Design Sponge House Tour

So, something amazing happened. Sort of a dream come true, really. Last week our house was featured on Design*Sponge and we collectively lost our minds. Like everyone else, we've been following D*S for YEARS and have fallen in love with the blog's house tours and essays. We were so flattered when they agreed to feature our house and tell a little bit about our family's history with it!

Now that the tour is up, we will be updating the house tour page on our blog to reflect our current home, but the other one will still be available to tour as well. We also plan to do a YouTube tour pretty soon, we just have to wait for a pretty day and sadly, we're pretty short on those lately.

Thank you Garrett at Design*Sponge and for our photographer Golden who helped put this together with us! Y'all can click here to see some before and afters and read a little bit about the back story with our house on Design*Sponge!

You've Been Asking About Our New Hot Tub

Ever since we posted that we got an inflatable hot tub on Instagram, you have been asking what we think of it and whether we like it or not. Well, we've had it for almost a week and we have to say, we LOVE it!

It was super easy to install and set up and also really affordable. Our main thing with ordering an inflatable hot tub as opposed to a regular one is that we weren't sure we wanted to make that big of a commitment/investment just yet. It's our first one, so we wanted to make sure we loved it before purchasing a more expensive/permanent one.

Now that we have it, though, we don't think we'll be getting a real one any time soon. We like how portable this one is, how easy it is to set up, and how affordable it is for what it does. And to answer your question, it does just what you would expect a hot tub to do. The bubbles are strong and produce a good amount, too. The water gets up to the standard 104 degrees fahrenheit, so it's nice and toasty. 

It says you can fit between 4-6 people, though we're betting if you're an adult, the most you'll get in there comfortably is 4. Still, it's perfect for how convenient it is, especially if you're not ready to commit to a full blown hot tub yet.

In short, we have loved using it every night and highly recommend one. We think you'll love it, too! Click here to get one and let us know what you think about it! 

(This post is not sponsored, just our honest opinion of a product we love.) 

Maybe We Were On To Something...

 

We were browsing A Cup of Jo today and saw where she proclaimed that 2018 was the year of the French bread pizza! She actually linked it from an article written by The Kitchn that you can read here, but still, how crazy is that?! We were just talking about how we made it the other night and gave the (extremely easy and fast) recipe that’s sooooo good. Did we mention it’s easy? 

Maybe a lot of people are writing blogs about how they made French bread pizzas too? How do they know it’s the year of French bread pizzas? Actually, how does one go about declaring that 2018 is the year of anything, really? Regardless, maybe we really were on to something the other night! 

Feature Friday with Michael Garcia

Happy Friday y'all! How was your week? What do you have planned this weekend? We're continuing our search for a car for Thomas today, and cleaning the rest of the weekend. We may POSSIBLY be going to Atlanta tomorrow for the March for Our Lives, but we have to make sure we get everything done that we need to!

This week's FF discusses dealing with criticism and why it doesn't affect him, his favorite some at the moment (YES Chris Stapleton), and how you can create your own family who love and accept you for you. We loved reading his responses and going through his pictures and we think you will, too. Take a look below...

Where are you from? Denver, Colorado 

Where do you live? I live in Denver Colorado but I will be moving to California in September! Yay! 

What’s your Instagram handle? @__MichaelGarcia 

Age: 21 

Relationship Status: Single. I’m a romantic person and I believe in love and I won’t settle for something that is there to pass the time. I think if a relationship comes I’m not oppose to it but I’m also not looking. I’m focused on my career and building a future for myself. 

What is your favorite place you have ever travelled to and why? New York City because it is such a magical place. The environment and energy is amazing! I remember first going there and it was just a whole new world! There was so many different types of people and everyone was so accepting and happy! 

Who is your favorite artist at the moment? Cardi B is my favorite! I listening to a variety of music, from country to rap! Haha 

Favorite song? Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton

What is your proudest accomplishment? Proving the haters wrong! The best revenge is success. I would get bullied most of my childhood/teenage years and having those people that said I would never amount to anything see me succeed is the best feeling because I’m able to say you didn’t break me and look how far I have got in life and you’re still stuck in the same place. 

How would you describe your home décor style? Modern very simple. I love white with accent colors! 

What is something you wish you would’ve known when you were younger? I wish I would’ve known that God is Love. I believed for a long time that God didn’t love me because I was gay. Luckily I made friends with one of my best friends now who taught me that God is love and now I know that I can have faith and trust in God and myself! 

What is one thing still left on your bucket list? Going to visit the Eiffel Tower because it’s such a romantic place. Well I heard it was. Lol

How old were you when you came out and what was your experience like? I was 14 years old and it was a pretty traumatic experience. My family wasn’t accepting. It was hard to deal with that at such a young age. 

What did you learn about yourself in the coming out process? I learned to love and take care of myself and you are who you surround yourself with. Although my family wasn’t accepting I learned that I can create my own family. Family isn’t blood but it’s the people who love you for you. 

Have you faced any backlash or criticism since coming out? I have. As I share my story and make it more known I constantly get hate or criticized. But I think there will always be people out there to try and tear you down. I personally don’t let it affect me. In the past it would. I would think to myself why are they saying that? Why did they make up this rumor? Why aren’t they accepting. But I live my life for me no one else. I love myself and I’m proud of who I am. :)  

Who is your biggest inspiration and why? I have two people that inspire me everyday. 

My best friend Olivia. She is super women! She taught me to not only love myself but to love others. She taught me what family really meant and I can never repay her for that.

Also Shane. He has been such an inspiration to me and teaching me to love myself and embrace my story instead of being embarrassed by it.

We’re Obsessed with the Style From “Call Me By Your Name”

Have you seen Call Me By Your Name? The film was nominated for 4 Oscars this year, including Best Picture, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay, though, we think it should have won in another category, too: Best Costume Design.

Even though it's still getting down to the 30's here on some days, we're daydreaming about warmer weather when we can wear the Oxfords, Polo's, and shorts like Elio and Oliver do. The film is set in 1983 but the style still seems classic and very doable today. It's all about short shorts, over-sized short sleeve button downs, and some slip-on boat shoes. Since Spring starts tomorrow, it seems like the perfect time to get our wardrobe together for the next couple of months.

Below, we've rounded up some items YOU can wear this summer to achieve the CMBYN look, too:

(above photo via here)

Feature Friday with Erik Markewich

Happy Friday! How has your week been? We've been adjusting to Thomas going part time and being home more and we gotta say, we're absolutely loving it. Thank you for the well wishes regarding Thomas' wreck. He's doing fine, but his car isn't, so we are looking for a new car as we speak!

We took a couple of months off from Feature Friday but FINALLY we are back with a brand new feature and we are so excited to share it with you. Erik talks about the moment he came out to his parents, what he's learned about himself from coming out, and facing your fears head on. Get to know Erik a little more below...

Where are you from? Brandon Manitoba, Canada

Where do you live? Toronto Ontario, Canada

What’s your Instagram handle? @erikmarkewich

Age: 25

Relationship Status: Single… and slowly coming to terms with it. I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it's sometimes a hard thing to come to terms with.

What is your favorite place you have ever travelled to and why? I started overthinking this way too much, thinking I needed to choose a place like Barcelona, Dubai, or Shanghai (I worked on a cruise ship for 7 months) but then I stopped to think: what is the one place that makes my heart beat like none other? It’s easy. NEW YORK CITY. People ask me why, why do I love it so much? It's not a simple one word answer. I could say it's because of my passion and love for theatre, and yes that has a huge part of it, but something happens to me the minute I step foot into NYC. The passion and love that city has in it is like none other. I have visited many times; for long and short periods, and it's now my favourite place to bring friends and family as I believe it's the one place I can truly be myself. I have always said my heart lives in New York, I am just trying to find a way to go and find it.

Who is your favorite artist at the moment? Favorite song? I am such a late comer, I know, but I was just recently introduced to Troye Sivan and I literally cannot stop listening. So at this moment in time Troye is at the top of my most played on my iTunes list (Beyonce you will always be number 1 in my heart).

Something about Troye's style and his openness in all of his songs is so powerful, especially coming from a young gay man. The acoustic version of “Youth” is my go to on my commute to and from work. I connect so much with the truth behind it and I truly feel it hits ‘love’ directly on the head. As a huge lover of love, I find it refreshing to hear a song that just says it like it is.

What is your proudest accomplishment? I think I would have to say when I got hired for my first professional musical theatre show (which was CATS) at Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg, Mantioba. I started dancing at the age of 9, and as you will read a little farther down, it wasn’t easy for me being a male dancer in such a small city, but I never once thought of quitting. I loved it so much. I loved the dedication of the art form, the energy and adrenaline of being on stage. I felt like I was on top of the world whenever I danced. So to work for so many hours and days, to have it finally pay off to book my first professional show, and that show being CATS, was a huge accomplishment for me. Also to be working in a theatre that I grew up going to as a child, and wishing and wanting one day to be on that stage, was a surreal moment for me. I have now gone on to work in 14 professional shows and my heart still tells me never to give up.

How would you describe your home décor style?  As a musical theatre performer who travels constantly for work, I long for the day that I can finally call a place home. Currently I am subletting and kind of living out of a suitcase here in Toronto, so my home decor style (at the moment) is either my 3 piece luggage set, or whatever is in my storage locker haha. That being said, I daydream about what my place will look like. It will be clean and modern. I am a big fan of midcentury stylings, and I believe every home should have touches of yourself in it, so I will find a way to bring my love for theatre and film into my home with art.

What is something you wish you would’ve known when you were younger? I know that this may be cliche or sound like a broken record, but the thing my younger self needed to hear was “it gets better”. These three words were circulating at the time of my grade 12 year in high school. Just as I was coming out, the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign was also starting. But at that adolescent time, I didn’t believe it. I am a hands-on person, I needed to know for myself that it was going to be okay. So looking back on those younger years and those feelings of doubt, shame, and fear I had, I wish older me could show a quick 30 second video of how great life is going to be in the years to come. Obviously I am young, and have so many amazing things to come, but I am also so very proud at where I stand today. [I think] that 17 year old me would smile through the pain knowing that only good things, and good people, are on there way!

What is one thing still left on your bucket list? This may come to a surprise to my close family and friends, but one thing I have always wanted is a tattoo. The reason why I don't have one yet is because I don't know what I would get. I believe permanently placing something on your body should have a good reason behind it. So, I will wait until that day comes and when something happens or hits me and says, “place me on your body in writing so you can remember this moment always.”

How old were you when you came out and what was your experience like? I was 17 and living in Brandon, Manitoba, which has a population of 50k. Small town prairie vibes and I was a male dancer. They weren't the easiest teenage years for me, but I was not gonna give up my passion of dance just because it was not the normal thing a guy should do. My coming out experience was beautiful though, and still means a lot to me to this day. I had told a few close friends prior to telling my family, but it was the day I told my parents that I believe I faced the fear that comes with coming out, and it couldn't have been a more life changing moment for me. When people ask me how I knew the moment was right, I say that I really didn’t, it came to me out of no where. I picked myself up, wrapped myself in my childhood blanket, and walked downstairs to my parents sitting in the living room and said I needed to tell them something. It was at that moment when I faced them and said the words “I’m gay”. We talked and cried and laughed for about an hour, hearing stories from them about friends they had that were gay, and how much they love me, and want nothing but the best for me. It was because of my parents that being able to say that I am gay became so easy, because I realized that I am surrounded by so many people that love me for ME, and my sexual orientation doesn't matter, as it doesn't change who I am, just who I love.

What did you learn about yourself in the coming out process? Everything. Simple as that. If I didn’t come out as a gay man, strong and proud, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I would be living in fear, back in that closet, wanting and wishing for so much more. I have learned that facing fears can be one of the most rewarding things you can do. It opens so many new doors that you may not have been able to open without looking that fear in the face and concurring it. There are so many people out there that let a fear stand in the way of doing something they’ve always wanted to do, or completely changing their life for the better. I have realized that in order to live and learn, you are going to make mistakes along the way. You are going to be faced with fears and doubts, but facing those fears has truly made me the happiest I have been in my life. I admire those fearless and risk-taking people.

Have you faced any backlash or criticism since coming out? I believe that in some sense, everyone who comes out will face backlash or criticism. For me, I didn’t really face any head-on. I was lucky. I was bullied behind my back in high school, but I had a group of friends that I stuck close with and they helped me through those 4 years. Then after coming out, I moved from small town Brandon, to big city Toronto. It was then I realized I could be whoever I wanted to be. Living in a big city, with so many people living their own lives, being too busy to care about your own, was a huge help for me to truly find myself and be me. Working in the musical theatre industry also allowed me to be with like-minded people, and obviously with more gay people than in any other industry haha. In that business, I am critiqued daily on my eye color, my height, my body type, and so on. I have had to grow a thick skin, so when it comes down to being criticized for being gay, I simply brush it off and keep moving forward. I know that some people don't support me being gay, and that's fine. That is their view. But those people are not a part of my life. The ones that I call friends and family are my true loves, and love me for who I am!

Who is your biggest inspiration and why? My parents. It would be silly for me not to choose them. As I said before, I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. From them driving me to and from dance class, all of my school play rehearsals, the amount of money they put into my training, and dealing with the annoying teenager I must have been. On top of it all, they have been and always will be my biggest fans. They have not missed one performance of mine. They are the ones that always pushed me to keep going, to never give up, and to follow my dreams. So yeah, they are my biggest inspiration. The love they show for their 3 children is beyond words, and the amount they have given to us, I could never thank them enough. It wasn’t until this year and becoming an uncle for the first time, that it showed me what a beautiful thing having a child is. I look forward to the day I have my own child, and I can raise them the way my parents did to me. With the love and support, to the moon and back.

Wrecked

Well. It officially happened. 

This morning on the way to work, Thomas was involved in a four car accident that totaled his car. He's made it his whole life without being in an accident but his luck finally ran out. Thankfully, no one was hurt and everyone was super cooperative, but his car is pretty bad. We're counting our blessings today and thanking God that it wasn't a lot worse than it was. 

The bright side? Time to shop for a new car!

Are You Watching Queer Eye?

Ever since we finished Shameless, we have been fixated with another show on Netflix. The new Queer Eye reboot is SO GOOD and has a completely different feel from the original. This isn't your mother's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (assuming she watched it?).

This time, they don't just focus on making over straight guys. They feature gay men AND straight men who want to change their lives for the better. Maybe they're stuck in a rut they can't get out of or struggling to come to terms with themselves. Every episode we laugh until we cry, then we actually cry. 

Each member of the Fab Five specialize in their own area of expertise (grooming, culture, clothes, food, and design) and each bring something fun and unique to the table. Our favorite? Jonathan, who focuses on grooming. He's hilarious and says the most ridiculous yet relatable things you've ever heard. The show is worth watching just for him alone, but you come away with a valuable and meaningful lesson after every episode. We can't get enough and can't wait for season 2 already! 

If you haven't watched it yet, we highly recommend checking it out!

(picture via here)

New YouTube!

How was your weekend? We spent the weekend relaxing, shopping, and FINALLY hanging some blinds in our dining room after almost a year with no privacy. It feels good to cross things off your list doesn't it?

Last weekend we went out to our new land and took the big dogs with us and they had a blast. Thomas also got a haircut and surprised PJ with it. See all of that plus PJ's reaction in our newest YouTube video above! And then click here if you want to subscribe! 

French Bread Pizza

We made homemade pizza the other night at our Oscars party and had all of the ingredients left over, except the pizza dough. When we got home last night, we didn't feel like going out to get more dough, so we improvised. What we did have was French bread! So we made French bread pizzas and they were delicious, quick, and easy to make! Here's what we did:

Ingredients 

• Half a loaf of bread (we used French but Italian will do, too)
• Melted butter (however much you want!)
• Minced garlic (1 clove)
• Tomato sauce (we made our own, and here's a similar recipe for that)
• Grated mozzarella (we used a full 8 oz bag) 
• Pepperoni (as many as you'd like!)
• Basil (2 tablespoons)
• Red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
• Cut the loaf right down the middle, and then split that in half (as seen in pic above)
• Place bread on cooking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 mins
• Mince the garlic and melt the butter, then combine the two for a little spread
• Take the bread out of the oven and spread the butter/garlic mixture on top of it
• Spread your pizza sauce over the top of it, add as much cheese as you want, add as many pepperonis as you want, and then add a little more cheese
• Bake for 10 mins or until cheese is golden brown & melted
• Top with basil and red pepper flakes
• Enjoy!

Oscars Party 2018

Every year we have a little Oscar party and this year we had it at our house, since it’s the first year we’re living here. If you’ve been following along with us for a bit, you’re probably noticing a trend that we’re having all of the major holidays and events at our house. That will probably wear off by the end of the year, but it’s fun to celebrate new memories in a place that’s filled with so many great old ones.

Thomas’ mom and his brother’s girlfriend Mariah got started in the kitchen, and PJ joined in after that. We made bacon wrapped asparagus and three different kinds of homemade pizza: pepperoni, pesto, and magerita. They were all great but the white garlic pesto sauce was probably the overall favorite.

We have been wanting to make homemade pizza for, no joke, at least 5 years. There's always been something holding us back though but we finally did it and it was seriously good. Like, really good. We got the dough at Publix for $2.79 a piece so it was pretty affordable too. We know what we're making this Friday for dinner :)

We had a few people over so we busted out these markers that you can write your names on wine glasses with and they just wash off under water. How cool are they? 

Did you watch the Oscars this year? We saw 3 out of the 9 best picture nominees so we felt like we were missing out. Apparently they were the least watched show in modern history, so maybe we weren’t the only ones feeling left out? We spent most of the night pigging out and laughing anyway, and the show was sort of on in the background. However, The Shape of Water is at the top of our list now after it won Best Picture. We'll let you know what we think!

Letters

We can't tell you how elated we are every time we receive a letter from y'all in our PO Box. We love learning about you; your life, your struggles, your triumphs, your past. That you feel comfortable enough to share all of that with us makes us so grateful for social media. The fact we can all connect to each other from all over the world (we received letters from Australia and Tanzania!) can make everyone not feel so alone, you know? We went to the post office today to find our PO Box so full! Some of these letters brought us to tears, but all of them put a smile on our faces.

We spent Saturday night responding to them and can we just say how wonderful it is to send and receive snail mail these days? It's like a special treat that you only get to have once in awhile and when you do get it, man it makes your day. It takes so much longer than sending an Instagram message, text message, or even an email, which makes it all the more special, knowing that someone spent their time writing to you, and trusting you enough to share bits of their life.

If you would like to say hey, our address is PO Box 939 Cleveland, TN 37364. And if you haven't written anybody in a while, you should give it a try! Go on, we guarantee it will make their day.

xx

Friday Night Lights

We finally had a beautiful day today, all day! It’s been so miserable here all week, though not as bad as they’re getting it up north, but still pretty rainy and dreary. It’s like a horrible fog was lifted today and we were left with the most beautiful winter light bouncing all around us. 

We had a quiet Friday night which was so refreshing because we had absolutely nothing to do. PJ cleaned up around the outside and cut some rosemary to put in a vase and Thomas folded some clothes. And we can’t tell you how thankful we were for a sunny, calm Friday night. 

After that, we headed out to dinner downtown to this new burger place called Stack that we've been meaning to try out. We actually have a real burger joint now and it was packed! It's so nice to see more and more people coming downtown. There's a coffee shop opening this spring right around the corner that we're excited to try out, too. Exciting times, y'all!

We stopped by Thomas' mom's house and chatted with her for a little bit and planned our little Oscar party for Sunday night. We're going to make homemade pizza for the first time! We've been talking about making pizza for years now as a fun thing to do on a weekend but for some reason we've never gotten around to it. We do a little Oscar party every year with the family and a few friends. Do you do anything for the Oscars? We have ballots and everything haha.

Doesn't it feel nice to not have any plans? To be able to do whatever you want on your own terms and not have to commit to anything? We're feeling grateful for nights like those and for spending Friday night at home with the winter light all around us.