inspiration: master bath

I hope to someday be able to go into the bathroom by myself. These days, it's about 70/30 I'd say + since I'm about to have another potty trainer, I don't have high hopes for any privacy in the near future. R often has to sit in my lap if he's having a serious mama day. TMI, I know, but we're friends, right? Here's our master bath's "before" glamor shot...

Pretty, huh? Even if I don't have many Calgon moments, I want my bathroom to feel serene and luxurious and decidedly kid-free. No whimsy here. Just clean lines, bright whites, rich woods and marble. Aaaah, take me away... xo

1. Love the drawers on this vanity, via Pinterest. /  2. Carrara marble, via Houzz / 3. Gray subway tile, via Houzz. / 4. Lush organic towels, West Elm. / 5. Absolutely love this walnut vanity, via Houzz. / 6. More Carrara marble, via Simply Seleta. / 7. Nice hardware, via Lonny. / 8. Gorgeous subway tile, via Lonny. / 9. Twig wall hooks, via Etsy.

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homemade granola bars

Tomorrow is D-Day. The contractor is going to start moving in on the house, digging the foundation for the addition and taking down the old staircase to make space for the new one. I'm giddy with the anticipation of seeing this thing actually begin to take shape. We've been thinking about it and talking about it for so long, it's hard to believe it's finally going to be under way. I just can't wait to see it blossom.

In order to try to maintain the peace with our new neighbors while the workmen are buzzing about next to their fences, the boys and I made some granola bars this morning to bring over as a peace offering. We wrote a sweet note letting them know what to anticipate as far as scope and timing. I'm hoping they like the granola bars as much as all of my boys do and that their chewy goodness is enough to forgive us for disrupting their lovely neighborhood for the next 90 days.

The granola bar recipe is from one of my favorite food blogs, Mountain Mama Cooks. Kelley Epstein is a personal chef + mama in Park City, UT and I love every recipe of hers I've tried (not to mention her writing). I’ve been making her Banana Oat Pancakes on heavy rotation and I've been meaning to try the Korean Flank Steak Tacos from her Taco Tuesday series. These Chewy Granola Bars are the easiest and best I've ever made. We substituted raisins for the dried cherries because my boys prefer them. We also used only vanilla extract because I didn't have any almond. You could put any combination of nuts + dried fruit in them depending on your taste and I'm sure they'd be amazing every time. Just don't skimp on the honey.

via Kelley Epstein, Mountain Mama Cooks

Recipe:

1 2/3 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Butter a 9×9 baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place the mixture onto the prepared baking pan and pat down firmly.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.
I cut bars into squares (resulting in 12 bars) and wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them in either the fridge or freezer. Let bars come to room temperature before eating.

via Kelley Epstein, Mountain Mama Cooks

Our special delivery for the neighbors. Cards by my favorite letter-presser, Bird Dog Press.

I'm going to try her Chewy Cinnamon Raisin Granola Bars next, though I'm not sure where to get cinnamon chips... I'll let you know how they turn out. xo

it's on

WE HAVE A PERMIT!!! xo

i dream of art

Since my oldest was born I wished we had an art room. A place where we could squirt and brush and glue and splatter and glitter to our heart's content with no splat mat or fear of ruining the couch. Where "keep the brush at the table" wasn't a necessary interruption to their creative flow. There is no such spare room in either our old or new house. But today I discovered this inspired loveliness...

This is the dreamiest thing I've seen. Meri Cherry, an art teacher in LA, created this unreal art studio in her yard for her girls. It's gorgeous. A place where "mess" is not a word or a worry. I love it. I'm so inspired. Does any one else have a brilliant idea for creating a truly "no worries" art space for their kids? I'd love to hear them all... xo

making lemonade

We were in Telluride when The Flood came. Some friends took refuge at our house after being trapped in their Lyons home for 4 days and subsequently saved us from imminent severe damage. They spent 24 round-the-clock hours bailing water out of our basement so that there was only relatively minimal damage. We still haven't replaced the flooring where the carpet was ripped up + my husband spent the better part of 3 weekends replacing moldy drywall by watching how-to videos on YouTube. But we fared much better than many. We were very lucky.

That was in September. This weekend my in-laws came down from the mountains so that my father-in-law could help with the demo. A is doing it himself, partly to save money and partly, I think, because it's sort of fun and pretty gratifying. Plus he got new tools. So they demoed the plumbing, counter tops and vanities in the two bathrooms upstairs. It was hard work, but they had fun and were feeling very satisfied with their accomplishment. Looks good, right?

They went back the next day to finish up and... it was raining from the master bath down two levels into the family room and basement. Yep. My reaction wasn't becoming of a lady... I'm sure we're not the first DIYers to screw a valve a bit too far, but it was pretty shocking to discover.
A BFF who's basement had severe flooding in September (and knows just about everything about everything...) came over to help mitigate the damage. Fortunately we were ripping out the yuck carpet anyway, but weren't really planning on replacing half the ceiling...

In the end, it's really no biggie. Our contractor was compassionate and didn't laugh at us. He loaned us some fans and buckets to help dry the place out. So while the men hauled away drywall and drenched carpet, the boys and I enjoyed an absolutely spectacular sunny day. There was just a little patch of snow left so they used the $.99 hardware store buckets the contractor gave us to make our new foundation. When life gives you lemons, right? xo