Wish List

There are a few things I’ve been coveting lately…so, I thought I’d make a list.

1. Ray-Ban Aviators in Gold with black lenses- I like the Celine purse too!

 2. KitchenAid Mixer in Silver- I've wanted one forever but could never justify the cost with how little I will probably use it.

3. Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb- I love this perfume! I've worn the same perfume for years and I think I'm ready for a change.

4. The perfect white capris. These are J Brand (I wish I looked this in them too)! I've been looking for months for the perfect pair. I can't seem to find any.

5. The ultimate wish list item: The Cartier Love bracelet in gold…this I will probably never get, but a girl can dream!

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St. Louis Girls’ Trip

"Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff." 

I read this quote a couple of weeks ago on Modern Mom. It really resonated with me. Isabella is always telling me some silly story or joke or whatever and a lot of the time I’m busy and preoccupied and only half listening to what she is saying. Lately, though, I’ve made more of an effort to slow down and really listen to her. I think it has improved our relationship. That’s saying something, considering she’s eleven. She loves to be the focus of my attention.

So, during my long hiatus, Bella and I made a girls' trip to St. Louis while Jimmy was in Haiti on a mission trip for two weeks. We had a great time! We just shopped and went to American Girl and The City Museum, which is incredible. Bella is already planning to go back and take some friends. She was really the perfect age to go. She’s big enough she could climb through the tunnels and me not be worried the whole time. The place is basically an artistic playground with tunnels, sculptures, mosaics, and giant slides.

  

We had a great time! If you’re ever in St. Louis, I definitely recommend the City Museum, but only if your child is older like Isabella. I don’t think it would be great for younger children. I know some parents who took their little ones and were a nervous wreck the whole time. There are tunnels everywhere and small children could easily get lost.

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It’s been forever!

I know it’s been like a million years since I’ve written a blog post. I got super busy at the end of the school year and I had some health issues. As soon as school was out, I had to have my gallbladder removed…not fun! But, I’m feeling much better! We are in full summer mode here. I feel super lazy but it’s nice to not have to be somewhere all the time.

We've had some home improvements going on around here. Jimmy built some shelves in our kitchen and we're repainting the cabinets and getting new hardware. We are about halfway finished. We have the upper cabinets and shelves done, we just have to paint the lower cabinets and wainscoting. I like it so much better! We also got a new refrigerator. I love it! We are having trouble deciding on countertops, though. We spent date night in Lowe's and Home Depot last night looking at countertop samples. I want the marble look, either in white or black. He keeps picking speckled browns. I think we've decided on Corian, though, so at least we agree on that. Martha Stewart has a line for Corian that I love.

So, I thought I'd share some kitchen inspiration.

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This is the countertop that I want…Martha Stewart for Corian in Shoreline

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So, you get it. I like white cabinets with white marble/ marble-looking countertops. I’ve just got to get Jimmy on board with my vision!

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Random

We’ve been really busy lately, so I haven’t been blogging much. I have been subbing a lot and I am getting ready to cover a maternity leave that will last until the end of the school year. So, the last few days I’ve been laying low. I’m taking a few days off before I get really busy! I don’t know how I used to do it all. Up until this year, I worked full time (with a 45 minute commute, no less) and still managed to do everything I’m doing now! Since I’ve been subbing, 3 or 4 days in a row feels like a full week!

We’ve had some sad things that have happened recently, but we’ve also gotten some really exciting news. As I’ve mentioned before, Jimmy is quite a bit older than me and all of his children are grown and married. He already has grandchildren from his oldest son, but we just found out this past week that his daughter and her husband are expecting! We are really thrilled! She is already 13 weeks, they waited a long time to tell everyone, so it means even less time we’ll have to wait to meet this little one. I am really excited because it will be the first one of Jimmy’s grandchildren born since we’ve been married….and his daughter’s husband is also my second cousin. So, this little tot will be my step-grandchild as well as my second cousin once removed.  I know, it’s a little weird!  Jimmy and I met through them, though. They were dating and we met at my cousin’s gradution  party from Chiropractic School. My cousin and I are the same age, so he’s about 10 years older than Jimmy’s daughter, and Jimmy is 22 years older than me. (Age means nothing to us!! Haha!). We’re just one big, happy family!
 
On another note, I am resolving to eat better. I have tried every diet out there and they all work if….you stick with them. That’s the part I have trouble with. For the last few years, my go-to diet when I wanted to lose weight in a short amount of time was the low-carb diet. It works for me and I managed to fit into my wedding dress on this diet. I hate it, though. It’s not a diet I can keep up long-term. I can’t go without bread and sweets forever! So, what I really need is a diet, or change in eating plan, that is going to allow me to eat real food but also one that I can keep up with long-term. I eat healthy food and I love fruits and vegtables, but I also like junk food too.  And, I eat when I’m bored or stressed. I would really like to get this junk food habit under control because lately I feel like it’s pretty out of control and I’ve gained weight. My clothes are tight and getting ready to go anywhere is a major chore! I have a calorie counting app on my phone that I really like . If I keep up with it, I do pretty good. I have to measure and count everything very diligently or I won’t stick with it. I have to start off good in the morning and keep it up all day because if I blow it at all, the rest of my day is shot! I’ll eat whatever for the rest of the day, telling myself I’ll do better tomorrow, and who knows when '”tomorrow” will actually be. I’m all or nothing when it comes to dieting. It’s really frustrating. It’s totally a mental thing. I have read countless articles, blogs, magazines, and books on the subject. Not many make that much of an impact, but the book Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure was really great and helped me a lot. It was a couple of years ago that I read it and I think I need to read it again. She approaches dieting from a spiritual perspective and it really resonated with me. And, doesn’t she look great now!

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DIY

We had a death in the family, and family in from out of state so I haven’t written in awhile. I thought I’d share some of the diy projects we’ve done over the last few years.

Driftwood mirror I wrote about this not long ago (this is an old pic, taken right after we hung it...smudgy mirror!).

 

We made this headboard...it was pretty simple. Jimmy had to cut out the shape for me and I pretty much did the rest. I also made the pillows. I used a stencil and a fabric marker for the words. (Sorry for the blurry pic!)

 

Another bad picture, but I made this slipcover for our club chair. It turned out pretty good but it was really tough! There are a lot of mistakes that you can't see.

 

 

This window seat cushion was one of the first things I had sewed other than a standard pillow. That piping was tricky!

 

 

 

XOXO, Candice

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Jimmy

Let me tell you a little bit about Jimmy. We are really different, and I mean really! Our personalities are really different, he's Mr. Practical (like I mentioned before), and me, not so much! I like things pretty and perfect and smelling good. He likes function. He's really serious about money and bills and all that boring stuff. Don't get me wrong, all my bills are paid...they're just all automatically withdrawn each month so I don't have to think about it. Ha! I don't have time for that stuff! He also dresses way different than me...again, Mr. Practical. Although, he does get some dapper duds from me on occasion. He's not an Internet person. He could care less about that cyber world out there. I do everything online. Also, our ages are pretty different...he's twenty-two years older than me (although he doesn't really look it, he looks some older but not that much). Not that it matters but I think I can attribute some of our differences to him just having lived more life than me.  All that said though, he's one of the best men I've ever known. He's a yes man, a helper, a doer. He's always helping someone out. Whether it be a neighbor down the street, or a family in Haiti. (He's been on several mission trips with our church and has another one planned this spring). He's a very proactive and take-charge kind of guy. He's very social and loves being around people. I love all this about him. It's comforting to know. I'm way more laid back, and not nearly as social. It feels good to know that if I need him to, he can step up and take charge of any situation. I am really thankful for him and am lucky to be his wife!   

At our wedding, October 17, 2010 

 

  Jimmy holding a puppy 

  

At a wedding for some friends of ours  

 

 

Jimmy at an orphanage in Haiti with a sweet little girl

 

 

 

XOXO, Candice

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Sick Girl/Elle Decor

I’m at home with one sick girl today. She’s got whatever is going around. It’s a strangely high fever with little other symptoms. Although, when she woke up awhile ago she did complain of her throat hurting. She looks really pitiful. Her eyes are red and glassy. I feel so bad for her. I hate it when she is sick. She is sort of grouchy too. I put one of those fever packs on her forehead. It contains some kind of cooling gel that is supposed to help bring a fever down. Well, the ones I bought have Mickey Mouse on them and she’s sort of furious about that. She is very sensitive about age related things.

Bella on a better day...getting her ears pierced for the second time

Since I’m home with her today, and my house is relatively clean and tidy, I’ve been reading my new Elle Decor. It’s one of the better issues they’ve had for awhile, although I didn’t care for the cover. I love the “Southern Exposure” layout. They had a marble tub that I could soak in for days!

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The Porte Cochere

Our house doesn’t have a garage or anything. We live in town and park on the street. It doesn’t bother me most of the time, but when the weather is bad it would be nice to be able to get from the car to the house without getting wet.
Our house is very old. It was built by my husband’s great-grandfather in the early 1900s. So, my husband has basically lived his whole life here. When he bought the house from his mother in the 1990s, he completely gutted and remodeled the inside. He didn’t do much to the outside except put siding on and paint the trim. Since we’ve been together, he’s put a new roof on, and rebuilt the porch. We’ve also painted the base of the house and the columns. So, the house looks pretty good on the outside (except we need more landscaping, he had none when I moved in. I’ve since added some boxwood…baby steps!). Among all the improvements we’ve made to the exterior, I’ve decided I want, no need, a porte cochere. If you don’t know what a porte cochere is, see the lovely pictures below. It literally translates to “carriage porch.” They were originally built on houses so the carriages of the day could be driven directly up to the house under a shelter, so one wouldn’t get wet. It’s basically an attached carport with a door leading indoors. I’m trying to convince Jimmy that he needs to build us one. He’s all worried about the roof-line and leaking, so I found some with roof-lines I knew he’d like. I know the way to his heart! Take a look!

This one is beautiful and very substantial. You can tell it’s part of a much bigger, lovelier house.

 

Ditto for this one. It’s beautiful and I love the columns but it’s nothing like my house.

 

My house doesn’t look like this, but this is more the style of porte cochere that I’m wanting. It looks as if it could have been added later.

 

Love this! It looks as if it’s a porte cochere on a carriage house, not the main house. It’s very charming and pretty but it looks to be an integral part of the house, not something added on later.

 

Really like this too! It also looks as if it would work on my house.

 

Out of all the houses, this house is the most similar to ours. It was probably built around the same time. We have an L-shaped porch on our house, though, and round columns. Also, our roof is a higher pitch.  This porte cochere would work nicely, although it needs to be on the other side of the house.

 

This wouldn’t work on our house at all. It’s totally not an afterthought and is part of the design of the house. It’s really pretty, though. I love this house. It’s beautiful and majestic in a sweet, compact way. Perfect!

 
 
{All images via Pinterest}
 
XOXO, Candice

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Downtown/Lowertown

My dad is doing pretty good, considering the major surgery he’s had.  I spent most of the morning at the hospital after I dropped Isabella off at school. Mom wanted to get out of the hospital for a little while so we went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant near the hospital. It’s a really good one and I used to go there a lot when I lived in the area.

After I took Mom back to the hospital, I had some time to kill before I had to pick Bella up from school, so I went Downtown. The Downtown area is really neat. It’s a river town and the Downtown area is right on the river. There are a lot of antique shops, restaurants, and galleries. About ten years ago there was a movement to renovate some of the houses in what they call Lowertown. Lowertown basically borders the downtown area but it’s more residential except for the galleries and coffee shops. Lowertown started as a revitalization effort. There were a lot of old historic homes that were run down and unoccupied. They sold them to artists at low prices in order for them to be restored and to draw people into the area. It’s beautiful now and I love going down there! I picked up a nice framed print from an antique shop called Courtyard Antiques and then stopped at Kirchhoff’s Bakery for a cappuccino and cookies. It was a really nice day! Bella liked the cookies too!

 Kirchhoff's Bakery

Courtyard Antiques 

My new print

Street view of the Downtown area

XOXO, Candice

{Image 1: flickr.com, Image 2: members.virtualtourist.com, Image 3 &4 by me}

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