Southern porch inspiration

Image from: Architectural Digest

I'm living in the wrong place. Please take me away to Charleston and sit me on a front porch that looks just like this and I'll be happy forever. I don't know what it is about a front porch, but I just love them. In my childhood home, it was a tradition on the weekends during the summer to have breakfast and coffee on the porch. Now that we have purchased a home of our very own that just happens to have a front porch, I'm dying to make it charming and cozy so that we can continue the weekend morning porch tradition. As I've turned to Pinterest for some porchspiration I keep being drawn to Southern inspired ones with dark wicker and bright upholstery. I'll need to paint the columns of my current porch white, pick up some wicker seating, spruce up the cement with an area rug and add a ceiling fan. Basically to get the true Southern porch feel, you need your outdoors to look like as styled and beautiful as your indoors. Check out more porch inspiration photos below. What do you think of this style porch in Philadelphia? Am I going to be the odd man on the block?

10 Tips for Flying With an Infant

We did it. We took our three-month-old baby on a plane and survived. I was all stressed out the week leading up to this flight only because I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what we'd need, and I didn't know if the TSA folks were going to give us a hard time. But all of that worry was pointless because our trip was one of the most uneventful flying experience of my life and everyone was incredibly kind and helpful (except one impatient fellow passenger in the security line.) But, I learned a few things along the way and figured I should share the wisdom:

Chicken and Garlic Gravy

This chicken was the moistest, most delicious chicken I've had in a long time. Now some folks might be turned off by the amount of garlic cloves the recipe calls for, don't be. Whatever you do, don't skimp on the garlic -- it's not overbearing, it's actually perfect! This recipe is sure to become a regular staple in our household. Next time, I'm going to adjust it slightly by adding in a boatload of mushrooms and some thinly sliced onions as well. Also, you must serve this with potatoes (mashed or roasted), rice isn't going to do this justice. Get the recipe below. 

We bought a house!

Hello there friends! It's been a while. Let me give you a little rundown of what's been hap'nin' since we last chatted. Well, my maternity leave whizzed by and before I knew it, I was bringing my chubby little baby to daycare and rejoining the herds of folks commuting into the city for work. At first, it was so so so so sad (like, all the tears kind of sad), but now it's becoming the norm and every day is a little easier. But let me tell you, my gym time has taken a serious hit because when you come home from a long work day to your smiling happy baby, you really don't want to spend any more time away from her than is absolutely necessary. 

Oh also, we bought a zoo house! (Quick side note - have you seen that move We Bought a Zoo? It's quite precious and every time I start to say that we bought a house...I first think about saying we bought a zoo, which would be much cooler, but unfortunately, isn't applicable.) ANYWAY, I digress. Yes, we bought a house. The most perfect house with a nice front porch, gorgeous wood work, an updated kitchen (my happy place), and a cute little backyard. Here she is, Casa de Williams:

It's a twin home, meaning it's attached to one other property, so we own the left side. Well let's be honest, right now we own like the front door and the bank owns the rest, but in 30 years, this puppy will be ours! The neighborhood is so cute and perfect, we're walking distance to restaurants and shops, close to a couple of parks, but we still have a little yard and some more privacy than our existing spot.