Shopping
A Microwave Story
June 27, 2013
It seems we’re a little over halfway done with our mini kitchen renovation. I can’t believe it. We’ve made giant strides since our counters were installed 20 days ago. As soon as the counters were in, it was go time. We attached our new faucet, removed the nasty, grease-covered range hood, and went microwave shopping. (We also put all of our tile backsplash up this week, but you’ll have to wait a few more days for that post.
Antique Flower Find
March 1, 2013
Oh, hey there, March. Where did you come from? February fleeeeeewwww by. We were partying too much, I suppose. We celebrated my Dad’s 60th (with an epic surprise party about which he had no idea!). We celebrated Matt’s 29th. We celebrated the engagement of my brother-in-law and soon-to-be sister-in-law. We celebrated life with a trip to Cape Cod to cap it all off. I want to share something I found while on the Cape because Lord knows that with all that partying, I have been doing nothing productive around the house.
Choosing Our New Kitchen Faucet
June 21, 2013
Our new faucet is installed and fully functional, and I’m a happy girl. I wish I had more of the “install” pictures for you, but Matt does things quickly and huffs and puffs at me while I try to take pictures. So, here are the after pictures of our new Moen “Anabelle” faucet. Side note: Those orange dahlias on the ledge are from my garden. Kind of. Matt bought them for me in a patio planter to celebrate our new counters.
Creating Whimsy
January 13, 2013
In the guest room sneak peek, I showed you guys the rug I bought for the space, as well as the fabric I was inspired by to update the larger of our two spare guest rooms. You might have also seen the paint color we chose, and some new white outlets. Well, the room is done! As done as it is for now, that is. The curtains are hung and we’re good to go.
Early Spring Shopping 2013: Home Edition
February 7, 2013
Is it spring yet?! No, Amanda, you’re supposed to get 2 feet of snow tonight. Oh, that’s riiiiight. Damn. Well, around the time when everyone grows weary of the current season, companies start filling our mailboxes with the impending season’s hottest “must haves.” Instead of folding over the pages of magazines signaling things I love, I’m going to throw ‘em on here. We can all drool together. Normally, CB2 is just eye candy, as most of it is too modern for my taste, but I found a couple of cool items in their most recent catalog.
Greetings From Strong Island
March 3, 2013
Matt and I headed out to Long Island this weekend for an impromptu visit. We had the weekend open to do house things (sorry, house!) but chose to take a mini-trip instead. It had been quite some time since we were last on “The Island,” as many New Yorkers call it. (Source) We were happy for the chance to head out to the place that so many influential people have called home - Lindsay Lohan, the Gotti family, and Flavor Flav, to name a few.
Holiday Gift Guide 2014
February 8, 2014
As promised, I’m back with my holiday gift guide for men, women and babes. These are a few of my favorite gifts this year - things I’ve seen in magazines, online, and in stores. Happy shopping and Happy December! For Women This “secret pocket infinity scarf.” Genius. Doesn’t the girl in the picture below look so happy to have her “secret pocket?” (givesimple.com, $29.50) Sarcasm aside, my mother warns against it so I’m getting away from it but if you’re the type of girl (or know someone that is) that tucks her phone in her sports bra strap while on a walk, this may be the gift for you (or her).
I waaaant one!
March 28, 2012
I have admired garden stools since they started appearing in my circle (decor magazines/homes of friends) a few years back. They were originally used as extra seating in Chinese gardens as long as 1000 years ago, since Chinese homes were traditionally built around their courtyard or garden. I want one so badly, and have for some time, but I still haven’t pulled the trigger. I know they are a great way to add extra seating (which we desperately need in our tiny living room) or to use as an occasional table, and they come in all diferent colors and sizes, I still can’t picture one anywhere in my house.
Landing Some Color
July 18, 2013
I’ve been making great strides in the porch rocker department and I’ll have some pictures and updates for you early next week! In the meantime, I did a lil’ shopping and a lil’ spray painting. You may remember that the landing at the top of our stairs was pretty bland. I brightened up the heat register here, but besides that, we’ve done nothing except put in some hardwoods when we moved in.
My addiction
August 13, 2012
Disclaimer: The pictures in this post are beyond awful. I’ll update them when I get some nice natural light streaming in. I’m on vacation for a few days this week while Matt is working. So naturally, like any sane woman playing the role of stay-at-home housewife for a few days, I went shopping. Specifically, rug shopping. I need to first give you some background on what Matt calls my “drug addiction.
My Favorite Things: August 2014
September 2, 2014
Hope you all had a great Labor Day! It was H-O-T here in Connecticut, but Matt and I managed to take a hike with Griff and Harrison. It was so humid that we were sweating before we even got to the trail, but it felt good to get out and about in between naps. We know the colder weather is just around the corner, so we’re trying to really take advantage of the next couple of months.
My Favorite Things: January/February 2015
February 28, 2015
I’ve been extra careful to keep an eye out for cool things on which to spend my Christmas money but I’ve come up a bit short. Seriously, it’s March tomorrow and I still haven’t spent it. I think that’s good and bad, right? I’m not in the market for a new bed but when I am, I’m going to build (yes, build!) one like this. (Pottery Barn, $1,699) The storage is ahhhhmmaaaazinngg.
My Favorite Things: October/November 2014
November 29, 2014
I totally dropped the ball on getting this published around Halloween so here we go… my favorite things from catalogs and online shopping over the last two months. I’ll have a holiday gift round up for you by the end of the weekend, too. (Matt - how easy does this make your shopping this year?! Wink, wink.) This pillow. That’s all. (Anthropologie, $58) Oh wait, that’s not all. I want two of them to use by the back window to tie in some of my gold-framed art in that space.
My Favorite Things: September 2014
September 30, 2014
I can’t believe it’s the end of September already. In my book, October is the real kickoff to Autumn. I’m ready for it. I really am. The heating bills will be back but the bugs will be gone. (We know how I feel about bugs.) The mornings will be cold but the afternoons, although short, will be sunny and warm. I’m excited to wander the yard holding a cup of steaming tea, listening to the leaves crunch under my riding boots… all while wearing a chunky cable knit sweater, of course.
Pal Packs
August 1, 2015
It may be barely August but I wanted to thank LLBean for officially kicking off my Christmas shopping with their RIDICULOUS “Bean’s Pal Packs.” Super ridiculous. I was in the Danbury, CT store earlier today and I still can’t get over this… I’m not sure if they’re aware or not (I’m going to go with not) that Matt and I call Harrison “Harr Bear” but it’s like this was made for him.
Put a frame (or ten) on it!
September 3, 2012
Happy Labor Day, everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and were able to enjoy some time with friends and family. For us, this past weekend was mostly about getting things done around the house, and nothing makes me happier than that! It’s been a while since we tackled anything DIY in our office. We took it from 0-60 back in the spring with new trim and fresh paint, but it hasn’t really been touched since then.
Shakespeare's Garden
July 1, 2013
In between gardening and putting finishing touches on the kitchen tile, I found some time this weekend to take a drive to a local nursery I’d yet to visit. Shakespeare’s Garden is nestled in a very quaint area of Brookfield, CT, just a few miles from home. While out at a firework gathering Saturday night, my friend Stacey (the same Stacey who organized the wine tour) mentioned she was heading to a cute nursery in Brookfield, CT.
Shopping for a Nursery Rug
February 13, 2014
I mentioned a while back that I had picked up a rug for the nursery. Well, technically… Matt picked it up. It was big and heavy and this pregnant chick wasn’t about to break her back. It was a Costco bargain (be still my heart!) and it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the room when I started the rug search. You see, I had some other rugs in mind that were major contenders.
Thrift Morning To You!
January 16, 2013
This past Saturday, my mom had an errand to run in our neck of the woods so she and my dad drove up in the morning to join us for breakfast. I threw out the idea of a thrift shop pit stop (say that three times fast) after breakfast and my mom was game. My dad and Matt - well, they were in the car for breakfast anyway, so they had no choice but to join.
White Kitchen Trim and Chatterblocks
December 29, 2014
Do you remember when Matt and I ripped off the old, dinky kitchen trim and replaced it? You probably don’t, because it was in March. Then the whole having-a-baby thing happened and that poor trim sat untouched for too long. A couple of months ago, I finally filled the nail holes with wood putty, sanded it down and slapped on a few coats of Behr’s Ultra Pure White. I may add one more coat but for now, it’s looking much better.