Oh Romeo...

Where for art thy appreciation for Valentines Day?! 

No, seriously Romeo, I understand that you think its all so the founder of Hallmark can drive a very nice car and eat bon-bons all day, but I still love it.  And the chocolate.  Oh..the chocolate. 

Just kidding, Mr. Tanner always does really amazing things for Valentines Day.  Last year, I came home to this:

All of the food was prepared by him (and covered since I was about 45 minutes late coming home, oops haha)  And he dressed up the candle holders.  Everything crafty, he made.  Be still, my heart.

He can still show me where things are in Joanns when I'm lost...

The tall cylinder is a covered, decorated pringles can filled with 100 reasons why he loves me.  I keep it on my nightstand, and I usually reach in and pull one out to read every night.  He is the best.  In fact, maybe I should let you in on a few other reasons why...

-  He lets me pile up my socks at the end of the bed, even though he hates it.  He calls it my sock garden.

-  In the morning, he makes sure my car is started, warmed up, and all the snow and ice is off of it.  Every     morning.

-  Not only does he encourage me to keep creating, but he HELPS me to create.  Thats huge to me.

-  He is the best listener I know

-  It doesn't matter if I wear makeup or not, pjs or not, zits or not, he always compliments me and sincerely means it.

-  We can laugh about things like confusing our dogs with noises...

-  He doesn't get mad at me when I break the glass globe on a pendant light it took him 2 hours to install

-  If a huge football game is on, and I come in the room, he lets me know we can change the channel if I'm not interested in watching. 

-   He never belittles me

-  He washes dishes as much as I do

-  He comes up with baby names too

He even lets me decorate the house any way I want for V-day.  The only banned decorations in our house are Easter decorations (which is just a long standing joke between us).  He draws the line at creepy bunnies who hide eggs. Which is kind of weird if you think about it.  

Valentines Day is always hard for me, because what do you get a guy?  Besides the obvious stuff, I'd like to do something really creative and fun for him.  What do you ladies do? 

I always try to find really random greeting cards to give him, like last year, I found one that had a little picture of an ice cube melting in the sun, and it said "Even if I was this piece of ice, and you were the sun, I would stay out all day long."  We love those kinds of cards.

Speaking of, what crafty items are you guys making this year?  Here are a few inspirations of mine...

Such cute little crafts!  Stay tuned for an Esty store grand opening celebration!

(This would mark one resolution down, and a few more to go!!)

**All images from Flickr**

A little Anthropologie hack for ya...

I posted on this when I first started my blog, but I thought I would do another just because I was in my blogging infancy, and I don't think I really did it justice :) 

Last year, Tanner and I found this table (The Curator Table) at Anthro and fell in love with the design.  It was so quirky!  I loved the idea of all the mismatched frames and trim, and the knobs...but not the patina.

 

I'm pretty sure I asked Tanner, "how much do you think this is -- 400.00?"  He said, "that would be really expensive but I'm sure it is, since this is Anthropologie we're talking about."

As I turned the price tag over, I had to do a double take, and then wipe off the price tag just to make sure I wasn't seeing things.  It wasn't 400.00!  It wasn't even 550.00!  It was almost 700.00..........

s-e-v-e-n      h-u-n-d-r-e-d. 

There better have been a kidney in one of the drawers for that price tag.

A few months later, I had a client who wanted two matching nighstands unique in texture, and I remembered the kidney table.  Google brought me to Design*Sponge, where I found someone who had copied the Curator Table and made it cuter in my opinion, using different kinds of trim.  Tanner and I quickly set to work, given our client's measurements.  So here is our finished product! If you're interested in purchasing, they are $175.00.  Kidney included.

Before and After: Our House

Oh how I'd love to curl up...with a good book, a hot cup of cocoa, and some nice warm socks....on my window seat with sun streaming in through the window..... 

(Funny story about the curtain in this picture...I totally used ELMERS GLUE to put some ribbon on it...hahaha)

When we first moved in to our house, the previous owners had graciously built two of these...but....unfortunately, their color of choice was hot pink.  And deep deep purple (The two colors just didn't get along...)

In fact, a lot of things about our house have changed, and I thought I'd take you through just a small portion of what we have done.

Lets start with all the before shots. (these are the MLS listing pictures)

Here's the sunken living room, complete with a nice pink/burgundy wall (this color was spilled all over the carpet in the master bedroom)....and green plastic cushion in the sill.  Also, there is green paint all inside the window.............  

A sweet brass light fixture swings in the distance....highlighted by those burgundy walls again...

So this is the deep purple wall I was talking about...I don't have anything else to say about that wall..except that I'm glad its gone!!!

Teeny-tiny mantle.  HUUUUGE ugly hearth.

Turn left to face the kitchen

Yes, those are kitchen utensils hanging from hooks in the corner. There were over 30 hooks that we unscrewed from the bottom of the cabinet...

I was so thankful to have a house to renovate, and so was my husband, because the night we were supposed to be moving stuff in, he was tearing out walls....

almost.....

Phew!!!  Bye-bye red wall!

NOW...onto that purple wall back there....after some much needed naptime... :)

()

Remember that green window seat?

Its amazing what just a little paint and some accessories can do!

So are you ready to see the kitchen?  Lets visit that before picture again...

We knocked out the panels and added beadboard, painted them a creamy white, and added our own pendant lighting.  We wanted to get the pottery barn lights but our budget just wasn't there.  Oh well!  These are just as cute!!  Currently, however, the one on the left took a beating as I was drying dishes.  I accidentally broke the glass on the OUTSIDE by swinging a pan over my head to put in a cabinet by the stove.  It wasn't pretty. 

 

Tanner also added the small wainscoating to the top of the cabinets, and the caps to the bottom.

We purchased the stick on flooring and put it on our countertops.  It looks JUST like real tile!  And it cleans easy.

One night about 6 months ago, Tanner and I decided to rip out the pantry that we never use, and put in a recipe desk.  We used a desk I got at Salvation Army, and tanner built it in. There was a little bit of open space, so he added a broom closet as well.  All the open shelves are made from the old pantry shelving.  We put in an under cabinet light, and some rope lighting to accent the shelves. 

.

And last but not least in the kitchen area, is the dining room..complete with my asbolute favorite table in the entire world.

Uh oh...this is motivating me to finally finish the office/craft room.....

What projects are you trying to finish? 

Things I meant to show you before now..

This is a post I've been excited about doing ever since my friend Vanessa decided to have an amazingly inspiring, beautiful, meticulously and fabulously decorated, jaw-dropping house.  We were all over there for our annual Christmas Progressive Dinner, and I decided to finally snap a few shots to show you.  It is just perfect. 

I hope you all have a very VERY Merry Christmas, and don't overload on too much....oh you know what? WHO cares, eat as much good food as you want.  Make sure to wear your elastic waist pants, though.  'Cause they're hot.  And convenient.  :)

So this is Vanessa, her husband Caleb, and their son.  AND...their truck.  (drooling)

And...this is where they live. 

(This is me and my bent Christmas tree cookie....sigh)

(Also...don't trust me with a rolling pin.)

And with that...I'm skating off to Target for some last minute shopping......very...last...minute. 

Love you all.

I'm just going to post it.....

Goofing off at midnight when I should be in bed.  But I can't sleep and figured that if I really want to write music and stuff, I better get comfortable with people listening to me.  So.  I know you guys will take it easy on me here hahah.  Anyways....enjoy.....yay for the holidays!!!

(For the record, I don't really wish it would snow...we have enough already, thank you!)

hey...HEY!

Just a quick inerjectory post here..

Sometimes in life, we need to slow down, re-evaluate and re-arrange some things to make time for ourselves.  Doing this is easier said than done, but Kasey at Lola B's is taking that step.  Which, go her, because like I said, it's not so easy to do.  She has decided to close down her online shop.  You can read about her plan here.

Sometimes I remind myself of Gus Gus, the mouse from Cinderella when he's trying to carry all that cheese...and it takes him the better part of 3 minutes to gather it all up, only to lose it ALL when Lucifer the cat comes to cramp his style.  (Side note:  Pretty sure thats why I didn't like cats for a long time. ) 

So, I'm proud of you Kasey.  You'll breathe so much easier!

Anyway, she is having a giveaway...a special surprise full of "Lola B goodies."  You know its gonna be good.  :)

So you just need to go to her blog, leave a comment -- and for some extra entries, blog and tweet about it.  And maybe say a prayer for her as I know its probably not an easy thing to close a shop that she's worked so hard on.

Thinking about New Year's Resolutions...and baking.

Well, its the other time of year for me today...I just started thinking about my New Year's resolutions....

To be honest, this is a process I never really put much thought too, or (much like all of us I'm sure) have huge ambitions that amount to nothing more than giving up two weeks in, only to find that 25 oreos all at once really wasn't that great an idea, no matter how good they sounded!

This year, I'm going to take a different approach.  Baby steps.  Just like Bob. 

1.  Write one song.  I have an almost entirely full journal of song fragments.  I've had this for about 3 years without finishing one thought!  I know if I could sit down and really try, I could do it.

2.  Lose 5 pounds.  Last year it was 20.....and I think I acutally GAINED weight from last year.  So this year, I'm goin' small......5 pounds, nuff said.

3.  Get to know Jesus more.  At our last small group, we sat with each other, opened our bibles and  really started to uncover who Jesus was and is.  Through one small set of scripture in John, I actually learned how Jesus really meets people where they are, and how intimate in relationships He was.  I am just starting to see a glimpse of how I can start a more intimate relationship with Him.  I know He is more real than I make him out to be...  so yeah, I am making that a resolution for sure.

4.  Get new carpet, JUST in the living room.  I know the bedrooms need it too, but that's expensive and a goal that gets shoved to the wayside.  Living room carpet is all I need. :)

5.  Set up my Etsy store.  I, like my song writing, have been waning in creativity and PROductivity lately.  I know I need to get my butt in gear and start cranking out some product!!

6.  Get to know you guys more.  I seriously cherish my readers and their blogs, products, and creativity.  You are such a loving community and I'm so glad to have found you!!!  Or glad you found me :)  I want to pray for your needs (so let me know if you have prayer requests...big and small) and really be involved in your lives...whether through reading your blog, or, trying to meet up and make new friends.  Maybe a Northwest(ish) summer get together is in motion...?  Could be fun!

Anyway....I'm sticking with six this year...little things, but things I am confident I can accomplish. 

What are your new year resolutions?? 

So.....I'm baking tonight.  'Cause the kitchen is finally clean, and I've only made one batch of whoopie pies this season.  What is that about?  Betty Crocker, get ready to meet your match............................via Martha Stewart......and my ramshackle kitchen.

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
8 large candy canes or 30 peppermint candies, crushed
2 pounds white chocolate, coarsely chopped
 
And now you do this...
 
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add egg, then yolk, beating well after each addition. Beat in peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).


2.Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out circles, and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Roll and cut scraps once. Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining disk.

3.Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer parchment, with cookies, to wire racks, and let cool. (Undecorated cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.)

4.Sift crushed candy, and separate larger pieces from dust, reserving both. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Remove from heat. Dunk cookies into melted chocolate. Using a fork, turn to coat, let excess drip off, and gently scrape bottom against edge of bowl. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of either candy pieces or dust on top. Repeat, sprinkling half the cookies with pieces and the rest with dust. Refrigerate until set, up to 3 hours. Decorated cookies are best served the same day.
 

"Decorated cookies are best served the same day." 

pfffffshhh  hahaha.  Really?  Is that ever a problem for anyone?? 

 

Great....I'm really on a roll to resolution number 2........