an honest review of the lappjung rug

I have been thinking about doing this review for awhile so here we are. Perhaps you have seen this IKEA rug online. I am sure that's the first place I saw it. I think I saw it initially on a home blog or two and then on IKEA's website. 

Perhaps you saw it looking cute here on a beautiful mess' blog... 

It wasn't exactly what I had in mind for our living room, but it was $70 at IKEA so I thought it was worth a shot. (They have re-done the style of it and took off the pop of color on the edges and upped the price a little bit) I thought "let's be trendy hipsters." Okay, that was not my total thought process, but it is a very trendy rug that may be out of style by next spring. How long can the tribal trend last anyway?

So we brought it home and laid it out and eventually decided to keep it. 

(we have a made a few changes to the living room since these pictures)

However, that was then and this is now. 

The rug is cute. Yes. I still enjoy my living room and feeling like I am on top of current fashion trends for the season, but unless you like to see every single speck of dirt, etc. that lands on your carpet I would not recommend this rug. The white seems to make any little thing that does not belong on the carpet a little more obvious. And as seen in the photo above almost looks like it has weird smudges of black on it now. 

Plus I am not a vacuum the living room every day kind of gal. (does that type of gal exist?) I don't mind say 2-3 times a week, but I feel like 5 days a week is asking a lot and that's the maintenance of this rug demands. Boo. 

Perhaps this rug could work in a bedroom or an office, a room that does not have a lot of traffic, but our living room gets a lot of use. I am not sure how much longer me and the lappljung rug's relationship is going to last. 

Do you have this rug? Do you have a different impression? Or is it just the result of having any rug with white in it? 

one year in new england

We rounded our first year in New England in August. It's hard to believe that last August we pulled into the North Shore of Boston and it was all new. We have adjusted and...are continuing to adjust. It's funny to me how whenever a season changes I feel a little anxious. It's like a reminder of the change and how much really feels new here. I have mixed feelings about fall coming. The winter was really hard last year. It was dark and snowy and icy especially after Christmas, but when it finalllly got warm (ish) in May, it made me a little queasy just because it reminded me of what it was like when we moved here. Weird?

With that said, here are five things that I am loving about living here so far...

1... I am so grateful that we have a house we really love here. There is still a lot to do, but generally it's great.

just bought the house! (left)                     nemo snowstorm (right)

2...Fresh local food. My two favorite spots are Richardson's for fresh milk and eggs (& ice cream) and Tendercrop Farm in Newbury. Both are a bit of a drive (about 20 minutes in opposite directions) so I make these trips on different days. But both have tractors and cows to look at - which Jude loves now. Richardson's sell a gallon of whole organic local milk for $2.60....can you beat that??

3...The people. I feel like because of the type of neighborhood we are in we are more social than we were in Virginia. We love our neighbors. We take turns grocery shopping for each other. We spontaneously eat meals together. We love being near to Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Seminary and the community of people that are here because of those two schools. We love the leaders we are working with from both schools too and they have already become so dear to us.

4...Living near Boston. We do not get into the city all that much. We live about 30 minutes North, but we love having the train run through town. We can hear it from our house and Jude listens for it as it chugs by. And a trip into the city is always fun.

5...There's probably other things, but for five I am going to go with flea markets, awesome antique stores and free stuff. I find more things on the side of the road than I know what to do with. Often they are things we could really use and it's great. 

Life is different here in a lot of ways, but as Philip reminded me when we moved initially, we still end the day together and that does not change. 

bridal parties

hello all. 

i feel like i should start with a greeting because i so rarely blog. i honestly think about blogging a few times a week. but then...i just do not. so sorry if you were wondering the scuttlebutt is in my world, you could just check instagram or twitter. 

we had a very full summer that i have a few pictures i can share soon, but for now i wanted to share a new idea i had. i occasionally do bridal party gifts and love getting to be a part of that special day! 

so i wanted to make one delightful button a little bit more accessible to brides....

(these two weddings are both friends from richmond, va and they are wearing one delightful button earrings)

for bridal parties, we are doing a discount - that is already added in & you can simply purchase the number you need for your bridal party. i can customize from earrings i already have listed or do a special fabric or color flower to fit your wedding colors. 

and then i will do custom gift wrapping for your bridesmaids...

or specify that you would just like for me to send the gift wrapping supplies 

and you can wrap them yourself. (this might be helpful if you chose different earrings for different bridesmaids)

not a bad deal if i do say so myself. 

be back soon? maybe? 

happy monday!