San Diego - Trip #1.

Sorry for the radio silence.  Things have been crazy busy around here . . . more details on that in the next post.  But before this post becomes even more overdue, I had to share pictures from our trip to San Diego in early May.  (We actually went back to San Diego last weekend, but I will do a separate post about that trip, which involves a surprise wedding!  See, I told you I've been busy!)

For our first trip out to San Diego, we went with only one goal in mind -- to meet and love on Henry, my best friend's precious new baby.  (See the details of his baby shower here.)  Of course it's no surprise, but he is a beautiful baby. 

Henry was a perfect angel the entire time we were there.  We had our big outing and meal of the day around lunch time, which worked perfectly with his schedule.  Henry got quite the tour of San Diego while we were there.

One afternoon, we headed to the embarcadero to enjoy the scenery.  It was pretty cool to go there for several reasons, but maybe the coolest was because the last time Lauren and Jacob were there, Lauren was walking up and down the stairs (you can barely see them in the first photo) trying to encourage Henry to make his appearance since he was nearly a week late!   

The next day we headed to Coronado island and had lunch at the hotel. 

We were also happy to be a part of Henry's first trip to In-N-Out.  Lauren had to put a napkin over Henry's head so the delicious sauce from the burger wouldn't drip on him while he was in the Moby!  

When we weren't out and about, we did a lot of staring at Henry.  It never got old.

Justin was on this trip too!  He just happened to be the one taking most of the pictures.  I did manage to get this one of him and Henry on my iphone.

 
Look at his hair!  It is so long!  

These are some of my favorite pictures of Henry with his mom.  How cute is it that they both have on their gray and white stripes? 

And here's a picture of Henry from today.  His hair is parted just like his dad's!  It kills me.  Such a beautiful baby!  

 
While we've loved visiting Lauren and Jacob in San Diego over the years, I am super excited that, as of last weekend, they have moved back to Texas!  I will be able to hang out with Henry so much more now!  (Oh yeah, and Lauren and Jacob too!) 

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!  I am hoping to have some time this week to catch up on some much overdue blog reading!

House Hunt Update.

Last week I updated you on our house hunt.  For those of you who want the short and sweet update, we didn't get the house.

For those of you want some more details . . . we heard from our realtor on Wednesday that the first buyer and seller were able to work things out with the inspection and the deal was going to go through.  So we were pretty bummed.  I had an office event that night and wasn't checking my phone and emails.  As I left the event, I saw an email from our realtor telling us that the house didn't appraise for what the first buyers had hoped and that there was still a chance we would get the house. 

Source: google.ca via Roserobin on Pinterest

Talk about a turn of events.  So we became significantly less bummed since there was the chance we could still get the house.  Well at the end of the week, they were able to work things out.  So we didn't get the house after all.  What a roller coaster ride this has been!

And to add insult to injury, we were going to go see a house this afternoon that we were both pretty excited about, but it was mysteriously taken off the market--it wasn't sold, just removed from the market altogether (after only being on for a week).  Lovely.  Just lovely.

So I am pretty disappointed now and am just trying to be patient.  Although, I may possibly be the most impatient person in the world (ask my husband), so that's not an overly easy task for me.  Thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement in my last update.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that future house updates are much more positive!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend.  Happy Monday! 
  

Wallpapered Powder Rooms + a Feature.

I always find myself drawn to rooms with bold wallpaper.  Even though I am not adventurous enough to do an entire room in a bold pattern, I would totally do a small powder room.  Here are some of my favorite wallpapered powder rooms.

Source: bhg.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: marcusdesigninc.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Emily on Pinterest

Source: highstreetmarket.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: hazardousdesign.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: plushpalate.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: cherishtoronto.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

What are your thoughts on a bold powder room?  Do you think guests appreciate its awesomeness?  

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And last but certainly not least, our home is being featured on 6th Street Design School today!  Thanks so much Kirsten for the feature.  It's extra special -- especially since we miss the house so much!   

Happy Friday!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

House Hunters.

It's been a while since I provided y'all with a house update.  Feel free to skip the post entirely if you just want to know when our bags our packed and we're moving.  Unfortunately, we're not quite there yet.  So while this post may be dry, I want to document the house hunting experience (maybe more for me than for my readers).

A couple of weeks ago on our way to the airport to head to Boulder, we stopped by a house that had come on the market the day before in our ideal area.  As I mentioned here, 23 other people also looked at the same house the same day.  I have no clue how many people total looked at the house.  There is nothing coming on the market in this particular area, and this confirms that there are a bunch of other buyers who are just queuing up. 

While we were traveling, we were working out the details of our offer with our realtor.  We knew the house was going to be in high demand and we were going to have to ask over asking price.  I don't know exactly how many for sure, but there ended up being somewhere around 10 total offers on the house.  These kind of shenanigans happen on House Hunters on HGTV, not here.  After everyone made their offer, the sellers came back and told everyone to make their final and best offer.  It's so stressful knowing you are bidding against yourself and have no clue what the other potential buyers have offered.  So we resubmitted our offer with a little bit higher price.

Source: Uploaded by user via Christine on Pinterest

We heard a couple of days later that we didn't get the house.  Then the day after that, the sellers' realtor asked if we would consider having a backup contract.  After thinking about it, we said yes.  So this meant that we were the second highest bid and if anything fell through with the first buyer, it would automatically go to us.  We actually had to submit earnest money and an option fee.  So we are technically under contract with this arrangement (as a backup contract).   

Our realtor told us, before we even out in our revised offer, that many times the highest bidder in a multiple offer situation won't get the house because they feel the need to ask the seller to make everything perfect after the inspection.  I guess they think if they beat out all of those other people, they are entitled to everything being in tip-top shape.  So while we weren't overly hopeful, we knew there could be a chance we could still end up with the house.

Well the option period for the first buyer ended this weekend.  And if anything was going to fall apart, it likely would have after the inspections last week (and before the end of the option period).  So since we hadn't heard anything, we figured the house wasn't meant to be ours.  Then this afternoon, we get an email and the first buyer and the seller mutually agreed to extend the option period a couple of days because there were some "issues" with the inspection.  I didn't even think of that possible scenario occurring. 

But the good news is that it means that there is still a chance!  Every time I think I wish it would just be over--even if it's bad news--I guess it's better to be in limbo and there still be the potential to get the house than nothing at all.  But in the meantime, you can pretty much find me looking like this.     

Source: weedingyourwriting.blogspot.com via Sarah's on Pinterest

Hopefully I will be back with an update (one way or the other) in the next couple of days.

Lucite Coffee Table.

Happy Friday! 

I have been totally loving lucite recently.  In particular, a lucite coffee table.  It's a piece that's so versatile and goes with any design style.  See what I mean?   

Source: decorpad.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Emily on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: smallshopstudio.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: elementsofstyleblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: lilacandgrey.com via Emily on Pinterest

There's one at cb2 I've been checking out.  Do you love lucite too? 

Weekend.

Hope your weekend was as fabulous as these closets! 

Source: this-is-glamorous.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: caitlinwilsondesign.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: alovelybeing.com via Emily on Pinterest

Mine certainly was.  We were in San Diego days visiting our friends and their perfect baby Henry!

Dating Anniversary.

I'm almost a day late with this post, but today is our dating anniversary.  We have been together for 14 years!  Crazy, right?  On our first date, Justin picked me up in his sweet '83 Honda Accord and we saw the movie City of Angels.  

This is a picture from a few months before we officially started dating.  It was taken after homecoming our sophomore year of high school (hence, the sweet up do) at a friend's house.  This picture always makes me laugh, because at the time it was taken I didn't really like Justin.  You can kind of tell I'm reluctantly leaning in towards him.  We went to homecoming in the Fall together, but I wasn't sure about him.  Frankly, I thought he was a little nerdy.  It took me until the Spring to finally give him a chance.  I am sure glad I did!        

If you're married, do you still celebrate your dating anniversary?  Or are we the only weirdos out there?

In house-related news, we didn't get the house I mentioned here.    

A Little Stress Relief.

Things have been a little on the stressful side here lately.  Here are some of the reasons why . . .

(1)  A 9 hour flight delay to Denver last Thursday.  Mechanical failure + a sick passenger on the plane and having to return to the terminal = arriving in Colorado at 2:00 a.m. 

(2)  2 days of super intense trial advocacy training in Colorado.  It was extremely helpful, and I am ready to cross examine the heck out of someone or deliver a killer closing argument, but each day of the training was over 14 hours each (including Saturday).

(3)  Putting on offer on a house along with everyone else in the city.  I am not exaggerating when I say 23 other people looked at the house the same day as us.  More details to come, but we are in the middle of the offer/counter-offer stage currently (along with several other buyers). 

In addition to a glass of wine (or two), I love relaxing with a good book or magazine in the bath.  Bonus points if the bath has bubbles.  Thankfully, there is a Lush, which has amazing bath products, in Boulder.  My friend Lauren totally got me addicted to their stuff.  So on the way to the airport, I swung by to pick up some goodies.  Here are some of my faves:

Dreamtime Bath Melt

Twilight Bath Bomb

Butterball Bath Bomb 

The Comforter Bubble Bar

Strawberry Feels Forever Massage Bar 

Ro's Argan Body Conditioner (this stuff smells amazeballs)

Have you ever tried anything from Lush before?  And I sure hope your weekend was full of fun rather than stress!

* Lush has no clue who I am.  I am just a stressed out girl who loves a good bath with their products. 

Pretty Bedrooms.

I am totally digging these two bedrooms.  I love the neutral color palates -- it's so relaxing.  Yet neither room is boring.  Both rooms also have glamorous chandeliers, white French-inspired chairs, and white tufted headboards.  I'd say all of those things combine to make for some pretty spaces.

Source: marcusdesigninc.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Hope you're having a great week! Friday is just around the corner!

Pinterest Meals.

I love me some pinterest.  But really, who doesn't?  It provides such a great source of inspiration for decorating and clothes (among countless other things).  But recently, instead of just pinning pictures of tasty food, I've actually been making them.  Go figure!  Everything I've tried has been super successful!

Here's a rundown of some of my recent pinterest meals.

Simple Spaghetti Sauce -- I picked up one of those roasted chickens from the store and added some of it to the spaghetti for some protein.

Source: annies-eats.com via Emily on Pinterest

Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili -- I added chopped jalapenos to mine for a little extra flavor.  We also topped it with some sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream and served it over brown rice.  I could probably eat some combo of chicken, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and spice every night.   

Source: redsie05.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff -- This was so very good.  You can't go wrong with classic comfort food that's easy to make!   

Source: thecrockstar.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Crockpot Carnitas -- These are heavenly.  The pork is so tender it melts in your mouth.  Thanks Lauren for passing this recipe along!   

Source: crockpot365.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

(You may have noticed the list is a tad heavy on the crockpot meals.  We recently got a new crockpot because our old one, which we received when we got married, burned everything we cooked.  I turned to pinterest for some recipes to test out the new one.  I'm happy to report there has been no burning with our new crockpot!)  

Pepperoni Cheese Stick Roll-ups -- Ever since the Double Dave's Pizza close to us closed, I've been craving pepperoni rolls.  While these aren't as good as Double Dave's, they are pretty darn good.  I would definitely make them again (they take less than 10 minutes to throw together).  I used shredded mozzarella instead of string cheese.   

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Emily on Pinterest

Green Monster Smoothie -- I mentioned before how I've be on a green monster smoothie kick.  This is the recipe I use every time.  It is so good and doesn't taste like spinach at all! 

 

Source: iowagirleats.com via Emily on Pinterest

No Bake Energy Bites -- I'm not sure how much energy these gave me, but they tasted so good I didn't care!  I omitted the coconut because I don't like it, but they really needed something else to help bind them together.  Instead, mine ended up more like cookie dough, but that was ok by me.  I just ate it by the spoonful! 

Source: smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Sprinkles Cookies -- These could not be any easier to make and were very tasty.  You could totally use this concept (using cake mix for cookies) for tons of different cookies.    

Source: cookincowgirl.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread -- This is banana bread is amazingly good.  When I went to make this, I realized my bread pans were in storage, so I improvised and used a muffin tin instead.  I brought them to work, and everyone loved them.  I was almost embarrassed to tell them how easy they were to make!      

Source: artsyfartsymama.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Brownies -- These aren't your out-of-the-box brownies -- they are so much richer and more decadent.  Don't serve these without a glass of milk! 

Source: browneyedbaker.com via Emily on Pinterest

Frankly, after looking back through this list, I'm surprised there aren't more desserts.  I tend to find myself pinning a lot of sweets -- especially anything with nutella!  I'm proud to see that what I actually cook is a little more well-rounded than what my pins would reflect.   

Source: someecards.com via Emily on Pinterest

Have you made anything from a recipe you found on pinterest that I need to try?