Adventure Awaits

Yep. That's right! There's a baby coming over here! I guess that means we're not talking about food today. Unless you want to talk about that cake. Because, caaaaaake. 

I've been beyond excited to finally share this news on the blog. Our little nugget is due 12/31/16 (NYE!!) and I'm currently 17wks pregnant. It's still pretty surreal, but there have been moments lately where there's no denying a little human is joining our family pretty dang soon.

We just hit our 8 year anniversary last month (13 1/2yrs together...ah!) and we both turn 33 this summer (July 3rd for me). There's no denying we definitely took our time with this whole becoming parents thing, but we're so glad we did. The timing was right for us, and we're pretty dang ecstatic about the adventures that lie ahead as our family expands to 3.

Some details...

How did we find out? I had just gotten back from a fabulous trip to CA for the Eat Sea Retreat blog retreat. I was still recovering from 2 months of being the sickest I've ever been, with the flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia. I had a nasty cough and was still fairly fatigued with no stamina at all. I hadn't worked out in 2 full months. Never in a million years did I think this is when I would find out I was pregnant. The trip landed at the end of the month for me, and I was experiencing a few symptoms. However, if you've ever tried becoming pregnant before, you know these symptoms are a total mind game each month. I brushed them off and chalked them up to the tail-end of pneumonia junk. But the night I got back from the trip, I took a pregnancy test, just like I had done every month before. I was absolutely shocked to see double lines instead of that dreaded single line! I proceeded to pace around upstairs (Chris was downstairs), just thinking...HOW? Now? For real? O.M.G. How am I going to tell Chris? Do I just blurt it out? I came downstairs a minute later (Chris having no idea why I was upstairs), and the only thing I could think to say was, "I think something crazy is about to happen!" (???) He turned around to see what I was holding and let out a, "Are you pregnant???" That followed with a death-grip hug and standing wide-eyed and totally in shock at our Sunday night news. Pure happiness.

Then we made a run for take-out. haha

How am I feeling? Minus the crazy dreams, poor sleep, feeling like my bladder is the size of a grape, and extreme fatigue (in the first trimester), I really cannot complain at all. I know I totally lucked out dodging morning sickness, that so many of my friends were hit hard with. I like to think my body decided to be kind to me after the 2 insane months of sickness before finding out I was pregnant. At about week 14 most of my energy came back, I'm working at a normal capacity again, and the belly is expanding! My emotions have gone the opposite way I think they normally tend to do. I've been calmer than usual and don't think I've cried more than once since this whole thing started. When we've told family and friends, they all cry....I laugh! Also, I feel like I've had preggo brain since day 1. I'm sure it will only get worse! 

How did I tell my parents? This was one of the best parts! We found out when I was exactly 4wks pregnant. My mom had planned a trip out prior to me knowing this and it landed right at 7wks. We decided to hold off on telling my mom and dad (he had to stay back to work) until her trip out. We moved this past January and this was the first time she would be seeing the new house in person. It was no easy task to not tell my mom this crazy news, as we talk on the phone pretty much every single day. This would be my parents first grandbaby, and I knew madness was going to ensue once they found out. We painted a massive message on the wall (in what will be the nursery) that read, "BABY COMING," with the "12/31/16" date below. I picked my mom up from the airport and as soon as we walked through the front door we facetimed my dad. We were going to take them on a tour of the house and end in the nursery. I had a web cam set up in the room and knew my parents' reactions would be priceless. We saved the nursery for last, opened the door, and my mom started saying, "Oh, this room looks gre.... *insert GASP for air*" and a big WHOA-OA-OAAAA from my dad. To say they were shocked would be an absolute understatement. They couldn't believe we held onto this secret for 3 weeks!

Any weird food cravings/aversions? Not really! My appetite has been pretty ravenous from the get-go. With my job, I'm so lucky that I didn't have aversions. In the early weeks of being pregnant, I was shooting another cookbook and am beyond grateful I didn't have issues with all of the food that had to be cooked for those photos.

Are we finding out the gender? YES! We actually already know if this little nugget is a he or she. I'll be sharing soon! 

I'll end with a little photo series of my expanding midsection. Everyyything is widening, haha. Also, I'm awful at remembering to take photos exactly 1 week apart. Whoops!

11 1/2wks ------ 13wks ------ 14 1/2wks ------ 16 1/2wks

I don't plan to write a ton about my pregnancy on the blog, but be sure to follow me on snapchat (@edibleash) + instagram if you want to catch a few more of the details and for the gender reveal! 

Lastly, I want to thank you for tuning in to my blog all of these years and watching my career and life journeys unfold. It's hard to believe I've been sharing on this blog for nearly 7 years. I appreciate you all (and this community) more than I could ever put into words. 

xo

Ashley

Kitchen + Living Room Tour with $500 Rejuvenation Giveaway

Please note I cleaned before these photos. This is real life for about 13 minutes per week.

We've been in our new house for an entire month now. It's still hard to believe we're finally in, since this has been in the works since last May. We were lucky to find the house when it was only a foundation in the ground, because that meant we were able to pick out all of the interior finishes. A total dream.

Around the same time, I started chatting with the lovely team at Rejuvenation about possible ways we could work together. The timing seemed to work out perfectly as we were planning finishes and looking for some unique items to include in the design. While we're not renovating or DIY-ing much anymore (I take that back, Chris is currently building an outdoor bench), I still thought it would be fun to show you how the space is coming together.

This post + giveaway are sponsored by Rejuvenation. 

I briefly mentioned in the last post that one of the main reasons for moving was career related. While we loved our old house and the improvements we made along the way, the space and flow were no longer working as my projects grew in size and became more frequent. I also knew I was going to have larger collaborations coming up, with multiple people working at the house, and it just wasn't set up in a way that worked well for that. I tossed around the idea of finding studio space, but it's much more involved than looking for a simple office. I need a full kitchen, storage space, enough natural light to shoot in, etc. We figured that if we could find what I needed in a home, it would make more sense than leasing a separate studio space.

Once we figured out that this was going to actually happen, we started trying to plan the overall style for the house (the layout was predetermined). I'm not sure I really have a name for our style. Sort of, soft modern meets simple industrial? I say "soft" modern, because we like to bring warmth to the space with different types of wood furniture and pops of color here and there.

We've always loved clean lines,  and if you've been here for awhile, you know I have an ongoing obsession with white cabinets. This first floor has plenty of room but isn't huge by any means (it's probably hard to gauge in photos), so we wanted to make sure we kept it feeling bright + open. This was achieved with the unstained hickory floors, white cabinets, white counter (on the island), white backsplash, and white paint.

While cabinet and draw pulls are a small detail, they make a big statement in our kitchen, because they're visible from the moment you walk into the house. I was looking for something simple and clean, but again, also with a softer look. I instantly fell in love with basically all of Rejuvenation's options, but landed on their Larkin pulls in brushed nickel. It was the 1-inch finger pull that did me in (photo above). I could not handle how cute they were but also thought the overall style was just what we were looking for. 

(I'm standing in the entry of the house in this photo and the office is directly to my right.)

Next up was a ceiling fan for the living room space. This is where we started to incorporate the industrial look. The brushed nickel color makes the fan blend in with the space, rather than something like black that would have really made it stand out. It's still a sort of statement piece but doesn't overpower the room. This was important to us with how open everything is.

Perefrine Industrial LED Ceiling Fan

Back to the kitchen to check out these simple Aurora Industrial Stools. We wanted stools with a low profile, so they wouldn't overwhelm the space. We also wanted them to be light enough to easily move around the room but at the same time, sturdy. We thought throwing in another type of wood might be too intense, so that was quickly nixed. These had just the right amount of industrial flair and complemented the gray counter that wraps the back kitchen wall.

I'm not sure if I'll be keeping my photo cart in this main room permanently, but it works for now and is used as storage for some of my photo props. Instead of solely photographing on the cart, I am now able to photograph on our dining room table, the island counter, and the floor by the back doors. It's amazing to have different options in this house!

I will definitely admit taking photos in this space has had a huge learning curve, and I'm still getting the hang of it. There are way more windows than I've had in the past and they're south + west facing (more intense sun), so I'm really having to learn how to control the light. But I've been having a lot of fun trying to figure it all out.

To break up all of the white in the kitchen, we decided on gray counters to wrap the back wall. It added just the right amount of color and warmth to the space.

Dakota was also an integral part of the design process. 

(Her bed is an inexpensive memory foam bath mat and both dogs love them!)

One of my very favorite aspects of Rejuvenation's website is the how customizable everything is. Especially in their lighting department, there are more options than you could ever imagine, and you can preview every single combination they have. It's pretty dang fantastic. 

We definitely tried incorporating a bit of the industrial feel with our fixtures throughout the house. I'm pretty sure I spent hours going through options on Rejuvenation's site. Just for this Eastmoreland Semi-Flush light, you have 10 choices for the finish and 53 shade options! I decided on the brushed nickel finish and clear glass shade (14 inches) to keep things simple and clean.

(Living room is directly behind me in this photo.)

My office is a work in progress but it's already such a bright, happy space to work in. Maybe one day I'll go through all of those papers under my desk...

And that adorable little light at the edge of my desk? You can find that in 3 different wood options on their site, too!

Behind my desk is this temporary bookshelf. We've had this metal shelf for about 10 years now (used to hold a million different things), and I'm pretty sure we're keeping it for life. (The Legos were for a recent photo project.)

And now, the part you probably scrolled to immediately when you saw all of that text I just spewed out. Oops.

Giveaway!! Rejuvenation has offered 1 lucky Edible Perspective reader a $500 shopping spree to spend at their store. Check out all the ways to enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ashley

This post + giveaway are sponsored by Rejuvenation. All opinions are always my own. I only partner with brands I love and think are a fabulous fit for this blog. Thanks for your continued support!! Rejuvenation supplied the items shared in this post.