Sandberg Ramblings

Yesterday was the most beautiful fall day.  I wish days like it would stick around forever.  It poured rain all morning making the gorgeous leaves  even more bright and even more gorgeous,  so as soon as it stopped raining and the sun started peaking through the clouds,  casting the PERFECT lighting, I headed out with my camera.  What is it about fall that is so magical and amazing?  That said, the rest of the day I have to admit  I started listening to A Very She & Him Christmas. :) Don't worry though, before I start posting about Christmas decor and DIYs,  I have some Thanksgiving tablescape posts coming up  that you are going to LOVE.  So stay tuned! 

If you love weddings, babies, beautiful flowers, and gorgeous photography, you MUST check out this Tumblr account... A Complete Life . I could spend hours scrolling and pinning the images!  All photos and sources can be found via  

If you're a fan of Society6 ,  then you will LOVE  Deny Designs . I came upon this site a couple weeks ago and am loving it!  Like Society6 , they offer an array of products that can be printed with various artists' works.  In the design world, Society6 is most notably known for their great throw pillow selection.  Well when it comes to home decor, I think Deny Designs steps it up to a new level. Think throw blankets, shower curtains, mirrors, trays, duvet covers, and more!  And because of the array of artwork, from classic geometrics to crazy psychedelic patterns,  there really is something for everyone. I also love that these companies are supporting the art community  by giving a portion of the sales to the artists. One last pro of Deny Designs is the free shipping! Here's a few of my favorite Deny Design finds... 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 

I'm so jealous of all of you living in Salt Lake right now!  The West Elm at City Creek is hosting some really fun events  this November that I'm going to miss out on,  but I thought I'd let you Utahns know about them so you can go enjoy them for me :)  The flyers below tell you how you can RSVP.   {  First, on November 2 there will be an Etsy Pop Up Shop there!  That means lots of fun goods  and a great time to do some Christmas shopping! } { Then, on Nov 14 there will be a paper amaryllis workshop   with the talented Brittany Jepsen  of The House That Lars Built.   If you haven't checked out her blog you're missing out.  She will be also be one of the Etsy sellers at the Pop Up Shop. }  Man I'm so sad I can't go, but hopefully I'll be holding a new baby and I won't care :)  All photos via  Also, don't forget to enter the jewelry giveawa...

We're making progress!  I was really expecting a big fat nothing at my appointment this week,  but I actually have started to dilate and efface.  I'm only at a 1, but hey I was happy it wasn't nothing.  Mostly just waiting and waiting at this point. There's really nothing much left to do.  I can't believe that in about 3 weeks or less our lives will completely change! 

Ok readers, I'm being extra nice today and giving away my hostess rewards from the Premier Designs Jewelry Party I held here on the blog last week! One of you lucky readers will win a pair of  Minty Fresh Earrings & a Mint Condition Necklace. That's $80 in free jewelry!  Believe me, I wouldn't mind at all keeping these for myself! I've seen them in person and you won't be disappointed :) The second strand of the necklace can also be removed and worn as a bracelet! Now get to it and use the rafflecopter below to enter! Also, if you missed out on the party, you can still head over here , check out the jewelry, and place an order with Elise!  A great place to do your Christmas shopping!  a Rafflecopter giveaway

I don't know if it's just me or if most pregnant women are like this,  but I love hearing about other people's birth stories,  especially natural births, since that is my goal.  A while back, while reading over on the Freshly Picked blog ,  I found out that they feature a new birth story every week .  There's quite a few to catch up on, and I don't think I've read all of them,  but I don't think I've made it though one without crying my eyes out.  Man I'm so ready for Ames to come.  Emotion city over here. I'm not usually an overly emotional person,  but now anytime I read about or see a video of a new baby,  or just anytime my mind/body seem to need a good cry for no particular reason,  the tears start flowing.  Like when I watched this adorable video .  Anyway, if your pregnant, or if you enjoy a well written birth story,  head over and read some of them on Freshly Picked...

It's getting pretty chilly out these days and the heater is finally on. Days like these make me want to make yummy soups for dinner and curl up in a cozy blanket to watch a movie.  Here's a roundup of my favorite cozy throws I've seen around... 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6  

Our move back to Utah is getting closer and closer, only 2 months away! Throwing a new baby in the mix is going to make packing a little difficult, so I started a few months ago packing a few boxes of accessories and things here and there. Then I got into baby mode for a couple months and now that we're ready for him, I feel like I need to start packing again.  I've found some pretty good tips on good old Pinterest and I have some up my sleeve as well, but I'd love to know if you have any tried and true tips!  Help a girl out and leave me a comment!  Here are my favorites I've started collecting... via Print off labels for your boxes. You'll be surprised at how fast you get sick of writing the same thing a million times on a million boxes. Slapping some stickers on is much easier.  via Many of you have probably seen this one. It is genius.  Section your closet out and slip garbage bags over each section.  Then st...

November is only a couple weeks away if you can believe it!  Here's a roundup of some ideas for you to spruce up your Thanksgiving table and decor.  Once again, all of them are easy and inexpensive!  1 | Indian Corn Centerpiece 2 | Pumpkin Food Stands 3 | Butcher Paper Placemats 4 | Thankful Garland 5 | Glitter Leaves 6 | Inexpensive Thanksgiving Printables

As of Wednesday we officially have a month left until the due date!  I have appointments every week now.  When I think about only having 4 appointments left it makes it seem so close! I'm just planning on him coming around his due date or after to save myself any disappointment. At my appointment yesterday I wasn't dilated at all yet. He's just comfy cozy in there.  I had a cute little book baby shower on Thursday with my Iowa friends. Everything was darling as expected and we got so many cute books. Ames will have a great little library. We have such great friends here that we will miss! 

1 | Velvet Pumpkins 2 | Geometric Mirror 3 | Leather Bootie 4 | Piedmont Display Case  - too bad it's almost $3000. I can dream right?  It would be such a cute book shelf in Ames' someday nursery - 5 | Baby Moccasins  - as much as I love Freshly Picked moccasins, I just can't justify the $60, but these ones by Sophie Kate are just as cute, especially at half the price - 6 | Ikea Desk Lamp  7 | Wool Critters  - I'm going to have to try my hand at making some of these. SO adorable! - 8 | Buffalo Check Button-down   I'm also really loving this quote... Women really have changed over the years. "Why make it when you can buy it" seems to be the world's philosophy these days. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I buy instead of making myself, but it's sad to see how many dying arts there are. This makes me want to get my butt in gear and go make something! 

I love this entryway I came across on Pinterest the other day, so I'm sharing my finds for how you can get this designer look for less!  via 1 // Black Vase  - $15 2// Red Boxes -  these are pretty hard suckers to find. I was able to find the exact same ones that are pictured, but they are not cheap.  Try $145 for one box!  But to get the look for less you can find unfinished wood jewelry boxes at your local craft store and just paint your own.  This DIY version would be under $20! 3// Oversized Black Wall Frame  - $15 4// White Stool - $149 5// Mirror - $299 6// Reflective Lamp - $100 7// Black Draper Chest -$400 8// Sheepskin Rug  - $30 You've also got a few more days left to order from the jewelry party! Head over here to check out all the fun Premier Designs. Party ends this Friday! 

Over Landon's fall break we headed out on our annual October trip to Nauvoo, Illinois.  (If you've never heard of Nauvoo, you can read about it's amazing history here .) We've done this every year since we moved to Iowa and it's been a great tradition for us. It was sad to think this will be the last time for a while.  Nauvoo is so beautiful, especially during the fall. It was an awesome trip except for the mishap on the way there. We stopped in a little town called Swedesburg that probably has a population of less than 100 people.  Well long story short, we lost our dog in this tiny town.  I was taking pictures, trying to figure out my new camera and Thor was sitting next to our car wanting to get back in, while Landon was looking around inside the Swedish "museum" if you could call it that.  We were pretty much the only ones in town at the time, but I saw a car coming down the road so I went to make sure Thor didn't get in the ro...

As I've said before, my mom is an amazing seamstress, and although I've done a bit of sewing here and there, I mostly stay away from the sewing machine. Straight lines and simple projects are usually as far as I go.  I also like quick projects that I can finish in one day, otherwise I never seem to get around to finishing them. I would love to get to the point where I feel confident enough to make clothes for myself, but I figured baby clothes are a good place to start. Plus they are so cute and tiny, it makes it really rewarding.  These are my first attempts. I am pretty proud of how they turned out!  They definitely aren't perfect, but for not using a pattern, I think they are pretty good.  I just traced some leggings and a little hat I already have for Ames and went from there.  I also used a few tips from this tutorial for the waist and leg bands. It took me a while to finish them, especially the pants, because I had to unpick a few...

It's giveaway time readers!  I've been loving this quote  and decided to do one in calligraphy and today I'm giving it away to one lucky reader!  Just use the Rafflecopter below to enter!  *Giveaway ends at midnight on Wednesday, October 16th. *Open to US residents only. *Original 5"x7" a Rafflecopter giveaway ALSO, be sure to stop by and check out the Premier Designs Jewelry Party ! You can order until Friday! 

I told Landon earlier this week that this whole having a baby thing seems so surreal. It's so crazy to think that he really will finally join us. Sometimes I feel like the day will never come, probably because it's so foreign and I've never experienced anything like this before. The bags are packed and we are ready to go! Now we'll see how much longer he makes us wait :) I am definitely starting to feel uncomfortable. When I go for walks it feels like I have a huge watermelon sitting on my pelvis and it takes work to turn over at night. I've found that taking a bath and stretching before bed helps me sleep better though.  All of my baby posts and pictures have probably become annoying to all of my blog readers, Instagram followers, and Facebook friends, but I don't regret it. I'm so glad that I will have those pictures and memories of this time in my life because it will never be like this again.  I've wanted to compile them in some way oth...

Welcome to my online jewelry party! I've partnered with my friend Elise , a consultant for Premier Designs Jewelry, to host this event for my readers!  Here's how it works... You can head over to Elise's webpage to check out the full online catalogs, or you can check out my tops picks below...  Access code for the online catalogs is 8103 The party runs from today, October 11 until next Friday, October 18th.  Choose your favorites to order and simply  Email Elise.  She will reply with your invoice. Shipping costs will be added when you are invoiced. (about $5-10 depending on your order)  Your order will get to your door in about 2 weeks from October 18th.  Everything PINK in the catalog is 20% OFF for the month of October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Also, spend $75 and get any item $50 or less for only $10! To say thanks to my readers I will be doing a giveaway after the party ends wher...