My Two Favorite Channels

It is fitting that I'm watching HGTV while I type this because I am ALL OVER the home decorating right now. Sadly, not so much with the renovating, but if I ever come across a few (ten) thousand dollars just lying around, that wall dividing our kitchen and living room will be GONE. But on the decorating front, the discount stores and I are on fire. I accidentally walked into TJ Maxx on Friday and next thing I knew, my cart was full. I found nearly every single thing we needed to finish the baby's room (curtains! a rug! picture frames! a ceramic bird! switching out all the queen guest bedding to compliment the crib bedding, which I pretended I wasn't going to do, but I'm borrowing the crib set from a friend so it's free and who can resist the perfect comforter for $30? and then the sheets, blanket, and towels in the attached bath need to match and then it all went downhill/uphill from there), dining room (curtains!), and add an accent or three (awesome clearance mirror! throw pillows! a cozy throw!) to the living room. Basically I'm adding all the finishing touches I would have added slowly over the past 15 months, but I couldn't because of our strict budget and now that I've given myself a teensy amount of spending latitude, the Ross, Marshall's, and TJ Maxx gods are all smiling and showing their gifts upon me. I have to stay away now though, I don't want to push their love too far.

coming together

Claire does a lot of my erranding with me. Today she voluntarily wore a dress for the first time in at least a year (one I've been begging her to wear for months; today she selected it in on her own and we were a very mismatched pair with me in my cropped yoga pants, ribbed tank, and frizzy hair) and then walked across the Ross parking lot with her glasses, purse, and tiny kitty like the papparazzi were after her.

 

The kids and I drove to Austin and back yesterday to visit friends and pick up a car load (literally) of hand-me-down baby items from friends who are done. It's basically everything I gave away when I thought I was done.

 

The kids LOVE it. "Babies" has been their favorite game for months, and having actual props made their day today almost more awesome than they could stand. I've now tucked most of the stuff safely away in baby 3's closet, but I did leave the papasan chair and play gym out for a few more days. Claire had at least three animals carefully tucked in the former and Landon got a surprising amount of enjoyment out of the latter.

 

And now that I've flipped to the Food Network (my other favorite channel), it's time for this week's menu, because if I write it down I'll make it and not order takeout. Plus this week is all family favorites:

Sunday: Ina Garten's Greek Salad (j'adore that recipe; you can also double the dressing and add a pound of cold cooked pasta for a great Greek pasta salad dish), grilled chicken, warm pita bread, TJ's tzatziki sauce, oven fries, fresh fruit (one of my very favorite summer meals)
Monday: Verde chicken enchiladas, refried beans, rice (everyone's fave)
Tuesday: Tomato basil soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit (Claire's fave)
Wednesday: Meatball stroganoff, green beans, rolls (Landon's fave)
Thursday: Panko crusted fish (TJ's, frozen), rice/pasta mix, steamed veggies, rolls (JP/kids' fave)
Friday: Pasta with tomato cream sauce, bread, raw veggies (JP's fave)

Let the week of cooking (and not shopping) begin!