Pepper Design Blog - Page 34 of 438 - A Little of This & That... Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

Three Things…

May 18, 2015 by Morgan

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! We went bowling on Friday night, barbecued on Saturday and celebrated a friend’s graduation on Sunday. The weather has been a bit cooler (it even rained one day) which us San Deigans are appreciating.

Coming out of this fun and busy weekend, I wanted to jump back into my Three Things series and share what I’ve been enjoying most…

Trips to our favorite park: Now that the days are longer, it’s easier for me to break away from work at a sunset hour to spend a little time running around our local park. It’s the best! We can walk to our neighborhood park, which is the biggest blessing that I hadn’t even considered when we were house shopping back in 2008. I can put the littles in the double stroller, Marley in the ergo, and away we go.

Minnetonka moccasins: I’ve had these moccasins for years, but I have gotten the most use out of them just recently. They took a while to break in and now it’s like walking on leather butter. Oh man, the best things get better with age (tell me that on my birthday this Friday). I think I’ll buy vintage/used Minnetonkas from here on out. Similar.

Gold initial pendants by Elizabeth Scott: My girlfriend gifted me with the most thoughtful present after Marley’s birth: a delicate set of three initial disk pendants, one for each daughter. I’ve been wearing them every day on a thin gold chain (that shares a small bevel set diamond from Kevin) that’s been my favorite staple in my wardrobe for the last eight years. (esdesigns is on Etsy, a hint to special request the 14k gold if that’s your style.)

PS more favorites. Happy start to your week :).

No Mom Guilt

May 15, 2015 by Morgan

Some days my life is eeking of mom guilt. It could be travel, it could be (lack of) time, it could be the fact that I wasn’t there to pick up Liv from preschool or that I had to miss Mommy Morning (of all of the days…).

But once I shift my focus from the trees to the forest (and remember the bigger picture rather than just the guilt-ridden smaller details), I remember that I make ALL my big decisions with my family in mind. And that there’s no room for mom guilt.

A short example: a week after my maternity leave ended I flew up to the Bay Area of California for work and 2.5 days of straight meetings. Marley came with me (I am growing a network of awesome sitters in my corporate office’s home town and I also have family to rely on) but on that trip I didn’t for one minute regret that I had to step out of my balancing act back home to be in work-mode for three days away.

I met with our team from Shanghai, I met with my new counterpart from Chicago, I spent a day reviewing plans for a strategy rollout with a new partner that flew in from North Carolina. It was invigorating. And frankly, after being absent for eight weeks, it was necessary.

I recognize that I need these sorts of meetings to motivate me. I walked away from this trip full of ideas, full of energy and full of scheming enthusiasm. I had the opportunity to put on my strategy hat and to enjoy, all mom guilt aside.

Back home, the girls had a great time with their Mimi and their daddy. They loved my return (as did I!) and it was but a blip in our routine after a few days had passed. It’s okay to be a mom that sometimes has obligations. It’s okay to rejuvenate whether it’s for work, a day with girlfriends, a child-less reenergizing weekend or a (second, third, fourth) honeymoon to reconnect with your partner.

We have no room for mom guilt.

I took a similar trip to Boston just last week with my dad and sister to visit my brother (M also came along as infants do). This trip was for fun and reconnecting with long distance family.

We have no room for mom guilt.

Part of being a good parent, a good friend, a good colleague, a good partner is by taking care of what you have to do and what you need to do. Trip A was part of what I had to do. Trip B was part of what I needed to do. I dropped into the blog today to share these stories because I think we all need a reminder sometimes that it’s okay to not feel guilt for what pulls us away from our families. Shoot, it’s even okay to enjoy it.

Happy weekend, friends. To my momma’s, you are doing an awesome job!

More motherhood posts shared here, more thoughts on being a working mom over here. Marley sporting a bandie from my girlfriend’s company Grey and Gingham. xo

Master Bath & Bedroom Remodel: Week 12-13

May 13, 2015 by Morgan

It feels a bit overdue for an update on our master bathroom/bedroom renovation. So much of our lives is centered around this space right now (planning it, building it, collaborating on it, living out of maternity wardrobe boxes because I can’t access clothes because of it)… but the more and more that we live with the transformation, the more that I appreciate each and every step of the decision-making journey that this space has started us on. And I’m wringing my hands with excitement for the day we move in.

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 6-7:

Week 8:

Week 12-13:

The most significant updates during weeks 10-12 included patching and plastering of all of the walls, reworking ceiling patches, plumbing, moving around a bit of electrical and installation of radiant heating.

Here’s a bit of the thought process on how radiant heating works: instead of blowing hot air through a vent or pumping hot water to a radiator, radiant heat warms up the floor (and from there, the rest of the room). Electric mats (there are also hot water pipes that are considered radiant heating) are energy efficient and incredibly functional. You can keep your floor at an even 85 degrees (which seems warm but isn’t so bad on the electrical side) and the entire room will be affected positively. On cold days it’s also super cozy.

Since this radiant heating is being installed in ‘new construction’, we placed the mats directly above the subfloor (and they’ll eventually be directly below the tile). My understanding is that they can also be placed below the subfloor when being added after flooring is already in place.

Kevin applied a layer of thin set above the mats for tiling purposes. The mats + thin set raise the overall height of the floors by about 1/2″ (which we’ll have to account for with the floor transition into the bedroom and into the hallway from the bathroom to make sure there’s no tripping) but I think that the the cozy-toe-affect will be worth it.

Electrical current is measured before, during and after installation to make sure that a wire hasn’t been tripped or cut before the tile is installed.

One last shot before it’s all covered up!

This is sort of one of those luxury projects where timing is always the issue. With such a huge remodel it’s hard to justify the cost (like, really hard)… but once that tile is in place adding radiant heating is no longer an option. We bit the bullet and hope that it pays off over the long run.

PS we started this BIG project right over here. Follow along for the full transformation by getting caught up here. Happy middle-of-the-week and see you soon!

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