Cozy Little Cave

The Alpine Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Jesse and I have decided it might finally be time to upgrade to a queen sized bed. Nursing a baby in a full (with Jesse there too) isn't exactly a picnic, and we'd always planned on upgrading someday. We haven't gone mattress shopping yet (we're leaning towards a Tempur-Pedic), but we did pick out the new frame!

I've always loved the Alpine from CB2. The sleek, modern profile is right up our alley, but best of all is the integrated 'nightstand' with the ledge behind the headboard. With space limited, I'm excited to do away with nightstands- they always seem cluttered anyway & this will help us keep things tidy.

I'm also thinking this would look swell with some clamp-on architect lamps on each side... hmmm...

Silly Baby...

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:51:00 +0000

Strollin' in the Snow!

Little Stego!

Pippa & I had quite a fun time doing the whole 'posed pictures' thing! I opted to doodle on the details instead of making them out of fabrics & such.

The Most Beautiful Throw in the World.

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:02:00 +0000

Look at it. Just look at it.
100% lambswool, made in Avoca at the oldest hand-weaving mill in Ireland

I visited Avoca when I studied in the UK one summer, and I absolutely loved it. It's a stunning, perfect little town that's right out of a movie- and their wool products are to die for. I brought my parents back a throw that I still regret not keeping for myself. No worries though... I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to resist this one much longer...

Edit: Okay, I bought it. Seriously... how fun is this throw!?

Natasha

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:32:00 +0000

Check out this little felt doxie puppet I found on Etsy!! 'Natasha' is so chic and adorable- look at that expression! I just love when things straddle the toy/art boundary. Next time I have some free cash floating around, I think Pippa might need one...

3 Sprouts Mouse Caddy

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Check out the newest addition to our living room... the 3 Sprouts Mouse Caddy!

Isn't he adorable?? I saw him in a photo of a friend's living room, and I knew he was perfect for Pippa's toys. The handle makes it easy to tote around the house, and the inside is waterproof for easy cleaning!

5 Months!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:21:00 +0000

I cannot believe how time has flown. My little Pippa is five months old already!

I guess Nell had a good Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:51:00 +0000

No clue what's going on in the background, but I felt it definitely needed to be animated.

Christmas Card Rejects

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:12:00 +0000

This is one of our Christmas card rejects (obviously). It seems that no matter what, there's always some pretty funny ones. This year though, Jesse had a phenomenal idea... he suggested including the funny rejects the back of the real card. Hilarious. Too bad we'd already printed this year's, so that'll have to wait until next Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:23:00 +0000

Vintage Glass Ornaments

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:24:00 +0000

It's been a very vintage Christmas decoration-wise in the Carter house this year. I decided to deck out the tinsel tree in old glass ornaments... and I love it! I love the shine! Don't you?

I'll always love Hallmark ornaments because they're what I grew up with. They're fun, themed, and make for great memories & keepsakes. The vintage glass ones have them beat on style and spark though. Let's just hope the tree doesn't ever fall!

Finial Tree Toppers

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:04:00 +0000

Along with the new tree this year, I scored some vintage glass finial toppers from ebay. There's something so whimsical and fun about them, don't you think? I think I might try to make a stand for them to use as a centerpiece in the future, but for this holiday, they'll be up on the trees.

Love that sparkle & shine!

In the past, we've always had angels on top of our trees, which I like, but finding a really nice one can be difficult/expensive. I've never been a huge fan of star toppers, but maybe I just haven't seen a good one. I'm curious what the most common toppers are these days though...

4 Years...

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Happy Anniversary my love! Here's to many, many more...

We Three Trees...

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:04:00 +0000

I've always been a huge fan of Christmas trees, and growing up, we often had more than one tree. I collect Christmas ornaments, so I don't ever have issues decorating them. This year, we have three trees up.

Growing up, I always insisted on a live tree. Maybe because I lived in Texas & didn't get to see many evergreens. Jesse loves them because he had fake trees growing up. For our wedding, we had fake alpine trees as decorations, so my parents and I each have a handful of those now as well. And this year, for my birthday, I got a platinum tinsel tree. It's so retro and fits in perfectly with our 'old' house; even Jesse -who was against getting it- thinks it's pretty awesome.

The tinsel tree! This one is the Tess tree. It's so shiny & bright with the lights on, but I love it even with the lights off. Pictures do not do it justice.

Our 'noble fir' (homage to the boo) is Jesse's tree.

And here's the little Pippa tree!

Do you prefer live or fake trees? Anyone else regularly put up more than one tree? :)

Texas Wedding Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:23:00 +0000

This past weekend, Jesse, Pippa and I flew to Texas for our dear friends Kellye and Steve's wedding. As an added bonus, we got to see all our friends & family back home! The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, and lucky for us, Pippa slept & nursed for all the flights. Such a great trip- I only wish it could have been longer...

Love!

Sisters!

Hey there little girl!

*Note: Apologies for the weirdness of these photos. My mom took them with her new camera & I can't figure out what is with the strange artifacting I'm seeing on them. I decided to share them anyway though...

Away we go!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:03:00 +0000

Posting from my phone in the airport. Not a fun day... Pippa's first flight & we got delayed past our connection. Now they're re-routing through Charlotte (sorry we wont be there long enough to see you Tori & Stephen!) It's going to be a long, rough day.

My view from the couch...

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:20:00 +0000

New Laptop!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:46:00 +0000

My amazing husband has been hounding the Dell outlet for quite a while in search of a discounted XPS 15z; it's the only thing out there that fits my 'needs'. I loved my Macbook Pro, and I prefer OSX, but there is absolutely no way it is worth the inflated price (looking back, I can't believe Jesse & my dad allowed me to spend so much on a laptop). Anyway, check out some of the specs on this incredible scratch & dent score!

-- 15.6 inch FHD (1080P) WLED Display
-- 750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
-- NVIDIA GeForce GT525M 2GB graphics with Optimus
-- 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2640M 2nd generation Processor (2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz)

That's right people... 1080p, i7 processor, dedicated graphics... and all for $889 (down from $1300). I win, and I didn't have to give up the slim, slick design from my Macbook Pro. :) Now I just have to wait for it to get here!

Lights!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:35:00 +0000

Just 'reflecting' on the benefits of having a tree near the bay window... :)

It's SANTA! I KNOW him! I know him!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:17:00 +0000

...and now the babe does too!

We had our first official Santa visit this past weekend. Jesse's work had a holiday family shindig, so we figured we'd take the Pipsqueak. She did quite well at first- alertly taking in her busy surroundings, but as nap time came & went, she started to deteriorate. When we were finally called to get in line, she fussed and wailed the whole time. The second we sat her on Santa's lap though? Chill as could be. Apparently Santa's lap is magic. :)

Aside from seeing Santa, Pippa has been doing her part to spruce up the house for the holidays...

Technical Difficulties!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Yeah... I know. Technical difficulties can't possibly excuse me for going MIA since Halloween (gah! has it been that long?). I'm sorry. The past couple months have been a whirlwind of adjusting to life with this feisty little pipsqueak and getting ready for the holidays. On top of that though, my laptop is on the fritz. What started as an intermittent logic board problem appears to have finally caught up with me. I've been trying to use my computer sparingly in an effort to prolong its life, but I have yet to keep it alive for more than 2 minutes today. :( Sad. Looks like I'll be getting a new laptop for my birthday (which is today! wee!)...

I do hope to be up and running again asap; the silver lining to a blogging break is a buildup of fun things to share! Meanwhile, I'll be scouting out a new machine (Dell XPS 15z? *swoon*) and making do (I mean... we do still have 4 other computers + smartphones in this house).

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

October Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:31:00 +0000

Can you believe it? We got a decent bit of it this morning, but it's all pretty much gone now. The Pip did well and seemed to like it! If anything, she looked pretty darn adorable in her snuggly skunk outfit...

Halloween 1986 & 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 04:30:00 +0000

It runs in the family. :)

Giveaway Winner Reminder!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:27:00 +0000

Just a quick reminder- Jill! You've won the www.morebarstools.com giveaway! Please email me or comment here with your email asap! If I don't hear from you by Saturday evening, I will have to draw a new winner!

Baby Seal!

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:24:00 +0000

How cute is this thing!? It's like a chic, luxe, European version of a baby Snuggie!

Land That I Love

noreply@blogger.com (Tess Carter) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:31:00 +0000

Since moving to Pittsburgh a few years ago, Jesse and I definitely miss Texas. A lot. Of course our family is all there, but we also miss the huge sky, expansive ranches, and cowboy vibe. I don't think any state can rival the pride and passion Texas seems to muster up. Most of all though? The food. Don't get me wrong... Pittsburgh has great food, but it doesn't have anything on tex mex. Or BBQ. Or greasy little burger shacks. Or Blue Bell ice cream.

Anyway, how cute is this little Land That I Love necklace? They make them for every state, but something tells me they sell more Texas ones than any other state... ;)