Pinnable Me Friday: Decorating with Books

I’m linking up with Stefanie from Paw Prints and Pastry Bags for the first time this week! You should, too!

I'm a librarian so it should come as no surprise that I like to be surrounded by books at all times :) My dream house would definitely have a sizeable library in it (with a rolling attached ladder, of course!), but it would also have book shelves and cozy reading nooks all over the house. I've been able to find lots of "decorating with books" inspiration at Pinterest, and I've been a little surprised at how much life books bring to a room. They can be a little like art. Put some books in front of a white wall and - bam! - you have color and something interesting to look at :)

(I was having serious problems with the embed feature at Pinterest and had to end up just copying and pasting images so I'm sorry if a picture isn't attributed correctly!)

Nursery from amountainbride.blogspot.com

This room kind of proves my point about books adding color and interest to a room. This nursery is rather plain with white walls, a white crib, a beige chair, and beige carpeting, but the wall of books helps save it from looking boring. This baby is super lucky to have lots of great reading material too :)

Living room from cloudinthesky.tumblr.com

I'm impressed that the owners of this house have somewhat color-coded their books :) No paint, wallpaper, or artwork needed on this wall!

Staircase via Ceinwen Jones

This is such a clever use of space!!! Why have a smooth, useless staircase back when you can add shelves and books? I love that the owners have included a comfy chair and reading stool too in case a book catches their eye in passing and they must sit down and read immediately :)

Attic from myidealhome.tumblr

Books are usually stored in attics in cardboard boxes, but this idea for an attic library is a much better storage solution! Especially if your attic has windows that let in so much lovely sunlight :)

Book nook via Lisa Harland

I would spend way too much time in this cozy window seat if it was in my house! I love that they added a bookshelf under the seat for easy accessibility to their favorite books :)

Library catalog from teaforjoy.blogspot.com

Not books exactly but who couldn't use an old-fashioned library card catalog to sort a few odds and ends in their house? Love it :)

CSAs? Farmers' Markets? Produce Stands? (Oh my!)

(image via Google)

Growing up, my daddy always planted a backyard garden, and we delighted in homegrown tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, peas, beans, melons, and squash all summer long. There is nothing better than a tomato sandwich or BLT made with fresh garden tomatoes or strawberry shortcake or pie made with strawberries that you picked yourself :)

(image via Google)

Now that I've moved far away from home and live in an apartment with very little sunlight (even on the porch!), I can't enjoy homegrown produce so I've recently started thinking about alternatives to the home garden. Several of my friends have joined CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) arrangements at local farms where they receive a full or half-share of seasonal produce picked by the farmers every week or two weeks. I can see the benefits of supporting a local family farm and getting produce delivered, but CSA's seem a little pricey to me, and I'm not sure that Peter and I would actually eat all of the produce offered. We're not picky eaters, but there are a few vegetables that we just don't like at all and I'm afraid we would just waste them if they appeared in our CSA share. I also really like making recipes that I find in magazines, cookbooks, blogs, etc. as I find them, but if we had a CSA, I would be restricted to making only recipes using that season's produce. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad change to make to my cooking habits, but it would be quite a big change.

(image via Google)

There are also farmers' markets and produce stands to consider. I've visited our local farmers' market a few times, but I have to tell you, I don't really enjoy getting up extra early on Saturdays to make it to the market by 9:00 before all of the best produce is sold out :( The closest nice produce stand to us is a good  30 minutes away and their hours aren't the best either. And the produce at these places is also on the pricey side. I wouldn't mind paying a little extra if I knew for sure that it was worth it, but since we're on kind of a tight budget, I don't want to pay more for no good reason. As you can see, I have a lot of questions about this stuff, and I would love some help figuring all of this out!!!

So where do you buy summer produce? CSA? Farmers' market? Produce stand? Grocery store? Organic or non-organic (which is another big question for me!)?

Monogram Chick Giveaway from In This Wonderful Life!

Megan from In This Wonderful Life is hosting a giveaway for a $35 shop credit to Monogram Chick :) Monogram Chick is one of my favorite sites for all kinds of preppy, monogrammed gear. I'm especially fond of the monogrammed straw tumblers!

The winner will be picked randomly on Sunday evening (July 17) so head on over to Megan's blog soon to enter :)

Weekend Recap

This past weekend, Peter and I made a pilgrimage to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, home of the Philadelphia Phillies :) And I say "pilgrimage" because my husband is quite the Phillies devotee, along with the rest of his family (and the rest of Philadelphia)! Since I married into a family of such ardent baseball fans, I've become an honorary Phillies supporter too, and on Friday night I attended my first at-home game. The game was sold out (Phillies fans are known for their dedication!), and the crowd was just a mass of blue and red. I don't think I spotted a single Atlanta Braves fan (I would have been really scared to wear any Braves gear at that game!!!) It was pouring cats and dogs on Friday night so the game was delayed until 8:30 when the rain finally stopped; I was truly impressed that so many fans came out to the game in the rain and stayed until it started (it was sold out)!

Peter's brother was able to drive down from Boston and meet us at the game, and it was really fun to see him and catch up :)

We had really good seats, and it was an exciting game - especially since they won 4 to 3!!!!

I finally got to see the Phillies Phanatic in action, and let me just say - best. mascot. ever! My new life goal is to take a picture with this guy :)

On Saturday, we took a long hike with my father-in-law and ran some errands with my mother-in-law. My sister-in-law's family (who live in Lancaster County, PA) invited us over for dinner that night, and it was great to see them again! They live next door to an Amish farm, and while we were dining outside on their deck, we watched their neighbor work his fields with horses and an old-fashioned cultivator. I had never seen anything like that before so it was pretty neat :)

On Sunday, we went to church in the city and then enjoyed lunch with my in-laws before we headed home to good ole MD. On the drive back, Peter was already talking about how excited he is to watch the Phillies play in tonight's All Star Game :)

Tracy Negoshian Giveaway from Maryland Pink and Green!

(image from Tracy Negoshian)



The lovely Maryland Pink and Green is hosting a very generous giveaway from Tracy Negoshian :) Two lucky winners will receive their favorite Tracy Negoshian item of choice from her website.  The winners will be able to select their prize in any style and print available online from the current collection (which is fabulous, BTW!). Head on over to Maryland Pink and Green to read the entry rules and enter. The deadline is Tuesday, July 12 at 11:59 p.m.

Happy (Belated) 4th of July!!!

(image via Google)

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend :) I know that I did! Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Cookouts, parades, fireworks, patriotism - what's not to love?

Peter and I have spent the last three Independence Day weekends with either my family or his family so this was our first Fourth at home in awhile. It was kind of nice not to travel and just to be able to relax and enjoy some downtime! Our community pool finally opened on Friday (they were building a new poolhouse and there were some delays) so we had a very refreshing swim after work and then we made homemade pizza. This was the first time that I made my own crust! Pioneer Woman's recipe was easy and excellent, and I highly recommend it (as if there was a PW recipe that I don't highly recommend!).

(image from Pioneer Woman)

After stuffing ourselves with pizza, we watched the third Harry Potter movie, Prisoner of Azkaban. I had finished the third HP book last week and wanted to watch the movie version. Peter had never seen the third movie, and he got really into it. So into it that he started reading the HP series on Sat. (Finally!) :)

On Saturday, we made omlettes for breakfast (Peter's specialty!), and then Peter headed off to work and I headed off to the local outlet mall for some shopping. Another advantage to staying local for the holiday weekend was being able to take advantage of some of the awesome holiday sales! I found several cute pieces for work so it was a successful shopping day! When we returned home, Peter and I played tennis for about an hour, and then I made a taco salad for dinner. Every so often I really crave taco salad and just have to make one. And I always laugh at myself because I end up making an enormous salad! I think we could have fed 8 people easily with the salad that I made :) We definitely had leftovers for a few days! We then watched the fourth Harry Potter movie, Goblet of Fire, at Peter's request. I think that I can safely say that he's an HP fan now :)

(image from IMDB)

On Sunday after church, we made BLT's for lunch (Yum!) and took a walk around our neighborhood which was cut short by a thunderstorm. So we read and talked with our parents while it rained. I honestly can't remember anything else we did that day! It was just a nice, laidback day at home :)

On Monday, I attempted to make scones for breakfast but accidentally added too much milk so they turned out rather "interesting." Edible but "interesting." We then headed to the store to pick up some groceries for a cookout later that day and to pick up some screws and nosepads for Peter's glasses which were sort of coming apart over the weekend! After that, we just cleaned a bit around the house, I ironed a mountain of clothing (I seriously thought I would never get through that pile! Ironing is one of my least-liked chores!), and Peter repaired his glasses. Then we went to our friends' house for a backyard BBQ which was a combination Fourth of July celebration and birthday party :) And then we went to our town's fireworks show which Peter and I had never attended. We were impressed! The finale was especially good :)

I'm really bummed that I don't have pictures from this weekend! My camera is only working about half the time now so I havn't been using it that much since it's such a hassle. A Canon Rebel is at the top of my birthday wish list for sure :)

(image from Amazon)

My Top 5 Summer Beauty Products

Since it has now officially been summer for an entire week, I thought it would be fun to give y'all my list of essential beauty products for the warmest season of the year :)

(image from InStyle)

1. Neutrogena Sunscreen: I sunburn faster that you can say "summer," so if I'm spending any time outside (like more than 5 minutes), I have to slather on the 30SPF+ sunscreen. I really like all of the Neutrogena sunscreens (and I'm pretty sure that I've tried them all!). They're always light and non-greasy, and they don't irritate my skin.

(image from Drugstore.com)

2. Jergens Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer: After reading about my first summer essential, you know that I don't tan easily :) So my second summer essential is self-tanner. This self-tanner from Jergens is nice and light, relatively fool-proof, and doesn't smell too awful.

 (image from InStyle)

3. Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer: I've used this tinted moisturizer for years, and it's the best!!! I hate wearing heavy foundation in the summer so this is perfect. It's light, doesn't streak if you get sweaty, has SPF20, and has a nice range of shades for all skin colors. Love it :)

(images from Amazon)

4. OPI Cajun Shrimp and Strawberry Margarita Nail Polish: These shades are on my toes all summer long :)

(image from The Body Shop)

5. The Body Shop White Musk Eau de Toilette: This is my favorite summer scent hands down! I've worn it as my daily summer fragrance for years, and people always stop and ask me what perfume I'm wearing. I don't like floral perfumes at all which seems to be what most summer perfumes smell like, but this is different. I can't really describe the scent very well (you will just have to try it yourself!), but it's nice and light and refreshing. It smells like summer to me :)

There you have it! My top 5! What are your summer beauty product essentials?