yesterday you said tomorrow

It's that time, time to get my self back in shape for less clothing weather. In Austin the temperatures are already in the seventies. I think we may have skipped winter altogether and that's fine by me. My body on the other hand could use a little more time. Hmm maybe some shopping motivation will help...

     

ugh, time to bring on the work outs. 

something in the water

Everyone I know is popping up pregnant these days.  Are we just at "that age" or is there something in the water?  I'm excited for all of my friends and family that have shared the good news, but it kind of makes me wonder what our lives with babies will look like.  Weekend nights will surely be different - dinner at home and making sure to get kids to bed before the bewitching hour.  Topics will change - what new sounds did your baby make today, who does baby look like, do they prefer peas or carrots?  Will we all still make the effort to get together as often as we do now?  My hope is that our friendships will stay strong and withstand the craziness of a newly growing family.  Maybe my focus is on all these little unknowns that most probably don't even have forefront in their minds because they have the excitement building of welcoming a new little person into their lives.  Maybe I should drink some water.

change it up

We've been in our house for almost six years...yikes. During that time we've made small changes, but most none would notice. This weekend I had the grand idea of changing things up a bit around the house. Furniture has been moved, pictures have been hung, pictures have traded places on the walls, and I really like all of the changes! For someone that is afraid to throw paint on the wall because I can't commit to a color - all of the moves are a big deal :)

Our office has been my "baby" of home projects. A few months back while blog-browsing I came across a subtle striped wall (perfect for color phobic Meg). My biggest fear about tackling the painted stripes was that our walls are textured. All fears were put to rest when I tried out Frog Tape, that stuff is AMAZING! The wall turned out just how I wanted it to, and then the furniture buying started. What I underestimated was how much storage space I really needed in the office. So, yesterday, I started walking around the house and came across a bookshelf (from my college days) that was being under-utilized and moved it in.

Office Stripes

New properly utilized bookshelf

Next project was the picture wall in the dining area. We had a small assortment of frames that were starting to bore me. I bought a new set of frames and filled them with sentimental images, that part of the project was done. Then I sat down with a tape measure, calculator, paper, computer, pens, pencils, and my husband said "um, I think you are making this too complicated". I tried to change the subject fast and figure out a way to get him out of the house so I could concentrate on my "complicated" project. Before he got out of the door he mentioned maybe placing a painting we had on another wall in place of the boring photo frame assortment I had previously. We tried it out, I liked it, I'm supposed to be the design idea person, ugh.

Old painting in new space - and a peek into the office with the new bookshelf placement

But, don't worry, I didn't forget those great frames I purchased and filled with pictures from our wedding and menus from anniversaries past. We placed them on the wall space where the painting above used to be. I wish I could tell you what room that painting was in, but I don't know what to call it, it's more an open space. This open space has been the topic of many discussions with friends about what should be put in it. Some suggestions: pool table, foosball table, shuffleboard, hot tub. Needless to say since we don't own a bachelor pad, the space has remained open. Until today! We pushed back our couch in our living area to inhabit both spaces. I love it! And hung up our frames...

I'm thinking of placing an assortment of white vases to jazz this buffet up a bit

Finally we marched upstairs to the master bedroom and did lots of furniture moving. (I'm laughing as I type this, mind of a 15 year old) It looks so much better now, and I'm wondering why we waited six years to make such a simple change. Will get pictures up as soon as I pick up the mess of laundry. I'm glad this has been such a productive weekend, and that I get to share my weekend of changes with my BFF next weekend when she comes to Texas (can't wait B)!

aus-stl

This past weekend we made a quick trip to St. Louis to visit my sister and family. It was a much needed getaway and a good time was had by all. We can't wait for our next visit to visit our new niece or nephew! Apologies for the poor iPhone photo taking, still can't seem to locate our camera battery charger, need to remedy that this weekend.

Max, the dog nephew

Dinner at Charlie Gitto's

Max x 2

Practicing obsessive photo taking for when the little one arrives

W's at Annie Gunn's

This may need to replace one of our photos on the wall

Growing belly... 

Glad to be back home in Austin (in warmer weather), but missing the good company terribly!  Thanks for a great weekend M & J!

these boots

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my birthday present from PL.  Now, my birthday was in November, but we made a quick lil exchange. That exchange ended up being long, drawn out, and back ordered. The never ending story does not matter because the end is in sight, they arrive tomorrow, check 'em out:

Ohhh ahhh! Love! Right?! If you do not agree, I would rather not know. In honor of my boots, I will close with a framed quote* a dear VA friend sent for Christmas:

 *Please don't get the wrong impression, I'm more the friend that will call 911 versus kick someone's a$%. I'm sheltered.

game plan

As mentioned previously, we have a boring picture wall in our dining area. And I have to laugh, because to be quite honest most will probably think that my remedy to this boring wall is, well, boring. However, it does involve new pictures (yay) and meaningful items. So without further ado, I present to you my pictures in progress:

PL and I have been married for over three years now and we have yet to have a wedding picture displayed. Problem solved with the new picture wall. I spent a while today browsing through wedding pictures. Everyone who is married should take the time to browse back through your wedding pictures every once in a while. A walk down memory lane, what a great night! I picked out a group of pictures and then had PL go through and pick any that stuck out to him. PL picked the picture with well, him, and my behind. His comment "look at how happy I was on our wedding day". Nevertheless, it went into the batch. They look great!

The other group of "pictures" that I wanted to display are our anniversary dinner menus. Each year we have had a special night out to celebrate another year of being together. We have collected the menus and had the chefs sign:

I was "pinspired" by the following image, love how it is clean and orderly.

The plan is to get these newly filled frames up on the wall in rows. Wish us luck, as hanging pictures tends to be a crazy-fest with PL being an accountant (he does all the measurements in his head) and me being a non-accountant (I want to double-check all of his measurements with calculator). Ultimately the goal is to have a symmetrical and level picture wall that will provide us with smiles for years to come.

the best is yet to come...

I am so ready for many things this year...I mean really ready! Many close friends will be saying "I dos", many close friends will be having babies, and many parties will be attended celebrating these momentous occasions.

Next week we go to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and dog nephew, Max. We've been looking forward to this trip for a couple of months now, but Christmas day gave us more reason to be super pumped for a visit. We found out BIG news - I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT (to a human baby)!!! Baby W is due in July, let the spoiling begin...

Wondering if Baby W will be a boy or a girl (I'm guessing boy), what Baby W will look like (I'm guessing more like Dad, but with Mom's freckles), if I will be his or her favorite aunt. Wait, I know the answer to the last thought. Can July get here fast enough?! Probably not. But no doubt there will be lots of excitement in the meantime to keep me occupied.

cleaning up christmas

Taking down Christmas decorations always makes the house look so bare.  Growing up, my parents used to keep decorations up until mid-February.  Am I exaggerating?  No.  Mom/Dad, if you wish to refute this statement, please feel free to comment.  There is no way I could last much past the first week of the new year because I notoriously kill every living plant that comes into our house.  Yes, this includes the Christmas tree.

2010 Tree Catastrophe

But, with decorations down, there's plenty of room now to fill with new decor for the house.  First on my tackle list for the new year would be this wall:

I'm bored just looking at the picture.  I've become obsessed with Pinterest.  However, I've yet to "pin" anything.  I just visit and scroll, scroll, scroll, until I  reach the end of the page and start the process over again with a new search topic.  Warning: Pinterest is addictive and can cause you to lose hours of your day without even realizing it.  So, I'm going to go and get some pinspiration and will check back this weekend with my game plan!

happy new year!

We shared our New Year's Eve with close friends this year.  We enjoyed ridiculously good food - pork belly steam buns for snacking, lobster, steak, twice baked potatoes, brownies, macarons.  We drank ridiculously good wine - Sea Smoke Pinot Noir and Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon.  And played a very entertaining game called Wits and Wagers.  I was the lone non-pregnant female in attendance and we played drinkers vs. non-drinkers, and drum roll, drinkers won!  This game was super fun and highly recommended, however, I don't believe we played by the official rules.

So, whenever you are the guest to a dinner party, it's a must to bring a little something along.  We always like to bring something for sipping, but also love to bring along appetizers or desserts.  For the New Year's Eve party Paul and I decided on pork belly steam buns (Paul's masterpiece) and macarons (my ambitious idea).  Macarons are pretty pretty little cookies, delicious to eat, and a pain in the butt to make.  But, it's the New Year, and if you have a open day and are feeling adventurous these are a wow to bring to a party.

French Macarons (makes 25-30 filled macarons)

For the shells, you'll need:

2 3/4 cups almond flour
2 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup egg whites (from 7 eggs)
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup superfine sugar
Gel food coloring

Blend the almond flour and confectioners sugar in a food processor until it becomes a fine powder.  Empty into a large mixing bowl.

Beat the egg whites and salt with a mixer using a whisk attachment.  Start slowly, increasing the speed as the egg whites begin to rise.  Add the superfine sugar.

Use as much food coloring as you'd like to get your desired color.  Gel food coloring is recommended so the mixture is not too wet.  (I used 3 drops of green gel food coloring).

Beat the mixture until the egg whites form stiff peaks and are firm and shiny.

Pour the beaten egg whites into the almond flour mixture.  Gently fold the egg whites into the flour using a spatula.  Continue to fold the batter until you can't see any lumps of flour, the mixture should be shiny and smooth.

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the macaron batter into a pastry bag (there are plenty of pastry bags out there both disposable and re-usable, or you can always use a large Ziploc bag with the corner cut off).  Now, you're ready to start piping!

Squeeze 2 inch circles of the batter onto the lined baking sheet (keep the circles about 1 inch apart). Tap the baking sheet on the counter to eliminate any air bubbles.  Make sure to let the piped macarons rest for 20 minutes prior to baking.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F for convection ovens or 325 degrees F for non-convection ovens.

Bake for 14 minutes.  Keep the oven door open slightly to release steam (we placed bamboo skewers to keep the door ajar).

Let the macarons cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the parchment paper.

Your macarons can be filled with whatever flavor your heart desires.  We ended up doing a chocolate ganache.  Once your macarons are filled, be sure to let them sit in the refrigerator to allow the flavor to develop in the shells.  It's recommended that they sit for 12 hours, but ours rested for about 2 hours and turned out just fine!

Enjoy!

Looking forward to all the great times that 2012 is sure to bring!