MY FAVORITE PURCHASES OF 2023 I was walking around our apartment the other day telling my husband “oh my gosh this is the best purchase I made all year” and then kept listing them all in my head. I thought I’d list all of my favorite finds of this past year and share. All of these items have either made my life easier, happier, healthier or better in some way. Here’s the list: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin This book is very popular at the moment and for good reason. If you’re feeling in any sort of creative slump this is a beneficial book to read. I love it for simple, inspirational coffee ta ..read more

I put together a few gift ideas for this holiday season! Shop these below. xoxo Erika SHOP GIFTS FOR HER Turn on your JavaScript to view content SHOP GIFTS FOR HIM Turn on your JavaScript to view content The post Holiday Gift Guides appeared first on Erika Carlock | Lifestyle Blog ..read more

Your guide to exploring Grass Valley and Nevada City Nestled within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, Grass Valley and Nevada City are twin gems full of rich California Gold Rush history. These charming towns, with their Victorian-era architecture, quaint streets and Gold Rush heritage make the perfect weekend escape. These small towns feel charming like Stars Hollow or the town in Practical Magic and transport you to a world where the echoes of the Gold Rush era live on. Where to Stay Holbrooke Hotel Constructed in 1852, the Holbrooke Hotel played an integral role in shaping ..read more

I love a tiki bar, and I was so excited to see that The Royal Hawaiian was reopened on my latest trip to Laguna Beach. They’ve been renovating the space and just reopened it this year so we had to go. The historic tiki hangout first opened in 1947, and there’s lots of history in those walls. They have lots of cool history on the walls including photos of the original owner Philippines-born Francis Cabang and his partner Harold “Hal” Hanna. The current owners reconstructed the entire design and handmade custom details throughout to bring back the old days of the original restaurant. It f ..read more

We made a quick trip to Laguna Beach the other weekend, so I put together all of my favorite spots. This travel guide is perfect for a quick 24 hour trip to Laguna, or a weekend trip. Stay at Laguna Beach House We stayed at Laguna Beach House and it was so cute and in the perfect location. The rooms were stocked with everything you could need and they even had beach towels and umbrellas you could bring with you. We were right on the main drag and could walk everywhere from the hotel. How cute is the lobby? Go Shopping at The 8th Drifter The cutest boutique! I wanted just about everything in ..read more

And that’s a wrap! I can’t believe the day is here and that this is really what the guest bedroom looks like now. I keep standing in this room and staring like “is this even real??” When we started the One Room Challenge the walls were super textured blue, the floors were sad gray, and there was a creepy old closet that didn’t even have flooring in it. In the past 8 weeks we gutted the closet, rebuilt it, added new floors, smoothed the walls, painted, and decorated. It was so much work and put my body through the ringer but I’m so happy we did it! BEFORE + AFTER THE PROCESS This little room t ..read more

HELLO CLOSET! I’m thrilled that we finished this closet build for week seven of the One Room Challenge. We’ve been chipping away at this project for the past 7 weeks and it feels so good to see the vision come to life. I’m honestly still in awe of the fact that we designed and built this entire closet build ourselves. BEFORE + AFTER THE PROCESS We’ve been chipping away at the closet the whole time we’ve been working on the rest of the guest bedroom and the closet was one HUGE project to complete among everything else. We stated off with demo last month which ended up taking two full days of ..read more

Things are coming together in the guest bedroom makeover I’m remodeling for the One Room Challenge! This week lots of decor details have come together in the space and it’s starting to fill out. We added a new rug, hung curtains, some bedding, and this cute raffia palm leaf wall hanging to the space. It’s starting to feel like a real room now! SHOP THE LOOK Turn on your JavaScript to view content rug Stay tuned next week for the closet reveal! I’m working on a built in closet with plaster niches and I’m crossing my fingers I can finish be next week. Cannot wait for the final view but for now ..read more

We spent this past weekend of the One Room Challenge working on the closet built-out and building these travertine side tables. This has to be the easiest DIY ever! I headed to Floor and Decor and picked out tiles to build the table. They were only $50 for enough to make 2 side tables! What You’ll Need: travertine tiles (3 per table – available at Floor and Decor) liquid nails Here’s how I did it: mark the center line where the tile will be placed apply liqud nails to the marked line set the first tile down the middle of the other tile and hold it in place with something to keep it uprigh ..read more

After painting the bedroom walls in a light warm white (Swiss Coffee by Behr) and doing lots of demo work I felt like I wanted to do take a break from the boring parts and add something pretty to the space. On a whim I ended up doing a last-minute DIY limewash to the space! Here’s how I did it: get two similar paint colors in different shades pour them into two paint containers or split one with tape to get both colors next to each other  dip a wide paint brush into both colors at once  brush the paint on in a crisscross shape making X’s along the wall do a second coat on any patc ..read more