House Tour + Insta-gratification

It's been a good long while since I posted an old school straight-up mommy blogger style post. And I'm sorry for that!

I'm still trying to find the right balance to keep you, my faithful old friends, satisfied and entertained without traumatizing my new audience at CNA. Because let's be honest, I'm not going to radically alter my voice or content, but some trauma you have to ease into.

The new blog is almost up and running, the design is going to be beautiful, and I can't wait to show it to you. In the meantime, I'm still "here," and so I figured why not post a little fluff to pass the time?

Oh, also, I finally embraced the modern world and joined Instagram yesterday. Welcome to the 90's, Mr. Banks. (And you all were right: it's the most fun of all social media.)

So something that I really, really love (because I'm a creeper?) is seeing other people's homes. I'm a would be decorating junkie and an HGTV addict, so there's nothing more fun to me than seeing somebody else's style/space and being able to envision them more accurately in their natural habitat when I'm reading their words. (If you're trying to decide if you're disturbed or flattered, go with flattered: I want to see your living room.)

Anyway, do you want to see my house? It's been enjoying a little TLC while I KonMari'd the shit out of my wardrobe/kitchen/bookshelves/decor, and I'm much happier with the way it looks now as opposed to 2 weeks ago. Much.

It's still not perfect, you know, because it's a work in progress. But it makes me happy to coax it along; I get a rush of satisfaction from finding a new spot for a tired piece of furniture or a neglected vase. Cheapest of thrills.

So, here you go, a virtual tour of casa del coffee:

First up, the living room/front entry way.

I just bought gorgeous (and cheap!) long white curtains at IKEA and I'm dying to get them up around that bay window. I have aspirations of hanging them high and wide and framing the gorgeousness of all that natural light that floods into the front of our southern facing house. And since we have a blackout shade we can close at night for privacy and light control, I was free to go with my heart and choose impractical ineffective and oh-so-lovely white. 

The oriental rug was a wedding gift and, while beautiful and expensive, is totally not my taste, but it's here and it's lovely and so I work around it and let it do most of the heavy lifting in terms of pattern/color in this room.

Next up, the family room. The blankest of blank canvases right now because I just spent an afternoon "quieting the space" ala Myquillyn and now it's sitting pretty and plain and waiting for the right touches, not just putting up with whatever I happened to have on hand the weekend we moved in. Not that there's anything wrong with going ahead and throwing something up on the walls, but after a year of not quite right, I'm happy to let it sit semi-undone for a bit while I figure it out.

(I should have disclaimed this sooner, but me + my iPhone 4 are do not a professional photographer make, and I'm not really that skilled on the layout end of things, either, in terms of uploading images. So if this looks like the work of an amateur, at least I'm transparent.)

Most of our stuff is thrifted, and here's the big fat caveat with that: it takes multiple visits to multiple thrift stores over multiple weeks and months to arrive at a "finished" product, at least for me it does. So even though I've found some amazing stuff over the past year and a half since we moved in here, it did take lots of time and patience to get there. Not thrifted: the white china platter (wedding gift), the leather couch (our first repatriation purchase upon arrival Stateside, American Furniture Warehouse), and the round framed mirror (Walmart. Shudder.) Everything else: Goodwill/Saver's/Homegoods/mom and dad's hand me downs.

Next: the opposite of a gourmet kitchen. But whatev, it's a decent-ish size and I have a huge pantry, and my husband is really gifted in the charism of doing dinner dishes before bed. So I've got no complaints. Wait, no, I do have one; the heinous "white" linoleum hanging onto the beleaguered floor for dear life. At least it's not carpet?

Heading down the hall we find ourselves in the master bedroom. It's big enough to fit our king sized bed (the luxury!) but not really big enough to fit anything else, and that's fine by me. I keep it as visually uncluttered as possible because I feel 100% less stressed when it's clean and calm.

(How do I get such amazing shots? I'm telling you, it's the 2 year old camera phone and the steady caffeinated hand. #gifted #blessed)

Oh, I forgot, here's a shot of the basement which contains two semi finished guest rooms, an avocado green full bath with some missing ceiling tiles, and a laundry room and play room. 

That stairwell, my friends, is the reason there's zero toy clutter on the main floor. (That and I'm ruthless with the donations. Ruthless.)

Moving on to the nursery wing.

How cool is the boys' dresser? It weighs 200 lbs and our landlords didn't want to bother taking it with, so we inherited it. Legend has it the original owner/saint decopauger is now happily tucked away in a convent somewhere, none the wiser that her lovely original piece now primarily houses Pull Ups and filthy pajama pants.

And my favorite space in the whole house? (Well, at least until this past weekend's decluttering fest); Genevieve's room.

We don't have a dining room because we're not fancy like that. Actually, it's because I opportunistically transformed the space into my gym/home office while nobody was paying attention. I'm sure if we were trying to fit teenaged boys around our kitchen table we might need this space, but for now I'm super super lucky I can use it this way. Nothing fancy, but it's a happy place that lets me get my work done.

And finally, some random shots of the front porch and our front yard, where the children frolic as I survey my kingdom from behind the storm door or the bay window. I'm sure the neighbors can't handle how hands on my parenting is.

Okay one last shot: Evie can stand! If anyone is still hanging on after this endless stream of blurry cellphone pics, you deserve to see something cute.

What about you? Up for showing a little behind the scenes of your home? Maybe you could throw a little something together and drop a link down below? I'm all eyes, because the only thing better than Pinterest is personalized Pinterest, you know?

5 Favorite Denver area thrift stores

(Is five favorites still a thing? I'm so tired, and it seems easier than writing something meaningful or intellectually stimulating, so yay for lists.)

I thought I'd share some of my trade secrets since a couple local readers (hi guys!) asked, so here you have it, my top 5 picks for thrifting in the Mile High city:

1. Goodwill Glendale (behind Super Target and, um, Shotgun Willy's in Glendale. Awful.)

This is the holy grail of the big blue G. A veritable smorgasbord of Target rejects and overstock, and guaranteed to be bursting at the seams with practically the entire displaced population of Mexico if you venture in on a 50% off Saturday in the am. Se hablo espanol. Not even kidding a little bit.

Totally worth the drive for: home goods, furniture (really, really great for furniture. The best I've seen in the whole Denver metro), Target overstock with tags still on and everything, women's shoes, home decor.

2. Saver's Littleton (Littleton Blvd. and Windermere)

My regular stomping grounds. Sign up for a Super Saver card and everything is 30% off on Thursdays. Bring something to donate and receive a 20% off coupon in return. Saver's is like Bed Bath and Beyond in that there is always a coupon you can use and you're an idiot if you don't have one. Seriously, I will bring in like a single outgrown polo shirt and some ratty jammie pants to toss in the bin and receive a lovely little green coupon in return. Simple.

Stokke high chair for $3.00. 

Good for: men's, women's and children's shoes (seriously, I've found multiple pairs of Sperry's, J Crew, Stride Right and Converse), toys (see Lightening McQueen) kitchen ware (pyrex, baking sheets, mixing and serving bowls), art and wall decor, and the odd piece of furniture, women's clothing and kid's clothing. The BEST selection of kid's clothing in town. Children's Place, Crew Cuts, Baby Gap, Carter's, Tea Company, Janie and Jack (occasionally) ... they have a huge selection. I've bought almost the entirety of our boy's wardrobes at this Savers.

3. Saver's Highlands Ranch (C-470 and, um, another street. It's next to Babies R' Us and Lodos)

This location is much nicer and newer than Littleton, but their selection isn't quite as good, at least for kid's clothes. It's still pretty good though. A decent women's selection too, and fantastic books and linens (curtains, fabric, etc.)

4. Goodwill Highland's Ranch (Broadway and County Line)

Another Super Target scrap heap, loaded with Nate Berkus, Dwell Studio and Threshold items still wearing their orange clearance tags, and home to the not-so-occasional set of pristine sheets in various sizes. Also great for curtains, pillows, linens, bedding, lampshades, frames, and some furniture. Their clothing sections are sub par, but their home goods more than make the trip down south worth it.

5. Goodwill (Hampden and I-25)

This is probably the most hit or miss of the bunch, but we did find our family room couch and recliner there for $30 and $35 respectively, and I've found a few other great pieces of furniture there in the past year (IKEA kids' table and chairs, radio flyer tricycle, patio chairs, coffee table). They have a great women's shoe selection as well, and a new toy section that is slightly better priced than going straight to the big box stores. Their seasonal decor (the store's actual decor, not what's for sale) is straight up traumatizing around Halloween (read: now) so consider yourself warned if your kids are sensitive to blood and gore and, um, severed limbs. Joey is still scarred from last year's trip around this time, so I try to avoid taking the kids to this location.

Hope this fuels a fun thrifting weekend for some of my Denver readers. Just leave anything with the initials J. Crew for me, m'kay?

Me and my spray paint labored all week

Well not the entire weekend. First we, as in the husband and I, not the Krylon and I, jaunted downtown Friday night to watch the notorious Rocky Mountain Showdown at the Bronco's stadium. CU (go Buffs?) vs. CSU, grain alcohol, public transportation, tailgating in a Prius, half nekkid fans everywhere, Oreo McFlurry at midnight.

I don't think there's anything more to tell.

Saturday dawned and I told myself, self, it's time to whip this house into shape. Get in the car, we're going to Saver's.

I was on the hunt for a bookshelf or low table to use the in kids' school corner, something to go on the wall over our bed, and a handful of other might wants and must haves. I try to have a list going in so that when I'm caught up in the moment of delight over a $2.99 price tag on some piece of ... something, I can reign myself back by asking "was this on the list?" or at least, "could this potentially work instead of something on the list?"

Never go thrifting unless you're willing to walk out empty handed. Otherwise, you'll be doomed to enter into the damning karmic cycle of what Dave affectionately calls "renting from Goodwill." I'll let you scratch your own pretty little head and figure that one out.

Bottom line, crap in = crap out.

So here's a few cute things I ended up with:

This little cutie was still sporting it's Target tags and rang up at 3.49 with my coupon (I am one hundred years old in this post.) because it was missing the shattered central mirror. No problem though, because Dave has put a moratorium on any more mirrors entering our house (also, our closet doors are mirrored. not my fault.) for the time being, and I was looking for a pop of color anyway. So

I unscrewed the backing, hit it with some turquoise spray paint, waited 4 minutes, smudged it, repainted, waited 8 minutes, and then screwed it back together. It looks awesome over our bed, and I swear it winks at me when I walk into the room.

Love love love our bedroom now.

Next up, while not a thrifted project, I got really grossed out about our pantry yesterday around 7 pm and started snapping pictures of it. I guess with you fine people in mind, but mostly to shame myself into doing something about it.

(forgive me, I'm 13 years old and I just learned how to make a picture collage:)

Horrifying, right? It's like Food Hoarders.

In my (our?) defense it was 60% spices, but I am still ashamed.

So I hit up the Dollar Tree this morning and found some not hideous plastic containers and, armed with my trusty can of white Rustoleum and some elbow grease, I emptied, cleaned, touched up and then re-stocked our closet of chaos into what Joey is now calling "the grocery store in our house."

Looking at these pictures, I see that he's right. We have food in abundance, enough that we can display it on shelves and actually take the time to make it look pretty, meanwhile the world is starving...I don't know, I just feel kind of crazy for caring what my food storage situation looks like in the face of poverty. I didn't mean to go there, I just think a lot about this post whenever I'm in my kitchen now, and it kind of makes me feel like an ass. A grateful ass, but still.

 Anyway, here's the big reveal:

SO MUCH BETTER RIGHT? And I didn't even mop the floor. I give it 4 days. But what a lovely and organized 4 days it will be.

Finally, the dirty dirty you all came here to read: the Whole 30. We're on day 4 and it hasn't been that bad! I feel convicted that potatoes - real potatoes, not the heinous sweet varietal - have saved my bacon this time around. It's like a whole other food group has been made available! (Hey, I'm Irish.)

So day 4, cravings are only minimal, and I have a decent amount of energy considering it's 3:45 pm right now. In about an hour I meet with Katie the thigh punisher, so I'll report back with any traumatic accidents involving my quads and the stairs. 

A quick menu recap: 

Breakfast: eggs with avocado and salsa

Snack: green apple with almond butter

Snack: (still breastfeeding, the proof is in the second snack...) handful of almonds and raisins 

Lunch: turkey rolled up in romaine leaves with mustard, raspberries

Snack: (DON'T YOU JUDGE ME) roasted golden potato cubes with olive oil

Dinner: Steak, bacon, roast brussels sprouts, green salad with o & v

Riveting content today. You're welcome!

7QT: Thrifting, non-pregnant nesting, and the epic saga of breastfeeding woes continues

Ciao, tutti. It's time for another rousing rendition of what's going on inside Jenny's nursing bra.

Just kidding.

Well, mostly. How about 7 quick takes mostly unrelated to lactation? Mostly.

1. I must have caught something from my latest re-read of the Nesting Place, because suddenly I've gone full on guerrilla mode on our humble abode and no piece of furniture is safe (nor is it securely in place) in this home. I hit up my favorite of favorites, my local Savers yesterday with all the bambini in tow, and out we walked with the coffee table-turned-crafting-space of my dreams, a standing floor lamp not from Target and not sporting an upside-down dog collar for a shade, and a giant ass Thomas the Train expandable play tent which has been journeying throughout my house over the past 24 hours and can be thrown satisfyingly down the basement steps at a moment's notice. Best $2 I've ever spent, I think.

2. Isn't this hideous?

3. How about now?

4. I'll tell you what, once I get going with a can of spray paint, I tend to get a little out of control. I'd asked a friend earlier this week to meet me after bedtime at our place for a little crafting and after I spied this beauty on Pinterest I decided there were enough droplets of turquoise paint left in the can to coat our wreaths. We also followed this simple felted flower tutorial and with our hot glue guns and a couple bottles of Stella, we had ourselves a good old fashioned girl's night in. The great news is that when we're both 65 years old, we will already have the template for what qualifies as a "good time" down pat.

I'm in love with this wreath. I'd like to take it out to dinner.

6. Speaking of being old and fabulous and domestic, would you guys like it if I did some kind of weekly or bi-weekly thrifting post? I know it's not the "tone" of this blog, per se, but I take so much delight in finding worthless crap and giving it a second chance at life. I also take joy in finding J Crew lovelies with the original tags still on, but that's not quite the same thing. So what do you think? Should I branch out from bodily fluids, Catholic apologetics and s-e-x and give you more frequent glimpses into the deep, dark world of my Goodwill addiction?

5. But let's talk about what you really came here to read about today: Nipplegate 2014. Let's start with the good news. The good news is that I have the very best hookup with the sweetest IBCLC on the planet, and after a 911 call to her voicemail earlier this week, she counseled me over the phone (in Target, obviously. My deepest condolences, fellow shoppers in the lamps and home goods department) and she was encouraging + compassionate and just the right touch of "well, 8 months is a fantastic amount of time to nurse, and if you want to to ahead and try the one-sided route, that's a great idea, and if not, that's great too."

(Basically she's the perfect combination of confidence, professionalism and compassion. If you live in Denver or the surrounding area and ever find yourself in need of such services, I'm happy to point you her way.)

This is an unrelated picture of a reindeer. Never will I ever invite the neighbors to the lame-ass birthdays we throw for our own toddlers.

The bad news is that while I was letting things heal up on the injured side, the uninjured workhouse, old right n' reliable, got an overuse injury or something and now I'm having a doubly uncomfortable time replete with all manner of unmentionable horrors (Dave already is aghast I've said so much on the blog. But you all are so helpful! How can I hold back?). The bottom line is that as of last night, I'd gone 24 hours without nursing or pumping on one side, and my supply is tanking. I'd all but decided we were officially broken up in the breastfeeding department but then around 10:30 pm I burst into her room in a fit of hormonal angst and dream fed her. So, I don't really know where that leaves us. She's probably taking 90% of her liquids by bottle now, but I'm resolved to keep nursing her first thing in the morning and last thing at night, if she wants and if my supply can rise to the challenge. Ugh, motherhood is just full of feeeeeeeeeelings and stuff.

Evie be like "I don't give a bleep just feed me. Anything."

7. Whichever one of you brilliant people recommended Peg + Cat is my very favorite, because my kids can count and add and subtract...and I've done nothing. Now this is my idea of homeschooling.

See you over at Jen's place.

It doesn't have to be perfect...

I'm re-reading the Nesting Place and I know, I know, everyone and their mom has heard about it and read it and implemented it but I'm just so stoked about how transformative it has been for my home decorating abilities. I would typically have modified that last sentence with some snarky little one off like "or lack thereof" but I'm newly convinced that I do, in fact, have some sort of authority in the style and decor world: namely, the mandate to deck my own halls however I see fit, using the resources and pieces I've been entrusted with.

I have a pretty distinctive style when it comes to home decor. I think it's best encapsulated by the term "minimalist chic" or maybe "timeless, bare ass walls and floors." The bottom line is this: I hate clutter, and if I haven't used something in the last week or so (and if I haven't seen you use it either, sweetheart) it's going to Goodwill. I've also been known to donate items of children's clothing simply because I'm tired of washing them. (When you outfit your young almost exclusively in thrift store couture, you can be ballsy like that. You're welcome.)

Imagine my surprise then when I found myself re-reading the it homemaking book of the summer and finding the following advice resonating within my soul: don't wait for the perfect house, don't put off decorating because you're renting, and don't use something you hate simply because it's on hand or "good enough."

Guilty, guiltier, and guiltiest, as charged.

But then she goes on to talk about her favorite activity being furniture rearrangement and my heart skipped a beat because me too! Second to dropping bags of s at the curb, building new rooms out of old pieces in new places is my favorite!

So as I drifted off to sleep last night I envisioned multiple rearrangements of our sad, sterile living room where little to no living was ever done and whose beautiful bay window sat unloved and ignored day after day. No morning coffees were being enjoyed on our single common area new furniture purchase: our pretty leather (okay, bonded leather) couch. No sunlight was being soaked up through that pretty window. I decided that all had to change.

It's a great window, amiright? And mama Mary deserves fresh flowers, even though a cat bit off her thumbs. 

So, when Evie bounced me out of bed this morning at 6:25 or so, (still riding the injury list in the breast-feeding department, fyi, but we're soldiering on) instead of moaning and dreaming of more sleep, I flew into the front room to start my extreme home makeover. A few minutes of pushing and sliding and a shot or two of espresso later, bam, the transformation was complete. And finally, after a year of living in our current rental (and we've just signed on for another year) I have a living room that I actually want to do some living in. It still wants a piece or two of art for the walls, and I'm not in love with the very expensive but very not-my-style Oriental rug we received as a wedding gift, but considering this was accomplished for the very low price of zero dollars, I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome.

Mind you, I'm no photographer, iPhone enabled or not. I took not one single art/photo/crafting class in all my years of life. I mean I suppose there was mandatory art in elementary school, but I remember it not. Consider your eyeballs forewarned.

Family room/kiddie watching/reading/crafting area: airy and decluttered (and washed out. See above.)

Myquillen (no idea how that's pronounced but I feel like it might rhyme with Nyquil?) talks about re-purposing assigned spaces that you don't have a use for and lassoing it for space you do desperately need and I guess I'd already sort of intuited that because goodbye, formal dining room, hello mommy's office:

Everything be thrifted, everything be fabulous. (Oh, except the rug. HomeGoods 4 life.)

I especially love this little wall. I feel like it's the most (only?) pinterest-worthy space in my home and not that I give a particular damn about that (maybe a very tiny one), but it's nice to feel like there's at least one area you wouldn't really change, even if you had the budget to do so:

Check those wedding photos from Lucy O Photography. See that cute little Jude Landry print in that thrifted frame? I love. Also, globes. Probably the reason my 3 year old reads atlases for fun is genetic in origin.

She also talks about how beauty is not useless, or something to that effect. So fresh flowers, why not? Why is it better to spend $4 on yet another sisyphean gallon of whole milk than to buy a bouquet of slightly past their prime carnations?

Look how nice that looks! And that's on a dirty, hand me down kitchen table with a Bumbo in the background.

So at last we come to the piece de resistance, the formerly unliveable and unloveable living room. Let me scrounge around for a before (clearly not a home decor blogger; rookie mistake)

Sorry, I got nothing. So here's the after, anyway. Just picture the before as bland, couch shoved against the wall immediately facing the front door, and seating for only 3 very cozy adults.

Blurry front view.

Natural view with toddler photo bomber.

From the side 

Looking from the front door. 

So is it perfect? I mean, is it ever? Obviously I'd add some gorgeous, $600 window treatments if I could, and I'd love to have some non-religous art on my walls so that our neighbors don't think we're even bigger weirdos than they suspect, but for now, this makes me 100% happier than the old setup ever did, and I achieved it with no money and no time spent in Target. That's a big win in this mama's book, both from a budgetary and spiritual perspective.

Spiritual, you ask? Yes, because you see, (or maybe you don't, but I'm about to do a little confessing to you so pull on your stole) sometimes I shop out of a place of emptiness, and I don't just mean the bare walls kind. I mean sometimes I really, truly believe that something I find at Target or TJ Maxx or Nordstrom Rack is going to make it all better. Is going to make me feel happy/fulfilled/peaceful. So imagine my surprise at how incredible it felt to buy nothing, to grasp for nothing, to simply make do with what was already on hand...and to have it turn out so utterly to my satisfaction.

I think that's been my biggest takeaway from the Nesting Place: love where you are, and be grateful for what you have. And for the love of chevron and jute rugs, don't consign yourself to living in a half-assembled dump just because you're not commanding a Pottery Barn budget and dwelling in a 3,000 square foot palace. And if you are dwelling in a half-assembled dump? Or, say, a refuge camp? You can work with that, too.

Check this out:

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There's beauty everywhere.