Weekend Update

We were supposed to go out of town this past weekend, but ended up having to cancel because I was still running a fever on Thursday and we were scheduled to leave Friday morning.  We were extremely upset to cancel, but we didn't think it would do us good to go on a road trip and see other people when I was still sick, and Henry still had a bad cough.  Today I finally feel more like myself for the first time in almost a week-and-a-half!  I don't know what kind of bug we caught, but it really knocked me for a loop!!

With our weekend plans cancelled, we ended up with a lazy 3-day weekend at home, (husband had taken off Friday since we were supposed to go out of town).  It actually turned out to be really nice.  I honestly don't remember the last time we just stayed home for a weekend and didn't try to paint a room, or build something, or do a major project.  I am pretty sure we haven't just spent a weekend at home with no plans since we moved.  Nine months ago.

That is insane!

We debated working on the dining room to office, but the next step is a lot of sanding, priming, and painting, which didn't really seem like a good idea since we've been battling upper respiratory stuff and all still have nasty coughs.  So no we got nothing done on the office, yet again.  I'm really hoping we can at least get the cabinets installed this coming weekend!  It's been so long since we worked on that room I'm itching to get back to it!

A lot of times when I'm trying to convince husband of all the crazy ideas floating around in my head, I make him floorplans or drawings of rooms.  This weekend I was making scale drawings of the office, and I realized they fit together like a diorama! ;)

you can see the floor plan that calls for a large sisal/seagrass area rug, a farmhouse table for a desk in the middle of the room, the built-ins on the back wall, and space for a chair and filing cabinet.  The big circle in the middle up top is this light fixture, that we're thinking of using in the room.

This is the other side of the room, I did it first and it's not to scale, so it couldn't play with all the others:

While I've been laid up sick I've been devouring this book, I honestly think I've read the entire thing.  Yes, I'm a weirdo that makes dioramas of rooms in my house and reads cookbooks like they're novels.  I'm extremely interested in fermenting pickles, (instead of using vinegar).  

Interested might be an understatement.  When something catches my attention like this, it's borderline obsession.  Fermented pickles will be happening in our house this summer!  I've also made a 3-page list of other things in this book I want to make!  It all sounds so amazing!  It's definitely got me hyped up to try my hand at canning some stuff when I was super apprehensive before!

We got quite a bit of rain at the end of last week, and our garden loved it!  I swear some plans grew two inches in 24 hours!  I couldn't believe how much of a difference a good rain made!  

Top left: my herb bowl my brother and SIL gave me, it has spicy basil, oregano, parsley and cilantro

Top Right:  my onion sprouts, (and radishes in the top left side), some of them are over 6" tall now!

Bottom Right: Strawberries!  As of last night we have 13 strawberries on our two strawberry plants

Bottom Left: out-of-focus, but there are 3 cherry tomatoes on our container cherry tomato plant.  We also have an itty bitty Roma tomato, and one of our heirloom tomato plants has flowers.  

It's all so exciting! :)

Henry's hair has really grown a lot in the past couple months, and with all the humidity we've had lately, it's been so curly!  This was after his bath one night:

pictures do not do it justice!  I love those little frizzy curls

Miss Kitty kept hiding under the skirted table in our living room, and Henry discovered her secret hiding place last week and took over it:

 

We're collecting supplies to build him a little teepee soon.  In the meantime he loves hiding out under that table.  The night that I took these pictures he was hiding under there with a paint stick and would whack people that walked by.  He's a mess!!!

I broke out the sewing machine and sewed some pompom trim on an old drop cloth to make some curtains for the playroom this weekend:

In case you were wondering, sewing pompom trim is a pain in the butt!  I have one window finished and FOUR still left to go.  I may be rethinking this idea.  Grr..

Our garbage disposal was acting up this weekend, and husband was working on fixing it.  With hemostats.  Ladies and gentlemen, you know you're married to a nurse when they fix the garbage disposal with hemostats!  For those of you not familiar with the term, hemostats are clamps used in surgical procedures to stop bleeding, (you can read more about them here).

This last picture is actually from this morning, but I thought it was too cute to not share.  Henry was wearing his Skip Hop Zoo Hippo Backpack all around the house this morning, and I thought it was precious.  Love his little legs sticking out from behind it!

I know it's blurry.  Pictures of him are always blurry these days, he moves fast and my phone is 3+ years old!

So that's what going on around here.  How was your weekend?

A few quick notes about some deals I saw this week, (I didn't think there were enough to make a whole post, but these were too good to not share!)...

Some of our favorites are on zulily today: Melissa and Doug toys, Happy Family kids snacks, (Henry LOVES these!), and Yellow Box flip flops just to name a few!

One Kings Lane is have a downstairs clearance sale right now.  They always have good deals, but their clearance sales are the best!   Such good deals on home stuff!! If you're looking to freshen up your house a little for spring/summer, definitely check it out!!

Jennifer

Black Windows & Doors

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I've been watching It's Complicated this week, and as with any Nancy Meyers movie, after watching I want my house to look exactly like the movie houses.  It never fails...

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After Father of the Bride I want a traditional two story, butcher block countertops, a gorgeous stair case, (and a backyard wedding, but that's another story for another day! ha!).

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When I watch The Holiday, I want a quaint English cottage with a cozy stone fireplace, cute little bathtub, and blue kitchen cabinets, or

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this kitchen in a sunny, modern Spanish influenced California mansion, depending on my mood.

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Every time I watch Something's Gotta Give, and I die over the Hampton's beach house with the gorgeous kitchen that so many of us have been obsessed with for the past 10 years, the Swedish Mora clock in the family room, the beach views, well just about everything in that house.  It's one of few houses I could move in and not change a thing I think, even ten years after it was created.  

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And after watching It's Complicated I want her gorgeous potager, relaxed living room, my own bakery, and the little kitchen that I would gladly take when Jane builds her new dream kitchen.  Ah, the power of movies!

Or, ah my indecisiveness!  Both are pretty strong! ;)

One thing I really noticed this week were the black windows all throughout It's Complicated.  And suddenly I was noticing them in so many great images I've seen on blogs and pinterest this week:

Swoon worthy kitchen.  Love the black doors/windows, white cabs, chandelier, and the rustic table and stools.

I wish I could open my windows like that!  Do they not have bugs?  ha!

gorgeous black windows with black trim

Love this space from Architectural Digest!   I don't care for my arched windows, but I love these black arched windows.  What gives?  

Love everything about this foyer/hall!

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Christmasy black windows! How fun!

All this time I thought I was a pretty traditional girl who preferred white trim and window mullions, but something about all these black windows just looks so fresh to me right now!  I really love the contrast. 

What do you think?  Black windows, yay or nay?

Along the same lines, you know we're in the process, (that's almost laughable because I haven't actually worked on them in months), of painting all our interior doors black?  I've been thinking a lot about the foyer lately since it's the last space in the front of the house that's not painted and still puke/mustard green/tan, seriously awful.  

I cleared it out to take these pictures a few weeks ago.  Yes, along with the hideous paint color on the walls, someone decided it would be brilliant to paint the doors grey.  I thought at first that they were just unfinished, but no, someone actually painted them grey.  It just baffles me.

 

gag.

But, I'm a little stumped on what to do about our front door.  

Just like I asked in this post about colored front doors, do I paint the sidelights the same, (black), color as the front door?  Or leave them white like the trim?  I found a couple examples of each, which do you prefer?

I kind of like the look of the light trim and sidelights with the darker door

gorgeous foyer!  I really wish our ceilings were high enough for a lantern in the foyer!

totally different style of door, but I also like the all black

dark sidelights and door with lots of white trim, this looks good too!

Carmel from Our Fifth House painted the doors and sidelights black with white trim.

Looking at all the pictures lined up in this post, I kind of think I know which direction I'm leaning towards.  But I'm curious, what's your favorite look?  Black door with white sidelights and trim?  Black door with black sidelights and trim?  Or, mixing it up with black door and sidelights with white trim?

And, just to throw this one from way left field out there, how great is this look?  

totally wish I was bold enough to pull this off!  And that it would work with our house. ;)

Thoughts on black windows and doors?  What's your favorite Nancy Meyers movie house?  

TGIF!  Happy weekend to all of you!  

Jennifer

P.S. Oh, and after thinking about this all week I googled what Nancy Meyers next project is.  It's a movie about a woman who moves to London and falls in love with a younger man.  Sony pictures just signed on to make the movie, and supposedly it's going to have an all British cast, save the leading American lady, (you can read more here).  The plot sounds interesting enough, but I'm more excited to see who they pick for the all-British cast, (love me some British tv!), and of course to see what kind of sets they construct for a movie that takes place in London!

Father's Day Gift Round-Up

I realize the ink on Mother's Day cards is barely dry, but that means that Father's Day is now right around the corner!  Unless you want the men in your resembling a grumpy Dr Huxtable with his outrageous, useless Father's Day gifts, here are some other options to explore.

Btw, this is just a fun little round up of things I've found that I know a lot of the guys in my life would be happy with.  I know it's so hard coming up with gifts for guys sometimes, so I thought I'd share. I did try to include a little something for everyone though! :)

We're big Parks & Rec fans in this house, and my husband especially loves the macho manly Ron Swanson.  I found this 4 pack of Ron Swanson quotes on etsy and thought it was hilarious!  Husband's favorites are the "clear alcohols are for rich women on diets" and "give me all the bacon & eggs you have."  Both of which he says frequently. ha!  I just need them to also make a poster with Ron's views on fishing:  

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-I've noticed a lot more men with full beards lately, (not just on Duck Dynasty!), if your hubs/father is a fan of facial hair, as my husband is, you should check out Dirty Deeds Soap, they also have an etsy shop here!  Dirty Deeds is a Lubbock, Texas based company that makes old school shaving soaps and shaving accessories.  I first saw them mentioned in an issue of Southern Living last year and ordered husband a gift set for Christmas.  He LOVES this stuff!  I ordered a pumpkin ale soap with a boar bristle brush and shaving mug.

They also sent us a sample of their popular green tweed soap.  Y'all, the green tweed smells amazing!!!  I love the pumpkin ale too, but the green tweed is my favorite!  Husband loves the soaps, and he's still using the ones he got for Christmas, so they've actually come out to being a lot less expensive than traditional shaving cream.  Definitely check out Dirty Deeds Soap, we just love their stuff!  Oh, and they're customer service is great!  I ordered his set on Black Friday last year and it was here by Monday!  That's insanely fast for a holiday weekend!  They also have a facebook page where you can ask questions. :)

-There are lots of great Father's Day Gifts at One Kings Lane right now.  I really think they came up with a great selection of gifts that aren't the normal overdone Father's day presents.  These look like things that dad's would actually want, (I kind of want some of them too, haha)!  I've heard all about these Yeti coolers for the past couple years, I'm kind of thinking someone might be dropping some none-too-subtle hints. haha!

-I've mentioned before how much I love the Williams Sonoma Agrarian line, and basically want one of everything they sell.  The other day I noticed they have a beer making kit that I know several guys would love!  We have a few friends who make home brew and they're always awesome!  If the dad in your life isn't a beer fan, they also have a hard cider kit. ;)

-Even zulily.com, which I always think of for baby clothes, is getting in on the Father's Day specials.  They have lots of gifts for dads right now including an MLB shop that my husband would be especially interested in.  He loves just about anything Texas Rangers!

-Ok, we've covered manly "artwork," shaving, beer, sports, clothes, I think the only thing left might be books!  Husband is a big reader, so books are usually at least part of any gift he gets.  A couple of favorites lately are these Penguin Clothbound Classics, (he likes the books, I like that they look pretty on the shelf, win. win.), of which we've slowly been building a collection.  For dads who are in to historical fiction, Jeff Shaara, (he is the author of Gods and Generals, if you saw that movie), is a favorite among several of our friends, this is his newest book:

So there you go!  A little round-up of some gifts for dads.  I tried to leave off the obvious things: golf, grilling, ties, etc and pick some things that were a little different.   What do you think?  Do you have a special gift lined up for the dads in your life this year?

Jennifer