'Round Here...

Let's just pretend for a moment that you were planning to come to our great nation's capital... and you thought "wait justoneminute, Kara lives there and loves out of town (or any, for that matter) visitors" (let's just say).

So far, so good (I'm already thinking about what we will do and more importantly, eat, while you are here - when are you coming, by the way?)...

For your stay, I'm particularly excited about breakfast (we can talk later about the rest of our meals - maybe we'll hit our favorite Mexican spot for dinner??), after all, it is the most important meal of the day! The truth of the matter is I haven't gotten much farther in my meal planning than this coffee cake - it's that good, stopped me cold in my tracks.

Yes, this is for certain; we'll munch on Nicole's Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake with a delicious cup of freshly-brewed coffee. And the best part of it all... coffee cake = tasty goodness with a delicious, crunchy topping that you are allowed (dare I say 'encouraged'?) to eat for breakfast without feeling the slightest bit guilty!!

I hope we'll be able to restrain ourselves before your arrival; but... if, uh, we haven't, you now have the recipe to make when you get home and we'll share something savory instead.

Oh... pardon my manners - you would like to know where you'll sleep while you're here? I'm perfectly willing to share but only if you'll agree to help me.

Let's start with your bathroom - it's just at the top of the stairs. You'll find all the regular amenities... and from this vantage point, it's not so bad.

There are extra towels, rolls of toilet paper, and some fragrant lotions awaiting your arrival (me too!). And a whimsical cutesy valance!

From this side, though, the shower curtain's holding its own - but it needs a complementary friend in the bath mat. The current one was left over from my all blue and white bathroom in a previous life. Any ideas?

Next door you'll find a place to rest your head, and honestly, that's about all it is. If these blank, white walls don't scream help to you... well, you should clean your ears.

One reason I can stomach the purple duvet (besides the fact that it was free) is that it worked really well with some great enlarged pictures of Scandinavia that Christy and I took.

But, you can add this floor to the already long list of rooms needing an area rug.

I promise that that little painting above really feels much more "to scale" in the room than it looks in the picture... really.

And while I do feel like we've done a pretty darn good job with a room that used to be a lime green (admittedly a very cute little boy's room) along with using all hand-me-downs... there's got to be something that can be done!

I think this room is just begging for one or two more things (an accent pillow on the bed, something else on the walls or that aforementioned area rug?) to finish the look. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

I've said it before, I'm no interior decorator - just trying to do the best with what we've got... and what we've got is a lot of different styles thrown together (shhh... don't tell but that's become 'my' style!).

So will you still come and visit? I promise to (try and) make up for the less-than-homey guest room with tons and tons (and tons) of food (some of it might even be good).