lady Adventures is a great account to follow!

@s_artuso

This gal converted a bus into a fresh, simple space.  Her floor paint job alone is worth the follow.  And if you like dogs, she's got the cutest pups in her feed.  She's not really a traveler, her bus usually stays put, so it's not a feed for getting inspired to travel, but if you love her space and want to see more of it, go follow her feed!

OUR HOME // living room update

Mid-summer I got the idea stuck in my head that we were gonna split once Dan got home from Alaska, move out of our house into the Winne and sell all our stuff.  After my trip up to Alaska to visit him I came home and started selling our furniture.  I sold and donated quite a bit of stuff, including our couch, but then after Dan came home he got a new job, I got invited to join the Gritty City Sirens and staying in Tacoma started to sound appealing again.  Our house was still in a bit of a jumble from my purge fest and our living room always felt like it was in a state of being unfinished.  

We're still thinking of moving, but that won't be happening until at least after I return from the Wildbride Retreat west coast tour.  So for now, it made sense to make our home feel homey again.  We got a couch again, and I set up the living room into an arrangement that I've never had it in before!  I've always liked the idea of the couch being on the black wall, but I wasn't sure how that'd work with the front door being right there.  I figured I'd try it out anyway and I really love how it feels!  Plus, there's a perfect spot for our Christmas Tree!

See the other ways I've arranged our living room here.

Almost everything is Ikea, thrifted, or Target.