michigan fall-highlighted: atwood park.

I did not grow up in a small town. I did not grow up in the Midwest. I did not witness trees changing colors, cider & donuts or football games outside until college. I grew up in Goodyear, AZ and had an incredible upbringing. Now I find myself raising my own family in the small Michigan hometown my husband and many past generations of both of our families grew up in. Some things are a negative tradeoff (e.g. lack of shopping/eating choices and having my parents and sister so far away) but some things are an incredible positive tradeoff (e.g. this incredible thing they call "Fall" and experiencing small town America with my kids).

As I think is apparent from my blog, I try to find appreciation in all the little things in my life. This cute little park, Atwood Park, is just a block from my house and a great view from my front yard. Live music permeates the air on cool summer nights and the beauty of fall is highlighted among store fronts on State Street. The lighting and colors were perfect one night this week and my family and I strolled down for a photo shoot. These pictures are the result.

midland antique festival.

This last weekend was a local antique festival that my friend, Sarah and I have been looking forward to since the spring. The weekend was a great chance for me to share my new home with the friend I knew would appreciate it the most, hear about her new job and share in our love of all things old while downing many Diet Cokes...it was incredible!!

At the antique festival I found two vintage Pyrex I had been looking for to finish my mixing bowl set, old kitchen utensils in an awesome chipped mint finish, and a huge pink glass jar for our 1/2 bath redo. Sarah scored an old window, a purple jar, a metal cake stand and 8 lunch plates. We were very successful and of course left talking about returning next year. This is the great start to an annual tradition...bring on the antiques!

cassidy's pillowcases.

My little sister is having her 12th birthday this week and I would like to share a piece of her gift. She picked out this beautiful pale lavender and cream feather fabric this summer that she had hopes of sewing into custom pillowcases for her bed, but we never got to that project so I decided to make them, embroidery her initials to make them extra special and send them to AZ for her special day. Here they are and I really think they will be special for her to lay her sweet little head on at night. She also received an antique necklace, hankie and dessert dish. I love her so very much and I enjoy having so many common interests with my little mini-me.

empty frame art piece.

Goodwill frames:

Finished piece:

This weekend I was able to work on a decor piece for my living room (originally intended for our master bedroom). This project cost me $4.30. The inspiration came when my husband brought in a huge, gaudy, orange frame from the attic of our carriage house. My daughter and I went to Goodwill and collected all of the smaller frames and painted them all this "putty/grey/khaki" color. We arranged them on the wall above our couch in the living room and added the green "F" to increase the interest!

stay at home mom.

Last night, my grandma and I were able to go see "The Help" at our local theater (such a treat). Much of this movie revolves around how much help the maids provided the mothers of the Civil Rights era. Seeing the bond these mother's children shared with the help really brought out some of my personal feelings about being able to stay at home with my children full-time (Warning!!!-about to get mushy).

My blog is titled "Mrs. Livin the Dream" because that is exactly how I perceive my life today. I have a luxury that many woman of today do not. I am able to stay home with my children and raise them, love them and make memories everyday. I do not have to pick them up from somebody else at the end of my workday and learn about their days. I am not faulting moms who do because I realize many do not have a choice. I just do my best everyday to be grateful for my opportunity to share in my children's daily life and be present for it all. Somedays I feel overwhelmed or like nothing is getting "done" around the house, somedays I wish I had more money I could spend but EVERYDAY I make a point to thank God, my husband and my children for this opportunity I have been afforded to be with my children everyday. I am home, teaching them, playing with them, caring for them, decorating our home, becoming a better cook and homemaker. I realize how important my gig is and I am proud to be here. Before I go too far I should just wrap it up by saying I love everything about what I am doing as a stay-at-home-mom, I am grateful and I truly am "livin' MY dream."

canning tomatoes with grandma.

Leaving to collect our 4 bushels of tomatoes from a local Amish farm

Boiling tomatoes to peel them

Jackson showing off the whole production

Boiling all the ingredients together

Cooked and ready to transfer to the Ball (American Made for 125 years) Jars!

It is an annual tradition for my grandma and I to can jars of tomatoes, celery, onions, jalapenos, and green peppers to kick off the fall/close summer. This year we canned these ingredients "open kettle style." This is the same technique my grandma's mother-in-law (Taggett) originally taught my grandma over 50 years ago. It is quite a tedious and hot process, but I love doing this. It makes me feel like I am continuing a family tradition, my family Loves the end product, it makes my grandma happy and I support the local farmers by using only their products. This whole process is so special to me, I look forward to it every year. We were able to store over 80 quarts this year which we will use to make goulash, chili, salsa and more throughout the year!

pure michigan dinner.

This past week, Emilia and mommy prepared a meal that consisted of all fresh Michigan produce and food. We scored potatoes from the Amish locals. Peppers and tomatoes from a local family friend's farm. Green beans and watermelon from our Saturday morning Farmer's Market. The pan-fryed walleye we made was caught in our local Great Lakes by my husband, son and father-in-law. I was proud to make my family such a healthy dinner grown right here in our home state:)

custom kitchen valances for a steal.

THE PROCESS:

Clearly I am a DIY-er. When I saw two beautiful, full paneled, luxury brand, new from the store, window coverings at Goodwill in a steel paisley, I couldn't resist. The fabric is beautiful, thick and best of all the pieces came fully lined (my least favorite part of curtain making) for only $7.99/set. I scored yards of this beautiful fabric and I made the valance for my kitchen window, a skirt to cover unsightly internet cords in the breakfast nook and have plenty leftover for my half-bath makeover valances. I love the fabric but never would have splurged at the full price of these beauties. Best of all-by chopping them up I was able to make customized pieces for my home. Also-I must give credit to my mini-me helper who is pictured above(she is the one whose feet do not touch the ground).

FINISHED PRODUCTS:

kitchen makeover reveal.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As you can see from the before, our previous kitchen was very dark compared to the rest of our light, bright home. The kitchen is on the back of our house and felt like you stepped in a cave after walking through the front of the house with all of the white crown molding and natural light seeping in through our beautiful windows. As I previously blogged, I do love a white kitchen and knew when we purchased our home that I would rather have a white kitchen. After about a month of work I am ready to share the gist of it. I am never finished with anything (I like to change things up for a fresh feel), but you will get the idea.

I love the big, open and airy feel of my new white kitchen. I like the grey/blue as an accent color and it transitions much better with the rest of our home. I have tried to balance a clean modern black and white style with the light blue and antique/shabby chic pieces. I think too much of one or the other is not my style and much prefer a little bit of both. Some of the artwork I have put up was purchased at the antique store or a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law's grandma's house while other pieces are brand new from downtown hipster boutiques. I like the result of the unexpected combinations and I am happy with this inexpensive, DIY redo.

kitchen window succulents.

My window over my kitchen sink gets an immense amount of afternoon sunshine and I have an affinity for succulent plants...because of this winning combination I felt the need to blog photos of my kitchen plants that bring me so much joy. Jackson and I have named them all and I love the reminder of my Arizona roots these sunshine thirsty plants bring me.