Blazing a trail to 2013
This year has flown by. With a busy household time seems to slip through my fingers.
That's why I am so excited to have friends like Jora to hook me up with great family-friendly recipes.
This one for crockpot carnitas couldn't be any easier! And it is what is going on the table tonight.
Luckily, we live near a fantastic Tortilleria , so fresh.

In other happenings my favorite local Artist, Michael Flohr, a.k.a my husband is slated to have surgery on his cervical spine next month. He has been able to paint, luckily, but has been feeling the effects of a blown out disc as a result of excessive nagging. Poor man. Keep him in your thoughts. Painting is his biggest passion and this injury definitely scared him a bit. Loss of feeling in his right arm- a big problem. Here are some of his latest and greatest masterpieces that are now available as fine art prints.

In other news we are hosting Thanksgiving this year, I'd better get going and plan that menu!

xo

I don't think I have ever been this exhausted in my life. Thank you, Dinner A Love Story blog for the easy, delicious meal tonight. xo

Mixing work with pleasure

Last night the Hubs went in to the gallery to do a painting demo for clients who happened into the Gaslamp location. Many times people stop in just to meet the artist whom they collect but have never met. My in-laws volunteered to have the boys spend the night at their place. As a last minute request I asked my mom to watch our baby girl and VOILA! Date night. It was so fun spending time in the gallery watching my husband paint and talking with clients. Just spending time with adults was glorious! We ended up going out with friends afterward and had a great time. Here is the kicker; as much as we crave time without our kids around, we each started to get butterflies when we went to pick up our daughter. We were so excited to see her, and I'm sure we'll have the same exuberant feeling when we go to pick up the boys this afternoon. It's a funny thing, being a parent. Prior to having kids, I never in my life would have imagined how much work it is. So. Tiring. And yet, I love it, over and over again.

A nice little recipe

Made this with the leftover turkey from my do-over Christmas meal on New Year's Day dinner. Phew! Loads of leftover bird and black-eyed peas with andouille. Made this soup. Added some of my own thyme however, thought it was yum. Here, try if you are so inclined...

It's about time

I must say that this space has been heavily neglected. Friends, sometimes it takes a gal some time to get her shrizz in order. I am that gal. Apparently getting a household in order while raising mucho kiddos is not an easy task for me. I love it. I love it so, so much that my goal for 2012 is... Spend more time actively engaging in playtime with my kids. (Clean house, laundry & chores need to come second to my children and husband.) SO, basically more of the same except stop feeling guilty and worrying about it.

On the Homefront

I've been thinking a lot about how to decorate our home. We've lived in it for 1 year now and we moved from a traditional 1912 Craftsman Bungalow to a late Mid-century Ranch and doubled our living space! However, the furnishings from our old home doesn't really translate into our new one. For some reason I feel guilty talking about how to style one's home when there are so many other important topics going on in the world, but for me it is a creative escape, a shelter. So, you can see what I've come up with over on Pinterest. If you have any suggestions, I would appreciate them!
What to do with the media room. I've toyed around with the idea of a jumbo, automatic movie screen and projector but for me the cost difference between that and a big 'ole thin lcd wall mount just doesn't compare. So, I saw this and was interested...

We have a very loooong wall and I think this could work. We are in the process of removing some original wallpaper from said wall and once we decide what to do with it, I think we can start making some decisions on furnishings. I am aiming for the full decor vision and am nervous to make a move without first having a plan. What did you do when you decided to start decorating your home? Are you happy with the decisions you've made and if not, what would you do differently?

Finding Style

Well this past year has been a doozy. Adding one more baby to the mix definitely bumped up the activity around these parts. Moving into a new home has offered new challenges too, as well as alleviating old ones. About a year ago we moved about 30 minutes outside of the city into a much larger home with a much, much larger outdoor property. It has been great for the kids to run around free and explore the area without us parents having to worry about them running into a busy street (which we faced our former beloved city home). Finding our style has been a challenge though.

We basically moved our "stuff" in and unpacked (mostly) but haven't had or taken the time to create style in our surroundings. The Hubs really doesn't put much weight into designing his surroundings, he is fully focused in the studio and that is how he exhales his creativity. I however, like to get creative and dream up different ways of decorating our home. It's just my thing and quite possibly when the kids are in school full time and I can get back to painting as well; what my home looks like won't matter to me. Perhaps when I get back into painting, I can feel creatively satisfied that way, but for now my home is my palette and I'm lacking tools. Wallpaper needs to be removed, atriums landscaped, lighting and sound system installed, carpet removed, colored applied. And then there's the furniture.

Our former home was a 1912 craftsman and we purchased furnishings to blend in well with that style. Our new home is a 1970's ranch and I would love to indulge in a few late MCM pieces that showcase some of the home's features. I find design inspiration in the peace and calm of my friend Jora's home. I love that I always feel so relaxed when I visit with her. Another source of design inspiration is my mom, Bette. She has the most amazing way of finding pieces that complement one another but have nothing in common. Her style is artistic, eclectic and creative yet refined. I love my mother's eye for design and I wish I had that gene. Seriously, her home could be in magazines.

My goal for future home design is that our place would be streamlined, stylish, reflective of our personality, comfortable and most importantly to this mom of three...clutter-free!

I'll keep you posted.

Grateful

I'm so grateful for my husband and children. They are my everything. So much more to lose when you have children.
My life has been lifted to another level because of them. To my family, I deeply love you so and on and on and ever after.

Consume, Consume, Consume!

Well, I just got back from a trip to the mall. I was there with the whole family and only there so that my husband could dedicate a piece of artwork to a client. Guess what happened? I accidentally went to Nordstrom and invested in a couple of beauty goodies. I'd love feedback if any of you have used these products, let me know how they work for you!

Creme de la Mer
I have been promised results and I have high hopes. Since baby Lils has been eating solids and thus nursing has lessened my hormones are driving my skin and hair wacky! I have been breaking out and growing weird patches of hair on on either side of my peak. We'll see if this works. Anyone else tried this product?

Additionally, I splurged on Jo Malone's version of Neroli and I love, love it! Reminds me of warm spring breezes.

And lastly, a product I have been using for years and love, Laura Mercier's tinted moisturizer. It's easy to wear, takes two shakes to put on and is lightweight. Every now and then I mix it with their illuminating tinted moisturizer for a glow-y effect.

There. I feel better now that I've confessed.

What A Trip!

This year for Christmas we went on an epic road trip. One that I have been craving before we had our 2nd child. Now that we have our 3rd lovely baby, a trip was in order. We drove across Arizona, New Mexico and up to Colorado with our three children and yes, new puppy in tow. We stayed with very generous and brave friends along the way and saw glorious sights. The colors of the land are a feast and might just inspire some majestic landscape paintings out of a very urban artist. I'll leave you with this. Sedona. The most beautiful place we've ever been. Ah, America, I love this country. Go see for yourself.