Watermelon Gorgonzola Salad

August 5, 2018 by 2 Comments

 

Watermelon is undeniably a summer staple.

I love to serve a bowl of diced watermelon with our weekend breakfasts that are less hurried and roll more into brunch.

Or with juicy beef ribs and a big green salad.

Or try something new like adding cheese and basil.

I have seen different variations on this, some with bacon, some without.  

Some have grapes or dried pieces of fruit too.

I thought I would keep it as simple as possible and incorporate a couple sweet things, something a little tangy like the Gorgonzola. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Recipes, Salads, Summer

The perfect Paloma

July 31, 2018 by 2 Comments

We have had such a warm summer here in the Pacific North West this year.

Many days in the upper 90’s and the evenings don’t seem to cool down fast enough.

But, it’s the kind of weather that the big pots of petunia’s flourish in, and tomatoes take over, so we love it.

The perfect kind of weather for a perfectly refreshing drink.

I have to admit, until we had a get together recently and I was looking for a few new recipes to try, I had not heard of a Paloma.

I am typically not a big mixed drink person typically because they are too sweet and syrup-ey, and I feel like I just consumed a dessert.

 

 

Experimenting with a few different variations, I came up with a good balance of tequila, lime juice and ruby red grapefruit juice (I like ruby red as it does not have the tartness that regular grapefruit juice has.)

We have been painting the deck and covered patio on our new house all weekend, and the reward after a long day in the heat is blessed shade with your feet up and a hard days work behind you.

And, sometimes….a perfect Paloma. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Entertaining, Recipes, Summer

We bought a house + our living room reveal!

July 21, 2018 by 4 Comments

 

For the past ten years I have rented the home we lived in.

It was a lovely home with lots of memories, but we were ready to begin a new chapter.

So we looked a lot online first, and wanting to keep the kids in the same school limited our area.

The real estate market right now is pretty fierce here in the Pacific North West, and more than once we found something, scheduled a time to look at it, and it went pending before we could see it.

We realized that we would need to know exactly what we wanted and be ready to submit an offer quickly when we found “the one.”

Only actually walking thru two homes, the second we immediately knew was what we were looking for.

We found a mid-century modern home built in 1978 on 1/3 of an acre.  A huge piece of land in our area, with all the space we need and lots of room to grow and add on if we want to someday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Boho Style, Decorating, DIY

Boho vibe summer front porch

June 4, 2018 by 12 Comments

Hi friends!

I am super excited to share my recently refreshed outdoor space for our front porch.  It’s kind of a wonky narrow area so you cant really lose your mind with big pieces.  

But before I get into that, I want to thank Katrin from Kreativ K for putting together this fun Outdoor Space hop.  If you are not following Katrin and her gorgeous boho-scandi blog, make sure you start, she so creative!

While there are some exciting changes happening behind the scenes while we house-hunt, I still have to have my porch ready for summer.  Am I ready for summer? Not so much hah, but at least my porch is rocking a global vibe full of plants and pretty colors.

 

Boho style outdoor area

 

I find myself flip flopping every few years between a bolder, brighter color palate and a soft, light, neutral color palate.

Lately, everything mid century modern and indie/boho has been making me swoon, so I guess it’s good that I like a super eclectic home and I am not tied to one theme.  I am fairly certain this began on an extremely tight budget many years ago, and since I still love to thrift, I have kept going and never questioned what I like.

So, onto the front porch space. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Boho Style, DIY, Thrifty Living

DIY Geometric Succulent Wreath and the worst quilt ever

May 29, 2018 by 21 Comments

modern wreath, diy wreath, succulent wreath

 

Quilting has absolutely nothing to do with this project.

You like wreaths, I like wreaths, and I bet we both really like an easy DIY wreath that is cool, affordable and quick to make.

I bring the topics of quilts up because I love them, and I am absolutely the worst quilter that ever quilted.

I realized this after carefully shopping for just the right fabrics, planning and choosing the week of a snow storm in the early 90’s to try my hand an quilting.

AND MAKE A QUEEN SIZED QUILT.

Yep.

Queen sized, lots of snow, and the saddest attempt at quilting ever. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Boho Style, DIY, Wreaths

How to paint a refrigerator

May 11, 2018 by 10 Comments

#paintedrefrigerator #howtopaintarefrigerator #diy #spraypaint

 

Oh friend, I cannot tell you how fun this before and after were.

I always have a running list of things I want when thrifting and junking.

Do you keep a similar list?

Right now mine looks like this (probably pared down due to recent deep cleaning and getting rid of stuff we don’t need)

  • Good quality white curtains
  • 2 side chairs that need minimum work
  • Entry way table
  • Anything that looks remotely close to Ironstone 
  • Pedestal base for new dining room table 

There are little things too but those seem to be the items top of mind for upcoming projects.

And, this weekend I was able to take one off the “list” a refrigerator for my office at work! [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, How To Save Money, Spray Paint 101

When less is more: De-clutter with the 80/20 method

May 6, 2018 by 4 Comments

I am unsure of how so much stuff accumulates so quickly.  

We have cleaned closets, donated, and done what we thought was a house purge before.

But this time is different…

 

How to reduce clutter #housepurge #organize #reduceclutter

 

This time is for a very special reason. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, how to organize, Thoughts, Thrifty Living

Keto Arugula + Pepperoni Salad

April 23, 2018 by 3 Comments

#keto #whatisketo #ketorecipes #salad #lowcarb #howtoloseweight #twelveOeight

 

Sometimes you hear salad and the last thing that comes to mind is a meal.

Or that it will be filling.

Well, when you put the right things in it, you can’t finish it!

I have been watching my carbs and following the Keto-plan for about 3 1/2 weeks now.  I am not hungry, and I am finding myself excited about meal planning and cooking again.

While I am staying away from processed foods, but eating more vegetables and fats, and moderate protein, I had to add pepperoni to this salad.

Blame it on the mozzarella, but those two just go together right? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Keto, Low Carb Recipes

How to make a barn door style planter box

April 16, 2018 by 13 Comments

I don’t know about you but I am sooooo ready for warmer weather, longer days, and FLOWERS!

I love to plant grasses & flowers around our patio and porch and cluster them together here and there.

They are so easy to take care of and I like how many different groupings I can put together with containers of different height and size.

We recently wanted to make a new catch all box to go by our back door for shoes, but we ended up making this pretty big.

And so it’s smaller cousin will be by the back door full of flip flops etc..

And this lovely lady (who holds some faux plants now but not for long) will be the new home to a grouping of topiaries I have had my eye on.

 

#barndoor #farmhouse #planter #diy #twelveOeight

 

Here is what we used to make this rustic barn door style planter. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, Farmhouse Style, home decor

Farmhouse style laundry room makeover reveal!

April 10, 2018 by 12 Comments

 

This makeover was a long time coming, and I am so super excited to share it with you!

Our laundry room has no natural light, and it’s under the stairs so the angles are challenging.

We began by gutting the room & giving it a nice deep clean.

Initially we were going to use a paint that is a bit darker with more blue, but ended up opting for a light grey.

With a busy family of five, and lots of laundry to do each week, we knew we wanted a laundry folding station. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DIY, Farmhouse Style, home decor
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Thank you so much for reading, and as always, may your heart and home be full of everything you love! xo, Tanya         linking up to: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/ And these awesome parties: http://www.twelveoeightblog.com/awesome-link-parties