Baby Names: The List

ITS A GIRL!

• Flora Grace Thornton
• Emma Grace Thornton
• Claire Grace Thornton
• Chloe Grace Thornton

These are names Casey and I have been bouncing around- What do you think?

Yummy Egg Salad Sandwich

This is my all time favorite sandwich! I found it in a Country Living magazine awhile back and i just came across the recipe again. It tastes so fresh and is a perfect springtime lunch :)

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• kosher salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup watercress
• 2 slices of a crusty whole wheat loaf
• 1 teaspoon fresh snipped chives
• 1 small French breakfast radish,thinly sliced

Place eggs in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat,cover and simmer 5 minutes,remove from heat,and let eggs sit in pot with water for 5 minutes. Cool eggs in a large bowl of ice water for a minute or so. Peel shells,and tear eggs into large pieces. In a bowl,gently mix together eggs,mayonnaise,olive oil,garlic,salt and pepper. Place watercress on one slice of bread,layer with egg salad,and top with chives and radishes. Cover with second slice of bread and serve.

Protein:18.5g  Fat:23.3g  Carbohydrate:27.8g  Fiber:4g  Sodium:1,108mg  Cholesterol:428mg  Calories:420 

Home Improvements

Now that I'm getting my first home, decorating and improvements ideas keep popping up in my mind- every Country Living magazine i've ever read is coming back to haunt me! Though i know a home is a work in progress, and  most (if not all) of these little *tweaks* will take years and years to get to- i'm still far to excited not to write a  blog entry about all my plans :)

we have 2 sliding doors, one the first level that leads to the backyard, and one on the second level leading  to the balcony- so i'd like to install french doors in place of the sliding doors someday.

I plan on putting white tile on the bottom half of the wall  in the bathroom on the second floor. The other half of the wall will be painted 'Naivete' a blush pink by Valspar.

I would like to put beadboard on the bottom half of the wall in the bathroom on the first floor. The other half of the wall will be painted 'Prudence' by Valspar.

I want to eventually take out the laminate countertops in the kitchen and replace them with a beautiful milky marble- how luixurious!

I am absolutely in love with the idea of having a 'farmhouse' sink in my kitchen- i saw it in one of  Rachel Ashwell's books and fell in love.

And there is tile on the kitchen floor and wood on the living/dining room floor- i'd like to take out the tile and extend the wood into the kitchen.

I have always loved the look of a pedestal sink. I'd like to take out the sink/cabinet in the bathroom on the second floor and put a pedestal sink in its place. This would be the same bathroom with the wall tile and  blush pink paint.

I want to get a  chandelier to hang over the dining room table, it would add wonderful romance to the whole living/dining area!

There is a linen closet in the laundry room that i would like to wallpaper. Both the wall and shelfs. All my pretty sheets will be folded with sachets of lavendar :)

a distressed white bar stool to pull up to our kitchen island, 4 will do.

We have nice white cabinets in the house now, but i am thinking i would like to put in glass ones to display all my pretty dishes.

I have always dreamt of a clawfoot bathtub so hopefully the master bathroom will have one someday. And i just love the faucet this picture shows!

The ladder display is absolutely adorable! This picture was featured in a Country Living magazine and i fell in love with the idea. I would like to paint an old wooden ladder and stand it up on the balcony with little terracotta pots of herbs/flowers. nothing to heavy, just dainty lovely things.

We have recessed lighting  in the kitchen, but i'd like to take out the three over the kitchen island and put in some pendant fixtures like the ones in this photo.

I just love the idea and look of  a big 'ole white wooden dining table, like this Shabby Chic one here. the  mixture of distress and elegance is perfect--ecspecially under a chandelier! We have a little round dining table we  are using now, but we are outgrowing it quickly. I plan on putting that one in the room downstairs. I plan to make the room downstairs have a cozy little tearoom feel. our small dining table, floral table cloth and plush seat cushions. teacart with a teaset ready along with precious linens and silver. even a little mini fridge to hold creamers and such. a hutch for my precious china... originally we were going to make it a playroom, but i like this idea  more. a room for tea-the kitchen will be for wine ;)

Once we get the backyard in landscaped/garden mode i'd  like to put a hammock and picnic table in the yard. a little throw and squishy floral pillows adorning the white net will be absolutely heaven come springtime. And eating outside is always a little adventure when the weather permits.

A small change, this darling lever for the toilets will give the whole room a more vintage feel

I'd like to get a hold of a bunch of vintage porcelain door knobs to use through out the house. and smaller similar porcelain knobs for kitchen cabinets.

Well those are alot of ideas and i'm sure i will come up with more, but for now, that will do :)

Paint Swatches

Our paint color chooses for the new home:

same colors taken in different lighting.

• The first swatch is 'Pale Bloom' by Valspar (as are the rest). That is going to be our allover/base color of the house. It is from the orange family so it has an ivory, light khaki appearance. This will be used in the foyer,staricases,hallway,laundry room and living room.
• 'Prudence' is the second color swatch, a dusty blue- though it looks a little more purple in the photo than it really is. This color will be used in the nursery,downstairs bathroom, kitchen, masterbedroom and masterbath.
• The third color is 'Naivete', a blush pink for Evelyn's room and the bathroom on the second floor.
• 'Mint Spritzer' is the last color, a cucumber green, which will only be used in the front room.

We are hoping to later on down the road add white bead board (i believe it is called) to the bottom half of the downstairs bathroom wall. For the bathroom on the second floor we want to add white tiling to the bottom half of the bathroom's wall and also up the shower wall.

ideas ideas! so fun to soon be owning our own home- if not the one we are hoping for now, definately another one :)

New Home, New Appliances

Casey and I are looking into purchasing our first home, and to help pass the waiting period, i'm looking into new appliances we will need to purchase :) So here is my little 'shopping list' for our refrigerator, stove, microwave and dishwasher (the house we are hopefully! getting comes with a washer and dryer)

KitchenAid Stainless Steel 21.9 cu. ft. Bottom Freezer Refrigerator ENERGY STAR®

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04608240000P?vName=Appliances&cName=Refrigerators&sName=View+All

KitchenAid Stainless Steel 2.0 cu. ft. Microhood Combination

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02284743000P?vName=Appliances&cName=Microwaves&sName=Over+the+Range

Frigidaire Gallery 30" Freestanding Gas Range Model: FGGF3054KF

http://www.frigidaire.com/products/kitchen-appliances/gas-electric-ranges/fggf3054kf

Whirlpool 24-Inch Built-In Tall Tub Dishwasher (Color: Stainless) ENERGY STAR®

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=297314-46-GU2275XTVY&catalogId=10051&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=1243207

Learning to Knit

I have always wanted to learn to knit, but raised in a 'crochet' home, the thought of turning my back on the familiar hook would be quite an insult to my childhood. Pushing aside such 'sentimental' thinking i attempted a scarf when i was pregnant with Evelyn. It turned out well for beginner's work, but i can't even count the number of attempts it took me to cast on, the frustration down every row and how time consuming this one scarf was! After such a stressful experience, i put away my knitting needles and broke out ol' faithful and starting crocheting again. Now, pregnant again, i have that familiar thought, "i think i will teach myself to knit!"  So i decided to head out to Barnes&Nobles and pick out a darling book of baby knits.

In between popping Goldfish in Evelyn's mouth, i came upon a book titled 'Easy Baby Knits: clothes and accessories for 0-3 year olds' by Clair Montgomerie. The title combined with the soft color hues of the cover (yes, i judge books by there covers) was enough to make me sit on Barnes&Noble's squishy couch and flip through the pages. Now Evelyn is out of her stroller pushing it in a circle, comanding the attention of everyone in the store but me- mommy is entranced by the shabby chic/vintage feel of the pictures and knitting projects. A hooded blanket on a sleeping baby, a smart sweater on a smiling boy sitting on a peeling chair, a wrap cardigan worthy of a ballerina, and booties,mittens and bonnets i wish i could wear. Everything looked wonderful but i had to remind myself- i'm just a beginnner, there is no way i could make this stuff!

Flipping back to the begginning of the book i realize there is a whole 'Getting Started' section that has step by step illustrations on how to cast on,bind off, knit,purl, increase,decrease and much more valuable techniques. Not only that, but i could actually understand the directions--everything seemed so easy! Well i was sold. Scooping Evelyn back in her stroller i headed to the checkout line with little baby clothes dancing in my mind.

I decided my first project would be the hooded blanket, perfect for practicing technique and gauge. The next day i set off to find the perfect yarn. My first step was to decide what two colors i wanted to use. Sticking with my nursery color theme it came down to dusty blue,white or flax linen. Colors taken from this Serena&Lily sling that inspired my nursery look/theme. Since we won't find out the gender till the 30th i decided to not use blue in the blanket- blue will be fine for a girl in accent, but not as one's blanket. I would only be asking for strangers to refer to our baby girl as a boy. Searching both Michaels and Joanns i could not find a linen color that match the sling like i desired.  Everything was either too grey or too brown. So i decided to bite the bullet and head to Gail Knits. Gail Knits is a knitting specialty store here in Vegas that has beautiful,yet pricey yarns. As soon  as i walk in i find the PERFECT yarn. Almost identical to the sling's color, Lana Grossa's Linea Pura Organico in Stone. Made in Italy with 100% organic cotton, it had the right amount of softness to be against a baby's cheek but still hold a rectangle shape needed for the blanket. Not only that but it is machine washable(though lay flat to dry) Closing my eyes to both the price tage and the total of purchasing 6 balls, i handed over my debit card.

Now that i had found the body color i headed back to Michaels to try to save some amount of money. Since everyone carries a white yarn, i wasn't amount to pay extra for a 'specialty' white. The tricky part was finding a yarn that would be compatible with the Linea Pura one. It needed to be organic cotton,white,and with the identical gauge of 18sts by 24 rows. I was kidding myself thinking i would be able to to find all those prerequestites! I did find a ball of yarn that was similar, and would do. Cotton Ease by Lion Brand in Snow is 50% cotton and 50% acrylic and the gauge is 17sts by 24 rows. So it is the white i need, though not 100% organic cotton- not even 100% cotton. But it felt soft enough and the thread looked similar to the Linea Pura one. And the gauge was off by only a hair, so i purchased a $3.99 ball ( i'll state the price of this one but not the other one!)

After getting further knitting neccesities like needles,measuring tape and point protectors i headed home to knit!  Its been about two days since i started my project and i've knitted about 2 1/2 inches. I think it looks good for a begginer and the instructions Claire Montgomerie gives are so easy to follow i casted on without a problem (though it doesn't look to well, haha) and after a row of knitting i felt the had thte stitch down! The only thing i kept tweaking was how to hold the yarn and the constant stop and go of moving stitches up and down the needles. But after a few rows i found a comfortable way to hold the yarn that gave a good gauge and once that gauge was achieved it was easier to push the stitches up and down the needles with my thumb.

Now i enjoy the moments i can lay Evelyn down for a nap and relax on my sofa with knitting needles in my hand picturing my new baby wrapped in the love i made :)

Evelyn's Toddler Scarf

I crocheted a few squares for an afghan when i realized i wanted to start crocheting baby clothes instead. Little newborn hats, cozy blankets, textured rompers and cardigans danced in my mind. Not wanting to waste what i had already done, and the yarn i had to buy to make the afghan, i decided to turn the squares into a little scarf for Evelyn! She is too young for one now, but come winter time she will be 2 and ready for a darling scarf made with love. Oh goodness, i can't believe my baby girl will be two by wintertime!

obviously too big for her now, but it should be a good size for her toddler years :) She is so adorable! She just ran around with this big scarf around her neck smiling for me.

The pattern i used is from a leaflet titled 'Old Fashioned Garden.' The pattern itself is called Southern Blossoms designed by Maggie Weldon