House of Hydrangeas

"We live beneath the protective palm of a sovereign King who superintends every circumstance of our lives and delights in doing us good. Nothing comes your way that has not first passed through the filter of His love." - Max Lucado A perfect reminder as we get ready to move and start a new and uncertain chapter in our lives a week from tomorrow!

Here's a beautiful song for your listening enjoyment :) I'm off to learn how to coupon from the Coupon Queen!

Let's talk about jewelry!  Jewelry is something that is apart of my daily life.  I never leave the house without something on.  I always say that accessories make an outfit, and it's so true.  So when my new Guy and Eva Rianne necklace, came in the mail the other day, you can imagine my excitement.  This necklace is so versatile, I've worn it every day since! Rianne-$21 So you can get a better idea of its size, here's another shot of it on my bff, Lauren, who also has this necklace.  I think it adds the perfect little something, something to any outfit. If you've never heard of Guy and Eva jewelry, let me tell you all about it.  Guy and Eva started its life as a retail brand with their collection being sold in boutiques and various fashion specialty stores.  But lucky for us, it's now being sold through catalogs, home parties and online.  What's quickly become synonymous with celebrities like Ashley Green, Taylor Swift and Paris Hilton, is now available

Aside from my thrift store finds that I wrote about in June, this was my first baby shower purchase. Fabulous, vintage inspired gray striped paper straws.  I got a set of 144 for only $5!  Obviously I won't need that many for the shower, but since gray is a neutral color, I figured I would be able to use the extras at other parties/gatherings...Halloween, Christmas, birthday parties, etc.  I love gray.  I think it brings a subtle sophistication to any color palette.  I also love straws.  And I think the combination of the two will be a cute little touch to Baby Smith's celebration.  I mean seriously, look how cute they are!  I'm also loving this idea of using a drawer as a drink tray. Straws, check.  One thing done, many more to go... At least I already have a lot (if not all) of the serving pieces we'll need.  Look at some of the stash I brought home with me on my last road trip to Alabama. Images via Unknown, The Pleated Poppy , Unknown

...Boy!  Meredith and Michael found out this morning that a sweet baby boy will be joining their family! I had a dream last night that it was a boy, and when Mer called me this morning, it was confirmed.  I'm so excited to welcome a sweet baby boy into our family in December!  And now that we know it's a "he" the shopping, nursery decorating and baby shower planning can officially commence! I've been skyping with my mom and Mer these last couple of hours and got a good start on what we're going to do in the nursery.  Here's a sneak peak! Obviously there's still a lot to pick out...lighting, curtains, accessories, etc. but at least we have a good jumping ground.  And no, they haven't decided on a name yet.  I just put those letters in for a stand in.  Hopefully they'll pick one soon :)

In honor of Baby Smith's big gender reveal tomorrow, I thought I'd share some of my favorite nursery designs with you.  I can't wait to help put together he/she's nursery!  And as far as inspiration goes, I have a ton of it!  One tip for designing nurseries, is to pick furniture that will grow with the child (aside from the crib of course).  Accessories can easily, and often inexpensively, be changed out over the years, but furniture is a big investment.  Remember your child will only be a baby for a little while, so think of designs that will carry them through the years. Images via Chic & Cheap Nursery , With Two Cats , Belclaire House , D Magazine , DecorPad , DecorPad , Belclaire House , YoungHouseLove , Life & Style Magazine, Aubrey + Lindsay's Blog And here are a few more that I stashed away prior to my Pinterest days so I don't have the sources for them.

Jon got his orders from the Navy today!  So that means we now know when we're officially moving.  Yes, August 8th will be our last day here in Oklahoma.  Cue the Mickey Mouse Club closing song..."Now it's time to say goodbye..."  That's right, two weeks from today, will be our last day here in Enid. We both were surprisingly calm when talking about the 2-week deadline over lunch today.  We have a lot going on in the next two weeks, but we're ready!  Jon is going on his last cross country flight this weekend, and while he's away, I plan to tackle all of my final yard sale pricing/organizing.  Next Monday Jon will pin on Lieutenant Commander (I'm so proud!) and fly his final flight (aka"fini" flight) here at Vance.  Five days after that we'll host our yard sale, and two days after that the movers will pack up our things and move them into storage.  Like I said, LOTS going on here :)   I guess I better start setting aside all of the st

As you may have noticed, there have been a few changes to HoH today.  I'll talk more on that (and our new sponsors!) later.  Today, I feel like being random.   This will be the first weekend I've spent in Oklahoma in 4 weeks. It's hard to believe it will be one of the last.  I made this sour cream pound cake last night, and it turned out great. My grandmother (aka Mow-Mow) used to make one just like it when I was growing up :) My sister and her hubby will find out the sex of their baby next Wednesday!  If you can't tell, I can hardly wait! Regardless of the sex, Baby Smith will definitely be getting a Jellycat .  I love their Cordy Roy collection the best.  The Bashful collection is a close second.  Aren't they adorable? This is one of my current favorite spaces. I am ready for fall. I hope you all have a great weekend! Images via Jellcat, Style at Home , Trialx

If all goes according to plan, Jon and I will be out of Oklahoma within the next few weeks.  Kind of crazy, right?  It's been a little hectic knowing that everything is coming down to the wire, but we're hoping to know something solid by the end of the week.  And because our stuff will be packed up and moved into storage by movers, I'm not as stressed as I would be if we had to do all of the moving/packing ourselves. Even though we're not packing up our own things, I've still been trying to go through each room of the house and figure out what we can get rid of.  There's no sense in storing and moving things that I will ultimately want to give away once we get into our new place anyway.  But then the question arises "What should we do with the stuff we no longer need?" Jon and I usually just donate our unwanted items to the local donation center.  I'd say we've given away about 15 bags of donations and hundreds of dollars of furniture since