Good morning dear friends!  We are fastly approaching our one-year anniversary of blogging(fastly approaching = tomorrow) but we are affectionately referring to it as our Blog Birthday (yes!).

Today we wanted do a recap of our all-time favorite Etsy items from the last year!  A lot of these items have already sold, but please click on the links and take a look at the other incredible items in their shops (they are all AMAZING sellers!):

Stephanie May’s Picks:

(tea cup hair piece by Le Chou Chou, coffee camera print from Red Toque, wreath by Knock Knocking, ruffle flats from Soft Spoken, bow tank by Love and Dream, watch necklace from Cocoa Chu Chu, bikini tee from Midnight Flight, plaid table from RustyGold73, mustache print by Nan Lawson, quilt from Carolina Patchworks)

Stormie Dae’s Etsy Picks:

(Deer darling ring by That Vintage, I love you blogs and coffee from MadeByGirl, Petite flowers from Crow and Iris, Chunky infinity by Spratters & Jayne, Leather hush puppies from Find It Keep It Vintage, Sleeping bunny by Sleepy King, Cross-stitch necklace by Nea Wear, Pin up bathing suit by Napi, Brownie photo from Leaf and Ink, Poufy party mini dress by Love June)

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Happy Friday loves!  I am still pretty sick but definitely on the up-swing.  It’s my first day back to work since Monday – I tried to come back to work yesterday but was sent home and I sure wasn’t going to argue!  I’m still very sore and tired and my nose won’t quit running but floral shoes are making me happy today and I so wish I owned a pair of any of these lovelies – wouldn’t they be divine for spring?!

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And for purchasing sake(I always like to give an opportunity to spend money, especially on shoes), Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 have some cute ones:

1. Osborn Floral Oxford Shoes from Urban Outfitters

2. Open Floral Oxfords from Forever 21

3. Cooperative Floral Print Oxfords from Urban Outfitters

4. Springtime Oxfords from Forever 21

In other news, my house inspection went SO well last night(yay!) and for those who were wondering about my nail decals from Wednesdays post, I will reveal the secret…

I have been looking for full floral nail decals for months, ever since I saw these from Minx:

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Minx has some great products but they are a professional-use only company so you can’t buy any of their stuff and use it on your own, you have to go to a salon.  I don’t know about you guys but I’m just not willing to pay that much to get my nails done.  I thought there had to be someone else out there doing something similar but for a fraction of the cost, and I found it last week.

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Sally Hansen now has a line of nail decals called Sally Hansen Effects Nails(sold at Wal-mart…score) for $8.50 a box and you get 16 strips.  Because my nails are so short, I was able to use 1 strip on 2 nails and since I only did 4 of my nails, I only used 2 strips!  They have a lot of different patterns and colors which I am excited to try but even at $8.50 a box, that will have to be something I treat myself to every once in awhile because I’m still cheap:)

Stephanie May and I are so excited to be going to the AMC Theatres Best Picture Showcase for the second year in a row tomorrow.  We are going to be spending our entire Saturday watching 5 of the 10 Best Picture nominated films for this year back-to-back.  Popcorn and great movies, here we come!

Do you have any fun plans for the weekend??  Do share!

Love,

Stormie Dae

This week has been a long one.  My kids had a 4 day weekend from school and Tristan was out of town, so I tried my best at playing single mommy to 3 youngins (never easy).  Let’s just say that I am extremely grateful that Tristan is home, and we are all together again!

Some recent realizations:

My 3 year old loves grapefruit.  I mean, loves it.  So much so, that when she finished hers, she promptly went to the trash can and tried to eat her older sibling’s discarded halves.  Yup.

Starbucks Iced Vanilla Lattes make a rough day better.  I’ve had a few of these this week.

This movie still makes me laugh after about 87 views.

Tristan makes incredible homemade pretzels.  They are big, soft, chewy, and covered in salt.  My new favorite.

I can’t decide what color to change my hair too.  Seriously, if I can’t decide, I might have to keep it bright red for the rest of my life.  Would that be so bad?

Love,

Stephanie May*

Hello lovelies – I have some super big and exciting news to share with you!  I have been contemplating waiting a bit before sharing…but I’m too excited so I’m just going to come out with it….

I’m getting a house!!!!  I have been looking at this house for months now, and absolutely fell in love with it.  I made an offer on it last month and at the last second was outbid by someone else.  To say I was bummed is an understatement.  I have looked at upwards of 10 other houses after I lost this one but none of them compared.  Then on Saturday, I got a phone call that the other people fell through and the family was accepting my offer.  WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

We still have to do the inspections and all that so it’s not technically mine yet….but we should be closing in a month and I couldn’t be more excited!  I am so ridiculously in love with my little 1919 bungalow…it is divine.  I can’t wait to start posting decor ideas and things I implement in my new home, it is going to be so much fun!  Aren’t YOU so excited too?!?!  I knew you would be…:)

Unfortunately, with my good news…came the flu.  I have been fighting this blasted sickness since Friday and it finally hit…HARD…yesterday.  I’m just hoping I can get past it soon so I can spend more time packing and getting ready to move next month.  Regardless, I am in a fantastic mood and will be for a LONG time!

Love!

Stormie Dae

Florence Welch’s voice and style are electrifying.  Two of my favorite songs here & here.

What music is inspiring you these days?

Happy Monday pals!  Last week we did a post on all of our past Etsy Picks, and asked our readers for suggestions on future posts.  We’re still looking for more ideas, so please tell us what you would like to see more of – it would be swell of you!  One of the awesome suggestions that we received was:  Lace (!).  How did we not think of that yet?  Enjoy this compilation of the best lace pretties that Etsy has to offer:

Stephanie May’s Etsy Picks:

(bridal cap by Myra Callan, doily rug from Squirrellicious, lace jacket from Lucky Vintage Seattle, cuff by Love at First Blush, leggings by I’m Your Present, knickers from Stelma Designs, lace bag by Tortilla Girl, turban from The Swayze)

Stormie Dae’s Etsy Picks:

(Jana wedding dress by Your Fairy Tale Wedding, Vintage lace earrings by Sophie Hill, Blue bunting from Big Day Party Shop, Queen Anne headpiece by Whichgoose, Ruffle pillowcase by Blush Envy, Glass locket from Mai Autumn, Fingerless gloves by Metamorph, Delicate wardrobe photograph by Diem Design)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am house hunting – and it is so much fun!  It has turned into an every Friday afternoon activity for Stephanie May and I, before we begin our MayDae work each week.  Last week as I was browsing real estate websites looking for new properties, I came across one near my current home that was on some land – and on that land, was a silo.

For whatever reason, since I saw that house(which is a cash-only deal and that seems ridiculous to me) I have been dreaming of owning a silo.  I know that’s weird…but I just think they are so interesting and lovely, shooting out of the ground like they do.

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Of course the barn totally adds to the effect, so I guess I want to own a barn too:)

This probably won’t happen on this go-around with buying a house, but someday – I would love to own some land with a barn…and a silo.

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Plus can you imagine the kind of gorgeous photos I could get with a silo?!?!

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Yeah…owning a silo is where it’s at people.

Happy weekend!

Love,

Stormie Dae*

I am always happy to see a photo that embodies two of my ♥’s:  Fashion & Coffee.  A cup of coffee feels very at home in each of these photos, and seems to be counted as one of the accessories (aiding and assisting in the complete look), rather than just a beverage.  Thousands of paparazzi photos are taken each year of our favorite celebs out doing what “normal people” do:  filling their tanks with gas, going grocery shopping and…drinking large cups of coffee.  The DSquared2 Fall 2009 line featured models walking the runway in urban streetwear, holding a cup of Starbucks.  These people carrying their expensive lattes are beautiful, fashionable, and even chic.  Streetwear photos are suddenly filled with coffee cups – almost as many photos as those that feature cigarettes…will coffee win out?  Let’s hope so.

Love,

Stephanie May*

Did you go look?!  Was it the first thing you did on Monday morning, the day of love?!

…It wasn’t??  Tisk Tisk.  I just really don’t know why looking at the reveal of the Anthropologie wedding site was not at the top of your to-do list.  Well, in any case – you can read my previous post about it here.  You can also jump over and visit the site here, which you should do RIGHT NOW if you haven’t already.  Really.  Please, do it.

The site is lovely, absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking.  Here are a few of my favorites from the collections(but you really must go look for yourself, there is so much):

And the gowns….gasp, they are gorgeous!

For each gown they also have a 30-second video clip of the girls twirling and looking otherwise radiant so you can see the movement of the dress.  Fantastic.

One other fun feature(among many) is a little 5-question quiz to find out, “What kind of bride are you?”

No, I’m not a bride…but I did answer how I would currently plan my wedding if I had one coming up and this is what mine said:

I really think they completely get me, don’t you?  This site is so much fun to explore, I promise you’ll love it!

Love love love!

Stormie Dae*

Good morning folks.  I’m still coming down from a great and busy Valentine’s Day yesterday, with 2 school parties and a trip to my parent’s house where we were stuffed with a countless number of sweet confections.  Needless to say, we ended up having a lot more sugar than was intended!  After our kids went to sleep last night, Tristan and I ate chinese take-out in our bed (veggie lo mein for me and orange chicken for him) and watched The Office and Conan – 2 of our favs.  It was a cozy, happy night, and I just can’t get enough of him sometimes:)

I have had a strong hankering to work on some DIY projects, but can’t seem to squeeze it in these days.  Maybe some inspiration will help me?  Let’s all look through these tutorials for felt:

Make these gorgeous felt pillows.

Make this lovely felt brooch.

Make this swoon-worthy felt garland.

Make this unique lampshade.

Make this super cute felt dress up board (my older sister made these for my daughters and they LOVE them!)

Make these intricate felt place mats.

Make these fluffy felt poms.

Make this breathtaking felt circle curtain.

Love,

Stephanie May*