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.}

The Secret Society Of Bloggers

I just finished reading the book Blog Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho of Oh Joy! I picked it up because I'm always trying to learn something new and I've been fascinated with the business of blogging since my friend Kate (back in 2008) introduced me to the blog formerly known as "my charming kids" (then became "MckMama") and the Pioneer Woman who can now be seen on Food Network.

It seemed to me that a blog was pretty much an online journal slash scrapbook. The notion of being able to journal the goings-on of my family was an appealing idea especially since writing was something I'd been doing both as a hobby and professionally for years. And I could add photos? Awesome, I took photography in college and knew the ins and outs of a darkroom.

But HTML and digital photography? I was a novice. All I had was a PC and a simple digital camera that I had gotten as a Christmas present so I could upload photos to eBay.

Fast forward --> nothing like a few hundred hours of Googling and looking at code to give you a lesson on coding, templates and the inner workings of a blog!

I've gone through some growing pains with blogging. Blogging with friends (City Mom, Country Mom and Gracenotes 95) to the pains of moving (Mommy Moves Again) to staying incognito (Sharing The Wonder) because of nosy employers!

So although it may seem like this blog is a baby (2 years old) I've got plenty of blogging experience behind me. I've gone from a point-and-shoot camera to a Nikon SLR (half paid for by blogging) to leaving my crummy PC to a Macbook Pro and an iPhone. (I was blogging when it was popular to have a music playlist on your blog and Pinterest was just a glimmer in Ben Silbermann's eye.)

But back to Joy's book, I loved that she interviewed other bloggers (very famous ones) and that she gave lots of pointers, because when you start out blogging, it's like a secret society.

I remember wracking my brain wanting to learn how to center links and create blog buttons. I joined every link party, got on all the blogging networks, commented my head off and at times burned myself out. Blogging was work! And it was work I wasn't getting paid for!

Although I am not a "big" blogger, I think I am like many other bloggers out there. I do fine, I've learned a lot. I do think one of the secrets to success in blogging is longevity. Sticky with it is the best lesson you can teach yourself.

Blog because you love to write, blog because you love digital photography, blog because this is your creative outlet or blog because you want to contribute. If your heart is in it, the rest will come.

Here are a few sites and links (that I trust and have been using for years) that might prevent sleepless nights and help newbie bloggers:

1. Need to find the perfect color with automatically generated code? Try Colorpicker
2. Could use some help with HTML specifically for blogging? Go to Blogger Sentral
3. Want a new FREE template for your blog? Here's where I go: BTemplates
4. Do you want meta tags in your blog? Blogger Tricks makes it easy

Anyway, like I said, I've learned a lot about blogging, so if you have any blog related questions I can answer, leave me a comment and I will reply to it, or at least lead you in the right direction!

Happy blogging and welcome to the club! :)

A Worthy Cause: Textbooks & Operation Smile

It's been awhile since I've been in college, but I do remember the exorbitant fees for all the books I had to buy. So I'm happy to be partnering with CampusBookRentals.com. This is a great site that allows you to rent your books and later rent them out to other students with their Rent Back program.


These textbooks offer students a savings between 40-90% off compared to bookstore prices and shipping is free both ways! If you have a child getting ready for college, this is a site you'll want to visit.

But beyond that, I'm even happier because with each textbook rented from CampusBookRentals.com, they in turn donate to Operation Smile, an international charity organization that provides surgeries for children and young adults born with facial deformities.

With three kids, we're always looking to save money and renting textbooks is a great idea for when they're off to college!

{disclosure: CampusBookRentals.com approached me to share their site(s)

with my readers. This is a compensated post.}

Look Who I'm Writing For!

I'm so excited to announce that I am now a contributing writer for Todays Wisconsin Mama. I will be posting all my DIY projects there. Drop by and leave me a comment letting me know what you think about our master bedroom paint experience!

I'll still be posting recipes, my views on social media and family life here on my blog, so no worries! Also, if there is a DIY project on TodaysMama, I may post extra photos or tips on my personal blog, so keep stopping by! I appreciate all your comments!

A big hello and thank you to the editors at TodaysMama!

What I'm Reading

I love to read. Some books I read for work, others just for fun. Here's what I'm reading now:

Michele Stuart's 'Perfect Pies,' the DIYers Sherry and John's 'Young House Love,' and 'Barefoot Contessa Foolproof.'

Perfect Pies is really just eye candy for me because I just love looking at cookbooks with pretty food photos. I once told my sister-in-law that I photographed food better than people!

I've been following the projects of Young House Love for a few years now, their home projects can be very inspiring.

And the Barefoot Contessa? Well, her recipes never fail. So I have to read her books. :)

Those Raspberry Crumb Bars look amazing, I might have to make those for Easter!

What are you reading?

Is Profanity Necessary To Be A Top Blogger?

Recently I googled "top mom blogs," because I love to find new blogs, read them and check out their design. I went on a popular site that touted a Top 100 list of mommy bloggers. I noticed something interesting...

At least three of these acclaimed blogs featured a gratuitous amount of profanity.

Wow. Does a good blogger have to throw in a swear word to make her point? Or is this just for shock value?

Hmmm...

This is not a post about SOPA or PIPA, I just wonder if people wonder if some might find this offensive. I have said before that my mother, Husband and kids can read my blog, if I started cursing in it, would I find that appropriate as a role model to my children?

What are your thoughts? Do you care? Does it matter?

Social Media Equals Sales?

I've read a lot about how businesses must embrace the channels of social media. But I've also witnessed firsthand the criticism of how social media does not grow a business. I really had to think about this...and it hit me.

Social media can increase sales, but sometimes it does it in a round-about way.

Meryl Streep said it well in the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada," where she repudiates Anne Hathaway's snubbing of what seems to be insignificant decisions in fashion.

"...You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select...

I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff."

What may look like a "pile of stuff" to a novice (or a business owner) may really be a necessary tool into sending your business/products/services skyrocketing out of the red and into the black.

Here are some brands that are trending on the growing social media giant, Pinterest.

Nutella, RumChata, Hershey's, NYX Cosmetics and Sephora, just to name a few.

These brands, like RumChata (a rum-based cream liqueur) are now the fundamental ingredient for making "RumChata Cupcakes," which has been re-pinned over 500 times
(at last count.) Did RumChata ever think about the cupcake business? I doubt it.

INFOGRAPHIC: Pinterest Infographic via Cool Daily Infographics

In this day of recycling and repurposing, women, who make up 80% of the Pinterest market, are now scouring for the above-mentioned ingredients/products or even discarded items (old Mason jars, shipping pallets, etc.) in hopes of creating the next best ____ (fill in the blank.)

So even if businesses are not seeing direct sales increases right now, give it time, and don't discredit social media. Because let's face it, it is everywhere and its influence, although seemingly insignificant at this point, might just be your next secret weapon in growing your profit margin.

Enjoy those cupcakes, people.
 

Constructing Your Creative Space

I once wanted to work at Google (see their Bangkok office below?) only because I thought their work space was cool and catered to the creative types. Now it seems, that everyone and their mother has jumped onto that bandwagon.

I've been thinking about my own work space and how it can be a conduit to creativity.

Then I began to think about our kids, and how Husband is a big proponent of thinking "outside the box" (although he would never use that cliched term) and prompting an environment of learning or as he calls it, "wondering." (Ask me one day about our parent meeting with our eldest daughter's science teacher, it's quite the story.)

If my children were still under the age of six and finger painting, I think a space like this would be so amazing:

(Of course I found this on Pinterest, of course Martha Stewart featured it. *sigh*)

In my perfect house, my perfect office would look like this, natural light, open but private, a clean space I could go on and on...

Traditional Home Office design by San Francisco Architect Polsky Perlstein Architects

Then again before I allow my interior designing thoughts to be boxed in, with the advent of
the laptop and wifi, should there only be one "space" in our home where we can work? Hmmm.

And what really helps with creativity? Is it environment? The merging of minds? Serenity? Or how about just plain old hard work?

I was intrigued by this Mashable article on the science of genius and their Q&A with author Jonah Lehrer.

It seems that everything factors into attaining creative ideas, but being creative is a plausible pursuit for everyone.

environment + fresh minds + debate + brutal honesty + perseverance

+ child-like "wondering" = creativity

Let me "wonder" about all of this and I'll get back to you about my decorating decisions. ;)

Super Easy Strawberry Banana Bread

I'm on this kick to use what we have in our fridge or pantry without having to run to the store for one or two items. So call me frugal, s'okay.

Here's where the beauty of Pinterest comes in. Most of the recipes (especially if they come from a blog) are usually tried and true. So when I searched for a recipe using frozen strawberries (which we picked last summer) and a ripe banana, I found a recipe for 'Strawberry Banana Bread.'

Though this recipe was for one loaf, I doubled it to make two loaves and adapted it so I could use whole eggs instead of egg whites and increased the amount of baking soda*.

Strawberry Banana Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2  teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 medium ripe bananas (mash one and slice the other)

1/2  cup canola oil
2 eggs beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups strawberries, diced (can use frozen berries)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 9x5 bread loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon and stir to combine. Mash one banana with a fork and slice the other one.

3. Add the mashed banana to the dry ingredients and stir. Add the oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and stir until just combined. Gently fold in 3/4 cup strawberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with 1/4 cup strawberries and banana slices, pressing them gently into the surface of the batter.

4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (Depending on moisture content bananas and berries, cooking times may vary from 40 to 50 minutes).
Allow bread to cool before removing it from the pan.

* I read somewhere that if your cakes are turning out deflated it's because there isn't enough baking soda. The original recipe used half the amount of baking soda, so I doubled it to make sure the cake wasn't too flat.

Thanks to Averie from Averie Cooks, for her rendition. This cake is moist and not too sweet and yet our kids still like it. It's also very easy to make, hope you enjoy this recipe!

Free Calendar Wallpaper For You!

Every year, I'm hopeful that it will be better than the last one. This year I am starting it off by sharing this site that can turn your photos into calendar wallpaper for your computer. Cool.

Husband and I ended last year by shoveling snow off a portion of the lake and creating an ice skating rink for our kids. (Who am I kidding, I'm as excited as my eight year old!)

I used to coach figure skating to beginners before I had kids and these are the same boots and blades I used. After 3 kids and many years later, my feet have expanded to a size bigger and when I put on my skates it feels like I am on pins and needles, later they are so numb I can't even feel them, until I take them off again and the tingling continues for another 30 minutes. Oh, for the love of ice skating!

But I digress...so we are in the process of learning how to make the perfect ice rink and loving the winter season of the Midwest.

I'm really hoping that this year is a good one for you. My BFF and I were talking the other day about how hard life can be and how we as moms, often feel overwhelmed with even the smallest of details. This year I hope for more balance, a little more peace of mind and the ability to find joy in every moment.

Happy New Year!

Goodbye Dumb Phone, Hello iPhone

It's no secret that I've fallen in love with my new iPhone which I finally got last week. It's my first smart phone and I love that I can sync my whole 'Apple family' together.

As I say goodbye to my dumb phone, I'm giddy with excitement about all the accessories and apps I get to nab. (Here comes my weekly ode to Pinterest...)

- Thank you Pinterest for my free apps:

- For the assortment of amazing iPhone cases I get to pick from:

- For the cute and sensible idea of labeling my iPhone charger:

- And for the inspiration to bake 'Apple' cookies in the near future (okay, not really, well maybe.)

Do you have an iPhone? What are your best tips/tricks/advice for a newbie like me?

Back To School ~ Baking Bars

It's that time of year when I feel like baking so I can put a little special something into my kids' lunches. Here are some recipes that look appealing:

PB& J Bars

I've made Martha Stewart's version before and they are a huge hit with the kids!

Blueberry Bars

Since there are some blueberries still around, it might be a good time to make these.

Date & Nuts Bar

Taken from the Pioneer Woman's friend's recipe, you'll have to trust that this is yummy!

Austrian Raspberry Shortbread

The Smitten Kitchen always has amazing recipes to share.

Nanaimo Bars

I have yet to make these, but when I had them in Vancouver, BC, they were my favorite!

Pinterest Feats & Flops

As addicted as I am to Pinterest, I've learned that not everything on its site makes for a successful project. I decided to share my Pinterest "hits" and "misses" (and there will be plenty more, I promise!) Some projects/recipes have turned out well, others, not so much...

1. How to clean your Dyson vacuum cleaner? A HUGE success! With three kids and a massive dog, my vacuum better work! After following these tips, it's like brand new (and our vacuum doesn't stink like dog anymore, bonus!)

I don't know why I waited so long to paint furniture, I think I was just being a chicken. I learned a lot during this process, like how you shouldn't waste your time sanding especially if parts of your furniture are not real wood...use a deglosser instead! And if you want that Pottery Barn look (with the wood showing through) don't use a primer!

Saved me a lot of time, I tell ya. And the result was still great! Most of my pins recommended using a primer (which I bought, btw) I might pay the price in the end, since I didn't prime, but my furniture is not high traffic furniture like a table or chairs, so hopefully it will be okay.

This Spaghetti Recipe received high praise in our house last night! :) Creamy delicious-ness, a definite keeper...

And then there were the others... the verdict's still out on this crockpot bread pudding recipe. It's still in the crockpot as I type this, (an hour more than the recipe called for, it was still soupy and the eggs weren't cooked!) Is it me, my crockpot or what? (Is it because I omitted the whiskey?!)

How about this super cute DIY workout shirt tutorial? Have you seen it? No sew, easy-peasy...

Super cute...if you're my 14-year-old daughter. On me, it made me look like a female body builder, who stopped body building. Not attractive.

So, I guess in the end, to Pin, or not Pin, that is the real question...