This is a collaborative post. All opinions are my own.

This is for those of you that are recently engaged! Getting engaged is a hugely exciting, life-changing moment. It's a whole new chapter in your life! And telling friends and family your big news is something worth celebrating. For that reason, many people choose to organize an engagement party to make the most of this milestone moment.

If you still need a ring, first take the time to select one you love...your left hand is going to be getting a lot of attention soon! Tacori fine jewelry is an ideal choice as they have a wide selection of beautiful rings. Remember, this is a something you will wear for the rest of your life, so look for something that fits your style now, and will stand the test of time. Once your finger is adorned with the ring, it’s time to start planning your special celebration.

Your engagement party is the very first event that celebrates you and your partner as a couple. This makes your engagement party a significant occasion and the perfect way to practice celebrating your relationship ahead of your big day.

Start Planning

Before you get carried away with details, you need to first determine who will be hosting the engagement party. Will you go with tradition and let the bride’s parents organize and host the party? Or, would you prefer to celebrate in your own way and host it yourselves? Knowing where you want to celebrate is the most crucial decision to make before the proper party planning gets started. Don’t forget to check with the bride’s parents and see if they were planning to host the celebration before making your plans. You certainly don’t want to cause an offense at what should be a happy time.

Choose a Theme

Just like with a wedding, deciding on the kind of celebration you want will make it far easier to plan the smaller details. Your theme can be anything that you choose. Glamorous black-tie? A garden party full of flowers? A casual backyard get-together? It's up to you. The theme can be as strong or subtle as you would like, but it is a useful tool for planning your party. Choosing a theme is also the perfect excuse to get creative and have fun getting carried away in the details of planning a magical celebration.

Pick a Venue

This depends a lot on your theme and the number of guests you want to invite. Think about if you have a family member or friend with a home or garden that would make the ideal party venue. If so, lucky you--that makes it much easier!

Guest List

Getting engaged is so exciting, you may want to invite everyone that you know to celebrate with you. Don’t forget to make sure that your chosen venue can accommodate the number of guests you want to invite (and be sure to consider parking, tables, and chairs too). Once you have narrowed down your guest list, it's time to start inviting everyone! You can send formal invites if you like, or Facebook invites, a group email, or a group text are perfectly acceptable too. Then start gathering the RSVPs!

Food

A buffet is a perfect choice for a more informal engagement celebration. If you are planning a more traditional engagement celebration, you may decide to treat your guests to a sit-down meal. Of course, your choice of food depends on how many people you are catering for and your budget. Planning an engagement party doesn’t need to be formal. Some of the best parties happen in the backyard with a BBQ. The most important thing to remember is that this celebration symbolizes your love and commitment to each other.

This post is written in collaboration with Legrand. All opinions are my own.

So, our kitchen remodel is has been basically done for a month and I haven't posted a thing! No Instagram Stories, nothing. I'm officially a bad blogger. I'll blame it on being pregnant and low on energy, which is true...but I do wish I would've documented more of the process. Oh well, yesterday I FINALLY took pictures so I can share a sneak peek with you!!! We are not totally done, as we still need to move lighting and add a fixture above the island. But this is preeetty much our new kitchen! I'm really happy with how it turned out, and we've been putting it to good use already. Wrapping up the remodel in September was perfect timing--just in time for cooking soups, making bread, and baking cookies. We were getting sick of grilling and ordering pizza!

With this remodel, we really tried to make smart choices that would give us the biggest bang for our buck. We had originally planned to split the project into two phases, so when we fast-forwarded our timeline and decided to do the full remodel all at once, we didn't have the savings to splurge a whole lot. Rather than choosing our dream finishes, we had to be creative and find ways to get a similar look for less. We thought long and hard about each and every line item, and carefully allocated our budget where we thought it would pay off. In the end, I think that limitation actually benefited us! If we'd saved for longer and had a bigger budget, we definitely might have overimproved our kitchen beyond our house's resale potential. It was soooo tempting to say "well, as long as we're spending this much, we might as well add (insert luxury item)." But with a tight budget, we really couldn't justify those extras. Sure, they would've been nice...but by sticking to the basics, we still got a beautiful kitchen and the open layout I wanted, without going into debt.

Another benefit of doing a budget-friendly remodel? I'm confident that we raised our house's value by at least as much as we spent. Zillow says that you can expect a return of $17,193 on a minor kitchen remodel, $37,637 on a midrange remodel, and $67,212 on an upscale remodel. With knocking down the wall and adding all new cabinets, I'm pretty sure ours counts as midrange. I also saw a rule of thumb to spend 10% of your house's value on the kitchen. We came in well under both those guidelines, which feels really good. It was still a lot of money, so it helps to know that it isn't just spent--we should get it back (and then some) when we decide to sell!

Plus, I mean, I lived in rentals up until this house...so this is by far the nicest kitchen I've ever had! Honestly, the white Shaker cabinets, the marble-look quartz counters, the big single basin sink, the polished nickel hardware, and the blue-grey island, all are things I would have wanted even if our budget was unlimited. And with the old wall gone, the whole house feels bigger and brighter, and has a much better flow for entertaining.

And while we did stick to a tight budget, we also did squeeze in a few nice extras, like upgraded outlets (with USB chargers!) from the radiant Collection by Legrand. I love how these outlets are screwless for a clean, elevated, modern look. The Ultra-Fast USB outlets are especially nice. They free up space and charge devices up to 40% faster than average!

Another nice thing is that the outlets are tamper-resistant, which our old ones were not. These are up on our counters where (hopefully!) the kids aren't playing with them anyways...but we plan to upgrade the whole house eventually. Greater peace of mind and these outlets just look better! Plus, they were easy to install...Ben had never changed light switches and he was able to install them in less than 15 minutes.

I hope you guys enjoyed this quick sneak peek of our remodeled kitchen! Once we are 100% finished, I will share way more photos and do an official "reveal" with the sources and budget breakdown. I'll also show how the kitchen flows with the rest of the house. For now, I only had a few minutes to take photos during naptime so there's a big mess riiiight outside the frame. Making your house look clean online is all about cropping in, right? Ha!

Oh, also I plan to write a few more blog posts about the specific decisions we made and why. Let me know if there's anything in particular that you're curious about!

This is a collaborative post with Bali Blinds. All opinions are my own.

I'm really excited to show you guys a peek into this house! It's the home of my brother-in-law Josh, my sister-in-law Ellen, and their five kids. They also live in Spokane, so we're over here often--in fact, we usually see each other at least once a week. Ian and Emmett looove playing at their cousins' house. And no wonder: it's a really cool house, with wood vaulted ceilings, a "secret" loft for kids, and six wooded acres to run around in. But when they got the keys two years ago, it was in pretty rough shape! Since then, Josh and Ellen have been working hard on renovating this fixer-upper and turning it into their dream house. I should mention, they're doing most of the work themselves, in their "free time" after work and homeschooling the kids. They've remodeled three bathrooms, installed new flooring, added windows and French doors, changed every light fixture, drywalled and painted, added a bedroom, and are currently renovating their kitchen. After two years, they are getting super close to the finish line! It's been so fun to watch their progress and see how far the house has come. Ellen and I have similar taste so I'm always getting ideas and inspiration from her!

Since their house is nestled on six private acres, window treatments were not the most urgent priority when they first moved in. But now that they're nearly done with all the structural updates and the absolute essentials (like working bathrooms, you know), they're ready for the next layer of projects that will make their house feel truly finished. They realized that even if they don't need window treatments for privacy, they would be nice for other reasons, like energy efficiency and blocking harsh sunlight. Plus, even if you don't have neighbors right next door, being able to close the shades at night does give you a feeling of comfort and security.

I worked with them to decide which Bali window treatments to get for their living room windows. These three large windows frame a lovely view of the pine trees on their property, so they wanted something fairly simple that wouldn't detract from the view when raised. They have five kids between the ages of seven and two, so they also wanted something cordless for safety. Their house has kind of a modern lodge feel, with white walls, natural wood, and black accents. Ellen isn't afraid to decorate with bold color (like their pink living room rug!) but for the more permanent pieces she likes to keep them classic and neutral. We decided to go for Classic Roman shades in a light grey fabric that would coordinate with the sofas.

Ellen ended up choosing the same fabric I used in the boys' bedroom and our guest room (Hoehne Soft Gray). See, told you we have similar taste! This fabric is a beautiful neutral with subtle texture. There's a light-filtering option (which she chose) which softly filters sunlight--perfect for a living room. Or there is a blackout option if you want total darkness during the day (which is what I chose for the kids' bedroom).

Ellen told me she loves how easy the blinds are to open and close, and the peace of mind that comes with cordless lift. She was also super happy with the quality of these custom Roman shades compared to the off-the-shelf options she had considered. They are remodeling this house to be their forever home, so it was important for her that the blinds would stand the test of the time, even with lots of little hands pulling at them! Plus Bali window treatments are custom made for your windows for a perfect fit.

I know, you might think it's too late in the year to talk about outdoor furniture...after all, yesterday was the first official day of fall and October is right around the corner (whaaat). But if you're a savvy shopper, this is the perfect time to look for deals on outdoor furniture that you can still enjoy for a few more months, and have ready for next summer. We just furnished our deck with the help of my favorite local furniture store, The Tin Roof (if you live in Spokane, you must check them out! The best quality and service, and sooo many great options for every type of furniture). We are loving our new outdoor set, and thanks to the propane fire pit it's super comfy to hang out here even with the cooler weather. I'm planning on using our deck to the fullest, all the way until the first day of snow!

We got an L-shaped sectional, two awesome hanging chairs, and the aforementioned propane fire pit. We plan to expand the deck eventually (maybe next summer?!) but in the meantime it's a cozy fit that's perfect for conversations and entertaining. The pink, patterned outdoor rug by Momeni ("Lake Palace") helped tie the whole space together. Orange and pink accent pillows add a pop of color that hints at fall, and throw blankets provide warmth.

With two little kids, we don't get out of the house for date nights that often. But once we get the kids tucked in bed, we've been heading out to the deck for mini backyard date nights. Charcuterie, apple cider, and popcorn...snuggling, stargazing, and good conversations by the fire...PLUS, no paying for dinner and a babysitter...it's a big win in my book!

You can always supplement your backyard with a portable and stylish Kamodo grill. There are lots of options with different equipment, color and size. It may be a perfect addition to your yard furniture!

Do you think I'm weird for posting about outdoor furniture when we're one week from October? I actually think fall is some of the best weather for enjoying the outdoors...it's cool and crisp, and not too hot! And as our leaves start changing color, our backyard is just going to get prettier and prettier.

ALSO, in case you're wondering about the kitchen it is nearly finished and I'll be posting some sneak peeks soon!! I'm behind on blog posts, but there are lots of exciting changes over at our house.