Author: Michael Gutelli

Wow, just like that 2017 is gone and 2018 is here in full swing. Michael and I have spent quite a bit of time working on house projects and have received a lot of good feedback about them. Our Favorite home project last year by far would be our master bedroom retreat. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, go ahead and check out our reveal video…you’ll be glad you did.

We’ve received several questions about what is going on with our house and are we moving? So we went ahead and answered all your questions in our latest podcast! Which we’ve rebranded to the Stay True Podcast fitting to us for sure. You can check that out here (and subscribe)!

This year we have several projects on our to-do list, which I am excited to share with you here.

BATHROOMS

I absolutely hate our bathrooms! We live in a 1950s bungalow that has had two additions by the previous owner. This first one being the upstairs bathroom, which in my opinion was done poorly and the second one was the master bedroom. The bathroom upstairs has a angled roof and a seriously weird hexagonal window. With a shower, single sink, full length vanity and a toilet.

We will be gutting the entire space, taking it down to the studs. Our first concern is an apparent leak going on inside the shower wall. So in order to figure this out we’ve got to open everything up! We’ll also be doing the same to the full bathroom on our main floor, which is just an eye sore, especially for guests. It’s a small space but we have some BIG ideas to freshen things up. Stay tuned as these projects comes to life this spring. I’ve got my Pinterest board going strong for you to see all our inspiration!

KITCHEN

As you already know we’ve done a quick kitchen update. You can check that here in case you’ve missed out. Our big plan for this space is to add some much needed counter space.

So in order to make that happen we will be taking out our hallway closet, which bumps into our kitchen, to make room for the 6.5 feet of additional counter space. Along with this renovation will come all new cabinetry, granite countertops and a new backsplash to help clear up the double layered tiling that is going on in our existing kitchen. Plus we will be adding more outlets, lighting and some fun surprises!

Don’t you worry, I’ve got all my kitchen inspiration going on over on Pinterest too!

LIVING ROOM

Yes we’ve made over our living room, but we haven’t really made it over. Does that make any sense?!? We changed the paint color, doors, window casing and trim. But I still feel the room really lacks in personality. I’m thinking it needs a bold new color, possibly navy. We are going to rip out a portion of the staircase wall to open the room up and give our new and improved staircase and entry way a grander vibe. Plus, we’ll be adding a must have fireplace, mantle and custom builtins under the windows!!!!

CURB APPEAL & LANDSCAPING

This one we’ve been slowing working on secretively. Ok, not so secret if you’ve been by our house as you can clearly see the transformation coming together. But this year we are going to pull it all together. New paint for the entire house. Think white, black and cedar. At least that’s where I am at right now.

We are going to continue to add to our landscaping. You guys, my dad is ridiculously AMAZING with this. Looking for more layers and coverage in the backyard to keep our yard private and vibrant.

PLAYGROUND

Last summer we started the boys playground. It is in a WAY better spot than before, but we are going to add some additional elements. Rock climbing wall and different layers for running and climbing and of course jumping. I mean, if you can’t stop them you might as well join the fun.

So stay tuned as we conquer this year’s project list! We promise to keep it fun.

More to come!

Enjoy

Danielle

xoxo

The last thing I want to do at the end of a long day is figure out what we’re having for dinner. To help keep my mind at ease I pre-plan all of our meals. At first, this may seem overwhelming or a little too structured by deciding what your house is going to eat everyday. But I swear by this! It has made my grocery shopping much more efficient and our dinner routine so much smoother. Here are a few easy tips to help you get started!

1. Make a note with three sections: The first for a grocery list, the second for recipes, and the third for days of the week. I use either my notes on my phone with three separate notes or I handwrite three separate lists.
2. Start searching for recipes: Go with easy meals you know by heart or use Pinterest for go-to ideas and. And, of course, cookbooks are always useful and still some of my favorite.
3. Write it down: As you decide on meals be sure to write this them down or type them out. Don’t go straight to the days of the week…come up with the meals first and spread them out accordingly from there.
4. Plan it out day by day: After you decide on recipes, pick the days of the week you’ll make each meal. I try to think about how my week is going to play out – for instance, if I know it’s going to be a crazy night I will go for a meal that will be simple to make! I now copy and paste my meals under each day.
5. Time to make your grocery list: Look through each recipe and write down the ingredients you’ll need to purchase. This list helps me stick to my budget and stay on my meal plan! Don’t worry, we always have additions to our grocery lists such as staple items for the week, or whatever the boys find in the store that they absolutely must have ?
6. Display your menu: I love displaying our menu for everyone to see. This way we can feel prepared for what’s to come each day. Plus, it allows us to change meals around from day to day if we need to, or just don’t feel like having what was planned for that night.

We’ve had chalkboards in the last 3 houses and I have been obsessed with all three. Our first chalkboard we made out of contact paper we bought and installed to the side of our cabinet in our old condo. The letters were made from circle stickers that Michael cut out by hand. For our next place we purchased and hung a rustic framed chalkboard on the wall. And we currently have a chalkboard we bought, painted and attached flush to a kitchen wall to make it appear like a built in chalkboard.

Every week we change up our theme to keep things fresh and fun. Hope this helps to make your house a foodie house too!

much love –

Danielle

xoxo

To say that I am excited about our upcoming trip to Disney World would be a complete understatement???????????????????????? I have no joke been dreaming about this day since having kids. I have so many fond memories of Disney as a kid and I cannot wait to share this experience with our two dudes too!

Both boys have been to Disneyland, the plus side to having a brother and sister-in-law living in LA. But this will be our first trip to Disney World and we’ve been working hard to make sure Enzo understands how different this experience is going to be. Plus we want to keep the excitement going as we countdown the days. We feel this helps Ziggy start to understand what is happening. He basically can’t wait to meet ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’ and all his friends!

So to help out here’s what we’ve done to count down the days to Disney World.

1. Box of Balloons: This was our way to share the news with the boys. Inside the box were a few Disney toys and clothing to get them started.

2. Paper Countdown: Make a chain labeled with numbers representing each day till we leave.

3. Personalize The Chain: Let the boys decorate the chain with markers and all kinds of Disney stickers.

4. Matching Disney Jammies: You know I’ve got a thing for matching jammies so naturally I’ve gotten several to give the boys as we countdown the days.

5. Family Movie Night: We’ve added this in a while ago without the boys knowing we were going to Disney. I wanted to give them some good background knowledge of the park, characters they could see and rides that Disney had to offer.

 We created a list of must see Disney movies.

By the way, these are in no certain order. Just as I thought of them!

• Lion king
• Cars 3
• Hercules
• Cinderella
• Snow White & the seven dwarfs
• Mulan
• Little mermaid
• Tarzan
• The hunchback of Norte dame
• Pocahontas
• Pinocchio
• Aladdin
• Alice in wonderland
• Peter Pan
• Sleeping beauty
• Pirates of the Caribbean (all 4)
• Winnie the Pooh
• LILO & stitch
• Lady & the tramp
• Avatar

6. Disney Clothing: Knowing Ziggy is obsessed with Mickey I am always hunting for good finds there. I’ve found pants, jackets, shirts and socks to give the boys. I’ve spread these out over our countdown and they’re all coming with us on the trip too!

7. Explore the Disney Website: This has been a fun way to show Enzo where we are staying, the restaurants we planned and fastpass rides we have lined up. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/

8. Disney Board Game: I’ve been looking for a way to familiarize Enzo with the park and I came across this adorable game. It’s another fun way to talk about the park together.

9. YouTube: I know sounds a little weird (right?!?) but I’ve loved watching ride videos with Enzo. We still aren’t really sure how he feels about rides. In the past anything dark was scary. I’ll keep ya’ll posted on this.

10. Conversations: We’ve had endless conversations about what to expect and how our vacation is going to look. We are truly looking forward to this next adventure.

More to come!

Enjoy

Danielle

xoxo

5 Tips To Do Chicago Right

Travel is something that is extremely important in our lives. I love visiting new places, experiencing new things and the adventure of living locally in a new place. Since having kids Michael and I have strived to take our boys with us to as many places as we can. What continues to stay true with our travel together is we are always looking for ways to experience the local culture, not the tourist culture. Because there is a major difference. Neither of those aspects are bad, Michael and I simply love the feeling and vibe of really connecting with the local areas we are visiting. With these experiences we’ve found we can show our boys so much more of what the place has to offer and the culture it embodies.

We truly believe you can’t buy culture. Culture is gained through travel, trying new food and cuisines, walking the pavement and experiencing the ways others live life. To help with this I’ve put together a short list of things to do prior to taking your next adventure, gaining culture and experiencing the ways other live their lives everyday!

Location

Clearly, the first thing you need to do is decide where you want to travel to. Do you want the vibe of a big city? Are you looking to relax on the beach? Or is it just a weekend getaway where you want to do something different? 

For us, our last trip was back to Chicago, a place we feel fortunate enough to have called home for a decade. The city has so much to offer during the winter time that we want to make sure our boys are building core memories (thank you Disney “Inside Out” of the reference ????) of winter here. We’ve got a full guide on how to do Chicago with kids in the winter here, just in case you missed it! Knowing we want to visit Chicago every winter means we really want our boys to experience the neighborhoods Chicago has to offer, as each neighborhood has it own unique vibe and feel. 

This time we decided on Lincoln Park. An area we actually never lived in, but have lots of fond memories from experiences at all the surrounding restaurants, cafes, night life, shopping, playgrounds and, of course, the zoo! 

Accommodations

When it comes to a place to stay, comfort is key for us. We are looking for a place that will feel like home, even while we travel and experience new things. With two little dudes by our side having ample space is essential. While we both love the amenities hotels have to ofter, they are lacking in the local vibe and space aspect (unless of course we snag a suite or penthouse…which has never happened). Vacation rentals have been our way of life for quite sometime. The whole living local scene truly speaks to our family. We’ve been renting from Sonder for a while now and absolutely love how they’ve combined the luxury of hotel stay with the vibe of a vacation rental all into one!

For our stay in Chicago last weekend we stayed here and absolutely loved everything about it! What first sold me on the place was there were three bedrooms. Knowing that Ziggy is still and napper and Enzo does every once in a while we love the convenience of having a quiet place for them to regroup for the day.

The kitchen space in this place was pretty AMAZING, although I didn’t do much cooking this time around, I did enjoy dreaming about using this space and it was perfect for delivery! Gotta love the city and all the food options…don’t worry I’ll chat more about that next ????. There is laundry in the unit and yes we used it! You know, kids do that to you! Free-wifi, of course, and a cozy living space with not one but two outdoor areas. Yep, these spaces didn’t get much use as it snowed while we were in town but I could totally see how happy they’d make me in late spring, all of summer and early fall! I love that the living space has three sofas, perfect for everyone to gather in during our early morning hours for coffee and late nights with wine & bourbon ☕️???????? with some friends we don’t get too see often enough.

One last thing about our place we stayed in before we move on to food???? Let’s talk about the bathroom. Literally our bathroom had a shower room! I WANT! Maybe this will need to be the next space we renovate. ???? The boys were obsessing over all the shower heads. AND I love how the water stayed inside the shower, for once. 

Where To Eat

One thing I LOVE about Chicago is all the food options. I literally have a list about two miles long of all the places I want to eat at when we get into town and that doesn’t even include the new places opening up every week! So clearly there are lots of options to choose from and you’re bound to find a place that works for everyone in your group. What’s perfect about staying in the city is you can dine in or out at most places and you guys most deliver too! This trip we did both and I love that about our Sonder stay. On Friday night there was no way the boys were going to sit through dinner at a restaurant so we had dinner delivered right to us! The boys opted for some sushi paired with homemade macaroni and cheese, so I guess I did use the kitchen to make that. 

Since we stayed in Lincoln Park I am going to stick to that neighborhood and give you a few options we love. If I’m missing some please let me know, as this girl is always looking to add to my dining experience. I went ahead and broke them down by meals!

Brunch

Toast

Nookies

Yolk

Lunch

Frances’ Deli

Athenian Room

Fiesta Mexicana

Dinner

Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!

Sushi Mon

Pequods Pizza

Sweet treats

Sweet Mandy B’s

Stan’s Dounts and coffee

What To Do

I love doing my research before any trip. But honestly my favorite way to find out what to do once we get to a new place is have conversations with locals. The easiest way to do this is through conversations when dining out. I love finding out what people who live in the neighborhood are doing. Coffee shops often have boards with fliers posted all over them with local events too. If you’re traveling with kids, local parks is where it’s at. I love watching my kids play in new places with new friends. Plus we’ve found some of our favorite things to do in new places from talking with other parents.

Embrace Life 

As much as I like to plan things out I know life just doesn’t always work that way, especially when traveling with little ones. My best advice to you is go with the flow. It’s ok if things don’t go just as you planned. Embrace the fact that you are able to travel, live in the moment and enjoy all the little things that come with travel. 

And finally, one last amazing thing about Chicago. It is a city of neighborhoods. While we stayed in Lincoln Park, we ventured out 5 minutes and were in Lakeview for dinner, and 10 minutes for Brunch in Andersonville. Or 15 minutes for some shopping downtown. There are so many pockets of amazing experiences, you just have to turn the corner and look around. 

I’d love to hear more about how you travel. What are your favorite spots? We are always looking to grow our list!

enjoy

much love,

Danielle

xoxo

Thank you to Sonder for sponsoring this post.

When it comes to the holiday time there is something really fun and exciting about getting dressed up for me. I love how a typical get together can suddenly turn slightly fancier and what seems like an ordinary day can be changed by just a little sparkle or red lips!  So today I want to chat about 3 staple pieces every girl needs in their wardrobe. These pieces might not work all year long but you better believe they’re perfect for this time of year and they NEVER seem to go out of style.

Sequins

I love that added little glam when it comes to the holidays. But if you’re like me a little sparkle can do you good any day. I’ve been eyeing out some really amazing ✨ glam lately. And I’ve linked a few for you here.

Velvet

What’s not to love about velvet or velour, whichever you prefer! I think this fabric is perfect for the fall and moving into the holidays. I’m sure you’ll even catch me in it this spring too!  I love pairing velvet with sequins…they just seem to go go together on any occasion.

Red Lips

I know many people really feel they just can’t pull off the red lip look. But I swear with the right color red any girl can do it! My favorite reds tend to be mattes or stains, as they stay on way better and for a lot longer. Nobody has time to deal with faded lips?

enjoy!

Much love –

Danielle

xoxo

This post is sponsored by Farm Rich. All thoughts are my own. Visit your local grocery store to pick up Farm Rich snacks for game day!

When it comes to get togethers with friends and family, entertaining is right up there on my list of favorite things to do! I love the quality time we get to spend with loved ones this time of year. As many of you know I am a huge Spartan fan, go green?! I love watching my team, cheering them on and being able to sit in my own house, warm and dry and not have to wait in line to go to the bathroom! You know it’s the little perks in life. The other thing I love about football season (and basketball season) is TAILGATING! But seeing how I love being home more than that we like to create our our tailgate, homegate style over here, that’s a thing…right ?!? We’ve partnered with Farm Rich because they help us make the most of their time together with their wide variety of wholesome and easy-to-prepare frozen foods that are ready for me to serve in minutes. And that’s a for sure win in my book #HomegatingHero !

So here’s some simple and ridiculously easy ways to make ‘homegate’ happen in your house starting with how to create the perfect appetizer board without breaking a sweat! Oh and you can totally invite all your friends and family too!

1. Use a large serving plater. I like to use white because it makes all the food stand out.
2. Simple and easy is the name of the game. Farm Rich is where it’s at here you guys. Not only are they one of America’s favorite snack and appetizer brands, they’re offering the best snacks for game day “homegate” and there’s not much work in it for you! You can find your inner #HomegatingHero too.
3. Decorate your board: You can make your appetizer board look extra fancy. This one is easy -for me, I love using fresh herbs. Here I used oregano with Mozzarella Sticks, parsley with Cheese Curds and chives with the Loaded Potato Skins.
4. Give your plate some crunch: Fresh vegetables always do the trick and they add to the flavor profile and give some color to the board too! I used tomatoes and celery, carrots would be a perfect addition as well.
5. Add dipping sauces! Everyone likes to dip. I used marinara, greek yogurt and ranch.

I am always looking for those quick solutions for snacks and appetizers when getting together with friends and family. Farm Rich helped put together their solid line up for our game day fun! No need to stress any more about our event, just sit and enjoy your time together and dig in with this perfect appetizer board. I promise there’s something in here for everyone!

Go Green!

Much love,

Danielle

Xoxo