The one kitchen appliance I can’t live without and it’s ON SALE!!!

The Holy Grail of all my favorite kitchen appliances and gagets:

The Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer (I own the professional series in metallic silver). This is the item that I think every bride to be crosses their fingers in hopes they’ll find it wrapped up with a pretty bow among their bridal shower gifts. I received mine from my amazing mom at my own bridal shower (thanks mom!). I swear when I unwrapped the box that contained my mixer it literally glowed in my hands. My mixer was the very first thing I unpacked and placed proudly on my kitchen countertop, where it remains today.

So here are all the reasons why I love the Kitchenaid mixer: the addional attachments you can purchase! Want to grind meat? Done! Want to make homemade ravioli? Done! Want to make sausages? Done! Then of course there’s the actual mixer where all your cookie, cake, and brownie dreams are made a reality. You see the possibilies are endless.
Here’s another reason why I love the Kitchenaid mixer: The variety of colora offered including white, hot pink, red, yellow, silver, or black. It let’s you bring a little bit of spunk and personality into your kitchen. I personally wanted hot pink, but I didn’t think my husband would be to keen on that. Don’t worry I did manage to get a hot pink appliance in my kitchen.

On sale now at Bloomingdales

My addiction to KISS Cardio Dance!

KISS Cardio Dance is the brain child of Juliette Walle, one of my favorite instructors at Boone Studio in Montclair, NJ. She describes the class as “Zumba and Boot Camp having a baby”. What does this mean you ask? It means you’re going to be in for 50 non stop minutes of 1 part dance, 1 part weights, and 1 part timed intervals.

I remember the first time I took the class I wanted to run out crying, it was hard (mainly because I was out of shape), I couldn’t keep up, I couldn’t breathe and yet my feet stayed planted and I finished the entire class. I loved it so much that I think I’ve only missed one class, which was only because I went away on vacation.

That’s what it is about Juliette’s classes she makes them fun, energetic, and
literally addictive. The music is stuff you’ve heard before and even if you haven’t you can’t help downloading the entire playlist after you’ve walked out of the studio. She’s always motivating us to push ourselves beyond our limits (in the best way possible) so even when you think to yourself “why did I sign up for this class” while you’re doing mountain climbers and reverse squats, you leave so thankful that you did and sign yourself up for the following week!!

So if you’re looking to sweat, dance, tone those muscles, burn calories and have fun while doing it- this is certainly the class for you!

Coming next week a quick video of Juliette herself with a couple workouts you can do from home!

Check out Boone Studio’s classes and schedules here

Spring has Sprung

I pulled into my driveway today and I realized spring is finally here to stay. The sun is gleaming, the trees are green, the flowers are blooming, and the birds are chirping. This setting makes home feel so vibrant and full of life. I absolutely love it. I couldn’t help running across the street to capture this very moment. A moment so reminiscent of the first time my husband and I pulled up to this home nearly 2 years ago and knew it was the one.

Garfield is that you?

Sitting in my office and my husband sends me this!!

Only my Bubba Boy would find it appropriate to jump into our fridge. I guess he is channeling his inner Garfield tonight!

Yes, our fridge is original to the house, but it still works so it will remain on my very long to do list.. 😀

OH MY RUG!!

A friend text me yesterday and gave me the head’s up that Safavieh rugs are going to be on Gilt today. As it turns out I am in the market for an area rug, or two, or three.  I am a really big fan of Safavieh- they have amazing prints, patterns, and colors. I purchased my first Safavieh rug at Home Goods last year and it’s a good thing I did because nice runners at Home Goods (in my area at least) are a rare as a golden goose egg.  I own a beautiful runner from the Paradise Collection (style 152 in blue multi), which I placed in my entryway.The color was soo perfect- the blue blended perfectly with my taupe walls and the red accents in the rug complimented the red walls in the very next room. So the purchase was really a no brainer! The retail price for this runner: $150! I paid $79.99!

There is a pic of the runner in my entryway. Oliver (my supercat) is making his very first of many appearances!!

Make sure to log into to Gilt Group at 12 pm if your in the market for a rug as well!! 😀 Be sure to share your purchases with me..

Click here to visit Gilt Group’s Home section and Safavieh Sale at 12 pm

I am hoping they have Style # 83 and #84! Yes, they are animal prints! I’m from Jersey what do you expect!

If curiosity has gotten the best of you! You can check out PAR83 and PAR84 here:

Ever struck gold??

Me Either.. However, I did come as close as one can get to it this past Friday.. As most of you know it’s wedding season, which means it’s bridal shower season, which means a lot of trips to Bed Bath and Beyond.. This particular trip was no different- go to the bridal registry section, print the bridal registry, go find the goods; that is until– from the corner of my eye I spied a Monique Lhuillier for Waterford China set box for 75% off! (This was my immediate thought process: WHATTT!?!? Couldn’t be, could it!! No way- not my china pattern. Don’t get sidetracked, you’re here to buy a gift, but what if it’s my china pattern..) Needless to say I walked over to the rack and there it was in all it’s glory- the china pattern I’d registered for for my wedding.

I screamed, I shouted, let it all out (using my inside voice of course- I am semi-civil)!!

129.99 and 75% off, do the math.. Fine- i’ll do it for you. It’s $97.50 off of the retail price. So the grand total for this 5 pc china set was $32.50. SOLD!!

Can you guess what my next thought was? You guessed it- do they have more? Unfortunately, that location did not, but the extremely kind and attentive manager called a local Bed, Bath, and Beyond that had 7 on hand.. Woo hoo you say?? Not really. He said it was up to each store to determine the actual markdown. So I stood there pacing back and forth, sweating, fingers crossed that I might just be able to complete all of my place settings.

Similtaneously, I called my husband, mom, and mother in law to tell them the exciting news.. My husband tried very hard to match my enthusiam but since when are men enthusiastic about china? My mom and mother in law on other hand understood that this could mean completing my missing placesettings at the fraction of the cost. By the time I completed my calls 10 minutes had gone by and the other location was still trying to locate the items. That’s when the super awesome manager took matters into his own hands! He told me he didn’t want me to wait any longer so he would honor the 75% off and have
them shipped to my home- Score. Just like that this little lady purchased a total of 5 additonal china sets for just $162.50.

That means I got 5 for the price of 1 plus $32.50. I’d say I struck gold.

The reason I am posting this is because the goods arrived today and I am just way to excited not to share!! Plus, who doesn’t like to brag about a great deal.

Click here to find The Monique Lhuillier fo Waterford Stardust collection at Bed, Bath, and Beyond:

Unfortunately, this amazing sale is not available online.. I just happened to strike retail gold!! Always keep your eyes peeled for a good deal!

Below are some pics of my “gold” upon arrival, the aftermath of unpacking those beauties, and finally just an aerial shot of the Monique Lhuillier Stardust 5 pc setting on a wicker placement (purchased at homegoods).

PS: Mission Bridal Shower Gift: Accomplished. 🙂

Taste-o-blog

Wonder when that will be invented.. in the meantime please feel free to drool over my “what’s for lunch”!

Basil, Buffalo Mozzerella, and Campari Tomatos or Caprese Salad for Short..

The colors were just too pretty not to share!!

Bon Appetit!

Make Cents of the Scents!

What woman doesn’t love a good perfume? I sure do. I always wondered how women found their signature scent. I always wanted to find the one, so when I sauntered my way into a room everyone knew I’d arrived.. Everytime my little nose would get a whiff of a particular parfume that I enjoyed I wouldn’t hesistate to ask the name. Generally, the person would say thanks and then rattle off the name to me, then I’d proceed to walk into a department store to make the purchase only to be slapped with sticker shock.. The $130 and beyond for a eau de parfume and eau de toilette– yikes!! I’d go running for the hills. Now don’t get me wrong years ago I would not have batted an eye, but now I own a home. There are alot of expenses that come with a home. I’d much rather spend $130 on a piece of art, table decor, or kitchen knick knacks.. So that being said I was on a mission to find the perfect scent for the perfect price and I did.. Now I can’t credit myself for the one particular scent- it was actually introduced to me. It was love at first sniff.

Lollia – In love: literally made me fall in love.. It’s described as intoxicating and I concur. The scent is of apple blossom with hints of sweet jasmine and rose.. Sold!!! The price point: $50.00 for a 3.4 oz bottle. Which I own and literally have had for about a year and a half.

Find Lollia In Love at Layla Grayce:

On to my next pick which I discovered afer an impromptu trip to Anthropologie.. The brand is tocca and boy is each and every scent heavenly!! The cost is even more so!! I own Stella and Giulietta. I purchased the mini bottle which is 0.5 oz for 18 dollars.. I’ve owned both for just about 5 months.. Talk about more bang for your buck!!

Stella- is described as a flirtatious combination of sheer musk, white freesia, blood orange, and spicy lilly. It’s a more fruity scent.

Find Tocca in Stella Scent at Anthropologie

Giulietta- has scents that include bulgarian rose, ylang ylang, green apple, pink tulips, lily of the valley, iris pallida, vanilla orchid, lilac, heliotrope, cedarwood, musk, amber, sandalwood. Sounds like alot going on but it is seriously devine! Unfortunately, I was unable to find the 0.5 oz bottle. However you can find the 1.7 oz which retails for $68 at the Tocca website.

Find Tocca in Giulietta at Tocca:

So here’s the best part Layla Grayce has some of the Tocca products on sale! Yes!! Guess I’ll be virtually swiping my credit card today!

Find Tocca products on Sale at Layla Grayce

And that my friends is how you make cents out of scents!!

Breaking up isnt always hard to do..

Especially if it’s your lifelong relationship to spending your summers with window air conditioners..

That’s right.. We are finally installing central air in our home! This is not a DIY project for me. I’ve hired a professional- my dad. He works in the industry and has been kind enough to not only fund most of the materials for this project, but also donate his time.

We were lucky enough that our house’s heating system was through a means of forced air (don’t ask me what that means exactly) because all of the vents are already in place, which is half the battle anyway. The only thing that was holding us back was the purchase of the condenser and some other parts to install the central air.

The job is only set to take about 2 days. I’ll get some estimates on what a job like this would cost and update you.

Soo the point is as much as I will miss the hum of the air conditioner for about 4 months out of the year; I won’t miss how unaesthetically please you were to the eye. So once and for all I’m sorry for the unexpected break up, but window air conditioners… it’s over!!! I’ll be sure to find you a more loving and wanting home.

This little machine is going to change our summer lives! 🙂

Is this thing on?

Here goes nothing. I’m a 27 year old self proclaimed jersey girl, cat lover, and barre-ista. I am married to an amazing man who not only fills my life with joy and laughter, but my belly with the most delicious bagel this side and the other side of the mississippi. That’s right- he makes bagels!! Lastly,
I’m a catmom to the most fabulous, incredible kitty, Oliver.

Through the encouragement of my 3 amazing friends Hailey, Jessica, and Kowa- I’ve decided to start to blog to document all things that have to do with how I am updating and personalizing our 1940’s 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch home we purchased two years ago. Being a homeowner has taught me that it’s never a bad idea to have a screwdriver within arm’s reach and if the job is beyond your limits- well then it’s time for a mimosa.

I hope you enjoy my journey screwdriving my way to a more beautiful home and at times unwinding with a nice glass of mimosa!!

DYI PROJECTS, HOME DECOR, RECIPES, and EXERCISES TO COME!