Being at Home

January 20, 20161 Comment

Oh the joy of being at home. Something that Dan and I never seem to get enough. There is just something too good about waking up sans alarm on a Saturday, in your own bed. Then proceeding to have a cup of coffee on your patio, in the cool January weather, while perusing articles online. And to sum up the best morning ever, hearing your husband call to you that breakfast is ready and going inside to the smell of bacon and Dawes playing over the speakers, as he whisks you around the living room for a quick waltz. Seriously. Such little things make for the greatest morning. Trying to savor every minute of this phase of life.

Ignore the weeds covering the yard.

Other than idyllic Saturday mornings, two weekends IN A ROW, at home, meant:

Going to the movies. I’m trying to play catch up on all the best picture noms and we are way behind. The Big Short was so stinking good. Thankful for my finance classes. The Revenant was… in terms of cinematography, just beautiful. In general, a film I could appreciate, but not need to see again. And I, along with everyone, hope Leo finally wins an Oscar 😉

Hanging out at some new Houston places, along with some old favorites (El Tiempo, always). Axelrad opened last month and is a very cool beer garden. I loved the simplicity of it, but the colors really amped it up. The tap handles were gorgeous and the beer selection was diverse. We also finally tried Reef, a seafood place in Midtown. Turns out the porkchop ended up being the best dish!

Axelrad taps

Savoring this sweet, sweet weather. Houston may feel like the pits of hell in the summertime, but winters are on point. Thankful for a park down the street, a fun loving dog, and the best patio bar to relax at. (Cottonwood wins every time.)

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

Shake it off

Playing catch up! After weeks of not being home much, I cleaned up and cleaned out. So much went to Goodwill and the church. I feel like they are probably overwhelmed every January as people purge for the new year. I definitely felt the urge to purge, and I haven’t even read any Marie Kondo books 😉 Even our fridge got a refresh!

MTV Cribs anyone?

This wasn’t even 1/2 of it.

Finally, FRIENDS! Yay for friends (not the show, but yay for that too- we’ve been Netflix binging). Y’all rock. Houston has some fine people.

Bedroom Colors

January 12, 20162 Comments

Since we didn’t end up putting in navy kitchen cabinets, I still have an itch to have it in a big way. Now I’m thinking about covering our entire bedroom. Even though it has 4 windows, it doesn’t get a ton of natural light and I’m not sure how it would look with our dark & heavy furniture. But I am loving the idea of it and feeling adventurous, especially after painting the rest of the house in white and gray (and trying to block out how much I hate painting). Maybe we could just do one wall navy, and the rest white? Are accent walls still in? Anyway, check out these rooms:

: http://blog.thepinkpagoda.us/2013/05/a-blue-and-white-bedroom-for-everyone.html

: http://www.thistlewoodfarms.com/10-simple-holiday-decorating-ideas-and-an-amazing-ceiling

: http://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/rustic-california-home-reading-nook

: http://thenestinggame.com/nest-tour-2/nest-tour-guest-room/

: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/jenny-chris-williamsburg-house-tour-206759#gallery/47823/32

: http://www.designsponge.com/2013/11/a-warm-sf-home-with-a-rock-n-roll-twist.html#more-187801

The Super Hero In-Laws

May 5, 2015Leave a comment

Friday was a blast! Dan’s boss gave us tickets to the Houston Dynamo suite, which was great (even though we lost to FC Dallas) and then we met his parents for drinks at D&T Drive-In, which I personally think is one of the cooler places to drink a beer in Houston. I love that they still have the old sign in front. I’m assuming new ownership as it’s part of Treadsack now (as is Downhouse, yum), so it’s neat that they chose to keep the sign.

So as mentioned above, Dan’s parents came to stay with us this past weekend! We always have a great time with them and this weekend was no exception… although it was a little bit different type of fun! Ha. Dan’s dad helped him put in all the fence posts around the back yard and his mom helped me paint the dining, living, and sun rooms. It was a productive weekend to say the least. They are amazing motivators to get things done and have more energy than we do. It’s impressive and so appreciated.

Having a fresh coat of paint on the walls has REALLY brightened it up. One of the biggest things I would change about the house (if it wasn’t prohibitively expensive) are how low the ceilings are, so having white walls make them feel just a bit taller 🙂 I ended up choosing Benjamin Moore White Linen and love that it’s warm without feeling yellow. We also tested out Frostine and Simply White. Dan is still complaining that it feels like an insane asylum, but I think he’s mostly kidding 😉 But I am in love and can’t wait to do the trim next weekend (because right now it just looks dirty :/). The furniture is still pushed in the middle of the living room at the moment so the house feels like a wreck, but sitting in the midst of white is quite dreamy. I’ll post better pictures once everything is back in place.

Testing out colors

The cutest little helper. Who was more in the way than anything.

We also decided on a horizontal fence and Dan will start putting on the planks this week!!! It’s going to look amazing. And he gets to buy a new toy- a nail gun. Because apparently the one we already have isn’t strong enough. I swear, the amount of tools we have… Yay for house projects!!

So funny that prior to painting I was finally starting to feel like the house was really coming together. Felt homey, (most) things had a place, and I just generally liked it but still knew what had to be done. Then everything came off the walls for paint and I’m starting fresh again. Ha. Hoping we get to the kitchen soon!!!

Relaxing at Cottonwood and home after a hard weekend

A Long Easter Weekend

April 10, 2015Leave a comment

It was SO good to spend the long weekend at home. Can I call it that anymore? I haven’t even really lived in that house except for a few weeks at time, when home on college breaks since they moved into it after I was already at UT. Either way, it’s the same place I grew up, off the same road as before. And my sisters were there, so I think I can still call it home for a little longer. Maybe I’ll stop after I have my own kids.

I’m rambling, but it was a fantastic weekend filled with gorgeous blue skies, sunshine, lots of food & beer, and quality time with family.

FRIDAY>> Deep Ellum Arts Festival. Tara moved into this Dallas neighborhood for grad school and it’s changed immensely. Very cool area. Artsy and modern with older building mixed in. Only purchase was a hat for dad! None of us were prepared for the intense sun and all ended up with sunburns. Glad we got it because it’s supposed to rain for a week straight here in Houston. We all really enjoyed lunch at Brain Dead Brewing. Chips and salsa were to die for and the beer menu was really diverse. And Deep Ellum Brewery was awesome! Fun place to hang out, both inside and out.

Nanny nanny boo boo, I’m taller than you

Bar LOVED this. Obviously.

A 200 lb, 5 year old Dane, named Admiral

SATURDAY>> Shopping with the girls and lunch in Ft. Worth at The Bearded Lady. Also, Easter egg dying. What do you expect from a family of girls? We even got Dan to do a few 🙂

It wasn’t our best year…

Mine & Dan’s favorite eggs

SUNDAY>> Easter! A day of celebration. We went to the church I grew up in for the service and afterwards my mom made a delicious lunch. Home cooked food from your mom can’t be beat. And my mom still puts together a killer Easter basket. Then we headed down to Waco for Easter with Dan’s family. The little ones did great at their egg hunt- Ellie would intentionally skip eggs to only get the pink ones. And we got to make our pizza’s in Dan’s Aunt’s brick oven! So nice that all the cousins, aunts & uncles, and grandparents are within a couples hours of each other. Makes me wish all mine were closer!