Rob and I have lived together for longer than I can remember and this is our first headboard—is that weird? I always joke that you can get married and have kids but if you really want to be an adult, your bed needs a headboard. It was always kind of low on the list of priorities for us and often times felt like just one more thing we would eventually have to move.

After spending the last decade or more moving from rental to rental in several different states and towns, we knew that we finally wanted our bedroom to really feel like home. My goal was for it to feel like a luxurious hotel where all our stuff just happened to be.

The gold mirror is one of my favorite pieces—it had been in my parents’ house forever so when they moved out I made sure to grab it. Everything else is pretty much new, and I love the way everything goes together without being too matchy.

We have a guest room that now doubles as my office area and it was a last-minute decision of ours to paint it a dark emerald green—I absolutely love the way it turned out. There’s something really soothing about the deep color and we always get compliments on how nice it feels in here whenever we have people stay over.

That’s all for now! I have a few images from Rob’s office now that it’s done and then I think I’ll finally be finished showing you all around. We have a few weekends with friends planned soon and I always forget how much I love hosting people here.

This is one of my favorite recipes to make when I have a jar of empty peanut butter in my pantry—obviously you don’t need to wait for that as you could easily just spoon some into a mixing bowl to make the sauce, but there’s something so satisfying about using the empty jar to shake up the sauce and use every last bit of peanut butter (don’t tell Ender I’ve been doing this, he usually gets to go to town on the empty jars as a treat).

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon peanut butter (or whatever is left in an empty PB jar)

• 3-4 tablespoons warm water

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• A splash of rice vinegar

Remaining ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of ground pork (optional—you could also use shrimp, tofu, chicken, or just omit the protein entirely)

• 1-2 tablespoons cooking oil (I prefer avocado or vegetable oil for this)

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2-3 green onions, chopped

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• A drizzle of sriracha or sambal oelek (optional)

• A package of noodles, cooked according to package instructions (maybe a minute or two less so you can finish cooking in the pan with sauce)

• Half of a large cucumber, diced

• Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, add half of the green onions and garlic and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add ground pork and sauté until browned, about 5-6 minutes, stirring often. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and some of the hot sauce if you are using it.

2. While the pork cooks, prepare your noodles according to package instructions.

3. In a small bowl, combine ingredients for sauce and whisk until smooth.

4. Remove pork from pan and add the sauce. Transfer noodles to the pan and toss gently to combine.

5. To serve, top noodles with pork, diced cucumber, remaining green onion, and a wedge of lime.

Additional toppings that would be delicious are toasted peanuts, crispy shallots, and cilantro—enjoy!

Last week we celebrated Gideon’s first birthday. The past twelve months have flown by in the blink of an eye and I am still finding it hard to believe that one year ago, on a muggy May morning much like this one, we woke up early and headed to the hospital to welcome our son to the world.

He is the silliest, happiest, sweetest little guy and we are so happy he’s here.

Happy birthday, son. We love you so much.