Stuff Stace Likes - Droolworthy Decor

Lately I've been perusing a ton of home decor blogs and sites and often find myself drooling over some of the photos that I see.  We are going to be getting a house in the next year (or so) and I may be jumping the gun by decorating my non-existant house so soon, but boy is it fun!  A little decor daydreaming never hurt anyone, right?!    So, here are some interior and exterior design elements that make Stace DROOL!

Let's start with the exterior - The Craftsman

I love the columns, stone work, and wood shingle siding on this style house.  Don't you want to just plop down on that front porch with a glass of iced tea?   I DO!  Craftsman, or Arts and Crafts style architecture was originally popular in the early 1900's but the style seems to be experiencing a bit of a a resurgence lately.  

I even found this new house in Wisconsin around the area that we are looking to move to - and it's in our general price range.  GASP!  Looks like an updated take on the Craftsman style.  I'll take one please!

Next is the floors - dark hardwood floors to be exact.  The wider the slat, the better...

For the kitchen - modern french country.  White cabinets, marble countertops, tile backsplash, and my dark hardwood floors.  Throw in a huge farmhouse style sink, and you've got one happy Stace!

Speaking of tile backsplash, this Arabesque style tile almost made me faint

Seriously, someone needs to fan me down!  Sigh, Swoon, Ahhhhh!

Next up, Shaded Chandeliers.  These guys have it all -  the formalness of a chandelier, with the casual style of a lampshade.  Perfect for a dining room that you don't want to be too imposing.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

And finally, modern rugs with pretty geometric patterns.  

Please give me a moment - I need to wipe the drool from my laptop.  Ok, now back to reality.  Most of this stuff is way outside of our price range, but it's great inspiration for some bargain shopping or DIYing.  I just hope that we are able to make our house cozy and comfy and a place that people love to come to, with or without the arabesque tile....ok, maybe with the tile.  ;)

Blog Stace Likes - Better After

I like jumping around the blogosphere to find blogs that inspire me, tickle my fancy, and just keep me scrollin' down and viewing older entries over and over and over and over and over.....  So I thought it would be fun to highlight some of them here each week.  Today I found "Better After" - a blog of before and after shots of DIY home improvement projects.  Ya know when you're watching a show on HGTV and you have to wait around for 30 minutes to an hour just to see the reveal?   This blog is pretty much ALL reveals and I LOVE IT!  It is full of great ideas and I'm feeling a little inspired myself.  Do I see a DIY headboard in my future?  I think so!

Click at your own risk, you may just get sucked in! -->http://betterafter.blogspot.com/

Packers Football Cake

Right now we're in Wisconsin because Ryan's Grandma passed away.  We came for the funeral and are staying a few weeks to help clean out Grandma's house.  This falls right around the time of the NFL season kickoff and that means Packer games!  Ryan wanted me to make a cake for the first season game, a football shaped cake, to be more exact.  So we trekked on down to Michael's to get some supplies.  We bought the Wilton football shaped pan to achieve the football shape.  It was easy and all, but if I do another football I think I will carve it on my own next time.  The pan gives the football a kind of smooshed shape and I could have done it better with a hand carving.  I will, however, keep the pan because you can also make sandwich bread with it.  Check this out...

Pretty cool for a tailgate eh?  Ok, enough of the sandwich, bring on the cake!

 Ryan was happy with his cake.  I even got a "you're the best wife in the world" out of him, so it was worth it!  ;)

Cake Love!

One of my favorite parts of caking is that cake makes people happy!  I love to see the look on people's faces when you unveil their cake.  Not only does cake taste good, but it's nice to know someone took the time to bake you that cake.  I always show pics of the cake making process, but rarely show the end result.  So, here is a little collection of people enjoying their cakes!

Cristina's baby shower!

Happy Birthday to Hayden

Emily's Bridal Shower

Jill's Baby Shower

Maya's 4th!

An edible coach purse for Eva's birthday

Lindy's baby shower

Something sweet, for my sweet's birthday :)

A cheesecake for Rabecca's birthday

Noah's Birthday Cars Cake

I love cake too!  Ryan made this for me.  :)

Ode to Wisco

By now it's pretty much public information that we will be relocating to Wisconsin in the Spring of 2011 (if all goes as planned!).  This means that I will be leaving FL after 20 years of calling it my home.  Crazy!  I'm going to miss it and my friends there a lot (*sniff*), but there are a ton of things to look forward to in Wisco.  I've been keeping little mental notes of the good things about Wisconsin, and I thought I would write em' down for all the world to see.  After all, I do want people to come visit once we move here!  ;)

1.  There are no cockroaches - I am deathly afraid of those little spawns of Satan!!!  So glad I won't be running into any while stepping out of the shower anymore!
2.  It is safe!  You can run into the grocery store and leave the car unlocked.  Heck, you can leave the car unlocked all night outside your house if you wanted to.  The only downside to this safe environment is that the cops focus their energies on doling out traffic tickets since there isn't much crime to fight.  No ticket yet for me, and I'd like to keep it that way!
3.  Wisconsin has some tasty regional food -  Some of my favorites: CHEESE!, fried cheese curds, frozen custard, fresh local rolls, and Brat Frys at the Piggly Wiggly on the weekends.  At the grocery stores around here, the produce, deli, and bakeries kick Florida's butt.  Yes, even Publix's butt.  GASP!
4.  Nesting can begin - once we move here we will focus on getting a house and then hopefully putting a bun in the oven.  Nuff said!
5.  Snow!  (I hear they get a lot of it around here)
6.  The Central Time Zone - I feel like I have an extra hour every evening.  We get off of work earlier, the news is earlier, dinner is earlier - thus leaving lots of extra time in the evening to have fun!
7.  Sports!  We will be smack dab in the middle between Milwaukee and Green Bay which means Brewers baseball and Packers football.  I've been to a few Brewers games and hope to make it to see the Packers soon too! 
8.  Pretty flowers - there are some great flowers here that you don't see in FL - like Peonies and Hydrangea.  Hoping to have a garden full of em!  Wisconsin also has nice "get it between your toes" soft grass. :)


That's about it for now.  Sure, there are bad things about Wisco too (as with any place) but for now I'm focusing on the good.  My next post will be this weekend showing the cake I'm making for the Packer's first season game.  Looking forward to it!  Until then...