Weekend Wine Pairings

 Busy weekend ahead! I had my last 2 wisdom teeth pulled this morning and tomorrow we have a professional coming to take pictures of the house, which should be on the market by this coming Tuesday!!! We thought we would share some of our easiest and most impressive pairings, just in case any of you are having company.

THE SHOW STOPPER:

This Kim Crawford is one of the pricier ones on our list at about 14 bucks, but it is certainly delicious. I find it buttery with notes of pear and vanilla. Perfect with shortbread cookies.

  

                                                                                     Source: kimcrawfordwines.co.nz via Heather on Pinterest

The Fun, Hip, and Trendy:

This has to be one of my new favorite wines... Starborough Marlborough. Bright and refreshing, the hubby and I like to enjoy a glaa with garlic stuffed olives. About 9 dollars a bottle and worth every penny- it drinks like a much more expensive wine.

                                                                           Source: google.com via Benjamin on Pinterest

The Spanish Red:

My husband actually introduced me to this wine when we were dating. It's mellow enough to drink alone, byt has the presence to stand up to just about any dish. Odd as it sounds, you canot beat a glass of Las Rocas with a bacon avocado cheeseburger...absolute Heaven! I've seen this wine as cheap as 9 bucks and as pricey as 17, so it just depends upon your retailer.

                                                                                       Source: lasrocaswine.com via Andie on Pinterest

The Quirky:

Not everyone loves wine and sometimes it's just too hot for it any way.  One of our favorite beers is from a Seattle based company; Red Hook ESB, which stands for English Style Bitter. Oddly enough, it is anything but bitter. Smooth and wirh a hint of molasses, this beer is scrmptious with ginger snaps. You must try it, you'll be glad you did!

Happy weekend and Labor day, y'all- I'm off to ice my jaw :)

A Modern Home

We always thought we were old house kind of people. Lately, though, we've been thinking about building (several years down the road when/if we ever figure out where we want to live). And we're craving something a bit more modern this time. We know we want to keep it sustainable, too.  Here's what we're looking at:

While the interior is a little stark for our tastes, I'm loving the use of metal, frosted glass, and concrete in this home:

Source: zeospot.com via Milena on Pinterest

I probably wouldn't incorporate quite this much glass into our home, but I love the way they sited the house to work with existing trees. Such a gorgeous green view:

Source: contemporist.com via Inna on Pinterest

The house and the landscape blend so seamlessly:

Source: contemporist.com via Inna on Pinterest

This is the hubby's favorite- he likes the corrugated and stacked entrance. Maybe part of an old repurposed shipping container?

Source: google.com via Callme on Pinterest

Wooden and white:

Source: contemporist.com via Inna on Pinterest

Quite possibly the most perfect beach house:

Source: designed-for-life.tumblr.com via Inna on Pinterest

What do you think- could you live with and love something this modern long term? Or would you get sick of it after a while?

Simple Table Setting

When we aren't staging our home, we really like our dining table to look something like this:

However, we are in the process of selling, so we knew the table needed to be dressed for dinner. We've all seen those gorgeous place settings in magazines; chargers, multiple plates, and lavish centerpieces. They're undeniably beautiful, but for our table we wanted something a bit simpler that we could actually use. We didn't want to have to go out and buy much, since we'll be moving soon. What we came up with was very inexpensive, but (in my opinion) looks lovely. And it's functional!!!

We starteed by clearing everything off of our table. If you know us, you know that our dining table is unfortunately a catch-all for the stuff that I'm never quite sure what to do with. You can read more about all that here. We got all the crap off of it and gave it a good scrubbing:

I picked four very simple seagrass-colored placemats up at Ikea for about 2 bucks each.

We arranged them in a square, which didn't leave us much room on the table for a centerpiece. The hubby actually came up with the 3 small glass cubes filled with different small potpourri in brown, cream, and green. I love it, especially since it a) fits in the space allotted and b) doesn't hamper conversation, as so many centerpieces do.

We skipped the chargers and just started layering our dishes...dinner plate on bottom, then salad plate, then soup bowl.

 

 

We took our color cues from the centerpiece and found these yellow/green/white napkins with pear motif...I think a large napkin typically photograps better, so we actually bought kitchen towels made from a thinner fabric and put a simple napking ring on top and just sat them in the soup bowl:

The final touches were our wine glasses and silverware and we were done:

Ideally, I would have loved if our plates and bowls would have been different colors.  And someday we'll have a table that is big enough for a runner and placemats. But, for low budget and small space, I'm pleased with the results. If you needa  little more place setting eye candy, I've thrown in a few favorites...enjoy!

 

                                                                                        Source: bhg.com via froggymama on Pinterest

 

                                                                             Source: elizabethannedesigns.com via Katie on Pinterest

                                                                                              Source: Uploaded by user via Kate on Pinterest

Curb Appeal

They say you never get a 2nd chance to make a first impression. To that end, we've tried to add landscaping, lighting, and decorative features to enhance ourhomes' curb appeal. Most of these additions havebeen relatively inexpensive and given us a lot of bang for the buck. Without further ado, here is our homes' exterior...

 This may seem very basic, but adding nice house numbers is one of the best and cheapest ways to enhance your entry. At about $2 a pop, they're super affordable.

See our awesome garage door? A quick, cheap way to make your garage door look upscale is to retrofit with a kit- simply screw on the metal brackets. Our kit was about $13 at Home Depot.

 Mature plants, pavers, and mulch convey a well-tended image. To keep our lawn nice and healthy, we fertilize twice per year.

 Our retaining wall was but with cheap broken concrete and several perennial plants.

 We keep our hose handy and contained with a copper pot designed specifically for the job. After years of neglect, our Hybrid teais back to health and producing more blooms than ever.

 Our second entry was given the same treatment with house numbers. An old rocker, an Ikea pillow and a cotton doormat create a welcoming entrance and provide a comfy spot for enjoying my morning coffee.

The exterior of our home isn't fancy, but looks well-kept and inviting from the road -exactly our goal as we prepare to list our home for sale.

Next up: staged interior. Happy Friday, y'all!!!