If daisies are the friendliest flower (ahem, Kathleen Kelly)--then I'm going to declare roses the unfriendliest. Lining our front yard we have 6 pain-inflicting rose bushes that have shown no mercy to their victims--which have sadly, mostly been the neighborhood kids running from yard to yard in our cul-de-sac. Two of the six are mini […]
All right, quick rant. You know what drives me up the wall? When people talk about liking one ingredient, but not another, as though they're supposed to be interchangeable. Miracle Whip and Mayonnaise, for example. "I like Miracle Whip!" "Well I like Mayonnaise!" Um... they taste nothing alike. Let's see, what do they have in […]
As I mentioned on Friday, we are turning our attention to our exterior while the weather is warm and the weeds are abundant. Our whole yard needs some TLC, but this weekend we started tackling the patio--specifically staining the patio. Staining the patio was a one-day project (love those!) and took this: To this: We […]
Cinco de Mayo is this weekend. Now there's an obscure holiday. I have no idea why it's a holiday, and I'm not even interested enough to do a Google search. All I know is it's an excuse to make sweet pork barbacoa, so felicidades! I have a couple versions of pork barbacoa, but I think this […]
I know, I know we said that our bedroom and bathroom are next--but the weather is warm and we want to take advantage. And to those who are emailing me about the kitchen tile--that's coming, too. It's on backorder so we're moving ahead until it arrives and we install it in record time because we're […]
Sweet and sour chicken - a dish about as Asian as I am, but available at nearly every Chinese restaurant in America. I often wonder how certain dishes become labeled as part of a cuisine. Another example is pizza. Nobody really knows if it originated in Italy, but it's branded Italian, so let it be […]
A full year ago, we opened up spots for advertisers in our sidebar and then three months after, I decided to close them. At the time we decided to take a sponsor hiatus, we had a good amount of sponsors, but something felt forced. Honestly, I found myself mimicking one style of accepting advertisers and […]
A few weeks ago, our DIYed wainscoting (or paneling--whichever!) was featured on Apartment Therapy and one of the commenters mentioned that maybe the grid of pictures competes with the wainscoting wall too much and that it might just be too much geometry. Of course we don't read every suggestion and change our house accordingly. That […]
A couple weeks ago, Jules and I were in Idaho visiting family. I made dinner one night - roasted potatoes and crispy pork belly- and I knew it was gonna sit pretty heavy. See, the difference between a "meh" meal and a great meal, is the way each course builds on each other, and how […]
Sometimes, even when the level says it is level--it is just barely off after you already drove in your anchor and the screw and hung your frames next to each other and looked back. Perhaps one of life's biggest frustrations. Sometimes it is due to driving your screw into the bottom or top of the […]
We have some really, really exciting news to share--the sister husband site to Chris Loves Julia has just launched and it is appropriately titled Julia Loves Chris. I have been nudging Chris to write a food blog for a long time, and then recently--he came up with the idea himself. I pounced and the coding and […]
So something about me - I love seafood. Like, it could possibly rival smoked barbecue ribs for my favorite thing to eat, ever. Unfortunately, I live in ol' land-locked Utah and fresh seafood is not only difficult to find, but abnormally expensive when you do find it. That's why I'm always looking for a "special […]
I have known two people in my life that used the word "fantastic" really frequently and with a lot of enthusiasm and now, when I say, "fantastic"--it's more like, "faaannnntassstic!!!!!!" in their voices which is funny to me, but now I think I might be that person to those who hear me. Anyway, this post […]
The week before last, we mentioned that our bedroom is on deck next. And then, the same day on Facebook, we announced we'd be tackling the master bath along with it. I never thought we'd see the day. Our master bathroom is anything but masterful in its current condition. And since we plan on selling […]
A little over a week ago (not last Friday, the Friday before) we set out to Idaho to spend time with family for the weekend and also drop Greta off for a few days while we jet-setted to Florida. The weekend was fantastic and chill. Lots of card games, Chris made a three-course meal for […]
Years ago when the Delta faucet commercials started to run on tv--I just went and found it on YouTube because it was so. cool--we were mesmerized. Especially Chris: You can touch it anywhere, with any part of your body--so, probably your arm is the most common, ha!--to turn it on when your hands are gross. […]
We really thought our kitchen could use a touch of robin egg's blue. Jokes. I just quickly photoshopped all of the area that we're planning on tiling so you can get a visual. The whole backsplash area and around the pantry. And, of course, the other side of the fridge as well. We have always […]
Our old sink was pretty standard--sub par. 17 years old. So when we were planning our kitchen remodel, a new sink had to happen. We wanted an undermount sink with one deep basin and fell in love with this 30"Kraus sink: After the undersides of the countertops were sealed three times--we were gearing ourselves up […]
Almost gone. Our very first curated Joss & Main event ends today--well "today" as in the next 14 hours. It has been one of the most exciting things to happen to our little blog and we have been completely blown away by the response. You are a fantastic group of people on the other side […]
Those black walnut countertops we got from Craft Art are officially done and we can't wait to share a little bit about the process and a whole lot of photos with you today. First, here's how our painted countertops looked before we tore them out: And here's how the countertops look now: I'm whistling at […]
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Welcome to our online community where we've posted home, DIY, style, renovations, and family since '09. Renovating our #cljmoderncottage in Idaho and headed for new adventures in Raleigh, NC. #cljfam #cljtransformations
