Grady: 7 months

Oh my sweet 7-month old Grady, you are so much fun. You keep me on my toes with all the new things you can do. And you constantly surprise me. I love to watch you learn to crawl - it's exciting to see you explore your world. I can't even tell you how big my heart swells when we play peek-a-boo and you laugh wildly at me. When I whisper, "you're mama's baby" and you put your hand on my face, I think you know how much I love you.

it was always you

I used to daydream about meeting this ruggedly handsome man. One who would sweep me off my feet and never look back. 

This man had a kind face and gentle eyes despite his ever present 5 o’clock shadow. He had a great laugh that he used often and never took himself too seriously. 

He was musically inclined, as I am not, and even wrote me a love song or two. He enjoyed working with his hands and was good at it, he could even build me a dining room table from scratch. 

He wore boots mostly, but could rock a suit like none other. 

He would fight hard, but love harder. He would be quick to forgive. He would fiercely protect his family and never hesitate to help a friend. People would love to be around him. 

He had a strong work ethic but was humble about his accomplishments. He was a spiritual leader; a man I could easily respect. 

He would love me passionately and tell me often. He would be faithful and true.  And when we would have babies -- oh, what beautiful babies -- he would be an extraordinary dad. He would change diapers without ever complaining, and he would make me a better mother. 

Even at my worst, I would feel beautiful when he looked at me.

We would spend each year looking back and finding it better than before and we would enjoy growing old together. 

My dearest Joshua, this man of my dreams is you.

It was always you.

pinned it - made it - recipe reviews

Greek Pizza

If you're in the greek mood, this is your jam. 

Super yummy and easy to make.

Our only complaint was that all our topping kept falling off so we ended up eating it more like pita/dip style. Still good.

Crunchy Black Bean Tacos

Dooo it. So good! And if you're like me, you probably have most of the ingredients on hand.

And whatever I didn't have on hand, I just left out and they were still tasty!

And packed with protein!

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

I'm sure I don't have to convince you that these are delicious. 

And that they take WAY less time than actually baking cinnamon rolls - like 2-3 mins tops.

But they are DANGEROUS - you think you're only eating one waffle but in reality you're eating 4 cinnamon rolls. You've been warned.

Pineapple Angel Food Cupcakes

Safe yourself the couple bucks you would invest trying this recipe.

The consistency was so weird. They didn't taste bad but they weren't good either.

Even my husband, who likes anything, refused to eat them.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes

If you're looking for a good easy cupcakes recipe, this is the one!

They were SO good and cake-y. 

And I'm not sure who decides WW points, but they say each one is only 1 WW point. I don't know what that means, but I like the sound of it.

i love love - decor & crafting

Last year was my first time taking Valentine's Day decor beyond a bowl of candy.

And you know what, I kinda liked it.
I know Valentines Day is totally commercial, but I love love and want to celebrate it.
And that's enough for me.

So, per my usual, I shopped my house for my mantle decor.

And realized I really like vintage floral.

(Most of these were borrowed from my bedroom)

And I also added a few other love-ly details around the house.

Fact: I prefer homemade crepe paper roses to real ones.

One thing I did make when I got in a crafty mood during nap time was this little arrow quiver.

My friend Cheryl has a super cool one on her mantle that I always admire, so I thought V-day would be a perfect time to make myself one.

I used an old fireplace matches container to be my quiver but I bet a pringles can or something similar would work just the same.

And then I wrapped it in paper.

For the bottom of the arrow, I used a white index card, and trimmed and feathered it.

 

Then attached it to a dowel.

I made five but just repeat with as many arrows as you wish to make.

  

Have fun celebrating the ones you love this week!

Grady: Six Months

See the rest of Grady's monthly photos

This boy is my joy. He is sweetness in little boy form. I must kiss his face a thousand times per day.

Sometimes my arms ache to hold him in the morning. When I pick him up and he smiles at me, I can feel his love. He's only been here six months but I can't remember life without him.

pallet accent wall

My sweet husband totally gives me the run of the house decor-wise.

He's so easy going and even encouraging when it comes to things I want to change around the house.

So when he asked to put up a dart board, I didn't really have a lot of ground to stand on to say no.

Even though I wanted to. 

So we put it up and a few months later noticed the hundreds of little holes in the wall around the dart board. We've got some bad shots coming through this house, I guess. And then it didn't get used very much.

So when I suggested putting up cork board behind the dart board, Josh replied that he'd rather put up a pallet wall. Pallet wall - why didn't I think of that?

Here's the wall we started with.

At first we started just arranging the wood and attaching it right the wall but quickly realized that the pieces that weren't nailed into studs would come out pretty easily. 

So before we got to far, we decided to take it down and put up thin plywood

that would be nailed to the studs and then the wood would be attached to the plywood.

Much more secure.

And the plywood part is pretty easy if you're working with a wall without an outlet.

But measuring and jigsawing is required if an outlet is involved.

 But the end result is so worth it.

Darts, anyone?

will work for furniture

I love a good barter.Ya know, trading goods for goods.

Recently I've had a couple small businesses contact me about branding packages and we ended up doing a trade. It was a win-win.

Regeneration does exactly what their tag line says - they reclaim vintage and castoff items as relevant and trendy, they restore furniture with beautiful paint jobs and pretty details, and they repurpose items in new and fun ways (an old window as a menu planner - why not?!).

So when it came time to discuss payment for services, of course I wanted to get one of their beautiful pieces.

I told them of a specific piece of furniture I was looking for - one that I could use to display decorations but would also serve as storage to hide Grady's ever growing toy collection - and they more than delivered.

Painted a dark gray with just the right amount of distressing and the most gorgeous shelf lining job you ever did see.

Original pulls left intact but painted a stark white.

And the perfect pop of color in they toy storage area.

These girls get it.
Be sure to check out and follow Regeneration on facebook.

I also had the pleasure of working on a new branding package for Funky Junk based out of Forest, VA.

Nikki does absolutely fabulous work. I mean, her pieces are so beautiful and perfectly executed.

So when she offered to trade for design work, I more than obliged.

I told her I was looking for a trunk for my house. And sent her this picture that I have had saved on my desktop as my dream trunk to find.

And man, can this girl deliver. This thing is definitely first cousins with my dream trunk.

She painted and lined the inside to make it useable for me for storage and added some rope handles since the originals were missing.

I'm borderline obsessed.

Visit Nikki's blog or follow on Facebook to find out how you can get yourself some Funky Junk.

While I'm at it...

 you should probably know about hpavao interiors.

Everything Haley does is amazing. She has a beautiful style and knows how to turn something that I wouldn't think twice about into something I'd want to snatch up in a second.

Like this headboard turned entryway piece.

She does interior design consultations and can help you revamp your home if you're at a loss.

You can also hire her to paint things for you, which is perfect for someone like me who has no patience when it comes to painting.

Visit her on facebook or check out her booth at Peddler's Antiques in Forest, VA.

Last, but certainly not least, is Amanda Carver Designs.

(I also designed her logo - holler!)

This girl does it all and with great style -  painted furniture, home decor, interior design consults, styling, and staging. She has pieces in several local shops and also runs her own shop full of finds and treasures out of her house, like this beauty:

You can connect with her through her blog.

And as always, when you're looking for some great vintage flair to add to your decor, or to style some new furniture you get from one of the above,

be sure to check out my very own shop. Free local pick up, of course.

 I've also done several shop to shop trades on etsy - so feel free to ask!

If you're interested in design work - see more of my work here & email me for inquiries.