Tatum's Nursery Reveal!

Now it's finally time for the big reveal! I hope you didn't have to wait too too long! (Leslie ;)) While we did a lot for Liam's room, I do feel like a lot more creativity on Paul and my part went into the implementation of the actual room!

We wanted the room to be something she could grow with, that could be and we hope will be somewhat timeless! I started with the color palette of Coral, Gold, White and Grey and obviously got a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and Project Nursery.colorpallette

Gold is totally back in, and hopefully it won't go back out too soon! We had the room painted, from what was previously a dark chocolate color throughout, to three sides white and one charcoal grey accent wall. Once the room was painted, Paul created a to-scale schematic of everything I was envisioning. He placed furniture, lamps and other accents/artwork, and even pre-measured polka-dots on three walls of the room. With Paul's graphic design abilities and my vision, we should come up with an interior decorating firm! It's definitely exciting to take something from concept to reality and be as pleased if not more pleased with the end result.

I wanted to go with a quasi retro 70's feel, and you can definitely see that in the accents in the room.Our fun and unique incorporation of an iconic princess turned out to be something even cooler than we could have initially imagined and is certainly fitting of the hype currently going on with Star Wars! Check out the initial designs!

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While the designs are pretty amazing and helped us work through the process more seamlessly, the end result was even cooler than we could have hoped for and we hope you love it as much as we do!

Welcome to Tatum Claire Perdue's domain!

Tatum_fullroom

There are so many things we love about her room, but what really makes the room stand out is the awesome graphic we were able to put together for the closet! We used the same system that we used for Liam's room, but created a totally unique style fitting of our little princess! Strong, unique, independent,  fun and so much more!

Tatum_closetview

Here are all the details! There are so many things to share!

Crib: Babyletto Mercer Crib (was previously Liam's)
Dresser/Changing Table: Mid-Century Modern Style - From Paul's Family
Ceiling Fan: Harbor Breeze Matte Black Flush Mount Ceiling Fan with Light Kit and Remote (3-Blade)- Lowes
Closet System: allen + roth 8-ft White Wood Closet Kit at Lowes (FYI – “white” is off white – kind of a bummer, but that’s what doors are for!)
Closet Doors: KVARTAL – Triple curtain rail, aluminum color from IKEA. Paul and I created a graphic to fit the three panels from a pop art design we found online of Princess Leia
Sofa: Tufted and Upholstered Loveseat -Threshold™ - Target
Side Table: Mika Accent Table - Brown - Target

And of course the accessories and decor!
Tatum's White and Coral Teepee: Found on Etsy! PlayTeePee Store
Lamps: Target again! Globe Floor Lamp & Gold Table Lamp
Curtains: Threshold™ Non Light Blocking Velvet Curtain Panel - Radiant Gray from Target...
Hamper: Lamont Home™ Carly Hamper in Sun Coral - Bed Bath & Beyond
Storage Bins: Fabric Cube Storage Bin 13" - Threshold™ - Target
Wall Shelf: Threshold Linear 23" Wall Shelf White – Another Target steal!
Comforter/Bedding: Custom order from Carousel Designs (thank you Gaga and Papa - Tatum will love it!)
Sofa Pillows: Pillows were a from various places - feel free to ask me!
Throw Blanket on Sofa: From TJ Max - Home Goods - that was just a lucky find!
Moroccan Poufs: Another etsy find! the marrakechlamp store.
Camera Photo Holders: Another Target find - spray painted two of them gold
Baby Blocks: My Mom and I made these blocks and I might post a separate blog later about the process - but she's got some stylin' baby blocks for sure!
Tatum String Art: Custom by yours truly with help of PerdueVision! Find out how we did that here!

If there’s anything else you’re curious about don’t hesitate to ask! Hope you enjoyed it! :)


Tatum's String Art...

So we are expecting our second little one in a  few days and are finishing off some loose ends before her arrival, including the reveal of her nursery. As part of that post I wanted to share one of my Pinterest projects that is definitely a standout feature in her nursery!

I decided to take on the feat of string art based on this pin I found on pinterest! It's based off the below picture and blog post on VintageRevivals.com.

DIY-Heart-String-Art-Vintage-Revival[1]

I "loved" how she put the text within the heart of the string art, so we mimic a very similar look with a tilted heart and instead of the word love, we put our baby girl's name "TATUM."

To do this we uses the following supplies:

  • Plywood Board... a smoother texture wood so that you don't see a lot of grain or texture behind the heart. Ours is pretty big, around 32X46?? give or take.
  • White Spray paint. I went through about 3 cans!
  • Nails with a flat top/edge (the quantity will depend on size of your art)
  • Embroidery Floss (I wanted the gold appeal that we were going for in the room, so we used the gold embroidery floss) about 100 yards - they come in 7-8 yard sets so you'd need to figure what you need. I will say that the metallic embroidery floss was a bear to use as the strands tend to come apart easily.
  • Gorilla Glue
  • Mod-Podge Spray Sealer

So we started with a template that Paul (my amazing graphic design master) designed and taped it to the board as a template for placing nails. Once I hammered all the nails in, we removed the template and then spray painted the board and nails white.

Then it was go time with the string! I would knot the string to a nail and then randomly move and loop around other nails throughout the board staying outside the lines of the letters. That part is key! You have to stay outside of the letters otherwise you won't see a name!

Obviously only being able to do 7-8 yards at a time I would glue with the gorilla glue, each knotted end of my string to make sure it stayed secure. Once the glue was dry I would trim the extra string left over.

Tatum_StringArt

Once I had gotten enough coverage throughout the piece, I then had to do an outline on the name as well as the entire outside of the heart. This definitely makes a difference in how well you can read the text as well as just defining the heart.

And the finished product turned out great! I would say my total time invested was about 12-15 hours and was able to complete it over a period of about 2 weeks in spare time. It's not the hardest pinterest project I've ever done, but certainly not the easiest either! I was definitely cursing the string I had chosen... but after it was all said and done, I couldn't be happier with the result! It's definitely an integral part of our little girl's nursery!

Stay posted as the nursery reveal is coming soon!!! :)


Our Royal Caribbean Experience

So, just to preface, this was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean Cruise lines. Paul and I have collectively been on over a dozen cruises, all with Carnival Cruise lines, so we wanted a change. This was the longest cruise we've even been on, and the first cruise as a "family", our Baby Man included! I want to use this as a record about the pros and cons of Royal Caribbean versus Carnival.

We planned this cruise with one of my best friends, Kristen (Storey) and her husband Steven. It was their honeymoon cruise, and our first cruise as a family. There were a hand full of priorities we were looking for in this cruise...

  1. Longer cruise - we've only really done max 5 night cruises, and this one was 7 nights
  2. Destination - we've been to Cozumel and Nassau more times that we'd ever want, so we wanted to go somewhere we've never been before.
  3. Baby friendly - I did a good bit of research before we planned the cruise, and wanted to be sure there was plenty of options for Liam from activities to babysitting, to family friendly dining.
  4. Party Atmosphere - Paul, as many of your know is all about the night life, so we wanted to be able to cut loose when possible.
  5. Awesome Food - We wanted to experience a variety of options relative to dining! That's what cruising is about right?

So to start, when we booked the cruise, Royal Caribbean was offering a promotion in which the 3rd and 4th stateroom guest get to stay free, so we only paid for Liam's taxes, fees and gratuity. That was a huge perk! We had heard so many great things about Royal Caribbean, so we were ready to book!

From sailing day, we could tell immediately this ship was pretty grand! Freedom of the Seas can hold 3600 guests plus another 1300 crew members. It's pretty amazing. We had a nice array of dining options, from the buffet style in WindJammer, Fine Dining in the various dining rooms, a 24 hour café, not to mention the Pizzeria and room service of course! This was all included, but there were additional dining options like a Steak House, Italian Restaurant, and more! On top of this, there was a very cool shopping mall area and awesome pools on deck 11.

RC_Intro

 

We booked an interior room, cause we figured we wouldn't be in the room, and for some reason the room felt a LOT smaller than what we've experience on Carnival. It might have been that we also had a pack and play in the room, but we have decided in the future we would definitely want to do an outer room, whether it's an ocean view or a balcony. And now that we are on the rooms, let's address the stateroom service. Our attendant was very cool, and would open our door for us on many occasions when he was nearby and we were juggling the baby. We only wished he had a little more practice and creativity with the towel animals, definitely room for improvement there! ;)

Now onto excursions! First stop was COCO CAY! This island is owned by Royal Caribbean, and it was a great option to be able to get off the boat and relax on the a gorgeous Caribbean beach. They had a food area where you could get burgers, hot dogs, fruit and other easy options. They also had waiters walking around the island with drinks, and you just handed them the sail and sign card and you're golden! They had plenty of activities, but we took this time to chill on the beach. The water was shallow and there were barely any waves, so it was great for letting Liam roam without worry!

RC_CococayWe had to take a water taxi from the boat to the island, so that was my only complaint. When we were headed back to the ship there was a ridiculous line for people waiting to catch the boat back to the ship (we estimated waiting over an hour)! Liam was not a happy camper for sure! But we survived and were happy to get back for more play!

Next stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was a detour to our original plan which was St. Thomas. Unfortunately there was a crew member that was ill and they had to get them medical assistance right away - ironically the fastest option was to stop in Nassau, which didn't leave us the time to get to St. Thomas. So, San Juan it was! We didn't dock until late afternoon, so it was a short trip. We decided to just wander the city a bit, hit up some shops - Specifically Pandora! Happy Birthday to me! ;) and then we just walked around some more before we headed back to the boat. There was some beautiful architecture. Definitely a cool place to visit. Obviously we would have liked to have more time here, but that was an uncontrollable, and we made the best of the time we had.

RC_SanJuan
RC_SanJuanPort

Next stop St. Maarten! I've heard mixed reviews about this island by people that have stayed at resorts here - specifically how safe it was, so we decided to leave Liam on the ship in the nursery for this day. Paul wanted to use this stop to get some beautiful shots of the island and get a taste of local food. We decided once we got off the boat, to see if we couldn't get a cab to some random spots and ended up doing a tour around the entire island! St. Maarten is divided into the Dutch side and the French side, and we checked out both sides! Our tour guide did an awesome job with two 20-30 minute stops in which we could grab lunch and walk around. We stopped by the airport and there were planes taking off right over the beach where people were in the water...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PywSDOYJS2c

...Marigot Market for lunch, and back around the island to our starting point... we  learned a lot about the island. Of course Paul saw a couple that was riding around on ATVs and said "next time that's what we're getting!" We shall see... haha

RC_StMaartin

We ended this island day with some more shopping! Paul has been on a kick about getting a new watch - thank you Matthew Levine. No really, THANK YOU, cause I made out even better than Paul! We both walked away with some awesome watches, but I got the better end of the deal there! Another Happy Birthday to me! And of course it's duty-free, so you can't beat that!

Now for our Days at Sea! I decided to leave those to last cause we did have three and a half days at sea. The pools were great, but one HUGE disappointment was the fact that Liam was confined to a lousy baby pool with a non-functioning fountain. It was a huge bummer when you see the awesome H20 Zone they have. I know it's regulation, but I guess some cruises are a little more strict than others, and in this case very strict! If we wanted to enjoy the pools, Liam was in daycare. Don't get me wrong, Liam had fun in the baby pool.. for about 15-20 minutes and then he wanted more... Below is the cool H20 zone that Liam wasn't allowed in.

RC_BoatFun

Two of our 3.5 days at sea, we used the daycare for 4-5 hours so we could get some baby free pool time, and I will say the daycare was AMAZING! I was very concerned going on a cruise/vacation with the baby feeling like I wouldn't get any relaxation time, but we did and it was wonderful! The daycare staff was great and while Liam wasn't always very happy when he realized we were leaving him, he quickly started playing and calmed down!

That is one thing I have been very torn about going back to Carnival with the baby, is that they seem to have limited daycare hours, the Camp Carnival is only for ages 2+, and they don't offer any in-room baby sitting. We didn't use that option with Carnival but, it's nice to know we would have that option!

Next on our list of wants was a party atmosphere, and I have say that was lacking on Royal Caribbean. It was obviously a family style cruise, but the clubs were very dispersed and almost seemed hard to find. On Carnival they were all grouped together. We did see a comedy show which was very good, but even that ended earlier than we expected! The daycare closed at 12PM (Midnight), and it seemed like a lot of other things closed not long after that! But we did get out and have a good time. They did have a casino, which also adds to the cruise experience, but on this ship it felt oddly placed.

We did however enjoy the wide variety of dining options! Liam was welcome in all the dining areas, even though there were times we decided daycare was a better option. Liam loved the pizzeria, and we were in the Windjammer for several breakfast, lunches and dinners! But the highlight was definitely the fine dining, and we were especially pleased with the second formal dinner! We had some lobster tail, filet mignon, rich cheese ravioli and some decadent deserts. We also checked out some of the paid options, including Johnny Rockets, for a traditional burger and sundaes, and our last evening we splurged on Chops steak restaurant. That was definitely the premium dining experience!

In comparison between the Royal Caribbean and Carnival dining experiences, we think that the food is on par with each other. I feel like you get a little more "American" style dining with Carnival, and a more European dining experience with Royal Caribbean. They were both delicious. I will say the room service options on Carnival definitely hit the spot more. Carnival seemed to have more options, but both are pretty wonderful.

I did like with Royal Caribbean we could order room service through our TV, but I think because of that system, room service took longer and they had horrible phone operation services. I don't know how many times I tried to call room service, or one of the dining rooms or even the guest services and it would just ring and ring and ring. But it wasn't the end of the world, and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience!!

Check out some of more photos from our last night!

RC_FormalNight

 

You can see the rest of the photos here!


A New Endeavor In Creativity

I was unfortunately laid off at the beginning of this year, and while home with Paul and the Baby Man, we decided to beef up our design and printing offering. With my experience and abilities with web development and creative direction, we decided to develop a new site to feature the awesome invitations by PERDUE VISION.

So we are now introducing PV Invitations! Paul has been doing custom design invitations since we first got engaged as we wanted a very specialized design for our own wedding invitations. We hooked up with a great screen printing company in India, and we have fully hand-made and custom designed invitations for every occasion - weddings, bat mitzvah, bar mitzvah, wedding showers, baby showers, birthdays and more!

PVInvitations_Full

We also do smaller run, and more budget conscious options in-house, but for whatever your needs, PV Invitations has it covered! Check out the new site and the beautiful portfolio, and check back regularly as we are adding new designs regularly!

Thanks for everyone's support thus far and don't hesitate to contact us about any web and printing needs you have... especially invitations!

 


A Kentucky Wedding Weekend to Remember!

So I hope you have some extra time on your hands because you are going to need it to get through this entire post! We are squeezing a wedding weekend jam packed with activities into this post! It's all worth it, but it may take a hot minute to get through it all. But PLEASE NOTE: we saved the best part for last...

So, the last weekend of May 2014 we headed up to Lexington, Kentucky for fun times with family and an amazing wedding! Paul's cousin Haley Perdue was getting married to her long time boyfriend/fiancé (of 9 years), so we made the wedding weekend into an extended family affair!

Our first day in Lexington, was packed full of fun and educational activities! We started our little adventure with a trip to Buffalo Trace Distillery, "the world's most award winning distillery," and not surprisingly so, considering it's been around for over 200 years! We toured around the campus and learned about the different types of bourbon, how the aging process varies based on where the barrels are stored. We also got to see the bottling process which was actually really cool - and it was surprisingly a much more hands on process, i.e. people and not machines! From there we headed to the tasting which was obviously the highlight of the entire tour! My favorite was the Bourbon Cream - I know... blaspheme! But I am a milk drinker so it's only fitting. Second favorite was the bourbon balls! YUMMMM! And of course I believe Paul thoroughly enjoyed the Buffalo Trace, and we can't forget Liam aka Baby Man - who had his first root beer and couldn't get enough!

buffalotrace

After the distillery tour, we headed to the state capital where Paul's Dad's cousin, John Minton, is the Chief Justice for the Kentucky State Supreme Court! We got the VIP tour around the capital by the Chief Justice himself! It was definitely a cool experience and quite a beautiful building as well! The highlight for us was when we got the awesome shot of Liam doing his chief justice impersonation in the courtroom! You gotta see that one!

kentucky state capitol-1Before we left the capital Paul caught this impromptu pic of the family all squeezed in the elevator! How fun is that!? Looks like we should be in a reality show, sitcom of something.

Family photo

We were all starving at this point... can you tell?? So our next stop was a LATE lunch at Rick's White Light Diner in Frankfort, KY! It may have been because we were all starving, but this was some of the best New Orleans style food I've had! They were featured on Diner's Drive-In's and Dives, and I can totally see why. It was definitely your whole in the wall kind of place, it had an awesome atmosphere, interesting bathroom, and some awesome food! I have to say, I think I enjoyed it better than a lot of what we had while in New Orleans last year! The Muffaletta was to die for and the po-boys were definitely amazing too!

whitelight-1

Look at that adorable baby man! He was so tuckered out from that busy day!

Day Two in Kentucky we had plans to go to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill! We started off with a delicious lunch at the Inn at Shaker Village. Again, Liam couldn't get enough of the delicious food, and I also must say the old fashion high chair totally beats out most of the restaurant baby seats these days!

shaker village

We shopped at the Craft shop that had all kinds of great local merchandise and more importantly tickets for the Dixie Belle Ferry! I think it may have been Liam's first ferry ride and he embraced the experience - took charge sitting proud in the captain's chair! It was a beautiful ride, and we had a lot of fun!

dixie belle And check out the above image of High Bridge - the  Dixie Belle takes you right under this "engineering marvel - built in 1877 - and standing 6 feet higher than the Statue of Liberty!

But the most fun and rewarding part of the whole trip was the opportunity to not only share in Haley and Marcus' big day, but to also play a part in capturing the memories (as videographers for the wedding) they will have from that day for the rest of their lives, and the lives of generations to come! While it was a lot of work, especially for Paul, it has been such a great experience! Check out the highlight video from the wedding to get a glimpse into what we all experienced!
[vimeo 97449324 w=750 h=422]

To view the full length video, with an awesome speech from the Father of the Bride, click here!


The Happiest Mother's Day Yet...

So I've taken a bit of a sabbatical from the blog, but wanted to share my wonderful Mother's Day video with you! We had a great time with our little man on the beach all day, he was so tuckered out by the end of it all he snuggled up on Mommy and passed out!

Hope you enjoy!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgkA2H0ceIE&w=750&h=422]


Liam's First Christmas | 2013

Liam's first Christmas was wonderful! We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house - dinner with both Paul's and my parents, and my brother, A.J. Liam enjoyed sitting at the table with us and then opening all kinds of fun gifts! (sorry no pics from the Eve).

Christmas morning was a lot of fun, I think the highlight was definitely seeing Liam's reaction to his gifts. Obviously he doesn't understand anything about Christmas, but he definitely had fun with the new gifts. We started off with Scout - I had a lot of fun programing him, and Liam loves toys that talk to him, so he got a kick out of his new Scout plush pup!

LiamChristmas2013_ScoutNext was the gift hand-picked from Daddy! Liam's very own laptop! Liam is always trying to get on our laptops, so now he's got his very own to bang away at those keys! And to his delight it has a mouse too! So yummy!!

LiamChristmas2013_laptopAnd lastly Liam got his first Early Rider! It's essentially a bike, but a very cool bike. It can turn in any direction and helps to develop balance. Liam has a bit of growing to do, but he definitely seems to like it. Another thing that he can chase after Chunk with... hehehe

LiamChristmas2013_earlyriderWe also had a wonderful Christmas, and following our little family time, we headed to Gama and PaPa's for some brunch and more holiday fun! Al in all it was a wonderful first Christmas for this growing family!

LiamChristmas2013_goodtimesWe hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and look forward to a wonderful New Year!


Gerber is the Real Deal! Vote for Our Baby Man!

We're so proud of our little man, we just want to share him wherever and whenever we can! It would be so cool if he got lots of votes in the Gerber Photo Search 2013! Click Here to Vote!

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NYC…Better Late than Never

Following our trip to Philly, we headed to NYC to visit with our good friends Derrick and Jesus, and celebrate my birthday in the city! We got to check out their new place and have fun running around the city!

Day One:

First stop, Derrick and Jesus' place! It's a nice spot in Jersey, a short drive from the city! They fell in love with the colorful living and dining rooms.
NYC2013_1Next stop, Katz Deli! Paul had to get the notorious pastrami and swiss, as seen on Adam Richman's Man v. Food, and of course the orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally! Everything was delish!
NYC2013_2From Katz, we headed around town for some more pics, but ended our evening with some of Paul's best work yet. NYC photos from Brooklyn! They turned out amazing! It was funny because this was the photo spot, and there were so many people with cameras out there.

NYC2013_3It was a fun-filled day, and we felt pretty good about everything we did.

Day Two:

My birthday, YEAH! All I really wanted, was some birthday cake, so we decided to head to Greenwich Village for a little window shopping and to go to The Magnolia Bakery (as seen in Sex and the City), and we got some amazing cupcakes! The peanut butter and jelly cupcake was my favorite! We decided to enjoy our deserts in the park right by Bleecker playground, it was definitely the spot to be.

NYC2013_4

From there we decided to head to China Town for a little more shopping if you know what I mean! ;) I definitely have to say, my birthday was pretty wonderful!

NYC2013_5Before we headed back to Derrick's we decided to stop by Time Square for a couple more pictures. Paul outdid himself for sure.

NYC2013_TimeSquareHDRsAnd of course we couldn't leave the city without getting a pic of the Challenger in the city...

NYC2013_ChallengerNext time - the plan will be to stay in the city… maybe the Waldorf Astoria! hehehe


Parents.com Photo Contest

So I've entered this pic of Liam into the Parents.com Photo contest. He was #126 and now he's #103! That's an improvement! So I thought I would post to my blog to see if we can't get some more votes! You can vote daily! It would be so exciting if he won!

Click here to Vote!Philly064-XL