Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Cat's Life

If you caught yesterday's post you saw the dining room before and after shots.  Well, Trixie LOVES the dining room.  She is constantly in the chairs in there and always joins us while we are eating in there.

When we first completed the room she was sitting at the head of the table and we could just see her head sticking up over the table.  I said to the husband that she looked like she was waiting for us to serve her dinner.  So, I thought actually serving her at the table would make some very cute pictures.


I think I was right.


She's fancy.


This one is my favorite.  LOL.

Have a fabulous Thursday friends!!  We have almost made it to the weekend!!


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Dining Room Before and After

I am happy to say the dining room is complete...okay there are still some small things I want to do in here decorating wise, but the big things are finished. There was not a lot of work to be done in here, but the updated paint color and new window treatments really make a huge difference.


I realize now that I didn't take very good before pictures of most of our rooms. Oops. If I could go back and do it again...wait I don't want to go back. I will just do it better next time.  Lesson learned.



This wonderful furniture and rug have been in my family for years.  My mother's mother made the original purchase.  And I added a couple of pieces that were not here before.


All in all I love the way the wood (floors, furniture, trim) work with this updated cranberry color.  I relocated this gold circular mirror from the living room.  I love it in the dining room.


This antique secretary makes a great cabinet for crystal.  Currently it is holding three generations worth...mine, some of my mother's and some of both of my grandmothers'. 


I am very sentimental about all of the pieces in this room.  I absolutely love having dinner parties in here.


I found my candle centerpieces and the drapes at Pier 1.  The drapery rods and tie backs I picked up at Bed, Bath and Beyond; and the paint is Sherwin Williams.  I would still like some tall thin lamps for the side board to complete the room.

I think this transformation is kind of wow, so I am linking up over at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays.



There was only one photo bomb committed during the picture taking for this post.  :)

Hi Bird!

Have a lovely Wednesday!!





Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Weekend Finds

It should not come as a surprise to you that I did a little shopping this weekend.  I am still having fun decorating the house so I thought I would share my little finds from the weekend.

My favorite...this vintage art glass bowl from Style Cycle.


If you joined me for yesterday's post you might remember the husband and I attended an auction at this cute Houston Heights shop on Sunday.  I fell in love with this little bowl.  Luckily, they let me bid while working.  :)  I picked up this cute piece for a steal and it looks great on the table in my blue hallway.


I added some glass beads to the bowl.


So, what do we think?  Beads or no beads?

I took a trip to Target on Saturday with my friend Rebecca.  I have been wanting a rug for Sammy the kitchen.

"I love my new rug!"

I found the perfect rug and I can't believe I considered not buying it.  I wanted something with green and blue in it; and one that didn't scream here I am.


I love how the background of this rug works with our tile.


I also grabbed some new cushions for the deck chairs.


And a new doormat for the deck.

With instructions for Sammy.

I am ready for spring.

Taking pictures for this post was fun.

Sammy photo bombs!

I don't think she understands why I would want a picture without her in it.

I hope you have a great Tuesday friends!  Did you do any shopping this weekend?

Monday, January 28, 2013

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday friends!  We had a wonderful weekend that I am ready to recap for you...so I will just dive right in.

I discovered the photo stitch app on my phone.  I am late to the party, I know.


Apparently I downloaded it a while back, but never used it.  Good times.  Odd that my first collage is of my dog, don't you think?  Speaking of which I had too much fun cracking myself up at this silliness while playing with said dog and my phone over the weekend.

Right Side Up Moose

Upside Down Moose

Good times.

This weekend was a weekend of discovery in the Houston Heights.  I love that area of our city...like with a huge heart.

Saturday we went and sat outside in the beautiful spring like winter weather at Crisp.  They have a beautiful outdoor area.


Crisp has a nice craft beer list and an extensive wine list and their food....delicious.  We shared tastes of the Baked Texas Goat Cheese and Marinara, the Saffron Arancini, and one of their delicious pizzas.  All were worth the splurge of weight watchers points I used.

The moon was full that night and I love the twinkle lights that Crisp has outside.


Look at all those people that photo bombed my picture of the moon and twinkle lights. Crazy.

On Sunday we headed over to Style Cycle, a super cute vintage store in the Heights.  I am not just saying it is super cute because I know the owners, it is actually super cute.


Sunday was their first monthly auction and the husband and I were helping out.  I got to practice my Vanna White moves showing off awesome vintage housewares.


The auction had a neat layout where you got to bid on a set of items and then come up and choose what you wanted each for the price you had bid.  I liked the set up and I am not ashamed to say that I went home with a super cool item...an art glass bowl.  It will be on the blog tomorrow.  :)


Go visit Style Cycle, they have a great selection of housewares, furniture and clothing that is all vintage or vintage inspired.  They also have a large selection of things that have been restyled and re-purposed.  Check their website for auction events as well!

Style Cycle teamed up with Speers Rolling Bistro to provide food for their event.  Talk about food truck love.


I had the best grilled cheese of my life last night.  It had two kinds of cheese, garlic aioli, carmelized onions and arugula on it.  Grilled cheese love at first sight bite...also completely worth the WW points I saved up for it.


The husband got the Cuban sandwich and the garlic fries.  I stole tastes and they were also phenomenal.  You can check their website to see where to find the truck each day to track down these delicious eats.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I am linking up for Yolo Mondays.


Visit me tomorrow for weekend finds...little things I found for the house over the weekend.

Have a great day!!


Friday, January 25, 2013

Insta-Friday #11

Happy Friday!  It has been a long short week here.  Does anyone else get that feeling that a short week after a long weekend feels like it is long?  Maybe it is just me.  Let's recap this long short week through Insta photos, shall we?

I raided Pier 1 on Monday, my day off, with a Christmas gift card.


After a stressful week last week, I needed this, so I hung it in my living room.  I like it.



I found some fabulous new martini glasses.


And this owl came home to live on my Valentine's Day themed mantel.

I started using my Goodreads app.  I added friends and everything. 


I have been a crazy reader so far this year.  I am already on my third book.  Speaking of...


Gretchen Powell (you might know her as Honey I Shrunk the Gretchen) wrote a book.  How cool is that!?  I started this book last night and so far I am loving it!  Thanks, Gretchen, for pulling me into a genre I don't normally read.  I am loving it!

Sammy was so cute snuggling her moose this morning that I couldn't resist.


As always I am linking up over at Life Rearranged.


life rearranged

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Oh My Gyoza

It is such a beautiful morning here in Houston!  Okay, it is not.  I lied.  It is crazy foggy and I don't like it, so I don't want to talk about it.  Instead I will tell you about dinner last night.

Crazy Good

Last night for dinner I made these Thai Vegetable Gyoza from Trader Joe's.  I was a little intimidated by their preparation instructions, but it turned out to be really easy.  I put a tiny bit of olive oil in a non-stick pan (about a teaspoon) and spread them out frozen, flat side down, and let them cook for about 5 minutes on a medium-high heat.  Then I added 4 tablespoons of water and covered them and steamed them for about 5 minutes more.  They were delicious, crispy on the bottom and hot and steaming in the middle.  Very tasty stuff.


I made a yummy soy dipping sauce to go with them that I was impressed with because I made it up on the fly.  I mixed together:
  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 garlic pods, minced
  • 1 green onion, sliced thin
  • sprinkle of ginger powder 
Yes, sprinkle is a precise measurement.  I also steamed up some brown rice and roasted some broccoli.


I put my dipping sauce on my rice.  It was a very tasty dinner.  Go to Trader Joe's, get dumplings...they are good.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!!!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Weekend Recap

I love long weekends.  It makes for short work weeks.  I know you feel the same way.

I had a very nice relaxing weekend.  It started Friday night on the deck around the fire pit with the husband and sister-in-law.


It was cozy.  We talked and had a couple of cocktails.

Saturday evening was girls night in at my friend Rebecca's house.  How cute are her pups?

Leo and Ava

Sunday I got a massage (yay!) and then I spent some time with my friend Stacey which was nice because I hadn't seen her in a while.  Sunday evening the husband and I went to the movies.  We saw Jack Reacher.  Anyone else seen it?  I didn't have high hopes for the movie because I am not a very big Tom Cruise fan, but it was good.  I would recommend seeing it.

Monday the husband had to work, but I had the day off.  I had a great day.  Sammy's day did not start out very well.

Brave Sam hiding at the vet's office.

It was time for Sam to visit the doctor and get shots.  She cannot stand the vet's office, it petrifies her.  Poor girl.

After the trip to the vet I was off for some retail therapy with the rest of my Christmas gift cards.  The first stop Pier 1!  Weird, I know.

New wall art.

It spoke to me.  Get it?  Sorry, I will stop.

And Valentine's Day mantel complete!


I might like having a mantel too much...but look at this cute owl!


I had to have him.  The garland, owl and hearts in the hurricane all came from Pier 1 and in total cost around 21 bucks.  Factoring in my 10 dollar coupon and my 50 dollar gift certificate the Valentine decorations came to about 11 dollars with the coupon.  I like this kind of math.  The white candle holder I have had forever and the be mine sign I picked up at Walgreen's for 3 bucks.  Total cost for the mantel...14 bucks.  Out of my pocket only 3 dollars, since the rest came out of my gift card that also paid for my new wall art.  Bonus.

After Pier 1, I stopped at Trader Joe's.  I was so excited when I found red shrimp in their frozen food section.


We vacation in Gulf Shores, AL a lot and we always have royal reds there.  They are also red shrimp and taste very much like lobster.  Excellent.  We haven't been to Gulf Shores in a couple of years, so this was a real treat to find and they were a great price...thank you Trader Joe's.


I sauteed them up for dinner in little garlic butter and served them over rice with some broccoli slaw.


The verdict: they are not as good as I remember the royal reds being, but they were a delicious close second that I will definitely have again.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Was yours a long weekend too or were you unlucky like the husband and had to work yesterday?