turquoise dresser

This is just the beginning to my daughters bedroom makeover. When I tell you it is a pain in the bucket to re-do a bedroom for Christmas- BELIEVE me! Never again! One room renovation trickled on to a 3 room re-do. Might as well do her bathroom, I think to myself. Oh, and the other child will feel bad if she doesn't have a nifty new room, so I better do something special for her. And there goes my every second of the next 3 weeks! As if December ain't crazy enough! We decided to switch dressers between the girls rooms and paint M's new dresser her new favorite color turquoise. Her favorite color will probably switch tomorrow, so I'm thinking this dresser will have about 6 layers of paint on it before she goes to college.

Steps for finishing a dresser:

1. There is NO EASY WAY to do this. No product out there is magic. Nothing to come save you hours and hours of time. So, DO NOT try to buy paint and slap it on. You will regret it.

2. After my husband bought regular paint at the store, he sanded the entire dresser really well and began painting.

3. Wow! That was easy! ...... Wrong! Latex paint would not stick to a 40 year old dresser. Back to the specialty store to buy OIL based paint and primer and paint stripper.

4. My husband spent an extra 15 hour stripping and sanding all because he didn't use expensive oil based paint to begin with.

5. With the dresser now down to the bare bones, he primed it with oil based primer, tinted gray.

6. Paint with oil based paint and a brush. Let dry and do several coats.

7. Add texture with some gel glaze by minwax. We put it on too thick and used a clean rag and paint thinner (we use alot of that stuff around hear) to remove the excess glaze.

8. Add knobs and Walah! My daughter squealed when she saw it. A true designer at heart.

So the moral of the story is THERE IS NO EASY WAY. Do it right the first time. When I see these 24 hour makeovers on TV they make it look so easy. But have you every seen a close up in High Definition? It ain't pretty folks and even though I'm not a perfectionist, (thankfully my husband is) even I have standards!

Stay tuned for my daughter's bedroom reveal.... It's only a few craft projects away!

I've linked to this fabulous site:

And to the Nester here

Letters to my family

You remember how ultra (pour on the cheese & pull out the tissues) sentimental I am? I am grateful however, that I'm not a hoarder or this issue could be catastrophic! For Christmas one year I decided to write each of my family members a letter telling them how I felt about them. The letters consisted of memories of growing up, how I felt the day they came home from the hospital as babies, the funny things I remember about them, etc. It was theraputic to relive these memories in my letters. It made me happy to remember how kind my brothers were to me, how creative my siblings were on lazy Sunday afternoons and how thoughtful my sisters were. After I compiled letters to all 6 siblings and both of my parents and mailed them, I then made a book for my dad. I made the book thru a book editor online. It was complicated. It was miserable. It took forever and I would NOT recommend it. While I think my dad enjoyed the book and having these memories written down (I definitely get my sentimental side from him) I thought the book binding process could've been better. I always wanted to make one for my own family but the task has seemed daunting to go thru the process all over again. Then I thought how easy it would be to do it thru my favorite online scrapbook company and complete it with pictures. Because you know how much I love pictures! The finished product came in the mail the other day and I can't wait to give it to my husband and children on Christmas morning. However, I don't think it will be quite the reaction I would want (no one is as sentimentally challenged as me) I think they'll appreciate it in their own way. It makes me happy to know that if something happens to me or my loved ones, I will have told them how much they've meant to me. These letters bring me peace and this book is one way to show my family how much I love them. I used http://www.shutterfly.com/ and here is my finished product.


Each child and hubby have a two page layout with a letter from me.

Mini bathroom pick me up

So it's 10 days before Christmas. Most people are wrapping gifts, finishing their shopping lists, mailing gifts, baking treats and just enjoying this fun season. What am I doing? I'm redo-ing my daughters bedroom. Sounds insane even to me! And why just stop at a bedroom? The bathroom is just a few feet away and I don't want it to clash! So I throw in a bathroom makeover as well. Seriously, what's wrong with me? Why do I feel the need to make life more chaotic? Since I had painters coming for my daughter's bedroom, (you'll see her makeover after Christmas) I felt the need to get this bathroom done too. I had very little time to think about it and just threw it together in a night. Not my best work, but the kids love it and my eyes are getting used to the neon green. I thought I was pretty good at selecting colors, but this was not the best choice. It's granny apple green by Behr and it's BRIGHT! It's a small bathroom, shared by the 3 kids and I had to make it more gender neutral. Here's the interesting before's.

In case you were wondering, No I did not paint Ivy and bugs on the wall. If you thought I did, you don't me well!Yellow, blue and lady bugs. Sounds pretty but in reality, just odd. This bathroom has been neglected since we moved in. My kids never use it and it's just been one of those someday projects. Here's what some last minute Target shopping can do for a well needed makeover.
What's a makeover without some polka dots? You know I can't resist polka dots!

This bathroom certainly won't win any creative awards, but it's done and the girls are excited. Maybe they'll start using it now and stay out of my bathroom & the guest bathroom. Honestly, the bugs have scared them at night. Can't say I blame them. Goodbye bugs, grasshoppers and ivy. Hello apple green and turquoise.

Merry Mantel

So this year I needed to go more modern Christmas and tone down the country Christmas that I've done for years. While I love the sentimental ornaments I pull out each year, I remembered how clausterphobic I felt with all the decorations. I need to de-clutter my Christmas and it's made me feel a little less stressful with having less around the home and taking up every inch of wall and table space. Less is more they say and I'm embracing it! I keep seeing all white & silver Christmas decorations and they just ooze glam. Throw in a touch of blue/turquoise and I feel like I'm finally an adult and less college-dorm. After putting up some fun items from Hobby Lobby on my mantel, it needed one more thing. That's when I decided to make a garland with fun papers.







I bought a 2" circle punch at Joann's, and found paper in silver, white and turquoise. 5 different papers in all. I wanted to make sure the back of the garland was just as pretty as the front incase it turned. Which it does. I carefully put two circles together, held on tight, and prayed I didn't sew a finger! After each circle was sewn, I continued on to the next circle. Carefully holding them so the front and back wouldn't slip. You really only get one shot at this if you're sewing to make it continuous. I thought about having a ribbon glued in between the papers if you were hesitant to sew. Same idea. It really wasn't hard to sew though. I took a piece of string and draped it on my mantel to see how long I would want it. Mine ended up being 90" long. And 5 pieces of 12x12" paper is more than enough. Some were only 8.5x11". The whole project took about 40 minutes from start to finish. Quick and easy and I'm ready to make more for birthday parties!





While my street art above the mantel isn't very Christmassy, it is the right color! And it does say, industrial glam doesn't it? Either way- I'm liking that the whole mantel only cost $65.

New Additions....

SQUEAL! My little sis in the hospital right now having a baby and I couldn't be more excited! Two weeks early this baby just couldn't wait to meet his new family. I can't wait to meet him. I've been scouring www.etsy.com in search for the coolest baby products and guess what? I found some. Here are two things my new nephew can't live without. After all, it would be a crime NOT to treat this baby like the Rock Star he's going to be. His name is Max and with a name like that you're sure to ROCK this world!
I ordered little Max a pair in grey with white accent here.


White elephant gift or completely awesome? You decide. But you know your baby will be getting more than ooooh's and ahhhh's when he's chillin with these binkies.
Or just in case you want to get your little one in the Christmas mood.....
I know you want one. So here's where you can get it!

So as you can tell, I'm excited about this new little nephew who lives absolutely too far away. So I'm anxiously waiting to be texted or emailed a picture and hear his little voice. In the meantime, I will be chillin' with OUR new addition..... Can you believe it? Over Thanksgiving we took in a stray dog that hasn't been able to find its owner. He seemed like the perfect dog. For 3 days anyway. The honeymoon is over, the excitement is wearing off, and the poop cleaning/sanitizing has sunk in. But what can we do? After 3 minutes with this dog we fell in love and named him Oscar. (if his name is Oscar, does that make me the Grouch?) Not quite the same as a little newborn, but a new addition to the fam just the same, minus 9 months of aches and pains. Plus, it's not a crime if I leave him at home alone to run to the store..... For some reason the police frown on that if it's your child. (wink, wink) Now I'll be searching http://www.etsy.com/ for dog accessories. I'm pathetic. But fun, right?

Bedroom Makeover from Santa?

What the heck? My nine year old is asking Santa for a bedroom makeover! How is Santa going to pull that off? Yes, she still believes, although her 6 yr old little sis is questioning it. Go figure. So what am I gonna do? What 9 yr old wants clothes for her birthday and bedding for Christmas? I remember wanting a bike and care bears. At nine years old, my friend informed me that I had on two different socks, and all I could think is, "how sad that she wastes time finding matching socks rather than playing!" So here I am, with a to-do list a mile long and now planning a bedroom makeover before Christmas. Can it be done? I doubt it. Will I try? Til I sew through a fingernail! Where do I begin? I go to my favorite elaborate decorating blog for inspiration, Design Dazzle. Here are a few bedrooms I saw on Design Dazzle's blog I'm dreaming of.

Can you tell we like color? A girl with flair for sure! So as kids begin writing their letters to Santa with pictures of toys and bikes, my nine year old is sketching like crazy. Designing her room. Things on her list include a pearl beaded dust ruffle, a monogram duvet cover, a hammock or chair- she can't decide, polka dots, and a glitzy chandelier. She has narrowed her colors to hot pink, orange, turquoise, lime green, black & white. This could either be amazing or a disaster. There's no middle ground in our house! I need help.....

New Photo Prop

I'm always on the look-out for interesting photo props. There's a fine line between super cheesy props and WOW props. "Why use props at all?" you ask. Sometimes its hard to get a real smile. I can't tell you how many photos go in digital trash can because they look more like their posing for the dentist x-ray machine than smiling. Say cheese- and now you can count how many teeth are in their entire mouth! So that's why I use props. I get them acting like their diva-selves and I get some pretty great smiles that way. I can especially capture my kids personalities. The shy one, (nix that- NONE of my kids are shy when I pull out a camera) the sweet innocent one, the soon-to-be broadway star. It's all there, just waiting for a prop to show them how to be themselves. Here is my latest attempt at Christmas card photos. Take 3. That's right, 3 different times of dressing up, getting in the car, and bribing with candy. 3rd times a charm right? You be the judge:

Here are some chalk board thought bubbles: soon to be selling in my sisters store found here.
There are so many possibilities. Your child holding a naughty sign with an arrow pointing to big brother. A scrooge sign for the dad who doesn't want to pose for pics. What would mine say? Oh, that's easy. Trophy Wife. My hubs would say, Eye Candy. As you can see, we're a sarcastic family. But you get the drift. You simply write on chalkboard bubble and wipe off with a baby wipe when you've changed your mind. Easy peezy and a hint of funny. Best kind of pictures!

Family Photo Blunder

Why is that I can take other peoples family photo's fine but always have to do retakes on my own? This year I had a plan. We were going to get it right the first time! I shopped and shopped for weeks looking to find outfits that coordinated but didn't punch you in the face with cute matchyness (It's a word. look it up.) Can I just tell you how hard it is to find something cool for a 2 year old boy in purple and gray to go with his two older sisters? It's nearly impossible! But I did it! I layed everyones outfits on the floor in my room, including shoes and accessories. Everything was ready to go. Outfits? Check! Perfect weather? Check! Full bellies? Check! (I actually made a real dinner- rare!) Happy children? Odd, but yes! The stars aligned. Everything was beautiful. And then we looked outside and it was dark..... Oh dang that silly daylight savings time change! It was too dark to take pictures. We raced to try to get a few, but every picture is way too grainy because the ISO had to be so high to even see us. Here is our attempt-

It doesn't look bad right? It actually looks like it's the middle of a beautiful sunny day right? Wrong! The ISO was at 3200 here. That's crazy high, but makes the picture look well lit. Any bigger than this 3x5 image you see here and the grainy factor is too major! But I was able to get a glimpse of what could possibly be the best family photos ever. Loving the scenery. Loving the outfits. Even the hubs looks happy. Probably because the shoot lasted 3 minutes total instead of 30! So we came home. I made the girls take off their outfits so they would be perfect in one week when we try this again. And then, the next and fatal disaster hit. The coveted purple shirt that was incredibly difficult to find, became victim to my 2 year old's desire to destroy. He cut up his brand new shirt. In the front! Oh yes, it just keeps getting better. Why do family photos have to be so difficult? It reminded me of 2 years ago. It too was a disaster, and we just went with it. This is the photo that we sent out with the caption: Have A Mostly Merry Christmas!

Yep! That's my life. Someone is always getting hurt and crying about it. And I've learned to accept my crazy life and embrace it. When we try to re-shoot our photos next Sunday, we will probably have someone crying, crazy weather problems, a 2yr old with a black eye and a cut up t-shirt. But that's ok. I never really believe those Christmas cards with the children smiling perfectly and the parents who look fresh and well rested. I like a bit more flair to my pictures!

White Chicken Chili

Yay! It's finally getting chilly in Texas! This is what I live for! The nice 70 degree days and the cold 50 degree nights. Pulling out my favorite sweaters and fuzzy socks. Wrapping up at night in my ultra soft robe. Yes it is finally fall. My favorite season. The other night I made my favorite soup that is loved by ALL my children. Very RARE (that I'm cooking AND my children love it)! Our family got this recipe from (practically our 4th sister) Alyson and we make it all the time. What makes it really fabulous is the tomato garnish- you simply MUST make it! My sis Renee hates tomatoes and guess what? She loves this garnish. It's the next best thing to Zac Efron. Just wait, you'll see!

Sorry this picture does NOT do it justice!

White Bean Chili-

*2-3 cans of white beans/ navy beans *1 large onion, diced finely

*36-48oz of chicken broth *7 oz can of diced green chiles

*2 tsp dried oregano *4 tsp cumin *1 tsp Cayenne Pepper (more or less)

*6 cloves of garlic, minced *1 Cup sour cream (no Reduced fat!)

*3 Cups shredded mont. jack cheese *4 Cups cooked & diced chicken

Directions: Combine beans, onions, garlic and broth and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer covered for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally. Add chicken, chiles and seasonings and simmer for 30 minutes. Take off heat, add sour cream and cheese and stir til melted. Add the tomato garnish for a real kick of flavor!

The most amazing, must have, Tomato Garnish:

*5 tomatoes off the vine or 8 roma tomatoes *cilantro chopped finely

*1/2 Cup sugar *1/4 Cup cider vinegar *juice from 1 lemon *1 tsp salt

*1 tsp paprika *2 tsp celery seed *1/3 Cup vegetable oil

Directions: In saucepan combine sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves. In a jar of tupperware comvine lemon juice and seasonings. Add vinegar & oil. Shake to combine. Add just enough to coat the diced tomatoes. You'll probably have extra. Spoon onto your individual bowl of soup. And then invite me over!

Bountiful Baskets

So I've been taking a couple online classes, like I've said and I've been learning a lot in my nutrition class. I've always tried to make our meals pretty balanced, but let's face it, we're not "salad people." Veggies always seem like a burden to eat, so I usually only buy my standard go-to vegetables: bell peppers, onions, broccoli, carrots. I rarely verge outside those lines. Sad, I know. I've had friends telling me all year how I need to order a bountiful basket every week and how good of produce you get for only $15. Sounds great, but they only have a short ordering window every week and I would always forget. Well, last week, I remembered and I got my first basket. IT WAS AWESOME!!! I planned my meals according to what veggies I needed to use up and we were eating so many more than we ever eat. Fruit has always been easy for us to go through, but it was so awesome to get all this produce for so cheap! Their website says that you're saving $35 a week in produce by contributing to this co-op.
Ok, so here's what you do, go onto their website and see if they have your town in the system, then order sometime between Monday night and Tuesday night (order early because they run out) and then pick up the produce at the designated time on Saturday. I mean, seriously look at all the food that I got this week and tell me you could buy that at the grocery store for fifteen bucks. What was that? You can't? I KNOW! Ok, so off you go to their website. Don't forget Mandy sent ya!

Happy Birthday to us!

Well it's been a year folks since our first blog post. I can't believe a year has gone by and Oprah hasn't had us on her show? No calls from Nate Berkus either. Bummer..... good thing my expectations have never been real high or it might be a lame blog birthday! Why did we begin to blog if it wasn't to achieve unrealistic goals of fame and fortune then? Mainly, it's 3 sisters & my parents trying to stay close even though we live half way cross the country from each other. We set goals to try to finish all our lofty projects, we get ideas from each other, and we stay a little sane by having to use our big-girls vocabulary after spending hours a day playing with little ones and singing Dora songs. This is where I come to vent about ridiculously exhausting projects like my mason jar chandelier or my cooking disasters with Cayenne Pepper-facing. It's where I dream of furniture shopping, dress shopping & a little photoshopping. It's where my simple and completely boring (and I'm grateful for boring!) life find a little glamour for just a moment. I feel like my SAHM world is just a little bigger than beyond my fence when I type into this small little blog box. I love you, little blog with our 63 followers. Happy blog-aversary!

So for a real post.... I'm sure you've seen a million of these subway signs around right? Potterybarn has them and my fave store ZGallerie has this one

Well my padres decided to make their own. Cuz my parents are cooler than yours and they do stuff like that......(smiles). So they decided to make one with all the streets they've lived on since they were married. My mom found a piece of thin wood at Home Depot which was 24"x48". My dad made a frame to go around it, cuz he's cool like that too.... and with a little vinyl magic and some paint and sanding they made this little beauty to go in their future ultra-chic living room (which they are making-over as I speak)! I can't wait to see all their details to this room and blog about them. My parents taught me everything I need to know about do-it-yourself-ing. They have reupholstered many a couch, built furniture, painted harliquins on the ceiling, and can tile floors and make concrete counters. Yeah, somewhere between them and the 3 kids before me, I missed out on their talent, but I can brag about theirs! Here is the more personalized and MUCH cheaper version of subway art.

And now I'm off to eat cake wearing my birthday suit. "What? Gross!" You say. Oh, alright I'll wear something else- but nothing in my wardrobe has as much flair as my birthday suit! And when I say flair, I pretty much mean rolls. But lets call them ruffles for today, cuz I LOVE ruffles and ruffles remind me of truffles. Mmmmm, good thing its my blog birthday. Calories don't count on blog birthdays!

Carseat Cover

Well, it turns out that taking 6 credits online right before you have a baby is not such a brilliant idea after all. Hmmm, who knew? But I am determined to get some baby-related projects done before due-day. I started noticing these carseat covers everywhere when my two-year-old was about 6 months old and we didn't really need it anymore. So making one of these has been high on my to-do list. I found an awesomely easy tutorial for making them here. So awesome. So easy. PERFECT baby shower gift.
Since having my first, my family will testify to my being a paranoid germiphobe. Seriously get creeped out by people. And having a winter baby will probably up the anty a little bit. I may start keeping a bottle of hand santizer outside my front door so people can use it on their way into my house. I believe that I single-handedly kept our entire family from getting sick last year at DisneyWorld because I personally gave each person a dollop of heaven each time they came off a ride. And although they rolled their eyes each time they rubbed their hands together, they didn't get swine flu- did you mom?? Ok, anyway, these things are great and will keep people off my baby!!

I used a cute flannel for the outside and then a plain minky for the inside. I figure it will be a bit warmer for winter than a thinner fabic.

(Insert baby here in 7 weeks!)

My Birthday Tradition

I love parties. I love cake. I love finding the perfect gift that makes the recipient hold their breath when they open it. So why do I hate, loathe, sob a little when it comes to my children's birthdays? Is it because I can't stop them from growing up? Or is it more selfish and I can't stop getting older & their birthdays make me realize that? Either way, I get a little sad every time one of their birthdays comes around. This is a tradition that I started when my first was about 3. A birthday letter. It's pretty simple. I write them a letter each year on their birthday going over the funny things they do or events that transpired over the last year and their extravagant party that I sacrificed hours for. (They probably won't remember 90% of all the crap I do for them so I like to document it for them- you know, just to have proof in those ugly teenage years that my girls swear they will never go thru!) The plan is that if they're, oh say....... 30 when they get married, I will give them one of their letters each day for 30 days before their wedding. Cute right? Sentimental right? Ultra cheesy? Um, yeah, it's me remember! My sista Renee and I made these cute boxes and I'm dying to make one for each of my kids to put their birthday letters in. We found unfinished wooden boxes at some Hobby stores and unscrewed the sure-to-eventually-fall-off cheap clasp and E6000 glued on a cute fleur de lis. (sp?) We painted the inside and outside of the box black and sanded the edges. Then we printed a picture larger than the outside of the box and cut it to size. Next step, mod podge the picture to the top of the box. TIP: You must have the picture printed at a store if you mod podge. Home printers and mod podge don't mix- trust me! Another tip: use a light coat of mod podge on the box itself, and a very light coat on the back of the picture. Make sure it dries completely before mod podging the top of the picture or you'll get wrinkles! Let it dry for a few hours and you end up having a super cute jewelry, treasure or letter box! So will I still be sad this week when my baby turns 2? Totally. Will I gorge on cake to dull the pain? Totally. And will his 2nd birthday letter be soaked in tears? Um.... maybe, but more likely it will have chocolate smears on it. I'm pathetic that way.

I need to getaway!

I know I should be thinking of Halloween right now. I am planning a little Halloween Party for my cute little class I teach at church. 12- 3&4 year olds! I should be planning my son's 2 year old birthday next week (sniff,sniff), a Halloween block party & my daughter's birthday. But those consist of a BIG to-do list. I should be photoshopping the 100,000 pictures on my computer. I wish I was exaggerating on that number but my computer crashed a little bit this week because I hit the maximum capacity for photos. Didn't think that was possible? Me neither! So instead of working on my huge list of projects, I am sitting at the computer listening to Train- Hey, Soul Sister & planning vacations that we'll probably never go on. I'm making a huge bucket list of places to travel "One Day". You know "one day", when I have unlimited funds, time & the kids are grown. I dreamt the other night a client paid me to go to Paris and take some pictures so they could hang them on their wall. Funny thing was, Paris in my dream looked more like Paris, Texas! I need to get out of here. I need to spread my wings and explore and veg and not be on the computer or doing laundry or cleaning bathrooms or cleaning up throw-up. Yeah, this week has been "eventful" & my weekend isn't going to be relaxing either. So I dream. And I plan. And I've come up with the hopefully the easiest Thanksgiving I'll ever have. No cleaning & cooking & home renovation projects required.



We are going to Great Wolf Lodge for Thanksgiving this year. They even have a Thanksgiving dinner buffet. I'm sure the food won't be anything to brag over, hopefully it will be edible. (I typed in the code HOWLIDAYS and saved too!) But the thing is, I won't have to do a thing other than pack a swimsuit. No cleaning for hours before and hours after the dinner. No going to 3 different grocery stores to find all the ingredients. No waking up at 5am to get the turkey in the oven. No, I will sleep in. I probably won't even do the girls hair. (If you know me, you know that their hair is AWFUL to do & not doing it is almost like a vacation!) I will simply pack swimsuits & maybe a couple of toothbrushes and some flip flops and get in the car for a 20 minute drive. Interested in an easy non-traditional Thanksgiving? Wanna come? I'll see ya there! It's no Paris, Italy or even Disney World, but it's an easy getaway that I can do without making a million lists and a million trips to various stores & spend packing & doing laundry for 3 days. Yes, I need to plan more little getaways, because waiting 6-10 months for a single BIG getaway is just way too long! So watcha doing for Thanksgiving?

gift idea

So this is probably old news to most of you, but I squealed like a little girl @a Jonas Bros Concert when I saw this. It will surely be on my Christmas list this year! This company http://www.gelaskins.com/ makes cool covers for your phones and ipads. But did you know that you can upload your own photos? You can put your kids, grandkids, business info on your phone? The possibilities are endless. I'm so stinkin excited! I can't wait to order one for me, my husband & one for the ipad. The phone covers start at $14.95 and you can order matching wallpaper. I can't wait to get my family photos done to order one! One gift off my list- oh yeah! Just 77 more presents to go........

Mishaps in cooking......

I had this plan in my head that tonight would be different. I would have a relaxing night. We only had piano lessons that afternoon and we were home much earlier than on our hectic dance/gymnastics nights. Yes tonight would be relaxing. I even told the girls that we were going to have a PEACEFUL evening. When dad got home, we would already be in pajamas, fed & have a few minutes as a family to just relax and play a game. Yes. That was my brilliant plan. My plans are perfect in my head, not so perfect in reality though. So I began making dinner, nothing fancy but something completely out of the norm for me. Tacos with ground beef. Ground beef is rare for me to cook because its just disgusting to watch it cook, and the smell is insulting to my nose. I happened to be on the phone and not paying attention when I coated the cooked meat with Cayenne Pepper instead of Taco Seasoning. I hung up the phone, rinsed the meat several times thru a colander and hoped I hadn't ruined dinner. Then I added the taco seasoning. I didnt want to make the same mistake as before so I put the huge Costco-size container of Cayenne pepper away on the top shelf. Tippy toes, arm extended and POOF! The darn lid wasn't on! The bottle spilled onto my face, up my nose, into my ear, into my mouth, down my shirt & then onto the floor. I had to just laugh. It was ridiculous!
(photos by my almost-as-dramatic-as-me 8 yr old)

So my 8 yr old grabs the camera, because at this point I was still laughing. And closing my eyes, trying to find my way to the sink to dump off remnants of chile dust on my face. Then came the burning! My lips & mouth were on fire! I had to shower and just hang my tongue in running water. After my shower I began to clean up the remnants and that's when my ear began to BURN! It felt like flames coming out of it. And the pain began to get deeper and deeper into my ear canal. Could I go deaf? I called my mom. She didn't know. I tried hubby, not so helpful other than laughing. I called poison control. I thought they got paid NOT TO LAUGH, but that isn't the case. After all was said and done, you can be relieved that my face & mouth are still attached to my head. And I can hear. And YES, I can hear you laughing at me right now. And as Mandy would say after years of watching Full House episodes (I won't admit that I watched them with her), "HOW RUDE!"

Peaceful evening? What was I thinking? There's never a dull moment when there's 3 of us girls in the house and a little boy. Controlled Chaos is the goal tomorrow! What would be the lesson I learn from this experience? Answer: I was right, ground beef is the bane of my existence. Avoid at all cost. That, and I need to pick up more cayenne pepper at the grocery store tomorrow.

MY new rug

So the bland, predictable, indecisive person in me won the latest decorating battle. But at least the battle is over! After 8 long, slippery, cold months, we finally got a rug for the living room. It was high on my "to get" list before baby comes. So here's the before of my living room. It was definitely missing something- although leaps and bounds from the wall to wall carpeting we had prior.

And here's the after! Doesn't it just make the room so much more warm and inviting? Hubby wasn't understanding why we would do all the work of putting that floor in to only cover it up with a rug (men, sheesh:), but I'm just thrilled with it. Even if it isn't quite the floor flair Andrea's got going in her living room. But I can't copy her on everything, I suppose.

I am also THRILLED with the fact that I picked it up from Home Depot online and got a stellar deal on it. Paid about a third of what I had expected to fork out for a new rug. Sweet.

Fried Rice

I'm at an all time low peeps. After enjoying my parents for two weeks, eating incredible food & desserts & shopping, I can't button up my pants! Its diet time. No more chocolate, no more ice cream, no more caramels and creme brulee. (Yeah, we really do eat like that when my padres come to visit) Its time to diet before the Thanksgiving week gorge and the Christmas Shortbread come out. So what do I do? I start dreaming about food I shouldn't have! This right now is what would really hit the spot. Some think of homemade Mac&Cheese as comfort food, but I'm convinced its good Fried Rice! Here's my super easy & yummy fried rice recipe from the restaurant Benihana:

Benihana Japanese Fried Rice:

ingredients:

-2 Cups cooked Rice (no instant or quick) -2 eggs, beaten

-1 Cup frozen peas -2 TBL finely grated carrot

-1/2 C diced onion -1/2 TBL butter

-2 TBL soy sauce -salt & pepper to taste

Cook rice before hand & referigerate. Scramble eggs in a fry pan over medium heat. Chop cooked eggs into small bits with spatula while cooking. Set eggs aside. Melt butter in a large fry pan, on med/high hea. When butter is melted add rice & veggies & then add soy sauce plus salt & pepper and cook for 6-8 minutes. Stirring the entire time.

*I usually double the butter & soy sauce, (hence my dieting) and add chicken. I like make this with leftover rice. Super easy & filling!

Things I heart.....

Do you go to sleep everynight dreaming of furniture and decorating? Is that weird? Cause if it is, I totally don't do that. I've practically redone every room in my house when I had my house painted. But its the accessories I can't ever get right. And the accessories are what make your room go from nice to FABULOUS! Even though I have most major peices of furniture these are some of the items I may (or may not) go to sleep dreaming about.......

(image from Restoration Hardware)

Don't you just love the world war II look that they've come out with recently? It makes my heart skip a beat. sigh.........

I can't remember where I saw this bedside beauty. But I dream about a metallic or mirrored side table every time I look at my wood one with a cup stain.

(image by z gallerie)
Lighting should be BLING! I want a whole house lighting makeover and I would begin with this gem. I don't even think it matters where I'd put it. It would be spectacular!

(image by Restoration Hardware)
This industrial desk has my heart all over it. I'm blowing kisses to you right now you vintage reproduction of a France mail desk. You are smokin'!

(Z gallerie again)

Having a "feeling fat day"? Um, I don't think so. This chair makes you look hotter just chilaxin in it! I wonder if I could bring it to my next doctor appt when they weigh me and frown? Seriously I quadruple heart pass you turquoise leather chair. I want you to be my fourth child because you cost more than my 3rd. Another long sigh.

Another Z gallerie image. But this orange pillow stands for everything I believe in. Orange, ruffles & bold. You make any room pop with this accessory.

And last but not least. What began my recent obsession (ok I've been possessed) with industrial glam. Industrial Glam? Did I just coin a new design phrase? I don't know, but that totally sounds like my style! These chairs are seriously cool from Restoration Hardware. They totally look like fighter pilot chairs and that's just cool. Totally beats your husbands bum-shaped-worn recliner! So there you have it. I pretty much want to marry Restoration Hardware & Z Gallerie and have darling babies named Living, Dining, Bedroom & Office. Sweet dreams my little Indy-glams!