Shhh... It's a Surprise!

I am normally really bad at surprising my husband. Seriously. Really bad.

He, on the other hand, is awesome at surprising me. Surprise baby showers, surprise date nights, surprising me on him taking a day off for my birthday, and surprise out of town visitors for the weekend. It's embarrassing how little I've done for him.

But this year I am attempting to make that change! We moved into our new home a week before Easter and less than a month later is my husband's birthday. I figure I could either use that as an excuse to not do something or use it as a decoy to get him off my trail. So I'm surprising him!

It was a football theme, somewhat. I feel silly giving a themed birthday to a grown man, but he loves his Dallas Cowboys and heck, why not give the man a party he would like? Nothing crazy, but if you have to ask yes, I do have a secret Pinterest board for his party. I invited lots of our new friends here and it was a great turnout.

I am naturally an introvert, he is an extravert. He thrives off of big groups of people and talking and networking, I like to read or go thrifting with one, maybe two friends. I am getting out of my comfort zone and invited plenty more people than I initially would've, but this was HIS party and I wanted him to love it.

For decorations I got some Dallas Cowboys paper plates from Party City, a bright green table cloth that will be the "field" for the food. Some large blue bowls and football shaped bowls for chips and fruit salads. I considered these fun football shaped lanterns which I would then relocate to my son's room but I was worried it'd be too kiddish so I played it safe. I was going to get some balloons but time got cut short and I forgot all about it.

I also pinned football shaped party foods (brownies, cookies, cupcake designs, and cake pops) but again, they seemed kiddish. So I made cupcakes with football cupcake liners and blue sprinkles (Dallas colors).

A friend of his took him to see the second Captain America movie while I set up the food and everyone showed up. He was going to pick me up so we could "meet some people for lunch," but that was fake, and "those people" we were "meeting" were already at the party. Ha!

He showed up, was surprised, and loved it. I only got a few photos as I was not only busy hosting the party but I was also busy keeping my 1 year old from being trampled by the older kids running around. 

The day was a big success and lots of fun but boy am I glad it's over! I'm a bad liar and am so happy he had no idea!

 He loved the Dallas plates, of course. 

 After the food was devoured, I can't believe I didn't get a "before!"

 My kids rarely get sweets so she was enjoying herself and sporting her jersey. 

Mmm, frosting is the best. When I was baking them it was 7:30am and she kept asking for a muffin. Poor thing. Mean mommy wouldn't let her have one for breakfast. 

Welcome!

Hello, hello!

A little about me: 

My name is Audrey and I live in the Pacific Northwest, about an hour south of Seattle. I'm a NW native (Oregon), met my husband in Arizona, and we've moved our family to Washington in 2013. He is a Pastor, I am currently working toward real estate in some capacity. We have two children, a daughter and a son. They are only 13 months apart and they are best buddies. 

If you want to know about me I want to be real with you, so ask away! 

What this blog is about:

My hopes for this blog is so I can try to share with you different tips, tricks, decorating ideas & projects, home staging, and (hopefully!) some real estate tips in the future! 

These days there seem to be a bazillion blogs about DIY and "mommy blogs," and though I enjoy those I want to add the twist of real estate. I would love for you to show me your homes and I can give home-staging tips to help with selling and curb appeal tips. Or, if you are currently not moving any time soon, I'd love to explore decorating with you! I'll want YOUR help for my new home, too. Oh, and the best part, on a budget! The best part about decorating (for me, besides having a beautiful room) is achieving the look without spending a fortune. My husband says I'm too cheap, but that's the part of the fun for me. 

If you live in the vicinity of Tacoma/Puyallup/Federal Way/etc maybe I can come to your home and give in-person help and you can be a special feature post. Eh? Ehh? Sounds fun to me. 😉

Tell me about yourself: 

Tell me what YOU want in a blog. I don't want to be here squawking about nothing's, I want to help you achieve a beautiful home and lifestyle on a budget. 

Heat Packs on a Warm Day?

Ah, what a beatiful day here in the beautful Pacific Northwest! It is a gorgeous 81 degrees and I have all my windows open and shorts and a tank top on. I can't even tell you how much I'm loving it.

After I put my kids down to nap I was unpacking a box of sewing supplies I found some fabric scraps. As I was looking through to see what I had (isn't it funny how easy it is to forget what's in your scrap collection?) I found some half-completed projects! And since I do not yet have a sewing table/desk/anything set up I was quite pleased to already have had the sewing completed!

If only I took pictures as I started this project almost a year ago- oh the joys of having our belongings in storage for 11 months- but what I found were fabric rectangles folded in half long ways (or if you think like me, folded "hot dog" style) so that they look like long tubes with a small 1-2 inch opening on one corner. After I flipped them inside out they measured 4inches wide by 18 inches long, but you can adjust the size for whomever you are making this gift. I had used a fat quarter or other miscellaneous fabric scraps I had on hand, just basic 100% cotton, but I've also used flannel and fleece in the past and I prefer the soft fuzziness of flannel just a tad more.

To finish this project all you need to do is funnel some rice into the fabric tube and either hand-stitch or carefully use your machine to sew shut the opening. I measured the amount of rice I poured inside by touch. It ended up being approximately two cups of white rice. I like my heat packs a little heavier and fuller, but that choice is up to you! Due to my lack-of-sewing-machine-set-up I opted to hand stitch it shut.

Voila! You're done! You can either toss this rice bag into the freezer or nuke it in the microwave and you have a hot- or cold- pack!

Here's some other ways you can customize your heat packs:

• Fabric- Cotton, flannel, fleece, etc. 
• Shape- Long and narrow (like I did),  curved to fit shoulders, a shorter and fatter rectangle, smaller (2x2in.) squares for pockets, heart shapes, circles, etc. Also, you can sew addition lines across the bag after you've added some of your filler to keep the filling dispersed evenly and it won't pile up on the ends and be lop-sided.
• Different fillers- beans, rice, flax seeds, lentils, etc.
• Scented- Add dried lavender or other herbs to add some aroma therapy scents. 
• More...? If you have any other things you've tried to make your heat packs let me know!

Here's a link to another tutorial with great photos to help you through, and she even suggested adding loose leaf tea for their scent.

As I grow my blog I will improve my tutorials with photos and more specific instructions, so bear with me!

Thank you for stopping by!

Homemade White Mocha

Today is April 2nd, and no, I have no funny stories of April Fool's Day. I took my 6 month old son to get some shots and a check up and he is 100% healthy. Recently we have switched to a new Pediatrician, previously we were at a family doctor and they were not meeting my expectations of very basic things (terrible waiting times, bad bedside manner, and misdiagnosing my son and causing us to worry thinking he has problems with his eyes, to name a  few). This led us to switch to a place per a friend's recommendation and we love the new practice. Very fast, friendly, and a much better fit for us. The lesson I learned: Don't give so many chances!! Every single visit to this old doctor's office ended with me extremely frustrated and stressed. I understand people make mistakes but I didn't want their mistake to be with my children. We will still be going to that doctor for my husband and myself just not our very young children.

So, back to my son, his eyes are fine, he's a little guy being in the 15th percentile for his age but is growing fine. My daughter was in the 25th percentile so with him being born 1 pound smaller he appears to be right on track with his sissy. Mild case of eczema but very happy and sweet. Yay!

My husband had some meetings after the morning doctor's appointment but both meetings cancelled, so it became an afternoon of family time and topped the day off with pizza. My 20 month old ate just as much pizza as I did! (To quote Michael Scott in the Office, "Everybody loves pizza! Rich people love pizza, poor people love pizza...")

This morning I tried to have some coffee before both kids woke up, but that didn't exactly happen. Hours later I noticed my mostly full mug of coffee was cold. No wonder I was still dragging! Today is a rare day where both kids are napping at the same time, so I decided to make myself a "fancy" cup of coffee. I got the idea here, it's a copy cat white mocha that doesn't involve an espresso machine. It's not exactly the same but it sure hit the spot today.

You will need:
Strong coffee, freshly brewed
2/3 C milk (The original post-er used whole but I used 1%)
1/2 C white chocolate baking chips
Whipped cream
Cinnamon (garnish)
White chocolate shavings (garnish)

Directions:
1. Add milk and chocolate chips to saucepan or double boiler and heat until the chips are melted and milk is hot.

2. While that is melting, start your coffee. (I used my Keurig)

3. Add your melted mixture into your coffee until it reaches the top of your mug. Add whip cream.

4. If desired, add a sprinkle of cinnamon or chocolate shavings.

Makes enough for two lattes or one large latte.


You can always use other flavors of chocolate chips, there are all kinds out there to customize for your preferences! I'm thinking peppermint around Christmas? Caramel? Milk chocolate? Mmmm....

Boots and Booster

Today was very successful! On Facebook I am in some yard sale groups where people can post things they are trying to sell. Usually I am too slow to catch something before a bunch of other people call dibs or say "next," until I am certain I will never get that awesomely priced item. Unless I were to sit at my computer or on my phone all day watching every single post... but that's ridiculous. Even if I didn't have kids, that's crazy. Ha.

But the other day I actually called dibs first on a wonderful pair of brown leather boots! They were originally $190 at Dillard's, but this woman was selling them for $25!! I figured it was too good to be true, but I went over today and they were legit. AND! To make it even crazier of a good deal they were in like-new condition. She might've worn them a handful of times, but here in Arizona where there is no mud the bottoms barely looked dusty. SCORE! She also has a pair of identical style boots that are black that I'm seriously considering going back to get. Oh snap.

And as a little bonus, I also got a pink booster seat for my daughter for $5. She's been in a high chair but now that my son is getting older I'll need to be getting him in that high chair. I guess I could feed them one after the other, but now I'll have the ability to feed them both. Plus I want my daughter to be able to be a big girl and sit in her big girl chair (Cue panic attack that my baby isn't a baby anymore, wahhh....).


On a side note- I'm thinking the pink of the seat will bug me. It's cute and all but it is going to stand out like a sore thumb in my open floor plan kitchen/dining/family room. Maybe I'll spray paint it...? I know there's a brand that is good for using on plastic (Krylon? Maybe?) but I don't want to ruin the chair. What do you think?

How A Soap Pump Made Me Happy

This past weekend I was able to get out of the house by myself for a few hours. That does not sound like much, but with all the chaos of our busy schedule, two babies under 2 years old and all the sicknesses that keep hitting us- it was quite the treat! I was able to wander stores at my own pace (I even walked around Target twice, just because I could! And no, I did not buy a single thing.).

I worked my way down the shopping center and made it to the craft & fabric store where I purchased a canning jar and a bottle of citrus mint scented hand soap ($1 special!). I came home, hopped on my Pinterest "craft ideas" board and got to work on this tutorial. She used a foaming soap pump so do not feel limited to the standard kind.

I got a hammer and a Philips's head screwdriver, made extremely rough measurements on the lid for my jar, and started poking holes in the form of a circle. I used needle nose pliers to bend and shape the circle a little smoother and rounder.

Then I poured the soup out of it's plastic container into the jar so I could cut the top of the container apart. I only took off the very top, where the pump attaches to the rest of the container. I popped that into my jar lid hole, hot glued it together, put the lid on the glass jar and screwed on the soap pump. That was it! Took me maybe 10 minutes which included both gathering my supplies and my one-and-a-half year old daughter pulling my pants down (literally... she's in the stage where she wants to pull me around with her, so down went my sweats!).

I don't like the clear plastic pump with the silver lid so I'm going to spray paint them to match. 

The soap is yellow and looks pretty in the glass jar and smells like summer! It's a little early for summer scents with it only being March, but down in Arizona my Oregonian brain says anything above 65 degrees is summer.

I wish I took pictures as I made this to help you see how I did it.... I guess that means I'll have to make another! ;) This project is cute, easy, fast, and would make a cute gift! I want to make one for my dish soap and one for both of my bathrooms now. :)

And don't limit yourself to soap! You could also do hand sanitizer (cute teacher gift???) or lotions as well. Anything that has a pump can be transformed to be much cuter to have sitting on your counter! And you can do a web search for printable labels or find some at your local craft store, or anywhere that sells canning jars. Pinterest is always a good place to look as well. If giving away, a simple bow tied around the lid would be cute... I'm thinking gingham or perhaps twine would be pretty and simple.