Our Weekend & House Updates

Hey everyone!  Hope ya'll had a relaxing weekend!  We had two of our favorite little girls spend the night with us on Saturday and we had the best time.  Lauren and I don't have children yet, so this was a fun "trial run"!  Aren't they precious?!?  

We started the day on Saturday and went to the White Rock Local Market, got Starbucks, then took them to our bakery to make cupcakes "after hours"!  They thought that was super cool!  Later that night, we went to Studio Movie Grill and saw Turbo.  We loved it - I laughed throughout the whole thing - if you have kiddos, this is definitely one you will enjoy too :)

Tucker enjoyed all the extra attention too!

 I still managed to get some things done around the house on Sunday.  I decided to simplify the dining room a bit.  Here is how it looks currently...

I ended up moving our ikea shelf back into the kitchen...I love it, but it was just too modern and did not fit the dining room well...It's much cuter in the kitchen!

I decided to make a little coffee bar too!

Sorry for the iphone pic - but this gives you an idea of how it all looks...I can't wait to decorate this spot for Fall in a few short weeks!

 

AND...Today is our 3 year anniversary, so today is extra special!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

5 on Friday

Hey guys!  I am so excited it is the weekend!  I'm off today, so I am already enjoying my weekend.  Today for my first 5 on Friday roundup, I thought I would share 5 random things I am loving right now!

1.  The Royal Baby!  I was definitely on Royal Baby watch this week...could not get enough!  I love a good tradition, and loved watching them walk out of the hospital to introduce him to the world.  Such a cool moment!

2.  Fall Pins...can't stop myself!

3.  RoRo's Baking Company - new product launch!  Ya'll...our NEW Dinn-A-Rolls with Hatch Chiles & Cheese are amazing - they are the perfect match with a yummy Fall meal, football game appetizer, or party hors d'oeuvres.  We have rolled delicious Hatch Green Chiles with Cheddar & Monterrey Jack cheese up into our yummy rolls...so good!   We made over 9,000 rolls for our first order for Central Market - it was crazy!

This is me in our walk in freezer with all the rolls!  

4.  New Dining Room

I finished painting over the previous stenciled walls in our dining room and love the result!  I will do a full reveal once we add crown moulding and I finish all my touch ups!  But here is how it is looking now!

5.  I am anxiously awaiting the Fall return of my two favorite shows...Scandal & Nashville!  Are any of you fans of these?  I am obsessed!

Happy Weekend!!!

Living Room Update ~ Rug Wanted!

Hello everyone!  I think it's definitely time to update ya'll on our living room progress.  Although, since this picture has been taken - I have painted the dining room walls in urbane bronze by Sherwin Williams and am loving it!  Also - our couch sadly is not in as great shape - don't get a new couch with a puppy! I am loving the way this room is coming along - but it definitely needs a rug.  I will probably wait until the end of the year to actually get one when Tucker outgrows this stage a bit.

My two favorite places to look for rugs has been Rugs Usa & West Elm

Here are my top 3 choices:

This Jute Chenille Herringbone Rug from West Elm is definitely the front runner.  It is neutral, yet interesting, and I really think it would work great in this room in a 9x12 version...I would also love to have a matching one under our dining table!  It's definitely on my wish list!

This is another great rug - It's a Tuscan Moroccan Shag rug from Rugs USA.  If I didn't have two big dogs - this would be the front runner I think...but it would just not be practical in our home at this point in life.

Last, but not least, this is another Tuscan Moroccan Trellis Rug from Rugs USA that is really pretty and may work for this space.  The only thing I worry about is that it may be a little too busy - but maybe not!  I really love the way it looks - and gray may hide some of the dirt our dogs bring in.

What do you guys think??

Pottery Barn Bedding & Our Master Bedroom Ideas

I recently got the Pottery Barn Teen catalog that was featuring their new dorm line for this Fall.  I honestly was super impressed with all of the great dorm room decor!  It made me want to be a college freshman all over again..See what I mean...

I flipped through and was also super impressed with their selection of duvet covers.  I have been looking for one for our master bedroom forever...and have just used a plain white duvet insert in the mean time.  Our two dogs are constantly jumping on our bed and getting it all muddy...so off to the cleaners it went...and it's staying in a bag until we find a duvet cover!  Haha - do any of you have this problem with your dogs...it just never ends...

Moving on...We have a Queen bed, and our room is a huge work in progress...here is a recent shot...don't judge!

I ended up painting our room Martha Stewarts, Flagstone, and I really love it.  It does have a bit of a green tent at night...which I don't love...but it doesn't bother me enough to repaint it!  Thanks for all your feedback a while back in this post!

I have big plans for this room...but as with everything in our home...it is a work in progress!  That bench below the bed is no longer there - but it will be recovered and probably put back in here

The dresser below is going to be given to my cousin, and it will be replaced with a beautiful white dresser from my late grandmother.  I think it is really special that this will be a part of our room.  It is long and narrow, and I plan to hang two mirrors above it and add a pair of lamps.

I painted these 4 knobs gold about 5 months ago...just keeping it real :)  Must finish that soon!

We will also be getting rid of the sleigh bed, and making an upholstered linen tall & dramatic headboard ourselves - which I think will look really cool!   Will also be hanging curtain panels on all windows at some point!

But...the point of this post was to share the super cute queen duvet covers from Pottery Barn Teen!  We have a queen bed, and these are all very reasonably priced..almost all are around $80...which is actually really great for PB!

Here are some that I would love to mix in with some simple white sheets and monogramed euro shams..

Aren't they so great?!?  All of these come in different colors too!  These are only a few that I am looking at, but they really do have so many great options to choose from!

Hope ya'll have had a great day!

Dream Living Room + My Favorite Nightly Ritual

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  

I have been in such a nesting mode ever since we moved into our house.  I feel like I am constantly thinking of new things to do, re-arranging our furniture, painting rooms, and dreaming up ways to make our house feel like our home.  I love reading my fav blogs, and have been way more into Pinterest lately.

I put together this little board for a living room that I would love to create in our home someday.  It is calm, pretty, and neutral.  Definitely a space where I could cozy up and do what has become my favorite nightly ritual:

1.  Have a glass of wine or hot tea

2.  Pin on Pinterest 

3.  Watch Real Housewives of NJ, OC, NY, or BevHills

Does anyone else look forward to this part of the day as much as I do??

Have a wonderful day!

The 411

Hooray for Friday!  We have a busy weekend planned...we are going out with our best friends tonight (more details on that on Monday!)...finishing up the LAST of the 9,720 rolls we are making for a mega order...then going to some dear family friends house Saturday night for dinner.  

Today, I wanted to give you a little backstory of how we started RoRo's Baking Company.  For anyone out there who may be thinking about jumping in and starting your own business, I hope this helps you in some small way.  I also want to document my journey so I can remember all the little details as I look back over the years.

Here is our story:

RoRo's Baking Company is a family owned and operated Dallas-based company, specializing in delicious handmade rolls. Our Grandmother, better known as "RoRo", began baking her rolls many years ago in her kitchen, and sold them around the community. People went crazy over her Cinn-A-Rolls and Dinn-A-Rolls! Like we mean...REALLY CRAZY! So, we figured, why not share the love with everyone!

In November 2010, Amy Collins & her husband Lauren started brainstorming how they would start a company selling RoRo's Cinnamon Rolls.  Growing up, we always had RoRo's Cinn-A-Rolls on Christmas morning.  It became a tradition in my family that I wanted to not only continue forever, but share with other families as well.

After discussing our idea with RoRo and our late grandfather, we decidded to launch the company.  We spent several months creating a business plan, tweaking her original recipe a bit to ensure that we use only natural ingredients, finding a commercial kitchen to bake in, designing a logo, and so on.

April 2011 was the offical launch of our business with our Cinn-A-Rolls on store shelves.  Since then it has been a whirlwind!  We have moved into bigger stores, renovated a warehouse into a commercial baking facility of our own, and launched several new products.

We handmake each roll and bake them to perfection in our Dallas facility.  All of our products are sold fully cooked and frozen...you simply have to heat them up to enjoy.  We strive to use only the best natural ingredients while preserving RoRo's delicious recipes, and we love that our products bring so much joy to our customers.

 They represent family, tradition, and love.

Our mission is to bring back those memories of Grandma's hot, yummy rolls to your busy life. Take a minute, enjoy the simple things in life, and bring a little bit of RoRo into your kitchen. Enjoy!

So, that is how it started.  To say it was easy would be a complete lie...starting a business is just plain hard sometimes.  But, it is also completely rewarding.  As you can tell with my love for family traditions, all things Fall, & Holiday...this business really is a good fit for me.  

RoRo's rolls are nostalgic and bring back special family memories to me that I will cherish forever.  

Don't get me wrong...working with your feisty Italian Grandmother can be challenging at times...but at the end of the day...I feel lucky to have such a special story that we are creating together.  

She is definitely one of the hardest working 75 year old's you'll ever meet!

Happy Weekend!!

Updates Around Our House + Other Randoms

Hey guys!  Hope everyone is having a great Thursday.... I am taking it slow today...we have spent the last two weeks working on a huge order for one of our retailers...it's top secret right now...but details will be out shortly about it!  If you have instagram, I would love for you to follow me!  I think it has become my favorite social media tool....I love posting what goes on in our house, life...and most importantly my fur babies...Finnley & Tucker.  Speaking of - Tucker is 1 now ya'll!  Can you believe we made it a full year with a WEIMARANER!?!

Yes, this is Tucker...she's high energy, super snuggly, very smart, and always one step behind me.  She has become a part of our family over the last year too.  It was a rocky start...did I tell you she was a Weimaraner?? :)  If you are new to the breed, you certainly will be worn out by some of their quirks!  But, she has settled down a bit and has made herself welcome in our little home...if you couldn't tell by the picture above :)

I'm sure you all have seen the Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze craze that has transformed amazing spaces over at Emily's house & Megan's kitchen.  Well it has made it's way into our home too!  I can't wait to do a final reveal as soon as I finish...but here is a sneak peak!  

It used to be a stenciled pattern that I loved for about a year - but it just got a little too trendy for me, and I wanted something a little more classic.  I'd also like to bring in more black and a little less blue to our dining/living area.  To refresh your memory, here is the before right after we moved in last year...

I've also added this amazing lamp from my late grandmother, GB.  She passed away last month and she has some amazing pieces that were passed down to me.  She used to shop at garage sals and estate sales every single weekend...and she honestly has some of the most amazing treasures!  Here are a few items from her:

To say that I'm obsessed with this gold and black pineapple lamp would be an understatement...

This watercolor painting hung in my grandmother's hallway for years.  It is truly beautiful and I love that I will always think of her when I see it.

I am in love with this little lady...Lauren think's she's kind of creepy - but it is such an amazing piece.  She's perched on the wall in our living room looking so nice!

I decided to paint the handles of our entertainment center gold...and it made such a big difference in my opinion.  It's the little changes that get me the most excited I think.

Here is our cozy home today.  

To Do List:

1.  Finish painting dining room

2.  Finish painting entry way chest (it's halfway done...that's my style)

3.  Pick up drapes from cleaners and re-hang

4.  Purchase area rug (LOVE this one)

5.  Recover high back chairs in either a oatmeal linen or light gray linen fabric.

That's all for now!  Tomorrow, I will share some history on how and why I started my company & what I'm most looking forward to this FALL!  

Is it horrible that July isn't even over and all I keep thinking about is Pumpkins?!?

Hello - I am Officially Back!

Hello everyone!  I have missed blogging so much!  I have been super busy with life and our business.  To be honest - I felt like blogging all the time about things unrelated to our company was taking me away from some of the growth that needed to happen.  I have decided to continue blogging...however the focus of this blog will change a bit.  As I have grown over the last few years, I have seen how my interests in life have evolved over the last few years.  I find myself drawn to reading about other entrepreneurs like myself, my love for interiors, baking, and healthy living.  So, I have decided to link this blog through our company website and use it as a tool to not only share about my life, what I love, and things I am up to...but also a tool to grow our brand, and show you what really goes on behind the scenes of a small business.  I hope that this change will be embraced and encourage some of you out there who are thinking about taking a leap into a new path in life.  I know for me it was extremely scary, and I had a million questions.  So, yes, you will still get updates on home decor, food, and our life as well...but I want this space to be a fresh approach to owning a business in your 20's as well and help anyone out there that is thinking about going down this path.  Life is pretty exciting right now, and I would love for ya'll to follow along as I document it!  This will not be a "Business" blog by any means...but it will be a lifestyle blog that will cover my life and the journey we are on as family.

I think I will start doing a weekly "Small Business" roundup that will include some updates from our company as well my thoughts on the process as a whole...wherever we may be in the journey.  I will also definitely be posting updates on our home, things that inspire me, and my puppies! :)

Thanks for following along, and I would love for you to keep reading as I figure out the direction of this little blog that I have grown to love so much!

I'll leave you with this:

A great idea is worth exploring.  Talk to your friends and family and seek their opinions and advice.  Don't feel like you don't know enough or have what it takes to start a company if you truly are drawn to do that.  It can seem extremely daunting and overwhelming in the beginning, and you will work harder than you've ever worked in your entire life.  I can remember working the night shift as a nurse and going straight into a 7 hour baking day as soon as I got home simply because that was the only time we could do it...if you love it, it' worth it.  Don't get defeated, you will fail many times before you succeed. Trust me, I've been there, and if you stick with it, it does get better :)

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