01/17/2020
When we were building our house, I felt really confident in knowing what I liked as far as finishes went. I could easily make decisions around things like tile and light fixtures, color palettes and hardware finishes but it was the less-exciting-but-equally-as-important things that I found myself dumbfounded by. Like how deep should your bathroom sink be? How wide should your kitchen sink? One item that I spent countless hours contemplating was what kind of appliances we should use in our kitchen. Are luxury refrigerators worth the cost? If … 
Back in August, we welcomed the West Elm crew into our home for two days to style our master bedroom and all three bathrooms for their spring catalog shoot. It was really such a great experience on so many levels! I’ve worked with the West Elm team for many years since starting my site, so it really felt like getting to spend time with close friends more than work. The team that came to Austin for the shoot was so insanely talented and such a pleasure to work with. The West Elm bedding and prop stylists taught me so much! I felt like I … 
My mom currently has a monopoly on holidays and we gladly let her. She can cook 8 different dishes without breaking a sweat and I’m pretty sure she could bake a casserole in her sleep. (Plus, my dad has mastered the art of Prime Rib, Spiral Sliced Ham, and more!) Christmas Eve, however, is all mine! My family comes over for tamales and chili, followed by the girls getting to open what is usually an obscenely large gift from one of my sisters and general merriment ensues until all of the parents begin talking about how Santa will be here … 
(This post is sponsored by Crate & Barrel. All opinions are my own. All products featured are linked below!) I hosted my first Thanksgiving at the ripe old age of 27. We had just moved into our first home and I was eager to get down to the nitty gritty of home ownership—hosting included! That morning I lovingly kicked Aaron out of the house and sat down with my grid that I had constructed a couple of days prior. It laid out exactly what time I should start prepping and cooking each dish to ensure that everything had time in the oven and …