"During" Along...

We ("we") are still chugging along on the master bathroom. James' dad is coming back down next weekend, so I am confident that it will completed then! For now, here is an update on how it looks:

This will be this shower. Nice and big and roomy!

Another vantage point of the shower. It will be surrounded in beadboard:

Here is the beautiful carrera (sp?) marble, which will go on the bathroom floor, and the shower walls:

And here is one of the two pedestal sinks:

And the oiled bronze fixtures that I am obsessed with.

I think the dark oiled bronze fixtures will look super-sharp against the white of the porcelain sinks and carrera marble.

To be continued! (finished...)

Guest Appearance

Everyone likes a good before and after! Namely me. Since my house is currently stuck in a "before" holding pattern (with maybe a few "durings" thrown in), I thought I'd showcase Katie and her husband Steve's lovely recent transformation of their living room with plantation shutters and a navy accent wall.

"BEFORE" they had brown and yellow curtains that they had inherited from the builder:

Now, "AFTER," they have beautiful clean, sunny, white plantation shutters:

So pretty, and of course, so "preppy" :)

They also painted the wall above their fireplace a deep, rich navy blue. Love the way it looks with the brick! Also love Katie's masterful mantle arrangement.

Thanks Katie for allowing me to share!

Bathroom in Progress...

The boys are all hard at work on the bathroom...

Bathrooms

As James and his dad are busy putting together our master bathroom, I am doing my part by finding examples of bathroom I like. How helpful am I!!!

I love this wall which kind of looks like clapboard siding. I also love the dresser which has been converted to a vanity.

I love beadboard. I can't decide on the height I like though. This looks like it's around 5 feet tall. Kinda nice...

This is very similar to what we want to do. Beadboard approximately 4 feet tall, 2 pedestal sinks (with backsplash!), and mirrored medicine cabinets above each sink.

More beadboard..

What I like here is the shelf at around 4 feet.

I like just about everything in this picture. The carrera marble, the beadboard shelves, the faucets, and of course, the hydrangeas. Every room should always have a bouquet of hydrangeas as far as I am concerned.

I am not sure what I am looking at here. This bathroom looks like it's in a cave. And yet... I like it! Maybe our next house should be a cave?

Oh, There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays...

There really is no place like home for the holidays. We had a whirlwind of a holiday week, and I wouldn't have changed a second of it! We arrived late on Saturday, and Sunday morning I met my girlies Sara, Giuly, and Cathy for our new tradition, Splash brunch.

The food was amazing, and the dessert... mmmmm

Following brunch I headed into the city for a C/D Heidelberg dinner. The Heidelberg is an old fashioned German restaurant, and for the Christmas season it is bedecked in authentic Teutonic decorations. Going to the restaurant during Christmas is a C/D tradition, and a great tradition it is! (C/D are the initials of James' family, which is my understanding should not be broadcast on the internet).

We all had a great time! The beer and conversation were flowing, and everyone was in great spirits!

Monday night we celebrated the second day of Chanukkah. Here is the beautiful Chanukkah table set by my mom:

Guy was in charge of the latkes, and did not disappoint! They were to die for!

The food was amazing, and we all had such a great time!

On Tuesday I went down to New Jersey, and met Michellie's Mia June Kelly for the first time:

Wednesday was Christmas Eve dinner, and here is the beautiful Christmas table set by James' mom:

And Thursday was Christmas!

I received the absolute most beautiful earrings and necklace from James!

A thank you smooch for Jimmy!

I can't believe this is already my fourth Christmas with James' family!

Friday my mom and I met Katie for lunch at the Hunt Club. We both agreed that if she wasn't in Hoboken and I wasn't in Houston, but instead we were both in Connecticut, we would eat lunch at the Hunt Clube, like, ALL the time.

After lunch we went Marley and Me (very cute, total tear-jerker!) and then went to meet the rest of the girls at the Wineknot.

Cath and I wanted to grab some sushi, and so ran over to Fin (the best sushi restaurant EVER). We also clearly had one too many glasses of wine...

And that was the week! PHEW!

Lights in the Heights

Since moving to the Heights we are always hearing about "Lights in the Heights." How it's the event of the year, and it's not to be missed. Well, last night we finally got to experience "Lights in the Heights" and it absolutely lived up to the hype!

Unfortunately, my pictures do not do the scene any justice. All of the houses were impeccably decorated to the nines, and lights were strewn along all the trees lining the streets. This is the best picture I have... Lights just do not photograph well (at least not for me).

Our neighbors threw an "ugly sweater" party, but I waited until the last minute to look for an ugly sweater, and of course couldn't find one. I did, however, find this adorable red vest at Target, and the Christmas hawaiian shirt that I found for James along with the red track jacket were plenty tacky for the two of us.

Our neighbors Pat, Alex, and Ryan went all out! LOVE the Christmas spirit!

James and our neighbor Matt bearing Christmas treats.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Xmas...

As Christmas is fast approaching, the house is finally all decked out for the holiday season!

And unbelievably enough, it actually SNOWED in Houston yesterday!

Our lovely tree lights up the whole house and makes it feel oh-so-cozy

And of course, here is Audie posing nicely in front of the tree:

Okay, I lied. He wasn't posing so much as getting in my way of taking pictures of the tree, but the pic above somehow ended up looking cute. This, however, is what the rest looked like:

Sunday Dinner

This weekend was about all things Christmas, and Sunday night dinner turned out to be no exception. James prepared spicy shrimp sauteed in oil, and butternnut sqash with brown sugar. Not only was it absolutely delicous, but the shrimp dish was also the right colors!

To make the spciy shrimp, just sautee the garlic, dried arbol (or other spicy) peppers, onion, and parsley in olive oil. Add shrimp, and put over pasta. And enjoy!

Bathrom Vanity

I am now on a mission to find the perfect double vanity for our master bath. We are looking for
the perfect mix of minimalist, but with lots of room for storage.

Winter Wonderland (sneak peak)

We haven't quiet finished decorating the house, so I will wait until that is done in order to post house pics. But as a sneak peak here are some pics of our little Winter Wonderland...