Texas House : Dining Room

I mentioned in my last past that I'm confused about the "boob light area" because I have a dining room.

Here's what it looked like with their stuff :

And here's what it looks like with ours :

I still need to 'finish' some things in there, but I'm not exactly sure what I want.  I'd like something to flank that pottery barn mirror on either side (It was our house warming present to ourselves.  I am all about DIY, but we had a coupon and free shipping and working with mirrors on a DIY project with Kalia just kind of seemed like a nightmare!).

You can barely see a glimpse of Kalia's bench through the hallway there.  You walk into the house, see Kalia's playroom (that's coming up soon!), then the dining room, then you walk into the kitchen.

The buffet needs to have something up on the walls above it too, but what I have leaning against it works for now.  At the old house we had a mirror above it, but that seemed like overkill on mirrors here.

I leave the dining room table set because it makes me happy.  I got these napkins and placemats from Serena and Lily a little while back on clearance (pretty sure they're still there!) and they tie in with the pillows on our two chairs in our living room, so I feel like it helps the house 'flow' a little bit better.

So that's it, our dining room.  See why I'm confused about the boob light area off of the kitchen?

Happy Friday guys!  I'm training for a half marathon right now, so my only plans for this weekend are to not die of heat exhaustion while running 9 miles in the morning!  This Texas heat thing is no joke!  I have some projects in mind that I'd like to get started on, but I'm generally pretty wiped from my long runs.  And Kalia.  Kalia wears me out too!  So we shall see!

Hope yall have a great weekend!

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Texas House : Kitchen

I didn't make it a month with the kitchen the way it was before my paintbrush came out and I started going gray (Moonshine by BM).

The way it was before was entirely too busy for me.  The star of the show should be the cabinets, granite, and the backsplash.  There was no need for all of the faux gold / beige paint.  It's not BAD, it's just not us.

This is the main kitchen area.  Then there's a single pendant light that hangs down over I have no idea what's supposed to be there.  I call it the giant boob light.  Chris says he likes it.  Shocker!

Just past the giant boob light is the eat in kitchen area with a chandelier.  We have a dining room too.  So yeah, the giant boob light area confuses me.

Here's a view of the whole thing from the kitchen cabinet point of view :

 And another from our kitchen table point of view.

Besides being too busy, it was entirely too dark for me too.  I like things bright and airy.  I know, show you the after's already...

First up, our eating area.

I haven't painted the ceilings yet, but it bugs me as is, so I'm sure I'll get around to it before too long.  Ceilings are such a workout though!  I can't decide if I want to go a lighter gray or a lighter blue or just mix it up at least for just the eating area and do a dark blue.  Sort of like this picture.  as I've mentioned before, the trim and shutters are all a cream / off-white, so white is out.

 I have three little vases that I leave on the table.  Kalia and I go pick flowers to put in there.  And then she talks about them nonstop!  I got them from Antro on clearance awhile back.

The crossed ski's and pictures, as well as that HART sign I re-made found their home here in this house.

So did the key art I made.

The kitchen might as well be another playroom for Kalia.  I keep her toys all over the place in here to keep her occupied when I'm cutting up stuff or doing oven stuff that could hurt her.  She is definitely a little helper, but there are times when it's safer for those little hands of hers to be occupied elsewhere!

Under the boob light is a little craft table and two chairs and a bench.  It's the only thing that makes sense there to me.

There are placemats on the table because Kalia is boycotting her high chair, and the big table is a little scary with how much she wiggles around, so we ALL eat at this table.

There is a paper roll to the right of it, and those little drawers hold play doh and coloring books.  She loves this little table!!  It's an two year old pottery barn table (they don't even make that big of one anymore, it's 54"), and we bought it off of craigslist.  There was marker all over it and it was sort of dirty, but nothing a little elbow grease and a magic eraser pad couldn't take care of.  Chris didn't want to buy it initially, and then was like "Wow!!  We got the deal of the century!!  How come they didn't do that BEFORE they sold it??!  They could've gotten a TON more for this!!" It pretty much looks as good as new, cept it's already broken in.  Love that Craig and his ingenious list!!

Oh, and another thing the magic eraser is great at is cleaning grout.  I got down and scrubbed the brown grout until it turned gray.  It was an arm workout, but not as bad as I thought it would be!

Before :

Exact same tiles after :

Amazing!!!  The Target brand worked just as well too, fyi!

The view from the kitchen sink :

 The view OF the kitchen sink :

and the view from the fridge :

No, all of that fruit isn't there for staging.  We eat A LOT.  All of us, including Kalia.  Ask anyone that has had us over for dinner.  We are GOOD eaters.  Hey, at least it's healthy!

I keep another few baskets of toys under this side of the island too.  Can't keep anything there that isn't Kalia friendly, so rather than fighting to keep her little hands out of things, I just give them something to do!

I said I wasn't going to paint these cabinets, but the more I live with them, the more I want to change something up.  The paint job is good enough for now though!  What do you guys think?

Happy Monday!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

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Behind the Scenes : How do I like Texas?

I get asked the above question a lot.  By almost every single person I tell that we just moved here from Florida.  I guess it's natural, but my answer is a lot more complicated than the casual aquantances I've met so far really want to hear.  Or at least I'm guessing so.

So, how do I like Texas?

Let's start with the obvious.  (Yes, random family pictures of mostly Kalia are going to pop up throughout this post that make absolutely no sense because it's a sin to have a post without pictures, and she is just too darn cute to not share!)

The weather.

recent trip out to San Fran.

It's wonky so far.  You have to understand that I was born and raised in Florida.  The coldest place I'd ever lived was Gainesville, FL.  I owned a pair of jeans and two sweat shirts when I went to college.  I'm used to warm, midly hot, hot, extremely hot, and there's a hurricane coming type of weather.

so proud of herself for emptying out the wipes container...oiy.

I was freezing when we came up here in April for our house hunting trip and only had jeans and a sweater, no jacket.  April ... cold?  What??

Kalia and I arrived at temporary living April 26th.  That gave us a good solid week of normal sometimes cool sometimes enjoyable weather.  Then the tornadoes came.  And we were in a rickety apartment.  The weather people told us to head to our storm shelter and put our cars in the garage.  Umm...what's a storm shelter?  I'm used to having hurricane parties because everything shuts down for DAYS before the storm arrives and DAYS after it leaves.  The whole "you've got 5 minutes, there's a crazy thing coming up, RUN!!!" with an almost 2 year old and an anxious yellow lab who hates any rain storms was kind of freaky.  And even though this is a mild summer, it is HOT HOT HOT here!

And I hated the apartment.  That didn't help, although that really has nothing to do with Texas.  The maintenance guys would just come in without giving you a call ahead to say they were coming.  Then they started showing up in multiples.  I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 3 grown men to fix a drainage issue in the bathtub.  I felt vulnerable and so so alone in that apartment.  When I went for jogs, I'd see weird people in the woods next to the jogging path, and that totally freaked me out too, so I stopped doing that as well.

So the first month I went to a bad place.  I knew nobody here, most stay at home Mom's aren't in apartments so I didn't meet anyone at the apartment complex, and Kodi and Kalia were pretty freaked out by the apartment, so I didn't really do as much exploring as I would've liked to with Kalia.  She is such a strict schedule kinda gal too, which makes just getting up and exploring rather hard.  Oh, and I didn't have a smart phone when I first got there, and my only computer was packed away in storage.  So I had no internet access until Chris came home from work to look up what to do either.

Should've probably stopped this prior to getting the pic - oh well!

And I went to a bad place.  Which means I shut down.  I tried to not shut down with Kalia, but she's a smart little girl and I know she picked up on a lot of it.  I tried to be fun and cheery and the best I could for her, but that was probably about 30% of the normal me, which wasn't fair to her.

Again, nothing to do with Texas.

Then we moved into our house.  My MIL came, I got to go on a date night with Chris for our anniversary, I got to get our home setup to be a home instead of just a place we lived, and I felt good.  I literally felt this huge weight just lifted.  I ventured all over the place to meet people.  Pools, parks, our neighborhood...anywhere someone returned a smile, I talked to them and told them we were new and knew no one and almost every time that someone got my number or email and got in touch with me inviting us out to go do this or go do that.

My funk lifted, Kalia's didn't.  That month that I closed up in the apartment and just talked to her, she closed up and just talked to Chris and I too.  And she's old enough to really really miss her old friends and neighbors and old activities we used to do, but not old enough to understand why we can't do them anymore or see those people every day or every week like we used to.  So she stopped talking to anyone other than people she knew, which after my MIL left, consisted of Chris and I.

She would cry when other kids would talk to her and cling to one of us like they were monsters.  If we pushed, she bawled crying.  It's pretty hard to make friends with people when you're child is crying because they look at her or heaven forbid talk to her.

And I felt terrible.  I felt like such a bad Mom...I felt like I failed in explaining things or preparing her for all of the change that was about to take place.  I felt selfish for closing up in that apartment.

Again, nothing to do with Texas.

Here's the problem.  I have an amazing group of friends.  I am so so blessed to have the quality and quantity of girl friends that I do.  All but two of them lived in the Tampa Bay area with me.  One of them even moved TO Tampa the month or so before I left.  My best friend since 4th grade lives there with her husband who I was good friends with in high school and college.  We played volleyball together, from junior high until I moved to Texas.  My old neighbors were some of the most amazing people.  They became my family.  One of them came WITH US to our volleyball games to watch Kalia for MONTHS until I felt comfortable leaving Kalia at home without us.  Who does that?  Who does that that isn't your Mom or sisters anyways??  And speaking of them, even though no one lived in our area, all of our family was a car ride away.  We could be there in a few hours (a little bit more than a few for Chris's family, but still easily driveable), and now we're pushing it to make it to see just Chris's folks and his brothers family by car.  My family is most definitely a plane ride.  And so are all of our friends.

And I didn't realize how hard it was to actually meet friends when you have a child.  I've made exactly one new friend since Kalia's birth.  She has become one of my very best friends, but just one.  Sure, I've made acquaintances, but not the same as the girls you call to vent and laugh and cry and go for coffee or a drink or have over when you're in your pj's and no makeup on.  I had an entire handful of those girls in Tampa, and most of them had kids around Kalia's age.  She had real friends that she has grown up with and that she really misses.

So I guess what I'm saying is that Texas people are some of the nicest people that I've ever met.  They're warm and caring and generous and welcoming.  And I miss my friends.  A lot.  And so does Kalia.

I love how outdoorsy Texas is, I love how everywhere I turn there is parks and playgrounds and community activities.  I love that all of my neighbors here brought us welcoming food and made it a point to introduce themselves.  I love that there are kids everywhere here.

I really miss my friends and my old neighborhood and the close proximity of our family though.

I knew well before I shared with anyone that we were leaving Florida.  The jobs just weren't there, and if I'm afforded the luxury of being able to do what I want and what makes me happy, and I can do that anywhere, my husband deserves to do what he loves and makes him happy as well.  I was so excited and optimistic about the move.  I looked at it as a gift.  Everywhere I've lived, I've made new friends, and everywhere I've gone, I've taken them with me.  Regardless of if they lived there or not.  So it's a gift that I get to make more friends and keep the ones I have.

It's hard too though.  Because you don't make those friends over night or over a few months.  Those types of friendships take awhile to develop.  I've never lived anywhere where I knew zero people outside of my immediate family.  I always had a base that I grew on.  Texas is starting from ground zero.

And I know they'll come.  I know those friendships will come, and I know Kalia will recover and grow and learn from this too.  I know that it'll unite us as a family closer because we only have each other to hold onto.  One of my friends told me the other day that I have to get out without Kalia.  That I need to take a Mommy break for myself, or to go hang out with one of my new friends I've made.  Another one told me that it's fine for me to be the only friend to a 2 year old, but it is not fine for my only friend to be a 2 year old.  I miss those friends.  They're here, they're just not here. 

I realize I sound whiney.  I promise not to be all the time on any future behind the scenes posts, but this is just real.  Just raw.  Just me.

I know, buck up Kara.

Kalia started talking to kids again on the 4th of July.  Slowly at first, just the boy across the street.  But she's gradually talked to a few more kids, and we've even had new friends over for a playdate and been to their house for a playdate.  She takes about an hour to warm up, but she's getting there.  Adults are no go's though.  Except for the Mom of the new friends and the little boy's parents across the street.  We talk about it a lot.  She tells me she's scared of people.  I tell her I'm always here and they're not scary and she can hold my hand extra tight, but that we need to start talking to people again.  She's making progress.  We're making friends.

So, I like Texas.  I just really miss my friends! I guess the moral of my story is: if my friends were crappier, my life would be easier right now!  :-)

I'll be back later this week to share kitchen pictures, so stay tuned for that!  Happy hump day guys!

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Texas House : Kalia's Nursery Suite

For many of you, Kalia's nursery was what brought you over to my blog in the first place.  Here it is at our last house :

And here's what it started with there :

Yeah, about a million times better.  Maybe 2 million.  We did so many DIY projects in there, it was definitely a labor of love.

Kalia hasn't adjusted so well to the move.  We were in an apartment for a month, which was so confusing to her.  She's at that awkward age where she remembers stuff, knows what she wants, but can't exactly express it or her emotions that she's feeling.  The first time she talked to any other little kid since the first week of us being here was the 4th of July.  She still won't talk to adults.

So, we knew it was so important to get her room set up just the way it was before asap.  We were so so thankful that my MIL came to help out with the move.  It allowed us to paint Kalia's room prior to the movers showing up with our stuff (walls moonshine by benjamin moore and closet lucerne by benjamin moore), and on day 2 of living there, get everything on the walls the exact way it was before.  Here's what we started with.  Much better than the above before picture!

And here's what it looks like when you walk in :

I did say previously that those bookshelves would stay if we ever left our Florida house.  I never really thought we'd leave when I said that though.  They came with us.

The wall here is a little bit smaller so we had to cut them down by about 8 inches.  I think they're my most favorite thing still.

The ABC wall is Kalia's favorite.  She asked for it nonstop when we were in the apartment.  When we moved here that was the first thing she asked for "ABC's on the wall!!!".  Chris didn't really want to put 26 more holes in the wall, but Kalia and I outnumber him!

Here is the view from Kalia's closet on the other side of the room.

I realize the curtains look like high-waters.  They work for now, and I really do love the curtains, just wish they were longer.  I'll probably sew something on there when they start to bother me too much.  When she's ready for her big girl bed, one of the daybeds will go where the dresser is, and the dresser will move to the other wall.  I still don't love the cream trim, and all of my accents are white though.  If I win the lottery I'll pay someone to paint all of the doors, shutters, and trim white.  Gotta get on playing first!

We built the bookshelves, dresser, and the K with my maternity pictures of Kalia on there. All of that is linked up in Kalia's initial nursery tour here.

Here's the view to the left of the crib.

You can see the picture frame with fabric and mini clothes pins I did for her before she was born.  I want to hang them closer together, they bug me as is.  We spaced them a little bit too far apart.

Kalia's closet was "prettier" at the last house, but she's got more room with it here.  She loves that little mirror down there, and it's anchored on with a nail on either side, so I'm not worried about it going anywhere.  That's the toy box we built for her along with the no sew cushion I made.

Across from her room is her bathroom.  She loves the big tub in our bathroom, so I haven't touched this room yet.  I imagine it'll stay pretty plain for a little while, although she was begging me to get these bobble headed monkeys for her bathroom decor at bed, bath, and beyond the other day.  Already?!

So that's it!  Kalia's nursery.  What do you guys think?  It's still one of my favorite rooms in the house!   It is funny / odd to me that the moonshine gray color reads more blue in this house than in the last one.  I don't know if that's because the ceilings are all painted that almond color or just different light or what.  It's so different how almost every ceiling in the Texas houses that we looked at were painted the same as the wall color.  I had that same gray in Kalia's room, the in-law suite, the laundry room, our bathroom, and the half bath at the old house and it definitely didn't have a blue hue to it in any of those rooms.  Funny how paint does that!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Happy Monday!

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