One for the Inspiration files

Thank you all for the feedback on the shutter color.  Great minds think alike!

I came across this photo this evening while perusing iVillage.

Oh yes, that tub is beyond gorgeous, but what really has me excited is the shelving.  I would LOVE to one day have built in shelving accessible to me while I'm IN the tub.  Not only is it beautiful, but it is also functional.  Design 101, right?

Definitely filing this one away for Master Bathroom ideas.

:)  Courtney



Extension ladder... STAT.

Yes, I'm in desperate need of a fireman and his ladder.  Okay, I'll just take the ladder.

I have fallen in love with this exterior.

The variance in brick tones adds a lot to this home, as does the architecture, but the shutters and the window boxes also add a lot of charm. 

What do you think?   Are black shutters boring, or classic?   Drab, or debonair?



Here is our home now.

We have a long way to go to improve the exterior of this house- Starting with correctly pruning those bushes...  My This Old House magazine came in the mail yesterday and they have a great article this month about how to correctly prune overly grown plants.  Perfect timing.

Of course, it is always fun to look back on where we've been.

This is the front on the day we closed, 10 months ago.

And now...

Please excuse our hideous ADT sign. haha.

Then...

Whew... look at that dirty brick.  Thank goodness for pressure washers and my husband's insistence that we buy one. haha.

Have you had enough yet?  haha

Then...

Different view, but now..

Excuse the horrible photo shopping, but I think black would look pretty gosh darn good.

Yay for fun plans!  :)  Paint = Cheap.  Cheap = doable.  Now I just need that extension ladder.

Courtney

Blog Designer?

I need help!

I am in need of recommendations of a blog designer, and who better to ask than those of you who will be looking at it.  Hah!

Seriously, any recommendations?  I'm in need of some ol' bloggy organization and I just don't have the time to devote to doing it myself.

Thanks in advance!

:)  Courtney

Master Bedroom/Nursery Combo

Better late than never, right?  :)

Plus, little guy is actually starting to get on a napping schedule, so I was able to take a few photos yesterday.  Did I say a few photos?  There might be more than a few.

Here is where we started.

It actually wasn't a bad color.  However, it was a very relaxing, almost dreary color, and I need all the help I can get to wake up in the morning.   The carpet was in good shape, as was the ceiling fan.

 The room had a large, beautiful window, but not so beautiful window treatments.

 The double doors lead into the bathroom.

Here we go!

We painted the bedroom door black, just like the rest of the doors in the house.

For those of you who are new around here, we decided to do our nursery in our master bedroom because all of the secondary bedrooms are upstairs.  I didn't feel comfortable with having Liam so far away, nor did I feel like climbing the stairs numerous times in the middle of the night.

After the baby moves upstairs with his brothers, we'll do some rearranging again.  We might leave the bed where it is, or we might move it in front of the window.  That placement would actually give us room for some decent nightstands.  We're sort of smooshed as is.

The framed fabric wall was a DIY project that you can read about Here.

I also made the Euro Pillows on the bed, link Here.

Ignore the ugly fan and cord where it is plugged in.  We've all been trained to sleep with a little white noise, and Liam is no exception.  You have to do what you have to do when there are blog photos to take! ha!

The lamp I picked up at Marshall's Homegoods.  I couldn't resist the coral shape.

I'm thinking about painting the black base white, what do you think?

We replaced the two miniblinds on the windows with one large shade.   I then hung Ikea Vivan curtains on each side of the window.  Finding a rod to cover that span of space would have been difficult and expensive.  There are actually four panels total, for a little fullness.

The rug is a Pottery Barn Kids outlet find.

I painted the diaper changing table red, which I think adds a nice pop of color.  You can read about that project Here

The changing cover came from Target.  I used baskets that we already had to hold diapers and burp cloths.  I purchased two large tin containers from the paint section at Lowes, that hold blankets and pjs.

The chair was my first major slipcovering project.  You can read about that post Here.

I made the art for the side wall, details Here.

The mobile and baby bedding were also a DIY projects.

Mobile post Here.

Baby bedding post Here.

Painted circles on wall, Here.

As you can see, the room isn't completely done.  The bathroom doors are still off white, and have brass handles, but until we have the time and funds to tackle the bathroom, they'll probably stay that way.

There you have it.  Not the most conventional of spaces, but sometimes you just have to do what works for your family.  At this stage in life, this is what works.

Thanks for stopping by!

:)  Courtney

Favorite Things Friday

Favorite Things Friday- Round 2

If you're like me, dieting is a lot easier when you don't have other people to cook for.

I've gone through stages where I would cook the family one meal, and then make something else for myself, but this just ended up in resentment on my part.  My husband has the metabolism of a 12 year old while I have to really watch what I eat and work out just to maintain my weight.  Love ya, Honey!

A few months ago, my mom brought me this cookbook on one of her visits, and it is this week's favorite thing.

I love looking over cookbooks, and they look really pretty in the kitchen, but I rarely use them to actually prepare a meal.  However, my husband has really gotten into a frying stage - he wants to fry everything. Everything.  The skinny gal who lives way, WAY down deep inside me shudders in fright every time he gets the oil out of the pantry. 

I decided to open this baby up and see if Ol' Rocco had a healthier method of attacking the fry.

Enter in:  Flash-Fried Finger-Lickin' Chicken.

Yes, that really is the name of it.  Pg 114.

Avg fat/calories of normal friend chicken- 30gfat/549cal

His version- 10.9gfat/204cal

The basis of this recipe is that you boil the chicken in low sodium, low fat chicken broth FIRST, coat in low fat milk and whole wheat flour and THEN flash fry.  Since it doesn't spend much time in the oil, you soak up less.  You're basically frying the outside batter, not the whole dang chicken.   Tastiness factor- way on up there.

Genius I tell you, and all of the recipes in the book use some of the same, common sense, why the heck didn't I think of that, methods. 

If you get it, be sure to read the introduction and his Can't Live-without ingredients.

Love it.

:)  Courtney

Venue - The planning of a birthday party

This young man will be turning 6 next month.


He's also starting T-Ball and is super excited about it.  He's even been wearing his new cleats around the house.  So, when discussing it, we decided that a baseball themed party might be the perfect fit.
This may or may not have been insisted upon by his father, who was once a little obsessed with the game in his younger years.

He's never had a large party before because we just haven't known that many kids to invite to a big party.  All of our parties before have been centered around family with maybe 2 friends. However, this year he is in school and REALLY wants to have a party so he can invite all of his classmates.

I did a little research online and found out that Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, leases their party suites for birthday parties and events.  Sweet..SUITE!  har har.   
Talking my husband into going this route was super simple.  Major League Ballpark ... they get to run the bases? He was sold.

Me...  You provide the cake?  You provide the entertainment?  You provide goodie bags for the kids?  What, AND a gift from the Astros to my child?  Wow, this is like a no brainer.  haha.   Here I was considering the local jumpy place- which is still super cool, but they're almost as much rental wise, and they provide NOTHING extra.  That stuff really adds up.

So, yep.  I was sold too.

We decided to go on one of the tours offered by the ballpark last Sat because I have control issues and needed to see what we were committing to for a day of family fun.
If you're in the Houston area, and you have a free afternoon, it is definitely something to look into.  In fact, everyone on our tour lived in the Houston area.  Awesome being a tourist in your own town.
I've since looked and Reliant, the local NFL stadium, and the Toyota Center, NBA, host tours also, in case you're interested.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for more birthday party planning posts over the next month.  Meanwhile, here are some photos from our tour of the ballpark.


Minute Maid Park is located in downtown Houston. 
Although there are several entrances, we entered into the park via the old Union Station.  In fact, the field itself was built over the old train yard. 
Our guide told us that after it was a Train station, it was converted into office buildings, and when the Astros took it over, the ceilings in the station had been dropped down to 8 feet.  In their remodeling, they discovered some of these amazing plaster designs and the arches, which they then restored.

You then enter into this concourse area where if you look back, you can see the old restored brick, and into Union Station.

This area also has beautiful exposed beaming.  Don't you just love the color of the brick in contrast to the steel? Love it.

Looking back the other way, you can see peeks of the field.

What we found great is that there was actually a birthday party going on while we were there.  They're small, but if you look closely, you can actually see these kids out on the field running the bases.

I believe (don't quote me) that this was one of the first baseball fields to have a retractable roof.  While we were there, it was closed.

To the left, you can see a stone wall under the huge wall of windows (which also retract).  On the wall is a train rail, on which, sits a train. :)

This was constructed in honor of the field's history, and the association with Union Station.   The train does actually run, and it makes it's way across the wall for three occasions - Prior to a game to wish the Astros luck (tacky comment alert.. I think they need more than just luck.. ha!), when an Astro hits a homerun, or after an Astro's win.

I realize this is a ballpark, and baseball themes are bound to be prominent, but I was surprised at how many baseballs I saw everywhere.  How fun it must have been to be the designer/decorator for this place.  Look- baseballs hidden in the carpet pattern!

 Baseballs as finials..

Baseballs as lights!  (this was in the owner's luxury suite.. oh lala)

We also made a stop at the press room.  Here is Brodie pretending to be famous.

 And Rylan.. he had lots to say in his press conference.  :)

 The boys (all three of the big ones) thought the warm up batting cages were pretty cool.

 I was surprised that they use a manual scoreboard.  Our guide said they actually have staff behind the board during games changing out the numbers.

 And this is what I did for most of the tour.. ha!

I'm working on the birthday invitations currently, and I'll have a post about those.  I'm also planning on making a baseball themed bunting to hang in the party suite.   Is it okay to get more excited about a birthday party than your child?

:)  Courtney

Life is Good.

Do you ever have those moments when you're just overwhelmed with the blessings in your life?

I have an instance like that at least once a week, often several times a day.

I do have my moments where stress takes a hold of me and I lose sight of the big picture.  I start getting upset over things like toys on the stairs or clothes on the couch.  I shamefully start keeping tally of how many times I've gotten up with the baby vs. my husband.   Him.. 1 night when I was sick.  Me, every night except that 1.  haha.  Of course the non-crazy me soon realizes that it might be kind of hard for him to nurse Liam in the middle of the night.  :)  My point is, overall, excluding the lack of sleep around these parts, life is pretty darn good.

When I was in 10th grade, my English teacher, who I greatly admired, asked me what I wanted to be later in life- what I wanted my profession to be.  I told her that I wanted to be a wife and mom more than anything else, and she responded with a shocked look, and with the statement that I was capable of so much more.

I may not be responsible for a staff, and I may not have to submit monthly reports, but I do take my job seriously.  I have a picture of the type of people I want my boys to be when they get older, and everyday I work on making that picture become a reality.  I want my children to value family and to have a strong sense of Home.  I want them to have strong relationships with their peers and to respect others, especially women.  I have been so blessed to have a loving friendship and life with their father, and I hope my future daughters (in law) will be just as blessed.  

Today I challenge you to stop grumbling about the chores to be done, to have a little more patience with the kiddos who might be on a slightly higher volume level than our ears find soothing   :), and to take a moment to help the ones who are closest to you, feel your love for them. 

On a slightly different note, Today is my husband's birthday, and I am so thankful for him.  I honestly would not be where or who I am today had God not led me to him.   He has given me a beautiful home, a beautiful family, and a beautiful life.  Happy birthday, Brandon!

:)  Courtney