Crunchy Health Salad

So I have been trying to eat more meals that are mostly veggies and I found this salad at Kings that I really like. It is mainly broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Then accented with crasins, raisins, sun flower seeds, and onion in a light sweet dressing.





After I got it a few times I tried to figure out if I could make it myself. I did a pretty decent job if I do say so myself...although the dressing still needs a little work.

I found broccoli slaw at the Shoprite and I also added cabbage since rumor has it it is good for you.



Then I mixed in crasins, raisins and some walnuts. I didn't have any sunflower seeds and I left out the onion since I don't really care for onion.



I read the ingredients on the dressing from the Kings container to attempt to recreate. Although mine didn't taste bad, it didn't really taste like the food store one. I whisked together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard power, water, honey and sugar. I had WAY too much vinegar so I added more honey and sugar, but it still wasn't right. So I added a tiny bit of light mayo. That might seem kind of gross, vinegar and mayo, but it seems to do the trick. I didn't list portions of any of these since I kind of just kept adding stuff. If I seem to get it right next time, I'll post the portions. : )

A Fab Ladies Night (with a husband mixed in)

So 2 weekend ago I went over to my friend Nicole's cute house for some much needed girl talk and catching up! Her husband Matt joined in on ladies night this time around. : ) But of course we can drink wine endlessly and chat endlessly so we outlasted him. hehe

I had such a great time hanging out and catching up AND playing with her cute puppy Maya, who gave me lots of "love hives"! Sadly I didn't get her picture!

First Course. Yum! And Bogle, one of my new fav wines since it is tasty AND cheap! yay!



She made a awesome dinner! Salmon Caesar salad with great bread to dip in olive oil yum! Head over to Nicole's blog Ingredients for a Wonderful Life for the recipe. I can't wait to have it again, it was so good! And since Nicole and her hubby are deluxe chefs everything was whole made down to the croutons and the dressing! Impressive!





My pics of the evening didn't come out well since I had my flash off, but you get the idea. : ) You can head to her blog for some more pictures of our fun night! Check her blog in a few days too since last weekend she made these awesome lemon cookies. I can't wait to get the recipe for those!

Oh she also made pound cake and ice cream.



And please note her antique sofa table/buffet which we got in December when we went antique shopping like fancy ladies! : )

Antique Frame

So last weekend Molly and I did some impromptu antiquing. I picked her up from taking her SATS at my old high school (so weird to be sitting outside my old hs!) and we went to Macaroni Grill (since I was mildly hungover and that bread was calling my name!) then we wandered around Babies R Us for way too long trying to find a shower gift.

Then as I was driving her home, I spied some tables on the curb outside a small antique store. I totally forgot there are bunch of antique stores in her downtown. I was looking for a small square or circle coffee table to paint red as my next project so we wandered in. No table fitting my description could be found but it was still fun wandering around. We checked out 2 stores, the first had a creepy guy who followed us around listening and commenting on our conversations. Weirdo! The second store had a lot of nice furniture, nothing that I needed, but I still liked checking it all out.

Did I get anything you ask? Well yes, yes I did. Not going to lie, I was pretty jealous of the frame Nicole got in December so I was excited when I stumbled upon an old frame. It is kind of falling apart, like literally - in my hands - falling apart, but it was pretty so I brought it home. : )





I want to paint it white and either make it a bulletin board or put that metal radiator mesh in it to hang jewelry from. TBD! I bet my Dad is excited for another project! : )

Oh we also found those disgusting animal scarves with the heads on them. Sick!

Another Pillow Post

So a few weeks ago I posted my new cream and brown pillows and said I still needed a red pillow to pull in the rug. Well I did some Photoshopping to help decided what I wanted. I gathered a bunch of red and yellow pillows on Etsy to put them on top of my couch.



But while my roommate and I were pondering the options, we stopped at Home Goods and ended up finding some terri-cotta red pillows that work quite nicely so they won over the Etsy options.

So here is the finished couch for your viewing (and sitting) pleasure. Some cheap neutrals to lay on, some bold brown patterned (too expensive to lay on) and then a finer red patterned to tie it all together. Yay! It practically looks like Sarah Richardson did it right? RIGHT? : )

Although I still can't get one of the Etsy pillows out of my head, which is silly since there is NO room for anymore pillows on that couch.....


from: milk&cookies on Etsy

I love it. But it is expensive and I would want one bigger than 18x18" so it would be really expensive. I wondered why it was so much, then I saw the fabric in an ad in Veranda Magazine....then realized why it was so much more than the others-it is fancy expensive fabric! haha

The couch is done, but I still want 2 more pillows for the brown chairs on the other end of the living room. I was thinking another bold graphic trellis print, perhaps in a khaki...something like this...but not these exact ones since that fabric is crazy expensive! I might just check out a fabric store and beg and plead someone with a sewing machine to make them for me. : )

Project Day

So last weekend my Dad and I had a project day! We tackled 3 projects that all came out great! : )

1) We re-upholstered the seat of a chair that my Mom got for me a while back. I had gotten the fabric last year from Ikea when I went on a little shopping spree there!

Look how helpful Deja was!

2) We fixed the broken stool I snagged at a garage sale last year. It might seem silly to buy a broken stool, but when $140 dollar stools are $10 you don't mind mending!

Good as new!

3) Then we finally finished end tables for my living room. I got them down in North Carolina and we had started working on them last year. Click here to see the start of the project and all our supplies. My dad finished the sanding, and then I did the staining, all by myself! woo hoo!

Before and After Staining

They are still in pieces in the garage since they had to dry, so hopefully I have time to swing home this week to put them together and get them to their new home!

Looking Good!

Yay for Project Day! Thanks Dad!

Sarah's House

SO right now I am obsessed with this show on hgtv called Sarah's House. It follows Sarah Richardson who is a Canadian Designer as she renovates and re-decorates. I HEART THIS SHOW! And you all need to start watching it ASAP! Each season she picks a house and re-does the entire thing, each room redesign being an episode. Season 3 is on right now which is this great old Victorian farmhouse she gut down to a brick shell.




I love her designs and I love how she finds these AMAZING fabrics and bases the whole design off them. I also like how it is high-end custom interior design but she mixes in all these great antique pieces she finds at flea markets, estate sales, antique stores and architectural salvage stores.

Here is her website. Check out the portfolio! Dreamy!

Here is the link to her show on the USA hgtv site which isn't too user friendly but you can watch last season's episodes online.

And here is the link to her show on the Canadian hgtv site which has pictures of this season's farm house, and it looks like you can watch this season's episodes which is great since I missed some.

Here are just a few pictures but they don't do the show justice.

hgtv, Saturday Night, 8:30 - Set your DVR's kids!!! : )

from: Sarah's House

This picture above seems like a simple bathroom, but she bought the base of the vanity from a flea market and it was an old work bench/cabinet, then she added the marble top added a sink! love it!

from: Sarah's House

from: Sarah's House

from: Sarah's House

I am going to catch up...well maybe not

So I had this great idea to spend some time outside on this un-seasonably warm spring day catching up on my blog. So I lugged my monster sized laptop downstairs, unplugged the washing machine in the basement, plugged in an extension cord and ran it outback to the patio. I was ready to go...



Oh I also lugged down some wine. So I was really ready..



Until I realized it was WAY too bright outside to work with photos on the computer...and the trash smelled...so much for my fantastic blogging session.


These are such beautiful photos aren't they????

So, I guess I will blog later or tomorrow, and I'll add "wash out the trash cans" to my to-do list!

Aren't these Fun????

So these fun towels caught my eye the other day. I saw them in a Bed Bath and Beyond flyer and I heart them. They are by Amy Butler, so I checked out her site and I heart that too. Not the most user friendly site, but it sure is pretty, with all those gorgeous flower shots. I was also looking at her fabrics and wishing I could sew...but more on that another day...back to the dreamy towels....

from: Amy Butler
The blue and orange ones match my bathroom. Well they sort of match my bathroom. haha I am desperately in need of some new hand towels in there...perhaps these could do the trick? Maybe? So fun though right?

from: Bed Bath and Beyond

I'll be back soon...again

So I am writing once again to let you know that I will be back soon. Work has been CRAZY busy and I just have not had the downtime to play on the computer. I have tons of pictures though, and plan to get back on the blogging wagon, if not this week, this weekend.

In the mean time, enjoy these tulips from mine and Erin's lady day date 2 weekends ago. None of my picutures came out that great, guess I should have snuck home to borrow my dad's camera. : )

Ok back to work, people need their gardens designed....(which leaves me no time to tend mine!)