Visions in {white}

Visions of glamorous bathrooms have been dancing around in my head for far too long & I think its time to finally get some concrete ideas down in writing.  Our master bathroom remodel is well on its way & I hate to brag but so far its looking GORGEOUS!  I'm using tons and tons of marble ... everything from beautiful white Carrara marble in the shower, bath, and countertops to the lovely Bianco Luna on the floors.  So far we only have the bath and shower done, but it should be smooth sailing from here since that was the hardest & most time consuming part.

Don't want to give away too much until it's a little closer to completion, but heres a little sneak peek of the bathtub as of right now ...

and on to the inspirations ... this image is absolutely my favorite ... this bathroom looks so elegant with the clean white lines, silver accents, & vintage chandelier, but the beautiful teal pop of color is what really makes this space so unique and inviting.

This freestanding bathtub is absolute eye candy ... too bad we already have a perfectly working bathtub so no excuse to buy a new one ...

Love the BOLD black & white stripes ... but maybe a little too much drama for me in the bathroom...

I think these white & gray stripes a little more my style ... I Love stripes as accents so you will definintely be seeing more of these in my new home!

Now this is something a little more relaxing ... I think I could practically live in this bathroom!

Love the beautiful white sinks ... I want something similar in our master, but maybe not as high.

Now here's something that speaks a little more to my high fashion side ... I adore the framed Chanel ad & the feminine white, pink, & silver accents!

Still not 100% sure whether I want to go with a white or dark vanity, but as of right now I'm leaning a little more towards the chocolate vanities ...

Beautiful vanity, but not too sure about the wallpaper ... might be a little too busy for our master, since it's already going to full of beautiful patterns from all of the different marble ;)

& finally I want to finish off with a little sparkly, glittery, & ohh so glamorous icing on the cake!

Now off to the house to check on the progress ... the hubby was supposed to start laying down the hardwood floors today ... so hopefully everything is going to plans!

fly away home

These past 2 weeks have flown by faster than I ever imagined they would.  I've been busier than ever trying to manage whatever little remodeling we were able to finish while the hubby was gone in addition to exploring the new neighborhood, getting back to a somewhat normal workout routine, & spending time with my favorite sis!

The weather has finally been getting slightly warmer so had a chance to go bike riding in the neighborhood.  We even had some time to a do a quick weekend getaway to SF, but didn't do much there other than play some racquetball, go to the beach, and stop by for some yummy baked goods at our fav Russian Bakery.  It's been a roller coaster but definintely loved every moment.  Now that the hubs is back its all down to business in order to get the house complete enough to finally move in.

... and speaking of the hubby, he got back safe and sound looking cuter than I remember.  It was a challenge but he absolutely fell in love with the people and they are already planning to go back again next year.  Hopefully I can tag along on the next trip ... although I doubt I'll be much of a help with my lack of medical experience.  I guess that's it for now, will be back with remodeling updates and hopefully some pics from the Philippenes!

tears today to bring smiles tomorrow

It was an early morning, not uncommon for us ... but it felt a little different this time, knowing that I wouldn't be seeing my hubby for another 10 days after today.  This trip has been planned since roughly around January of last year, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would come this soon.

I may have mentioned this before, but my hubby is a surgical tech and was given an amazing opportunity to be part of an even more amazing organization, Faces of Tomorrow (FOT).  They travel to 3rd world countries every year to give children with various facial deformities a second chance at happiness and a new beginning. 

This is Larry's second trip and this year they will be flying to the Philippines.  It's a 14 hour trip and I'm very nervous for him ... I know it hasn't even been a full day yet and I'm already going crazy missing him.  Just thinking about it brings me to tears ... luckily I wasn't a complete emotional wreck when I dropped him off today ... I tried to hold it in as much as possible and have stayed composed until now.  At night everything always sets in .... unfortunately that includes emotions too ... so I'm going to try to do my best holding down the fort while he's gone and praying for his safe return.

a kitchen in progress

Ohh how I long for the day our kitchen will look as breath taking as one of these inspiration photos. I am in L-O-V-E with beautiful white cabinets and gorgeous marble countertops.  We already bought our cabinets and are in the process of installing ... however no tiles or countertops yet ... I know picking out the perfect marble slab takes forever so really need to get out there and start looking ... I haven't even officially decided on whether I want Carrara or Calacatta yet ... I think I prefer the look of Calacatta but need to make sure I can afford it before we make any big decisions...

I love the thickness of the marble on the island ... especially the contrast between the dark cabinets and the rest of the creamy white Kitchen.  Too bad we don't have room in our kitchen for an island ... otherwise I would have totally went with 2 colors for the cabinets.

 Farmhouse sinks always make me smile ... can't wait to get ours! Love how pronounced the veining on the marble island is.

 

 I like how with a neutral kitchen any color you add will absolutely just pop ..

Gorgeous calacatta veining ... makes my heart skip a beat ;)

We decided to go with dark hardwood floors throughout the house including the kitchen ... I think it'll be a nice contrast against our all white kitchen.

We have a peninsula in our kitchen so I'm really considering halving the marble go all the way down the side like in these pics ... I think it'll look really unique and give my kitchen that extra modern edge

 I guess that's enough rambling for now ... I'll post more kitchen inspirations later on, but for now here's an idea of what stage our kitchen is currently in...

Not much to see yet .. but trust me there's progress and I'll be updating soon!

the presents are wrapped ...

... but there's no tree to put them under!

 Thank goodness we're doing Secret Santa this year because there's no way I'd be able to find the time & strength to go shopping for everyone this year.  To give you a little idea of how bad its been ... instead of Christmas decorations, we have boxes and packing material in every nook and cranny ... we don't even have a Christmas Tree this year!  I knew we'd be spending the last couple of weeks packing and fixing up our condo so having a tree would just be an extra headache and more things to pack.  Yeah it's pretty sad ... but lets just say I have BIG plans for next year ... can't wait for after Christmas sales ... I'll be stocking up for sure!

I'll be home for Christmas...

... If only in my dreams ;)

I am soo excited to announce that we finally got the keys to our long awaited dream home! {and by "long awaited" I really do mean Looooooong ... it took us almost 2 years to find a keeper}

It's actually a really interesting story ... we first saw this house in fall 09 and totally and completely fell in love with the gorgeous windows, tall ceilings, and fabulous pool in the backyard ... so obviously we put in an offer over the asking price ... however we still got outbid ... we were completely devastated, well mostly me cuz I really had my heart set on it ... for months and months after I would still go online and check the status of the sale... hoping and praying for a miracle, that somehow things wouldn't work out with the other buyer ... I know funny huh? ... well that miracle came in September when magically the house went back on the market!  I contacted the listing agent early the next morning ... it took months of negotiating back and forth with the banks but our real estate agent has been really great and made it work ... so here we are 3 months later with a brand new home!

Our house was in good condition and move in ready when we bought it ... notice how I'm using "was" in the past tense, because right now it's completely unlivable.  We still had a month left in our condo and have been saving for a while so we naively decided to do a complete overhaul to really make the house our own.  Right now it feels like a big mistake since we only have a week left in our condo and this is what our house currently looks like...

 

Actually I'm lying, because the staircase is not there anymore... I have big plans for that staircase and will have to share more once we actually have some progress.  I gotta keep telling myself that it'll all be worth it in the end to keep myself from going insane ... but at this point it's still kind of hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The painters started today so hopefully by Monday I'll have an update!