Cucumber Greek Salad

This Greek cucumber salad is one of my favorite side dishes to make in spring and summer.  Simple and quick as always low carb!

Dressing Ingredients: 
1/2 extra virgin olive oil
1/4 red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced

Salad Ingredients:
2 large cucumbers, diced
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 six oz. container crumbled feta cheese
1 6.5 oz. jar kalamata olives




Instructions: 
In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar and minced dill, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients.  Toss with dressing until all ingredients are covered.
Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.  Drain excess dressing before serving.

Bathroom Brighten Up

The downstairs full bath is pretty dull and dark.  The whole bottom floor is in need of some brightening up and I'm gradually updating and changing some things around to make the area seem brighter and bigger.  Bye bye brown shower curtain and  Colorado photo collage! 

What a huge difference a white shower curtain makes.  (Sorry for the terrible lighting, this bathroom has no window so I'm stuck with using the existing can lights).  Your eye doesn't automatically drift to the busy shower curtain print.  The new semi sheer shower curtain brightens up the room, thanks to the recessed light above the shower.  We had this fish print hanging in the hallway, but bringing it into this room brings in some much needed color.  

I'm not insanely in love with the rattan mirror anymore, but it's going to have to do for now. Plus the brown rattan doesn't blend well with the gray granite countertops at all.  A new hand towel with both brown and gray designs helps tie in the two tones. 

The floor in the downstairs hallway is a dark slate, so the addition of a large light patterned rug, helps lighten up the floor.

 Small inexpensive changes can make a room seem so much bigger  and brighter.  I changed all this without saying anything to Chad this week.  I heard him say "where the hell am I?" after he walked in the bathroom the other night.  I like to keep him on his toes.
Happy Sunday!
~Katie

Prom Session

Saturday I did a quick photo shoot for some friends who's son was attending junior prom.  Prom has definitely changed in the last 20 years!  I think my mom took a few pictures with a disposable camera in front of a flower bush before we hit the road.
I was pretty nervous, this was the first time I'd shot anything other than babies, kids, and one bridal shoot in my yard.  Thank goodness for Pinterest.  A quick search for "prom poses" gave me a few ideas.
I'm still a little rusty with the camera since I've finally dusted it off again, but thankfully I was working with some fantastic smiles!
Here are a few of my favorites....

Happy Monday!  

~Katie 

Thinking Inside the Shadowbox....Again

Years ago I made a shadowbox of items from our wedding.  Invitations, honeymoon boarding passes, a koozie from my bachelorette party, and a cd compiled of our favorite music that we gave away as favors at the reception.

You know what's really funny about nostalgic items that you display in your home?  You tend to look completely over them.  I haven't truly looked at any of these items since I hung this in our home.  It's weird because it's right there on the wall, and I walk past it everyday and don't really look at it.  It's almost as if since it's in our line of sight everyday, we don't appreciate it, whereas if it was put away in a scrapbook to pull out and enjoy once in a while, we would appreciate the items even more.  

Chad has an amazing collection of arrowheads he inherited from his granddaddy in Kingstree, South Carolina.  They all were found in and around a creek on his property. We had them displayed in a basket on a hallway table downstairs, but you really didn't notice them in the dark wood basket.  

I've recently wondered if there was a better way to show this collection off.  They were just collecting dust in the basket....and the shadowbox in the hallway with our wedding memories had seen it's day.  I still treasure all memories in that shadowbox, but they deserved to be moved to a scrapbook.  

The linen backing is the perfect shade of cream to display the earth tones and the textures on these treasures.

Fun little project for a Saturday afternoon!  I might have to pop that cd in to remember what our favorite music was from 2006....IF I can locate a cd player in this house.  It's amazing how much technology has changed in the last 11 years.  That was back in the days when I burned cds all the time and didn't even own an ipod, much less have the capability to listen to music on my phone.

Now I feel as old as these arrowheads.  Excuse me while I go slather on the night serum and eye cream.

Happy Sunday!
~Katie

Classic Frittata

I've lived a low carb lifestyle since March of 2012 and the diet has changed my life.  There are so many variations of low carb diets out there right now, but just sticking with a diet low in carbs and staying away from sugar makes me feel the best.  After such a big change, I've started experimenting with different recipes that I can keep on rotation.  Frittata is a quick and easy brunch or breakfast meal that seems to always get rave reviews.


Ingredients:
*8 large eggs
*1 meat:  I usually use turkey sausage or regular sausage, but I used bacon for the recipe pictured
*2 green peppers, diced
*2 red peppers, diced
*1 half onion, diced
*1 small container white mushrooms
*2 cups mild cheddar cheese

Prep:
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
*Brown sausage
*In a large pan, cook mushrooms, onions and peppers with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
*In a large bowl, beat eggs and add in vegetables, cheese and sausage, mixing well.
*Add mixture to a greased casserole dish or pan.  I use a cast iron skillet, but any baking dish or casserole dish will do.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until eggs are cooked through.


This is usually a crowd pleaser and an easy breakfast to throw together especially when we have company staying over.

I'll be adding a new tab to the blog that will include all the low carb recipes call "Low Carb Eats" for reference.

Happy Saturday!
~Katie

Friday Favorite

It's been a while since I've done a favorites post....but boy, do I have a list a mile long of some things I've become obsessed with since I dusted this blog off and restarted this baby.

If you haven't listened to Jen Sincero's audiobook "You Are A Badass.  How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life," please, PLEASE do yourself a favor and download it.  Why listen instead of buy the hardcopy?  Because some books NEED to be listened to in audio form.  Why? 2 reasons.  Huge time saver.  If you're like me, you're busy and don't have time to actually sit down and read. The other reason is that Jen Sincero herself narrarates it and I love it when authors do this.  They are the ones who are going to be the best at getting you motivated. 

This book, ya'll, this book is numero uno THE reason I'm sitting here typing away again.  There is something in it for every single person I know.  She pushes you to stop worrying what everyone else thinks, get over yourself and take the steps to achieve your goals!!  I've listened to it twice already and I'm probably going to listen to it again, and again.......and again.

I know everyone has insecurities, and if you know me personally,  you know I've got some MAJOR ones. This book has pushed me to start typing again. I look at obstacles in a different way and have learned to stop blaming my insecurities and anxiety on my past, but look at them as tools to learn and grow from.

It's such a great motivator if you're stuck in a rut and feeling sorry for yourself.  I see so many people I know that are so artistic, so beautiful, so amazing and talented, that truly don't see how amazing they are and sell themselves short.

I think we all have something we are passionate about that's either a side hustle, a hobby, or a passion we'd like to share or pursue.  This book is something I urge you to start with.  After I read this book, I stumbled onto some amazing motivational podcasts that I'll be sharing later on, but this book is a must if you need a little self love boost.  I know always do!

TGIF!
~Katie 

Breakfast Nook

If you saw my Instagram post recently about my dining chairs from Tuesday Morning that I was lucky were still there.....well, here they are.  I LOVE these chairs and can't believe I didn't snag them the day I saw them.  At $49.99, they are a steal.  They're light and I love the woven seat cushion detail.  I originally bought these chairs for the large dining room table that has a similar finish, but they just worked so much better in the kitchen, they found a new home here.

Curtains: Overstock.com; Chairs: Tuesday Morning
Table: Pier One; Dinnerware: Marhsalls 

This area is a little nook of of the side of the kitchen.  We've never had a table in this area because A. It's small and B. We already have a bar area with 3 barstools, so we have a place to sit and eat.   I've been ready to change everything, so one day (much to my patient husband's dismay), I asked him to help me move the dining room table into the nook.  I never thought we'd have enough room to be able to move around but it fit perfect!

Here's a shot of what we had going on in this space before.  2 rattan chairs flanking a small table.

This is the table from the dining room that we used.  The X back chairs from Tuesday morning are much more noticeable in the kitchen instead of these more formal ones. 

I'm surprised we have as much room in this space as we do.  Now I'm on the search for the perfect rug for this space.  For about a week, Beckett wanted us all to sit together and eat at this table and I was proud to oblige...however, just like everything else, the newness has worn off and he's lost interest.  *Sigh*

Happy Wednesday!

~Katie

Footstool Freshen Up

A few months ago, I bought a small footstool that has the same lines as the coffee table with the intent of recovering the cushion, and I finally got around to grabbing some fabric from Hobby Lobby last week.  I went with this neutral deer print.  Very quick little project that turned out pretty cheap.

Here's a picture of what this poor stool looked like before (I promised y'all real life and there's nothing more real life than stains).  I've walked in twice now to popsicles and cheetos being eaten on this stool....but I knew it was being recovered soon, so I didn't make too much of a big deal out of it.  Plus, it's white, so it wouldn't have stayed clean long anyway. 

Stool: Ross
Deer print fabric: Hobby Lobby

Printed fabric is so much easier at hiding stains and spills. Hopefully we can try to keep this one cleaner this time around, but on the upside, I have enough fabric to recover it all over again.
With a 40% off coupon, the fabric ended up being less than $7 and the stool was only $24, so I came out pretty good for a place to prop up my feet!

Happy Monday!
~Katie

Bedroom updates

Last year I finally talked my husband into upgrading to a king size bed and I wish we would have done it YEARS ago.  I knew I wanted a neutral upholstered headboard, so I started shopping around online and found one at Wayfair that I fell in love with.  The reviews raved that for the price, the quality was amazing, and they weren't wrong!

Upholstered Bed and Frame:  Wayfair  Similar: Wayfair (headboard only)

Here's what our poor room looked like before.  My husband's bed from childhood, the blah brown bedding.  The God awful brown and yellowish flower painting.  I was beyond ready to amp up the look of this room.

I love greek key, I love velvet, I love white! I LOVE how this room turned out.  It's so tranquil.  What's really funny is that my mom has a bizarre love affair with anything blue and white.  From clothing to accessories to home decor....to even clothing she buys for my child. He owns more navy shirts than any kid on the planet.  I kid her about it all the time so she was pretty shocked when I decided to go down the navy and white route with this reno.  

I love the lines of the bed.  Wayfair has a huge selection of upholstered headboards and beds, but I narrowed it down to this more contemporary shape without a nailhead trim or curved camelback shape.  It just seems to fit the space perfectly.  

I'll try to get a better picture of the full bed later, but I use a white quilt and a rolled duvet at the foot of the bed.

Agean Key Velvet Pillow: Wayfair; Blue Greek Key Lumbar: Marshalls (Elements by Erin Gates)
White Shams and Duvet: Hotel Collection from Home Goods
Velvet Euro Shams: Amazon

Blue ginger jar: TJMaxx

This room is still a work in progress, but I've been so happy with the bed and the bedding.  Who knew I would have such a love of navy and white?  Like most everything about me....I get it from my mama! 

Happy Tuesday! 

~Katie

Beckett's Star Wars Room

Beckett has never liked that his bedroom was on the bottom floor.  We moved his room downstairs from the third floor to the first floor when he was a toddler just because it seemed safer.  Unfortunately, the bottom floor is more isolated.  He felt that he was too far away and one day asked me if he could move is room to the top floor.  I gave him a deadline of a month.  If he could sleep upstairs in what my family calls "the princess room" (because it's so frilly and girly) for one whole month, I would agree to swap the rooms.  So, he found himself a calendar and a pen and marked off every day until a month had passed.  Then I had to break the bad news to my husband and my brother that they would be moving all the furniture in the guest room down 2 flights of stairs, and all the furniture from B's room, up 2 flights of stairs.  The 3 of us got a ton of exercise that Saturday and managed to move everything.  I only wished I'd done it sooner!  

Here is the tranquil, serene room that once was our guest room. 

Bed: Big Lots, but you can find it HERE; Mirrors: Kirklands; Bedding: Potterybarn Kids
Star Wars Artwork: Hobby Lobby;

Star Wars, Star Wars Everywhere 

These "Bs" were picked up at an assortment of places like Hobby Lobby,
Michael's, Ross, and Target 

Beckett loves his "B" Wall.  The lower black "B" is from his wall in his nursery and I just started accumulating them and thought a "B" gallery wall would be fun! He loves when I come home with a new one to add to the collection.  Plus...it's pretty fitting since we call him "B" most the time.  

Book ends: Target

Letterboard: Amazon

Desk Chair: Strobler Home Furnishings, Columbia, SC
Globe: Vintage; Desk: Vintage vanity
Stripe curtains: Amazon

Beckett kept asking for a desk.  His desk is actually an antique vanity I had inherited from my granparents.  It was already in the corner of the guest room, so with the removal of a few screws, it's now a desk that fit PERFECTLY in the space between the bed and the wall.  The globe was also from my grandparents house and I remember my Pa pointing out locations to us when I was little. 

Planet Mobile: Potterybarn Kids

Happy Monday!
May the force be with you,

~Katie

Letterboard Love

These letterboards have been a big thing for a while....I'm just joining the party late.  I bought one for Beckett's room, but thought it might be nice to have one for the kitchen so I could display some of my motivational quotes for myself.  

This 12x12" white felt and white frame letterboard came from Hobby Lobby, but you can get a similar 12x15" one here. 

~Katie

Lounge Area

This area at the top of the stairs has changed more times than I can count.  I've had plants, stools, tables of all sorts and accent chairs in this space.  The brown storage ottoman is one of two in our living room that hides toys (basically just a vessel for light sabers and every Nerf gun manufactured), so I decided to move it upstairs and I think it looks so much better in this little nook at the top of the stairs.  I originally bought the round wooden mirror to replace the mirror in Beckett's bathroom, but it was just too small.

I've had the iron side table for a while, which came from Ross.  The velvet pillow is Elements by Erin Gates.  I'm obsessed over her line of pillows, rugs, lamps and candles.  The pillows are luxurious, down filled and absolutely beautiful!  You can find them at Wayfair.com and sometimes at Marshalls and Home Goods.  

I'm sure this isn't the last time I'll switch up this space, but for now it's a fresh look I can be content with for a while.  

~Katie

Real Life

I'm sitting in Beckett's room while he watches Home Alone for the 125th time since Christmas....it's March 14th.  His room is a disaster.  I have a list a mile long of things I need to be doing right now, but he's getting to an age where he likes to hang out in his room or play video games.  So....I take what I can get.  At least while he's in hysterics while Kevin McAlister throws paint buckets at robbers heads, I can laugh along with him between paragraphs.

Why am I telling you this?  Part of the reason is that on the 13 Acres Instagram page I posted pics of his room that I labored over for days, after taking each picture, fluffed pillows a little more and straightened a crooked letter on the B wall.  I'm telling you this because I look at the pictures I labored over, stressed over, edited and obsessed over and then have the stupidity to compare them to other Instagram and blog pics of beautiful interiors.  But then I remember....I'm not a photographer, I'm not an interior designer.  I'm a full time working mom who likes trying to make my home a beautiful reflection of the things that we like and enjoy.  I'm not a business, I'm not a brand.  I have loads and loads of laundry to catch up on and I absolutely hate trying to decide what to put in a lunchbox every week night that usually turns into a rotation of PB&J, ham sandwich, or chicken nuggets.  What I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm not relaunching the blog and Instagram page to grow followers or likes.  I'm doing it because I've missed the creative outlet it brought.  I guess that by painting you a picture of what a disaster his room is and how much I hate laundry and lunchbox planning, we are all human.  We all tend to compare ourselves to others, but never stop to think about how much of what we see is authentic or what it's like behind the scenes.  

My photography skills are a little rusty and I'm definitely out of practice with writing a blog post, but I'm going to keep on.  I'm not going to promise consistent blog posts and Instagram updates on the house, but if you're here and you're reading this, I'm ecstatic that you took the time to get this far into my rambling.  Those of you who commented on the Instagram post that you're excited I'm back made my.damn.day!!  

I've tried to come up with reasons why I stopped blogging and I trailed off for many reasons.  After a while, I realized I was blogging about a multitude of things that I really wasn't passionate about.  I think that was one of the biggest reasons I stopped.  I was getting on my own damn nerves.  I had spent hours of my life crafting things for birthday parties and wedding showers and trying to get the perfect pictures to blog about and pin.  Then I realized, Beckett really only vaguely remembered any of the parties so why on earth was I doing all this?  I can't even begin to explain my elation when he asked to have his 5th (and 6th) birthday parties at a local trampoline park where you basically show up, jump, eat cake and go home.  SOLD!  Last year he just wanted a play date at our house with one other friend.  Even better.  

Another reason I ran out of steam was the incredible feeling that I had to keep up. Through the years I watched blogs evolve, Instagram accounts improve, and basically just said, screw this.  I know comparison is the thief of joy, but I couldn't help but wonder why I was spending all my time doing this if it wasn't as perfect as I thought I could get it.  It became work and when it became work and took time away from my family, I was done with it.    

So why am I relaunching this?  Because for some strange reason I feel compelled to.  It's almost like a calling.  A shift.  A feeling like I need to RE-start somewhere.

So, for my first blog post in more than 3 years, I'm going to give you a glimpse of what his room actually looks like.  Unmade bed and ALL.  

Here's a little fun fact:  This is what the backside of Beckett's coverlet looks like in the Star Wars room.  I never got around to finding a coverlet to replace the one from his firetruck room, so I just flipped it over.  It's kind of a little reminder that things don't always have to look perfect.  I know that underneath, there is plenty that is far from perfect and I'm ok with that.

I love beautiful interiors, I love finding new things for the house that enhance what I've put together for this space that I've loved decorating since the minute we moved in the first piece of furniture.  I love trying to get the most beautiful images that I can for the blog or Instagram, but just know I'm probably swatting a 7 year old to get out of my shot and I've shoved paperwork into a drawer, or behind the sofa is a pile of laundry.  

I’m so excited to share all the updates and changes I’ve made to our space!  I’ll be updating our House Tour and Sources list with links to items that can be found online.  

It’s good to be back...and a little unnerving to hit the publish button again,...so here goes nothing! 🤞🏼

~Katie

Magical Memories

Yesterday, we returned from taking Beckett to Walt Disney World for the first time.  I have to admit, I've been waiting on this for a long, long time!  So have my brother and my mom.  As kids, we went NUMEROUS times (I'm thinking about 10 years in a row!!)  We beat down the interstate from Columbia to Orlando so many times, we became pretty skilled in which rides we wanted to ride first, which restaurants we wanted reservations, and we even went so far as booking the same resort all but 2 of the times we went.  

It's pretty easy to say that Disney is very special to us.  When my parents divorced when I was in middle school, my mom scrimped and saved on a teacher's salary (a single parent teacher's salary) to take us just about every year.  She did her best to keep life as normal as she could for my brother and I. As turbulent as things might have been at home, we always had an escape to look forward to.  Some think we are a little corny and maybe even a little childish for loving Disney World so much....but I couldn't wait to see the look on my little boy's face when he experienced a place that holds so much magic for my family!  

While skimming through Pinterest this morning, I came across this C.S. Lewis quote and immediately thought about our trip so I took my favorite shot from our weekend and made a graphic. My sweet, smart, imaginative little boy, on top of my baby brother's shoulders....taking it all in! Complete with his Darth Vader helmet mouse ears!!  

Vacation pictures coming soon.....head on over to my Instagram feed for more.  

XO,