What's Up Wednesday

Hi Friends! One of the very first bloggers I ever followed is Mel from The Larson Lingo. I love her blog! She has such great holiday ideas, parties, recipes, and fashion ideas! Go check her out! 

This month, she is teaming with two of my other favorite bloggers, Sheaffer at Pinterest Told Me To and Shay at Mix + Match Family, to start a What's Up Wednesday link party! At the end of each month, everyone participating answers the same set of questions. I thought it'd be a fun way to give you a peek at a more personal side of me, since I usually just post about our current home projects. Hope you enjoy! If you're another blogger, join in the fun! 

What We're Eating This Week-

Here's our meal plan for the week. I'm keeping it super easy, low key food since it's a busy week!

Sunday & Monday: Potsickers, Sauted Shredded Brussel Sprouts, Fruit, & Rolls
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner--Bacon, egg, & cheese bagels, hashbrows, cinnamon rolls
Wednesday: Community group meal at church-- Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese, Fruit, Dessert
Thursday: Eat Out :)
Friday & Saturday: Mexican Chicken & Rice

via Meg Duerksen

What I'm Reminiscing About-

My hubby was out of town all last week on a business trip. While he was gone, my high school bestie came and stayed with me a couple days. It was awesome to get to see her again!!! My kids love her  and were super sad when she had to go home. As we were pulling away from the airport, Little Man said, "I miss her so much I can't think." :)

What I'm Loving-

Ghiradelli chocolate chips have been my jam lately. I usually buy mostly store brand items, but found some Ghiradelli chocolate chips on sale for cheap and tried them out. Now, I'm completely hooked! They are worth the extra money! They make any baked good better and are my sweets fix of choice, straight out of the bag!

What We've Been Up To-

We are in the middle of a busy couple month stretch for us between family/friends visiting and going out of town ourselves. Not much free time these days!


What I'm Dreading-

I need to get my license renewed at the DMV and they have no available appointments until late next month. Ugg! Looks like I'll be waking up and going super early one morning to beat the crowds. I hate the DMV! I'm thinking I need to go to Starbucks along the way, right?! ;)


What I'm Working On-

I'm so close to finishing the playroom! I need to hang some artwork on the striped wall this week. I'm also working on artwork for above our couch! I'll be sure to update you all with the progress along the way!

Playroom Book Ledges

What I'm Excited About-

We're going to IKEA next week! Yay! I've only ever been there twice since there's not one very close to our house. Over the past year, we've accumulated a list of things we need from there. I can't wait to get it home and start assembling!


What I'm Watching/Reading-

I've been addicted to Flip or Flop! Jeremy and I have also been rewatching all of The Office while we patiently wait for the next season of Parks and Rec to be posted on Netflix. The wait is killing me! Oh, and I've also been keeping up with Baby Daddy, although the Danny/Riley thing needs some resolution already. Three seasons of back and forth is just too much!

What I'm Listening To-

My current favorite is Sam Hunt's Take Your Time. I love the sound of it! I'm also loving Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk (gets me in such a good, energetic mood!), Maroon 5's Sugar, and Taylor Swift's Style.

What I'm Wearing-

My current favorite outfit is these Express Jeans paired with a hi-low shirt (similar) from Gap. I'm a t-shirt and jeans kinda girl, so this is right up my alley, but still feels put together.

What I'm Doing This Weekend-

This is one of our only weekends for the next few weeks to be able to get anything done around the house, so we need to squeak as much out of it as we can. I really need to get going on the artwork for above the couch! We already bought some of the materials, so I just need to buckle down and do it. We also need to get started on our garden. We tried doing a small garden in planters last year, but it was a major fail. We haven't done a normal garden since we lived at our old house, so we're itching to get some fresh veggies growing in our yard. Here's our freshly planted garden at our old house. This was just the winter veggies. We added zucchini, squash, and peppers later in the season. It did really well! We had zucchini and lettuce for dayz! :)

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month

Jeremy needs to be in DC for work for a couple days next month, so the kids and I are tagging along for the road trip. This will be our third trip to DC with kids. We've already done the zoo, aquarium (although I hear it's closed now?), Air & Space Museum, National Archives, Science Museum, and monuments. Anyone have some other suggestions of kid friendly things to do in DC?


What Else Is New-

With school winding down for the year, we're starting to think about summer activities for Little Man. We thought about sports, but it'll be so hot that I'm worried it'll be miserable. Maybe swim lessons? What are your kids doing over the summer?


What I'm Buying/Wanting For Mother's Day This Year-

Well, my mom reads this blog, so I'm not telling what I'm buying. Ha! As far as what I want? I usually ask for project money so I can keep doing my DIY thing. Or a pedicure. That'd be nice, too! :)


Linking up to The Larson Lingo!

Ch Ch Ch Changes + Inspire Me Monday

Tell me you pictured the 90's Chia Pet commercial when you read the title?! Ha!

I'm excited to share some changes I made to the blog! Usually, I spend my weekend doing home projects, but this past weekend, I spent a good chunk of time giving my blog some loving. After nearly 3 years of blogging, it was time for some updates!

My sweet hubby taught me some basic coding (He's a patient, patient man!) and I was able to create galleries for easier access to previous posts. I created one for projects, one for seasonal decor, and one for recipes. Go check them out!

I've also updated my other tabs as well. Don't forget to follow along to keep up to date on the blog. Check out my social media and subscribe buttons on the sidebar! I hope the changes are helpful!

I'll leave you all with a little eye candy for Inspire Me Monday! I love picking up fresh flowers from the grocery store and am always looking for floral centerpiece ideas for our dining room. Check out these great floral centerpieces from around blogland! Remember to pin from original source. :)

via Apartment Therapy

You can't go wrong using a mason jar as a vase and I'm loving the color of this one!

via It's All About the Flowers

I love the look of the bright green apples as the vase filler!

via French Country Cottage

I've been a long time fan of these rustic boxes filled with jars and flowers. I've been wanting to build one for years. Time to get it done already, right?!

via Ruffled Blog

I love the simplicity of this collection of jars and flowers! This would be a great way to display grocery store flowers!

via Wedding Chicks

This crate beautifully corrals jars of flowers and is made with paint stirrers! Such a great mix of rustic and elegant!

Pick up some flowers at the grocery store and try some of these ideas out for a fresh table centerpiece this week! Happy Monday, Everyone!

Playroom Progess: Book Ledges

Stopping in to share our most recent playroom progress! If you remember from our playroom plans, we planned to add a couple book ledges to the wall where the train table used to live. We finished them up this past weekend and we're loving how they look and function!

We decided to do book ledges instead of a bookshelf for a couple different reasons. The playroom is really small, so we wanted something that didn't take up much space. We also really liked how the ledges function versus a traditional bookshelf. The kids can take the books on and off the shelf independently. No more messy book piles! 

We built them exactly like the shelf in the living room, just longer. They are so easy to make and inexpensive! 

Be impressed--I even helped build these! Jeremy usually does any woodworking and I do all the filling/sanding/painting. This time, Jeremy started teaching me how to use the power tools. He is one patient man! ;)

Here's the view of the ledges from the door. I'm loving how this room is coming together! 

Linking up to Savvy Southern Style and many other awesome blogs!

Hallway Gallery Wall

Well, friends, the hallway gallery wall is finished! I'm so excited to share it with you!

I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the quality of these pictures. The hallway has no windows, so it's very tricky to photograph!

The upstairs hallway has had bare walls ever since we moved into this house three years ago. Whomp, whomp. I just couldn't decide what I wanted to put up! After some inspiration and lots of thought, I finally decided a gallery would be the best fit and would provide a space to display family photos.

I used painters tape to roughly figure out my layout and how many of which size frames I'd need. It also let me "live with" the gallery for a while before committing to put this many nail holes in my wall. ;) This picture was before I painted the walls. You can see my tutorial for how I painted the stairwell and hallway here.

We've accumulated a few extra picture frames over the years, so I shopped our house for any frames that would work for the gallery. Eleven of the fifteen frames on the wall were frames that we already owned. That saved us a bunch of money! I spray painted several of them and added mats to others to create a cohesive look.

I like white and lots of symmetry, so going dark and random with the frames was a bit of a stretch for me. I live dangerously, I know. Ha! I really like the way the black frames with white mats mirror the stair banister and railing colors! And, I must say, hanging frames randomly is much easier to hang than trying to do a grid or row like I usually do! ;)

I ordered the large paper mache letter from Joann's for only $5 and spray painted it black. I love the font style!

As I've mentioned previously, my grandma is a painter. She did this painting for Jeremy and I's wedding and Grandpa had it framed for us. I love it! It's so special! I did all the photos in black and white so that the painting would really pop and be the star of the show.

I've been crushing on curvy frames for a few years now and recently found some at Michael's for super cheap in the unfinished wood aisle. I paid less than $5 for the big one and only $1 for the small one. Crazy, right?! I gave them both a coat of spray paint and attached a picture hanger to the back. Easy peasy!

 I love this picture of my grandpa and I from when I was a baby! His smile melts my heart!

I found this cute little patterned frame at Michael's. They had an entire shelf of adorable, patterned frames!

I put frames around the light switch and the thermostat to help them blend into the gallery. Worked like a charm!

It's so fun to come up the stairs and be greeted with this now!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!


Linking up to Southern Savvy Style and other awesome bloggers!

Inspirational Gallery Walls

While I'm busy putting the finishing touches on our hall gallery wall, I wanted to show you a few of my favorite gallery walls around blogland right now. Enjoy! Note: Please pin from original sources.

I had been toying with the idea of a gallery wall in the hallway for months and this picture sealed the deal for me. I love the floor to ceiling frames! 

via Little House of Four

I love the incorporation of wood tones in this gallery!

via Love Grows Wild

The keys, plant, chalkboard, and letter are all such fun additions to this gallery!

via Lookie What I Did

I'm a sucker for a curvy frame and incorporated them into my gallery wall, too. 

via Tatertots and Jello

Perfection! 

via Simplify

I love the entire look and colors and especially love that oval mirror!

via Delightfully Noted

I'm loving the patterned and striped frames! 

via The Handmade Home

I came this close to getting a galvanized letter for our wall. Love it!

via Project Home

I'll be back with our completed hall gallery next! 

Weekend Update

Five random things swirling around inside my head lately!

1.) The pollen cloud has descended on NC! Everything is yellow! I was using my phone to take pictures of the kids outside and in that short time, my phone got a good pollen coating. Insane! But, pollen season also means tulip season. This is our third year growing tulips and I'm in love! 

2.) I scored this wreath for 50% off at Target earlier this week! Then, when I was at Target with my friend Amy, she told me she had bought the exact same one for 70% off. No way! #decoratingtwins :) There was one left, so I scooped it up and will return the 50% off one. Thanks, Amy! I LOVE how it goes with my coral door! I know Easter is over, but I had to try it out for a few days before packing it away.

3.) Sometimes home projects are necessary, but not so glamorous. Like water heaters. Ours was on its way out, so we had it replaced this week. I can finally take a shower without running out of hot water! Yay! 

4.) I was driving through a shopping center yesterday and stumbled on a Starbucks with a drive-thru that I had NO IDEA was there. It is up a big hill behind tons of trees and not visible from the road. And it did not show up on Google Maps when we moved here. But still, how in the world did I miss this?!?! I love Starbucks. Sigh. 

5.) I have been finding such great deals online lately! I got $25 off a $50 order at Crazy 8, 50% off everything at Carter's, and $5 off, free shipping, and a free set of cleaners from ePantry! (Click here for my referral link for ePantry and go here for info about the free set of cleaners--free cleaners deal ends tomorrow.) Super excited! Have you found any good online deals recently?

Happy Weekend!

Playroom Progress: Curtains & Pillow

Happy Hump Day! I'm happy to say that we are completely unpacked and have groceries in the house again. Yay! I'm going to call this week successful and go take a nap. Haha!

We have been making good progress finishing up the last of the playroom projects! Remember when I posted about some great finds at Lowe's? That same day, I ran through the curtain section and found these curtains which are perfect for the playroom!  I also found these curtain rods on clearance for $7 each! We removed one of the finials off of each rod so they could butt up next to one another in the corner. 

The green we used on our striped wall is slightly yellow-green, so finding things that coordinate with it has been a bit of a challenge. These curtains go great and even incorporate the blue at the top! Yay!

The curtains weren't quite long enough and don't come in 95" length, though. Sad! My friend Betsy who runs a sewing business was able to let out the hems and attach some cute pom pom trim that I found at Joann's to make them the perfect length! She did a great job! Isn't the trim adorable?!

I also hired Betsy to make a custom pillow for the chair. I doodled what I wanted onto paper and she made it happen! 

I borrowed the throw blanket from the living room for this chair, but I really want to get this teal pom pom throw or this blue pom pom throw from Target for in here. I'm on a pom pom kick, what can I say? :)

I'm loving how it's all coming together! Jeremy and I built the book ledges (see our playroom plans here), so now I just need to fill, sand, and paint them so we can get them on the wall. Then, we'll tackle the desk area and some artwork for the striped wall and we'll be done!

Sharing at Savvy Southern Style and many other awesome blogs! 

Sunshine, Sniffles, and Spring Cleaning

Hey, Everyone! Sorry it's been a few days since my last post! I was sick for a week, then we traveled to Florida. It was great to see our family and take the kids to the beach!

We just got back in town and I'm trying to dig my way out of the mound of housework I need to catch up on from when I was sick, plus all the unpacking there is to do. Not to mention, it's spring cleaning time!

To get me inspired to clean, clean, clean, I put together a round up of some great spring cleaning schedules and resources for you!

A Bowl Full of Lemons has a 30 day spring clean challenge going on. I love that it's broken down into small chunks that I can get done during my kid's naptime!

 I love how Tried & True broke her deep cleaning tasks down by room.

Little Ms Robinson has a great comprehensive cleaning list if you are more of a checklist kind of person. There is something so satisfying about checking the box, isn't there? ;)

The DIY Village has a great list of things you don't want to forget to clean!

The How-To Crew has some great cleaning tips!

DIY & Crafts has a list of cleaning hacks that will make your life easier!

I'm going to go put on some Uptown Funk and scrub away! Comment with your favorite cleaning tunes! I need some jams inspiration! :)

Happy Cleaning!