Nesting? A good excuse for a kitchen makeover.

I could blame it on nesting, but I would be lying. I have wanted to give my kitchen a makeover ever since we moved in.

A little background: We purchased our home two years ago. It was a bank repo and what some would call "a house with potential," others would just call it a disaster. The first time we toured the house, we were appalled. Who, in their right mind, would choose to pair forest green carpet with red walls and mint green tile? Maybe in a future post I'll share the before and after shots of the rest of our home. But for now, a look at my new kitchen makeover. 

It wasn't a remodel—we opted for a more economical refresh.  Basically, painting the existing oak cabinets white and adding hardware. Simple enough right? NOT! For anyone who is interested in doing a similar makeover, the hardest part is picking the right color white for the cabinets. No matter what your husband tries to tell you: WHITE IS NOT JUST WHITE! There are so many variations, shades and undertones. And the shade that looks fabulous in the paint store, looks awful in your home. For a month, we lived with about 40 rotating paint chips taped to the cabinets. On them, I wrote down my favorites based on time of day (the sun and time of day make certain whites turn funky shades of green or yellow or pink) and finally narrowed it down to about a dozen.

After much internal debate, and purchasing 8 samples of the whites I had narrowed it down to, I settled on a Sherwin Williams grey hued white: Aesthetic White (#7035). We are very happy with the almost-final result. We need to add a backsplash at some point, but I am resigned to waiting a while for that. …. One project at a time!


Before: Light oak cabinets, Matt routed out four of the cabinet doors for glass to open it up a bit.

During: The painters masked off the entire kitchen and sanded, primed, sanded and painted in three days.

Almost there: It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! Matt added molding to the island for architectural detail.

And the hardware is on: We chose basic round, brushed nickel knobs and matching pulls. The hardware on the island are a little more kitschy—vintage pulls from Anthropologie.

Golden Birthday in Napa

Here's the situation: My little sister Nicole celebrates her golden birthday this year--25 on the 25th of July.  My momma likes to plan a girls-getaway for our 25th birthdays.  A girls-getaway on July 25th might be kinda tough with a little boy relying on me for survival and nourishment.

Here's the solution: Early girls-getaway to Napa!  We celebrated over a month early, but I am so glad that we were able to make it happen.  What is better than a weekend of beautiful women, beautiful places, amazing food, relaxing by the pool and massages at the spa?  

Happy early birthday Nicole!

the four pics above: Rutherford Hill Winery

the three pics above: Opus One Winery

above: Auberge du Solei

I haven't been feeling well in the middle of the night, and wake up pretty grumpy.  

I'm grumpy about two seconds though, because..... 

I wake up to my sweet husband kissing me goodbye, softly on the cheek.  

I wake up to a miracle slowly moving around in my belly.  

I wake up to glimmers of light shining through my shutters, illuminating my beautiful home.  

I wake up to the knowledge that God gave his Son for me and that I have abundant life in Him.

No matter how bad the night is, hope comes in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)  THANK YOU JESUS for all you have given me.  

the last three weeks...

A couple weeks ago, I was telling people that there was no way that my stomach could expand any more.  Whether it was wishful thinking or delusion, I was convinced that I would spend the last month of my pregnancy frozen in size at 35 weeks.  I must have been delusional....

Here I am at 35 weeks... big, but not too big...

and at 36 weeks... bigger and looking like it was a long day...

and 37.5 weeks....YIKES!  I better go lather it up with the second coat of cocoa butter lotion right now!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Fathers Day to the best dad and the best soon to be dad.  Here's a pic of them (+my lil bro) from yesterday.

It is a good thing that my huz loves cars as much as my daddy-o.  We spent five hours at a Chevy car show and they were in heaven.  Happy Father's Day to both of you.  Love you!

Getting Ready...

The nursery is done, the hospital bags are packed and now we are waiting.  How long?  I have no idea.  But the car seat is in!  Happy Father's Day Matt!

House Guests

One of my best friends from college, Lindsay, came to visit me with her two daughters a couple weeks ago.  Aren't her girls the cutest things ever?   Just like in college, we spent time shopping at the mall and eating McDonald's french fries.  Unlike college, we also walked to the park to swing and changed diapers.  It is such a blessing to have great friends that grow with you through all the stages of life.

We had a fantastic time and I loved seeing Matt "in action" with the kids.  He is going to be a great daddy.  I just cant wait to see him with Baby K.

BABYMOON!!

Every expecting couple needs a "Babymoon."   What better excuse for a vacation that the impending thought that it "will never be just the two of you again."  As much as we are itching with excitement for Baby K to arrive, we knew that some relaxing, alone time was in order.

I tried to convince Matt that Hawaii or Cabo would be the right location, but he was too worried that I might go into early labor.   Or at least, that was what he said.  I think he was more concerned about the cost of a big vacation like that.  So, we chose Tahoe instead and it was a great choice.  The weather was perfect!  It had snowed the week before, so the mountain tops were capped, but the sun was out for us all weekend.  It was so warm that I was able to let my big belly debut, poolside in a bikini (sorry to disappoint, but that photo will not be uploaded to the blog).

Sleeping in, massages, movies and yummy food....all with the hottest husband and soon to be dad on the planet.  Perfect babymoon weekend!