A Touch Of Blue...

As I mentioned earlier, I was on a quest to add some touches of blue to the living room. I found everything I wanted and was able to get it all without ever leaving the house and I didn't shop online. How did I do it, you ask? I used my personal shopper...aka my hubby. ;)

He was doing some shopping the other day and as soon as he left, I started googling pillow covers and decorative plates and before he knew it, I was texting him pics and item numbers of things to pick up for me. Lol!

It's a good thing he loves to shop. :) 

I had him pick up these plates for the mantel at Pier 1 and four blue and white pillow covers at Hobby Lobby. I even texted him my Hobby Lobby coupon. He had to go to two stores to get all four pillow covers, which was kind of a good thing because then he got to use a coupon on two of them.

These pillow covers were only $6.99 before the coupon, (and only $4.19 after the coupon) and they have zippers. 

The back is a plain cream color. 

I love these pops of blue!

Here's a close up of the plates...

They were on clearance at Pier 1 for only $4.98!

I purchased this pretty vase years ago at The Bombay Co. I loved that store and have many furniture pieces from them as well.

Ten points to the person who can spy Holly in the pic below. ;)

I'm so happy with my finds!

 Having a neutral background sure makes it easy (and fun) to change up my decor with just a few pieces. 

P.S. If you couldn't find her, Holly is sleeping on the back of the sofa in the pic. It's her happy place. :)

~Lisa

Joining the Thoughts of Home Party at Poofing the Pillows

Musings

So, how was the first week back to reality after Christmas break? It's usually a long week, but I can't believe how quickly it went by. 

For some reason, our Knockout rose bush is in full bloom right now, so I clipped some flowers to bring inside. 

I love how easy it is to add a pop of color with neutral decor as a background. I'm thinking of adding some new pillow covers in a navy print. I don't think I've ever had navy in this room (besides that vase above) and I think I'd like the change. 

Maybe some navy patterned plates on the mantel?

And a few pops of navy on the rolling cart? Hmm...I'll have to shop the house first, then go in search of pillow covers. 

So, onto another subject...

With it being the start of a new year, I know a lot of us are trying to make healthier food choices and I wanted to share a few favorites of mine.

 Smart Ones chicken enchiladas ~ so good! I've been buying them for years and they really have a lot of flavor. They're only $1.74 at my local grocery store. 

I really like to have a little chocolate in my day and these York peppermint patties hit the spot. One of these (snack size) only has 60 calories and 1.25 fat grams. 

I've talked about Skinny Cow products before and they're still a go-to item for my sweet tooth. These dark chocolate dreamy clusters are my favorite. If you're local, HEB has these on sale, buy one get one free right now with an in-store coupon. They're normally $3.64 a box at my store.

My mom and aunt kept talking about this Skinny Pop popcorn and I finally tried it. It was delicious! Only 43 calories per cup, people! So far, I've only tried white cheddar, but they have a lime and salt version I want to try next. This bag was $2.83.

So, I'm curious, what are your favorite low fat snacks or meals? I'm always looking for new things to try. :) 

~Lisa

Waking Up The House

Do y'all have a morning routine? I've probably talked about mine before. I love the idea of "waking up the house" by opening blinds, turning on lamps, making coffee, etc. It's just a nice way to start the day. 

I thought I'd take you along with me as I wake up my house today...

The first thing I do is make my bed. Every. Single. Day. 

And no, I don't normally have a tray on my bed like that. Lol! Some of my friends were holding a special hashtag party on Instagram, so I styled it a little more than normal before I posted. :) 

Right about now, Holly hears me stirring around, so she runs to my bedroom, weaves between my legs, and INSISTS I pick her up. She then proceeds to immediately turn over on her back (so I'm cradling her like a baby) and she stuffs her head into my warm neck. Lol! She does this for a few minutes and please note that NOTHING else gets done until she gets her fill of morning snuggles. :)

Sweet baby girl. 

Next, I make my way into the kitchen and start turning on all the lamps...

Ironically, I had to turn the lamps back OFF in order for these pics to come out right, but you get the picture. :) 

Now for the living room lamps...

And finally, I make my way into the dining room to turn on one last lamp...

Holly follows me around as I open the blinds in the kitchen...

And living room...

Then finally, I make my way back to the kitchen to fix my first cup of coffee for the day.

FYI...my beloved Keurig started acting up recently. The screen would just go blank at random times, preventing me from using it. I've had it less than a year, so I called customer service this morning and they're sending me an entire new brewer, just like the one I have, for FREE! Now, THAT'S good customer service! 

Oh, and of course I have to feed Holly breakfast too...

Speaking of breakfast, I wanted to share a little info with y'all. Lots of my friends my age (45) are low in iron. Did you know just one cup of Frosted Mini Wheats cereal contains 90% of your daily iron requirement? Just thought I'd put this out there. Several of my friends started eating it for breakfast every day and within a couple of weeks, their iron levels were back to normal. Okay, that's my PSA for the day. :)

I hope y'all enjoyed tagging along with me on my "wake up my house tour" today! Enjoy your week!

~Lisa

DIY Restoration Hardware Inspired Rolling Cart Reveal

We finally completed our Restoration Hardware inspired rolling cart/bookshelves and I have tons of pics to share. :)

I could not be more happy with how they turned out! They are exactly how I envisioned them. Oh, and the RH ones retail for about $2500 and we made these for $105!!!!!!!! 

The metal straps are one of my favorite parts... 

The bars just add to the industrial look that I love.

And the wheels!!! Love those wheels!

This textured basket was one of the first things I bought to decorate these shelves with. I've been buying things for about six months now. Every time I would see something on sale, I would grab it up and store it. :) 

I made that boxwood wreath/frame specifically with these shelves in mind. 

That basket on the bottom shelf used to be brown with fake ivy in it. I've had it since the 90's. I removed the ivy a long time ago and painted it heirloom white. For now, I'm storing that green throw in it. 

I'm loving the garden stool in its new spot by the loveseat. 

Of course, bringing in the new bookshelves meant we had to play musical decor with a few things.

This wall above the tufted chair used to have a trio of sunburst mirrors and I switched them out for this plumbago print my son made for me. (the next thing on my list is to replace that lamp with a glass "bubble" lamp from Kirkland's, but I'm afraid the one I want may be too big for that table)

The plumbago print used to be above that demi-lune table below. I just moved it over to the right (above the chair) and moved the fleur de lis above the demi-lune. I'll share before and after pics at the bottom of the post so you'll know what I'm talking about. 

The pic below is kind of fuzzy, but it shows another angle of the room. I like the flow so much better now.

In case you were wondering, this is where the trio of sunburst mirrors ended up. I like them much better on this smaller wall in the dining room.

Okay, so here's a few before and afters of the living room...

The next two pictures show what that back corner to the right of the armoire looked like before...

And here's the "after" with the new bookshelves...

Here's a good "before" pic of the sunburst mirrors and the plumbago print... (I liked those sunburst mirrors, but they never seemed quite right in that spot)

And here's the "after"...

Here's the "before" of the dining room with the small floral print above the kidney table...

And again, here's the "after" with the sunburst mirrors. The floral print was moved to the top shelf of the new bookcases.

If you're interested, here's a link to the tutorial we used to make the rolling cart/bookcases...

Dear Lillie Restoration Hardware Inspired Rolling Cart Tutorial

I was so glad to finally get this piece built. I was never happy with that particular corner of the living room, decor wise. I knew it needed a more substantial piece of furniture, but it took me a long time to make up my mind as to what I wanted. I think this rolling cart definitely fits the bill and it only took two days to make. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa