Farmhouse Christmas Inspiration

1. reindeer figurine  2. burlap ribbon  3. chenille throw blanket

4. birch LED candles  5. free lyric printable  6. stag head wall art

7. centerpiece box  8. stag throw pillow  9. flocked pine spray

Last week, I shared my vision for a calm and cozy farmhouse-inspired Christmas. Here are a few items currently on my wish list to help bring the look home. What are your inspirations this holiday season?

this week's clicks.

get your week off to a colorful start...
WATCH.

• One of my friends who works in Silicon Valley shared this link on Facebook - apparently, his company is OBSESSED with this phenomenon right now, and from a sociological standpoint, it's quite interesting. As someone on the cusp of being either a Gen X-er or a Millenial (born in 1985 to Boomer parents), I have to say I don't hate these songs!

SWOON.

• A Palm Springs wedding with the best tropical vibes.
• Rita Chan's interior designs are so simple and calming.
• An elegant fall vineyard shoot from Ruffled.
• Perfect fall vibes in this Style Me Pretty farm wedding.

SMILE.

• Desktops: Sarah Hearts, Smashing, Mel Armstrong.
• Wish list alert: Fitbit's new line. Rose gold, please.
• One high school's colorful tradition has gone viral.
• In case you need another reason to support Hillary...

FLASHBACK.

• 2015: Windowpane print wardrobe picks, my fall TV roundup, 5 fave things about fall.
• 2014: a rainy game day outfit, blurbed the fall shows I was looking forward to, completed the Geek Girl tag, and participated in a Sunday Social all about fall.
• 2013: lilac and rose wardrobe picks for fall, inspiration for a neutral pastel wedding, a roundup of ballerina bun hairstyles, and my personal manifesto.  
• 2012: my bridal portraits and our wedding's prelude.

clicks of note: hold me up to the light

get your week off to a colorful start...

LISTEN.

• Vance Joy, aka James Keogh, is getting a lot of well-deserved attention this summer for "Riptide," but I am loving the songs from his newer album, Dream Your Life Away. My favorite song right now is "Who Am I," which is just so sweet (and contains a sly W.B. Yeats reference). I'll be linking up with Musical Mondays at My So-Called Chaos.

SWOON.

Tracey Ayton Photography via Monika Hibbs

• Love the beachy feel of this home by Monika Hibbs.
• Beautiful photos from the Swedish Royal wedding.
• Southern Weddings features a romantic Florida fete.
• Drooling over this Berkshires wedding from SMP.

SMILE.

• Happy National Week of Making, now that I know about it.
• June desktops from Kate Spade, Paper Leaf, Salt, and TLB.
• Can you ace BuzzFeed's quiz full of Breakfast Club quotes?
• If we owned our townhouse I would do this to the closets.

FLASHBACK.

• Last year I shared my summer favorites for Sunday Social, checked in with Literary Junkies, created my ideal summer camp packing list, rounded up my Instagram faves, recapped my early summer in entertainment.
• Two years ago, I joined Bloglovin' and featured a sunny yellow Sunday Simplicity.
• Three years ago I put together an Instagram round-up from my small town life, inspiration for a library-themed wedding, and Scottish wedding ideas inspired by Brave.  
• Four years ago, I shared our plans for a sparkler send-off and reception sweetheart table.

Style: Bold Black and White for Fall

First, I fell in love with this daring dalmation-spotted hand painted wall by Gaby at The Vault Files...

The Vault Files

Then, I saw this scaled-down wall art version of graphic black and white spots in Michelle Adams' bedroom...

Lonny Magazine

The next thing I knew I wanted black and white everything... clothes, accessories, and home decor.  This fall, I'm feeling high-contrast, graphic prints and typefaces.

View this set on Polyvore

1. Old Navy graphic t-shirt  2. J. Crew Factory linen t-shirt 
 3. H&M storage basket  4. Nate Berkus storage baskets from Target  
5. Merona wedge sandals from Target (similar) 6. Monki clutch from ASOS

Which of these graphic pieces is your favorite?

Linking Up:

Manic Monday at More Pieces of Me and The Daily Express

Passion 4 Fashion at Rachel the Hat

Style Sessions at Style Elixir

Style to Inspire with Rhea Et Cetera and Sophisticated in Style

clicks of note: in this life, we can see everything...

get your week off to a colorful start...
LISTEN.

• Saint Raymond's "Everything She Wants" popped up on my Pandora this week and I was instantly hooked on the catchy tune and slightly melancholy lyrics.  You may have also heard their song "Fall At Your Feet."  I'm linking up with Musical Mondays at My So-Called Chaos.

SPARK.

Doerman Photography via Wedding Thingz

• Andrea's family built the cutest farm fresh flower cart.
• Casey writes about the places she's learned the most from.
• The Inspired Room rounds up beautiful patterned floors.
• Wedding Thingz features a sweet park engagement sesh.

SMILE.

• BRIDES rounds up all the most striking TV wedding gowns.
• Five little practices to add more happiness to your lifestyle.
• Easy Instagram photography tips from the West Elm blog.
• Interesting: visitors' most surprising things about the U.S.

FLASHBACK.

• Last year I participated in a forward-thinking Sunday Social, shared my favorite new coral and gray work outfit, and rounded up colorful kitchen pieces and inspiration for a soft coral and teal wedding.
• Two years ago,  I shared wardrobe inspiration and home decor ideas in shades of navy blue, daydreamed about a bohemian citrus-inspired wedding, and rounded up my favorite brides in forehead bands.

clicks of note: on this lovely sunny day...

get your week off to a colorful start...

LISTEN.

• Zachary Levi and Bert from Sesame Street remind you to GO OUTSIDE.  The cutest.

SWOON.

Elisabeth Millay via Southern Weddings

• Coco and Kelley features high fashion home decor inspiration and ideas.
• Dreamily beautiful Paris travel photos from Entouriste - can we go now?
• This DIY paper punch backdrop from Ruffled is perfect for summer parties.
• Southern Weddings features a sparkly, elegant and fun Charleston fete.

SMILE.

• Don't forget to watch the Belmont Stakes this weekend - go Cali Chrome!
• Jenny Steffens Hobick's summer collection is perfect for entertaining.
• Different perspectives on legendary places worldwide (The MetaPicture)
• Rachel is hosting a fun Instagram photography challenge this month!

FLASHBACK.

• Last year, I did some summer reminiscing with the Sunday Social ladies and shared the weird Google search terms that brought people to the blog in 2013.
• Two years ago, I shared inspiration for a mint and blue wedding (still love this color palette).  
• Three years ago, I found myself having a wedding planning meltdown, which I survived by deciding to DIY a lot of our details.  

clicks of note: i'll find the places where you hide...

get your week off to a colorful start...
LISTEN.

• OneRepublic always seems to get romantic just right, and "What You Wanted" is no exception.  The fact that it's in the trailer for the The Fault In Our Stars movie doesn't hurt (and by the way, is anybody going to be able to make it through that film without crying?  I didn't even make it through a five minute clip!).  I'm linking up with Musical Mondays at My So-Called Chaos.

SWOON.

Milk Photography via Style Me Pretty

• SMP Australia features a super-romantic vintage style garden wedding.
• Loving this colorful, airy home makeover from 6th Street Design School.
• A round up of inspiration for a citrusy spring shower at Oh Happy Day.
• Perfect floating flower wreaths for a poolside party from Paper and Stitch.

SMILE.

• Pretty painted mason jar succulent planters from The Golden Sycamore.
• Fresh gift wrap ideas for spring parties at The House that Lars Built.
• Easter-perfect DIY paper lilies and crepe paper tulips from Lia Griffith.
• Little ways to make the world a better place from Yes and Yes

FLASHBACK.

• Last year I shared a Sunday Social all about Twitter, featured citrus prints inspired by two of my favorite shows, and recapped the Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure.
• Two years ago we threw together a Titanic dinner party, and decided to become not-so-extreme couponers.

my winter blog loves.

blog loves - winter 2014

Every season here at BTA, I feature a handful of my "blog-mances" - some that I just stumbled upon, some that I've been reading for ages.  This winter's featured blog loves cover a broad array of subjects - lifestyle, fashion, cooking, organization - and are definitely worth a look!

Oh Joy!

Oh Joy! - Joy Cho is a graphic designer and author whose blog is always full of colorful, creative ideas for home decor, fashion, food, entertaining, and travel.  Her daughter is also one of the cutest human beings on this planet.  I love the posts where she takes readers on trips to her favorite restaurants in Los Angeles.  And Joy recently shared some big news: Oh Joy! for Target will introduce four seasonal collections this year, starting March 16th with the Garden Party collection.

City Farmhouse

City Farmhouse - I describe my home and decorating style as "Country Townhouse," so is it any surprise that I love a blog that combines the same ideas?  Jen's blog is bursting with cozy, creative, family-friendly ideas for country modern style - DIY ideas (including Ikea and Anthropologie hacks), affordable decorating, recipes, seasonal entertaining, and the weekly Inspiration Exchange linky party.

Teal and Lime

Teal and Lime - Jackie's home decorating style is very colorful, cheerful, and modern, but most of the projects she shares could be adapted to fit any setting.  I've learned a lot from her about how to add dimension to my home decor.  She also shares useful ideas like how to store your craft supplies in plain sight and strategies to avoid spending money unnecessarily at home stores.

Shutterbean

Shutterbean - Tracy's tagline is "food, photography & pretty things" and her blog fits the bill.  Regular features include mouthwatering recipes (I know I'm not alone in being way more likely to attempt to cook something if the picture looks awesome), organizing advice, a Friday links round-up, and peeks at everyday life.

Previously featured blog loves I'm still loving:  Cardigan Junkie, Corilynn, Southern Curls and Pearls, A Cup of Jo, Dandee, The Fresh Exchange, Sacramento Street, Geninne's Art Blog, Rosie Molinary, The Everygirl, Hip Hip Gin Gin, Fabulous K, Note to Self, Bright Bazaar, Clean and Scentsible, Everyday Occasions, The Fancy Shack, Home Stories A to Z, The Vintage Housewife, Tidy Mom, A Farmgirl's Dabbles, The Gracious Pantry, Skinny Taste, How Sweet It Is.

What are your favorite blogs - the ones you can't miss reading

without serious signs of withdrawl?

My February Favorites

1. Simple Truth Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds from Kroger - My favorite snack in the whole world.  When I hit the dreaded 4:00 energy slump, I munch on a handful of these.  Almonds are a good source of protein, dark chocolate contains antioxidants, and these things are like a healthier, classier version of peanut M&Ms.

2. Green smoothies - I've finally hopped on board the green smoothie train and learned to use my blender properly to make them (liquid and greens, THEN frozen fruit).  My favorite recipe so far is Minimalist Baker's 5 Ingredient Detox Smoothie.

3. Lia Sophia Sugar Dusted earrings - They're modern, they're sparkly, and they go with everything.

4. Mossimo lace front sweater from Target - This sweater is super soft and comfy, the lace makes it feminine while still maintaining the "fancy sweatshirt" style, and it's pretty enough to wear to work.  THE PERFECT SWEATER.

5. Threshold pleated comforter set - When we upgraded to our king sized bed, I wanted to find bedding with a similar color scheme to what we already have so that we wouldn't have to redecorate our whole bedroom.  This set from Target reminded me of more expensive sets from West Elm and I love the deep plum color.

6. Thomas O'Brien sheet set - We found some of these super-soft sheets in a fun tribal print that looked really cool with our plum comforter.  I kind of feel like I live in a design magazine now.

7. Memoirs - I've finally caught the nonfiction bug.  Funny, essay-style memoirs of living people are a lot more fun than the stuffy biographies we had to read in school.  You can read my reviews of Bossypants, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me in my January entertainment post.

8. O.P.I. "Lucky Lucky Lavender" nail polish - I love anything purple, and this shade is a slightly muted version of 2014's Pantone Color of the Year, Radiant Orchid.  I will be rocking this lavender in every season of the year.

What are you loving this month?

home goals for 2014: a more efficient living room

We've lived in the Country Townhouse for two and a half years now and still haven't hit the lottery in an amount equal to a house down payment, so it looks like we'll be here for a while longer.  Even though I often find myself feeling a sense of discontent about the lack of privacy, sound control, yard/garden space, and freedom to paint, our townhouse is cute, safe, and VERY convenient to my school and Mr. Q's office.  In fact, I'm worried that I've gotten spoiled being able to leave the house with only a few minutes to spare in the morning, and able to dash home in an emergency if I've left something important.

We're here, and I need to embrace this townhouse as our home, not think of it constantly as a "temporary home" and treat it like a dormitory in terms of upkeep and decorating.  I've decided to follow along with Apartment Therapy's January Cure, and I'm finding the prompts really helpful.  My #1 goal is to make the spaces in our home more efficient.

When we took the Christmas tree down, it became clearer than ever that our living room is only super-efficient when it is time to put a large tree up.  Hey there, empty corner!

During the rest of the year, this empty corner is not a good thing for the flow of our lives.  It becomes a catch-all space for our gym bags and my school bags, stacks of magazines, and my laptop which just sits awkwardly on the carpet.

One day during the Christmas season, I was reading on the sofa and remarked about how happy the Christmas tree made me because it brightened up "my end" of the couch.  Mr. Q kind-of-snarkily replied, "You know what else would do that?  A lamp."

Obviously, we need some end tables and lamps, and I think the best solution for our living room is to center the couch underneath our large painting.  Here are three potential solutions that I whipped up using Polyvore:

Option 1:

That's our actual art and an approximation of what our couch looks like when slipcovered.  The open shelving is from Pier1 and those adorable Mason jar style lamps and linen shades are from World Market.  Mr. Q was skeptical the completely open shelving because he likes the idea of being able to "hide" some of the clutter we accumulate.  Mr. Q did like these lamps the best, and I like the idea of styling them like bookshelves and using baskets to deal with the clutter situation, so I decided to see what that would look like...





Option 2:


I have so many pictures of rooms with storage baskets on my Pinterest that it's kind of ridiculous, so I wanted to see what that would look like in our room.  The end tables (from Pier1) are a very similar wood and style to our entertainment console, so that would bring some continuity to the room.  I like the texture the baskets add to the space, and I chose a lamp from Target (paired with the same World Market shade as the first option) with a really low profile to balance things out.  I think this one is my second favorite because I could always remove the baskets and do something similar to the look above.

Option 3:

The most traditional design would be these end tables with drawers paired with mercury glass lamps.  I love mercury glass and the style of these tables is VERY similar to our entertainment console.  However, I'm not sure these tables would be versatile enough to hold our laptops as well as all of the other "stuff" we accumulate during our after-work couch lazytime.  I'm also worried that the drawers would become junk drawers!

Which of these looks is your favorite?  How do you manage clutter in your living area and keep the things you need available?

Thanksgiving Cocktail Party

I've shared some ideas for a modern family Thanksgiving dinner; our celebration this year is shaping up to be more of a "friendsgiving" with a light meal and drinks.  I love the idea of incorporating classy gold accents with a cheeky woodland animal theme.

How to Style:

View this set on Polyvore

1. Anthropologie linen napkin  2. Anthropologie animal cocktail napkins
3. Pier1 acorn vase filler  4. C. Wonder ikat dessert plate  5. Rondo gold flatware from Horne
6. Threshold brass wine stopper from Target (part of a set)  7. West Elm stemless wineglass

Keep reading for my dream Friendsgiving menu!

Modern Housewarming Gift Ideas

I've been using Polyvore for a while to create the sets for my Tuesday fashion and style posts, but haven't really tried using it to explore home decorating ideas.  When I saw a contest featuring housewarming gifts, I couldn't resist.  Here are twelve perfect, affordable gifts for newlyweds moving into a new home, whether it be a cozy cottage or a modern loft.  Which of these pieces would you most like to receive?

View this board on Polyvore

1. A bottle of wine  2. Whimsical bookends (Jonathan Adler from Barnes and Noble)
3.  A cozy throw blanket (Pier1, $20)  4. Kitchen canisters (Target, up to $18)
5. Monogrammed mugs (Anthopologie, $8 each)
6.  A scented candle (Paddywax, $25)  7.  A serving tray (West Elm, $29 and up)
8. A colorful serving bowl ($35, Terrain)  9. A unique vase (Anthropologie, $28)
10. Cutting boards ($14 for two at World Market)
11. A monogrammed welcome mat (Pottery Barn, $59 and up)
12. A storage basket (Target, $31)