Big Bubba eludes us and other randomness.

What a pleasant surprise! The lovely 'HeadHen' at Runnin' the Roost awarded me the 'Nice Matters' award. How very sweet to even be considered for such an award. Thank you!!

As I understand it, I in turn nominate 7 fellow bloggers to receive the prestigious award. :) Sorry, if you've already been nominated. Guess that just means you're super duper nice!

1. CJ Savvy Momma

2. Bon Bon Boutique

3. Seeker FunkyJunkCo

4. Happy Homemaker

5. Perfectly Pink

6. A Passion for Scrapbooking, Decorating and Shopping

7. Preppy Napkin

Ok, so I'm adding an 8th because she is beyond nice. :)

8. Workin' That Preppy

*********************************************************
Busy, busy, busy....

- Went for our second annual family trip to the Iowa State Fair. Apparently a friend of my Dad's had an award winning pig, Bubba, that was to be there. Aidan was terribly excited to meet Bubba. Unfortunately we looked all over that darn swine barn and could not find the elusive pig. Knowing Aidan would not let us leave until we spotted him we eventually found a random, non-exceptional pig, and dubbed him Bubba. We stopped for a quick visit with 'Bubba' and took lots of pictures. Aidan was happy and we were finally able to leave the stinky swine barn. :) Although I love a good tradition and the IA State Fair is one of the best of its kind, we have decided that perhaps going annually may be a bit much.

- Aidan starts preschool on August 20th. He has a school supply shopping list! How fun!

- We're planning for Aidan's big 3yr b-day. Keeping it pretty low-key this year. Rented a little shelter at a nearby park. The theme is dinosaurs because he is obsessed with them at the moment. In the process of trying to come up with a few dinosaur themed games.

- My in-law's are moving to our suburb today and my brother-in-law is flying in from Ft Meyers to help with the move. They lived about an an hour and 15 mins away before, now they will be 7 minutes away. This should be interesting. :)

- Almost done with the hardwood floor project. Next projects I'd like to focus on; repainting the living/kitchen/half bath, replacing the half bath fixtures, make home office desk. Bought several little test cans and am thinking we like Bamboo from the Eddie Bauer Home paint. Seems to be a warm brown/beigey color. I don't suppose by chance any of you have used this color?

It has almost been to hot to even work on projects. If it requires any work in the garage to get it done it's just not worth it at the moment. However, it does look like we might finally be getting a break from the high 90's. Woo hoo!

*********************************

Now that our little IA trip is behind us I'm hoping to get back to regular posts and more projects.

Sources of Inspiration

Unfortunately Handsome Hubby and I have been sick the past couple of days. Started with a scratchy throat on Friday and went downhill from there. Nothing like having the flu in the dog days of summer. I think I've left the house a total of two times over the past 3 days which leaves me with not much to say and in desperate need of some inspiration.

One source of inspiration that I can always count on is my HGTV. I love HGTV and could watch it for hours. Thanks to my dvr I don't. :) I have lots of favorite shows but my very favorite of all is Divine Design. Candice Olson rocks! (If you've seen her show you know why!) I love her design ideas so much that I even ran out and bought her book when it launched. She has a way of making everything sparkle and I think I'd let her have free reign on any room in my house.

I, along with many of you it seems, enjoy seeing other people's homes and how they decorate. It's a fun way to get ideas and I think a person's home says a lot about them.

Well, awhile back the super fab Christy at Bon Bon Boutique blogged about 'Rate My Space' on HGTV's website. Rate My Space is the ultimate sneak peak into other people's homes. How fun!

I'm thinking I might have to start snapping more pictures around my home and post them on Rate My Space. I'd love to get other people's opinions. (I think.) :)

Here are a few beautifully decorated rooms that I found but these are really just the tip of the iceberg.

How beautiful are these walls? And the subtle colors used....

Love the 6' beadboard used in this bathroom as well as the rich color used above it.

Just my kind of colors. Love the under cabinet lighting, something I'm looking at for my kitchen. Could do w/out the rooster but I think this room is great.

Since I'm a magazine fanatic over the years I have collected tons of clippings from magazines for what I call my 'dream maker' box. I love going through my box now and again to get ideas. Some of my favorite magazines for inspiration are; Southern Living, Better Homes & Gardens and Country Living.

What are your sources of inspiration?

Friday Fun Finds

Happy Happy Friday! We love Friday's around here but who doesn't right?!

This weekend is fairly full. Tonight we're going over to visit some friends. Tomorrow dental appointments then my Dad, Stepmom and Grandmother are all coming down for an overnight visit. I'm looking forward to it all. Yes, even the dentist appointment. I LOVE going to the dentist! I'm slightly teeth obsessed (white teeth matter!) so going to the dentist is a pleasure for me. (Keep in mind this is coming from a girl who's never had to suffer through major dental work. i.e a root canal, sorry hubs!)

My fun finds/wish list runs the gamut today...

I am convinced that with this little kit I could build any of the projects on my 'to do' list. I've already advised Handsome Hubs of this and in fact asked him to start teaching me how to use more tools. If I felt more confident in my building skills I'm quite certain that I could whip up the dollhouse bookcase, home office desk, and the little tike wooden picnic table projects all by myself. All these projects have been sitting on the back burner while handsome hubby works on the hardwoods and it'd feel great to do them myself.

Everyone needs a fairy door. I've enjoyed reading the Red Shoes blog and would love to visit her store in person someday. Until then I've enjoyed perusing through her little online store and recently came across this, a fairy door! Yes, you heard me right! How cute would this be in a little girls room? I'm quite positive my little Laney Lou needs one. They come in a couple of different colors. Fun, fun! She really has some neat things and I love the pictures from her store. Makes me wish Ann Arbor, MI wasn't so far away. Apparently the little fairy doors are a phenomenon as they've been 'subtly incorporated into cafes, retails stores...' in the area. Honestly, I just think that's so cute.

And something fun for Big Brothers room...original artwork from Etsy. Love the colors and the fact that it's a way for him to learn the planets. Cool!

Last but not least, another Etsy find...because we all know most things look best monogrammed. ;)
This little 'cafe latte' brown night light would look great in my hall upstairs.

Hope to be updating with a project I made soon!

Well snap my bowtie and call me whiplashed!

I know, quite shocking isn't? Me? Posting again so soon? I'm on a role folks.....

This weekend has been pleasant so far. Went up to the 'Northland' as we like to call it around here to visit a friend this morning. She recently moved into a new home and it's beautiful. I took the kids while Handsome Hubby worked on the hardwood floor. Oh yes, the hardwood floor project continues. Getting the last coat to go on smoothly has been nothing short of a nightmare. Anyway, I made him take this picture of me with the kids as up until now I've not had one with them. (I'm always on the other side of the lens it seems.)

I finished up the front entryway project the other night. Well, as with any project in my home, it's never really finished. I would like to add a few smaller black flower pots next to the urns and fill them with some colorful flowers to make the area pop. I'm also on the hunt for a wreath but

I've not found anything I just love yet.

We added the wrought iron piece above the door and I think I like it. I'm just not 100% positive yet. We live in the 'burbs, hence the 'Suburban Momma' and many of the houses look similar, I'll admit it. In fact, we get static sometimes from our non-suburban friends about how we live in cupcake land, all the houses look alike. Adding the black iron piece is kind of my little way of making my home more distinctive. :)

What do you think, should it stay or should it go?

Me = Bad Blogger

Seriously, where is the time going?

I've had to drive up to the office this week for a team meeting and I've had work related functions the last couple evenings. Happy to say tomorrow is the last day for the meeting so things can get back to normal around here. It is nice to see my work friends since we're all virtual we don't get together but a couple times a year. The team is spread throughout the US so it's a big production to get us all together.


With time to kill between meetings a friend and I went to a new(ish) outdoor shopping area near the office. They have a GREAT little children's store there called Marshmallow Kisses. I've shopped their store online but getting to go and see everything in person was a real treat. They have such adorable and I do mean ADORABLE stuff. If you're in or around the KC area you should check the store out at the Zona Rosa. I found several things I'm quite certain my kids can't live without :) as well as several great project ideas. One of which I hope to make this weekend and will have to post about if it turns out like I think it will.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

We've needed a new clock for our living room for quite awhile now. I wasn't sure what I wanted but during one of my weekly trips to Target I found this one on sale and just loved it.

I'm a big fan of using larger, more over sized objects to make statements rather then a bunch of tiny little pieces. I've found that sometimes the smaller pieces can looked cluttered if they're not grouped together properly. The shells on the top shelf are from Jamaica and are just seasonal. I'm constantly changing out my displays and I can say that this isn't one of my most favorite looks. Unfortunately I've not had time to get too creative over the past couple months. (Imagine that!)

------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm still working on my front entry projects. I painted the door black to match the urns but I need to do a few more things before I can call it done. Here's a little peek at one of the urns I talked about recently. Probably not new to you gardeners out there but my new favorite potting plant is the bright green sweet potato vine. As you can see from the picture it is such a vivid green and it's great for draping over pots. LOVE IT! I took this picture probably about a week ago and it's amazing how much the plants have grown since then.

I'm hoping to get the front entry project pretty much finished this weekend so maybe I can get some more pictures posted then.

----------------------------------------------------------------

And since I haven't posted any pictures of Big Brother lately here's one of him enjoying some some pool time last weekend.

Yes, mothers lock up your daughters this one's going to be trouble! :)

A Potpourri Post

Forewarning: this is a bit of random post...


So I'm not sure what my deal is but lately I've been tearing up at the silliest things. I don't really think it's postpartum depression because I don't feel depressed when I get teary. (If that makes any sense.) I've just noticed that I get teary more easily and just as quickly as I tear up it passes.





For example, while reading this book the other night to Aidan I got teary. Seriously, I teared up over this book. Although this may be a touching story with a good moral, I don't think most would be moved to tears after reading it. I must say though that boy is so selfish. Poor tree!


Here's another example, every time I listen to the song 'Goodbye My Lover' by James Blunt I get teary. I have this downloaded and have heard it a million times before so why do I still tear up? In fact, although handsome hubs is not a James Blunt fan I all but forced him to listen to, then download this song onto his ipod. Curtly informing him he needed to be more sensitive. LOL
OK, to my defense though I have heard that this song is played at funerals more then any other song at the moment. Who knew?



Completely switching gears, I did not get much in the way of projects done over the weekend. I did manage to get the black urns placed at my front door. I'm really pleased with the plant selection I used and how they've turned out. Tonight I hope to get a start on re-painting the front door. I'll try to get some pictures taken once I've got the door painted so you can take a look. I really think it's going to look sharp.


For good measure I'm throwing in this funny picture of Delaney. I was busy snapping pictures the other day, so tickled to have her hair adorned in some girly way being as none of her bows will work (due to lack of hair) when I took this one. So adorable until you look down to discover her sending the most unladylike gesture.





Nice. What can I say? That's my girl!


More later!

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

I have decidedly resorted to desperate measures. But really, is it so weird that I've taped a picture of Jessica Simpson to my desk? After reading through the ever informative Us Weekly magazine I decided to pull a page from it to serve as inspiration. The picture is of the newly trim again Jessica Simpson (as if she was ever big). I have taped my inspiration up near my computer monitor so that I may be constantly reminded of my goal; LOSE THIS BABY WEIGHT! My hope is that having the slim, trim Jessica Simpson staring me down all day will make me less apt to bring snacks up from the kitchen.

I am headed in the right direction on the scale. I have been losing but not nearly as quickly as I'd like. My goal is to lose 15-20lbs over the next couple months. Secretly I'd love to lose 25-30 but I'm trying to maintain realistic goals so that it's not too overwhelming. I wish I could get back into running again. There was a time that I was running about 20 miles a week but that just seems way way way to ambitious. I'd be happy to be going for regular walks at the moment.

Last week over a lunch hour I made a quick trip to Steve & Barrys. Since I'm in transition with my weight I don't want to spend a lot on clothes but I do need a few wardrobe pick-me-ups to get me through the next month or two. If you have a Steve & Barrys nearby and are looking to pick up a few inexpensive pieces I suggest you check out Sarah Jessica Parkers 'Bitten' line. It's very inexpensive and I was able to find some stylish tops. I also found some flip-flops that are very similar to JCrew's but sooo cheap. They are having a sale right now 2 for $6! Word of advice though, they seem to run big, I bought 8's and should have gone with the 7's.

Here's a not so great picture of them.

This weekend we're going to spend some time out in the sun and handsome hubs and I are going out for a date night. Just dinner and a movie, just the two of us. We desperately need some adult time so I'm really looking forward to it. If I'm feeling inspired I think I might re-paint our front door and switch out the pots on either side of the door. I purchased two urns a few weeks back that would look nice. Just need to pick up some flowers from the nursery. Gosh though, it's been so hot here I'm wondering if there's anything left alive to choose from!

iPod download recommendations for the week: Hey Delialah, by the Plain White T's, The Boys of Summer (acoustic version) by The Eagles-Don Henley, and for more laid back fun in the sun don't forget Bob Marley's 'Stir it up' (nearly anything of his fits well)