carrot mango smoothie

I am a huge fan of smoothies. I make one nearly every morning for my boys (I'm actually designing a space in my new kitchen just for the Vitamix...). There's just no better way to get a fantastic power punch of nutrients into them with such ease - spinach, carrots, avocado, oats. I'll try anything on them once. This is my go-to carrot recipe. It's fresh and energizing and a really nice way to start your day, or boost it mid-way. If your blender can't quite handle raw carrots, use a 1/2 to 1 cup carrot juice (depending on whether you're trying to be sneaky or parading your carrot-love in plain site) and ease up on the water. I use both fresh and frozen fruit in my smoothies - if you use all fresh, you'll want to add some ice to make it nice and cold. I'm not much for measuring these things, so just adjust for your family's tastes - if they prefer strawberries to mango, adjust the levels accordingly. I also mix the baby's probiotics right in (shhh!). My kids slurp this up - hope yours do, too. Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe? I'm always looking for a new candidate for the rotation. xo

Carrot Mango Smoothie
2-3 handfuls of baby carrots or 1 giant regular carrot, roughly chopped
1 banana
2 handfuls of mango
1 big handful of strawberries
1 to 1 1/2 cups water
blend well + serve with a kiss on the head

blog RSS

inspiration: boys' bath

My brain is a bit out of practice. Two pregnancies can do that to a gal, even a smart one. But given the time crunch we've created for ourselves, I'm forced to think about the design and materials for the whole house all at once. It's fun, but exhausting. Don't worry, friends, I won't overwhelm you with a picture of what's in my head when I can't sleep at 3:30 in the morning...

I'm getting really close to having the boys' bathroom put together. I want it to be super functional and clean since they're little, but masculine and mature enough to grow with them. It's gut-wrenching to think about, but they won't be babies forever and someday they'll be inspecting their first chin whiskers in the mirror I choose. Here's a little peek at what we're working with...

And here's my inspiration for a new clean, masculine but with a little whimsy bathroom... Can you see where I'm headed? xo

1. Big charcoal floor tiles, via Pinterest. /  2. Love the trough sink idea in a small space, via Pinterest. / 3. Simple maple vanity, via Houzz. / 4. Nice texture, Ronbow Sophie vanity. / 5. Colored Wall Sconce by onefortythree. Love this guy's stuff. / 6. There's that nice charcoal tile again, via Houzz. / 7. Plenty of Fish in the Sea shower curtain. From Land of Nod, of course. / 8. Gorgeous subway tile, via Lonny. / 9. Love the look and the herringbone tile, via Houzz.

blog RSS

snow white

The best shades of white. xo

thanks, mom

After several failed attempts at submitting out permit application, my mom was finally successful! I sat in the office two days in a row and was thwarted, first by a minor correction and then because I ran out of time when the guy who was supposed to help me next decided it was time for lunch. I couldn't wait any longer because I had to pick up a kiddo. It's very frustrating to try to achieve all of your life goals in 15 minute time slots. Enter Super Mom/Grandma to the rescue! She very graciously offered to give it a try and she DID IT! WE'RE SUBMITTED! A darn good thing since two days from now they're changing a bunch of codes that would've required piles more paperwork. I might've jumped if they'd turned me away to get more documentation. So we squeaked in before the deadline and are somehow 4 weeks AHEAD of schedule. AHEAD of schedule?! YEAH! Oh, wait... 4 weeks AHEAD of schedule? CRAP...  Gotta go. xo

good riddance

While we wait and wait and wait to hear back about our permit for the kitchen and stairs, we're going to try to get the cosmetic stuff upstairs finished. There's a pretty good chance we're going to be living in this beauty before it's finished - yes, I know that living in a construction site with 2 little boys and a terribly behaved dog is not recommended, but we might not have a choice if the remodel starts to drag. We're trying to get the upstairs looking great so that at least one part of the house might feel "normal" even if we have to eat cereal and frozen waffles in the garage for 2 months because we have no kitchen.

So, we're ripping out all of the nasty old carpet and preparing the sub floor for beautiful new hardwoods and tile throughout. My husband (A) and my 4-year-old son (B) spent the better part of last weekend cutting and ripping up the carpet and tack. B was so thrilled about his brand new big boy work gloves and he would gladly do anything to help daddy, so they were actually incredibly efficient. Today we went to pull up the stray staples and start tackling the gross 25-year-old linoleum in the bathroom. Yuck! Our sweet crew put in some serious sweat equity, even the baby (R), who helped sweep up and was thrilled to be wielding tools. It's pretty satisfying work and feels good to be under way, even if we have to do it ourselves. We're not scared. xo