Handy Hubby Strikes Again

When Louis and I moved into our house, one of the first things on our list was to update all of the lighting, the only one we wanted to keep was the light in the dining room. We made significant progress right when we moved in with the hall lights and removing the nasty gold one in the kitchen but we simply never got around to the ugly bubble light in our kitchen.

For Christmas Louis received a $100 gift card for Home Depot so we decided it is finally time to remove the ugly bubble light.

Here is the ugly bubble light before

Handy Hubby tearing the nasty thing down

Heck, the exposed wires were better looking in the kitchen than the ugly bubble light

The new light!!!

We knew that we wanted track lighting but I wasn't so keen on the typical track light and we wanted the kitchen light to match the rest of the lights in the house. We picked this bronze finish adjustable angle light for only $69!!

The new lights are super crisp and clean and give us so much more light than we thought we were going to get. Our biggest concern when replacing the ugly bubble was how to achieve the same amount of light and this smaller and more stylish version gives off WAY more light.

Major props to Louis who basically installed the entire thing by himself. We only have one step stool and I wasn't tall enough to really be useful. I did fix one of the light shades though :) I have a feeling Louis might have a potential career in installing light fixtures.

Here comes 2011

With 2011 just around the corner, I thought it might be time to try and think of a New Year's Resolution. I typically don't create resolutions each year, but I am thinking of making 2011 the year that I have a resolution. I also want to be realistic-- I am not going to say that I am going to workout 5 days a week, cause please that ain't happenin!

Problem is, I can't think of anything yet.

I need ideas!!!!! Please help. :)

New Curtains

Our guest bedroom is probably the most neglected room in our house. More often than not it tends to be the room that collects all of the random stuff in piles and we scramble to clean it before anyone comes to stay. The curtains in the room were the original from when we moved in. I absolutely HATED them. They were white and waaaaaayyyyyy too long. When guests stay in that room because the curtains were white the light poured in and it made it difficult to sleep. Thanks to a gift card to BB&B for Christmas Louis and I decided it was time to get new curtains. We picked a greenish/blue/teal color that is really pretty.

I apologize in advance for the horrible pictures but the lighting was really bad yesterday afternoon when I switched out the curtains. I had no patience to wait for better lighting to take awesome pics for the blog.

Before

Look at all that extra curtain

After

Ahh..much better length

Christmas Morning

Now that Louis and I are officially our own family, I wanted to make sure that we had some Christmas traditions of our own.

We woke up and I made Orange Rolls (yummy!!) and then we opened our presents in our pajamas and took the classic "hold up your gift pictures".

Louis got XBox 360 this year. He is dang lucky Santa called me and told me Louis was a good boy and deserved it.

My new boots!!

Sean with his GPS we got him (that's right, he DIDN"T get clothes from us)

Christmas at my parents house

Merry Christmas, hope your day was merry and bright.

Merry Christmas

Stay warm this holiday season and Merry Christmas, Love Jenny and Louis

Christmas Decor

Since I have been slacking on the blog postings I thought I would copy from some other bloggers and show you some of my favorite holiday decor that you can get at Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn. Most of these things I already have in my home.


Red Vase: Crate and Barrel. We currently have it on our table as a centerpiece with these crazy glitter filled branches coming out of it that Louis and Sean hate.
Snowflake Candleholder: Crate and Barrel. We have this lovely item on our dresser in our bedroom.
Green Candle: Crate and Barrel. We have these on our fireplace mantle display
Reindeer Entertaining Set: Crate and Barrel. We don't have this but I think its super cute and festive
Stockings: Pottery Barn. I got these last year for Louis and I and they look great. Plus, they are big enough for Santa to add lots of presents in it.

If anyone is looking for something fun, you can track Santa by going to this website: www.noradsanta.org

6 months!

Yesterday was Louis and I's 6 month anniversary. I can't believe that it has been only 6 months, I feel like we have been married forever. I am a little jealous though because the sun was shining all day (even if it was only 18 degrees) unlike our wedding day. I can't wait to spend our first Christmas together as husband and wife.

I LOVE YOU, LOUIS

The first ever Malic Christmas Blog

This year instead of writing a letter with our Christmas cards, I thought I would blog about our year for everyone to read. Most Christmas letters are strictly about what the family has done but I thought it would be nice to include fun stuff about friends and family too!

January

- Katie and Eric got married in the freezing cold and it was a blast

- Cheryl and Justin welcomed Aubrey into the world

March

- Louis and I's wedding shower

May

- Melanie and Ryan got married in the rain

-Erin and Jon got engaged

June

- We got married!!

- We went on our honeymoon to St. Lucia

July

- I turned 26

- We got hardwood floors in the house

-Amy and Graham celebrated their 1 year anniversary

August

- Louis and James' turned 27

-Katie and I started Sign it With Love

September

- Kassy and Ben got married in San Francisco and we got a mini vacation out of it

-Matt and Mary celebrated their 1 year wedding anniversary

October

- My parents threw an Oktoberfest party

-Kelly and Efren got engaged

November

-Second annual Malic Thanksgiving

- I got my Masters

December

- Louis and I's first Christmas as husband and wife

For those interested, here was the holiday card we sent out, designed of course by Sign it With Love

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Red, Green and Christmas Trees

I wanted to share a little bit of the Malic Christmas decor with all of you. As usual, pardon my horrible photo skills. Maybe one of these days I will actually learn how to take great pictures and get a kick butt camera.

The Fireplace

Last year we ordered Christmas stockings with our names on them from Pottery Barn (I got free monogramming and shipping). The reindeer hooks are from Kohls. The shimmery candles and large vase are from Crate and Barrel. The candle holders are from Pottery Barn (I got them shopping with Katie for Thanksgiving). Lastly Wal-Mart provided me the colorful ornaments for the vase. I know that all of the Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel references sound pricey but I used gift cards, sales etc to make it affordable.

Our HUGE Christmas tree

Ok, so granted this picture doesn't seem "huge" but I swear it is. It takes forever to put up and decorate. Our living room requires some furniture re-arranging to accommodate this fun holiday staple.

Here is a question, how the heck can you take a good picture of Christmas lights?

Happy Birthday Eric

I want to give a Birthday Blog shout out to Eric Kramer. He is the big 2-7 today. I feel like it is kinda pointless to post this because he barely reads his wife's blog, so there is no chance in heck he reads this (unless Katie shows him!) but still I feel a shoutout is necessary. So Happy Birthday to you-- I am sure you will celebrate by watching Predator. :)

(This pic is from Eric and Katie's wedding)

Sorry for the Neglect

I know I have kinda been a slacker lately so I am hoping I can catch everyone up with this post.

1. Congrats to my brother in law, James. He found out on Friday that the bank accepted his offer on a townhome in Arlington Heights (near Buffalo Grove H.S.). Everyone cross your fingers for a great inspection. If all goes well he will be a homeowner in January. You can count on many a blog postings about projects around his place. He got a foreclosure that needs a little bit of TLC. I am pumped to help decorate!!!

2. Friday was Louis and I's date day. We had the day off of work just because and it was so great. We went to lunch at the Lucky Monk then went bowling. Typically I stink at bowling but this time around I got a 126 (which for me is a great score). Louis said its because I am now a Malic and they have a knack for bowling :) Then Louis and I played some pool, I humor him by trying to play and every once and awhile have a great shot.

3. Yesterday Louis, James and I saw Harry Potter. I will admit that at the beginning of the Harry Potter craze I was not a fan and made fun of Louis and James for liking it. Then I started watching one of the many ABC Family marathons of Harry Potter weekends and got into it. Then I read the last two books and was hooked. I have to admit that I sorta have a crush on Ron, he is so funny and cute! This last movie was action packed and full of excitement. I highly recommend.

4. Today Louis and I went over to Cheryl and Justin's house for lunch and to watch part of the Bears game. I know this is probably a little bias but I am quite sure that Aubrey is the cutest baby on the planet. She loves exploring and can entertain herself and us for a long time. It makes me want one just like her (well, except the not sleeping through the night part!!!)

Ok, phew, that was a super quick recap of my last couple of days. I plan on getting back on track this week and entertaining you (or not) with my blogging.

Ornaments

Louis and I have two Christmas trees in our house. In typical Martha fashion, I like that the trees have cohesiveness and are in the same color theme. Our trees have red and gold ornaments. However, we make room for some ornaments that have special meaning to us. I will apologize in advance for the horrible photography but I didn't want them to look washed out.

First up is Bianca. I got this ornament from my Grandma Unti when I was little as a Christmas present. All of the girl cousins got a Bianca and the boys got Bernard. Every year growing up it was my favorite ornament and I always wanted to find the best place to put it on the tree. Bianca is an ornament that will always be on my tree.

The next ornament is one that we received as a wedding present. It is from Louis' cousin Dee. It is Louis and I with our wedding colors and date. I originally wanted an ornament that said "our first christmas" but realized that this one was way better because it is personal and unique.

Louis and I have started a recent tradition of buying a Christmas ornament every place we vacation to have a fun reminder of the trips we have taken together. We got this ornament in San Francisco at Muir Woods.

This was the first ornament in the travel collection, it was from our cruise in 2008. And bonus-- it matches my theme!!!

Louis and I did get an ornament on our honeymoon. It is actually a really cute clear glass ball with sand inside but my crazy husband won't allow it on the tree because there is sand inside..... (this is his hint that his wife wants it on the tree). I don't have a picture because its not on our tree, :(

Do you have any fun holiday ornaments or traditions? Share any fun tips or suggestions.

Birthday Shoutouts

This week has been a big week for Unti family birthdays!

On Monday was my cousin, Kassy's birthday. She recently moved from San Francisco (read about her wedding and our trip to San Fran in a previous blog post) back to Wisconsin. She is now in Green Bay enjoying the cold and snow!!

Today is my other cousin, Amy's birthday. She was one of my bridemaids and looked awesome! Her arms are mega buff in this pic from all the rock climbing she does.

Happy Birthday to my two cousins!!!

Grand Geneva

On Black Friday Louis and I went with my parents up to Wisconsin. We ate dinner at Gordy's and then headed over to the Grand Geneva for an after dinner drink and check out there amazing Christmas display. Get ready for lots of fun and festive Christmas pictures, after all it is the month of Christmas (and Amy's birthday)!!!

The entrance to the main hotel at Grand Geneva

Louis and I in front of the purple Christmas themed upside down tree

Mickey Mouse (They had a Disney theme this year)

The Badger Mickey!!!

A bunch of polar bears in the window

My camera can't do this scene justice

Minnie getting a mani/pedi

Cupcake Tree

The football themed Gingerbread house-- the only problem was the Packer house in the center!

My favorite Gingerbread house