For this photo shoot, I followed Linda's guest guidelines and I tried to shoot 10-15 photos of the room, which capture all the little details for you to see. When I started working on our Laid Back California Master Bedroom, we had a few anchor pieces of furniture already. I began with our less than 1 year old bed, our white vertical bookshelf and this antique dresser below. I discovered that the dresser, a score from Craigslist, turned out to be built in the 1890's. While, I refinished it's look, I tracked down the Michigan based furniture business on the metal name plate inside the drawer a few years back. The dresser with it's diamond veneer lends character and is the only antique piece in the room. 

Read on to see all of the eclectic details that make this room, minimal, peaceful and unique, plus the list of resources for you! 

In preparation for an exciting, expansive and mindful 2018, I am sharing a few simple living practices that you can integrate into your day-to-day living this year! On the eve of the New Year, I find myself reflecting and evaluating on all of the successes and challenges of 2018, I bet that you are doing the same thing too.

​I hope this year will bring you success, abundance and an opportunity to meet your goals. As I am looking at what worked here on A Day in the Life, I am looking at the top 3 things that I hope to offer in 2018: DIY videos, a Shibori textile launch and more Creative Sundays with you!

I bet you have some amazing things that you want to achieve in 2018. I have a goal to grow my Travel and DIY categories. In fact, we have already planned trips to Japan and India this Spring. Also, I hope to collaborate more with various travel writers this year. In order to improve my content and meet this goal, I am planning my editorial calendar well in advance. I am participating in a content planning challenge with XOSarah! If you are a blogger, then you should check it out too, the challenge starts the week of January 8th and I can't wait.

What are some of your goals for 2018 and how do you make plans to approach them? 

2 books that are currently fueling my approach to 2018 are The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and The Universe has your Back! These are books that I have wanted to read for some time. Now, I am finally getting around to it! I always start off the New Year by cleaning up all of the the spaces around our house. Last year, we painted the living room on our days off work. This year, we are really into decluttering our space. The author, Mari Kondo lives in Tokyo, and I find her clean and modern aesthetic totally appealing. It turns out that she starts the day with a simple ritual too! 

Thanks to a recommendation from Nadja of the Designer Townhouse I discovered the book, The Universe Has Your Back, which I am loving! Although, I am only on chapter 3, this book requires a lot of mental and emotional work, so I will check in on the process to update you on my progress.

If you have already read this one, Bernstein's latest book Judgement Detox, is available now! 

I had great luck this year with last minute shopping, so go ahead and procrastinate if you feel like it, it will all work out, it's fine! I thought I would share my top finds last minute gifts and online finds with you. With the holidays fast approaching, I had to kick it into high gear from the sofa and my bedroom. We needed teacher gifts and to finish up most of our shopping before leaving for our holiday trip. The sheer number of items that I was able to scoop up between Whole Foods, Anthropologie and Amazon was quite amazing!

I know it's already Tuesday, but with Amazon Prime, many of these items can arrive within 2-3 days and if all else fails, then you can run to the nearest Whole Foods (where I found many good things) and you can finish up your shopping there! Here is my collection all laid out prior to wrapping.

5 of my favorite last minute gifts are:
Amazon gift cards, soy candle set, a mini-facial kit, Rosebud lip balm and a pair of binoculars. 

Since, my husband loves to research all the best photo technology which helps me to stay current with my blog, I asked him to recommend gift ideas for bloggers who wish to upgrade their photography equipment. While some of these items are a serious investment, I just loved the flexible tripod for taking all sorts of iPhone photos!
His top 5 photography accessories for bloggers are: 
Jooby GorillaPod 3K kit, Canon digital camera, Canon STM Lens, tripod, and Canon 50mm Lens.

You guys, I hope that you are excited about the holidays as I am! If you can not wait to wrap some gifts, then please check out my Furoshiki fabric gift wrap tutorial. I think you may also enjoy my Gift Guide for Creatives, and my Toddler Gift Guide too! Happy last minute hunting!