PB "what I'm loving list"

Hey, hey!

I'm back from NJ and am falling back into my regular routine here at home.  After being away for a week (and an hour ahead [time-wise]), Callan is now going to bed with us between 9:30 and 10:30 pm.  Hallelujah!  I've already taken on a painting project since we got back (a focal wall in the master bedroom), and am playing catch up on laundry, cleaning, as well as going through all the catalogs and magazines I got in the mail while away.

So while I work on editing photos from our trip back East, put that post together, and work on a few little projects for our bedroom before a "reveal", here's a "fluff" post.

I seriously look forward to the time of year when Fall catalogs and magazines show up in the mailbox.  That means cooler weather is right around the corner (hopefully), right?!  I received the most recent PB catalog in the mail earlier this week.  While I tend to agree with Phoebe Buffay (from "Friends") and her opinion about Pottery Barn, I can't help ogling over every catalog that comes my way, and wishing I had a couple extra thousand bucks to spend any which way I want.  So I put together a little "here's what I'm loving list" from PB's September issue.

I don't really "do" Halloween.  Any aspect of it, but these are way cute.  Who doesn't love a ceramic owl?

I looooove this rug.  It's the Lucy Floral Rug; an 8x10 is $649.  I can dream, can't I? 

Isn't this pendant light absolutely charming?  I love the glass vs. metal, and the honeycomb pattern created by the "chicken wire".  I'd love this over my kitchen sink for a little task lighting.

And there's something about this Folk Art weather vane - it reminds me of the Amish barns and shops out in the Lancaster, PA area.  I think it'd look pretty great up on the mantel.  

Have you gotten your PB catalog in the mail yet?  Anything catch your eye?

As I'm wrapping up this post, Callan is enjoying the catalog in his very own way...

Hope you all are enjoying the last bit of summer that we have left!

houseguests & a plane trip

Well, at least I have a good reason for why I was MIA this week (and will be next week, too).  My mom and grandma are here visiting.  They arrived this past Wednesday, and we all (minus Travis) leave together tomorrow to head back to NJ for a(n) (almost) week-long visit.  My dad and sister couldn't be more excited to see Callan and how much he has changed over the past few months.  I can't wait to see their reactions! :)  

I hope you all are enjoying these last weeks of summer and are making lots of memories with your loved ones!

I'll be back next week with pictures to share of our visits.

9 months old

Yesterday, Callan turned 9 months old.  I can't believe it.  He is 3/4 of a year old.  He has been out of the womb for as long as he was inside it.  It blows my mind how quickly time passes, especially when you're watching a little one grow up right in front of your eyes.

At, now, 9 moths old, Callan is crawling like a mad man, pulling himself to standing like an old pro, as well as able to get himself back down to sitting, cruises from furniture piece to furniture piece, sits on his knees and bounces, he's making all kinds of new noises, plays well by himself, opens cabinets and pulls their contents out onto the floor, sleeps through the night on most nights, loves bathtime, has his bottom, front two teeth, loves to turn the dials and push buttons on the DVD player despite the many "no's" and light hand smacks, loves to be read to, likes to blab into a plastic cup, crawls after the vacuum when it's in use, makes it quite clear when he wants his "mamamamama", gets excited when his Daddy gets home from work, loves music and dancing, thinks it's the funniest thing to climb all over mommy when she works out on the floor, can stand on his own for a couple of seconds (sometimes), loves to get his hands on a catalog and rip it apart, if there's a power cord on the floor, he's on it like white on rice, has the sweetest little laugh, and a smile that melts my heart every. time.

When the front door is open, Callan makes a bee-line.

He loves making out with the glass.  ;)

around here

We're all adjusting to a new schedule.  This week, Travis switched from night shift (4pm to midnight) to day shift (7:30am to 4:15pm).  So, we're all trying to switch over to Travis' new schedule, but that's easier said than done.  Callan's used to going to bed when we used to - anywhere between 12:30 and 2:30 am - and now trying to get him to go to bed between 10 and 11 pm is a challenge.  It'll be a slow process of changing our schedule.  We'll probably have it mastered by the time Travis goes back to night shift, right?  Because that's just how things go.  

Anyways, life around here goes on.  Nothing too exciting, or productive, has been happening.  We are at, like, day 44, or something like that, of 100+ temperatures, so outside projects are on hold, major inside projects, like painting, only happen when Callan is sleeping (and naps seem to be getting shorter these days), so progress is slow.  Callan is always on the go, getting into, practically, everything, so my eyes are on him most of his waking hours.  I am, however, watching him play, out of the corner of my eye, right now, as I type this.  I've been trying to get this post up for three days now, so I'm hoping to have a few moments to finally get this done.  

{ Ok, so after a 15 minute break, he's down for a nap.  Here I go, I'm going to get this done.  And then hopefully get some painting done before he wakes up.  Fingers crossed for, at least, an hour long nap. }

Last weekend when we went to the Apple store to get *new phones*, we took a stroll around the mall to check out what stores they have.  Of course we had to pop into Pottery Barn to see if they had anything good on sale.  Because I refuse to pay full price.  I found these straws on a sale table - they came home with us.  They were $5.  I picked up these same straws (but in a different color/pattern) a few years ago when I worked at Pottery Barn in Fresno, but after years of being washed in the dishwasher, I thought I deserved some brandy-new ones.  Love them.

This is about where I am in painting our bedroom.  Walls are primed, trim is painted (finally after 2 coats of primer and 5 [?] coats of paint, plus touch ups).  I'm hoping to get the walls painted before the weekend is over, but we'll see if that wish comes true.  The paint color is very light, so I'm hoping I won't need more than two coats. 

Oh, and I came across a super simple recipe for "no-bake energy bites" last week {on Pinterest}, and decided to give them a go.  They're totally tasty, and a great treat when you need a little something sweet or a post-workout boost.  You can find the recipe here.  But here's how I made mine:

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats 

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1-2 tsp vanilla

1-2 tsp of your favorite spice(s)

Directions
In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, honey, and vanilla.  Add the rest of the ingredients, mix to combine.  Put the bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes to allow the "dough" to stiffen a little bit - it will be easier to work with, once chilled.  After the "dough" has chilled, roll into tablespoon sized balls.  Makes about 2 dozen.  From here, you can bag them up and keep them in the fridge or freezer.  These make a great, easy snack on the go.

The first batch of these, that I made, I added cinnamon as my spice.  The second time, I added about a tablespoon of cocoa and a tablespoon and a half of ground flax seed.  I like the second batch much better.  Travis took a bunch of these to work, and the guys enjoyed them, too!  

I did the math, and each of these snack balls are just over 100 calories.

*********************

Travis has always been a fan of Captain America, so he had to go see the movie when it was released.  He even went to the midnight showing the day that it came out.  Anyways, to indulge his excitement over his favorite super hero, I whipped up this onesie for Callan.  Cute, right?

And here's my curious little guy doing what he does best.

{ I call this one, "looking for Narnia" }

So, that's what's been going on here lately.  My capiz shell project is on hold, because I ran out of fishing line.  I'm hoping to get to the store, this weekend maybe, so I can hurry up and cross that project off my list.

I hate when projects linger, don't you?!  

 

Saturday in the city

Over the weekend, we went down to OKC to take our iPhones to the Apple store, hit up Target, and enjoy a meal at Ted's Escondido.

Over the past few months, both of our iPhones have been having home button issues.  I could press the home button in excess of 100 times and it would do nothing.  Extremely frustrating.  Thankfully, the guy at the Apple store gave us each a new phone.  I cannot tell you how much this has changed my life.  That may be an exaggeration, but seriously.  What used to take me several minutes to do, now just takes me seconds, because the home button responds with just one touch.  Imagine that.

After the Apple store, we paid our respects to Target.  We stocked up on a few necessities, as well as a few not so necessary things, but that's just a Target thing.  I think everyone does that, right?

Then it was on to Ted's Escondido.  A wonderful Mexican restaurant down on May St. in OKC.  It's amazing.  The service is impeccable and the food is delicious.  As soon as you are seated at a table, they bring you fresh tortillas, chips, salsa, and queso.  

You could totally fill up on that stuff, but it's worth saving room for dinner and the complementary sopapilla.  

We'd eat there every day, if we could.  But then again, we'd probably look like the 500 lb. lady that sat at the table next to me...  {That was meant to be sarcastic, not offensive.}

What made this visit to Ted's even better, was that Callan slept through 95% of the meal.  It's so nice to eat a meal without a little one grabbing at your plate.  Can I get an AMEN?!  Haha...

recipe: lemon coolers

I made these cookies today for two reasons.  1) I had three lemons sitting on my counter that needed to be used asap, and 2) my mom and grandma will be here in a few weeks, so I wanted to have a little treat already made for them to pull out {of the freezer} to enjoy with a cup of tea/coffee when they get here.  

These cookies could not be easier. 

I originally found the recipe here.  My recipe is different, only in the fact that I used unsalted butter (because that's all I buy), a little more zest than suggested, and I didn't shake the cooled cookies in a bag of sugar, I merely rolled the tops in the sugar.  I got 29 cookies out of my dough, and they're right around 50 calories per cookie.  

They're a shortbread/tea type of cookie.  Just a hint of sweet and a little bite of lemon.  Easy and delicious.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar (plus a little for rolling the cookies in, once cooled)

1 tsp finely shredded lemon zest

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Combine flour, sugar, and lemon zest in a bowl, mix.

Add butter and vanilla, mix until a smooth dough forms.

(No need to get the mixer out for this one, it only takes a minute or two with a wooden spoon.)

Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and place on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until bottoms of cookies are lightly browned.

Cool on wire rack.

Once cooled, roll tops of cookies in a little powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

In between trying to get our bedroom primed, chasing Callan, and attempting to keep a clean house, I started a little project with some capiz shells I've had stashed away for a few years.

I'll let you know if this project is a win or fail sometime next week.

Hope you're having a great week - it's almost Friday!  Hooray!

hiatus

I don't know if you even noticed, but I haven't posted for a while.

I decided to take a spur of the moment hiatus of sorts from blog land.  I turned my time spent while Callan naps into productive moments around the house.  Now that I look back, I don't even know what I actually accomplished, but the break was nice, nonetheless.  As much as I enjoy my daily blog fix, I think I'm going to cut it down to once or twice a week (if that), unless something truly remarkable happens that I JUST HAVE TO SHARE.

Anyways, here's what's been going on around here while my little guy does this:

I finally got around to making a pillow that's been on my (forever and a day long) to-do list.  It's made out of two napkins from Target (from a pack of four), that I picked up a while back.  I bought the napkins thinking they'd be adorable for a summer dinner party.  But really, who am I kidding...?  I'll never throw a summer dinner party that calls for cloth napkins.  Let's get real.  So now I have a cute pillow. 

I added a layer of batting behind the front side and stitched a grid-like pattern.  You can't really see it though.  Oh well.

I even put in a zipper.  MY VERY FIRST ZIPPER.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, but I need more practice.  I have feared zippers for years, despite my friend's reassurance that they really aren't that difficult.  She was right.  I just need more practice.

I've been trying to get our room primed so we can get some paint up on the walls.  Slooooow going.  It seems that every time I get a paintbrush in-hand, Callan wakes up.  Maybe I'll be done before the end of August.  Ha.  In the meantime, graffiti is fun. 

We also just got rid of the wooden lattice that was nailed up over the windows of the sunroom.  There is, surprisingly, so much more light in there, now.  Who knew lattice could block so much sun.  I can't wait to clean, both the inside and outside, paint it, revamp the flower bed, and do something about those "support" trellises.  Still lots to do, but it's a start.  That pile of stone, brick, and planters pulled out from the fenceline doesn't help the appearance, as of the moment.  Maybe by next summer we'll have some noticeable improvements out there.  Here's hoping.

Here's all the lattice we took down.

And I think I may have finally settled on something for the mantle.  For now.  What's up there, has been up for a week, or two (?), and I like it.  I whipped up the paper doily bunting the other day just to add a little something else.  It's kinda fun. 

I'm still undecided as to if I should paint the mirror, or not, or whether to keep it vertical, or put it on it's side.  And that empty teal frame is just waiting for a new family picture.  We need to take one.  It'll stay empty until I actually feel like doing my hair.  It's just too hot to get the blow dryer out these days. 

So that's what has been going on around here in the past few weeks, along with the typical cleaning, laundry, and baby chasing.  Callan is a crazy crawling, cruising machine.  He keeps me busy, that's for sure!

Here's something I'm looking forward to:

In just over two weeks, my mom and grandma will be coming out to visit for a few days, then Callan and I will be flying back to NJ, with them, for about a week to meet our niece (finally!).  We desperately wish Travis could come with us, but with both a trip to CA and NJ planned for later this year, he needs to save his paid time off.  Understandable.  But we'll miss him terribly.

That's it for now.  Off to chase Callan.  And hopefully get to the sink full of dishes...