Some more.....

We received our family pictures today in the mail from Yan Photography and I just had to post these 3 images. The first one explains Shane and I very well. Haha. The second one explains why I married this hottie!! (Hopefully you are not mad that I posted this picture babe!!) And the third one, well I just like it.

I won......

9 years ago today I married "the one". Yep, I married the love of my life.
To the hottest and greatest man alive, Happy Anniversary babe!!!!

Playroom....

Here is the last kiddo room on this tour. We have a "bonus room" upstairs near the kids rooms that we turned into an all out play room. Nothing about it is adult. There are books, toys, art projects and games that fill this room and sometimes fill it to full. Oh well.

This room is a mixture of thrift shops, Ikea, Urban Outfitters, Etsy and handmade. The bench that holds all of there books is a bookshelf turned sideways and topped with a mountain of pillows. I found all sizes of ABC's at a local craft store and painted them. The mirror underneath the coo coo clock (Urban) was my moms mirror and I have wanted it for forever so she finally gave in and gave it to me. Thanks mom!
The kids love to hideaway in this room and sometimes so do I:)

Visit my flickr for more images of all 3 rooms.
Also click on the image to view bigger.

Next week I will show you the plaid party that I created for my couch!!

My Ethan's Room....

My son is much more organized and clean by nature then my daughter. Ethan has a place for everything and MUST have a clean room before he goes to sleep every night. I gave him a space without clutter so that it would be easy to clean and organize. I also tried to create a place for him to read, draw and practice his pre-school tasks.
Eden has a variety of accessories where Ethan only has one of everything. Different personalities need different spaces!
The deer art was painted by my hubby and the art on the main wall is a collection of Etsy, Target, hubby and Ethan's art. My friend bought the desk at a garage sale for $7 and the inspiration board above the desk is full of his favorite people. Ethan and I made the lamp shade by wrapping yarn all the way down the lamp. It looks very cool at night.
I purchased the planets above his bed at Pottery Barn years ago. He will never let me get rid of them! Both chairs are Ikea.

Playroom tour TOMORROW.

My Eden's Room....

I have shown a few images of my kid's rooms in the past but I thought I would give you more of a tour today. We will start with Eden's room.
My Eden Jo is full of personality so I felt her space needed to be fun and whimsical. My dad painted a quote on the wall that I found off of a greeting card that seemed very fitting of her personality. Her bedding is a mix of Ikeaand handmade pillows. The giant horse was a gift from one of her favorite baby sitters. The pin wheels on the wall were left overs from the shower I hosted a few months back.
I bought the armoire a few years ago and painted the outside of the doors Jet black to give it some contrast. The armoire is topped with a variety of sentimental pieces as well as fun pieces. Most of the art in her room is Etsywith exception of an Urban Outfitters print and a mommy made when she was bored print. The butterfly wreathe was also made late at night with 2 besties. I bought the venetian heart shaped mirror for dirt cheap on Ebay.
All in all my little girl is very happy in this room and that is what matters the most!
Tomorrow I will give you a tour of Ethans room and then the playroom.

Stylish.....

A love for design runs in my family. Check out my cousins house tour here.

Family Photos....

We recently had the brilliant Diana from Yan Photography take our family photos. Remember she is the one that took these, these and these as well as my cutie cousins and A Merry Mishap.
Her portfolio is increasing and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to use her before she goes big time which I have a feeling will come sooner then later:) See more of my family here.

I heart all of you.....

Because I only post once daily (I hope to increase that soon) I just reached my 500th post. In fact this very post is number 500. I started Simply Grove in January of 2008 with the intention of posting things that are beautiful to me and showcasing projects that I have done. I am certainly not trying to compete with anything out there but simply trying to be me. I love the blogosphere. There are so many people that I would have never had the opportunity to meet. And with that there are SO many talented peeps out there!
Anyhoot, to celebrate number 500 I wanted to do something special for you readers that take the time to peek at SG. I wish I could buy all of you something fabulous but my husband would kick me to the curb so one of you will get the chance to win the much anticipated book "The Well Dressed Home" by Annette Tatum. Just leave a comment and tell me anything you would like to see added to SG, ideas for new posts or things you have liked in the past on SG. Please no negative comments. You have until next Wednesday at midnight.
Thanks for everything you lovely human beings!!!! xx

Im off.....

I am headed here probably as you are reading this......talk to you soon!!!

Mr Martha.....

Someone gave me a sewing machine!! Yipppee!! I am so excited and I cant wait to try it however, you want to know a little secret? See the 2 pillows below? Well....my hubby made them. Its true. He is the seamstress in the family. But don't worry, he really is a manly man. He attributes his skill to his 7th grade home ec class. Shhhh....please don't tell him that I told you.


Don't forget to enter the Mikasa giveaway and the pillow giveaway. So many giveaways!! Sheesh.

Up up and away.....

You might have noticed that my profile picture changed from my daughter and I acting silly to my son and I with some balloons. Overdone? Maybe but it was sure a fun prop to use. We used these 2 LARGE balloons for theStella shower but once the shower was over what would you do with 2 beauties but take some fun pictures! Now my sweet precious daughter is over the top afraid of balloons due to a few to many popping in her ears but the other Grove child was all about it. Here are a few shots from our little family photo shoot:)



In the end we sent the balloons away with a care bear and a G.I. Joe attached to each of them. They had to go up in style!

Cirque du Stella......

This last weekend my friends and I threw a shower at my house for our bestie who is prego with "Stella". We have been waiting a long time to throw this particular shower so it had to be a good one. The theme was "Cirque du Stella". We had to have a cotton candy machine because what circus party doesnt?? A full candy bar was a must and to even out all of the sugar we had a yogurt bar from heaven. All in all it was very successful. To bad Stella wasnt there to experience her party.

Breakfast at the Groves....

Here is a sneak peak at what my little family looks like around the table in the A.M. My hubby has a funnier take on it here.

My fair princess.....

Believe it or not my daughter (who just had her 3rd birthday) already has a defined style.
Her personality is full entertainment and quirkiness. She walks around our house writing songs about pink frogs and telling stories of princesses who wear orange dresses and get timeouts because they ate to many pickles. She loves to reposition all of my pillows. If it were up to her she would wear tulle skirts, her brothers t-shirts and tube socks all day everyday. She is her own person. And that is why I dedicate the room below to Eden Jo. xxoo


Coral von Zumwalt Photography via Decor8.

Pretty flowers.....

My amazing hubby picked up these gorgeous Peony's for me this weekend at our local city market. Isn't he the bestest???

I am very excited about a few projects that are in the near future for SG. One of them is giving my blog a total makeover! I have a couple design genius's working on doing an overhaul on my little blog.....yipppeee!!! I figure that before I reach my 500th post (which is coming up quickly) that I am ready for a new look!
And for those of you that are still waiting for your {Style Test} they are almost completed!

Have a great Tuesday morning and I will talk to you soon. xx

Yay......

Remember this post and this photographer? SHE PHOTOGRAPHED MY KIDS! I am so overjoyed with the results. My kids love her!! She is creative and modern in her approach to photography. She has such a fresh eye and the amazing thing is that she uses all natural light!
Here are just a few of the photo's that she took. ( I will show more in the future.) Thank you so much Diana!! (Check out her blog.)

Check it out...

On a non-design note please go and pay a visit to my cousins Etsy shop. She is selling some pretty darn cute baby headbands! Also check out her blog for a Giveaway!

Apartment Therapy

Hey Folks. Check out my house tour at Apartment Therapy! Have a lovely Tuesday evening and I will be back tomorrow for an amazing GIVEAWAY!

Fellow*

Get your own - Open publication

James Saavedra also known as Decor Fellow has done it again! The second issue of Fellow* is done and is AMAZING! Seriously, I spent my afternoon reading and staring at all the great images. This issue is largely about all things bright, beautiful and uniquely there own. There is a great article on Jamie Drake. Also MY OFFICE is on page 18. Thanks James:)

Fun Stuff

Happy Thursday Everyone! I just got home from DC last night so I'm trying to get back in the swing of things.
My cousin Tracy and I went shopping while I was there. One of the shops we went to was West Elm in downtown DC. I loved the building its in and the whole setup was very cool. It definitely exceeded my expectations.
Inspiring Indeed
Here I am taking a look thru Kelly Hoppen Home by Kelly Hoppen. A classic:)

I really enjoyed how they displayed there tables.
There was alot to look at. Tons of fun accessories.
I think she is a nice edition to the front display:)