Inspiration Gathering...

Aren't these chairs lovely. I'm diggin that  pattern

I believe I have mentioned that I am thinking of doing a long low cabinet in my living

room. The way this one is decorated I love. Kind of reminds me of the branches Chris and Freckles chick both did in their houses.

{And it's just like me to forget where I got these photos...Sorry}

Parfum Decor...

Well now that the kids are out of that lay their head on your shoulder all the time and spit up on you stage, I have found myself indulging in parfum. I have never really been a fragrance girl. I'm not sure why, and when the kids were all little bitty I didn't want them smothering in a shoulder of parfum. This frangrance fetish has become almost ridiculous.  

This one is Viva La Juicy, first came across it in a magazine. 

Had to have it, and I'm not really a have to have it 

kind of girl!

{Love}

Now I saw all of these crazy looking ads for this next one. Which made me curious. So into 

Sephora I went to sample. Instant love and for $25 you can't go wrong. Fav's are Harajuka's lil Angle and Lovers Love.

I have a wonderful customer who works at Sak's Fifth Avenue that brought me a

roll on travel size of Dolce and Gabbana's The  One. She must be getting 

to know me pretty well. I love it! And I have sure fallen in love with the

those travel sizes. 

Feeling smelly...roll it on!

Last but certainly not least is one of my all time fav's. My sister got me this for

christmas a couple of years ago. It is Narciso Rodriguez's Musc for her. I know

when I think of musc I think of skunk pee too! But it really is so fresh and light and yummy.

Thanks again sister! Now I'm feeling all girly again. 

{all photos courtesy Sephora.com}

So do you have a fav? Or do you forgo the parfumes all together and just do scented lotion?

Isn't it great to be a girl?!

Yippie Skippie...

Yay! It's on it's way. This lil beauty is going in my kitchen. Pics to come.

Pretty Places...

Things that  make me happy to look at. With hopes of creating some neat art for my home.

Happy Monday!

Have I Mentioned My Love Of Blue...

{Swoon}

{All photos courtesy of Decor Pad}

Whip It Up Wednesday...

I had been stuck in a major cooking rut a little while back, so I started looking for some new recipes. They have got to be quick and easy. I can't leave the kids alone to do a bunch of chopping and prep work. So I came across a site called allrecipes.com, and signed up for there newsletter where they send you a new recipe daily. I was making my grocery list one day and check my email and got this one. Shrimp with tomatoes and feta cheese! Sounded great to me, but like a lot of work. As I looked over the ingredients and directions it really did sound rather quick! Well long story short, I got the ingredients I needed and gave it a whirl. I made a few changes like using italian seasoning in place of the fresh herbs and I used frozen shrimp. Talk about yummy. It is now a staple recipe in our house! Something I might mention about the website that is nice, people review the recipes and put in their changes or substitutions. I found that very helpful. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

P.S. I would not consider myself a cook, so if I can do this recipe, so can YOU!

{Photo courtesy of ME}

1 Tbsp chopped Garlic

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped

5 Ripe Tomatoes, Chopped

Ground Black Pepper To Taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

2 lbs fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

{Directions}

1. In large sauce pan, saute the chopped garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Add green onion and jalapenos; saute about 3 minutes.

2. Mix in chopped tomatoes and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and stir in parsley and oregano. Reduce heat.

3. In medium saute pan toss shrimp with olive oil. Cook over medium heat until shrimp become pink. Season with salt and pepper and mix with tomato mixture. Crumble feta cheese over top.

4. Serve over angel hair noodles.

Commitment Phobia...

For those of you like me that would love to have a whole chalkboard wall, but may have commitment phobia or not in your forever home (could scare off potential buyers), I have found the cutest solution! Where you ask. Well of all places Etsy. What... not shocked, well of course not. Aren't these the cutest thing! I have had a chalkboard I bought with the intensions of embellishing sitting around for something crazy like 3 months or so. But just haven't figured out what I wanted to put around the frame to jazz it up. So I am thinking I am going to ditch the whole project and just opt for one of these babies!

{Find these at Spell It Out Designs}

And how sweet is this one!

{Photos courtesy of Spell It Out Designs}

Doors...

I thought I might share a few doors I photographed while on our rounds this weekend. Slowly getting a collection. 

Photo Weekend Pt ll...

I love great architecture, so when I see an interesting building I just have to get a photo. Maybe one of these days I will be able to get a live or moving subject as well. I think this place looks like it is not in Tulsa.

Can you believe this one? It is one of my favorites of the day!

Hope you enjoyed them. I certainly enjoyed taking them.

Photo Weekend Pt l...

I hadn't sat the kids down to try and get a few photos in a bit. So while the light was good I thought we might try. And here is what we got. Rhett's only smile these days is "cheese", unless I catch him already in mid laugh! Such a good big brother. I remember thinking what an adjustment it was going to be for him when I found out I was going to have two more babies. He was made for this role of big brother. A leader he is.

Mr. Ornery, always rough and tough! Ready to wrestle and run at a moments notice. With a strong personality as well. Very different from my other two, in a way I cannot describe. He is just his own little man.

Blarie, a tomboy girlie girl! She plays with trucks and loves to chase her brothers. On the other hand she likes to play with her dishes and have her toe nails painted. My sweet lil girl! She was especially photogenic today.

Inseparable!

How blessed am I? Thank you Jesus!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies...

Disclaimer: 

Full of yummy chocolate brownie goodness! May not be suitable for current diet!

I found this recipe via Bakerella and Betty Crocker.com. I thought that was just the thing we needed this weekend. And I have three very enthusiastic helpers! So here it is!

{photo courtesy of Bakerella}

1 Box Betty Crocker Supreme brownie mix (w/chocolate syrup pouch)

oil, eggs, and water called for on the brownie box

1 pouch Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix

butter and egg called for on cookie mix pouch

1 container chocolate frosting

Heat oven to 350

Grease 9x13 pan

Mix brownies according to package

Spread in pan

Mix cookie dough according to package

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonful evenly into brownie mix

press down lightly

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2

inches from sides comes out almost clean

Cool completely, then frost!

Enjoy!

Flash Back Friday OM...

I can hardly believe that my babies will be 3 years old this summer! This seems like it was just yesterday!

{Josh took this pic}

Happy Friday!

Swoon...

I love the colors in this photo, totally what I am thinking for our living room. With of course a wee bit of black and white thrown in. {Love}

{photo courtesy of hgtv.com}

What Would You Do...

So this is my kitchen... and that bead board above the cabinets just isn't doing it for me. I am not however doing any kind of demo.  I want to put something up there, but what? I am fresh out of ideas. Things I have thought of: open frames (color or none), my urban letters spelling out something appetizing. Plates seems so country or should I just leave it? AAAHHH, I am at the end of my creative juices, help!   

BTW, the colors I am going for are black, white, and light blue. You know I appreciate you all!

Dining Low Down...

I thought I might share an interesting story with you all about the purchase of our dining table. We found it at Pier 1 one weekend and noticed it was on sale. Unwilling to commit to getting it without thinking about my other options I left the store. I thought on it a week...well really wished I would have gone and gotten it for a week is more like it. I sent in the hubs by himself to get the table. Someone had to stay in the car with the kids you know. So he comes out we load her up and I am so excited, when Josh proceeds to tell me that they tried to charge him $80 extra dollars for the legs of the table. I said your kidding right? Nope. No there aren't interchangeable styles of legs for the table, they are the ones that go to the table, but unless you want this style of table

you must purchase the legs! Well they told that to the wrong man. Mr. Peak who does sales for a living, just informed them of how he was not paying for the legs and she was going to throw those in. In his eloquent way don't you know. And by george we didn't pay extra for the legs. My question is~ will this be a new trend?! Here is this lovely dining table but if you want it you better expect to pay more than the sticker price!

Downtown...

Oh How Lovely...

I always seem to find such fabulous inspiration photos in the U.K. home magazines. The clean lines and modern mix of styles I just adore! So many styles so little time. I think the colors in this first photo are great. This is the color combination I am going for in the dining room.

I could never get away with this much white furniture, but the colors are so cool and calming. Like you could set back and relax.

What about this isn't lovely?

Swoon at this low cabinet.

{Photos found at Living Etc and House to Home}

Warm Welcome...

A living room makeover wouldn't be complete without the entryway looking good too! I have forever been liking this chunky console table.

{Found at west elm}

But then there is the long slender console, which would also fit my space perfectly.

{Found at cb2.com}

I love this photo, everything about this black table and the blue accents. Even the mirror. Very glamorous.

{Both photos courtesy of Decor Pad}