Little Moments

One Item, Three Ways

2011-03-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Usually when I buy something for the house, I have an idea of how/where I'll use it, but I also think about other things I can do with it. I like to get my money's worth. And sometimes you just wanna mix things up without going out and buying something new.

I bought a little rectangular plant pot at an estate sale over a year ago because it's the prettiest shade of green ever. I've used it for just about everything so far but a plant. I've re-created a few uses here to give you an idea.

It's held teas in our kitchen (that's my mom's ah-mazing date-nut bread):

I've used it to hold loose photos to rifle through for easy viewing:

And the way I'm using it now, and think I'll continue to use it, at least for awhile, is to hold mail supplies on our coffee table, because that's where I sort mail and pay bills. It houses our address labels, stamps, and pens. (My dad made those pens! How cool are my parents?):

So there you have it. Three uses for one little item. I'd say it was worth the $2 I paid for it.

What's an item you use for multiple purposes in your house?

Linking to:

25 Things to do with Avery

2011-03-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to:

bake cookies
go for walks after dinner
go to museums
have Easter egg hunts
have pancakes on Saturday mornings
collect shells at the beach
have tea parties - real and pretend
teach her to love animals
teach her to share
play dress-up
have movie nights at home with popcorn
dance to the ipod - I'm gonna teach her my sweet moves, lucky girl
get ice cream cones on a hot day
carve pumpkins
teach her to be kind to everyone
go to storytime at the library
finger paint
go to the mountains to play in the snow
go to Disney World
take a mommy-and-me class
lay on the lawn and watch for shooting stars
ride bikes
pull her in a wagon in the 4th of July parade
play board games
take a billion pictures of her

I tell her all the time all the things her daddy and I are going to do with her, and mostly I get a blank stare, but every so often I get a smile. I think she gets all the fun we're gonna have. Or it's gas.

Decisions, decisions

2011-03-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

For the past year and a half that we've lived in this house, I've been thinking about what should go above the living room fireplace. Art of some sort or a mirror, art or a mirror...back and forth. After much debate (with myself because, thank the goodness, Mark leaves these matters to me or we'd have car parts everywhere and posters on the walls), I've decided it must be a gold framed mirror. Preferably a shape more unique than circular or rectangular.

Here's the mantle today:

And these are some of my inspiration photos:

I've been looking at yard and estate sales and thrift stores, but no luck yet. I should start checking Craigslist and Ebay. And we're going to the Rose Bowl Flea Market next month, so I have high hopes for that (although things can be wildly overpriced there). I'll find one if it kills me!

The weekend was...

2011-03-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

Nothing like I planned. We were going to get a few things done around the house and spend Sunday morning at the farmer's market as usual, maybe grocery shop and do some cooking. Instead, I was in the hospital getting my appendix out.

I woke at 2:30am on Saturday to feed Avery and I had a bit of a stomach ache, but that seemed about right since I had eaten an entire bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs on Friday. But by the time I finished feeding the baby, I was feeling worse. So I went to the bathroom.

Then I went to the bathroom again.

Then I threw up four times.

I knew something was wrong when puking didn't relieve the pain. And by 6am, I couldn't sit, stand, lay, curl up into a ball, nothing. No matter what I tried, death was clearly imminent. So my parents came to watch the little lady and Mark took me to the hospital. They took me right away because I looked THAT BAD, and shot me up with the good stuff so I could at least answer questions and ya know, stay conscious during the tests to see what was wrong.

I knew what it was without all the tests though. The time had finally come. I've been dreading having to have my appendix out since I was eleven and my friend at the time had hers out. Ever since then, anytime I had even the slightest twinge on my right side I thought THIS IS IT! And this time it was.

I'd never had surgery before, and the thought of it horrifies me. Not the surgery itself, because you're knocked out, but the recovery. How much pain will there be? Will I get blood clots that travel to my lungs and kill me? Will I be horribly scarred for life?

So two days post-surgery I'm way more weirded out than I was that day. I think I'm supposed to be changing my band-aids, but I can't bring myself to do it. I'm not ready to see stitches. And I'm annoyed because I was just feeling back to normal after giving birth.

When will the day come that I don't have to plan ahead to go to the bathroom because it takes me five whole minutes to get out of bed?

Under $15 Love

2011-02-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've picked up a few little decorative odds and ends for the house recently that I love and they're all so cheap, so I thought I'd share.

This little acrylic cup from Target was $1.49. WHAT!? Could it be any cuter or cheaper? I knew it was just the thing to hold pens on my little desk in our master bedroom.

This bookend is from Home Goods and was $9.99. It's onyx and that sucker is heavy. I keep imagining dropping it on my foot for some reason. Sometimes I get a thought in my head and I can't stop playing it. Should I be medicated? Maybe. Either way, I'm not touching that thing again.
This porcelain feather plate is from Kohl's and was $9.99. I have it holding jewelry in my closet.

I don't know why I love this frame so much, but I LOVE it! Like dropped everything, had to have it. It was $12.99 from Cost Plus, and it's on our living room mantle holding a picture of us on our first anniversary.

Finally, this little cup was another must have. It was $3.99 from Home Goods, made in France, and I love the pretty little butterfly detail on it (kind of hard to see in the pic). You also get a glimpse of our recently re-done master bath here. There's a full post on that coming soon.

If you've found something awesome and cheap lately, please share! I love finding new little things for the home.

The weekend was...

2011-02-21T11:26:00.001-08:00

A stroll through the town

Signs of Spring

Strawberry-cheese danish

Farmer's market

A new hat, perhaps a little big

Birthday celebration for a boy and a girl - my husband and sister

The nursery

2011-02-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

When we moved into this house we reserved the smallest of the three existing bedrooms (we've since added a fourth...more on that soon) as a nursery. We painted it a light gray knowing it would work for either a boy or girl, then we promptly filled it with random junk that didn't make it into other rooms, closed the door, and forgot about it until we found out I was pregnant.

Then well into the second trimester when we knew the gender of the baby and I no longer felt like I was on my deathbed, we got busy. I didn't plan on using a lot of pink if the baby was a girl, but suddenly I couldn't be stopped. I was possessed.

How cool is that wooden crate with her name on it? A friend made it and filled it with all kinds of goodies as a baby shower gift. Awesome.

We also received three beautiful handmade quilts. We've been given so many amazing gifts for baby Avery from family, friends, friends of family and friends (people we've never met), and several of our neighbors. We're so grateful.

We found the dresser below at an estate sale for $25 (super score!) and I painted it a raspberry pink. It has tons of storage for some of her clothes and extra linens for the room.

And I have to shout from the rooftops about how wonderful the Moby wrap is. I was intimidated by it for some reason so it took me four weeks until today to try it. What the hell was I waiting for!? With a baby that doesn't like to be put down, this may just save my sanity. I'm mobile! I never thought I'd be so happy about being able to do dishes.

And before you judge my appearance in this photo, let me inform you that 14-year-old Pearl Jam concert T-shirts and Hello Kitty pj bottoms are what all the hot moms are wearing. And I personalized the look with unwashed bed-head hair and hairy legs.

Nursery sources, if you're interested:

Crib - Baby Europa - Babies-R-Us
Bedding and Curtains - Pottery Barn Kids
Rug - Lowe's
Gray Dresser - Ikea
Pink Dresser and table under window - estate sales
Mirror - yard sale
Glider - USA Baby
Little Rocking Chair - my Mom's when she was little!
Owl Pillow - Etsy
Pink Pillow with White Flower - Etsy
Monogrammed Pillow on rocking chair - Etsy
Alphabet Print - Etsy
Bird Print - Etsy
Turquoise "Live Laugh..." Print - Etsy

Linking to :

Well that was quite a hiatus...

2011-02-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

I was busy making this...

Serious props to all the bloggers that manage to continue blogging regularly (or at all) during their pregnancies. From the moment the little line showed up on that pregnancy test (and the other 3 I took in the following 24 hours because I just couldn't believe it), I couldn't think about anything else. Then almost immediately I was hit with the first trimester curse of debilitating nausea, so if it wasn't napping or dry heaving, I wasn't doing it. And let's face it, I'm a lazy-ass. And I milked that pregnancy for all it was worth.

Anyway, our daughter Avery Olivia was born on January 9th and I knew I had to start blogging again, if for no other reason than her. I want these memories preserved for her. And though I stopped posting, home improvements and projects around here kept plugging along.

So I have lots of things to post, but how regularly it can happen is yet to be determined. I have a demanding little lady. When she isn't sleeping, she's screaming, and unless someone is holding her, she isn't sleeping. Mama's got her hands full...literally.

But it feels good to be back.

Renaissance Fair

2010-04-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Mark and I went with our friends Vic and Kerri and their two sweet babies to the Renaissance Fair last weekend. I was going to post about it earlier in the week but we got a new computer (yay!), and it took us a few days to transfer info from the old to the new.

Anyhoo, they have this fair near us every year, but Mark and I had never been before. It was so fun! And apparently people take it very seriously. There were LOTS of non-employees in costume. We didn't go that far.

This chick was in a tree making high-pitched clicking noises. It scared Mark. Awesome.

Joseph had a good old time...

Can you stand it?!

Mark found a game he couldn't resist. Check that look of pure determination. That thing is gonna hit the bell for sure!

"Did I do it?" (The answer is no.)

Second try...and still no. It's safe to say I don't love him for his arm muscles.

I had a chocolate raspberry port that was kinda grody because it was warm, but the guy who poured it threw an Oreo in, so the last sip was pretty amazing...

Boobies!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Emergency Kit

2010-04-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've had "Make an emergency kit" on my to-do list forever, but it was always getting put off by more pressing matters. But with the many major earthquakes in the past couple of months in Haiti, Chile, Baja, and now China, it felt like time to be serious about it. Living in California, we know it's not a matter of if, but when.

So Mark and I spent a couple of days gathering supplies. We put the kit in two bins so it would be easy to grab and go if we had to evacuate the house for any reason. This kit would work in any emergency...Mark and I weren't even so much picturing an earthquake as we were imagining some unspecified apocalyptic event in which we'd never be able to return home, because ya know, we're dramatic like that.

Our kit includes:

2 cases of bottled water
non-perishable food to last us a week (various canned things, peanut butter, dried fruit, etc.)
food for Bean
paper plates and bowls, plastic utensils
can opener
paper towels
small plastic trash bags
first aid kit (we have a pre-made one just given to us by Mark's mom from Costco or Sam's)
flashlight with extra batteries
battery-operated radio with extra batteries
scissors
utility knife
duct tape
heavy work gloves (2 pairs)
dust masks (Mark wants to upgrade to respirators soon, because again, it might be the end of the world, people!)
large plastic drop clothes to cover broken windows (just in case it's only a few broken windows and we don't have to flee the home forever)
waterproof matches
a pair of sturdy shoes for each of us
a change of clothes for each of us
a pack of socks
beanies for each of us
2 blankets
toilet paper
toiletries (soap, deodorant, toothbrushes and paste, wet wipes, feminine supplies, etc.)
hand sanitizer
pad of paper and pens/pencils
list of important phone numbers
copies of important documents (driver's licenses, insurance policies, bank accounts, etc.)
cash in small denominations in an envelope

And don't forget supplies for the kiddos if you have them. I also taped a sheet of paper to the outside of one of the bins listing the expiration dates of the food, first aid kit, and batteries so they can be used up and replaced. We're keeping our kit in our guest room closet because there's plenty of room in there and it's easy to get to.

Are you prepared for an emergency, and have we left anything out?

The weekend was...

2010-04-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Dinner for a friend's birthday. We played dress-up and had a grand old time pretending to be fancy. I even wrapped her gift in a tea towel to suit the occasion...

We also finally hung art above our entry table. I saw Irene's work on another blog (can't remember which since it was a couple of months ago), and I loved it immediately. She does beautiful watercolor paintings (originals, not prints) of many different animals. We went with birds cause we love em. You will die when you see how inexpensive they are, but let's not tell her so she doesn't raise the prices, k?

And yesterday we rode our bikes to the farmer's market and did some much needed yard work before the rain came last night. We also finished up a little project that I'll be sharing this week, maybe tomorrow.

New Recipe Wednesday

2010-04-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

Nutella Pie

Holy crap, this is a good one. My mom made this for our Easter dessert. She thinks the recipe was from Woman's Day.

Ingredients:

one prepared chocolate cookie piecrust (such as Oreo)
1 8oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, Nutella, and 1/4 cup sugar.
Beat until well blended.
Add egg and 1/4 cup hazelnuts and beat until blended.
Pour mixture into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove and cool completely.
Once cooled, beat heavy cream, the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, and the vanilla on high until peaks form. Spread over the pie.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup hazelnuts and mini chocolate chips.

It's super rich, so I'd start with a small piece, but such an easy and yummy dessert.

Target Goods

2010-04-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

I don't think I need to extol the virtues of Target since it seems to be universally loved. I avoid Walmart at all costs because it's ugly and crowded and trying to find an employee that knows anything is next to impossible.

But Target calls to me and I can wander the aisles in circles for far longer than I have any business being in there. I was just in there picking up lots of non-pretty things that I'll be sharing with you soon, but I wanted to show you the three little pretties that did make it in my cart.

The pillow and the canister are from the Liberty of London line because I'm pretty sure there was a law passed that if you have a blog, you had to buy some L of L stuff. Those two items plus the watering can are what really caught my eye from the line. But I didn't let myself get the watering can because I have three already and I don't even need that many.

And the bird house I just LOVE. We haven't done it yet at this house, but we had a haven for birds at our old house, with lots of feeders and bird baths. I can't wait to hang this new house in a tree and watch the birdies find it.

The weekend was...

2010-04-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Going through magazines that have been piling up....

Babysitting a couple of munchkins so our friends could have a night out...

The living room was spotless when they got here, and it looked like this an hour later...

Finally sweet, sweet quiet...

And Easter was breakfast with Mark's mom and dinner with my family. We told my mom no candy, but we each had one of these waiting for us...

and nobody was mad about it. Hope you had a great weekend!

New Recipe Wednesday

2010-03-31T08:56:00.001-07:00

I got this recipe from my mom. I don't know where it's from originally. So easy to make, and sooo good.

Leek and Bacon Quiche

Ingredients:

9 inch pie crust
butter or olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced
4 slices of bacon, chopped
3 eggs
2 tbs. dijon mustard
1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
5 tbs. heavy cream

Instructions:

Saute the bacon and leeks in a little butter or olive oil. (Start the bacon first so it gets a bit browned and the leeks don't burn.)

Whisk eggs, mustard, cream. Add cheese.
Add bacon and leeks to mixture and pour into pie shell. (I put my pie crust into a quiche pan with a removable bottom for easy removal, but any pie dish would be fine.)
Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Is anyone out there?

2010-03-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

via

I kinda fell off the blogging map for a minute there, didn't I? I've been blogging pretty consistently for a little over a year, and knowing myself like I do, it's a wonder it took this long for me to lose interest. I usually quit things much sooner!

I won't bore you with the kooky workings of my brain...I'll just say I was having a moment where the computer was the last place I wanted to be (I wasn't even reading blogs. I'm so behind!). And I'm not even sure I feel ready to fully commit again, but after some reflection I decided I need this blog for my sanity.

Random things while I've been away:

Bean has lost his damn mind. He attacks his tail all of a sudden, and almost constantly. We're taking him to the vet on Monday, but I've been Googling like a mad woman, and I've already diagnosed him with cat schizophrenia.

We've had the most beautiful weather the past couple of weeks with temps in the 70s and 80s. And the air smells like jasmine. I feel fortunate not to have allergies, because I can imagine they're a bitch this time of year.

How could Alex Lambert (Carol Brady hair) not have made the Top 12 on American Idol? I'm still watching while fast-forwarding through most of it, but I don't really care who wins because I kind of hate them all. What a craptastic season.

My city is having a 5K in May, and I'm gonna do it. It's a run/walk, but my goal is to run most of it. It's only 3 miles. I should be able to work up to that in a month and half, right?

P.S. How hilarious is that photo above? The person was too bored to even finish writing how bored they were!

Oscar Fashion...my humble opinion

2010-03-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't like most of the dresses this year, and I didn't think there was one stand-out, wow dress. But there were a lot I liked. Again, this is strictly the opinion of someone who has no credentials to judge fashion and watched from home in a stained sweatshirt, while eating like a pig.

The Good:

Elizabeth Banks

Sandra Bullock - loved

Demi Moore

Cameron Diaz

This one pains me because she is so off-the-charts irritating, but I loved the whole look...

Miley Cyrus

Another one...good grief I hate Kristin Stewart, but she looked beautiful...

Meryl Streep - I think the best she ever looked

Vera Farmiga - this is a wacky one, but I loved it

And I think I am completely alone in the world on this one ( I was definitley alone at the Oscar party), but I like it...

Charlize Theron - yes the rosette thingies make you look straight at her boobies (someone said it looked like her dress was getting to second base with her - ha!), but I love the color on her and the silouette. And her hair and makeup-flawless.

What the Fizz:

SJP-she doesn't usually disappoint, but this sack dress with whatever the hell is going on at her neckline is awful

Diane Kruger-me no likey

Kate Winslet-boring, prom dress-y, not particularly flattering, color washed her out

Zoe Saldana-there were just gasps of horror when this thing came on the screen.

Jennifer Lopez-I think she has a fantastic body, but when you have a larger butt and wider hips, why oh why add another five feet to them?

Kathryn Bigelow-no, no, a thousand times no. I was really happy that a woman director won for the first time, though! Yay woman...even if you are in an ugly, ill-fitting dress from Windsor!

Suzy Amis-I really don't want to be too mean (believe me, there were texts flying about this one yesterday), but really. The dress itself is okay, and someone living may have pulled it off, but in this scenario, it's a no-go.

Thoughts anyone?

Living Room: Before and During

2010-03-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

Continuing with the house tour...the living room. It isn't finished, but it's come a long way. Apparently I didn't take the magazine-worthy before shots I thought I did, so they're all mid-remodel.

Another thing to note: I didn't do any styling for the photos, so you'll notice the room looks a little sparse. We still have unpacked boxes with accessories and framed photos that I plan to put out which will give the room a little more color and personality. And I'm on the lookout for some artwork.

Why don't I just get on with it already...

This was the fireplace, which our inspector informed us was a fire hazard because the wood surround was way too close to the opening. Awesome.

We were going to change it anyway, but we had high hopes for what was underneath that surround. Unfortunately, it was this...

Did you vomit in your mouth? It's ok, you're not alone. So Mark mortared over that mess, covered it in marble tiles, and built a new mantle/wood surround. Look at him go...

And he and my dad made built-in bookcases to go on either side of the fireplace. They excite me so. Fireplace wall before and after...

I usually set up the bar on that red tray above when we have parties. Yes, my cat's ass is where I put drinks!

Very large, very blank wall...

I haven't done anything there, because we're going to be demolishing part of that wall in the (hopefully not too distant) future. On the other side is the kitchen, and we want to open up about half of that wall and have a counter top with bar stools for more of an open feel.

What we did in the living room so far:

new doors and moldings

new paint

stained the floors darker

redid the fireplace

added built-in bookcases

changed the window treatments from white vertical blinds to wood horizontal roman shades and curtains

What's left to do:

new couch (that one was generously donated to me by a friend many years ago when I moved out of my parents' house, but it's time for an update)

a larger area rug

add artwork and my accessories for pops of color and personality

Any suggestions of where to get a good quality, not crazy-expensive couch?

Linking to

and

New Recipe Wednesday

2010-02-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Chicken is boring. It doesn't taste like anything unless you add flavorful stuff to it. But, this chicken that Mark made me the past two Valentine's Days (why am I letting him make it only once a year?) is so not boring. It's the Lady GaGa of chicken.

Southwestern Chicken Baked in Foil (from The Joy of Cooking):

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz. mild goat cheese at room temperature
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
3 sun-dried tomato halves in oil, minced
2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
lime wedges

Instructions:

Make an incision about 3 inches long and 2 inches deep in the middle of the thick sides of the chicken breast to create a pocket.
In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, jalapeno peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.
Spoon the filling into each of the pockets of the chicken breasts. Press to seal the edges. Generously season each breast with salt and pepper.
Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile combine the black beans, onion, cilantro, olive oil, cumin, red wine vinegar, and cayenne pepper.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut squares of foil big enough for the individual chicken breasts.
Spoon 1/4 of the black bean mixture on each foil square and top with a chicken breast. Fold the foil over and fold the edges all around to close the packet tightly.
Set on baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes until packets are puffed. Serve with lime wedges.
Say goodbye to dry, tasteless chicken.

I'm back!

2010-02-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at our 2nd annual ski trip to Bear Valley in Northern Cal. Warning: This is a picture-heavy post. I feel like I always cram too many pics in my posts, but you have to understand that I take hundreds (really, no exaggeration) of pictures just about everywhere we go, so this really is edited.

The boys building a sled track in the yard of the cabin:

Mark testing it out. You can't tell from these pictures, but it was pretty long, and you went really fast.

And this little guy was throwing snowballs at you as you went by:

My first attempt down the Icy Slide of Death was less successful:

Maybe I won't be going pro after all. I could win Olympic gold in tubing, though. It's my thing.

I'm screaming in the above picture, btw. Since me skiing is just tragic, I went snowshoeing instead.

In addition to snow fun, there was a lot of eating. And I have to show you this appetizer my sister-in-law Kim put together, because I want to eat it for every meal, every day. You take a piece of lavash bread, pile on a slice of feta that's been drizzled with olive oil, a piece of sweet onion, and a basil leaf, and roll it up. Insanely delicious.

Nights were spent talking and Olympics watching, which I actually didn't hate.

Good times.

The drive is 7 hours for Mark and me, but it's beautiful, and you pass through lots of old, little Gold Rush towns. We stopped in one to take a few pictures:

We decided we're going to take an extra day next year to hit a couple more of the towns. There were just too many missed picture opportunities in our mad rush to get home before an expected storm came in.

The year of fun continues...

2010-02-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

We're headed north for a ski trip, in which I will not be skiing, but snowshoeing with the fogeys. Last year's attempt at skiing didn't go so well. Mark will be tearing it up however. I'm very good at sliding down little snow hills on those plastic saucer thingies, though. I'm confident I could go pro.

I had every intention of stockpiling some posts, but I've been preparing for the trip and time got away from me. I'm a terrible multi-tasker. I think next trip I may try some guest bloggers.

Back on Monday with some good stuff for next week. See you then!

The weekend in pictures

2010-02-15T08:36:00.001-08:00

Losing it

2010-02-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Our internet connection has been coming and going for the past couple of days, so I haven't been able to post. And when we called to see what the problem was, we were told they were having an issue in our area and working on it, and it should be fixed by the end of the day, and blah, bs, bs, bs. Go to hell, Time Warner Cable.

We've had nothing but problems with our cable tv connection, but now they're messing with my internet. You've passed the point of no return, TWC. I can't live without my internet. So some nice gentlemen are coming on Tuesday to set up Verizon Fios. I'll be back in business then, and possibly with a faster connection!

I hope you're all having a happy, love-filled, Time Warner Cable-free weekend!

New Recipe Wednesday

2010-02-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

I brought this dip to our Super Bowl get-together, and everyone loved it. It's a heart-stopper, but that's ok occasionally. It's party food, people! And a super easy recipe.

Reuben Dip

(I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients. I was in a Super Bowl frenzy.)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. diced corned beef (bought sliced at the deli counter)
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut, drained well
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbs. ketchup
2 tsp. spicy brown mustard
rye crackers (my mom informed me there's a rye Triscuit)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a casserole dish. (I used an 8x8 glass Pyrex)

In a medium-sized bowl, mix all ingredients until well blended. Spoon into casserole dish.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve warm with crackers.

Valentine Decor

2010-02-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help but do a little Valentine decorating. I don't have any specific "Valentine's Day" decorations, except for a couple of dishtowels, because between our Christmas and Halloween decorations, there isn't an inch of holiday storage space to spare.

So, I shopped our house and came up with a couple of suitable Valentine vignettes, I think. First, the mantle...

With the candles lit...

There hasn't been anything on our mantle since I took down the Christmas decorations, because I'm still not sure what should live there between seasons. So first I started with a couple of framed photos from our wedding. Then I added a couple of cute vintage-y looking Valentine's cards...

Some mercury glass candle holders on either side and flowers in egg cups and a milk glass vase...

I also hung a garland I made out of felt circles...

All together again...

Then I focused the rest of my energy on our entryway table. As much as I love decluttering and constantly purging "stuff", one thing I never get rid of is letters and cards. I have a box full of letters and passed notes from jr. high and high school. Half of them don't make sense anymore and some are just embarrassing, but I'll never throw them out. While decorating, I remembered that in that box were also a bunch of valentines I received in grade school. Jack pot!

So I borrowed a mirror from our guest room and stuck the little cards in the sides...

How creepy is this one?

I also gathered books with either red or pink spines for the bottom shelf, and put some roses in a little vase...

And hydrangeas in a pink candy dish...

That's it. The only thing left to decorate is our dining table for the day itself. Then it will all come down so I can decorate for Mark's birthday party at the end of the month.

I hope you all have a sweet Valentine's Day! I'm linking to

Blue Cricket Design's Show Off

and

Valentine Pretties

2010-02-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

Mark and I have discussed it and we've decided to do the same thing for Valentine's Day this year that we did last year. He's making me the same yummy dinner and I'm in charge of dessert. I'm leaning toward cupcakes because they're his favorite.

But I'm only eating one, and I told him not to buy me candy this year in honor of my get healthier resolution...which has been hit and miss so far. The average person would keel over and die just by looking at what I ate yesterday during the Super Bowl (yay Saints!). Two steps forward, a hop, skip, and a five-mile jog back.

Valentine's Day is not a big holiday for us, but that hasn't stopped me from looking at inspiration pictures. And I did a tiny amount of decorating, which I'll post tomorrow. Martha always kills it...

BHG...

Flickr...

via

via

Do you have any surprises planned for your significant other? Give me some ideas!

New Recipe Wednesday

2010-02-02T19:54:00.001-08:00

The first recipe of my plan to try a new recipe every week comes to you courtesy of my blog friend Rachel from Life, amok. She was one of the first people, if not the first person who I don't know in real life to read and comment on my blog. And she's generous with the comments. What blogger doesn't live for comments? She's also funny, a cat lover, lives in Texas (Mark's dream state), and she's extremely active with her husband. They do all kinds of fun, crazy things, and she was one of my inspirations to have more fun and try new things this year.

Anyway, she took pity on me that my dessert recipes outnumbered any other recipe category 90 to 1, so last week she emailed me a recipe for Texas Style Chicken and Cream Cheese Enchiladas. They are incredible. I could forget the tortillas and just eat the filling, it's so good. And I may have done quite a bit of sampling of the filling while I was assembling them, but I'll never tell.

The ingredients:

3 chicken breasts (I used 2 because that's what came in the package, and it was plenty)

8 oz. cream cheese

small can of chopped green chiles

medium onion, diced

package of flour tortillas (I used corn because we happened to have 12,000 left over from another meal)

shredded cheese (as much as you want to use to top the enchiladas)

small container of heavy whipping cream (I used less than half of the container pictured above)

The instructions:

Boil the chicken breasts. I've never boiled chicken breasts before (I've only recently worked up the nerve to touch slimy, creepy raw chicken), so I had a small moment of panic here. How do you know when they're done? Turns out you just have to check them. Here they are, boiling away:

Shred chicken, leaving the water in the pot.

In a pan, saute the onion in a little butter. When they start to brown, add the chicken, chiles, and cream cheese.

Stir until the cream cheese melts. Mmmmm....

Take a tortilla, dip it in the chicken broth from earlier, fill with the chicken mixture and roll. Continue until your baking dish is filled.

Pour the heavy cream over the top and top with shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

This one is a winner. We loved it, and it's going in my recipe file. Thanks Rach!

New header

2010-02-02T09:16:00.001-08:00

A few of you have made mention of my new blog header, so I wanted to share how I did it.

I'm a complete moron when it comes to computers. They just never really interested me, and until I started this blog, I would go days, maybe weeks without touching the computer.

Then in making my blog rounds, I found this tutorial on A Foothill Home Companion, followed the directions and, miracle of miracles, it worked. She makes it so simple. FYI...the directions are specifically for Blogger blogs. The only thing I did differently was to make a photo collage in Photoshop instead of using a single photo.

This was a temporary change, as I have some ideas for the future of this little blog, but I'm sure it will be a while before I can make it happen. So this was a great DIY fix. Try it if you're looking for a change!

Entryway Before & After

2010-02-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

I've gotten some requests to see more before and afters of the parts of the house we've finished. But, even the "finished" rooms aren't really finished. There are little things in each of those rooms that still need to be done, so I'll be showing more "before and durings."

So since we're still very much a work in progress over here, I'll start with the one area of the house that is actually done...the entryway.

Here are a couple of before pics...

We replaced the hideous light fixture (why are they still even making ones that look like that?) with a recessed light, changed all the doors in the house from standard white to solid mahogany, installed new molding everywhere, and painted of course. Here's the after (taken in November, hence the Christmas tree)...

Inside the entry closet we keep the shoes we wear most often, coats and sweaters, etc.

Pretty Anthro hooks...

And a basket for miscellaneous stuff like tote bags and extra purses...

That's it. Our only completely finished space. Next week I'll show you the before and during of the living room.

I'm linking this post to

and

and

Little Tip

2010-01-28T08:49:00.000-08:00

One small organizational thing I did last weekend was to put a basket by our front door. In it I will be putting all of the things that need to be returned to other people. So when I'm headed out the door, I can take a quick glance and if anything in the basket belongs to someone I'm about to see, take it with me.

(Recognize that reusable bag, Isabell? I'll have it with me next time I see you!)

It's a little thing, but I think it will go a long way in helping to keep our house organized and to return things to people promptly.

One of these things is not like the others...

2010-01-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

How insanely disproportionate is the Desserts file compared to the other recipe categories!? Send help.

Labeling lunacy

2010-01-25T17:47:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else this time of year, I feel the need to declutter and organize. So I started this weekend with the task I've been dreading the most - organizing our home files. We had half done it over a year ago, but never finished and what was finished got out of control. I've put it off because it's overwhelming. There are categories and sub-categories and sub-sub-categories and AAAAHHHHHHH, I need a nap.

So I made a serious date with my label-maker. And I went bananas. I did the files for our properties.

I did our everyday personal files. I'm serious about fun this year. It's got its own file! I put info and magazine clippings about restaurants we want to try or places we'd like to visit in there.

I put all of our appliance and electronics manuals in an accordion file labeled by room...

I also better organized my home inspiration tear sheets. When I'm going through magazines and see a room or house idea I like, I rip it out and save it. I finally corralled them all into a file box labeled by room.
I also did this with my recipe tear sheets, using categories like Soups, Veggies, Desserts, etc. And I've decided I'm going to make one new recipe every week and share them with you.

Too much time on my hands? Maybe, but it feels fantastic to have finally tackled the scary files. Now the goal is to keep it organized and not let it get chaotic again by filing things immediately instead of letting piles build up, and purging info that is no longer relevant regularly.

How do you keep important information organized?

The weekend

2010-01-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

The rain finally stopped on Friday night (where are my violins, right...I'm sure you were feeling very sorry for me), and this was the snowy view from our front yard on Saturday...

So we decided to go up (fun resolution rules!). It was only about a 25 minute drive from our house til we hit snow. Everyone else had the same idea, because it was crazy crowded, but so fun.

Snowmen were everywhere we looked, including on this car...

We worked up quite an appetite playing in the snow, so we checked out a new (to us) Peruvian restaurant near us. Excellent food. We'll definitely go back.

There was also lots of organizing this weekend. More on that tomorrow!

What day is it?

2010-01-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

Was it me that was just talking about our beautiful weather last week?

It has been raining here non-stop for days. Torrential rain. Thunder and lightening. There's a river running down our street and I'd bet money that our pool is going to overflow despite our attempts to pump it out. One of the weathermen actually called it "epic rain." LOL! We Southern Californians do go into a tizzy when it rains. But there was a tornado in Orange County, so that's serious.

I've barely been outside of my pajamas let alone the house, so I should have tons of projects to show you, but I got nothin. Mostly I've been reading, drinking tea, watching Tivo'd shows, trying to figure out my new Droid phone with little success, and taking way too many pictures of Bean.

I have a bunch of half started things around the house, so my plan is to finish a couple today to post tomorrow. I've got on my trusty pjs, I'm putting on my music, and I'm getting to work!

P.S. This Golden Globes fashion recap is hilarious!

For Moi?

2010-01-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

The very sweet Kristen at Miss Prissy Paige gave me a blog award! Her blog is one of my daily reads, so thank you Kristen! So now, I'm supposed to share some things about myself. She did 25 things, but I'd be writing this post in 2011 if I had to think of 25 things, so I'll do 10.

I'm obsessed with real car chases on tv, and we get a lot of them here. If the news starts showing one, I will sit there with my mouth open and watch it until it's over...hours sometimes. I'm riveted.
When I'm looking at magazines somewhere I always grab one from the back because I don't like it when they've been touched a lot. It has nothing at all to do with germs, I just prefer a "fresh" magazine.
I really only like American Idol for the bad singers, but then I end up covering my eyes and ears in embarassment for them.
I have phone phobia. I hate talking on the phone. I'm filled with a sense of dread when it rings.
I'll only write with black pens if I have a choice.
My favorite seasons have always been Fall and Winter because I like cooler temperatures, but now that we have a pool, I'm really looking forward to Summer.
I really wish ice cream was a health food.
I don't get the Twilight thing. I just don't. And don't even get me started on Kristen Stewart. Ick.
I failed my driving test the first time, but I'll swear I'm the best driver ever.
Call me un-American, but I really dislike the Olympics, especially the Winter ones. I think it's boring and it dominates the tv for months.
I guarantee I'll think of 10 better things the second I hit "Publish" on this post.

I'm not tagging anyone this time, because I'm fairly certain all the blogs I read daily have done it before. But if you're reading this, share something about yourself in the comments! I love learning more about blog (and real-life!) friends!

For your listening pleasure (or not)

2010-01-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Songs in heavy rotation on my iPod right now:

And I can't help myself. I just love her...

Just beachy

2010-01-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

I know much of the country is up to its ears in snow, but here, the weather has been in the 70s all week. So yesterday, in the spirit of putting fun first, we postponed house work to go to the beach.

The tide was extremely low, so we got to see some things we don't always see when we're there.

Mark despises mussels, so this was really creeping him out.

I'm thinking this resolution to have more fun is really gonna stick.

2010 House Goals

2010-01-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

If you follow this blog at all, you know we bought a new house in '09. We took possession in September and moved in in October.

When we first saw the house, we knew immediately it was the one. We had looked at a lot of houses, and we both finally had the feeling like this was our house. However, as much as we loved it, there wasn't a surface we weren't going to have to touch. And by touch I mean paint, stain, tear out, blow up, etc.

So we got to work on the front half of the house and stained the light wood floors darker, overhauled the living room, dining room, and the three bedrooms other than the master, one of which we made our office/crafty space for me. More on the finished parts in upcoming posts.

What we haven't touched yet is the bathroom in the front half of the house, which isn't that bad and will actually be the very last thing we reno in this house, and the whole back part of the house. Oh dear God, the back half. This includes the kitchen, laundry area, second bath, master bedroom, rec room, and backyard.

It's too big and expensive a job to do it all this year, but we've chosen a few areas to hopefully tackle in 2010. I'm going to show you some terrifying pictures now.

1. High on the list of priorities is the laundry area off the kitchen. It also currently serves as the hallway to the second bathroom. Standing in the kitchen, this is what you see:

What the hell is going on here with the two doorways? Here's the view showing the whole laundry space and doorway into the second bath:

The plan for this area is to wall off the second doorway from the kitchen (seen in the first picture), wall off the doorway into the bathroom (more on that in a minute), relocate the water heater which is in the cabinet on the right just before the bathroom door, move the washer and dryer to the back wall that will be created from losing the bathroom door, ditch the laminate floor and lay stone, and install tons of shelving to make this a walk-in pantry/laundry room.

This will be a big job, mostly due to the moving of pipes. But it shouldn't be a huge expense since Mark can do it all.

2. This is the current state of the little second bathroom (shudder):

The plan is to make this our master bath. Even though it's tiny, it's only separated from the master by a wall. So, we'll be creating a new door into the room right where the shower is, thus having to relocate the shower to another wall and of course changing every surface in there. Basically, it's a total gut job.

3. Now we're taking things out back. Let's start with the spa (jacuzzi, whatever):

Inviting, no? I know I wanna put my half-naked ass on that grody bench. Thankfully the pool isn't like this, so resurfacing/painting/tiling that will wait for another year. But this baby's getting a face lift. It will be a trial run in deciding what we want to do to the pool, on a much smaller scale and for a fraction of the price.

4. Speaking of the pool, it takes up about 70% of our backyard. It's truly enormous. But there are a couple of parts that aren't pool. Here's one:

I think we can agree this needs work. The concrete patio is in direct sun almost all day, so we need to construct a pergola of some sort. Still debating what if anything to do with the concrete. Beyond that will be lawn where there is currently a weedy dirt patch. Then we'll tame the unruly trees, do a little planting, and furnish the patio.

5. This is the other patio on the other side of the pool, off the kitchen:

The plan is to lay Plexiglass over the pergola to keep the patio safe from rain so we can use it like an outdoor room, while still allowing light to come through. Eventually (not this year probably) we'll replace our BBQ with a built-in one. And of course there will be furniture and potted plants.

6. Also, we'll plant a few citrus trees and our veggie garden in the front yard this Spring.

Whew! I'm exhausted already, and who are we kidding, Mark will be doing most of it with me freaking out in the background. But, if we can get at least most of these items done this year, it will make me happy as a clam and bring the house so much closer to the condition we imagine it in.

Any major undertakings at your house this year? Or any advice for us?

Goals for Twenty-Ten

2010-01-05T20:07:00.000-08:00

Mark and I decided together sometime in early December, as we were running around like headless chickens trying to get things done and gorging ourselves on junk food to the point of nausea, that 2010 would be the year of "Fun and Health."

We definitely have our fun, but we often put off fun things to do more practical things. Fun was put on the back burner for most of 2009 for many different reasons, so this year we're making it a priority, hopefully with both the spontaneous and planned-ahead variety. We already have a few things planned, and of course there will be posts to take you along for the ride.

And is there anyone not interested in better health? With my family history it's high time I start taking mine more seriously. And Mark, though skinny as can be (we look like the number 10 standing next to each other), has high cholesterol. I'm not imposing any specific pound loss goal on myself. I just want to be more fit to keep up with Mark in some of the active things we do. Like when he wants to go on a hike, I want to be walking next to him instead of yards behind him, panting like a buffalo.

So, specifically, here are some of my personal goals for this year:

Take a multivitamin daily (6 for 6!)
Less meat and dairy, more fruit, veggies and grains
Less sugar
Less tv, more activity
More weekend trips
Improve my photography skills
Read more
Learn how to use a sewing machine

Nothing groundbreaking here, but I'm hoping to stay focused on these key areas, and I'll be sure to share the failures and successes.

Tomorrow: House goals, 'cause that's a whole other can of worms.

Dear Mama

2010-01-05T09:17:00.000-08:00

Last year was a rough one for you, but you're so strong and brave. We love you to infinity.

Happy Birthday!

Coming up for air

2010-01-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

The holidays were seriously a whirlwind for me this year. They always go by in a flash, but having a seasonal job in retail made it extra difficult to stop and smell the Christmas tree. (Only two more shifts, and I'm so ready to get back to normal!)

And please tell me how going from one Christmas tree to two exponentially increases the amount of time and storage needed. I took down the trees and most of the other decorations last night, and I have to say, I'm re-thinking my idea to have a tree in every room. It took FOREVER and I was so overwhelmed by the chaos at one point that I debated just throwing it all in garbage bags rather than spend one more second figuring out the best way to organize it for next year. Ten points if you can spot Bean in this picture...

Despite all that, there were many great times. Christmas day...

A weekend visit from our friends Jackie and Scott who moved to Seattle earlier this year...

And a New Year's Eve that went better than planned, because our friends Vic and Kerri had their sweet baby girl a few days early. They were supposed to come to our house for NYE festivities, but we came to them in the hospital first, then back to our house with the rest of the gang. We all took turns holding her. Even Mark, who thinks babies are made of glass, or dynamite. I took about a thousand pictures of it just to prove it happened.

The only bad thing was that their hospital is in Pasadena, and you cannot imagine the hoards of people there for the Rose Parade. We managed to avoid them on the way there, but by the time we left, they had shut down the nearest freeway entrance to hold all the horses that were going to be in the parade overnight, so we had to drive right through the mania. I wish I had taken a picture. But look at this face...totally worth it...

Happy New Year, everyone!

Is it 2010 yet?

2009-12-30T08:26:00.001-08:00

I'm so behind. I have so much to post, but I've been so busy and exhausted and just barely keeping a cold at bay. Today is my last shift at my seasonal job for this week, then we're having friends over tomorrow night for New Year's Eve, so I'll be back with new posts either Friday or Monday. But, I've been enjoying reading all your blogs!

I'm looking forward to a very quiet, empty-scheduled start to the new year.

We have a winner...

2009-12-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Once again, I used my very scientific method of choosing a winner by writing everyone's name on a scrap of paper (Followers got two), folding and shaking them up, and picking one. I don't generate the number of entries that would require me to use Random.org yet, so my Stone Age method works.

And the winner is...

Kim from NewlyWoodwards! And I swear to Baby Jesus it's not because she highlighted me on her blog today, but she did, so check it out! It was purely a coinkydink, and just meant to be.

So Kim, email me a mailing address and I'll get your votives out asap!

And thank you everyone who entered! There will be more.

The trees and other decor

2009-12-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to posting our holiday decor, considering half of it was up long before Thanksgiving, but here goes the tour...

I kept it simplish this year, because we are still so disorganized from our move in October. I can't even find one whole Christmas bin.

Here's our artificial 6ft. tree. I decided to keep it decorated in colors that match our living room, so blues, brown, cream, white, silver.

I did buy some new ornaments this year, since I didn't have enough in that color scheme to cover this tree. This is one of my favorite new ones:

And we were given some beautiful bird ornaments by our friends Karin and Sam that went perfectly on this tree. I think someday I'll do an entire tree of bird ornaments.

Under this tree is where you'll find Bean hanging out and causing trouble. The tree skirt is just a tablecloth wrapped around the bottom, cause I can't even thread a needle let alone sew anything.

Our advent calendar hanging on the entry closet door:

Entry table decor:

Balls, balls everywhere...

Also on the dining table:

Mini tree on the makeshift dining room sideboard:

Part of the mantle:

Pretty beaded garland on the bookshelves:

The main tree, where we put our ornaments that we've collected over the years. Some have been given to us, some we've picked up on our travels, and we also collect Hallmark ornaments...

First married Christmas ornament from last year:

And this is my all-time favorite ornament. I don't know why, it just is. I can't wait to dig this one out every year when we're decorating my parents' tree, and this year my mom insisted I take it home. My little walnut boy...

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed it. I haven't been able to get enough of seeing everyone's tours. I'm linking to

and

And if you haven't entered my giveaway from yesterday, why the heck not? Click here to enter. Winner will be chosen on Friday morning and posted Friday.

My second ever giveaway!

2009-12-14T20:11:00.000-08:00

So after several days of rain, we had a clear beautiful day, and Mark and I headed out to do a little Christmas shopping. We went to the big outdoor mall where I have my seasonal job at Crate and Barrel (gotta use that employee discount!).

This is why I haven't made any money at that job:

I'm in Crate all day, and then I come out to have Anthro staring me in the face. I never had a chance.

While the incessant rain lately has made it difficult to get things done, it has brought snow to the local mountains, which is pretty.

We had fun shopping. Maybe too much fun, as we bought more for ourselves than others :/ One of the things we bought for ourselves is a pair of these pretty white stone votive holders from West Elm.

I loved them so much I bought a second pair to share with one of you!

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Followers get an extra entry! I will choose a winner randomly on Friday. Happy holidays!

Dare to Deck the Halls!

2009-12-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's the second to last week of the Dare to DIY blog party already! For this week, we were to make something decorative for the holidays.

Ripped straight from the pages of the now defunct and sorely missed Domino magazine, I made a card tree thingy. I searched and searched for the inspiration picture online and in my files where I keep magazine tear sheets, but I couldn't find it. If someone knows what I'm talking about, please send me a link. The Domino version was pink, white and black. Anyway, here's mine:

I used a piece of plywood, which we always have laying around from various projects and improvements. It's about 4 feet tall. Stapled on batting and an old linen table cloth that had a few yellow stains on it, which were going to be covered by the cards. Then Mark and I started nailing on holiday cards in a tree shape. Some were cards from this year, some were saved from years passed (past?) because I liked the front of it or it had special messages written inside.

Add a little garland and some small balls at the end, and voila! Christmas card tree that can be brought out year after year and added to. I think I may do something similar with all the photo Christmas cards we get, since I don't usually throw them away, but never know what to do with them after Christmas. I'll incorporate them into the yearly decor!

I also made a few little vintage card ornaments. I printed some images I found online, taped them to cardstock, added glitter (GLITTER!), and hung 'em on the tree. Couldn't be easier.

Cost for both projects: $0. Gotta love that. Now stop by NewlyWoodwards to be inspired by other homemade holiday decor!

Also linking to Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

and The DIY Show Off

The weekend was...

2009-12-07T19:39:00.001-08:00

Decorating the house...

our Christmas party (so fun!)...

freezing rain...

and a cozy fire...

I love this time of year.

Dare to Make Homemade Gifts

2009-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

After completely missing Week 3 of the DIY challenge because I suck at time management, I'm back for Week 4 which is to make a gift for the holidays.

I chose something I had made over a year ago after seeing them on various blogs and Etsy, so again, this is not a new idea, but still adorable. Then I just made a few more for the challenge. It's cakestands!

Go to thrift stores or yard sales and buy (extremely cheaply) candlesticks or vases or egg cups or anything you think is pretty and would make a suitable base, and glue (I find Gorilla Glue works best) a plate on top. Easy squeasy.

It would be cute to give to someone with an actual cake on it, or cookies, or little soaps or anything the recipient might like. Or just as is.

I also made ornaments inspired by (or completely ripped off from) one from Target this year. I bought a set of 9 clear glass ball ornaments from Target, dropped in a sprig of faux greenery and some white iridescent glitter, and tied a little ribbon knot for hanging.

Cute to tie onto packages. I always like including a little extra something on the outside of a gift.

Don't forget to go to NewlyWoodwards and see what all the other ladies have made!

You must make these

2009-11-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

I thought I might want to make these for Thanksgiving, so I did a test batch, and Mark and I ate them so fast I didn't even get a picture of them. Trust me, they are delicious! They only take 5 minutes to assemble and 30 minutes in the oven.

Scallion and Cheddar Popovers (makes 8)

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 scallions, chopped

1. Coat 8 cups of a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In second bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Fold in cheese and scallions.

3. Fill prepared cups about 3/4 full. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes. Keep oven closed for full baking time or popovers will deflate.

4. Remove from oven and immediately remove from pan. Serve warm.

5. Attempt to eat all 8 until your husband comes in and demands you share.

Recipe via Family Circle.

Dare to Entertain

2009-11-21T19:09:00.000-08:00

The Week 2 challenge of the Dare to DIY blog party over at NewlyWoodwards was to do a table setting.

We are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I did a Thanksgiving table, but let me be honest here...the actual table won't look much like the following pictures. For one thing, we will be 9 people, not 4, so we tack on a long folding table that is a couple of inches taller than our dining table, and then I have to use a second tablecloth which doesn't match the other. Not exactly glamorous, but it's what we do.

But for my imaginary Thanksgiving table for four, I started knowing I wanted to use these little wicker pumpkins I bought years ago at Michael's after Halloween for 50 cents. Excuse the Bean toes. He's such a camera hog!

I thought they would make cute individual flower arrangements at each place setting. Luckily, a little votive holder fits perfectly inside to hold the water.

I used gold chargers (even though the glare off it from the above pic makes it look white), green dinner plates, white salad plates, bronze-y napkins that match the tablecloth, and cute metal leaf napkin rings that my mom bought us this year. I guess if we were really fancy, we'd have gold flatware to match, but we don't have gold flatware, nor do I foresee buying any ever. So good old silver it was.

For the centerpiece I started with an old round mirror we aren't using that has a goldy-silver frame. On top of it I stacked a set of 3 glass cake stands that I filled with fake leaves, real mini pumpkins and gourds and baby artichokes, pinecones, and votives candles. And I stuck a little glittery brown bird that we had from our wedding on top.

If I were actually using this on Thanksgiving, I would remove it just before eating so everyone could see each other and, most importantly, to make room for food! Nothing gets between us and our stuffing in my family. I would also iron the tablecloth, which I did not do before these pictures, but I will do before Thanksgiving. And if I'm being totally honest, there was one really huge wrinkle that I Photoshopped out. Have I mentioned how lazy I am?

Again for this challenge I used what I had. The only things I bought were the fresh flowers and baby artichokes.

Now go on over to NewlyWoodwards and see the tables created by all the other wonderful ladies!

Whoa

2009-11-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to express my complete disbelief (and utter gratitude!) that the fabulous website How Does She featured my pinecone turkey place card in a post about place card ideas! I always figure that it's pretty much my parents and a few friends who see my blog, so to be mentioned by other blogs is so shocking and beyond exciting.

Go check it out, and take a look around. There are tons of great ideas for taking care of home and family.

The weekend was...

2009-11-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

A delightful pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner for friends hosted by one of my BFFs. We got to catch up before all the holiday hubbub gets into full swing. And it's always fun to hang out with her two little monkeys.

Everyone made something delicious, and I brought stuffing. Or dressing, whatever. I call it stuffing even though it's never put inside of a turkey. It's hands down my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I bow down to carbs, and I've got the stomach to prove it.

I used this recipe from Ina Garten. It had me at "sausage." Ina never disappoints.

Dare to DIY...Be Thankful

2009-11-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited because it's Week 1 of Kim at NewlyWoodwards Dare to DIY Blog Party! The challenge for this first week was to make a Thanksgiving-themed craft. Anything related to Thanksgiving. Anything at all. Hmmm.

In thinking of what I might do, I first decided that I wouldn't spend a penny on this challenge. Bad economy, gotta be responsible, blah, blah, blah. Luckily, since I like to craft now and then, I have a lot of craft supplies on hand. So I pulled out some of my stuff to see what I could put together.

I had seen some pretty Fall-ish votive holders somewhere (possibly ZGallerie) that were $6 each. They sort of resembled mercury glass, but painted an orangey-gold. I had clear votives and little tubes of craft paint, so I made some for free!

I painted the outside of the votives orange first, then went over them with a bronze paint. I used only a little paint so that you would see the texture when the candles were lit, like the ones in the store. Then I sprinkled a little bronze glitter on them while they were wet, because when is something not made better with glitter? This is them alone:

Then I decided to glam one up a bit with a jewelry bead and some glittery string I had:

Then I found some of these mini vine wreaths I had stashed in a drawer:

So I clipped some bits off of different garlands I had and stuck them in. I didn't even use any glue because I didn't want it to be permanent:

Cute, but the more I looked at it, the uglier that little pumpkin became. So I sought the help of my old friend, glitter.

Ah, much better.

Then I found some pinecones in one of my craft drawers and I had a stroke of genius. I would make a pinecone look like a turkey, and use it as a place card for the table! Had no one else ever thought of this? Why haven't I ever seen it before? Man, I'm clever and original, I thought.

Until I googled "pinecone turkey" and saw page after page of them. So with ego fully checked, I give you my version of this not-so-original craft:

Pretty self-explanatory. Pinecone, feathers, bead eyes, and felt.

Week 1 was fun, and now I'm off to see what everyone else has done, and start planning for next week's challenge!

Go ahead and judge

2009-11-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

I have a shameful secret. I put up our artficial Christmas tree last night.

I can already hear the outrage, but let me tell you my rationalization.

We're having two trees this year. The smallish fake one from our old house, and we're getting a real larger one this year since we have the space now. I've decorated the fake one in colors to match our living room, and it will be in a corner near the entryway. The real one will be more prominent in the living room, and have our usual ornaments that we've collected over the years.

Anyway, I digress. The reason I'm telling myself I've put up the fake one so soon is that we're having a holiday party just 10 days after Thanksgiving, and with the seasonal job in addition to my regular one, there simply won't be enough time to put both trees up, do the other decorations, shop, and cook. That sounds reasonable, right? No? (Crickets chirping)

Thankfully I have a husband that supports my insanity (or at least he's learned not to fight it), and he helped me. I would say he's pretty perfect, but he wears shirts like this:

Here's a sneak peek:

I'll let you enjoy your Thanksgiving before I bombard you with any more Christmas stuff.

I'm in trouble

2009-11-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

In addition to my regular part-time job, I just started a seasonal job at Crate and Barrel. It's one of my favorite stores on Earth, and where we registered for 90% of our wedding gifts. When I heard the discount for seasonal employees is 30%, I thought "I can do that for six weeks!"

Not wanting to waste that discount, these are just some of the things I have my eye on.

Possibly the cutest ornaments ever. Felt owls and little squirrels (which are already close to selling out. I better hurry!):

The picture of these snowflake mercury glass votives doesn't do them justice. They're so beautiful in person:

We watched a video about these wineglasses. They're handblown and it takes 20 people to make one! The $6.95 each price doesn't seem so bad once you know that.

While we're on the topic of booze, look at this pretty, pretty ice bucket. I think this one is a must-have for me:

I seem to have a thing for cream and sugar sets. I have about 5 now. I guess I'm unintentionally collecting them. Cute cream and sugar set:Olive oil cruet (love that shade of green!):

Recycled glass jars:

This hurricane is throughout the store with all different types of filler around the candles, like pine boughs, pinecones, cranberries, etc. There are a million uses for this one piece:

I need this decorative bowl:

I've been looking for a fireplace screen, and this is truly the nicest one I've seen. I don't like a huge pattern on there-I want to see the fire. This one is unfussy and timeless:

Geez, apparently I'm obsessed with lamps:

That's not nearly all of it! I swear I'm not going to be buying everything. This is still a recession, and with the new house we're pretty much broke as a joke. But, um, it's not looking like many of my paychecks are gonna be making it out of the store alive.

Dining Room Update

2009-11-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Last time I posted about the dining room it looked like this:

But with the in laws coming to stay with us last weekend, I had to kick it into high gear and empty all those boxes onto the shelves. I'm sure there will be lots of tweaking (and of course seasonal changes!), but here are the shelves now:

The sliding door between the shelves leads to what will someday be our rec room complete with pool table and bar. Right now it's our "wreck" room, complete with piles of garbage, good stuff that won't have a home until further remodeling, and crap that may never have a home since we gained house square footage in our move but majorly downsized the garage.

And the whole dining room currently:

We didn't continue the wainscoting around to the wall on the right because we plan to widen that doorway to the kitchen when we do the kitchen remodel.

Things left to do in the dining room:

Hang a curtain rod and curtain panels above the sliding door before Thanksgiving. This view doesn't scream "relaxing meal":

Upgrade the dining set. That's Mark's bachelor table and chairs, and while it serves its purpose, it's a completely different style than the rest of the room. I have what I want in mind and as soon as we can afford it, I'll be doing a switcheroo.
Maybe an area rug, but I don't know how I feel about a rug under the dining table. When I think of spills and crummies and another thing to vacuum, it seems like an easy no. But then again, when I'm sitting on the couch watching tv, I'll sometimes see a beach ball-sized dust bunny tumbleweed blow by under there and that's not really appealing either.

I ask you, area rugs under dining tables: yay or nay?

Ready for the inlaws

2009-11-07T11:48:00.001-08:00

Guest room before:

Guest room today:

There's more to be done. We still need artwork on the walls and once I get a nice chair I'll show you the other side of the room. There's a very hideous temporary chair in there now. But, it's done enough to accommodate guests pretty comfortably. It's way nicer than the master right now.

By the way, does anyone know how to put a duvet into a duvet cover? This is how we (well, Mark) did it:

Seriously! There has to be an easier way. Share your wisdom so we don't have this every time we wash that thing.

Happy weekend!

DIY Partay!

2009-11-05T23:08:00.000-08:00

So when I got an email from Kim at NewlyWoodwards, asking me to participate in her holiday Dare to DIY blog party, you could say I was excited. I *may* have run a circle around my desk. She's one of my very favorite bloggers due to her mad creativity and organizational skills. She makes a list of goals every month and actually accomplishes most of them. Imagine! I'm thrilled if I can get a load of laundry done in any given week. And yet she asked me to join in. Pinch me.

Every week of the holiday season, beginning Monday, November 16th, there will be a different DIY challenge to complete and share on the blog. Then we will link to our posts on Kim's blog. We're encouraged to check out each other's posts and comment. It's a great way to get to know each other better in blog land and get loads of creative inspiration as well. Pretty awesome idea, isn't it?

The weekly challenges are:

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 16
Dare to… be thankful!
Take some time making your own DIY Thanksgiving project. It could be a fun Thanksgiving advent calendar, a banner or something completely unique. Post about what you made, how you made it and photos in its new home.

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 23
Dare to… entertain!
Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.

Party Date: Monday, Nov. 30
Dare to… eat cookies!
As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don't worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 7
Dare to… give homemade gifts!
Nothing is more special than a gift made by you. Try out something new to give this year - ideas include bath and body items, kitchen gifts, hand-sewn clothing or home decor.

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 14
Dare to… deck the halls!
Make something new to deck your halls. Did you find something in a catalog that you wish you had? Wreaths, stockings, pillows or advent calendars? Make it! Inspire us all to do the same.

Party Date: Monday, Dec. 21
Dare to… have traditions!
Everyone has traditions for the Holidays. Tell us all about your favorites or start a new tradition to share.

And this is open to anyone. If you've got a blog and want to participate, please do. The more, the merrier! Just hop on over to NewlyWoodwards to include a link to your corresponding DIY posts. I can't wait to see everyone's creative ideas. Now I better get to making something Thanksgivingy for the first challenge...

Buried in stuff

2009-11-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

I had a different post planned for today, but I got into something last night, and it's taken over the house. So I thought I'd show you the mess I've created.

Yesterday I thought I would start filling up the shelves in our dining room. How hard could that be, right?

First let me show you the sort-of before pictures of the room. We had already put up test swatches of paint and started fixing cracks:

Now here's the "during" picture. I spent 6 hours (!) trying to put things in the shelves and this is what it looks like this morning:

How am I doing? :)

This shouldn't be this hard, but there are things to consider. Since it's open shelving, it needs to look attractive. But it also needs to be practical since it's primary function is storage, so it needs to contain things we will use regularly. And there's only so much space, so I have to maybe not use some pieces I'd like to, and I'm not good at editing.

I will post "after" pictures if we ever get to the after. I better do something quick though because we have Mark's dad and stepmom staying with us this weekend.

I'm ready

2009-10-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Bin full of costume stuff:

Check.

Candy for the trick-or-treaters:

Check.

Terrifying black cat:

Check.

Happy Halloween!

Have I mentioned I love Halloween?

2009-10-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to think of costumes for me and the hubs for the party we're going to on Saturday. We have a bin full of wigs and hats and other bits of costumes, so I'm sure we'll be able to cobble something together. It gets harder every year though to come up with something. It's not like when I was a kid and knew before summer ended what I wanted to be.

This was my best costume of all time. I was six and my dad made this from a pattern. On a sewing machine! I'm still in awe. I don't think he's sewn anything since, but how could you top this? Behold my Cabbage Patch Kid costume...

It was the talk of the first grade, I tell you.

Then there was this year...

Whaaa? I think my face says it all. And no, that giant inflated pumpkin thing is not hanging on the door as Mark initially thought. It's on my head. A dollar to anyone who can tell me what I was exactly.

If you're dressing up this year, what are you going to be? Any best and/or worst costume stories?

4 Days Til Halloween!

2009-10-27T08:37:00.001-07:00

We put out a few more of our yard decorations yesterday. We're not going crazy because we started so late, but I told Mark next year I want life-sized creatures! And animatronics! Let's build a haunted house maze! At that point he called a lawyer for divorce papers.

Our cemetery...

Gotta have bones in a cemetery...

This little table is on our porch. I also have a bowl full of shrunken heads that I'm going to fill with water and a couple of green glow sticks which I'll put on here on Halloween.

What are your Halloween plans? Partying? Taking the kiddos trick-or-treating? Handing out candy? Hiding under the covers until it passes? Do tell.

5 Days Til Halloween!

2009-10-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

If I had to pick a favorite holiday, it would be Christmas, but Halloween is a close second. Very close. Like, Christmas needs to watch its back close.

And, if there's one thing I can't understand, it's adults that don't like Halloween. If there's nary a pumpkin on your porch and you turn off your lights and hide in the dark on the 31st like a big ole scrooge, I don't even want to know you. When I was a kid, we could trick-or-treat at nearly every house on the block, but it seems now that more and more houses are dark. Sad. So every year we make it a point to really decorate our yard and then we watch scary movies while we hand out candy. This year we're going to a Halloween party, but late, because I wouldn't miss handing out candy. It's my favorite part.

We've put up about 1/2 of our porch/yard decor. We're behind because of the moving (lots of house updates coming, too!). We're putting up more today, with a few things being saved until just before dark on Halloween. That day Mark will get on the roof to put our scary funkin on top of the chimney, we'll put dry ice in the mailbox and fire up our fog machine, and put the strobe light on the lawn to light up the whole scene in eerie flashes.

But we've already put up what I consider our big gun. This guy makes people that are walking or driving by stop and point.

We tend toward more adult/scary decorations outside, maybe because we don't have kids yet, but we've never had any kids, even the tiny ones, be too scared to come to the door. Nothing would keep me away from getting candy either.

More pictures tomorrow...

Happy 40th Mom & Dad

2009-10-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Forty years ago today, my parents eloped in Las Vegas.

They're one of the very few couples I know that have made it that long. How cute are they!?

Happy Anniversary! Love you!

Anniversary

2009-10-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

We spent most of our anniversary day trying to show our old house to get it rented. It did not go well. But we managed to salvage the day by going to dinner at a great tapas restaurant near our new house...

I didn't save and freeze any of our original wedding cake, because, I don't know. I just don't believe in letting cake sit in a freezer for a year. So my mom kindly surprised us with a delicious little lemon cake (one of the two flavors of cake we had at the wedding) she made. It was a perfect ending to the night. And breakfast this morning. Thanks mama!

One year ago today...

2009-10-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

I married someone pretty fantastic.

I love you, Baby Boo! (I saved the really mushy stuff for the card. You're all welcome.)

Ah, setbacks

2009-09-27T12:50:00.001-07:00

If there's one thing I know for certain, it's that Mark and I do not have a future in floor refinishing.

We spent six agonizing hours on our hands and knees staining the floors yesterday, and when we went back this morning, prepared to put the first coat of polyurethane on, they looked like garbage. So terrible, I couldn't bring myself to take a picture for you. We basically stood there with our mouths open. Mark is taking it worse than I am. He said he wanted to cry, and for a minute I thought he was going to.

The problem appears to be that he didn't get up all of the varnish when he was sanding the floors. So, the stain didn't soak into those areas, leaving the floors streaky and blotchy. Soooo, Mark is spending the day re-sanding the floors, and (kill me now) I think we're spending tomorrow re-staining them.

I will be spending today in the fetal position with my blankie, and if you ever hear me say we're moving again, just punch me in the face.

Progress

2009-09-22T11:26:00.001-07:00

Well, we're officially three weeks into Phase 1 (which we estimated would take two weeks), with about two more weeks to go. Why do these things always take longer than planned? The good news is that Mark and I have only wanted to kill each other one of those days. Not bad.

The worst part is finally over - the plaster dust. Holy God, the dust. Mark may loathe textured walls, but do I ever understand why it was invented. You just spray that crap on and call it done. Instead, we've spent countless hours plastering cracks and blemishes, and sanding them, and replastering them, and sanding again, and on and on trying to make them look perfect. And you know what? That's impossible, which is very unsettling for an anal freak like me. And we've sucked enough dust to have surely taken a couple of years off our lives.

I've finished staining and clear-coating all the interior doors. They look like this (which is also how the floors will look):

And best of all, we got our new refrigerator, courtesy of Mark's mama. It's a behemoth in our little kitchen, but it's oh so pretty. It will look like it belongs someday, when we redo the kitchen. Behold the dream fridge, surrounded by garbage:

Now we're on to paint! Then refinishing the floors which have already been sanded (by Mark) and taped for painting (by me, which resulted in numerous muscle aches and a 3-day limp). The joys of remodeling!

Phase 1 underway

2009-09-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Can I just brag for a minute? I have the handiest husband ever. He can fix, build, or replace anything even if he's never done it before. He just figures it out. I'm in awe of his man skills.

First up, he installed crown moulding (something he'd never done before) in the three bedrooms other than the master, which is part of Phase 2. He also skimmed this entire bedroom with plaster since it was the only room that was textured (weird), which to him was unacceptable because "it's so 80s."

Doesn't it look professional?! The moulding will be painted white, btw.

Then, he closed up a doorway from the kitchen into the hallway, because when we do the kitchen in a year (God willing), we plan to use that spot for more counter space. So we did it now so the hall can be completed.

This is our little entryway.

See that door on the left? That's our coat closet! I haven't had a coat closet since I've moved out of my parents' house. In every place I've lived, the front door just opened up into the middle of the living room. I'm so excited. No one wears coats in Southern California, but if they did, we'd be ready for them.

Mark already replaced the coat closet door (and all of the bedroom doors) from regular white hollow doors to that beautiful wood. Tomorrow I will start staining them all darker, to match the floors that we're staining when all the plaster work is finished. We also ordered a new wood front door, but it won't be arriving for 6 weeks.

And, I don't have a "before" picture, but he replaced a hideous gold light fixture that cleared the front door by less than a centimeter with a recessed light.

This is what every room looks like right now...

Filled with tools and sawdust and mess. It's chaos.

See those paint swatches to the left of the ladder? We've decided on the darkest one for the living room. It's Babbling Brook from Olympic, cause I just gotta do the no VOC thing, and I love it!

So much more to do before we can actually move in, but we're moving right along. Hopefully two more weeks!

We're In!

2009-09-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, not completely. After what seems like eternity, we were finally able to get into our new house on Monday afternoon.

It smelled weird, and the reality of all the little (and not so little) things we have to do really set in. But we're so excited. Luckily since we're renting our current house, there's no hurry to get everything out, other than the very real threat of two mortgages. Who needs money! So the plan is to do any plaster work, sand and restain the hardwood floors, and paint the main rooms before completely moving in. We'll see how it goes.

The kitchen is worse than I thought. I spent all of yesterday (minus a couple of swimming breaks!) scrubbing it, and I still didn't finish. I don't thinking cleaning was a priority for the previous owners. Seriously, my arms are sore. What I really want to do is take a sledgehammer to it, but alas, kitchen remodel is not in the budget right now.

On a positive note, we found lots of little gifts throughout the house left by the sellers.

Lots more pictures and updates to come!

Why am I up at 4 am?

2009-08-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

I'm trying. I really am. I want to keep this blog updated, but there is NOTHING going on right now other than packing.

We picked up the keys to the new house yesterday, but the sellers will still be in there until next Monday. So in exactly one week we can start moving in! Meanwhile, we're buried in boxes. For someone who likes to purge things pretty regularly, I'm shocked by how much stuff we have.

Anyway, next week I can begin posting "before" pictures. Phase One as soon as we get in there is to sand and stain the hardwood floors throughout, paint the living room, dining room, hall and bedrooms, install crown moulding in the bedrooms, install wainscoting in the dining room, refinish the living room fireplace, build bookshelves for either side of fireplace, new front door and all new interior doors. That should keep us busy for awhile.

Oh, and I'm on-call for jury duty for the next two weeks. Isn't that awesome timing?

The weekend was...

2009-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Packing, packing, packing. And then I packed.

We get the keys in exactly two weeks. We'll be completely overrun with boxes by then. They're already lining our hallway. I'm dying to get in the new house!

Can't Wait

2009-08-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I loved this book, and I can't wait to see the movie although I'm a little unsure about some of the casting choices. Mark Wahlberg? Did you see him in The Happening? Yikes.

Magical

2009-08-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

How much do you want to jump into these pictures of a Midsummer Night's Dream theme party thrown by Bash Eco Events in L.A.?

I'm thinking I'm gonna have to try to recreate this atmosphere for a party once we're settled into our new house.

What the deuce

2009-08-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

In looking at blog stats, it appears someone stumbled upon my blog by searching "girls with bifocals." Hmmm.

Dreaming

2009-08-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that Summer is my least favorite season (maybe that will change now that we're going to have a pool), so now that August is here I'm already fantasizing about Fall and the holidays.

I'm starting to get the first Fall magazines and catalogs, and I squeal with delight when I open them and see the reds and oranges, the roaring fires in the fireplaces, the pumpkins on the porches and tables. October, November, and December are my favorite months with the decorations, and the parties, and the weather (not that we get the dramatic weather change in L.A. like in other parts of the country, but it's something).

I've been looking at images like these lately:

via

What's your favorite time of year?

Farmer's Market Friday

2009-07-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Have a great weekend!

I died

2009-07-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

This video killed me. Warning: I am a cat person. You may not find this as amusing if you don't like cats. I laughed to the point of tears at the end with the boxes.

Random

2009-07-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

1. Apparently, yelling "Pick Reid!" at the television means nothing.

2. OMG, will this house saga never end?

Again, I will spare you the complicated, boring details, but to make a long story short, last week we ended up changing loan strategies (for the better) which put us a week behind in the escrow process. Now we are a couple of days past the date we were supposed to lift our loan contingency, but due to the change, the new loan hasn't been approved yet. Thus we can't lift the contingency yet. And the selling agent is seriously riding our agent and loan guy. They keep telling us it shouldn't be a problem, but it's like we just can't even relax for a second. They say we should know today, so please keep your fingers crossed for us that it works out. If not, I'll definitely be blogging less, because I don't think they let you have a computer in your padded cell.

3. On a happier note, I made this delish zucchini bread a few days ago. It's adapted from a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It was really good.

This is the original recipe:

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

3 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins (I used golden raisins, because it's what I had.)

(I added a couple of grated carrots for the heck of it, and because if you looked in my crisper drawer you'd think I was breeding bunnies. I also added a little more walnuts than called for, and next time I will add more raisins, because those made it for me.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8x4 loaf pans.

Beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in the oil and sugar, then the zucchini and vanilla (and carrots!).

In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nuts and raisins. Stir into the egg mixture, and pour into the pans.

Bake 60 minutes. (I baked for closer to 45 minutes, because I prefer bread a little more moist {moister?}, and they turned out perfect in my opinion.)

The weekend was...

2009-07-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

Mostly filled with boring little chores and minor repairs to our current house to get it in rentable condition, but we did make it out on Sunday with Mark's mom, sister, and her husband to the Huntington Library and Gardens for tea. You know I can't resist mini food!

Tonight I will hunker down to watch the Bachelorette finale. Who is Jillian picking? I haven't agreed with most of her choices, but if I had to choose between Kiptyn (really?) and Ed, I'd pick Kiptyn because Ed's shorty shorts in Hawaii were just unpleasant.

Movin' on up

2009-07-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting as regularly around here. I've been busy and I've wanted to explain why, but it hasn't been the right time...until now.

We bought a new house!

We went into escrow the Monday after the 4th of July, and of course we were thrilled, but the escrow process thus far has hit so many snags that I honestly wasn't sure everything would go through. Turns out securing a loan right after a major mortgage/housing meltdown is a bitch. Who knew? I won't go into all the bloody details (believe me, I was going to kill someone several times), but I *think* it's safe to say we've got it in the bag now.

The house is twice the size of our current house, and it has a pool!!! And it has a lot of storage/closets. I'll even have a walk-in pantry! I'm getting tingly. It's a 50s ranch and almost all the finishes are original which when you're talking about the hardwood floors is great, but the original oven and yellow tile - not so great.

Get a load of the kitchen. The tile is yellow and maroon. And the cabinets are knotty pine. I think that's all that needs to be said...

We plan to make a lot of changes (the kitchen needs the most work), but it's all going to happen slowly over time. This is the pool. You can't tell from this picture, but it's HUGE!

We were supposed to get the keys on August 11, but yesterday the sellers asked to rent it from us for two weeks after that until their escrow closes. Of course we agreed, but get out of my house, people...I'm ready to swim!

So anyway, while I would love to be a blog that posts everyday (at least M-F), the posting will probably continue to be sporadic around here for a while, what with packing and moving and painting and settling. But I promise lots of before and after posts starting in a couple of months!

The weekend was...

2009-07-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sitting in crawling traffic on the 5 freeway on the way to Mark's dad's house because of this...

But once we got there, it was relaxing. On Saturday, the neighbor of Mark's dad and stepmom was having a Hawaiian-themed 40th birthday party. Although Mark and I had never met her, when she heard we would be in town for the weekend, she was gracious enough to invite us. And their house is a mansion. For real. Mark's dad has a nice, big house, but this house is like something out of Cribs. I wish I had taken pictures of the inside, but I thought that might be tacky.

Anyway, Mark estimated there were about 200 people at the party. It was catered with a huge staff, open bar, professional photographers, Hawaiian dancers-it was crazy. Please excuse the quality of the pictures-all were taken with Mark's very beat-up point and shoot...

This pool has a swim-up bar...

I wish these pictures could convey how oppressively hot and humid it was. I'm talking pouring sweat. It's almost all anyone could talk about. So when the sun went down Mark and I and a few other people dipped our toes in the pool...

Then some people even got all the way in with their clothes on...

Mark thought that was a great idea...

Wonderland

2009-07-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland! It doesn't come out until March of next year, but look at these photos! And Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter...please!

The weekend was...

2009-07-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

Pink and silver ornaments from an estate sale...

Homemade pizza...

A little work in the garden...

But mostly it was staying indoors where it wasn't hot as Hades and trying to get some work done, which meant keeping Bean out so he didn't sit on the keyboard...

Etsy Goods

2009-07-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

I could spend hours looking at the beautiful handmade and vintage things on Etsy.

thebrickhouse

matteart

Dandelion vase:

prettyrandomobjects

I think this is so cute even though it reminds of high school biology, pretending as hard as I could that I was participating when I wasn't turning around to take deep breaths and dry heave:

craftyhedgehog

Adorable butter dish:

burrobranch

Do you have any favorites on Etsy?

The weekend was...

2009-07-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Fantastic...and I don't have a single picture of it. We went to the best parade along a tree-lined street in the cutest city which *may* soon be our city (details to come), where all the houses were decorated and people were barbecuing on their front lawns and handing out drinks and treats to passersby, and kids were riding their bikes they had decorated with flags and streamers, and there was an overwhelming feeling of community, and I actually got choked up 'cause I'm a loser, and when I realized I forgot my camera I wanted to punch myself in the face, and I better wrap up this sentence before they take away my B.A. in English.

I hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

via

I hope you all have a great weekend of friends, family, food, and fireworks!

Mail Hog

2009-07-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with getting the mail for some reason. We have a mail slot in our door instead of a mailbox (which is something that took some getting used to for me. When I first moved in it would scare the crap out of me if I was in the living room when it came.), and if Mark and I walk into the house together I always yell, "Let me get the mail!" I just have to see it first. I never said I was normal.

And 95% of the time it's a huge stack of bills and some ads. But how delightful is it when a lovely little package arrives?

I've mentioned that I was one of the winners of Rachel at Heart of Light's "Pay It Forward" giveaway, and last week this little bundle of goodness arrived...

It's one of her beautiful ruffle headbands (tutorial on her site), a set of adorable notecards, and a pad for keeping track of the week's menu and grocery list. How much did I score!?! I love handmade treats! And check out her blog if you haven't already...it's beautiful!

Bravo shows are the best

2009-06-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

If you watched the Real Housewives of New Jersey, you might find this as hilarious as I did. And they're insane, but I want to be friends with Caroline and Dina.

The weekend was...

2009-06-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

Palm Springs, of course. It was slap-you-in-the-face hot. It's so hot that in the public restrooms next to the hand soap they have this...

We stayed in this beautiful house...

and the weekend consisted of relaxing...

eating too much...

swimming...

taking in the sights...

and chasing this little monkey around...

Thank you Kerri, Vic, and Baby J for a lovely weekend!

Weekend away

2009-06-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

via

If you know me, you know I LOVE the heat. If you don't know me, that was sarcasm. I wilt like lettuce if it's above 90 degrees, and I prefer it to be in the 60s and 70s.

So, we're headed to Palm Springs for the weekend!

But I am really looking forward to it because we're going with three of my favorite people and staying in the very beautiful house of our friend's dad, complete with plenty of air conditioning and a pool. Maybe I'll even take a classy picture like the one above.

Doing anything fun this weekend?

3 Things I'm Loving

2009-06-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

1. Burt's Bees Lip Balm

via

I'm one of those girls that has an unnatural attachment to Chapstick. I have a tube in my purse, in my nightstand, in my car, in our travel bag, etc. I'm a step away from wearing it on a chain around my neck. And I don't just do one little swipe across the lips. I go around and around like a nutcase. But, in doing a little research about the environment and healthy products, it turns out Chapstick isn't all that good for you due to the petroleum. So I've switched to Burt's Bees, and I actually like it better. It tingles unlike Chapstick and it tastes better.

2. Trader Joe's Garlic Naan

So garlicky and delicious. And it takes one minute in the oven. One minute! A little butter on top, and yes ma'am!

3. Petunia Face

You must go to this blog if you haven't read it. Susannah is so funny, and where and how she finds the pictures she uses is a wonder. Start with this post and just try not to spit all over your computer screen.

Sugar Coma

2009-06-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

via

Birthday over. MUST. STOP. EATING. CAKE.

The weekend was...

2009-06-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

My friend Jim's wedding in Dana Point...

It was a lot of fun, despite being a little chilly and drizzly. And the person whose idea it was to make the chocolate cupcakes be brownies deserves a parade in their honor.

and a little Father's Day/my birthday celebration at my parents' house...

We're big game people, so there were games. And during this one, I *might* have had a minor tantrum that made me look like I had just turned 3 instead of 32 because I was losing so badly. I'm talking record losing. Never in the history of anyone anywhere playing this game has someone racked up as many points as I did. But my mood was instantly lifted when this baby was brought out...

A vanilla raspberry cake with buttercream frosting, covered in a bajillion white chocolate shavings. That's how many there were. I counted.

It was a lovely weekend, and Happy Father's Day, Papa!

A bloggy birthday gift

2009-06-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'm on a roll, peeps! I've won my second blog giveaway.

I entered a giveaway from Chris on her fantastic blog, Just a Girl. She does a lot of before and afters of her house, which I love.

Anyhoo, the giveaway was a print from Kitty of Your Name in a Frame. She makes these cool prints of your name (or whatever word you want) using photos of things that look like letters. Some examples:

I'm getting one with our last name and wedding date, similar to this one:

Aren't they great? I can't wait to get it and hang it in our house! I'm picturing it either in our bedroom or hallway.

Speaking of giveaways, I've mailed mine to my five winners, so hopefully they get to you ladies soon!

Happy Birthday to me

2009-06-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, what do those candles say!?!

Wasn't my last birthday just like, two weeks ago? Where does the time go? I used to have big parties and drag my birthday out to a "birthmonth." Now people have to remind me my birthday is coming, and I barely have time to acknowledge it before it goes flying by.

The hubs has taken the day off from work to treat me to a day of whatever I want. I don't know exactly what the day will bring, but I know we will be heading down to the beach per my request, and there will be much eating of junk. When can you splurge if not on your birthday?

Green living

2009-06-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

I've made a few eco purchases lately that I'm kinda excited about, because well, I'm pretty simple and it doesn't take much.

The first one is a fabric shower curtain liner from Target. This is super-eco, because I'm convinced those plastic shower liners are deadly. I would have to hang new ones outside for a few hours before putting them in the bathroom or the fumes would cause an instant headache. So now, not only are we protecting the planet and our health from that gnarly chemical-y plastic, it's also a money saver. We will just wash this fabric liner when needed instead of replacing a mildewy plastic one every few months.

The other two have to do with transporting food, because 99% of the time when I'm quiet and contemplative, looking like I'm pondering life's big issues, I'm really just thinking about my next meal.

This is the Wrap-n-Mat.

It's basically a foldable placemat with a food-safe washable liner that you use to wrap your sandwich. No more plastic wrap or Ziplocs! It's the same basic idea for the next item...

Our new snackTaxis!

I got a pretty one for me and a black one for Mark. They are lined pouches to hold snacks, like chips, veggies, fruit, dry cereal, etc. I plan to load up on these when I have kids so that I can save money and the environment by buying in bulk (less packaging) and putting their snacks in these. Love them!

But, in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that not all of my eco endeavors have been successful. Last week I bought an all-natural lavender shampoo from Trader Joe's. I think I can safely say I'm allergic to it. After the first (and only) use, my jaw and neck broke out into an itchy, blotchy rash and swelled up pretty hideously. It lasted several days and I still have dry patches from the scratching that I really tried not to do.

I knew my pursuit to be more ecologically responsible would involve trial and error, but yikes. Clearly I have more work to do in finding a shampoo. Meanwhile, I'm back to using the dye-filled, unpronounceable chemical crap that is surely seeping into my bloodstream and causing untold genetic damage, but keeps me from looking like a blowfish.

That wasn't me in your bushes, I swear

2009-06-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my lame-assity, and don't leave me. I'll hold onto your leg as you try to walk away. Then I'll call you at all hours and hang up after I've heard your voice.

There are so many things I want to blog about, but life has been getting in the way. All will be revealed hopefully soonish. Sorry to be so vague, there's just no point discussing what "might" happen. But, I promise more real blog posts this week, starting tomorrow.

And to my dear giveaway winners, I am thisclose to sending your goodies. I can foresee them being mailed out about Wednesday-ish.

You're probably bored by this...

2009-06-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

but I'm thoroughly amazed!

I checked on our veggie garden and we have sorta yellow squash...

And kinda cucumbers...

And the first hint of tomatoes...

Sure, the cucumbers look like skinny turds, but they came from a tiny seed IN THE GROUND! That's straight magic, I tell ya.

You're all winners in my eyes

2009-06-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you thank you to those of you who entered my little giveaway! I got eleven entries, which is about ten more than I was expecting!

To select the five winners, I used the very scientific and sophisticated method of writing your names on little scraps of paper, wadding them up into little balls, shaking them up in my hands, dropping several of them on the floor, crawling under the desk to retrieve them along with a couple of dust bunnies, shaking them up again, picking five, and spending several minutes unwadding them. (I'm thinking I'll try something different next time.)

The winners are: Everyday Flotsam and Jetsam, delightfuldwelling, Julie, Lisa C., and Em. Ladies, please email me (address on the right) with your mailing information. I will get your packages out asap (which is probably sometime next week).

Congratulations, and thanks for playing!