Beyond Rustic Home Decor at the Summit County Parade of Homes

Sexy Nerd and I are Parade of Homes enthusiasts, eagerly traveling near and far to see the latest ideas in home design. The parade that tops our list every year? The Summit County Parade of Homes in breathtaking Colorado, which is timed perfectly to coincide with the changing of the aspen leaves. In such a perfect setting, driving from home to home is half the fun.

I'm currently working on a blog post showcasing my favorite parade photos. One home, however, was so spectacular I couldn't wait another moment to share it with you. It's so amazing, we want to redesign our dream home to emulate the same rustic style. Actually, that's a bit of an understatement. Beyond rustic, this home is packed with old-timey, gold panning, one-toothed mining style! Sexy Nerd has begun growing his grizzled mountain man beard and I'm ready to call our builder to stop construction. Not that that's necessary, as construction seems to be stopped anyway. (We're in week 3 of pouring our foundation...still no foundation...)

157 Riverwood Drive in Breckenridge, CO, nestled romantically against the Blue River.

It's the last home on the parade because they saved the best for last.

Below is the same exact house in its pre-renovation Realtor.com photo:

Betcha wouldn't have guessed the best house ever was a remodeled home from 1991.

It jumped from 3,404 square feet to a whopping 4,900!

The new owners embraced the mining history of their location, using it as a source of inspiration and an excuse to have fun with their design.

My exact kind of flooring. At least, it is now that I've visited this home. Porcelain brick-look tile throughout the house we're building? I don't recall anything about that.

(Sexy Nerd does recall that and he is endlessly frustrated with me.)

The under-cabinet lighting in this otherwise moody bathroom was a nice touch.

What a clever alternative to a ceiling fan.

The wood-look tile on the wall is great, but I'm smiling because of the Delta faucet with Champagne Bronze finish. We chose the same brand and finish for our powder room. We're the same, these folks and us! Surely, they'll agree to trade houses for a week-long getaway. They could come to Albuquerque for our world-renowned International Balloon Fiesta.

You know, assuming our house is ever actually ready.

The house is rustic, but the homeowners still managed to create a glamorous space for themselves in the master bathroom. Oh, and there's more.

The beautiful Delta shower hardware you're looking at? We chose the exact same fixtures for our master shower.

THESE HOMEOWNERS ARE OUR KINDRED SPIRITS!

SEXY NERD PLANNED TO BUILD THIS EXACT SAME FAUCET FOR HIS BATHROOM...until I talked him out of it. (Whoops.)

The bathroom above is my favorite bathroom of all time. The vanity is an ore cart, designed so it looks like it's going into the wall.

Still not convinced this home deserves the Best. House. Ever. title? Take a look out the window:

The landscaping includes a mine, complete with rail tracks and a cart.

Also, why did I trust Sexy Nerd to take the photos? It's the coolest landscape detail ever and we couldn't get a photo of it when we were outside?

This was a close runner up for the favorite bathroom distinction mentioned above. I felt like we were visiting a mining museum.

But, you know, not boring.

Old timey!

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This reader-favorite recipe is *almost* as popular as my Cake Mix Cookie Bars recipe . When making Cake Mix pancakes , the scrumptious possibilities are endless. Red Velvet cake mix pancakes. Chocolate cake mix pancakes. Butter Pecan cake mix pancakes. Funfetti cake mix pancakes. (Yes, Funfetti cake mix pancakes!) With this 2-ingredient recipe, you can turn your favorite cake mix into your favorite pancakes. Pancake making at its finest. Cake Mix Pancakes Personally, I think my funny napkin is the icing on the (pan)cake. It's Sunday morning and you're planning to do all the things today - scrub those grody baseboards, polish your quartz countertop that was supposed to be low maintenance but actually isn't at all, sort through the disaster that is the freezer. While on your superhuman kick, you think I'm going to make my family pancakes for breakfast. Not just any pancakes - the best pancakes ever. I may even serve them as breakfast in bed! You pu

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You're in for a treat. Today I'm sharing my best canned cinnamon roll hacks and improvements for turning store-bought cinnamon rolls, like the Pillsbury Grands ones or even the store brand, into something special. Dry cinnamon rolls? No thank you. They need to be OOEY and GOOEY. That's just Cinnamon Roll 101. All of these ideas keep Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls soft, company-worthy, and delicious. These are also great for taking homemade cinnamon rolls up a notch, but what a pain that is. With these better-than-homemade canned cinnamon roll hacks, you'll never bother to bake them from scratch again. Test out some of these ideas tomorrow. Won't it be nice to dig into a mouthwatering cinnamon roll for breakfast? You can't get a better start to your day than that. Canned Cinnamon Roll Hacks Actually, make that 11 easy ways to improve store-bought cinnamon rolls: you can top them with homemade coffee whipped cream . Yum! Nope, make that 12 canned cinnam

3 Minute Toaster/Convection Oven Smores

These are perfect when you're craving a quick, sugary treat. They work equally well in a toaster oven and a convection oven. Best of all, compared to eating an entire bag of Oreos (something I have never done), they're quite healthy. What's that, you say? You already know how to make s'mores in the toaster oven? Well then, sit back and enjoy the ooey-gooey marshmallowy photos. (And if you're someone who works with me, please keep the "I've seen her polish off an entire bag of Oreo cookies" nonsense to yourself.) Step 1: Put desired amount of graham crackers on a toaster oven/convection oven-safe pan. Looks like it's time to clean this pan, Sexy Nerd Optional 1st step, which is Sexy Nerd's favorite: Spread peanut butter on each graham cracker (I'm not much of a peanut butter fan - WHAT?!? - so I skip this step.) Cover with yummy marshmallows. Top with chocolate chips. Place in the toaster o

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Like many new Instant Pot owners, I've wondered, How many Instant Pots have exploded? (Eeek!) I'm happy to report that my research on Snopes and other sites has shown that these do not explode, at least not when used properly. There is a lawsuit between a woman in Texas and the Instant Pot manufacturer, but she admits she had thrown a towel over the steam vent. Do NOT do this. Still concerned? Consider that on Prime Day of 2018, Amazon sold more than 300,000 Instant Pots. That's more than a quarter of a million sales in only 1 day! If these things were not safe, you would see news stories every day about someone being injured. Still, things can go wrong. We love our Instant Pot, the digital pressure cooker that seems to suddenly be in every home. You can't mess up - just throw in random ingredients and you'll get something yummy every time. It's foolproof. At least, that's how I used to feel about our Instant Pot, until the explosion... Inst

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Anonymous Flower Delivery Sexy Nerd and I came home from a day of running errands on Saturday to discover an odd message on my phone. It was a girl from a flower shop calling to confirm my address for a delivery. I called and said there must be a mistake, as I wasn't expecting any flowers, to which she pointed out that people don't usually expect flowers. Oh, of course. As nice as it would be to have someone send me flowers, it seemed unlikely. Sure enough, she was unable to find any orders for me when I gave my name. She did have a Danielle though, and asked if there might be a different last name. I told her my maiden name. There really were flowers waiting for me! She confirmed the delivery address - the rental house Sexy Nerd and I lived in 3 years ago. I updated my address and ended the call, anxiously waiting to see who would send me flowers. Who sent me flowers from FTD? My mysterious stalker has beautiful taste! Strange? I had no idea how str

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