Sandberg Ramblings

I'm so excited to be in Utah!  I have my first baby shower today and I can't wait! Also, here's another sneak peek that Kandice Stewart posted of my maternity photos... Believe me it's her photography skills, not me. The lighting and everything was so perfect, I could not be more happy with them. I also thought I'd let you know a little more about my crazy pregnancy plans :) After doing some research I've decided to have my placenta encapsulated . I know, you think I'm insane and weird, if you already didn't :) I thought it was completely insane at first too, until I learned more about it.  You definitely don't want to go look at pictures of how this is done because it looks rather disgusting, which is why I will be having it done by someone else, but basically it is dried, ground up, and put into pill form.  You take them for as long as needed after pregnancy and then you can store them indefinitely and use them for PMS or even...

August is almost over! I can't believe it! I've always loved the transition from summer to  fall fashion. This year won't be as exciting for me, since I can hardly wear anything, but if I could, Madewell's new fall collection is definitely right up my alley.                      I'm especially loving all the marled grey and black pieces and leather accents. Madewell is to J.Crew as Urban Outfitters is to Anthropologie.  Sister companies, but slightly more casual and relaxed.  Here are just a few of my favorite Madewell pieces... 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8  Stay tuned! On Monday I'll be sharing some of my favorite fall eats!  I'd love to know what your favorite trend this fall is! Leave a comment!

If you don't know Katie Hogue , you're missing out! Her and her family are adorable and she is one amazing designer!  We've had lots of cute new med student families move in this summer and the Hogue's are one of them. I was so excited when I found out that Katie is a fellow interior designer.  She designed and furnished 2 homes in the Salt Lake Parade of Homes this year and won Best Interior Designer in her category! Like I said, she is one talented lady.  Most people don't realize the work that goes into designing and decorating a home, especially a model home. There is usually a tight budget and a strict deadline when working on model/parade homes, and Katie designed pretty much everything except the floor plan in this home. Believe me interior design is not all about playing house and buying furniture. It's a TON of work! Lots of planning, coordinating, and even some babysitting :)  If you were lucky enough to attend the SL Parade of Homes...

Most people don't have the time, energy, or resources to makeover their entire home.  So I'm here to share with you 5 things you can do that will instantly step up the style in your home.  1. White Finishwork  Even without painting a wall in your home, adding or painting your existing trim/moulding white makes a HUGE difference. It gives your room a fresh, clean border and completely upgrades your home if you don't already have it.  I love this idea for adding a small strip of moulding above existing baseboards and painting in between to get the look of chunkier baseboards.  2. Down Pillow Inserts Cheap, flat, polyester filled pillows, are exactly that... cheap and flat.  Down or down synthetics are the way to go. Always buy pillows that have a zipper cover and a removable insert. It looks better, you can remove the covers to wash or dry clean them, and when you want to change up your pillows just switch out th...

Well we may be seeing this little boy before November 16th! Ames is about 2 weeks ahead of schedule, weighing in at a little over 3 lbs, the size of a large cabbage. My doctor was actually pretty certain that my glucose level would come back abnormal ( meaning I would have gestational diabetes) because of his size and the amount of fluid around him. But what do you know, they came back normal! We just a have a big boy in there! It was a huge relief that my levels were normal. I really didn't want to have to deal with all the baggage of gestational diabetes. They also checked out his heart again and everything looks great!  We are headed out to Utah in less than a week and I get more excited by the day!  On Thursday, the talented Kandice Stewart took my maternity pictures. We found the perfect location, and even with the million mosquitoes eating us alive, it was so worth it! I can't wait to see all of them and I'm so excited to have her take newborn pictures...

Once again, a big congrats to Whitney, the winner of the calligraphy giveaway!  Thank you so much to all of you who entered!  I have had several requests from readers who would like to purchase an original piece for themselves, so I have decided to take orders!  I will be in Utah for 2 weeks starting on August 28th, so if you are a Utah or Iowa resident I can do an original piece for you for $15 (will fit in a 5x7 frame)  If you live anywhere outside of Utah or Iowa I am happy to do one for you as well, you will just be charged the cost of shipping on top of the $15.  If you are interested, please email me at lexiesandberg@gmail.com. You can check out some of my calligraphy here and here . Thanks again readers! And just to give you some ideas, here's a few quotes from Pinterest I've been loving these days... For more quotes I'm loving head over here .

Well I am making a little progress on my office!  I cleared everything off and made use of some accessories I already had as well as purchasing a few new ones.  Here's a list of accessories just in case you want to spruce up your own office!  - Snow & Graham Calendar - Mini Green Ikat Bowl - Wooden Tape Dispenser - Giraffe Pillow - Homegoods - similar one here - Striped Throw- trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico - similar one here - Paper Tray, Patterned Pencils / Pens, & Cork Box - Target  - Bubble Glass Mini Bowl - World Market  The wall art is just temporary until I get my striped inspiration board done. Then I will transfer them to that. For now, this post gave me some great ideas for creating a temporary gallery wall.  I also used this idea to create the blue pencil vase. Just a $3 glass vase from TJMaxx and some acrylic paint! (The stripe on it is just an oversized, colored rubber band. You ...

Today I'm excited to introduce my friend and doTerra essential oil expert, Sarah Savage .  She's here to share how you can make your home a happier, healthier place using essential oils. I've wanted to start using essential oils myself for a while now, so I'm excited to get started! Sarah is happy to send you more info and even some free samples. Head over to her website to get yourself started!  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Essential oils aren’t just for hippies anymore!  They are a simple way to make your home a little healthier, a little greener, or even just a little more pleasant. They naturally kill bacteria, germs, fungi and mold without dangerous side effects so they can be used for almost everything.  Let me share with you just a few of my favorite ways to use essential oils around the home. A quick note before we get into the details.  There is a...