Living for Pretty

Celebrating all things pretty, happy and inspiring. From renovation stories, to recipes, decorating, parties and little life lessons, you’ll find a little bit of everything here.

Welcome Baby and 6 Tips for Your DIY Fresh 48 Photos

Readers, meet Philip Oliver! “Pip” was born in late March in 2020 during a nationwide shutdown.

Because of coronavirus, it was just me and Billy at the hospital. I had booked a photographer for a Fresh 48 session, which are photos that happen in the hospital in the first day or two of life. I loved the idea of capturing our first moments when we became a family of three.

A week or two before I went into labor, the hospital changed the visitor policy to include only the “birthing partner” (dad, in our case) and no one else. No grandparents, aunts, uncles, and no photographers. We were scared of further restrictions and not even having my husband there (a few hospitals in New York had taken that step based on positive cases), so we felt lucky to have each other.

Luckily we packed our camera, and we managed to get some sweet photos in between the nurses popping in.

Pip is such a light in a dark world and he grows and changes every day. Below are some of the photos from those first few days and our DIY photoshoot plus some tips for you to capture photos of your new family!

Fresh 48 Photo Tips

  • Take pictures of the room, of the view. These things will add to the memory years later
  • Take a lot – I didn’t spend too much time checking to see if I got ‘the shot’ – so make sure you have 20 different ones to choose from
  • Ask a nurse to shoot a few of you together – we didn’t do this and I wish we had! It’d be so nice to have a picture of the three of us
  • Coordinate your outfits. We packed light blue clothes.
  • Zoom in on the details, their toes, fingers and eyelashes
  • Take photos before baby gets there (there can be a lot of waiting) and of course after!

We are so happy to be Pip’s mom and dad and loving our little family. Sending love to all the pandemic mommas and women expecting during this time. You are so strong!

5 Things to do in San Antonio

First, let me say, San Antonio surprised me. I have never thought much about Texas, in my mind it just seemed, too big, too hot and too boring. But that has changed – I’d visit San Antonio again in a heartbeat. There is so much history to soak up, great architecture to take in and the nicest people

Where I stayed: The Menger Hotel, a pretty, Instagram-worthy, historic and supposedly, haunted hotel.

Cathedral of San Fernando

The Cathedral is in ‘the center of San Antonio,” which makes this a quick hit on a lunch or break. It is the oldest standing church building in Texas, and is simply an exquisite sight.

Amsterdam in Love

Last fall we took our first big leap into international travel. Billy had just finished training for a regional airline and had a week before work would begin. It was also our five year wedding anniversary as well as our 10 year dating anniversary. Did the stars align? Yes. Did I work really hard to make them align? Yes.

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Master Bedroom Coffee Station

What’s the one thing that makes your morning instantly better? Coffee. It’s the reason a lot of us are able to roll out of bed in the morning. But in our house the time between eyes open and coffee in my mouth was just too long.

We have been long time french press coffee people. The coffee is delicious, it’s one less countertop appliance sitting out, and I managed to score a beautiful silverplated gem from an online auction that ‘sparked joy’ whenever I looked at it.

But since we moved into the new house the french press coffee joy has turned just a touch sour. Because french press coffee is a process.

  • First you heat up the water on the stove.
  • Then you pour water into the french press.
  • Then you wait 3-4 minutes.
  • Then you press.
  • THEN you enjoy.

This was all good and fine when our kitchen was located in between our master bedroom and our bathroom. It was natural to incorporate the french press coffee process into our morning flow–inbetween showering, dressing and primping.

Now in our new home the kitchen is a set of stairs and three rooms away. And having to consistently go back down the stairs for each step in the process grew tiresome. Then the solution came to me after watching Architectural Digest’s Open Door videos of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s house.

The home’s interior designer, Peter Gurski, calls this the gentleman’s cabinet. It’s got one very important, not-to-be-overlooked feature: a coffee station.

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15 Free Art Downloads

With the holiday un-decorating commencing, the bells and garlands come down and the everyday decor goes up. The change of the seasons is the perfect time for a refresh, but with the Christmas budget hangover I know I’m not the only one feeling the lack of cheer in my bank account.

Luckily, the Metropolitan Museum has a lot of their collection available to use, download, share and create upon. Below are just a few of their 406,000 images of artworks that have caught my eye. Click through to learn more about the the piece and download.

The Third Duke of Dorset’s Hunter with a Groom and a Dog
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Pretty Spending – Spending down your FSA dollars

We’re taking a slight departure today from our normally scheduled programming to talk about something that doesn’t seem that sexy off the bat–FSA Accounts. A Flexible Spending Account, or FSA, is a special account that allows you to set aside part of your pre-tax wages to pay for certain healthcare expenses for you and your family.

They are a great way to cover routine medical expenses. Because they’re pretax you’re saving anywhere between 12-24% (or whatever tax bracket you’re in).  Eligible expenses include prescriptions, contact lenses and over-the-counter products.

But most of the time these accounts are spend-it-or-lose-it by the end of the year and sometimes you’re left with a small lump of money you’re scratching your head with. If you’re in this boat and have a balance left, there are a few over-the-counter items you can spend this money on that makes this really fun.

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