Home Sweet Home

Let’s talk home updates.  

It’s been just about seven months since we moved into our home. When we first saw the home we fell in love and now that I’m thinking about it I don’t really know why. Maybe because they had it nicely decorated? For their own taste of course but it was definitely an eye catcher. Maybe it was the layout? Or better yet the nice patio, large yard, and most prettiest landscape. They knew exactly how to suck us in. If I am being honest, with all the updates we’ve done to this home I wonder what was it that made us love it so much when we first saw it. 

Our home was built in the 70s and had only been occupied by the original owners. We loved knowing that they were the only owners that’s for sure. Yet as the months pass by and we see all the DIY projects they did that were pretty much shitty work we wonder how we didn’t see it on the first look. Or the inspection day. Or the walk through. I just don’t know what we were thinking. My only guess is that it was simply meant to be.

It was listed as a move in ready. Which it was. We knew we’d be changing wall colors and replacing a reddish/burgundy carpet that was in one of the bedrooms, updating the bathrooms one in particular as soon as possible, and further down the road doing a kitchen renovation to make it more modern and functional. But we never  thought that something as simple as removing a carpet would lead to finding rotted floors caused by prior water damage that was not fixed correctly which would very rapidly increase our "carpet changing budget". Ever since then I feel like every room we update is more than “just a wall color change or adding trimming”. 

I plan on going room by room to show a before and after picture but this post in particular I will be showing y’all our (or rather my) mood board with our plans for certain areas of the house. We started with the family room, dinning room, and what I call the little boys bathroom. Just some paint, a brick wall whitewash, and some decor so stay tune for that! 

For several weeks now we’ve been updating our entryway and formal living room. That’s almost complete. We just have to finish the painting, some minor touches, and then furnish it. I look forward on sharing that space and what we decided to do with it. Now we’re moving on to the bathroom located in the formal living room area which is also connected to my oldest bedroom. That bathroom is a pretty nice size so we’re planning on dividing it into a small powder room in the front with its entrance located right in the living room and keeping the back part as an en suite to our oldest bedroom. Spoil much? He’s pretty excited about it because our original plans were to close off the entrance from his bedroom and just this week we decided to leave him his personal bathroom. 

In between all of this hubby and I are giving my oldest bedroom a facelift. His room is going to be pretty cool I tell you but you’ll have to keep checking back to read about our plans for his bedroom 😉. 

Here are our mood boards for the entryway and powder room. 

Europe Babymoon: Barcelona

When I decided to make our Europe trip a two country trip I was very hesitant to book Barcelona. I didn’t know much about it. It didn’t seem that there were many places that hubby would enjoy visiting and honestly nothing seemed as interesting to me. However, I am so glad I took a leap of faith and booked it. Barcelona was amazing in its own way. We fell in love from the moment we landed. 

Our flight from Paris was from the Ory Airport and it was approximately 1.5 hours. This flight however was delayed almost five hours. We were schedule to flight out at 3pm and we didn’t leave till after 7pm. It was very frustrating spending all that time in the airport but the airline did provide food vouchers while we waited so that was nice. 

The airport in Barcelona was so easy to get through and the taxi system was so straightforward to utilize. Seriously that right there had me so happy because I know how it is in the Caribbean and Mexico and it is pure chaos. On that night there was a big soccer game, Barcelona vs Madrid and everything was pretty much shut down. Is funny because I contemplated getting tickets for this game as our big splurge for this part of the trip and boy am I glad I didn’t get those tickets. One of my concerns was in fact if we would have had a delay and we sure did so not getting those pricey tickets was the right decision.

We stayed at the Barcelona Hotel Colonial and it was beautiful. The location was great we were only about a fifteen minute walk from La Ramblas and we had many restaurants and eateries near by. There were bus stops a few steps away from the hotel as well as a train station. We didn’t utilized the train but the bus was easy to figure out. It also helped that we understood the language so I would just tell the driver upon entering where we were heading and if he would signal us when we should get off. For this to work you must stay closer to the front of the bus so that the driver don’t forget about you :). 

Attractions that we visited in Barcelona included:

Las Ramblas/Boqueria Market: This was hubby favorite place, more so the market. It was like having a child stroll through a huge candy store. I have to admit, so many food to try and the natural juices were so good! However due to my pregnant state at the time I didn’t dare to try everything he did. And the prices were very reasonable as well. 

Casa Batllo + Casa Mila (La Pedrera): We visited both of these location on the same day. I personally enjoyed Casa Mila the most as their audio tour was very informative and I was able to see the world through Gaudi’s eyes. It was an amazing experience and the sights from the very top were beautiful. I enjoyed our time in Casa Batllo but it was under construction and although very nice and different from the other site it didn’t give me the warm fuzzy feeling Casa Mila gave me. 

Gothic Quarter: Such an adorable area. We didn’t really venture deep into the gothic quarter but the little bit that we did see we loved. There were so many hidden gems. From restaurants to bar to shopping. Is easy to get lost as you’re wondering through but it feels so nice to walk through the narrow streets and take it all in. It was so different from what we are used to in the states. 

Sagrada Familia: My favorite attraction of the trip. Guys this is a must do. Must see. Must tour. It was so easy to get in, meaning there were no set backs or no issues. You have to pass through security and a checkpoint but as long as you are complying with their rules you shouldn’t have any issue getting in and the line moved pretty fast. I have no regrets. Except I should have gotten the tickets that gave us a tour of the top as well. 

Barceloneta Beach: We took several strolls on the beach but since we went in the spring time the weather was not beach weather. I think we had one good day where the temperature was in the high 70s but we were far from the beach for the day. 

We didn’t get to visit all the attractions on our itinerary because we decided to go at a slower pace this time around. I feel like Barcelona, or maybe even Spain as a whole, moves at a slower pace. The time seemed to somewhat drag a little and nothing ever felt rushed. It was a very weird feeling but much appreciated. We would always be back at our hotel by 6/7ish at night and we would just rest or go down to the lobby area. Then we would go out for a night stroll, late dinner, and pick up midnight snacks. I would always get hungry around 11pm which would be dinner time in the states so it made sense. 

Can I just say that Tapas in Spain are to die for! Gosh we ate so much and enjoyed everything we ordered. There was nothing we didn’t like. We tried pretty much all types of Paellas. And the simple things like bread with a tomato spread and olive oil was just so delicious. Hubby was loving all the seafood, especially in the market. We had a very nice breakfast one morning in the Gothic Quarter that was beyond amazing and we had a very late dinner at this hidden gem that although was the tiniest place their dishes were definitely gourmet. Honestly most of our budget was used up on food. We spent a lot less then expected in Paris so we had a lot more spending money here. One thing I would tell you is to compare prices on money changing places before doing so and better yet avoid it all together. We would use card card to pay for almost everything but it was pointless to pay for just a water or something small and that's where having local currency comes in. We changed the same amount at two different location and one beat us on “fees”.  When we tried changing our dollars the second time they literally took almost half of our American money after it was all finalized and there was nothing we could do about it. 

When we return to Barcelona I would love to make it to Park Guell and to the Montjuic Hill Attractions, specifically the magic fountain. I was hoping to see the sound and light show but that too was happening on the day that we arrived and we were not going to make it on time plus we weren’t up to the adventure late at night without knowing the area at all. 

Overall, this baby moon was a dream come true. A year later and I remember those moments so vividly and I am so thankful for the experience, specially with all of this Social Distancing. I look forward to planning our next trip, God willing with our boys, and visiting more of Europe.