Category Archives: Lifestyle

Vinyl Records Display

Let me show you how to create a great vinyl records display. If you are a music lover and collect vinyls or even movie posters or art, using the IKEA picture shelves is golden. I recently inherited over 100 vinyls from my grandparents.

Before and After

A couple of weeks ago my mom was at my grandfather’s house and discovered vinyl records in their attic! My grandfather at first was going to toss them. But thank goodness my mom decided to hold onto them and give them to me and my husband to inventory. 

I was blow away! I discovered some classic records that potentially are the original recordings. My grandparents had Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album, it still had the price of $5.99 and stamped with the famous “Tower Records” label! I found Richard Pryor to Marvin Gaye in here as well. 

Now that we have these treasures we need to have a vinyl records display. I have never been a fan of stacking records on their side, I find it not flattering. I feel that the album covers need to be exposed head on. 

Here is what we did to make our wall of vinyls extremely appealing:

These are the perfect ledges for vinyl records
  1. IKEA picture ledges – these are beautiful & simple and can hold a vinyl without it slipping off the wall. 
  2. Keep it white – I decided to purchase white picture ledges in order for our dining room space to remain clean and balanced. We already have wood shelving on the walls and black display cases. In order to not make the room heavy we decided to keep the new ledges white.
  3. Color coordinated – to keep the wall from looking busy I wanted to group similar vinyl covers together by color. This is a great way to keep the feel of the wall clean as well. 
  4. 45 inch ledges – I wanted to keep simple long lines on the walls so I went with their longest picture ledge they had so there was minimal break between them.

Check out the finished product. I am beyond excited for this display and it will be an awesome conversational piece when we have guests. 

Shop some of my dupes for picture ledges below and other vinyls I am loving right now! 

Key Vinyls we found:

  • 1965 Smokey Robinson & Temptations
  • 1979 Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
  • 1959 Nat King Cole – Welcome to the Club
  • 1964 Marvin Gaye – How sweet it is to be Loved by you
  • 1973 Glady’s Knight & the Pips – Imagination
  • 1982 Dream Girls – Broadway Album
  • 1985 Dionne Warwick – Friends

Will share more soon!

XO,

Jessi Morgan

Disney x Nordstrom Pop-UP

Affiliate links are used in this article

I am beyond excited for this amazing collaboration that Nordstrom has done with Disney! It is epic! Check out my favorite pieces from the collection!

Lessons and experiences when buying a first home

I wanted to sit back and reflect on the last 9 months and how we went from renting an extremely small townhouse to living in a 2400 square foot home with a screened in pool.

As we all know 2020 was a tough year for many people and that included us. At the time in April 2020 my husband and I both worked for Macys in different roles. By April 2020 we were both furloughed without knowing what our next step would be.

Thankfully my husband was called back in 2 weeks so at least we had one income coming in. I went on unemployment, focused on my parents, dove into my social media, started my LLC and my blog.

In July 2020 I was called back to work and kept my salary which was a massive blessing. After that we realized that with the Cares Act and the low interest rates we could afford to buy a home. It was extremely stressful. Here’s what we dealt with:

  1. Competitive Market – As the rest of the country, South Florida’s real estate was hot in 2020 and still in 2021. Every house we looked at had a line backed out the door to view the home. It was extremely intense and disappointing process. Every time we went to look at a place it had a line of people going in to view it. So competitive! One time as we were looking at a space, an offer was put in and accepted. We never even made it to tour the backyard!!
  2. Ran our credit too soon – I regret going with the first mortgage broker/company so quickly and we ran our credit too soon so we really could not leave and move on to anyone else. I just did not want to go with someone else and run my credit again while trying to buy a home. LESSON – try not to run your credit so many times when you are buying…it will hurt you financially when you are trying to get a loan and it may lower my loan amount.
  3. Out of state Mortgage company – We worked with Rocket Mortgage for buying a home and I regret it. They were ok but they did not work hard to get us the best deal and did not advise us on anything. I literally had to ask and find out on my own.
  4. 401K woes – With the Cares Act we were able to withdrew funds to put towards the downpayment. This was by far the most stressful thing for me because usually you are penalized if you take 401K money out before you are like 65 years old. The good thing is, it didn’t penalize us. I just worry with everything when it comes to retirement funds.
  5. Our loan for the house was very low compared to our income – I was extremely shocked and we had decent credit. This just shows that working with a major company virtually with no emotional attachment or real engagement it did not work in our favor. The person we worked with just really did not care honestly and it showed. I knew some friends who made less than us and had decent credit almost received the same loan amount.
Our updated entrance with a ramp for my dad to go in and out easily. Family first!

Well let that all sink in a bit lol. Any moments when you purchased a home that just blew your mind?

More details to share for another blog session! Share your buying home experience?

XOXO,

Jessi Morgan

Gulf Shores: Home Decor Inspiration

Coastal lifestyle is a gem that can translate to any home when it comes to home decor. I am now obsessed and so inspired to turn our master bedroom into a coastal feel soon.

I recently went on an awesome family vacation retreat with my dad’s side of the family. I was not planning to attend when it was originally booked in 2019 for 2020. In 2019 my husband and I were working in retail and it was during Mother’s Day timeframe. I was a director for Beauty and fragrances during Mother’s Day is huge. I could not schedule a vacation at the time. But in 2021 I have a new job and I work from home so I could at least go!

The home is stunning. It’s a new build that can sleep 30+ people with a elevator and massive eating area, kitchen, pool and much more. It screams coastal living with all the beautiful white and cream color story. As I am sitting here this week I am inspired to bring some things back for our backyard and our master bedroom since those are still up for redoing. 

Sipping coffee in this beautiful living room! The neutral colors made the space calm but open.

Here are few ideas I have for our master bedroom:

  • White/Cream Linen – I am obsessed now with linen comforters and off white/cream colors. This rental home had that through out and as long as you find a comforter or bed sheets that color that are machine washable it is fine to get. I think for so long my mom told me light colors are the worse to get.
  • Blues – To really get that coastal feel you have to have blues/teals in your home decor. I am looking to have decor pillows in blue to off set the off white/cream comforters.
  • Vases – throughout the beach house there were amazing big glass vases with a blue tint on the end tables within some of the bedrooms. It just made the feel of the room scream coastal for me.
  • Less is more – Every room had a simple decor piece, wooden bed frame, simple artwork and shiplap. That was it. So when I am working on our bedroom I will push for less with impactful pieces.

Here are a few more pictures of the home! And also shop some of my favorite

Shop my favorite!

Tips on fixing up a Fixer Upper Home

This blog contains commission links

We were so excited when we bought our very first home that is a fixer upper. As many people know in the last 10 years “fixer upper” homes have been very popular but at times people underestimate how much it really costs to fix it up.

We completely revamped the entrance to our home. See below for picture before.

Our home was built in 1976 so it is over 40 years old…so yes a little dated. When we first saw the home we were overwhelmed with the size of it and we loved some of the great features like the high ceilings and the wooden beams.

Before we removed all the plants and tall grass.

As we started moving in we also paced ourselves on fixing it up. Here are the 10 pieces of advice I would share with you when it comes to renovating a fixer upper home.

  • Pay close attention to the inspection paperwork – This is so important because it gives you the key details of what needs to be fixed and the timeline needed. The electrical panel in our home had paint all in it, the previous owner painted the room and just did not even cover the panel! There was white paint all in it and in order for us to have homeowner’s insurance we had to get that fixed within the first 30 days of moving in. All that detail was in the inspection report. PAY ATTENTION TO THAT PLEASE! It will give you guidelines on what to prioritize first.
  • Appliances – Ensure your appliances work. Check it yourself with the inspector! If something does not work ensure the seller fixes it or lowers the sell price of the home. Important! This should be one of the first things you fix when you enter a new home. The dryer we had was the original one…I repeat the original one. I did not check it when we had the inspection. It took 2 cycles before the clothes were dry. It was frustrating and we had to replace as soon as we could.
  • Paint goes a long way – One of the first things we did was paint the inside and outside of the home. The house was lettuce green so in order for me to mentally be excited about the new house, I had to paint it. As soon as we did that, it felt like a new home! We painted the inside a pure white. White represents fresh and a new start, it is a great color to start with.
Painted the walls completely white to start over. In time we may warm it up but for now it was a great start to see the vision I wanted for this house.
  • Pace yourself – Do not push to get everything done at once if you cannot afford it. It is not worth renovating a kitchen if you have to finance it and struggle to make the monthly payments. Many families save for years before they update their home, it is normal. Do not feel pressured to do upgrades if you really cannot at first.
  • Work your way from the bottom up – If you hate the floors in your new fixer upper, save and get that done first. One mistake I regret is updating our bathroom vanity and not doing the floors first. What happened to us was the tile on the floor is not manufactured anymore, so it was extremely hard to find a tile that matched. So if you want to redo your kitchen and you hate your floors, do the floors first so then you can easily install everything else and your floors are consistent.
Before & After of the kitchen. We liked our floors so we didn’t need to change them.
  • Focus on one room at a time – You will feel that you got a lot done if you completely finish one room at a time when it comes to decorating. I focused first on the office/closet, then the kitchen etc. I literally went from room to room and decorated. I had a theme and I made sure it reflected from one room to the next. It becomes depressing if you do not finish an entire space at a time I feel.
On the day of our closing!

Hope you found these points helpful! Stay tuned for part 2 of my advice on updating a fixer upper! How has your fixer upper Reno going?

XOXO,

Jessi Morgan

My Spring Loungewear Picks

It’s spring! Who wants to be comfy? Everything seems positive and it is so funny how everyone is excited for spring season and all items that come with it. Check out my favorite lounge picks!

I love bright and fun loungewear! It just makes you feel good right? Shop the look below and follow me on Liketoknow.it app!

That Pop of Color

This post contains commission links

Within each space in a room you need that pop of color to show a bit of edge and personality. Within our lounge space I decided to purchase this amazing green velvet sofa to make the room pop. It was the perfect contrast with the neutral/soft nude tones within my home.

So challenge yourself and be a bit bold especially when if you are a fan of neutral home decor. Adding color has stretched me creatively and now I am on a roll updating my home with a bit of color.

Are you a fan of a pop of color in your home? Share in the comments!

Shop my favorite velvet sofas!

Shop my favorites from Macy’s…Click picture below

XOxo,

Jessi Morgan

The Evolution of our Powder Room

The famous saying that you have to crawl before you walk…well that is extremely accurate with own boho powder room. For those you are not familiar, my husband and I moved into our first home in September 2020 and it was a true fixer upper.

The challenging Space before

First, the previous owner was a nice mother & daughter who lived there for 25+ years. They decorated here and there, but you can tell the two had not updated the decor in years. So when we bought the home we had to have a vision and one of the first challenges was the powder room.

Also, I have an earlier post about the first phase of this powder room, check it out if you like!

Next, for phase 2 of powder room Reno, I was in need of filling the second wall in the space to reflect the rest of my home. I have been decorating my home to fit a boho semi-modern, semi-mid century/industrial feel and I want people to see that in every area of our home.

Here is what we did to elevate this powder room more:

  1. Add Shelving – This was not my first choice, but I came up with the idea after two floating shelves wouldn’t fit in my kitchen. So the result was to put them them in the powder room, and I love it. Since we had white walls adding dark wood floating shelves creates contrast just enough to have an amazing statement. Check out my favorite shelves below…


2. Concrete/cement pieces – in order to have a rustic/industrial feel that I do love to incorporate into my home, I wanted it to reflect in my powder room a bit more. I found some really neat pieces that were inexpensive from amazon for my decorating. See below…


3. Marble bowls & coasters for more contrast – I like mixing materials in a space to give it that boho feel a bit. Check out the bowls I purchased as well as my other favs:


4. Faux Plants & Wooden frames – To top it off and give some height to the shelves I bought some faux plants & wooden frames from Target. I wanted some earth tones and greenery in the space to finish the look. Check out some amazing duplicates from Amazon below:


Happy shopping! Visit my Liketoknow.it page to shop more of my looks. Click picture below:

www.liketoknow.it/bossinfashion

XOXO,

Jessi Morgan

Can I Buy you a Drink?

This blog post includes affiliate commission links

This is literally a fun post of the Bartesian Cocktail Maker that is the #1 Wedding Registry Gift ever!

Enjoy a demonstration above of this amazing machine!

When we first moved into our new home my husband came home with this cocktail machine that I knew nothing about. I thought he was nuts to purchase it but after having a cocktail or two…it is amazing.

The cocktails that it makes you cannot even taste the liquor in them…WATCH OUT MY FRIENDS lol.

Steps to Making a Cocktail:

  • Place water in the back of the machine
  • Put the liquor in the glass bottom & turn it upside down to place into the machine
  • There are 4 different glass canisters for 4 different types of liquor you can use
  • Pick the capsule of your choice and place into the machine and close
  • The machine reads what type of alcohol it needs based on the capsule. That is why it is so important to have the correct liquor in the correct glass canister
  • Then turn on and choose strength of drink AND YOU CARE DONE!!!

Cocktail Capsules

There are many capsules you can choose from to make the cocktail of your choice. Below are my favorite flavors to choose from:

  • Rum Breeze
  • Sex on the Beach
  • Margarita
  • Old Fashion
  • Long Island Ice Tea

Links

Purchase a Bartesian from my Amazon links below and enjoy multiple capsule flavors too!! CHEERS!! Please share if you have one or have tried a cocktail from this machine?

XOXO,

Jessi Morgan

New Year…Keep going!

I am not usually a New Year resolution person but I feel for 2021 it is needed. Putting together some great tips to jump start 2021 is key.

2020 for most people was a terrible year and I can completely understand why with Covid-19. My husband and I lost our jobs at one point and we were living off of unemployment. However we came through it and we are stronger than ever before.

I want 2021 to be a great year of growth and being grateful. Here are some tips to start 2021 right: 

Vision Board

I’ve never done one but working on mine now. It’s a great way to set goals and visually see them all year so you continue to grow and stay focused. Vision Boards also make you have the sense of urgency to get things done as well, they keep you motivated for sure.

Some of the key things I am placing on my vision board:

  • Continue Home Reno – We want to focus on the master bathroom, butler pantry and possibly some other room updates. Very Excited!
  • Learn and grow with my new company! Started a new job in December 2020.
  • Learn SEO for my blog in order to optimize it on google. This is a process for me, not easy but I am learning.
  • Finish my John Maxwell Speaker/Leadership Certification
  • Continue to evolve on my blog and social media. It has been very fun to learn and connect with so many people. Excited to keep it up.
  • Write a Children’s book. I will elaborate more on this later! Stay tuned!
  • Have a BABY. We are ready to have a little bundle of joy, we will start trying in 2021. Blessed to be healthy and to be able to try with my husband.

Get Rest aka Go to bed earlier

If you go to bed at a decent hour, the next day will be more productive. Basically go before 11p! If you get your body to go to bed earlier you will start your day earlier and get more done in my opinion. During furlough my sleep pattern was thrown off and I was up late all the time. This resulted in me becoming sluggish in the mornings and it took twice the time for me to get going. For 2021 I cannot allow that and will be making this change.

Wake up with 3 blessings

Wake up daily being grateful for 3 things in your life. Say it out loud, it goes a long way…trust me. I usually wake up, say a prayer and proclaim out loud 3 things I am grateful for that day. Starting your day with something positive is the way to go.

Give your body 15 minutes

Workout! Be active! Do something to get your physical body going from jogging to walking to spinning to yoga to crunches. You name it. Do it! We recently bought a Peloton and we love it. I am making myself get up in the morning and get my workout in whether it is 45 minutes to hardcore 15 minute workout.

Set time aside for “You” and friends/family

In my previous job I never made time for friends especially. I realized that I need to schedule this time just like a I do a doctor’s appointment! Make time for friends…it will help to maybe clear your mind or just catch up with people you love to be around. 

Make time for friends…it will help to maybe clear your mind or just catch up with people you love to be around. 

Last, family is everything. With my new job being remote I make time to spend with my parents and my grandparents. You just never what time you have left, make the most of it always.

Date Night

If you are involved with someone make sure to schedule date night. Even if you see each other daily set a permanent time to hang out. It will make you look forward to something. Also, I prefer having a date night where I can actually talk to them. I never want to do a movie or a loud sports event.

Hopefully some of these tips will help you start 2021 right! What are you going to do differently in the new year? Share in comments?

Happy New Year Everyone!

XOXO,

Jessi Morgan