REVIEW: VITRUVI ESSENTIAL OILS

I'm very self-conscious of the smell of my home. There's nothing like inviting people into your home for the first time only to have them smell stinky diapers (thanks, Levi). On the other hand, you don't always want your house to smell like an Anthropologie volcano candle all of the time. Well, I mean, I do, but I don't have time for that, and I'll probably forget to blow out the candle. SOLUTION: VITRUVI essentials oils and their porcelain diffuser. 

I'm going to level with you. I'm not a crazy essential oils person. I like the idea of them being able to help keep me healthy and I'm open minded to the benefits of them, but, truthfully, I just like them because they smell good. HAHA! There. I said it. Man, that felt good to get off my chest. 

So, aside from their potential healing properties, I love these oils because they smell fantastic and I can create my own home scents. VITRUVI had me at their branding (sleek and modern), and then when I saw their beautiful porcelain diffusers I knew I had found the right oil company for me. They also carry oils that resonate more with me such as spruce, cedarwood and grapefruit. I like more woodsy and clean smells for my home, and I'm not a huge floral fan. 

You can tell they care about the home experience and the product experience. The diffuser has a couple different misting settings and has a night light if you wanted to light a hallway or an entryway.

Out of all of the diffusers and oils on the market, I would say VITRUVI cares about quality and design more than the rest. Check out their site to see what I'm talking about.

Photos by Rennai Hoefer

Home Depot Family Room Reveal

I couldn’t be more excited to finally reveal our family room makeover with The Home Depot. I have been working on this space the past couple of months, and it has become my favorite room in our home, which is great because it’s our most used room.

We moved in two years ago, painted everything white, changed our flooring, and then I left this room undecorated until now because life with a newborn and a three year-old called for “easy.” To me, easy meant that kid-prone disasters would be easy to clean up and I wouldn’t care if things looked pretty for entertaining because any company we had liked chicken nuggets and tater-tots. (If you want to see how ugly it was from the start click here).

But now that two years have passed, the kids are bigger, and our home has come together, it was time to organize the cluttered mess of the family room. The Home Depot has an incredible selection of home decor online, and they wanted to help me create a space that exudes style and at the same time allows us to be a family in it (i.e. a stylish room that can withstand popcorn crumbs, water spills and the occasional flips over the sofa).

When I started choosing my furniture there were so many beautiful things to choose from that I found myself overwhelmed at first. To narrow down exactly what I was looking for, I went back to the feeling I want my family to experience when they are in the space. Identifying the emotions will help you narrow the color palette, textiles and functionality of the space.  I wanted to create a calming, comfortable, friendly space. So, I went with a neutral palette with pops of soft blues and pinks and natural textures like wood, jute and linen.

Since the floor plan is open and you can see the kid play area, kitchen, dining room and even the formal living room from the family room, I took some cues from those spaces and incorporated them into our family room to achieve cohesion. The pink from our dining room rug is found in the pink pillows. The blue rug and couch in our kitchen and living room is found in our mid-century style blue accent chairs and dip-dyed tapestry. The linen club chairs are a theme from the linen dining room chairs, and they are so comfortable. And, of course, being a plant lady in the other rooms in our home, I also brought plenty of plants into this space too. The Home Depot had the prettiest, tallest fiddled fig tree. I was also pleased to find modern hanging planters for succulents and cacti too.

You’ll notice that I ended up choosing the mid-century style brass light from my previous post. I really liked this mid-century modern (MCM) direction the room was taking after I selected the light and accent chairs. I spotted a mid-century style, gray polyester sofa and a beautiful, wood sideboard. The fabric for the couch is durable for kids and the sideboard makes for great storage for games and toys. Everything else fell in place after that. To see a full list of everything I selected and more of why I chohttp://blog.homedepot.com/family-room-makeover-mid-century-modern/se each item, please visit the full reveal on The Home Depot’s blog. The before and after photos are INSANE!/p>

Photos by Lauren J. Photography; This post contains affiliate links. This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. All thoughts expressed are my own.

TARGET MOTHERBOARD

Setting up your dorm room for college is a fun and exciting experience for the student and an emotional roller-coaster for parents as they send their babies off to adulthood. It's not only the child's first time living away from home for kids, but it's, potentially, the first time they have had to prepare healthy meals for themselves, get along with a roommate, do laundry by themselves and other firsts. Though I haven't had to cross that road as a mother, I can only image how mothers want to make sure their kids are set up for success starting with making sure their living spaces are in tip-top shape. I had the opportunity to create some pin-worthy solutions with Target to put moms at ease for this big transition.  You can find them all on their Pinterest board named the "Motherboard." (Get it? Haha!)

Creating the DIY "dormmat"

Shot list for the collaboration

It was positively the best experience to work for a brand that I'm such a big patron of. They truly are geniuses over there, and being on set was unreal. They had huge room sets that looked you were walking into dreamy homes from a catalog. It was like getting to see behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz. I felt totally in my element, like I was born ready for this opportunity. So, this what I came up with:

DIY HEADBOARD - When I saw my dorm for the first time it looked like a prison. It was a tiny rectangle of cinderblock. I wanted to cover it up right away, but it's hard to do when you can't nail anything to a wall. They didn't have command strips back then (man, I sound old), but now they do. So, I came up with a DIY headboard using shower rings, command strips and shower rod and a tapestry. 

DIY DORM-MAT -Making a good first impression is important. I never had the thought of decorating my dorm room door, but I should have. I thought this DIY "dorm mat" was a nifty idea because it's inviting and fun. We made ours to say "dorm sweet dorm," but you could say, "bring pizza," or "hi, my name is Matt." I crack myself up. You can use all sorts of tools to achieve the DIY, but paint worked best for us and then we cut out the hearts to make it really standout. 

POST-IT NOTE PINATA - Care packages are probably the favorite thing to receive as a student, and they are something all moms should send to their kids. But instead of filling an typical card board box with stuff, why not fill paper bags that work like pinatas. You can even cover it in love notes with post-its to go the extra mile. And instead of filling the pinata with candy, you can fill it with gift cards, makeup, snacks and money.

OVERNIGHT OATS - Healthy eating was a challenge for me in college. I definitely gained the freshman 15. I wish I knew what overnight oats were back then because you can prepare a bunch of breakfasts in advance and stash them in a mini fridge. It's also a recipe that doesn't require a microwave or a ton of ingredients. 

PILATES CHALLENGE COMPLETED

Well, I did it! I did pilates at Core Body Pilates for three months with a minimum of three works outs a week. I feel strong, empowered, proud, flexible and healthy. My lifestyle and body has completely changed since I began this challenge. (see here for my the beginning post)

Before I started I was tired, in pain from my joint inflammation and I didn't feel confident. When I walked into a store I had to stick to certain clothes that disguised my mid-section or thighs. All of that is gone.

I was told that I would feel different after 10 sessions, see a difference in 20 and be changed in 30. It was an accurate statement and here's the proof.

When I began seeing results in the first month, I found myself even more motivated to keep going and step it up a notch. At the beginning of the second month I became gluten, dairy and sugar free to help lessen my inflammation and help my autoimmune issues. It has helped me SOOO much. I can't recommend that diet change enough. (read more about that here).

At the beginning of third month I found myself really looking forward to pilates, confident in how to do the moves and able to keep up for the whole hour. I started picking up the pace and going 4-5 times a week. Though it was hard to wake up every day at 4:20 the extra session definitely helped. 

I would highly recommend making a three month commitment if you are starting on a fitness journey. I think three session a week is a doable goal for the first month, but I would step up more in the second month if you can. I'm proof that it works, and I hope you take the challenge for yourself. For new clients, you can get a month of unlimited classes for $99. Such a great deal! They also have childcare for morning classes. Be sure to check the schedule to confirm.

REAL TALK REAL MOMS: FINDING YOUR CONFIDENCE

I never had to think about finding confidence in being a friend, a daughter or a spouse, but for some reason, finding confidence when I assumed the role of a mother was a struggle in the beginning. I deeply understood that my children were 100% dependent upon me to provide for their needs. Talk about intimidating! Social media pressure, peer pressure and familial pressure are much smaller fish compared to the reality of the responsibility of parenthood. And now more than ever, we are aware that our parenting choices condition our children to a certain extent and have lasting effects on their development (thank you science and research). So, how have I found confidence in my parenting along the way? Well, it's a combination of things:

1. My confidence isn't in myself, but in God. I believe that my children are a gift from God, created by God for His purposes. My children are really God's children entrusted to me to nurture them in the wisdom and love of Him. I try my best, I pray for my kids and at the end of the day I know that God loves them even more than I do (I can hardly imagine that). That gives me so much peace. 

2. I lean on God for wisdom in knowing my kids and what's best for them. There are many days where I feel like I don't know how to navigate my daughter's emotions or my son's health battles, but I believe that the discernment I have (that gut intuition) is really God guiding my heart and mind to the right decisions for my kids. There's nothing too small that I pray for either...from praying my kids would take naps to praying we would find the right doctors to choosing a school, I surrender it all. That, of course, doesn't mean I don't make a ton of mistakes because I sure make a lot of those. But I also know that when I make mistakes it's because I'm acting out of a bad place or not really thinking with wisdom. And, I also know that there is forgiveness and grace for me with the mistakes I made because of my beliefs. Knowing that makes me feel free and confident whereas aiming for perfectionism fills me with anxiety and fear. 

3. I surround myself with encouraging mothers. I have dear friends with kids that are the same age as mine and women who are now grandmothers. They are all supportive and encouraging people that have been in my shoes, and that's a comfort. They don't judge me when I share my mistakes, but they also don't let me keep making them. They encourage me through it, and I do the same for them (at least I'd like to think so). 

4. I set up boundaries with people that shame me for my choices. I'm always open to hearing feedback from people on other ways to approach problems or struggles. But, if I find people that continue to voice their opposing opinion over and over and over again in a shaming, passive aggressive or condescending way I set up a boundary. This has been a challenge for me, and I'm still trying to navigate it. Something that has helped is visualizing a rope surrounding me and creating a physical barrier that they cannot cross. The people that support me are on the inside of the circle and the others that don't are on the outside. Honestly, it helps me feel more free as I parent and make choices when I'm temped to people please. 

5. I remember that no parent has it 100% figured out and every child is different. I have especially found this to be true after having a second child and realizing what worked for Elle doesn't always work for Levi. Just knowing that alone has made me take everything parents say with a grain of salt. What works for their kid isn't always what is going to work for mine. At the end of the day, I just have to do what works for my family.

6. If my kids make bad choices that doesn't mean I'm a bad parent. We cannot control our children. We can guide them the best that we can, but I cannot make Elle's choices for her. So, when she makes bad choices I try to remember the blame isn't all on me. Of course, I try to work with her on making the right ones for the future, but coming to this realization earlier than later is vital to holding confidence as a parent. I know many mothers that deal with toxic shame when their child has turned to drugs or made other unfortunate decisions, and that shame can eat at you far beyond confidence as a parent but as a person all together The only thing you can control is yourself. That's it. And all you can do is your best. That's it. Surrender the rest. 

I would love to hear what has helped you find your confidence as a parent, and be sure to read thoughts from other mamas in this series: The Effortless Chic, Design for Mankind, A Daily Something; The Fresh Exchange, The Sweetest Occasion, Apartment 34, Oh Lovely Day, Design Addict Mom, The LIfe Styled 

Photos by Rennai Hoefer