9-OH-6

2012-01-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

So here's the deal. I'm (more than a little) obsessed with Pinterest. There, I admitted it. I am happy to say that thanks to my constant prodding about it, Bridget finally joined up a couple months ago and she is equally obsessed. The majority of our conversations these days begin with something along the lines of "did you see that thing I pinned?"... and I love it.

Dan, and many many others, seem to think that Pinterest is a big fat waste of time, and while it very well might be in some aspects (say, when I spend an hour pinning instead of working or doing laundry), it is also a constant source of inspiration right at our fingertips. It has made me more creative and sparked countless craft projects, given me the courage to be a little more bold in my personal style, and helped me plan several dinners, parties and random get-togethers... among other things.

Last night while heading to dinner, Bridget and I got on the topic of Pinterest (shocking!) and I mentioned that it would be interesting for me to go through my pins and see what I've actually done. And because Pinterest is that amazing - I have done a LOT... and now I'm going to blog about it as proof that it's not all just pretty pictures and unreachable things (although I admit that some of it is)!

Here's a roundup of what I've pinned... and then actually done something with!

CRAFTS

Clockwise from top left:

I learned how to transfer a photo onto a block of wood, which I used for an art project here at work just this week
I made a ton of these handy little clothespin magnets with scrapbook paper with some leftover clothespins from the wedding
I lined the back panels of our dining room hutch with fun paper that instantly brightened it up
I painted the lyrics to our first dance onto a canvas as a Christmas gift to Dan
Dan an I DIY'd a headboard for our bedroom and used the shape I liked from this image

COOKING

I made cupcake fondue for Kadence's 4th birthday, and we all had a blast decorating little mini cupcakes with tons of sprinkles
This gingerbread cheesecake trifle went to my gramma's house on Christmas Eve with us
Dan's cookies for our cookie exchange party were these snickerdoodles
Manda, Bridget and I indulged in apple pie ice cream in the fall
These little mini baked apple donuts were DELICIOUS and a huge hit at work
I made these peppermint snowballs as my contribution to our cookie exchange party

FASHION

I've purchased a few pairs of pants that are NOT jeans, including some fun brights! The girl in this photo is someone who's daily outfits push me to try something a little bit outside of my regular
I already had a striped dress almost identical to this one, and have actually worn it to WORK a few times, which is really a big step for me
I bought a bunch of knee socks. I am in love.
I scored a pair of nerd glasses for $14 online and have been rocking them every day since they arrived. Girls at work have complimented me endlessly and one even said the glasses elevate my entire look. Awesome.
A girl at work and this tutorial taught me how to curl my hair with a straightener - SO easy
I exchanged a couple Christmas things and snatched up the perfect rose gold watch I pinned
Post-wedding, I got a layered sorta choppy haircut, just like Reese
After seeing a bunch of pins about a big top-bun, I tried it once on the weekend, loved it, and slowly gained the confidence to wear it to work... where I (again) get a bunch of compliments every time. I work with some sweet people!
I learned how to tie a skinny belt a bunch of ways

WEDDING

I learned how to make pinwheels to cover up un-pretty things at our reception space
My mom, gramma, aunts, sister, friends and even Dan joined forces to make hundreds of tissue paper flowers which made for awesome handmade centerpieces
I saw this quote and (finally) let go of the little things that didn't go my way on our big day
I ripped off this cute door hanger idea and put one in each of our hotel guest bags
Hair inspiration!
My mom used some guides from Pinterest to make flowers out of pieces of her wedding veil to attach to my teal shoes
I used this tutorial to make a fabric flower for my hair, which I adorned with one of my grandma's old buttons as a little way of having her with me that day

OTHER

A few random ones here...

This punch was a hit at our cookie exchange party
I recently tried out an aspirin mask to reduce inflammation in my skin
I've been writing down one line a day as a personal reminder to be thankful for the little things throughout the year (I'm keeping mine in a little book rather than a jar, but got the idea here)
All the years of me throwing fits about annoying stickers on things got better when someone pinned this little trick of using a blowdryer to get them off

So there you have it - all the wonderful little things I've seen/found/done/copied off of Pinterest. And this, my friends, is just a snapshot of al the amazing things that site has to offer. Just ask Bridget.

You can see ALL of my pins here: pinterest.com/kve_pins/

DIY Headboard

2012-01-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

I have a tendency to think about/write about/talk about all kinds of projects that I have "HUGE" plans for... and then never actually get around to them. Sometimes though, while it may take months or even years, I DO actually tackle projects that I've been dying to try out... and thankfully, often times they are successful!

Our latest undertaking was a DIY headboard, which is definitely on the "been talking about it for years" list. I randomly bought fabric for the project back at the beginning of our wedding planning because I was at a textile outlet and found something I liked for cheap... but of course with the wedding being my #1 priority for most of 2011, the fabric just sat unused for quite some time. When I ended up with a 4-day weekend for Martin Luther King's birthday I convinced Dan to head to Home Depot for the plywood, and our headboard extravaganza began...

I learned from reading a billion blogs that Home Depot will cut pieces of wood for you, which was obviously a huge help - and allowed us to actually fit this into the CR-V.

Here's Dan wheeling everything out to the car. The bottom piece is the actual headboard - the 2 smaller pieces are the remainder of the 4x8' sheet of plywood. Since we had to buy the entire sheet regardless, we figured we may as well take the extra pieces home to have for something else down the road.

To figure out what size we needed, we just measured the width of our queen size bed and added about 2 inches to be safe. For height, we made the bed complete with all of our pillows propped up and I grabbed a piece of chalk and drew a (very crooked) line on the wall behind our bed as a visual reference. Once we got to a height we liked we measured from the bottom of our mattress to the chalk line, and again added a couple inches just to be safe (I would have rather had the headboard end up a little taller than a little shorter). All in all the measurements ended up being 41" tall and 60" wide.

Originally, we were just going to do a regular old rectangular headboard... and then my mom told me she had a jigsaw we could borrow and I decided it would be fun to add a little shape to our headboard. So, we waited until this past weekend when we could stop by to grab it, and then decided on just rounding in the top corners for a simple - but a little more fancy - shape.

Once our board was cut we arranged 1" thick foam across almost the whole thing. Since I wanted the headboard to go to the bottom of our mattress but did NOT want it to cause our mattress to sit far from the wall, we did not put any foam on the bottom 9 inches of the board, but still wrapped it in fabric for a seamless look.

We read that it isn't totally necessary to glue the foam to the board if you're using batting (which we were), but we decided to use a little spray mount anyways, which Dan had fun with. We also thought this was probably a good idea because we had to cut a couple of smaller pieces of foam to fit in on some of the edges, and wanted to be sure those stayed put for the long haul.

In case anyone is wondering - I did the un-environmentally friendly thing and bought regular old foam at Walmart for about $20, rather than the "green" foam from the fabric store that would have cost me closer to $75. Sorry Earth, I'm not planning to throw this thing out for awhile, and I don't have that kind of money for to spruce up my bed.

I forgot to take a picture of the next step, but it was the fairly easy process of wrapping a big piece of quilt batting over the whole thing and stapling it on the back around all the edges. Then we steamed our big piece of fabric and went to work wrapping that over the batting. I was super excited about how easy it was to get the batting right on the rounded in corners, which made it a little cruel when the fabric was a HUGE pain to get right in those same spots.

We realized pretty late in the game that we were using flat staples and probably should have been using the pointy ones (which we didn't have). This made Dan's job of doing the actual stapling a huge pain, but since he's not me, he made it work without any dramatic meltdowns.

We haven't actually attached our beautiful new headboard to the wall yet so it's a little crooked here, but Dan still helped me set it all up to take a quick phone picture so I could write about it in the meantime!

Isn't it fun?!?

I MAY be adding nailhead trim to the finished product before we hang it, but that will depend on if I actually find the trim at Michael's tonight. I thought I had already bought it at the same outlet I got the fabric at, but apparently what I actually bought was the little things you use to bedazzle a shirt a la 1990 and NOT nailhead trim. Awesome. If I do in fact add the trim, I'll be sure to get my good camera out and take a "real" final picture to post!

We took a few breaks throughout the whole process to switch out laundry, eat a snack, and lay around because I was having some weird stomach pains for most of the day, but overall our little project probably only took us a couple of hours total! And since I'm a cheapskate and bought my fabric at an outlet and helped destroy our planet with bargain foam, this entire project ran me a measly $50 or so. Not bad considering this similarly-shaped Crate & Barrel version will run you an insane $799! And with that... my little bedroom makeover is officially in progress. :)

Oh, and...

2012-01-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to post another little update last week! It may not be the most exciting thing to just anyone, but it is for me. Check out this handy shelf we grabbed at Target for the bathroom, which Dan put up for me on New Years Eve while we were waiting for our guests to arrive.

(The bathroom is teal - not sure why it's showing so straight-blue here)

I love that we now have somewhere besides our main towel bar to keep hand towels, which I used to only put out when we were having parties. The black and white fabric box is from the Liberty of London for Target line and houses a bunch of my little daily beauty products like eye makeup remover and dry shampoo. The little vase was on clearance at West Elm ages ago for something like $3 and now holds my makeup brushes and a "lollipop" of ponytail holders from Bridget. Up top is a pretty smelling candle and a jar that is now full of cotton balls. And let's not forget to point out my hair straightener that hangs perfectly from the bar out of the way, instead of sitting on the sink to cool off every morning like it used to (thus ending up there all day because I would rush out the door before it was cool enough to put away). It's the little things. Unfortunately for OCD me, the shelf had to be hung slightly off center above the toilet because of the random capped off electrical box on the wall (behind my makeup brushes in the photo above), but I'm dealing.

I think if I'm talking about bathroom updates my new-ish lovely shower curtain is also worth noting, don't you?

We picked the curtain up at Target shortly after we decided to register for all gray and white towels for the wedding, which definitely would not match the brown patterned curtain that used to be there. The lighter gray color here helps the room feel less overwhelming, and as you may have noticed above - matches my hand towels, which I can assure you makes me endlessly happy.

We've also added one of those toilet paper extra-roll things (super technical term there for you) that was a nice change from the store-bought pack of extra rolls we used to have just sitting on the floor, and a teeny little hamper (wedding gift from Kevin and Erica) that I (try to) throw my pjs in every morning when I jump in the shower. Dan understandably HATES when I leave my clothes in a pile behind the bathroom door, so the hamper was a welcome addition. :)

In other news, I am in love. With a couch.

Two of my work buddies recently purchased this beauty from a store called Roy's here in Chicago, and I am dying to be the third person around here to call it mine. I dragged Dan to see it over the long weekend and after looking at a bunch of other stores and outlets we're mostly on the same page that it's the best we've seen... but at $800 it's not really an easy thing for our teeny budget minds to grasp. I've been told a million times that $800 is "a great price!!!" for a couch, but I'm still experiencing a little sticker shock as that is a LOT of money! Thankfully, while we agree that our current couch could definitely use replacing, we don't have to buy a new one right now and can afford to wait for a sale to come up at the store.

If we do decide to bite the bullet on the couch, we will have to make the decision on which fabric we want it in out of at least 100 options. The fact that you get to choose your fabric for no additional cost really drew me to Roy's, as we'd like to find something that not only fits our style but is Louie-friendly. Truth be told - I'd like to train Louie to NOT go on the couch if we get a new one, but we'll tackle that when we come to it.

I really love this gray "heather" fabric that's pretty heavy-duty, has some texture and almost has a little bit of a salt-and-pepper look to it. I think the different colors and dimensions in the fabric would help hide Louie's hair a bit (not to mention the dirt that he inevitably tracks in the house).

Dan pointed out that the texture doesn't have a super tight weave, and therefore may snag more easily (say, from Louie's nails), so we may go a different route for the fabric if we decide to buy this specific couch.

We're continuing to make amazing progress in the office and I can't wait to share photos of it soon! For now, I'm heading out to dinner in a bit to celebrate my mom's birthday with her and Manda. Happy birthday Mom - Love you lots!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2012-01-08T21:05:00.000-08:00

To Dan's disappointment, since the wedding I have yet to get to a point where I'm ready to just RELAX. I'm certain this has something to do with the fact that I spent the last several months prior to the wedding literally doing projects every single day so I'm not exactly used to having all kinds of evening and weekend free time. Something in me changed when we got married - it's like I suddenly feel like a "real" adult and I'm on a mission to get my entire life in order - starting with things like decluttering the linen closet and finally, finally, FINALLY cleaning our home office. David, a guy I babysit for, calls it nesting - and I think he's exactly right. I'm anxious to get to a point that I really and truly feel like I can relax in our house, and I think the fact that I can see the light at the end of this tunnel is what's giving me the insane amount of energy to work to get it all done sooner than later.

To that point, we (well mostly I) have been making lots of little changes around the house. As usual, I didn't bother to take real pictures of anything, so here's a good and LONG iphone photo update of what's been going on here at 9-oh-6.

We painted the hallway! I honestly cannot put into words how happy it makes me... or how huge of a pain it was to do. We went with Dolphin Fin by Behr, which was the color I painted swatches of ages ago, and I am endlessly giddy about it. Unfortunately, I still don't know how to really use my good camera, so the color looks different in every single picture below... but oh well.

To celebrate the newly painted hallway, we hung some stuff up in it...

The lyrics to our first dance, which I painted onto a canvas as a Christmas present to Dan -

An adorable painting of Louie Louie, done by Manda as a Christmas gift to Dan -

An "I love you because..." frame, another Christmas gift from me to Dan.

Got this idea off Pinterest and LOVE it -

A cool piece Bridget and I each scored on clearance from Ikea for a whopping $4 -

My favorite wedding card, which was from a colleague of Dan's. It's gorgeous and letterpressed, and reads "Build a strong foundation and you will sway through life's little earthquakes." Our gospel reading talked about building a foundation, so it really means a lot to us -

Louie Louie wanted to be in the photoshoot too -

At the top of the stairs is one of my favorite random things ever. It's an owl statue I found on clearance at West Elm one night when Manda and I were out, and it made me laugh so hard I just had to have it. I still smile every time I see him sitting at the top of the stairs (on a free plant stand Bev found when we drove through Western Springs junkaway days last year - don't judge) -

In the bedroom, we finally got a bedskirt that works for our apparently overly large box spring and my new obsession with gray -

We also brought the ottoman from the living room upstairs to put at the foot of the bed, replacing the horrible white shelf thing from Ikea that we used to hit our knees on no less than twice a week. It's the perfect storage for my scarves and belts that don't fit in drawers. I THINK I can recover it in a bright patterned cotton someday if I want to, but for now I'll leave it alone since Dan told me to chill out and stop trying to change everything :) -

These sequined pillows were $6 each at Target on New Years Eve so I obviously bought them for the downstairs decor since we were hosting a party that evening. They're pretty close to the color of the couch so they were quickly relocated to the bed where they look perfect -

The ottoman got to leave the living room thanks to my first major deal of the year - a $250 Pier 1 coffee table that I grabbed from the as-is section for $20. I have to get glass cut for it, but it shouldn't be more than $20-30 so I still think it's an awesome deal. AND, the airy design looks much less blocky than the solid ottoman in our tiny little living room and shows off more of my favorite rug, which is great -

I also replaced the fake wood $10 Ikea end table... with the exact same table in a super glossy lacquered gray. It was in the as-is section for $6 and I couldn't pass it up since one of my favorite blog posts ever is all about one of those exact tables in light blue being very simply turned into an awesome piece (see it here). I've put tissue paper flowers from the wedding in a few vases, including this one from my mom! -

(check out the reflection on that thing! I'm in love)

Crate & Barrel was having an insane after-Christmas sale that sent me home with two of these bright striped pillow covers for $4 each. My existing pillow inserts fit perfectly in them and I was able to get rid of the ugly velvety ones that used to be there and gave my brother's girlfriend the chills (the girl HATES velvet, and I sort of don't blame her) -

The loss of the storage space in the ottoman meant I needed a basket for blankets. Manda helped me pick this one out at Home Goods and it sits on the other side of the couch where Louie can't really get at it -

Speaking of Louie, here he is modeling the fun new green runner, also from the CB after-Christmas sale. You can't hear him, but he's telling Dan to put away his shoes -

In the dining room, I am happy to announce that I FINALLY have a tablecloth for our table! We looked around a lot for one to register for, but couldn't find anything we liked. This was on sale at CB today for $30 and it's a perfect mustard yellow kind of color, in a heavy linen. You can also see my brand new napkins, which we registered for but did not receive and Dan sweetly got me for Christmas. They're pretty expensive for napkins (at least to us), and I'm sure it was tough for my frugal hubby to spend so much on something so small, so I really appreciated him getting them for me knowing how badly I wanted them! -

(PS - don't judge the amount of time I've been spending at CB - I stopped in today because we got a postcard saying our wine glasses are being discontinued and replaced with identical ones in a new kind of glass that will cost more, so I wanted to try and grab a few of the originals to have as backups. They were already gone so no luck, but at least I got a great tablecloth.)

I don't think I ever posted a picture of my finished little yellow cabinet! Like a lot of other things in our house, it makes me happy every time I see it, and considering I spent a grand total of $8 on the little knobs and it was otherwise totally free, I love it -

I styled one side of the top of the hutch with some of my favorite wedding things - the birdcage used for cards, and the candle, vase and frame of names in memory of our family and friends that were not with us that day -

And in the center below the window are the table numbers from the

reception that insure we will never forget our wedding date -

When I cleared out the hutch after the wedding to put all of our gifts away, I lined the back panels with a fun patterned paper I got at Paper Source. The sheets were literally the exact width of the panels, which made the project 100 times easier than I was expecting it to be. I like how it lightens up the hutch a bit and brings more color and pattern into my favorite room in the house -

In the kitchen is the fabulous craigslist find kitchen cart, which I painted in navy blue the same weekend we painted the hallway. I'm having some issues with things sticking to the top and leaving marks even though it dried for days before I put anything on it, so I may have to redo the top and use some kind of sealant eventually. The endgrain chopping board was a wedding gift from my coworkers and the cake plate is one of the ones I made for the wedding -

Finally, back upstairs in the office... we've been cleaning like CRAZY and throwing away insane amounts of random old stuff that was just taking up space. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I think this is literally the first time I've ever been able to set up my laptop at my desk and type. Dan hung up my DIY bulletin board last night and I love looking up at some of my favorite little things hanging there. We still have a bit of work to do and thanks to getting rid of so much I can actually style a few of the shelves so I'm looking forward to finishing it all up this week -

So, we've been busy, but I am thrilled about how great the house is looking. And, I'm excited to have things to blog about again! Here's to week 2 of 2012 being as fun as week 1 was...

30 Before 30... meh

2012-01-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

It's funny how things change - with or without you taking note of it. Take my 30 Before 30 list, for example, that I created shortly after my 28th birthday (at the tail end of 2010). I had all these big plans of traveling and doing a bunch of extracurricular activities and basically flipping my life upside down by going back to school and attempting to work for myself. Little did I know, Dan was planning to propose just a couple of months after I wrote my list, and I dove head first into planning a majorly DIY wedding that I had a ball with, but left little time for things like baking bread from scratch or taking dance classes.

While some of the things are still plenty feasible (and there's a few I've actually accomplished!), I'm taking a fresh look at my list and deciding to take on life, in general, with a different approach than I have in the past. In short, my hope is that I can begin to live much more deliberately - that is, appreciating what and who I have, relishing in the everyday, consistently remembering just how blessed I am, and truly "living in the moment" (as cliche as it may sound).

Here's the original list, with accomplished ones crossed out. I still have until mid-August before I officially hit the big 3-0, so hopefully a few more of these will get done over the coming months!

30 BEFORE 30
1. Leave the country
2. Enroll back in school to begin working towards my bachelor's degree
3. Learn to sew
4. Put all of my pictures in albums, get prints of all of my digital photos and put them in albums as well
5. Work for myself (whether it be in addition to another job or a full on business)
6. Run a marathon. Ok ok... or at least a half marathon
7. ~~Take a trip with my sister~~ (We road tripped to Florida last winter between Christmas and New Years to visit Kevin and Erica with Dan and Allie! Vacation without any parents?? We had a blast.)
8. ~~Spend a day at a spa~~ (I didn't 100% do this, but I'm crossing it out anyways. I DID spend an evening getting massages with Bridget and then mani/pedis with all of my bridesmaids the night before the wedding, which is why I'm calling this one a "sort of done". I'm crossing it out because as much as I enjoy an occasional manicure or a massage from Dan, I truly think that I would get REALLY bored spending an entire day at a spa.)
9. See the Grand Canyon in person
10. Finish compiling my Top 10 (Easy) Recipes list
11. Get dressed up and take my Gramma to dinner and a show
12. ~~Make money blogging (seriously, even if I make $10, I'll count it)~~ (Thanks to a new position at work, I am now a semi-regular contributor to our agency blog. And since my job pays my salary, I'm counting it!)
13. Become more of a morning person
14. Buy real truffles and feel amazing cooking with them
15. ~~Join a team. Any team.~~ (I've played park district kickball with Jeff and his friends for a couple of seasons now. SO. Much. Fun.)
16. Go to a drive-in movie
17. ~~Create a piece of artwork to hang in my home~~ (Completed x2! As Christmas gifts to Dan, I painted a canvas with the lyrics to our first dance, and also took an idea from Pinterest and made him a little "I love you because..." frame that I'm having fun filling in the blank for every couple days.)
18. Meet Harry Connick Jr. in person
19. Reduce our grocery spending by utilizing coupons on a regular basis
20. Make a loaf of bread from scratch
21. Dramatically improve my posture
22. Volunteer an afternoon at the Greater Chicago Food Depository
23. Go on a picnic with Dan
24. Cook a 5-course meal
25. Take a dance class
26. Bake my late Grandmother's famous cheesecake
27. Learn how to do my makeup further than my 3-minute daily ritual of mascara and sheer mineral shadow, and learn to do something more to my hair than wear it down or throw it in a ponytail
28. Go ziplining or parasailing (both are things I am terrified of)
29. Figure out a system for dealing with mail, bills, important papers, etc, that actually WORKS for me, and use it
30. Spend a weekend with Maryrose, just the 2 of us, eating good food, drinking good wine, getting the tattoo we've been talking about for years, and wasting our time away doing whatever we want

I resolve...

2012-01-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

...to eat out less and cook at home more
...to finally get our office at home in order
...to work to make our first year of marriage something amazing

...to get back to blogging regularly

...to be the best friend I can be to the awesome friends I have
...to try and stop swearing so much

...to apply myself 100% at work
...to do yoga twice a week

...and to make 2012 an unforgettable year overall. 2011 will be a tough one to beat, what with a wedding, a new position at work and all the fun we had with friends and family, but I'm convinced it's going to be a good one.

Happy New Year friends!

In the kitchen

2011-11-30T12:43:00.000-08:00

Anyone that has ever been to our house is likely well aware of the fact that I have a strong love-hate relationship with our kitchen. I'm still insanely proud of how big of a transformation we made on a teeny tiny budget, and I looooove our stainless steel appliances and the fact that we have a dishwasher. But, the room itself is extremely tiny and the only place for the fridge to go results in the one and only base cabinet and drawer we have to be covered up.

As a refresher, here's a picture from right after we finished our kitchen makeover -

We've since made little changes - like getting a paper towel holder that mounts to the wall instead of having them take up precious counter space, and putting up hooks for kitchen towels so Louie Louie doesn't use them as toys - but for the most part the room still looks just like this picture.

While my absolute dream is to knock a big hole in the wall opposite everything you see above (which separates the kitchen from the dining room) and add in a countertop with a couple of base cabinets below it, Dan has consistently reminded me over the years that since said wall is load-bearing, we'd have to hire someone to do the work... and it would be even MORE expensive because there is plumbing and electrical work running straight through that same wall. (Insert sad trombone here).

So since we can't exactly afford a remodel, we've recently been kicking around the much more affordable idea of getting a little kitchen cart to put on that same wall for a bit of extra storage AND additional counter space.

Always major cheapskates (or frugal, to put it a little nicer), we didn't want to actually have to spend any money on this project, since it was more of a "nice to have" than a "have to have". So even though we found and liked this nice and simple option at Ikea, we didn't bite the bullet and spend the $100 on it last time we were there -

And now I'm thankful that we decided to wait on the purchase, because just this last weekend I found the exact same cart, in perfect condition, barely a mile from our house, on craigslist for $45. I, of course, sent over a lower offer, and within a few hours we were on our way home with our "new" kitchen cart for a measly $30!

The cart looks awesome on the open wall and is shallow enough that it doesn't even really feel like it crowds the space. And thankfully, our ridiculously expensive wedding present garbage can just fits next to it, so we didn't have to try and relocate that somewhere else. I have big plans to paint the cart a nice rich navy, and from there we'll be able to load it up with some things that are currently kind of displaced. I'm particularly excited to get my (wedding shower gift from my mom) bright and colorful mixing bowls on one of the shelves and out of the pantry where there isn't room for them. We also received a gorgeous end-grain chopping board as a wedding gift from some of my coworkers, and I can't wait to actually be able to "display" it on top of the cart rather than having it shoved in a corner like it is now. And, perhaps the most exciting thing of all - the cart has two whole drawers (!!!!) where things like the can opener and citrus zester will live, rather than having them in the drawer that is behind the fridge, which I can assure you is SUPER inconvenient.

I'm committed to keeping the cart clutter-free overall, but already know that just being able to store a few items on the open shelving will be a huge help, and the additional counter space will be great for when we host guests or are both trying to do something in the kitchen at the same time! Pictures to come once the painting is done!...

My Life is Average

2011-11-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've struggled a bit with the normalcy of my life - always having to remind myself to "live simply" and unfortunately having to consistently remind myself of all of the blessings in my life. A big part of my dreaming for bigger and better things really stems from my job - as much as I love it, I'm often surrounded by people who are in a completely different class than I am, and who therefore live a completely different lifestyle that I'm sometimes honestly jealous of. I work with girls who are insanely nice... but who are also wearing insanely expensive shoes and carrying insanely expensive purses and eating out at insanely expensive restaurants on the weekend. I can often look down at my entire outfit and be able to rattle off under-$20 prices from each piece right down to my shoes. During the day I work with clients who have ridiculously huge budgets for little tiny projects, and that same evening I may go home and head to PADS to serve chili to 40 homeless people. Dan works tirelessly for months with his teens to raise $40,000 for a service trip so they can go and build homes for people with a greater need... and while he's out fundraising I'm working on a 3x3 ad in a throwaway circular that costs double their fundraising efforts. The work that I'm doing day after day is fun and exciting... but is so drastically different than the actual real life that I'm living... and I'm trying to learn to begin to separate the two better. I'm learning to better appreciate the little things, and trying to get better about documenting them so I can look back and remember those little moments... so that whenever I feel like I'm lacking something that other people around me have, I can remember that isn't the case at all.

Perhaps contradictory to everything I've just said above, we've honestly kind of been living the life since the wedding. Thanks to amazingly generous friends and family, literally everything in my kitchen and dining room is brand new, and really nice, and I am LOVING it. We also ended up with a pretty nice chunk of cash, which you'll see below we put some of to good use...

Here's some little things I've been appreciating lately.

Shots with Dan to celebrate our 3 year house-iversary! (Which also means it's been 3 years since I started this little blog!)

Homemade ice cream in my a.ma.zing. Kitchenaid mixer. The amount of use I have already gotten out of this thing since the wedding is a little embarrassing as it is a clear indication of the amount of food I have been consuming.

Apple desserts galore with Manda and Bridget. (And wine for those of us over 21).

Bedroom updates. I finally talked Dan into the West Elm duvet cover I've been coveting all year, and we finally hung one of my favorite engagement shots over the bed! The picture will be moved to another wall once I get around to the DIY headboard, but for now it looks pretty perfect right where it is. The photo was printed at work ages ago and we wrapped it around an existing Ikea frame, making this project my favorite price - F.R.E.E.

Cuddle time with Louie Louie. Dan and I have learned that if we bend our knees, all 3 of us can (barely) fit on the couch together - which makes our sleepy puppy very happy.

Aaaaaaaand... the "glacier blue" luxury we put some of our wedding money towards... our new (to us) car!!! We've been talking about a Honda CR-V for ages, and we finally bit the bullet last week and drove this guy home. I am definitely not able to park it in the garage just yet, but I'll get there :)

What to do when the wedding projects are over

2011-10-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

I've posted in the past about my extreme NEED for some major decluttering around the house, and with the wedding behind us, I've been working on finally making this vision a reality. Whether it be a sudden urge to make my house feel more open and serene, or the fact that I simply can't sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time, I've spent pretty much every waking minute of every evening since the wedding trying to make my house a perfect example of "a place for everything, and everything in it's place." While I know for a fact that Dan thinks I just need to chill out and relax for awhile, the lack of wedding projects has left me antsy... so my attention has been turned to our home!

We spent a huge chunk of time clearing out old dishes and kitchen odds & ends to make room for all the AMAZING wedding gifts we received, and I can say with 110% certainty that having matching everything truly makes this girl happy. Setting the table with brand new place mats, crisp white plates, gorgeous flatware and matching glasses (not plastic cups from the $1 section at Target!) quite literally makes me jump for joy. Nerdy? Sure. But I'm nothing if I'm not easily excited. I most definitely plan to take new photos of the dining room (including some fun updates to the hutch) and kitchen with all of our fun new things to share here just as soon as I'm able to utilize some natural light to do so!

I've also been focusing a TON on our bedroom, which I've (surprise!) decided needs a complete makeover. This isn't new news, but I'm now using the fact that we're a real live married couple to leverage wanting to make our bedroom more calming and "retreat-like" (insert Dan rolling his eyes here). I threw together a new little simple inspiration board that I'm hoping can come to life pretty easily -

Here's some details -

- We replaced our white Ikea dresser with 2 of the tall darker versions above. The added drawer space has been GREAT for storage purposes, and the darker color was instantly a little less "first place after college" to me.

- The curtains are also from Ikea and would bring in another simple pattern. They'll also be a welcome change from the solid brown curtains that are there now (complete with a high-sheen - I don't know what I was thinking).

- I've always wanted a sunburst mirror of some sort, but think it's even more perfect now. With the taller, darker dressers taking up nearly the entire width of the wall they're on, I'm hoping something shapely and textural on the wall above will break up the heaviness of the dressers a bit. I've also thought about adding fun knobs to the dressers to make them look less "solid", but I'm not completely sold on that idea just yet.

- We've had one of the little white (also Ikea) nightstands for ages, and I was thrilled to find a matching one on craigslist just this week. We took a quick trip downtown last night to pick it up and I was SO excited to get some new concealed storage for my jewelry, headbands, sunglasses, etc. While I would have loved to use the awesome vintage looking nightstands I already purchased on craigslist ages ago, they don't fit in our teeny bedroom with our queen size bed (I bought them when we had a full). I may paint the now-matching white nightstands in the Ralph Lauren Regent Metallics paint I originally bought for the original nightstands, but that decision will be based on what color we end up with on the walls!

- I've been talking about a DIY headboard for years and still haven't gotten the supplies to actually make one. I have the perfect fabric and nailhead trim for a copycat of the one I stripped in to my inspiration board... still deciding if I want to be gutsy and add some shape to the top or leave it square.

- The bedding is from West Elm and something that Dan has (reluctantly) agreed to let me purchase, since I've promised I only HAVE to have the duvet cover, and can wait for the pillow shams to (hopefully) go on sale eventually. In my own defense, I have literally been searching for a duvet cover I loved since we bought our house 3 years ago, so I figure it's about time I just bite the bullet and buy one since I found something I love!

- Finally, the amazing yellow storage bench (from Target) that I am absolutely head over heels for. Ringing in at $179 it's definitely not "frugal", but that doesn't mean I'm not trying to convince Dan that we have to have it :). Hey, we have a ton of Target gift cards from the wedding, why not buy something fun and sort of unnecessary?!?

So, there's a lot to do, but I'm excited to see how we can turn our room into a more adult-looking space since the baby blue and brown I originally insisted on makes my head hurt these days. I'm ALSO excited that this will hopefully give me things to start writing about here on 9-oh-6 again, as I've missed it over this whirlwind of a year!

History

2011-08-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever been as excited about my house as I am today. Here's why -

I'm working on freelance project with my friend Jeff, who had to email his committee today with my address so they could cut a check for my portion of the payment. One member of the team wrote him back the following:

Jeff,
A small world incident just occurred - that address is my Grandparents old home - they lived there for a long time (until the died about 20 years ago). My father was raised in that home. Very strange ....

Small world indeed!!! I, of course, immediately wrote Jeff back and included links from the blog here, so his friend could see what their grandparent's home looks like today - decades later. I was already excited and didn't think anything more would really come of it, until I got another email...

Jeff,
Per our earlier conversation - I emailed my sister and she emailed me a few pictures of the inside of the house. Feel free to share the pictures with your friend.

I squealed before I even saw the attachments, and called work friends over right away to check them out with me. Here it is friends - our beloved dining room at 906... several decades ago! -

(click the image to view larger!)

For reference, here's a recent shot of the room now, although my handy yellow cabinet isn't there yet -

I really cannot even begin to express my sheer excitement over this entire situation, and have been grinning ear to ear here at work since the email arrived. Dan agrees that seeing a little glimpse of the history of our house is incredible, and I can't wait to hear my Dad's reaction to it as he tends to find things like this pretty cool himself.

Looking at the "before" and "after" photos side by side, Dan and I both agree that we wish the gorgeous stained glass in the small windows and the hutch doors was still there when we purchased the house. The fact that the trim is already white in this old photo makes me question if it was EVER stripped wood, and I'm curious when the walls went from what looks like paneling to the smooth drywall we have now.

I already have someone here at work printing the photo for me so I can frame it for our current dining room. I have no doubts that I will never tire of looking at the old picture next to what the room looks like now!

A huge thanks to Angie Kelly and Bryan Dunlap for taking time out of their Monday to share photos from their grandparents' time at 906! And a big thanks to Jeff for passing it all along to Dan and I!

Easy Fix

2011-07-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Way back in November, I blogged about trying a DIY pendant fixture for the hallway... then we got engaged over Christmas and my priorities shifted BIG time as I jumped head first into wedding planning. So, the light kit Dan hung to replace the ugly old fixture that was in the hallway when we bought the house has been hanging for months with just a lightbulb on the end and no fixture of any kind covering it. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing when people came over, but we've been busy and it wasn't top of mind. Thankfully, Ikea came to the rescue on Friday afternoon when we were there grabbing a couple of things I needed for wedding decor. For $13 we got this great oversized shade with a subtle tone-on-tone floral pattern on it that's just perfect for the hallway. I was even able to hang it up myself last night while Dan took Louie Louie for a walk. Being as cheap and simple as this was, I'm happy to say it was an INSTANT upgrade for the hallway!

There's a part of me that thinks the light is hanging a little low now, but considering both Dan and I are fairly short I'm fine with it in the meantime. Now if we can just find the time to get that hallway painted...

Dog Days of Summer

2011-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon graced us with perfectly gorgeous weather, and I joined my dad and Manda at my aunt and uncle's house for a BBQ. At some point I mentioned that I needed to run home to let Louie out, and they suggested I just bring him back over to hang out in the yard. Manda also went and picked up Cosmo, and total chaos ensued for a bit while the two brothers got out their typical excitement over seeing each other. Eventually, they calmed down (though not for long), and I got a couple shots of my Louie Louie that are new favorites. Seeing as we got the dogs towards the end of August last year and they were 8 weeks old... this week is likely where their 1 year birthday falls! Dan and I decided months ago we would celebrate Louie's birthday on the day we got him, but knowing that will be a bit past his real day of birth, I'm going to go ahead and call these Louie's 1 year photos :).

Isn't he cute?

And, here's a cute picture of Manda with Cosmo

First Harvest

2011-06-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's the perfect mix of sunshine and rain that we've had so far in June, or just sheer luck, but my herb garden is flourishing, and I am loving it!

Just in time for taco night a couple weeks ago, I gathered a plate full of garlic chives, cilantro and mint from my garden.

Unfortunately I forgot about the garlic chives and they went to waste, but I'm prepared with recipes the next time they're ready for clipping! The mint and cilantro went to great use though - I muddled the mint and added it to lemonade, and I used the cilantro in homemade salsa, as a garnish on my (DELICIOUS) shrimp tacos AND I also added it to rice with lime juice for an excellent knockoff of the addictive rice at Chipotle. Clearly, I was giddy with excitement about having so much cilantro to use, seeing as every time I've tried to grow it in the past has been a disappointment.

(Amazing what a little natural light does for a photo huh?)

My basil is thriving so I have big plans to make my first batch of pesto for the year tonight, provided I can find pine nuts at a reasonable price. And, since I tend to think chips and salsa is a reasonable meal, I see more cilantro use in my future this week as well.

Happy Monday!

How does your garden grow?

2011-06-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

I love weekends where I get to spend a huge chunk of my time hanging out with Manda talking, laughing and doing whatever comes to mind. Recently, we took advantage of the amazing weather and got my herb garden all planted and ready for the summer.

I gave cilantro it's own pot in hopes that it may actually grow...

I wasn't planning to grow chives again this year as we didn't really use them much last time, but when I went to get my pots out I saw that last year's plant had come back strong and was already HUGE and needing a trim without me having done a thing for it!...

I also gave my basil it's own pot, and got 2 plants instead of 1 since homemade pesto has become one of my favorite things since last summer...

While I planted, Manda worked on sanding the cabinet. And, you can see the shutters behind her that I found for (hopeful) use at the wedding!

Piece of cake

2011-06-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

While I have my moments (few and far between) of creative genius, the sad truth is that I don't have a single TRUE artistic bone in my body. I do, however, do a fairly good job of drawing inspiration from others - more often than not in the form of something I saw on someone else's bog. Today, when checking out my daily sites, I saw a sale on Hautelook for artwork, and a quick look left me with newfound inspiration to find a few old pieces of wood and paint on it for easy custom art.

I don't recall if we have any old wood left around our house that we tore down/replaced, but if we do, it would be so insanely easy to paint a big old "9-oh-6" on it and have it as a keepsake for years to come, even after we've moved and have a new address.

Here's some of my favorites from the sale...

Perfect for the kitchen... or the breakfast nook I am dying to have in my next home -

Simple ways to say "I love you" -

How awesome would this be with a silhouette of our little Louie Louie? -

In "real" house news, I was excited to blog about my found cabinet makeover soon - it's all painted and looks FABULOUS - but the last step was to line the inside of the cabinets with paper and I nearly lost a chunk of my finger trying to use an xacto knife to do this part of the project the other night... so that will be put on hold until my finger heals or Dan decides to do it for me... we'll see which comes first :).

Claim to Fame

2011-05-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, we were in a magazine. When I cut out the article to finally frame last night I realized I never blogged about our 15 seconds of fame, so I took a couple of quick pictures this morning to show off!

Here's how the entire thing went down -

Last fall, I saw a twitter posting from The Nest (the homey version of The Knot) looking for "our next real couple!"... So I responded, figuring nothing would come of it... but the next day I got an email from someone at The Nest saying they would love to feature Dan and I on their blog! I was thrilled... and Dan was not, but he was a good sport and answered all of the little interview questions with me. I sent in a bunch of pictures with our responses, and sat back and waited. A couple months later when I realized I hadn't seen anything online, I sent a quick email to the rep who responded with a cheery "We loved you guys so much we decided to feature you in our upcoming magazine instead of the blog!"

Now, if you know Dan and I at all you can probably imagine our reactions - I was entirely THRILLED with this news, while Dan was... not. But, a couple weeks later we had a copy of The Nest in our mailbox with a sweet note from the rep I worked with congratulating us on our engagement (we were not engaged yet when we originally worked with her - the article actually quotes me saying "someday when we get married" as I had no idea it would actually be happening anytime soon!)

As you can see, our little Louie Louie (who is definitely not so little anymore) and our precious 9-oh-6 are both pictured, along with a couple of my all-time favorite shots of Dan and I -

So, the article is now sitting pretty in a simple Ikea frame on the little cabinet I found, along with a $5 clearance lamp from Target that I'm planning to dust off and spray paint this weekend. The lampshade was just another $5 at Ikea and I'm thinking I can dress it up a bit with some ribbon or something. It's supposed to rain AGAIN all weekend so I still don't know when I'll have the chance to sand the cabinet down so I can actually paint it, but with the long holiday weekend coming up I'm really hoping I can finish up that little project soon!

Addition

2011-05-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

I did something the other day that Dan dreads. That is, I spotted something in an alley that I just HAD to have, and insisted that we take it home in the back of his truck that he conveniently had with him at the time. I found my latest gem right across the alley from my parent's house when we were walking Manda to a friends house, which for some reason I feel isn't quite as ridiculous as finding something in a random alley while driving somewhere. I know some people would scoff at bringing something into their home that was quite literally someone else's trash, but I generally feel that as long as it doesn't involve fabric and it gets a good cleaning - it's essentially a FREE addition to the house that I can do whatever I want with since it's not like I'm messing with an expensive piece of furniture or anything!

So, meet my new little cabinet, which is sitting pretty in the dining room waiting for a fresh coat of paint -

The cabinet has little dividers in it that seem to be permanent. I'm sure I could knock them out with a hammer, but instead I think they're absolutely perfect for helping to store all of my platters, trays and serving dishes -

Currently, this stuff is all stacked in the pantry, which is never fun when I want to use the one at the bottom of the pile -

I suppose things may change after the wedding and I have fun new things to find places for, but in the meantime I'll likely move my cookbooks to the bottom cabinet so they aren't piled in the pantry taking up precious shelf space (and falling over every time I grab the flour or sugar jar) -

(Yep, my pantry is a mess. And I got tired of the smoke detector in the kitchen going off every time cheese from a frozen pizza got stuck in the bottom of the oven, so I took it down all together. Don't judge.)

The plan is to paint the cabinet in pretty "mimosa" yellow, which I already have and am fairly convinced is the absolute perfect yellow to use in home goods. I used it on the wooden squirrel bookend that I got from West Elm and think it will be a welcome colorful addition to the dining room. This will also be the perfect opportunity to use a couple of fun knobs that I got a long time ago in the dollar section at Michael's. Thanks to craigslist, neighbor's alleys and garage sales, I'm excited that in some ways, our house is starting to take on that "collected over time" look that I envy in the homes of some of my favorite bloggers!

The little things

2011-04-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last night, after a particularly awful day at work, Dan drove downtown to pick me up and drive me home so I wouldn't have to take the train. He babied me as only he can and let me spend the ride home whining about my horrible day. When we were getting off the expressway he asked what I wanted for dinner, and knowing we had a TON of leftover ground beef in our fridge from an impromptu BBQ party over the weekend, we decided to try making meatballs - a new cooking encounter for me.

Knowing that I likely already had a recipe saved from ages ago I checked my bookmarks, and sure enough I had Noble Pig's "Best Meatballs" tagged and ready to go. (We obviously didn't have the time for her 3-day marinara sauce, but I was more in the mood for just dumping a jar of sauce into a pan to heat anyways.) It's always thrilling to me to make a new recipe and realize that I have every single ingredient I need in my fridge or pantry already. Even better - we're notorious for wasting leftovers, so it was great to use up the ground beef so quickly, and even halving the recipe left us with 3 freezer bags of meatballs for quick dinners in the future.

As I read off the ingredients list and Dan measured out all the spices I started to feel better. As we took turns shaping the meatballs and unloading the dishwasher I started to be more calm. By the time we took the pan out of the oven and taste-tested the near perfect recipe I was nearly slaphappy. And as we sat down on the couch together to eat our dinner in front of a movie I realized that this is the kind of stuff that life is all about. It doesn't really matter if I have "the worst day of my life" - I will forever get to come home to Dan, have dinner together, and let things like work go to the back of my mind at least for a little while. And to me, that's the kind of stuff that matters.

A few notes:
1. Don't mind the cell phone picture that clearly doesn't have the most appetizing color in the world. Instead, focus on my aaaaaamazing ikat plates from Target that I somehow talked Dan into.
2. The meatballs were a little heavy on the parsley flavor for me, as we used dried instead of fresh. I think it's time to get my little herb garden going again... if it would ever stay above 40 degrees for more than a day at a time around here.
3. Apologies for the general sappiness of this post, but Dan really is wonderful to me and with Easter Sunday marking just 5 months to go (!!!!) until our wedding, I was feeling particularly emotional over the last few days.

The writing is on the wall

2011-04-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing a ton of inspiration around the web lately that makes me think I need to start hanging more stuff on our walls. Outside of some amazing prints of my friend Jason's work and a poster illustration of the bean in Chicago that I got from a work event, there's a lot of potential for me to instill some character in our house through artwork.

This is one of the latest ideas I'd love to copy, maybe with the words from one of our wedding readings?

You & Me

2011-03-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

In all of my hunting for the perfect fabric to use for table runners at our wedding, I instead spent $40 on 5 yards of a gorgeous just barely metallic perfect grayish-tannish heavy duty fabric that I plan to use for the DIY headboard I've been talking about forever. I also bought a bunch of little 20 packs of nailhead trim for a whopping $.50 a pack, which I've been told is a major steal. Now I just need to get a piece of plywood and some foam, and talk the fiance into cutting said plywood for me so I can actually get this done.

In the meantime, I've realized that my original "You have my whole heart for my whole life" knockoff idea won't fit on the wall above our bed with a headboard, unless I make the artwork really small. Still wanting something above the bed, I saw this photo today on one of my favorite blogs, and have officially decided to copy it.

Cute, simple, cheap, easily customizable... perfect.

Store Crush

2011-03-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hello 9-oh-6 friends! If you've been checking in on me on Turquoise Flats at all I'm sure you know I am knee-deep in wedding planning... and absolutely loving it.

Outside of the actual day-of planning, one of the toughest things we've done is without a doubt also one of the most fun - registering! I mean, who wouldn't love making a giant wish list of everything they've ever wanted?!? The tough part comes in when I try to look at the big picture and keep the overall look of our house cohesive. This is especially difficult for me since I've already put such a huge amount of time into making our house our home over the last couple of years, and now I have a chance to almost start over with new things, but in a house that already has color and character. Hmm.

I mentioned forever ago that I couldn't imagine picking out just one set of dishes, as I've always loved the look of crisp white with metallic or colorful accents... and that is exactly what we're doing. Perhaps not surprising, Dan and I picked out the least expensive dishes in all of Crate & Barrel, and even when we tried to talk ourselves into "nicer" ones we were still hooked on our original choice. So, we added in patterned salad plates and nice flatware. My overall hope is that I can stick to neutrals (a VERY difficult task for me, self-proclaimed color fiend), and add in pops of color and pattern in the details. I'm also attempting to stick to the "classics", like a white butter dish and gravy boat, and a stainless steel wine cooler - in hopes that I'll still love them years later when my taste changes.

But then places like my favorite West Elm come out with stunning summery items that make me want to drop all the boring white pieces and instead ask for fun whimsical items, like this yellow owl butter dish (Stacey - this owl stuff is calling your name!!!) -

Or these nesting owl measuring cups -

I also (shocker) love these turquoise measuring cups, but feel that both these and the owl ones may be slightly impractical and tough to actually use -

These patterned bowls would pair perfectly with white dishes, wouldn't they? -

These mugs make me wish I drank coffee -

Bummer

2011-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of mad I didn't think to keep any of the old ratty windows from the house that we quickly replaced as soon as we had the money. Way to let a sweet crafty project opportunity pass me right by.

Squirrely

2011-02-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

We stopped in to West Elm yesterday so I could see the duvet I picked out online in person. Thankfully, I loved it even more in person than I thought I would, so it's officially on our registry. Unfortunately, the guy working there that I spoke to assured me that this particular bedding will be long gone by the time my wedding rolls around in September, so we may just be buying ourselves a wedding present in a couple months when it goes on sale. Regardless, I found bedding I LOVE and it's simple non-floral pattern and overall sheen gray makes Dan happy too. Yay!

While at West Elm I decided to buy myself a little $3 present off the clearance table, and brought this little squirrel bookend home with me!

Seeing as it was on clearance, the little guy's wood grain doesn't look quite as nice as the photo here from West Elm's website... so I'm tempted to give him a nice coat of white paint. Or maybe yellow, as I still have an unopened quart of "Mimosa" by Glidden from when they did an online giveaway months and months ago. Either way, I'm excited for a new trinket for the shelf in the living room, which has been looking a little blah to me lately.

$140 Bath

2011-01-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

Overall, I think we've gotten pretty lucky with our house in the sense that we haven't had a ton of emergency projects come up in the time we've been here. In fact, between flooding, dead cats and furnace scares, the majority of our unexpected issues have been in the basement.

Until last weekend, when Dan called me to say that he took a bath... and when he came downstairs there was water in the dining room. Not good.

I showered at my mom's the next morning and Dan called a plumber right away, who came out that day while I was at work. I spent the day mentally preparing myself to come home to a hefty plumbing bill and half of the dining room ceiling being cut out. Thankfully, the plumber was able to see without cutting into the ceiling at all that the problem was simply with the tub overfill drain, which we hadn't tightened properly the last time Dan cleaned out the drain pipes. So, when Dan took his bath (which we rarely do, or this would have happened months ago), the water hit the overfill line, and instead of going where it was supposed to, it went through the ceiling below and into the dining room. According to Dan, it took the plumber a grand total of about 12 minutes to put a new piece on the drain, and then charged us $140 for it, which is ridiculous - but it could have been MUCH worse! The dining room ceiling does have some damage that will have to be repaired, but it isn't urgent, and we can at least shower in the meantime!

Turquoise Flats

2011-01-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

It needs some serious design help (kind of like this blog, don't judge), but I've started my wedding blog! I'll do my best to keep this one going as well, but anyone that knows how excited I am about our big day won't be surprised that I'll likely have much more to say that's wedding-related than not. Knowing how many wedding projects I already have stored away in my inspiration folders, I'm sure I'll have plenty to keep myself busy and keep my new blog full of the random rambling that I happen to be so good at!

So, friends, read along if you'd like, and feel free to click on the little button to leave a comment once in awhile (cough, cough, Mom) so I can pretend I'm one of those girls that has a wildly popular blog that everybody reads instead of accepting the reality that I'm the girl reading all of the other girls' blogs, and none of them even know that mine exists. K? Thanks. :)

Turquoise Flats

Time Sensitive

2011-01-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

Well apparently planning a wedding doesn't leave a whole lot of time for writing about it. Who knew. Thankfully, I'm confident that the absolute overwhelming rushed feeling I'm dealing with right now will end when we have the major parts of our day booked, which will hopefully be soon - If all goes as planned, we'll have a date set with our church, a venue AND the photographers within the week!

AAAAAAND, I bought a dress. On ebay. Yep. I'm still going out this weekend with my mom, gramma and Manda to try on others, but I'm pretty excited that I may potentially already have my dress!

The ebay dress is one I've dreamed about for years, we're likely booking our reception at a place I've loved since I saw it ages ago (although if I'm being honest I do have some concerns about it transforming to fit my vision), and our photographers will be people I've been slightly infatuated with since I laid eyes on their work when Lauren + Tom got engaged... I guess there's something to be said for having your wedding all planned out in your head well before it's actually happening. ;)

So, hopefully things will start to settle soon, and then I can calm down and shift some of my focus to the details I'm already getting excited about. Like starting a wedding blog. Until then, I think I'll print out my favorite little inspiration board to date and tape it above my desk. The pure comfort and bliss I see in the couple in the top image (not to mention all of the other images) is exactly what I'm going for.

Bling Bling!

2010-12-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

Since we went to New Orleans a few weeks ago and are currently living it up in Florida visiting my brother and his girlfriend, Dan and I decided we were just going to exchange Christmas stockings this year and skip "actual" gifts. So, I filled Dan's stocking with a cd, a pair of slippers, a Chipotle giftcard and a few other random things... and mine sat empty for the days leading up to Christmas (which I can assure you I was none too thrilled about). On Christmas Eve, we spent the day running last minute errands, wrapping presents, cooking and baking treats for that evening at my gramma's, and packing for Florida (we left Christmas Day). On top of everything else, I also spent the day asking Dan continuously when we were going to exchange our stockings, and he finally told me we could before leaving for my gramma's.

Promptly at 6:00, I rushed down the stairs dressed and ready to go and announced that we should do our little exchange. We sat down on the couch, Dan said he wanted to go first, and the conversation to follow went like this -

Dan - "Ok, so you can't be mad at me, because I didn't really get you a lot"

Me - "Ok..."

Dan - "So, I have 3 questions for you. First - do you love me?"

Me - "Um, yes... of course"

Dan - "Do you REALLY love me?"

Me - "Yes..."

Dan - "Well, then I would like to ask you - will you marry me?"

HOLY. COW.

It happened! We're engaged!!

In true Kelly form, I sat stunned, jaw dropped, and unable to speak through the tears until I finally choked out a "YES!"

Dan insisted on going through the totally subpar stuff in his stocking before following me out the door to rush to see my family. At my gramma's, I made sure to call Manda over first to see my ring, and she, my mom and gramma followed quickly with the tears. I basically cried every time I showed one of my relatives, and flat out bawled like a baby when I talked to my dad and brother on the phone. Seeing as Facebook practically runs the world, I had a REALLY hard time not posting my changed relationship status immediately - but the Lawler clan still had no idea we were engaged (!!!), and wouldn't know until we saw them in the morning on Christmas day.

We headed to the Lawler's in the morning with me still in pajamas and fighting a new cold, and Dan insisted that I keep my ring off and hidden until the perfect moment... which to my disappointment didn't happen for HOURS after we got there. Finally, when everyone was seated to open presents, I slipped my ring on, Dan said he had something to tell them, then he looked at me and I held up my hand. Through all of this (and the night before at my gramma's), I LOVED seeing everyone's faces as they realized what I was showing them :). Lots of hugs and congrats later, we were able to start making phone calls to more friends and making the news completely public. While it's an interesting change of pace to have so much attention centered on myself, I'm definitely feeling a TON of love from friends and family and am thrilled to begin planning our big day!

I found out later that Dan bought the ring in New Orleans, which is really huge to me since that's essentially where our relationship started a little over 4 years ago. I also found out that he carried the ring around for most of our New Orleans trip waiting for the perfect moment to propose and I kept messing it up! There was an evening he was trying to initiate us taking a walk alone and I insisted on inviting Nikki and Ryan along, and there was another evening we went to an event and he thought about it on our walk over - but I was freezing and whining about my uncomfortable heels (I KNEW I should have invested in a good pair of black pumps before our trip) :). Regardless, I'm glad he waited as it was absolutely perfect getting to see all of our family members within a day of our engagement on Christmas Eve.

I'm sure nobody is surprised that I'm already itching to start a wedding blog, so I will likely do so in an effort to organize my ideas and avoid overflowing this blog with wedding talk - I'll be sure to post the link here when I get it going. We're already tossing around dates for late Summer 2011, which is a little nerve racking since that seems REALLY close, but seeing as I've been dreaming about my wedding and saving inspiration images for years, I'm hoping I can get it all together! (I also have a super crafty mom and awesome girlfriends/relatives who have already made me promise I will call them to help with all the DIY projects I'm thinking about).

To anyone reading this that has squealed with me, cried with me, and jumped up and down in excitement with me already - thank you for your already overwhelming support. It's a blessing to be able to share such a special time with so many people that we love! I hope everyone's holiday season was as wonderful as ours, and here's to a happy new year and an exciting 2011!

Snow Day

2010-12-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

I'm lacking the motivation to blog about anything substantial, so I thought instead I'd post some fun pictures of Louie Louie's first encounter with snow a couple of weeks ago! I've never seen the little guy so happy and the weather wasn't too cold so we had a lot of fun throwing around snowballs and and watching Louie try to find them. The afternoon outside was also my first outdoor adventure with the D-SLR - - I still have SO much to learn but I'm really enjoying the quality photos I'm getting out of it already.

Considering I thought Louie romping around was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen on four legs, I spend a good amount of time lately with my new camera, and we're getting MORE snow over the next few days... I think these pictures are a perfect way to end my Monday :).

Girl Crush

2010-12-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

I decided to blog over at Graceful Navigation today since I haven't given it much love, so if you want to read about me wishing I was fashionable, click on over!

A day late

2010-12-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

I'm back from six days of what can be described as nothing other than "complete and total sensory overload" in wonderful New Orleans... and I am utterly exhausted. I'm quite proud of myself for how well I kept up with the nightlife - I only ditched out once to go to bed, and even that was after several drinks and lots of dancing at an event earlier that evening. I haven't uploaded any of my pictures yet but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's some good shots in there, as I found two big white frames in a closet at home that I'd forgotten about and I'm dying to blow up some of my own photos to hang in the house.

I had my snazzy new Nikon D3000 SLR with me for the trip, and spent an awful lot of time paranoid that I was either going to lose it or break it. I'm hoping that as I get more acclimated to it I'll also become more comfortable just having it with me. I did buy a case before we left, but it's bulky and inconvenient, and takes up a TON of space in the large tote I carried around for that reason alone.

I'm back to the grind today and checking in on my favorite blogs and I saw this! -

Simple and understated, this bag is part of a line from Jo Totes - camera bags for ladies! These gorgeous bags have adjustable/removable interior pads that you can switch around to fit your camera, PLUS your wallet, keys, phone and other random items that inevitably end up in your purse. Here's a shot of an interior setup -

While I love a big pop of color and think the turquoise and mustard yellow bags are also perfect, I like the style of the gray bag above a little better and think in the long run I'd appreciate the neutral color.

I'll just go ahead and add this to my Christmas list for myself.

DIY Holiday

2010-12-03T09:49:00.001-08:00

I don't know that I'll really have the time to implement any of this, but one of these days when I'm bursting at the seams with free time, I'd love to try any one of these DIY holiday decor projects I've seen on blogs and through google image searches -

Love this word garland made up of song lyrics. I could make this with the diecutter stencils Dan has at work, but I sort of like the organic look these unperfect, likely cut by hand letters have -

The mismatched nature of these letters is what makes it so so great. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a D and a K when I'm doing my holiday shopping -

These stars may have been purchased this way, but could be easily copied with bunch of glitter and craft ornaments (there's letters available too, for the above project perhaps?) -

This project looks crazy simple, and I just happen to have a large square frame sitting around that the glass broke on that would be perfect to stretch some ribbon over like this -

I should be sleeping...

2010-11-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

...but instead I am trolling the internet and clicking on every link imaginable through Twitter and my favorite blogs.

SO, I stumbled on this awesome little roundup of quick and simple DIY projects via a friend's Twitter, and I am feeling UUBER inspired by several of them.

First, colorful glass bottles grouped together as a centerpiece. Considering I constantly see funky little vases and jars at thrift stores and the dollar store that are just begging me to buy them, I am officially going to try this. Soon. It's reminiscent of Martha's mercury glass project I still haven't tried, but maybe even prettier, and with all the color options I can imagine.

Then there's the DIY tablecloth, which I can't seem to stop brainstorming about. I see plain white tablecloths on clearance ALL the time, and we bought a set of fabric markers for Halloween this year, so it's just too easy of a project to pass up. I'm loving the idea of spinning this into a tradition somehow - maybe putting some white fabric and all of the markers out each time we have a get-together and asking people to decorate it? It'd be a welcomed change from the $3 themed plastic covers I always pick up at the party store to protect my beloved table from drinks when we have parties!

The last project on the list that really caught my eye involves a product that I just can't believe I've never heard of before - Plasti-Dip. It's literally LIQUID plastic, and you can dip just about anything into it ending with a rubbery glorious coating. I googled the heck out of this product and surprisingly didn't find much, but rest assured, my mind is running wild thinking of all the things I could transform with a gallon of this stuff. While I have plenty of my own ideas my first Plasti-Dip excursion would likely be a total knockoff of one of the pictured projects - I have a paper crane my sister made me years ago for my birthday that's unfortunately gotten a bit beat up over two moves but with a coat of shiny white Plasti-Dip it looks like I could instantly turn it into a treasured, sturdier piece that would look gorgeous sitting on a shelf (kinda like this little guy, minus the piggy bank part of it huh?)

Now that I've stayed up well past my bedtime (again), who wants to go thrifting this weekend and find stuff we can coat in paint and cover in liquid plastic?

(All images from here)

Thankful for Compliments

2010-11-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me well will agree that I've always been a bit self-conscious about, well, everything - including my writing. Considering I was nearly a journalism major before I fell face first into design and printing and never looked back, you'd think I would at least give myself a little bit of credit in that department, but instead I've often breezed over the idea that my writing is anything worth reading and continued on with projects like this blog out of pure enjoyment for documenting my life in a way that's simple and sentimental to look back on.

I've had professors tell me I have a very journalistic "voice" in my writing, and enjoyed little else in high school as much as my time covering sports and entertainment for the school paper (the fact that I had to talk to several of the hottest guys in school on a daily basis to keep tabs on the baseball team sure didn't hurt either). I've always secretly thought that if my passion for advertising ever dies, writing would be an amazing thing to fall back on... but I'd probably have to build up some of that confidence I'm lacking to really do anything with it, huh?

Then came the Lawler family.

Now, while Mr. Lawler may be slightly obligated to be extra nice to me because I'm dating his son, that doesn't mean he has to read my blog - and then tell me how great it is - but he does. He has consistently praised my story telling, and because of that I'm always excited when I have something new to crank out an entry on. And then there's Dan's Aunt Claire, who ran up to me with a big hug on Thanksgiving gushing "there's my favorite blogger!" Really? Those four little words quickly made my day, and I'm sure I blushed when she continued on about my writing to everyone else in the room. Talk about a confidence booster!

And so, I'm approaching this whole writing thing in a new way, with newfound positivity and some major excitement. While I have no plans to walk away from my advertising production career, I have a couple of amazing freelance/part-time/out of this world opportunities I'm planning to apply for and if by some miracle I'm chosen for the one I am most excited about, I can start checking items off of my 30 Before 30 list in no time.

So until I'm ready to divulge details on the above (which will be after the application deadline because I'm selfish and don't want a single other person that doesn't already know about it to find out) ;)... enjoy these pictures I took on Thanksgiving with my new toy, the Nikon D3000 SLR camera. It makes me feel fancy, gives me hope that I've got at least a teeny bit of photographer in me, and apparently takes some pretty great photos straight out of the box -

Ryan and Nikki - two of my favorite people!

Dan and Kadence - more favorites :)

Adorable little girls!

Naptime with Mayah

Family photo!

Louie Louie - not so little anymore! Almost 40 pounds at 5 months.

Fake it

2010-11-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

I used to love driving north towards Wisconsin every winter with my dad, brother, uncle and cousins to cut down our own Christmas trees. We would listen to Christmas music, tease my youngest cousin Alex to no end, drink hot chocolate and have snowball fights. Then my dear allergy-ridden boyfriend came along and my days of real trees and the cozy small of fresh pine were over. Wah-wahhhh. Thankfully, there is such a thing as a fake Christmas tree, and while I still have a tough time with the concept of taking my tree out of a box and fluffing out the branches, as long as I keep an evergreen scented candle going in the background I can deal. :)

This year, thanks to some traveling, plans to keep the holiday spending to a minimum (meaning fewer presents under the tree), and a little curious puppy that goes by the name of Louie... I'm thinking about (gasp) not putting the tree up at all. I haven't exactly decided yet because I just can't imagine not having it up... but I'm also not completely thrilled about the idea of not being around to enjoy our hard decorating work much or the thought of having to tell Louie "no" CONSTANTLY as I'm sure he'll want nothing more than to get his paws on my (breakable) ornaments. We talked about putting it up on the enclosed front porch, but it's freezing out there so it's not like we would sit around and marvel at the lights... which there would be none of anyways as there's no electricity on the porch. Hmm.

So, I'm contemplating getting one of those little table-top trees that can act as a center piece in the dining room and still hold some of our favorite ornaments. I will definitely still decorate the rest of the house out of reach from Louie, and our stockings can be hung on the fireplace (including the new one I got Louie this weekend!) There's a big part of me that thinks "I should be able to put my tree up and Louie should just learn that he's not supposed to touch it"... but we all know it just doesn't work that way. We'll see what I end up settling on.

Whether we put the tree up this year or wait until next, I will definitely be begging Dan to whip up one of these little stands to help with that whole idea of the fake tree looking more real -

(From here)

Stocking Stuffers

2010-11-23T15:22:00.000-08:00

With Black Friday mere days away, I have shopping on the brain. I even started early today and bought myself something veeeeery nice, but I'll be saving that for another post once it gets here. In the meantime, I've created a wallet-friendly collection of stocking stuffers on my list this year. I always have a panic attack trying to figure out fun stuff that's not filler junk to put in Dan's stocking, so maybe I'll tell him to put together one of these for himself too :).

Clockwise from top left:

- Fleur Tealight - We just got skinny little bookshelves to use in place of nightstands (all those details for another post) and since I don't have an electrical outlet on that side of the room for a lamp, I think I'll need a candle on mine!

- Vanilla Bean Paste - I've heard about this stuff, wondered about it, seen it recommended by Pioneer Woman which 99% of the time means it's amazing, and then today a friend at work showed me a jar she just bought and with one sniff I was in love. This little goodie would open up a whole new world of baking for me, as I generally skip over any recipe involving a vanilla bean since the darned things cost so much.

- Snapshot Frames - I'm becoming one of those people that wants pictures of her dog all over the place, and I think these on the side of the fridge with some Louie Louie shots would be adorable.

- Eco-Tools Brush Set - I finally bought myself some decent makeup, and thanks to my ONE not so decent makeup brush, it's a bit of a disaster. I doubt these are anything revolutionary at the price, but they'll work for me!

- Urban Decay Eye Primer Potion - Speaking of decent makeup, I've heard nothing but rave reviews about this primer, and the one time I used it at a wedding had me hooked.

- Oliclips - These are a bit random, but would be great to corral all the receipts, bills, random papers, etc. that tend to pile up downstairs before being filed in the office.

- Yes To Carrots Body Butter - This. Stuff. Is. AMAZING. I have a tiny little jar of it and use it constantly on my hands. I can only imagine what it would do to rough elbows and knees in the dry winter weather.

- Glee: The Complete First Season - Does this really need an explanation? I didn't think so. And, it's on sale for $20 right now. Woot!

Light it up

2010-11-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

I've once again let my blog sit untouched for way too long. While some of it is pure laziness, it's also due to the fact that I haven't had much to write about, or time to write about the things I do think up, and also because I've been attempting to at least be a little productive in the evenings when I get home from work. It's a struggle to want to do much of anything now that it's getting dark out far earlier than I would like, but once in awhile I get random bursts of energy and decide to do things like add organized drawers to the space under the bathroom sink or clean out my sock drawer like I did last night. I know, I know, I'm getting really bold doing things like throwing out old socks!

So, in an effort to have something real to blog about, I'm thinking about trying out a DIY pendant light for the entryway. I'm sure I've mentioned the hideous light that hangs there currently, and now every single one of the 4 bulbs has finally gone out after 2 long years. While we could obviously just buy new bulbs, we both agree that the fixture could use an update, so we've been casually looking around for something without much luck. Seeing as the dining room's West Elm capiz chandelier is sort of a statement piece, I don't want anything too bold in the hallway, but I also don't want anything boring. Considering I'm cheap, and I'm feeling crafty, I just might try something like this -

From MadeByGirl

Gorgeous, huh?

I would definitely scale down the overall size of this for our purposes, but it looks insanely simple - not to mention insanely expensive. I've seen hemp colored versions of this for hundreds of dollars at places like Pottery Barn!

These felt covered Ikea pendants seen on Design Sponge DIY are also pretty incredible looking, and would be a nice balance to the dining room fixture, but I'm afraid neither version would give off much light and I like my rooms BRIGHT -

Remember

2010-11-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

It's only Tuesday, but we're already in the midst of a particularly difficult week. It's times like these that I'm grateful for Dan, who in the middle of my full-on panic attack (complete with sobs, thank you very much) a couple of nights ago simply hugged me and said "I know this is hard, but just do your best to stay positive and everything will be ok." Obviously, this is much easier said than done, so today I turned to my virtual inspiration folder, where I have a section of "thoughts" that I've seen around the web and wanted to hold on to for days like today.

Here's some little inspiration images I'm thinking about printing to tape to the bedroom mirror or hang above my desk as little reminders that sometimes, I just need to chill out and trust in myself, Dan, and most importantly - God to lead us through tough times.

And, from Dan's facebook the other day -

Sunburst Mirrors

2010-11-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

With a shocking amount of free time ahead of us this weekend, we've kicked around the idea of finally painting the hallway in the Dolphin Fin from Behr gray color that I'm surprisingly still in love with months after testing it out in little squares on the walls. Unfortunately, there's a corner at the top of the stairs that's going to need some of Dan's handiwork before we can paint, so I'm not sure a gorgeous gray hallway is actually feasible THIS weekend... but I'm staying optimistic!

Regardless of if we paint or not, I'm hard at work planning out our little entryway, with this previously posted picture serving as my inspiration:

I've already got a console table ($10 on craigslist forever ago and painted Kelly green!) and 2 baskets that sit underneath it for extra storage. I bought a GREAT yellow planter that I'm hoping will keep my basil plant going through the winter that would look perfect on the table, and my DIY Grandma's buttons frame is currently sitting pretty there as well. While I have a lamp base that I found at Target for $4 that would look incredible on the table... I don't have a socket there to plug it into, so I'll have to work on finding somewhere else for that. In general, all I really need to copycat the above look in my own way is a fabulous sunburst mirror, which I can assure you from all of my googling generally runs WAY out of my price range.

Lucky for me, I'm obsessed with the blogosphere, and my trolling led me to this beauty today -

...and wouldn't you know it, that gorgeous white focal piece is DIY (!!!) with a cheap round mirror, a hot glue gun, some sticks, and a can of white spray paint. I'm in love. (I'm also in love with that chunky buffet style piece, but I'm trying not to get sidetracked).

Of course following my squeal about the above I set out on a hunt for more DIY sunburst mirrors, and was pleasantly surprised with several other insanely simple projects for different looks.

This one is made from rolled up pages from magazines, which you know I have plenty of laying around -

This is made out of CEREAL BOXES!! -

This is incredible, but probably a little more complicated than I'm up for -

A quick trip to Michael's can potentially make a DIY sunburst mirror like the above a quick, easy, and dirt cheap version of something expensive. I'm excited to figure out the best way to do one for our house!

30 Before 30 - Ready, Set, GO.

2010-10-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

Mr. Lawler reminded me last night that some people (himself included) still check this little blog on a regular basis... and leaving it idle for over a week doesn't do much for my loyal readers! So, I decided that since I never posted the 30 before 30 list in its entirety, it was about time I get it up here to make it "official". It's a fair mix of goals and fun stuff, easy feats and more difficult tasks, free or cheap projects and pricier extravagances. Fingers crossed I am able to start making a dent in all of this soon!

30 BEFORE 30
1. Leave the country
2. Enroll back in school to begin working towards my bachelor's degree
3. Learn to sew
4. Put all of my pictures in albums, get prints of all of my digital photos and put them in albums as well
5. Work for myself (whether it be in addition to another job or a full on business)
6. Run a marathon. Ok ok... or at least a half marathon
7. Take a trip with my sister
8. Spend a day at a spa
9. See the Grand Canyon in person
10. Finish compiling my Top 10 (Easy) Recipes list
11. Get dressed up and take my Gramma to dinner and a show
12. Make money blogging (seriously, even if I make $10, I'll count it)
13. Become more of a morning person
14. Buy real truffles and feel amazing cooking with them
15. Join a team. Any team.
16. Go to a drive-in movie
17. Create a piece of artwork to hang in my home
18. Meet Harry Connick Jr. in person
19. Reduce our grocery spending by utilizing coupons on a regular basis
20. Make a loaf of bread from scratch
21. Dramatically improve my posture
22. Volunteer an afternoon at the Greater Chicago Food Depository
23. Go on a picnic with Dan
24. Cook a 5-course meal
25. Take a dance class
26. Bake my late Grandmother's famous cheesecake
27. Learn how to do my makeup further than my 3-minute daily ritual of mascara and sheer mineral shadow, and learn to do something more to my hair than wear it down or throw it in a ponytail
28. Go ziplining or parasailing (both are things I am terrified of)
29. Figure out a system for dealing with mail, bills, important papers, etc, that actually WORKS for me, and use it
30. Spend a weekend with Maryrose, just the 2 of us, eating good food, drinking good wine, getting the tattoo we've been talking about for years, and wasting our time away doing whatever we want

While I reserve the right to change things on the list if I really really want to, the truth is that I've put a lot of thought into what's on the list, and my overall goal will be to keep it as is. Wish me luck... and let me know if you want to join me in any of my adventures! :)

Apples Galore

2010-10-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

I managed to talk Dan into going apple picking again this year (probably because he knows he'll get lots of baked goodies out of it), and we decided to make it a little family outing by bringing Manda and Louie Louie along!

Manda tries out an apple straight from the tree

Louie Louie poses in the orchard for a Kodak moment

The two loves of my life

Unfortunately, I haven't had as much time as I'd like to bake in the last couple weeks, but FORTUNATELY, everything I have made so far has been absolutely delicious.

As I've gotten more and more into cooking, I've become a devout follower of several foodie blogs, and one of the standouts that I turn to time and time again and have yet to have a single complaint about is the one and only Annie's Eats. I've made a couple of Annie's apple recipes and have had such huge successes that I'm tempted to just make them again instead of continuing to search for new ones... but I know that wouldn't be as much fun :).

Since I bought a bundt cake pan specifically for monkey bread and have little else to use it for, I was excited to see this Apple Cake on Annie's blog that called for my trusty bundt pan. I added a glaze that I made up with vanilla, powdered sugar and milk, and the sweetness of it was perfect with the cake for an indulgent breakfast that I shared with my coworkers.

Next up, and quite possibly my new favorite breakfast/brunch EVER was Annie's Cinnamon Waffles with Caramelized Apples. Forgive me for being dramatic, but this was honestly heaven on a plate. I can't actually speak to Annie's waffles since I used regular old Bisquick and livened it up a little with cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, but the apple topping was really the star anyways. Manda had spent the night and we slept in Sunday morning before making this recipe... complete with homemade whipped cream thankyouverymuch. SO SO good. These will definitely be making an appearance on our dining room table frequently in the future.

My latest encounter with one of Annie's recipes was last night, when I made her Apple Pie Cupcakes... a dozen of which are currently sitting behind me at my desk teasing me ruthlessly as I wait for this afternoon's Halloween celebration with some of my favorite work friends. Just as Annie promises, the cupcakes came together much faster than I expected they would, although I did save making the buttercream frosting for this morning since I finished baking around midnight last night (as usual) and knew I'd better get to bed. Unfortunately, I couldn't track down a decent tip for my frosting so mine aren't nearly as pretty as Annie's, but I have a feeling they're going to taste so amazing that presentation won't matter at all. There's a dozen left at home for Dan and I to dig into that I haven't filled or frosted yet, so I suppose I still have a chance to redeem myself in the art direction category.

I thought the little middle pieces of the cupcakes that get cut out would be perfect to try making cake balls with... but I can't seem to track down anything to cover them in besides melted chocolate, which wouldn't be much fun for me.

Even though I've made all of the above AND some caramel apple cupcakes from a recent Everyday With Racheal Ray issue, I STILL have nearly 20 apples left. I'm hoping to bake a pie from scratch for Dan, and I am DEFINITELY making last year's insanely good Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Cookie Bars again, so hopefully I'll manage to use them all up!

All images from Annie's Eats.

Mark My Words

2010-10-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it will be engagement pictures when they roll around, or a family portrait session 10 years down the road, or what. But, I will do something just like this at some point, or my life just will not be complete.

Me, my loved one(s), and a few overstuffed feather pillows. It doesn't get much better than that.

And, now that I think about it, I think this would be absolutely PERFECT for that day after the wedding trash the dress session I've always dreamed about... file this under "major inspiration" and "must do in order to die happy".

Farmhouse

2010-10-12T10:58:00.001-07:00

Although we've been having insanely beautiful weather lately that feels more like summer than fall, I know that the inevitable change of seasons is just around the corner. Usually not a huge fan of fall, I'm embracing it this year as we enjoy long walks around the neighborhood with Louie Louie, await the arrival of Dan's new niece, bake lots of apple goodies from last weekend's orchard trip, and plan for our 2nd annual Halloween/House Anniversary party at 9-oh-6. And, as much as I hate the cold, I don't really start despising Chicago winter until the holidays have passed, so I plan to do my best to stay warm and enjoy the last few months of 2010.

I'm certainly not one of those people that keeps the dining room table set at all times and switches out dishes depending on the season, but some of the latest offerings at West Elm have me wishing I wasn't so short on storage space as I would definitely consider these for fall -

And these for winter -

Not one for fancy china (even our "nice" dishes are from Kohl's), and clearly not the most decisive person in the world, I can't imagine ever choosing just ONE set of dishes to register for when I'm getting married. How on earth do you do that?!? Maybe I'll be difficult and pick out simple white "everyday" dishes, and add in single sets of salad/appetizer plates like the above to mix it up? (Or maybe I shouldn't even be thinking about things like registries just yet?) :)

Outside of the incredible tabletop selections, West Elm also has a new collection of woodland creatures that I'm just dying to get my hands on. I have noticed lately that I could use more little decorative pieces, but I have a feeling all of the below would be overkill and, again, would need to be switched out now and then so the house isn't full of little animals.

One of these would be an adorable addition to the shelves in the living room -

This little guy would look GREAT on top of the hutch -

And these are fun for the holidays -

The best part? Items marked "For St. Jude" indicates a certain amount of proceeds going to the charity, which justifies the purchases a little bit, right? ;)

One last image from West Elm is a reminder that I still need to try out DIY mercury glass. This tablescape makes me think it would be a perfect project for holiday decorating -

Graceful. HA.

2010-10-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog! With my work BFF Lauren! And because I am up to my eyeballs in work and eager to keep up with the new gig, I will likely be focusing more time there than here on 9-oh-6 for a bit. But, have no fear! You can read along as we both attempt to navigate this thing called adulthood, and since Lauren is much wittier than I am you will likely get a lot more laughs out of the new deal than you do out of the randomness I post here.

The blog name took us forEVER to come up with, and I have to admit I'm quite proud of our final decision to name our new baby Graceful Navigation - because life doesn't come with a GPS. My favorite part about it all so far? Neither of us has much physical gracefulness in us at all (head over and check out our latest posts about fire alarms and high school for proof). But, that's sort of the whole point of it all, at least for me. We're trying our damnedest to navigate jobs, relationships, family ordeals, our homes, and everything else that comes with being 20-something, all while having a good time and laughing about it all... and (clearly) it's just not that easy. But however crazy it may be, if I keep good friends, decent wine, and a little bit of grace about myself, I'll be ok.

SO! Without any more rambling... head on over and check us out. And continue to follow along over here - I am definitely not abandoning my love for 9-oh-6 and already have a few posts lined up in my head to babble on about, you know - when I'm not working like mad.

Graceful Navigation - Because life doesn't come with a GPS

TV time... with blogs!

2010-09-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

I like to think that I don't watch a ton of TV, but truth be told, ever since we got DVR and I can record whatever I want, I definitely watch a little more than I used to. Outside of a few sitcoms most of what I watch has to do with food and cooking, or interior design and homegoods. So, at least I'm learning and finding inspiration instead of wasting hours away on reality TV, right? (Wrong - I'm a total sucker for The Bachelor franchise and cried at nearly every episode of The Biggest Loser a couple seasons ago. Don't judge.)

My latest favorites include a couple of new to the spotlight girls, and a couple of stars who have been around a bit longer but are working on new ventures that I am sickly excited to follow along with.

Now I know I'm not the only one who loves the above mentioned Bachelor series, which means I am certainly not the only one who has a girl crush on Jillian Harris, who was dumped by Jason (moron) on his season, duped by Wes (moron) on her own season, and hooked on Ed (moron) who eventually became her fiance... and then her ex. Regardless of a rollercoaster love life, Jillian has an INSANE style that I would love to copy when it comes to my wardrobe and my home. And (!!!) she's starting a permanent position on Extreme Home Makeover so I can oogle over the genius work she does with interiors on a weekly basis. A girl after my own heart, Jillian has recently started blogging, and one of the first images I spotted was this:

Umm, I spy a throw pillow with my latest favorite line! Remember my obsession with the artwork sporting the same quote? (Yep, still need to DIY that one).

I'm also in love with the colors in Jillian's room (which I'm thinking must be in her old home with Ed thanks to the "E" and "J" on the wall?), and am fairly certain my next home will be full of neutrals thanks to inspiration images like hers. For now I can focus instead on bringing some similar elements into my existing rooms - such as clusters of artwork and small personal touches.

The most recent HGTV Design Star winner, Emily Henderson, also has a fabulous blog, not to mention some fabulous talent. The pilot episode of "Secrets of a Stylist" was full of inspiration thanks to Emily making over several rooms in co-creator of Glee Ian Brennan's home.

Emily's biggest project for Ian's home was his living space, which took on three distinct looks throughout the episode, ending with the above. OBSESSED with the metallic trunk as a coffee table, the poof on the floor, the floating furniture layout, and those built-in bookshelves. A room this size and shape would be a blast to decorate.

More yellow and gray. I can't ever get enough. Again - an amazing trunk being used as a table, and that antique mirror is incredible. I'm working insanely hard to learn to mix patterns like Emily has done here with the bedspread, throw pillows and wallpaper.

The "Secrets of a Stylist" series has been picked up for 26 episodes, and I'm excited to see what Emily does with future projects.

Then there's Nate Berkus. Oh, Nate. I've set up a series recording so I don't miss a single episode of the brand new "Nate Show", and have already cried on at least 3 separate occasions while watching him transform people's troubled lives through their kitchens and living rooms. He's charming, funny and (obviously) stylish, and I am completely and totally enamored by him and his show. I know he's been around thanks to Oprah for awhile, and while I've always been aware of him, I didn't care much until I started in on decorating my own space. Lately, I've been dreaming about adding a bunch of elements from his collection for HSN in my house!

Such as this PERFECT bedding. A little pricey at $99 for me, but if I don't find anything else I love this much soon, I may splurge a little and get it. He also sells a plain clean lined bedskirt that looks just like the one in this photo, only it seems some simple ribbon trim was added - easy enough to do the same and copy the look!

The rug shown in the bedroom above is even more amazing in blue. Again, a little expensive for me with a runner coming in at $99, but loving it nonetheless. This would be an amazing compliment to the blue in the living room and against the gray that will soon be in the hallway.

This little guy would do great as a nightstand or an end table in the living room -

I don't know why, but I adore this bowl -

Other new TV favorites include the latest "Next Food Network Star" Aarti Sequeira's "Aarti Party" show (she has a blog too!!) and NBC's "Outsourced", which isn't about food or interior design at all, but stars Parvesh Cheena who is not only hilarious but is also a bff of one of MY bff's, which practically means I know him personally.

The Little Things

2010-09-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

I have an overstuffed accordion file of pages I've ripped out of magazines, folders on every computer desktop available to me full of images I've saved from all of my web/blog browsing, and a stack of perfection on paper that I swear I'll hang on a bulletin board above my desk one of these days. All of this is my inspiration... I'm a visual person and thrive on finding a photo of a room that I think is absolutely perfect and trying to mimic it on a budget in my own home. More recently, since the "big" stuff in the house is mostly done and major furniture purchases were made way back when we first moved, I instead study details and specifics more than the overall look. There's a multitude of little tweaks I want to make in the house, whether it be restyling the objects on top of the hutch (as I did this weekend), hanging artwork, or changing out lighting fixtures. Here's some of the latest images catching my eye, mostly for the house, but with a couple randoms mixed in...

Oh, how badly I want gray walls somewhere in our house. I currently have squares of gray painted in a bunch of spots throughout the hallway from testing Behr's "Dolphin Fin", and while I think it's perfect, there's some drywall work that needs to be done before I can actually paint. Also sort of obsessed with the ottoman poof in this image -

...And the pops of yellow in the one below. Will I ever get sick of gray and yellow together? Probably not. -

Kind of hooked on statement light fixtures lately. Likely because I've been spending a lot of time staring at the eyesore in our entryway that I've recently decided MUST be replaced with something I can spray paint, because my solution for everything these days is "just spray paint it" -

Um, hello window seat, please find a place in my house. I want to nap right. there. right. now. -

The day my pantry is this gorgeous is the day I can die happy. I especially love the ice cream cones in easy reach, and the fact that this family and myself clearly share a mutual love for an over abundance of cereal choices. -

I would like this chair in a color other than pink, please. And that black end table. And the patterned couch. Basically, this is perfection in a girly room, which clearly has no place in my house, but is incredible regardless. -

A moody navy statement wall that just works. Straight from the pages of Rue, for you, Bethanie. ;) -

I never thought I'd LOVE a china cabinet, but I stand corrected. Although, I would likely never put any actual china in it. -

This room is basically everything I've ever wanted, as it just feels "normal" and easy and comfortable. It's a nice room with nice things, but I wouldn't be afraid to have little ones running around in it. Unlike many rooms that are clearly styled, this one feels like you could actually live in this house. -

This makes me want to change it up this year for New Year's Eve and throw a fancy schmancy party with lots and lots of shimmery balloons. Who wouldn't love an excuse to buy a silver dress like the girl in front? -

And finally, pretty sure I'm going to buy a ton of vanilla sandwich cookies and make this. I might not even wait until I have an excuse to do so because it's just too great to not do it immediately. -

Happy Monday!

(Apologies for not linking to 99% of these. I save so many images I rarely know where I actually got them from. And, I'm lazy.)

Lately, in the kitchen

2010-09-15T13:28:00.001-07:00

I've tried a fair share of new recipes lately, and thanks to pictures of food never looking nearly as appetizing as I'd like them to, I end up not posting about them. But I've had enough of not sharing some new favorites, so here they are!!! (In some cases, I've swiped the image from the website I found the recipe at, so that's all good and credited.)

First up - Noble Pig's Banana Snickerdoodles, which were just perfect. I made these for a little tailgate party we had here at work last week, and they were a big hit. They had just the right amount of banana flavor, and the cinnamon sugar was a perfect complimentary flavor. I often end up with one or two over-ripe bananas and have to throw them in the freezer until I have enough to make banana bread, but I think from now on if I have a loner I'll throw together a batch of these cookies.

(Photo from Noble Pig)

Next up is a super simple recipe I've already made twice, and will definitely make again and again. I can't find a real link to it, but it's (supposedly) the infamous Giada De Laurentiis' Pesto, and it is To. Die. For. Thanks to my flourishing herb garden basil plant, and my newfound love for real parmesan reggiano, the toughest part of this recipe is finding somewhere that sells pine nuts for a decent price. I'm thinking I'll have to check out Trader Joe's and buy a big bulk bag, as I'd love to make a bunch of this to freeze for the winter months.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups fresh basil

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Pulse everything except the olive oil together in a food processor. Slowly add in oil and blend to consistency. That's it!

We had this with cavatappi pasta, and the first time I also threw in some chicken. It was incredible, and blew the store bought pesto we've had in the past out of the water. I'd like to try it with veggies or on a grilled chicken sandwich, but I think my favorite will continue to be over simple pasta. This will definitely be added to the Top 10 Easy Recipes List I've been compiling for our household.

Next... Truffled Lobster Risotto. Another crazy insanely delicious dish. While out of town for our anniversary, I picked up some lobster tails at the Milwaukee Public Market, and I used a Groupon for Fox & Obel to treat myself to a teeny bottle of truffle oil... so I knew I had to go all out and make something amazing with these ingredients, seeing as we certainly don't eat such expensive meals all the time! Although I will likely only make this again for special occasions, it did teach me that risotto - something I've been hesitant to try in the past - is really not as difficult to cook as I thought. Possible variations are endless, and I'm excited to find some less overboard versions to try in the future. (For the record, I only used about half of the suggested truffle oil in my recipe, as I just couldn't bring myself to use up so much of my precious little bottle, and Dan is not as big of a truffle-flavor fan as I am. It still turned out perfect.)

Finally, Manda and I had a great success last night with a knockoff of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, courtesy of Annie's Eats. I bought kale for the first time over the weekend after reading about it constantly, and a friend at work brought me a bag of homegrown potatoes from her dad's garden in Wisconsin, so I was excited to combine the two. The recipe made a big pot with lots of leftovers, and even Dan ate the greens!

(Photo from Annie's Eats)

So, lots of successes in the kitchen lately, and I'm loving that I'm getting more and more comfortable - not to mention adventurous - with cooking!

Three Things

2010-09-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

I get really bummed when I can't think of anything substantial to blog about, and hate leaving it idle for so long without anything new! So, here's another one of my random posts about everything and nothing to waste some time on what is proving to be a very tired Tuesday afternoon!

Outside of some drama that will remain unexplained, September is so far managing to be a pretty awesome month. Here's a few reasons why:

1. Chick-fil-a is opening within driving distance of my home in just TWO days. This alone is cause for a celebration, and I plan to head out there right away after work for my fix. If you're nice to me, I may bring you something for a little Friday snacky snack. :)

2. Also in a mere 48 hours, the premiere issue of Rue! I'm a big fan of Managing Editor Alaina's blog, along with the blogs of her Rue partners in crime, so I'm anxious to see what they've come up with and have no doubts that it will be incredible fun with tons of eye candy!

3. Lauren and I won the Foiled Cupcakes 1 year anniversary party costume contest, and got our first delivery of delicious cupcakes last Friday! As expected, they were AMAZING, and thankfully only 2 of the 4 flavors had chocolate so there was plenty for me to enjoy.

House Tour: Dining Room

2010-09-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

I realized recently that one of my favorite spots in the house - the dining room - has been "finished" for quite some time... and I never posted pictures of it! Of course, there are still a few minor tweaks I want to make here and there, and we've yet to hang the (same as the living room) sheer white curtains, but pictures are fun either way!

So, for those who haven't been to the house in awhile, or at all... here's my little dining room tour!

Here's where we started when we bought the house -

One thing you can't see in the picture above is the fabulous floor-to-ceiling hole that the seller's plumber put in and kindly left for us. While I'm sure patching the hole was easier (and cheaper) than repairing plumbing, I was annoyed that the hole wasn't there when we signed our initial contract/put in an offer... and then suddenly one day before we closed it was. Worse, while Dan was finishing the patching of the original hole he found water damage in ANOTHER part of the wall, and had to rip that out and start all over again. Below shows both patches -

Besides patching up walls, everyone remembers the infamous hutch project that took forEVER, beginning over winter break just after we bought the house -

Refusing to wait for everything to be perfected, we decided to throw a New Years party just a month after we officially moved into the house. Here's the room all set up with furniture, and the half-stripped hutch -

And here's the room all finished up: painted, "decorated", and sporting my beloved West Elm capiz chandelier! -

We got the amazing dining room set off of craigslist for a measly $350, and we've definitely gotten our money's worth with all the company we've cooked for and parties we've had! The middle leaf does come out, but we've yet to use it that way since we don't really have anywhere to store the piece anyways. My mom and I recovered the chairs with a great textile from Ikea -

The framed poster is the work of an illustrator that came to my office for a portfolio show, and brought along this amazing series of prints to hand out! -

Everything else in the room was either gifted, or purchased the way I typically buy things - on sale and on the fly. Here's a few of my favorites:

- Hurricane vase on hutch: Christmas gift from Brendan

- Table centerpiece: on clearance at Target

- Floor vase next to hutch: purchased from Pier One with a Christmas gift card from the Lawler's. Filled with pussy willow branches from a flower arrangement at my Aunt's funeral.

As mentioned before, I still need to get curtains hung up, and there's a part of me that's starting to think we need something small on the wall with the windows, but I don't want to crowd the room so for now it's perfect just as it is!

Meet Louie

2010-08-30T11:34:00.001-07:00

After almost an entire week of deliberation, we finally settled on a name for our puppy! And, it's really the perfect name for him if I do say so myself.

Meet Louie!

Or, as we've been calling him around the house - Chicken Louie :).

As everyone who helped me brainstorm names knows, I was hooked on the idea of coming up with a name that had some kind of meaning or sentimental value to mine and Dan's relationship. Eventually, I decided the name would be New Orleans-related, as the time we spent 4 years ago in Louisiana doing Hurricane Katrina/Rita Relief was where we fell in love and our relationship really began to grow (aww).

I thought about naming him Beaux, Roux, Gumbo, Saint, Levee, Jazz, Jester... and Louie. Short for Louisiana, a nod to Louis Armstrong (an idol to my idol, Harry Connick Jr.), and just adorable and fun in general... Louie it was!

Our little guy is adjusting, but it's certainly not coming without a few hiccups. Here's what we've learned about Louie in just one week -

- He gets so excited about eating that he steps in his water, spills his food all over the floor, and generally doesn't even know what to do with himself he's so worked up. This is adorable, but has made for a lot of paper towel waste as we try to keep the floor dry. Hopefully the boot tray we bought this weekend to keep his bowls on will help.

- He has a hard time getting his bearings on the hardwood floors throughout the house, and slips around a LOT. I feel bad for him when he tries to do something and often just gets frustrated and lays down on his pillow in defeat. In a way, this is a blessing in disguise, as it keeps him fairly confined to the living room area on the rug without too much wandering.

- He doesn't like being on a leash, and he's afraid of nearly everything imaginable outside. This makes taking walks extremely difficult.

- He loves to lay behind Dan's feet when he's sitting in the recliner. While this is cute, I'm scared that one of these days we'll forget he's there and he'll get squished when Dan goes to get up. In general, he just loves being close to Dan.

- He's smarter than he looks. The majority of the time, Louie already understands "paw" (shake), "sit" (at street corners when we actually do manage to take a walk), "hurry up" (Dan read this is a good one to use when he's going to the bathroom), and "down" (although it takes a few tries).

- He's also LOUDER than he looks. Louie is not a fan of being in his crate if he can't see us but knows we're still in the house. Case in point - this morning when Dan had somewhere to be, I had to put him in the crate while I was upstairs getting ready for work. I had a horribly annoying song of whining and howling the entire 45 minutes I was showering and getting dressed, but he was quiet as soon as I headed back downstairs and sat down with my laptop where he could see me. I'm just trying to be as patient as possible and understand that it has only been a week.

- He has one or two times a day where he can be described in no other way but "spastic" for 10 minutes or so. It's hilarious to watch him chase his tail, pounce on his toys, and spin in circles.

As previously mentioned, my dad and Manda adopted Louie's brother the day after we found the litter at the shelter. They've had a couple of play dates already!

Reunited! -

Louie in back, Cosmo in front. See the resemblance? My mom pointed out the lefty and righty eye patches, which I think is adorable -

Our first attempt at a family picture! -

Wanted: Sewing teacher

2010-08-27T09:58:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Kate over at Centsational Girl (one of my favorite bloggers who I've mentioned here several times before), I've got a newfound drool-worthy site for affordable fabric - Tonic Living. I can clearly picture each of my top picks below in a specific place in my home, but the truth is that most all of them would fit perfectly into almost any room, making it easy to switch decor around for a new look whenever I want.

There are TONS of great options over at Tonic Living, and the best part is that nearly all of the fabrics go for under $10 a yard! Seeing as I've fallen in love with some that run well over $40 a yard (seriously?), this was the perfect site for me to stumble on. Now I just need to learn to sew some simple things like pillow covers, and I'll be good to go!

Lighter and more colorful, but reminds me of the Amy Butler Tree Peony fabric I love -

So, so, SO hooked on greens lately. Especially the chevron (top left) -

Two favorites that would work in so many different places in the house -

Another knockoff of the Anthropologie Love Letters sheets Leah sourced -

Lots of pretty pops of yellow -

In other 9-oh-6 news, our puppy remains unnamed (I know, I know - I'm trying!!), but he is an absolute JOY to have around. Housebreaking is going much better than I expected - knock on wood - and even though he wakes me up much earlier than I'm used to, I love how excited he is to see me each morning and every day when I get home from work. Plans for the weekend include puppy-proofing the upstairs since I'm sure he'll be getting up there soon enough, trying my hand at a fancy truffled lobster risotto for dinner, Bev's birthday party (!!!), and lots and lots of laundry. It's the last Summer Friday at work, so I'm watching the clock and planning to get out of here at 1:00 on the dot!

Shameless Self Promotion

2010-08-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

You may remember my work BFF Lauren and I making our debut as cupcake models last year for the newly founded Foiled Cupcakes. Well, thanks to the wonderful world of social networking, we've kept in touch with Mari and the Foiled Cupcakes crew, and scored ourselves tickets to their recent 1 Year Anniversary Party at the Wit last month. Thanks to some wine and a HUGE roll of tinfoil, we had ourselves a cupcaking good time.

The huge roll of tinfoil mentioned above came in during the Foiled Cupcakes all-foil costume contest, which I'm sure nobody is shocked to hear I insisted on participating in. Lauren and I made up a fancy pleated skirt and teeny-tiny top, along with a snazzy cupcake topped headband and foil covered glasses - talk about style! Now, there's some intense voting going on over at the Foiled Cupcakes blog for the best costume, and I'm hoping you'll take a minute to go vote for me! The winner receives a dozen Foiled Cupcakes every month for a YEAR, so although I'm sure a little extra weight will come with it, I REALLY want us to win!

So, loyal handful of readers, please take a minute to cast your vote over at Foiled Cupcakes! The direct link is below, and all you have to do is leave a comment with the letter "J"! Thanks :)

Holy cupcake!!! Click here to vote!!!

Finally

2010-08-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

We (finally) put a bed in the extra bedroom!

You might recognize this as our old full-size bed. Yep - we've officially upgraded to a queen!

Even though it's only been a couple of weeks, it's been great having an actual bed in the extra bedroom for guests. Ryan was over one night (he and Mr. Lawler actually did all the heavy lifting with Dan to get the beds in their new rooms - Thanks guys!!!), and Manda stayed over last weekend. I'm excited to have somewhere comfortable for guests to stay in the future!

I made the bed up with my favorite duvet cover from Ikea that's been sitting in the closet unmatched to a room, and added the two great turquoise striped pillows that I got on clearance at Target for $4 each. I love how the orange dress in the painting above (which belonged to my Grandma) pops now with the matching bedding. Dan and Ryan joked that the room actually almost glows orange, and while I don't completely disagree, I would more say that it just brightens the room up!

The rest of the room houses a tv stand, a packed bookshelf, and an old dresser Dan got at church that I'm dying to paint. With all of this furniture in one teeny little room it's definitely a bit crowded, so I'll be re-evaluating the room as a whole eventually, but for now it's working out great.

Unfortunately, the queen frame we got for our bedroom plus a box spring and mattress added up to the us literally having to CLIMB into bed... so we still have to figure out a solution for that. In the meantime, the box spring is hanging out taking up space in the office so the mattress alone makes for a more normal height bed. I'm hoping to find a different frame that sits lower to the ground, but so far no luck.

Greatest. Birthday. EVER.

2010-08-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

I wrote my last post insanely excited about all of the delicious treats I devoured throughout the workday, and in anticipation of the ridiculous amount of food I was planning to eat at my birthday dinner that evening. THEN, Dan picked me up at work, I talked his ear off about my day... and next thing you know I realized we were parking in the lot of the Anti-Cruelty Society. You see, on top of dreaming about throw pillows and trendy jewelry, I'd spent a lot of the last few months telling Dan that all I really wanted was a puppy for my birthday. And, because he's amazing and wonderful and all those good things... he got me one. (Insert me squealing here).

Now, it would have been far too simple for us to have found a puppy at the Anti-Cruelty Society right off the bat on my birthday Thursday. While I did (of course) instantly fall in love with one, he just wasn't right for us... and our crazy whirlwind puppy search began. Since Thursday, we've driven HOURS upon hours checking out nearly every shelter and humane society within 50 miles of Chicago, spent part of our afternoon today walking the streets of Bucktown for an adoption event, drove to towns I'd never even heard of (Shorewood anyone?), and chatted with employees at half a dozen Petco's. In the end, always-trusty craigslist saved the day when I spotted an ad for a litter of lab-mix puppies in Chicago Heights that just became available for adoption yesterday! With Manda and our garage sale dog crate ($10!!) in the backseat we drove the hour out to the South Suburban Humane Society, and within minutes we were faced with 7 adorable puppies to choose from! The age was right (I wanted a young puppy that we can train), the size was great (they're expecting our pick to be around 50-60 pounds), there were 4 boys (we wanted a male), and they were all absolutely PRECIOUS (of course I wanted a super cute one). We took two of them out, agreed that one was perfect for us, and after an application and interview process, we were the proud owners of "Brian", the newest member of our family and 9-oh-6!

Isn't he adorable?!?!?!?

Rightfully terrified, the puppies were timid and quiet - they don't even know how to walk on a leash yet! I'm anxious to get our little guy home tomorrow evening and give him some time to adjust to his new home, and I can't wait for his personality to start showing through as we take walks and play games with him in the yard. Most importantly for me right now is settling on a name for him... so far nothing seems just right, but I'm sure we'll think of something as we spend a little time with "Brian" tomorrow night.

The best part of all? My dad has been thinking about getting a puppy for quite some time now, and if all goes as planned he and Manda will be driving back out to the center to adopt one of "Brian's" brothers tomorrow! In all of our hunting around I've also done a TON of reading, and loved an article I read about two different people adopting puppies from the same litter and getting together with them over the years to maintain a relationship between the dogs. How great would it be to have our puppy's brother right over at my dad's?!?

Lots more pictures to come when we get our puppy home! For now, a big, huge, sappy, loving THANK YOU to Dan for being incredibly generous and surprising me with such an amazing birthday gift. I love you!

Birthday Girl

2010-08-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

I've been 28 for about 8 hours, and so far I am LOVING it. Here's a few reasons my birthday has been fabulous (and it's only 3:30!!) -

1. Maryrose sent me flowers at work. I was insanely excited to receive them:

2. My coworkers threw me a fun little party with tons of non-chocolate goodies this morning. Cheesecake bars and maple bacon cupcakes (um, yum) were big hits.

3. Bethanie, our newest production team member, surprised me with a chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-a, which as you may know is NOT yet open in Illinois. Yep - she got it for me from another state! Her parents were driving through Indiana this morning, and she had them stop to pick me up a treat. By far one of the best birthday surprises ever!

All of the projects I need to release today at work are already done (this is shockingly abnormal by the way), so Dan will be picking me up promptly at 5 to hang out for a bit before our 6:30 dinner reservation with friends. We're going to Tango Sur, which is described as a "meat-lover's dream", so in other words it is likely going to be my new favorite place by the end of the night. :)

Grandma would have loved it

2010-08-18T12:15:00.001-07:00

Since I am 100% NOT "in the know", I am likely one of the last people to hear about the upcoming John Derian for Target homegoods line, which is apparently available online and in stores beginning September 5. A decoupage artist that I typically could not afford to purchase from, New York-based Derian's style is compared to 18th and 19th century illustrations. Not usually one for an "older" look, I find a strange comfort in these designs that remind me of things my grandmother would have loved, updated just enough to have a modern feel.

From what I'm reading, it seems this is not Derian's first collaboration with my heaven-on-Earth, Target. But, as a still fairly new homeowner, now I care, whereas gorgeous collections like this would not have caught my eye in the past. As with the Liberty of London line that I drooled over a few months ago, I am itching to get my hands on nearly everything that's going to be available. The prices are right up my alley with nothing over $25, and unlike many of the Liberty patterns, Derian's pieces look to be extremely gender-neutral, which is always great for cohabiters like Dan and myself. And, as much as I love bright fun patterns, the more muted feel of the Derian line will fit seamlessly into the house with pretty much no effort at all.

I found several images with info blurbs just by googling, but I really struck gold when I managed to find the online look-book, which I read elsewhere was only available to writers and editors for previewing. (Somehow I doubt I really found anything I wasn't supposed to see, but still, I can pretend).

Here's a roundup of (way too many) items that I'd love to snag from the limited edition collection. Since I missed out on a bunch of the Liberty items that I really really wanted, I plan to get to Target bright and early on the 5th to shop before everything is gone. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there will be bedding available, which I'm currently on the hunt for, but I'm sure I'll manage to find a use for plenty of Derian's other pieces.

Love the thought of this lettered box on an end table to manage the half a dozen remote controls we have. ($14.99 each)

This storage box would be a great place to store keepsake mail and cards (I have several boxes of this sort, and look through them on days when I'm down). ($12.99)

Is it just me, or would it be SO much easier to keep receipts organized if they were in something beautiful like this accordion file? ($3.99 each)

The butterfly pattern below reminds me of something that would cost $80 at Anthropologie. ($9.99-$12.99 each)

Speaking of Anthropologie, the below "Encourage good intentions" tray (as well as several of the other lettered items I'm showing) have a similar feel to these ahh-mazing love letter sheets my blogging work friend Leah pictured in her birthday list. And, let's not forget the fact that I love blatant reminders of wise words. ($12.99 each)

I am in LOVE with this blue lattice frame, and wish the pattern was more widely available in this line. ($9.99 each)

Um, hello perfection in a cake plate, I've only been searching for you forEVER. ($14.99)

I missed out on the Liberty of London version of this wonderful 3-tiered stand, so even if I skip over everything else in Derian's collection, I plan to get my hands on this. ($14.99)

I've been wanting a tray for on top of our leather storage ottoman, but haven't found one I love. This just might fit the bill, and is apparently going to be available in other patterns as well. ($19.99)

Finally, these mismatched appetizer plates have no use in my home, but I couldn't resist posting them solely for the fact that I'm picturing a couple of the clover ones around the house during my favorite St. Patty's Day time. ($1.99 each)

(Images from all over the web, but at some point to someone they were courtesy of Target)

30 before 30

2010-08-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

With my 28th birthday a measly two days away, I've decided to make myself a "30 before 30" list of, well, 30 things I want to do before I'm 30. So that pretty easy math shows that I have two years to get it all done, and considering some of my goals will be a little loftier than others, I'm thinking I'll need the full 730 days. (By the way, does 730 days sound like a lot less time than 2 years to anyone else?)

I'm going to come back to this posting over the next several days to add things as I think of them. I don't want to rush to put it together and end up with ridiculous little wishes. So, be on the lookout for this post to update throughout the week!

30 BEFORE 30
1. Leave the country (and document it with this handy little scratch map)
2. Enroll back in school to work towards my bachelor's degree
3. Learn to sew
4. Put all of my pictures in albums
5. Work for myself (whether it be in addition to another job or a full on business)
6. Run a marathon. Ok ok... or at least a half marathon
7. Take a trip with my sister
8. Spend a day at a spa
9. See the Grand Canyon in person
10. Finish compiling my Top 10 (Easy) Recipes list
11. Get an address book, fill it, and use it
12. Make money blogging (seriously, even if I make $10, I'll count it)
13. Become more of a morning person
14. Buy real truffles and feel extravagant cooking with them

15. Make going to church a more regular part of my weekend
16. Spend an afternoon shopping around the little boutique district just blocks from my house
17. Create a piece of artwork to hang in my home
18. Meet my idol - Harry Connick Jr., and actually speak to him instead of staring star-struck
19. Drastically reduce my grocery spending by utilizing coupons on a regular basis
20.
21.
22
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

My name is Kelly...

2010-08-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

...and I want this kitchen. Very very badly -

...only, minus the random purple side of the island cabinet. And plus some color up on the top of the wall to better contrast the subway tile backsplash. Other than that, I'm in love.

And while we're on the topic of things I love, check out this cloud-like looking light fixture -

Super simple DIY here, friends: The thing is made of - get this - a regular old paper lantern covered in bunched up coffee filters. Uh, yeah. Genius.

Considering the above project would probably run a grand total of maybe $30, I'm thinking it could be a good alternative to the insanely expensive Lotus Flower Chandelier from my original bedroom mood board.

Clearly, the two pieces are not the same - But the roundness and the textured shape are still there, and I'm all for saving a couple hundred bucks and still ending up with something different and fun looking! My only concern would be the brightness factor, as our overhead is the only light source in the bedroom and I like my rooms BRIGHT.

In other news, my bike got stolen out of our garage yesterday afternoon, and the incident has (of course) sent me into a total state of panic. We accidentally left the big service door open and my bike was right in plain sight, so while I can't say I'm surprised that it was swiped, I am a little thrown off by the fact that something was stolen off of my property. I'm attempting to convince myself that it was likely just a stupid kid screwing around and there's not actual dangerous thieves trolling the neighborhood or anything... but, who knows. Thankfully, I paid a whopping $30 for my craigslist bike, so it wasn't a huge financial loss.

(Kitchen and bedroom images, as well as light fixture design, from Kara Paisley Designs)

It's my birthday... and I'll buy it if I want to

2010-08-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm honestly not a huge fan of my birthday rolling around each year, because I tend to find things that draw unnecessary attention to myself extremely humiliating. And, I usually spend a good portion of the day freaking out that something horrible is going to happen and my birthday will be ruined forever. I know, ridiculous - but I have my reasons for paranoia. My wonderful grandmother died when I was a kid on July 3rd, so fireworks will forever (sadly) remind me of her. And an old boyfriend dumped me the night before Forest Park St. Patrick's Day (the NERVE!), which clearly ruined my favorite day of the year for awhile there. Birthdays fall right in to "pseudo-holiday" territory for me (like the 4th and FP St. Pat's), so the fear of it being a disaster strikes more often than not.

This year, I'm trying to have a brighter outlook on things seeing as I've heard 28 can be pretty awesome. I also made some nice extra money last weekend babysitting, so I'm thinking about buying myself a birthday present or two. We'll see. In the meantime, simply "window-shopping" online will do it for me. That being said, here's a nice little board of things I've wanted for a LONG time, along with a couple of new additions.

1. Dwell Studio for Target decorative pillow that I have been lusting over forEVER. I swear I've picked it up in the store 20 times, walked around with it, and then forced myself to put it back last minute because I don't absolutely need it. But it's just so perfect...

2. Keep Calm and Carry On poster that I have (again) wanted for way too long. Based on my description of birthday panic attacks above, I may need this little reminder even more than I originally thought.

3. An orchid - My herb garden is absolutely thriving, so I'm convinced I could keep a flower alive too!

4. The Wonderbar - No, not wonderbra, although I could probably benefit from one of those too. The Wonderbar pretty much sounds like heaven on Earth for my uber-sensitive, prone to breakouts skin. Priced at $40 for a teeny tiny bar (think hotel bar soap size), I would like to assume that the stuff is as amazing as it sounds. The tiny bar is said to last 6-8 weeks, so as a skincare products junkie, I say it's worth a shot.

5. Stella White Dial Watch by Fossil - I have worn the same silver Fossil watch for the last 5+ years, and have had the battery changed countless times when it stops. It stopped again last month and I've yet to get it fixed, and while I still plan to, I'm also really hooked on the chunky white watch trend going on these days. I love that this one doesn't have fake diamonds flanking the face like so many others do, and it'd be perfect for days like today when I'm in a simple tshirt and jeans!

6. Square Yellow Trunk - This is another one of those items at Target that I've picked up and put back a million times. I've been looking for ways to get pops of color throughout the house, and this trunk is PERFECT for that. The size is just right to slip under the end table next to the couch or on the porch, or would also fit under the console table in the hallway for a little trendy extra storage.

7. Fun cookie cutters - I mean, why not?

8. Long Branch Necklace - I love me some Etsy, and since I bought my first chunky necklace last week and am loving it, I now want more (surprise). I like the idea of this little piece that's different but still subtle.

Happy (almost) birthday to me!!

Dragging

2010-07-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Dan is out of town (again) and I am missing him like woah. But, to keep me sane he's done all sorts of little cute things from afar, and that makes me happy. Like, much happier than listening to Brad Paisley's "She's Everything" on repeat because I'm a sappy loser.

Last week, when he had .7 seconds to spare he'd jump online and send me an "I love you" IM, which would make me happy and then tick me off that I'd missed a chance to talk to him. He called me every single morning last week regardless of the fact that he'd barely slept, because I whined that I didn't like not talking to him before going to work, and I'd rather wake up to my phone ringing than my f'ing alarm clock. And among other things, he sent me yet another "love is..." comic the other day that I swear he paid the artist to create and print on a perfectly fitting day.

Thankfully, I have awesome friends who go above and beyond every single summer to keep me busy and entertained while Dan is traveling. I went to Duckfat with Vince and Eddie last night, tonight is the much-anticipated Foiled Cupcakes anniversary party with Lauren, and tomorrow night is dinner with Rob. And THEN, I'm spending the weekend babysitting with Manda and making some serious cash, which I plan to buy myself a birthday present with... I just haven't decided what yet.

Happy Wednesday!

Tired Monday

2010-07-26T13:35:00.001-07:00

I'm exhausted. I stayed up too late and woke up too early, and work has been slightly on the boring side today so things are just dragging along. In between stalking a vendor that's taking their sweet time getting back to me on something, I've done a lot of daydreaming about a happy medium at work - it seems that I'm either so bored I'm ready to rip my hair out, or so busy I'm... ready to rip my hair out. There has to be a perfect in-between somewhere, doesn't there?!?

I've also done my usual slow-day blog trolling and found a bunch of new inspiration images. Go figure.

- My upcoming anniversary and images like this always make me wish I was more artistically skilled:

- I need some stripes somewhere in my house...:

- ...Or some pattern. Which would be perfection in my entryway. And that console table color reminds me of the Ralph Lauren Regent Metallics I've attempted on the infamous nightstands:

- Pretty sure when I get engaged I will require a shot like this in our engagement photos. Thankfully, Dan's truck will be PERFECT for it:

- I need one of these stamps (PS - I have a birthday coming up. Just saying):

- These would be fun, easy DIY gifts to make:

- Clearly, getting to the "change something" part of this isn't so easily done... but I'm working on it:

And in food news (because I can barely go an hour without talking about food in some way)...

- I made Noble Pig's Corn & Basil Cakes last night and not only are they ridiculously easy, they are absolutely to DIE for. Apparently corn and basil are a match made in heaven. Who knew.

- Chef Brian Merel swept into my house Friday night and I am head over heels for his jokes, his food, and his ability to teach me to calm me down in the kitchen and just ENJOY cooking. The night will have it's own blog post soon enough, complete with the menu that I'm still drooling over.

- And finally, I already have my outfit picked out for Wednesday night's Foiled Cupcakes 1st Anniversary Party, which I will be attending with my favorite cupcake-modeling-partner, Lauren. I'll be sure to eat a (light) dinner beforehand so I don't end up with a sugar high headache, but rest assured I will be consuming as many non-chocolate cupcakes as humanly possible in a 2 hour span... and I will likely blog about that later as well. :)

Makeover Attempt - Round 2

2010-07-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Truth be told, I have done next to nothing on my dream bedroom makeover that I originally wrote about in February. We did get a rug (not the chains one I originally sourced for the room), and I love how it warmed up the room and sort of grounded the bed. As mentioned before, I've put one coat of paint on my nightstands, but have yet to finish them up. In my own defense, I've had a difficult time deciding if I want to actually use the fancy mini-roller I bought to give the finished pieces a bit of a textural look, or if I want to do the second coat of paint flat like the first. I was excited to try out the texture, but the flat look of the Ralph Lauren Regent Metallics in the first coat is perfectly subtle and I may want to stick with that. I think about it every time I go into the basement to do laundry and see the nightstands sitting there waiting for me to finish them up! Maybe one of these days I'll just flip a coin and go from there. :)

We also bought some great brown curtains at Target that took the room to an entirely new level. They're still paired with the baby blue walls, which I don't love, but I'm confident a fresh coat of paint from my original bedroom moodboard will take it from pseudo-nursery-looking to a "grown-up" looking space that's perfect for us.

Today, Dan and I are discussing our bed, which is currently a full size. I'm really set on finally putting a bed in the extra bedroom SOON, and we realized recently that we could fit our current full size frame in there instead of just a twin, which would be great for guests! If we were to do that, we feel it would make the most sense to invest in a queen size frame for ourselves, since a full isn't terribly huge... and why not have a bigger bed if we have to buy a new one anyways? Measurements show that a queen is a mere 6 inches larger than a full, but I've been told that the extra little space makes a HUGE difference when sleeping next to someone.

Knowing that this wasn't really an investment we've been planning for, I'd love to get a new bed frame on a major budget (go figure), and spend a little more money on a new quality mattress. A nice simple frame would be perfect as I am absolutely dead set on a DIY upholstered headboard, so I'm also on the hunt for the perfect fabric.

This Ikea bed is sort of serving as very basic inspiration for me. Plain as it is, I love the clean lines. I also like the idea of a NON-pleated bedskirt in a nice neutral color.

If I go with a neutral color (which I think Dan would like more than a pattern), it'd be fun to make a footboard to match, like in the Ikea bed and this inspiration photo that I'm hooked on -

I feel like the dark floor is a crucial part of this exact palette (ours are much lighter), but I do love the linen look of the bed, and the silver bedside table brings in the color of my nightstands. The wall color looks like a soft grayish-blue, and while I would probably get rid of my chocolate brown accent wall in this case, there is the potential that it could serve as a way to bring in the richer tones of the leather ottoman and dark floors in this room. Although the color scheme is slightly different than my original moodboard, I do love the color and the feel of this room overall and it may just be the image that changes my mind (again) about the final look I'm going for.

While I don't dislike the tufting above, I don't have the materials or experience to do it, and think I would rather go with nailhead trim, which seems like it could bring in a bit of a masculine feel for the guy in the room and is super simple to add for a look like these -

Although I would stick with a straighter footboard - if doing one at all, I love the shaped headboards. Again, in the first image I'm hooked on the flat bedskirt.

The other route to take, of course, is a patterned headboard. I like something soft and neutral -

But also love brighter, bolder looks -

There's obviously an overwhelming amount of options for fabric choices, but for some reason I'm being drawn to greens.

In all of my searching I still haven't found a fabric I love quite as much as Amy Butler's Tree Peony in Lime, which was in my original moodboard and is the first image on the left above. Shown on a larger scale though, I'm worried it may be overwhelming -

I'm also a fan of blues - specifically navy - and think it would look great against a lighter wall and the metallic-ish nightstands.

If I go with a simple shape and skip extras like nailhead trim, it would be super simple to switch out fabrics if I were to tire of one. There's even the potential to become one of those people that switches out decor based on the season - the Amy Butler light green would be perfect for spring and summer, while the Joel Dewberry Dogwood Bloom in Lake (navy swatch on the far left above) would be fitting in the fall and winter months. (I'm mostly kidding about that statement... but it is a possibility, and I can't say it isn't tempting.)

Unfortunately, ALL of the above could be completely scratched if measuring shows the nightstands won't fit in the room with a queen sized bed - I'm pretty certain they won't. I did pay a measly $25 for the pair, so I could always try to sell them back on craigslist and find slightly smaller ones if we really want a queen sized bed...

Back in the kitchen

2010-07-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

As most of our family and friends know, Dan and I spent an inspiring week in June working in a community garden and weeding at the Illinois State Fair grounds in Springfield. Knowing that I would love to have an edible garden at some point in the next couple of years, I was sure to pick the brains of the talented people leading us to get tips on everything from how to plant to when to harvest. I clearly missed the popular spring planting season for vegetables this year, but decided it's better to start small anyways and came home eager to plant an herb garden. I posted an image in June of a one-pot garden that seemed like the perfect way for a black thumbed person like me to begin, and decided to work with that as my inspiration!

A trip to Home Depot actually left me with 2 planters, in bright fun turquoise and lime green.

Utilizing tips I gathered in Springfield I got everything ready in a quick afternoon out in the yard. Dan punched holes in the bottoms of the planters for me to help with drainage and I put about an inch of pea gravel in the bottoms under the soil. I also decided from my own previous experience and from advice in Springfield that I should start with seedling plants rather than planting unsprouted seeds and hoping they'll grow, and a Saturday morning trip to the Farmer's Market had me on my way with basil, oregano, garlic chives, parsley and cilantro for under $10!

Once I get some cute little tags (I'm thinking I can find some at Michael's?) I'll have to put up pictures of my thriving plants which have been sitting pretty in the sun up on the back deck, but for now I wanted to post the incredible recipes I've been tackling this week in an effort to use my home grown herbs.

First up was Pioneer Woman's Penne a la Betsy which was quick enough to become a weeknight staple, and absolutely delicious.

(Image belongs to Pioneer Woman)

Here's the (fairly) simple recipe:
Ingredients
3/4 pounds Penne Pasta
1 pound Shrimp
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Onion (small)
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup White Wine (can be substituted with chicken broth)
1 can Tomato Sauce (8 oz)
1 cup Heavy Cream
Fresh Parsley, to taste
Fresh Basil, to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Cook the penne pasta al dente.
2. Peel, devein and cold rinse shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet, add the shrimp and cook for just a couple minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and chop into bite-sized pieces.
3. Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic. Add to a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté, stirring occasionally.
4. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. 5. Add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.
5. Chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil.
6. Add chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in the herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

A couple of notes from making this dish:
1. Taking a few minutes to chop everything BEFORE I start cooking makes a huge difference in my anxiety level. Having a pot of pasta boiling and a pan of shrimp cooking while I try to mince garlic just doesn't work for me. Next time, garlic, onion, and herbs will all be chopped and waiting in prep bowls before I even turn the stove on.
2. Onion seems to be an important flavor in a dish, so if a recipe calls for a whole one, I figure it shouldn't be omitted. Since we're not fans of onion itself (but like the flavor) I cut it down to half, and left it in big chunks (instead of dicing) so we could pick it out. Kind of a pain, but it worked for us.
3. Going upstairs and "harvesting" my own basil and parsley to use for dinner was a serious thrill for me. And, the fresh flavors are a HUGE improvement from the dried stuff we usually use from the spice cabinet.

Last night, I changed it up and decided I'd better use up some cilantro. Since Dan wasn't going to be home, I figured it was the perfect time to throw a bunch of veggies in to my dinner, and the end result was AMAZING.

First, I made Annie's Eats Favorite Salsa. I was a little concerned about this since I didn't have a food processor, but apparently Dan brought home a little one awhile back that was hiding in the pantry waiting for me to try it out! I quickly realized I didn't have nearly enough room to make a full batch of Annie's salsa, so I sort of halved the recipe and just added things in depending on how the flavor was going and how full the bowl of the processor was getting.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime

Instructions
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add all other ingredients to the food processor. Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don’t overdo it).
3. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

A couple of notes from making this dish:
1. The grocery store on my street didn't have fresh jalapenos, but I figured I'd better still get some kick in there, so I bought a little bitty can of them. Upon opening, I thought they looked gross and fake, and the smell was overwhelming, so I opted just to put a TINY bit of the juice in my salsa, and left out any actual peppers. Turns out this was more than enough, and the salsa still had a little too much kick for my mild taste.
2. A 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro is a LOT of cilantro. I thought I had more than I really did, so I ended up cutting down this amount a bit in my salsa. I do love the flavor of cilantro, so I will likely try it again with the correct amount.

For dinner, I did not follow a recipe (!!!) and was still thrilled with the results. I sauteed up some chicken with garlic, onion, cumin, red pepper, paprika, and a little salt, and then shredded it. I put it back in the pan with a little olive oil, more garlic, a handful of corn, and half a thinly sliced zucchini squash and let it cook up for a few minutes. In a separate pan, I heated a small tortilla, layered it with pepper jack cheese, my chicken and veggie mixture, some tomato, and another tortilla, and in a few minutes I had a ridiculously filling quesadilla! I heated up the leftover filling today, added avocado slices and skipped the cheese for tacos at lunch. YUM.

I have yet to do anything with the oregano or garlic chives in my herb garden, but I still have some chicken left to cook so I may try and incorporate it all into another dinner!

Decisions, decisions

2010-07-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

For perhaps the first time in my life, I've done a fairly good job of sticking with the resolutions I decided to make for myself at the beginning of already-half-over 2010. Go team me! I've read a handful of great books (if you haven't read The Glass Castle, you MUST), I get random bursts of energy where I tackle parts of the house and de-clutter like nobody's business, and although I haven't quite talked myself into a 5k just yet, I am tempted daily to sign up for a 10k that Bev and Bridget are doing in October (I am well aware of how little sense this makes, but I'm gonna go with it).

I mentioned awhile back that I purchased a personal self defense training course on We Give To Get, and while I am still excited about that (and trying to schedule for sometime in August), I am 1,000 times MORE excited about another recent We Give To Get purchase - a 3-hour Private Cooking Lesson with Chef Brian Merel. I. Cannot. WAIT.

Chef Merel strives to "teach, guide, inspire and enlighten" his students about food and cooking, and based on some of the reviews I've read online about him (not to mention the sample menus on his website), I'm in for a treat. The thought of a professional spending three solid hours with me in my kitchen teaching me some incredible new dishes is just thrilling, and I can't even imagine how much knowledge I'll gain from a one-on-one lesson like this.

Besides the outstanding price ($35 for a session that usually runs $250), the part I am most excited about is that as part of the deal, I get to choose what I want to use my lesson for. Seeing as I spend a lot of time socializing over food, talking about food, and swapping recipes with them, I've decided to throw a little girl's night dinner party for my very favorite girlfriends. Chef Merel will come to my house, we'll cook and we'll chat*, and we'll serve up some fantastic food for my friends, some of whom have never been to the house before! Again - I. Cannot. Wait. (*I'm also secretly hoping that Chef Merel and I will totally hit it off and become BFF's, because I'm pretty sure everyone needs a professional chef for a friend.)

With my party planned less than two weeks from now, I'm encountering a couple of slight problems -
1. I cannot decide for the life of me what I'd like Chef Merel to teach me.
2. I'm having serious anxiety about my lack of "nice" dishes and servingware.

Since I bring it up nearly every time I talk to her, Lauren has been my most popular sounding board in figuring out issue #1. So far, her suggestion to learn to cook some serious comfort food is at the top of my list (I'm picturing mac & cheese with half a dozen different cheeses. Um, yum). I DO know that I want to learn a new mouth-watering sans-chocolate dessert, since, you know, chocolate makes me feel like death, but other than that I'm stumped. I'm thinking a date with my Bon Appetit archives is in the cards for this week, so fingers crossed I find something I'm just dying to learn.

Issue #2 is less of an actual issue and more of me being obsessed with perfection when it comes to my home. But, this is nothing a little trip to Crate & Barrel or Ikea can't solve :).

Besides learning how to use the food setting on my snazzy camera, I have a few little projects around the house that I want to get done before the party (like finally finishing the nightstands I've had in the basement with one coat of paint on for FAR too long), so I've got my hands full for the next couple of weeks. I will DEFINITELY be posting again after my evening with Chef Merel to document what I'm sure will be an incredible time!

Three Things

2010-07-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back from two glorious weeks off of work, which I spent serving as an adult volunteer on two week-long service trips. As with every other trip of the sort that I've been on, the entire experience was the highlight of my summer. I'm feeling the same way I always feel after the trips - grateful for all of the wonderful things I have, but missing the simplicity of life in service. Today was the first time I steamed my clothes, put on makeup or blow dried my hair in almost 3 weeks and I can't say I missed any of those daily routines. The hardest part of community living for me has always been, and likely always will be, the showers, so I was super excited to get my own shower back, but the trips were so amazing I barely even noticed I slept on an air mattress the whole time, and considering we were fed like kings I can't complain there.

So, I'm back to the daily grind, and that means back to my blog! I hope everyone had a great long weekend. Here's what I'm drooling over at the beginning of this short week -

1. I really really really want this poster.

2. I need to make these. Stat. Minus the jalapenos though. And maybe with a diced avocado over the top after broiling. YUM.

3. I think I should do something like this to the window in our pantry that the old owner mysteriously decided to paint completely over in yellow for some reason.

Handy(wo)man

2010-06-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone that reads this little blog on a semi-regular basis may have started to realize a pattern of random things happening (read: going wrong) around the house when Dan is out of town and I'm on my own. The greatest of these stories was obviously when a cat died in the basement (whom Manda and I lovingly named Dead Garfield). I'm sure the rotting of our furry friend will always be at the top of my "You'll never believe this" list.

This week was no exception, but at least this time the drama didn't involve an animal carcass. It did, however, involve a $170 water bill, which I assure you is QUITE a bit higher than it is supposed to be.

We actually got our bill a couple weeks ago when Dan was still home, but seeing as we both work full time, it was a good few days before he was able to swing over to the Village to question the insane jump in our bill. Thankfully, our Village tends to be more helpful than not, and someone immediately suggested checking to see if our toilet was leaking. I (of course) immediately panicked when Dan told me this, expecting a huge plumbing cost heading our way, or worse - a leaky pipe somewhere in a wall or the basement just forming a puddle of disaster. Lucky for us, a leaky toilet does NOT always mean an outside leak, and can be checked with a simple test. Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, wait 20 minutes, and see if the color starts to show up in the water of the bowl. If it does, there's a leak that's easily repaired with a new flapper.

As luck would have it, our dyed blue tank water started seeping into the bowl in less than 10 minutes, which leads me to believe ours was more than just a "minor" leak. Go figure. Some Googling confirmed that a leaky flapper can literally waste thousands of gallons of water (not good), and can end up costing homeowners hundreds of dollars (not good at ALL). So, we headed to Home Depot the night before Dan had to head out of town, planning to fix everything so I wouldn't be left to figure it out. We opted to try out a handy new dual-flush system for $25 that would supposedly save us all kinds of money year after year. Unfortunately, we fell victim to false advertising because the "fits every toilet!!" product does NOT fit toilets with a 3" fitting, which (surprise!), ours just happens to have. As usual, we did not go to Home Depot until nearly closing time, so by the time we got home and realized the dual-flusher wouldn't work, the store was closed and Dan was packing to leave the following morning.

Knowing that the leak was literally leaking MONEY, off I went to Home Depot 2 days later with Manda for a regular old replacement flapper. We found a helpful employee that assured me that "my daughter" and I could easily replace the piece ourselves, and we headed home with fingers crossed to give it a shot. (Side note: Do I seriously look old enough to have a teenage daughter? Manda found this absolutely hilarious; I didn't know whether or not I should be offended.)

The flapper piece is literally attached with a chain at top and two little "teets" at bottom (thanks for that name Home Depot man, that's not awkward at all), so the hardest part of the whole 5 minute ordeal was unclipping the existing chain at a weird angle. Piece of cake! Unfortunately the toilet flushes completely differently than it used to - you now have to hold the handle down until it's done, which is annoying and not what it's supposed to do - so Dan will probably still need to work on it. But, another food coloring test proved (I hope) that the leak has stopped, so at least we aren't wasting money for the time being. For the most part, my first minor plumbing excursion was a success!

Ooh

2010-06-15T08:11:00.001-07:00

Since I'm a nerd and follow many more branding and advertising blogs than I should probably admit to, I spotted a post title on "My Private Brand" yesterday that immediately got me excited - "H&M Launches Private Brand Home Decor Collection". Um, what?!?

Upon reading the entire post I (sadly) learned that the collection is coming exclusively to a UK store that is obviously not right in my neighborhood. There is also mention of products also being sold online starting in September, so fingers crossed on that one!

Often times, shopping at H&M is kind of a hit or miss for me, but I do still love the idea of a new go-to source for affordable home decor.

(Spotted here)

Dreaming

2010-06-07T12:30:00.001-07:00

I especially love the second half of this quote, which is currently my desktop picture at work with a bright mango colored background surrounding it.

Bev - I do believe this was written specifically for the two of us...

Black Thumb

2010-06-03T15:29:00.001-07:00

Secret # 182 about me: I cannot manage to keep a plant alive. Not a houseplant, not a potted flower, not a $2 parsley "kit" from Ikea. Nothing. But, I am obsessed with the idea of having an herb garden at home that I can snip little bits from when cooking. I'm convinced that my cooking skills will flourish with the addition of fresh homegrown cilantro, oregano and basil. And no matter how many times I try, and inevitably fail, I am bound and determined to actually succeed in growing something.

So, I'm going to try just one more time to do this whole herb garden thing the "natural" way, before I break down and buy an Aerogarden - which is supposedly idiot proof. (I wonder if I can get my money back if I somehow manage to curse the almighty Aerogarden and end up growing NOTHING at all).

I've always loved the idea of a garden box with herbs in it, but since I would want something all vintage looking and haven't really made it to any decent garage sales yet this year, I'm going to simplify and go for something like the below. I loooove the cute little tags, and let's be honest, just having to water one pot instead of several is probably a good idea. And, this setup will be easy to transport over to Manda to take care of when I'm out of town ;). Wish me luck!

Hiya, Cupcake

2010-06-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

I was about to title this post "Tidbits for Monday", and then I remembered that thanks to that glorious little Memorial Day holiday, today is actually TUESDAY. So, even though it feels like a Monday, it's not, and that makes me a happy girl.

Regardless, here's a nice random post for what is thankfully not a Monday -

1. Lauren & Tom are married!!! And good gosh was it incredible. I'm already planning my "pretty please can I copy your _________ idea??" speech for when my own wedding rolls around and I want to steal some of their incredible creativity. Oh, and as far as brides go? Lauren was GORGEOUS. (PS - Lauren: I told our table the story of us becoming cupcake models. I think half of our new friends thought we were insane, and the other half thought it was awesome. Hope I didn't scare anyone.) ;)

2. Thanks to having family in the area, Dan and I got to spend our weekend in Michigan for the wedding out on the lake.

Being out of shape and much less limber than I was as a kid, I was (literally) sorely reminded that water skiing requires a LOT of upper-body strength, which I clearly do not possess. I was up on the skis for a grand total of maybe 10 minutes and my shoulders are in desperate need of a massage. I am also sunburned, though, so a massage is not in the cards. Wah wahhh.

3. With the weather pushing 90 quite a bit in the last couple of weeks (I am NOT complaining), we've done everything in our power to avoid turning the oven on. Unfortunately, this doesn't help my urge to bake. So despite the heat, I think I'm just going to suck it up and make some banana bread or something tonight, if for no other reason than to wear my new apron from Ikea that I'm confident I look like a complete nerd in, but love nonetheless.

4. I want to make this, and use it to stash some fresh goodies in. I haven't had the chance to go yet, but the OP Farmer's Market opened up in May and I can't wait to make it over there for some donuts for breakfast, peonies for the dining room table, and veggies for summer healthy cooking. Maybe it's just me, but strolling around a Farmer's Market just screams summer, and I love that feeling.

5. I got a new bike! Well, a new to me bike. This baby was a measly $30 on craigslist and I learned when we went to pick it up that the seller builds/rebuilds bikes as a hobby, so I left with a guarantee that if anything goes wrong with it all I need to do is call and he'll fix it right up! Knowing how much of a klutz I can be, I know I need to purchase a helmet stat, but I'm already excited to get out on Bev's trail with her for a ride.

Happy short-week!!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

2010-05-28T08:29:00.001-07:00

Well, I have once again let my blog go idle for much longer than I would like - and now here I am deciding to update it when I should be doing my timesheets at work so I can leave on time and actually enjoy the half day I am supposed to have. As I've always said about myself - I put the 'pro' in procrastination.

So why has my little blog sat untouched for more than a week, you ask? This week it was because I came to work early, left work late, ran on half as much sleep as I would like, and generally had no motivation left by the time I thought that maybe I should take pictures of the porch to post, or edit the detail shots Manda took for me at my family party so I can share my little DIY project from the night, or type up this year's Summer Projects List that has been scribbled on a post it note above my desk for weeks.

Last week, 9-oh-6 got put on the back burner for something MUCH more important. Something involving a gorgeous white dress, a lot of hair curling, tons of laughter and a few tears, perfect weather, and myself and Dan becoming absolute exacto knife professionals. That's right... last week was Erin's wedding!!!!! (and here's a few more exclamation points for good measure, because it was just that good - !!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Here's some of my favorite pictures floating around on facebook in the aftermath. I believe these are a mixture of photos from Kim, Erin's MOH Sarah, and Nikki's sister.

Isn't she STUNNING??

Erin, Jake and Kadence - what a cute family!

My favorite little girl in the world -

Menu cards! One of the many fun projects Dan and I cranked out for the wedding -

Programs - another project of ours. These were a TON of work but I absolutely loved how they turned out. Special thanks to Amanda and Theresa for their help with these!

Erin invited me to spend the afternoon getting ready with her and her bridesmaids, and I loved all of the time I got to spend with her and Kadence that day. (Side note - I still laugh every time I think about how Dan thought Erin and I wouldn't get along when we first met, and instead she quickly became one of my closest friends and someone I confide in and love laughing with!) I had a new dress, my makeup done by Erin's insanely talented friend, and my hair curled by a family friend - so despite still being sick I felt great. Dan twirled me around and attempted to teach me a new salsa step, I managed to get Mr. Lawler out on the dance floor at the end of the night, and Nikki did her usual good job of keeping the dancing going through most every song :). I got to see some of my favorites of Dan's extended family (Hi Aunt Claire!) and since I recommended friends of mine as Erin's photographer and DJ I got to spend some quality time with them as well. I got a ridiculous amount of compliments for all of the details Dan and I helped out with, and as a thank you Mr. Lawler put us up in a hotel for the night which proved to be good thinking as we were definitely not looking to drive home after such a long day. All in all, the day could not have been better and I couldn't be happier for Erin and Jake!

I truly do plan to post about the front porch and other little things soon, but first I'm going to enjoy the long weekend celebrating with more awesome friends for their wedding. Eek! I. Can't. Wait.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Birthday! (and a recipe)

2010-05-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my cousin Melissa's 20th birthday. Thankfully, she is not 21 yet, or I would feel really really old... but I'm also kind of anxious for that big day to roll around so I can give her a birthday shot without my gramma shaking her head at me ;). To celebrate this year, I threw a little "Laper Ladies" get together at the house as a joint Melissa's birthday and Mother's Day dinner party. This being quite possibly the ONLY time ever that all of the girls in the family have gotten together with "no boys allowed", I have to say - while I love the guys, our testosterone-lacking party was a blast and definitely something we'll need to do more often in the future.

Here's a few pictures that I stole from Melissa's facebook this morning, since I haven't uploaded my own yet.

Gramma and all of her granddaughters. A cute picture regardless of how incredibly huge my arm managed to look in that shirt.

Melissa and Lauren with the birthday cake.

The empty stack of jello shots. 90% of which Melissa and I polished off ourselves. (Note to self: Not a good idea to have that many jello shots. Stop pretending you are still in college.)

And since no party post of mine is complete without a recap of the food, here's what was on the menu -

Appetizers:

Spinach, goat cheese and roasted garlic dip (New recipe!)

Veggie tray (thanks to Aunt Sharon)

Mini crab cakes (New recipe!)

Dinner:

Grilled chicken caesar skewers over salad

Pulled chicken sandwiches (New recipe!)

Mini BLT's with dijon mayo (New recipe!)

Baked mac & cheese (New recipe! Courtesy of Dan's friend Teresa)

Dessert:

Layered strawberry cheesecake bowl (Tried & true family favorite)

Angel food birthday cake and ice cream (thanks to Gramma)

For drinks, I made the aforementioned jello shots and one of those frozen cosmo buckets, and my Aunt Renee made a DELICIOUS bourbon slushie I will have to get the recipe for - - Even Dan had one before he left for the night and liked it, so it could be a new summer favorite.

Both the mini crab cakes and the pulled chicken sandwiches were from Noble Pig, an amazing blog full of simple recipes that I found via Lauren & Tom. The mini crab cakes seemed to be a favorite, so here's the recipe straight from Cathy over at Noble Pig -

Mini Crab Cakes
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Makes 24

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1 large egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
4 teaspoons plus 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives, divided
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Large pinch cayenne pepper
6 ounces fresh lump crabmeat, picked over, patted dry, coarsely shredded
1-1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Fresh chives cut into pieces

1. Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Add 1/4 cup parmesan and egg; beat to blend.

2. Beat in sour cream, citrus zest, 4 teaspoons chopped chives, coarse salt and cayenne pepper.

3. Fold in crabmeat with a spatula. (This can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.)
4. Toss 1-1/2 cups panko, 3/4 cup parmesan and 4 tablespoons chopped chives in a bowl. Drizzle melted butter over, tossing with a fork until evenly moistened.

5. Press 1 rounded Tablespoon panko mixture into bottom of each muffin cup (makes a well with your thumb), forming crust.

6. Spoon 1 generous Tablespoon crab mixture into each cup. Sprinkle more panko mixture over each.
7. Bake crab cakes in a 350 degree oven until golden on top and set, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Gently lift each crab cake out of the pan with a fork onto a serving platter. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Arrange on baking sheet, let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in a 350 degree oven for 5-6 minutes.)

Since even with a fancy camera I can't seem to take a decent food shot, I'm giving credit where credit is due and posting Noble Pig's for you to see how delicious these little bites look -

A few things I learned while making this:

1. I have no idea if there is a difference between green onions (which I used), and chives (which the recipe calls for). Apparently if there is a difference it doesn't matter much, because my crab cakes were still delicious.

2. I also have no idea if there is a difference between red pepper (which I used) and cayenne pepper (which the recipe calls for). Again, not sure if it matters... but if anyone knows, please do enlighten me!

3. I need to take a knife skills class. Seriously.

4. It takes forEVER for cream cheese to come to room temperature. Thankfully, I see nothing wrong with helping it along in the microwave for a couple minutes.

5. Apparently I also need to take a cooking class, so I will know the answers to things like #1 and #2 above.

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Happy Birthday, Melissa! I hope you enjoyed your party. Love you!