Planning our Master Bathroom Renovation

There are so many little ideas and thoughts running through my head right now that I'm having a hard time determining what topic deserves my blogging attention!  Hmmm ... fall decorating, an update on my fall wardrobe shopping, the bathroom renovation we just took on ... what to write, what to write ...

So, since I have yet to take any pictures of my fall decorating or fall wardrobe (which I've been working really hard shopping for so there will definitely be an update on my fall looks very soon!), I think I'll post about the bathroom renovation and post some of my inspiration photos for your viewing pleasure :).

We were not planning to renovate our bathrooms or any other areas of the house until we had our gigantic backyard project finished next summer (that's our current goal), but then we started smelling a musky moldy sort of smell coming from our master bathroom, which meant we decided to dig right in and sort it out before the mold worsens!  So yay for us, we get to charge ahead with our backyard project AND our bathroom project simultaneously!  This is sure to provide lots of fodder for some good future venting blogs about major house renovations while caring for a toddler :). 

Here's a picture of a really  nice bathroom with shelves recessed into the wall (i.e. built-in between the studs).  I love this idea, especially for a small bathroom like ours, so this is something we may try to work in.  I also love the built-in look of the bathtub and all the gorgeous white molding!!  Can't you just see yourself relaxing in this pristine tub, bubbles all around, candles lit with your current novel in hand?  I can :).

The below bathroom is sporting bead board wainscoting and a striped pattern in the paint, both of which I love for a bathroom ... or any other room for that matter!!  Seriously, I don't think you can ever go wrong with stripes!!

While we are leaning toward keeping the dark hardwood floors in the bathroom, if I were to switch up the flooring I would seriously consider a graphic tile such as the floor in the picture below.  I think it looks so elegant and classy!  I also love the burnished bronze as a more cozy alternative to the polished chrome look.

Finally, while I know the picture below is a kitchen rather than a bathroom, I still love how the hardwood floors, carerra marble counter tops and bright white cabinets all work together.  The tile backsplash is also gorgeous.  These tones and elements are similar to what we are aiming for in our bathroom.

So that's it for now.  Stay tuned for future pictures of our "before", "during" and "after" bathroom renovation.  Have a good night my friends!!

Custom Silhouettes in Five Easy Steps

Today I was pondering what to give my mother-in-law for her upcoming birthday so I went to my favorite gift-purchasing site, www.Etsy.com.  Etsy is a cyber-marketplace where hundreds of thousands of artisans and crafters hock their handmade goods.

One item that always catches my eye are the custom silhouettes offered by many of the shops.  Several years ago I thought I might attempt to make and sell personalized silhouette gifts on Etsy, but alas like so many of my plans, it never came to fruition :). 

I did at least manage to do silhouettes of one of my sisters' four children (below).  I subsequently lined the silhouettes up and printed them on a set of note cards, which I gave her as a gift. 

Today I was again inspired to create a silhouette, this time of my daughter, Lily.  I searched through pictures of her, looking for a good silhouette shot, and managed to find one from her birthday party (below).

And after about 30-minutes of craftiness, voila, her silhouette (below).  Note that I left out the big bow headband, as I thought that might look like some crazy alien growth on her head, and instead, embellished her little feminine curls.

I plan to use the silhouette to create some sort of gift for grandma, but in the meantime I thought I'd share my tips for easily creating your own custom silhouettes!

EASY CUSTOM SILHOUETTE:

1.  Find (or take) a good profile picture of the intended subject (could even be your dog!)

2.  Optional - scale to desired size on computer

3.  If it's a digital picture, print a copy onto plain computer paper

4.  Use a glue stick to adhere the picture to cardstock

5.  Using small precise scissors, cut around the profile to create the silhouette

And that's it ... so get on with your crafty self and go make a silhouette keepsake of your own, my friends :).  Good day!!

**UPDATE**

Granny Avery loved her silhouette of Lily, which I ended up framing in a lovely little vintage-looking frame (below).

Oh the Joy of 'Room Time'

So today I instituted 'room time' for Lily.  It's still relatively early in the morning, but already I needed a few moments of peace and quiet to relieve my frazzled nerves.  It's possibly because my other baby, Sushi, is having back problems that I've become irrationally stressed out this morning (i.e. trying to prevent a toddler from lovingly harrassing the poor dog is quite a chore!), but in any case I decided today was as good a day as any to begin the 'room time' routine.

'Room time', for those of you who don't know, is when you teach your child to play quietly and entertain themselves in their own room without requiring supervision.  This is a god-send when you need to get stuff done that isn't possible to do with toddler at your side (i.e. like, um, practically anything!).  I actually suggested this to my sister before I even had a baby, when her daughter was about Lily's age.  Mainly, the goal is to keep yourself sane enough to function on a basic level :). 

I have actually been planning to do this for some time, but usually end up caving when Lily stands at the child-gate at her door, shaking it violently and pitifully crying for 'mama' (blast you my tender heart!).  But today, she only cried for a few minutes before giving up and moving on to playing quietly with her toys.  At this very moment she has been in 'room time' for 18 minutes, about 15 of which have been spent quietly, and already I feel like a new person!  Sometimes all a mom needs is 15 minutes!

I think my goal will be 30 minutes of 'room time' each morning and possibly, especially once she officially moves to only one nap a day, another 30 minutes in the afternoon. 

So with only 10 minutes left of room time, I should probably sign off and take a few minutes to breathe deeply before the chaos resumes.  Have a blessed day, friends!!

     

My Guide to Fashion's Top Pics for Fall/Winter 2011

After a three-day heat wave here in San Diego the weather has finally turned cooler, almost like Fall, which apparently has begun!  Like many women when the weather turns cool, I have almost inexplicably started obsessing about my 'Fall wardrobe', a thing that completely stupefies my poor husband!! 

So today I thought I would share my top pics for creating my ideal Fall wardrobe and hopefully in a future post I can post some of my outfits for the season. 

As any good stylist knows, a great wardrobe begins with a great theme, and the theme I came up with just happens to be one of this Fall's biggest trends ... "Romantic English Countryside".  This is particularly fitting for me since I'm a huge Anglophile :).

STAPLES FOR THE "ROMANTIC ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE" LOOK

A velvet sports coat in green, burgundy, black or any deep rich color is a staple in any Fall wardrobe!  Go for a classic fit to ensure wear-ability for years to come!!

Tall equestrian-style riding boots in a luxurious leather are another staple for this look.  I love the look of these Tory Burch boots (below).  With these boots you can feel like a wealthy British aristocrat for far less than the cost of an English country house :).

Here's a black equestrian-style boot paired with black jeans, a plaid shirt and the quintessential English countryside hunting dog, a Brittany Spaniel :).  I so so so want a Brittany Spaniel this season ... or any season for that matter!!

A selection of soft v-neck sweaters and cardigans for layering are a requirement in the cold English climate, but work well pretty much anywhere in the cool Fall months.  This Fall I will wear mine over the new denim collared shirt (another trend) I hope to acquire!

I also love the look of a chunky sweater paired with a light-weight dress and boots (above).  This is a great way to make use of your Spring/Summer dresses well into Fall!  And on cooler days you can add some thick tights for additional warmth!

MY PERSONAL FALL/WINTER FAVORITES AND CLASSICS

Fur anything!! Fur vests, fur on boots, fur collars, you name it, I love it ALL.  And of course, being the animal lover that I am, I'm talking faux fur here people!! No innocent little foxes or chinchillas need to lose their lives for faux fur!

A pair of well-fitting dark-wash jeans are an absolute must and closet staple year-round! 

A classic black (or gray) pencil skirt is a beautiful addition to any wardrobe and this Fall I will pair mine with feminine blouses with ruffled fronts and/or ties around the collar, both of which seem to be a big trend for this season.  I especially love the tailored Chanel'ish look that an all black and white outfit provide (see below).

Burgundy lips are also a must for cooler months.  I love the clean look of this model's make-up (below).  These dark lips are an absolute show-stopper!  The bare eyes, save for the thickly applied mascara and exquisitely groomed eyebrows, give this look a coquettish appearance, which I love!

OTHER TRENDS FOR FALL/WINTER 2011

A cape or poncho worn over skirts, dresses, jeans or slacks is a fun addition to this Fall's trends.  While not everyone is a fan, I absolutely adore the look of the beige/khaki poncho worn over an all denim look, as seen far-left in the image below.  I think the hat is almost mandatory in pulling off the look, so keep your fedora out, as it can continue to be of service this season!

Denim collared shirt (see 'poncho' pic above).  This staple can be paired with just about anything, but is especially hot in a denim-with-denim look (again, see above). 

Leopard print everything, from shoes and handbags to jumpsuits, this is the animal print of the season.  I have always been a huge fan of this gorgeous print as far back as I can remember.  I seriously saved my money to purchase a leopard print hat back in the early eighties when I was maybe 11 years old!  So, yeah, I already have some leopard print items to work this season :).

The shoe pictured above actually combines two of this season's hot items - leopard print and the 'loafer' heel.

Metallics that shimmer are another Fall 2011 trend to watch for.  I have a long-time love of anything shimmery so luckily already have a few of these fun pieces in my wardrobe that I plan to drag out and dust off! 

1940's Style Dresses is another trend that I'm excited about this season ... so flattering and feminine.  I absolutely love the ones on offer at http://www.shabbyapple.com/.

And finally, one more trend that I plan to jump on board with is the polka dots trend.  This season, polka dots take center stage and replace my other all-time-favorite, stripes!  I love the gorgeous sheer dotted blouse in the picture below.  This would look amazing with that pencil skirt referenced above!! 

And while there are many other trends this season, I hope you've enjoyed the ones I picked to feature in this blog.  Stay tuned for future posts on how my Fall wardrobe 'project' is coming along :).  Have a wonderful weekend, friends!!!

At Home Date-Night: Martha's Lobsters with Beurre Blanc

I recently decided to start a new tradition of Friday night dinners with ingredients sourced from our local Farmer's Market. 

This past Friday, as I was picking up some fresh Halibut from the fishmonger, I saw someone else picking up live lobsters.  I had recently stumbled on a lobster recipe in the June 2011 eidition of 'Living', so I decided to take a chance (i.e. I have never in my life cooked lobster!) and order a couple of these crustacean fellows.  Since the lobsters were 'special order' we arranged to pick ours up the next morning. 

Saturday morning they were handed over to us, covered in damp paper towels in a freezer box with an ice pack.  I guess keeping them cold puts them into a sleepy state, so when we got home we put them straight into the fridge until ready to cook.

The recipe we used was Martha Stewart's Lobsters with Beurre Blanc (the recipe can be found at this link: http://www.marthastewart.com/354686/lobsters-beurre-blanc).  As with all Martha recipes, you can pretty much double the prep time on this one.  45 minutes, Martha?  Really?  I think our pot of water took that long to boil!! Haha!

As lobsters are kind of fancy, I decided I should lay a fitting table, so here it is, dressed for our little at-home date night :).

Here I am about to submerge lobster #1 into a stock pot of boiling water.  If I'm honest I have to admit that I was a little shakey at the thought of killing these poor innocent little guys, but I put my emotions aside in the name of good food and culinary exploration ... and hopefully their death was immediate and painless (?!).  That's what I'll tell myself anyway :).

Not sure why I have a 'come hither' look in this photo of me holding a couple of boiled lobsters, but anywho ...  Aren't they just gorgeous right out of the pot like that?  Such a beautiful deep red. Like most things in nature, God's design is perfect and presentation really can't be improved upon, but we sure do try, don't we?!!

Here I am chopping the lobsta' (what my Bostonian friends call it) lengthwise just like Martha Stewart, baby!

The amount and texture of the green tomalley that I subsequently removed, along with the head and other intestiney matter, was a bit off-putting, but I managed to get through it :).  

After chopping the mostly cooked lobsters lengthwise, we spooned our buerre blanc sauce (white wine sauce with shallots, orange juice, heavy cream and LOTS of butter) over them and broiled them for a couple minutes. 

We served them up with rosemary red potatoes, burgundy (green) beans, curried red peppers and squash, and a lovely ciabatta for soaking up excess buerre blanc - divine.  Oh, and we paired with a nice oaky Chardonnay (Francis Ford Coppola's Votre Sante 2009 Chardonnay). 

And now I must give credit where credit is due.  My husband was an amazing chef's assistant and pretty much single-handedly sorted out the beurre blanc and all veggies / sides.  The only thing he steared clear of was anything and everything to do with killing and butchering the lobsters, which he left up to me.  Gotta' love my squeemish husband :). 

And now with this successful culinary experience under my belt, I will confidently prepare my first ever lobster-bisque soup today with the leftover chunks of succulent lobster meat!  Wish me luck, friends :).

A Day of Play and Dough

Recently my friend, Tiffany, and I decided we would like to try our hand at baking homemade bread.  I found a seemingly good recipe for beginners (Farmhouse White), as well as lots of information and tips at http://www.farmgirlfare.com/, and so began our little baking journey. 

Tiffany and her daughter, Kayla (11 mo's), came over this past week for a fun day of hanging out and baking, since bread-baking is kind of an all-day affair!  I have never baked bread alone, but after our joint baking experience I feel that co-baking is definitely the way to go when it comes to bread.  All the kneading and stirring of dough was definitely a work-out and so nice to have someone to hand off to when your arm feels like it might fall off!!

Another benefit was that the girls kept each other entertained so we could stay focused on the bread :).  Here they are playing on the kitchen floor.

The smell of homemade bread baking in the oven has got to be one of the best smells in the world!  And here are our fresh loaves, right out of the oven.  It was all we could do to wait the prescribed 30 - 40 minutes before tucking in (apparently they still need to time to bake internally or set or something!).

The entire process, start to finish, took about four and a half hours, but believe me, once we sliced into the loaves and buttered up that fresh doughy heaven, it was well worth the wait.  Here is Lily, enjoying every last morsel!!

Tiffany said her loaves hardened after being refrigerated, while the loaves left out at room temperature remained moist, so if you try the recipe yourself you may want to keep this in mind.  Next time I think we'll try a different recipe or a variation on this one.  

I love the thrill of trying something new and having a friend along for the journey just makes it that much sweeter!  Have a great Labor Day weekend, friends!