Category: who are you, martha stewart?

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All about our complete kitchen remodel

Back in January, we began the first of two major remodeling projects at our house. From January to March, All in One Kitchen and Bath transformed our main bathroom from a white-tiled 90s paradise to a gorgeous oasis.

It was during the early stages of the bathroom project that we asked our designer Cara to come up with a design for our dream kitchen. While well-appointed and with some great features, our kitchen was head-to-toe oak, the floors matching the cabinets, with earthy tones throughout. Very 90s/early 2000s. We dreamed about white cabinets, darker floors, a backsplash similar to the subway tile in our new shower, and making the space more functional. We never used the small bar sink, the microwave was below counter level, and we wanted a narrower island to help open up the space.

Here’s how our kitchen looked before the renovation

Knowing that All in One’s schedule was already filling up for 2021, we locked in a summer start date. We figured that between time away at the lake and a couple of planned trips, it wouldn’t be so bad to live through another renovation.

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All about our complete bathroom remodel

Like many people, we’ve been spending a majority of our time right at home this past year. And, like many, we’ve been dreaming up changes to different parts of the house. In 2020, the house was quite a money pit, but not in a fun way. We had to replace our roof and rebuild our chimney in the spring following months of water issues; we had new drainage systems installed and our downspouts fixed to keep water from flowing into our basement during a heavy rain.

But in August 2020, we also got the ball rolling on a project we have wanted to do for several years: our main upstairs bathroom. While it wasn’t completely outdated looking, it had several elements we just didn’t like: a jacuzzi style tub where the jets got yucky from the standing water; white tile everything, from floors to shower to the countertops; a half-carpeted/half-tiled entryway; and not much in the way of soothing character or charm.

Our next door neighbors were remodeling their bathroom when the lockdown hit. After a delay, their project was completed in the summertime. I asked if they were happy with the company they chose, and they invited us to mask up and take a peek one evening. It looked wonderful!

In pre-COVID times, it would certainly make sense to call around and get quotes from other companies before moving forward with a project of this size. However, we are not in normal circumstances right now. Seeing the excellent work of a company and having a strong recommendation from a trusted neighbor gave us enough to move forward with the early parts of the process.

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Crafty in quarantine: Learning how to cross stitch

In the late fall, we had a parent-teacher conference with our daughter’s wonderful art teacher. Stella loves everything about art, and we wanted to get ideas for crafts that could be done safely in person or right here at home. Because we already have just about every Crayola product under the sun and an arsenal of paper, her teacher recommended trying crafts that were more tactile, such as weaving, knitting, or cross stitch.

We decided to give cross stitch a try.

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DIY: Branch from “Trolls” Halloween costume

I’ve always loved, loved, loved Halloween, especially planning out my costumes and every detail surrounding the day(s) of celebrating. It’s partly why some friends affectionately refer to me as the Mayor from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” That enthusiasm must be genetic, because our girls are just as into figuring out their Halloween costumes, even going as far as saying “for nextyear I want to be…” when the current Halloween hasn’t even happened yet.

It’s been beyond a strange, scary, and disappointing year with COVID, so I was game for doing WHATEVER our girls wanted to do in terms of their costumes. Even though I’ve had a blast making costumes for my girls in the past (especially Stella’s Dani from “Hocus Pocus” costume and Tamatoa from “Moana”), I’ve succumbed to the fact that sometimes, picking out a complete costume at the store is more exciting for them and easier for me. 

Stella wanted to be Mal from Descendants this year, and considering she won’t be able to celebrate Halloween in her classroom with all of her friends this year or go trick-or-treating, I was fine with getting her the coolest Mal ensemble from the Disney store online.

Margot decided she wanted to be Branch from “Trolls,” but when we looked at the costumes at Target, I knew I could do a DIY version that would be brighter and a lot more fun than the costume they had. So began my quest to create the Branch of her dreams!

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Celebrating Margot’s PAW Patrol birthday party

Earlier this month, we celebrated Margot’s third birthday with a PAW Patrol-themed party at our house. Margot’s love for PAW Patrol, and her favorite pup Marshall in particular, has been a life-long obsession. After last year’s wonderful Frozen-themed party with Anna and Elsa, I didn’t know if we’d be able to top it.

Margot’s early January birthday is challenging if only for the fact that planning a party within weeks of the holidays can feel overwhelming. It’s hard to think ahead to her birthday when we’re in Christmas mode, so that is why we’ve ended up holding birthday parties for her later in January.

Thanks to a wonderful face painter and balloon art duo, fun party favors, and several friends and family members braving yet another Margot Party Winter Storm, it was a great day.

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Every Christmas ornament has a story

One of my favorite things about the holiday season each year is decorating our family Christmas tree. While our two girls and even Zuzu have their own small trees with themed ornaments (stars for Stella, pearls for Margot, and foxes for Zuzu), the family tree is a hodgepodge of ornaments from our childhood, vacations, and special moments over the years.

Every year, the act of taking ornaments out of their storage boxes feels like unwrapping years of memories. They’re such personal objects, reflecting inside jokes and milestones. Here are some of my favorite ornaments on our family tree, and the little stories behind them.

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Easy and fun Halloween couples costume: Robert Palmer and Robert Palmer girl

When it comes to Halloween costumes, I love taking ideas from popular culture. Favorite movies, TV shows, and music artists are all great sources of inspiration. It’s so much fun to come up with ideas that can’t always be found at the store and aren’t overdone.

One of the ideas I’ve been keeping in my back pocket is recreating the iconic “Addicted to Love” video with Robert Palmer and his band of models. It truly doesn’t take much in the way of costume elements, and it’s instantly recognizable… at least to most people of the MTV music video era.

Friday night gave us the perfect opportunity to finally make this idea come to life: an 80s-themed Halloween party at East Lansing’s Fieldhouse featuring 80s cover band Triple Lindy.

We had a complete blast dancing the night away, and we won the costume contest!

Here’s how to easily put this costume together.
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Recipe: ‘Magic Salad’ with arugula, squash, and brussels sprouts

Lately, I have become obsessed with making what I’ve started to call the “magic salad.” It takes some of my favorite veggies (roasted butternut squash and shaved brussels sprouts) and gets them into the salad action instead of sitting on the sidelines. Add in arugula, parmesan, toasted pine nuts, and a salt bae healthy dose of Maldon sea salt, and you have a hearty and delicious dinner.

I first made this magic salad on our first night home from our trip to Paris. After dining out on pure decadence for a week, I was craving a salad something fierce. It hit the spot, and has been a favorite go-to ever since.

While butternut squash is the OG squash for the magic salad, I’ve also incorporated my other favorite squash, delicata. For added protein, I have used flank steak or chicken, but it’s plenty filling without the meat.

Here’s how to make it!

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Referral time: Fantastic Alterations by Kelly Wheaton

When you have lived in a community for awhile, this kind of question often comes up among friends and family: “Hey, do you know of a good ___?” There’s power in the referral. It feels great when you find someone who is great at what he or she does, and it feels even better when you refer friends and family to that person and they also have a great experience.

Whether it’s writing about a children’s hair stylist or piercer, I’ve always been happy to help promote a really great person/service. That’s why I need to write about Kelly Wheaton of Fantastic Alterations in Haslett!

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DIY: Dave Matthews Band lyric onesies

This past Saturday, we celebrated my cousin Erin’s baby shower. She and her husband will be welcoming their sweet baby daughter later this summer. They live in California, so it was such a treat to spend time together as a family and celebrate her over the weekend.

Erin is one of the biggest Dave Matthews Band fans I know. She was an early member of the Warehouse, has seen him dozens upon dozens of times live, and can even be seen in a photo with Boyd on the back cover of a DMB book (I’m pretty sure it’s Fan.Fare).

I had already ordered the diaper pail from her registry (girls are sugar and spice and everything nice but they also poop all of the time) and had it sent directly to her, but I wanted to have a little gift for her to open at the shower too. On Memorial Day, the lightbulb in my head went off and I thought, “hey, I bet there are DMB onesies out in the world.” I went on Etsy, and sure enough found an array of choices.

In addition to onesies with the fire dancer logo, there were such adorable ones with DMB lyrics, from songs like “So Much to Say” and “Everyday.”

Because I was working with a short timeframe, I purposely picked one that the seller said would be available to ship in time for the shower. When I didn’t receive any shipment updates, I contacted the seller on Thursday and found out there would be a delay. The seller was nice enough to offer to send the gift directly to my cousin or refund it all together.

I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see her open this gift in person at the party. That’s when I decided that I could probably make a DMB onesie on my own. In fact, why not try to make a few?

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