Insta-Friday #3

Oh, Friday!!  I have missed you!!  Anyone else out there happy it is Friday?  I know I am.  Let's review the week in Instas, shall we?

I got an awesome note from the husband on the I Love You Because picture.

He's so sweet...and funny.

Kasey of Kakes by Klassic made this awesome birthday kake.  She rocks.

I don't know who Stephen is, but I know he got an awesome birthday kake!

I bought a beautiful pot of daisy mums for my office.

I went to the BFF's house and took pictures of all her precious living room decorations.  Love her living room.

I made my first and second trip to our new Trader Joe's here in Houston.

I took a couple of pictures inside the store.  The store used to be an old theater and the businesses that have been in the space have preserved a lot of the architecture of the theater, like this cool ceiling.

Trader Joe's also embraced the history of the building with some of their art.

Cute, right?

We stopped at this burger bus on one of the lunch trips this week.  It smelled fantastic!  I passed on the burger and ate the lunch I packed (another win for me on smart choices for weight loss), but I did have a cupcake.  :)

Hi Kasey!

There is also always a little time for goofing off at the office.

Hi Neil, nice flower.

I also received the best compliment on the house remodel so far and I wasn't even there to hear it!  The mom had a friend over (yes we allow her to have visitors) and after the tour they were sitting in the breakfast room.  The mom's friend was looking at my breakfast room shelves and she asked the mom if I was a decorator.

Best. Compliment. Ever.

I told the mom to tell her friend she made my day.

Once again, I am linking up over at Life Rearranged.



Have a wonderful weekend!

Grocery Store Week

I have been to a grocery store everyday this week.  A little crazy, I know.  It all started with a magazine article about a Burt's Bees body soap that I really wanted to try.  I had never really used any Burt's Bees products before this week, except for lip balm.  I looked for the soap on Tuesday at two stores starting with Trader Joe's at lunch and then during our weekly grocery store trip that evening.  The HEB didn't have the soap, but they did have this eye cream.  I'm so happy I got it...best ever!

(source)

This eye cream made me want to try the body soap even more.  Yesterday at lunch I headed to Whole Foods since I know they have a pretty good selection of Burt's Bees.  Unfortunately they didn't carry bar soaps.  Look what I did pick up for my office.

Aren't they beautiful?  I think they will make my office very fall chipper.

So, I ended up ordering the soap online.  That won't stop me from going to a grocery store at lunch today!  My friend and co-worker Kasey has been wanting to check out the Trader Joe's as well.  I am going back over there at lunch time with her today.  I might be addicted to grocery stores.  Uh, oh.

Speaking of Kasey, she is an awesome artist.  She has a little bakery called Kakes by Klassic and check out this awesome kake she had in the office for pick up yesterday.

Uh-mazing!

If you are in the Houston area and you need a kake...she's your woman!

She made this one for my niece Lindsey a while back as well.

(source)

Have a wonderful Thursday people!  Go to a grocery store!  LOL

Wonderful Wednesday

Yes, it is in fact another blog titled Wonderful Wednesday here at Ema's Grand Ideas.  It is just a great title for a mid week post about random things.  If you have suggestions...I am open.  :)

Yesterday I was feeling sort of lazy at lunch time.  I didn't want to go to the gym, I didn't want to give in to the PMS tater tot craving and I wanted to get away from my desk.  (TMI?  No, just honesty.  I am finished with that topic now though, so you can relax.)  I made a compromise with myself that I am rather proud of.  I put on my running shoes and went to check out our new Trader Joe's.

Here are my thoughts...very cool selection of products...very friendly people...very small store.  I was surprised how small the store is; it was only three main aisles.  The prices are very good though.  I was expecting their prices to be higher, but they really weren't and the check out was fast.  My over all opinion...I liked it a lot...I will go back.

Especially since I will need more of these eventually.  These Sesame Honey Cashews are awesome!  They are 4 weight watchers points + for a 1/4 cup serving.  A great snack.

I had this coffee this morning and it was also delicious.  I hadn't used my coffee grinder in a while.  Good times.  I also got Sammy some chicken jerky doggie treats that they make.

"Chicken jerky??  I like chicken jerky."

And she did.

My other awesome find was sour cream and onion corn puffs.  This was the snack I substituted for the tater tots.

These are delicious and they are 4 weight watchers points plus per serving and the serving size is 2 1/2 cups.  I'd say I made a pretty good swap.

Yesterday evening I went with the husband to buy new running shoes at Academy.  He was trying on different pairs of Saucony running shoes and was running back and forth up and down the shoe aisles.

Side note - Saucony is the brand of running/walking shoes we have been loving lately.  If you haven't ever considered them during your shoe buying trips; put a pair on...you might like them too.

Anyway, we were discussing how it is important to pick the best pair on how they feel and not necessarily their color scheme.  Well, trick or treat the husband is ready for Halloween!

I am considering signing him up for this race.

(source)

Love it.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!  Do you have any Trader Joe's favorites I should try?

Weekend Recap

I had a great weekend.  I hope you did too!  Friday Funday took us down to Discovery Green where we took in the beautiful day.

We sat on this great deck at The Grove.

And had a light lunch and possibly a drink.  :)

Quail Skewers

Prosecco!

It was a lovely afternoon.

Friday also marked the grand opening of the Trader Joe's in Houston.  The husband and I decided we would wait until after opening weekend to check it out.  When we drove by on Friday there was an open parking space right in the front!

An open parking space!!!

The husband wouldn't let me stop.  Just kidding, but there was an open space taunting us.  I am excited to check this store out.  With all the healthy living blogs I frequent, I have heard great things about this place.

Saturday was a day of house warming parties!  We started at Kasey and Jack's.  Kasey is the BFF and super talented photographer and creative chica extraordinaire.

Hello gorgeous living room

I loved what Kasey did with the turquoise accents.  I think her living room is gorgeous and very relaxing.

Plus, she has the sweetest cat in all the world.

Hello Beau!

From Kasey's house we were off to Rebecca's.  We have been warming Rebecca's house for a while, but Saturday was the official house warming party.  :)

Sunday was kind of disappointing.  I had our massages on the calendar.  We were very excited until we realized that the actual massage date is the 30th.  Something to look forward to this weekend I suppose.

We did watch the Texans win.  They are 3-0 for the season.  Woohoo!

Trixie is a huge football fan.

All in all it was a fantastic, fun, relaxing weekend.  I'm linking up again today for Yolo Monday!

I hope you also had a great weekend!

Friday Funday and Insta-Friday #2!

It is Friday Funday!  That means I only work a half day and my weekend starts a little early.  The Funday plans for today are that we have no plans!  We will see where the wind takes us.

It is also Insta-Friday, so here is my week in Instagram photos!

My beautiful niece Courtney turned 13 on Tuesday.  How time flies.  I love this girl!!!

My house is organized and decorated for fall!  And I am still in love with the new dining room curtains.

This was on my Mary Engelbreit daily calendar the day the husband was supposed to go out of town for work.  I text him this picture.

The humidity left about mid-week and I very much enjoyed some quiet outside me time.  I spent the time being thankful for the little things and feeling content.  It was awesome...there was wine.

Cheers!

Ahh, the little things.

Our address change announcements arrived at their destinations this week and I got some sweet comments about how cute they were.

Sammy was cute.

That's kind of a weekly thing though.



I hope you had a fabulous week and your weekend is even better! Enjoy!

Things I'm Loving

Now that the dust has settled (literally) on the bulk of the remodeling I am able to enjoy my new spaces without the stresses of huge to do lists.  I am very much enjoying the blend of my things, my mom's things and my grandparents' things in this new meets old space.

Our house was built in the 30's.  I love a lot of the charms of this old house.  My favorite?  The crystal door knobs.

If I ever move from this house I think these door knobs might have to move with me.

As we updated the house, especially the kitchen, I tried to embrace the age of the home.  My favorite new piece with antique style in the kitchen is our faucet.

I think it really works in our new old kitchen.

The cabinets that I turned into shelving in the breakfast room are awesome.  They are by far my favorite part of that room.  I love that the bead board continued inside the cabinets.

I use the space to display a collection of my things, my mom's and both my grandmothers' things.  I love seeing it all together.

A few of the husband's things made the shelves too.

I have also introduced a lot of color into the house.  I absolutely love the whimsical hallway.

And the cranberry dining room.

After taking some after pictures this weekend with my actual camera (don't get too excited it is still a point and shoot camera, just one up from my phone) I will start my before and after posts by room.  I am very excited about these posts!  They have been a long time coming.

I found another awesome blog with a link party.  Savvy Southern Style has some beautiful ideas.  I am linking up over there for Wow Us Wednesdays.  If you are visiting from Savvy Southern Style, welcome...thanks for stopping by!




Have a wonderful Wednesday!!! What are you loving these days?