It's Been Too Long......

I've been busy with some new projects :) .........can you tell by my absence around here?!?  I am SO SO excited about some of the new things I am working on, but unfortunately that means less blogging! :(  I hate that, because I LOVE this little blog of mine and sharing my projects, my life, and my day to day adventures with you.

So, that got me thinking..............

With so many different things going on for me right now, is there something in particular YOU would like to know?  Tell me what I should blog about!!

I am always interested in hearing my family and friends' feedback about my blog.  Did they like the material?  Did they find it helpful or interesting?  Did you already know that?  Do you want more info on the process of my designs?  Would you like to see more design boards for rooms to get ideas for your home?  Do you want to see more photos of my home?

So, I would love it if you left me a comment below telling me what YOU would love to see and read about here.  Already love some of the things I have been writing about, tell me and I will keep it going?!?!

In the meantime, here is a little sneak peek of what I have been working on..........

Just sent out another E-Design to a client in Cleveland, Ohio.  She requested a design for her entry way and dining room.

For the last couple of months, I have been designing a basement remodel that will include a bar area, stone fireplace, a kids' play area with built-ins, bathroom with marble floors, and even a mini stage for kids' karaoke!!  :)

The basement reno also includes moving around their kids' bedrooms.  Two are moving downstairs.  So I have a total of 3 kids' rooms and a nursery to design for this family as well.  I absolutely love designing kids' rooms because there really are no rules -- I can just go wild with color and pattern.

Another basement remodel that I just completed!!!  I am obsessed with how this space turned out.  I can't wait to show you all of the finished photos.  I'll be sharing paint colors, furniture and decor sources, and all of the how-to's in between.

This home is finally complete after about 6 months of almost completely gutting the house and turning it into a functional, modern home with craftsman details to match the style of the home.  This house flip was so much fun to work on and see the transformation.  It was definitely a different and new experience designing a home to sell.  There is a completely different mind set and design process when you aren't really designing a home for a particular client, but instead to appeal to many people in order to sell.  I will be posting all of the after pictures soon.  I am ready for the next one!

So, you can see I have been a little busy and have put blogging off for a few days.  But with SO many fun things to show you, I will be sharing all of these photos as soon I can get my photos edited!

Have a great week! Don't forget to share your ideas for blog posts below!!  Thanks.

Blue Apron Review {Part 1}

Do you get home from a busy day and stand in front of the fridge trying to decide what to make for dinner, like I do?  I have a fridge full of groceries that I just bought and I still have no idea what to make for dinner!

I've tried the whole meal planning thing -- plan my grocery list, plan my dinners for the week -- and that usually works most of the time.  I'll spend a couple of hours on Sunday or Saturday perusing Pinterest for recipes (because I can never remember what I made in the past and liked) and going to the grocery store.  So, it works out well when I have the time to do that.  But with the weather getting warmer, and Spring/Summer weekends getting busier I think it will be harder to find the time to meal prep each week.  

Last Summer, I tried Green Bean Delivery, hoping this would help save some time grocery shopping and meal planning.  Not to mention, I love having fresh fruits and veggies in the house at all times.  But even with all those fresh ingredients, I still felt a little stumped on what to do with them sometimes.  

When I saw this company called Blue Apron that ships all of the ingredients of a complete meal to your doorstep, I really wanted to try it out!  So, I contacted the company and they sent me all of this yummy food to try! 

My schedule is usually all over the place.  I can have meetings until 8:00 at night or be home and done working by 5:00.  So, no matter what my schedule is, I don't even have to think about what I am making for dinner with Blue Apron!

So, what is Blue Apron and how does it work? 

Blue Apron is pre-portioned, fresh ingredients to cook a meal at home, delivered straight to your door.  There is never a repeated recipe within a calendar year.  The recipes are seasonal, so you are guaranteed fresh ingredients from local farmers.  All meals are under 700 calories and always ship for free.  You can choose a family style plan for 4 people or the 2-person plan and recieve 2-3 meals a week.  You don't get to choose your meals, but you can specify items you don't like.  All of the meals figure out to be under $10 a person -- that's your meat and side items!  Watch this short video for all the details!


My first meal with Blue Apron...

I chose the Family Plan with family style meals for 4, receiving 2 meals a week for a total of 4 meals.  You can also have the option of the Family Plan and receive all 4 meals in the same week.  It was a little confusing figuring out the differences between the Family Plan and the 2-Person Plan.  I was provided the Family Plan with 2 meals a week for the review, so that is what I went with.  It worked out great because it left us with delicious leftovers the next day.

from the Blue Apron Cookbook

All of the ingredients come labeled and portioned so there is no waste.

There is some prep work.  So I had to dice and chop all of the fresh ingredients.  Thankfully the beef was already chopped into small slices because I kind of hate cutting raw meat!  I only used half of the fresh mushrooms because my husband doesn't like them, but he didn't even notice they were in there.

A cute little bottle of soy sauce!  All of their packaging is reusable, recyclable or biodegradable.  

I cooked the veggies separately and then placed them to the side on a plate.  Cooked the meat.  Then just mixed everything together with the soy sauce and black bean sauce.

 This was seriously SO delicious!!  I don't normally cook a lot of beef, I am more of a bird and fish eater, so this was a nice little treat for my husband who loves beef.  He said it tasted like something he would order from one of our favorite restaurants Kona Grill.  I was pretty proud of my fancy looking dish I whipped together in 30 minutes.  I actually think I could make this again.  They send you a recipe card that I will keep for future reference.  All of the ingredients are easy to find, nothing I would have to search high and low for and it was super easy to throw together with their tips.

We ate almost all of the 4 servings of the beef for dinner because it was that good!  And my husband ate the rest for leftovers the next day and he said it still tasted good!!!

My second meal with Blue Apron...

They sent us both of these meals together in one shipment.  Which is perfect for saving on packaging.  No need to pack them separately.  We received our shipment on a Thursday, which I didn't love.  I don't cook on the weekends, so the food had to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of days.  I didn't take as many pictures during the prep of this meal because I was also entertaining our guests we invited over to enjoy the meal with.  We were discussing what "mole" meant and I just read that "mole" just simply means "mix" in Spanish.  So the Mole sauce is a mix of ingredients!

from the Blue Apron Cookbook

I wouldn't have thought to have sweet potatoes as a side to a traditional Spanish chicken dish.  But that's what I love about this.  They send you new ideas for dinners and ingredients I wouldn't typically cook with.

Chocolate with my chicken!?!?  Now we're talking!! :)

"Queso Fresco" means "Fresh Cheese" in Spanish.  It is a mild, light cheese comparable to feta cheese, goat cheese, or ricotta.  Used as a garnish on enchiladas, grilled items, or salads.

I love that they call this little brown bag packed with the small ingredients -- spices, chocolate, agave nectar -- Knick Knacks! :)

I pretty much HATE cutting onions!!  So, I never cook with them.  I cry every time and even wear my sunglasses sometimes when I do cut them!  

I threw in a salad as well, since we were feeding some extra mouths.  I wanted to make sure we had plenty of food and I just like having a salad with all of my dinner meals. 

Another delicious meal!  I will say I didn't love the mole sauce, even with the chocolate.  But what I did love was that we had something different for dinner for once besides our usual turkey burgers, chicken tacos, lettuce wraps, pork tacos, pasta, salads.....

I will for sure make these sweet potatoes again!  I never would have thought to garnish with diced avocado and this fresh cheese, but this was my favorite part of the meal.  The chicken mole was just okay I guess.  Overall, the four of us gave it two thumbs up!!  

I have two more meals arriving tomorrow that I will be cooking up next week.  I am super excited for the sausage and pasta dinner.  It looks delicious -- and simple.  Nothing crazy.  Simple is good sometimes.  

I am pretty adventurous when it comes to food, I don't mind trying new things, but I don't know about that second meal.  It will definitely be out of my comfort zone!  We will have to see how it turns out!

Have you ever tried Blue Apron or a food delivery service like it?

Spring Has Arrived!!

Spring has arrived, Easter is only a few days away, the weather is getting a little warmer each day, I just had a birthday last week......

There has been lot going on around here!!

Today was gorgeous weather!  So I took advantage and finally got out a few of my Easter decor items, some bright pink Spring-y blooms, and swapped out some of my winter decor for my Spring/Summer decor and snapped some quick pictures to share while the sun was shining.

I don't want it to sound like I go around and change all of my decor for the warmer months, because I don't, but there are a few minor, small changes I like doing in my home to brighten up the place a bit.

My entry way is really the main thing I change around all the time, season to season.  I found some awesome table runners at Home Goods a while back so I added that in.  It really brightens up that table.  The wood, distressed bunny is also from Home Goods, last year.  Easter is this weekend already and I almost forgot to get him out!  The faux fiddle leaf fig branch from Pottery Barn found a place (for now).  I bought two of them in hopes to use them for a client because they were such a fantastic deal!  I don't have a lot of extra storage for client items, so sometimes they get displayed around my house for the time being.  :)  I am obsessed with my Chinese Chippendale chairs that I had repainted, I just don't have anywhere to put them!  I have four all together and one or two sitting around different rooms of my home currently.  You can buy them if the price is right!!! ;)  (my husband is trying to give them away for free!! never!)

One of the biggest changes I made in my living room were swapping out my black & white IKEA pillows with these simple gray pillow cases (also IKEA).  And bringing these white and gray printed pillow cases back in.  For winter, I actually changed the table lamp shade to black, from the guest room, to match my black and white and green Christmas decor.  It was time to change that back for a brighter look.  (yes, I know I have a magazine problem!! why can't I just throw them away?!?) 

But biggest change to the space though is THIS GUY..................

I am SO obsessed with my new, REAL, fiddle leaf fig tree.  (that's a mouth full)  My mom gave it to me for my birthday!  It is a showstopper.  It is large, graphic, and exactly what I wanted for the space. I talked about wanting one, and then it happened!!  It is perfect!  Does anyone know how to keep it alive?!?!?

It actually makes those fake ones look really good!

I thought this Pottery Barn basket was huge when I received it in the mail, but it turned out to be the perfect size for hiding the ugly pot it was in.

You can never have too many flowers around the space, so I added a few here.

And to make the house smell fresh for Spring......a new candle!  I love the clear glass bottle and it is their newest scent -- Rose!!

These are my favorite candles ever, made out of Charleston, SC.  I have actually been to their production warehouse.  They burn perfectly.  Last forever.  Smell amazing.  And are made out of recycled wine bottles.  Some of the wine bottles are even from my sister-in-laws restaurant she works at in Charleston.  So if you get a REWINED candle, she may have served the wine out of it!  :)  You can order these from their online shop, West Elm, or at Dottie Couture.

What do you do to get your home Spring and Summer ready?

As Seen On the Fixer Upper {The Faceless Bunker}

BLOWN AWAY with last week's episode of The Fixer Upper....

I keep thinking, this is my favorite remodel Chip & Jo has done yet, and then they just keep getting better and better!!

This family was looking for a modern beach house......in Waco, Texas!!!  So, they chose a run down home with lots of potential of turning it into a Texas "beach" house.

What an amazing transformation......again!

This home must have been quite a challenge for them.  First of all, those original stairs in the home just looked crazy!  That was really the only thing you noticed in the house.  But after Chip & Jo got their hands on those stairs, I knew they didn't stand a chance.

These stairs -- the metal, the wire, the wood -- are definitely my favorite part of this home.  They set the entire tone of the home.

Loved this rug they used in the dining area.  It is a simple black and white graphic pattern that adds a lot of punch to the neutral space.  This rug is an in store exclusive from Magnolia Market.  But I was able to find a couple other similar rugs to get a similar look. 

Dash and Albert Rug from Wayfair.com

Threshold Indoor/Outdoor Diamond Rug from Target

Kite Wool Kilim Rug from West Elm

I am obsessed with these chunky floating shelves.  Floating shelves like this are all the rage right now.  I just had some installed in a basement project I was working on -- you may have seen a sneak peek of the shelves on my Instagram page.

The commercial styled rolling island they used in the center of the kitchen is really versatile if you don't have enough space for a fixed island, but are looking for a little extra space for prep work.  They can be rolled off to the side when they aren't needed or rolled into another room for additional space when entertaining.  It really added to the modern style these homeowners were after as well.

I like this simple stainless steel rolling island from Wayfair.com.  And at under $200, it is much more cost effective than a large wood island.

Stainless Steel Prep Table from Wayfair.com

Hardware Bin Lazy Susan from World Market

Joanna also used something similar to this for kitchen decor and storage.  The Mechanics Caddy she used is from her online shop and is double tiered.  But this can serve a similar purpose.  These are great for fun and unique storage in the bathroom.  You can set a mason jar in it and keep your toothbrushes there or lotions and makeup.  They are also great to keep on the kids' table with markers and crayons in.  If you can find a real mechanics bin that was actually used to sort and organize nuts and bolts, that would be even better!

When searching for lighting, don't be afraid to look at outdoor lighting to use indoors as well.  There is no rule that says you can't use outdoor lighting inside.  I do it all the time!  I actually used something similar to this in a bathroom project with the light hanging over each mirror on a double sink.  Outdoor lighting will give you that more rustic, farmhouse feel.

Sometimes, outdoor lighting is cheaper than indoor lighting too!

Get a similar look with this outdoor wall sconce from Lowe's.

Design House Mason Dark Sky Outdoor Wall Light from Lowe's

You can never have too many flowers in your house!  They are my go-to decorating item -- real or fake!

You can get the same look with this vase and these flower stems from World Market.  I have a similar vase in my home that I like to switch out the flowers seasonally.

Clear Barcelona Vase and Ivory Velvet Plum Blossoms from World Market

Another gorgeous remodel!  Joanna kind of stumped me on this one -- it was a little more about the finishes and fixed items than all of the little things filling the space, which is ideal for a modern, simplistic design such as this.

Did I miss anything?  Let me know in the comments if there are any items you were wondering about on how to get a similar look for your home.