Bags, babies, beauty, and whatever else crosses my mind...

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Crock Pot Challenge!

I challenged myself to try some new meals this past week, and came across some great crock pot meal options on the blog Mommy's Fabulous Finds! I was trepidatious at first, to try something new. We started out with Pork Carnitas, which went great - then onto Teriyaki Porkchops which were also really good, and finally ended the week up with Honey Bourbon Chicken - which also turned out… you guessed it, great!

Watch on YouTube to see how quick and easy these meals were - as well as the final outcome!

Pork Carnitas:




Teriyaki Porkchops:




Honey Bourbon Chicken:








All in all, it was a great experiment - and I'm looking forward to trying some new meals next week as well!

Link to 10 Fabulous Crock Pot Meals, on Mommy's Fabulous Findshttp://www.mommysfabulousfinds.com/2013/10/easy-crock-pot-freezer-meals-2.html

Sunday, January 19, 2014

My new dressing room!

One of the perks of moving to our new house was the agreement that because my husband got his mondo sized garage, I could use a bedroom in the house for my "lady's nice things" room! I was very excited how this worked out, because having a room like this was something that I had only dreamt about in the past.

After we moved into the house in late October, it was a whirlwind of activity with the holidays and projects around the house. I didn't feel like I could truly focus on the purse room/dressing room until I had things take care of for the holidays. During December, I did get a good amount of momentum done on the room and I'm happy to finally be able to share the beginnings of my purse room!

Check out my video reveal on YouTube here:



I ordered a display cabinet from Home Decorators, the Essex Glass Door book case - and I'm using this to display a number of my handbags. Not all of them fit in the cabinet unfortunately - so I am looking for a secondary, likely smaller, cabinet to house extra purses and books…. However I love the styling of the Essex cabinet and the aesthetic it brings to the room.



The chair was a particular sticking point for the room. (And being able to finally share the room!) I wanted a chair that would pull out into a twin sleeping space, so that the room could function as additional guest sleeping space when we were hosting a number of people at our home. I originally was looking at a twin sleeper chair from Ballard Designs, the Tate Twin Sleeper Chair, and had settled on a fabric and design.



However at the last minute, I came across a chair at JCPenny, called the Twin Sleeper Chair, that was on *mega* sale - and it was a deal too good to pass up!! (Practically half of the price the Tate Chair was going to be.) In my hast in ordering from the few day sale going on, I missed that the fabric on the gray (my color of choice) chair was a microfiber… which because of fingerprint imprints would not be my first choice - overall I'm excited about the value and I think it will work great.



On the walls, I added a few prints by Lauren Maurer (check out her Etsy store!) - her gorgeous dress form watercolors have been some of my favorites to pin on Pinterest.



I also included a "charms wall" where I can add various wall pieces of interest as I find ones that speak to me.



All in all, I'm excited about the room and where it seems its headed. I think there is still a lot of work to be done, items to be ordered, and some more moving of things around… but I'm quite enjoying having my own space in our new home for my own passions and pursuits.



I'm looking forward to adding some finishing touches - changing out things like the chair at my vanity, adding a script print ottoman, and possibly a full size dress forum mannequin. It has been a lot of fun to be a bit "girlie" with a room in the house!

Do you have your own "lady's nice things" room? How have you chosen the decor for that room?

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy New Year!

Well, life does get in the way from living sometimes - doesn't it?

We moved, craziness ensued... and I haven't managed to update Mom's Got a Brand New Bag in quite some time. Here are some highlights...

Big girl beds...

Birthdays...


Christmas trees...


Also, we had a lot of New Year's fun!



I'm debating where 2014 is going to take my blogging... should I jump to Word Press and try to take it up a notch? Or keep it the same with occasional updates here. I'm still in the decision stage but will be sure to post an announcement if I make the switch to Word Press under a new blog name!

Hope your 2014 is starting out great and I wish you all the best this upcoming year!