Kitchen Refresh – The Beginning
I considered calling this post “Putting Lipstick on a Pig,” but I thought that would confuse the Google search algorithm. Our kitchen needs a major gut job. What it’s going to get is a little glamour session. Is it warped that I’m slightly more excited to see how little or much we can transform a space with just elbow grease and minimal dollars spent? Probably. #noapologies So, this is the disaster I’m working with: I’ve actually seen worse. I’m sure I’ve lived with worse. At a minimum, the plan is to paint the cabinets and figure out some sort of backsplash, since there is no backsplash to speak of. I’ve already…
Banana Blackberry Muffins with Vanilla Orange Glaze
They say necessity is the mother of invention. I say two black bananas sitting on your counter mocking you is the mother of invention. Tomato, ta-mah-toh. And, really, I just adapted a recipe from good ol’ Betty Crocker, so it’s not like I’ve gone out on an extreme culinary limb here. It was a delicious limb though. So, here’s the deal with me and muffins. If I’m going to add fruit to them, then I prefer for them to be mainly fruit with some muffin dough to hold the fruit together. Anyone else with me? *crickets* I used frozen blackberries that we picked last summer, but frozen blueberries or raspberries…
Dave’s Killer Bread – Updated CopyCat Recipe
I’ve been making a copycat version of Dave’s Killer Bread at least once a week for about a year now. Holy smokes. My 20-something self would never believe I’ve become so handy in the kitchen. My 30-something self hardly believes it either! I am in no way an expert on all things related to bread making. I’m learning as I go and sharing the journey. Case in point: this bread incident. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to get my fix of the real Dave’s Killer Bread while visiting the Pacific Northwest. Since then, I’ve been tweaking the recipe ever so slightly to try and get it even closer…
Foyer – How it is Today
As a married couple we’ve lived in 4 states and moved 9 times. I have ALWAYS wanted a real foyer. You know what I’m talking about? One where you have to take more than half a step inside before you’re in the living room. Well, be careful what you wish for! Our two homes in Georgia have both had large, wonderful foyers. And guess what? I struggle with how to decorate this type of space. Go figure. Magazines and blogs make it look so effortless. It’s not. To clarify, I’m not whining. I’m ecstatic! I get a new challenge and having an actual foyer is so, so, so worth it! I may…
Bird Nest in a Shoe
Last weekend my husband hopped on the riding lawn mower and set out to tackle the beast of a lawn we are now tasked with maintaining. Fast forward to the next day and I was using the shop vac to tackle the beast of a mess that had become my car after all of our moving. From there, I moved on to vacuuming the rug outside our back door and then I realized that the shoes my husband was wearing while mowing the day before were FILLED with yard debris. Leaves, moss, twigs, grass. I had no idea how he had even worn those shoes with so much crud in them.…
Clean Out the Fridge Pasta Salad
My son plays t-ball on Monday evenings from 5:30 – 6:30, which is smack-dab in the middle of all things dinner-related for that evening. It really throws a wrench in the evening routine, but it’s only for 8 weeks. Plus, there are enormous amounts of cuteness and hilarity when you try to teach 4 and 5-year-olds how to play baseball. So we will deal because it is totally worth a belly laugh or two every Monday…and the boy enjoys it! To work around this scheduling hiccup, I’ve been feeding the kids a very early dinner, at 4:30 or 4:45 p.m. Last week I was trying to figure out what I could bring…
Turning a Tub/Shower into a Closet Without Damage
Yes, you read that right. We turned a tub/shower combo into a closet of sorts without damaging the shower surround. Why, why, why? Don’t you people like to take showers? That might be what you are wondering. Fair question. For the record, 50% of us like to take showers. The other 50% of us seem to be content having dirty feet and faces, but their parents make them take daily showers/baths anyway. Here’s the real reason we’ve made this journey down the creative, DIY rabbit hole. Our new house is an older home with terrible storage, as is normal for older homes. We don’t have a coat closet. What we…
Removing Grease from Carpet
Once upon a time, a husband and wife decided to haul a washer and dryer up a flight of carpeted stairs. If this was a “choose your own adventure” story, I would throw the book away. Did you know washing machines are heavy? They are even heavier when you carry them UP the stairs. I’m a master of the obvious. In comparison, a dryer feels as light as a cloud on a summer day. I digress. Image Source: http://imgarcade.com If you want to test the trust factor in your relationship, just be the person at the bottom of the stairs holding the washer. In case you are wondering, I was the…
Fairy Houses – Gift and Craft Idea
One of my dearest friends, who is like a sister to me, was headed to a birthday party this past weekend in Oregon for a mutual friend of my daughter’s. We exchanging our 1000th text of the day, more or less, when she sent me a picture of what she and her daughter had created for the birthday girl, who loves fairies. A fairy house! Isn’t it magical? Such a clever gift idea. I can’t take credit for the idea, the creation or even the pictures! It was all my friend’s doing, but I had to share. I wish we could have done a real photoshoot on these, but the West Coast…
Lake House – First Glimpse
Well, we have been sleeping at the new house, sometimes referred to as the Lake House, for a week now. When we got the go-ahead to start moving in, we started bringing over stuff right away. Along with a rug, some side tables – you know, the important stuff – I also remembered the camera. Oh, and you know the other day when I couldn’t find the camera cord? Well, about that. Turns out I forgot that I don’t need a camera cord anymore. I can plug my memory card directly into my laptop. DOH! Clearly, my brain is juggling more than usual right now. This is the wall of windows in the…
