Search Results for: house renovation

Stella & Dot Favorites (+ Free Jewelry!)

by whoorl

Stella & Dot. Methinks you might know about this company…but have you heard of Courtney Ford? Yep, that’s her up there with the perfectly wavy chin-length bob. (Seriously, the hair is beyond Pinterest-worthy.)

So, Courtney is a working mama of two adorable little boys, Ian and Arthur, and lives in Boston. She emailed me a few weeks ago with a proposition to host an online “mystery hostess” trunk show, and I bit. I totally blame the hair. She sent me some gorgeous pieces to try, and I pretty much died. The end.

Look at these baubles, will ya?

Clockwise – Bahari Necklace (GET OUT this necklace is so perfect), Bryant Scarf in Poppy, and the Bianca Tassel Necklace.

Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. It seems my new hobby is to obsess over all of the beautiful trinkets that can’t be mine due to a little thing called a house renovation.

1. Queen of Hearts Charm Necklace
2. On the Mark Necklace
3. Demi Layering Necklace
4. Serenity Small Stone Drops
5. Emerson Bangle
6. Demi Earrings
7. Serenity Stone Drops
8. Vintage Studs
9. Chelsea Tech Wallet – Black Snake
10. Palamino Necklace
11. Devi Bangles — Gold
12. Bryant Park Scarf – Green

Those would all be warmly welcomed into the Whoorl closet, is all I’m sayin’.

You feel the need to buy something, don’t you?

I understand, my friend. Maybe this will help rationalize a purchase or two? Starting today, Courtney put together a mystery hostess trunk show that can be accessed here. (You have to click that link to be a part.) When you purchase an item, you will be entered to win free jewelry credits, as well as deep discounts on the items. Here’s the kicker – the more people that buy, the more jewelry credits you’ll receive if you are the winner. Cool? Cool. I’ll announce the winner early next week, after the trunk show ends Sunday night.

You’ll be automatically entered to win the free jewelry credits when you purchase from this link, but because I’m totally anal, let me know in the comments too. The trunk show will close this Sunday evening. And regardless if you purchase or not, I want to hear which piece you love the most. I think those green drop earrings sure would be lovely for a holiday party…

Good luck and good shopping!

Odds and Ends

by whoorl

Odds and Ends 7.10.20

Odds and Ends 7.10.20

1. I can’t believe people don’t know what this hand gesture means.

2. OMG, remember Better Off Dead? #iwantmytwodollars

3. This Ilia Makeup Set is incredible! $45 for all of that goodness?! Run, don’t walk.

4. How America lost the war against Covid-19. My thoughts exactly.

5. Finding the perfect activewear takes time – here are my favorites in just about every category.

6. Now, this is a bubble bath.

7. You all, this whole school reopening situation is a total mess.

8. Gourmet popsicle recipes. Yum.

9. Boxwalla never leads me astray – they’ve introduced me to African Botanics, Votary, and Nini Organics. Well, the August box is INSANE. Seriously, get it while you can.

10. There is an incredible movement growing on TikTok.

11. Demi Moore’s bathroom is…interesting.

12. I can’t believe this dress is 28 dollars. I bought it in white and looooove it.

13. I was thinking about our previous home earlier this week. It was such a little love nest!

14. I’m always a sucker for a summer reading list.

15. Made this slow cooker butter chicken last night and it was delicious. Do you think it was due to the heavy cream? ;)

16. I really really really love this hat.

I can’t believe it’s already Friday again! Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

image credit: coraline danthez

Odds and Ends

by whoorl

1. Hey, women. You probably should just bow out of life altogether. Loved this article.

2. I posted about the woes of my daughter’s tangled hair this week, and wow, you all came to the rescue. The Wet Brush FTW.

3. This exhibit on sexual assault is so powerful. Kudos to my alma mater.

4. You know those excessive attention seekers that make you cringe? Turns out excessive attention seeking is not a character flaw, but a brain wiring response to early developmental trauma caused by neglect.

5. Why confidence is quiet and insecurity is SO LOUD. Great read.

6. Refer a friend to my favorite green beauty shop and get $20 off your order for both of you!

7. For my curly-haired friends. Love.

8. How to look smart in meetings. Yep, #4 all the way.

9. You guys, I’m launching a podcast with my friend Kristen next week! You can keep up with us here and here.

10. Seven days of heroin. What an epidemic looks like. Wow.

11. Listen to me, get these pants. Softest, most comfortable things I’ve ever worn. (I now have 4 pairs.)

Happy weekend! We closed on our “new” (100 years old!) house this week and are in full renovation mode. SO EXCITING, YOU GUYS.

image credit: willian santiago

My Guide to Oklahoma City

by whoorl

Howdy, y’all! Welcome to my guide to Oklahoma City. It’s chock-full of my favorite places to hang, eat, sleep, and shop.

A little bit of backstory for you – I recently moved back to OKC (where I was born and raised) after spending 20 years moving around the Midwest and West Coast. The last 12 years were spent in Laguna Beach (psst – I have a visitor’s guide to Laguna too!) and Newport Beach, during which I got married, had two children, and pretty much never thought I would leave.

Well, we did move. And I’m not going to lie – it was a bit of a transition moving from coastal Southern California to where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, but we haven’t regretted our decision a bit. (Okay, okay, maybe a little bit…weather and politics aren’t my fave here.) Oklahoma City is simply not the place I grew up in back in the 80s and 90s…it is a community bustling with arts, culture, great food, and it seems a new “hot spot” opens every week.

As you will soon see, this guide is really robust, but I wanted to provide tons of options. While OKC is the 8th largest city in terms of land size (FYI – you could fit the cities of Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Manhattan, Washington DC, Pittsburgh and San Francisco all inside OKC’s city limits), we find ourselves spending most of our time in neighborhoods close to the city center. I’ve broken the guide down by neighborhood and ordered the lists from coffee to brunch/lunch to dinner to activities/shopping to cocktails. I’ve also put asterisks next to my very fave spots.

Let’s get started!

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A Peek Into Our Cozy Home

by whoorl

home_living_family

photos by Nina and B photography

I can’t believe we’ve been in our current house for two years already, so I figured it was high time to give you a little peek into our cozy little home. (Especially since you witnessed the entire Newport Beach renovation a few years back! A very different vibe in this one, as you soon shall see.)

One of the biggest advantages of moving to Oklahoma from Newport Beach is the cost of housing. To say you can get a lot more for your money is a huge understatement. So, how did we end up in a home that is actually smaller in size than our Newport Beach house? Well, why don’t you sit back and I’ll tell you a little story.

When we moved to Oklahoma in August of 2014, we rented a condo for the interim while we searched for a house to purchase. Well, within one hour of the moving truck (carrying 12,000 pounds of our belongings) pulled up to the rental, we found out it had black mold and was deemed unlivable.

Hmmm. We had a situation, to say the least. The moving company (yeah, the same one that managed to damage just about ALL OF OUR BELONGINGS and whose owner is now in prison for tax evasion) gave us 24 hours to find a new place to unload our stuff. Long story short, our family of four ended up in a small, first-floor apartment nestled right next to a major highway AND underneath the apartment of a presumed stripper/night owl/not quite sure. (Fun times! The kids were so impressed with Oklahoma City and all it had to offer!)

We spent a couple of (very uncomfortable) months in that apartment, all while trying to find the perfect house, WHICH MOST OF YOU KNOW CAN BE QUITE A PROCESS WITH THE INTERIOR DESIGNER HUSBAND. As you’ve witnessed from past posts, we prefer to find a place with good bones that we can renovate ourselves, but we simply didn’t have time for that. We wanted out of that apartment so badly, which made the search even more difficult because we needed to find something essentially move-in ready that met our standards. (Which I swear isn’t that much! Simple! Clean lines! Just not a horrible renovation, please!)

All to say, we put an offer on our current home within 12 hours of it being listed. It was almost perfect. Located in a historic neighborhood, clinker brick, built in the 1920s, yet completely (and tastefully!) renovated a few years prior by the previous owner. And although not as large as we had hoped for a long-term home (1700 sq ft…remember, it’s Oklahoma where a plentitude of space actually exists), it charmed us to pieces.

Recently, Emily of Nina and B Photography shot our family for a local publication (if you are looking for a photographer, stop the search because SHE’S THE ONE), and did a wonderful job of capturing the character of our home. I thought I would share with you all, even though a few rooms weren’t photographed. (Namely, our master suite which comprises the entirety of the second floor, and is, arguably, the best spot in the house. Photos to come at a later date on that one.)

Hope you enjoy!

home_door

home_stairs

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We Survived The Road Trip

by whoorl

This post is sponsored by Bridgestone. I can now officially say their DriveGuard tires are the bomb.

dreamcatcher

We made it through our 10-day road trip alive, folks. And we packed it in – Grand Canyon, Colorado hiking and river-rafting, Sedona energy vortexes and the best restaurant ever.

As you can imagine, while spending days on end in the car, you take a lot of landscape shots.

landscapes

You also eat In-n-Out, greasy spoon breakfasts, and listen to old school Madonna tunes while your little ones cover their ears in protest.

roadtrip4

To my children’s dismay, I did a little interpretive hand dancing in the front seat. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? THE BOREDOM.

(Can you hear Wito at the very end singing along? Buhdadum badadaadaaa.)

We also stopped way too much.

painteddesert

I can’t believe I bought Wita a wooden recorder thingy. ROOKIE MISTAKE. It was “lost” within a few hours. I can’t imagine who would have done that. D’s trying to get a good Instagram shot on the bottom right. “Don’t worry, Wita! It’s just a rattlesnake. GO. Smile!”

Very, VERY rarely, I would look back and see this.

sleep

But most of the time, I listened to a lot of bickering. Bickering, bickering, bickering.

And the only thing that stopped the bickering was blaring a certain song. Listen, I’m not above playing “Wiggle” for my little kids if it will secure 5 minutes of non-whine.

Wiggle from whoorl on Vimeo.

“MOM, HE SAID BIG FAT BUTT!” Feel free to judge me.

We did lots of exploring – on foot and in the car. I am super thankful that Bridgestone provided us a wagon with DriveGuard tires because we managed to go off-roading, drive through a sandstorm in Phoenix, and multiple thunderstorms (flash flooding!) in multiple states without a blink. Trust me, there were a few times we, ahem, bottomed out and splayed gravel, and thanked our lucky stars our car wasn’t taking the beating. Can you imagine if we would have gotten a flat in any of those situations? Not an Instagram moment, methinks. Not to worry since DriveGuard tires allow you to drive up to 50 miles at up to 50 mph after a puncture or complete loss of tire pressure.

All in all, it was an awesome road trip. We loved adventuring around the country and spending lots of time with my parents and Lala’s family in Colorado. It was great.

kids

So great, in fact, that we’re doing it again in three weeks when we pack up our life and move to Oklahoma. (I KNOW. More on that later.) Until then, things might be a little spotty around here considering at some point I am going to need to start packing. Again.

(Didn’t we just do this?)

((Did I mention that we are in escrow on the sale of our California house AND on the purchase of our Oklahoma one?))

(((And that it’s another renovation? Are you ready for some more before/after photos?)))

((((Should I convey just how stressful things are right now?))))

(((((A LITTLE STRESSFUL.)))))

((((((wiggle wiggle wiggle))))))