2015 in review

happy 2016! we are getting busy back into work over the past two weeks after a long holiday. 2015 was, in a word, transformative. 2014 was a tough personal year for me, so 2015 came as a surprise. i am two weeks late to the ‘2015 best nine’ game, but i thought i would share my highlights. sometimes it’s hard for me to absorb all that has happened, but i am so very thankful for everything.

1. made the decision to freelance and left job in a large firm.
2. started my own interior design business.
3. my beautiful nephew august was born.
4. travelled to d.c. for the cherry blossom festival with wonderful friends.
5. finished my licensure exams and became ncidq certified.
6. celebrated my husband josh’s 30th birthday with a staycation.
7. travelled to our home in montana with siblings.
8. we bought our house!
9. had the opportunity to work on so many amazing projects with the best clients.

also, my husband started his own architecture and development business!

how was your year?

follow along this year on instagram.

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we bought a house!

we are homeowners officially! after five years here, my husband, josh and i finally bought the house we have been living in. this house has been very precious to me for my whole life, as it was my beloved grandparent’s home and the home my father grew up in. i grew up playing here in the creek and had many holidays around the table together with family. now, this house has become equally important to my husband, and he has fallen for it (the dogs also!) it is a special place.

{a view of the house in the spring}

i am so excited to share more here on the blog as we dream, plan, and renovate the property. as a designer and architect, we can’t help but have big plans on paper already. we look forward to sharing the process and making many (more) years of memories here. it seems like a fitting week to close and be thankful for all that we’ve been given!

follow along on instagram and my renovation pinterest board, if you’d like.

xoxo madeline

our new family member

if you follow me on instagram, you have probably seen that we adopted a new puppy this month, baxter. this and a few other things could help to explain the silence here on the blog in may and june. baxter is a four month old lab hound mix with a sweet temperament who stole our hearts. sampson, our other baby, is still warming up to him, as he has been an only child for four years, but i think in time they will be best friends. aren’t his little spots the cutest? we are so happy to have him as part of our family now! do you have any tips for handling and introducing two dogs? it has been a really difficult two weeks with getting some bad news, but puppy cuddles are helping me get through.

 

lately, i am reading this book for book club. have you read it?

 

[natalie came to visit this month! it has rained everyday in tennessee, but we trying to spend every dry minute here.]

[at the end of may, we celebrated my husband joshua’s 29th birthday at gray’s in franklin.]

{i took a modern calligraphy course with my best friend at the skillery nashville.]

[we have been enjoying summer in nashville’s 12th south and made a stop at the biscuit love food truck.]

[we went to the outdoor movie night at the belcourt theater to watch ‘singing in the rain’]

[and of course we celebrated our wonderful father on father’s day, here is us in 1989.]

much love to everyone this weekend.

madeline

my sister’s new blog

i have the best sister. in. the. world.

{sisters, madeline and natalie circa 1987}

 

we have been so close our whole lives, but now she is halfway across the country. to stay connected, we skype, call, and read each other’s blogs. she started a new blog this month, wild communion – go check it out! she is a super talented massage therapist and health/paleo guru. she blogs about health, wellness, and he life in houston, texas with her husband (and my brother in law). she is also the prettier sister and extrovert of the family. i can’t talk her up enough….she is my favorite.

NYC part II

today i want to share more from our new york city trip. i posted this week about our first two days in the city – times square, central park, grand central station, and new year’s eve.

 

on our third day in the city, we spent the morning at the high line and walking all around the city. it is such a nice change of pace to walk everywhere when you live in suburbia! we toured the museum of modern art (moma) in the afternoon and stopped by the beautiful hudson hotel bar for a drink. i loved this spot so much i will be posting a spotlight on this later. we stopped into sofia wine bar for pizza; this place seemed like a place we would hang out if we were locals. to finish the night, i fulfilled my life long dream of visiting the top of the empire state at night. the whole time envisioning all the famous movies filmed there….

on on fourth day, we started by heading out to brooklyn, we crossed the brooklyn bridge in 4 degree windchill (!?!) and walked through brooklyn heights. while downtown, we walked by the freedom tower and saw the new calatrava path station going up below. visiting the 9/11 site was so moving, 13 years laters. the blizzard (hercules 2014) started very quickly, but this did not stop us….we toured my best friend’s architecture firm and headed down to chelsea for dinner at jean gorges’ spice market. we walked down to chelsea market, which unfortunately was closed due to the blizzard, and ran into a favorite, fish’s eddy. the blizzard was crazy to witness – our first one!

i will be sharing our final photos and about the apartment tomorrow. happy friday.

 

madeline

things of late

hi friends…

i am going to act like i haven’t neglected you all for the past month and a half…and just pick up where i left off.  how does that sound?  life has gotten busy – i am studying for my professional exams, working through taking them, and traveling for work. between these things, it seems there is not much time left in a day.

today we went for a long hike and are setting up for a fire tonight.  please excuse how old some of these photos are….i’m still catching my breath from christmas, people. let’s recap since december….obviously besides our nyc trip and work.

{christmas gifts, christmas picture, our christmas card, new/old polaroid toy}

{happy new year, juice cleanse, flying home from nyc, open window weather}

{outdoor movies, flowers from my valentines, leed exam studies, valentine’s date}

nyc pics coming this week.  also…we can’t stop watching this.

xoxo madeline