Want it Wednesday {Lights I'm Loving}

Part of the master bedroom makeover includes unifying some of the decor in the adjoining master bath. We currently have two brushed nickel chandeliers in there that are much better suited for a dinette and have to go. Here are a few of my favorites so far. 

The gold pagoda would fit the space perfectly but at $1,000 a piece the price point is too high for a temporary fix. 

I am in love with this Mercury glass chandelier from Restorayion Hardware Baby & Child. It doesn't quite go with the feel of the space....perhaps my walk-in closet need a little bling. 

Both the bottom lanterns are from Shades of Light and I'm leaning towards the white bamboo fixture.

Work on the actually space won't start for awhile, but I hope to have an inspiration board to share soon. Now I better get lunches packed and some breakfast on the table. 

Manor Monday {Recycling Christmas}

Last week the Christmas decorations were sorted though and packed away. 

I decided to take a few of the natural elements and repurpose them around the house. 

The dried hydrangea from the Living Room tree have found a new home arranged in a pair of silver bowls and perched atop the Dining Toom buffet. These bowls originally sat on the head table at our wedding reception and I love having them out on display. 

The two Trader Joes boxwood wreathes dried nicely. I relocated the one over the kitchen sink to our sparcely decorated master bedroom and left the second one still hanging in the foyer. 

Despite their "preserved" state, I like having pops a greenery in the house during the frigid winter month. And it is always nice to breath life into old objects. 

Happy Monday! 

Family Friday {NYE & Start of 2015}

Before 2014 is too far behind us, I wanted to recap how we spent our New Year's Eve. Belle helped me bake this year's Vasilopita and set the table for our New Year's Day brunch.

Later on that evening we meet up with Besties H & B for  a Hibachi dinner. The boys were quite gun shy when it came to flames, but have talked about it daily since that night.

Afterwards, we headed over the Bestie H's house to ring in the New Year. She went all out with a lovely spread of desserts and even hangover goodie bags! (These may have been reached for the following day...wink, wink).

I am not sure what happened to all our photo booth shots but I do have the doggie's pose.

On New Year's day, YiaYia and Bopi joined us for a simple brunch of Vasilopita, eggs, bacon & cheese plate. I threw together a pear & basil Sangria spritzer and it complimented the meal nicely. For the littles, I picked up mini-bottles of Coke as a special surprise.

This year's coin fell between Belle & Peanut's pieces of bread so they both are destine for good luck this year. The remainder of the day we spent watching hockey and celebrating our niece's 6th birthday.

And before Winter Break's end, the whole family treated Peanut to a 2 hour bowling extravaganza.

This weekend we've got Peanut's first basketball game and the temps are suppose to be arctic yet again...stay warm everyone!

Want it Wednesday {Pink & Pretties}

This morning it is -30 with the windchill and quite truthfully this post should just be pictures of sunshine and pool time...what I really want right about now. But alas Mother Nature I am not so I'll stick to coveting pretty fabrics and shiny objects.

lamp/ pillows/ monogram/ bedding/ bowl

Now that all the Christmas decorations are packed away, a few accessories have shuffled around the house including our current master bedroom lamps. Since the master is part of our 2015 goals, I went ahead and grabbed a pair of the lamps above to replace the ones now in the family room.

The living room is crying out for the addition of the pink and navy chinoiserie pillows I stumbled upon at pinterest. If anyone knows the source please let me know!!!

And speaking of chinoiserie, I was shocked to see this fab bedding set at Pottery Barn Kids. If we hadn't just finished up Belle's room in July I would be snatching this up in a heartbeat. 

The Allison Evan's oyster bowl has been on my list for a couple years and I've got the perfect spot for it on my family room coffee table.

I finally remembered to grab a second wreath hook for the mudroom door back in November. Now that the Burlap santa is packed away, I need to get my hands on one of these wooden monograms to look at when entering from the garage.

With that I'm off to start the day. The littles are home from school due to the cold. We have a heated game of boys vs. girls monopoly to finish up while keeping warm with a pancake breakfast to mark peanut's Name Day. Stay warm everyone!

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014 was a lovely day spent relaxing and resting as 3 of the 5 of us were sick with one ailment or another. Despite the lack of perfect health, we each enjoyed the joy and magic of Christmas day.

 Belle & Peanut rose way, way, way too early and around 7 we let them wake up lil Bear and come downstairs. Every year we snap Easter and Christmas pics on the staircase. It is fun to see how much the littles (and the decor around them..lol) have changed over the past 5 years.

I am happy to report that everyone made it onto Santa's nice list this year. Belle received a Harry Potter wand, xBox Harry Potter Lego game & box set of Hogwarts texts. Peanut's loot included a hot wheels set. electronic battle ship game & moon in my room. Lil Bear was happy to find his requested helicopter under the tree along with a marble run & Imaginex city. Even Finley was visited by Puppy Paws and received new Juliska dog bowls (who knew the make puppy porcelain!?!) and a few toys.

Each of the littles took turns opening their wear, read & do gifts. They also pooled their money together and bought Dinsey Infinity as a group gift for each other.

Homemade gifts are still my absolute favorite and this handprint snowman family actually brought a tear to my eye....I will treasure it always!

We had fun playing with our new gifts before Christmas brunch with YiaYia and Bopi. 

Hubby took Belle and Peanut to Thea D & Theo J's house for Christmas dinner while I stayed home with a sick lil Bear and celebrated by watching White Christmas.

And just like that, another Christmas is in the books!

Time for Action {2015 Home Goals}

Happy New Year all! 2015 is shaping up to be quite a busy and exciting year for our family. As of now we have seven vacations on the books; some of them family trips and others fun getaways for Hubby & me. In addition we've carved out time for each of us to enjoy "date nights" weekly with one of the older two kiddos along with the vow to go out together twice a week (lunch date plus a Saturday night outing).

On the hone front, 2015 is game on. Over the past 2 years we've made quite a few improvements to the house and its overall function. This year it is time to finally tackle some of the main design decisions that have been hanging over our heads. I've finally learned to trust my gut when it comes to what I like in design, so there is no longer the need for continual redesign....we are all warmed up and ready to go.

A brief rundown of our 2015 house goals include:

• Completing several remaining 2014 goals. We got a good start on the basement, but still don't have a clear enough vision of how we want the space to function. As for the garage and closets they still need a good organizing.
• Master suite zushing: the bedroom is going to get a complete overhaul along with some cosmetic updates for the bath & a few additions to the master closet. We've hemmed and hawed over this space for nearly 5 years. It is time for action.
• Drapery dilemas solved: I've gone back and forth countless times over window treatments in the living room and kitchen...it is time to make a decision and stick to it.
• Purchase dining room chairs. In February it will be one year ago that I scored my dream dining table for $250 on craigslist...time to find that beauty some lovely chairs to accompany her.