New Year's Resolutions

Every year I make a few resolutions, and sometime I do better at them than others. To be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure I made them last year, though I'm sure if poured over the pages of my journal I would find them.

So today, I figured I should put them out into the internet for everyone to see...in hopes I'll feel a little extra motivation to actually accomplish some of them.

1) Make our house a little more homey. Right now it still looks a lot like the house we bought. Really only the bedroom has seen a major deviation from what it looked like at closing...even our photos haven't been hung up. So this year, my goal is to start making the place we live reflect the people who live there a little better. And hopefully I'll blog about it along the way.
2) Make some art. Some people might be surprised, but I actually did take an art class in college (two if you count the art history course I took...). And since I've taken a painting course and I really enjoy it...when I manage to find the time. This year I'd like to make the time...and at the very least put together the piece for the master bedroom that I've been planning...
3) Exercise. I'd like to say more...but that would be misleading. I should probably start doing it again...period.
4) Start cooking again (and possibly bring my lunch). This is another one that I could share on the blog, and I generally enjoy trying new recipes...I just seem to have fallen off the bandwagon these last few months...and I don't know how many more nights pasta is going to cut it.

So there you have it. My goals for the new year. Hopefully everyone here can keep me honest.

Bedroom Ideas

Ok - so it's been a LONG time since I actually updated this thing, but life's been a little crazy...so I'm trying to give myself a break. Though I know all 3 of you have been sitting at the edge of your seat waiting for a post.

I thought I'd use this time to give an update on my ideas for the bedroom. (also - the photos below totally illustrate how different the gray walls look in different lighting).



1) I'm looking for inexpensive seating in our bedroom to curl up and read a book. This Tullsta chair from Ikea looks like it will fit the bill, although I'd want to stain the legs a darker color.
2) I bought some fabric from Crafty Planet in Minneapolis that I'm dying to make a pillow out of. I LOVE that it combines yellow with a few shades of gray (though they are more real gray as opposed to blue-grey...but still).
3) The ottoman was at Target (no longer available). Originally it was a little pricey for my taste, but I was able to watch for it to go on clearance. AND - it has storage inside...but I have NO IDEA what to put in there. I'm thinking maybe extra blankets?
4) One of the major bedroom projects is going to be painting the dresser. I have a few colors picked out (all yellow) and the husband has pretty much given me the green light. Now it's just finding the time to tackle the project. I'm hoping one of these weekends in January/February since hopefully life will have slowed down a bit.
5) This is one of my favorite things in the room - and the inspiration for going with a gray theme. It's a canvas picture from our wedding that I LOVE.
6) Just a view of our bed (all Target bedding) and the bookshelf (which I'm hoping to replace soon) so you have an idea of how the rest of the room is looking. I have an art project that I'm planning for over the bed, but again, we'll see when I actually start.

A few things not addressed in the board are curtains - I'm still hunting for the perfect color, bedside lamps (suggestions welcome) and some of the photos we're adding to the walls (black and white wedding photos in white frames and a shadow box of wedding items). I'm still trying to determine where the perfect location for these will be.

Now with the holiday hubbub coming to an end, I'm really looking forward to using our free weekends to get our house looking a little more homey.

Master Bedroom

We've finally gotten the master bedroom (mostly) back in order after starting to paint it SEVERAL months ago. A huge thank you to Melissa for making this whole room possible (since I may have stolen the comforter and the really cool yellow things on top of the bookshelf from her...)
Also - wouldn't this dresser look so much better in yellow? Agreed.

Still in the works are a framed photo collage, curtains (if I could find the right color/fabric combination), lamps for the bedside tables, probably some sort of sitting area, shelving on the walls, and an art project I hope to start on this winter. But it is nice to have a room that is starting to sort of look finished.

Two Years

Feels like yesterday...

Dining Room Ideas

So - I've been trying to come up with plans to improve our house's first impression (mainly the dining room). Since it is one of the first rooms people see, it really should be one of the first rooms we focus on. Also, I'd like to get into the habit of entertaining, and that's more challenging when you only have two chairs. So I've come up with a sort of Dining Room Mood Board to get myself started.
A little more about the items I've included:
1) This is our current kitchen table, and pretty much the only thing that would need to stay (and right now, pretty much the only thing in our dining room).
2) Some generic color ideas. The beige is already kind of the color of the dining room - and since the area is kind of large it would be a bit of a pain to repaint. The blue and yellow I've pulled from what I've already got going on in the kitchen.
3) I don't know exactly where I would put this, but I found it on Anthropologie's website and fell in love.
4) The chairs are from Ikea, and though the legs aren't the perfect color, the chairs are significantly less expensive than similar styles ANYWHERE else.
5) As noted previously, we need a rug for our dining room. Partially to warm up the space, and partially to prevent the table from scratching the floors. I'm liking something like this from Crate and Barrel that will sort of blend in with the floor.
6) There is an awkward amount of space on each side of our sliding glass door that I thought would be the perfect spot for some extra storage (I may have an obsession with cookbooks...). I'm looking for something like this from Ikea for each side of the doorway.
7) The chandelier from Z Gallerie may not even fit with the rest of the items...but I really love it. So I tossed it on there in part just to see.
8) I own two of these knobs (again from Anthropologie) and have been looking for just the right spot to put them. I'm thinking that adding them to the white cabinet would add a little character to an otherwise plain storage solution.
9) I bought these two tea towels from To Dry For last year, and framed them when we were in our old apartment. I'm not entirely sure where they will go once the shelving is in place, but I'm hoping to find somewhere to display them.

One area where Brandon and I disagree is on rugs. I tend to be a little more plain - simple colors and minimal pattern. Brandon on the other hand has this whole theory on rugs that I'm not going to get into, but he likes them to look more ornate. So, out of compromise, I've included a different option below...with a more ornate rug. (Note: Brandon didn't pick the rug below...I did. And when asked about it he said "I guess that is closer to what I like between the two". So not a ringing endorsement, but he also didn't hate it.)
The only difference between the two options is the rug, which I found at Pottery Barn.

I'm still not exactly sure which route we'll be going, but at least this is a start.

Sad Dining Room

One of the first rooms you see when you walk into our house is the dining room. That wouldn't be a problem if our dining room didn't look like this:Part of the problem is we haven't fully unpacked yet...but even taking that into consideration it still doesn't give the first impression I'd love our home to give. You know...the impression that adults live here.

One thing I love though is the table. It was my grandmothers, and then my aunt and uncle had it for a while...and now it's mine. I love the legs - and the fact that it can be extended to the point where we could have large dinner parties. Unfortunately, the fact that we only have two chairs means either everyone would have to stand...or my husband and I could just sit at opposite ends of a really long table. Some days that doesn't sound like the worst idea...
In addition to not having enough seating (this is a whole house problem...not just a dining room problem) the two plastic covered chairs we do have leave a little something to be desired.
As does the bare floor that makes the room look feel a little cold.

But luckily, chairs and a rug are relatively easy fixes, it's only a matter of finding ones that we can both agree on...which is a little harder than it sounds (both finding and agreeing), but not impossible.
Another idea I've been tossing around is putting some sort of tall bookshelves on each side of the sliding glass door, and moving the wine storage into the living room (since I'm pretty sure that much warmth and sunlight isn't good for the wine anyway). This would solve the issue of my cookbooks living in the family room, as well as fill a kind of awkward space. It does create a problem of needing to find a new place to hang the framed tea towels (the yellow one above and a blue one that is still sitting on the floor in the living room)...since our dining room and kitchen have a serious lack of wall space, but I'm fairly certain the extra storage would be worth it.

Signs of Fall

(Alternate title: Why I need to go on a diet...)

I love comfort food...

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic long weekend.

I'm loving that the extra time off lets me do things I never have time for during the week. Like actually making breakfast...


I'm not loving my husband's use of his free time...


(Yes, that's my Christmas present T.V. hooked up as a computer monitor...)

I guess we all relax in our own ways...

First Home Project

I was worried when we moved in that it would feel like we were living in a stranger's house, and it wouldn't feel like home. I was surprised however, how quickly it felt like home. I think this had to do in a large part with the neutral color scheme left by the previous owner. It was simple for our stuff to move right in...with the exception of the master bedroom.
While there wasn't anything wrong with the master bedroom, I'm really not the biggest fan of green, and so I knew that would be the first thing we would update.

I had decided that the new house would be a perfect excuse to change up our previously brown decor for something a little more me (yellow). My husband, however, didn't seem thrilled with an all yellow room, and I had to agree that maybe it wasn't the most relaxing color choice. So instead we decided to go with grey - accented with yellow. Marriage is all about compromise.

One of the keys to getting my husband to agree to a change in color scheme (since I had only bought the brown bedding a year ago) was to come home with free grey bedding (THANKS MELISSA!) (note: bedding from Melissa not posted here...)

Anyway, we picked 3 greys from the paint store and got to work...

We tried them out on two different walls to see how they looked in different lights:
Then we looked at them with some of the yellow accent pieces that we planned to bring into the room (conveniently stolen from Melissa's "donate" pile)
We picked the middle color, and began painting the room. Quickly, Brandon realized my painting skills were...sub par, and I was kicked off painting duty (for the record, I've also been kicked off dusting duty...my goal is to be told I'm no longer allowed to do dishes next...). So we (Brandon) painted the room, and I came in every once in a while, danced around and talked about how amazingly perfect it looked...

And then we got close to finished, and I realized...it looks blue. Not in all lights, but enough to start to bother me. Sometimes it's the perfect grey...and sometimes it is clearly blue.
So what do you say to a husband who has painted pretty much the whole room by himself? (and who you may also be in the process of trying to convince that you should get to paint his dresser yellow?) I don't know. I said "it looks blue we should repaint it..." which was apparently the wrong move. So instead, we're going to live with it for awhile, and start to decorate it as planned, with the hope that once the walls aren't bare, it will look a little more grey. Otherwise I'm going to plan on keeping the shades closed, because in the dark it looks totally grey.

Our First Home

Well, eventually we found our first house. It was actually probably good that the first offer fell though, because this is a house we can see ourselves growing into.

Here are some photos from the listing (translation: that is not our stuff in the pictures):

The front yard had those trees that bloom in the spring and smell so nice. Early on when we were dating, my husband and I used to talk about how when we "grew up" (yikes) and got a house we wanted those trees in our yard...so it was almost fate. We had to buy it.
It also had a great backyard space that would be perfect for having people over...or drinking wine on the patio (it's amazing how much it helps to visualize yourself with a glass of wine when looking at houses...).
One of the things we loved about the house right away was how bright it was. There are tons of windows! We (I) also loved how there were windows right above the sink. (Not that I usually do the dishes, but when I imagine having to do the dishes...the window makes it better).
The husband loved how open it was...he seems to think we could host great football, hockey, or other sports parties. Especially with a t.v. over the fireplace.
It was also great that the paint colors were fairly neutral throughout the house...well, except in the master bedroom...in the master bedroom it was a little too green for my taste.
So, that became one of the first items on the "Things To Do To Make The House Feel More Like Home" list (which is different than the regular "To Do - Short Term" and "To Do - Future" lists that I made...oh, and then of course the "To Buy - Now" list, which included things like lawn mower and other fun necessities and the "To Buy - Future" list. I sure do love a good list (or several).

So there you have it. Our very own, first home. Searching for it was a roller coaster of emotions, but in the end, we found exactly what we were looking for.

We moved in the beginning of July, but didn't have internet for over a month (we pretty much just sat and stared at each other all day). Hopefully now there can be more frequent updates.

Follow the Yellowbrick Road

It was surprisingly hard to leave our last apartment (which was on Yellowbrick Road...cute at first until you try to order a pizza...). While I was so ready to leave in some ways, and very excited to be buying our own home...there is always something about leaving a place you called home. We got married while living in this apartment...had our gift opening downstairs...there were lots of memories. (Plus a lot of late nights when packing, moving, and cleaning had me feeling a little emotional).

The living room got a lot of great light, and looked out into a wooded area behind the apartment building. It felt very private, which is always nice! (Especially after having spent 2 years living in the hustle and bustle of Uptown...we actually heard nature here!)

We did have a rather small kitchen though...something I knew was going to be on our list of things we wanted in a new house.
I am super glad we won't be having to check out of an apartment anytime soon. That is quite the process...but it was scary to know we were actually buying something...and what a huge commitment that is. We haven't stayed in one place for more than two years in...almost 10 years (yikes I'm old). Knowing you have to stay in a house for at least 5 years seemed intimidating, but we knew it was the right step. Now we just needed to find the right house...

The First House

House hunting has been emotional, and overall less fun that I had anticipated. Turns out, like wedding planning, when you're playing with real money, it tends to be more stressful than just dreaming. Hopefully when we're all moved in to our new home, it will all have been worth it.

This won't be that home.

We put in our first offer on a home, and it was accepted...well, at least verbally. Before the seller had signed the papers though, another - better, offer came in, and we were out. The hardest part was that we had already started thinking of it as "our" house. I thought I would share the photos from the MLS listing, for those playing along at home.

The outside was still living in the 70s, but I could see the potential...
The backyard also had lots of potential, which I'm kind of learning is a code word for needs lots of work.
The garage was huge, which was more of a bonus than a prerequisite.
And there was a master bathroom. I can't tell you how badly I wanted a master bathroom (even a tiny one). We have one in our current apartment and I'm in LOVE with not sharing with guests.
The best part of the house however was the upstairs living area and kitchen...I loved the kitchen...
The other great thing about this house was that it had a lake view, which was something we didn't expect to find in our price range. So the location was fantastic!

At the end of the day, it wasn't meant to be...but sometimes I still think about the kitchen...

Apartment Number 2 - Party in Uptown

Our second apartment was in Uptown. We picked it for the location, and the architectural details.

(see the pretty arches? And the built ins peeking in from the side of the photo?)...(also, please excuse the mess, we were in the process of moving in...)
While we fell in love with the character, we missed some of the more practical elements. It was a small apartment. And not just a sort of small apartment...it was a VERY small apartment.

Here is a photo of the kitchen area. The tiniest little room, where the fridge couldn't open all the way, because it would hit the sink. You know, practical things like opening the fridge all the way ;)

Another funny thing about where we were at that point in our lives is we hadn't really started paying attention to decorating, or making our apartment feel homey. (Evidenced here by the fact that we had green, jersey sheets on our bed...green is not my favorite color).

Really in our first two apartments most of our purchases were based on cost. We needed sheets because we didn't have any, so we bought the least expensive. On certain things, like our mattress, we splurged, and went with quality, but on most of the more decor items, it was function and cost.

Now that we have the necessities we can focus more on decor...

First Apartment

The first apartment Brandon and I lived in together was while we were in college, and decor was nonexistent. I still think about it though, every once in a while. It is kind of crazy how far we have come...It was two levels - see there's a step down...so we counted that as the second level ;)
It was actually pretty large for a college apartment, and well maintained too.
AND it had a pool...which was super exciting when I moved in...and I used it once.
It was kind of a disaster most of the time, which I think most first apartments are...what is kind of sad is that we still have almost everything in that picture...except the t.v. We now have a MUCH larger t.v.

We quickly learned how much space we had really had when we moved closer to the city...

Glass Endeavors

I thought it was about time to post about the Glass Endeavors class I took back in September (especially now that I have a follower...HI CARLA!). When the class came up on Groupon, I thought it would be a fun thing to try, and the pendant would make a good Christmas present for my mom! (I'm all about mixing classes with presents...it helps me justify taking the class...and I feel like the present is more meaningful because I made it.)

Designing the pendant was super simple, and they had lots of colors to choose from. I kind of wish I would have used the opportunity to make several pendants so that I would have a few to choose from, but I think this one turned out well!

I am definitely thinking about going back for another class someday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Breakfast in bed for dinner...I have a GREAT husband!!

Chicago Vacation

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, but for us, we are returning from a weekend in Chicago!! This was my 1st anniversary present from Brandon. The main part of the present was going to see Les Miserables, which is one of my favorite musicals. I know all the words and have seen it a million times, but it never gets old! They made some interesting changes this time, and I had to say, I miss the rotating stage...especially during the battle scenes. But overall it was amazing. And it was my first time seeing it at a theater other than the Ordway in Minneapolis. So that was a new experience!

We staying in a nice hotel, only feet from the theater!! The rooms were a little small, but very cool looking:And the lobby was amazing, and they had free wine from 5 - 6 every day. So that was an exciting surprise!

We also went to the Art Institute of Chicago. I LOVE art museusms, and this one was no exception. When I was younger I had a game called Masterpiece, where the point was to deal art. My version apparently featured art from the Art Institute of Chicago, which I didn't know until we had walked through several rooms and I had exclaimed to Brandon "That one was in my game!! That one too!". It was great to actually get to see all this art that I had known from when I was younger...especially the ones that had been my favorites! We also saw "American Gothic" which was just kind of cool since it is such a famous American painting.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend full of art, theater, and shopping (my favorite things!!) and the perfect anniversary gift!

So today, instead of a Super Bowl party, we are winding down from the weekend and having Chinese food from a local restaurant. Not exactly elegant, but exactly what we need!!

What a week...

and it is only Tuesday!! It hasn't been bad, just jam packed!

I started a new job yesterday (still with the same company) but it is in a VERY different area, so I don't know anybody or really exactly what I'll be doing. I'm enjoying my days, which is good, but I'll be excited to have some real work to do!! And to get to know my team a little better. It's been a little lonely. I also think I was so lucky with the team I had, that it will be hard to compare.

This morning we were woken up by a chirping fire alarm. It seems that several of the fire alarms in our building decided to go off...without any real reason. Since originally we weren't sure if it was caused by a low battery, we got dressed and made a trip to our local, 24 hour grocer and picked up a few packs of 9-volt batteries (one pack was for our neighbor who we met for the first time this morning...4:15am is probably the best time to meet neighbors...I mean, I know it is when I look my best and am my most coherent...). Hopefully this was just a one night occurrence, because although I wasn't actually all that tired today, I don't think I can make a habit of it!

In other news, I finished Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. I definitely liked this book better than the last book I had read by this author. The book was a recommendation from my brother, and it was quite good, and something I wouldn't have picked up on my own (since it doesn't involve vampires...). It did make me want to move into a cabin and be cut off from the world for a little while (even if that wasn't the point of the story). Now I'm on to a book my mom let me borrow. Even with the Kindle, reading gets a little pricey if you don't borrow books every once in a while :)

Well, two more days of work, and then we are out to Chicago!!

Spicy Chicken Tacos

One of my favorite blogs is Iowa Girl Eats. I love how she enjoys food modestly, and also finds time to exercise! She might seriously be my blogger role model :)

Recently I tried her Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Wraps. YUM! And only four ingredients!!! AND you make it in a crock pot...which may just be my favorite cooking appliance. The step-by-step instructions on her site are great! And the results? Super yummy!!

Happy (Late) New Year

Somehow on New Year’s Eve I managed to have an intense urge to organize and purge. (Out with the old and…well, that’s pretty much as far as we got J). Some was just reorganizing (you know…that spare closet you just stuff things in) and others was packing it up for the Good Will (you know…those things you got as a gift that you actually don’t even like or want out, but feel like you should keep because after all, it’s the thought that counts).

For the past several New Year’s Days we host Brandon’s friends for the NHL Winter Classic. Every year I make chili, and the last two I’ve made cornbread (though I’m still searching for a recipe that isn’t super dry…moist cornbread eludes me again…). This year I also made cookies, using a recipe from Jacques Torres' A Year In Chocolate. This cookbook is beautiful, but a little intimidating with recipes like Esterel Cake and Chocolate Blackout Cake with Ganache Drizzle, so I chose to do the cookie recipe as my first attempt in a year of chocolate.

While I intended to follow the recipe completely, I ended up making a few minor substitutions. The cookies turned out great (even though I accidentally used dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar…and was mocked mercilessly by my husband, brother, and brother-in-law. Apparently all the mocking didn’t stop them from eating them all…and taking some home with them!

But can you blame them? Look at the yummy cookies:

Yum! And totally worth the calories!!