new blog love...Delightful Distractions

hello bloggy friends!

I've been lax on my blog posts once again - sorry! Of course I have a million excuses, but of course I'm not going to bore you with any of them :)

Instead, I'm going to share a wonderful new blog I've stumbled upon recently...

Delightful Distractions

First of all, I love the name! I am, if nothing else, easily distracted. shhh, don't tell my husband.

But besides a cute name, she also shares beautifully designed cute stuff, much of which you can easily download and print off from home! YAY! more cute stuff to fill my head with. And even better that this stuff is actually USEFUL. case in point...

a chore chart!

my kids are in desperate need of a chore chart. they just don't know it yet...hee hee.

And here's one they will actually like...
a restaurant menu!

And finally there is this super cute little book for writing down all those funny things your kids are always saying (but you always forget to write down.)

how stinkin' clever is that?!? I wish I would have thought of it! what an adorable thing to fill out and give to Grandma or pass out at your church group!

Amy also has an etsy shop here where she sells sweet baby bracelets and more cute prints. Please check out this talented mama and be sure to thank her for sharing her cute stuff!

to die for blueberry muffins!

My mom came by this week and brought me these... 10 POUNDS of blueberries! My parents sell produce at a little shop and these came fresh picked from MI. yummy!

So I enlisted my little helper to make the yummiest muffins in the world. I found this recipe in our local paper several years ago, and they never disappoint. Granted, they don't serve my goal of losing these last 5 pounds - but that's ok. Fresh blueberries don't stick around forever, ya know?

My little helper seemed to like them :)

Notice that this recipe only makes 8 (which in my house lasts for about, oh hmmm, 12 seconds) So you might want to double the recipe! You can also nix the topping if you want (but that's the best part, imo) And I was out of vegetable oil, so I substituted applesauce and they still came out moist and delicious - and probably a little healthier to boot!

wash these down with a cold glass of milk and savor these last fleeting weeks of summer. 

enjoy!

linking up to fingerprints on the fridge party

hooked on hook pillows

Today, we're back with our regularly scheduled programming of pillow talk. There's just soooo many out there to choose from, it's easy to get overwhelmed (as I usually do). But hopefully all this pillow talk will persuade me to actually push that buy button on one or more of these sometime soon.

I never was an impulse shopper. which happens to be a good thing, right?

It wasn't until a year or two ago that I even realized that these sweet pillows existed.

texture? check!
color? check!
whimsy? double check!
affordable? well, depends on who's asking (but hey, 3 out of 4 ain't bad!)

I love accessories that bring a touch of the unexpected to a space, don't you? So dear reader, may I present you with an array of juicy pillows that will jazz up any 'ol seating surface:

 

shopten25 red coral hook pillow $44

shell & star pillows $58.99

seahorse $47.99

 

starfish $58.99

 turtle $48

Not into the nautical thing? There's a variety of others to choose from too! 

How about some cute dogs?

good dog $79

yellow lab $79

more dogs $39

I'm partial to this one since my mom & dad have a black lab & my brother had a yellow. Together, they parented my chocolate lab. They were rather crotchety at each other, but I like to believe they still loved each other like an old married couple. Sadly, Rody (the yellow lab dad) had to be put down this spring. Might have to get this pillow for my parents as a sweet memento...$79

I've also found birds, insects, flowers, numbers, etc... I never thought the selection was so good, but now it's going to be hard to choose a favorite. Which one is your favorite?

favorite finds

I know I'm supposed to be posting about pillows this week, but I've been lazy and my pillow post isn't finished. So in the hopes of keeping my *one* reader happy, I thought I'd direct you mothers of boys to these totally adorable flash cards from House 8810...

are these not the cutest darn set of flash cards you've ever seen? Maybe I'm a little bit biased because I have a little mr. fix it (as well as a big mr. fix it) and we have a plethora of tools (both real and toy kind) around our house, but I am definitely getting these for my little mr.

They're a generous 8x10 size and wouldn't they be so cute displayed on a wall or stuck in frames spelling out your little guy's name? Add another project to my list!

You can purchase these here for $25. And I just noticed 10% OFF their little ones category with promo code LITTLEONES_10

Be sure to check out their other stuff too - I am especially loving their cute kitchen towels!

pillow twins or triplets?

we're talking pillows this week!

I love Pottery Barn pillows, but they can be a little pricey at times unless you're one of the fortunate few who live next to an outlet. But I've actually found a few cute knock offs...

These PB ones are cute and have a nice shape, but they're $29 bucks a pop.

 pb pillows

These are from World Market and look very similar but are only $12.99. Granted their color selection isn't quite as nice, but for the price you could afford to get these as well as something else with more pattern.

 

world market pillows

I also found these from JC Penney. They only have the orange & khaki colors available, but I'm really liking the orange for fall. On sale for $14.99

jcp pillows

 
Tomorrow we'll talk more about pillows with some pattern & punch. Stay tuned!

shameless dorky admission

we interrupt pillow week to bring you this earth-shattering announcement.

I have officially entered the world of technology. not intentionally, mind you, but I was pushed into the technological abyss by the mom of my daughter's friend. what did I do, you ask?

I sent my first text message. you read that right. my very first text message. like ever. Yes, I do realize that it is 2011 and text messaging has been in existence for at least a decade.

but I have never been one to jump on bandwagons. apparently, I need to be pushed.

ack. am I a dork or what?  don't answer that michelle!

pillow talk

I love pillows. there I said it. there's something to be said about cute colorful pillows all around the house. of course I don't really have many cute colorful pillows in my house. although I have TONS of cute colorful pillows in my head's house or the house in my head or however it is that you say that.

I always have good intentions to buy or make lots of pillows, then change them out throughout the season. but by the time i actually decide what I want, the season has passed and I need to look for new pillows. I am always perpetually behind it seems.

anywho... here's my current state of affairs:

The couch & loveseat are Broyhill which also came with off white slipcovers. You know, white slips are all the rage nowadays. My perpetual behindedness (perpetual behind, haha that made me laugh) might explain why the white slips are not on said couches. But I hope to remedy that situation henceforth.

{on a side note, can you tell I've been reading harlequin romance novels this summer? }

The little blue & brown paisley pillow came from TJ Maxx about a year ago and the green pillows are from Ballards.  I wanted a snappy apple green color for the spring, but alas the snap is not there - huh? The pictures on their website were a little deceiving, but they're comfy pillows so I decided to keep em.

 The 2 little white & brown floral pillows came with the couches, but I hate them. So obviously instead of tossing them in the closet and getting new ones, I chose to display them proudly out in the open. Am I weird or what? don't answer that Michelle!  They might actually get shipped off to my Mom's house, who is redecorating.  Last week we filled up 5 carts at Ikea  - but that is a whole other post!

more pillow talk to come soon!

house news, or no news actually

 source - Polhemus Savery DaSilva

well we are supposed to be building a house next spring. As of right now, we (ok, I) have yet to find a floor plan. I never in a million years thought it would be this hard! I have literally looked at over 1000 house plans online, in books, magazines, blogs, etc... and have come up with zilch, nada, nothin'.

I'm beginning to think my standards are a little too high.

so is my hubby.

It frustrates me to no end that I can't just sit down and pick just anything. Believe me, I wish I could. For some reason, God chose me to be a perfectionist, idealist, design-loving, architect-wanna-be. which means that details matter to me. like really really really matter. I don't need for this house to be huge. I don't need for it to have the top of the line everything. I don't even want any of that.

I just want it to be me. us. our family home. the place we're going to raise our precious kiddos until it's time for them to leave the nest. gosh, I don't even want to think about that.

so I want to get it right. I don't want to settle. I don't want it to be perfect. but I need for it to be special. unique. 

our home.

So join me on this journey of building our home. It's not going to be easy. But I'm praying it will all be worth it in the end. 

 

i'm baaaaack...

well, after a request from my one and only real reader, I'm going to attempt to resuscitate this poor ol blog. I'm ashamed that I haven't updated this thing since March eeek! You might think that I've been crazy busy. No. just crazy lazy. hey that rhymes. :)  ok, crazy dorky too. 

I have a bunch of excuses as to why I haven't done anything much worth mentioning, but I'm sure you don't want to hear them. I'll just leave you with this pretty picture instead.

ahhhhh. Don't ya just love it? Check out my pins on pinterest for more gorgeous photos. TGIF!

my favorite painting

2 years ago, while surfing etsy I came across something that made my heart skip a beat. It was a print of a sweet little watercolor painting. But not just any painting, you see. It was the spitting image of my son!

Was it mere coincidence that we had just returned from a family trip up to Lake Michigan, where my little guy had frolicked in the sand among seagulls and surf? I like to think it wasn't :)

The artist who unknowingly captured my son's first real beach experience is Mary Ellen Golden. You can find more of her amazing watercolor paintings here. She is so talented and I love the way her paintings capture such intimate scenes in nature. Her prices are very reasonable, and she prints on actual watercolor paper so even though it's a print - it mimics the real thing quite well, imo. Here are a few of my favorites:

'beach visitor'

'sunwashed'
'cedar island horses'

'tracks in the sand'

'bald head lighthouse'

'arlie oak'

Can you tell it's hard for me to pick a favorite? Her work is so gorgeous, I could sit and stare at it all day! And sometimes I do, actually. As I hung my sweet little painting in a spot I visit quite often - our master bathroom :)

I just stuck it in a $1 garage sale frame and it's definitely not perfect, but it makes me smile every time I see it.

Do you have a favorite piece of art in your house? Please share! I love to find new artists and meaningful decor for my home.

awesome architects - part 1

Since we're building a house next spring, I've spent an embarrassing amount of time looking at architect sites, blogs, magazines, and books. I've looked at over 1000 house plans and that's not a typo or exaggeration! I was/am a little obsessed with designing our next home. My hubby can definitely attest to that :) 

But during my exhaustive 4-year search, I've stumbled upon some very talented architects. So I thought I'd do a little series of posts on some of my favorites. Keep in mind that these are all shingle/new england style homes - which happen to be my favorite and the look I'm going for in our next place. If you hate this look, you might not want to stick around. But if you love the look of gorgeous shingle-clad homes nestled amidst rolling sand dunes or lush green lawns with breath-taking views out every window, then be sure to stop by every week as I highlight my favorite architects. 

First up is Granoff Architects. Let's just sit back and drool, shall we?

wow, wasn't that fun? If I had to pick a favorite (and it's very hard to choose!) I think I like the first one best - the Rock Maple home. It looks kinda like a modern day hansel & gretel house to me. Love the steep pitched gables, all the windows, & the awesome pool in the back. And I can definitely see my little ones playing some type of scary troll bridge game under the porte cochere thing-a-ma-jig.

which one is your favorite?