ORC - Week 3

Welcome back to the One Room Challenge! As you may remember, I have six weeks to make over one room in my home, our family-room. My plan for transforming this room involved making a big impact with fabric but not spending a ton! 

Over the summer I made a trip to Calico Corner for some fabric inspiration. As always Calico Corner did not disappoint! I came back with four samples of fabric that I draped over one of our chairs in the family-room so I could "live" with the fabric for a little bit. After a while I decided which fabric would work in the room and how they would be used. The only problem was Calico's prices!

While I do love Calico and the way they group fabrics, I hate their high prices. My mother has always taught me that it is would than A-ok to like high-end products but it is NEVER ok to pay high-end prices. So I did what my mother has always taught me to do - I surfed the web for a better deal! 

First I started looking for the fabric, "Snokel", that I was to use for my curtains. Since I needed over 15 yards of the fabric above I knew I needed to find it for under $8/yard. And I did just that at Fabric Guru.com. They were selling the fabric for just $7.50/yard vs Calico's $15.99/yard. Plus I was able to find a coupon code for free shipping which was a nice bonus. 

Next I started looking for the fabric above, "Wonderland Pearl". This was the easiest fabric of the three fabrics to find online. In July I found the Online Fabric Store had the best price at $22.95/yard. Which was way better than Calico's $42.99!

The last fabric, "Poppy", was impossible to find elsewhere. Night after night I tried search after search for this fabric but I could not find it anywhere much to my chagrin! So I simply waited for Calico to have a sale, because they always do. And the first week in August I got a coupon code for 25% off any fabric so I jumped on the offer. Full price was $49.99 vs the sale price of $37.50. 

Did it take time to locate my fabrics on-line for a better price? Yes. Did it take longer than just buying everything at Calico? Yes. But instead of paying $332.83, I only paid $172.95 so I would say that it was more than worth the time and effort!

Follow my progress:

Week One

Week Two

You can also find me at Calling It Home.

A Show for the Whole Family

Having three kiddos, ages 11, 8 and soon to be 5, makes it hard to find TV shows that everyone can watch together. B, our 11 year old, loves tween shows on Disney like "Shake It Up" and "Austin & Ally" but L has no interest in shows like that. L, our soon to be 5 year old, would rather watch kiddie cartons like "Team Umizoomi" which M, our 8 year old, thinks are "baby shows". As you can see finding a show for everyone to watch together is a bit of the challenge!

Enter Disney's carton "Gravity Falls"! "Gravity Falls" tells the story of twins, Dipper and Mabel, who are spending their summer at great uncle's place called the "Mystery Shack". Dipper and Mabel think that they are going to have a boring summer but quickly mysterious things start happening to them. GF is the perfect mix of humor, mystery and action with lovable characters that make it perfect for the whole family! (Hubby's note- If you do decide to watch GF, and I STRONGLY recommend you do because it is a great show, use your DVR to record it as you watch. At the end of most, if not all, of the episodes there is a code you can try to decipher. Don't worry if you have a rough time, just Google it and you will see there are a few web sites dedicated to unraveling the codes.)

After a busy day filled with school, homework and sports it is so nice to have a little time on the sofa as a family. I am so happy we found a show we can all watch!

Perfect Combo

Long weekends are the best. It is like you get two Saturdays! And last night my girlfriends and I made the most of our "bonus" Saturday night. Eight of us got together for an early dinner at a local wine-bar/restaurant, The Wine Kitchen.

The Wine Kitchen is a great place for sharing and trying new wines. They have put together tons of different wine flights from all over the world. They really have something for everyone. And I simply love the way they have little "note cards" for all of their wines. Each card gives you a little info about the wine you are enjoying along with a little humor. I love a wine-bar that does not make you feel ignorant for not being a sommelier! 

The food was also perfect for sharing too! We started off with a cheese flight and shared three of their farm-to-table entrees. A long weekend with wine, food and friends is a pretty great combo in my book! 

Puddles

The weather is not looking too good for this weekend. Plus I already feel like it has been dreary all week long. It is enough to bring on a case of the blues! Thank goodness I have this little guy in my life to remind there is fun to be had no matter what. We might be wet but boy did we have fun splashing in the puddles!!!

No matter what the weather is like near you this weekend, I hope you make the most of it!!!

The Sunshine Award

Thank you to Christine, from one of my favorite blogs Suburban Charm, for nominating me for the Sunshine Award!

Christine was kind enough to prepare ten questions for her nominees to answer, and then I can come up with ten questions of my own to ask the ten bloggers I nominate.

Here are my questions from Christine:

1. Who is your biggest inspiration when it comes to decorating?

I would have to say my mother. I am not sure it is nature or nurture, but I have worked hard to fill my home with color. I know that the way I have decorated my home is so not Pinterest worthy but that is ok with me. I know what I like and I stick to it, just like my mother does. I might not be in style but I love walking through my front door!

2. What clothing shop is your favorite?

I have an unreal love for Nordstrom. My love from Nordstrom goes way back....back before I even worked for them. When I was in high-school a Nordstrom opened at the Short Hills Mall. I will never forget how nice all of the sales associates were even though we let them know that we were just looking around. They were nothing like the mean Nieman Marcus and Saks sales people! Their kindness had me sold before I even knew about their generous return policy. 

All I can say is that I am a Nordie girl through and through!!!

3. What is your "comfort food"?

This to me has two categorizes, what I make for myself and what I make for others. For me, as much as it shames me to say this, Knorr's Instant Alfredo. I know that it is not really alfredo and I know that it is not good for me but sometimes it is just what I need!

When I am cooking comfort food for my family I go with cheese grits. Cheese grits are one of the comfort food that work for all of my families food issues. They are free of peanuts, tree nuts, gluten and eggs. Plus they are hot and cream! Big winners for all five of us!!!

4.What is your most cherished possession?

My wedding band. I was raised to believe that it is a true blessing to be married to your best friend. Plain and simple! My wedding band reminds me everyday how blessed I am!!!

5. Current Lipstick color?

I don't really wear lipstick. In fact I could not tell you the last time I put some on. I am a big fan of chapstick and gloss. Does that count? If so I love Stila's "Jack Frost" lip glaze.

6. If your luggage got lost on a week long trip, what three things would you have to purchase

in order to survive the week?

If we are not counting underwear I would need slim fitting jeans, a dress that I could dress up or down and a great top that would versatile. But if we are being honest, I would need more than three things!

7. Favorite tote bag to use?

Unfortunately I have yet to meet a great bag that I did not love. I would have to say that Tory Burch and Kate Spade design some great "must have" handbags year after year. Too bad Hubby does not seem to think that I need a new bag each year.

8. Most recent "splurge" purchase?

I would have to say my Rodan + Fields sales kit. And my skin has never looked better so I would have to say it was worth every penny! (This weekend I will be mailing out some samples. Let me know if you would like me to send some your way!)

9. What charity is most dear to your heart?

There are many charities that we think are worthy causes. All of them are close to my heart but the one that I am spending a lot of time on right now is my children's PTO. As school budgets shrink more and more each year it has falling upon the parents to step up and raise much needed funds. 

While I am more than happy to help raise funds for my kiddos school needs, it sickens me how we as country do not put more importance on education!

10. Best piece of advice from a lesson you have learned in life.

Growing up my brothers and I where told time and time again "keep going". When things did not go our way we were told not to dwell on it but rather to keep moving forward. Sometimes that is easier said than done but I always feel better when I forge ahead rather than wallow in misery.

And now my nominees!!!

Monograms 'n Mud

A. Liz Adventures

Baby Mama Juice

The Southern Sideboard

Calypso In The Country

Shine Your Light

Dixie Delights

The Perks

The Flinns

Keeping Up With The Kellehers

These bloggers all have fabulous blogs that make me smile! 

To those I nominate, I realize that you have VERY busy lives and understand if you would rather refrain from participating. Maybe you just want to do the questions and not forward the ten nominations. That is A-OK. This is not a chain letter and no curse will befall you, I promise. Participate as much or as little as you want.

But if you DO want to join in the fun, here are the “rules”:

1. Include the award logo in a post or on your blog.
2. Link to the person who nominated you.
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself and write 10 questions for your nominees to answer.
4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

Ready to play? Here are my questions for you:

1. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?
2. Do you prefer romantic comedies or suspense thrillers?
3. What is your favorite sport (to watch or to participate in)?
4. What is your favorite sound?
5. Starbucks or Dunkin' Dounuts?
6. What is your favorite season?
7. PC or Mac?
8. What is your favorite vacation spot?
9. Do you collect anything?
10. What is your favorite blog post you ever written?

ORC - Week 2

Welcome back to my family-room make over! Once again I am linking up with Linda from Calling It Home for her One Room Challenge. Simply put, I will be making over my family room over a six week period and each week you can see how the room is shaping up.

This week I feel like I have been swimming in fabric! I know that some people have a hard time picking out fabric but I don't feel like I have too hard of a time with that. I tend to know what I like and if it will work for me. What is a hard for me is making the first cut of the fabric. And this time it was even harder since I have 15 yards of fabric that I need to turn into 5 curtain panels. There is very little wiggle room so I measured more than twice before making the first cut!

Everything I have learned about sewing I have learned from my mother. Thanks to my mother I have learned to be mindful for pattern repeats. This helps to insure that each curtain panel starts and ends at the same spot. My mother also taught me to iron before, during and after sewing your curtains. I used to think that this was just busy work but I have to admit that mom was right. (Aren't they always right!?!) All of that ironing really does make it easier to run your fabric through your sewing machine. Plus your curtains will hang so nicely too!

Above is a "before" and below is the "after".

 

I know that I have a long way to go with my make-over but it feels like I made a lot of progress by starting with the curtains. And it does not really matter that I have totally neglected my family right!?!

If you would like you can see my first week here and I hope that you will stop by next week!

You can also find me at Calling It Home.

Rainy Day Baking

Yesterday morning was a wet one here in NoVa. At times it seemed as though the rain was coming down in sheets sideways. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! We really needed the rain. And it gave me an excuse to stay inside and nest a little bit.

Not sure about you but when I nest, I bake! On a cold rainy day baking is the way to go in my mind. Not only does it warm my kitchen up it also makes the whole house smell wonderful! I decided to whip up some Pumpkin Bread since I had not made it in forever. Easy and yummy!!!

Quick & Easy Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups flour

3 cups white granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly granted nutmeg*

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 can of 100% solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie in a can)

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans. 

In a large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix well to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat together the pumpkin, oil and water. Then add one egg at a time, beating the eggs well into the mixture.

Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and add the pumpkin mixture. Stir well to combine and get most of the lumps out.

Bake for 75 minutes or until a tooth-pick comes out clean after being inserted into the center of the bread. Cool completely before taking carefully taking pumpkin bread out of the pans.

Enjoy!

There are endless reasons why I love this recipe. It is like pumpkin pie just in bread form. My house still smells unreal hours and hours after baking it. I could go on and on but one of the best things about this simple recipe is that it makes two loafs. One for your family to enjoy and one to gift. 

Trust me this recipe will make you very popular!!!

You can also find me at No Minimalist Here, From My Front Porch, A Stroll Thru Life and Savvy Southern Style