Family Safe with First Alert

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. Don’t let the beep steal your sleep.

I've always been pretty lax when it comes to safety stuff like smoke detectors and such, but since having Jack, keeping our home safe has become much more important to me.  Since our home was built in the early 1900's, there wasn't much in the way of safety codes required when it was built, but here in Washington new building codes went into effect in 2011 that required all new homes built have carbon monoxide alarms.  Now, 7 years later, those carbon monoxide alarms are reaching the end of their life and need to be replaced!  Our home has never had any CO alarms, so when First Alert reached out to partner with me to get the word out to families that their CO alarms might need replacing, I was excited to see what new technology was available that we could implement in our little old craftsman home.

Since Jack is a huge reason I want to keep our home safe, I let him open the package. He's super into boxes so I think he was almost more excited about the box itself, haha!  They even sent a cute little coloring book that we colored in later, so fun!

Since our home is about 100 years old we have very few outlets.  Because of this, battery operated alarms come in very handy, as most of our outlets are occupied with lamps and other necessities.  One of my favorite alarms is the tabletop one, which is super easy to put anywhere. Another thing that I'm all about? The batteries in this bad boy last 10 years-- the lifespan of the alarm-- so I never have to remember to replace batteries.  Perfect, because who has space in their brain to remember the last time their CO alarm batteries were replaced, am I right?

If you do have some old CO alarms in your house, though, they will typically beep when the battery is low!  It's an annoying sound because dying of CO poisoning is way more annoying.  Carbon Monoxide is a deadly poisonous gas and can be produced by any gas burning appliance, like your furnace, boiler, stove, and car.  Since it's odorless, it's not like smoke which has a super distinct smell, which makes it even more dangerous if you don't have an alarm.  Growing up, a neighbor of mine nearly died of CO poisoning while working with a gas powered tool in his basement without adequate ventilation, so it's something I've been aware of since childhood.

First Alert sent over a bunch of alarms to try, but my favorites were the Carbon Monoxide Alarm with 10-Year Battery and Digital Temperature Display (hello not having to remember to change batteries!) and the Combination Photoelectric Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm with 10-Year Battery (killing two birds with one stone... or I guess not killing them, that is). 

We've now got enough alarms to have one in each bedroom and on every floor of our home, which is exactly how they're supposed to be... as opposed to the ZERO alarms we had before. Whoops.  Now the only thing I need to remember is to test them on a regular basis, so I'm going to enlist Jack because pushing buttons is one of his favorite activities right now. Perfect.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Macrame Basics

I've gotten lots of questions over the past few months about doing a macrame tutorial, but once you know some basic knots it's pretty easy to create your own design, or look at a picture of a macrame wall hanging and replicate it because you know how to do all the knots involved. So I made a quick video showing you how to do four super easy, basic macrame knots that you can use to make countless designs!  These are the only four knots I've ever used.  I'm no macrame pro, but once you know these knots, it's super fun to play around with creating designs on your own!

Joshua Tree Dreamin'

Now that my kitchen project is almost done, my brain is buzzing with excitement for my next project, which is to re-do my '72 Winnebago Brave!  Back in 2016, just before taking her down the west coast on my Wildbride Retreat tour, I did a super quick reno on it, putting in new flooring, painting most of the walls white and yellow (I had planned on doing wallpaper on the other ones but didn't get it in time before I had to leave), painting the cabinets white, and ripping off the naugahyde on the dash.  I installed the copper pipe curtain rods and made the little white curtains with faux leather hang tabs, and did another copper pipe along the back window to hold books and things in place while we were driving.  It was a fast project, but it really changed how it looked, even though I never actually got around to finishing all the things I wanted to do.  

Fast forward two years and I would love to finally complete this project! 

• I think I'm going to rip out the floors I put in because there are some uneven spots in the subfloor that need to be fixed, and I want to put in a lighter wood. 
• I'm thinking of taking out the upper cabinets above the kitchen sink and stove (that account for quite a bit of storage, so I'm a little hesitant but I know it will open up the space significantly and make it feel way bigger, which is a big deal when it's a 20 ft RV. 
• I'd also love to actually reupholster the bench seats.  So far I've just been "slip-covering" them with blankets and fabric. Having a kid now, I'd like to get some kind of faux caramel leather that's easy to clean and wipe down.
• I'd like to finish the dash and maybe pull up the 70's carpet that's under the driver's and passenger seat up front and replace it with something different.
• I removed one section of the accordion pull down bed in the rear and turned into storage space, so I want to make that work a little better for storage, especially if we remove the upper cabinets in the kitchen.
• And I might replace the table for something more pretty.  

I'm hoping to get out of dodge here in the dead of winter because I do not do well in the grey, wet winters here in the PNW.  Dan's parents live in Joshua Tree, CA and I adore it there, So my goal is to get this ol' girl up and running (well, figuratively speaking, her engine runs fine... for now, fingers crossed!  She is old!) and head down there for an extended period of time.  By then I think Jack will be old enough that he'd have fun playing around on the rocks in Joshua Tree National Park, and of course his grandparents would love to spend time with him too.  And I get some much needed Vitamin D!  So many wins!

And speaking of National Parks, Parks Project sent me this cute Joshua Tree tee and bandana and hat (and a delicious pine scented candle too)!  I couldn't resist putting the bandana on Jack and Dusty.  Having spent lots of time enjoying the beauty of so many of our national parks on multiple RV trips, I'm a big fan of any company that is actively working to protect our national parks and protected natural landscapes here in the US.

Remixology | Three Outfits with One Jumpsuit Pt. 3

Of the three outfits I made with this jumpsuit, I think this one is my favorite! It feels like the perfect, summery farmer's market outfit.  I just need a basket full of fresh, local produce! I've really been loving wearing neck scarves lately.  Something about it works so well in a casual outfit, elevating the style just a bit, adding some interest, but not in a fancy way, you know?  And bonus: they're super easy (and cheap) to find at thrift stores!

Oh!  And my 10 year blogging giveaway for a $100 gift card to The Jungalow is still going on!  Click the button below to go enter!

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Boho Eclectic Living Room

Guys.  First thing: HOLY COW as of today I've been blogging for TEN YEARS.  Ten.  A damn decade.  What?  I haven't done anything for a decade straight.  If you want to go back to the early days and have a good laugh, feel free.  It's pretty hilarious to see how different blogging was a decade ago!  

Second thing: to celebrate I'm doing some giveaways with brands that I thing are rad and the first one is a $100 gift certificate to The Jungalow! I'm constantly inspired by Justina Blakeney's lush aesthetic, so I wanted to give one lucky reader the chance to grab something gorgeous from her shop! Click the button below to go enter!

My space probably hasn't reached the level of Jungalow status yet, but I'm getting there! I recently re-did my living room layout and it feels SO good.  I feel like there's some unspoken rule about not doing diagonal layouts in rooms, but rules are meant to be broken, and for our space, this is actually the most practical layout, so much so that I can't believe I haven't arranged our furniture like this before in the 5 years we've lived here!  This space finally feels complete and I'm so in love with everything!  Everything except the rug (from Wayfair) and the couch (Ikea) is thrifted or craigslisted!

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