Life Is (And Has Been) Better At The Lake

It's hard to believe that our family has been at the 'lakehouse' for one year. It's as if we've lived here forever. To say we're lucky is an understatement, maybe because I don't believe in luck and maybe because after all those moves (you can read about them here,) we've finally found home.

 As I went through last year's photos, I found this one above; the DIY sign project I made to commemorate our new house. Only now did I notice Husband and our youngest in the background fishing.

This backyard view, the inhabitants of our space (like "Caesar" the eagle and "Wally" the crane,) the quietness of our cul-de-sac. None of this has gotten old. Thank goodness.

Our family recently re-watched "We Bought A Zoo" with Matt Damon. The first time we watched it, we were in the process of daydreaming about living at the lake. The lakehouse was our zoo, our adventure, our vision of home with our kids.

At that time our vision included a trampoline, basketball hoops and fishing boat. (Two out of three ain't bad.)

Now we foresee berry bushes and homegrown herbs, more of a communing with Mother Nature if you will.

On Sunday, we welcomed this new family, awww...

As we celebrate our home-anniversary, we continue to recognize how blessed we've been as a family. :)

DIY After: Spray Painting The Fireplace

As many of you know, our lakehouse living room is in dire need of a makeover. We've been here just under a year and have had so much (life) going on that renovations had to put on hold.

But last week, I couldn't deal with my living room anxiety anymore, I needed to make at least one change, because with as much work as I do from home, that is the room that mocks me daily with it's screaming 70s fireplace, salmon carpeting, asymmetrical built-in bookcase and walls that need painting so badly.

So I took one baby step. I spray painted the brass surround. Is that what it's called? The ugly brass/gold thing in front that has doors? For the life of me, I can't figure out what to call those doors... (I also see fingerprints and dog drool, hi, welcome to my home.)

As usual, the prep work took the longest. All the taping etc. but it's definitely worth it, because if I had gotten spray paint on the brick, I would have died. Well, maybe not, but you know what I'm saying.

See? Do you see the "face?" I am going to take a sledge hammer to those cutouts one day! Okay, so I taped and then scratched up the surface with sandpaper.

Used the special high-heat spray paint...

And ta-dah! It's a million times better!

Up next? Husband and I are painting the walls...

The Cutest Mother's Day Video Ever

When I was in elementary school I used to tell kids I was from Hawaii. That's because I was tired of telling them I was 'Filipino,'

What's that? Are you Chinese or Japanese?

Because if you weren't Caucasian or African-American, then you were someone from Asia. And it had to be China or Japan, because let's face it, in grade school we didn't know all the countries yet!

Except for Hawaii. I thank Hawaii 5-0 for that.

My kids don't have the same struggle, in fact when our youngest daughter was around 5, she would say she was "half-Filipino, half-Human."

That always makes me laugh.

Anyway, all of that is a pre-cursor for a Mother's Day shout-out. I posted this video a few years ago, but it always makes me smile. (She's half-Human, you know...)

Here is our youngest's rendition of a Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me." Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!

DIY Organized Drawers On A Dime

It's been pretty busy lately at our house, what with new clients, our kids' sports activities and end-of-school concerts and events, I haven't had a minute to sit and blog! Husband and I keep talking about painting the living room, but we just don't have the time to do it! I did tackle one small DIY project.

Taking a cue from Pinterest, I organized a drawer that has some of my work stuff. Of course I didn't want to spend much money, so I used the cereal boxes we already had...

Cut them up to make them fit the drawer and covered them with cute wrapping paper I found at Goodwill.

It took me forever to find paper because I don't scrapbook and I won't spend a lot of $ on nice scrapbook paper. (Cheap, cheap.)

I have to admit, it turned out really well. 'Cause I'm all about making things pretty. :)

Here's a behind-the-scenes shot of what it really looks like when you're doing a DIY project!

That's not pretty at all! What have you done lately to beautify (and organize) your home office or craft room? Let me know and include a link to your blog so I can drop by!

Help! There's Carpet In My Kitchen!

Nothing like moving into a house and debating whether you really want to keep the ninties-inspired patterned carpet in your kitchen. Before we moved in, the homeowner said it was "scotchgarded."

*crickets*

With three kids and a slobbering dog, there isn't enough Scotchgard® in the world to save this carpet.

Cue kitchen of my dreams from bhg:

What to do, what to do, a quick inward scream, and then you get online to see how on earth to remedy this. Hmm...ceramic tile, vinyl tile, hardwood, laminate...oh so much to choose from. Cross off laminate, been there, done that in several homes. Hardwood? Love it, but the dog scratching her nails across it everyday? I don't think so. How about vinyl tile? Easy upkeep, comes in different sizes, looks like ceramic tile (or stone) and can be grouted, but is lighter, warmer and easier on the feet.

Three problems; 1) they glued the carpet directly to the floor boards, so it was a bumpy, nasty mess and 2) if you use vinyl tile, you may feel the bumps underneath unless you are willing to sand, etc. (which Husband and I have yet to do our own floors so we are terrified) and of course 3) cost.

Always about the bottom line.

I wish I could have said that we were brave and we DIYed it, but even after consulting other DIYers and flooring specialists on Hometalk, the job seemed incredibly daunting for us flooring-newbies.

And even though we can paint, reuse, refurbish and craiglist the crap out of most things in our home, we folded and had someone else do it. :(

Now that we decided on vinyl tile, we looked at every possible color/style option and even pinned them:

I don't know why I'm always drawn to 'travertine' which is a form of limestone, but I am. So that is the kind of tile we chose. That process only took about two weeks! (Hey, when you're spending a boat-load of money on a floor, you better love it!)

But alas! Apparently it would have costed us more to have vinyl tile installed than ceramic tile. Who woudda thunk it. So, I dished out the big bucks (because people, it isn't cheap) and hired someone to put in travertine-looking ceramic tile, because Husband wasn't about to mess with tile, being unexperienced and all.

This photo makes it look more gray, but it is more on the brown side. My saving grace about choosing ceramic tile, it will last forever.

What kind of flooring do you have in your kitchen? Are you happy with it?

Every Stylish Mom Should Have This

As a mom, finding any product that makes life a little simpler is helpful. As a designer, it's nice when  the products I use are aesthetically pleasing to the eye as well. That's why I'm so happy to own a BellaVita wristlet.

I'm in and out of my house, on average, eight times a day. Whether it's errands, meetings, sports events, or the daily drive to three schools for pick up and drop off, I am on the move.

Nothing is more irritating than trying to gather my wallet, keys, cell phone etc. just because I have to get into the minivan. (It reminds me of the days of diaper bags.)

Anyway, with that being said, everything in the wristlet fits into it snuggly. My driver's license, a credit card, cash and my iPhone.

BellaVita sent me this pretty mauve/purple color (my choice of all the colors they offer) to prance around with. It's been great. No more looking through my array of purses to haul when I'm off and running.

Right now, BellaVita is hosting a giveaway, you can enter for a chance to win a wristlet or wallet.

So check out their site and let BellaVita make your life a little simpler too!

{disclosure: BellaVita sent me a wristlet in order to review this product.}