A Big Room for a Big Boy

What do this:

this:

and this:

all have in common?

Why, they are all components of James' big boy room which is currently in production.  :)

If you know us, you know that we are constantly working on something in this house.  From the minute we signed on the dotted line, we have been making updates and putting our stamp on this house that we call home.  Some projects are fun (basement reno, nursery, lighting updates), and some are not (post replacement on deck, chimney crown sealer, window capping).  But they all add up to making our home a great place to live.

So now our attention is on a new bedroom for James.  His nursery is in the smaller room so eventually, he will be moving into what we call the "Second Bedroom".  We are taking our time with this one because there really is no reason to rush.  Paint options are currently hanging on the wall and the room is starting to fill up with vehicle-themed stuff.  James is a typical boy and finds joy in cars and planes and trucks so I figured, why not fill his new room with the stuff he loves.  It's been so fun gathering items including a lamp that I'm filling with toy cars/trucks/planes:

And the retro radio that plugs into an iPod for his listening pleasure:

And a vintage school desk that I'm still on the hunt for:

I'm so excited about this project that I even created a mood board.  I'm a dork, I know.  But I had a vision in my head and needed to get in on paper so that I could get Ed on board - which he is!

So that's what's happening around here.  As we get moving on the project, I will post progress photos and of course, the final reveal when it is complete.  In the mean time, I'm off to collect more toy cars for the lamp!

A Whole Lotta Hoopla

I can't believe that I have not updated the blog since mid-May.  So much has been keeping us busy that finding the time to sit down and talk about it has been very limited.  So here I am...a month later with lots to share and only a small amount of time (James is already 45 minutes into his nap!).  Here is a brief synopsis of what the Mangiaracina's have been up to.

Mother's Day

This year we had a low-key Mommy's Day with extra morning sleep time for me, a home-cooked breakfast, Mother-Son nap time and a BBQ with the Grandparents.  I know that Mother's Day is looked at as a "Hallmark Holiday", but I don't care.  I love any excuse to spend quality time with my family - especially my wonderful Mom who not only is the best Mom out there (and who taught me all I know!), but the best Grandma that James could ask for.

A Quartuccio Wedding

We were cordially invited to the wedding of Kristen Quartuccio and Bill Kinslow on Memorial Day weekend.  James spent lots of quality time with Grandma M., Aunt Adriana, Uncle John, Aunt Lee Lee and Uncle Joe while Ed and I made our way to CT to celebrate the happy couple. Fun was had by all and I think the Mangiaracina's were ready to collapse by the time we left.  :)

Celebrate Fairfax

For the first time in many, many years, we were in town during the Celebrate Fairfax Festival and we took full advantage.  Ed and I secured some sitters on night 1 (thanks Mom & Dad!) so that we could enjoy the All American Rejects concert (awesome show, BTW).  On day 2, we took James to the fair and met up with friends Amanda, Kyle and Rafa to enjoy the rides, games and food. The boys had a great time as did the parents.  What's funny is that the shuttle bus ride to the fair and back may have been James' favorite part of the day. :)

Happy Birthday Ed!

This past week, Ed celebrated his 7th annual 29th birthday.  If you know my husband, you know that he is a BIG fan of his birthday so after we opened presents, we headed to Ted's Bulletin for a family breakfast and then onto the Reston Zoo.  Even though it was Daddy's birthday, we had to keep James smiling and animals seem to be the trick.  The kid even was brave enough to conquer is first pony ride!  It was a great day that ended with crab legs and birthday cake with the family.  

Sue & Ivan are Engaged!

Over the weekend we celebrated a very special couple - Sue & Ivan!!  They, along with lots and lots of family and friends, were in town for their engagement party.  My parents planned the top notch shin-dig and it went off without a hitch - and without electricity. Wouldn't you know that just as the party got started, the power went out!  We like to keep things interesting. :) It didn't matter because it was a great day celebrating a great couple.

Father's Day

We rounded out the weekend by celebrating all the great Dads in our lives.  Since Sue, Ivan and family were still in town, we were able to dole out our Dad-love in person which is always a special treat.  Our morning started with coffee and gifts for Ed who is THE most AMAZING Dad out there (in addition to my Dad and Ivan's Dad of course!).  I count my blessings everyday that I found Ed and that he is James' Dad because he is the most wonderful and perfect man for the job!  We then headed to the Quartuccio house to have breakfast with the family and give hugs to my Dad - the best Dad (and Grandpa) a girl could have asked for - and Ivan's Dad - the best Dad a guy could have asked for!  It was so nice spending time with these 3 amazing Dads (and some amazing Moms and a sister as well!) and it makes me wish that we all lived a little closer.  At least driving distance.  Can we all work on that? :)

As you can see, we have been quite busy and it does not end here.  Coming up:  a week at the beach, a long weekend in Philly, a visit from Adriana and John and a trip to Dutch Wonderland.  I'm exhausted justing thinking about it, but I wouldn't want it any other way.  #luckiestgirlintheworld 

Wrappers Delight

I always marvel at the Pinterest photos of entire rooms designated to the task of gift wrapping.  There are entire Boards dedicated to the art of gift wrapping and the room that it is done in.  In my world, you have to be pretty lucky to have a house big enough to turn an entire room into a place where you can go to wrap Christmas, Birthday and other holiday gifts.  I think Tori Spelling's Mom, Candy, had one in her mega-mansion and even made sure that her new mini-mansion had one as well.  She must dole out a lot of gifts!

I am not blessed with a house that is large enough to warrant a permanent space for my bows, ribbons and paper so I had to compromise.  For the past (almost) 4 years, all of our wrapping supplies have lived in a rubbermaid tub in the basement.  It was an unorganized mess and I got fed up digging through it trying to find what I needed so I set my mind to finding a solution.

There are some "gift wrapping stations" on the market that would have worked like this one from the Container Store...

... but at $189 a pop, I had to find another solution.

Enter IKEA.

I have had my eye on a certain product for a while and kept trying to figure out a good use for it in our place.  Finally, I found one.  Say hello to Alex!

This white lacquer drawer system was the answer to my wrapping prayers.  It has 5 drawers with ample space for all my wrapping supplies - and then some!  I put this puppy together all by myself and I'm loving the organization that it offers.

It settled into a corner of our storage closet in the basement and lives next to the basket of wrapping paper rolls.  Sorry the image is so dark - iPhone photo!

I wasted no time filling it up with all the goodies.  That basket on top is full of bows (because you never know when you will need easy access to bows!).  First drawer, ribbon.

Second drawer houses tissue and tags and extra boxes. There's even a "Happy Birthday" banner in there that I've been holding onto for about 7 years!

The third drawer is where we start getting into the gift bags.  Turns out we have a LOT of them.  I decided to divide them by theme so drawer three houses the kiddy/birthday bags.

In drawer four you will find the generic/all occasion bags.  Lucy managed to photo bomb this photo!

And finally, drawer five is filled with holiday gift bags - mostly Christmas but some Valentine's Day as well.

I am really happy with my new wrapping organization station and can't wait to get in there and wrap something!  It will make life much more efficient when getting ready for a party or a birthday or a holiday.  Leave it to IKEA to offer me the perfect solution...at the perfect price.