DIY coffee table.

johnny inherited his parents' old coffee table for his loft space

a few years ago and repainted it a dark espresso.

while it worked well for his chill bachelor pad,

we needed something lighter and more cheerful for our

work-in-progress apartment.

at the first sign of a sunny day last week,

we made our way to home depot for supplies for our

first shot at husband and wife refinishing.

i think it does wonders to open up our living room space!

still working on things . . . next, finding some pretty yet

not-too-feminine throw pillows or pillow covers for the couch.

i've been hunting for weeks and have yet to find anything we love for less

than $50 a pillow and no, i'm not talented enough to sew my own.

any suggestions?

happy birthday, sweetie momma.

she's the most amazing mother . . .

the kind that other people talk to like she is their momma too.

i love that about her.

she's definitely one of the things i miss most about living in NH.

{found these old pictures last year of mom's family.

bottom right is her- gorgeous!

bottom left is my uncle scott, i believe, and the top left is my cute aunt missy.}

wanted for one future wallace home.

i'm utterly consumed by gawking at these throwback appliances.

to go with a chalkboard wall, of course.

settling in together as man and wife has got to be one of the most fun

things we've ever done as a couple and i love imagining

what we'll do as first time home owners some day.

i've just got to convince mr. wonderful that

yellow looks great in the kitchen.

the husband's Christmas gift.

i think this is a good time to show you what i made

my new husband for his Christmas gift . . .

since it was just the day after we married, i knew it had to be extra

special and pretty sentimental.

it took a while to figure out just what it would be,

but i settled on creating a sweet picture album of our first year together.

it was just perfect too; i loved watching his face

light up as he turned each page!

i think the right-hand page just above is my favorite of all in the book.

i can't wait to start piecing together our wedding album

and all the other books we're going to make

during our many years in the future.

i imagine us showing them to our kids and grandkids someday . . .

i never really understood hip-hop.

but now i think i get it.

watch and learn along with me . . .

pretty much obsessed with trying out recipes from babycakes.

{via}

these precious days.

since last monday was a holiday,

mr. wonderful and i shared a very lazy day at home.

we decided we didn't feel guilty about it in the least,

especially on a day when even the mail didn't arrive.

the sun was once again hidden and the road were slick with cold rain,

so we sat around in our slippers, watched movies all day long

and drank about a dozen cups of coffee between the two of us.

i watched cooking shows while listening to the mister

tweak a music project in the office.

we burned candles until they drooped

and i cooked a tasty, bone-warming dinner.

while i'm anxious to get a job and have something to do

during the week days, i can't help but cherish

this time when we are home together with little on our agenda.

it will be over all too soon.

and all that said, happy 1-month anniversary, babe!

{mr. wonderful's slippered feet- a target bargain for $5

because the cashier didn't want to price check!}

meal planning for two.

i cried the second time i shopped for groceries here in nashville.

half the things on my list couldn't be found on the store shelves,

store clerks were dumbfounded when i asked the location of "vegetarian options,"

and since it was only the second time i'd purused the supermarket,

i didn't know the floor layout and it took me forever to find anything

and i still didn't have 3 things on my list when i finally checked out.

i felt like a terrible wife who couldn't do something as easy as

food shopping for her husband and so i cried.

mr. wonderful, of course, reassured me that i wasn't a terrible wife {phew}

and that perhaps shopping at a store near the whole foods was better

in case i had to make two stops to find,

let's say, prepared whole wheat pizza dough?

and that he'll come next time to help.

we have been attempting to meal plan each week

and so far, despite the mini-meltdown, it has worked out quiet well for us.

~~~

sample supper shopping list-

1 onion

1 garlic bulb

1 orange pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 large cucumber

2 hot house tomatoes

2 russet potatoes

1 package baby carrots

1 package baby spinach

1 package baby mushrooms

1 package shredded mozzarella

2 loaves italian bread {i try to buy ours the day of the meal, if i can}

1 box whole grain spaghetti

1 jar marinara sauce

1 can cannellini beans

1 can vegetable broth

1 box rice pilaf

::menu::

sunday: baked pizza potatoes- two thumbs up from mr. wonderful.

monday: whole grain spaghetti with marinara sauce

sauteed with vegetables and garlic bread.

tuesday: left over spaghetti noodles sauteed with marinade,

wilted spinach and shredded mozzarella.

wednesday: brinner {pancake night}.

thursday: oven-baked chicken with my special marinade {for mr. wonderful},

rice pilaf and fresh green salad.

friday: veggie stew {with leftover chicken, for my man}

with thick slices of left over italian bread and whole foods green apple italian soda.

saturday: this is usually our eat-out night,

unless johnny is working and then i just make something at home by myself.

we also tend to eat left-overs this day too.

i love creating something warm and comforting

for my guy to eat at the end of the day,

but it's also fun to chop, stir and bake alongside each other in the kitchen.

i was really concerned before we married that balancing this

veggie/meat-eater thing was going to be too difficult,

but it's turning out to be a fun challenge . . .

well, sans the emotional shopping trauma, that is.

i married this sweet man.

i caught him with his eyes shut in this photo

and {to me} it's just the cutest thing.

i love that i get to kiss that face every single day forever.

weekends with him are always exciting adventures full of exploring

and snuggling on the couch in front of our favorite cooking shows.

sweets, i hope your saturday and sunday are full of delightful things!

p.s. we found a dozen antique camera in this place

and are completely obsessed.

snowy night in.

last week we had snow in nashville!

that made this new hampshire girl deliriously happy . . .

johnny and i celebrated by staying in for the night, wearing our winter hats

and cooking a delicious dinner to eat

while watching the first two harry potter movies.

johnny hadn't seen the beginning of the series and i've so

enjoyed his "ah-ha" moments

as he has pieced together the important elements of the story.

we also got to work on our thank you's from our wedding . . .

it was so great to recall all the sweet things people wrote to us

and did for us just a few short weeks ago.

the pile of stationery on the coffee table made me realize just how blessed we are!

our chalkboard wall.

once upon a time, i went on a scooter riding after work

on a summer evening with a really cute guy.

we met in our church parking lot and he told me he

read a post about my love of chalkboards . . . and he thought they were really neat too.

we've since married each other and creating a chalkboard wall

of our own was one of the first things we wanted to make once we lived together.

so, here it is- a new addition to our dining room

and the perfect space for the week's dinner menu, love notes and our family philosophies!

we also found this neat little carafe during a recent shopping excursion.

for $10, it seemed like the perfect investment

for this chalkboard obsessed couple.

franklin, tn.

mr. wonderful and i sat at lunch on saturday

after a long morning lounge with a friend in a coffee shop . . .

and tried to figure out how to keep ourselves outdoors for the afternoon.

we've had a cold rain here in nashville for days,

and the sun was finally showing itself!

we decided to head down to franklin,

a cute little town southwest of us that we knew to be

the home of a neat downtown and interesting shops.

we spent the afternoon soaking up rays and strolling the streets.

that's where we stumbled upon avec moi,

the sweetest little place where mr. wonderful bought me

two teeny-tiny porcelain dishes for our kitchen.

i can't stop thinking of all the little things i can put in them-

pinches of salt, sugar cubes, lemon slices for tea or candies . . .

brinner.

the other night, john and i spent over an hour waiting for a prescription

at the store and by the time we got out,

we were so hungry and tired that we couldn't even agree

on a place to go to where we could pay someone to feed us.

so we went back home and made our first brinner as a married couple

{breakfast for dinner}.

we were completely starving by the time the pancakes were ready

and didn't even bother to sit down to eat . . .

we just held our plates in front of us as

we stood in our tiny galley kitchen.

we haven't yet found a pancake batter recipe that we truly

feel is ours . . . and we don't feel quite right stealing our mothers'

or something off of food network.

we want something all our own;

since every family has their favorites.

this time around we added cinnamon and vanilla to the batter.

what are your favorite pancake recipes? care to share??

my favorite coffee shop.

sometimes sitting quietly with my guy in a cozy place

is the best way to escape for 20 minutes in the afternoon.

this particular visit was especially comforting

after a couple of days in a new city . . .

i've been a little lonely for the north this last week,

and mr. wonderful has worked so hard to help me feel comforted and at home.

it's been so much fun working together to create

a unique space that's all ours.

a tour soon to come!

{you can follow us on instagram: @abigailiam & @jwallace}