LA, LA, baby!

So, today we had yet another monthly "Girl's Day" to LA. "We", as in two of my dear friends from my high school small group from church,  Sarah and Robyn, and my younger sister, Becca. We have had "Girl's Day" for the last couple of months, the two last trips having gone out to the great city of Los Angeles AKA LA. I don't know if my personal opinion of LA is that it is indeed "great" but for the sake of it sounding more glamorous I will stick with that description. There is one thing that is a absolute mandatory stop on our trips...and that is to a bakery! No, not the bakery in your local supermarket, nor the bakery in town that bakes cakes for special occasions and creates other delightful treats. No, this is much, much more than any of those bakeries could ever hope to aspire to be. This mandatory stop is to a  "Cupcakery" the very first to pioneer it's way onto the markets. This mandatory stop is at Sprinkles Cupcake Bakery! I cannot even describe to you how delightful these little creations are! Just wonderful! Hands down my all-time favorite flavor is the red velvet. A lightly flavored chocolate southern cake in a rich cream cheese frosting that is simply to die-for. I dream about these cupcakes... I count down the days until I will be reunited with them. Because Sprinkles red velvet cupcakes are the best! Granted, I am a bit of a Sprinkles red velvet snob. There are a vast assortment of flavors available but red velvet are the best cupcakes they make. I am sure of it! Strawberry is up there as well. None of that hot pink, synthetic strawberry cake flavor you are used to getting out of a box. This is the real deal, like eating a fresh strawberry! Again, the frosting is pretty amazing.

 We also made a couple of other stops to some thrift stores...where I picked up these darling measuring cups! I think they are just too cute, and the perfect shade of blue! I also found a virtually unworn pair of dress shoes for the hubby, for a mere $5.99. Bingo! He has been in need of a new pair of dress shoes for church, so it worked out perfectly and fell well within our budget. We also went to an awesome thrift store called the "Buffalo Exchange" which has some really unique and vintage pieces! I picked up a cute teal dress for myself for $13, and a bow tie for my hubby for only $5.99! I have a deep love of bow ties on men. Especially handsome men, like my hubby. Not that I have ever seen him in a bow tie, but I would imagine he is even more handsome than usual in one! Haha. Maybe it is my love of old Hollywood, and black and white movies that draw me to bow ties. Bottom line, "Bow ties are just so classy! "
Well it's been a long great day! The rest of my thoughts will have to wait until next time!

{QoK}

My New Chair!!

I am anxiously awaiting my hubby to get home from work. Why? Well, you see he picked up a chair that I have been scouring the internet for to re-do for our master bedroom. I got a great deal at $20 and plan on purchasing some cream or white silk to re upholster it, a spray of metallic silver paint and presto!  The chair in the picture is a similar style to the one I purchased, although I think mine is a little more ornate in the woodwork. I am debating painting the wood or not. I guess I will have to see what type of fabric I am able to find and how it will fit in with my room's decor. We are still awaiting word on whether or not the bank has approved or short sale offer. This waiting game is really starting to get to me now. It has been 6 weeks since we have submitted the offer to the seller, and 5 weeks since the bank has had our offer sitting on their desks. This is no surprise that we are still waiting to hear back, but I would just love to have a definite answer! So far I have added a walnut dining table, sofa, washer, dryer and now this chair to our garage. Soon there will be no room for the car! Well, I am off to finish up dinner...the hubby should be home any moment!

{QoK}

{My Craigslist Finds}

So for the past week or so I have been scouring over Craigslist to find furniture that I could re-do for our new home (that we still haven't heard word on). Here are some of my finds...

This table is solid walnut, so I am thrilled about that. It is a solid hefty piece of table! I plan on lightly sanding and using a gel stain to achieve a dark brown, almost black look. Adding some white accent paint along the rim should give me a similar look to the table in the picture below. That dining room belongs to JLo and it is to die for!!

Walnut Table- $50

I am going to re-finish the table to look similar to the one in this photo.

Part of sectional- $40

So I saw this part of a sectional which is in perfect condition on Craigslist for $40 and called the number right away. Nobody picked up and the answering machine was in Spanish! I left a message in English asking if the couch was still available and left my number. No response after a couple hours, so I called back, a woman picked up this time..."Hola". Oh great! They don't speak English. The woman proceeded to tell me in Spanish that she didn't speak any Spanish and asked if I did. I actually understand a bit but not enough to have a conversation with this woman and get her address and such. So I told her in English I would have a relative of mine who spoke Spanish call her back on my behalf. She said "okay" but I knew she had no idea what I had just said to her!  So, I enlisted my aunt to call and speak with the woman about the couch. Many people had called and were interested but because she didn't speak any English I think it was a barrier for people to communicate with her. Lucky for me, I have a whole family who speaks fluent Spanish so we ended up being able to secure the couch. I sent my husband who of course speaks no Spanish either out to Fontana to the the couch. It was about a 30 min. drive to a lower class area, but all ended up well. It is only a piece of a sectional so I plan of finding a table to place on the left side of it...pretty good compromise for $40!! Here is a picture of how plan on using this piece of furniture on our patio!

{QoK}

Decorating Ideas

It has been around 5 weeks since the seller has submitted our offer to the bank to be approved for a short sale purchase! I am starting to get really anxious and with nothing better to do in my spare time I have started scouring the Internet for design ideas for our first home. Right now we have a more modern look mixed with a bit of traditional. Brown suede couch, modern TV stand and shelving, and then a more traditional buffet...a lot of dark rich woods and clean lines. Well that's all going out the window come our first home! I have always thought my decorating style was more modern-traditional, but its really just traditional-eclectic. Here are some photos that really capture the look I am going to be going for in our first place...

Master Bedroom

[Guest Room]

Dining Room

Patio

{QoK}

Home Sick

Remember the days when being sick meant staying home from school and being waited on hand and foot? Well, those days are long gone as an adult! And with two young boy,s who are also sick, they're looking to me to baby them and nurse them back to health...and I have...well myself too! Nick is a great help to me when I am sick, at least when he is actually home. Today is a full work day for him which means he is going 12+ hours. Boo! I am thankful he has a full day off tomorrow so I can get some more rest in and hopefully avoid a visit to the doctors office! I was hoping to spend tomorrow in the beautiful outdoors with the kids, but that can wait until everyone is healthy! I am sure the general public will appreciate us not sneezing, coughing and sucking up our snot next to them! This being sick totally cuts into my plans of working out and getting super fit today, but I will enjoy time on the couch in that A/C painting my toenails instead.

{QoK}

Summer Love

For weeks I have been thinking and dreaming of having tangerine nail polish for the summer. Being a stay at home mom allows me to have lots of time to think of all sorts of great ideas and things Each time I have been to the store I have checked inventory to see if there is the "perfect shade"...too neon, too pastel, too ugly! I had been hitting a dead end. Until,  I was leaving Target last week I noticed on a end cap they are now carrying Essie brand of nail polish! NO WAY!! I love Essie!! Because I had my two boys in tow I didn't have a chance to check out the shades, but I made a mental note in my head to check back. Well I checked back and low and behold they carry a ton of different brand now, with tons of beautiful shades for summer. But I knew what I wanted, and the Essie brand hit it dead on! "Meet Me at Sunset" by Essie is my new Summer love!

{QoK}

Whats Going On?

I really need to be better about making time to post on here. Maybe I will make it my mid-year resolution! A lot has happened in the last couple of months. Noah had his first birthday party which was a blast! Nick turned the big 3-1!! And my firstborn, Caleb, turned three years old! Where has the time gone? Before I know it he will be graduating high school and going to seminary...At least my hope for both of my boys is to have careers in which they are able to spread the good news of Jesus Christ! Caleb's personality, thus far, seems well suited for a evangelist! And my sweet Noah, maybe a worship pastor or someone who leads mission trips. Whatever they do the most important decision they will ever make will be to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. That is truly our only prayer and hope for them as parents. Nothing else really matters.
On a different note, we got pre-approved for a home loan! Woo-hoo! Peace out apartment living! Well not that quickly! Because the market is swamped with short-sells that makes this process very long and stressful. We have a wonderful loan officer and real estate agent. We went out and looked at nine different properties in one day and found one we really loved. So we made an offer, and it was accepted by the sellers! We wish it was that easy. Because it is a short sell, the sellers are trying to get the bank to approve to sell the property at a lower priced than they currently owe. So we are waiting on the bank to come back to us with an acceptance or change in conditions and we go from there. We are really excited at the prospect of finally having our own home and space for our two growing boys!

Busy Days

I have been a horrible host to my blog the last couple of weeks. For that I apologize. I feel like the world has been spinning around me and I have a full plate no matter how much I think I have accomplished. Most recently I have finished making and packaging over 200 cake pops for my church's Easter services tomorrow. It was a lot of fun the first couple I made, then it got old really quick. But the finished product is awesome and I am glad to have served my brothers and sisters in Christ! I hope everybody enjoys them!
On another note we are leaving for the week to my in-laws place and we are really looking forward to a break. My in-laws are such great and giving people and it will be nice to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of life in So. Cal. Plus, a date night is coming our way! That is always great.
  Family wise, Noah is walking. He still prefers crawling because he can keep up with Caleb, but he can walk pretty long distances now. Caleb is a couple weeks away from being three years old, which is just insane. First three years old, then kindergarten and then off to college! Well, at least thats how it seems at the moment. He is growing up way to quickly for my liking. It is my prayer that he comes to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and serves Him as Lord... anything else he does with his life will just be a bonus. Caleb has such a crazy, loud personality I put my hopes on him becoming an evangelist! But we will see. Well it is getting late and I have much packing to get done before tomorrow.
 I hope everybody has a blessed Easter Sunday and takes time to genuinely thank Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the cross.

{QoK}