Recent happenings, per my iPhone…

Another step closer to the completion of our kitchen remodel project. Tim built that whole corner to match the entryway (I painted. I helped!)

Feeling pretty fierce after a workout a few weeks ago. My workouts and Barre classes are making a mark, and it makes me so happy!

Hangin’ with my men (and Belle!) in the line at Bouchon Bakery

Umm yeah… that is Neil Gaiman tweeting to me. About Marco. SO FREAKING COOL!!

 

Tim and I had switched cars for the day, and he unfortunately was rear-ended during a traffic jam.  My car was considered a total by the insurance company. Luckily, it meant that I got to snag the car I’ve had my eye on – the Mazda CX-5!! I love love love it.

Made a fruit tart from scratch – layers of lemon curd, pastry cream, and berries.

Chocolate cupcakes with fleur de sel caramel buttercream, caramel drizzle, and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Yeah. So. 12 days since my last post.

I’ve kind of been busy… doing stuff like this:

For some unfathomable reason, the design of our house included drop ceilings in the kitchen and hall bathroom. WHAT THE HELL,1973!? The first plan we made when we decided to remodel our kitchen was to push the ceiling back to the standard 8′ height.

Tim could not put up the sheet rock alone, because the sheets are extremely heavy.  So, it fell to me to be his assistant.  Problem: I am extremely afraid of heights;  I become shaky and I sometimes cry out of panic. Add to that a strange fear of ladders (I don’t trust them) and lack of experience with drills and this was one terrifying experience.  But, since I couldn’t hold up the sheet rock myself, Tim had to hold it while I drilled it to the cross beams.  Luckily, I have a wonderful husband and coach.

And now look!

The cabinets are from IKEA – the AKURUM cabinets with the LIDINGO doors.  The sink is the DOMSJO single bowl farmhouse.

 The hood is the LUFTIG – I LOVE this. It looks amazing!

Then these lovely appliances found their way home…

 

More pictures of the progress to come! I can’t wait for it all to be completed…my dining table looks like this right now:

 

If it weren’t for Pinterest, I would not have half as many ideas for our kitchen. Tim and I are addicted.

Here’s a small collection of ‘pins’ that have inspired our design:

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I bet you can’t guess what color cabinets we’re installing?? Ha! What can we say? It looks so clean and fresh.

I am extremely excited for this remodel; I’ve looked forward to this since we bought our house (as in over three years ago!), and it is finally coming to pass.

A few changes around our house (and soon to be even more!! Our kitchen remodel is beginning in the next month!!!) All the pictures below were taken on my iPhone – so the quality is so-so – but it gives you an idea of the happenings.

The guest room –  curtains, a headboard upcycled from our old IKEA bed (purchased when we got married – now remade into a funky design by my own handy husband), and bedding.

Dining room – finally ditched the ancient blinds and installed curtains. The side panels are actually more of a tan, but in this picture they look almost green. Anyway, nevermind the painter’s tape on the wall – we’re marking off cabinets for the kitchen remodel.

Hall bathroom – Tim installed wainscoting onto one wall – it feels much more pulled together now.

Master bedroom: a few months ago we upgraded to this amazing bed from World Market, last month we got new bedding and bedside tables from Target. I LOVE IT!  We need to replace my ancient reading lamp (IKEA circa 2005), redo my closet, and eventually we’ll refinish the floors.

It’s funny – going back through old pictures of our house, pictures of how it looked when we first bought it – there’s definitely been improvement. Even better is to look back at our first apartment and see how we ‘decorated’ it. LOL!  Our television stand was Tim’s amp, and our bathroom scheme was two green hand towels and a container of lime hand soap from Dollar Tree.  Ha!

Tomorrow I’ll be posting some of our design inspiration for the new kitchen!

I decided I couldn’t wait for Spring to do a little Spring cleaning, and took the opportunity of a four day weekend to re-organize the closets and my bathroom.   I tackled Tim’s closet first, because I knew there were interesting bits in there.  For Tim, the most painful thing is to throw out a tee shirt that still holds up, even if he hasn’t worn the stupid thing in 6 years. Lots of haggling involved just to pare down his closet to what he actually will use.

Then, there’s this weird tic he has, when he thinks I should hold onto this gawd-awful pair of boots he made me buy (the last time I let him talk me into any purchase) back in 2005, right after we got married, and which I have worn: 1 time. We get into this debate every single year.   I throw the boots into the donate pile. He fishes them out and hides them in his closet, in a box, under the bed, etc. I stumble upon them, put them back in a donate pile, and round and round it goes. He insists that he will take me to the snow and I will need these particular boots.  However, we have been to the snow together: 0 times. How do I explain this… they are suede with faux fur lining. I hate them. I can’t even post a picture here, that’s how much I dislike these infernal boots.

On the plus side of our New Year’s weekend, my hair tools/accessories are neatly organized in drawers:

But, of course I still have a junk drawer for loose ends. SIGH.

Before you get to thinking I had the saddest New Year’s ever, I will be sharing recipes this week for two delicious desserts I brought to the NYE dinner party we attended!

peace out.

Current wishlist…

I need these flats in my closet, STAT!

My biggest wish is to remodel our kitchen (finally), so I am working on Timmy to get it going for the end of summer/fall. Here’s a few of my many inspiration pics:

Source: Jessica Helgerson Interior Design via Pinterest

Source: Flea Market Trixie via Pinterest

Saving up to buy a camera bag, but can’t decide between this one:

and this one:

And I think I need some more of this…

Oops…didn’t mean to sneak that in there!

Ok, so not all of the items are attainable. I mean, who knows if I’ll ever have that nice of a kitchen.

Happy Groundhog Day! Here’s to hoping Punxsutawney Phil does NOT see his shadow – I can’t bear gloomy weather for too long…

A few weekends ago, with the help of my husband, I updated our IKEA dining table chairs…

I bought this fabric by Waverly – it’s called Luminary – online at Jo-Ann’s Fabric – Tim and I liked the color and pattern (it’s also available in grey and blue shades). It reminds me a little of 1960s kitsch, but applied to the modern shape of our chairs it works.

We removed the seats from the chair base, and Tim cut the pieces of fabric into squares, leaving a few inches extra for folding around the seat (it came with thick removable slip covers, but we left them on for extra cushioning )

Then he stapled the fabric tightly to the seat board (staple guns are useful things to have around). After those were done, I applied two coats of  Scotchgard to help keep them clean.

Lo and behold, a fun chair!

The color is very vibrant, and matches the green in our kitchen – it brought more color out into the brown tiled/toffee colored walls.

We had enough fabric to do all six chairs, plus extra if we need to replace any (we purchased 4 yards, widely overestimating our need, but hey it worked out).

I love lavender, and have filled my garden with much more than I need (but it’s so pretty!!). Did you know it was in the mint family?? Me either.

I’ve become interested in knowing the meanings of flowers; it is a practice that really took root (PUNNY!!) in the Victorian era, when a lover would take great care in choosing which flowers he presented to his dearest. Adding lavender to a bouquet meant purity and devotion, as well as silence. Secret engagements? Clandestine affairs of the heart?!

I have been making dried bouquets all summer with my lavender. It’s easy to do, and the scent is amaaaaazzzinnnng.

Clip and strip of leaves

Tie together with garden twist-ties (I’m making a mini-bouquet for my desk at work!), and hang outside to dry

After several sunny days, the lavender has dried and is ready for display! I found this galvanized tin vase for 5 dollars at a thrift store, but I’ve seen them all over Pottery Barn, ebay, etc… vintage milk buckets would look lovely, too!

Highlight of my Saturday: a book purchase!

Specifically, a full set of 1966 encyclopedias for $5 at an estate sale. I love them. Check out these beauties (iPhone pics, taken using the Hipstamatic app):

The ‘Library’ article. I love it! Notice my lovely silhouette bookends?? I love them.

Insects

Their new home

Sorry for the late recap, readers!  Here’s my weekend update.

Read on for deets on the debauchery that took place in my household…

SATURDAY

I was awoken by my adorable girl Roux massaging my neck (seriously, I have pictures):

Then, I was surprised by Marco and Tim, who brought me a Skinny Caramel Machiatto (only 140 calories, which makes me feel less piggy) in bed.

After a leisurely morning, the three of us headed out for a few errands. We stopped at World Market and ended up purchasing two awesome leather chairs for our living room…and a HAMMOCK. YES. You will probably never seem or hear from me again, because I shall be reading and sleeping in MY HAMMOCK. Pictures to come once it is set up.

I then hit up the matinee of “Midnight in Paris” at the Cameo.

I really liked this film. I like a good portion of Woody Allen’s work (“Match Point”, “Hannah and Her Sisters”, “Annie Hall”), but I was not sure if I’d enjoy this particular piece, seeing as how Owen Wilson was the star; I don’t really like the actor. My advice: don’t avoid this movie for that reason. It’s adorable and fun; given to flights of fancy, and requiring a suspension of reality – but lovely!

Did I mention the walk with Tim and Marco to pick up frozen yogurt?! Will my devilish behavior ever cease?

Thanks, Yo Belle, for the delicious Plain and Blueberry Tart flavors

Although I didn’t get as much of it as I expected… SOMEONE basely stole my spoon.

At home, I cuddled, tickled, chased, and kissed Marco until his bedtime. Tim and I finished the evening trying to stay awake through “The Runaways”. Don’t really recommend. It doesn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know about the band, and in my opinion, gives you no reason to even care. I love Joan Jett, but I didn’t see much spark in the way she was portrayed, and Kristen Stewart will never have the amount of cool.

SUNDAY

We watched Sesame Street with Marco, and cleaned up the house a bit. After a trip to the gardening section of Home Depot (my new favorite place), we stopped off for a tasty lunch at Gott’s with my two men.

Marco DEVOURED his grilled cheese on wheat (happy camper!)

Tim ordered up the Wisconsin Sourdough

I had a green salad with sliced avocado and artichoke vinaigrette.

Before you think I was eating super-healthy, feast your eyes on the mounds of sweet potato fries and garlic fries present. Yummy in my tummy.

Some gardening, pedicuring, and a nasty bump on the coffee table (poor Marco!) later, it was the end of our weekend. SAD FACE.

I told you it was crazy around here.

What did you do last weekend? Spill the beans!