WhatIWore: Remember those slouchy jogger pants I wore a couple weeks ago? Well, I went back and got them in solid black! As I was walking over to see Adam and to shoot photos, I thought about how if you asked me ten years ago, I would have never thought I wear mom high waisted tapered pants. Yet, here I am. Never say never, folks. I don’t think you have to be a 22 year old hipster to look good in them either!!
I’m visiting my folks this weekend and excited to take Felix to the zoo today!! He loves monkeys and giraffes (or at least his books/toys) so hopefully he’ll enjoy it! We shall see! Have a great weekend everyone!
It may have taken me nine plus months, but I’ve put the finishing touches on Felix’s nursery and this is how it looks! It’s important for me to photograph my home clean but not too perfectly styled… we live here after all! It was organized just so before baby made his arrival, but as those of you with kids know, nothing stays like that for long. So now we just aim for clean. Toys in the bucket, books on the shelf, diapers in their wet bag and carpets vacuumed once a week. Here’s my inspiration post for this space.
Some of you may remember that we decided to wait until the birth to see what gender our child would be, so when I designed this room I wanted it to work for a baby boy or girl. I decided to use neutral furnishings, paint and window treatments and then brighten it up with a literal rainbow of accessories!
The walls are Pantone ‘Barely Blue’ (which was intended to look gray!) and the ceilings are tinted a more obvious blue, but I can’t remember the color name! I normally do most of the painting at home, but because I was pregnant we hired our friend Torlando of Color Theory who did an amazing job. We totally recommend him!
Our crib is from Target (similar) and we received a couple sets of crib sheets to go with it. A friend of mine gave me some good advice to use two at once, layering with water proof liners incase there’s a mess in the middle of the night! Felix actually sleeps in our family bed, so his crib is more like a holding zone when I need him in a safe place and two hands to myself.
The corner features a hot air balloon we bought on the boardwalk on our road trip last summer to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The giraffe was a gift from my friends. Felix is obsessed with ‘giraffey’ and I don’t use that wording lightly. Everytime we go in for a diaper change or playtime he reaches out for his new friend.
Above his crib are canvas prints of our fur children, Raymond and Gizmo. I took these photos using lotsa treats and two colorful poster board backgrounds. I then edited them in Photoshop and had them printed using Canvas Prints. We didn’t know it then, but Felix loves the kitties, so these are a perfect focal point in the room!
In the other corner, there’s my Joya rocker with blankets from my mom and mother-in-law layered on the back, and a corduroy fox that was a gift. Adam bought Felix the vintage Lightbrite and created the design. Some of Adam’s childhood toys are also scattered throughout the room.
The window area features a lot of homemade touches. My mom and I made the curtains and Adam and my dad made the bookshelf. All of the little books were generous gifts of our friends and family (we did book themed baby showers!). I made the rainbow felt bunting and the pillow that matches the quilt. See similar panda here!
The changing table/dresser is probably the least remarkable and was the last thing I did. I basically just threw some stuff on the wall because I was tired of seeing it empty. I made the Indiana cut out and upcycled the frame from Goodwill. I collect Qs, so I picked a few that worked well and used them here. The other frames were gifts. Our diaper basket is from Pottery Barn, the lamp is from Target and the changing pad cover is actually two pillow cases that I made years ago.
On the floor is a large chevron rug I got from Overstock, but this is one I wouldn’t recommend (mainly because our cats claw at it when they sneak into the nursery (they are usually not allowed in there!!) and the fibers come up). We also have foam alphabet tiles (similar here)
WhatIWore: Last night we did something really fun - a crawfish boil! My coastal readers might have these every weekend, but believe it or not, this was my first time!! We are in the middle of the Midwest afterall! I asked our host to tell me more about how he put it together, so here’s the scoop!
First things first, you need live crawfish, which you can order online. I did a little looking around and saw the huge batch David had came from Louisiana Crawfish. Next you need some BIG pots and a heat source for boiling everything. Along with the crawfish, our boil had corn on the cob, potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms and aligator sausage. The real key though is the seasoning! I couldn’t put my finger (or tastebuds?) on the specific spices, but take my word for it - it’s delicious! David told me that you need both ‘boil oil’ and seasoning (not too little, not too much) because it’s all about the spice (which also gives the veggies amazing flavor!)
The actual cooking is something like this - boil the batch for 11 minutes and then let cool and absorb more of the spices for another 20 minutes. You want the water to come down to 150 degrees and our cook used ice to speed up the process.
When time to serve, set up some big tables, spread out newspapers and pour the drained goodness on top! We sat on haystacks and dug in! Luckily other guests knew what they were doing and gave the rest of us lessons on how to get the meat out of the shell (an easy to learn, yet complicated combination of twist, squeeze, slurp, squeeze, etc).
This was such a fun party! Thank you to David and Jana for having us!!
WhatIWore: It might not officially be summer yet, but so far, it’s the best one of my life. Why? Because even though my son is a baby, it’s getting us outside, to the playground and the pool, getting bug bites and suntans, and dirty from head to toe. It just feels like summer. I remember getting off the bus in fourth grade on the last day of school and thinking FREEDOM! We are living the good life.
When: May 28, 2015
What: Shades: Karen Walker ‘Super Duper’ Tee: J.Crew (on sale!) Skirt: ModCloth (sold out) Belt: thrifted Shoes: House of Harlow (old)
Where: ‘Round town
Studio Quirk
Hello! I’m Jessica Quirk!
Voted most likely to say “I could make that!”
Sewing & knitting obsessed, loves baking, making and spending time with my family.
I love shopping secondhand first and upcycling fabric into new creations. Check out all of my sewing projects here.
