Guest Post: Drum Pendants in the House!

Hi there! I'm Jessica with Arcadian Lighting, a wonderful online source for beautiful and affordable light fixtures, where I get to write about the latest interior design trends. Today, I'd like to share a lovely collection of interiors that feature charming drum pendants. The simple silhouette and modern shade of a drum pendant is a wonderful choice for almost any room! I hope you enjoy!

This lovely orange and white living room is family friendly, with plenty of seating and cozy built-in bunk beds. The large drum pendant matches the beach-y atmosphere perfectly.

With such a vivid carpet as the one in this dining room, simple, modern furnishings are a great choice. The leafy branches and wood furniture give the room a slight tropical feel.

Sweeping curtains and a high tufted headboard add plenty of drama to this chic white bedroom. Dark brown accents really help ground the space and make it feel cozy.

Gorgeous tones of the teak furniture and cabinetry in this kitchen creates a warm and inviting space. A sleek drum pendant light fits in with the scene beautifully.

The large white drum pendant close to the ceiling in this living room really emphasizes space and simplicity. A cool blue sofa and armchair look perfectly cozy.

Large drum pendants are great for creating a focal point in a spacious room with a vaulted ceiling. Even with eclectic décor, the metallic drum pendant still commands attention in this room.

The unique shade on this white pendant light adds a brilliant, twinkling quality of light to the room. A chic grey wall color is a wonderful canvas for white pieces of furniture.

The floral block print on this drum pendant light adds a bit of playfulness to this rustic, elegant dining room. The olive and red colors pick up on the brilliant foliage just outside the window.

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What do you think of drum pendants? Be sure to stop by Arcadian Lighting here to pick up a pendant light or two for any room in your home!

I just adore good lighting! That second from the last photo reminds me a lot of what M and I are going for in our living room, but a little bit softer to embrace the natural light that dances throughout our home. It's amazing how polished a space can look with the right fixture, huh? Thanks for the post, Jessica!

Friday, I'm in Love, v.17 {Guest Blogger}

I was so excited when Mackenzie Horan, Design Darling herself, agreed to share with us a few of her loves. She has impeccable taste and I cannot wait to peruse her online boutique, launching this March! She also contributed to this month's anniversary issue of Matchbook Magazine. Mackenzie is a design/style tour de force and I'm so honored to have her over for a visit. Without further ado...

It's Friday and Mackenzie's in love with...

Hi there! I'm Mackenzie from Design Darling and I'm excited to be sharing a few of my favorites on Natalie's blog today.

Kendra Scott earrings / Tibi dress

Diptyque candle / NARS lipstick

Cambridge Satchel Co. bag

My favorite colors are hot pink and navy blue so I'm coveting a few new pretties in my preferred palette! Isn't that bag to die for? Thanks so much for having me, Natalie!

{Inspired Thursday} Guest Blogger: Debby at Inspired Design

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Hi, Everyone! It's Debby from Inspired Design and I'm thrilled to be visiting the adorable Natalie today. She has such a way with words, don't you think?

Lately I've been wondering if my heart is ever going to be whole again. For those of you that read my blog, you already know of my pending divorce. I'm good, truly. However, the years leading up the divorce caused my heart to slowly break apart one piece at a time. You know the movie, The Notebook, where Noah tells Martha Shaw, "Now, you know that I want give you all the things that you want, right? But I can't because they're gone.... They're broken." I totally relate. I'm Noah.

What I've decided is, that it's o.k. that my heart isn't whole. It doesn't have to be. Perhaps in time it will be. For now I will tend to it. I will look after myself and try to put the pieces back together. I've already taken the first step when I made the bold choice to walk away from a relationship that neither one of us was happy in. My heart is in my care now, and it's a good feeling because I know no one will look after it better than myself.

Do you believe that some people are wounded so deep that they never completely trust their heart to any one's care ever again?

Deb, thank you so much for sharing so candidly what is on your heart and how you've been inspired to pursue your new normal on your own (with your kiddos, of course). I have seen with my own eyes God's ability to heal and renew the hearts of those so broken and seemingly abandoned by love. It's not an easy road, but you've taken the steps, you have faith, and I believe that your heart has not seen its last love, whatever form that may take in your journey. 

What do you think, readers? Any advice or words of encouragement you can offer from your own journeys?

Friday, I'm in Love, v.16 {Guest Blogger}

Today's loves come from Emily over at The Best of This Life. Her elegant lifestyle and food blog is chock full of delicious gluten-free recipes, ideas for entertaining, lovely inspiration and stories from her own life. Her posts are heartfelt and uplifting, and she's got a tremendous eye for design and layout. Basically, it's the bloggy equivalent of a breath of fresh air. (Her "Essentials" posts are some of my faves.) I hope y'all enjoy her loves; I know I did!

Thank you Natalie for having me on your lovely blog today. I'm honored to be here!

It's Friday and Emily's in love with...

Bright colors, writing love letters, and classic jewelery.

This week has been rather snowy in Ottawa, Canada and there's nothing like pops of juicy colors against a white backdrop to make a girl happy and away from the Winter-blahs. Thank goodness Spring is just around the corner, bringing with it stunning brights and beautiful pastels.

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I'm totally in love with the colorblocking genius from Madewell's Spring 2012 Look Book. Because I'm still wearing a 3/4 length down jacket, knee high fur lined boots and a wool mittens, I'll be waiting a few more months to sport these stylish looks.

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What that doesn't mean, is that I'll be waiting to start the color splashing; Chanel's Spring nail polish comes in the freshest hues and I'm very smitten about April, May, and June, which I'll be wearing in February. Aren't they pretty?

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When I spot a timeless piece of jewelry that I feel I will love forever, I get genuinely excited! I do enjoy playing around with statement pieces, fun accessories and trends, but classic is my favorite. This gunmetal link bracelet by OIA JULES is just that. A beautiful bracelet that can be worn alone or stacked, with so many different outfits. Oh, and you can't beat the price!

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I've always been inspired by the paintings of Mark Rothko. Especially his works of large forms, layers of color, and simple abstract expression. This season, I'm especially taken with this one using orange and cobalt together. That color combination is really spectacular.

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Do you like to getting mail? I'm in love with writing notes, thank you cards, and love letters - and I don't mind getting them either! I would consider it a long ago art form and an amazing gift in this day, when someone takes the time to write you. What a happy moment it is to open the mailbox to find a special envelope waiting for you. These darling Queen Bee note cards by Crane Stationary caught my eye, because of their cheerful pink and adorable gold engraving.

And that's what I'm falling for right now! I hope you like my roundup and enjoy a spectacular Friday! I would love to hear what you are in love with today?

{Inspired Thursday, v.7} Guest Blogger: The Short and Sweet of It

Hi everyone! Kirby here, one half of The Short and the Sweet of It, a lifestyle blog I write with my blogger-in-crime Alexa Evans. I'm delighted that Natalie asked me to be part of her Inspired Thursdays series. Today, I'm sharing what inspires me to blog, so without further ado ...

We call The Short and the Sweet of It a lifestyle blog because once we started blogging we realized we were finding inspiration for posts anywhere and everywhere, and couldn't be limited to just fashion or just food or just, well, anything. Our little blog is almost two years old (eek!) and during that time we have definitely narrowed down our posts so that the majority of them are about ...

Travel: Wanderlust is a common theme on our blog. I've been to 12 countries and counting and can't get enough.

Fashion: I have over 5 years worth of Vogue issues saved under my bed and even more at my parents house, so it's not surprising that fashion makes its way onto the blog. Whether it's chronicling my fave looks from the runway or the myriad of fashion blogs out there or showing off my latest steal from Forever 21, I am always inspired by fashion.

Food: The beau and I love to cook, and we have been trying to eat at one new restaurant a week. With that said, we try to only eat out once a week, too, so I love finding recipes on other blogs and try to showcase my successful dishes on the blog.
 Design: My friends and I always say that we know we're getting older because we get as excited about a new lamp or pillow as we do about clothes. While I have shown snapshots of my own home, more often than not I post drool-worthy homes from all over the blogosphere.

Life: Sometimes I am hesitant to put my personal life on the blog, but the heartfelt comments I receive from readers whenever I write about my amazing family and friends - who are probably my biggest inspiration anyway - always makes me glad I did.

Love: You know how you know when a girlfriend has a crush because she finds a way to weave the guy's name into the conversation? I'm that girl, except we've been together 5 years and counting.

Thank you so much, Kirby, for sharing your bloggy inspiration! I highly recommend that y'all check these gals out. (Apparently this little girl has a soft spot for fabulous bloggy duos. But can you blame me?!)  

Friday, I'm in Love, v.14 {Guest Blogger}

Today's guest post is from one of my dear bloggy friends, Amanda at Do I Even Like This? If you dig her picks (which you will, they're fabulous), be sure to check out her Hit Lists. But don't blame me if your wish list expands by a dozen items after you've done so. Just sayin'.

It's Friday and Amanda's in love with...

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I've been on the hunt for something to keep snacks tidy in the depths of my handbag and this week, I've found it. These adorable cases from West Elm have a zipper (crucial) and can be personalized! Now just to decide, my name in a nice coordinating gray or a bright pop o' color?

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The hubs has been away on biz this week and that provided the perfect opportunity to get some spin time in with tunes that I love but that aren't at the top of his hit list. If you missed Fistful of Mercy's debut when it was released last year, get thy download on promptly. Ben Harper + Joseph Arthur + Dhani Harrison = singer/songwriter love fest at its best.

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I'm in the thick of it learning how to cook gluten free but, really, that's not nearly as important as getting some GF baking down so I've strapped my big girl pants on and taken the plunge with this recipe from Alton. I subbed Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF flour for Alton's mash up and the results were, I gotta say, pretty darn good. Me want cookie!

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My fave mani/pedi girl (shout out to Ruslana at Juko -- if you're in Chi-town, look her up!) turned me onto this magical little pen. I am completely guilty of neglecting my cuticles out of sheer laziness but this pen makes it so easy. Just turn the crank, apply and push back for tidy, ladylike nails. Perfect for travel, it smells like heaven and it's vegan, too! What!? I know!

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Just 'cause it's on sale doesn't mean it's not heaven, y'all. I picked this JCrew cardi up in heather gray and we've been spending a lot of quality time together of late. It is super soft, warm and just long enough in the back to cover my bum bum so it can be paired with leggings or jeans. For once, she who is shortest wins!

Awesome stuff, huh? I have a cardi similar to the J. Crew lovely above and it's probably my favorite in my closet. It's very snuggle-worthy, and woop woop for covering the bum. High five, shorty!

I'll be announcing a new giveaway tomorrow, so be sure to check back!

My Hit List

Today I have the absolute pleasure of sharing my Hit List over at Do I Even Like This? A & E asked me to share some of the lovelies that are on my radar (in the same vein as my Friday, I'm in Love posts) as part of their Blogger's Hit List series. These gals update their own Hit Lists (viewable on the sidebars of their blog) quite frequently, and I love peeping their selections. (These gals have great taste, let me tell you!)

Check it out and let me know what would be on your Hit List!

Guest Blogger Series: Anna's Christmas Traditions

It's day four of my guest blogger series for the holidays! I hope ya'll have enjoyed posts thus far from Stephanie at Big Mario Life and Amanda and Elizabeth at Do I Even Like This? Their stories have been so sweet and remind me exactly why I love this time of year so much. Anna's post today is no exception.

Bloggers like Anna create such a wonderful sense of community within the blogosphere. Her blog, In Honor of Design, is one of my must-reads and reflects so well her great eye(she's a graphic designer), elegant taste, and humble, wonderful heart. (I can imagine she's a fantastic mama.)

I am lucky to come from a family with ten brothers and sisters! We have many traditions and Christmas is now a rare time where we can all be together under one roof. Our Christmas Eve traditions I look forward to year round...and now my husband does too:)

We all dress up and attend Christmas Eve Mass. On the way home we drive through the neighborhood to spot out all the best Christmas lights. As soon as we walk in the door at home, all hands work together to prepare a Christmas Eve feast of our favorite appetizers. We will then gather around the fireplace in the family room and do our annual gift exchange. This is by far has provided my most favorite Christmas memories.

My siblings and I are all very close, and its beautiful to see how each person (now including husbands and a few babies) really makes such an effort to pick the most special gift for the brother or sister whose name they drew that year. It has brought tears to my eyes on numerous occasions. We end the night with carols around the piano and leaving out cookies for St. Nicholas of course;) I am getting excited just thinking about it!

Um, does anyone else want to join Anna's family? Carols around the piano?! Want. (Nevermind the fact that I'd be lip syncing. It's the festive principle!) I am really tight with my sibling too (though there are only two of us), and so appreciate the close bond that I am blessed enough to share with my brother. I know not all family members can forge those relationships, so it's quite a gift to be so connected to your kin. Thanks for this warm story of holiday love, Anna!

Guest Blogger Series: Amanda's Christmas Traditions

It's day three of my guest blogger series for the holidays! Woop! Every day this week I will be featuring one of my favorite gals from the blogosphere to share her own Christmas traditions.

Yesterday you heard from Elizabeth, and today we'll get the scoop from Amanda at Do I Even Like This? These ladies create a dialogue with their posts that is so unique and fun to read. Amanda is a fellow coffee addict and about as interested in adopting new technology as I am. (Page me, girl. I hit you back on my flip phone, yo.)

Tell us a story, A...

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year and since the hubs and I are a family of two plus dog living away from our families, we’ve worked extra hard to develop some holiday traditions of our own. Here are four of the things that make our Christmases super special.

Christmas Eve is our time to celebrate the holiday together. We make dinner reservations at either a fancy or favorite restaurant, depending on our collective mood, and get prettied up for a very special date night. Since we’ve lived in northerly climates since we’ve been married (6 years!), we nearly always have snow so it feels extra special to take in the sights and lights on our venture to and fro. At home we change into our jammies, exchange gifts, listen to all of our Christmas favorites, sip cocoa and love on our pooch.

A view of the Hancock building taken through a veil of Christmas lights. Taken our first Christmas in Chicago.

One of my personal favorite traditions is sending holiday cards. We do this every year and although the hubs doesn’t relish all that envelope licking, he suffers it quietly for my sake. I think choosing a good Christmas card is such an important task since for so many people it will be the only way in which we’re able to offer a greeting of cheer. This is our first year doing photo cards, something that we had major reservations about but that I always love receiving from others.

Our card for this year, ordered from Minted.com with a photo from our Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii.

A newish tradition for us is Cookie Day with friends. We have a very dear group of friends and so we assemble in some kitchen quite early on a Sunday and bake until our fingers bleed. Well, the ladies do. The men watch football and work diligently as taste testers. All of our friends come from diverse backgrounds and so it becomes something of an international cookie festival. This year everyone got a little over-committed so we’re actually taking a day off from work to make this happen. Talk about commitment to the plan!

A sampling of the take from last year’s cookie extravaganza. There were so many more cookies than we could think to consume that we had to package them up to ship away to other friends and family.

Although the memories we create together are fantastic, I still love having a little something special to remember the year by. Yeah, something shiny. Each year we buy an annual ornament from Simon Pearce and have the back of the globe engraved with a word or phrase that reminds us of something special from the year. They usually reference travel but my favorite says “Mr. Ollie Goes To Connecticut” from 2006 when we adopted our pooch and then swiftly whisked him away to the wilds of Fairfield County.

From Simon Pearce website, 2011 Annual Ornament

Doesn't her Christmas Eve celebration sound like perfection? That's a tradition that M and I would love. (Noted.) And I totally appreciate the importance with which she considers Christmas cards. (Exhibit A.) Such lovely celebrations and certainly festive! Thanks for inspiration (and mad craving for some cookies right about now), Amanda!

Guest Blogger Series: Elizabeth's Christmas Traditions

Welcome to day two of my guest blogger series for the holidays! I hope you all got a moment to read Stephanie's post yesterday. Every day this week I will be featuring one of my favorite gals from the blogosphere to share their own Christmas traditions.

Today's post comes from Elizabeth at Do I Even Like This? It felt like a homecoming of sorts when I found E and A's blog (stay tuned for Amanda's post tomorrow); they were like the super funny, excellent-taste-having, long-lost friends I'd lost touch with and rediscovered. E also recently relocated to Seattle with her family, which makes her even cooler in my book. (Big ups, Pacific Northwest!)

Take it away, E!

I am very much looking forward to Christmas this year as we will be celebrating it in a new city, Seattle. More importantly we will be spending it with our newest addition, our son Oliver. Having the little guy in our lives has made me think of all the holiday traditions that I grew up with and wish to pass on to him.

I can’t wait to take little Oliver on his first tree expedition. Growing up I remember going out with my dad and finding the best looking tree for our home. It was always such a great adventure no matter the weather. Chris and I seek out a local tree farm and then go on the hunt to find the perfect one. Depending on weather conditions the search may last over an hour or as short as 15 minutes. Cold conditions = Speedy Selection.

Christmas Tree in 2010


This tree pretty much replicates our trees we had growing up down to the multi-colored blinking lights. 

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A soft little animal and some sweet treats will no doubt be in store for Oliver next year. I think we will use one of his father’s boots for the loot. There is no harm in dreaming big when you're still so tiny.

Some have Miracle on 34th Street or A Christmas Story. We have Elf. Each Christmas Eve Chris and I settle in on the couch with some jazzed up hot chocolate and watch as Buddy the Elf spreads yuletide cheer. I know this seems a bit silly but I love it. Just writing about it has made me grin form ear to ear.

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Yep, just the three of us and Will Ferrell on Christmas Eve. I love it!

I love me some Elf! It just isn't the holiday season without it! (Or a random Tuesday in July. Or on a handful of weekends in the spring. Or...OK, it's good, clean fun all year 'round, y'all!) Thanks so much for sharing these traditions with us, Elizabeth!

Guest Blogger Series: Stephanie's Christmas Traditions

Today kicks off the first day of my guest blogger series for the holidays. I asked a handful of my favorite bloggers to share with me their favorite Christmas traditions. This time of year, I struggle with keeping the holiday in perspective and trying not to lose sight of the real celebration: the birth of our savior. I love presents and twinkle lights as much as the next gal, but it's the time spent with family and friends, laughing, worshiping and catching up, that warms my heart so. As wisely stated in one of my favorite rom-coms: "Love actually is all around."

I started following Stephanie at Big Mario Life just a few months ago and was charmed from the get-go. Her posts vacillate between fashion, food, her personal life, her travels and her beautiful photography. I am a huge fan of her Awkward & Awesome Thursday series; these posts make me chuckle (and maybe spit out my coffee) every time.

Without further ado, I present to y'all Stephanie's Christmas traditions...

Growing up, my family had lots of little Christmas traditions - tamales for dinner on Christmas Eve followed by midnight mass (the only time of year I was allowed to stay up that late!), candy and oranges in our stockings, my Aunt Bertha's celery with pineapple cream cheese and pecans (I know, but it's so good!). The Boyfriend and his family also have their own set of traditions which I have been lucky to take part in over the last three years. But since he and I have big plans to get married and start a family of our own, we decided it was time to have a tradition that was just for us.

We are now adding one new ornament to our tree every year that represents something important to us about that year. Last year was our first with this tradition so we chose an ornament with our initials. This year, we picked something up in Disneyland when we were there celebrating his grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. While we still take part in our separate family traditions, it's nice to know that we have something all our own. I can't wait to share these ornaments with our kids someday and retell the stories each one represents.

courtesy of Stephanie

What a wonderful budding tradition, Stephanie! Meaningful ornaments are the best and such a great way to keep your history and love at the core of your Christmas tree. Thank you so much for sharing with us! Merry Christmas to you, your boyfriend and your families!