Laundry Day! Hooray!

When we moved into our new home our laundry room was plumbed for a sink but did not have one. Of course this was the FIRST thing we were going to do after we moved in...it's been SEVEN years!

I have the luxury of having a huge laundry room, but it has never functioned properly. I am the mom who folds all weeks worth of clean clothes in a three hour segment...NOT ANYMORE!

BEFORE- green walls, year old washer and dryer, had moved them from inside wall to window wall with the big plan in mind!

-AFTER-

We had been to Lowe's and Home Depot time and time again to begin this project. We actually picked up the stainless sink months ago when we saw one at a great deal.

Sweet hubby gave me a level in my Christmas stocking that said cabinets, countertops and sink would all be functional by December 31st! Great present!

Of course I could not sleep while and I decided we would head to to IKEA! It was a one stop shop for us and resonable too! The cabinets are made so well and easy to put together. It all fit in our van and best of all...THERE WAS NO FIGHTING AMONGST US!!!!

IKEA LIST:

1. 
   
   faucet- Edsvik


2. 
   
   cabinets- Akurum with Stat fronts


3. 
   
   countertops- Numerar in oak


4. 
   
   shelves- Grundtal
   
   

Along with the ample countertops for folding, these two things are a huge must and have changed my laundry system for good! It takes up space and doesn't look that great, but it is sooooo worth it. When I take a load out of the dryer I hang anything up. The clothes steamer (given to hubby by me for Christmas ;) heats up in seconds and I steam them as I hang them.

From start to finish it takes me less than 5 minutes to fold, hang and steam a load of laundry! I now do it everyday instead of once a week.

laundry rack from Bed, Bath & Beyond

clothes steamer from Costco

Between the cabinets is a space for the Dustbuster and step stool.

This once was Jupiter's room. He still has his essentials (food, treats, toys and bed)
Along with my Roomba, the Wagner 905 steamer is my new best friend. It has a perfect storage place under my new sink!

Since it was the laundry room I knew I could have some fun with textures. These stainless steel racks are designed for the kitchen, but I will have so much fun accessorizing them!

Thanks for taking my little tour! Bring a load on over!

a little something to chase the COLD away

I know there are plenty of places colder right now than here in California, but I have to say that now with the Christmas decorations packed up and our sixth day of no sunshine it can really take a toll...so I thought I'd share a bit of sunshine with you all! Enjoy!

The other day I had the great opportunity to visit Anthropologie! Have you ever found something that you just couldn't live without? Below were mine! I knew that these had my names written all over them!
Flower teaspoons



Flower measuring cups

I'm feeling warmer already!

Kitchen Pantry Redo

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

One of my favorite blogs, Stephmodo, recently posted about kitchen pantry organization. With the new year upon us I couldn't help but get wrapped up in the organization of it!
Sadly I did not take a before picture. But I can tell you that the shelves were unlined and although it was once organized it, after many trips to Costco...well you know.

I first emptied the pantry completely and cleaned it all from top to bottom. Then I lined the shelves with leftover wallpaper from the garage. I sorted the items based on likeness. I ALSO GOT RID OF AS MUCH PACKAGING AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE! I really have a passion for displaying everyday items in unique ways. So I went around the house and garage looking for items that are not being used efficiently and gathered them up. Above is a "stuff" basket that now holds popcorn and crackers.

Because of a laundry room redo (pics soon!) we had some premade laminate organizers laying in the garage. I thought one would make a great seperater. THINK OUT OF THE BOX, LITERALLY! Those little Jello boxes always bugged me, this made the ideal spot for them. I love it when that happens!
This is my favorite! This old metal bread pan has been used for hundreds of different things. Right now we have a surplus of Hot Chocolate. Perfect for the envelopes for these and oatmeal. Behind it is a grass basket filled with Easy Mac. If you think we don't have much cereal, I use large glass jars on my kitchen island for it.

I love having most of my baking supplies in airtight containers. No more hard as a rock brown sugar or ants invading my chocolate chips. Plus, take a peak at the mint green chocolate chips in the far right, so cute in a Mason jar!

The chalkboard door is not new, but the pictures of my kids inside the pantry are. They were literally just hanging out near the pantry and I thought, "Why not hang pictures in your pantry?" Oh, and do you like the gentle reminder to the kids? Usually I have dinner ideas listed (for me) and breakfast/snack ideas (for them) listed on the chalkboard.

THE RESULT:

Besides an awesome pantry- look at all the garbage that is not in my pantry now! Incredible! I really have a bone to pick with these companies about all the packaging they use!

Jupiter thinks so too!

Hope something here inspired you! If not, I'd love to come over to help!

"when the cats are away..."

"...the mouse will play!"

the cats:

while they were doing this:

I was eating this:

and browsing this:

Penny Long in Corona Del Mar

and looking for future real estate:

All of these houses are just two blocks away from the beach in Corona Del Mar. My beach wishlist would include cottage style, picket fence, front porch, room for a charming garden!

Christmas in the tropics...sort of...

We planned this trip to Newport Beach for a little rest and relaxation before Christmas. We have never stayed here before although hubby grew up down here and I went to college here. Many of these beach places are where I used to come and spend my free time. It was great to share it with the kids! Enjoy!

Newport Coast Marriott
the weather has been around 70 degrees and since the pool is heated so the kids have been swimming everyday. there are also pool tables, ping pong tables and a large chess set by the pool. inside is a huge arcade.
this area is steps from our villa. it has a basketball court, firepit, sandbox, playground and tetherball court. so family friendly!

Day 1- Newport

SPRINKLES! need I say more? this is my first experience and it is so worth it!!! my favorite was the red velvet, but the milk chocolate was a close second...okay, they were all really good!

i had the great opportunity to walk around fashion island for a good long time! bloomingdales, anthropologie and z gallerie all without kids! ahhh, now this is vacation!

that night hubby's family came for dinner and fun. we had a blast hanging around the firepit laughing and telling stories. this is what it is all about!

Day 2- Legoland

since D is asking for mostly Legos from Santa we thought it would be a good time to venture out beyond disney. we all had a great day here. definately worth trying once, especially with a young boy! e was a good sport and had fun trying new things.

Day 3- Newport Harbor, Corona Del Mar

for me, this is what southern california is all about! when i lived down here i had first dates here, girl time at the beach, beachhouse fun and jogs on the path. my heart will always be in orange county at the beach!balboa funzone was always a great place to come. it was great introducing it to my kids!

hubby and i had our first date at Ruby's on the balboa pier. we thought it would be great to take the kids to lunch there. mmmm, good!
d loved the corona del mar tide pools! hubby and him climbed on those rocks for close to an hour looking at critters. e played in the waves and had as much fun. i really enjoyed watching my family.

Day 3- Disneyland!!

the holidays just are not the same without going to the happiest place on earth! i guess hundreds of others think the same because it was packed for a wednesday!!

notice that i am soaked from splash mountain, i am the only one in the log that got wet!

d was thrilled to get chosen for Jedi training! he took it very, very seriously. especially when he went saber to saber with Darth Maul! Boooo!

sorry so blurry!
our best buddies came and spent the evening with us. it was definately the highlight! we opened the park and closed it!

Day 4- Laguna Beach

my mother in law and i were lucky to spend a couple of hours walking around another of my favorite places!

christmas at the beach is so much fun!

we wandered back into this quaint little alley. i could live here! and look what we found!

We are not done yet! Stay tuned for our last two days in paradise...happy holidays!

*bake time 2009*

For the past 6 years I have hosted a cookie exchange! Some years it has been so big we've had to have group exchanges. Some years it is small and quaint. This year we had 8 bakers. Below is the loot that I received!

Since I have been working on a healthier lifestyle I decided to make something that I would not be tempted to eat. I made chocolate dipped biscotti. I made original almond and a variation with anise seed, hazelnuts and chocolate chips. I have to say...they turned out pretty yummy!

The best part was that my mom and I spent an entire day baking these together. It is a memory I will always cherish. I try to add a new cookie to my repitoire each year.

Like always, we have prizes-

• Best tasting cookie went to the chocolate marshmallow fudge cookie.
• Best wrapping went to a teapot container with red and white ribbon.
• Most creative went to these below...so cute!

chocolate dipped cherries as body and tail, kiss as face, Red Hot as nose and almond slivers as ears. They are yummy too!!!