Ok, so we technically finished this weeks ago, but there's been so much going on I hadn't had a chance to blog about it.

Have you seen the pedestal table makeovers in pinterest/blog land? I've seen a ton of people turn a hum-drum table into a thing of beauty with just a little paint and stain, so I figured I could do the same. When I was still living in Singapore last year, I spotted a pedestal table on Craigslist here in Lynchburg for a mere $60. My sweet sister was willing to go and pick it up for me and her in-laws held it for me until we returned. Gotta love family.

Well, what is a dining table without chairs? Besides a catch-all for junk...really nothing, cause we had nowhere to eat for the first month in our new place. I wanted to find 4 chairs that had an upholstered seat that I could change out and Craigslist came through again for me. I got a set of 4 for only $30! Here's what it all looked like before:

Ahhh, gotta love that orang-y wood tone :) And the fabric on the chairs? Please, take a closer look...they are amazing!

Yes, 70's! They were really appropriate for the kitchen with the all mushrooms, onions, and asparagus goodness, but alas, I decided to change them out for more updated fabric.

This is a photo I snapped after finishing the first chair. I was in love :)

Now, this was the first experience I had with Annie Sloan chalk paint. I'm not sure I would use the white again. After four coats, the coverage still wasn't very good, but I honestly just got tired of painting. Maybe it was the wood tone underneath, but I think if I paint white again, I'll probably prime and then paint with a different type of paint. Personal preference.

We sanded the top of the table and stained it a darker color which turned out perfect! Here is the finished product:

I'd say this was a successful makeover on our small budget!

The only thing I would change is the color of the walls, but considering I've made my husband repaint every room in our townhouse except for the dining/kitchen area...I've gotta let this one go. It may not match the blue in the fabric, but that won't matter in our next place.

Up next: Projects for the baby room! Here's a glimpse at my mood board:

It's a girl!!!

Well it's been almost a week since we found out we are having a little girl. It's still sinking in. Who am I kidding? The fact that I'm pregnant is still sinking in.

My siblings have basically been a male baby production line. The first grandchild was a girl...and that was the last girl we've seen. Since she was born, we've had four boys come along. And my brother Evan found out a few days before us that his wife was having a boy too! So needless to say, I think there were a lot of people holding out hope that we'd pull it out a baby girl win.

Of course I consulted the Chinese gender predictor months ago, which said I was having a girl, so for months I've been thinking that's exactly what we were having. That thing is freakishly correct! But once Evan and Christina found out they were having a boy, I started having my doubts.

We went to the ultrasound on Thursday and I told the tech that we didn't want to know. When the baby first came up on the screen, it was a full-body shot, but I swore I saw something "wiggle" in the bottom half. I quickly thought "Was that his thing?". Obviously I think in very adult terms.

Then I was SURE it was going to be a boy. Even the ladies in the office saw the ultrasound of the face and said it looked like a boy. But THEN someone mentioned it was probably the umbilical cord I saw. Duh.

So basically by the time the reveal rolled around, I had NO IDEA what it was going to be. And honestly I didn't care. Baby Clarence or Baby Girl Clarence....both are fine with me, as long as it looks like it's daddy!

We had my parents and my sister and her boys come over along with Clarence's parents on Skype for the big reveal. My best friend, Amy, was passed the envelope with the big secret inside and went to get us two cans of silly string. We just didn't know if it would be blue or pink, but we figured we might as well have some fun shooting each other.

In case you missed it, I've posted the video below. We are both so excited and can't wait to meet our baby girl! Now we just have to agree on a name. I've already vetoed Clarence's first suggestions of Eunice. Yikes. I think we have a long road ahead of us :)

Military Vest

Have you seen some of the adorable outfits with military vests lately? It's such a cute look and one that I've been wanting to replicate. Here are a few I love:

I've had a hard time finding a good vest that I like and is not too expensive. Apparently they are so popular they're hard to find. Or maybe I'm way behind the trend and no one is selling them anymore. I'll blame living overseas on that if that's the case.

I found one vest online that was adorable and in my price range. It was selling on a website called Conversation Pieces and boasted that it was back in stock! Score. So I click on the link to find....sold out. Crap! Here is a pic of the vest:

Cute, right? Well too bad. So then I did want any compulsive shopper would do, I did a search on www.shopstyle.com. And I found a really good option on JC Penney's website in the junior's section (I live in denial, ok?) It was on clearance for $15 too! It was too good to pass up. Here's what I ordered. 

A little snip snip of the jewels on the collar, and I am in business! If you're looking for a vest, you really can't beat the price and style. Here is a link and it's still on sale. I plan to put it to good use! What do you think?

Our Meal Planning

Me in the kitchen does not equal MasterChef. There's a reason I never went on that show.

I don't mind cooking, but I'm not a natural. I can't take 8 random ingredients and MacGyver something together in 30 minutes time. I need a recipe and full ingredients and google nearby in case I screw up...the whole 9 yards.

So, once Clarence and I moved into our own place (and sadly away from my mother's cooking), we decided to try out something I had heard about for awhile; eMeals. Who knew that I was capable of being in love with something other than an asian? Well it's true.

eMeals is basically a meal planning service that makes your life 100x easier. You choose your meal plan, what grocery store you go to, and each week a menu, shopping list, and recipes are sent to you. It includes 7 dinners (though you can also add breakfast and lunch plans too). It's only $5 a month which is a freakin' steal. We actually signed up via a Groupon deal for $29 for a year which made it even sweeter. It's definitely worth the small price tag! On top of that, they plan the meals based on sales in the store you chose so it's affordable. You can choose the family plan or one for two people.

We chose the low carb plan (our small attempt at being healthier) and though I miss potatoes, the meals have been really tasty! There is excellent variety and lots of flavor. And if we ever get sick of the low carb plan, we can change it to one of the other plans every month if we want.

I'm not getting paid by eMeals to recruit people to use the service, I just really love it and wanted to share for others who are not kitchen-inclined like me. I much prefer eMeals to pinterest-ing dinner ideas every week and trying to figure out what to make from day-to-day. Too.much.work.

In case you're interested, you can check out the meal plans and details and Signup here. If you do, let me know how you like it! And definitely download the eMeals app; it's amazing!

Here are some photos of some of the dinners we've had in the past weeks:

Stir crazy

Don't you just love opening a new can of paint, stirring it around, and then applying it to the wall to drastically change the look of a room? Yeah, except for when you've bought 6 sample paint colors and STILL can't find the right color for your wall. It's driving me a bit crazy; and I don't think my husband is enjoying my indecisiveness either. Actually text conversation:

Me: I got another paint sample today and I don't like that one either *cries*

Clarence: Gosh!!!

I can't seem to find the right color that is a grayish-tan without a blue undertone and not too dark. Here are the ones I've tried so far...(and excuse the poor-quality iPhone picture)

I started with the 3 colors on the left. Woah, way too blue. Then I tried the two on the far right. The far right seemed to be too "matchy" to the couch and the one beside seemed to be a tad darker than I'd like. Then today I went and bought the one in the middle....and it seems too blue too!! Grrr. It's hard to judge based off a color swatch, but the one I bought today did not look blue at all on the paint chip!

Maybe the current yellow is also throwing me off.  Should I just bite the bullet and pick one and trust it turns out well when it's all over the walls? Cause let's be honest, whatever I choose is going to be it. I can't buy 2 gallons, get my husband to paint, and then tell him I don't like it and we have to paint again. He'd be fine to keep it just the way it is...paint tests and all. If you can't tell, he has great designer sense...this is the same man who suggested we do a sponge paint technique in our apartment in Singapore. (I love you, Clarence!)

Any suggestions? Am I the only one who struggles to pick out paint?

Baby Wong is on the way!

Considering I haven't blogged since June, this post is WAY overdue! We recently made a big announcement on Facebook....

It was no secret that I was excited for when the time would come to have a baby that is part me and part my handsome Asian hubby! We moved back from Singapore in May and shortly after we returned, my last pack of birth control ran out. We went back and forth on whether we should go to the doctor now though we didn't have insurance, or take our chances and trust God to bless us with a baby in His timing. Well, obviously we chose option B. We thought it would take a few months to get pregnant since I'm already in my 30's, but we were surprised to find out it didn't! Of course Clarence contributes this to his "sniper" ability. Men.

Right as we found out we were pregnant, we also found out my brother and his wife were pregnant with their first too! To make it more exciting, we went to the doctor around the same time and found out our due dates are.....BOTH February 17th! What are the chances?

So that makes me about 15 weeks right now. I'm already starting to show, but have not felt the baby move yet. It's a bit surreal, but we are both so excited! We just moved into a new apartment and are looking forward to decorating the baby's room as I get further along. And you can be sure I'll post pictures of all that!

Because I'm so fashionable...

Since I know everyone looks to me for fashion advice (or not), here is my first post. I'm in a place where I'm trying to be purposeful about what I wear, not spend too much money, and try to mix and match my pieces. One of my favorite blogs for inspiration is Audrey's blog. She is adorable, modest, relatable, and has really great outfit ideas!

I wore this outfit tonight on a double date with Clarence and a couple of our friends. It was comfortable and also kept me warm in the typically cold dining room of the restaurant.

Jacket: Target, Shirt: Cotton On, Chevron Skirt: veryjane.com, Shoes: Target

I had been looking for just the right denim jacket that was a good wash and worn in enough to roll the sleeves. I ended up seeing a perfect one at Target, but they only had a size XL in the store. Boo! I ended up ordering this one online and am really happy with it!

Comfy and cute. I was happy with how this outfit turned out!