Manic Monday Makeovers!!

Mission dis organization ... now that I am doing so much "crafty" work lately I have found I have endless piles of fabric, ribbon, ideas...and so on..and that's not even touching the lack of just an overall organization  in our home!! From toys ALL over to random piles of paper...it's making me a little bit nuts! One of our biggest problems right now is just an overall lack of space. Our home is about 100 years old and apparently they didn't need much closet space....hmmm so I don't have the traditional linen closet, or utility closet so that does put a damper on things...but I am determined to work through this and establish a bit more tidiness in my life...here are a few beautiful crafty spaces

 From the nester.com

 from the Girl.inspired

This yellow chair is wonderful!! I love the use of fun and color with drab things like -bills- schedules

This is just ME!!! I LOVE the colors!

What I am loving Thursday..urrr..um Saturday!

Since blogger has been a whole hell of a lot little annoying this week.... I am going to post today what I had planned to do on Thursday!! I have come to terms with the idea that we ARE moving somewhere, either on the other side of the tunnel, cross country-most likely not, or down further south....who knows at this point...I am getting forcing myself to look at this positively! I was just talking to Chris last night about how I used to embrace change and look forward to new environments, but now we have two little people and it changes EVERYTHING! I am really looking for that perfect (does it exist) town, job, school, house..to settle down and spread roots! I am so torn leaving this area..I have made incredible friendships and I worry I won't find such amazing, talented, fun, non-judging friends in the next town...I worry that Eli and Mia will have a hard time adjusting to a new place as we have just became settled here...I worry we will move so far from family we won't be able to see them as often as I would like....but we will make the best decision for our little family...on THAT tangent...

One thing I do look forward to is the purging and organizing that comes with moving!! So that got me thinking about what I would like to change about our kitchen...I LOVE white cabinets with funky colors thrown in..I adore white cabinets with a fun colored island! But right now what I am loving is these FUN funky retro chairs!!

 These are on craigslist and I may just go pick them up!! how great area these?!!

 I love these floors....

 the legs on these are fabulous!!

aren't these just fun?!!
What kind of chairs do you like for your kitchen area?

Foodie Friday

Fast, yummy, healthy weeknight dinners that actually taste good!

So im going to try something kinda new and post what we had for dinner this week? Whacha think?? This week has been beautiful so we have grilled almost every night this week! Tomorrow it's going to rain...so we aren't grilling :(

Monday - Grilled pork tenderloin - I made kind of an asian spicy flare..I used spicy brown mustard, peanut sauce, soy sauce, onions, garlic and pepper and spread it all over the pork and while Chris grilled he continued to coat with marinade.

served with jasmine rice seasoned with peanut and soy sauces with roasted broccoli and edamame yummo

Tuesday: grilled turkey burgers - I use ground turkey, feta cheese, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt & pepper and a touch or horseradish....then serve on the flat whole wheat sandwich rolls with arugula, tomato. We had sweet potato fries on the side with steamed broccoli

Wednesday - BBQ chicken, homemade black eyed peas, & corn on the cob..I made the bbq sauce with ketchup, spicy mustard, balsamic vinegar, little soy sauce and brown sugar, I boiled the black eyed peas with bacon, onions and garlic!

Thursday: was grilled chicken caesar salad wraps- seasoned chicken with rosemary, garlic and little touch of salt. wraps were red onion, arugula, parmesan cheese, tomato on whole wheat wrap with caesar salad dressing. Served with steamed green beans and sweet potato fries! We love those!! :)

Friday- grilled fish tacos with homemade chips and salsa - my mom has been making homemade salsa since I can remember it is soo good! and soo easy! 2 cans of diced tomatoes, I use rotel tomatoes with jalapenos, 1/2-1 jalapeno with the seeds-the seeds are what make it super spicy so be careful...cilantro, lime juice, onion, garlic and that's it!! oh salt per taste. Then I quarter corn tortillas and fry them in hot canola oil. I have also used olive oil and they turn out like the tortilla gold chips pretty tasty!!

Saturday: will be turkey meatball subs with provolone on homemade whole wheat french buns. with some side??

so what have you made this week?

Happy Flower Week

So this is the week to celebrate flowers! We went to the Botanical Gardens last week and flowers were AMAzing...so I have decided to do a few flower projects this week! Here are some ideas I will be attempting from some talented crafters.

1. This adorable paper wreath would love amazing above the mirror in my dinning room!

Jones Design Company

2. The perfect Mother's Day Card

Stamping Jo.com

3. how sweet are these roses....

Snowy Bliss

4. I love adding a little something to a hostess gift.....

Scottsdale Stamper

4. Would love to do this for Mia's 2nd Birthday...& I really would like to add these to Mia's room

SpearmintBaby

Happy Flowering....

Mid-life crisis??

I am not sure if it was the fact that I turned 34, or my children decided to both change into mutant non-listeners, or maybe a desire for a new (totally extravagant) bottega veneta bag.... probably a combination, that has cause such indecsion in my life. I felt like I was walking through the motions and somehow became bitter and unhappy with my life. It is amazing how once the seed of discontent plants itself...the roots WILL spread..so then EVERY aspect of my life was horrible and miserable and MUST be changed. Actually I am pretty happy and love my life. I needed a wake up call, I needed to SEE what life could be like if I changed it. I went to California, stopped blogging, stopped crafting and considered uprooting my family and moving to follow "my dream"! First I am just going to say THANK GOD I have such a supportive husband who just wants me to be happy!! Second I got the job, the SAME day Chris got a call about a great opportunity for his career here on the east coast! hmmm so we sat down and talked and talked and I vented...even ( accidently) threw a cup of milk...yea I went through a crazy moment! And who ever said not to cry over spilled milk didn't have to clean it off kitchen cabinets! I do have so say becoming a little irrational was very theraputic for me! I tend to hold everything in until a breaking point...and I needed to get some things out. So we both agreed we wanted me to stay home a little longer, a little more time to cherish these babies. I love being home and am going to keep at it a little bit longer! E will be in school full time in August and we are probably going to put miss crazy pants in a preschool program. I am going to continue doing crafts and furniture on a "as I want to" not a "I HAVE TO" basis. I am going to open an Etsy shop but not kill myself to do it. As I find cool pieces of furniture I will continue to paint...but not so do or die. I tend to jump in head first and go ALL out at ALL costs....I am working on that! For now my focus in my two crazy-wonderful little people I am always looking for that perfect project or part time job but as of right now I am NOT looking I am JUST being....

California

As I am sitting here with Mia on my lap watching Eli play Mario Kart, that he mastered in the 3 days I was gone, I am happy! I had such a great time visiting with some of my favorite people! I love to fly, when it goes smoothly, but honestly how often does that happen? Well the flight out to CA was not only on time, but everyone was friendly and we arrived in LA EARLY?! My dad picked me up from the airport and we went to dinner. It was so nice to spend some time with him. My hotel was downtown Hollywood across from the Roosevelt Hotel, my room was nice and the bed was so comfy! My interview on Tuesday I feel went well. I love the job and feel it would be a great fit for me! My last interview was cancelled due to an emergent surgery, so I was able to get out a good 45 mins early, JUST as Jolene was pulling into the hospital parking lot! So we picked up my bags and drove down to the OC! Had amazing fish tacos and GREAT conversation- I heart her and her family! I love being in California, the sunshine and beautiful scenery of CA, it just feels like home. The flight home was delayed an hour and we sat on the tarmac for sometime, but I made it home! My husband is so amazing to even consider this crazy idea! I love him for being willing to uproot our lives here to relocate to the West! We will see! They are interviewing 3 other candidates so I will find out hopefully soon!! I have left it up to fate, if we are intended to move I will find a job and things will fall into place. As I see it now, I was given an amazing opportunity to interview for a prestigious nationally recognized program position and have a mini vacation!!

Lacking motivation....need a change

Hello dear friends, sorry for the lack of motivation and blog posts! I am just not feeling it lately! Us here at the good ole Jackson household like to shake life up every now and then, usually once we get settled somewhere and RE-do.... I have really been questioning what I want to do with myself. I LOVE being with my children, they bring me so much joy. BUT... lately I feel like I am lacking something for myself, I know selfish right? I have this wonderful education that I worked hard to get AND paid to get.. and would like to use it. I miss feeling like I am contributing, financially to our family when I could! My children are so well adapted and social! Mia loves being around other kids and thrives on it! Mr. Eli is starting school in August and can't wait!! So I feel like it's time for me to go BACK to work...ok back to working outside the home!! Well anywho...this is such a personal, emotional, hard, frustrating decision! I am a huge believer that things happen for a reason...and that if I am open to change and inspiration that all things will fall into place to make it happen...I feel I am so unhappy with our current situation and my kids suffer...I miss working...again I know selfish.. SO I applied for a local job that was posted and seemed..ok..not a position I would LOVE but would work... low and behold that position was filled and wouldn't have worked anyway...BUT that next day a recruiter from Children's Hospital of LA found my resume( I wasn't actively looking for any jobs except the local one) and would LOVE for me to apply to an AMAZing opportunity in LA!! CRAZY..right? Well I said..ok why not? The job is ME what I love to do and it's just a CRAZY story! So I went to my WONDERFUL husband and was like...so...um...well what would you think about moving to LA!!! keep in mind that is where I am from, my roots, some of my most favorite people still live there...although we would be leaving SOOO many loves here too. He was like hmmm CA is $$$ so as i was talking to the hospital they offered me a number that would make $$$ CA doable! So he was in and is now so super excited for the challenge!! He is so supportive of me and wants me to be happy! So I am flying out to CA sometime next week!