Project Driven

I have this "itch" to constantly have some sort of project going on in my life. Whether it's something around the house, or a photography idea, or something for the blog. This "itch" is always there, lurking in my brain, causing me to do late night probings (under the covers so I won't wake up Micah) on pinterest for ideas and craigslist too for good deals.
This "itch" has been aimed towards homemaking lately. There have been some changes in our home the last few weeks. Here are bits and pieces of what what we have changed and added in our home. We've got a long but adventurous way to go until it's finished but I am really loving our home more and more!

 We got this old display case from one of a local primitive store. I painted it white and sanded it down some to give it a slightly shabby chic look. The dining chairs are a craigslist score and is another BIG future project because I have to sew 8 sew slip covers for each of them! The dresses are recent purchases from Anthro and Free People and I am brainstorming on how to do a photo shoot with them on. I hope you have a fantastic and productive week =)

BBQ and Summer Nights

Only during summer nights would we feel like inviting friends over slap dab in the middle of the week for some barbequed burgers and hanging out. We kept it our signature simple dinner and just did a burger buffet with our friend Sophia bringing the dessert and Sophie bringing a side (confused by names much). We had a great time just eating, sharing stories, and sinking into our new, big sectional!

Cute little Kailah while watching Disney on our comfy couch.

Our sides: broccoli and Sophie's really yummy potato salad.

At the other end of the table: the burger stuff.

How it all looked before we dug in!

Celebrating Christmas

Celebrating Christmas means gathering all our loved ones (or at least the ones nearby) around our dining table. We didn't go all out this Christmas. We just kept our decorations and dining simple and budget friendly. Here are a few photos of what Christmas is looking like in our home:

1.) Our inexpensive Christmas decorations from the dollar store. Everything costs around $6 total.

2.) Whoopie pies and candy canes. This was my first time making whoopie pies (here is the recipe). My personal review of this recipe is I didn't like how the filling tasted. It wasn't sweet enough. Next time I would cut the cream cheese and whip cream by half and add more marshmallow cream to make it sweeter. I also just used the cake mix without the extra ingredients that the recipe called for. But I think I will try following the cake part of the recipe to the T next time.

3.) Pretty fruits. Been craving summer fruits lately. Although these are not in season, they were on sale.

4.) Since I had all the fruits that I prefer for crepes, I made some (recipe for crepe batter here). I love crepes all year round but especially in the winter for sentimental sakes. It reminds me of NYC when I lived with my older sis one winter and she would always make them and we would devour them together!

5.) A little dinner I made for my cousins and brother. We are leaving for Texas soon and I wanted to have a little Christmas get together with them before we left. From right to left: herb rice, lumpia, crockpot chicken with gravy (recipe here), spring mix salad with blueberries and strawberries (I've been putting those fruits to good use).

I hope your Christmas/Holiday is going well!

Safe From The Storm

        The weather has not been ideal due to a hurricane that's sweeping the eastern coast states. Although we aren't directly affected by the hurricane, it has been a little windy and cloudy the last few days. Not the best conditions for taking outdoor photos. So, that means I'm stuck doing indoor photos. I decided to take this oppurtunity to update you of how some parts of our home is looking like nowadays.

       This is our first house. We bought it only 6 months ago so we've got a long way to go before we feel it's a finished product. It sounds a little silly but in a way it has been a journey of self discovery, for me (not for Micah, he'd think that's cheesy). Afterall, what a person does with their home reflects alot about their personalities and character.

       I am actually not going to talk about furnishings here. What I want to talk about is more important than the furniture choices we have made or what's hanging on the walls. Instead, I want to talk about what a  home is really for. It's a haven. A haven from the unpleasant and unhappy things in this world. The world can be a dangerous and and treacherous place sometimes. Where do we go to get away from this? We go home. These are some of the guidelines of how to make a house a home:

       1.)Tidiness. We keep our place constantly clean because it feels more peaceful that way. After a long day at work, it can be unpleasant to go home to a mess. The last thing on your mind is to do more work at your own house. I don't work but I keep our house nice and clean to make sure that Micah can just worry about relaxing when he gets home.

       2.) Coziness. A home is a place for family and friends to gather at. We enjoy spending time with people we love and we want our home to be a pleasant place for this. I made sure to get plenty of chairs for these occassions. I love chairs! I have to come to realize this may be because I always want to make sure there is a spot for everyone to sit when they are over.

      3.) Happiness. We keep contention out of the house. It's not allowed in! We keep our moods cheerful and happy in these walls! Yes, this step is not so easy and it may even be the hardes of the three but it's our overall goal.

       Thanks for reading and I hope that these guidelines help you in your homebuilding!

    

Welcome To The Jungle

              Yes, those are trees in my house...Everyone else is doing Fall decorations and here I am bringing in trees in my house. I told you I am not a Fall person! My mind is on Summer all year round! Trees and flowers; greenery and bright colors; beach vacations and tanning. That's what I like! Not drab mustards and oranges or dying things and plants. I don't know if its a genetics thing, with me being from some tropical island in the Philippines. But Fall just does not excite me that much. Ok...Fall is really not that bad. And I actually like the mustard color leaves turn in to (it reminds me of summer a litte). I'm being a little dramatic.
         But back to the trees though. I've made it clear on this blog that I am a big nature lover. So, indoor trees is just the coolest thing to me! If I had enough sunlight in my house, it would look like a jungle. It's already starting to. But the lighting in my house has its limits. So, if you are thinking about bringing in plants and trees to your house, please consider how much sunlight you have in your house! It's a big must! I am pleading with you to not be a plant killer, as I have been in the past. But I'm a changed person now. Promise!

         
FYI: Pottery is expensive! But I was able to cut the costs by more than half by buying the pottery from some discount store called Ollie's. If they don't have this store where you are from, try Wal-Mart. They were just the cheap terracotta types but then I just spray painted it with white gloss spray paint. This is the one I used from Lowes: Click Here. I spent around $25 for both pottery including the spray paint. It would have cost me over $70 if I had bought it non-discounted!

Also, if you are just as crazy about indoor trees as me, (if that's even possible) check out these links:

* I swooned over these indoor citrus trees! Not only are they trees but they yield fruit: Click Here.

*And here's a link for a DIY on indoor citrus trees: Click here.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My Little Garden Nook

My collection of plants is wildly growing. Today I have been told by Micah, for the fourth time on separate occasions, that the plant I just purchased was the last one...EVER! I don't know about ever...but maybe for the week. I am obsessed with plants! I am excited to go home from work to tend to them! I just enjoy looking after them. It may be that I have this tendency to be very nurturing to any living thing (my cat and Micah can attest to this). I've got too much motherly energy and must utilize it somehow, not that Micah or the cat isn't a good source for them. But sometimes I get the vibe that I am too affectionate with him sometimes and the cat thinks so too. They both have a tendency to squirm out of my hugs and squeezes. So, I've got to turn my maternal vivacity elsewhere and that's where my plants step in. At least they are not at all fussy when I give them too much attention!

Juxtaposed Dining

Here is the most current state of our dining area. I say "current" because it is not the final product yet. I think it is still in need of a good rug but that will have to come later. We are very patient and persnickety about picking out pieces for our home. We never rush and we contemplate each piece especially the big pieces. Well, at least I do. I don't think Micah spends us much time in so called "contemplating" and leaves it mostly up to me. But in the final decisions he does make for a good second opinion and his judgment weighs heavily with me! Below is the process and story behind our choices in our diningroom design attempt:

One can call our tastes "eccentric" when it comes to furniture. It's all because of the contradictions that we feel between the rugged and the fancy. Micah, a Texas raised fellow, is drawn to the southwestern and rugged style. I am fond of that look too but then there is the part of me that is undeniably drawn to the fancy French fashion. When visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, I lingered in the rooms, dedicated to the French Royal furniture, like a fat kid in a candy shop. I used to just stare, for an abnormal amount of time, at the fascinatingly high quality and intricate workmanship of the pieces. Even a non-curator like me could distinguish how special the pieces were.

As the top decorator of the house (Micah being my assistant), I have decided even though there is a conflict in tastes, comprimise can be a beautiful thing. I don't have to completely leave out any evidence of my partiality to fancy French in the house. I have used this fancy instead for accent pieces that duplicate this French decor style. Such as the elaborate chandelier that we have chosen (courtesy of Craigslist and Micah's hard work for putting it up). Our dining table resonates our keeness to ruggedness. The table was from a local Americana store. The neatest aspect of this table though is that the table legs were made from recycled porch posts. The table didn't come with the chairs. That's another story and one I have to brag about! I got the beaten up chairs from a second hand store that had them displayed outside. I saw them passing by for a lunch break. Serendipity, you think? I got 10 of them for $70 dollars (definitely serendipity). We hastily painted them black to match the table and they turned out coursely painted but that was the look we were going for (or at least our lazy side seems to think). The original thirteen colonies flag we have hanging on the wall, we got from a flea market. Micah built the black frame for the flag. And of course, it is mandatory for a proud Texan to hang a lone star somewhere so that's where that came from.

There was definitely alot of work put in the dining room. There was alot of sweat and elbow grease between Micah and I. It makes me proud though that we saved alot of money putting it together. All for the cause of customizing, just to fit our picky,unique, and budget friendly taste!

Growing A Green Thumb

I brought home a bagful of new friends/babies, I am not sure what to call them yet: friends or babies. I call plants "friends" because they cheer me up and "babies" because they need plenty of TLC. Perhaps it will be accurate to call them "baby friends" then. What do you think?

I am secretly plotting to turn my house into a greenhouse. I am gradually sneaking them in every time I come home from a store that sells them. They are only a few bucks each! Why not, right?! They make the house look cheerful and colorful, and most importantly they are good for your health. I'm sure that itself is adequate justification.

(I will keep you posted in this transformation of having a greenhouse home. I just hope Micah doesn't catch on=)