Back to blogging!

It's been over a year since I blogged here on Journeys of Mangonett and I have to admit I've missed it. So many things have happened between the arrival of our son, moving into our new home, and all the other things in between. I hope you have all been well, and if you are reading this, thank you for checking in and HELLO!

We have all been well and while the past two years have been a rollercoaster, which meant that blogging was put on the back burner, I feel that we have finally hit our groove and I am ready to get back to blogging and sharing again!

Thanks again for stopping by, I can't express how much it means to me!

A few weekends ago we took a trip down to the art district in Miami to see the Wynwood Walls. It's an up and coming area in Miami with cool gastropubs and music festivals, but best of all the streets are lined with art covered walls. It's not uncommon to spot works by artists from all over the world and the colors are beyond amazing. Nothing like art, music, and soft serve ice cream to make a Saturday afternoon...

Our little guy is now 19 months old! Can you believe it? Time has flown by since he was born. He's now not just walking, but running and climbing. He says what feels like a new word every day and is so funny. Yep, he's a keeper!

So long 2013! Hello 2014!

Happy 2014! My transition into the new year pretty much summed up 2013, all of a sudden I looked at the clock and realized it was a new year. Sounds about right, 2013 seemed to fly by, so I guess the fact that I missed the big count down is very fitting. 

This year we didn't plan any vacations like we normally do during our time off, instead we decided to hoard any vacation and sick time we had in prep for when the baby comes. I spent the last two weeks taking the house piece by piece organizing and cleaning. I haven't done that since we moved in so it felt pretty good to get rid of stuff we haven't missed since the move and finally put everything in it's place. 

A big focus was getting started on the nursery! Since the move the room has basically been storage space, so we started off by moving everything out. The crib arrives next week, but we were able to bring in the dresser, which will double as our changing table. Since I was starting to get the accessorizing itch, I ran over to HomeGoods and found a new lamp, but was most excited about these whale bookends I found tucked away in the back of Pottery Barn! Perfect for all the Dr. Seuss books I've been collecting since we found out we were pregnant...

Jack has officially found his spot (hello Sheldon!) right in the middle of the room. So the entire process revolved around not stepping on the napping golden retriever. Right now the room is basically just the dresser, but once we get more in there I'll post more about our progress!

On another fun note, I cut my hair! While sitting on the sofa waiting for my hair appointment surrounded by the sound of hair dryers and the local gossip I was going through Pinterest and landed on these two photos: Cut 1 and Cut 2. With wide eyes and a big smile I sat in the chair once it was my turn, looked at my hair stylist, and said, "Forget the trim, we're doing this today!". I admit, the waiting area of the hair salon is probably not the best place to decide to chop off your hair, but it felt really good. I'm still getting used to the styling part since with my long hair I didn't really do much, but I'm really loving the change...

Overall the transition into 2014 was a pretty nice and relaxing one. Nothing like a good stay-cation at home! I'm really excited to see what 2014 has in store, especially with the little one arriving I have a feeling it's going to be quite a whirlwind. In the last few weeks I've definitely "popped" in the belly department. We took this photo on Sunday and I was amazed how much the bump has grown...

However now that I'm getting bigger, the word "uncomfortable" doesn't really sum up the overall experience. I've been reading up a lot about what to start expecting at this stage, and it's always so awesome to read the experiences of other women who are feeling or did feel the same things I'm experiencing during their pregnancies! Solidarity people! 

Here's to wishing you all a WONDERFUL 2014! May it bring everything you hoped for an more. Let's get this party started!

All images from my Instagram

Been Working on a Little Something...

I know. Weeks have passed since my last post, for all you guys know I have fallen off the face of the Earth or worse, become one of Miley's backup dancers (still scratching my head on that one), but no worries friends, all is good in the land of Mangonett.

Very good in fact, because since my last post, this little bundle of joy came into our lives...

Say hello to Baby Mango! I'm officially 12 weeks today and growing. Maternity pants have been ordered since my regular ones can no longer contain my growing belly. I'm always sleepy and chocolate milk is my manna from heaven. We're both thrilled about the little one on the way! I'm due in March, which seems to be coming up pretty fast. 

Now that the baby is on the way, it's moved up our timeline for house projects. I promise that since my last post I've been busy, busy with projects around the house that I can't wait to share with you. So now that I starting to regain my energy, it's time to get moving and start getting the house ready for baby! 

I hope all is well with you all! 

Lots of love,

Mangonett

In Love With Life

It's been radio silence for the past couple of weeks here at Journeys of Mangonett due to the chaos that is home shopping, packing, and finding renters for our current place. Midst all the craziness I'm happy to finally announce that WE FOUND A HOUSE!

Yes! The search is finally over! Our offer has been accepted, inspection is done, financing has been started, and now we anxiously await has the closing date draws near this May. 

The house meets our wishlist:

- 1 story

- pool and a nice back yard for Jack

- bigger kitchen

- our own closets!

- 3-4 bedrooms

Not the longest wishlist when you compare it to the wishlists you typically see on those House Hunters shows on HGTV. However the biggest criteria was the home's location, and we are so happy that we finally found it!

It needs some TLC, but the bones are great, which means that I can finally put all of those endless hours of pinning to good use and create something we can grow into over the years. 

I'll make sure to post pictures once the house is finally ours, but I couldn't wait to share. We're already getting quotes for jobs we want to do right away. Let the renovations and decorating begin!

The House Shopping Kind

Image via Lonny

Hello Loves!

I know I haven't been posting as much lately, in fact my little corner of the blogosphere has been a bit neglected lately. However I promise it is not out of laziness or lack of inspiration, actually just the opposite. Lots of exciting things have been happening lately and I am finally making myself sit down and share! 

Image via Amy Meier Design

We've officially started house shopping! After 5 years of saving, we are finally there and able to start looking for a new home. As much as I love our townhouse, it's time to move on. For the past couple of weeks we've been preparing, making phone calls, and sending an endless amount of emails, so hopefully soon we'll be hitting the pavement looking for our new home. 

Image via LGN

While shopping for our new place we'll be simultaneously getting the townhouse ready for rental, which means a few home improvement projects and finding tenants. I'm not all that thrilled about becoming a land-lord, but selling isn't in the cards right now. Hopefully we'll find a great family that will love the place as much as we have. 

Image via Peppermint Bliss

I'm really excited about finding the new house and of course, decorating! All of my endless hours of pinning will finally be put to use! I also know that the next couple of months are going to be stressful and aggravating, but hopefully it will all work out. Send us lots of fairy house-hunting dust, it's going to get crazy over here!

{Photo Diary} Michigan through Instagram

Hello lovelies! We're back after a long week up in Michigan!

We went to shoot a destination wedding, which you can read about more here. Then we drove up to Traverse City to visit Tony's dad and do some sight seeing. We saw great lakes, climbed mountainous sand dunes, looked over high cliffs, and visited a little island where horse-n-buggies live. I'm still working on my photos but here are a few Instagram photos we took while out-and-about...

On another note, I changed up the blog again! 

I've been wanting something cleaner and less cluttered for a while. Mainly because I really want to dive back into the blog with some fun new content, so it was time for makeover! It's still a work in progress, so stay tuned!

New Look

Journeys of Mangonett has a new look today! 

I've been wanting to change up the look of the blog for a while now, so I finally hunkered down and made some changes. I added a few pages up top to free up some room on my sidebars and as you see now I have nifty social icons to make it easier to follow me elsewhere! 

I'm really digging the new look so far, it still needs a bit of tweaking, but it's getting there. I hope you like it!

Image via Pinterest

Sad Day...

We lost our Brandy last night. We took her into the emergency clinic thinking it was just a bad stomach bug and ended up coming home without her. It was sudden and shocking, and we're both devastated at the fact that she's gone. She touched our hearts in more ways than we could have imagined these past 7 months and we'll miss her so much. It's amazing how much these little creatures affect your life and bring so much love into it. 

We love you Brander-Beans and we'll miss you! Thank you for the honor of being your family!

Sleep

It seems as if my attempt to avoid all sick people was fruitless because now I am the one sitting at my desk surrounding by tea, cough drops, and tissues counting down the hours until I can go home and do exactly that...sleep.

I'm hoping I'm over this by the weekend, lot's to do and I have to have my head in the game. Oh how nice it would be to sleep right now. Sorry for the bummed out post today. To help the day go by faster I'm probably going to spend it Pinning, that always perks up the spirit right?

Image via Pinterest

Maegan's Room Reveal

Maegan from ...Love Maegan revealed her office/dressing room today and it is so pretty! 

How great would it be to have a room full of beautiful things that you've collected and a place to display your favorite heels and jewelry like art?

Click here to see the rest of the reveal!

Hot Tea in the Summer

Hello my lovelies!

I'm so sorry for the lack of posts, I've been sick since last week with what I thought was bad allergies, but since people around me are now getting it, I guess it's some sort of mutant summer head cold. Honestly, is there anything worse than having a cold when its 98 degrees outside? I'm walking around with hot tea and cough drops while everyone else is running around in their bathing suits...there's something wrong here.

Right now I'm just trying to take it easy and get better, but I'll be back to regular posting soon!

Image via We Heart It

Design*Sponge at Home is here!

This morning I was so excited to receive the announcement from the amazing Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge that her book is finally here!

It looks like it's going to be amazing, full of projects and inspirational spaces in true Design*Sponge style. You can check out the book page here for more info and best part, it's available for pre-order! I can't wait to receive my copy and start pouring through the pages.

Design Sponge at Home (Official Book Trailer) from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.

Congratulations Grace! It looks amazing!

Book images via Design*Sponge

In the news...

If you haven't heard about it yet in the Twitter-sphere, check out this article that came out in the NY Times discussing the new online shelter mags like Lonny, High Gloss, Rue, and Matchbook.

I was excited to see them recognized in a publication like the NY Times, however like many fans, the article had me cringing at certain points and sometimes just pouting at the tone. The overall feeling I got from the article was that these online magazines are being noticed, but still being met with the skepticism that the online design community has always been met with. The article also spoke about how all the magazines tend to be very similar in presentation and the stories reported.

I thought the reply made by Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge was pretty much on point when it came to this. Personally, I enjoy reading all of them and I recognize that they are all still very new, and will eventually discover their own unique voice in time. Online shelter magazines offer those of us looking for ways to transform the everyday into something that much more special, a way and an inspiration to do it...and they're free! It's the very reason why multitudes of people look to design blogs in the first place! Inspiration and new content constantly streaming to us wherever we are.

Skeptics or not, I think design blogs and online mags rule.

Brandy Beans

We have a new addition to the family! Say hello to Brandy! Or as I like to call her, Brandy Beans. She originally belonged to my in-laws and last week they contacted us to let us know they were trying to find her a good home, so we jumped at the chance to adopt her into our little family!

We've only had her for a week and are already head over heels. She's 11 years old, so she basically sleeps most of the day, but absolutely loves her walks. The hubs and I took her to Petsmart over the weekend and went a little over the top in doggie accessories.

Did you know Martha Stewart has a section at Petsmart?

I didn't! Brandy came home with Martha's peppermint shampoo and a matching brush...I'm already planning on going back for her treat jar, so adorable.

Right now I'm trying to figure out which one of Jamie Meares's amazing doggie beds to pick for her new bed:

I love them all, maybe if I show Brandy this picture she'll help me out with a point of the paw or something? It could happen.

Doggie pillow image via I Suwannee

Surfing Australia

 The Cherry Blossom Girl's photos of Australia have me day-dreaming of spending weeks on end on these beautiful beaches.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. The past few weeks have been insanely busy in a great way, I can't wait to share updates with you all. Talk soon!

Images via The Cherry Blossom Girl

Graduation Times 3

It turns out this summer is going to be full of family graduations!

This May both my sister and brother-in-law are graduating college, she finished her undergraduate and he finished Emory Law, and even my ancient self is participating in the graduation celebrations, I'm walking for my masters degree in June! 

It's going to be fun wearing all of that regalia again, especially that cardboard hat with the tassel. For some reason that thing never sits right on my head. So naturally with all the festivities coming up the first thing on my mind is, what on Earth am I going to wear? I have three ideas in my mind right now that are each totally different...

Perhaps something girly and floral? I love the print of this dress and how easy going it is. Paired with simple jewelry and a pretty side-bun like Jessica Alba is wearing. 

Or a cheery bright coral for the early morning celebrations? I love the way it looks paired with some sassy leopard pumps...

You can never go wrong channeling the always classic Audry Hepburn in a pretty black dress. I love how this one is made of linen, so it will be nice and light, accessorized with simple pearls over sized shades.

Which one's your favorite?

*All three dresses are from Top Shop*

Over at RBP...

There's a pom-pom filled bridal shower happening over at the Rubber Boots Photography blog today!

I am very proud of those pom-poms and I think Martha would be too ;-)

Images by Rubber Boots Photography

Turning 3

Journeys of Mangonett turns 3 today!!!

I can't believe how fast time flies. Lots of hugs and love to all of my wonderful readers, your the best!


Image via We Heart It

Over at RBP Today!

Happy Monday!

Today I'm over at the Rubber Boots Photography blog showing photos from a fun family portrait session we did a few weeks ago...

I loved the little polka dot dress their littlest one was wearing, so cute! Shooting with kids is so much fun, especially when they love having thier picture taken.

Head on over to see some photos from our other projects too!

Pretty Heels and an Announcement!

What better way is there to end a week of blog posts that with a photo of a beautiful skirt and heels? I love the color, so pretty.

After 3 months, the project that I have working on is finally finished! So now I can finally tell you all the news, I have been bursting to share!

My sister and I have decided to start our very own photography business!

My sister has been practicing photography for the past 5 years and through her I caught the bug and started almost 2 years ago. Over time we were hired for small events and last year photographed our first wedding. Since then we began to seriously discussing starting a photography business and this past January took the leap!

The name is a long story, but it's dear to our hearts and it usually gets a smile whenever we tell people, so I think it's a winner.

Our website is officially up as of today, which is why I waited until today to post about it. We are both so excited. It's been a dream of mine to one day have my own business, to take the leap. There are so many amazing women out there that I have met through the blogosphere that have taken their dreams and done something with them, so I took that inspiration and did it!

Feel free to visit the Rubber Boots Photography website here, read our blog here, and if you'd like you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr!

Oh yeah, social media here we come.

Wish us lots of photography happy thoughts because here we go!

Have a great weekend!