Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got..

Looks like Jenny from the block has come a long way! I saw Jennifer Lopez's house in the January issue of Veranda magazine and was completely shocked that I loved it so much. So calming, neutral, feminine and classy. For some reason I pictured it being over the top, tacky and gold leafed. I was so so wrong.

All pictures via Veranda.com

I wonder if J would let me put a formal dress on display in our room?

not normally a huge fan of peace but it looks so relaxing!

what a sweet blue kitchen

I love the slightly curved stairs

Way to go J.Lo.

Misc. Monday

Happy Monday Everyone! I'm linking up over at Carissa's for Misc. Monday. You should too!

{1} Hubs and I saw the King's Speech on Friday. It was AMAZING! It deserved every award it got at the Golden Globes. etc. Colin Firth was so great. You should def go see if you haven't.

{2} After the movie on Friday, J surprised me and took me out to our fav restaurant in Laguna Beach, Nick's. I love a little impromptu date night!

{3} My Junior League meeting was a riot. There are so many cute gals and I'm really excited to get started. Secretly, I miss my sorority so I can't wait to make lots of new gal pals while doing some good in the community.

{4} I wanted some navy pants to wear to my meeting and Banana Republic did not disappoint. Put down your computer and go get these right now. They have the best fit, some stretch and could go Navy or Black really, depending on the light. Sloan fit flare. Seriously.

{4} We surprised our cousin Patrick in LA for his birthday on Saturday night. J has two cousins and their wivfe and girlfriend that live in Hollywood.... so we headed up there for a little party at John and Sarah's. 6 people, some wonderful mushroom risotto courtesy of Sarah, too many bottles of wine/champagne and you've definitely got a party. Sarah also made these cupcakes with Guinness beer in the batter. To die for.  We had a blast and are already planning a cousin weekend in Feb. down in Newport. Yes!

{5} We played with Adam Sandler's kids in the park on Sunday at Greystone Manor in LA.  First child celeb sighting. Very nice to see they are just normal kids eating cheerios at the park with their grandma.

{6} We start the moving process on WEDNESDAY. I'm so excited and ready to get settled in our new place.

WOW. That was a lot of Misc. but I think that's the sign of a good weekend! Hope everyone is enjoying the start to their week!

A League of Their Own

FYI: I claim that this post is not totally irrelevant since I'm watching it on TV right now... I'm aware still totally random

Seriously, what is it with this movie?

 Inspirational. Based on a real time in our country. Funny. Motivational. Great theme song. Madonna. Tom Hanks. Uniforms that have skirts.  It's got it all baby. It's so funny how something so insignificant, like a random movie from your childhood, brings you back to a certain exact time.  I'm pretty sure my mom and dad got really sick and tired of renting it AGAIN and AGAIN from Blockbuster. I lived that movie for a while.  If you haven't seen it, first of all, what? and secondly, this wont make a whole lot of sense. 

I really remember wanting to BE Dottie Henson. I had a softball glove and I would practice imaginary catches in the backyard, complete with attempted splits. I rocked the skort and baseball hat and seriously was convinced I had it down. (No one informed me that the women's baseball league was no longer in existence.) I cried every single time  Betty Spaghetti got the letter from the war that her husband was killed. I laughed at Stillwell Angel and enthusiastically rooted for the Peaches to win the championship. I always thought Dottie's sister Kit needed to get a life and I felt bad for Marla Hooch.  I knew every word to the " anthem" they sang in the locker room. I can remember rewinding it on the VCR until I got all the words right. On a side note, I did have friends and other hobbies. 

In the mid 90's  Coors Brewing Company sponsored an all girls baseball team, The Silver Bullets. Clever right?  Read about them {here}. My dad took me  to see them play and my dream was re-ignited for 2.3 seconds. They only played 4 seasons and as they folded so did my hopes of becoming a Rockford Peach.

In the end, besides a year at t-ball and a stint as the 5th grade pitcher in elementary school, I never rocked a baseball mitt again. Maybe I missed my calling? 

Now if I may.....

new house, new furniture?

     That's my motto at least... I'm not going to buy all new furniture since I want to stay married but I am going to re-do most of the stuff that we have so it will match the new space! I love a good project.

 Here's whats on tap so far.

1. Chalkboard paint. I love it and was looking for a way to incorporate it without painting a wall or kitchen cabinet. Bring in our bar.

This is the general style of our cabinet. Ours is painted black and looks a little more modern. I can't get my pics to load on the computer. So, Im going to distress the black a little bit since it's kind of shiny. Then, the 4 panels are going to be painted in black chalkboard paint. I thought it would be fun to write cocktail recipes or drink menus for parties. It's also going to get new knobs of some sort.

PS. The cabinet used to hold some clothes of mine as a toddler and now it holds our wine glasses and service/party glassware. How fitting.

2. Burlap. I seriously have a love affair with burlap. It's a little weird but I love the natural texture and color. Our dining table is a good size white farm table. I keep flowers on it but I wanted a permanent runner to break up all the white. I'll be crafting....

pic via Emerson Made.

I like the initials of the above cloth but with the color of the one below...I'll see what I can do

pic via {here}

3. Desk duty. Our computer desk is plain and white. 

It needs a make over on top since it's had it's fair share of use. It was mine through college. So, to camouflage the top I'm going to cork it. It sounds weird trust me. I got the idea from my gal Martha via {here} I would never want to use it on a side table or coffee table but for a desk I think it could be great. I guess I'll find out. 

I have a lot more I want to do but one thing at a time!

WILW

Happy Wednesday!

Half way through what has been a 4 day week for most of you lovely gals!  That's something to celebrate! I woke up not feeling great this morning AND instead of lounging with my coffee I had to hustle and bustle out of the house since it's showing this morning. Yuck! But I really hope the people like it since that means we are one step closer to our new place! We signed all the papers yesterday, took measurements and did a walk through soooooo needless to say I'm thrilled! Even though I'm a little under the weather, there are a few things I am LOVING this Wednesday!

I'm still LOVING the weather recently. It's truly been perfect. 75 with sunny and clear skies. The sunsets have been amazing! Truth be told, it's cloudy this morning and I'm digging the overcast for the moment. 

I'm LOVING fruit with vanilla non-fat yogurt. I have to have something sweet after dinner so I figure I better make it healthy. Last night I baked some plums that turned out delicious. 

I'm LOVING that hopefully we will  be heading up to LA on Sat to celebrate a sweet family members surprise birthday. Well, the birthday isn't a surprise but the dinner is. Obvi.

I'm LOVING  that I have my first Junior League meeting on Saturday.  Meeting new people in this new city of mine = two thumbs up!

I'm LOVING that Jules comes next Thursday! Lot's of eating, drinking, chatting, shopping and sight seeing is in order. We are going to take a boat out Saturday to explore the harbor and California coast and I'm super excited. The best part, J drives while Julie and I sip something bubbly! Perfect. He's such a good sport :)

sooo many years ago but we were torturing my niece while she was sleeping.

I love this pic. Jules is doing some hysterical hand motion during a realllllly funny toast they gave at our rehearsal dinner. They told the story about when I was a baby they had me on their shoulders and put my head in a moving ceiling fan by accident. They didn't notice for a few minutes and couldn't figure out what the thumping sound was they were hearing. It was my head hitting the blades when they came around. I'm lucky I wasn't decapitated but we can all laugh a lot about it now. " She was our favorite toy to play with when we were little so J, I hope you enjoy playing with her as much as we have"... hahaha I love them. Alot.  

And as always I'm LOVING my husband. Through good and bad, he's the absolute best thing in my life. I wouldn't have it any other way.

2T2

It's Tuesday so I'm jumping back on board with Taylor! It's been a while but this is a fun topic to get back in it with...

Top 2 Outfits you're loving for Spring!

I love love love Spring. It's just such a comfortable time of year for clothes, anything goes. This winter I LIVED in leggings or really skinny jeans with riding boots. I am very ready for.....

1. Looser, flowy, wide leg jeans. They are coming back, you'll see. I love higher wasted ones with light weight blouses tucked in. My absolute favorites are from Emerson Made. Everything she makes is pure genius. Even her house is to die for.  Just so you know, I heart 60/70's fashion so Im hoping the flared bottom makes a return. Secretly. 

This next pic isn't EM, it's from elle.com street style. 

Go {here} to read a great article about how to wear these lovelies. Trust me, there is a right way to do it.

2. The Nautical Stripe tee. A light weight navy and white stripe screams spring to me.

And I'm cheating and going with a third...

3. Pin on flower. She's wearing it in some pics above or you can go larger...

I just love it.

If you can't tell I want to order everything from this gal... go {here} to check out her fabulous stuff. The above pictures  are from her site as well.

Hope everyone is enjoying the 4 day week! 

Off to the DMV and then to sign papers for our new house :) 

sunday and sailing away

Happy Sunday!

I was dying for french toast this morning and luckily I had all the ingredients plus a french baguette. Don't you love when that happens? Eggs. French toast. Brown sugar whipped butter. Yes Please. I need all the energy and fuel I can get because......

WE'RE MOVING!

AGAIN!

I'm excited/ not quite ready to repack everything I just unpacked. Long story short, we love our little house but some things weren't being handled correctly or to my expectations living in this neighborhood. We pay a lot to live here and it just was getting a little redic. So, being married to a lawyer, he very kindly negotiate us out of the lease. While we were debating whether to even start negotiations with the landlord, we found the cutest house on a walk one day! It was perfect, same size and even still had hardwood and a fireplace. It all worked out great! Plus, the move will be easy since it's only 4 blocks from our current place. Our lease over there starts the first and I have to have our house ready to show starting Monday. I don't love that, but it will kick my butt into cleaning and re-packing. Did I mention we just moved here 4 months ago? But hey, we are moving up and over and couldn't be happier!

a few houses down is this adorable bridge, which goes...

here

Ahhhhh, considering it's going to be upper 70's all week I just might have to do some laying out!

I can't wait!

Also, when summer rolls around hubs suggested we start sailing. Seriously, the best idea ever. We are going to take lessons with a sailing school here so eventually we can get to the point where we can take a boat out ourselves! I love being on the water and at best I could maybe sail a sunfish AND at that, it's been 10 years. I'm seriously jazzed.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

And as a random side note- when Kate and I were moving to NYC we literally walked around singing this song. It was our apartment hunting theme song. But hey, we will give anything a theme song. Hysterical memories. 

designer and a dream

    I have a designer crush. Candice Olson. I love everything she does. I love Chico her lighting assistant. I love her new show. Do you see the pattern? Even if the rooms she does aren't my personal style they are still gorgeous. J knows to DVR anything and all Candice for me and, God love him, he will sometimes watch with me. Her show Divine Design was fabulous and her new show, Candice Tells All, is a more in-depth view of what it takes to make over a room. Look at what I'm talking about....

I'm house design obsessed right now. When this happens you really have to keep me away from the spray paint and preferably the internet. Once I get an idea in my head, yikes. If you're house obsessed like me {Hooked on Houses} is the BEST. I have been known to spend hours perusing.... It's a slippery slope my friends. Enjoy! 

......................................................

On a serious note, In total agreement of my dear friend Alex's post today { here}. My biggest prayer is that my children never have to go through what I went through at Virginia Tech and the people of Tuscon just went though. This shouldn't happen, seriously, stop. 

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm back to linking up with adorable Jamie over at This Kind of Love. Such a good mid-week reminder of all the things I'm loving right now...

I'm LOVING the Margarita Cupcakes I saw on Kendall's blog. I made them for a friend last night and they were so so so delicious. Big plus, while you have the marg mix and tequila out you might as well make yourself a drink right? You can find the recipe {here}

pic via {here}

I'm LOVING LOVING that it's 62 and sunny in the middle of January. 

I never get tired of this view

I'm LOVING that all the holiday decorations are put away and my house is back to being light, bright and clean. Not that I don't love the way my house looks during the holidays but it's nice to have a new clean slate.

I'm LOVING that I finished and hung my book page wreath. Such a cheap way to make a very very cute wreath. So my style.

I'm LOVING the vegan Mac and Cheese I made the other night for dinner. Don't let that scare you. Neither one of us are vegans but I was feeling adventurous? The base of the sauce is ground up cashews and it has lots of hidden veggies. It's a great way to get some nutrition and good fats. If you can't find the natural yeast just add a few tbls of cheese. Unless  you really are vegan. My very meat and potatoes husband ate it up. It was different but so good. 

Recipe {here}

pic via {here}

I'm LOVING this shirt from LuLu's I saw on Natasha's blog and am dying to snag it. 

Also from LuLu's I'm LOVING these...

I'm LOVING bold wallpaper in entryways.

And as always I'm LOVING my sweet and considerate husband. Whenever I'm the least bit under the weather he never lets me cook or do anything until I feel better. He immediately picks up my fav meal or takes me out to get it. When I was sick on Friday he scooped me up and took me straight to In -N-Out. Because we all know that cures anything you have going on. I'm not kidding. One animal style burger later I was good as new. 

Apparently this week I am LOVING alot! Nothing wrong with that.