Author: Amanda

Dining Room Makeover

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You guys, I am thrilled to share this project with you! It has been an open tab in my head for so long, and it is finally starting to come together!

We built our house in 2020. That’s right, just a couple of weeks after lockdowns, we signed for our construction loan. What felt like a really bad time to begin this project ended up being the biggest blessing. Our build required more time on site than we realized, and since Austin was working from home during that time, he was able to present when needed. I am so very thankful for that, since we normally have very busy lives.

After the build, Austin was, understandably, not open to doing projects around the house. But four years later, I’m glad to report that we have started our first, major indoor project!

Our downstairs was designed so that we can seat 20 people on a dime. If you’ve read this post, you’ll see that we had 27 seated in this space for a Friendsgiving. Being an open space, much advice was given about our dining room. I am not opposed to color drenching, wallpaper, etc., but it’s surprising how many people are! So, we started with accent walls in Inchyra Blue by Farrow & Ball. And while I love this color (also used in our upstairs guest bath), I realized our home is a Spring. You know, like the color wheels you get when you go for a color analysis. I love bright and light and cheerful. Blues, greens, and pinks.

I have always loved the chinoiserie murals of Gracie and Degournay, but they are woefully out of budget. Enter the Vining Beauty Mural from Anthropologie. I saw this shared on The Broke Brooke’s instagram and fell in love with both the print and the price. And surprisingly, after showing Austin probably 100 options for wallpaper, he agreed on this one. I’m sorry, who are you? Time to get this off the ground before he changes his mind!

We had to have our flooring replaced last week, as it started to buckle with no explanation as to why. Johnson City did not honor our warranty, so I cannot recommend their products. I can, however, recommend Gold Star Carpet One for honoring the warranty and installing the new flooring. We are so grateful to them! Our new floors are Coretec Antique Oak and we cannot love them more. Changing out the wide plank for a smaller plank makes the house feel more timeless, and I love the flush planks instead of the bevels.

Since we had to move everything out, it made sense to go ahead and start skim coating and framing things out. I decided to frame out around our windows in an attempt to stop the damage caused by our Heeler, Finn, parkouring off the walls when he gets the zoomies. I had the idea in my head, but struggled to find a photo. This was the closest I could find. Imagine a much less detailed version of this in a shaker style.

My very favorite home design tool is Planner5d. This 3D mockup tool helped me so much during our build to visualize the rooms, furniture choices, paint colors, etc. It is truly a life saver! Here is a mockup of the dining room windows trimmed out.

Now to the pretty stuff! As always, I start off making a mock up of the design. I usually use Microsoft Word, but this time I used Canva. Like I said earlier, blue and green is my favorite combination. The green background of the mural plays so nicely with the blue on our kitchen island, and doors in the living room. I have pillows and upholstered barstools in the gingham fabric. I am still debating painting the faux bamboo china cabinet, what do you think? And while chevron is so 2010, I feel like this version I’m considering for the dining chairs feels so fresh!

Similar Dining Table | Rug | Demilune Cabinet | Curtains | Chevron Fabric | Pink Fabric | Trim | Lamp | Chandelier | Bar Stools | Dining Chairs | Gingham Fabric | Mirror

We started skim coating the walls this week, and got the lumber to frame out the windows yesterday. I can’t wait to see how this turns out!

xo, Amanda

Thirty-Five and Feelin’ Fly

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Kinda.. Oof, is anyone else starting to feel their age? Do we do this -feeling like life is over- to ourselves, or is it the external voices feeding us Botox and snake oils? Either way, the week leading up to 35 hit like a ton of bricks. So, what did I do? I baked a cake. Well, two actually, arranged some flowers and lit some candles.

The morning of, Austin took me to my favorite local spot for breakfast. I love the Very Berry Crepes! While we were there, we saw two sets of friends and got to catch up for a minute. As we were ending our crepes, our waitress said someone had paid for our meal, and then someone else tried, too! But since it was paid for, they sent us a treat to-go. Isn’t that so sweet!? Needless to say, we both felt very loved!

That evening, we took my family to dinner and then came back to our house for dessert. We talked and laughed, and decided that neither cake tasted all that good… And suddenly, surrounded by love and candlelight, 35 didn’t seem so bad after all.

xo, Amanda

No-Sew Upholstered Headboard

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I love custom furniture! My Insta saves are full of custom upholstery and furniture design. One of my many, many dreams is a furniture line. One day…

I started my upholstery journey a few years ago with a headboard found on Facebook Marketplace. I needed a full-sized headboard for our guest room and love a unique shape. This one was perfect! Well, besides the dingey white leather…. And what are those circles??

I got it home and started to remove the old leather covering. A million and a half staples and nails later, I got down to the bones. I had watched a few videos on YouTube that said to take note of the construction in order to replicate it. If it ain’t broke…. You know.

To Hobby Lobby I went! I wanted an aqua velvet, but came home with a sort of tweed fabric, with green piping for the seams. I had zero idea how I would attach it outside of my staple gun, I just knew a needle and thread was not on the agenda.

After adding new webbing for support, I covered it with batting.

Then, started stapling the fabric to the frame. Pretty straightforward. But be sure to check periodically for wrinkling, and go side to side to keep tension. Don’t start at one side and go around.

Now, it was time for the piping. I stapled it right at the edge of the frame, where it was visible from the front.

Once that was finished, I needed to figure out how to cover the staples with the rest of the fabric. Now, I would do this a completely different way. But this was so easy, a trained monkey with a hot glue gone can do it. So that’s what I did!

I brought a cut and folded strip of fabric up to meet the piping and hot glued it down. Pro tip: use a scrap to protect the piping and front fabric from getting glue on them.

At some point, the fabric ran out due to the curved edges. I just started with another piece, folded an edge over the raw edge of the other side, and kept going.

Once you’ve got it glued down and dried, staple the rest of the fabric around! You can add a backing fabric or use the same fabric as the front to cover the back.

Y’all, it actually worked. I’ve had this in my guest room for four years and she still looks good!

Don’t let the fear of sewing get in the way of making something unique and beautiful for your home! Have you done any fun, no-sew upholstery projects around your home? I’d love to hear about it!

xo, Amanda

Egg Bites: I Thought I Was Spontaneous

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“I’m definitely the more spontaneous of the two of us,” I said to my coworkers about my husband and I. “You literally eat the same egg bites at the same time every single day” was the response. Coworkers: cheaper than therapy… Ha!

And they were right. Every two weeks I make a batch of egg bites to take for my work breakfast that occurs at promptly 09:00… Is that a bad thing? Clearly I have no qualms about it. It’s the perfect breakfast: freezer friendly, prepared in 30 minutes, microwaves in 2 minutes and can be eaten quickly at my desk. No decisions, just grab and go. Sometimes I make baked oatmeal muffins to go with them, but they’re pretty perfect on their own.

So, if you want an easy breakfast idea, here ya go!

I’ve made these in a variety of flavors, but they always include: 12 eggs, 4oz cheese, and 2/3 cup cottage cheese. The easiest kind have half a package of the Jimmy Dean Turkey Crumbles. And voila, my predictable and fail safe Egg Bites.

Egg Bites (6 servings)

  • 4oz Cheese (pre shredded or not)
  • 2/3 cup Cottage Cheese
  • 12 eggs
  • 1-2 tsp Salt
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Paprika
  • White or Black Pepper
  • Meat and/or veggies of choice*

If using block cheese, either hand grate or use attachment for food processor. Change blade to regular blade and add to processor the eggs, cottage cheese, and other mix-ins as desired. Mix on low until combined. Pour into 12 muffin pan, bake at 350* for 25 mins. (You may need to bake longer, since my oven bakes hot)

Remove from oven and let cool. Place in freezer bag and freeze if desired. Serving size is 2.

*My favorite combinations so far:

Turkey Crumbles and Butternut Squash with Rosemary

Turkey Crumbles and Broccoli

Canadian Bacon with 1/4ish tsp Mustard Powder

Turkey Crumbles and Simply Potato Hashbrowns

Basically anything you want can be made into egg bites!

If you prefer egg whites, I’ve reduced the eggs to 8 or 10 and added liquid egg whites to the level in my food processor it would usually be. They don’t fluff up quite as well, but they’re still tasty.

Let me know what you think!

xo, Amanda

My Latest Obsession: Honey Mustard Tuna Salad

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It all started with a tuna packet: StarKist’s Tuna Creations Whole Grain Dijon Mustard Tuna Salad. I love those little packets, and one bite into this one, I was hooked. And after a couple of those I started thinking, what about honey mustard tuna salad?

So, I did what one does when faced with a question in the 21st Century: I started to Google. Bam: Ambitious Kitchen’s Honey Mustard Apple Tuna Salad !

Y’all, when I tell you I’ve taken this to work three weeks in a row. I literally can’t wait to make more, and I am giddy when I think about lunch. Now, I did tweak the recipe, so of course I’ll share with you 🙂

1 can SkipJack Tuna

1/4 cup Yogurt (plain or Greek)

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon Honey (just make sure it’s equal amount to the mustard)

1/2 Tablespoon Mayo

Splash or two Lemon Juice

Salt, to taste

White Pepper, to taste

Garlic Powder, a couple of shakes

Small apple

Mix the wet ingredients together. Chop the apple into tiny pieces, peel on. Place tuna, dressing and apples in a bowl, mix it up and, voila!

I did omit the cranberries because I’m not a fan of chewy bits and much prefer crunch. I usually double the recipe to take for my two days of work with some Ritz Chips. This is also a pretty wet tuna salad. If you prefer it less “soupy”, reduce the dressing.

Any kind of tuna will do, but I like SkipJack from Trader Joe’s as it has 22g of protein and the least amount of mercury. This particular one was recommended my primary care provider. I did buy a can of the Skipjack Tuna from Kroger today and it has 27 grams of protein per can.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

xo, Amanda

Tablescapes, Just Because

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With no real reason, other than to document at some level, here are a few tablescapes I’ve done in the last couple of years. I really don’t have rhyme or reason to “how to” make your table look nice, and sometimes I struggle with making them feel full or “finished,” but I love the creative outlet of planning and doing a table.

I did not grow up with fancy tablescapes. My mom would put out a turkey-shaped candle, or Christmas tree shaped candles out on the table with a pretty table runner for holidays. (The table runner I accidentally cut while wrapping presents one Christmas, but we still used it for a few years with the cut pushed together!) But outside of that, it was not something I grew up with. And none of my friends’ families really did either. Growing up the 90s (or earlier, if you’re not a Millennial like me), we all had waayyyy less pressure on aesthetics. While I have always cared about clothing and decor that transcends trends, the time before Pinterest was so much more laid back.

Anyway, since getting married and running my own household, I’ve come to appreciate the process of preparing for guests! Is the cleaning fun? No. But the menu planning, table planning, prep, cooking, table set up… That is so fun for me. Working in a left-brained field that does not appreciate right-brained people is exhausting. This helps 🙂

First up: My Birthday. I decided a couple of years ago that I’d rather set up a fancy table, buy flowers and cook for my birthday dinner with family rather than going out. I get to pick my own menu and make or buy my own cake, and it’s just a lot of fun.

For 33, it was a Kate Spade inspired table. I made silly little signs: “Gemini and Feelin’ Fly” and “Let’s Just Eat Cake”. Peonies + Teal + Green = Perfection.

Next up, Christmas. We don’t do Christmas with family at my house, it’s always Christmas Eve at my in-laws and Christmas Day at my parents. Extenuating circumstances caused us to have a small family get together last year. I saw someone on Instagram make these bow napkins and had to try. They are so easy and adorable!

This next set up was fun. We had 27 seated for our college ministry’s Leadership Team Friendsgiving. We designed our house to seat 20 on a dime, and by turning our dining table, we are able fit way more than we probably should… But clear plastic plates and a festive paper napkin can really elevate a budget tablescape. The only thing semi-precious on the table are the vases and table runners. All else is disposable! These chiffon table runners have been used for holiday dinners and showers; they’re a great, inexpensive item to have on hand and you can find any color you like on Amazon.

Did you grow up with fancy tables? I’d love to hear!

xo, Amanda

Mamma Mia! A Weekend in Sundance Square

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Gimme, Gimme, Gimme a weekend in Sundance Square! Now listen, if you have to work for a living, make sure it’s with people who make life fun. A group of us from work got together to spend a weekend for the Mamma Mia performance at Bass Hall and I can’t wait to go back!

Austin and I chose to stay at The Sinclair, part of the Marriott Autograph Collection. I chose this location as it was just a block from Bass Hall, and right next to the parking garage. This historic hotel has a restaurant and a rooftop bar, it was stunning.

Our room was perfect. The bathroom had a touchscreen mirror, where you could get daily news, music stations and weather updates. It was quite luxurious.

Friday night, we headed out to dinner with two of the couples at The Archibald. The pizza was delicious, and the rooftop bar was perfect. We had the best cool breeze, a wonderful reprieve from the July heat! Then we headed off to the Scatt Jazz Lounge. We had never been to a jazz lounge, but it sounded like a fun experience and it was! Nothing like heading down to the basement for a good time.

Then back to The Sinclair’s rooftop bar. The views were incredible, and if we weren’t the tallest building on the block, we were awfully close. The ambiance was great, not too rowdy but not dull. There were plenty of seating options. We liked it so much, we went three times over the weekend!

The next morning Austin and I got up and had brunch at Yolk. The wait time was long since it was Saturday, so we strolled down to the Sid Richardson Museum while we waited for a text. The museum was filled with incredible western-style paintings. We could’ve spent hours looking at every detail and were not upset by this detour at all!

The food at Yolk was exceptional. We tried a variety of things, and our favorite ended up being the Banana Blue Crunch Cakes, the added texture of granola to pancakes was out of this world! We definitely needed the walk back to our hotel… And right before we got there, we noticed and stopped at Pax & Beneficia because one coffe just isn’t enough, apparently. The Zahr latte (orange blossom, cardamom, honey) is incredible, so much so that I bought two bottles of the syrup to bring home.

After we got ready for the evening, we walked over to our dinner reservation at Istanbul Grill. We had to have Greek food to match the theme, of course. And what else did I have except Moussaka, my favorite!

Have you ever been to Bass Hall? I had not, as we usually go to Music Hall at Fair Park. But Bass Hall was spectacular. The painted ceilings are stunning. And although our seats were further back, we still had a great view. It felt cozy but still grand.

Afterward, it was back to the Sinclair rooftop bar, this time we brought the other couples who had missed the night before. They couldn’t miss out on the amazing views!

The next morning, Austin and I had breakfast on the rooftop, where it was just the two of us. Another Zahr latte and some pastries before we headed back home.

If you’re in the area, Sundance Square is a perfect date night or weekend getaway. Parking is free on the weekends, and there are so many restaurants, bars and shops. There’s something for everyone!

If you’ve been, what’s your favorite spot?

xo, Amanda

Coronation Party: God Save The King

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Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour: look with favour upon thy servant Charles our King, and bestow upon him such gifts of wisdom and love that we and all thy people may live in peace and prosperity and in loving service one to another, to thine eternal glory; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme…

Being in England during the Coronation prep was such a memorable experience. What a special time in history to get to watch something unfold that reaches back to the very same Abbey in 1066. How incredible that we have been invited to be a part.

Did any of you get up to watch on TV or attend in person? I tried to talk some friends into a 5am Coronation party, but surprisingly, no one took me up on it! I was wide awake awaiting the family’s arrival to the Abbey. My sweet husband joined me a little later and I had tea and biscuits waiting for us, prepared the night before. Peep the little crown spoons 🙂

The ceremony was powerful. The music, the choir, the seriousness of all involved. I was grateful for the information we got from the exhibit at Blenheim Palace, and on the TV show, The Crown. At one point in the ceremony, the to-be monarch stands before God wearing plain clothing; no embroidery, no signs of State or wealth. That moment is between them and God, where the Divine meets Earth. All kingdoms and principalities belong to Him, after all. I cried, to no one’s surprise. My husband was surprised at how moving it was, he didn’t realize it was a religious ceremony.

Later that afternoon, my family came over for a Coronation Party. I prepared Coronation Chicken, tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, Berries on a Cloud trifle with the Union Jack on top. And tea, of course.

We love sharing about our travels with food from where we went. It’s one of our favorite things to do! My brother or I will set up a slideshow to have our own show and tell, and hand out souvenirs. This is something we started after our honeymoon to St. Lucia, where we made Caribbean food for dinner (including handmade coconut turnovers). It’s now tradition!

How do you share your travels? I’d love to hear!

xo, Amanda

Lamberts Take London: Day 8, No Robin Hood for Me, Thanks

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After our great adventure at Chatsworth House, we began our drive back to London. We stopped in Nottingham for the night at The Lace Market Hotel. It was clean, and in a good location.

As Austin waited for me to change, he happened to look at the crime rates in town (he does this on every trip to get an idea of where to go and where to avoid). We quickly learned that it was a more “dodgy” area, and decided to just get a quick dinner and come back to the hotel. We ate at Wing Stop surprisingly enough, which was way less greasy than ours here in the States! While we ate, we people watched. We compared Nottingham to Deep Ellum (if you’re from the Dallas area). We saw a group of young men throwing things at passersby and quickly ate and left. It was an experience!

We had every intention of visiting some of the Robin Hood attractions and the Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem pub the next morning (Day 8), but forewent it when we realized there was a 50/50 chance of experiencing criminal activity… I definitely regret not stopping, but the thought of being without our wallets or worse overshadowed our adventurous spirits. I wouldn’t necessarily advise you not to visit these sites, but it’s good information to be sure you’re prepared. Our hotel was also directly across from the National Justice Museum, which could have also been an interesting visit.

So, we began our trip back. Kind of on the way was Oxford, which was on Austin’s must-see list. The city of Oxford was bustling! We love college towns.

This was the first time we experienced rain in England! We were shocked at how much beautiful, sunny weather we had the entire week. But a little rain made for an authentically British vacation.

We walked around the college, which was right in the middle of town. We tried to get into the library, but it was only for students. It was fun to imagine going to school here, and think of all who have gone here before.

We stopped in a pub to eat. This time I had fish and chips and he had the meat pie!

Then we continued our drive to London to return our car. We made it back at dusk, and the guys at Civilised Car Hire were kind enough to drive us to the nearest tube station, rather than us walking to the bus stop.

We rode to our hotel, dropped our bags, then went back to the city center to shop for last minute souvenirs. Back to Harrod’s we went! We grabbed a couple of dinner items from the Food Hall to take back to our hotel and rode the 45 minute train back out of town. Whew.

Did you know hotel rooms there don’t have microwaves? Now you do. We had to beg the man at the front desk to heat our food for us in their breakroom! He agreed, only if we promised not to give him a bad review if he ruined it, ha! He said, “I’ll do it, because I know the importance of a hot meal.” We so appreciated him and the staff at the DoubleTree by Hilton London Heathrow.

After we ate, we commenced with packing our bags with all our treasures. We were ready to start our trek back home to our puppies. The hotel had a shuttle for the airport and made it so easy to hop on our flight the next morning.

How cute is Austin in this pink cafe at Heathrow? We got there 3 hours early, and had more than enough time to get swabbed by TSA (Heathrow notoriously has the most strict security checks). At this airport, everyone waits in a large area in the middle to wait for your gate to be announced 30 minutes prior to boarding. They have so many shops and cafes, so the wait wasn’t too bad. Then, off you go!

Thank you for following along! We had a wonderful time!

xo, Amanda

Lamberts Take London: Day 7, Completely, Perfectly and Incandescently Happy

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You guys, DAY SEVEN. Possibly my favorite day.

We woke up from our beautiful Christmas Cottage, packed our things and headed out for breakfast. We didn’t realize the Stillhouse Cafe was in the Cotswolds Distillery. But the name “Stillhouse” should have been a clue. Sigh. The breakfast was so good, I had avocado toast, and Austin had the Chorizo Hash. Yum! The girls were so nice. One of them complimented me on my dress, which I wore just for our next stop.

Fancy cars outside the distillery

Recognize this? *music begins to play* Yes, that is Pemberly from the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, AKA Chatsworth House. As we pulled up, I may have regretted only slightly the linen dress bought just for this occasion. The wind was a’blowin’. I could not contain my excitement.

“Keep up!” I said to Austin, as we entered the great hall. No words.

We wandered through the house, passing by beds of kings, magnificent golden statues, and some of the most realistic paintings. A visit to the Veiled Vestel Virgin.

And finally landed here, the Sculpture Gallery!

“Lizzie, is it a true likeness?” Yes, yes I dare say it is. The sign for Mr. Darcy said, “please do not kiss!” Which was not hard for me to follow, ha! I shopped and brought home two miniature busts, one of Mr. Darcy and the other the Veiled Virgin. I did get stopped in Heathrow to be swabbed, as two concrete masses in my carry-on looked a little suspicious. But I got to talk about our trip to Chatsworth with the TSA lady, and all was well.

THE fountain

Lily of the Valley in the garden

We wandered the gardens, which were just stunning. I was disappointed that the infamous balcony was closed to visitors, but we were able to stand close enough to feel satisfied. They also had a maze, but we learned our lesson on that one!

I could not contain my absolute delight in getting to visit this house! I’m so grateful my husband took a chance on spot so far out of the way.

We drove next to Nottingham, where we stayed at The Lace Market Hotel. We ate a quick bite at the local Wing Stop (way less greasy than ours here in the States), and rested for our next day.

xo, Amanda