Making Art

Y'all know that my little guy loves to color, but we've really only painted once (in the backyard with washable paints).  Over the weekend, we headed to Michaels to pick up more supplies (acrylic paints, canvases, and paintbrushes) so we could both get in on the action.  I've never painted before, but I was inspired by Jen of Made by Girl to try to create some of my own art for my office at work.  I have the perfect wall for a large abstract painting above my desk.  I was going to have James make it at first, then I decided to not be scared to try it myself.  "Try it, you'll like it!"- I could also be losing my mind since I'm now hearing Gabba Gabba when I type.

Via Cocoa and Hearts

I doubt Jen's studio looks like ours:)

Yeah, we set up shop in the garage (cold outside!) and worked on the floor.  James stepped on my first piece.  We really need easels.  I started playing around just to get the hang of it a little and when I feel more confident, I'll move on to my big canvas.  I'll be sure to show you when it's finished:)



Have y'all tried painting?  I've seen some great work by Natalie and her son (Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers).  I'd love to see yours if you want to leave me a link in the comments.  Let's have a great week!

New Upholstered Headboard

We'll be having some house guests with us for awhile, and wanted to make them comfortable in our home so we decided to put a king-sized bed in our guest room, as opposed to the uncomfortable old queen bed that's in there now.  Getting a king-sized mattress also called for a new king-sized headboard, so we decided to move our current headboard/footboard into the guest room and get a new one for our master bedroom.  You might recall the styles I had been looking at last year.



I ended up purchasing one through Overstock.com, and it probably won't arrive for a few weeks.  It got great reviews, so I'm really hoping it's nice!

It's the Aisling Cream Fabric King Platform Bed.  I like the nailhead trim detailing and the fact that it's not just the headboard.  

Our current bed (from Z Gallerie) will be heading to the guest room.

I've got lots I'd like to do to transform our bedroom, I'll be sure to show you when the bed arrives!

Dutch Oven Delight

We've been craving some comfort food around here and I was itching at the chance to use the new dutch oven Santa dropped off this year.  And by dropped off, I mean, the one I picked up on my way home from the grocery store the other day:)  Since moving into our new house, in lieu of individual gifts at Christmas, we've been buying one "house present" that we both can use.  Last year was our camera; this year, the dutch oven.  Since my new year's resolution is cooking more, I'm planning to use it often and have heard there are so many things you can use it for.  Do you have one?  If so, what do you like to cook in it?  



It sure looks pretty sitting on the stove- especially with a white kitchen.  I chose red because the salesman said that the red and orange (flame) colors would never be discontinued, so if I wanted to build a set of same colors for the future, those are the safe colors.  Not that I'll be buying a set, but I really just thought the red was beautiful and classic.

Chili with cornbread is delicious and I like making meals that we can eat for a few days.  A guilty pleasure of mine is also chili cheese hot dogs with Hebrew National franks- mmmmm!

And by the way, here are the America's Test Kitchen magazines I mentioned in my resolution post.  They give so much information beyond a basic cookbook, which is why I really like them.

I went ahead and bought the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook too and have started reading it.  It doesn't have any color photos, but has illustrations and lots of commentary on why the recipes work. 

I read all of your comments about how you learned to cook (or not! :) and your suggestions and what works for your family.  I appreciate you sharing them and definitely plan to incorporate the "child responsible for a meal once-a-week" when that time comes.  I also loved the commenter who said she makes one meal per night and if someone doesn't like it, they can have a PB&J.  Works for me:)  

The Baby Cave??

When we build our home two years ago, the only thing my husband really wanted was his own, oversized garage.  And a media room.  He's so happy to have his man cave.

I think it's so funny that the man cave is now being occupied by a tricycle, race car, tractor, and wagon.

Makes me smile every time I open the garage door:)

Hope your week is off to a great start!  Thank you for your prayers!  Our family member is doing so much better!

New Year's Resolution

Last year, I resolved to lose the rest of the baby weight I put on while pregnant with my son- I gained a total of 55 pounds.  With a lot of running, working out/lifting weights, and better food choices, I reached my goal in the middle of the year!!!  And happily, I'm maintaining my new weight.  You can read about my journey here, here and here.

This year, I want to become a better cook.  And I want to start cooking more in general.  This last year I have felt quite guilty that I didn't cook more for my family.  And when I did cook, I don't think my food was all that great.  So I want to change that.  I want my family to crave the meals I prepare and have "favorites"!  Wouldn't that be something?!  I have plenty of cookbooks, tools and equipment, and lots of recorded food shows on t.v., I just need to decide what I'm going to cook and try new things.



I recently came across the America's Test Kitchen Magazines/Cookbooks and LOVE them! They are so informative, providing essential information about ingredients and the cooking process, things that work and the explanation behind it.  It's become essential reading for me.



I've planned to choose a variety of dishes that I want to learn to cook and practice on those dishes.  I've made a little spreadsheet of the ingredients for our favorite meals to make grocery shopping easier.



We've had some extra family staying with us lately so it's been great to be able to prepare meals for everyone and then all sit down together to eat.  I know they enjoy it and I feel good at having shown love through food.  Such a nice thing.  I've even been cooking lunches on the weekends, something I never usually did.



So far, the dishes that have been successful are:

Greek Pizza 

Thai Steak Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw (I eliminated the tortilla for mine, but the rest of the family ate the theirs)

Shrimp Pasta with Pesto & Tomatoes

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Grilled Fish Tacos

via

Crab Cakes (Americas Test Kitchen recipe)

How did you learn to cook?  I think most people are taught as children from their parents, which is what I want to do with my son.  He already loves cooking so I'm hoping that my cooking journey will rub off on him and he will acquire a love and skill for preparing food.



I'd also be interested in your go-to recipes.  I'm planning to cook about 3-4 meals a week, and grocery shop on Saturday mornings.  Is that what you do?  I like to have a fridge full of food for the weekend so I don't get that blank look from my hubby when he opens the fridge door:)

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*If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might have noticed that I haven't posted in a while.  We have a family member who needs prayer for healing, so if you are the praying kind, I would really appreciate it.

Organized TOYS

Hi all!  I'm am raring to go for the new year!  As much as I love the coziness and sentiment of the holidays, come January, I am ready for a fresh, clean start for the new year.  I spent Sunday and Monday getting all the Christmas decor packed up and put away and the house looks so simple and clean again:)



Although we only bought James a few gifts for Christmas, our family brought lots of presents and with all the toys he's accumulated since birth, I knew that now was a good time to start getting his toys organized.



I started by gathering up all of the toys from the living room and putting everything in his room so I could put like toys and small parts together.  His big race car, tricycle, dump truck and wagon went into the garage.

I kept some toys in the living room, but I am happy that it doesn't look like a toy box anymore (see below, the toy box version of the living room:)

Look at all those stuffed animals!  

I found a $50 organizing shelf with bins at Target along with a few big canvas bins and got to work organizing and throwing out the broken toys and books.  Are all kids this hard on books??

Little toys fit into these buckets and James has easy access to them.  

The bigger toys fit nicely in these colorful bins.

To my surprise, the stuffed animals fit into two bins.

Now here's to trying to keep everything organized and clean!  We are starting the "put your toys away" routine before bath and bedtime now:) 

You can look on my "Organization" tab for more helpful organizing tips for toys and more!

Home Bloggers & Happy New Year!

When I started this blog, I didn't know a thing about a "niche" or even that my blog would someday fall into some type of category.  I started writing simply because I was going through lots of changes in my life like being newly married, pregnant, and building a home.  To top it off, I suddenly decided that I wanted to stay at home when my baby arrived and quite unexpectedly left my job.



I needed a place to connect with other women and was delighted to find this world of blogs and bloggers who were interested in the same kinds of things as me.  Welcome to the world of home bloggers.

Modern Jane

Small Shop Studio

Casa Greer

It wasn't really until I went to Blissdom that I even realized how many different types of blogs there were.  Basically, if there's a hobby or business or sport, there are people who blog about it.  At Blissdom, the "home bloggers" were definitely in the minority.

Rambling Renovators

The Fabulous Design File

I have come to have a special place in my heart for the "home blogger."  A home blogger graciously and courageously opens her home (which is synonymous with her heart) and shares it with the world.  We share our not only our decor failures, successes, and dilemmas, but also can't help but letting pieces of our relationships leak out into our blog too.

Schue Love 

Ten June  

And we get to know each other.  

Sixty-Fifth Avenue

I feel like there is a special intimacy and closeness in the relationships we've formed with the home blogger through our readership and comments because of the intimacy of looking into each other's homes.  It's as if we are being invited in for a cup of coffee and a chat.  I know that when life gets busy and I haven't had a chance to "stop by" I miss it.  Like I miss seeing a friend in real life.

A Thoughtful Place

Michaela Noelle Designs

Our homes are decorated with love, and although we may not be trained interior designers, we rock some pretty great personal design.  We bounce ideas off of each other and take comments to heart.

Hi Sugarplum!

Courtney Out Loud

Decor Chick

Brooklyn Limestone

A La Mode

To all you home bloggers and home creators and home lovers,