The Office

Well, hello there 2011!!! Gawd, can you believe it? The holidays flew right by just like usual and here it is a whole new year. I have been horrible with finding time to blog and hope to be able to get around to it more often this year, but between drastic home renovations, homeschooling, work and the everyday it might be a bit difficult!

Anyways, I promised I would update the blog with photos of the house once we weren't in such shambles around here. Shambles is just about the right word for what we were living in too. I am so happy with how everything has turned out so far, but let me just offer some advice to anyone who might ever think it's a good idea to take on a big home improvement project during the holidays: don't do it. Just. Don't. You know that Kevin and I both love DIY. Even though he tries to deny it, he loves a good project just as much as I do. But being tore up for the holidays was just way too much stress for everyone. Now that the messy parts are over and there's a nice big light at the end of the tunnel, we both feel a lot better about everything!

Now for the photos!! Here are a few "before shots" just so you can get an idea of what was done over the past couple of months....

School Room Before any construction took place:









Bye bye, dark red paint and oak furniture! We loved our school room, don't get me wrong. But we weren't really using it as much as we could have been - we usually do read alouds on the sofa and the kids were doing their workbooks and reading in the quiet privacy of their own rooms. Kevin really needed a place of his own to work from on occasion, so we thought moving the computer into this ex-formal dining room/school room was the best option. We did all of the work ourselves (with the help of a neighbor and my brother) and got all of the furniture at our local Ikea. Geez, I love that place. The wall color I ended up with was a pretty apple green. Big shock that I picked green right?? It's my favorite! It's a Benjamin Moore color called 'Sweet Daphne' we had mixed up in Valpar Paint & Primer In One. I'm not sure this paint lived up to all it promised since I did have to do more than one coat, but it did cover very nicely and I'm happy with the way it looks. And here's the end result!


We closed in the entire room by adding on to the hallway wall that was already there. I still have to put one more coat of paint on these doors and add the oil rubbed bronze handles to them. You can see a little preview of the stair railings here too - I stil have to paint all the spindles white and plan on using some black porch and floor paint on the treads to match the railings. All in good time!


Our new Expedit bookshelf conveniently stores all of our homeschooling books, workbooks and the kids' art supplies as well. I will probably put decor of some sort on the top of the bookshelf and move some books around to incorporate decorative vases and such. I'm thinking I'll replace the white boxes on the bottom with seagrass baskets at some point. And I'm still on the hunt for the perfect area rug as the floor gets so cold in here. The ceiling light was a fantastic find for under $60 at Overstock!!


I love this desk! It's so nice to have a place for both computers. I still need to figure out how to use the space on the big wall shelf a little bit better, but this is ok for now. The wall calendars are all from Target - saved me some serious cash as opposed to buying them from "that other store." ;)


The parsons chairs were a last minute decision that I'm super happy with. Kevin wanted something more comfortable than a wooden chair and I didn't want a regular office chair. So these were a good compromise!! I still need to figure out the unsightly electrical cord situation as well.


I still need to find some art for the frame in between the windows and a cute throw pillow for the plain white chair. I might even put a small table next to it, but who knows. A trip to Homegoods will probably help. Oh and I need to shorten that curtains a little bit too.


It's so nice being able to close the doors! I was worried about making the house feel too closed in, but with the french doors I think it still keeps that open feeling.

It feels so nice to be able to post an update on our progress! We still have a ways to go with choosing rugs and wall art, but that's not something I want to rush anyways. It's fun to shop around!! Thanks for looking and I promise there are more updates to come and we get a few more things finished here and there. Stay tuned!!!

Home Office Inspiration

I am so excited to get started on our new home office. We just closed in the old school room and will be moving our computer into that room now. We used to have the desk and computer in the formal living room. It worked, but with Kevin occasionally working from home we needed to do something different. It will be nice to have a designated space to shut the doors so it isn't the first thing one sees when walking into our home.

When designing this new space, I was on the lookout for functional furniture that looked good and wasn't going to break the bank. Where else would you go for that but Ikea?? We are lucky to have one that isn't far from our home.

Our desk will seat two people and house two computer workstations. One computer isn't enough for all five of us!! The Vika Amon desk was the perfect solution....



Most likely I will get some dark espresso colored chairs from World Market with some nice cushions for this desk. The other thing I knew we needed was a lot of storage for books. We homeschool and are avid readers, so we have an abundance of those!! I have always loved the large scale and simple lines of the Expedit bookcase, so that's on our list as well!!



As far as color, I knew I wanted a crisp apple green for the walls. Since we'll have white trim and curtains to soften the bright color, it'll be perfect. Here are some gorgeous home office photos with green walls that gave me my inspiration:







And these don't have green walls, but aren't they lovely?? Doesn't it make you want to redo your office space???

Caution: Life Under Construction

Woo hoo! Elections are over!! You all know how hard I try not to talk about politics or religion, but I just have to say I am so glad all the political bashing is over for now. I think! Man, there's nothing that can divide people more than politics. I think running for election has become less about standing up for what you believe in and more about knocking the other guy down. That's sad to me. But it is what it is and that's all it will ever be. Que my political playlist......

Anyways, we're keeping busy!! Though most of the big demo is done, we are still under construction. It's starting to take shape though!! Even though it isn't done, I thought I'd take the time to post some quick photos of our progress so you could see what we've been up to around here. Basically, it's been me starting more stuff before other stuff was finished. Big suprise right???

Phase 1 - Demolition

The school room was cute, but we were ready for a change!! So we sold all of the furniture in there and were left with an empty slate. The plan was to frame in the room and close it in with double french doors. We started out by ripping into the drywall on the ceiling & walls. Can I just say how much I loathe drywall dust??




Ick. Ick. Ick!!!!


Kevin is overjoyed about this as well!! ;)


It's important when you're doing something like this to have the right tools. ;P


All framed in and ready for drywall and doors!!!

Phase 2 - MORE Demolition!!!

So after getting the school room aka new office framed in, we moved on to the next very messy project. Why not get all the messy work out of the way right?? Right. So next we cut out the half stair wall. It was super fun.


He's not pissed. I swear. The sawzall was just super loud.


We took the wood cap and trim off with a hammer and pry bar.....


Then Kevin scored the wall where we needed to make the cuts....


Lulu thought it was too loud.


Ethan enjoyed knocking out the wall with a hammer!!


Abby enjoyed it a little too much!!!


And voila!!!! No more stair wall!!!!

This last picture is where we've stopped for now. We still have to finish taping/sanding the new drywall in the new office and finish the rest of the trim work on the stairs.


Those railings right there were a marriage tester. We had a little trouble! I didn't realize how much math and figuring would be involved. We had to drill down into the concrete to sink bolts to hold the posts in. Then we had to figure out how many balisters needed to go in and how far apart to space them and how tall it all needed to be, etc, etc, etc. Luckily we got it built and are still friends!!!

So that's about it for now! Hopefully we'll get some more done this weekend so I can start painting. I have a ton to do! Ceilings, all the walls and all the trim. Yowza. Good thing I like to paint and can survive on small amounts of sleep. If you don't hear from me or see me for awhile, you know where to find me!!!

Where Have YOU Been?!?!?!

Um, hi? I'm not sure if you remember me, but I occasionally hang out here. It's been too long!!! I have had so many intentions of sitting down to write a post about home improvement, recent travels, new recipes, great music finds.... but time has eluded me. The longer I went without posting, the more awkward writing one felt! Hopefully this post will be like ripping off the band-aid and I can make a better effort to be a regular blogger. At least I can try, right?

We've been having a great fall so far. The weather has been insanely gorgeous and it has me very nervous for what's in store this winter. Mother Nature has a way of getting us back, you know? Speaking of that, how is it possible Halloween is this weekend?? Gah! Time is flying! We are dressing up as a family this year and I will let this photo be the hint as to what our theme is......



So, let's catch up a little. I've been super busy in between homeschooling and teaching up at the studio, but we did manage to get away for a long weekend up to the northwoods of Wisconsin with our friends Dan, Amanda and their son Landon. It was so much fun. We were about eight hours north all the way up at the top of Wisconsin near Lake Superior. It was absolutely beautiful! We saw lots of wildlife, waterfalls and really enjoyed our time together. Here are some photos courtesy of my amazing photographer.... you can view her other work here at http://www.simplyaestheticdesign.com


This was the view every single night from our cabin on the lake...



Ethan enjoying the view of Lake Superior!


My pretty Abby! Abby is turning eight in two weeks!!


Lulu.... where do the curls come from?


Both of our families!!


A quick family picture near the waterfalls...

Once we got back from our trip, we started on one of the biggest home renovations we've ever taken on. We decided (okay, I decided) it would be a good idea to close in the school room and make it more of a multipurpose room. Our computer was what was considered to be our formal living room before, and I was tired of it being the first thing you saw when you walked in the door. The plan is to make the school room more of an office space for Kevin as well. The formal living room will be more of a sitting room. We also needed to paint pretty much the entire downstairs (we're going for a more neutral color palette this time - bye bye heavy curtains and accessories)..... and I had always wanted to knock out that stair wall (I think there was a previous post somewhere here about that)..... so ya. One thing lead to another like it ALWAYS does and we found ourselves in the middle of a demolition zone. We are living amidst drywall dust and destruction! But it's looking better all the time and will be so nice when it's done. The school room is closed in & drywalled, the french doors are up (thanks to some help from my brother and neighbor). We finished the stairs this weekend without too much trouble. We now have two beautiful banisters and newel posts instead of a closed in stairwell! It's really coming together and I promise to post photos of the before, during and after once I can find the cable to upload pictures! So stay tuned for those!

New Music Monday - Halloween Music Week 1

I will admit it's a little early to start thinking Halloween, but I can't help it. The weather is sooooooo halloweenish tonight. Cool breeze, leaves blowing in the wind. Halloween is my favorite. I can remember every single costume I wore growing up! Man, we had some great ones! My mom always came up with something cool for us to dress up as. That woman is pure magic with a pair of scissors, some felt and craft glue. :) Anyways, Halloween. I love everything about it - the dressing up, the creepiness, the getting and eating of the candy and of course the music. Most people don't know there is actually a ton of great Halloween music out there besides the theme to Ghostbusters and Thriller.

So in honor of my favorite holiday I will be posting ten creepy songs every new music monday right up until Halloween!! Yes, there are that many!!!! I hope you're as excited as I am for this!!!

The first song on the list is 'Dead Souls' by Nine Inch Nails. It's a great tune and you just don't get too much creepier than Trent Reznor. Dead Souls was on the soundtrack for 'The Crow' movie that came out wayyyyyyyy back in good old 1994. The song is actually a cover as it was first done by the band Joy Division.


Next we have the song 'Bloodletting' by Concrete Blonde. Love it!!!!


A cover of The Doors classic 'People Are Strange' by Echo and the Bunnymen. A great song from the 'Lost Boys' soundtrack!!


Nothing says creepy like The Smiths' song 'How Soon Is Now.' You'll remember it from the hit tv show 'Charmed.'


'Fresh Blood' by the amazing band The Eels. This track made it on to the True Blood soundtrack for season two! Good stuff!!!


I have been a huge fan of The Cranberries since their first album came out in the early 90s. You can't have a Halloween soundtrack without 'Zombie.'


One of the creepiest songs of all time for me is 'Lullaby' by The Cure. I am scared to death of spiders and that's what this song is all about!!!


'Ghost Town' was a huge hit in 1981 for the british band The Specials. Uber creepy and quirky at the same time.


'Creep' by Radiohead was so freaking huge back in the day. I know it doesn't scream HALLOWEEN!!! like some of the more obvious songs do, but it's such a cool tune I had to include it. It's about being a freaking outcast. Outcasts are creepy.


Last one for this week!!! I have always loved The Bravery and their song 'The Spectator' is uber creepy. It's about being an outsider. Love the line 'His eyes are like two cats scratching in his head, begging him for sleep, starving for a bed.' Ya. Creepy.


Well, that's it for now!! Until next week!!!!

Gram's Apple Crisp

Cooler weather is upon us and that means apple season is here. I love apple season!! I have so many great apple recipes, so I thought I'd share one of my very favorites. It just happens to be my gram's apple crisp. Gram just turned 84 years young last week and she can bake like no one else I have ever known. She is the coolest!! I love you, Gram!!!!!

Now let me start by saying that I know there are thousands upon thousands of recipes for apple crisp out there. What makes this one better than all of those other ones is that a) it's simple b) it does NOT have oatmeal - I do love oatmeal, but not in my crisp c) it has crisco AND butter in it. So there. This recipe is not good for you. Deal with it. Not everything has to be good for you, people!!! I'm not saying you should eat this every day or put crisco in everything, but I think it's okay to have something "bad" once in awhile. I mean, you're going to die anyways so you might as well enjoy yourself. Moving on.... I like to use a couple of different varieties of apples in the crisp - it varies based on what's available and what I feel like! Just make sure you get some that will hold their shape when cooking or it will be more like apple sauce with crumb topping. Cortlands are the best in my opinion. Red delicious and granny smith work as well especially if you like it a little more on the tart side. The possibilities are endless!!



Gram's Apple Crisp

4 cups peeled, sliced apples
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon (I LOVE penzy's Ceylon cinnamon)
1/4 cup Crisco
1/4 cup real butter (if you try and use margarine it will suck and I will personally beat you)
1 cup granulated sugar

Peel and slice the apples. Lay them into a greased 9x9 baking dish. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles course crumbs. Top apples with crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!!! Oh, and caramel sauce is really good on this too! :)

New Music Monday 8/30/2010 'Stars'

August is on its way out, folks! Fall is on its way in!!! The latest 'Stars' album titled 'Five Ghosts' came out back in June, but I haven't had the chance to give it a proper review until now. One of my favorite albums of all time was 'Set Yourself On Fire' by Stars. I always get all nervous when a band I love comes out with something new because I am worried it will suck and I will hate it. Thankfully that was not the case with this new record!!!



'Stars' is an indie band out of Toronto. They are also members of the band 'Broken Social Scene' which just happens to be my brother's favorite band ever. And one of the other members of Broken Social Scene just happens to be Emily Haines from the band 'Metric' which just happens to be my favorite band ever. So I do love Stars because of their relation to BSS and Metric, but I really just love them because they are so great.



This is Stars' fifth studio album and it is everything I love about them and more. Pitchfork gave it a pretty lame review - called it boring and claimed that all the songs sound the same. I couldn't disagree more! This album is anything but boring and I think the way the record is mixed is genious. Each song flows effortlessly into the next. I mean, to each his own but shame on you, pitchfork with your crabby review. Stars has still got it going on in all the right places. They've still got that amazing, layered electro pop thing going on. Amy Millan's voice is just as beautiful as ever - in my opinion one of the best female vocalists around right now. Stars is one of the coolest bands around. Sadly, they are also one of the most underappreciated bands around. While their records have been highly regarded by lots of critics, their fanbase has remained small. Sad face!! You people don't know what you're missing out on!!! Listen up.....

'I Died So I Could Haunt You' Sheer musical genious.... lyrically and musically - I love this one!!!


'Wasted Daylight' - :)


'We Don't Want Your Body' - references to drugs and sex, but I think the deeper meaning is less literal.... like, propaganda - we don't want what you're selling...


'Dead Hearts' - reflection on people who have meant so much who have now moved on and are "dead" to her.... or so she thinks....


'Fixed'


'He Dreams He's Awake'


'How Much More'


'The Passenger'


'Changes' could have written this myself


If you've never heard 'Stars' before, this would be the album to start with in my opinion. 'Five Ghosts' is perfect for this time of year. I mean, with Halloween on the horizon how could you go wrong with a title like that? Trick or Treat??? :)