Face Lift

My friend Angie put me on this great fundraiser....I love the new look!
 Here are a couple of Lane's latest pictures...

He is really moving now...

he loves to "flap" his arms when he gets excited

"Here I go Mom!"

crawling to me

"I'm here!" This is a funny thing he does...he crawls to the end of the rug and slams his hand down on the hardwood and is so proud of himself (course I am pretty proud too!)

Where's Lane?

There he is!!

Renovation Reveal

I know it has been awhile since I have shown house pictures. It seems I have come up with 100 excuses not to get out my camera: I want to get the window treatments up or I need to clean off the counters or Baby toys are everywhere! etc. etc. (you get the drift) I came to the realization, everything is always a work in progress and so without further adieu--here are after pictures of the kitchen renovation. I am very pleased with how everything turned out. We are really enjoying the space. It is very functional and easy to keep clean! (our old house it seemed no matter how many times I mopped the floor they seemed dingy.) Not the case now!! (disclaimer: I could not get the lighting right, so please excuse some of the image quality)

Remember this:

Now this it the view:

sink area to the right

to the left, love this area, where I drink coffee and have quiet time in the mornings, wall of storage to the left

standing near sink looking left

standing at back windows (used to be dining room)

Some of my favorite aspects:

the beverage center (the architect could not believe I wanted to put a mini fridge right next to the big fridge. He said this is simply not done, so he added the 6 inch cabinet to the right (see the one tiny knob). It is more useful than you would think. I have serving platters there. The beverage refrigerator is awesome because it does not clutter the large one with bottled water, cans, wine... Also, I love the Keurig and the bottle warmer. James is not a coffee drinker, so I love making my one cup a day with ease. 

Pine corner cabinet left to me by my sweet Aunt Meg when she passed away.  She was an amazing lady and is the reason I love to bake. She taught me so much, and I LOVE having it in the kitchen to enjoy while I bake.  Originally it was her grandmother's, my great grandmother's.

peninsula with tons of STORAGE!! walnut top

Keeping it real:

This nifty little storage bin with wheels was purchased at IKEA to hold all of Lane's toys. It is usually somewhere close by.

 The johnny-jump up resides in between the kitchen and the dining room. 

dining room details: chairs purchased at Scott's. Table from an antique store in Birmingham given to me by grandparents as our wedding gift.

another Scott's find that I got recovered

Some other details:

All wall paint/upper cabinets:  Dover White

peninsula color: Antique Pewter

Bar Stools: Restoration Hardware

Painting: previously seen in Lane's room, gift from James

Window Treatments: from sister Jana via Tiffany at Persnickety in Linden, Al

chairs in the kitchen are from Scott's 

cabinets and walnut top peninsula custom made by Nico.

Lighting via Circa Lighting, goodman hanging light (the one linked is the larger one, the one we have is the smaller one)

Sisal in dining room is Veracruz from Acme Flooring in Birmingham

Sink and Faucet: Kohler on sale

Countertops: Carrera Marble

Still to do/purchase:

I would love a runner in front of the sink 

Still working on cabinet organization (but the great thing is that there is plenty of room!)

Maybe a decorative item over the sink area (a fun thing to have in the back of my mind, it will have to be something that really speaks)

James would say, fill the wine storage up, but I think we are good :) 

Randomness

Have ya'll seen Gwyneth Paltrow's blog? I like it...especially the Go section...it has all of her (or a contributors) favorites for a given city. Just so you know, she posts about exercising and she says she works out for about 2 hours a day, makes me feel a little better, that she works HARD to look that great.

We just got a dehydrator. Yesterday we tested it out with apples, pears, and bananas. They were all delicious. I am hoping to get Lane used to snacking on fruits and vegetables when he is old enough (which is still aways away considering he has no teeth). It also came with a jerky gun, which I am very excited about. I will let you know how that goes....

This little guy is sitting up on his own and crawling. Ok, not full out crawling more like a few times and then scooting, but he can get where he wants to go. He loves to sit up and play with toys now, and he gets so proud of himself. He looks like, "hey Mom, do you see me?!"

Below is a picture of James trying to calm him after his shots at the doctor Friday. They did great! (me not so much) He is almost 17 pounds! 

Have ya'll seen The Help? I haven't but heard it was just as good as the book, and can't wait!

That's all I got for today! 

Second leg of Vaca

sorry so drawn out, it has been a busy week! (and weekend for that matter--we are being very productive around the house!) So here are pictures from our time in SF celebrating the union of the Machado's...

Wednesday night when we arrived all of the young people headed to eat Mexican...

Here is Gary (standing next to Annie) and his three brothers, they all live within a mile of each other in San Fransisco and are SO much fun (and have such cute significant others)!

California +Alabama

 Thursday was spent seeing the sights on segways (which I highly recommend)

at Washington Park

down on the water with Ghiradelli square in the background

 oober cheesy

the Cooks

lunch at Gott's

before the Rehearsal dinner

James with the Miller men

The Osborns

with our travel companions

with the bride to be

with the brother of the bride (aka cousin Doug)

 Friday was spent doing more sight seeing, James was insistent on walking across the Golden Gate Bridge...

he was very pumped, I might have complained a few times because it was windy and cool, but in the end I was glad I did it

Friday was the wedding day!

our ride to the wedding and reception

lovely ladies

with mi madre

Debbie (MOB), Doug, and Dick (FOB)

don't you LOVE Debbie's dress?! She looked stunning!

cutest couple ever....I loved her dress and his cowboy boots 

(which all the groomsmen wore as a nod to the groom's family heritage)

Ya'll, I can't tell you how excited Gary was when Annie came walking down the aisle. It was so sweet. He was literally bouncing up and down and grinning ear to ear, he was so happy. It had to touch every single person there's heart and made me feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband sitting beside me.  

outside the Ferry building where the reception was held

stunning, every detail was perfect. 

and the food was delicious!!

with cousin Roberto

Thanks for such a wonderful celebration Dick and Debbie!!

Commercial Break-Products

Many of you probably read Urban Grace, do you remember the post she did on her day-to-day products? (I tried to find it to link it, but could not). Also Ole Miss mom, did a similar post here.  I love these posts...don't know why, other than it is interesting to see what others find that works for them. Here are my daily products-- (sorry for the poor quality pics, my phone was not cooperating!)

1. Vivite Daily Facial Cleanser-recommended by Lacey, and I love it! It has a 12% glycolic acid which is great keeping hormonal acne at bay 

2. Obagi C-Vitamin C serum for decreasing brown spots and prevents fine lines

3. Aveeno - Ultra Calming daily face lotions with SPF 15, love this especially for the price

4. Revisions Matte Tinted Moisturizer also rec. by Lacey-I change up between this and the Aveeno. This is very lightweight, but with good coverage on days that I don't have time/feel like putting on base makeup. 

5. Ban deodorant-I have been using this since I first needed it (5th grade, I think??), actually my whole family uses ban! It is the best!

6. Purelogy Anti-fade Hydrating Shampoo-my stylist (sounds like I am a movie star right?!) Haha, but Jaina is more than a hair dresser, she is awesome! She can turn my lacklusterbabyfrizzingdriedout hair into something that I actually like. She works here in Tuscaloosa. Here she is at our wedding, so cute!

7. Pureology Root Lift-I don't use this daily, only when I am actually fixing my hair (which is few and far between these days) but this stuff works magic

8. Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation-I have tried many others, but i always come back to this. Great coverage, smooth finish, easy to apply=worth the money

9.Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge-when my friend Maggie got married, they recommended this and I also got it (she has been married 2.5 years) and I still have plenty and use it everyday...a little goes along way

10. Smashbox gel eyeliner-love gel eyeliner, once you use this kind you won't use any other

11. Bobbie Brown eyeshadow in Velvet Plum-this is a new purchase, and I am enjoying the color

12. La Bella Donna-eyeshadow mineral tones 

13. Loreal mascara-honestly I just pick up any mascara that catches my eye at the supermarket when I am out. To me, they are all similar

As I was taking these pictures last night, my husband was rolling his eyes at me in bed reading this:

He says it is good. He also just finished Gene Chizik's All In. This is the most he has read in our entire marriage. I love it!! 

I am tagging a few of my blog friends to please share with us your day-to-day products:

Caroline at Porch Talks with the Bobo's

Julie at The Smith Family Blog

Blair at For A Season