Home Progress: Living Room One year later

It's so crazy to me that we've been in the house for over a year. We've started our one year walk-through with our builder, to make sure everything stays in tip top shape - and I couldn't help but think of this time last year. We were closing on the house (obvi), and I was so anxious about how much furniture we needed. Then I ran into a few older pictures, and the disparity really struck me. I never really posted pictures of the inside (the thought gave me anxiety), but I finally think it's a good time to take a peek inside. I mean, I only promised pictures a gazillion times, and never came through. And while nothing about my house screams professional home decor blog, I'm pretty proud of how far we've come. 

I really wish I had a picture of the carpet swatches underneath the ugly, black leather couches we had, but here is our then brand new gray couch from Bassett. It was in the back of the store for 50% off, because another customer sent it back after Bassett sent the the wrong couch. That was the first rug we bought too. The rug was a fraction of the West Elm price, because it was missing four tassels and had two bald spots. I couldn't pass up the deal, and just like that we had a gray color scheme. Something I wasn't expecting AT ALL. What can I say I guess I'm just a sucker for a bargain :)

 

Somewhere along the way we added curtains, which we got for free with our West Elm points. We racked up points from our table and another rug not pictured here. But yaaaa, we were still using TV trays to hold things. LOL. 

Needless to say, our friends gave us a really hard time about the TV trays.

Then, enter the piece that took us so so long to buy. I bought it on a whim, for what I thought was a steal at HomeGoods. We still use throwback speakers lol. 

 

And here is where we are today; AKA our current living room (yes my frames are crooked, still need to finish my gallery wall): 

 

 

Our eating area is right behind the camera, and where our stripe wall is. Hopefully I'll blog about that space soon!

 

Oh and the weekend was great, I finally experimented with Annie Sloan Paint. And was overall really productive. I love the fall energy! Tata and happy Monday!   

-Tessy 

For the grocery store-challenged

I actually like to cook. I really enjoy it in fact. I find cutting up all the veggies and sautéing em' up to be therapeutic. I'm dying to take cooking classes and figure out the nuance of mixing savory and sweet mixes. 

But grocery shipping? Meal planning? Omg just kill me now. I hate it. My brief episode with yeast-free dieting consumed all my time. 

I've told Matt if he we would just pick what to eat and grocery shop, I'd gladly cook. And clean up too! But let's face it, he looks at me like no, no child. That is your job. 

So in comes emeals.com (thanks For the heads up Helene), A website that wil pick recipes, AND create grocery store lists for you. You input where you shop, how many mouths you need to feed, and how healthy / non healthy you'd like to eat. And boom. They spit out a bonafide grocery list for you. Or so they say. 

And yup, there is an app to go with! 

The one downside, It's 7 bucks a month. Which I think kinda sucks, but I'm still gonna give it a shot. 

Hopefully this Sunday, I'll be ready to tackle the g store with gusto. Maybe it will be the best 7 bucks I've ever spent. 

GASP: I don't own a straightener

Four scores and seven years ago, HANA sent me a blow-dryer. Ok ok, it was actually last August or September, I can’t remember which because I was living in a sublet apartment, waiting for our crazy builder to finish our house. We were arguing like crazy with said builder, nothing out of the ordinary I assure you, but thank goodness for our realtor who helped ease that burden. 

But back to the blow-dryer. Brian from Misakko sent me this glorious, powerful, shiny black blow-dryer. And I have to say, it’s really helped me out in the hair department. Despite the pictures I post to social media, my hair is actually a crazy fro. It’s super thick, wavy, frizzy, and well, just big. Which is ok with me, because I love love love big Texas hair. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to take care of. Or straighten for that matter.

Enter big, powerful blow-dryer. Oh my wonderful, it’s made a huge difference. It cuts blow-drying time in half. I can blow out my hair out in 30 minutes now, v. the 45-50 minutes it once took me to straighten my hair with a regular ol’ blow-dryer.

One might ask, why you don’t use a straightener. Just like the title of this post, I don't even own one. But I actually prefer my hair voluminous with body, and Not super straight like a board. And straighteners ravage my coarse hair in no time, so I really have to be careful. This makes it even more important for my blow-dryer to be awesome and get those hairs straight real fast. I love this blow-dryer so much, it’s become a travel essential despite its large size and hair drying prowess.  See all the places I've taken Hana this year! 

Hana at my house 

Hana made it to Vegas. Duh. 

Hana in New York

Hana in Baltimore 

Hana most definitely made it to Coachella 

Hana in Costa Rica!!!! What what. I never actually used it, but I had to take it ya know what I mean?! 

So there you have it. This girl loves her some Hana. I've tried the straightener and hope to try the curling iron one day. And a shout out to Brian for the sweet box of goodies he sent my way. 

P.S. This is my first sponsored post ever. Glad I finally faced my fear, oh you know a year later. But better late than never, and all opinions are truly my own. :) 

Tata lovas!!