Smoothie Move~



What a day! The count down is on for the big move to our new home this weekend! And let me tell you...moving is one hum dinger of a time sucker! I'm exhausted from the renovations, just hoping to have enough strength for the crazy week ahead. And to top it off the nocturnal elephant that lives above us has come back in town and seems to be practicing her 3 am bowling lessons...what the heck is that weirdo DOING UP THERE!!? No worries! I was up and at 'em bright and early this morning armed with my AMAZING new VitaMix that my hubby grabbed at Costco last week! Have you seen these things?? They're so phenomenal I think it just may change my life! I can whip up healthy smoothies that rival the younguns at Robeks! So to bone up on all the energy I can muster I made a concoction this morning that consisted of oj, french vanilla yogurt, frozn berries, Emergen-C, and the fabulous All In One vitamin powder. Feeling like SuperMom I crammed my kids in the car with their huge Super Gulp sized smoothies to start the day right! Of course, to make everything very consistent neither one wanted to drink the darn thing and as I was handing it to my precious little one tucked in the backseat, she exclaimed her protest and drew her hand away just as I felt her little fingers around the cup and dropped the WHOLE DARN THING all over the back of my car....we're talking an OCEAN of raspberry seeds, goopy yogurt, etc all down the back of my passenger seat and onto the floor beneath her adorable Converse All-Stars. I looked back in horror and met the gaze of her big brown eyes, as she grasped to one snack size ziplock bag in her hands over the mess, as if she had just narrowly saved the day!! Umm...NOT! I'd like to say I kept my cool and was the model mother but I have to admit that I hit my boiling point and threw quite a little hissy. As if I have time to drive to Bubbles and sit for 7 hours as I wait for a complete detail!! Hilarious...or not. So there you have...not quite the start to tackling this pre-moving day that I expected~but at least we can look back and laugh! Yeah...that's it! :)

Happy Easter!

That Easter Bunny sure made a mess around here last night! HUGE news...did you know that if you toss you Peeps in the microwave for about 15 sec they puff up, get really ooey & gooey, and taste like roasted marshallows! I've never been a fan of Peeps but now I do! Yum! What a fun morning...now we're off to church! Have a wonderful day friends!

~The Powder Bath That Haunts Me~

Up against Silver Sage from Restoration Hardware~not quite right...
The 2 softer blue colors were the suggestions of the guy at Sherwin Williams...um, WRONG!

How can such a tiny little room cause such distress? Wow...this is insane. I purchased this gorgeous antique from Joyce Horn and dropped a sink and fixtures from Hollywood Builders into the black marble top and it looks great. Now figuring out what to do with the walls is an ordeal. It's impossible to match and it's such a small room that I don't want anything too dark. I tried Silver Sage from Restoration Hardware but it was just a tad too green. I'm off to Benjamin Moore to get their suggestions today. I purchased 2 samples that were suggested by Sherwin Williams, but they just weren't right. Hmmmm....wish I had this blog more established so I'd get some ideas from all my fabulous readers!

UPDATE!
Here is the finished bathroom.
I settled on Benjamin Moore 75% Brewster Gray.
It's just dark enough and made the room really elegant.
I hope you like it!

I found the antique cabinet at Joyce Horn in Houston.

We had to shave a little of the marble off the sides of the top

and squeeze it in there but it fit!  The space was a very narrow

weird size for a powder bath so finding something to fit was a challenge!

The mirror was made in Atlanta. It turned out beautifully!

Pedicures, Pastels, and Pilgrimmages

I really usually enjoy this time of year...the week the majority of my friends head North to conquer the great antique hunt in the big city of Roundtop, Texas/Population: 77. It's a time to get out of Houston and weed through piles of junk & jewels to find just the thing you never knew you couldn't live without! To meet up with all the gals you see all the time in Houston, but still want to stop to chat with in the tents of Marburger. And for all of us natural born bargain hunters...well, it's just plain fun! Alas, this year I have other things in the stars for this week and none of them include traipsing through fields looking for diamonds in the ruff. I'm in the midst of wading the perils of interior paint! So while the majority of everyone I know was perusing Ironstone and vintage linens amidst the tents, there I was the other day, standing at Benjamin Moore waiting patiently to get my glaze, when an adorable young preggo walked up beside me with 2 little toddlers in tow. She was dressed in a pastel Lilly Pulitzer-esque shift dress with the fabric stretched waaaay out over her baby bump and looked ever so fresh and adorable...very ready for Spring! As her 2 crayola toting tots sat on the floor coloring away as mom made her order, I made note of the fact that I was still dressed in my NYC head to toe black. Now make no mistake, I make no apologies for my love of black. I'll wear black anywhere, anytime, in any degree of heat. I LOVE it. It's comfortable & I'm a big believer in uniforms. "No brainers" I call them. Good ol stand by's that require little brain power and can be grabbed, thrown on and get you out the door in a flash. Einstein also was a devotee to the uniform. It's even been rumored that Einstein wore the same thing everyday to save precious cerebral energy for more important things. So you see I'm a lot like Einstein! Einstein and East Coasters... and each year there comes a time when I have to weigh comfort against conformity and I think the time is upon us. Usually for me, comfort wins! So as the steady flow of Houstonives cram their SUV's full of newly found treasures from Round Top and dash homeward through the bluebonnets this week, I can't help but take stock that Spring has Sprung...it's time to dehusk my hooves with a serious pedicure, get out my sandals and make plans to put at least some of my black away. It won't be easy though. Maybe there's a 12 step program somewhere? Oh well ~ parting is such sweet sorrow. I'll miss you my dark friend....if only for a few days before I pull you back out!

Looking For Mrs Doubtfire!

No, I don't mean I'm looking for a man in drag to look after my kids~just a wonderful cleaner/ organizer to help me keep my life and home in proper order. Why is it that housekeepers always seem to flake out right when you need them most? I'm moving in a few weeks and have no help...and no, I'm not a capable grown up that can handle this on my own. I admit it...My name is Stephanie and I NEED help!! I tried out a new gal last week and on her first day nearly drove off the road when she called me and asked me to stop and get her a burger on my way home! Um...WHAT!? I politely told her to make herself a PBJ (Although wondering why she didn't eat lunch before her 12:30 arrival time) and made mental plans on how to give her the boot. To top it off, upon returning home after a LOOOONG day, found 4 loads of WET laundry waiting for me to dry and fold atop my dryer. So there I was folding clothes at 10pm. She was here for 5 HOURS, people! What did she do?? So I'm entering the looking phase again...looking for Mrs. Doubtfire. Someone to swoop in and give a helping hand here. Someone NORMAL...not too much to ask, right?

Waiting For Hardwoods To Dry ~ Oh My~~

Well, I've been longing for the day when I have a break from my crazy schedule of running around looking, and deciding, and researching, and purchasing, and returning, etcetera, etcetera...and now the day is here. At long last we have a few days whereas we are forbidden to enter our new home while our hardwoods dry. AND it's killing me. It's like an overdue first baby that just~won't~come...hey, I need this to be over! I need to see that the paint colors I ached over were all the right choice. That the carpets go well with the paint colors I ached over. To enjoy the fruits of my labor. To drink a BIG margarita in my new yard by our new pool! So while I'm waiting I'm looking into the latest house drama...the "no the chandelier's won't be here in time for the scheduled electrician to hook them up because they're back ordered" drama. Do I cancel the current chandeliers and go with something that will arrive in a more timely manner or cap those hot wires and wait...more. Hmmmm....these are the dilemnas (Is that how you spell "Dilemna"? Doesn't look right...oh well) of a new renovator. By the way...do you know how hard it is to get anything done, let alone write a blog with a 10 year old chanting, "Watch this, Mommy!" every 10 second as she showcases her newly learned flip flops? It's really tricky people! So I sit patiently and watch my little tasmanian devil do her thing and try to live in the moment. Enjoy the peace of not having to race to the house for a few days and hope that the golden caramel shade I chose for the new hardwoods will be dark enough...we'll see!

On The Home Stretch!

This past week I picked out carpet. Hallelujah that's over! I decided on all wool carpet to try to be as earth friendly, non-toxic as possible. I just couldn't give into laying wall to wall seagrass in my master...so sorry all you seagrass devotees! These toes have to hit something soft in the morning...I'm a very tactile person and as much as I love the look of seagrass, my comfort comes first! I did, however, choose a very soft, tight woven seagrass look alike carpet for the master. It's lovely and will give the effect of seagrass with a much more toe friendly feel. The only carpet that I didn't go 100% wool on was for our back stairs...but this carpet is what I'm MOST excited about. It's a faux antelope skin that will be placed wall to wall up our backstairs right when you walk in the back door. FUN! It's going to look so cool and have so much more personality than anything else I found. It was more expensive, but I think in small areas it's good to splurge if it's going to have a big impact! I'm also adding a wall of chalkboard paint on the inside wall of my walk in pantry. I thought it would be so fun to be able to write little notes to each other when we're standing in there perusing our food stock. I can add a daily scripture and little love notes to my girls...it will be fun! Now I'm onto finding a suitable counter top material for our game room "buffet." Someone suggested black marble but at $1,000 for a tiny slab of material I'm thinking I could find something a bit more cost efficient that looks just as good...I'll let you know. XOXO

Paint is NOT for the Faint of Heart...

Just made a $500 mistake in my bedroom. Chose 957 Papaya by Benjamin Moore and it came out really golden on the trim...TOO golden. Looked too dark for me so I'm switching to Linen Weave on the walls and 50% Linen Weave on the trim. Can't go wrong there. I've got Linen Weave up in my gameroom and LOOOVE it. It's so soft and subtle. I'm going to love it in the master. The White Dogwood came out ADORABLE in my little girls room...who knew pink could be SO difficult to get right. Not too dark, not too light...Juuuust right! We did Extra White on the ceiling to open the room up a bit and it's just going to be THE coolest once I get in her hot pink velvet w/ green trim Jonathan Adler-esque headboard!! My Restoration Hardware Silver Sage in the guest/"Craft" room is perfect. It's not sage at all...it's more of a grey. Actually I've heard it mentioned that it's the exact same color as Benjamin Moore's Grey Wisp~-color #CC1570. Learning that RH's color palette is made by BM makes this seem likely. So there you go... Now on to my pesky teenager...she wants TURQUOISE...oh my. Do you know how HARD it is to get turquoise right? I've gone through more pint size tester cans than I can count...the list includes BM Antiguan Sky, Birds Egg, Waterfall, SW Tantalizing Teal, Benjamin Moore's "Woodlawn Blue" HC-147 & "Palladian Blue", Tropicana Cabanana Benjamin Moore, and Barely Teal to name a few. I even emailed the author of the fabulous House of Turquoise blog, Erin, and she sweetly emailed me back her favorites! (BM Antiguan Sky and Birds Egg were among her suggestions.) But at long last I've settled on BM Blue Diamond! It's GOR-geous...we'll have to wait and see it on all 4 walls, but I'm really hoping it won't be too bright. Coupled with soft white bedding and a iron canopy bed, I think the room has potential to be a stunner! We're ordering some mirrored furniture including a side table and a vanity, which I'm really excited about. I think the turquoise and the mirrors will look really cool together. So now I'm off to get milk for my kids...gotta remember to feed the kids during this whole renovation process. Be back soon! XOXO

Renovating Is For The Birds

Joyce Horn antique french blue chest being placed in our powder bath

awaiting the marble top with dropped sink and hardware~

just barely squeaked this one in!

The big hole in our backyard which will soon be a

pool enjoyed by all! So exciting!

OK so this photo should have gone before the last one but I'm still learning how to add photos to my newbie blog! Pool being staked out! We replaced the Austin stone mantel with a bigger fireplace box and stone mantel. This part of the renovation was major...the design, the stone, the size, redoing a fireplace is heavy duty stuff, friends. The mantel is in and now the bookshelves and cabinets are getting a facelift as well~ hopefully mine will be next! :) We purchased a new home!!! We looked high and low and finally found just what we've wanted. We knew it was "the" house when my sweetest little one looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mommy, buy it! This one feels like home!" OK, kiddo. Done! It's a really sweet 6 year old Texas Hill Country home with a BIG porch in the front (and back) and TONS of room to be the perfect "hang house" we've been searching for, for our kids teenage years! Yay!!! Right? Right! Until we decided to update it, just a little bit! We hired a fabulous builder, and decided on the first round of "must do's" to make the home more "our vision." We decided to add a new stone mantel with a huge new fireplace box, took out some crown molding & chair railing, rounded some entry ways, landscaped, decided to put in a new pool, painted the entire interior, redesigned the great room bookshelves, added Gothic glass front cabinet doors in the kitchen, added new custom mirrors in bathrooms, ripped out the built-ins in the powder bath and replaced it with a gorgeous antique chest that we'll drop a sink into, pulled up all the old counter tops and floors in all the upstairs bathrooms and replaced them with Cream of Marfel marble, changed out all the old sconces and chandeliers...just to get us started! And, the list kept GROWING! So much fun, (really) and very exciting, yet a bit daunting in the scale of the things. Then, much to our chagrin, the electrician hit a pipe in our attic and flooded the front of the house with water from the indoor sprinkler system. Greeeeattt! Now it's an even bigger renovation. Hey, at least it happened at the beginning of the job and not the end..let's look at the bright side, shall we? I've made a lot of decisions and am now about to choose carpet...They're painting today so I'll head over to check that out and make sure I like the colors I've chosen! The pool permit has been approved so soon there should be a massive hole in my new backyard! I'll keep you updated on my progress!

We'll see where this leads! Onward and upward~ XOXO