A Whole Lotta Hoopla

I can't believe that I have not updated the blog since mid-May.  So much has been keeping us busy that finding the time to sit down and talk about it has been very limited.  So here I am...a month later with lots to share and only a small amount of time (James is already 45 minutes into his nap!).  Here is a brief synopsis of what the Mangiaracina's have been up to.

Mother's Day

This year we had a low-key Mommy's Day with extra morning sleep time for me, a home-cooked breakfast, Mother-Son nap time and a BBQ with the Grandparents.  I know that Mother's Day is looked at as a "Hallmark Holiday", but I don't care.  I love any excuse to spend quality time with my family - especially my wonderful Mom who not only is the best Mom out there (and who taught me all I know!), but the best Grandma that James could ask for.

A Quartuccio Wedding

We were cordially invited to the wedding of Kristen Quartuccio and Bill Kinslow on Memorial Day weekend.  James spent lots of quality time with Grandma M., Aunt Adriana, Uncle John, Aunt Lee Lee and Uncle Joe while Ed and I made our way to CT to celebrate the happy couple. Fun was had by all and I think the Mangiaracina's were ready to collapse by the time we left.  :)

Celebrate Fairfax

For the first time in many, many years, we were in town during the Celebrate Fairfax Festival and we took full advantage.  Ed and I secured some sitters on night 1 (thanks Mom & Dad!) so that we could enjoy the All American Rejects concert (awesome show, BTW).  On day 2, we took James to the fair and met up with friends Amanda, Kyle and Rafa to enjoy the rides, games and food. The boys had a great time as did the parents.  What's funny is that the shuttle bus ride to the fair and back may have been James' favorite part of the day. :)

Happy Birthday Ed!

This past week, Ed celebrated his 7th annual 29th birthday.  If you know my husband, you know that he is a BIG fan of his birthday so after we opened presents, we headed to Ted's Bulletin for a family breakfast and then onto the Reston Zoo.  Even though it was Daddy's birthday, we had to keep James smiling and animals seem to be the trick.  The kid even was brave enough to conquer is first pony ride!  It was a great day that ended with crab legs and birthday cake with the family.  

Sue & Ivan are Engaged!

Over the weekend we celebrated a very special couple - Sue & Ivan!!  They, along with lots and lots of family and friends, were in town for their engagement party.  My parents planned the top notch shin-dig and it went off without a hitch - and without electricity. Wouldn't you know that just as the party got started, the power went out!  We like to keep things interesting. :) It didn't matter because it was a great day celebrating a great couple.

Father's Day

We rounded out the weekend by celebrating all the great Dads in our lives.  Since Sue, Ivan and family were still in town, we were able to dole out our Dad-love in person which is always a special treat.  Our morning started with coffee and gifts for Ed who is THE most AMAZING Dad out there (in addition to my Dad and Ivan's Dad of course!).  I count my blessings everyday that I found Ed and that he is James' Dad because he is the most wonderful and perfect man for the job!  We then headed to the Quartuccio house to have breakfast with the family and give hugs to my Dad - the best Dad (and Grandpa) a girl could have asked for - and Ivan's Dad - the best Dad a guy could have asked for!  It was so nice spending time with these 3 amazing Dads (and some amazing Moms and a sister as well!) and it makes me wish that we all lived a little closer.  At least driving distance.  Can we all work on that? :)

As you can see, we have been quite busy and it does not end here.  Coming up:  a week at the beach, a long weekend in Philly, a visit from Adriana and John and a trip to Dutch Wonderland.  I'm exhausted justing thinking about it, but I wouldn't want it any other way.  #luckiestgirlintheworld 

Hello Gorgeous!

This is a little story about how our kitchen's breakfast nook went from looking like this…

… to this!!

I know - gorgeous, right?  I can SO hear Barbara Streisand in my head when I say it!

I have outlined the simple steps taken to increase the awesomeness of the breakfast nook below in no particular order.

Step 1:

Tear down the awful green curtains, burn them and replace them with nothing so more natural light infuses the space.

Step 2:

Spend 3 long weeks watching a painter transform the space as slow as humanly possible with Revere Pewter paint.

Step 3:

Give said painter the "builder grade" chandelier and replace with a fancy (and HGTV approved) drum shade version.

Step 4:

Scour every furniture store in the entire world and find not one single farmhouse table small enough to fit the cozy space.

Step 5:

Marry someone who says "I can totally build that" when you send him sample plans of a DIY farmhouse table from a random blog.

Step 6:

Change your mind about the type of chairs to get roughly 100 times only to end up with what you wanted in the first place (thank you World Market!).

In all seriousness, how AWESOME does our new table look??!?!?  My amazing husband built it with his own two hands and I couldn't be more impressed.  It is exactly what we wanted from the style to the color to the type of wood.  A perfect fit for our space.  A.  MAZE.  ING!!!

Since Ed is a man of few words and I am not able to recount all the steps he took to create this beautiful new piece of furniture, I will let the photos do the talking.  There was lots of planning and calculating and internet research that happened before the supplies made it into the house, but once they did, he cranked it out in 3 days (and that includes dry time for the stain!).

As you can see, our basement doubled as Ed's "workshop".  The basement is still a work in progress so he was able to take advantage since it was absolutely freezing outside on the days he was building the darn thing.

The table is made of cedar wood which made the entire basement smell like a delicious closet.  Ed went to a lumbar yard instead of Home Depot to get the wood to ensure that there was no warping or splitting.  What I love most about the planks he chose are the beautiful knots and imperfections.  It makes the table have that rustic feel we were looking for without having to source reclaimed wood.

After lots of maneuvering and leveling and screwing (keep it clean, people!), it was time to stain.  We decided to go with Dark Walnut because of the rich color it gave the wood.  It also matches the space really well which is an added bonus.

After a few days of drying (and a trip to NY for a wedding - more on that soon!), it was time to move this bad boy girl up into the kitchen which was not an easy feat.  This lovely lady is a bit big-boned and weighs a lot.  Like a lot, a lot!  But we managed and now she sits in our kitchen with some beautiful tufted chairs and is ready to be the centerpiece of meal time in the Mangiaracina household.

So there you have it.  Our new kitchen table really completes this space and we couldn't be happier with the end result.  My Ed is so talented and is looking forward to the next project we have up our sleeves.  And in case you were wondering…James will continue to dine in his high chair on a wooden chair.  The way he eats, no fabric is safe. :)