good enough ♥

Hellooooooooo!!! Hope everyone enjoyed a beautiful holiday weekend. Ours got off to an unexpected rocky start but quickly recovered. I don't know what it was about the past few days but we've really started to slow down around here and just be really thankful for what's right in front of us. We didn't work on big projects or plan new ones. We just "maintained" and enjoyed the beauty that spring brought us. We played outside, hosted a little cookout for the neighbors, went swimming, took a little day trip to giant antique center and an outlet mall. It has honestly felt like a mini vacation. I think we'll be behaving like this more often. What we have is good enough- it's actually better than good it's great and I'm so thankful. I've been on this self imposed house tweaking treadmill long enough and I'm just ready to enjoy. We're looking forward to our side yard fence going in this weekend (we've been on the wait list for 6 weeks!) so we can be outside even more in the coming months. 

I snapped a few photos at dusk last night of our sun room. It's so pretty that time of day. The shabby pink peonies (my absolute favorite!) were one of the many welcome surprises to pop in the yard in the past couple of weeks. 

and for good measure a photo of sweet Lucy. the official Memorial Day 2011 Corn Hole Champ!

I hope you found a little slice of peace and happiness this past weekend too. ♥

tolix chair inspiration

The chairs to go with the new table are on their way. In the end durability and budget won out. While I love a good louis chair that seems pretty impractical at this stage in life. I just loved the look of the Tolix chair and so did Nick. Loved the chair but not the price tag. But after some research I found what I hope to be a steal of a deal from OverStock.com. Four chairs for $169 TOTAL people (no tax and free shipping). They got great reviews as well so I'm just hoping I really like them and for that price I figured would could give them a spin. I bought them in white and I plan on keeping the table's dark mink stain for now. I think it would provide for a fresh contrast so we'll see. I'll let you know when they get here what the final verdict is. Below are some of my inspiration photos.

 Below are the chairs we bought. Can't wait to get them!

stay tuned because I did something amazing with spray paint that i can't wait to share!

dining room stuff and stuff

i had been working on this beautiful post of dining room inspiration photos all day yesterday and when i got home last night i went to add a few more things and POOF! 3/4 of the post was gone including the bulk of the text. Uhhhh. so i decided to scrap it and start anew today. why dining rooms you ask? well because when we bought this house in the contract i decided to ask the sellers for their dining room table and chairs because it was clear the dinky little table we owned at the time would have been dwarfed by the new space and this was a quick no-cost band aid for us in the meantime. the table, while big and beautiful was never anything i would have picked in like a zillion years and yes it looked nice, boy was it impractical! we learned quickly the the giant iron scroll legs underneath didn't leave much room for our own legs. it seems like a small thing but when you're eating 3 meals a day there it gets pretty annoying when you chair is constantly tangled with the table and you're knees have permanent bruises. so onward and upward but never with out a low-cost plan. i had explored a few options over the last week. everything from taking our existing table to a friend and having new legs put on  (the chairs then wouldn't have worked) to visiting a place that beautifully paints estate sale furniture (it was unknown when if ever they would get something that worked for us and i'm not that patient), to thrift stores, garage sales, internet (i hate to pay shipping) and finally to the mall.

{BEHOLD} the wonderful world of floor samples! it's always hit or miss but i figured it couldn't hurt to check so i packed up Lucy after lunch yesterday and headed first to Pier One (totally disappointed by the quality) and then to the mall. i hit Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware first but no luck so i hiked to Crate and Barrel on the other side. BAM! like a bolt of lightening there she was waiting for me. i had set out to find a cream or white table but this was a deal i couldn't pass up.

The Arbus Extension Table retails for $1999 and lets just say i paid under $600. like i said with that price tag for solid oak i'd work with it. i should mention part of my challenge when looking was finding something large enough for our family. while there are only three of us right now we like to entertain and we plan on having more children someday. this table seats up to 8!

no way did i purchase those matching chairs- way to pricey and formal for us. right now i'm trying to decide to paint the table or leave it be. either way i need to find some low cost chairs that work well with the table the way it is right now but would also compliment a white table in the future. i love the look of the garden chairs at the table below. they seem super practical for families. 

i'm bending towards this one from Home Decorators Collection which sells for just $99 each but it pains me to pay $35 A CHAIR to have them shipped. so i may hold out for a shipping sale. i like the idea of lining the sides of the table with them and then do something girly and fancy for end chairs. 

i promise once everything comes together i'll share photos. i'm still painting the moldings in there too so it will be quite a little transformation. hope your week is rolling along!

grass stains and cake

wishing you a fresh and beautiful weekend! Mine will be filled with grass, mulch, weeding, a sweet little girls birthday party, furniture hunting, and general freshening up around the house oh + some yummy food tossed in for good measure. 

I also wanted to tell you about a great sale going on in my shop. The Fresh:Farmers Market Tote is just one of the items on sale right now. You can view the tote HERE.

xoxo

color

Chalk it up to the spring fevah but i've been craving more color in our home lately. It's a slow process for me because i don' want things to get out of hand but i've been working in subtle pops here and there. 

I also finally got around to painting the upstairs hall as well as the baseboards in the living room/ dining room. Those baseboards were a breeze (they were formally stained wood now crispy white) but the dental crown molding above it is going to prove a different story.  It just needs to be done though for me to feel like it's home. I struggled with this area for a while and I finally realized the other day that's probably because the only piece of furniture in that area that we brought from the old house was the antique corner cabinet. The sectional, dining room table and chair as well as the side board were left to us from the previous owner. A bunch of people gasped when I told them my plans to paint the "beautiful" wood moldings so i put it off. It felt like we were having dinner every night in someone elses' house. Slowly but surely though it's feeling right now. 

*images via

vanilla blueberry scones

I got up extra early this morning because my sweet next door neighbor turned another year wiser and Miss Lucy and I had our usual Tuesday am play date at their house so I decided to bake Brooke some birthday scones. I love this recipe because it requires very few ingredients and most of them are staples in the fridge and pantry already. I also love it because if you're not a blueberry fan you can easily swap it out for say lemon or chocolate chip. 


Ingredients 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, chilled
1 heaping cup of fresh blueberries
3/4 cup half-and-half cream
1 egg 



Directions  
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 

Cut butter into mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add blueberries and toss to mix. 

In separate bowl beat together cream, vanilla and egg, and slowly pour into dry ingredients, stirring with rubber scraper until dough forms (you may need to add extra cream to get the right consistency).  Knead just until it comes together. It will sort of look like sticky cookie dough at this point.

Divide dough in half. On lightly floured board, shape each half into a 6-inch round. Cut into 6 wedges. 

Bake on  sheet about 20 minutes at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Serve warm!! 

hope you enjoy your tuesday!


xoxo

this and that

Hey there! I bet you were starting to wonder if I fell of the the face of the earth? Nope I didn't- I'm just trying to adjust to life with a 1 nap a day toddler. She use to take two- during the first one I'd shower and ready myself for the day and during the afternoon nap I'd catch up on blogs and also do a post. So bare with me while I work out the kinks. 

Did I mention she's also begun to prove herself a climber? Yes she's mastered scaling onto the sectional as well as up and down the stairs. In a way it's nice because she can do more for herself but it also scares me to death she's going to go flying down the stairs or end up in a full body cast from throwing herself off the sofa. 

exhibit a: last thursday morning I came out of the kitchen to find this. 

"Lucy how did you get on the sectional?" 

exhibit b: yes that is a random ruler in her hand from lord knows where. this one keeps me on my toes.

so thats a taste of what i've been working with. nothing big but just time for a fresh look at childproofing the house and adjusting our daily routine. Don't get me wrong though it's not all "ugh" stuff.

exhibit c: child labor is awesome!

***

I've also been adding some things to the etsy shop including this milk glass trio: instant collection. You can view them here. I also added a trio of vintage beakers and I've got a few more things to put up tonight. Can you believe it's already half way through May? I promise I'll get my act together and work out  new system for posting because this is somethings I love so much and I hate to neglect. 

xoxo

flower heaven

I hope everyone had a fabulous and well deserved Mothers Day! We spent time with family and also time outside working in the yard which is what I really enjoy this time of year. Nick and Lucy took me to buy some new plants and I got to plant those as well as move some hostas and ferns around that sprouted up near the creek out back. 

the beautiful flowers that greeted me when I woke up Sunday morning.

peonies are my absolute favorite!

these pretty clippings came from nick's moms home. she help me cut them for my mom but they never quite made it to her house ; )

i picked out this beautiful light pink climbing rose

i wouldn't mind a bit if it took over the entire front facade of the house

i also picked out this pretty clematis

this chimney was hijacked from Nick's parents house, i can't wait to sit around it on nice nights 

some of my transplants

hope you're all off to a beautiful week!

saturday swede swoon

My swedish peeps sure know how to make my heart sing! These images were posted yesterday on Hviturlakkris. If you've never been you should go give her a visit- her blog is amazing! 

Speaking of Swede's my cousin Linda gave birth to her first child last week. She and her husband named him Wilhem. Congratulations guys! You may recall me blogging about their visit here. I hope they come again soon so we can meet the new baby.