Show Us Your Life: Our Kitchen!

So earlier this week I showed you guys around our living room.

This week, it's all about the kitchen (and I'm linking up with Kelly again)!

When we saw our house for the first time, it was the kitchen that made us take a second look at the too-small living room and think about overlooking the fact that the house is a two-story (we had been planning on buying a one-story).

The antiqued cream cabinets and lovely granite made me swoon. :)  (And I can totally fawn over them with no sense of pride because I didn't pick out anything in this house.  Although brand new when we bought it, it was a "spec" home, and all the design elements had been decided before we even saw it.)

I love that I have plenty of cabinet and counter space, especially with the island.

As in the rest of the house, I used a lot of green (can you tell that it's my favorite color?) and cream with a few pops of yellow.

These are my cute little canisters from Pottery Barn, which you can write on with dry-erase marker.

I try not to clutter up my countertops too much, but I can't help myself.  I seriously NEED all these things! :) (Particularly the iPod docking station - I pretty much can't cook without music. :))  Both the cookbook holder and pitcher came from the Wisteria Outlet in Dallas.

These cool cabinets are perfect for pots/pans/cookie sheets/servingware.  I'm not sure what I'll do if we ever move into a house that doesn't have them.

I think I could probably do a lot better above the fridge, but since really does look fine, I have a hard time motivating myself to change it (story of my life...)

This is our little breakfast nook and my very pitiful Ikea table/chairs from college.  The whole set cost me $99, and they're definitely not the sturdiest things you've ever sat in.  But they'll do for now. :)  I'm actively looking for a new chandelier but am having a hard time figuring out what style I want.  All I know is that this one definitely will not do...

Here's a close-up of our coffee station.  I think this area is technically supposed to be a desk, but we have an office, so I thought we'd make it a coffee station.  I found the chalboard canisters at Pier One on clearance.  (Who knows if they actually keep the coffee fresh - I don't drink it!)

One more view of the island.  That candle in front is sweet tea-scented, and it's my all-time favorite candle.  As you can see, it's pretty much dunzo, so it's a good thing I picked up two more last weekend!

And that's about it, y'all!  Nothing too fancy, and I still have more work to do.  But overall, I really do love my kitchen.  Hopefully we'll make a lot of good memories here over the years. :)

Thankful Thursdays (Link Up!)...

This is very much a shallow, stereotypically girly and consumer-themed post, but I'm totally okay with it.  Sometimes it's the little things that really count. :)

For example, {I'm thankful} that I finally got around to deciding on a new hair color.  Yep, I'm actually going to make an appointment to go into a hair solon and *gasp!* pay someone to color my hair.  I've been coloring it myself with a box for at least the last five years, so this is a big step for me.  And so is the color I think I've settled on.

via

 

It's a rich reddish-brown with some subtle hints of gold.  I like it because it's not too brassy, but it's also not too cool (i.e. purple... I swear I learned my lesson, y'all).  I think I'm going to go for a subtle ombre look with most of the lighter streaks poking out from underneath so it'll be at least a teensy bit more low-maintenence. 

 

{I'm also thankful} that I scored a black maxi dress, three necklaces, and two bracelets from New York and Company for $68.  Yep.  $68.  The dress, itself, was $50.  But almost the whole store was Buy One Get One 75% Off, so I got the first necklace for 75% off, which totaled together about $62.  Then, the lady told me that if I'd use my credit card, she'd give me $40 off a $100 purchase.  So I scrambled around and got $40 more dollars worth of merchandise to get up to $100, which all ended up being free with the coupon.  And because it was all on amazing sale, I had to grab more than I expected to get to $100!

 

{I'm thankful} that I found a cheap treadmill on Craigslist that Micah and I are picking up on Saturday.  It's been hard enough trying to motivate myself to start running again, and the heat is not helping, so I figure that the air conditioning will take away my last excuse and get me on my way again.  It's got most of the things I was looking for in a treadmill, and it's way less than half the price I'd pay in the store.

 

{I'm thankful} that I'm getting together with some girlfriends tonight.  Micah's out of town anyway, and I'm always thankful for girl time - particularly after the hellish May I endured.

 

{I'm thankful} that Micah's coming back from Shreveport (he's there for work) tomorrow.  He has been gone since Monday, and life really sucks without him.  And since neither of us really likes to talk on the phone, we're both pretty crappy at the long-distance thing.  We really didn't do so well that summer that I spent interning in Dallas while he stayed in Houston.

 

Above all, {I'm thankful} for health and happiness and the love of my husband, family, and friends.  I'm trying hard to remember how precious it all is and to make myself let go of my silly, every day "struggles."  I have it so good, and I never want to lose sight of that.

Hope you guys have a fabulous day!

Also linking up with black tag diaries, The Fontenot Four, First Day of my Life, kate says stuff, and  a punk a pumpkin and a peanut.

Tough...

I had planned on a fun Pinterest post today, but my heart is too heavy, y'all.

I woke up this morning to this post from a mom whose blog I've been following for awhile, now.

It seems that sweet Lucy's cancer is back, and there's nothing they can do.  If you have a spare minute today, maybe you could lift this precious family up in prayer?  This six year-old girl has fought harder for her life than any child should ever have to, and I can't even imagine what this family must be going through.

Life is so, so precious.  We should strive to cherish every moment.

Dear Fifteen Year-Old Me...

Kristen over at Established: 2008 recently posted a fun post detailing what she'd go back and tell her fifteen year-old self if she could, and it made me wonder what I would tell the fifteen year-old me.  Turns out, a lot.

Dear Fifteen Year-Old Ryan,

Guard your heart.  It is a precious thing, and you're a catch.  Don't give it away to someone who won't endeavor to deserve you.

Keep your hiney out of those tanning beds.  It's totally okay that you're paler than Edward Cullen (and that you have no idea who Edward Cullen is.  You definitely will.).  Learn to embrace it.

Stop trying to dye your hair red.  You're going to accidentally turn it purple, and purple is not a good look for you.

Pay a little less attention to what others think of you.  The people who matter love you a ridiculous amount, and they always will.  No matter how many times you make an absolute mess of things.

Cherish the times you have with your family while you're all living under one roof.  It won't last forever.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, don't sign your name on your driver's license with a halo above it. 

Keep that cute boy who broke your heart your freshman year in the back of your mind.  He's going to end up being the best thing that ever happened to you.

When you graduate you're going to stop working out.  Don't.  Seriously... trust me on this one.

Don't wear white pants when it's raining.

When Lauren begs you to get in the car with the Navy guys she met at the mall, do it.  You'll look back on that night when you're older and smile.  (Plus, you're all going to go see a silly kid's movie called Harry Potter because it's the only thing playing at midnight, and it's going to spark your life-long love affair with the best books ever written.  I'm so not kidding.)

Keep sharing your faith boldly, even when it's hard.  God is working through you, even when you can't see it.

Hug your best friend's mom as often as you can.

Take it easy on that rainbow eyeshadow, would you?

Keep dreaming big things for yourself.  You'll get there, eventually.  I promise.

XOXO,

The Twenty-Six Year-Old You 

It's London, BABY! (Part II)

(To read about my trip to London and my first day there, click here...)

I spent most of each day in depositions, so it was hard to find time to go see everything I wanted to see in the few remaining daylight hours.  Plus the jet lag, in combination with the fact that I was staying up until 2:00 a.m. most nights working, made it hard to want to do anything except sleep.  But I mustered up the energy to venture out most evenings, and I'm so glad I did.

Thankfully, my hotel was right across the street from Green Park, which was right next to Buckingham Palace, so when we finished early one afternoon, I ran upstairs to my hotel room, changed into my comfy clothes, and headed right back downstairs to explore.

(Stepping into the map.  I was channeling my inner Joey Tribbiani... :))

This is Green Park.  Isn't it gorgeous?

There are no flowers in Green Park.  The story goes that King Charles II had picked flowers from the park and given them to another woman and that the queen was so angry that she had all flowers removed from the park and ordered that no flowers should ever be planted there again.

Who really knows why, but the lush greenery was absolutely gorgeous.

I stopped at a little stand inside the park and bought some honeycomb ice cream.  I can't explain how delicious it was.

As I was finishing up the last few bites of my ice cream, I stumbled across this gate.

And can I just tell you guys something?  Despite the fact that I saw a very stately building just beyond the gate, it took me several minutes (and a check with the Google map on my phone) to verify that I was, in fact, looking at Buckingham Palace.

(You can take the girl out of the country... ;))

I loved the fountain just in front of it, which is apparently called the Victoria Memorial.

After sitting on the steps in front of the fountain for at least thirty minutes (like any good tourist would do), I started back toward my hotel, stopping in Green Park for just a couple more pictures...

(Looking at these pictures makes me ache for this city in a bad, bad way.)

After I left the park, I headed down the street to a restaurant I'd read about called The Wolseley.  Unfortunately, they prohibit cameras inside the restaurant, but I snapped this one of the outside.

I'm pretty sure I was incredibly underdressed, but they let me in anyway... ;)  My salad was delicious, and I manged to resist the temptation of dessert (although after the ice cream, I suppose I can't be too proud of myself... )

Apart from my last sightseeing day (pictures of which are coming SOON!), my walk through Green Park was probably my favorite part of London.  Although I also took one other walk which ended up being surprisingly fun!

One night, I set out for some yummy Thai food and saw on the map that there was one about two miles from my hotel.  I almost opted to take the Subway, but I ended up just walking, and I'm so glad I did.

I ended up walking down much of Regent Street, which is one of the best shopping areas in London.

All the buildings on this street were gorgeous, and it had a fun energy.  (Although I can't even tell you how many times I almost died trying to cross the street because I was looking the wrong way.  I never did really get used to the cars driving on the wrong side of the road...)

I managed to find the Thai restaurant (and enjoy some fabulous pad thai), and on the way back to my hotel, I took a random little side street and found a yummy little ice cream shop.

That banana split ice cream was heavenly.

And don't judge me, but I may or may not have also had a few of these French macaroons...

I mean, what could I do?  I had to try the violet-currant one.  And I couldn't very well skip out on the pistachio one (or the almond-marshmallow one, for that matter)...

The rest of my trip was pretty much monopolized by work (silly depositions), but I did carve out one full day for sightseeing, and I seriously can't tell you how wonderful it was.  But I'll try, I swear... in my next (and last!) London post. :)