A Tour of My House: The "Library"

This is an odd sort of space. Its not really a 'room', its kind of like a really big open hallway/entryway. We didnt want to use it as an office since the computer is pretty much our lifeblood around here and we didnt want to put it in a corner. Cuz then how would I watch Project Runway on mylifetime.com? From the computer chair? No thanks. We have it in the living room. Anyway, here are some pictures...

Before: A plain open space. So much potential!

After: A colorful reading area!

I wanted to hang the paintings with a sort of a gallery feel.

The kid books are here on the lower shelves.

The taller bookcase is organized by color courtesy of Bradley. I love it, such a cool idea.

I swiped these oversize jacks from my Mom. Arent they the coolest? Ive loved them since I was a babe.

A closer look:

The YELLOWs

The ORANGEs

The GREENs

The REDs

This corner gets a lot of use!

I might make some big cushy pillows to throw down in the corner. What do you think?

Make Over My Dining Room

We are pretty much settled in here. I have some follow up posts coming to show a little of what we have done with the place. I love our dining room, but it still has a ways to go. My plan for is to get a variety of chairs and refinish them all in the same color. Im looking for six chairs total. We bought a super cute white pedestal table at Crate & Barrel before we moved here sans chairs. I think bright Tiffany's blue will really make the whole room bright and happy!

I found two cute chairs at Salvation Army. They were originally $10 each, but when I got to the register the lady gave me 15% off! I think its funny when thrift stores have "sales". Isnt everything in there super cheap anyway? A few weeks ago I found a black spiderman costume for Avery at Goodwill and it was 50% off, it cost $2. Why even bother with the % off? I would have paid $4.

Anyway, here is what I did with them.

Before:

After:

Distressed just a tad with my very first power tool! Love me some power tools.

My two models trying out the new chair:

I want to give a special shout out to my awesome and incredibly talented friend Julie, who is a pro at refinishing furniture and inspired this project. And this color always reminds me of her! (Miss you Julie!)

If you need me...

If you need me, look for me here:

Its were I go most days.

Can you blame me?

A Few Things

1. My baby can walk! He even wears shoes, well sometimes he wears shoes. No babies wear shoes in Hawaii. But when I do put them on he giggles.

2. Aforementioned baby can also do an evil villain laugh. Muah ha ha. It might be his best trick.

3. We bought a VW van! Brad was the driving force (sorry) behind it. I go back and forth. I love the way it looks and the fact that its a van and a VW makes it really cool. But, its old and I we have a lot of work to do on it. But that might actually turn out to be on the good side of the list.

4. If you had a VW van what color would you paint it?

5. Its 4:40 and both my kids are asleep. I think Im in trouble tonight!

6. I have a garden! I just picked some rosemary for tonights chicken.

7. I talk about super heros for approximately 90% of my day. Avery is borderline obsessed. Its cute to see him so into a topic. But a little variety in our lives would be nice!

8. There is a really zen looking yoga studio just down the road. I think Im going to start taking classes there. I might join the "Yoga For Surfers" class.

9. The guest suite is almost ready. So pack your bags. Im dying for some visitors.

10. Have you seen the model in the newest J.Crew catalog that looks exactly like Jesus in a suit? I love it!

Mailbox Love

Thanks Aunt Spicy, I am in love with this fabric. The colors, the print, the bow you wrapped around it. I don't want to cut it!

Maybe I will just leave it looking all cute on my table for a little while longer...

Pool Upgrade

Loving the new, bigger pool! Plus water sprays out of the whales head. What more could two little water babies want?

In other news, the curtains are done (yay!!!). I just need to make some tie backs and then I will post pictures here on a blog I have with my cousin who is the awesomest. More on that/her later!

We are almost moved in. We hung paintings this weekend and did some final furniture re-aranging. We are getting there!

And we got a van! Its truly an island car, a VW Vanagon. Its sweet. I think it looks like a Storm Trooper. We are going to pick it up this afternoon.

Working Girl Once Again

When Brad's job took us here to Hawaii I was lucky enough to find a position with my work too. My original plans were to quit all together and stay home with the boys. As is turns out, it was best for me to keep working, but only two days a week. Just enough to keep my feet wet and make a little cash. Plus its a job I actually enjoy.

Today was my first day at the new office. I have to say, I think its going to be great. It felt good to put on my favorite Calvin Klein pointy toe heels and a fresh coat of lipstick. Im still not totally sure what the usual dress code is like out here. Do I wear Aloha print shirts? Moo Moos? Is it too out of place to wear black slacks? I think I over dressed a little today.

This is my dream ensemble for a working girl in Hawaii:

The shoes are to die for. But they are all sold out in my size!! Blurg! Oh well. Im going to keep working on appropriate attire for work. Maybe deep in one of these moving boxes is a cute skirt I forgot I had.

All items can be found here and of course here

What would you wear?

Welcome! Come on in..

Before all the boxes and the furniture arrived, our house looked clean and spacious and, well, empty. I took some pictures and will post "after" pictures as soon as it looks picture worthy in here.

These guys were the first to move it. They secured the perimeter.

The front door. We actually have a yard!

And a sidewalk!

And grass!

And a plumeria tree!

Its a far cry from living on the 7th floor.

Looking into the living room from the entry way.

Anther view of the living room. Dont you just love the windows?

The dining room, taken from the living room.

I love the built in cabinet. I cant wait to display all my cake plates and dishes!

The breakfast area in the kitchen.

The kitchen. Sans dishwasher :(

The entry way. Front door is on the left there.

The hallway.

The master bedroom. Windows on three sides and a closet on the other makes it a challenge to arrange furniture.

My favorite Hibiscus plant. This is on the side of the house that leads to the kitchen door.

Our awesome plumeria tree. The scent wafts in and its lovely!!

Not pictured are the boys room, the bathroom, and the over the garage quest suite. Yep, we have a perfect place for you to come visit!

Make your reservation today!!

Aloha Boys!

Aren't they beauties?

Gems of the Islands

As sweet as the plumeria blossoms behind their ears.

Getting Settled

There are boxes EVERYWHERE! And with a toddler, a baby, and a beach that calls my name every afternoon around 3:30, the boxes aren't getting unloaded too quickly.

I took a bunch of pictures of our house with plans to post them here and ask for decorating advice, but the camera battery died and I have no idea where the charger is (a random box somewhere no doubt) so the house pics will have to wait at least one more day.

In the mean time Im doing some curtain planning . Our living room is windows on 3 sides, which I love. Its beautiful. But, it can feel like a fishbowl at night. Or a green house in the afternoon when the sun beats in and practically cooks us (hence beach day every afternoon!) So curtains are in order. We bought some fancy light and heat blocking curtains for the Western facing windows. They are by far the worst in the afternoon. The curtains are pretty plain, just beige. But for the other walls I have more exciting plans! I just ordered 18 yards of this:

From here. Its a mid weight fabric that will work great for drapery. Im planning to add some tie backs on the beige beauties with the polka dot fabric to tie it all together. To top it all off I recently WON!! some awesome yellow and orange fabric from my good friend Aunt Spicy (miss you tons!) that might be made into pillows for the couch.

I have so much I want to share about the house and life in Hawaii. Things are way different here people! But for now, I just need to get my life in order. And stop living out of a suitcase. And find my sons Dragon Castle. And dig out the sewing machine! And hope the tension settings didnt get too messed up in the move so I can sew these bad boy curtains when the fabric arrives in 7-15 days!

Stay tuned, Im a work in progress!