new years eve morning . . .

This is what I woke up to this morning . . .

no room for mama bear!

But I LOVE my family!

Can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us!

fall wreath

Sadly,  I haven't decorated for Christmas yet. We finally finished putting up our neighborhood Christmas Trees outside in the yard and hung a wreath on the front door, but all of our Christmas decor is sadly still packed away and pushed in a corner of Lucas' bedroom . . . along with all of Eric's 6 boxes of sweaters with no where to store. I haven't even taken them down the stairs since retrieving them from the back of the attic. Since we're still trying to finish up with the painting downstiars, there is no point in making a mess yet. So that being said, my fall wreaths (which were never hung up because our painting wasn't done) have taken up residence in our bedroom. I was thinking I would just put them back in the attic when I put the empty Christmas decor boxes back up there. . .but obviously that hasn't happened. Since I wasn't able to share these wreaths with my neighborhood, I will share them with the world! Next year they will be grand once they make it to the front and back doors but right now they are just reminders that not only did November come and go but it's 7 December 2009 and I'm dying to decorate for Christmas!

remodeling :: keep truckin'

"keep truckin'"

So I stole that quote from my older brother . . . it's his favorite!

But I've had it in my head for the past couple of weeks. We thought we'd already have our furniture moved in downstairs and we're anxiously scurring around trying to complete some of the small details so we can make that move a reality.

Senior "Saggy Pants" Hector taking his time drying paint samples for me.

The painters took a little longer than we thought and I had a bit of a meltdown when we realized that the paint we saved from upstiars had been tampered with which meant the paint codes didn't work. (with one room left to paint) Our paint didn't even remotely resemble the rest of the house (the whole house is the same gray color except for our white kitchen) but after a few days of tears and frustration, an angel at Home Depot was able to match our color exactly! So, the painters said their goodbyes and in came the floor guy ready to stain all of the floors.

BUT HE DIDN'T TAPE OFF THE BASEBOARDS!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me? He knew we just paid thousands of dollars for all of the interior and exterior paint and then he nonchalantly screws it up! But don't worry, he quickly realized who his mamma was when I put my foot down on any payments being made to him until he helped with the painting. Well, why in the world did I think that a guy that does floors for a living would have a clue about painting. He showed up with a sponge paintbrush from a craft store and a teenage boy that doesn't speak english. Ha Ha Ha

Needless to say, we are still working on touch up paint which ultimately turned into me and Eric re-painting all of the baseboards. We should have moved in a week ago but of course after a year of this, you'd think that I would have learned, nothing goes according to plan around here.

"keep truckin'"

coastal snow

Who would have thought that snow would reach down to the Texas coast . . .

It was quiet a refreshing surprise to drive around town today with snow flurries fluttering down through the traffic and then to pull up in the driveway and find our home draped with a thin blanket of snow!

What a way to start the Christmasa season . . .

forget moving furniture in downstairs, now I just want to put up my Christmas tree!

cookie!

Ok, I'm seriously about to go crazy! Conde Nast has truly upset me once again . . .they are cutting cost (like the rest of us) and of all magazines, they have chosen, yet again, to stop production of my all time favorite mom magazine, Cookie. They've already taken Domino and Portfolio and now they're taking Cookie along with Gourmet. They're seriously killing me!

It's the all time best of modern mom magazines and pushes me and my creativity while balancing the world of mommy-hood. 

Again, sorrow for myself and all the other modern moms that look forward to their monthly subscription that always seems to help make each month more inspiring!

remodeling :: holy yellow batman!

So I had to fight for the YELLOW front door and was happy to finally win a battle that was truly inspired by some bright yellow doors on the web.

As you can see yellow became YELLOW and I'm not so sure about my decision.

It looks AMAZING in this picture and I think it's just as inspiring as other yellow doors I've seen . . . despite the limp and dying fall decor. Now I'm dreaming of a crazy zebra rug to add to our unpredictable front porch entrance in place of our sad and unimpressive door mat.

It definitely creates an entrance that becomes the prelude to a modern traditional home, which is exactly what I was going for . . . but I missed the mark with the shade of YELLOW. My inspiration was YELLOW, but with our over abudance of a pure white coastal house, I think I should have toned it down to be more of a yellow . . .

Eric said that while I was gone this past weekend that several different couples walking by complimented our color choice . . . but I'm definitely not sure if I believe them. There's no telling what people are saying in this conservative town.

Since the door was scraped and scraped for days in preparation of it's new coat of paint, it's safe to say that Eric will kill me if I mention that we need to tone the yellow down a notch. So, that being said, I think maybe some black shutters or possibly window boxes will be my next project in order to break up the large blank canvas.

Now the fun part begins as I pull out all of our Christmas decor and try to depict what will work with our new home . . . and YELLOW door.

fall without the decor . . .

It finally feels like fall.

24 November 2009

 . . . and I still don't have a wreath on my front door. Actually, after 3 weeks, the painters just finished painting our front door YELLOW.  .  . just in time for Christmas decor.

All year I've been setting goals for our house and every goal seems to become just a simple statement made and a simple statement past.

I'm obviously very anxious to get back to anything that resembles a simple life, including holiday decor. The fall season seems like it's flown by; especially since it's been 80 and 70 degrees throughout October and November with no signs of leaves changing colors (up until this past week).

As a creative person at heart, I have yearned to make these holidays warm, creative and cozy for our kids, despite living in a less than inviting construction zone.  Although I have had good intentions, the fall season has been anything but a stylish magazine cover for me.

*****

*The new halloween cookie cutters - left untouched sitting in Lucas' high chair * halloween pumpkins - most left undecorated (but great ideas in my crazy head) and then realized they were given to the Mexican workers painting the house by my husband without telling me * the cookies and baking supplies for fall cookies - still left untouched in the fridge and kitchen cupboards * my fall wreaths - still sitting on my desk in our room waiting to be hung (after painters are done with the exterior) *  cornicopias and other fall decor - still packed away in the attic with nowhere to be displayed * my fresh fall spice flavored candles - melted, warped and packed along with other candles * the few ceramic pumpkins set out for some simple decor - busted and shattered thanks to Lucas * my front porch plants and pumpkin scapes specifically placed in hopes to show the neighbors that we are not white trash - only to be crushed and wacked out by the painters

*****

Nothing has gone according to plan for me but I was able to let the kids paint some miniture pumpkins

. . . freestyle . . . which was awesome to watch! While visiting my mom, Noelle invited her friend Zoe over and Lucas was just along for the ride and enjoying every minute of it. Lots of color, laughs and family made me content with the remodeling life long enough to consume the love and joy that the holidays brings out in everyone. Looking forward to December and hoping for some more creative outlets to pursue that hopefully produce some holiday cheer that I have long awaited for.

pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin

AFTER A LOT OF . . .

                    ROLLING . . .            CARRYING . . .                        

 

HIDING . . .                   POSING . . .

STACKING . . .                  & SITTING . . .

WE WERE ABLE TO SNATCH A FEW SWEET PHOTOS!

But unfortunately, 6 uploaded photos is all my patience can handle today. I'm obviously not a professional blogger and Lucas just woke up from his Sunday afternoon nap which means no more sitting and typing for me. Hopefully more fall picturess to come, but at this rate it may be after Christmas.

galveston, texas

I came across these pictures from a couple of weeks ago, which I totally forgot about. Eric's parents have been staying with us since July and we've never had a good opportunity to show them around the state . . . or even around this area. So one Sunday afternoon Eric decided that he wanted to pile in the car and drive over to Crystal Beach and Galveston. The ferry ride is always a big hit with Lucas because of the crazy hungry seagulls that swarm over waiting for bread.

events.parties.design

Embarking on a new phase in my life.

Our youngest, Lucas, is now 2 which gives me a little more freedom and has me looking in new directions. Just before Lucas was born I was working full time in the

event & party industry which is a passion that seems to have taken up residence inside of me.

It won't go away . . .

So I will continue with it . . .

Besides, it's good . . .

I like it . . .

 I love it . . .

I don't think I will ever NOT produce events or parties . . .

Just another thing that makes me, me!

san francisco

From the gorgeous hilltop chapel in Tiburon, to making-out in a big tree at Lake Tahoe, here are a few pics of our trip (without kids, I might add . . .) to San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. It's long over due and with everything else on our plate I really don't have the energy for captions . . .

enjoy la famille bizarre without kids! (seriously our first trip without kids since we got married)

Ok, I have to write a caption for this picture of Noelle . . .

My family knows I absolutely love caramel apples and m&m's are my favorite candy . . . When I found this caramel apple smothered in m&m's at Dean & Delucas in Napa, I knew it would be the perfect afternoon snack for me and Noelle. So of course I took special care of it the whole flight home just so we could cram our mouths full of m&ms while caramel sticks to our teeth . . .yum yum!

remodeling :: mellow yellow

OUR HUMBLE ABODE

BEFORE A FRESH COAT OF PAINT . . .

I have a friend that painted her front door yellow a couple of years ago. I was in love with her "bachelorette meets anthropolie" style that gave her cute house a modern, yet sleek, look. I wanted my home (especially the exterior) to reflect my style too, but unfortunately, my first house with my husband was also his first house with his first wife. That's life and I lived with it . . .

But now with our new home, we have a fresh start, and the ability

 to make this traditional house a stylish home.

Throughout this remodel, we've had plenty of design conflicts but I knew that I had to have a yellow front door. With plenty of white traditional homes in the area, our friends will be sure to acknowledge our home as well as our "modern traditional style."

Though I thought it would be another hard battle trying to convince Eric of this crazy color choice, these inspiring pictures did the work for me and sealed the deal to the 

first yellow front door in our traditional neighborhood! 

I JUST WANT TO HURRY AND PAINT THE FRONT DOOR SO I CAN DECORATE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

I'M ABOUT TO GO CRAZIER THAN I ALREADY AM . . .

ENJOY OUR INSPIRATION!

OUR YELLOW DOOR PICS ARE COMING SOON!

www.theterracewindermere.co.uk 

www.yellowfrontdoor.co.uk/  

www.designfabulous.com 

modern mom monday

I pretty much forgot that it was Monday today. I've been consumed with all of our taxes!!! Yes, it's not enough that we're super busy with our house, but we've got to get our taxes done before we leave for San Francisco this Friday.

I've taken a break from all of the crazy receipts to share my latest craving.

I love this book! I crawled in a corner in Barnes and Nobles the day I discovered it and almost looked through every single craft . . .while dreaming of the days that I could actually work on some of those cool projects. I noticed recently that Urban Outfitters is carrying it online now too! But I'm gonna wait to buy it because I know myself too well . . . I will put everything important aside in order to test every project!

This is another super chic book from urbn. I was flipping through the other one called "All About Me" when I realized Eric and I could go through this book together! It's the couples version . . . an attempt to bring us all closer, I guess. OH SO COOL! I'm so curious to know what our answers are going to be. But no matter what it could definitely shake things up around here and get our mind off of our crazy remodeling!

weekly dose

So I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks and for good reasons, of course. The usual house remodeling has continued to consume our lives. But this past week has proved another trying week for us as Noelle and Eric have both had the flu and Lucas has battled high temps all week due to his 2 yr molars. We've been pretty busy with the daily grind but we did manage to take some time to ourselves and enjoy life a bit. This is our week in pictures. Enjoy!

   

Ok, so there is a crazy blue line underneath this picture of Noelle and I have no idea why. Anyway, this is that precious step-daughter of mine right before her first middle school dance. I can't believe she's in 6th grade this year and already making some great middle school memories. And of course she's stylin' with her black skinny jeans. She was so excited!

(Couple of days before her Doc told her she had to be out of school for a week)

All of our Filipino friends wanted to go see Journey in concert which was amazing! I haven't been to a concert in awhile (which is an old favorite pastime of mine) so for a minute there I felt like the free spirit that I use to be.

Ok, so you are laughing at me because of all of the concerts to feel like a free spirit, why Journey, right?

Well, not only was the new Filipino front man, Arnel, unbelievable, but their opening act was Night Ranger. I had no idea that I knew Night Ranger, but apparently I know all of their songs which brought back some great memories while making new ones.

We have been meeting up with friends on Saturday mornings to ride some bike trails which has been so stinkin' fun! We're really started to get into it now. . .

The river is the ugly dark brown part behind us . . . but look at that crazy white sand on the far bank! Who knew southeast texas had white sand on their rivers?

Unfortunately there is white sand on a lot of the trails too . . .

I was peddling along and my chain snapped while we were out in the middle of the woods. Eric and I had to walk our bikes about 2 miles back to the cars. Crazy!

But I love this picture I took of Eric while walking with my bike chain in his hand! Ha!

'domino' effect

I have been having some serious withdrawals from DOMINO magazine for the past 6 months. When I read the editor's note about their "last issue" I almost cried but figured that the funds from sponsors would come storming through their doors and I would be happy to find my April issue pleasantly hanging out of my mailbox waiting for me to read and consume every picture and word. As it turned out, the funds didn't come through, and the editor was right, they were done . . . no more domino.

As the months have gone on I have continued to cry for my beloved DOMINO mag!!!!!!

COME BACK MY LOVE!

I only have a handful of my magazines left and wished I had the last full year's worth of issues to keep. How happy am I to find issues for sale on AMAZON!  This has made my weekend!

modern mom monday

These are my picks for MODERN MOM MONDAY! I was hurrying through BARNES & NOBLE the other day (trying to get in a moment of "me time" before I picked Lucas up from Mother's Day Out) when I couldn't help but notice these beautifully chic puzzles as I was scurrying by.

So many styles and patterns to choose from, I can't decide which one I want. I just know that I want one for my purse or the car. I don't think I'll mind waiting in line for 20 minutes to pick Noelle up from school as long as I have one of these to keep me busy . . . not to mention that it may actually help my mind; especially since I have to review 6th grade math homework before I can check it. Ha!

SIMPLE & CHIC FOR THE MODERN MOM!

modern mom monday

Ok! So this is the fiirst MODERN MOM MONDAY blog. Mondays are a drag and as a mom I'm always looking for a little pick me up so I'm going to make sure that my Monday blogs include a little love for the busy, yet modern, mom.

Well, for the past two weeks I've had my eyes on the new Madsen Cycle so I knew I wanted it to be my first modern mom pick!

I just can't get enough of it and since my first spying of this incredibly posh transportation, I have since seen it in other blogs, magazines and of course all over the internet.

I was so excited to use this modern bike for my new MODERN MOM MONDAY blog so I found the home webpage and realized that they are just as excited about getting the word out as I am.

They're giving away one bike each week which just made my Monday even more exciting! I can just picture myself and my little monkey boy cruising around Beaumont, Texas while really dreaming about riding in a locale with less humidity! Wouldn't that be so much fun?!