A Summertime Update and a House Tour

This year has already been a whirlwind with so many amazing things happening.  I can't emphasize enough how incredibly grateful I am for all the blessings Brian and I have along with the insanely awesome opportunities that have come my way.  Had you told me a year ago, that by summer 2014 I'd be pregnant with twins and Iron and Twine would be opening up doors in a way that I never dreamed of, I wouldn't have believed you.  To say I've been incredibly lucky is an understatement!  I apologize for my long absences on the blog lately, it's you my readers who have been so supportive and encouraging this past year and a half.  But I can assure you, there are so many things, projects, DIYs, baby news, that I have to update you on!  But in the meantime, I wanted to give you a quick update on some of things that have happened the past couple months!

In Iron & Twine news, we won our first blogger award, for Best New Design Blog from the Design Bloggers Conference and Traditional Home!  Needless to say I'm still on cloud nine!

That led to me being interviewed by Editor TV at the Design Blogger's Conference Ethan Allen After Party.

The Design Bloggers Conference is a wonderful interior design industry event and for those of you interested it takes place again next year, February 25-27, 2015 in Atlanta.  While I'm a complete design novice, this conference opened my eyes to a whole new world.  I met some amazing new friends, was introduced to some new brands, met some of the industries top interior designers and learned a TON!  I keep joking with Brian that this blog is turning into a hand's on Master's Degree in life and design.  There's still so much to experience and learn!
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Speaking of blog conferences, I'm so excited to attend Haven in the next couple weeks!  I attended last year and it was the first blog conference I ever went to.  It's focus is on DIY and Home Bloggers and hands down it changed my entire outlook on blogging!  If you're a blogger or are wanting to start one, I highly recommend attending!
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After the Design Blogger's Conference, I was given the most thrilling opportunity from Editor at Large to host and interview their segment for Design ADAC and Southeast Designers & Architect of the Year Awards.  I have NEVER been so nervous in my entire life!  A huge shout out has to go out to my team, producer Samantha Snowden and videographer Scott Balzer. They were a joy to work with and so patient with me, besides being interviewed in the video above, this was my first time on camera.  You can watch Part 1 below:

And Part 2 here:

Between winning a blog award, rubbing elbows with the industries greatest and hosting my first on-camera segment, I'm still asking how did I get so lucky?!  Truth be told, all of this felt like I had received an invitation to an exclusive party by accident.  There's a lot of Michelle Smith's in the world and I'm pretty sure this good fortune was intended for someone other than me.  But when you get an invite to a glitzy party, you dress up and crash it!  Hopefully in this case, I get invited back.

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In the midst of all of that we announced our exciting news.

If you missed the original post click here.  Brian and I are over the moon excited that we're expecting Twins.  I'm feeling back to my somewhat normal self, energy levels are up and most importantly the babies are healthy!  They're currently weighing in at 8oz and 10oz and measuring around 10.5 inches long from head to heel.  We've been hard at work starting to prepare for our expanding family and I've been nesting like crazy the past two weeks.  I promise to share a full pregnancy update with you within the week (and show off my BIG baby bump)!  

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In preparation for babies, we decided to have an epic yard sale a month ago.  Here's a pic of a 1/1000 of the things we got rid of:

My mom, dad and brother came down to help, which was a HUGE blessing because I can't lift anything at this point.  They also included a lot of their own items in the sale which they graciously gave us the profit from.  We ended up making $920!!!

With the most expensive thing selling for $30.  If you've doubted having a yard sale or are thinking about having one, read my post here where I share my Yard Sale philosophy along with some tips to throwing a successful yard sale!  With the money we were able to buy our stroller & one car seat!!  Not only did it pay for baby items, but it gave me the incentive to clean out our house which always feels so great to accomplish!

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In other exciting news, I've partnered with my mom's new Etsy shop, Wheel & Basket.  This has been a project we've discussed for quite some time, and I'm so excited about the direction it's headed in.  We'd love for you to stop by and check it out and we'd be thrilled if you'd take the time to like our new Facebook Page! Be sure to keep checking as we'll be adding more items throughout the week!

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Again, there's so much more I can't wait to share with you ~ mainly projects, ideas, products and DIYs.  In the meantime, wanted to give you a look at our current house tour, it's still a work in progress!  We've decided to convert our guest bedroom into the nursery, it's currently a storage room at the moment, but I'll be sure to update you on our progress.  But here's what the rest of the house is looking like these days:

I hope you're having a wonderful summer!  You know I LOVE to hear from you, please comment below with a simple hello or an update of your own!