Sandberg Ramblings

Last week I was in beautiful Lake Powell ! It was just that. Beautiful. If the gender ultrasound hadn't been yesterday, I would have stayed forever.  It was great to see family, eat good food, lay in the sun, and have fun!  I also took a couple of new books and thought this one was definitely worth sharing. The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls (I bought mine at Costco, they have the lowest price) This book just came out, and as soon as I saw who the author was I knew I had to read it. I've read her other two books, The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses . They are both amazing as well. The Glass Castle is considered one of the best memoirs of all time. Believe me, you won't be disappointed in any of them. They are pretty short and easy reads which I like. I'm not a fast reader, so I need something I can get through before I forget the first half ;)  Definitely a must read for the summer!

Such an amazing day! We are so excited for our little buddy. I think I had a perma-smile during the entire ultrasound. It was so crazy to see his little heart beating, his tiny fingers and hands, and we even caught him yawning.  I have to admit we were both hoping for a girl, but after you see that sweet little healthy baby it really doesn't matter anymore! And we'll probably save a little money not buying for girl ;) 

What's your guess? Boy or Girl?   Is it a boy or girl? Boy Girl    pollcode.com free polls   Cast your vote! Next Friday is the day we find out baby's gender! We can't wait! Landon said he had a dream the other night we were having a girl. We'll see if he's right!

Whether it's your home office or your home away from home work office, here's some fun ways to spice things up!  1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9

We finally had a few days without rain, so we took advantage and went camping for the first time this year! I was excited until I remembered how many times I have to get up these days to go to the bathroom. :S  Then of course it rained on us, and before it rained it was the hottest day of the year with lovely humidity. So needless to say, we ended up coming home early. We still had a good time though!   Our little Thor running wild and free We saw these flying around and thought they were hawks at first and then on the way home we saw all of them sitting on this bridge. Vultures!  Lots of bike rides happening these days!  Our friend Wally spent the weekend at our house and Thor was not happy about it. He has a little bit of a territory/jealousy issue.  I'm just a bit nervous for his little world to be rocked when the baby gets here!

1 Quirky Parrot Pillow 2 Lovely Print by Caitlin Connolly - ordered mine last week! 3 Fun Sweatpants - these are outrageously overpriced! You could DIY your own very easily with fabric paint though. 4 Adorable Little Girl Sandals  from Zara  5 DIY Story Stones  - encourage imagination and let your kiddies tell a story with the pictures 6 Geometric Outdoor Rug - spruce up your patio for Summer! 7 Stars & Stripes Tank - perfect for the 4th! 8 Grapefruit Still Life Print - this girl is an amazing artist 9 Heart Origami Bookmark

A new guest post for you to go check out on Dream Till Green! Hint Hint... it's a fun DIY! 

I'm loving this DIY I found on Kirsten Krason's blog, 6th Street Design School . Like I've said before, it can be really hard to find large or oversized art at an affordable price. This DIY is a great solution to this problem!  Go check it out !

So I'm finishing up my packing and I'm off to Utah on Monday and then to Lake Powell Wednesday morning! I can't wait!  I look forward to this trip every summer! It will be nice to finally get some color on my skin for summer.  Well neither of the swimming suits I talked about here ended up working out. The one from Land's End was really cute and the colors and print are even better in person, but the top of the suit kept rolling down showing the white lining and I knew it would bug me, so I ended up returning it. The Anthro one will never be back in stock I've decided, so I resorted to scouring J.Crew's website again. That's when I found this beauty ... It didn't really catch my eye until I clicked on it and saw the back. I'm not a butterfly lover normally, but when I saw how cute it was with the contrast back and red exposed zipper, I knew I had to try it out. Since the bottoms are almost as much as the top, (why the heck are swimming s...

If you're looking to make something delicious and healthy for dinner tonight, look no further! I made these two recipes the other night and both were delicious!  You can find more of my tried and true Pinterest recipes here . Cheesy Cauliflower "Fauxtatoes" Zucchini & Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

On Friday Landon found a new bike trail for us to try out in Madrid, IA . It's funny because in Iowa they pronounce this city "mad-rid". There is also a city in Iowa called Nevada which Iowans pronounce "na-vay-duh."  Anyway, it was a fun ride along High Trestle Trail. We rode a little over 10 miles and I did pretty good except for my butt killing me. Still trying to wear it in :)  There is a bridge that crosses the Des Moines River about halfway through the ride and the view is gorgeous!  Right after I made our bed on Saturday, Thor decided that Mom (me) had made him a pretty good fort to go take a nap in and made himself right at home. Man we are obsessed with this dog! I'm also getting ready for Lake Powell next week! So excited! Like I said, I have been on the hunt for a suit. I have been wanting the one on the left, but it has been sold out forever. A couple weeks ago I checked again and it said they had my size in stock...

1. Awesome Desk Supplies  by Poppin 2. Fun Paper Feather Gift Wrap Idea 3. Beautiful Painting by Paul Norwood 4. Quirky Beetle Pillow from Society6 5. Lovely Kate Spade Watch 6. Aqua Hexagon Necklace 7. Giraffe Wallpaper 8. Ted Baker London Bird Print Blouse

I think one of the hardest places to know what to do with in your home is that awkward space above the kitchen cabinets.  If you have custom cabinetry you're probably lucky and your cabinetry goes all the way to the ceiling, thus eliminating this pesky place.  But if you aren't so lucky, I have one easy tip that will solve your problem... 1) Keep it uniform Don't create a hodgepodge of randomness. Pick one type of item and stick with it.  Items that work great are: Baskets Serving Dishes or Bowls Pitchers Frames - this has to be done right though. Don't just throw a bunch of random frames up on top of the cabinets, get a few of the same frame and actually hang them on the wall above the cabinets. Now get going! Either clear off that clutter, or if your cabinets are bare, add a little interest and personality.

We are approaching the halfway point in a couple of weeks! So I have quite the collection of baby gear  on my Pinterest board, but I'm trying to narrow it down to my top choices. Here's a little roundup of the diaper bags I like the best. I like these because they are fairly neutral. I'm not one for a big flowery or printed diaper bag. I love the shape and style of the backpack Petunia Pickle Bottom bags, and the prints are really cute, but they just aren't me, and to be honest I don't like the idea of having the same diaper bag as every other mom.  If you have any recommendations for other bags I would love to hear!  1 - Sausalito Tote from Pottery Barn 2 - Classic Mom Diaper Bag from Pottery Barn 3 & 4 - Messenger Bag from Ikabags via Etsy  (these are probably my top choice- handmade in France, waterproof exterior, the only thing I don't love is the inside is a light colored canvas that will show dirt, although there are options wi...

17 Weeks today!  I'm going to make a picture link on the sidebar with the bump pictures so you can see all of them here .

Many people who come over to our place are amazed that it doesn't have the hand-me-down look of most newly married apartments.  Believe me, it did once.  At one point we had that unsightly leather, overstuffed, lazy boy loveseat/sofa set; black and grey metal office desk; tv armoire in a very traditional cherry stain with gold hardware, and everything else was cheap, black, and from Ikea. Don't get me wrong, I love Ikea, but you have to make the right choices there. At the time, I didn't really have a clue what I wanted and so I took the safe road just like everyone else, and chose black and simple. We were grateful to have furniture and so I did what I could with what I had.  Here's a glimpse back in time... Unlike most people, I'm not willing to wait until my husband is done with school and we have a house to actually love the space I live in. After all, I did name my design business Carpe Diem Design, so that really is my design phi...