I am always so humbled and grateful to show my paintings to y'all because you are always so encouraging and supportive. There is so much goodness in my readers! I've been working on two commission paintings this summer inspired my lowcountry marsh scenes and I've been playing around with some new paintings in smaller sizes. I'm hoping to have those ready to photograph for you soon.
Happy Wednesday!
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
SOLD
Each of the paintings above are size 11x14 unframed canvas
oil & acrylic
They can be purchased with or without the frame. The total size of the piece framed is just under 17x20. To purchase, you can email me at JuliaKyleRyan@gmail.com.
I've been following Rita Chan on instagram from a few years now and I'm excited to share her new interior design site with you this morning. Grab your coffee or glass of wine and head over, it's such good eye candy! I've only ever lived in Virginia or South Carolina and I feel pretty South Eastern through and through (if that's a thing) but dang if I don't love some SoCal style. Can you believe I've never actually been to California. One of my besties moved to SoCal a few years ago and I'm determined for this to be the year I go visit her.
I have a little mini house tour for you today! It's an old Pawleys Island beach house that was moved inland a few years back and has been completely transformed by our friends Seth & Nicole. Seth and Matthew have been friends since they were in preschool and I used to hang out in this kitchen all the time when we lived in Pawleys. I can't even begin to tell you how different it looks (in all the good ways) since his awesome wife Nicole has gotten her hands on it.
They recently sold their home in Charleston to move back to their hometown of Pawleys Island to raise their sweet baby girl closer to family. Seriously, how perfect is Wells' little Godsister, Harper? It's pretty hard to be distracted from the gorgeous interiors of this old home but those sweet cheeks steal the show!
The marble + old shiplap + wood shelves are classic and old and yet so on point today. I mean the charm and character in this home is incredible. Everything is so fresh and yet the updates feel true to the home.
They completely transformed a blah entry way into a welcoming and functioning space. That tile is amazing! I also love the faux barn door to give some big scale impact in the small space.
She shares some pictures of their house in Charleston they just sold too which has lots of pretty as well. And the view, ahhh, the view!
Nicole has more before and after pictures and chats about her design process and being a new mom on her new blog, Donuts, Diapers, and Daydreams. Lots of goodness over there, y'all. I think we can peer pressure her into sharing more of her gorgeous home on here, I'm working on it now!
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend full of date nights and smiling children and sleeping in. Oh wait. Well I hope you at least got to drink your coffee while it was still hot and roll your eyes with your husband at least once. That was with him not at him ;)
My least favorite part about back to school is spending all the moneys on the children instead of ourselves. I'm not even talking about the stock piling of glue sticks that goes on here in America during the month of August. I'm talking back to school clothes shopping. While I may *need* a new pair of leopard flats and a pretty top for fall my children actually NEED need new shoes and clothes. Again. I have to admit, while I have always loved loved loved building them a fabulous capsule wardrobe each year, it's starting to get a teeny tiny bit old. But of course I can't help myself, kids clothes are just so dang cute.
So today I have created a giant girls + boys back to school clothes round-up. I apologize in advance for the extra long loading time but when I see a pretty top at half off it's hard to leave it behind, even in a virtual round-up.
And for the boys. I know, I know, it's a smaller list. I'm sorry about that but it's the reality.
Here are a few useful Sale Codes: MOOSEJAW: major selections and sale on kids Patagonia which is hard to find this time of year! J.Crew Factory extra 15% off orders over $75 with code: TIMETOSHOP J.Crew extra 40% off sale styles with code: SALESEARCH Old Navy 30% off regular priced items with code: ENJOY + up to 60% off back to school Gap 40% off your purchase with code: TODAY Zulily has tons of smocked dressed and jon jons on sale! Check out this sale here, here, and here.
Y'all know I'm a huge fan of black leggings. I firmly believe they should be a constant staple in every woman's wardrobe going forward because of their supreme comfort. But you want to know what's even better? Sweatpants. While I like a nice tight legging holding it all in when I leave the house I prefer a nice loose don't touch me in too many parts pair of sweats when I'm relaxing at home.
I'm glad so many of y'all enjoyed the little lunchbox notes I created for the kiddos. I thought it was only fair to make something for the grownups too. I'm guessing most of y'all will use these as wine tags but if someone taped one of these to a big pan of brownies or a starbucks gift card and left it on my doorstep I wouldn't be mad at 'em.
Click HERE or on the image above to download your wine gift tags!
Once saved you can print and share but please don't let me find them up on etsy or for sale somewhere else. Let's bring some free cheer to the world this time.
Happy hump day! I missed y'all yesterday, sorry about that. I was super super super busy. Just kidding, I was pretty much a slave to Tagg's train lay-out building plans all day. Y'all know how that goes.
I've had a few ladies ask me to post some casual outfit ideas for sports practice/kids activities. While I'm not a soccer mom yet I do think having one or two go-to outfits that you can swap out for your yoga pants occasionally is a good idea for anyone. I think an easy cotton day dress + slip on sneakers is just as comfortable and easy to throw on. I'm also a HUGE fan of dry shampoo (this is my favorite by far) (also try spraying at night before bed) but I like the pretty baseball hat option as well for keeping it low key. It dresses down an outfit in a good way. I'd just throw on a light jacket or vest or a cardigan for when the temperatures start dropping.
Work it girl. I fully think that having a pretty dress and a pretty work space will magically make me more productive. Acrylic makes me more organized. Fact. Blues and purples are my go-to for the house and myself this fall!
I got in the habit last year of leaving little notes for Wells in her school lunchbox. I think she loved it but did tell me that when she's in second grade I'll have to hide them behind her lunch. Haha!
Mostly I just scribbled a quick MOMMY LOVES YOU! on a post-it note. This year I thought I would step it up a notch, at least for the first week or two so I created some BACK TO SCHOOL lunch note printables perfect to stick in her lunch. I thought you might like to use them as well so I created a downloadable pdf. Click on the image to open in a new window and from there you can download and save or print out. Then just cut them out and stick them in your kids' lunches. Who said you couldn't be a pinterest Mom without a lot of effort?
CLICK HERE FOR FREE BOYS DOWNLOAD Please Note: Much of the clipart used above to create these printables can be found via AngieMakes and Jones Design Company. Head on over to download and create some fun of your own. Feel free to share and print these as much as you want for personal use just don't try to pass them off as your own or try to sell them.
And Don't forget the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale starts at 8am tomorrow, August 22nd and runs through August 23rd at midnight! If you are new to the sale this is one of two yearly clearance sales and the best time to stock up on favorites at great prices. The number one piece of advice I can give you is to create an account right now so that you can check-out quickly. Your items are not reserved for you in your cart so the faster you can get through check-out the better! Once you check out you'll get sent to the back of the line and have to wait to get back to shop the sale.
Like any first-time Kindergarten Mom I've spent a lot of time recently googling advice for kids on the eve of starting school. From what to say and what to pack to creative lunch and organization ideas. I've pinned back to school party ideas and night before traditions and first day picture ideas. I've got a new giant wall calendar in our laundry room made of washi tape and a dry erase board. I've got my girl's newly monogrammed back pack and water bottle hanging nicely from a little gold hook above her school shoes. We're ready for this.
It reminds me of when I was pregnant and obsessed with BabyCenter. I wanted to read every single word I could get my hands on regarding mothering. I wanted all the advice and charts and plans and methods because I was confidant that in those techniques I would find a way to be a good Mom. I love that naive new mom that I was. I want to hug her and laugh at her at the same time. Me, who at 28 literally re-read a worn copy of Happiest Baby on the Block four times in a row one night completely perplexed as to why my two week old was crying around the clock when I just knew I had read something in there that would fix it. It makes me laugh thinking about it now.
So here I am six years later doing the very same thing. The feeding chart may have been replaced by a lunch calendar and the organized supplies for the next day may have changed but my methods for feeling in control are still the same. I'm filling in the unknown with all the charts and plans and methods I can get my hands on. But unlike last time I'm a little more aware that preparing and doing are worlds apart. I know that making lunch the night before isn't going to stop my girl from feeling nervous about where to sit in the cafeteria on the first day. Most likely she'll be the girl who walks in confidently and claims a seat but will she notice the student who is nervous about where to sit and is having trouble finding a friend and reach out to them? This time I'm not just teaching my girl about herself I'm also teaching her about observing and reacting to the world around her.
I'm both excited and nervous to start getting into the big stuff. The how to be a kind and contributing member of society stuff. We've graduated from the little things (that felt so damn big at the time) like how to hold a spoon and not pee your pants and how to write your name and walk in a straight line and wait your turn for the slide. Shit's about to get real.
I've loved reading one post in particular for the past few years and I've included my favorite part below. You can read the whole article here. I'd love for you to share any of your own favorite articles or pieces of advice you've got for starting a new school year. Feel free to comment below.
We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.
We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.
We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Because brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
