Eastern Market in Washington DC

Last week while I was visiting Northern Virginia, I had the pleasure to stop by the Eastern Market in Washington DC. It's a HUGE market of local vendors; including fresh local produce, meats, arts and crafts, pastries, jewelry, flowers... the list goes on and on. The smells of fresh bread, herbs, flowers filled the air; it was wonderful! If you're ever in DC or live around the area, you should definitely check it out!
Their hours are :
Tuesday-Friday: 7am to 7pm
Saturday: 7am-6pm
Sunday: 9am-5pm
Monday: CLOSED
Here are some shots of the market.

What's your favorite Farmer's Market? Any in Virginia I simply must check out? 
<3 Lauren

Basement Theater Renovation

Vladimir and I love watching movies... We watch a new movie just about every night. One of our biggest projects was renovating our basement, which we completed over a year ago. However, since we've completed it, it's just kind of sat there without enough attention. That's starting to change! 

Unfortunately, I don't have the "before" pictures to show the full space, but I do have some at the beginning stages of renovating. Basically, the space before was an empty room with concrete floors.

Since we both have such a love for cinema, we knew we wanted to make the large room a basement theater. 

Vladimir wanted to make a bar at the far end of the room. This is what the bar looked like at the very beginning stages. 

One of the properties Vladimir renovated had a basement theater, which is where he got a lot of his inspiration for ours. In that room they installed rectangular column-like structures attached to the walls. Vladimir reconstructed those structures (above) in our basement. They add a lot of drama and make the room feel more like a theater. He added large, extravagant crown molding to beef up the drama in this room as well.

Here is the room after the renovations were complete:

Several years back, Vladimir saw a type of granite tiles on super clearance. He didn't know what he would use them for back then. However, he stocked up because he couldn't pass up such a great deal. When we started on the basement, he found that he had enough tiles to cover the floors in the entire basement, so that's what he did! We bought a projector and installed it in front of the bar. We originally thought to buy a screen or paint the wall with screen white paint. However, the projector works just fine against the wall color that's already there!

Vladimir used a beautiful dark granite for the bar. It has bits of green that pop out when the light shines down on it. I love the idea he had to continue the granite in a triangle with the stairwell. We plan to add a shelf in that space to display bottles and glasses.

The column-like structures (what are those things called?!) turned out beautiful! We painted them a darker color than the walls to make them pop. Vladimir added a 6 speakers throughout the room. Four on the sides, one on the ceiling, and one behind the bar. It really feels like you're in a theater!

We have been searching for a couch to fill this space for a while. Originally, we had the couch that is now upstairs down here, but moved it upstairs once we finished the family room. The other day at Costco, we found a couch and fell in love. It was the least expensive sofa we've seen for that quality. Ecstatic, we saved up and bought it.

Lucy likes to help out Vlad whenever possible. Usually it's just by standing there looking cute :) We also bought this rug at Home Depot; cute, white 8x10 shag rug and for a great price! We made a major rookie mistake though... We forgot to measure the space and the couch before purchasing it!

As you can see here, the couch just barely fits... There is absolutely no room to walk around it! Fortunately, we do have the couch upstairs. So, whenever we are both ready and able, we are going to make the switch of the two couches. Works out for us! This couch is so comfortable, I'm kind of glad it doesn't fit in the basement, so that I can enjoy it upstairs! 

We are so excited to have this space! Last night, after going through all of the work to set up the couch, we sat back, relaxed and enjoyed a movie. "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" which is an adorable movie! This room is finished just in time for the Olympics, can't wait to see all of the action on the big screen!

Does your "dream home" have a theater room?

<3 Lauren

Bella Rosa Bride of the Week

I am featured on Bella Rosa's blog as their bride of the week this week! If you live in Richmond Virginia and are looking for your wedding gown, definitely make this store a priority... I went to every bridal shop in Richmond and none compared to the wonderful experience I had at Bella Rosa! Here's their post. 

"Lauren and Vladimir were married Oct 22, 2011 in the mountains of Lexington, Virginia wearing our dress “Cameron” by Wtoo. We loved everything about Lauren’s wedding from the fall leaves to the rustic details. 

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Peter Child

When and where was your wedding?

“Our wedding was October 22, 2011 in the mountains of Lexington,Virginia. The venue was the Irvine Estate at House Mountain. We were worried that it might be too cold, since we were holding the ceremony outdoors. Luckily, it was sunny and gorgeous that day! The mountains were beautiful, all covered in fall leaves… It really couldn’t have been more perfect!”

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

How did you and your fiancé meet/ how did he propose?

“My fiance and I met in July 2008. We are both avid pool players and that night we were playing pool on tables next to each other. We locked eyes and fell for each other right away! He proposed on Christmas morning at my parent’s house with my whole family there. He hid the ring in the Christmas tree. It was great to have my whole family there to celebrate right after :)”

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

How would you describe your style, and how did you incorporate it into your wedding?

“I’ve always been in love with the rustic style, Vladimir and I are very outdoorsy. We knew we wanted to incorporate natural themes. My mom found a bunch of burlap decor and mason jars. Our flowers were all bright and colorful. The inside of the venue really fit our style with the open wood beams, it was just perfect!”

Photo by Peter Child

Photo by Peter Child

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

“How did you pick your dress/ know it was “the one?”

I had tried on dresses at several different stores and didn’t even remotely like a single dress I tried on. I was really beginning to feel hopeless. I remember when we first came to visit Bella Rosa, my consultant Phyllis was such a great help! The whole experience was so much better than any other store I’d been to, I really felt special! We picked out four dresses to try on and I loved all of them! When I left that day, I couldn’t stop thinking about the third dress I tried on. I loved the look, it was so comfortable, and it had pockets! We decided to go back a week later and try it on again. The second try on, I knew it was the one. I pranced around the dressing area with my hands in my pockets :) It just felt right.

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Peter Child

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

What was your favorite moment at your wedding?

“My favorite moment was walking down the aisle with my father and seeing Vladimir see me for the first time in my dress. I was so nervous! I could barely walk without crying, I could feel every one’s eyes on me! I just looked ahead at Vladimir and saw the look in his eyes. I immediately felt calm. It was really special.”

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Did you ever have a “bridezilla” moment?

“I didn’t think I would have a bridezilla moment, but I definitely did! When the flowers arrived, one of the main flowers I picked had been changed. I had a serious meltdown… I don’t think I’ve ever been so embarrassed; luckily my mom was on top of things, went looking outside, and picked some pretty purple flowers to replace them :) “

Photo by Peter Child

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

What advice would you give future brides?

“The advice I would give for future brides is to really enjoy their big day and don’t sweat the small stuff. Just try to remember that the details that aren’t going as planned will not matter in the long run!” 

Photo by Peter Child

Photo by Daniel Rockburn

Congratulations Lauren and Vladimir! Happy 9 months :)

If you would like to be a bride of the week please email us."

So nice to look back at our big day... Wish I could experience it all over!

<3 Lauren

The Guthrie Household in Arlington Virginia

I spent the past weekend with my best friend Hannah in Arlington Virginia where she lives. She is getting married in October in her parent's backyard and is making the wedding decorations herself. We spent the weekend making garland out of fabric and designing her wedding invitations. It was a great time :) 
Every time I go to her parent's house, I'm inspired. It's one of those houses that even if it's the first time you've been there, you feel at home. There's lots of natural light and the walls are painted bright fun colors. There are several artists in the Guthrie household and their artwork covers the walls; my favorite being large, textured mixed media work by her dad Gus. It's always a pleasure spending time with the Guthrie clan and I look forward to visiting them again soon! I've always taken mental pictures of the beautiful details in their home, but this time I decided to capture them with my camera. 

Whose house do you feel at home in? What details make you feel at home? 

<3 Lauren