Our Little Pumpkin's 1st Birthday

Our “little pumpkin”, Harrison, turned 1 this month! To celebrate, we decided to throw a bash with our closest friends and family. I decided to make it pumpkin themed since I am in the large club of people who are obsessed with all things pumpkin. I started planning his first birthday months ago and was so excited to celebrate my amazing baby and the fact that we survived our first year of parenthood!

Summer Grilled Chicken and Peach Salad

This is one of my favorite salads and because I only eat it in the summer, it evokes such wonderful summer feelings and tastes. I saw the recipe in Self Magazine years ago as part of one of their 'get in shape for summer plans'. I've adapted it over time and now think it's as perfect as a summer salad gets! Please note, it's best served al fresco on a hot summer day for lunch.

Grilled Chicken and Peach Salad

from Self Magazine - adapted for two

Salad Ingredients:

6ish boneless, skinless check strips (or use rotisserie chicken to make it even easier as I sometimes do)
2 peaches, halved and pitted
olive oil or olive oil cooking spray
4 cups of arugula
1 ear of corn, cut off the cob
drizzle of dressing (below)
fresh mozzarella pearls

Dressing:

1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat grill on high. Season chicken with salt and pepper, Grill chicken, turning once, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165˚, 5 to 8 minutes each side. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and roughly chop. Alternatively, cut a few pieces of rotisserie chicken.

Drizzle or spray peaches with olive oil; place skin side up on grill; grill, turning once, until juicy but not mushy, 2 to 4 minutes per side. In a lidded jar, combine all dressing ingredients and shake. Assemble arugula, chicken, peaches, and corn on plates and drizzle with dressing. Top with a few fresh mozzarella pearls.

Kitchen Update

I'm not dead! I feel like I just blogged, but it was way back in February! Time really does go by so fast once you have a baby. At the time, things seem like they're moving slow (like at 3 AM...) but in retrospect, I can't believe my baby is almost 10 months! It's the most challenging and fun and amazing time ever and I feel so lucky to be Harrison's mom.

Anyways, this is a post on my kitchen - sorry the for the effusive intro! Also, effusive is my word of the day and I'm psyched I already got to use it.

Kitchen circa 2013

I was taking a look through my old blog posts and came across my old kitchen to do list. I was psyched to realize I completed most ALL of these, or changed my mind for the better. Isn't it amazing how your style evolves and you look back at your old self and think ick? I do all the time. Basically, these days I want there to be nothing in every room thanks to the endless amounts of baby stuff that makes me feel like the walls are caving in AND I want everything to look like Studio McGee's style.

Here's our in between kitchen... getting closer to where i want but still.. no...

the kitchen as it is today

Here's the list and notes on what we did!

• Replace or paint kitchen cabinets white - we painted them!!! They look so good... from far away. Up close, they are sort of a mess and we talk about
• New knobs for the cabinets done! we went with shiny, classic silver but now i'm dying for bronze....
• Replace two of our impractical cabinets with open shelving done! twice! wow we have a problem (see counter tops below) we started with basic shelves from Lowe's which I hated, then went to these Ikea floating shelves. I think i need to paint them white though. But they were a last-minute in line purchase and I ran, pregnant, through the Ikea warehouse to find them and bring them back in time not to lose my place, BUT i couldn't quickly find white or make the right decision. oh well, cest la vie!
• Install white subway tile Yup! Luke and I did this ourselves, he cut and I grouted. It was really fun! really! no changes here and still love. you really can't go wrong with subway tile.
• Replace existing curtains with something more natural looking, perhaps jute roman shades
  done! I play around with taking them down though to open up the space more. 
• Replace overhead lighting, something more industrial looking We JUST did this one like last week - ordered this and this from West Elm. Love them!
• New counter stools - I have always ogled these ones went with these but in silver from Target! debate switching them out for these... i see them often at Homegoods and debate it.  
• Replace sink with a metal, single basin sink Done! two sinks, since we had to replace our replacement when we got our granite installed.
• Install new countertop - still deciding on this one! I'm thinking Carrera marble might not be the way to go, I could see myself having a serious irrational meltdown over a very likely stain or scratch. Some other options - laminate careera marble or granite: - so WOW, we installed two different types of counter tops since then. We started with IKEA butcher block, which I loved and was affordable. We debated installing granite but couldn't justify the price at the time. In hindsight, we should have went for it at the time. After Harrison was born and we both had time off, we went for it and LOVE IT. it's so much more durable. The butcher block we had to wipe down immediately or we would have water marks that I would cry over (literally. only once!) I REALLY wanted carrera marble, but everyone at the counter top place talked me our of it. And let's be real, if I'm crying over stained wood, you can imagine what I'd do over scratched or red wine stained marble #nochill. Anyways! loving our granite (which looks like marble anyways so I'm cool!)
• Extend/finish cabinetry over the fridge and to the left of fridge (a large pantry cabinet) We picked up an Ikea cabinet and then installed baskets over the fridge so it looks more finished and have additional pantry space. 

Bonus items we did!

• We replaced our hand-me-down pub table with a build-in bench seating we made, got a new table, and ghost chairs. 
• I made a HUGE box cushion for the bench, then (duh) decided I hated the pattern I chose and replaced said cushion with a neutral fabric.
• Painted and repainted the kitchen LOL - whyyyy but I tried painting the kitchen a different color then the rest of the open floor plan (WHY?) but I just repainted it again - so much  better. I would LOVE to paint my whole house white, but not up for it right now. 
• added this Ikea high chair :) - i LOVE the look of it, compared to the bulky standard ones out there.  
• Got a really cool pink oriental-looking rug for the kitchen work space area.

Stuff we still want to do!

• Replace the hinged door with a sliding door - would be much more efficient for the space
•  Replace our leaky sky light. Actually just had someone come out today. Luke wants to get one that opens but I'm all like $$$ :(. He'll probably get his way though. 
• Replace floors!
• Something I just thought of recently is perhaps stenciling something that looks like patterned cement tile behind the shelves. Would I hate that? it's just paint though right?!
• Figure out a cool way to display/store wine.

I'll come back and post more pictures once I clean and take them!