Friday Favorites

I am so glad the weekend is finally here. I am off today celebrating Veteran's Day (please thank a Veteran today). But I wanted to drop in and share some Friday Favorites.

ONE. Veteran's Day. As you all know, today is Veteran's Day. My father is a Veteran and many of our family friends are Veteran's. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank my father for serving in the Army and fighting for our country. Without you and your fellow soldiers, we wouldn't be where we are today....able to be free and safe.

TWO. While we were in the midst of kitchen renovations, my sister-in-law, her husband and my nephew moved into a new apartment. During this move, they purged some items and one of them was their Restoration Hardware dining room table. This table is about a year old and is beautiful. They asked us if we wanted it and we happily accepted. 

Now we need to sell our current table which is in great condition, is huge and made of solid wood. It also means that we need to get new chairs to go with it since they didn't purchase any. 

I went to Restoration Hardware looking for chairs and found some that matched nicely. Here is our table.

via

via

And here are the chairs we were thinking of.

via

Rustic. Simple. and Beautiful.

THREE. Along with renovations, I decided we need an art piece or something on our whitewashed walls. Something that will accent our new kitchen and give it a pop of color. I am trying to decide between these two pieces. I love that they are painted metal. It will go nicely with our new table and the overall look I was going for. What do you think?

via

via

FOUR. The Nest Thermostat. I have seen some people who have these thermostats and I am very intrigued. It learns the temperatures you like and auto adjusts. It turns the thermostat down when no one is around. You can adjust the temperature from your phone so the house is warm by the time you get home. And so much more.

I want to hear from you all. Do you have one? Would you recommend it? Are you looking into getting one?

via

FIVE. Kitchen update. It looks like our contractor and his crew will be done with our kitchen today, other than a few things left to do once our appliances arrive (long story). I can't wait to put things back together, move stuff around, clean out my pantry and make a home cooked meal.

We won't get too settled in as our cabinets will be refinished in two weeks and the rest of our appliances will be in around the same time. Then I can do a final reveal at that time.

Just know that I can't wait to not do dishes in a bathroom sink or have my fridge in the dining room and have my Walter the dog home. We are so close, I can taste it. It has only taken 4 weeks to get to this point.

Have a great weekend all!

I am linking up with Karli, April and Erica.

Confessional Thursday

It's Thursday which is my Friday this week (hello Veteran's Day) and that also means that it is time to confess. Grab the button below, write your confessions and come back here to link up.

<div class="sparkles-and-lattes-button" style="width: 250px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://sparklesandlattes.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t472/lmalex13/Confessional%20Thursday.jpg" alt="Sparkles and Lattes" width="250" height="250" /> </a> </div>

I CONFESS...

/ that I am so glad this election is over. I am so sick of seeing how outspoken people are over their candidate. We all have opinions and swayed one way or another. But there is no need to bash others for who they chose. I will leave it at that.

/ that I have had more bad days over the last month than the last year. Renovations are killing us. I will save that for another post to come on what I have learned from renovating our kitchen.

/ that Sutton threw her milk on me Tuesday morning because she didn't want to drink it with the crushed up pill in it. She straight up threw the cup at me. I was in work clothes and I was covered head to toe in milk. Not my best moment. Plus I kept finding spots of dried milk on my face and that doesn't look right (catch my drift).

/ that I was giddy inside all day yesterday when one of the girls' teachers told me that I looked really skinny and healthy. Thank you. I will take it. I have been running and trying to keep active through all the chaos in life.

/ that I miss my dog, Walter so much and I hope he gets to come home this weekend. 4 weeks without my little dude is a lot. Sure, we get to see him when we go to my in-laws house, but I don't get my nightly cuddles.

/ that I have been trying to start a Christmas list/Amazon wish list for myself, but every time I do, I end up adding things to my girls' list. I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with them this year.

/ that I am dying to get back our family photos. The teaser was cute and funny and I can't wait to see more.

See you all tomorrow for Friday Favorites.

Favorite Fall Soups

I am running a bit behind as yesterday was complete chaos, but I wanted to share some of my favorite soups that I make and some that I really want to try. With winter quickly approaching and my kitchen being almost complete, I can't wait to make these in the coming weeks.

Tomato Bisque - Skinny Taste

This is the tomato bisque recipe I make when I don't have my favorite frozen (and local) tomato bisque on hand. This soup is healthy and packs a lot of flavor. Pair it with an adult grilled cheese and you have won my heart.

Roasted Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup - Two Peas and Their Pod

This soup is easy to make and does not disappoint. It is creamy, but still healthy (minus the cheese). I use the recommended white cheddar and we always make the croutons to go with it.

Lasagna Soup - Carlsbad Cravings

I have only made this soup once, but it was a huge hit. The cheese sold me on this soup. Taking a comfort food and turning it into soup is definitely my jam.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup - Mel's Kitchen

I have not tried this soup, but it looks so good and would pair perfectly with a nice piece of crusty bread.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup - A Dish of Daily Life

I love Thai food. Especially their soups. This soup has a lot of ingredients and requires a food processor, so I might have a wait a bit on this, but it is something I am dying to make.

Note: my food processor broke a couple months ago. One day it worked and the next it died. It was a very sad day.

One Pot Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Jenn posted this soup about a week ago and I can't wait to make it. Any soup that has pasta in it makes my heart patter. Plus all the cheese.

Can you tell I love soup a lot?

I am counting down the days until I can cook in my kitchen again.

I am linking up with Jenn and Jessi.

Get Out and Vote (Plus a Family Photo Sneak Peak)

I just wanted to stop in and tell you all that my little lady babies have a mild case of croup aka the barking cough. They had a different kind of breathing treatment at the pediatrician's office and then they have to take three small pills each two hours apart today and it should help kick croups butt.

So while I would love to put together a riveting post for you today, I have to run to daycare every two hours to give these pills to my girls aka sneak them in food and drink.

But I wanted to tell you to get out there and VOTE. Whether you vote red or blue, just get out there. You can't complain about the state of our country if you did not vote.

And in the meantime, you can look at an out take from our family photos.

Weekending

This weekend was a tough one, but we did survive.

It all started Friday morning when we got a call that Avery smashed her finger in the door at daycare 30 minutes after she arrived. One of the teachers was going outside to throw away a dirty diaper and Avery followed her to the doorway (where a baby gate keeps them in). The teacher came back in and shut the door without realizing that Avery's hand was right there. It closed on her pinky and then she pulled it back, cutting it open.

Avery's teacher saw and ran up to her and scooped her up and took her into another room. Then she called me in tears. We ran over to see what happened since her teacher said it was bad. When we arrived, Avery was really upset and showing us her owie. Her pinky was bruised and she had a bad cut on it. We cleaned it out, put bandaids on it and then I headed to the store to get her some pain reliever.

Once we gave her the pain reliever she calmed down and sat in her teachers arms for a long time. We have been keeping it clean all weekend, but it is still awful. Poor little lady.

The girls stayed at daycare until 2 pm since we wanted them to take a good nap after everything that happened that morning. Plus we had more renovation issues to deal with. That's a story for another day.

After we picked up the girls, we ran an errand and then headed home to change for our family photos. We knew this could be hard since Avery had a bad cough and her pinky was injured. We had our photos at 5 pm in a new park and the girls did pretty well. He was able to get about 70 photos and said he had some good ones. We took more action shots this time and I saw two of them and I am in love. I can't wait to get the rest this week!!! And our outfits looked great together!

After photos, we grabbed Rory and the girls dinner and headed home. I then went to dinner with my friend and had a big steak dinner. And I caught up with my friend and that was good for the soul.

Saturday morning, we got up early to head to breakfast, so Rory could drive to the Bay Area (4 hours) to hang out with his friends overnight. The girls were very clingy to me because Avery was still sick and Sutton just wanted to play on mommy instead of with her toys. But we had fun watching some football and then headed to their grandparents house after naps. But first, I had to stop for a large coffee!

The girls got a new table and more toys that they played with as soon as we arrived.

We decided to take them for a walk since it was warm outside, but the girls had other plans of pushing their strollers instead of getting in them. This made our walk very long and interesting which Walter wasn't too keen on. But at least the girls had fun.

We came back to hang out more and then get dinner started. We put the girls in their highchairs and brought them into the kitchen so they could watch grandma cook us mushroom risotto.

Dinner was heavenly, but Avery had no interest in eating at all. Luckily, Sutton had an appetite and ate all of her dinner plus her sisters.

After diaper changes and getting the girls into their pjs, we went home.

Avery's cough got pretty bad and she was up every hour to two hours. She would wake herself up coughing and started crying every time. Plus with daylight savings time, she was up at 5 am. Woof. So rough for mommy too.

I got the girls ready and we went to breakfast where I ate with one silly girl and one very sassy girl who kept yelling NO at me. Needless to say, it was a very quick breakfast where I chugged my latte. And then I made the girls go through the drive thru with me at a local coffee shop since they were not in any mood to hit up Target (where I could get a Starbucks).

Silly Sutton

Sassy Avery

We went home and Avery was still on fire. They continued to climb all over me while I watched football. They had no interest in their toys again and only in mommy.

The girls took their nap and my friend dropped off jambalaya for dinner. Rory arrived home just after naps and the girls were happy to see him, but Avery was still under the weather.

My parents came over around 3 pm to see the girls. My dad hadn't seen them in over a month (he was hunting) and was missing them. Sutton ended up falling asleep in grandpa's arms since she had a short nap that day. It was really sweet.

After hanging out with their grandparents, we fed them dinner, gave them baths and then put them down for the night. Where Avery coughed all night again, but she slept better than the previous night. Though I stayed up for an additional two hours because I was scared of her rough cough. Needless to say, we ware taking her into the pediatrician today to make sure she is ok because her breathing treatments aren't even kicking this cold in the butt.

Let's hope her cough isn't something bad and her pinky heals.

How was your weekend?

I am linking up with Biana from B Loved Boston.

Confessional Thursday

It's Thursday and I am extra sassy today. So these confessions might be a bit off today.

<div class="sparkles-and-lattes-button" style="width: 250px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://sparklesandlattes.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t472/lmalex13/Confessional%20Thursday.jpg" alt="Sparkles and Lattes" width="250" height="250" /> </a> </div>

I CONFESS...

/ that I am really annoyed that a co-worker of mine has been taking shit about me all week like I did something wrong. I show up to work on time, I get my job done, I don't complain, I don't take advantage of the system, I stay late all the time and I make up any missed time. This person does the opposite and feels the need to complain about me and make shit up about me. And he is an older gentleman. Have some class, grow up and stay out of my business.

/ that I am still annoyed by my counter tops knowing it is not what I ordered. Apparently, my husband ok'd a better stone counter top, but never saw what it looked like. He was told it was just like the one we ordered, but better. So he went with it without even checking and now we are stuck with the counter tops. There was one thing that I didn't want to budge on and that was the counter tops and now I don't even get those. I have had to settle and change everything I wanted in this renovation and now I am just done.

/ that I am so nervous about cutting my girls' hair tonight. We are most likely only cutting their bangs, but I am sad that their first haircut is here. Let's hope everything goes smoothly.

/ that I still have this awful cold. I have been on antibiotics for a week now and my cough is still awful. Ugh. Send me some sleep.

/ that I have started making a list of Christmas gifts for my girls. I want to get ahead of the game and buy some things now and then the bulk of it on Cyber Monday.

/ that I hate being cold. My office is like a freezer box and they won't let us have space heaters. I say my co-workers and I protest and bring them in so they turn up the heat.

/ that there is nothing more I want to do then call in sick and sleep all day. Problem is they are still working on our house. This mama needs sleep. Send coffee.

/ that I hate when people cancel appointments with you time and time again. It makes me not want to go to you anymore. Ugh.

/ that I had a good cry to my mom on Tuesday. This renovation project, the lack of sleep, the being sick and my toddlers entering their terrible twos early has worn me down. Oh and did I mention that my antibiotics are killing my stomach.

/ that I am looking forward to dinner with my dear friend on Friday night. I need some time just to relax, catch up and have a good cocktail.

Can we please just skip to Friday?

Don't forget to link up below.

Kitchen Remodel Part 2

It's time for another kitchen remodel update. While we have progressed a bit father than the pictures I am about to show you, know that they were taken a couple days ago. So much happens in 3 days time.

Since I last updated you about our kitchen remodel (here), we had our tile floors put in, new counter tops, a massive hole in the wall for our range ventilation system, some electrical work done and progress on our old oven area.

This remodel has amazing and sucky all at once. So many decisions, so many changes and so much work. Yes, we have had more painting projects since the whitewashing the brick wall.

I feel like everyday we come home, something new has happened or been changed. I can't wait for it to be done and I can cook again. Oh how I long to use a kitchen sink again. Ha.

Let's start with the floors. If you remember, this is how they looked before we started.

Laminate floors aka the worst

This is how they looked once they ripped the old stuff out.

And here is what they look like now.

Emser Explorer Series Paris Floor Tile

I am soooo in love with these floors. It may have taken 5,000 trips to different tile stores, but I am so glad I held out for these tiles.

Now let's move onto my new counter tops. I had a boring, not modern counter top before and after watching way too much HGTV, I decided I HAD to have quartz counter tops. I did a bunch of research on them and knew it was the best for our family.

This is after the counter tops were taken off and plywood took its place.

And after.

We had our counter tops installed and it turns out they are the wrong ones. The ones you see above are a Calcatta Classique Quartz and the ones I ordered are a Cashmere Carrerra Quartz. When these were installed, I thought something was wrong, but I was sick and just let it go. Now that I am more aware and did my research, I see that they are completely different. We notified our contractor and are waiting to hear back about a solution. While these are not bad, they are not what I ordered. And the veins are huge. I wanted something more subtle. These babies cost a pretty penny, so I want what I ordered.

As you can see, we had a single sink added in as well. But we don't have our water, faucet or garbage disposal hooked up yet.

Another project that is going on is the addition of a range hood. Prior to renovating our kitchen, we had a cook top with a down draft ventilation system. We searched for a down draft range, but none of them had good reviews and we were disappointed in the selection (ie basically none). So we decided to spend the extra money to have a range hood put in. This meant cutting into the wall, creating a new exhaust system down to the old one and rerouting the old one so they matched up. 

It seemed easy enough until they cut a hole in the wall and took the hood out of the box. There was no way the hood was going to fit in the spot because it would sit too low and stick out way too far. 

See how there is not much room between the "counter tops" and the top of the cabinet.

This is what our Friday meeting was mainly about. In the end, we decided to raise one cabinet up to accommodate the hood since it was only 22 inches from the hood to the range and it needs to be at least 24 inches. We raised it up way more than that since we are tall people and want it to look aesthetically pleasing. 

This also means that now we have to have crown modeling (ugh) and I have to search for a color that I want and a style. Not fun when you are not the biggest fan of crown modeling on cabinets. 

This is what the range area looked like Sunday evening.

The cabinet has been raised and once the cabinets are refinished, the new crown modeling is on, and the hood area is complete, it should look really nice. Fingers crossed.

So as you can see, we are still knee deep in our renovations. Also if you notice in the last picture, we still have no door that leads into the garage. I can't wait for that to be put back on.

We did do the painting project this weekend and I can't wait to show you those results, but I am going to wait until the area is a little more finished. 

Stay tuned for the next update and let's hope we are done soon.

I am linking up with Jenn and Jessi for What's Hap-pinning.