the boys room - before photos

The paint swatches are out and rooms are being prepped for the painters who are arriving tomorrow.

With the baby arriving in six weeks, we needed to get our bedrooms ready. Our home has three bedrooms - two upstairs and one downstairs. Currently, all three boys are sharing the bedroom upstairs and using the downstairs bedroom (this one in the photos) as their playroom. Surprisingly, this has worked out perfectly for the past few years. Though I have to admit, they are all good sleepers, which helps. However, trying to add a newborn (eventually) into the same room is just too cramped.

So we've decided that the two older boys will move downstairs, and the two littles will stay upstairs. I feel like the two oldest boys are big enough for this move now, which I wasn't comfortable with when we first moved in. The bedrooms upstairs are in the original house, and the playroom is in the furthest addition, as far away from the other bedrooms as you can get. 

So here is the room, exactly as it was when we moved in. We haven't done anything with it in the 3 years we've been here. It's their playroom and it does take a beating.

We also don't plan to do anything major in this room except freshen it up with some paint, add window treatments, new light fixtures, maybe some built ins and make it a functional bedroom and playroom for the older boys.

I've branched out from my usual Simply White by Benjamin Moore, and decided on a pretty neutral Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore. It's part of their Historical Collection of colours, so I feel like it still fits the age and character of the house.

The floors are already painted, so I need to figure out what I'm going to do with them. I'm thinking I will give them a fresh coat of paint to freshen them up.

Once I draw up a design layout for this room I will share it, as well as my inspirations for the decor. For now, I'm just happy to not have to be painting.

shop inspiration - flowers on chestnut, nantucket

I wanted to give you a little tour of one of my favourite shops on Nantucket - Flowers on Chestnut.

Before I saw the shop, we walked past the courtyard and it made me smile.

All the cut flowers are arranged in buckets and grouped by colour.

I loved this sweet little view into the back.

I also liked this little rabbit figure.

And this pretty arrangement of blue ware.

It really had such a great mix of so much of what I love - wood pieces and natural fibre rugs, baskets and linen, blue transferware and hotel silver.

And a great collection of beautiful design books and cook books.

I loved these bird plates framed with over-sized mats.

See why it needed an entire post all to itself?

nantucket and the cape- day three

Our third and final day on Nantucket was really just a morning while we waited for our noon ferry to arrive. We still had our rental car until just before we departed, so we decided to try to squeeze in a few more things we had wanted to do.

Our first stop, coffee and these delicious "morning buns" at Petticoat Row Bakery, which was steps from our hotel. 

Then I popped around the corner to one of my favourite shops, Flowers on Chestnut. I had spotted a little blue transferware piece that I really loved, but left behind the day before. I decided to go back and get it for myself as a little souvenir, and I'm really so happy I did. It's the sweetest shop with fresh flowers on the main floor, and beautiful home decor on the second floor with some great books and antiques scattered about. Maybe in a separate post, I'll share a few photos of it with you. 

We then drove around town for a bit, looking at the store fronts. I had to laugh because some of the cobblestone streets felt bumpy enough to send me into labour! We joked we'd be able to extend our stay for a bit, and who wouldn't want a little Nantucket baby?

We made our way down to Old South Wharf again, this time to see it in the daylight.

I popped into this sweet souvenir shop to pick up a couple little things for the boys - a little wooden 'Sconset train for Jude, a geode for Hudson (he asked for the coolest rock ever - this one you smash open and hopefully find some crystals inside), a knot bracelet for Willen and sharks tooth fossils for both.

We had wanted to try the famous Turkey Terrific sandwich from Provisions, so we grabbed sandwiches and packed them for on the ferry ride.

Still finding ourselves with about an hour before needing to be back, Ryan decided we would take a quick drive out towards Tom Nevers, a part of the island we hadn't been to yet. The beautiful sunny weather was starting to give way to the grey fog the island is known for, and rain was on it's way. It didn't stop us from meandering through the sandy back roads though, all the way to the coast where we got out and enjoyed a few last minutes of the beach.

After dropping our car off, we checked our final stop off our list - the Juice Bar for their famous ice cream and homemade waffle cones. So worth the stop.

We caught our ferry and departed just as it started raining. As we rounded the harbor we knew we'd found a special little place we'd be returning to again.

Once back in Hyannis, we made our way up the Cape, towards Provincetown by way of Chatham and Orleans - two beautiful towns off the highway. Unfortunately it was teaming rain, so we didn't spend much time walking around. I did however bookmark two stops, one an antique map shop and another antique shop.

We spent our last night camping in Provincetown, but to be honest, we were a little disappointed. First, at the campsite you weren't allowed any fires, but that's pretty much what we do in the evening when camping - sit around a nice fire. No problem, we'd drive into town and walk up and down, and spend more time there. We picked up boxes of Salt Water Taffy for the boys and the most delicious chocolate peanut butter cups and turtles for us. 

Ready to eat, we then sadly discovered that on Wednesdays during the off season, many restaurants are closed! This included the few choices we had wanted to try. We ended up settling on the Lobster Pot, which was pretty good food wise, but with a beautiful view of the wharf. We ate as the sun set and then made our way back to the campsite where we attempted to play cards by the dimmest lantern ever. Fortunately we were tired and decided to call it a night so we could be on our way early the next morning. We had a nine hour drive ahead of us, and we wanted to be home in time to spend some time with the boys before bed.

I wanted to share our camping side of our trip. We camped the first and last nights, and stayed at our hotel while on Nantucket. Originally we had planned to both just sleep in the back of our van, but the only mattress that would fit was a single. And while we love each other dearly, sharing a single bed was a little too close for comfort. I ended up sleeping in the van, and Ryan happily unearthed all his camping gear from his bachelor days and camped beside me. 

Fun fact - on our honeymoon, from New York City to the East Coast, we camped every other night as well, in this same tent! Even then it made me a little claustrophobic, and we had to sleep opposite ways to fit. It was still romantic. 

Ten years later, I was quite happy to let him enjoy the tent while I enjoyed "glamping" in our van. And yes, I brought white linens. When sleeping on a bed, might as well make it comfortable.

Here are my two souvenirs I brought back. I don't have many pieces of  blue transferware, and have been looking for some for a while now. The top piece will go by my night table, and the bottom one, on the wall in the family room.

Hopefully you enjoyed our tour! We had an amazing time. It's one of our favourite places we've been together, and honestly, we can't wait to return, because return we shall.

nantucket - day two

         Our second day on Nantucket was devoted almost entirely to walking around 'Sconset.

Now at any other point, we would have rented bikes in town and enjoyed a bike ride out to this area - the island is perfectly suited for biking. But, given my current very pregnant condition, we rented a car for the day so I could walk around once there and enjoy the day comfortably. I'm so glad we did! We actually enjoyed so much more than we planned this day because we had the convenience of our own car.

Our morning started off with coffee and pastries in the courtyard of our hotel. Ryan would get up before me, stroll to get his coffee down the road and I'd find him later, reading here. Then I'd go get my coffee and we'd plan our day.

Breakfast at Black Eyed Susan's was our first stop. We both enjoyed a good, casual breakfast in a very bustling but cozy atmosphere.

 

Then we headed out to Siasconset - or 'Sconset as it's called. We parked and walked 'Sconset beach, looking for rocks and shells for the boys, enjoying the wind and warm sunny day.

If there's one thing we couldn't get over about this place, it's the sweet smell of wild roses growing all over and a fresh, saltiness of the ocean air. It's intoxicating.

Then we headed to Sankaty Head lighthouse before parking back in town and walking the 'Sconset Bluff Walk.

The walk is along this little footpath that wanders through the back yards of the homes overlooking the bluff. It's a beautiful walk with perfectly manicured yards of these meticulously kept homes on one side and this wild, heathland with breathtaking views of the coast on the other!

Nearing the end of the walk, I was starting to feel quite tired, so I ended up finding a shady spot to rest outside what became my favourite home we passed, while Ryan lovingly walked back into town to grab the car.

 

In town, we stopped again to walk around the older cottages - the ones that 'Sconset is famous for. These tiny, crooked, rose-covered cottages from the 18th century look like they're right out of a storybook! The roses were just starting to bloom and I can't imagine how much more gorgeous this area is once everything is in full bloom.

 

Can you just imagine this cottage in bloom?

 

I made Ryan stand beside one of them to show the boys the scale of just how tiny they are!

Before continuing on, we stopped at the 'Sconset Market and picked up some water and snacks before we made our way to another part of the island. The sign outside the market says "Fancy Groceries" and it made me laugh, until we walked in. It might as well have been a small corner store, but it was entirely stocked with every fine food and snack you could imagine! I couldn't get over it. I told Ryan I wished we had a little market like this... though it's probably best we didn't. It was the same with their playgrounds - these pretty little climbers that were white and shake and perfectly matching their surroundings.

Our next stop was Cisco Brewery for Ryan, where he enjoyed a flight of their island inspired beers in the garden while a live band played and food trucks sold raw oysters and frozen Rose - It's a thing there - frose. Too bad I was pregnant...

We then headed to Bartlett Farms where I picked up a peach and some cherries (I needed something healthy!) and then took a scenic drive back to our hotel.

As we had missed lunch, we decided to change and head out for an early dinner. We had planned to have burgers for lunch at Lola Burger, so we just made our way back there. Now, I know we were hungry, but these burgers and fries were something else. Seriously, one of the best burgers I've had. And these crispy little fries with garlic aioli? So delicious! We left stuffed.

We then drove out towards the Madaket Beach area, as we heard you can see the prettiest sunsets there. 

It didn't disappoint! It really was gorgeous. But it was also quite chilly and very windy, so we didn't stay long.

Ryan surprised me with stopping at Galley Beach for dessert - a restaurant I had wanted to try. We watched the sun sink from the comfort of a fire on the beach while we enjoyed drinks.

Then, once it was dark, we headed inside and had our dessert. It was a beautiful restaurant, but really, it's location couldn't be more perfect. We ended the evening on Old South Wharf, walking the docks by lamplight.

Because we were able to drive about, we were able to see so much more. It really was a near perfect day.