When I was younger, not even 20, someone told me that your 30s are the best years of your life. At the time, I thought it was kind of a random thing to say. Now, as someone in my late 30s, I think I can officially confirm it as true!
Like most people, I slightly dreaded turning 30 when I was in my late 20s. It seemed kind of scary to me, though looking back I’m not sure why. I guess it was just officially admitting to myself that I wasn’t super young anymore. Or maybe it was the realization that the clock was going to keep ticking, for better or for worse, my whole life. That even though I couldn’t even imagine being 30 just a few years before, that it was really happening. I was “getting old.” Of course, I say that somewhat sarcastically.
Honestly, I think my fears were pretty mild compared to some of my friends. Some people I know get truly panicked over the big 3-0.
After the birthday came and went, my whole perspective changed. I realized that not much had changed. I still had all the same options for what I could wear or do or who I could be that I had when I was 28 … the only limitations were the ones I gave myself.
I have loved my 30s and they have definitely been even better than my 20s! One thing that changed was my confidence. I don’t know what else to credit it to besides just being alive longer, but I am so much more confident than I was in my 20s. I used to have a horrible fear of public speaking, like I actually cried when giving a speech to run for class president in elementary school. And by high school I avoided all public speaking like the plague. I quit choir the first day of my freshman year when I saw you had to sing in front of the class (for, like, two seconds—haha). I remember feeling sick to my stomach anytime I had to read aloud in class.
And that type of fear continued all through my 20s. As my career progressed, I found myself in more and more situations where basic public speaking was expected of me—sometimes I did OK and was so proud, sometimes I bombed so hard I can barely even relive the stories in my mind.
But something really changed in my 30s and after some practice, lowering my expectations a bit and embracing a more lighthearted attitude, I can happily say I no longer had a major fear surrounding public speaking. In fact, the past few times I have done it I actually had fun!
Another big change is my confidence about my appearance. When I was younger, I would use tons of Photoshop and I was never happy enough with how I looked. Looking back, of course, I see that my self esteem was what needed fixing—not my appearance. I can’t change how I felt about myself all those years, but I can moving forward. It feels so good to just be OK with myself. Being older, I also feel mature enough to not compare myself to other women, at least most of the time. Nobody’s perfect! I can see now that comparison does nothing positive.
Since being over 30, I’ve come to realize how lucky I am in so many ways. Instead of focusing on what I don’t have, I focus more on what I do have. There is so much happiness in that simple mindset shift!
I’m not scared of turning 40! It feels so good to be free of that fear. Fearing a birthday is a really sad fear if you think about it, because that birthday will come whether you are sad or celebrating. I’m going to be celebrating EVERY birthday for the rest of my life! 🙂
I hope someone reading this post can feel good hearing from me, your “older and wiser” friend. I promise you, being in your 30s is amazing! I highly recommend it. Haha xx. Elsie
Happy first day of summer!!!! We made it. After a very long winter (and a ton of rain here in Missouri), it’s time to bring out 
Elsie made a 
If you’re having trouble finding your ideal outdoor pillows, 
One of our favorite DIY’s ever? 
File 
Remember Emma’s 
Moving on to the patio … how perfect would it be to sip your morning coffee (or a happy hour cocktail) on your own 
If your space doesn’t have an ideal spot for pretty flowers, you can 
Let’s say you find the perfect pendant light for your patio, but it’s an indoor version. We have 
We will never not love vintage aluminum chairs. The only problem with them? The webbing isn’t always in the best shape. Rachel’s tutorial shows you how to make an updated, 
Regardless if your patio furniture is new or vintage, it needs to be maintained and stored properly (easier said than done, right?) 
One of our most popular posts of all time—
Mandi’s home decor posts are nothing short of amazing—I mean, she transformed her aging wood deck into 
If starting a garden seems overwhelming, make the process easier with 
Now that we have gardening on our mind, let’s talk about plants—starting with 
Whether your plants are indoor or outdoor,
Fiddle leaf figs are one of our favorite plants (real or faux, honestly!), but they are hard to keep alive. If you can relate, read 
You can 
Curious about 
The happiest planters in all the land. Learn how to make 
And, we’ll always love 
Super excited to share the holiday house bathroom before and after reveal with you all today. This room feels like a totally different space—it’s crazy! We worked with Delta Faucet for this room makeover. Long before we got the opportunity to work with Delta, we were fans of (and already had) many of their products. Not only do they have really cute products in a variety of colors/styles, but they are also crazy functional and affordable. It’s basically the perfect mix of what we love for our own homes, so we were excited to add a few favorite Delta Faucet items to Elsie’s holiday house. But first, let me show you a little before and after in case you forgot what this bathroom looked like when we purchased the home late last year.
This bathroom was an addition to the original home. I really love that the previous owners decided to add a third full bathroom because it definitely increased the value of the home, and it certainly made this house more attractive to us when we were deciding what house to buy for Elsie’s Springfield home. Many older homes, like this one from the 1920s, will have very small bathrooms that can feel a bit, well, cramped. This bathroom did not have that problem. However, the other two bathrooms in the home had been designed with a mostly black and white palette, including black and white tile that felt appropriate for the age of the home. This bathroom just felt very mismatched to us, so that became our main goal. We aimed to design this bathroom to look more like the other bathrooms in the home while also getting a few functional upgrades and design features, such as the 
Even though we kept the bathroom mostly black and white, we left the cream trim that was already in the room (and throughout the rest of the house), added a vintage wooden mirror, and a wood bead chandelier just to warm the space with a few wood touches.
This bathroom is just off the master bedroom and second living room. It also contains the laundry nook for the home behind two folding doors. I am SO thrilled with how this room turned out!! I can’t wait for the Larsons and guests to use this room when they stay this year. Thanks for letting me share! xo. Emma
Ah, butter noodles. This is total college dorm comfort food if you ask me. Personally, I didn’t live in our college dorms (that cost money, I lived at home instead) but once I did get my own apartment, I remember many times my roommate and I ate butter noodles for dinner. I’m all grown up now in my 30s and can afford the finer things in life, like sauce for pasta (haha), but I still crave butter noodles now and again.
As you can probably guess, this dish is VERY easy to make with only 4-5 ingredients and it can be made in about 12 minutes. Boom.
Obviously, these miso and garlic butter noodles are great all on their own, although that’s probably not the most balanced meal ever. 😉 But these are also great with stir-fried or steamed veggies or some cooked shrimp, chicken, or veggie protein you enjoy.
If you plan to serve these family style rather than plating individually, I do recommend kind of creating little nests of the noodles (like the photos above) as these will get sticky as they sit. This way you can grab a nest or two and share with other things you might be serving. Enjoy! xo. Emma