what to do when it's 7 degrees outside...

dream about being here instead!



The Napa River House in Napa, California is located on a site with mature oak trees and stone pathways winding down a gently sloping hill. Love the pool. Ok, I pretty much love everything about this home.

read more here... ArchDaily

Photo: Craig Steely Architecture

mmmm bacon

Did you see the cupcake recipe in my last five for friday post? I made 'em! I opted for cream cheese frosting and went overboard with a strip of bacon on top. They're delicious and you really can't taste the bacon that much in the cupcake itself. Maybe I'll use more bacon next time...cuz there will definitely be a next time.

queen of the snow

five for friday

1. sparrow hiding from the blizzard
2. I need this credenza now!
3. baking these this weekend
4. fantasy home
5. my birthday flowers on my new Skinny laMinx pincushions napkin

the big dig out

blizzard of 2011

It's still snowing. And I'm talking white out blizzard style snowing. You can't even tell where we shoveled and used the snow blower this morning. The backyard has peaks of snow drift mountains. The front of our house has 3 foot drifts up against the door. The drifts coming off the garage look like a whipped cream explosion. The birds are still out eating at the feeders. They are unstoppable! Lottie had a good time playing. She loves snow. The photo below is our driveway. As you can see, the snow plows have plowed us in pretty good. Digging that out is going to suck.

basement

Mark spent last weekend planning out the walls and got most of the basement framed up now. What we orignally planned for the placement of the new laundry utility sink is not going to work. I saw Mark watching a tutorial on how to add sink valves to laundry supply lines this morning so he'll have a new plan of attack soon.

For the basement floor, we're probably going to install Home Depot's Trafficmaster Allure plank flooring (floating vinyl floor that's similar to wood laminate). Would I ever use this upstairs? Heck no. But it will be the Mark and Beth construction company installing the flooring with a very small budget so our options are limited. Mark does not want a concrete floor. We need our basement floor to be dog and drunken dude friendly and this stuff from Home Depot is water resistant and perfect in high moisture areas like kitchens, bathrooms, and basements. As far as color goes, I'm leaning towards the middle (apple blonde) or the one on the right (teak).