Weekend in the Woods

| The Bee Life

This past weekend B and I got out of town for a quick weekend getaway to the Cabin in the Woods.  I grew up in the country, but even this place is a little bit in the middle of nowhere for me.  I couldn’t even tell you where the closest gas station or grocery store would be, nor do you pass one on the way.


It’s always nice to get away to this little retreat, it’s so quiet and peaceful – but also extremely buggy. Plus it’s super close to one of our favorite breweries – Southern Tier, so of course we headed up there for the afternoon too.  Tasty beers, great food and an awesome atmosphere – we stay for hours.  We’ve made a yearly tradition out of it, but will definitely be going back before Summer’s end.

When we are back at the cabin we usually relax, and play board games (like Sorry!) and walk around the property with Moz.  She was super fascinated with the frogs while we walked around the pond, every time they jumped in and made a splash she would get scared and then become super curious! It was so cute. We also visited a homemade ice cream shop in the nearby ‘town’ – massive portions, huge selection and so cheap!

It was a fun – quick weekend away. I love creating memories, and traditions with B, even if they’re simple.

House Hunters – Kitchen

| The Bee Life

Our kitchen is terrible.  It has a horrible layout, no counter or cabinet space not to mention it’s dated. We’ve been able to improve it some since we first saw the house, but it’s still nothing that it could be. Although when we remodel, it’s going to be a complete gut, moving walls and extending out the house. It’s not going to be cheap or quick.

We helped the layout drastically by moving the fridge to it’s current spot, it was where the green bar was, making it a tight squeeze. But as you can see it’s not very functional or pretty.  Our dream is to blow out where the exterior door is to square out the current galley part – from there the possibilities are endless – maybe even blowing out the wall between the kitchen and dining room (where the current green bar is)… I can just hear the dollar signs right now!

Here is some inspiration for the future, all white is a dream with lots of light and some accents of blues or teals.

http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2012/10/favorite-pins-friday-19/
https://www.subwaytileoutlet.com/products/Vapor-Arabesque-Glass-Tile.html#.ValzM_lcD-V

I am sure our kitchen won’t be remodeled for a few more years, but it’s definitely on the wish list as far as big ticket items. My parents just remodeled their kitchen after living in their house for 30+ years! It’s funny because the first time we looked at this house B wasn’t phased by the kitchen, he just loved this house and the first thing I pointed out was the terrible kitchen! Since then it’s become quite the opposite conversation…. maybe we will get lucky and get on a DIY kitchen makeover show.

TGIF!

Wednesday Reminders – Patience

| The Bee Life

Patience is something we can always work on.  I do find lately that I notice I have better tolerance for certain things compared to a year or two ago.  For example: this past Sunday in church a family with 3-small children was sitting in front of us.  Before the mass even started the 4-year oldish boy was having a melt down and getting dragged out of church… During the second reading; the same thing happened, making the reader at the alter look as though she was lip reading. The whole time it was impossible to focus and they were directly in front of us.  Normally I would grab B’s arm and give a tight squeeze, squirm around, roll my eyes and maybe even clear my throat loudly… a few times.  But I was surprised at how tolerant (yet still extremely annoyed) I was with this for an hours straight. Of course, as soon as we got in the car we both let out a sigh of relief. Still, I realized I had learned patience.

On the flip side of that, I notice that with other things patience is completely out the window. I think it’s because I have high expectations/standards for the people on the receiving end. I need to do a better job at reminding myself that I can only control myself in turn, my actions. How I react could be just as bad as the trigger, creating a ripple effect and ultimately affecting the future – whether it be long or short term.

Will we ever completely learn patience for everything? I don’t think so, but I know we will learn and adapt in situations only to discover other areas to work on – knowing we can always affect the way we react.

House Hunters – Bathroom Retreat

| The Bee Life

Bathroom’s are always something to marvel over, they’re second best to the kitchen when it comes to a top-selling point for a house.  Well for B and I the kitchen and bathroom’s could both use a good overall.  Although I don’t see the bathroom being for awhile, as it’s a big space and functional, all the upgrades found be purely for our own reasons, not because anything is broken, which I guess isn’t necessarily a bad thing. *smiles*

We have a ‘claw foot’ tub (without the claw feet) and I love it, however I am thinking if we ever remodel our bathroom, we would ditch the claw foot and do a stand-up shower. We would gain so much more space for a vanity. But then people argue, that the resale value on the house is lower because people want bathtubs (especially families)… I feel like it’s a lose-lose regardless, just do what we want, right?

Here is the wishlist:

  • White subway tiles
  • Double vanity or an extended counter
  • Larger mirror
  • Accents of color with flooring or tile work
  • Lots of shower heads
  • Chandelier light fixture
  • Stand-up shower and claw-foot tub

Some inspiration…

http://www.houseofturquoise.com/2014/09/casabella-home-furnishings-and-interiors_5.html
http://houseandhome.com/design/photo-gallery-jillian-harriss-vintage-inspired-style?page=8
http://jensawesomeworld.tumblr.com/post/66268620778
http://www.bhg.com/bathroom/color-schemes/colors/bathroom-color-ideas/#page=3

I think our kitchen remodel will come first before the bathroom, but you never know! We might just go crazy and tackle everything at once one of these days. This bathroom certainly won’t be a DIY project… maybe parts but not all. Until then I will be looking at lots of pretty pictures building and dreaming of our future bathroom.

12 hours in the city

| The Bee Life

15.5 hours on a bus.
12 hours in the city.
19.1 miles walked.
33,768 steps.
Countless memories.

Yes. you read that correctly we did it again.

B got us tickets to New York City for my birthday back in March, and this past weekend was finally our trip! We took the megabus overnight from Rochester to the city, arriving mostly on-time at 7:30AM. First stop: Starbucks for some coffee, food and freshening up.

From there my detailed itinerary led the way for our adventures for the day. Next stop was Washington Square Park, the iconic spot from many movies but especially one of my favorites, When Harry Met Sally. To get there we were able to travel through Chelsea and Greenwich – and then finally to the arch.  It was massive! And the park was beautiful with a large fountain, it was so quiet and peaceful.

Next we ventured through SOHO – which was fabulous early in the morning, before everyone was awake.  We got to see a film crew filming TMNT – 2, but did not see anyone famous.  Is anyone famous even in that movie? We finally made our way to the 9/11 Memorial Fountains. It was breathtaking, I got a bit choked up reading some of the names and being at the memorial, it was beautiful and they are completely massive. The new building, One World Trade Center is quite the site to see as well, standing tall over the two memorials.  This was one of B’s favorite parts of the trip too.

We then walked the Hudson River Greenway down to Battery Park. Where we were able to get on the Statue Cruises ferry to visit Liberty Island and Ellis Island. This is the first time that B and I got to see the Statue of Liberty, and wow, seeing her close up is incredible, there is nothing like it. We had way to much fun taking selfie’s with her, and watching the million of tourists with their selfie sticks taking pictures with her too… so many selfie sticks.  Not to mention, the views of the city were remarkable, talk about a skyline.

We jumped back on the ferry to pop over to Ellis Island, where we did not stay too long.  It was a beautiful place, and the museum was massive – B and I don’t like crowds and the amount of people running around that place just sent us in a head spin. We got back on the Ferry and headed back to the mainland. Next stop: Wall Street and the famous bull.  Both were packed/surrounded by tourists – you literally couldn’t even get a clean photo with the bull because people where just swarming it, I wasn’t even interested after seeing that… We ventured over to the Seaport area and found a little Italian place to eat called Il Brigante Restaurant. The salad and pizza we shared were amazing.

Then my feet were killing me. So we just briefly checked out the Brooklyn Bridge – it was PACKED with people. It would’ve been so obnoxious to try and walk the whole thing, definitely an early morning activity for our next trip. We made our way back to SOHO and I found a Crocs store (not my first choice, but a last resort).  They surprisingly have super cute shoes! I got a cute pair for a steal of $20 and my feet where like brand new.  By this point in the day the rain had started to fall a little more steadily.  We Starbucks hopped and made our way over to where the megabus would be picking us up… only after getting completely soaked in the rain.

Our bus was 45-minutes late, causing us to get even more soaked standing outside waiting for it, we were a little miserable.  The 8-hour bus ride back was just as freezing sitting in wet clothes with air blowing on you. It was nice to get into my parents car around 3:30AM with warm sweatshirts, a blanket and Miss. Mozi!

Washington Square Park
9/11 Memorial Fountains: North Pool
South Pool
One World Trade Center
View from Battery Park Pier
Ellis Island
View from Ellis Island
Il Brigante Restaurant
Il Brigante Restaurant
Il Brigante Restaurant
Brooklyn Bridge Madness
Momofuku- Milkbar

Despite the cold miserable ending, B and I had a great trip… another adventure for us to look back on and remember.  I love going on adventures with B, exploring new places and seeing beautiful places.

We both agreed next time we visit NYC, we will be flying and staying in a hotel – no more megabus. Although we’ve loved the trips we have had, they’re definitely a whirlwind.

Weekend Update

| The Bee Life

WA day late. This past weekend was a busy one! But well rounded and full of people I love.  The weekend started with some PTO and hitting the road to Upstate NY.  Road-trip back home to see the parents/brother and go wedding dress shopping with my HS BFF – plus it was Father’s Day!

Friday night, Moz and I arrived to my parents ate some pizza, had some drinks and played some Yahtzee – I ended up beating my mom, which rarely happens!

Saturday morning, I went over to the bride-to-be’s house so that we could ride together to the first stop! This was my first time out wedding dress shopping, so I had no idea what to expect (except what I’ve seen on TLC’s Say Yes To the Dress). I thought that I was going to cry at every dress I saw Katie in, I only got teared up on one.  It was also Katie’s first time out dress shopping, so she had to figure out what she liked compared to what she thought she would like.  It was pretty intense! She brought 6 of us along too so there were a lot of opinions and voices to listen too! There were two contenders when we left the first appointment.  At the second appointment there was one that she loved, but as soon as she put on the next dress she knew it was her’s.  It’s absolutely beautiful, plus Katie’s sister and I might have picked it out. *smiles*  I was so glad to be apart of this day with Katie – the first of many before she gets married. We also got to chat a lot in the car and catch up, it felt like old times when we used to go all over the place together.

My lame attempt at a selfie
The crew minus Lori
Bestie!

Saturday night, we got to enjoy a family dinner. My brother came over, so it was just the four of us, I can’t recall the last time that happened! Sunday was Father’s Day, so we started the morning with church and then brunch at a local diner in my hometown.  I had to go with the chocolate chip pancakes, one of my favorites!

CLE Whiskey – the perfect Father’s Day gift.
Selfie with Dad!
With Nate

After the drive back home; we got to celebrate little Moz’s 2nd birthday.  Of course with a mammoth cookie that she was beyond excited about.  Plus she got a few new squeaky toys! I can’t believe she is two already, she’s just so little. B and I love her to death.

Moz turns 2!
Moz turns 2!
Moz turns 2!

It was a fun weekend, away. B stayed back home to do Father’s Day festivities with his family. This upcoming weekend we will be gone again, just wait till you see what we’re getting ourselves into… again.

Daydream Friday

| The Bee Life

I woke up the other morning wanting to travel. I had a dream that I was in Paris going to see the Eiffel Tower, and now my imagination and hopes to travel are endless, I’m itching to go somewhere.

“Paris is always a good idea” – Audrey Hepburn

So of course, whenever I get on one of my “we need to travel” fits, I jump on Expedia and see how much a week long sabbatical would be.  I then proceed to text B and tell him “It’s only $3,500 to go to XXX place for a week!” to which he is probably thinking… “here we go again…” It’s a thing and every time it’s a new place.

My Top-5 Dream Vacation Spots*

Greece
Dublin, Ireland
Paris, France
Italy
Germany

*Subject to change at any moment. 

So on this beautiful Friday, I continue to daydream and plan out a million different vacations costing thousands and thousands of dollars that I don’t have… yet. I do know that I will see the world, slowly but surely and I can’t wait to do all of that with B.

Until then a girl can dream… Literally.

House Party

| The Bee Life

Our house was officially broken-in since we hosted our house warming party on Saturday!  I would say the party was a success overall.  The weather of course wasn’t as warm as I had hoped, in fact it was almost chilly, a cool 60-degrees, it would’ve been perfect had it been October. We had plenty of food and plenty of alcohol… we have so many leftovers, but I am not complaining about that! A lot of friends came that we hadn’t seen in awhile, that meant a lot and it was great catching up with them.

It was nice to be able to share our home with some many people who are near and dear to us, the first of many parties, I am sure.  I will hopefully get the food/drink portions down a little better and also try and be a little less stressed pre-party. We could probably have a second party with all the beer and left overs we have!

Transformation Tuesday no. 7

| The Bee Life

A little over a month ago, I was brainstorming some ideas for our empty, yellow and brown sun room. Well we ended up going in a completely different direction, but I absolutely love it. We ended up painting the room white, and adding some base and crown molding to give it more of a finished look.  Since we got new furniture, the big debate was what to do with our old leather couch and our super comfy, yet not so cute recliner. Solution? The sun room! Not to mention I had some fun colorful pillows that just didn’t go with our new furniture – B had the brilliant idea of re-purposing in this new space.

One of my favorite parts is the curtains, we used PVC pipe and little hooks to make the curtain rod, it goes around the entire window frame, it was super inexpensive and all custom. I also love our Jackson Hole pictures topping off and making this a true retreat. I love all of the color and patterns, I realize it’s not everyone’s taste but I love to mix it up and have some fun.