Weekend in Photos

Perfecting the art of the poached egg, a flourishing succulent garden as well as some growth on my roses, spring tulips, creating a delicious coconut tea sparkler and spending some quality time in my kitchen all made for a wonderful weekend! And by the way, the weather ended up being beautiful and sunny all weekend-so much for the snowy weather report! Happy Monday!

Rainy Weekend

Happy Friday! Definitely looking forward to the weekend, though it's raining buckets here and they say there's a chance for snow flurries tonight and tomorrow. Absolute craziness-I'll believe it when I see it! Either way, I suppose it's a perfect opportunity to hibernate in my sweats and watch my favorite Audrey Hepburn flicks;)

Have a lovely weekend!

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Dreaming of Exteriors

With perfect weather just around the corner, I've been daydreaming way too much about how to transform our backyard into an oasis. In California, we are big on dining outdoors, especially in the midst of Summer when the Delta breeze brings an ease to the hot daytime temps.

Our backyard is a pretty blank slate right now, which is a visionaries dream because the posibilities are endless! Of course, that can also mean pricey. I have to accept that it won't be complete as quickly as we would like, though I hope to find a large and reasonably priced patio table soon. So the search is on. Until then, I'll be dreaming of sweet Summer nights...

Check out these awesome exteriors!

all images via Sunset magazine

On Preperation

When it comes to sticking with healthy eating and snacking, a little preperation goes a LONG way! It takes about 30 minutes on a Sunday afternoon to wash and prep fruits and veggies, hard boil some eggs and grill up a few chicken breasts so healthy snacks and meals are right at your fingertips all week.

And a little tip I have learned: if a beautiful array of produce is the first thing staring you in the face when you open your refrigerator, chances are, you are less likely to reach for the Girl Scout cookies and consume mindless calories!

Just remember: "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."

In good health,

Kate

One Sweet Find

As yesterday was President's day, Mom and I decided to swing by Goodwill to take advantage of their 50% off holiday sale. Not really looking for anything in particular, I browsed the home goods department, where I snagged two square Pottery Barn vases as well as a stainless platter (also from PB).

But my real find was discovered while browsing the books. I am always on the hunt for them. Mainly for hardbacks with pretty covers-you know, for decorative purposes:) So you can imagine the happy squeal I let out when I discovered an entire section of these Reader's Digest novels! Look at those fun, bright covers!! (There goes the giddiness again!)

Talk about design on a dime-these puppies were originally marked at $2.49, though I only paid $1.25 thanks to the sweet half-off sale. Score!!

Next time you stop by the Hansen's, don't be surprised if you find them scattered about the house, serving as sweet pops of color :)

Inspiration: A Cheery Pantry

I am a believer that, in life, it really is the little things that matter. Take for instance this recent face-lift we gave the inside of our pantry...you read that right, the inside of the pantry. True it is something most people won't ever see, but I see it-every day. And you know, I think that your home should make you happy and should exude your personality.

So with that said, I would love to show you our little weekend project that's totally making me smile.

Here's a peek at our pantry before...




Emptied out and ready for a spruce up...

And finally, here it is with the back walls brightened up with a coat of Valspar's Cantaloupe Smile. Fitting name, don't you think?!

It's exactly the cheery lift I was hoping for! And for less than $10 and two hours on a Saturday afternoon, I would say it has already paid for itself, what with the fact that I can't stop gushing over how wonderful it looks each time I open the pantry!


With all the major projects on our home improvement list, it's great to have little things like this to tide us over with a sense of accomplishment:)

Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Weekend Love

Happy Friday! I'm definitely looking forward to a long weekend. On the agenda: our monthly stock-up trip to Costco, executing a little idea I had to spruce up our pantry, finding a use for some lovely new fabric I bought, taking a stab at Ellie Krieger's {healthy} dutch baby pancakes and hopefully re-potting the mums, lillies and tulips my sweet husband surprised me with on Valentine's Day. Oh the exciting life I lead;) Have a good one!

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