Well, it is hard to believe that we are almost an entire month into 2013! So far, our year is off to a fun start. Here is a recap of what we have been up to…

Ski Trip to Breckenridge

We were able to sneak away to Breck for a few days of skiing with our friends Anna & Lars. As you can see, the weather was sunny & perfect! You may also notice that Ryan is oddly squinty in these pictures (I’m pretty sure his eyes are completely closed in the second one) because he was having some major eye issues! Luckily, with a quick trip to an optometrist in Frisco, he was back to the slopes the next day.

 

 

Some New Finds

There is a little antique store, consignment shop, used furniture store (let’s not try to make it sound fancy or anything, because it’s not!) near our house where I have found a few treasures. 

I snagged a pair of these bamboo headboards for our guest room that are going to be so darling once they are painted.

 

This side table could be great between the twin beds or maybe a pair of arm chairs in the living room.  I had been eyeing it for a while and knew it had potential, but after I saw this picture in Southern Living (Cynthia Collins of Blueprint Store in Dallas), I knew I had to go back for it.

via

 

Our Birthdays

Ryan and I celebrated our shared birthday at Brasserie 19 last week.  This place never disappoints!

 

We also had a great dinner with some dear friends at Tiny Boxwoods (mentioned here) that never fail to make our birthdays memorable.

What do you know, he does pay attention (not that I should be surprised)! Very excited about my new dutch oven that Ryan got me for my birthday and can’t wait to use it when our newly renovated kitchen soon (Lord willing, it will be soon)!

My bff sent me an oh-so-thoughtful gift of Williams-Sonoma croissants – Thanks Linds! Apparently, these things are about as close as you can get to fresh bakery croissants at home.  Can’t wait for you to visit again soon so we can enjoy them together : )

 

Getting Ready to Paint

 

Color choices from left to right (all Benjamin Moore): 1) Amherst Gray 2) Chelsea Gray 3) Duxbury Gray 4) Kendall Charcoal and 5) Puritan Gray

#3 & #5 have been voted off the island.  So far, there has been consensus on #1, Amherst Gray, but I really love that Kendall Charcoal, too!  We have lofty goals of getting the house (brick only, not siding) painted in the next few weeks.  I’m feeling a sense of urgency because we have to paint before getting flowers in those front planters and I’m pretty ready to make that happen NOW.

 

Bringing some Life to the Backyard

Right now, we have nothing (and I really mean nothing) in our backyard.  Not a tree, not a bush, not a flower. For our birthdays, our parents both wanted to contribute to our backyard landscaping, so we were off to go tree shopping this past weekend! NOW is the time for us to get these trees into the ground, so a sense of urgency here, too.  Are you seeing a pattern? Yes, I’m probably being overly ambitious about what we are going to be able to accomplish in the next 3 weeks!  I made Ryan pose next to the trees to give me a point of reference on their height.

[Shumard Red Oaks]

 

[Red Maples]

Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this post!  As you can see, January was pretty jam-packed with good stuff and we are beyond excited to keep moving on this house and make it our own!