#Wifey Diaries: Gallery Wall Update

Last year, Ant & I put up a gallery wall above our fireplace.  We decided it would primarily be photos of places, rather than people.  This was the original wall:

After our vacation this past spring, we had so many new pictures of amazing places - we decided it was time to update the wall!  We chose a number of photos, and I went a little crazy online shopping at TJMaxx {who knew you could buy online @ TJMaxx?? I didn't! Talk about dangerous.} One afternoon after work we popped a bottle of bubbly, took the whole wall down, and redid it.  I had "the vision" for layout, and Ant did all the measuring to ensure it actually came together okay! 

Franklin discovered he could get a better view from the stairs.

This shot includes two of my favorite pieces - the custom home watercolor I gifted Ant on our anniversary, and a painting his cousin did for us based on a photo Ant took while we were in San Fran.  

I love that the updated wall makes better use of the space, and includes a more interesting mix of colors and detailing on the frames!  It helps bring together the space, and is a great reminder of some of the travel we've been lucky to do.  What house projects have you been working on?? 

xoxo

#Wifey Diaries - Living Room Inspiration

Ant and I have been talking about what home improvement projects we want to tackle this spring/summer.  This is finally the year we're going to do some outdoor landscaping, and there are a million other little things I would love to check off our list!  One is our living room.  We have a brightly colored accent wall {Bali Bliss is the official paint color} and beautiful built ins, but I've been wanting to spruce it up a bit!  The other day I went on Pinterest to get some inspiration, and here are a few of the ideas I came across.

Our built ins are in need of a paint job anyway, and I LOVE the way these are painted with a lighter color in the background.  I think it would go a long way to brightening our living room, which isn't huge to begin with!  The room is all shades of blues and neutrals, so the lighter blue would go nicely, and just add a little bit of a pop!  Luckily, Ant is totally on board, and that's an easy enough project to do even now, while spring is still refusing to join us!

What's on your DIY list currently??

xoxo

The Little Things: Thank You Cards

Todayyyyy, on this snowy lazy Thursday, I am chatting about thank you cards!  

For our wedding, I knew I was going to want to give everyone personalized thank you cards for everything they did to help and support us leading up to our big day.  I wanted something simple, and didn't want to have to go to 10 different places to get the different personalization I needed.  Naturally, I started with Etsy, my go-to for a lot of smaller wedding details, and found marrygrams!  For a VERY reasonable price she was able to put together a package of thank you notes that was just what I needed!  I was even able to customize the envelope colors to coordinate with our wedding colors!  I got 9 different styles, and used 4 different envelope colors.  Each one came wrapped up in a pretty little bow, and the quality of the cards was fantastic!  They were just what I was looking for....a harder, shiny paper with beautiful simple text - it let me do all the talking inside!  Obviously, the most special one was the one I got for my groom!

There are ENDLESS styles of thank you notes - depending on the occasion, season, person, etc.  I've talked about them before in, this post last Christmas I had been on the hunt for housewarming thank-you notes.  Below is another one I'd snapped to save - a beautiful striped thank you for a Mother on your wedding day from Sugar Paper, LA.  

I have learned to keep an eye out for good thank you notes, and I always buy them when I find them!  I've learned it's better to keep a few on hand, you never know when you'll have something to be thankful for!  A little personalized love can go a long way sometimes :)

In other news - as I mentioned today is HOPEFULLY our last snow day of the season! {and if not I may just never come back from my trip to the DR next weekend} Franklin and I were snowed in all day, and this is a quick recap of what a day in the life of us looks like...

First, we went on a walk with Dad before he left for work...

 We've learned how to climb the stairs, but then throw a 

fit when we realize we can't get back down on our own....

 On our second walk of the day Franklin ran head first into a snowbank, 

and was not a fan.  Mommy may or may not have giggled. a lot.

Were you snowed in today?? Or are you lucky enough to be somewhere where the weather is more reasonable??  If so, send warm thoughts our way please!!!

xoxo

World, Meet Franklin!

Ahhhh.  We are the Mascias, party of 3!!!!!

World, meet Franklin!  He is a 2 month old Cavalier mix - his official breed is a Cavapom but I call him a little ball of fluff :)  We brought him home on Monday night, so his homecoming date is February 23, 2015.  We knew we wanted a puppy, and had decided that we were going to wait until spring....but then we met Franklin!  He was "black & tan baby boy" at the pet store in town, and we fell in love...so we brought him home on one of the coldest nights of the year.  Franklin is named after two very important gentlemen - FDR & Benjamin Franklin!  We thought it was an appropriate name after our recent trips to Philly and Washington DC.  He is a little nugget and we are so in love.

This was our first family photo!

I just love his silly little face.

This is actually what most of the pictures I tried to take our first night with him looked like.... #puppyproblems

4 am snuggles with mommy (that bone stood NO chance)

and then some early morning snuggles with daddy.  my two boys :)

this is how Franklin likes to watch the Bachelor.  by napping.....

we get lots of extra snuggles today since mom got to stay home from work unexpectedly!!

I mean really....look at that face!

xoxo

#Wifey Diaries: Mix and Match Mama

I told you my first #Wifey Diaries post would be about my crock pot....so now that you're all thoroughly excited...here we go!  This post is more specifically about Mix and Match Mama.  and how Mix and Match Mama makes me feel like a #SuperWifey.

Mix and Match Mama is the "foodie blog" of Shay Shull.  Shay is the sister of Sean Lowe {as in Sean from the Bachelor}.  I pretty regularly read both of her blogs, and recently Mix and Match Mama has become my favorite spot to go to for recipes, especially crock pot recipes!  They're sort of her thing.  Ant and I discovered the joys of crock pot cooking when we lived in our apartment but horribly underutilized it.  Since moving into our home, we have learned just how incredibly valuable it is!  There is NOTHING better than crock pot meals - especially in winter, which also happens to be one of my busiest times at work!  Crock pot meals are almost always comfort food...warm, and delicious and EASY.  Ahhh the easiness is unreal.  Even when I feel like I have zero minutes in my life, I can still find the 10 minutes it takes to prep the food for the crock pot, throw it in and hit start!  By the time we get home after a long day, dinner is ready.

She changed my life with this particular recipe for Sweet Corn Chili. {click the link for the full recipe!}  The shopping list was this:

Shopping List
1 pound of ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14 oz) can of creamed corn
1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt and Pepper
Sour cream and/or shredded cheese to garnish, optional

The first thing that stood out to me was that it was SIMPLE.  None of those ingredients looked at all complicated.  Ground turkey was a win for my *trying to eat healthy* husband.  I then decided to use her slogan "it's more about the method than the recipe" and ad lib it a bit.  I don't love onions, and I HATE jalapeños, so I skipped them entirely!  I stuck to ground turkey, chili powder, frozen corn and all of the canned goods! Talk about an insanely simple shopping list! {and if you know me and my grown woman grocery store temper tantrums, the more simple the list, the better}....I brought it all home, cooked it up....and had dinner waiting to surprise the hubs when he got home! and guess what?

It was amazing.  By far one of the best crock pot recipes we've made to date!  We eat it as chili...we eat it as tacos with sour cream and cheese added....we eat it as a nacho dip with tortilla chips...you name it, we've tried it!  It's good as dinner, it reheats well for lunch at work. It's a win/win/win.  

Yup.  That's right.  #SuperWifey speaking.

The same can be said about many of her other recipes as well - if I'm looking for something simple and delicious, 100% of the time I search her site first.  We had dinner with two other couples the other night, and I was bringing a side dish.  Something simple and delicious AND easy to transport?  Mix and Match Mama to the rescue!  I tried out her Mashed Potato Casserole.  I was able to do all the pre work at home, and when we got to our friends house I just threw it in the oven for 20 minutes and it was done! 

The thing I love about Shay is that she doesn't pretend to be too fancy or over the top.  Her recipes don't make me nervous about whether I'm going to screw them up or present them properly!  She uses disposable baking dishes for parties so clean up is easy, her dessert recipes often include boxed mixes as a starting point...she isn't worried about anything other than a delicious end result!  I may not have 3 kids, but my life is still pretty busy and it's nice to know that I can still feel like a wonderful hostess and wife without losing my mind in the kitchen! {besides, the reality of the situation is Ant is still a better cook than me....Shay just helps me hold my own!}

There are so many delicious recipes on her site, I occasionally browse to get an idea of what I might try next...I think this one is at the top of my list for next summer!

What sites are your go-to for recipes?? I'm always looking for new ones!  Do you have a favorite crock pot recipe?  Share, please!!  This girl will take all the help she can get :)

xoxo

#Wifey Diaries: A New Year Series

So I received this marvelous Christmas gift from my sister this year - a #Wifey necklace from cocktailbling.com!  I'm pretty much in love with it.  It is simple and cute and very fitting as I start my first full year as the wife half of our dream team :)

This lovely little necklace is my inspiration for a new series.  The #Wifey Diaries will be where I touch on the many exciting things happening here in the Mascia household in 2015....and the things I learn as a new wife along the way.

I'm working on my first post now - and here's a teaser...it involves a crock pot! See, exciting things happening over here friends. Excitinggggg stuff.

Until then - I hope you're all having a wonderful first weekend of the new year!!! Ant and I are enjoying every minute of our weekend off together.

xoxo

Christmas at the Lake

Every waking minute the last few weeks has been spent either A. working, or B. trying to have as much holiday fun as humanly possible while NOT working!  Which doesn't leave a whole lot of time for anything else.....luckily, I knew December was going to be crazy - so Ant and I took advantage of a couple of well timed days off early on to get the house ready for the holiday season!  I love that I can now invest in holiday decor without feeling guilty about how much use it will get - I'm not decorating a corner of our temporary apartment living situation....I'm decorating our HOME!  As it turns out, that justifies wayyyyy more adorable little trees :)

 First, I came home with three Christmas trees - two for the mantle and one for our wine rack!

We don't host actual holidays - our schedules make it next to impossible...but we did have both sets of parents over for a "between holidays" meal...the table runner I found at Christmas Tree Shops matches our new Restoration Hardware dinnerware perfectly!  I'm also in love with the "M" votive candle holder I found at Marshalls!

The next three are finished views of our mantle.  This is by far one of my favorite parts of the house, especially this time of year.  Our fireplace has so much character, and when the wood stove is roaring there is nowhere I'd rather be snuggled up!  In addition to the Christmas trees and a collection of candles, Ant and I added a garland this year.  I'd been talking about buying one and asking Ant for his opinion - and he suggested we make our own!  So we did just that.  For a first attempt, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out....and it's even more special that it was made from our own backyard!  I'm not especially crafty, but it's fun to try sometimes.

What is your favorite holiday decor?? and how early do you start putting it up?

xoxo