Some pretties for the eye from ShopRuche.com

I came across a website for clothes that I just love...shopruche.com- kinda reminds me of a more affordable Anthropologie.

What do you think?

vermillion visage orange ruffle tank

baby blue eyes tank 

geranium tank

anchor aweigh navy dress

april showers bring may flowers

quilted frosting dress

black and white cameo necklace

eternal sunshine handbag

bella donna rose scarf

Sometimes I forget

About these men

The men who gave their lives at Pearl Harbor...

  the wives they left behind

and their children who never knew them

Sometimes I get busy with my day and I forget about the men who are dying for me, each day

But tomorrow, I will remember.

Thanks to all of you who have kept America free... you have not been forgotten.

And thank you to my husband, Seth, we love you and miss you more each day.

Spruce it up

When we bought our home, we bought it with the thought in mind to upgrade a few things in hopes that in a few years when we go to sell it, we could potential make a little money off of it.  Since I have a little background in interior design, this is right up my alley!  The hard part is going to be making decisions on what I want to change and what I want to replace the older stuff with.  My personal style is very eclectic, so I have to make sure that I blend things well.  Our house is a brand new house in a brand new neighborhood.  A lot of the other houses around us have granite countertops, tile and hardwood floors, but they are also $40-60K more than what we spent on our home.  We bought our house with low end carpet, linoleum flooring and laminate countertops.  This way we get to choose our own granite, tile and hardwood.  After we get that done, we may even replace our bathroom vanities with something a little more upscale like one of these from www.justvanities.com :  

They have great prices and all kinds of different styles.

For our hardwood, I really love this look...which is kinda hard to find, at least around here.

I like the wide boards with the light and dark contrast of this teak wood.

These floors are absolutely gorgeous.  I am sure they are reclaimed from some old farmhouse.  I will be saving that idea for my dream home.

My real dream is to one day flip a house...that is on my bucket list.  I love this kind of stuff.

Have any of you "flipped" a house, or even a room?  I would love to know your ideas and see any of your work :) 

Caleb and I are taking a break this week from having a booth at the farmers market...instead we are going to check out a new farmers market in town and then go find us a GPS for our trip next week. 

Happy Saturday!

Am I too young?

For one of these:

Honda Odyssey

or these:

Toyota Sienna

or should we splurge on one of these:

Toyota Sequoia

or these:

Chevy Suburban

Here's the rundown:

Whenever we have another baby, our VW Jetta just ain't gonna cut it.  Granted, we still have a little while to think about this decision, but I would love your input.  We travel a lot and we barely have enough space to pack everything up and leave room for Caleb.  So, we are debating on what we should buy. Whatever we buy next, we will be keeping for a lonnng time...that is why we are trying to get something that has plenty of seating and storage.  The vans are around $25-$35K.  I have heard they are nice because you don't have to worry about your kids slamming the persons car beside you, plus they are more affordable and get better gas mileage...but, I'm still in my early 20's and as vain as it may sound, I just feel too young to own a van!  My sister has already vowed to never own one, haha.  Do any of you have vans?  Do you wish you would have gotten an SUV? What do you like/dislike about your van?

The SUV:

Of course it is more stylish (in my vain opinion).  It is $40-50K and gets pretty much the worst gas mileage that you can get.  On that note, besides buying a bus, these hold the most people and stuff!  I could go thrifting and be able to stick that hutch I have been eyeing right into the back of my vehicle!  All 6 of our kids will be able to fit (hahaha)- and we will be able to travel through any snow storm that comes our way (we actually did get stuck in a snow storm this winter and this vehicle would have been a huge help).  What do you guys like/dislike about your large SUV?  Would you recommend it?

 I hope you all have a fabulous Friday.  Caleb and I are hitting up two farmers markets in the morning!  Hoping to score some fresh strawberries and radishes :)

Armoire Inspiration

Still trying to make up my mind on what to do with my armoire...kinda drooling over these:

source

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Decorating Dilemma Party

I am joining the Decorating Dilemma Party over at Serenity Now...doesn't that sound like fun?

 

Okay, my decorating dilemma is this big bad boy.  I love it to death.  It is from Pier 1 and was given to Seth and I right after we got married.  Now, it sits in my living room and stores Calebs toys and diapers...I love the functionality of it, but I don't love the big black darkness of it.  It has been painted a few times, moved from state to state, stored in a warehouse for 6 months...and is still alive.  The good news is that I took this picture yesterday morning and it is currently in transition.  I am still confused as to what the final product will be though.  Any of your ideas are welcome!

things I'm lovin

Caleb and I are really lovin us some strawberries!  Our commissary had a huge carton for $3 and we have eaten half of it already... I can't wait till my strawberry plants start producing and hopefully I can get to them before the birds do.

We have been cloth diapering at home.  I am really loving this because it is really stretching out the time between disposable diaper purchases.  I started with a Bumgenius Organic One Size All in One Diaper (could that name be any longer???).  The snaps are great and I got it in yellow so I can use it when we have another baby.  I have also tried the econobum which wasn't nearly as good as the bumgenius, but for $10, it did the job...I won't be buying any more though if that says anything.

  I also have been trading my teacups on etsy for some etsy cloth diapers.  I just received two from bumjoy and I must say that I can not tell they are handmade.  I really love them...they are pocket diapers and they really work great! I have one in pear and one in white (the two colors on the left side).  If you are interested in cloth diapers, I highly recommend these pocket, one size diapers.  I really love the snaps and the adjustable sizing of these.

I got a new phone- with internet!  It's a blackberry and after my mail in rebate comes back, I will have gotten the phone for free!  Seth and I decided to do this because it was getting really hard trying to plan times that we were both available to talk and even then, I found myself having to rush back home so I could get a good connection and it was just really getting completely inconvenient for both of us and almost impossible to talk to each other.  This will also be good for my etsy business so I can answer emails right away and keep up with sales more efficiently.  Plus, I am really getting used to it and I think I am in love :)

Goodnight Gorilla has become Caleb (and mine)'s favorite bed time story.  He absolutely loves it.  His favorite page is when the wife realizes all the animals are in her room and all you can see is her eyes on the black page...he really thinks it is quite funny. If you are looking for some books for your kids, I highly recommend this one.

 Caleb also loves "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree".  He likes the pages that say "SNAP!"- I always make a loud snap sound with the page and he thinks it's funny.  It is a really cute book and you can sing your way through it if you want.  I recommend this one as well.  If any of you all have book suggestions, I would love to hear!  Especially ones that your kids loved.

Of course, I treat myself to one of these a week, although I could easily get one everyday but I can't justify spending almost $4 on coffee! My old boss used to joke and call Starbucks," Fourbucks" because he said everything cost four bucks, I thought that was pretty funny.  I feel bad enough getting one of these once a week but it is just so yummy.  I have always loved these in the summertime.  I remember right after I found out I was expecting Caleb, I switched to decaf caramel macchiato's  and they were still just as good.  

iced caramel macchiato

My gardenia bushes are blooming out front and they are beautiful and smell even better than they look!  My veggies are also starting to grow and I am so excited!

I have also been on a radish dipped in ranch kick- don't diss it before you try it! ;)

I am also, as always, loving some great thrift store finds, like this lamp that I am planning on revamping.  It was a steal- $5! It works and it is hammered brass and vintage, it doesn't get better than that.

What are you loving these days?  The warm weather? Wearing summery dresses? A new book?

before and after

My friend Kristan did an awesome thrift store makeover.

Before:

During:

After:

Are you inspired yet?

Happy Monday!

P.S. If you have a thrift store makeover that you would like to share, send me and email and I would love to post about it!

The Cowboy is headed to the market

Howdy Partner', I am headed to the farmers market today.  My mommy got a new phone, so if yall want live updates on what's goin' on with the cowboy and his mama, you can get em' here.  Well, I gotta go sattle up Ol' Paint.  See ya round partner.

vitamins baby

As thankful as I am that Caleb is eating, I would really like for him to eat something other than cheese pizza, grilled cheese, cheesy brown rice...you get the picture.

We went for his 15 month check up today and he gained 2 pounds in the last 2 months, which is completely wonderful since he hadn't previously gained ANY weight since his 9 month check up.  

For lunch i decided to trick him a little.  I made him a smoothie using frozen yogurt, milk, strawberries, peaches and...spinach! 

 The other flavors completely overwhelmed the spinach taste and he drank it!  I wouldn't say he liked it quite as much as a milkshake, but he liked it enough to drink most of it.  I am so excited that I tricked my snookums into getting a little dose of vitamins that he really needs.  Do any of you have any other "trick" recipes to share?  I have heard of that cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" that is supposed to have all kinds of recipes that trick kids into getting their veggies.  I may just have to go check it out.

For dinner he ate a big tray full of macaroni and cheese with ketchup (yuck!) and finished it off with a big helping of fresh strawberries...at least I can get this kid to eat one good thing willingly :)

yummy

macaroni face

mommy, don't you want some?