home decor eye candy

i shouldn't even be throwing this out there, because everything shown is beyond expensive.

plus, i adore our bedroom set and don't want to change it. it's a great combination of masculine/feminine. the comforter is super soft. we got it using wedding gift cards. and it matches our elephant gray walls perfectly...

B.U.T. please feast your eyes on these:


if you have hundreds of dollars to spend, check out this new line. it's completely gorgeous. if only they would sell their fabric remnants to me, i would happily purchase them to make millions of decorative pillows. ohhhhh~!

(p.s. in a couple weeks our two extra bedrooms should be completely done. i'm SO happy about them both and can't wait to see the finished products!)

oh, how darling

i wish i could sew like this.

actually, considering i can't sew at all due to an ancient machine that apparently hates my guts, i wish i could just sew something.

anything. valances? pillow covers?

[i discovered this blog yesterday and book marked it so i could scroll through the old entries this morning.]

2nd snow day: done and to do

since awaking with my hard working husband at 6:15 am, i have done the following:
run the dishwasher, watched half an episode of this show, called the thrift store & carpet estimate guys, installed our wii fit, worked out for 28 minutes using the wii fit, swept up dirt on floor due to running in place (in the living room) wearing outdoor sneakers, showered, searched two websites for cheap workout pants, avoided grading my kids' social studies tests from tuesday, slammed my front bumper into a curb because it was covered w/ snow, looked with disappointment at the curtain options at BBB, brainstormed this delicious lunch:

still to do: take my ancient sewing machine to the store in hopes that they can tell me what i'm doing wrong, sprinkle salt on our very snow-free but icy driveway, explore curtain options at target, find some bargains using my gift card at TJ maxx, drop off something at the post office, read the book J. got for a quarter a few weeks ago, unload the dishwasher, choose a restaurant for our dinner out tonight.

t-t-t-tasty tasty

tonight i made this recipe. from one of my new favorite blogs! holy cow they were sooooooooo yummy!

i was hesitant to try it at first because the first step is cooking/shredding the chicken, which sounds so time consuming. but it wasn't. i boiled the chicken on the stove while i checked email, putzed around the house, etc. then i took it out to cool right before J. came home.

closer to dinner time, i shredded it and put everything together. they cooked for 25 minutes while i cleaned up and J. made spanish rice from a box.
we both LOVED them! plus, the recipe makes 10 so we'll each have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
this adorable dish saved me from a near miss. i loaned my 9x13 pan to someone on saturday, thinking i wouldn't need it any time soon. fortunately, this baby was a wedding gift i hadn't used yet and found just in the nick of time!

be my guest! (or rather, i'll be yours)

i'm a guest blogger!!

long before i was even dating, i stumbled across this: a wedding for under $2000!!

i was addicted to reading the blog and practically memorized every single post: the community focus. fun touches to make it unique. their emphasis on making the day personal. the idea of marriage-based conversations, as opposed to wedding-based conversations. the do-it-yourself-ness. mexican food. the fact that the flowers came from a nearby field. all = awesome!

sooooooo i randomly checked the blog again for updates right before we got married and noticed that the author was soon to have a new baby & wanted guest bloggers. i figured she already had plenty, but emailed just to see...

and she invited me to blog! and today it got posted. hooray :)

you can read my post here.

thanksgiving in january!

last night marked my first ever turkey baking experience. it turned out to be a roaring success!

it was also our first time hosting a crowd since being married. 7 of our good friends joined us for a feast, then everyone played wii or board games. oh, what joy~

my mother in law suggested i use these when cooking turkey:boy am i glad for that piece of advice... the turkey tasted uh-may-zing~! the clean-up was totally easy. and i didn't have to go buy one of those "roasting pans" which would take up far too much space in my cupboards for the little it would get used...

my mom suggested making mashed potatoes ahead of time and keeping them warm in the crock pot. i did. they were awesome. my friends brought green beans, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. my part of the meal required a little bit of prep time and about 10 bucks.

(we never ate a "thanksgiving" meal because we were on our honeymoon. plus, i got a free turkey from the grocery store for having a lot of bonus points. hence thanksgiving in january)

annapolis, here we come!

right after we got married (or maybe even before?!) i told j. all i wanted for christmas was to go away together for a weekend in the winter. i wanted to go somewhere we'd never been before and j. came up with the idea of annapolis.

we soon decided it shouldn't be a christmas gift because we wanted to plan it together. so then we thought we might as well spend some wedding money to take a trip!

there are TONS of things to do & see in Annapolis, including the naval academy. i've started researching and compiling a list of places to go and food to eat (i DO have my priorities after all...)the trickiest thing at this point is deciding where to stay. i found one place that will only cost 85 bucks per night. it has a double bed and most likely a shared bathroom. the other place costs 130, which is still way less than any hotels in the area. hm... decisions, decisions.

[edit: we're staying here!! ooooooooh i can't wait. it looks amazing!]

(something awesome that we won't be able to do this trip because it's winter is take a sunset cruise. check it out!)