It’s that time again: Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale is LIVE! The Anniversary Sale is Nordstrom’s best. sale. of the year. Hands down. Want to know why? Because they actually discount new releases and popular products – so different from sales that are just trying to get rid of stale merchandise. I know most of you have heard the hype already and tons of you have already shopped the pre-sale with your Nordstrom credit card, amiright? I know I did! Whoopsies 😉 I braved the crowds and went to my local store last week and came home with most of the goodies I had my eye on. AND what I couldn’t find in-store I bought online. Here are all of the items I either purchased or had on my wish list.
About Me
The Quitter’s Club
I’ve been a full time blogger now for almost SEVEN years now. Wow. Back in 2009 I was working an office job where I didn’t even see the light of day. Talk about uninspired. I worked in the home decor and design industry though, so it definitely held some appeal, but dream job it was not. I had been blogging for over a year when I left my office job. Was I blogging every day? No. More like once a week. Was my blog making money? Definitely not, but I decided to forge ahead anyways. Actually, it was my husband’s suggestion! Yes, he’s super supportive, I’m a lucky girl.
I decided I’d do some freelance computer graphic and design work (which is what I got my BA in) while I ramped up my blogging efforts and just see where it went. I went from blogging once a week to blogging five days a week. It didn’t take long for my audience to grow. I went from making around $8 a month on Google Adsense to making $200+ within a couple of months. Not a bad growth rate at all 😉
When I first started the blog it was all just a creative outlet. My husband and I bought our first house in the San Francisco Bay area in 2006 and were just completely house broke. It was pretty frustrating working my day job for the Pottery Barn catalog and seeing all these beautiful rooms all day, then coming home to a bare house. I started trying to find look-a-likes and was amazed at the deals I found. The blog began because I wanted to share my finds with friends and family and the rest is history.
It’s amazing to see how much the industry has changed since I first started. People graduate college now and say they want to become a blogger. Mind blown. Being a blogger is a career choice now?! AWESOME. It’s been such an great ride. I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
You can read more about the Quitter’s Club on the Fohr Card Blog.
Pictures by Jessica at HejDoll.
My Home | The Living Room
I always love a good after post! I know I teased you all with my Kirkland’s post the other day. Well, let’s get on with the show shall we? Here’s my living room as it looks today. It makes me super happy, which is very important because I use it as my office. And every blogger deserves a good working space, right? 😉
Celebrating Father’s Day with Sears
We took a trip to Tahoe last weekend and celebrated Father’s day a little bit early. It was so great to getaway for some summer fun at the lake. We like to celebrate holidays like these with a special trip or fun activity. And of course I couldn’t wait to give the Mr his Father’s Day gift from me. I love giving gifts and it’s always hard for me to hold off until the actual day to give people their presents!
So I posted my Father’s Day gift guide earlier and realized that I didn’t include any jewelry on it! I know, I know…most of you don’t really think of jewelry when it comes to gifts for men BUT let me tell you, there’s nothing more my husband appreciates than a good watch. He loves his watch collection and usually it’s my go-to when it comes time for Christmas, birthdays, etc. We even got matching watches on our honeymoon.
Learning more with Skillshare
With our recent move, I’ve kind of felt like we’ve got a fresh start. Not only with the house itself (I love a good decorating project!), but also with our daily routines. With the kids in different preschools, with new schedules and commutes our schedule is completely different than it used to be. I decided that it was the perfect time to create a little pocket in my day devoted to learning.
A Family Bike Ride with Public
We decided to take some family pics a couple of weeks ago to celebrate our new city 😉 It was super fun to documenting this new change in our lives. We missed living in Oakland and it’s good to be back! We thought it would be fun to capture pictures of a family outing while we were out and about enjoying our new town.
We Moved!
If you’ve been following along with me on Snapchat or Instagram, you already know that I’ve moved! I kept promising a post on our new house and after a week of living here, it’s time. We moved back to Oakland after living in the Silicon Valley for a few years. We’re glad to be back :)Here are a few teaser pictures of the house before we moved in. I’ll be posting some more progress pics soon along with some design ideas! Stay tuned!
THE living ROOM |
THE DINING ROOM |
THE kitchen |
THE 1st bedROOM |
THE bathROOM |
THE 2nd bedROOM |
THE family ROOM |
THE 2nd bathROOM |
THE backyard |
Copy Cat Chic Gift Guide | Gifts for the Ladies and a Coyuchi Giveaway
And as our last giveaway this week I’m super excited to offer this gorgeous organic Coyuchi linen robe (#9) to one lucky reader. Made with heavy organic linen and lined with fluffy organic terry cloth. It’s heavenly! Enter using the rafflecopter widget below!
SHOP THE POST
Adobe Creative Cloud and Room Design Update!
Or create collages like this one:
And with Illustrator I can make layouts a little more fun…
There’s a little bit of a learning curve when using Adobe programs, but once you take the time to learn it, you are golden. With Adobe apps you have so much more flexibility, control and capability than you’d have using other photo editing programs or websites.
Previously, buying Adobe software has come with a case of sticker shock, but now with Adobe Creative Cloud, there are a variety of different options and plans for pretty much any budget. There are bundles for students, photographers, and small and medium business. Plans start at $9.99/month. Here are the different plans you can choose as well as their costs.
And for a limited time only you can get Adobe Photoshop CC and Lightroom for $7.99/month! Click here to learn more.
The Toyota Highlander
Check another car off our test-drive list! We were able to drive the 2015 Toyota Highlander for a week and decided to take another road trip. Any excuse for a road trip is a-ok in my book 😉 (If you’d like to see where we went you can check out my travel series “36 hours” here!) The long drive really helps you get to know a car. I really wish dealers would offer extended test drives.
Anyways, back to this beaut of an automobile. The Highlander was at the top of our list if not number one. We’re big fans of Toyota, with our Prius now and we’ve had a couple of 4Runners in the past. The Highlander is a highly-rated family car and comes with some really convenient perks to prove it.
The drive is a little less “cushy” than the Lexus, you can definitely feel more of the road. The Highlander also felt pretty substantial – just nice and solid. And it was big! Just so. much. room. Our last two cars have been pretty compact, so it was quite the difference. We used to own a 4Runner and I swear this Highlander was just as big if not bigger than it. Are they making them bigger these days? 🙂 Anyways, the Mr loved the room, can’t say that I’d turn my back on some extra space either!
The Highlander we drove was a Limited edition, so pretty tricked out. It felt just as luxurious as the Lexus RX 350, if not more. It’s obvious that the Highlander’s focus is all about family convenience. I appreciate that, I really do. Here are some of the stand-outs:
seat warmers and coolers
The front seats had seat coolers and heaters just like the Lexus, but the Highlander had seat warmers in the second row as well!
retractable rear window sunshades
We had these in our old X5 and I’ve missed them. Perfect to keep the sun out of children’s eyes.
dynamic cruise control
Cool concept right? Slows the car down before you ram into the car in front of you 😉 Nice safety feature, but in my case? Not really that necessary.
BLind Spot Monitor
Just like the Lexus, loved these subtle but noticeable light-up alerts on the side mirrors.
third row seat
Perfect for hauling around the kids and a friend or two. Will be nice to have when the soccer days roll into town 😉
After driving this Highlander for a week, I have to say that it’s definitely staying at the top of the list! How many of you out there are Highlander drivers? What do you think? Do you love it?
We have a few more cars that we’ll be test driving. Probably not anymore extended drives, but I’ll still be sharing the experience with you guys! So stay tuned while our car hunt continues!