he’s here!

a (belated) welcome to the world…

Nils Harrington Mahdi!
born october 17, 2014
7lbs, 14oz and 19 inches of absolute perfection.

we’ve been enjoying these early days and weeks as a family of four (read: lots of napping and snuggles couch side).

i’m completely amazed at how well Q has done with this rather big change in his little life, he’s such a sweet and thoughtful big brother. nils is a rather lovable little guy, very into snuggling and napping, though not much for sleeping at night just yet…and he looks so much like Q did as a babe it makes my heart hurt.

i’m hoping to post a bit more around the holidays and such (blogging is really a lovely way to document our lives). i can hardly believe its been a month since we brought him home! these days pass far too quickly.

here are a few fun shots from our first weeks together…

i’m already nostalgic for these early days, sigh. until next time, dear friends.

xk

fall toppers

fall to do:
1. have a baby
2. wear more hats

xk

photos via pinterest

happy friday!

hello again.

what’s everyone been up to this week? i’ve been laid up with a nasty cold and am generally feeling overly pregnant as of late so i’ve been trying to take it easy over here…just 2 more weeks until i’m officially ‘full term’ woohoo!

meanwhile, i’ve been directing a lot of activities from the couch, busily ordering diapers and onesies from amazon and trying to get our place somewhat organized for baby. i cannot believe we could actually meet our little babe in less than a month!

i promised a few photos of our home improvement projects last week and, though we’re not quite finished with either room, i wanted to share these ‘work in progress’ shots just for fun…

we got crafty with wooden squares, repainted our canvases and made a table from the original beams of our 1959 butterfly (which sadly rotted and had to be replaced a few weeks ago-good thing our house didn’t collapse before we realized that one-yikes!)

finally found a cool, modern chair for baby on giggle

since our place is tiny, our spare room is working double time as a tv room/nursery. as many of these little projects go, i was planning an entirely different nursery theme when all of a sudden i stumbled upon this awesome geometric throw pillow and basically designed the entire space using that color palate. gotta love target

that’s it for now! stay tuned next week for more home improvement updates, photos and maybe a fall recipe or two…!

happy weekending.

xk

a little preview

hi friends!

just popping in today to share quick little baby room photo. we’ve been doing a fair bit of nesting/home updating in the last week or so and i’m hoping to share some photos of our projects next week! until then, here’s just a little sneak peek of our babe’s new space…

counting down the weeks!
xk

fall fashion inspiration

anyone else jonesing for some cool weather? perhaps it’s the fact that we were basically catapulted from the lake (land of blissfully cool rainy mornings and campfires) into the crazy oppressive heat of august in the desert…OR perhaps it’s the fact that my 8 months pregnant thighs are finally touching! (ugh). either way, i could really go for a chilly autumn morning, a long run and my old skinny jeans.

while cooler weather is sadly still a couple of months away here in ps, it never hurts to daydream a bit, right? here are just a few of the early fall, post-pregnancy items i’m dreaming of this morning…

a cool military-inspired jacket

sleeveless sweaters (finally a place where these adorable fashion anomalies can actually be worn!)

high-waisted denim, simple white t’s and the *perfect* slouchy weekend pants

simple gold layers

a few light knits…

and, of course, just a touch of leather…

october! pumpkins! babies! hurry up already!

xk

check out all of these images (and more) on my pinterest

heading home

after nearly four(!) weeks on keuka lake, we are finally headed home to ps! we’ve had a wonderful summer here soaking up loads of cool rainy mornings and warm breezy afternoons, canoeing, swimming, berry picking , hiking and lounging about dockside. we’ve baked and eaten gobs and gobs of cookies, fresh fruit tarts, pies and all things summery-sweet. i can hardly believe another season at the lake has come and gone (our last as a family of 3!)

while it’s always a bit sad to say goodbye, there’s nothing quite like coming home. i’m mostly looking forward to snuggling ben and getting our place (and ourselves) ready to welcome baby this fall! i promise more frequent updates and musings from pretty in ps soon, until then, here are a few of my favorite moments (and meals!) from our summer on the lake…

hope you are all having an equally wonderful summer full of friends and family! can’t wait to see you back in palm springs later this week!

xk

family traditions: berry picking

i love family traditions! cut out cookies at christmas, birthday morning balloons, homemade valentine surprises and halloween costumes…sunday waffles! i could go on and on. some of my best memories as a child were born from the sweetest family moments, lovingly repeated over the years to create piles and piles of wonderful memories. it’s so incredibly important to me that we keep and continue to create these memories for our own growing family. and, while we’ve been doing many of these things for years, this year has been exceptionally fun since Q is finally at that special age where he’s starting to remember (and even look forward to) these family moments. yay!

one of my absolute favorite summer traditions here at the lake is by far our annual trip up ‘the hill’ to pick blueberries. my mom and i started bringing Q here when he was just 4 weeks old, all snugly and tiny in the front pack, and we’ve made it a point to visit the same lovely patch every summer since. the farm that we go to nestled at the top of the lake, flanked on all sides by sleepy dirt roads, miles of grape vines, wildflower fields and duck-laden ponds. it’s the perfect place for little ones to wander, pick, and sample for hours, and a perfectly lovely way to wile away a cool tuesday morning. this year seemed extra special with a little bump tow-nothing like starting a tradition before you’re even born, right?

i hope you enjoy these photos of our family picking adventure! i tried really hard to limit myself but it’s just too lovely up there not to go a bit crazy…

are you enjoying any special family traditions this summer? what are your favorite traditions from childhood? i’d love to hear!

xk

rainy monday (pin)nesting

we woke up this morning to the gentle sounds of thunder and rain on the lake, cool breezes and fresh coffee brewing in the kitchen. it’s that perfect kind of lazy morning where pajamas and slippers linger well past noon and there’s no better place to be but on the porch with steaming cups of coffee and slices of warm, buttery zucchini bread in hand. in short, heaven.

it’s also the perfect kind of morning to sit back and daydream about all things baby. as i mentioned before, we’ve been pretty laid back about this little babe’s arrival so far, but now that i’m officially in my third (!) trimester and that sweet layette actually arrived the other day, i’m feeling rather inspired to start planning a bit for a room.

since we’re rather tight on space in our petit butterfly, baby m 2.0 will be bunking up in our room for the first few weeks. ben’s dad has generously offered to MAKE us a cradle and we’re beyond excited since he’ll be modeling his creation after this awesome rocker! how incredible is that? of course, after those first few mini months, we’ll eventually transition baby into his own ‘room’ (albeit in the tv room). since it is a shared space, we’ll be keeping the overall look rather neutral but, being me, i just couldn’t resist sneaking a little theme into the space.

from early on in pregnancy i’ve been incredibly drawn to simple, nature themes for this little bug. i just love the idea of creating a zen space with a natural, woodland feel: think natural shades, woodsy textures and a few baby animals a la sharon montrose.

here are some of the items that are inspiring me on this rainy july morning…

simple animal prints

our ikea shelf, upgraded.

foxy details

Perhaps a bit of wes

and a few woodsy pieces

what do you think? any tips for decorating a shared space? i’d love to hear…

xk

photos and more baby ideas via my pinterest

scenes from keuka lake

hello, hello from the lake!

we arrived here nearly a week ago to a house full of yummy food, delicious wine and cozy beds. we’ve been spending our days on the dock, toes in the water, drinks in hand, not an ipad or phone in sight. i’m thinking my updates will be sparse in the weeks to come-the sun and rain and water are all just too good to pull away from for more than a few moments. summer as it should be!

as i sit here gazing out the window, rain streaming steadily down the lake and the scent of homemade chocolate chip cookies wafting in from the kitchen, i am instantly reminded of the absolute joy the most simple summer delights can bring. though there have already been far too many of these lovely moments to capture (family sails, fabulous meals, blissful cups of morning coffee on the porch-to name a few!) here are just a handful of our favorite lake moments so far…

stay tuned, my darling readers, more photos and posts coming soon!

xk

have a dreamy weekend

hello all!

what are your plans for the weekend? we’re super excited to be headed east on saturday! in an effort to avoid the worst of the ps summer heat we’ll be camping out at the lake for the next (gasp) 3 weeks! woohoo!!!!

i cannot tell you how excited i am to dip my toes in that cool, velvety water! three whole weeks of morning swims, pancakes, sailing, porch chats, grandparents, campfires, great wine and berry picking…yes!

looking forward to posting some summery photos and updates from one of my favorite (and most inspiring) places. until then, just a bit of this and that to kick off your weekend…

incredible collection of kid things . i want them all!

and this!

again with keri russell . killing it.

baby obviously needs desert boots

waves from the inside out

summer must have: pool swan

word

rock painting with kiddos

daydreaming about this moment …

have a wonderful, dreamy weekend.

xk

photo: sunset over keuka lake last summer.