Rustic Charm

Rustic Charm by teebree on polyvore.com

I was really looking forward to showing you how to make one of my favorite salads today, but my internet will not let me upload the pictures. So for now, I'll let you look at this inspiration board for a rustic cabin-type bedroom. Doesn't it make you want to curl up in a cabin nestled in some snowy mountains and read a good book?

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Smoothie Pick Me Up

I have a big sweet tooth. I do the best I can not to keep sweets in the house because I know I will eat them. Jake is much more controlled in this area than I am. If there's good ice cream in the house, I will want a bowl after every meal... Maybe even a bite after breakfast. (But I would never tell anyone that).

This smoothie is a great alternative for my sweet tooth. It's fresh, sweet, and refreshing!

Here's what you need: (roughly 2 smoothies)

-2 cups ice

-A big handful of blueberries

-About 5 whole strawberries

-Half a banana sliced

-1 to 1 1/2 cups yogurt (I used strawberry for this recipe, but vanilla is always good!)

Here's what you do:

-Place everything in a blender.

-Pulse the blender until everything is mixed and the ice is not chunky.

-Serve in cute cups with cute straws.

That's all it takes! You can make your own version by using/adding different fruits or different flavors of yogurt.

Enjoy!

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Valentine's Date

Valentine's Date by teebree featuring stone rings

I am getting excited about Valentine's Day! I love making fun desserts, giving cute cards to friends, and of course, going on a date with my hubby! If I were to pick out a cute outfit to wear, it would definitely be this one.

What are you wearing for Valentine's Day?

P.S. I haven't finished the tutorial for my pillow quite yet. Look for it at the beginning of next week!

Pear Salad with Citrus Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Can you tell I'm ready for winter to come to a close? I'm pulling out some of my Spring/Summer meals. I know I should be making soup every night of the week to warm us up, but sometimes my brain is weird. I often crave hot soups in the Summer time, and fresh salads during the Winter months. Anybody with me?

This salad is very refreshing and fresh. It will put you in a state of denial and all of the sudden the dark clouds and rain that have been looming all month will turn into sunshine skies and hot days where flip flops are required.
Ok, maybe I'm just dreaming, but it's nice to pretend.

I had this salad at a tasty restaurant in my hometown called Nibbly's. I took one bite and knew I would be recreating it as soon as I got home.

Here's what you need:


For the Dresssing: (Recipe from Food and Wine)
-3 Tbs Fresh Lime juice
-3 Tbs Fresh Orange juice
-2 Tbs Fresh Grapefruit juice
-1 tsp Dijon
-1 tsp Mayo
-1 tsp Honey
-1/3 cup vegetable oil
-1 1/2 tsp Poppy seeds
- Salt/Pepper


For the Salad:
-Baby Spinach leaves
-1-2 Pears Sliced
-Feta Cheese
-Walnuts
-Dried Cranberries

Here's what you do:

Assemble Dressing:
-Whisk the juices, Dijon, mayo, and honey together until well combined.
-Continue to whisk while adding oil and poppy seeds.
-Add a little salt and pepper to taste

Assemble Salad:
-Place spinach on plates
-Sprinkle with desired amounts of walnuts, dried cranberries, and feta.
-Strategically place pears in a way that offers maximum presentation (I mean we all want to eat a salad that's not only fancy, but looks good, right? It's worth the two extra seconds...)
-Drizzle dressing on top.

Enjoy!

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Coffee Addiction Anyone?

Unlike many Americans, I am not a lover of coffee. I don't wake up to a fresh roasted pot of coffee in the morning, I don't know if I would want cream or sugar in my coffee, nor have I earned a Starbucks Gold Card. I used to grab a mocha every once in a while when I was in college and wanted something warm, but I soon discovered that my body can't handle that much caffeine and sugar. While I may not drink it, I love the smell of fresh roasted coffee or just loose coffee beans. 

I'm not exactly sure where I found this idea, but as soon as I saw it I knew I would love it. If you enjoy a daily cup of coffee, I'm sure you will love it too!

Here's what you need:
-Whole coffee beans
-Mason jars
-Tea lights
-Jute/Twine

Here's what you do:
-Mason Jar lids are made up of two pieces, a metal lid and the screw-on ring. Unscrew the ring and remove the lid. Leave the lid off and put the screw-on ring back on. (this will create an opening that will allow the smoke from the candle to leave the jar).
-Fill jar half-way with coffee beans.
-Place tea light on top of beans and push it down a little bit to cover the sides of the candle.
-Wrap a piece of twine around the top of the jar, below the ring, and make a little bow.
-Light the candle.

That's it!
You will be amazed at how nice it smells. Even when the candle isn't lit, I can still smell the beans. Doesn't it look so cozy lit up?

Enjoy!
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A Little Sunshine

It's a gloomy day here. I grew up in a sunny little town, but have spent the past 5 years up in the rainy Pacific Northwest. While I do love living here, I often crave a little sunshine in my day. Because today is so dark and rainy, I thought we all could use a happy little post to give us a taste of Spring.

I wanted to add a pretty centerpiece to my table a couple months ago when my family came to stay. Here's a simple way to spruce up your floral centerpiece. (P.S. I found this idea on Pinterest)

Here's what you need:
-Bouquet of flowers (pick your favorite!)
-Clear Vase
-Lemons (1-2 depending on the size of your vase) You could even use limes if you were looking for a pop of green!

Here's what you do:
-Fill the vase a little under half-way with water.
-Place flowers with fresh-cut stems in the filled vase.
-Slice lemons into 1/4 inch slices
-Strategically place the lemon slices between the vase and the stems. *Note: This step may take some time as the lemons like to float to the top. The trick is to trap the lemons tightly between the stems and the vase.

Voila! You have a spruced up centerpiece that will brighten up your day!

Enjoy!
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Gray and Yellow Obsession

Gray and Yellow Obsession by teebree on polyvore.com

I am smitten with the color yellow. Even before Jake and I were engaged, we knew a soft yellow would be one of our wedding colors. Yellow on it's own is pretty great, but add some gray and white stripes and I'm obsessed. We just recently bought the duvet cover pictured above, and I'm working on adding some yellow elements to our colorless bedroom. This week I'll post about a cute yellow pillow I made for our bed. See my inspiration here.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to the fantastic week ahead!

Banana Bread Snack Cake

 These are sooooooooo good. If you love banana bread, brown sugar, cream cheese, or cake, you need to make this. I think since it's called "snack cake" it's healthier for you... right?

I found this recipe at a blog called How Sweet it Is. Instead of me trying to tell you how she made it, I'll let you check out the recipe on her blog. Here.

Mmmm. I think I'll go eat another piece now.

Enjoy!

Paint inspiration

Paint inspiration by teebree on polyvore.com

I am really loving grey tones right now. If I could paint my apartment, I would probably end up with a house full of different shades of grey on each wall. This picture caught my eye because it contained a lot of grey, but also incorporated other complimentary tones. Picture inspirations are a great way to find color pallets.

Phyllo with Berries

My mom used to make a version of this when I was young. These phyllo shells are filled with tasty lemon pudding, fresh berries, and topped with cool whip. It's a lighter dessert, and is a great finish for any meal.

They go really well with Sangria's and the latest episode of the Bachelor.... But you didn't hear that from me.

Serves: Roughly 6

Time: Roughly 30 min with baking.

What you need:
-Phyllo Pastry shells or cups (I used Pepperidge Farm shells)
-Lemon pudding (make beforehand and stick in the fridge until ready)
-Berries of your choice. Fresh, frozen, mashed... you choose
-Cool Whip

What you do:
-Bake phyllo shells/cups as directed on box. Allow to cool.
-If using shells, remove the center to create a hole. Keep what you removed for the top.
-Spoon pudding into the bottom of the hole you created. (Add as much as you want)
-Place a cluster of berries on top of the pudding.
-Finish with a spoonful of cool whip.
-Top with the phyllo piece you scooped out.

It's that simple! Enjoy!

Great Finds!

Jake and I just picked up this beauty for $10. It's missing a drawer so we're brainstorming options. I'm thinking we might turn this into a buffet table... We'll just have to see! 

DIY Preview: Rosette Pillow

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This pillow was $25 at Target last year. When I saw it I fell in love with it, but did not have the budget to afford it. I told myself I would make one, and now I'm almost finished!

Stay tuned this week and I'll show you how it turned out and how you can make your own!

Enjoy!

Garlicky Paprika Green Beans and Shrimp

Simple, lite, and delicious. This meal is sure to satisfy you for dinner tonight and won't compromise your waistline.

Adapted from: Delish

Serves: 3-4
Time: Roughly 1/2 hour

Here's what you need:

• 3-4 cups green beans snapped
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 lb. raw deveined and peeled shrimp
• 1/4 c. red-wine vinegar 
• 1/4 c. chopped parsley
• Fresh ground pepper

Here's what you do:

• Steam green beans until tender
• In a saute pan, stir olive oil, garlic, paprika, and red pepper flakes until warm.
• Stir in thawed shrimp until pink and cooked thoroughly.
• Add vinegar and parsley. Cook for another minute or two until warm.
• Add fresh ground pepper.
• Serve over green beans

This meal is excellent with brown rice. 

Enjoy!

Initial Art

Want a fun new piece for your house that will fill those old frames you've had lying around? Well I've got a great project for you. I needed an extra piece to finish a wall in my living room. I wanted something with a little sparkle, so I created this "initial art".

Total time: Roughly 10 min.

Here's what you need:

• Glitter
• Paintbrush
• Paint (any color(s) you want!)
• Scissors
• Fabric
• A Frame

Here's what you do:

Step 1: Cut your fabric so it's an inch longer than the backing on your frame on all four sides. (Example: if your frame's backing is 5"x7" you'll cut your fabric to 7"x9")

Step 2: Decision time. If you want everything you paint to have glitter on it like the "Z" above, paint all of your letters/symbols. If you want some letters/symbols to have glitter and others not to like the example at the end of this post, only paint what will get glittered.

Step 3: Add glitter to your paint and brush off.

Step 4: Paint any additional letters that do not need glitter.

Step 5: Place fabric over frame backing and slide into frame. (Note: The backing should be enough to hold the fabric in place. If it slides around, just staple or tape the fabric down) You can add the glass when the paint is dry, or just leave it natural like I did.

Hope you enjoyed this DIY project! Get creative with yours, and let me know if you make one!

My 'Stache of Pillows

I bought two pillows from Ross right after Jake and I got married. They added a pop of red to my living room, but ended up super flat and lost all of their fluffiness after a couple of months. They stayed on my couch for over a year until I finally realized I could transform them into smaller pillows using the stuffing inside. I am totally into the mustache trend that is going on right now, so I made my own mustache pillows!

Here’s what you do: (sorry I don’t have step-by-step pictures)

-Measure and cut your fabric for your pillow.

-Create a mustache stencil using a couple pieces of cardstock taped together.

-Lay stencil over the front piece of fabric, and spray until the area being stenciled is covered. (this will not create perfect lines, but I was really impressed with how well it turned out.)

-Sew and stuff your new pillow case.

I noticed that some of the spray paint didn’t set completely, so I sprayed it with some hairspray to help it set. (If you know of a better product I can use next time, please let me know)

I hope this inspires you to make your own pillow. Whether it’s a mustache or something else I would love to see your creations!

City Living

City Living by teebree on polyvore.com

Wouldn't this be a fun color combination? I can totally see this in some loft apartment in the city with hardwood floors and a brick wall.

Stay-Cation Portland Edition

I don't know about all of you, but I have learned over the past few years how important rest and relaxation can be in our busy lives. It has been a crazy couple of months for Jake and me, so when we thought about what we wanted to do for Jake's vacation week, we knew we needed a stay-cation.

The "rules" were as follows (Jake would never call them rules, and would tease me for saying this because I am a rule maker):
-Do not set an alarm clock.
-Go to bed as early or late as we wanted.
-Spend only the cash we got for Christmas.
-Don't feel guilty about spending the cash.
-Eat really really good food.
-Make memories.

Instead of renting a hotel and putting all of our cash into a room, we decided to stay at our place and Jake's sister's house and spend our money on eating at places we wanted to eat.  Jake and I are foodies. He always says "While many people travel to see things, we travel to eat things."

Thus we headed to Portland!

Our first stop: Olympic Provisions in NW Portland.

Here we ate tasty meats and drank the yummiest wine.

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After dinner we were both in the mood for some ice cream. We drove around the Pearl District until we stumbled upon Cool Moon Ice Cream.

Jake ordered salted caramel with coffee crunch, and I got buttered pecan with the salted caramel. The homemade ice cream was delicious and exactly what we wanted.

The next day we headed to one of our favorite spots. The Lucky Lab.

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They make the best homemade root beer I have ever tasted. I highly suggest it!

Finally we ended off the trip with a suggestion from our friend Crystal with dinner at the Sapphire Hotel.

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Jake had a burger with yam fries that were to die for, and I ordered a flavorful salad. It was so good that as soon as we got home, I made my own version of the salad. I'll post it here this week!

All in all, we had a fantastic week. It was so fun to try different restaurants in Portland. If you ever find yourself in Portland looking for a place to eat, try out one of these great places!

After School Snack

After School Snack by teebree featuring Mina

Mina
$58 - anthropologie.com

Small Milk Bottle in Food Containers, Storage | Crate&Barrel
$6.95 - crateandbarrel.com

Striped Mugs | west elm
$10 - westelm.com

Small Rectangle Lacquer Trays | west elm
$29 - westelm.com

IKEA Fantastisk
$1.99 - ikea.com


I don't have any kids yet, but when I do I plan on surprising them with fun after school snacks. My mom used to do this for us when we were kids, and we always loved coming home to the smell of fresh baked cookies!

By the way, if you haven't heard of Polyvore yet, I highly suggest you check it out. I used it for the previous post as well as this one. It's a great way to collect ideas and get inspired!

Life in Orange and Gold

Life in Orange and Gold by teebree on polyvore.com