3.26.2018

OUR KITCHEN: BEFORE AND AFTER!


I'm so excited to finally share pictures of our kitchen! 

I was going to share pictures of our new kitchen table and chairs that is directly in front of this space, but the chairs weren't delivered this weekend like expected so I'll post those once I get them. This is the second time we've had cabinets re-done in a house, but this time we decided to hire help vs. doing them ourselves like in our last home. 

 Here are the BEFORE pictures:

The entire process from start to finish took them 4 days (after that we let them cure for about 3-4 more days before hanging back up), and we couldn't be happier with the results! It was worth every penny and we saved a lot by going this route vs. having them replaced. Our house is an open concept so changing the cabinets to white really brightened up our lower level even more and just changed so much! We absolutely love it.

We also had crown molding installed above the cabinets, added a chrome sconce (highly recommend this website for buying lights!) over the sink, and bought new hardware (I bought black at first and kept them on for about 2 weeks but I just didn't end up loving the look and felt like I may get tired of it-I think just because our counters are also black and most of our light fixtures so I wanted something else.) Down the road we may change the back splash but we aren't in a rush to get that done right now.

If anyone is wondering about specifics: they sprayed the cabinets with Benjamin Moore's Advance Paint in the color Simply White. The primer they used on them is STIX. Our counter stools are from Macy's, but currently sold out! I will update this if they come back in stock. Also, if you're local and want to know who we used for our cabinets and for the crown molding (and other trim work in our house) leave me a comment or email me and I can give you their info!!


3.23.2018

Restoration Hardware Dining Table Look-A-Like!


You girls know by now that I won't stop looking for a good deal. I had been eyeing the Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn dining tables, but couldn't justify the price with two wild and crazy boys that may or may ruin it. So I finally found THIS amazing one for $600!!! (I have a video on my instastories if you want to see what it looks like up close!) We got this for our eat in kitchen area, so it won't be going here in the dining room but I wanted to share it!

We just got it in the mail the other day and I'm in love. I ordered the chairs yesterday to go with it, so I think I'm going to post the pictures of it all together WITH the kitchen pictures on Monday! Stay tuned!!! Happy weekend!

3.21.2018

5 CURRENT FAVORITES


Happy Wednesday friends! I hope your week is going well. I can't believe Easter is so soon! I just finished putting together the boys' Easter baskets and am thinking I will do a post with what I got them.

Also, I'm excited to share that we FINALLLLYYY finished our kitchen updates, so I am working on the post and hope to have it up soon with pictures!

Today I wanted to share 5 current favorites:

Did you see that for the first time ever Anthropologie is selling home items outside of their stores and is available to buy at Nordstrom?! I love Anthro - especially their bowls (I have had these for years), cups, kitchen odds and ends, and vases!

the cutest measuring spoon set!

This tunic/blouse I just ordered! It's currently 30% off. Will be super cute with white jeans or jean shorts!


I'm still on a romper/jumpsuit kick obviously. This one is perfect!

Have you ever seen anything more accurate?! ๐Ÿ˜†


Inspiration for our screened in porch, which is the next house project on our list! We plan to tackle adding planks to the ceiling, buying a new fan (just bought new ones for inside), and possibly get new flooring. We will probably go with a dark stain for the ceiling planks, but I am kind of loving this pretty pop of color! Would I get tired of this? Thoughts?


3.13.2018

Weekend Updates


-ONE-
And by far the favorite thing that happened all weekend...

Billy's brother and his wife are having a BOY!! We couldn't be happier for them (and shocked because we all swore it was a girl) and to have a nephew! Is it not crazy how deep the boy gene pool runs on Billy's side? ha! 


-TWO-
I just love this jumpsuit I ordered last week. Normally I'm not a huge yellow person, but I had to try it and it's a win! Runs tts.

 
 -THREE-
Fitting into old jeans that used to be tight on me basically can qualify to make a woman's whole week am I right?! Because it totally made mine.  (and I'm sooo thankful that I started on my new nutrition a month ago this week!)  

{Top is Old Navy, jeans are from a boutique in San Francisco that I got when we visited (sorry), Booties are Target!} 

-FOUR-
If you didn't see on my instastories, these sunglasses from Amazon (mine are the tortoise) that are $9.99 are dupes of a pair of $250 Karen Walkers! Such a good find!



-FIVE-
Just because I love this pic. The boys have been obsessed with getting "blanket rides" lately - where each of us take an end of the blanket and we swing them back and forth. They ask us to do it about 30 times in a row. ๐Ÿ˜€ 


I admit I've been working on their "3 year and 18 month update" post for literally over a month now. Must.get.it.together!

This weekend is St. Patty's Day!!! What are you guys doing to celebrate?

3.08.2018

Easter Outfits

easter dresses, spring clothes, womens sandals, affordable clothing
Happy Thursday!

Before I get into sharing these adorable Easter tops and dresses, I wanted to share the good news I got on Tuesday about the thyroid biopsy I had done last week. The nodule they found that was of concern is benign! ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™Œ  I've been feeling soo relieved & so thankful! And I need to say thank you x a million to all of you that have prayed for me and sent encouraging messages - THANK YOU!! (And for those wondering whats next - I meet with an ENT at the end of this month about having my thyroid removed and at that point I will do a larger post with more details.)

Ok, cute clothes. Whether you want to be comfy and wear one of these pretty tops or dress up in a dress or romper - these are my favorite picks! Pretty sure that that either of those sandals should end up in your closet for the remainder of spring and summer, too!  


Eyelet Tee (really loving this)

Floral Print Romper (under $60!)

Wedge Sandal (under $50, also comes in black) 





PS-Ordered the boys their matching shirts last week and I can't wait to see them in it!








3.05.2018

WEEKEND HAPPENINGS + UPDATES!

+BILLY'S BDAY:

This weekend we celebrated Billy's 34th birthday! My dad babysat on Friday so that we could go get dinner and drinks out with some friends. I surprised Billy by having one of his best buddies show up at dinner! We also did some shopping for him on Saturday, enjoyed cake and opening presents, and the boys loved singing happy birthday to him (but loved the cake more :)) On Sunday we got breakfast with my parents and just relaxed around the house the rest of the day. I wish I could post a picture of him from this weekend, but the only one I got was of him and the boys in the morning when he was wearing boxers and the boys couldn't wait to bring him his gifts..pretty sure he'd kill me for posting that. So instead a good ole collage of prior pics...

hope you had a great birthday babe! we love you so much!

Next weekend we head to Cleveland for his brothers gender reveal party! We are so excited (and are team girl!)

+FLORIDA

We also recently booked a family trip to Florida for May. AAAAAMENNNN. Mama needs me some Florida sun..the beach..and a pool. Yes. I got the boys some cute matching swim trunks from Boden that were on clearance!

+HEALTH UPDATE: 

I had my biopsy on Friday. I was pretty nervous going into it, not knowing what to expect, but they numbed my neck really well so I didn't have any pain - it was just more so an uncomfortable feeling. They said I should get the results on Tuesday. Please keep the positive thoughts coming!



On another note, I started a new nutrition program a little over 2 weeks ago. I have posted about it on my instastories, but haven't blogged about it yet because I wanted to wait until I had true results + make sure I enjoyed it first! I plan to do a much bigger post explaining it more in detail when I've hit my 1 month mark, but since I've had some questions I wanted to share about it just quickly here. So..my energy the past few months has been the lowest it's ever been and I still have really stubborn baby weight that I want to lose before summer, so that's what initially what made me pull the trigger. (Along with having a bunch of friends who are currently doing the program with great results.) I knew I needed to make a change, but needed something that was easy to follow. In short - I am drinking 2 shakes (full meal replacements) per day, having 1 balanced meal as normal (which is normally dinner for me), and 2 snacks in between. I was super hesitant at first and wondered if the shakes would fill me up but THEY DO and I'm obsessed with having my shakes everyday now, especially because they are so quick and perfect for being a mom with young kids. I have lost 5.5 lbs so far and am fitting into old clothes that I haven't been able to get into for a lonnnggg time now. And on top of that - I have my energy back and feel more like myself again. I'm thankful for that random night a few weeks ago that I told myself I had nothing to lose and wanted to put myself first. Really thankful and I have no plans on stopping!

(sample schedule of what my days look like!)

If you are interested in more info - please email me (whalenkat@gmail.com) as it'll be easier to respond that way!

+ZOO VISITS

We are now within a 5 minute drive of the zoo since we moved and recently we've been lucky getting some warm (ish) days, so it's been nice to go during the week when it's not crowded. Camden had me cracking up the other day because when he saw the reindeer's he started singing Rudolph SUPER loud and had everyone around us laughing. Then he pointed to them and told me, "that one is Blitzen! that one is Donner! that ONE is Rudolph!" ha!

 
PS-Camden also got a haircut this weekend - can you even handle how big he looks?! Because this picture just kills me. He is at such a fun age and saying some of the silliest things right now - we are just eating it up!!