Naples Babymoon

We took our first family vacation (just the 3 1/2 of us!) to Naples this June and had an absolute blast. We swam, went to the beach, took walks on the pier, visited the zoo and took lots of naps. It was perfect...and Little Miss travels very well, if I do say so myself!

my daddy and me..

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful hubby and the most amazing and proud Daddy! This girl has him absolutely wrapped around her sweet little finger...

Lake Weekend

We spend the entire Memorial Day weekend at the lakes.....ahhhhh, pure relaxation! We hung out with family and friends, took lots of boat rides and enjoyed the weather and water.

Pontoon driving with "Papa"

Laura and adorable Noah

"Cheese" face with grandpa

Claire playing hard-to-get!

Sunbathing with grandma

Beautiful Lake Pleasant...disregard the too-big-for-a-kiddie-pool-prego-momma!

A lake trip isn't complete without a little skinny dipping!

 {Yes, I realize she may kill me for this one someday, but it's just so darn cute!}

Bathroom Reveal

The master bathroom project is complete (and has been for a few weeks, but I'm just getting around to uploading pics)! I have to say, my DIY husband has outdone himself on this one...check it out!

Remember the boring, dark and almondy "before"?

Welcome to our "after"...light, airy and much more functional.

Not to continue bragging, but just so you know, SJ built the vanity (complete with inset shaker-style doors and soft-closing drawers) and the built-ins over the bathtub. We did all of the travertine tiling ourselves, and the tub surround is wrapped in a quartz stack-stone tile (so easy to apply, btw!) that we found on Craigslist.  I will take credit for a small amount of demolition, decision-making and decorating, but other than that (and only ONE plumber visit!), this was all SJ. Here are some of my favorite features:

Didn't realize how little storage we had until we added built-ins. I found this idea on Pinterest and it fit perfectly into our cozy bathroom (with no linen closet!). The hair dryer, straightener, products, bath toys, etc. are all hidden away in baskets, and I love that there is now some space for displayiing personal decor, frames, towels, and toiletries.

We went with a more modern, streamlined soaker tub...it's super deep and takes up much less space than our old gigantic (and almond-colored) garden tub. Don't you love the stack-stone?

We used travertine for all of the tiling, since it's such a small bathroom and we both really wanted subway-style. To save money, we bought 18 X 18 inch tiles, and cut each one to 9 X 18- this did involve a weekend rental of a heavy-duty tile saw, but well worth the time for the money we saved. I really love how much bigger the shower seems, the rainfall showerhead, and the mosaic floor. The built-in niche was a major headache for SJ, but it's perfect for shampoo storage in such a small shower. Notice the frameless glass shower door?! It was our splurge for the project but since we installed it ourselves (please don't try this at home!), it was justified, and makes it look very high-end!

Hooks instead of a towel bar (another Pinterest idea!)...found these at Kohl's for $8 each. Bonus!

My accessories were inspired by the quilt I have for our master bedroom (that project reveal coming soon!), and I adore the gray, chocolate, tan, and golden-yellow accents. My friend Christine gave me the glass jewelry jar for my birthday, then I found a few more mercury glass accessories at Target to coordinate. The hand-towel is an Anthropologie find....typically I would never spend more than $10 on a hand towel, but I couldn't pass this beauty up. The granite countertop was an all-in-one deal from Menards. The undermount sinks and backsplash came with it and I think we spent under $300 on the whole thing. What a find! All of our fixtures (including pivot mirrors, hardware and faucets) are from online retailers...ebay, csnstores.com and amazon.com are our go-to places for great deals!

Not sure we'll tackle a job this big again, but the result of this project are pretty impressive if you ask me. Now it's time to enjoy it....but I can guarantee that it won't be long before another Kruse project comes along! Claire's big-girl room and the loft playroom transformation coming soon...

Somerset photo-shoot

We stumbled across an opportunity while we were in Virginia to have photos taken of our precious one and a half year old (something I've been meaning to do for months)! A friend of my cousin, Courtney McIver (see her website and amazing talent here), was going to be in town while we were visiting, and agreed to spend some time with us and snap some shots in beautiful Somerset. The photos and memories are everlasting. Thanks, Courtney!

 

{What We're Eating}

Sweet, Sour and Spicy (optional!) Chicken
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup fresh broccoli, cut into pieces
3/4  cup sliced bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced red onion
3/4 cup pineapple pieces (fresh is best!)
{any other veggies that you wish- I like to add sugar snap peas and shredded carrots!}
dash salt and pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Sauce:
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp siracha pepper sauce (optional!)
2 Tbsp cold water
1 tsp corn starch

Saute chicken in 1 Tbsp olive oil and add salt, pepper and garlic powder; cook until chicken is starting to brown. Remove chicken from skillet and add veggies to the pan. Cook until crisp and add chicken and pineapple to skillet until heated through. In a sauce pan, combine first six sauce ingredients and bring to a low simmer. Add mixture of water and cornstarch until well thickened, then pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Serve over brown or white rice and enjoy!

VA is for lovers

Our Virginia road trip (yes, 10 hours in the car with a 19-month-old) went wonderfully. We only had one minor toddler motion sickness episode about two hours into the trip! I spent my birthday week with my dear aunt and uncle, cousin Hillary, sister, mom and the sweetest and funniest daughter. We relaxed, visited some wineries, did some antiquing and shopping, had a photo shoot (see this post), took many walks to visit the neighbor's cows, heard "naaaay" and "choo choo!" five hundred and thirty two times, and ate pounds of pimento cheese. Couldn't have asked for a better visit with family in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains.