Featured at Beneath my Heart

Holy painted tables, Batman! The wonderful Traci from Beneath My Heart featured my little green table as one of the best DIY in July projects! Yayness!



You really couldn't find a sweeter lady than Traci out there in blogland, and she's crazy talented, too, so I am very psyched to have been featured on her blog.

I got a new project my husband and I (and my oldest) worked on these past few days, so I'll tell you all about it soon - have a great Tuesday!

New towels!

I know, I know, so very exciting. But you see, we haven't bought new towels in about, oh, 6 years? My husband had his, I had mine, we didn't register for them, and aside from some towels we have received as gifts, we've been using the same old, same old.

Then!

World Market had some on clearance - 50% off - that I thought would look smashing in my yellow bathroom, and I had one of their '$10 off/purchase of $30 or more' coupons, i.e. 33% off. I lie. I had TWO of their coupons, one from a flyer I get in the mail, and one because I signed up for their Explorer program. Go sign up, it's free.

Mine are the Jade Green Quito striped towels and I LOVE how they look with my warm yellow walls and our newly painted chocolate brown fixtures - my hubby did that for me and I love how it looks:


I got to debut my new towels for a lovely family get together we had on Saturday. My beloved Auntie and Uncle from Peru are in town and I had the pleasure of having them over for the afternoon. We had tamales (sold by a sweet old man who comes by every two weeks), lasagna, and a sinful dessert concoction that was too rich for words.

Then the next day I had an allergy attack like I haven't had in months. Boo. I sneezed all day long and felt like crap warmed over. Thank goodness it lasted its usual one day and on Sunday I was feeling much better.

Hope you had a great long weekend!

Beautiful nail

No, not that place where they make your finger go like dat! I mean the wonderful package of nail goodness I got in the mail from my college friend Carina and Overall Beauty.

The nail color I won is called Glampyre - I mean, how am I supposed to resist? I won it in Carina's giveaway but really, it's a gorgeous color and I would have so hunted it down otherwise, just look at it:
My nails are crap right now, so these are pics from Carina's blog. And her manicures are so much better than mine!

I also received from Overall Beauty a pedicure set, a gorgeous mineral eye shadow, and some sweet nail art.

After all my work jazzing up my office area, I'm going to get some pampering done - have a great weekend!

On Friday, we harvested . . .

Did you know "grabbling" means digging around for baby potatoes? Yep, it's not "grabbing", but "grabbling. On Friday, we got our first new potato and 9 strawberries. I would post some pictures here, except we ate them before I could get the camera.

It was joyful, my oldest boy and I, giggling as we found more strawberries to eat, him with the bowl yelling at me to give them the berries, and me jumping from raised bed to raised bed, trying not to step on anything too scary.

Did you know there is such a thing as white broccoli? I didn't. Good thing I googled it because I was about to go yell at the nursery people because I thought they'd sold me cauliflower instead of broccoli.

We have two bell peppers in our near future, tons of plums and pears growing on the trees, and hopefully some tomatoes down the road.

Hope your Monday is a fabulous one!

Spring setting

We had the pleasure of having my in-laws over for dinner on Monday night - we try to have dinner together once a week, as much as our crazy lives allow!
I recently made a set of napkins out of a pretty yellow cotton fabric - I love them!

Not only are they better to use than paper napkins but the color makes me happy. I paired them with round placemats from IKEA - don't they look pretty and spring-y?
I only got 4 placemats because I wasn't sure I'd like them but since I love them I am going to get some more. I made 16 napkins since we host holidays, it was super easy and I am happy not to be using paper napkins any more!

What I've been doing

I've been feeling like lightening up my home with some spring-y blues and greens. A couple of trips to Michaels and IKEA helped in that endeavor.

These candles got glammed up with some flowers - $2.99 for six at Michaels - and ribbon.
The center one is on one of my yellow ramekins from World Market.

We've had this lovely glass vase since our wedding - we used it for cards with good wishes our guests wrote. After, it languished in the master bathroom for almost eight years. Then I saw this on the PB website.
I got a fake plant (because our dining room is so dark it wouldn't be fair to a poor real plant) and I love how it looks, flanked by my beloved Fleur-de-Lis candlesticks.

With the help of one of my new BFFs, Valspar's Everglad Glen spray paint, I brought a frame into the spring season.
This is one of my all-time favorite pics of my boys together.

Last week I was super inspired by Kimba's Map Decor link party and did this:
The lantern is from IKEA (I also have one in light green) and the tray was paint sprayed with another new favorite, Valspar's Exotic Sea. I love the combination of the bold turquoise with the muted map print and the white lantern.

So that's my mini Spring-a-looza tour - I am currently working on a long project that involves lots and lots - and lots - of fabric. Stay tuned!

Oh shit!

I was getting this post ready when I realized I broke my Lent promise not to purchase craft materials. I lasted a big whooping THREE DAYS before I broke my word. At least it wasn't on purpose.

On Saturday, my mother-in-law took my boys (and my husband) to the San Francisco Zoo to see the baby hippo. I took advantage of it by changing up a few things and doing some deep cleaning around the house.

A while back I ordered some antique maps of Lima, where I grew up.
They now grace my entryway.

This pretty butterfly paper was one of the things I purchased that broke my Lent promise.
But it looks so pretty! :D

I posted a few weeks ago about a dino-pendant I liked . . .
. . . and I found a dino charm at Michaels soon after, so I made this little bracelet. It has an Eiffel Tower and a Fleur de Lis, AND a dino in honor of my boy!

These are the other papers I bought that broke my Lent promise:
This is my Easter-themed bookcase top.

And here is my mantel, de-winterized and green-ed up for Spring! I'll add some Easter goodies as I get them, too.
I found the cute little green bud vase way in the back of a bookcase shelf. I'm glad I looked!

March madness

I will never, ever, rival my college friend Carina's masses of nail polish, I'm sure, but I felt like a little green goodness was needed:
I love this shade, it's a cheapie $2 Sally Hansen color called Ivy League I got at Tarjay the other day.