Random Round Up: Miscellany

A weekend full of change: From sun and humidity to 60+ mph winds and rain, and from decrepit siding on the house to replaced and ready for paint. More on that project later, but five pics first, as we do around here on a Monday.

The second-blooming of my rose bush! Sadly it took a beating in the storms,
but there are still a few pretty petals hanging on.

I re-worked the styling of our family room shelf - Some
natural shed antlers and a meaningful family heirloom flag. Much better!

Who knew my boss' boss is so creative? Handmade bibs and a burp cloth cake.

Planning some baby room and master bedroom organization. Baskets galore!

This pretty much captures the weather this weekend: From sun to storm and back again.

I finished a baby room project this weekend too that I can't wait to show you - So do-able and so useful! Have a great week guys.

Cravings

You've all heard the tales of pregnancy cravings: Pickles and ice cream! Chocolate cake with sauerkraut! Cheese dipped in ketchup!

I kid you not - I googled "crazy pregnancy cravings" and those are from real people.

Luckily for me, I haven't had a hankering for anything quite that extreme, and I don't think I've been too Veruca Salt about it all, but my tastes definitely have changed. Normally, I would take something sugary over anything else, any time of day, any day of the week. But now? All the salty, spicy, vinegar-y things are my new faves.

Here's a little compilation of the last 32 (whoa, what?!) weeks' desires:

 

Veggie sandwich WITH PICKLES. Don't even bother if there aren't pickles.

Really good salads with really good dressing... Slobber.

Cheez-It crackers!

Showering Rama - A Thai dish that's spicy and peanut-buttery. Divine.

I've never been a big soda drinker, but wow, a (not diet) Dr. Pepper is all I want sometimes.

Not pictured: Sharp cheddar cheese, cranberry or grapefruit juice, and hard boiled eggs, to name a few more.

I only have a handful of weeks left... I wonder what's next?

Random Round Up: Country Time

A weekend away in the country at my parents' house was just what the doctor ordered. A quick 24 hour total time away, but sometimes a brief change of scenery is all ya need to get recharged for a (really, really, really) long week ahead.

A family friend knitted the most adorable octopus for Baby J - I promptly named him Oggie.

The hazards of living with a crafty person...

My mom's beautiful heirloom tomatoes.

The amount of smoke and haze from the fires over the mountains in Eastern
Washington was unreal. It's getting really scary for my beautiful state.

A butterfly feeds on the marigolds keeping pests away from the tomatoes.

I've got some 10 and 11 hour workdays coming this week, and Nate is starting school again, so wish us luck as we enter the fray! Cheers, guys.

Closet Love

So excited about this upgrade, guys. When we moved in to our house, everything was what I'd call "builder standard": White walls, brass fixtures, single wire-rack closets. We overhauled one closet last year two years ago (what?!), in what's now the guest room out of necessity, and now we've re-done a second closet in the baby's room. I think it's about quadrupled the storage space, and I'm thrilled with how pretty it is too. Double win!

I was so excited to upgrade I failed to get a really solid 'before' photo, but you've all seen a 'builder standard' closet before, yes? Like this:

image

One shelf, one hanging rack, all rather cheaply made. Once that was out, we were left with a fresh canvas for re-painting and re-working.

Pretty sure Nate is inside the closet in this pic since Tucker is so riveted!

We pondered cutting wood and building out the closet ourselves - I even borrowed plans created by a skilled friend - but ended up taking the easier route and buying a pre-fab kit. Specifically this one (plus shelves) from Home Depot.

The hanging bar hardware cracked me up - Happy little guys!

We put it all together per the instructions, and got everything securely fastened to the wall. We did go back to the hardware store and purchase two good sized L-brackets to support each shelf; just didn't feel like the hardware that came with the shelving was sturdy enough. And let's face it, as Baby Boy grows he will get more and more monkey-like... So the shelf and hanging rack need to be able to stand up to some abuse.

All I have left to do now is popping the baseboard back on - I removed it prior to closet install, painted it white to match the rest of the room, and we did have to cut a few sections out so our new shelving would sit flush against the wall. Hoping that having those custom cuts will make the shelving look a little bit built in and "finished".

What about you, any organizational upgrades lately? I can't wait to hang tiny hangers in here and get a few baskets for the shelves!

Random Round Up: Snacks

This third trimester business has me all about the food - I go from "meh" to STARVING in 0.2 seconds lately, so having something decent on hand has become a must. I think I'll do a little post on cravings later, but for now, a few weekend happenings...

Hummus, sharp cheddar cheese, and pickles: Toss in crackers and I'm a happy camper.

Story of my life right now. Morning, noon, and night.
...Especially night. Oy.

Having great success in my new business - So thankful and excited for more!

Heaven forbid you get to work out alone in our house...

Mint milk chocolate has never been a question in my world, but dill pickles need to be
added to every sandwich-type meal these days. I wonder if I'll still like them afterwards...?

Pedicure in a massage chair... It doesn't get much happier these days.

Have a great week! Eat something delicious in my honor.

Stencil: Successful

For the last few years I've really been drawn to the surge in popularity of pretty, modern wallpaper. To anyone that's had to steam and strip layers of fifties-era florals, I'm sure wallpaper is still a dirty word... But really, there are some amazing ones out there! The only drawback for me: It can get pretty pricey.

I knew I wanted a fun accent wall in the baby's room, and after drooling over some cha-ching wallpaper options, I started looking at stencils. Paint? I can do that. I finally landed on this one from Etsy seller Cutting Edge Stencils. The quality is wonderful, and that's important when you're going to be taping, re-taping, soaking with paint, and generally just wrangling this thing repeatedly. Don't skimp out on your stencil quality, folks!

Note: I used a sponge application because I like the imperfect, rough edges. If you're looking for a cleaner line, a roller is a better option. Cutting Edge Stencils sends instructions and a buy-list, as well as offering tools for sale on the site.

My original thought was to do the same Glidden Granite Gray wall color in a super high gloss finish just to give the wall a little texture, but ultimately decided to go bolder and use my favorite tone of white: Decorators White from Benjamin Moore.

It took me a bit longer than I'd hoped (hey, it's a job to hoist this body up and down a step stool these days!), but I really love the results. I plan to hang some larger-scale art on that wall to break up the pattern too. And hey, if Baby decides he hates it down the road, all it takes is some paint and a roller to make it disappear.

But please, Baby J, let it stand for a few years. It's gonna take this preggo a little while to recover from the job.

Random Round Up: General Loveliness

Whew, I think wedding season has officially come to a close for our household after this past weekend. But a lovely closure it was with an outdoor farm/garden evening in room-temperature weather. Mix that in with some new clothes that actually fit, and I had myself a pretty nice lil' two days off.

I can never get enough of this face.

Nate drug me to the mall for maternity clothes: What a difference!
I was so hesitant but am now SO happy... And could open my own franchise after the
buy one, get one for $5 sale we came upon.

A clever wedding favor when your last name is Woodhouse, eh?
Also: Nate's beer, not mine. For the record.

Gorgeous wedding eve.

A family friend out of town allows us to reap the benefits of her garden!

We finished out the closet in Baby's room as well - Photo updates to come. Happy Monday, y'all.

Enlarging a Window With Zero Construction

Nope, you didn't read that title wrong. All it takes to make a window larger - or at least appear larger - is some strategic curtain hanging. Seriously!

During our make-it-work move-in days, I bought two curtain rods (without measuring the window, per usual) and two curtains from Ikea, threw one of each up in the bedrooms, and washed my hands of the whole situation.

Where we left off in our makeover story most recently - Low single curtain to no curtain and a re-paint.

Bleached out, but you can see: Low hung, single curtain.

Now as the two rooms are getting both mini - and maxi - makeovers, it was time to make things right. I really wanted blackout curtains for the baby room so naps would be easier, and found a great option on Amazon for a decent price. True, I could have made them for cheaper, but there's been just a little bit on my plate this summer, and wrangling feet upon feet of fabric through a temperamental sewing machine didn't exactly sound appealing.

So! Ordered and hung they were. But with the tiny curtain rod, we were missing out on half the window.

Improved, but not perfect.

One hardware store later and a little presto-change-o, and boom: Enlarged window. The curtains being hung higher allows the room to look taller by drawing the eye up, and pushing them out to the edges of the window allows all the lovely light to come in full-force.

New rod in an oil rubbed bronze finish instead of silver.

 As promised, a zero construction window enlargement! Have a few panes that need it in your own home and just can't picture it? This drawing floating around Pinterest might make it clearer than my over-lit photography skills:

Very happy with my before and after, and definitely plan to do the same mini-makeover in other rooms. What an easy enhancement!