life @ 1521: September 2011

I have a screamer.

Dear everyone who is ever at a craft/grocery/clothing/etc. store at the same time we are,

Yes my son is a screamer and he is ear-piercingly loud, but I don't feel the need to apologize because he is TWO and that is what two year olds do. Just because he is screaming doesn't mean I'm a bad mother it just means that he is tired, bored and/or hungry but most likely a combination of the three. I have already tried distracting him with food/water/stickers/a toy/the bananas in my cart but he is just going to scream. I am aware that he is screaming but I may not want to draw attention to it so please do not walk by and laugh, you are just making him want to scream more. Please don't say rude comments to other shoppers when I am one aisle away. I can hear you and your comments hurt my feelings. I am already embarassed and your stares aren't helping. Go on with your shopping and ignore us, I just want to get what I came for and get home. Remember when you had a two year old and you had stuff to get done?

Deal?

Becca

Read More 5 comments | Posted by Becca |

weekend in review.

This weekend was the perfect introduction to fall...

windy, rainy and cold and I loved every second of it!

Chris got off early on Friday after working crazy hours all week, so we relaxed with some lattes before heading out for date night.

Friday it was actually still really nice out so we decided to grab some dinner at the Hawthorne food carts. I was so excited to get the pizza with camelized onions and pistashios from Pyro Pizza but was sad to see that they didn't have it. I settled for a burrito while Chris waited for his pizza.

(the pizzas are made to order and cooked in a wood fired oven inside the cart, so they take about 20mins but are worth the wait!)

We also split the smallest order of fries from Potato Champion with homemade honey mustard. Yum.

I was underwhelemed with my burrito (it had lettuce in it and I kept getting bites of tortilla and lettuce) though the horchata was one of the best I've had in a long time and they give you a ton!

Note to self: next time stick with pizza but get an horchata.

Best of both worlds, literally.

After dinner we headed downtown to walk around a bit before grabbing Pudding on the Rice.

downtown at dusk:

Have you guys ever been to Pudding on the Rice? If you live in Portland you must try it! Their shop was only 2 blocks up from us when we were living at the Ladd and we went all the time. It's not your grandma's rice pudding...I think there are about 20 flavors and they just started making their pumpkin flavor again! Whatever flavor we get, we always top it with tart frozen yogurt, it's amazing! Oh and they have crepes and rice bowls as well...maybe I just need to do a whole post on Pudding on the Rice sometime.

I guess I didn't take any pictures on Saturday but we didn't do much.

Chris played at church in the evening and Bennett made us some awesome artwork while he was in the nursery.

Sunday morning we had a family coffee date and watched people walking in the rain.

we came home and had grilled cheese and tomato soup with hot chais to stay warm:

I had been wanting to make blueberry muffins for a while, so during Bennett's nap we made this recipe and doubled it so we could take some to the Hartmanns. Definitely the best blueberry muffin recipe I've ever made!

While we were at the Hartmann's, Bennett got to ride Marly like a horse.

He throughly enjoyed it for like three seconds.

Lastnight Chris made us a fire (the first in our new house) and some delicious hot chocolate and we got caught up on The Office.

Not sure how I feel about this season with Michael Scott gone...

Read More 5 comments | Posted by Becca |

on the menu.

Every other Thursday, you can find me scouring my Lovely Dinners Pinterest board for meal ideas for the next two weeks.

Since we've been sick, we have pretty much been sticking to the BRAT diet.

(bananas, rice, applesauce, toast)

Not fun.

Needless to say, I'm ready to start getting back in the kitchen with some real meals.

Here's what's on the menu for the next few weeks:

PS:

If you like Tastespotting and Foodgawker, check out the new Punchfork!

stacked roasted veggie enchiladas

via

crockpot bbq chicken

via

penne pasta with sundried tomato cream sauce

via

twice baked butternut squash

via

buffalo chicken grilled cheese

via

roasted fall veggies with quinoa

via

ham and cheese sliders

via

and on the menu for tonight:

balsalmic garlic crusted pork tenderloin

via

with these amazing smashed potatoes:

via

Have you guys tried any new recipes lately?

Read More 3 comments | Posted by Becca |

weekend in review.

Bennett was sick for two weeks and right when he started feeling better, Chris and I got sick.

Not fun at all.

Now Chris is back to work and feelin good but it's taking forever for me to get back to normal.

Ugh.

Being sick with a toddler is not cool.

Friday we took it easy and watched Monsters Inc:

Saturday we felt a little better so we went to our friend Lucy's 2nd birthday party.

Kelli and her hubby Jordan made the cutest cupcakes:

(it was a Sesame Street party)

and they had some super cute decorations:

snacktime with friends:

Sunday was my birthday (the big 28), and while I wasn't feeling the best, I wanted to keep our plans and get out of the house.

We went out to breakfast with my mom, then after naptime was over we took Bennett over to our friend/lovely babysitter's house to play for the afternoon. Chris took me shopping downtown then we met up with Craig and Lauren for a Pok Pok picnic for dinner.

Lauren's lovely wrapping:

oh did I mention that Chris and Bennett left a super sweet message on our chalkboard:

The weather has been rainy the last few days, but yesterday it randomly decided to be the perfect fall afternoon, so we went on a walk to the park:

and we explored a trail through the forest:

and we (Chris) tried to knock down a few pears from the tree at the park:

success:

Happy Tuesday!

Read More 4 comments | Posted by Becca |

on painting your house white.

Painting the entire interior of your house bright white is a huge commitment.

(see our all-white inspiration houses here)

When we bought the house, each room was a different color, which would work for a bungalow, but ranch houses are supposed to be open and each room flows into the next.

We used Behr Ultra Premium Plus Ultra White which is a paint and primer in one

(ie. its super thick...it's also the base of all the UPP paints).

Eventhough we used the thickest paint out there, it still took us 3 coats everywhere to get decent coverage.

(some spots could have even used 4 coats but we were so tired of painting and we just wanted to be done)

In our 1080 sq ft house, we painted 3 bedrooms, a dining room, hallway, living room, kitchen and mudroom plus the ceiling, trim, doors and some of the closets.

That added up to 11.5 gallons of white paint!

I would be lying if we didn't have moments of regretting ourselves more than a few times, BUT the more progress we made, the more we could see the house coming together and flowing together.

The house feels a lot bigger and more airy since there is no longer a distinct seperation between each room.

(we didn't take the best before pictures, but notice all of the different colors)

Bennett's room before:

Bennett's room after:

(this is the only room with a color on the wall, other than white)

our bedroom before:

our bedroom after:

hallway before:

hallway after:

dining room before:

dining room after:

kitchen before:

kitchen after:

3rd bedroom before:

3rd bedroom after:

(so far this room has been a tv room and now it's a playroom. We are planning on closing off the oepening and putting a door in the hallway next spring when we make improvements to the bathroom.)

living room before:

living room after:

(the coffee table is partially covering up the most drastic change, but we tore up the slate covering the hearth, exposed the brick and painted it white along with putting a fresh coat of white on the whole fireplace.)