I've NEVER done this before..

Let me start this post by mentioning that two days ago, I told my husband, after a very looong day with L, that I simply need 1 day to myself, not 2 hours at a grocery store, not a pretend bathroom break just so I can breath, but a real day..wellll

Wednesday, as I went into work , I was greeted happily by my co-worker who said, "hey, you know we have tomorrow off right?....."   Insert singing angels here!!!!  laaaaaaaaaaaa...My mind raced in a million different directions first thought being, holy S, I am going to take Liam to daycare anyway, and have a DAY TO MYSELF!! that thought was quickly followed  by two other short convos in my head that went something like this, "you are a horrible mom..WHO takes their child to daycare when they have the day off" the answer, to myself "Be nice, you deserve this...consider it a gift, a gift of time!" SO I did it.

I planned my day, very loosely, with a lot of self talk, assuring myself that I needed to just breath it all in today, this is a gift , I can do anything, or nothing and it doesn't matter, no cleaning, unless that's what my heart told me to do.  So,  I started my day by making a pot of coffee, followed by a 20 minute meditation ( that was VERY clear and gave me many answers about my "Path") I decided I would spend my day in Cold Spring, New York, a quaint little town that I love, but never really get a chance to go to anymore, it has great little shops and a million antique stores, but they are "little" so its very hard to do any of these things with a toddler.

As I got in the car, I put in my Counting Crows CD ( an Oldie but a goodie that always makes me happy) and just as the 1st verse of   "Round Here"  Started "In between the Moon and you, angels get a better view "  Tears literally streamed down my face...WOAH...I needed this day more than I even knew, and I was so grateful to myself, for giving it..well...to myself! HA! A lovely 30 min. drive and 3 wrong turns later, I landed. I took my time, I shopped, I got more coffee, I shopped some more, I talked to local people, I bought Liam some things, I went "antiquing" and then, I did something I have never done in my 35 years of this life...I ate lunch..by myself!!!! Can you even believe I have never?? I mean, sure at an airport, or maybe in my car, or something, but never sat down, and savored a meal like I did today...it. was. perfection. I enjoyed every single bite, every sip of Pellegrino. You are wondering what I had..no? well I had A Spinach, Fennel, goat cheese beet salad, with a side of French Fries..huh? right? PERFECTION!!!   As I sat there, and just listened to the life happening around me, and looking out at the beautiful little town, I began to finally relax..unwind..tweet pictures of my salad..I'm just saying, it was a great day, and everyone should do it at least once. By the way, this isn't a mommy thing, its a person thing...we need to check in every once in a while..life takes over and we forget, but to recharge, is absolutely priceless.!!!

Here are some pics from the day!!

I LOVED this sign! This was the BEST antique store, with so many great things, but a little pricey.I'm spoiled by my Saturday junk shop!

I am STILL thinking of this tulip lamp, the color was amazing and actually not priced badly at $95..I just couldn't spend it on a lamp that I didn't really need...sigh...

Loved the color of these stools!!

My Lunch...such fond memories...ahh..( yes it was just today)

An amazing bench at the Cold Spring Apothecary shop, but I am doing an entire post JUST on this shop, so more pics later..it was awesome!!

My only "antique" purchase for the day..isnt she pretty ;)

Happy Thursday!!

~K

P.s..On the to do list for this weekend? An Acorn Wreath, some DIY bookshelves made of spice racks and a little "Dollhousing" for my "Im  A Giant Challenge"

Mommy Post: Parenting..summed up in one video

Is it just me, or does this video describe parenting perfectly?? LAUGH ,LAUGH, WHEEEEEE
Gasp!

A few things I have learned over the last 26 months...

It always seems worse than it is ( well, except that time when L was 14 mnths and he put his bottom teeth through his lip..that was actually bad)

Lead with love and all will be ok. ( spinning was FUN..until it wasn't :(

Parenting is hard, not hard like math, but hard like...hiking to the top of a really big mountain, but then you get to the top and see the beautiful view, and it was so worth waking up at 4am, just to see the sunrise.

Give yourself a break once in a while, its all worth it.

How do I know? because I get a hug and a kiss with a little voice that says, mommy I love you so much....and my heart literally falls.out.of.my.chest. and that's after a day of tantrums and biting and laying down in the grocery store because he cant have a train cake at the bakery.

Enjoy your Monday..and please...share some lessons with me!!! it doesn't even have to be about parenting, just good life lessons..anybody??

~K

ps..Grant felt HORRIBLE, and Liam was absolutely fine after, and YES, that is actually how messy my house is..always.

Pretty bones and small things...

I have been stalking Emily Henderson ( you know ..Secrets from a Stylist, HGTV) ...there..I said it...well, technically not HER specifically, but a DIY challenge that she gave little tidbits of details about, involving..are you ready..DOLLHOUSES!!! WHAAAATT??!! That's right folks..its a challenge and I am READY!! Emily has extended a challenge to any and all bloggers who may be interested, the challenge is called "I'm A Giant, Challenge"

Please stop by Emily's blog to get all the juicy deets!

So, Here she is...My beautiful dollhouse that needs sooo much love....but like all historical homes, she too has a story, and here it is..

It was Christmas at My Gramma and Grampa Millers house when I was 9 yrs old. Earlier in the year, they had asked me if I would like to combine my birthday and Christmas presents, and they would make me a dollhouse, by hand, all on their own!!! Oh my goodness, if I could bottle up even a slice of my happiness on that day, and share it with all of you I would. I didn't know for sure when the house would be done, all I knew is that it was going to be beautiful. My Gramma and Grampa had always built things, and they were always beautiful. Summer weeks staying with them would be filled with handcrafting things like wooden writing desks, and sewing clothes for Native American Baby dolls, and making necklaces out of rolled up magazines. I knew, this dollhouse would be perfect. They would call from time to time through out the year with cripted questions like, "do you like Straight or curvy?", "Do you prefer clear glass, or green glass?", "Would you rather have red, or blue?", never, telling me what my descisions would end up being for! it was the best year ever. Not knowing how things were going, but knowing that they were working hard on every single detail. Later, I found out that straight or curvy was for the stair case, clear or green glass was for the fake Tiffany chandelier, and red or blue was for the tiny little perfect serving and cookware that they stocked my miniature kitchen with.

Christmas morning at my Gram and Gramps, I ran out to the living room, and there she was....my beautiful dollhouse, WITH REAL WORKING LIGHTS!!! WHAT??!! AND A FIREPLACE THAT HAD TINY LITTLE LOGS ON IT, AND A SPIRAL STAIRCASE.....so much detail...the roof was individual cut pieces of sand paper, the windows were double hung and really worked. My friends and I had many many yrs playing with this beautiful dollhouse, and then, as it happens, we grew up :(

and that brings me to today!

I'm am so excited to bring back the love that this pretty lady deserves! I haven't decided how many rooms I am going to do for the challenge, because I want to do it right. The first thing I need to do Is a little( okay a lot) restoration..the floors to be sanded and any repairs that need to be done!!

Here is what she looks like now, after years in a dusty basement and even a short time in an old garage where oil was spilled..sigh.....can you see through all the dust, how pretty her bones are :)

 Please follow me on my journey of restoring an old friend!!!
P.S I will be adding a tab at the top, and will post progress weekly so you can follow along!

Enjoy your weekend!!

~K

(Edit: I Added the top tab "I'm A Giant"challenge..check out the progress along with my Pinterest Mood board)

My weekend project

As I wrote about on Wednesday, I recently purchased some Missoni for Target ,Folders and note cards. My plan was to make the folders into framed wall art, for a lot less expensive then the $34.99 versions, that Target was selling. As I began to lay out the folders, I realized the print was too large, so, I decided to use my note cards!!

First, I went to Ikea and purchased 10 black frames for $1.99 ea. I only needed 9, but A good DIY tip..buy at least one more than you need!! Then I decided on the background color, I was originally going to do Ivory, but as I laid things out, it was way too boring. I ended up deciding on A Turquoise that coordinated with the "prints".  Next, I laid out each frame, with a print on top, to figure out the exact layout I wanted....cut the Turquoise to fit,using the frame insert,  cut the cards in half, (using an exacto knife and metal scale ruler, so they were even and straight) and Voila!! 9 beautiful Missoni "Prints" to liven up my super boring, super high ceiling dining room!

My tools :)

Here is what I started with...A huge, 9' -0" Clay colored wall, with NOTHING on it...this is a good spot by the way, to mention that for five of the seven years we lived here, G and I never had a dining room table, we had a pool table. That could be an entire post all on it's own, but when I got prego, I insisted on getting rid of the pool table and getting a dining table....this little guy is actually NOT my style ( only because glass+little fingers = finger prints) but who can resist a curb side glass table and 4 ikea chairs?? that's right, they were FREE, why? because I took them out of someones trash. I'm not ashamed.

Here is a dramatization of me leveling the pictures to make sure they were hanging straight...I mean, I actually DID do this, but this specific picture, was me looking like I was hard at work...why am I telling you...I don't know, maybe because I think its hilarious that G could have just taken an actual picture of me doing this step, but instead I posed for it..hahaa..I'm actually laughing as I write this..

Here they are! I was so happy with how they turned out, the Turquoise for sure gave that wall a punch of color that was needed.

Liam Loves counting the lilac colored shells in my bowl!

I figured out the cost of this entire project, including, the thank you cards, the folders ( that I didn't use) the frames, the paper ( Turquoise and Ivory) the photo stick tabs, and the exacto knive blade ( to replace my old one) . Each picture figured out to be $3.44 ea!! Instead of the $34.99 for the Missoni Print at Target! I was kinda proud of myself for creating a similar look!!

Happy Monday!!

~K

A BIG Thank You!

Happy Sunday!!! Thank you to ALLLL 19 of the beautiful ladies that partied like Rock Stars at my link Party ;) What Happens on Design Thoughts, Stays on Design Thoughts...ha! Okay, so If you missed their link this past week, here they are again!! Click em one more time for good luck.

Thank you to:

My Crafty Home Life

Cubicle57

Tiny By Design

Deidre On Design

Can You Come Home

Meet The Browns

My Design Diary-Alisha Gwen

LylahG

Pics Photography

Davenport DIY

Silence & Noise

Hey M Design

HouseTalkN

Erin Bradley Designs

Jen's Love Lesson's

Old Paint Design

His Mrs. Her Mr.

The Puckstopper's Wife

Designology Interiors

You Guys Rock!!

~Kim

Don't worry, you are totally invited!

Mention it on your blog that you are part of this party, lets see how many "Guests" we can get!!

I was a victim..Of Missoni Madness!!

Hey, have you heard the news? Missoni has designed an exclusive line for Target, and its only going to be there for a month, so everyone is going innnsaaaannnnnneeee!!!!!  Im teasing, OF COURSE you heard about Missoni and Target, if you are connected to the Social Media Highway AT ALL,  then you have been hit with millions of tweets, ending in the hash tag #Missonifortarget.  Its Missoni Madness up in here y'all!!

I'm not going to lie, Missoni isn't even one of my favorite designers, BUT, I do appreciate the distinct flair, and love a bold color print! What intrigued me about this line for Target, were the Home goods!! I was lucky enough to get a little sneak peak at a few of the amazing items, and let me just tell you, the shower curtain alone ( which, I was going to make into Roman shades, by the way!! Killer, right?) was enough to make me skip my typical coffee run and head straight to my local Tarjay!

So here is my story.  I got there, at 8:07am, the store opens at 8am...I was thinking I was early, I was thinking I would have the pick of Home goods, and maybe, just maybe even buy a pillow or two.
 ( I wasn't interested in the sweaters that every single mama from here to Florida is going to be wearing) I walked right in, not too bad, I thought to myself, UNTIL I saw the MASS HYSTERIA unfold in front of me!!!! ( Remember it had been 7 Minutes since the store opened)  People had 2 carts each, FILLED with things like Luggage, and pillows and sweaters, there were carts filled with 2 or 3 of the exact same dress and Chevron Panties flying like little birdies off the shelves!! One lady was screaming at her mom ( this is no joke) that her mom had "TOTALLY SCREWED UP!! SHE WANTED THE BLUE STRIPED FRAMES NOT THE RED STRIPED FRAMES AND NOW THERE AREN'T ANY LEFT!" ...where the HELL was I??? it was CUH-RAE-zee...I too, got caught up in the whole thing...before I knew it, I was scrambling to get the last coffee mug..no luck..Grabbing Missoni Note cards off the shelf because it was THE LAST ONE OH MY GAWWDDD!!!! Forget about the shower curtain, there was NOT one left, also there were no dishes, no bedding, and no shoes left. The store had been ravaged in a matter of minutes. I saw some cool Missoni prints framed, and in an instant of sanity, I decided I was NOT going to spend $35, instead I would spend $7.99 on a pack of Missoni file folders, cut them up, and frame them myself, all of sudden, I was Missoni's biggest fan!! HAHAHA!!!
I felt like that person on Black Friday, who doesn't even need a 52" TV, but then you see all the crazies in Walmart beating each other up because the darn thing is only $200, and suddenly you are positive that YOU need one.....that's what I felt like.. By this time it was 8:20, since I had to be at work in 10 mins, I decided I had enough, cut my losses ( no coffee cup :( and  check out....( ps. if my boss is reading this, highly unlikely, I'm just kidding, I wasn't at Target this morning, Traffic was just REALLY bad...that's why I was 10 mins late)

As I was standing in line, the girl in front of me had a coffee mug, I asked where she got it, she handed it to me and said, Do you want it? I don't even like the colors, I just got caught up in the whole thing!! I laughed right out loud and pulled an Elaine from Seinfeld."I KNOW!" I said entirely way to loud! It was so nice of her, and I was so excited ( um....why do I need another coffee cup? I have 1,000)
So $29 dollars, and 20 minutes later, I walked out of the crazy store, a little bit happier because I got a piece to the EXCLUSIVE Missoni..for Target...LOL!!!! Here's what I got

The notecards

The mug

The File Folders/Prints to be framed

A note holder, because I need one of those!

DID YOU GO???

LOSING!!..as in "My Marbles"

Okay, its no joke when you literally start to think you are losing your mind...Ever since I was pregnant ( we are talking 3 yrs ago people) I have not been myself, well actually, I have become a new, different self, which, in A lot of ways has been great, But in the area of brain power, remembering important things, and day to day shit, I have gone so far away,( did I just say Shit? I'm leaving it)   that there is no coming back. I'm talking, if I was scored on a scale of 1 to 1,000 for my memory these days, I would score a  -7. Its really gotten that bad. ( Grant can vouch for this story) I use to be so awesome at remembering important things, Family birthdays, friends birthdays, friends family birthdays. I have completely turned into one of those moms, that if its not written down, its lost in the deep abyss of toddler/working mom/wife/blogger/whatever, land. I am going to give you a few examples of what I am talking about, I'm not proud of these, especially the first one, but we are all family here right? check your judgements at the door, or at least laugh quietly amongst yourselves and pretend that I'm OK. SO, here we go...As the anniversary of 9/11 quickly approached last week, I was rocking Liam to sleep, and just as he was dozing off, I began to think of that horrible day, which lead me to think about the weather, remembering what a cool, crisp morning it was and then ( and this is the embarrassing part, and I am being 100% honest) I thought to myself, wow..was that like February when that happened, I don't remember snow on the ground, no it must have been fall :( now, in my minds conversation, it started with "wow, I can not believe its been 10 yrs since 9/11. What the EFF  YOU SEE KAY ( that's me using my mommy spelling so I don't offend all of my new followers)

I was going to give you example number 2 that just happened last night, but reading back the first one, there is no need, if you don't understand where I am coning from after reading that, then just move on down your blog reading list, come back to this one later this week.

Right now the things I should be doing are as follows, and if you are part of my to do list, I'm sorry, I promise I am on my way: ( this is just my personal list)

1. Layouts and Space planning along with Tile/Hardwood selections for client: TAG: Heidi House

2. Layout ideas/Styling and paint colors for Love-Brown House ( and send back her belly belt that she let me borrow 3 yrs ago, especially now that she is going to hatch number 2 in 18 or so weeks)

3.Switch my Electric company!!

4. Make super awesome wood/metal bookshelves for Liams room

5. Paint dining room/hallway grey and add white stencil

6. Create/buy/ refurbish light in Dining room

7. Clean and organize entire house so MA and Dad believe that we dont live like pigs when they stay with Liam in October for our big Napa Getaway!!!

Now here is another perfect example, as I was thinking of my list, I had 10 things I needed to write down for this post, and now I can only come up with 7.

Anyway, when I came across this, I fell in love, I did have brief moment of thinking: will I actually use this?? Then I thought I have no idea, but I love the THOUGHT of me using it, so lets try. As I have mentioned in other posts, this is the year for me to get organized, so here is another small way !

Write it. Do it. Erase it. 

 

its either that, or continue to drink at least 3 bottles a wine per week.

Please share, you crazy ,lovely readers, how do you keep your head on straight?

Love

K

Remembering...10 Yrs

Where were you?

I was on my way to work, in Michigan. Driving down 1-96, listening to , Howard Stern. When he said that a call had come in that we were under attack, The World Trade Center had been hit by a plane, I didn't believe him..I thought it was a joke...As I kept listening, I heard Howard,  turn from his very cynical/joking self, into a scared, concerned, citizen. I ran into my office, where my project manager, Heather was, and told her that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane, by the time we turned on the little TV that we had in our office, we saw the horror of the 2nd tower crumbling to the ground. It was the scariest and saddest thing I have ever seen. Then, the country changed forever.

Now that I live in New York, I can see that the experience from the outside ( outside of the city and surrounding areas) was much different than the experience for those here in the city. When Grant and I arrived here in 2004, there were still "Missing" signs, at the Trade Center Site, the windows in surrounding buildings were still missing. As we looked around, we could just feel a very tiny bit of what it must have been like, to be right there when it happened. To this day, every single person we meet who is from this area, has a story of their own, some who have family members and friends who survived, some who were trapped in the city, not being able to find their husband and wives, a few whom never did.

Today, we will remember the brave men and women who risked, and lost their lives to save others, the Fireman, Police, Nurses, Doctors, volunteers who did everything they could to help everyone around them, the families who lost a loved one, and the survivors who live with this tragedy everyday.

Where were you?

Mommy Post : Dear Liam..

Dear Liam,

It finally happened, you fell out of your crib. You are 25 months old, and I just knew it was going to happen. I knew, because every time I put you in your crib now, you hang onto the end and jump up and down while yelling "Bump, Bump, Bump". Luckily, I put those pillows down around the end....so when I heard that big THUMP, and a pause, and your screaming cry...I knew you had hit the pillows. Mommy is not so good at the "play it cool for the kids sake" role, I had tears streaming down my face faster than I could run to save you. I thanked god/universe/Nana Cindi that you were okay, and that I was given a gentle push earlier that week to place those pillows on the floor...Oh bugsy, I pray that you will one day know the feeling of this true love of being a parent!

Its so amazing watching you turn into a little boy! The days when you use to cry endlessly, are now quickly being replaced by you picking yourself up on your own, and saying, "Ouchy, mamma kiss peas" and saying "Me Walk, Mama" instead of wanting me to carry you all the time. I can't believe you are starting to know what you like, and more apparently, what you don't like...you are already a "performer" and you make everyone around you laugh...its all happening so fast! SO, I give thanks every single day, that I am living my dream of being your mama, even the days when you ask the check out lady if she has a Gina (yes..as in VA)
...and that we are getting through this growing up thing together. I would like to apologise right now to you, for being an overly emotional, mommy..I mean, your only two!! Imagine my letter to you when you go off to college, and when you follow your dreams!!

Here are a few pictures of my baby growing up so quickly :) Enjoy!

~Love, Mommy