My Favorite TV Houses

Thanks to the people over at Hooked on Houses, I was able to find pictures of my favorite TV houses: The Dunphy house from Modern Family, and Adam and Kristina Braverman's house on Parenthood. I LOVE both of these houses, and wish I could recreate them exactly for our house. If I had a million dollars maybe. One room I've paid close attention to in these houses is the living room. Our current living room needs help - it's not bad, but definitely far from our dream living room. The Dunfy and Braverman living rooms are my dream rooms and eventually I want our's to look like one or both of them. Our current furniture and wall color in our living room most closely matches the living room on Parenthood, so we could probably easily and cost effectively recreate that one, but I also love some of the elements from the Modern Family living room - especially the stair case and the photo wall. Anyways, here are some of the photos:

First favorite TV house: Adam and Kristina Braverman's house on Parenthood. See more pics here. I love this entryway, especially the color and the roman shades, and all the fun frames and artwork.

View to the Braverman kitchen set - love the red chairs with the green walls (B-Moore Saybrooke Sage) and the mix of eclectic stuff.

Another closer-up view of the kitchen

View of the Braverman living room. I want that comfy looking striped sofa!! 

 View of the Braverman dining room set. Love the red bookcase (Crate & Barrel, my parents have this in their house).  

 View of the Braverman bedroom. What you can't see is their vintage bathroom. They somehow made a 60's style bathroom look super cool.

Second favorite TV house: The Dunphy house on Modern Family. To see more click here. I couldn't find quite as many pics on this one, but the kitchen and living room are the rooms I like best. Here's the outside, also awesome.

 View of the living room and the stairwell. Love the sofa with the striped pillows.

 View of the living room and part of the stairwell.

 View of the kitchen. Love the table and all the artwork, and the colors.



New Ideas

I missed Tuesday for new ideas Tuesday (see previous post for my excuse on why), but that's ok, Thursday will do for New Ideas day. Here's my top finds for the week:

I saw this awesome recycled vintage mirror idea a while ago and I'm happy to have rediscovered it. I love this idea. See more details on this great DIY from ECAB here.

This is a very cool idea for a sibling pic series. Must try after baby #2 arrives. I'll hope Bean is as gentle as this sweet older sibling. See more of Ray Law Photography here. 

Ok and this is just about the coolest idea EVER, for me especially since my husband doesn't drink wine much and I always end up tossing half a bottle because thankfully I can't usually drink that much in one sitting. Now I can feel ok about opening a bottle of wine and only drinking half of it. I can freeze the rest of it for cooking!! Totally the best idea ever from The Art of Doing Stuff here.

Photo of the Day: My Morning Savior

Today's photo of the day is my morning savior, Dunkin Donuts coffee and munchkins. I couldn't sleep last night at all. I haven't posted much lately because I've been using every second of free time to put together our adoption profile book and letters. I'm a bit of a perfectionist with creative things, so putting together the profile book is really difficult for me mostly because I want it to be perfect and I'll probably spend 40 hours on it over the next couple of weeks. I find it so hard to cull through our 4,000 family pictures to find 25-40 of the best ones that most accurately depict who we are as a couple and a family but in a subtle enough way. You have to "sell" yourself just enough but not too much. And with a second one you have to make sure to show that you have room in your life for another child. It is such an awkward thing to have to put together. I guess that's why I'm not in sales. After Emma's adoption I have complete respect for the process and I understand the need for the profile book and letters and in no way want to come across as not wanting to do them. I just can't help but be overwhelmed by the task, and it does bring up a little of the "this ain't the old fashioned way to parenthood" feelings that I used to have. Which is why I can't sleep much these days, and why I LOVE my Dunkin Donuts. But I promise to have a more creative post tomorrow!

Pics at Lunch

I was walking by the old State house today and I passed a scene that I had to photograph. It's admittedly not the best picture ever, but the scene cracks me up. Only in Boston do you see a guy in full Colonial garb chatting with someone next to a snack stand. In any other city, in any other setting, this would cause some gawking and double takes. But in Boston it's nothing to see Sam Adams or Thomas Jefferson hanging out chatting. It makes me laugh every time. I just walked by the scene today without caring, until I really thought about it. I turned around and snapped this shot, and I think everyone thought it was more strange that I was taking this picture than it was for this Colonial guy to be hanging out on the street. Only in Boston.

Spray Paint is Awesome

There's a whole new trend now where people are buying vintage stuff and spray painting them to look new and colorful. I'm currently loving these spray paint ideas.

From Addicted to Decorating, spray painted chandeliers:

 From Pinterest, spray painted candle sticks:

 From Etsy, spray painted frames

From Pinterest via Flickr

Cool Idea: Family Photo History

Found on Pinterest, via Marvelous Kiddo. I love this idea for creating a family history. Very original.

Chalkboard Quote Wednesdays

What We're Reading Now

What I'm currently reading (and love):

Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. Love it so far, amazing descriptions of Bombay, a place I may never get to. I love books that make me feel as if I've travelled somewhere.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. After reading the most amazing book Unbroken about WWII POWs in Japan, this take on prejudice against Japanese US citizens during the war is very interesting.

What Bean is currently reading from our recent trip to the library:

Itty Bitty, by Cece Bell. Honestly nothing much to this little tale of a tiny dog and his tiny home, but Bean loves the rhyming and somehow loves all the Itty Bitty things the tiny dog buys for his house.

Princess Penelope, by Todd Mack and Julia Gran. This book has humor in it that adults will love. It's about a little girl who thinks she is a princess because she has servants who pamper her (her parents).

Pink Me Up, by Charise Mericle Harper. About a bunny who dresses her daddy up and takes him to a pink-nic.   

New Ideas Tuesday

Some of my favorite ideas I found over the last week:



http://alifesdesign.blogspot.com/2011/06/giveaway.html

 

http://hometowngirl.typepad.com/hometown_girl/2011/01/monday-pretties-no-rhyme-or-reason.html



http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/03/sns-74-highlights-wall-decor.html



http://mommysavers.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/frugal-bathtime-fun-for-baby/



http://myspoiledeggs.blogspot.com/





http://sparklingfootsteps.tumblr.com/



Vintage Door as Headboard

We plan on moving our master bedroom downstairs within a few years so that our kids can have the run of the upstairs. The problem is, this will leave us with less space (the downstairs MB is smaller than the upstairs room) and no spare bedroom (critical for nights when we can't sleep or one of us is snoring). The key to success will be a king sized bed (hopefully), something we've been wanting for a while but have said we'll wait for as a present when we're a family of four. In our family of four fantasy we're able to have both kids in the bed with us on stormy nights or other nights when they are scared or just want to snuggle. And we'll all wake up happy and refreshed from a good night's sleep - NOT possible in my mind in a queen sized bed. Anyways, the downstairs MBroom is just big enough for a king-sized bed and a couple of dressers, but not big enough for a big king-sized bed frame. My idea is to use an old door as the headboard so that we don't need a full frame, something I've liked for a while but have never actually done. Turns out most old doors are the perfect size for king-sized beds, and as long as you find the right sized door you won't even need to do any major handywork. Here's some of my inspiration headboards:



http://kellyisinspired.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-headboard-finally.html



http://style-files.com/



http://browneyedfox.squarespace.com/thefoxden/




https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlUSHxewVxCzaPMzjkeBujcyWWQq0mNr3D274U-0bQNh3GPt5cx4rPl4lkG_kPLkf93rHPrG1o5vFU982gu3YkZa9l93oJ3v5Qa-zHD9QBxnARWArV3E9gMluBmnEDqLg9sazSZSh9Dd2/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG



http://blog.stylizimo.com/2010/07/charming-home-with-great-details.html

 

http://couponconnections.com/2010/11/step-two-for-bustamove-room-makeover/



A Toddler's Father's Day

7:45am - Wake up ready to go (later than normal at least...woohooo) screaming mamamamama, thinking "what, it's Father's Day? I thought that every second of every minute of every hour of every day right now was hang on Mother's Leg Day?"
7:50am - Peepee in potty, yay!!!

8:00am - Nicely wake daddy up out of bed on his special day by pulling his blanket off and saying, "Daddy you need wake up like Mommy!"

8:15am - Refuse to get off of mommy's lap so she can make daddy breakfast for his special day, saying "No, daddy do that."

8:30am - Eat breakfast - some of mommy's, some of daddy's, some of whatever isn't in her cereal bowl that she asked for.

9:00am - Wrap daddy's present and "help" quote, unquote, mommy put Gragra's birthday present together.

9:30 -  Peepee in potty, yay!

10:00am - Play with mommy while daddy enjoys his special day with a trip to Home Depot and CVS for exciting things like grass seed and pullup diapers.

11:00am - Fight with daddy and mommy about getting ready for the birthday/father's day lunch at Nunnie and Gragra's house.

11:30am - Look ridiculously cute in big girl underwear and big girl underwear outfit that mommy got to celebrate the cost savings of no more diapers.

12:00pm - Resist the urge to fall asleep in the car on the way to the lunch, instead use the loudest voice possible to "sing" all the way there.

1:30pm - Pretend to be shy when all the guests arrive, for about 2 seconds until it is safe to be spicy again.

2:30pm - Complain because we haven't eaten Gragra's birthday cake yet, about 6 times.

3:00pm - Play "night night time" with everyone in the house by covering them with a blanket on the hardwood floor and telling them "shut your eyes it's bed time now." 

3:30pm - Start to lose it when cousins leave.

4:00pm - Peepee in potty, yay!!! 

4:30pm - Really lose it because the afternoon nap didn't happen.

5:00pm - Fall FAST asleep in the car on the way home, not quite realizing that mommy and daddy wasted a few dollars on gas for a longer nap and were able to eat ice cream in the car without a stir.

5:30pm - Give daddy his father's day gifts, but make sure to sit on mommy's lap and turn away when daddy asks for a hug.

6:00pm - Watch two episodes of Dora the Explorer and eat a bowl of plain pasta because that's all she wants.

7:00pm - Refuse to take a bath, but once forced in enjoy it.

7:10pm - Refuse to get OUT of the bath.

7:15pm - Finally say "I love you Daddy happy daddy day" and give him a big hug and kiss, and make his day.

7:30pm - Try to get mommy to read 5 books and avoid sleep, but pass out cold once head hits the sheets.  Aggghhhhhh.

Featured Etsy Artist Friday: Photography By Bomobob

Today's Featured Etsy Artist Friday is Photography by Bomobob. I absolutely love his photos, the subject matter, the quality, and the sets he offers on Etsy are so amazing and very inspiring. My only issue is that I can't figure out which ones to buy, I love them all!

Travel Minis

I recently discovered these awesome "travel minis" which are mini scrapbooks that some very creative people have put together to document their vacations. I've always wondered what to do with the "stuff" collected on trips, like ticket stubs and maps, but I'm not a huge fan of big scrapbooks. These "minis" are great, and next time I travel I'll definitely make one. These are my two favorites so far:

From the Found Paper Company blog here

From the Big Picture Classes blog here