Dusty, Old, Beasts...

In the midst of several LARGE projects going on at our house, I've been doing a few small ones, too.  We have two Hampton Bay outdoor fans on our patio.  They were there when we moved in, and though they are relatively new, the former owners painted the fan blades with this AWFUL stain.  This stain was also in our kitchen (ICK!) which we have since painted over.  I'll post about that soon.

Since Todd & I are a one income family we try to do as much of fixing up "this old house" on our own.  We live a true DIY life-style.  If we can't DIourselfs... it's probably going to wait a few years.  But, sometimes things just need a little love and elbow grease to really shine.  So, when I looked at these sad, dirty, but in good working order fans I felt compelled to breathe new life into them.  And, these things needed CPR. 

How Long Could YOU Look at That?!

 I kept walking outside seeing these dusty, old, beasts... and I'd yell to Todd, "I'm about to paint these things!!!"  He would always smile and say "Ok, honey", looking up from being knee deep in ANOTHER amazing project that he's completing.  BAHHHH, he's so good at everything... I'd be jealous of his skills if I wasn't married to him.  Anyways, a few weeks back Simone crashed hard into her morning nap... and I knew EXACTLY how I was going to use the time.

So first I unscrewed the globe cover for the lights.  I really don't want to tell you how nasty those were.  They were a death trap for generations of bugs.  And, the dust...oh, the dust.  Living next to the mountain is beautiful, but boy is it dust-tay!  I unscrewed all of the fan blades, too.  I rinsed everything off, and dried each piece.  We had left over white paint from painting Simone's bedroom, so I decided to use that on the fan blades.  

After painting all of the blades I was pretty proud of myself.  Simone was still sleeping, so I decided I wanted to try and spruce up the fan-blade-attachment-thingies (technical term).  After rummaging through the garage, I remembered I bought teal spray paint for another project.  Since my more color conservative better half was at work... I got to spraying.  Todd fully admits if I told him the color idea BEFORE he probably would have given me "the face".  

They looked pretty good after the first coat (above), but the second coat (below) really brought it together.  While waiting for everything to dry, I even got inspired to do something else on the patio...

Once it was all dry I got to screwing everything in.  I'll admit... I couldn't get it all done with the morning nap.  I had to do this in the afternoon after Simone & I had lunch, played peak-a-boo, silly mommy faces, & reading her favorite book four times. 

Here's the finished product!  It feels so much better.  I think it's a little hard to tell how big of an improvement it is... but it sure made me feel better.

As I mentioned I was inspired to update another part of our patio while this was going on.  Again, the previous owners of our house clearly weren't the sharpest number two pencils in the box.  They painted around the french doors with wood stain that looks heinous, AND they painted the beautiful french doors tan.  So the tan paint is chipping off... we have plans to strip it off eventually, or just give in and buy new french doors...probably the former. 

Anyways... french doors...looking gross.  I had added the white flowers a while back.  They actually were on a string of lights that died, so I popped out the bulbs and hung up the flowers.  Really just couldn't get myself to throw those cute little flowers.  So here's what it looked like when Simone woke up... can you see her in her bouncer?

I painted the trim with the same white paint I used on the fans.  But, my favorite part was how CUTE the flowers looked when I sprayed them with the teal spray paint.  I LOVE IT.

Here's a backed up view of the doors.

And a view of both fans...

Little improvements never hurt, and they sure make you feel better about the look of your home.  I used to be one of those people that would say, screw it, if I couldn't replace something with a brand new version.  Having a budget and a house in a constant state of renewal sure have changed me in that way.  

Stay tuned...I'll have many more DIY posts to come!

See post featured on Tip Junkie!

Simple Dinner - Lemon Pepper Chicken, Carrots, & Rice

I'm pretty obsessed with easy dinners. Especially easy chicken dinners because we eat chicken 80% of the time.  So, it takes some work to keep making that chicken exciting!  

I figured I'd share a few SUPER SIMPLE dinners that I make when Simone is not in the mood to watch me chop & prepare a big elaborate dinner. 

I'll have several of these dinners posted soon, since it's just about all I normally make. 

Lemon Pepper Chicken, Carotts, & Rice (I obviously love rice & carrots)

What you need...

Bag of baby carrots

2-4 Chicken brests

Rice (or Quinoa, or other starch)

Get it done...

Throw chicken, some chicken stock, and bag of baby carrots into the crock pot around 3pm and pray it's done before we are starving for dinner.  

I usually put it on high and power cook it for a few hours.  If you're gone all day you could set it to low.  I use a lemon pepper spice I bought at our grocery store and cut up a fresh lemon and toss it in.  It smells amazing while it's cooking.  

Then I cook up some rice (boil in a bag because I'm horrible at rice) and toss it all together.  Todd's always super impressed with the flavor, and chicken in the crock pot is EASY and juicy.

ENJOY!

Where Does the Weekend Go??

Seriously, how is it Sunday night already!!!  Cream cheese chicken in the oven, and Todd's cleaning up his work in the bathroom (major renovation post to come...).  Simone's on my lap for this post already in her jammies because once I'm done here it's off to la-la-land for her.

A few quick highlights of our weekend...

Friday we Skyped with our family in Michigan, which is awesome.  It's SO DANG COOL that Simone can see her Grandma & Grandpa all the way in Michigan.  Later after dinner (Jersey Mikes Subs *YUM*), we Skyped with Todd's brothers who also live in Michigan.  Shots via Skype... pretty badass.  Friday night, sleep was rough... we won't go back over that.

Saturday found us worn a little thin, but that didn't stop my superhero Todd from putting in a ten hour workday on the bathroom.  It's looking so amazing, and I can't wait to do a post for you guys to see how much work my guy has put into it.  I'm bursting with pride.  As with any other weekend, we ended up at Lowes.  Oh, Lowe's... I Lowes you... you have so much of our money.

This is our life...and I'm more than OK with it.

After Lowe's Todd shot a few quick pictures of Simone & me out front of our house.  It was beautiful out, and Simone was laughing, so we seized the opportunity.

By our new tree purchased while I was 8 months preggers

Since we had such a rough night Friday I didn't feel like cooking and Todd saw a delivery car that said wings on the way back from Lowe's.  Which, left us one option...Native New Yorker to watch some UFC and scarf wings.  It's NOT technically a bar... so I don't feel like the worlds worst parent being there with Simone.  But, don't ask the family next to us what they thought... I overheard "bar" "with a baby" several times.  HA!  Whaaaaaaatever.

Sunday was another long day working on our bathroom for Todd, so Simone and I played.  Simone's Grandpa Hart came over for a visit with her and freed me up to do some dishes and fold clothes, SCORE!

Simone and her huge smile for her silly Grandpa!

Can't help it...

Off to enjoy the evening with Todd and get our little to bed.  Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
x&o's

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

Simone's First Easter Basket

We had a great Easter weekend!  It was a busy one, but we had loads of fun with our family and friends!  Saturday we headed out to celebrate our friends Heather & Arlie's baby shower for little Logan, who arrives in May.  It was adorable!  We're so happy for those two and Jackson who now gets to be a big brother!

Heather & Arlie's Race Car Shower for Logan

We did up a sweet welcome wagon for baby Logan with books, outfits, diapers, bottles, etc., etc., etc..  I also found him a custom name bag for toys, diapers, whatever on Etsy.  Heather got a little hospital kit from us with candy, soft socks, hair ties, & chap stick...all of the things I HAD TO HAVE post labor.  It was really different shopping for a boy, although... it really makes me think a little Todd would be fun.  SOMEDAY, maybe...........  Anyways, between the four of us we've already married off Simone to Logan.  Poor kids, they have no choice.  

Saturday evening we caught some snacks & a quick prickly pear beer at Hillside Spot.  I even asked Todd when is the last time we didn't stop in on the weekend.  I think we're going on six weeks straight.  If you live in the area you should check it out.  And, holler at us on the patio!

Yum, BEER!

After hanging with Todd's brother & our Nephew Landon on Saturday night, Sunday morning came fast!  We hurried to get everything set up and ready to rock before our company arrived.  It was a beautiful day and the kiddos were even in the pool.  Although, I'm not sure how... it's insanely cold!  My Dad's girlfriend Julie brought over this huge playhouse that the kids could color & play in.  It was a total hit!  

A few highlights from Easter

We feasted on ham with a peanut butter & honey glaze, Grandma's party potatoes (I'll do a post with this recipe...they are amazing!) recipe is up!,  honey glazed carrots, deviled eggs, coleslaw, fruit, guac, and some peep cupcakes & rice crispy treats.  I was really impressed that everything came out great and with a wide range of tastes in our family, everyone was happy! 

Our Easter Menu

The boys even had some shenanigans going on...

When things died down and everyone headed home our family of three hung out on the patio enjoying the beautiful evening.  

Please forgive the exhausted mommy look...

Simone had a great first Easter!  Watching her enjoy time with our family and our little matching dresses made my day complete!!

Hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones! xo

Simone's Styling Diggs

I get so many sweet compliments on Simone's room.  It's far & away the most complete & finished room in our ever evolving home!  I love the colors of it!  I realize someday she will eventually ask "can we change my room to..." so I'm living it up now.

I also realize that someday we may actually USE this room.  Right now it's a really pretty place to house Simone's stuff.  She sleeps in her pack & play in our room for now.  I like having her close so if she does wake up I can change her & nurse her right away.  Saves all of us from extra time awake in the middle of the night.

 

We got Simone's crib from Target it's the Simmons Slumber Time Elite in Espresso Truffle. As far as bang for your buck I think it's great. Nice quality, it looks beautiful, and the price is in the affordable range! Simone's rag quilt was made by her Grandma Beaupre with hand picked fabrics to match her room. The pillow was made by a friend of my MIL's (I will update with the name & if she has an Etsy shop, because I'm not sure) with those same fabrics. We opted not to put anything on the wall above the crib for safety reasons.

 

The lamp was a hand me down (hence the bumps in the shade) from my parent's house. My Mom used to have this lamp by her chair in the living room, so it's pretty special to me. The little bird is actually a Christmas ornament from Hobby Lobby (known affectionately in our house as simply...the Lobby). If you don't live near a Lobby, I suggest you reevaluate your priorities, pack, and move immediately. Just kidding... kind of. I also picked up the chalkboard at the Lobby, and painted the edging to match her room.  And, no...we didn't hire a professional artist to do the chalkboard.  That's all me, baby! 

 

 

 

I made this mobile for Simone in my 8th month of pregnancy. At that point, I always had to have SOMETHING to work on for fear of going insane waiting to meet her. I bought a bunch of ribbon from the Lobby, one of those embroidery circles, and a hook to hang it. That kept me busy for about thirty-five to forty-five minutes. The bird cage hook thingies is also from the Lobby, and ditto that on the bird clips. Don't worry, I would hide those Lobby receipts in my secret McFlurry cups from Todd and stuff them way down deep in the trash.

 

Next to my glider I decided to do a little wall of prints for her with cute sayings.  I bought a bunch of wooden frames from Goodwill, painted them, and Googled free printable and printed them the size of the frames.  We also had a canvas print made of our first "pregnancy picture".  It's a pretty goofy picture of Todd & I in Hollywood, Florida pointing at my non-existent belly when I was about four months pregnant.  We figured she should see her silly parents faces every morning when she wakes up!

 

 

We opted to forego a changing table.  Her room is pretty small as it is, so we just stuck a changing pad on top of her dresser.  It works.  The quote on the wall is just a painted canvas with letter stickers (from... you guessed it!) because I couldn't find the print in the colors I wanted ANYWHERE on Etsy.  The book shelf things are just Ikea spice racks painted with the coral pink from her room.  I took one picture frame that I had dropped and broken the glass and made a little hair clip holder using ribbon stapled to the inside of the frame.  The lamp I've had forever (a garage sale find) and the birdcage was actually the card holder at our wedding.  A girlfriend gifted us the Sentsy warmer.

 

The little rocking chair was mine from when I was a kiddo.  I keep swearing I'll redo the padding.  Right now it's still has the Care bears fabric that my Mom made from my nursery.  Maybe I'll never redo it.

 

The little fuzzy rug was a Target clearance end cap (who doesn't love those?) find, and I love using wicker baskets to hold books, toys, and blankets.  All of her light switch and electrical outlet covers are from the Lobby.  Get them when they do their half off sale on metals.  Soooo much cheaper!  Oh, and that diaper genie... hasn't been used once.  Although... real foods have made us rethink that!

 

 

Doing a quick one-eighty here's the other side of the room.  My girlfriend Heather made Simone the CUTEST diaper wreath & door hanger for my shower.  The bird hooks again are from the Lobby.  Grandma Beaupre also gave Simone her first little backpack for when we travel to the mitten to see our Michigan family!

 

For the paint used Valspar's paint + primer in Aqua Glow for the upper walls, Homestead South Resort for the bottom, and Sweet Melon on the chair rail & accessories.  We were very lucky to have my MIL here over the summer to help us paint and get her room ready.  Todd put together all of the furniture... but I did all of the heavy lifting of Lobby bags! ;-)