BEBE # 2 - WEEK 24

New Lighting for Dining Room & Kitchen

Ok, things finally feel like they are coming together in our "new" house.   I'm sure you have heard or experienced this before, but wow, what a difference lighting can make in a space.  

After much much deliberation, I ordered the Europhase Piquito pendant lights in black. 

Even though I knew the measurements, I was pleasantly surprised at their substantial size when we took them out of the box.  I know now how these can be sold for hundreds less than the Tom Dixon originals.  They are not a heavy hammered brass.  In their defense though,  it's hard to tell the difference once they are hanging.  They look like they cost much more.  The gold interior puts off a warm glow that is romantic!

(When the kitchen cabinets get painted white, the black pendants will really pop.  Also to-do, add new 

  [hopefully brass] hardware and change out other appliances to match our stainless refrigerator.)

 We added a few of these white bar stools to the island and I love that we now have the perfect hang out area for watching Neto cook. Ha! They are surprisingly comfortable and the backs don't come over the counter, which I really like.

Our dining light had been bugging me ever since we installed in several months ago.  I never even showed it here on VivaCindy because I was always planning to change them. (black fabric with gold interior)

Well, it never happened and now they will be listed on Craigslist.  I knew it wasn't right in the space, but with the new pendant lights, it was really wrong. 

I had been searching for a simple drum pendant that would not break the bank, but the largest I was finding was only 25" across.   Friday morning I was doing a product search on Houzz (awesome resource, by the way) and found the oversized equator pendant lamp from Cb2.

It was much less expensive than anything I had seen and the 32 in size sold me right away.  I called the store to make sure they had one in stock and drove there to pick it up.  Ernesto installed it that night.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, what a difference lighting makes! 

We also replaced our ugly ceiling fan in the living room.  I was actually against replacing the ceiling fan all together and wanted to add a cool fixture, but Ernesto likes to clear out the hot peppers when he's cooking so I  searched out a fan I could live with.  This one from Overstock is sleek & simple.  Plus, with a coupon it was only $130. Done and done!

We are still in search of a little light for the powder room and the master bath light fixture/s.  The bathroom construction is finished, other than the light, so I will be posting pictures of that real soon. 

BEBE #2 - WEEK 23

BEBE #2 - WEEK 22

Hello My Beautiful Vitamix!

It's here!!  I finally bit the bullet and ordered our Vitamix. It arrived yesterday!   Perfect timing too, because our cheapie blender finally cracked the other day.  It was then that I told Ernesto our Vitamix would be arriving any day! Ha!  I knew he would be pleased!

Since we arrived home from our west coast trip we have been eating a lot better.  Funny enough, it's easier when you don't have a bunch of sweets in front of your face 24/7 (at least for me).  We visited the Farmers Market and stocked up on fresth fruit and vegetables.  (It's much cheaper that the grocery store, and has a better selection) Our refridgerator is full and we are ready to start Vitamixing everything!   I can't wait to make soup and sorbet right in the blender.  Yep, this thing is so powerful it heats up soup or freezes fruit to sorbet!!

Also,  I am going to order some popsicle molds like these so we can always have a healthy sweet treat!  I am excited to experiment!  Of course this Vitamix has to be our salsa maker too, and I plan to make baby #2's food like I did for Mateo.  We are a family that uses their blender almost daily, so the investment was worth it.  These things are built to last and the reviews are great! I think we are going to be very happy together. (for the next 15 years)

Our first shake was made with kale, carrots, grapes, and cantaloupe.  It was delicious! 

Both of my boys slurped it down!

This morning I made another batch of mostly carrots with grapes and my little mexi-can drank three of cups full before/with breakfast.  What an easy way to get some extra vegetables in his diet.  (TMI alert: His caca was orange) 

17 Months Old {Mateo's Monthly Photo}

HOME SWEET HOME..Almost

After seven hours of planes, trains and automobiles, we arrived to our [NEW] home last week!  Although we had an amazing trip, it felt so good to sleep in our beds.  Mateo stayed on west coast time for a couple days and actually slept till 8:30am!! (He's now back to his regular 6am wake up time)

Ok, on to the exciting stuff.  Our house renovation.

Now before I share a few pictures, let me just say that even though we are really happy with the new look, there are quite a few things that need to be fixed.  I felt a bit bad pointing everything out to the contractor,  but this is the beauty of paying someone else to work on your house, right?  A luxury that we have have very often.  I like it a lot. 

Our biggest change in the house is in the flooring.  New dark hardwood floors....with no red!!  Yeah! The stain is called "coffee bean" and although we would've liked wider planks, we are really happy with the look.  We had a budget to work with from our insurance and we wanted to stay within it.  The new carpet is clean, cushy and brighter than what we had.  The stairs and all of the second floor has new carpet and the smell of a new house. 

These two things are the only things that were not screwed up.  The poor painters have to come back.  The stair railing needs another coat of black and my doors on the bottom floor were all painted white - we wanted them all black.   The worst mistakes were made in the master bath.  Imagine our horror when we walked in and saw this color on the wall!

 See?  You probably didn't even notice the lovely new tile.  It was supposed to be this color:

{Sea Anemone - by Martha Stewart}

It definitely changed our first impression.  Another mistake?  See the tile surround on the tub (below)?  It was only supposed to be up to the half-wall, not up to the ceiling.  Also, they installed the same old toilet ...the one that caused this whole renovation!! Hello?!  They are coming back tomorrow to fix/change all of that.

 What am I happy about?  The beautiful floor.  The gray porcelain looks even better than I had hoped. 

Also, I am in love with the herringbone carrara on the shower floor.  Just gorgeous!

 The glass shower enclosure is not "frameless" as I understood. Waa waa! But they did cut down half of the wall so it is open to the window.  It makes it a lot brighter.  It is not perfect, but it is a huge improvement!

 The vanity is due to arrive on Wednesday.  It is solid wood and has a carrara marble top and comes with the chrome faucets shown.  It also comes with this large mirror, but I really want separate mirrors above each sink, so I will probably sell this large one. I like the simple cabinets and sleek hardware, and also that it has drawers.  Maybe we will be able to keep our counter top clutter free now! 

The fireplace surround is scheduled for Wednesday.  I am excited about that.  It will change the whole look of the living room.

I still have not 100% decided on the pendant lights for the kitchen island.  I am so indecisive sometimes.  I really like these but can't decide on the all gold or black with the gold center:

I am leaning towards the black even though I love the gold more.  I have a lot of gold already in my house and Im thinking maybe I should stick with the black.  Plus, it still has some gold peeking through, so that pleases the gold lover in me.  (By the way, these are exactly like the Tom Dixon lights that are $400 and at LampsPlus they are called Piquito and cost just $125)

Now my dilemma is what dining room light will go with these ??   Also, which couch are we going to buy? What barstools ?  Oh the design decisions never end!  

I'll be sure to post more pics at the end of the week, with all of the changes. 

Oh! plus I have all my belly shots coming.  I started taking the pics at week 13 and I am now at 22!  This pregnancy is flying by...my tummy is getting big and I love it!

Happy Valentines Day

BEBE #2 - WEEK 21

BEBE #2 - WEEK 20