The Best and the Worst: Year One

Well, it's official. This little blog of mine has been live for an entire year now. It's crazy to think about it but on May 17th of last year I was writing my very first post. I can't believe how much has changed since then. At that time, I was on maternity leave and Will was just 6 weeks old, Audrey was finishing up her first year of preschool, and our new home was still in the planning phases. Fast forward 365 days and look where we are at now. Will is going on 14 months old, walking, and learning new words every week. Audrey is an almost Kindergartner...say what? And, we are settling into our new home.
 
As I've explained before, I started Inspired Adventures as a way to do something for myself that I loved and I truly have loved every minute of it. So, I thought I would take some time to look back on the year behind us and also set some goals for the future of this little blog of mine.
 
So, as a way to reminisce here is a little list for ya. A list of the best and worst posts of year one on the blog. Because who doesn't love a little best/worst action? So, allow me to channel my inner-Joan, Kelly, Guiliana, and George as I give it to you straight.
 
Let's begin with the worst, shall we... (FYI - if you want to see the original post just click on the image).
 
1. This DIY project gone wrong...way wrong. I can't say this is the first time or the last time something like this will happen to me. Sadly, I have yet to do anything about this mess. The lamp is just lying around shadeless and sad. Certainly I can find a spot for it somewhere in the new house.

 

2. This post entitled..."Let the Countdown Commence". What a joke! I posted this on January 5th thinking our house was nearing the end and we didn't move in until the beginning of May. So, this post just annoys me when I see it so it has definitely made the worst list.

                 

 

                                        

 

 

3. And, finally the worst of the worst would have to be my Winter Pinterest Challenge project. Do you remember these nails? What a hot mess! It would have been one thing to post this pitifullness for just my everyday readers but, no, I put this out there for all of the Young House Love readers to see. What was I thinking?

 

                                      

But, now, let's turn the page and look on the brighter side. There was a lot of good over the past year, too. So, here are my favorite posts, so far...
 
1, My very first post! This is where it all started so I had to include this one.

                           

 

2. My floor cushion post made me proud so it is definitely on the best list. I have to admit I was pretty impressed with my sewing abilities. Before them, I had only done projects that involved sewing a straight line. Haha!

 

                                       

 

3. The next two go together so I will include them both here in one spot. They are Audrey and Will's birthday parties. They were fun to plan and fun to share and I love that I documented those special moments with my babies.

 

                          

 

                                  

                          

 

4. And, last but not least, this post called Dreams Do Come True is one of my absolute favorites. Maybe not so exciting for you but for us it meant that we finally had a new home to move into. How could that not make the list?

 

                                       

 

The good news is that there is definitely more good here than bad. It's been a great year!

 

Now, here are a few things that I have in mind for year two...

 

1. A makeover - be on the lookout for a new look very soon.

2. More decorating ideas - that's what I anticipated doing from the get go and never imagined it would have taken a year to get the house done.

3. More posts - I would love to increase my number of posts to three times a week. I think it is definitely doable over the summer. :  )

4. Increase readership - I love writing my blog, regardless, but it makes it so much sweeter to know that I have an audience out there. I hope to gain a few more readers and I also hope to hear from you all more. If I haven't mentioned it before, seeing your comments literally makes my day every single time. So, keep them coming!

 

So, how about you? Anything that you are hoping to see as year two begins? Please do share! Also, feel free to weigh in on my best/worst list. What has been your favorite post, so far? As always, thank you for reading. If you're new here, I hope you stop back often. Take care!

 

 

 

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Pinterest Challenge: Homemade Cleaning Products

Technically, the Spring Edition of the  Pinterest Challenge hosted by Sherry of Young House Love, Katie of Bower Power, Emily of Sparkle Meets Pop, and Renee of Red Bird Blue happened last week on Wednesday. I just could not swing a project or a post just a few days after we moved. My philosophy, however, is always better late than never. So, here is what I have for you this time. 

 

There is nothing like moving into a brand-new, squeaky-clean home. My Pinterest Challenge project is all about keeping our new space fresh and clean and looking like new. It's fitting I guess for all you spring cleaners out there! 

I was inspired to revamp my cleaning style after purchasing a Bona hardwood floor cleaner. I had heard about them on a few blogs and did a little research of my own. I decided it would be the best thing to clean my hardwood floors. I loooove it! Yes, I just said that I love a cleaning tool so you know it's gotta be good. The pads are reusable so you just have to throw them into the washing machine. The cleaning solution is eco-friendly so I don't have to worry about the kids crawling around a floor covered in stinky chemicals. My goal was to see how else I could incorporate some more eco-friendly products into my cleaning regimen while also saving a few bucks.

 

That brings me to the Pinterest part of this project. I had seen several homemade cleaning recipes floating around and decided to throw a few together to see how they would work. I didn't necessarily go completely natural because I did make a couple of things that included Dawn dish soap. Still, that's a lot better than some of the stuff that is included in your typical store-bought cleaners.

 

The first thing that I whipped up was a stainless steel cleaner. I love our new stainless steel appliances but already they were filled with fingerprints and smudges so I've been looking for a way to clean them quickly and easily. I bought some stuff at the store and it was awful. It left streaks and a white film all over my refrigerator.  My homemade cleaner, however, worked wonders! Look how shiny my fridge looks!

 

 

The mixture for the solution is as follows from Doughmesstic:

• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

By the way, I think the key to making it look this good is using a microfiber cloth. 

Next on the agenda was to make a glass cleaner. I have a glass cooktop so I knew I wanted something to clean that, as well, windows and mirrors. Here's the recipe also from Doughmesstic:
 

• 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol
• 1/4 cup of white vinegar
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 cups of warm water

 

 

 It also does a really nice job cleaning. I did not have the cornstarch so I just made it without and it still worked fine. When I have more time on my hands, I may even make my own labels and use some prettier bottles. Yes, I know I'm a dork! 

                               

Finally, I love wipes. Even Audrey gets involved in cleaning up when we use them. To make my own version I filled an old wipe container with this recipe from A Slob Comes Clean:

 

• 1/4 cup of white vinegar
• Some Dawn dish soap
• Warm water to fill container

I then cut up an old white T-shirt into rectangles rolled them up and put them in the container overnight. They are really great! I love that I can just throw the rags into the washing machine and reuse them and I was also able to clean all of my countertops with just one wipe. 

 

My little experiment may have just converted me to using homemade cleaners forever.

Be sure to check out all the other awesome projects by following the links at the beginning of this post. And, just for kicks, click here and here for some of my previous Pinterest Challenge posts. 

Thanks for sticking around during this crazy time for me and my family. I'll be checking back in when I can. I am going to be an organizing mad woman over the next couple weeks, though. Oh, and not that I'm counting but we only have 12 days of school left! Summer, I love you and I'll see you very soon! 

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Dreams Do Come True

 

I shared the above picture on Instagram last weekend with the caption, "Welcome Home!" That's right, ladies and gentlemen, we can now officially call our new house, home. This dream of ours that has been almost a decade in the making is now a reality. Aaron and I built a home together and now we live here with our two amazing kids! We love it here already! Each night just gets better and better!

 

Now, just because we've moved in doesn't mean we have a lot done. We have a whole slew of things to accomplish. It's been a week and I feel like we have barely scratched the surface of what needs to be done. Needless to say, I'm pretty much overwhelmed. With that said, I know that we just need to take it step-by-step and focus on one thing at a time and eventually we'll be settled and ready to just sit back and enjoy our new place. I thought I would check in with you since it's been a week to show you our very sparse new digs. I have to admit, I am kind of into the minimalistic approach to living but I know it can't stay like this forever. Maybe I'm just so relieved to be free of the cramped, cluttered space of our old home.

 

I did a happy dance when our new sofa and rug arrived on the same day. Here they are in our living room...

 

 

And, here is the other side of the living room. Oh, and the fact that I'm writing this post means that we have Internet, once again! Wooohooo!

As you can see, we have a lot to do in this room. Who am I kidding? We have a lot to do in every room. Priority number one in here are our built-in shelves. We have got to make a home for all of our media stuff!

 

Audrey and Will's bedrooms are looking rather sparse, as well. They don't seem to mind, though. They are loving the wide open space to play. I think they are both relieved to finally have their own rooms!

 

The room that looks the most like an actual home that people live in is the kitchen. We love our new stools and we have have been eating all of our meals up here at the counter.

 

Nothing says I'm home like a bowl fruit.

Off the kitchen is the very early, early stages of the playroom. There is definitely a whole lot more to add/change.

 

 

And there you have it! Doesn't look like much but I wanted to keep all of you updated on where we are right now. We just need to get all this organizing business under our belts so we an get to the super fun part of decorating.

 

P.S. For some reason Sherry and Katie of Young House Love and Bower Power decided to host the Spring Pinterest Challenge in the midst of our big move. Really, girls? Don't you know it's impossible to squeeze out a DIY project while all this chaos and our everyday lives are happening simultaneously? I did happen to notice that they are accepting submissions for another few days. Perhaps, I can squeeze out a project this weekend. If so, I'll be back to share all the details early next week.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Moving On is Hard to Do

Change can be so exciting but I have to admit that it freaks me out a little bit. I am thrilled to tell you that moving day is finally just days away. After a long and drawn out experience, it doesn't seem real for us to actually be moving in but we are. Know that my lack of posts, lately, and in the near future will have everything to do with the insanity of moving and finishing up the school year all at the same time. Great timing, huh? I am going to have to be a multi-tasking freak show to get this accomplished. So, if another week goes by and I haven't posted anything it's because I'm...organizing the kid's toys, doing report cards, organizing the pantry, making an end-of-the-year slide show, organizing all of our clothes, putting together volunteer gifts, shopping for new furniture, filling out placement cards, organizing all of our office stuff, putting together an end-of-the-year celebration, etc., etc., etc. Yes, this list could go on forever. And, I could add the usual day-to-day stuff that goes along with raising a five and one-year-old.

As we work on packing up and moving to our new house, I have so many mixed feelings about leaving our current old home. There are oodles of things about this place that have driven me absolutely crazy over the years. At the same time, we have made so many wonderful memories here. This is the home where Aaron and I started our life as husband and wife and this is the home where we have brought home our two, precious babies. So, I thought it would be fitting to take a moment to say goodbye especially to those spaces in this house that have truly made it our home.

Let's start in the playroom, shall we. I have always loved having this separate space for the kids to play. I always want to remember this spot where both Audrey and Will took their first steps and where we spent our Christmas mornings opening gifts as a family.

And, in the same room we have Will's changing area. Sometimes you have to be creative with space planning when four people live in a 2-bedroom, 1100 square foot house. It has done its job, though. And, I will always remember those first smiles that we got as we changed Will here. He has always been such a happy little thing right from the very start.

 

Speaking of our happy little guy. Will has always enjoyed having his own "library" in the room. Not exactly the most organized thing in the world but he never seemed to mind. His favorite thing is to take all of the books out and open and close the doors.

 

 

You probably also remember Aurdey's little nook. She didn't use the bench very often but loved to color on her table and read her books from the basket.

 

 

Now, let's move into the living room. This is where we have spent all of our time as a family. Where we kick and relax after a long day. It has been the place for game nights and movie nights and long weekend naps. This is also the room where Audrey helped me by feeding Will his bottles and teaching him to roll over.

 

As for my last favorite place, let's take a peek into Audrey and Will's shared bedroom. This room started  as Audrey's nursery. Before she was born the walls were painted with green and purple stripes and pretty floral accents. I have loved it and will miss it. It was such a sweet nursery and has been the perfect big girl room for her, as well.

 

I've always felt a little bad that Audrey had to share her space with her little brother but I think she has loved having him with her. They are both going to have to adjust to having their own rooms.

 

These are the spaces that we're sad to leave behind but also the spaces that we'll never forget. I want Will and Audrey to see the home they began life in so I'll be taking lots of pictures and even a little video footage over the next couple of days.

 

Until next time (whenever that may be).

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Living Room Take 2

I'm a girl who can't make a decision. I don't know what it is about me that has such a hard time committing to things but I really do. This makes shopping for home decor items a little tricky especially if it is a big ticket item. Thankfully, I have a husband who has lately loved putting in his two cents. I did a mood board awhile ago for our the living room in our new house that looked like this...

 

The look wasn't bad but since I've lived with these ideas since October when I first wrote this post (crazy town that it's been that long); I've decided I wanted to switch things around. I had considered switching out the natural rug for a blue one until Aaron sweetly reminded me that I have a sick obsession with the color blue. That's when we (Aaron would say he) decided a fun color like the coral rug would be a great choice. It brightens up the room for sure. I also love the geometric, Ikat pattern.

As for the couch, I loved the CB2 one from my original look but it was a little more than we wanted to spend. Also, the light gray worried me with having two little ones climbing all over it. I found the charcoal one that has the same basic shape. It will most likely be the one that comes home with us.

In keeping with the kid-friendly vibe, I would love a plush ottoman in place of a coffee table. We have a coffee table now and poor Will has dealt with one too many bumps on the head. Time to give him a softer place to land. I am digging the idea of a patterned ottoman that will complement the rug.

Oh, and don't worry. I still plan to get my blue in there by mixing navy and turquoise. The blue chair that I actually have in both of my looks is to die for. It is also crazy expensive at $1300. It will serve as inspiration, though, as I shop around.

Here's hoping that I don't change my mind once the room is actually done. I need to learn to go with my gut and and stop second-guessing myself.

The next time I show you my living room, it will be the actual living room. Yay! We started the process of moving in this past weekend. So, get ready for lots and lots of upcoming posts!

 

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Move Over Floral Print

Quite awhile back I turned an outdoor side table into a fun bedside table for Audrey. All it took was a little pink spray paint and some fabric. You can read more about that here. So, for several months the table has been hanging out in our playroom looking like this (it will be an actual bedside table in Audrey's new bedroom. There just hasn't been any space in her current room that she shares with her little brother):

And, here is a better look at the fabric that I used the first go around.

It's not that I didn't like the way it looked but I always knew that I might switch out the fabric if the right stuff ever crossed my path.

Well, the other day we were doing a little browsing at Hobby Lobby when we happened upon this fun, graphic fabric. All I could say was, "Hello, gorgeous!"

I bought a yard and wasted no time recovering Audrey's table with it. It wasn't hard at all. I had used spray adhesive around the bottom of the table to the hold the fabric in place so it was easy to peel off and replace with the new stuff. Here is her table now!

It's actually pretty amazing what I find at Hobby Lobby. I love that place! I may need to use this fabric again like in the form of a throw pillow or floor cushion in her room. Or, is that too much of the same fabric? I just can't get enough of it!

P.S. Audrey kinda digs it, too, especially once I convinced her that gray and pink are totally chic together!

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1st Birthday Party: A Year in a Flash

 

When planning Will's first birthday, I had a hard time finding a direction. It's been easy with Audrey the past few years because she has been able to request the type of party she wanted. I threw around plenty of ideas before discovering our "Year in a Flash" theme. I knew I wanted his birthday to focus on all of the memories we have made since we welcomed Will into our lives last April. Photographs (especially Instagram) played a big part in documenting the past year and I wanted those photos to play a major role. I already shared the DIY invitation that I made over on this post. I'm back today to share all of the details. Can we first talk about my adorable little man above? This picture sums up the day he had. He was so happy and excited to see his family and close friends there to celebrate his big day. How handsome is he in his little camera shirt?

 

Here is an overview of the cake table, which consisted of...

 

 

A camera cake.

 

 

A little balloon-shaped smash cake just for Will.

A memory jar. I just added some washi tape to a vase that I had on hand. Inside, I put some special mementos of his first year, such as, his birth announcement, baptismal candle, 1st month onesie, etc. I plan to keep this in Will's room so we can continue to add things to it.

 

Here is part one of Will's monthly photo banner...

 

 Part two of that same banner...

 

Favors for the guests included some one-shaped cookies with a small Instagram picture of Will attached. I totally snatched this idea from Liz (thanks chica).

 

 

Next to the cake table, I set up Will's highchair. I made the little banner out of scrapbook paper. I also made a name banner that I used to decorate the food table but somehow I forgot to get a picture of that.

 

On this table, I used branches to hold notecards so that our guests could write Will a special birthday message. I found blank cards at Michaels and stamped them with a camera stamp. I used blue twine to hang them from the tree.

 

 

 

 

A table covered in paper became the perfect place for the kids to eat and draw. It was, of course, not complete without a scattering of Instagram pictures.

 

 

I set up a very simple photo booth by hanging fabric. I also made some props by printing various things (hats, glasses, mustaches, lips, etc.) on cardstock and attaching them to wooden craft sticks.

 

 

Audrey had a blast posing.

 

Will did to, of course!

 

In keeping with the photo theme, each kid painted a wooden frame. These frames are from Michaels and we used acrylic craft paint to paint them. They turned out so cute! Will has some very crafty friends!

It was a great day. By far, one of my favorite memories from the day was the damage Will did to his smash cake. I think every bite made it into his mouth. At this point, we had to take it away or he would have eaten the entire thing!

 

 

I had so much fun planning my little guy's first birthday. I still can't believe he's one. This year has been a whirlwind but we have loved every moment having this super snugly, smiley, happy boy in our lives!

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