I <3 Thrifting with Mr. Goodwill Hunting!

Rashon Carraway, of Mr. Goodwill Hunting, came up with this great idea to have an I Love Thrifting day all over the country where we all meet up in our hometown for a day of thrifting fun.  I’ll be hosting the group for Arizona – EVERYONE IS INVITED!  I’m so excited to hopefully meet some of my local readers, fellow bloggers and a few of the other furniture refinishers in the area that I admire so much!

Check out Mr. Goodwill Hunting’s blog for thrifting locations in your area.
Here’s the low-down on the schedule:

We’ll meet Saturday, July 9th, 9:00 am at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in Mesa.  I’ll be out front in my i <3 thrifting t-shirt!

1. Habitat for Humanity ReStore - 1135 South Dobson Road, Mesa, AZ 85202
2. Deseret Industries - 1020 W Broadway Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210

3. Goodwill - 1046 S Country Club Dr. Mesa, AZ 85210-4643

Then we’ll head over to Liberty Market in Gilbert for lunch.
I’ve already ordered my t-shirt for the event.  If you’d like, you can get yours here.

Put July 9th down on your calendars and come out for a day of thrifting!
Also, I’ve just signed on with I Heart Naptime as a monthly contributor.  Today my I’m talking about my four favorite vintage furniture styles!  You can read the post here.

It’s my birthday!

Today is my 28th birthday!  The kids I are going to be running around town, cashing in on all my free birthday stuff – a free car wash, a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts (breakfast), free meal at Rubio’s (lunch), $10 to Joe’s Farm Grill (dinner) and $10 to Liberty Market (that’s dessert!) – we’re all so excited and the kids are thinking it’s going to be a great adventure!

Usually for my birthday cake, I ask for an Angel Food cake with homemade whipped cream.  It’s simple and delicious.  This year, I didn’t want simple and delicious.  I wanted my all-time favorite, Strawberry Cheesecake.  It was time Zac stepped up his birthday cake makin’ game anyway.



This recipe comes from my great-aunt and I’ve never had a cheesecake I like better (it has an added sour cream layer -  YUM).  The family came over on Sunday to celebrate and I celebrated with three very substantial pieces and I’m thinking I’ve gained four pounds from it.  Don’t judge me – it was my birthday party, you know.



Because the recipe isn’t as easy as Angel Food cake, we made this one a joint effort and worked together.  I was literally shocked when I looked over and saw Zac measuring and dumping the sugar with a regular spoon – not a measuring one!  I maybe overreacted a wee-bit.  He didn’t understand what the big deal was.   No one!  I mean, no one, is going to ruin my birthday cheesecake!  Needless to say, he’ll never make that mistake again :)



For any fellow cheesecake lovers out there, here’s the recipe:

Crust:
1 1/4 C. graham crackers (crushed) about 17 squares
2 T. sugar
4 T. butter (softened)
Blend crackers, butter and sugar.  Press in the bottom of a large spring-form pan.
Preheat oven to 350 for filling.

Filling:
3 eggs
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese (can’t be store brand)
1 C. sugar
2 1/2 t. vanilla
Mix together until smooth and creamy.  Pour into the pan and bake 40-45 minutes.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Topping:
1 pint sour cream
3 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Mix until smooth and spread over cake.  Bake 5 minutes at 350.  Refrigerate.

Fruit topping:
1 package frozen strawberries (or raspberries)
2 T. sugar
2 T. corn starch
Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.  Cool and spread over cake.
Refrigerate for 8 hours.



What?



You want some?



Sorry, I ate the last of it for breakfast :)

Isabelle’s Room

One of the hardest parts of decorating and furnishing our first home, is that there never seems to be enough disposable income that we can complete a space, start to finish, at one time.  Instead, we slowly purchase things here and there as we find them or as they’re needed.  Take Isabelle’s room {soon to be Charlotte’s as well}, for example.  It’s partially finished and I’m slowly working on it.  I just refinished a pair of vintage, twin beds to replace her trundle.   She still needs bolsters, bed skirts and a new lamp.  I also thought I’d DIY a pair of sunburst mirrors for over the beds.  The room seems a little lifeless in the color department, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out how to add more color!  I’m thinking of adding more of the green from her roman shade and introducing yellow.

For now, here is Isabelle’s partially finished room.



Step by step instructions on how to make your own roman shade, here, here and here.









Thanks for stopping in!

Wingback Chairs

The wingback chairs for the family room came in!  We went out on a limb and picked a creamy white, textured fabric with the understanding that it was supposed to clean well.  I’ve already cleaned peanut butter smears off of one and they came up quite easily.  Hopefully we don’t end up regretting our decision!

We ordered them from Cortate knowing that the front legs needed replacing.  They’re a little to “scrolly” for my taste.  Now I’m trying to decide what look to go for.

I love the Chloe chair from Crate and Barrel and would’ve happily purchased two of them if not for their $900 price tag.  I don’t know that it’s possible to purchase a similar base for our chairs.

I love the look of the straight legs on this chair.

I wonder if Zac could build something similar to this Restoration Hardware wingback using the existing back legs and a few scraps from the hardware store?  It seems straightforward enough.



I also really like the look of the traditional, Queen Anne style leg on these.



I really like these too.



Decisions, decisions….

Meanwhile the kids are enjoying the houses Zac made them from the chair boxes!

Ramblings and a Dresser

It's confessional time; indulge me, if you will.

By nature, I’m a competitive person.  If you would’ve asked me if that was true a few months ago, I would’ve confidently told you “no”.  I was in denial!  Since starting a business and a blog I’ve come to realize that I am, although not so much with others as with myself.  I want to be the best I know I can, at everything.  I want to have a thriving business where my furniture sells as soon as it’s available.  I want my clients to be stunned by my amazing refinishing skills and incredible turn-around time.  I want my blog to be fascinating and have several new projects to share weekly.  All this while being an amazing wife and mother {with a spotless house}.  Guess what I’ve learned these past four and a half months: I can’t have it all.  I’m human.  And much to my dismay, that can’t be changed.

Recently I have devoted most of my “work” time to client projects, the majority of which I don’t share with you because I’m so focused on getting them done and out the door.  I’m waking up earlier than I ever would’ve imagined to fit a couple hours of painting time in before the kiddos wake up, but still there’s no time for staging and photos.  I’ve finally decided that things need to change.  I’m doing several things adequately instead of a few things exceptionally.  I enjoy blogging too much to give that up, instead I’m going to be greatly reducing the amount of client projects I’m taking on – which means I’ll have to learn the art of saying no…eek!  Hopefully as a result, my blog will be better, my family happier and I’ll have more time to be creative in the way that I choose.

So as to not leave you with only my ramblings, I’ll share what I finished this morning.



Before:



After:

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you tomorrow :)

Our Staycation in Photos

If my family posts bore you, then you might want to skip this one…lots of pictures.

This playful little one stuck with me and Zac.  She was relishing all the attention without the littlest one to share it with.


While these two wanted to be off on their own most of the time.






I picked this hat up at Target right before we left.  It was fantastically shady.  I love you, Target.
















You'd better believe this is a self-indulgent photo!  As I was scrolling through the picutres, I had to do a double-take.  Is that me?  That's me!  Ooo, dang, I look thin.  Must add this one to the blog.  Never mind I knew Zac was taking the photo, so I sucked in for dear life!




All in all, a great little vacation.  It was so good to get away from work, not worry about cooking meals or cleaning and just relish our time together.

Our Hooks

We have the smallest laundry room known to man.  It’s actually more like a hallway with washer and dryer hookups.  One of my biggest beefs with our house is they way the builder portioned out the space.  My bedroom and bathroom are WAY too big and my laundry room is WAY too small.  I love my home, so I’m not complaining, just…er…griping? 

Anyway, there’s not enough room for full-blown storage in our laundry room.  So we settled on hooks.  I love my hooks.  During the school year, they look like this:

Please excuse the terrible photos.  The room gets no natural light.

And over the summer, they look like this:

Last summer I never knew what to do with the all the wet towels and swimsuits – now I do!  Madeline and Colby have dive team four mornings a week and they know that their wet towel, swimsuit and goggles go on their hook, not on the bathroom floor!  Then as we’re running to Grandma’s house to swim, they know exactly where to find their things. 

Maybe one day, I’ll actually finish the room by filling the frames….one day.

Thanks for reading!