Why Charcoal + Chocolate?

So, why Charcoal + Chocolate you ask? Well, there are a few reasons for the new name of my blog. When I started this blog for Sarah Fina Designs I created it to share some of the design work and projects I was working on. Over time, the blog turned into a place where I share design work (not nearly enough, but I'm working on it) but also where I shared tidbits of everyday life. The blog was previously named Sarah Fina Designs but my content wasn't just about designs. Charcoal + Chocolate represents it all now!

If you know me personally it might be easy to guess one inspirational source for the name Charcoal + Chocolate which is Sampson, our cat and Ponzo, our dog. They are unique in their sold charcoal and chocolate colors.



Sampson (A.K.A. Sam, Andre 3000, Smokey) Ponzo (A.K.A. Ponz, Ponzu Sauce, Ponz-man)

A second inspirational source is two of my favorite rooms in our house painted in charcoal and chocolate. We thought we were taking a big risk by painting these rooms such strong colors but have been extremely happy with the outcome. Our house had a beige living room and a bright red dining room but we love our charcoal and chocolate rooms much better. Check out little smokey in the corner!


Charcoal paint in the living room. Chocolate paint in the dining room.

Charcoal + Chocolate is also represented in quite a few of my most recent designs. The colors fit in many modern and elegant designs I have been working on lately. Here are a few examples.


CharcoalThe main color used in Gino's Promo Landscape and Design Logo. Chocolate A bride's Thank You Card after the wedding. 

I was talking to Gino about my new blog name and he also came up with one more meaning behind Charcoal + Chocolate. Remember what your parents would tell you as a kid if you were bad around Christmas time? They would say that Santa was going to fill your stocking with coal. Because this blog is sometimes about our everyday life, it represents the idea that sometimes life gives you charcoal but other times life gives you sweet chocolate. The only way to navigate through it is to take the charcoal and chocolate together as it comes and try to make the best of it. The funny thing is that I don't even like chocolate, just ask all my friends ;0)! Oh well, it works for the metaphor.

Introducing Charcoal + Chocolate

I have been wanting to re-design my blog for a while now and just started to get around to it! It's still a work in progress, but come check it out. I am still adding posts to the menu bar tabs and working on a few other things, but for the most part I am pretty happy with the new look and feel. I have grown a lot since I started Sarah Fina Designs in 2009 as a person and as a designer and I think my style has evolved a little.

In all honesty, I have been stalling with posting lately because I intended on switching my blog over to wordperss.org with a custom URL. I set things up and tried to get started but it was so much easier and a lot faster for me to update my Blogger site instead of learn and master all the Wordpress codes, widgets, and tools. I have plans to re-design my Web site, my husbands Web site, and eventually my blog site but for now, I will stay here in my cozy and comfortable Blogger home.

You might have noticed the title of my blog is now Charcoal and Chocolate. I will introduce where the name Charcoal + Chocolate comes from tomorrow but the url and subscriptions to this blog will stay the same under sarahfinadesigns.blogspot.

Speaking of subscriptions, thank you to all of my readers out there whoever you are! I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy days to check out what's happening in my world. If you are a subscribe, the changes in the blog appearance won't effect your subscription. If you aren't a subscriber yet, there are three easy way's to subscribe.

1) Reader (I use Google Reader for all of my blog subscriptions)
2) RSS Feed
3) Email

With that, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. If you have questions about the blog design or need help customizing your blog, email me and we can chat.

Luke 8 Months

Luke turned 8 months old on January 16th. He is getting so big that I had to switch the onesie in the photo to a bigger long sleeve onesie! Here are a few updates.
Eating
We have been trying all kinds of different foods along with rice cereal consistently since 6 months. In the beginning he like the rice cereal but gagged a lot on all the baby food I made for him. I tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, avocados, bananas, bananas and blackberries, apples, peas, carrots, and probably some more but he would gag so much the first few months of trying food. Now that he is 8 months old, these foods are going down a lot better and I keep trying to introduce different and new fruits and vegetables. We have done a little chicken but for the most part make fruits and veggies. He's getting there.
Crawling/Standing
Luke had his army crawl down to a science and can go really fast! He doesn't actually crawl on his hands and knees but will rock back and forth on his knees while propped up on his hands. He has literally just started standing and pulling up on things within the past week. Yesterday during his nap, I had the door cracked opened and looking into his room. To my surprise I see our baby standing all the way up holding on to the side of the crib! Not to worry, that crib was lowered to it's lowest setting last night but it's crazy how things change within just a few days.
Sounds
Luke makes all kinds of cute sounds. He still is a little stingy with his laughs and giggles but makes the "ma ma" and "da da" sound a lot. When he is crying or crawling around looking for me he often says "ma ma" but we aren't 100% convinced it is intentional.
Luke is a very sweet and smiley baby. He smiles at strangers behind my back and has a lot of friends at daycare. It's so nice having a smiley baby because no matter what we do, we can easily make him light up and that makes me light up!

Luke 7 Months

Gosh how time fly’s when you are having fun! Our little boy is almost 8 months old. The photo is from 7 months, it has just taken me a while to post it. He is really developing his personality now and is becoming so sweet, smiley, and fun. He is scooting all around the house and likes to stand up with our help. He smiles at everyone, everywhere we go. If I had to guess, I think he will have a lot of his Dad’s outgoing personality traits, we shall see. I am beginning to see an open mouth smile trend, how cute. He started a new daycare today at a center we were on a waiting list for. I really like the preschool structure of this new school so we are happy to be here for the long run. So far the teachers have been really nice and it sounds like he had a good first day!

Happy Monday to you all.


P.S - His eyes are still brown.

Merry Christmas

I've missed you all and my sweet little blog. Sorry for the lack of attention lately, just dealing with the busy holiday season as usual. The Sciandris are looking forward to a busy and family-filled weekend this Christmas and are especially excited for Luke's first Christmas. He has already crawled under the tree to try and unwrap the presents (well really it's just banging on the packages but the paper isn't very thick)!

Source: themeadowbrookblog.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Thank you all for reading this blog and allowing me to share my experiences over the past few years. I hope you all have a very happy, safe, blessed, and fun holiday and I look forward to sharing another year with you. Thank you for your continued support!

Luke - 6 Months

Can you believe it?! Our little baby is six months old tomorrow, the 16th. Time has gone by so fast and I hear from a lot of other parents to cherish these times because they are so short. No kidding! We have enjoyed every ounce of our little bundle of smiles, almost giggles, hugs, drool drops, and more. Now that we have reached the half year mark I am going to do the rest of the year by month.

Apple Hill

We spent a lovely day at Apple Hill last weekend with our good friends Alli & Levi. I left the Apple Farm planning up to Alli and we hit up the spots best know for apple donuts, apple pies, and beer! We had a great time and Luke was a little trooper all bundled up to stay warm.




I loved the wood burning stove not to mention the heat it generated!

Look, a scarecrow.

A pumpkin?


Luke loved the animals.



Last stop of the day, Jack Russell Brewery.

He was such a good boy!

The happy newlyweds.

Harvest dancers.

And finally, a cozy nap after a long day.