A Stylish Surprise

ModCloth is doing this promotion called "A Stylish Surprise". You select your size, pay $15, and get a new top, dress, or coat in the mail. The catch: you don't know what you're going to get and have no idea what it looks like. It's a Final Sale item, so you can't return or exchange it.

Would you do it?

It sounds like fun, and the price isn't too bad, but it's also a little risky.

What do you think?

Fabric Strip Banner

When I saw this tutorial on The Lovely Cupboard, I knew it would be a great addition to my boring white dinning room, and would be fun for parties. Bonus: This project only cost $8! You don't need fancy fabric, just great colors!

If you have a rotary cutter, this project is pretty simple and easy. It probably took me about 2 hours total. But if you're watching a movie or the newest episode of The Voice, it will be done in no time!

Fabric Strip Banner (If you want more details/pictures, visit The Lovely Cupboard)

Here's what you need:
-About 1 3/4 yards each of 5 different fabric colors
-Rotary cutter or scissors
-Ruler
-About 6 feet of rope

Here's what you do:
-Cut fabric into 1 1/2" wide strips
-Tie fabric strips onto rope starting in the middle and working out toward the ends.

That's it! It's super simple and makes a great statement.

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Chair Redo

You may remember seeing this chair on my blog a couple months ago. It's charming, unique, and cute, but definitely old, worn-down, and unappealing.

Jake and I covered it with some modern orange and grey fabric from Ikea, but we found that the color scheme didn't fit in with the decor. Luckily this weekend Jake's mom came down to visit and helped us recover it, yet again, to make it an eye catching statement in our entryway.

Here it is now:

I love that it looks more modern yet has a retro feel to it.

Enjoy!

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Apple Chips

My Mother-in-Law is coming into town today! It's always fun to visit with her because we don't get to see her all that often since she lives in the great state of Alaska. Because she's gluten and dairy free, I get creative with the snacks we have in our house. It's crazy how many products contain one of those ingredients. I decided that apple chips are a great, healthy snack for the weekend.

Adapted from Delighted Momma

Here's what you need:

-Apple(s)

-Cinnamon

-Sugar

Here's what you do:

-Pre-heat oven to 275 F

-Use an apple corer (not slicer) to remove the core.

-Slice apples in half from stem to base.

-Lay halves on the flat sides, then slice into very fine slices.

-Spread apples on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

-Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

-Bake for roughly and hour (check after 45 min).

-Flip after and hour, then bake for another 30+ minutes.

Note: If you slice apples thicker, it will probably take close to 2 hours to bake, but if they are very thin it could take as little as an hour and 20 minutes. Adjust your baking time according to your slices.

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Starbucks Style Hot Chocolate

Can you believe we still have a whole month of winter left? I feel like it has lasted all year. Even though I am counting down the days to nice, warm weather, I can still enjoy the simple pleasures winter brings, like rich hot chocolate.

Are you a Starbucks fan, but can't afford the bill every time you are craving their sugary goodness? Well, I found a recipe that nearly beats Starbucks famous hot chocolate. Add a little peppermint or caramel to this and you'll never pay that $3-4 price again.

Recipe from: Instructables.com

Here's what you need:

1/2 cup water

4 Tbs cocoa powder

4 Tbs sugar

3 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Here's what you do:

-Combine water, cocoa, and sugar in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high and stir until the mixture starts to create steam, but doesn't boil yet.

-Add milk, then vanilla to the pan and stir until everything is mixed and the milk is close to boiling.

-Serve in your favorite mug topped with a generous serving of whipped cream.

Enjoy your last few weeks of winter!
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Dress Envy

Spring will be here before we know it. I've been oohing and aahing over these dresses, just waiting for those warmer days where dresses are common attire.

Forever 21 via Pinterest

Anthropology via Pinterest

Spool 72 via Pinterest

Tobi via Pinterest

ModCloth via Pinterest

Peanut Butter Chocolate Popcorn

Jake and I went to Trader Joe's a few days ago and found these de-li-cious mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups. I love them! In my personal opinion, they are better than Reese's. I combined them with popcorn and a little more sugar to create a great party snack.

Recipe slightly altered from Two Peas and Their Pod

Here's what you need:

-5 cups butterless, plain popcorn popped

-Salt

-1/4 cup honey

-3 Tbs sugar

-1/4 cup peanut butter

-1/4 tsp vanilla extract

-A dark chocolate bar

-3/4 cup Trader Joe's mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups (or mini reese's cups)

Here's what you do:

-Lightly salt the popped popcorn

-In a saucepan, combine honey and sugar. Stir regularly until it comes to a boil, then let simmer for two minutes.

-Add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until well mixed and peanut butter is melted.

-Stir into popcorn while still hot.

-Spread onto wax paper.

-Use a micro-plane to grate dark chocolate on top of the popcorn. (Use as much or as little as you want)

-Allow to cool completely.

-Break popcorn mixture apart into small pieces.

-Place popcorn pieces and peanut butter cups in a bowl and mix well.

-Serve

I love finding new treats at Trader Joe's. What are your go-to Trader Joe's items?

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Chicken Salad Sandwich

This is one of my favorite sandwiches. It's so fresh and simple to make. Just follow these simple steps:

Servings: 2

Here's what you need:

-1 Cooked chicken breast sliced into thin pieces

-1 Apple chopped into bite-sized pieces

-1/4 c. Mayonnaise

-1-2 tsp vinegar

-Salt/Pepper

- A couple handfuls of fresh spinach

-2 Croissants

Here's what you do:

-In a medium bowl, combine chicken, apple pieces, mayo, and vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

-Place a handful of spinach and half of the chicken mixture inside a croissant. Repeat with second sandwich.

Just thinking about this meal makes me hungry. You could add walnuts, change the apples to grapes, or add a little mustard to your sandwich to change it up.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

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Cranberry Orange Scones

Some mornings you need to eat something other than boring cereal. 

Some mornings you need to get your patootie out of bed, grab a bag of flour, and make something tasty for breakfast.

One these mornings you should make Cranberry Orange Scones.

You can find the recipe here.

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Happy Valentine's!

I hope you all have a fantastic Valentine's day!

My hubby and I will be going to one of our favorite restaurants, Pastinis!

Don't forget yesterday's challenge. 

Valentine's Treat

It's almost Valentine's day! I'm not a huge Valentine's fan, but I like an excuse to bake something sweet and head out to dinner with my hubby. Tomorrow is the day to be extra nice to your sweetie. Why not make him a simple treat like this to sweeten up his day.

Here's what you do:
-Make a fresh batch of rice krispie treats.
-While still warm, press the mixture into a square pan.
-Place Valentine's M&Ms on top of the treats.
-Cut into squares and serve!

Sometimes I feel like I need to make up for my lack of compliment giving by baking... (It's my love language). Jake's love language is words of affirmation, and he's great at giving me compliments. Here's one of my favorite/funniest compliments he's given me:

I had just finished putting on my makeup and sat down next to Jake. He was about to compliment me on how good it looked, but stopped himself and rephrased it to this:

"Wow, Teesha. Your face makes your makeup look so good!"

He's smart, that man.

My challenge to you this Valentine's is to use your spouse's love language to make his day special. Don't know what your or your spouse's love language is? Try this quiz.

I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day with your sweetie!

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Pizza Pizza

Jake and I are big time pizza people. We love creating a basic crust then looking through our fridge and pantry to make unique and delicious pizzas. For this recipe we used leftover ingredients from the meals we made this past week and combined our favorites to make this lovely creation.

Have any extra dough from the calzones we made earlier this week? Use it to make this pizza.

Here's what you need:
-Pizza dough (I used about 1/3 of this dough recipe)
-Sauce
-Mozzarella Cheese
-Grape tomatoes
-Green bell pepper
-Kalamata Olives

Here's what you do:
-Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
-Lightly grease a baking sheet.
-Roll out dough into a 1/4 inch thick circle. Place on baking sheet.
-Dice up the bell pepper into small bite-sized chunks.
-Slice grape tomatoes and Kalamata olives in half.
-Spread desired amount of sauce evenly onto pizza dough.
-Top with cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and olives.
-Bake for 20-25 min, or until crust is firm and golden brown on the bottom.

We haven't thought of a name for this pizza. Any ideas?

I hope you all have a great weekend! I'm going to go check out a local vintage sale. They have a lot of cute valentine's decor! What are you up to?
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Chalkboard Paint Jars

I bought these jars from Ikea for our kitchen when Jake and I were first married. They have 4 different sizes which were perfect for fitting random ingredients for baking. I typically use them for things like sugar, rice, brown sugar, chocolate chips, you name it. They are cute enough by themselves, but I was getting tired of looking at the some old jars every time I was in the kitchen. So, when I bought Martha's chalkboard paint to make some Christmas presents, I saved some paint to spruce up these jars.

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This paint comes in different colors. I used a grey because I LOVE grey.

Here's what you need:

-Multi-Surface Chalkboard Paint.

-Jars

-Paintbrushes

-Painter's tape (optional)

-Acrylic paint for accents (optional)

Here's what you do:

-Wipe down jars so you have a clean surface to work with.

-If you want to have clean rectangles, tape off your jar to make a rectangle.

-Apply the chalkboard paint to your jar in the shape you want (circle, rectangle, triangle, get creative!).

-Allow to dry according to the paint's directions. Reapply 2 to 3 times to create a solid surface.

-Let dry completely before removing tape. 

**While removing the tape, hold a finger over the painted area as you peel off the tape. This will help keep the chalkboard paint on the glass surface.

-Use another acrylic pain to add little accents to the jar (as shown in the photos).

You can even paint the top of the jars to look cute!

There you have it! You too can greatly improve your boring glass jars with just a little chalkboard paint!

Here's a look at each finished jar:

Like it?
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Make-Your-Own Calzone

When my husband and I got married, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law put together a cookbook with some of their favorite recipes. It is such a great gift because it included recipes Jake ate growing up. 

When we moved a few months ago, I put all my cookbooks in a drawer and completely forgot about them. Luckily when I was wondering what to make for dinner this weekend, Jake remembered this calzone/pizza dough recipe and we pulled that cute red cookbook out of the drawer and got to baking.

This calzone was seriously the best I have ever had. I'm not a big fan of calzone, and probably haven't had any for quite a few years. Now I want to eat this calzone for every meal. Of course I won't, but if you come over for dinner sometime soon, there's a big chance we'll be making this.

Here's what you need:

Dough

-2 Packets dry active yeast

-2 c. warm water

-2 tsp Salt

-6 Tbs Olive Oil

-1 tsp sugar

-5 cups of Flour (and a little extra for rolling the dough)

Toppings It's up to you! Get creative. Here are a few suggestions.

-Marinara Sauce

-Mozzarella cheese

-Pepperoni slices

-Canadian Bacon

-Pineapple chunks

-Green pepper chunks

-Olives

Here's what you do:

Dough

-Dissolve yeast in water

- Add olive oil, sugar, and salt. Let sit for about 8 minutes

-Add mixture to the flour in a large mixing bowl. Kneed until smooth. (add more flour if needed)

-Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and set in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours. Dough will double in size.

-Preheat oven to 400 F

-Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.

-Roll out each piece on a floured surface until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick.

-Let each person assemble their calzone with the toppings they like.

-Fold calzones in half and fold over the edges to keep the toppings inside.

-Place calzones on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20-25 min.

These are fun to make with a big group of people. Make sure you decorate the top of your calzone so you can pick yours apart from the rest after they bake.

Enjoy!

Weekend Recap

I had a whirlwind of a weekend. It was full of family, food, and great music.

My sister and I drove up to Portland to see an Ingrid Michaelson concert put on by Kink.FM. We had a blast! My sister L.O.V.E.S. her music and could not stop smiling while we watched the show. We both loved her new song Blood Brothers. Look it up on YouTube. We ended off the trip with a quick stop at Hot Lips pizza. It is my favorite place to grab a slice of pepperoni alongside their delicious homemade fruit soda. Delish!

My whole family headed to the beach on Superbowl Sunday to celebrate my brother's 19th birthday. I made the strawberry poppy seed cake which turned out even better than I expected (I'll post the recipe soon!). We ended off the night with a bonfire on the beach, then danced the night away to Just Dance 2.

Overall we had a wonderful weekend. Check back for the Strawberry Poppy seed Cake as well as our Homemade Calzones!

Have a wonderful week!

Let Them Eat Cake

Photo by My Mom @ Kimberly Clark Photography

My family came to my house for the first time this past Holiday season. It just so happens that my Uncle's birthday is on December 24th. I wanted to make him a special birthday cake, so I made his favorite: German Chocolate cake.

This weekend is my brother's birthday, so I'm making a family favorite: Strawberry Poppy seed cake! I'm already excited to eat it, and I still have to wait 3 more days.

What is your choice of birthday cake?

Flavorful Salad With Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

I have been wanting to show you this salad for a couple weeks. I've made it probably 4 times in the past few weeks, and have forgotten to take pictures EVERY TIME until yesterday. This is mostly because as soon as it's put together I want to eat it.

I first ate this salad at a restaurant called the Sapphire Hotel (you can read about it in my post about our "Stay-cation"). It was love at first bite. As soon as we got home from our vacation, I ran to the store and bought everything we needed to make it. Jake loves it just as much as I do, and he doesn't even like olives.

Here's what you need:

Salad:

-Spring Mix Salad

-Focaccia bread (I used a cheesy focaccia which was super tasty. You can definitely use a different type of bread if you'd like)

-Whole Mozzarella Cheese  

-Grape Tomatoes

-Kalamata Olives

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing: (From Emeril @ Food Network)

-1/4 c. Balsamic vinegar

-1 Tbs minced garlic

-Salt/Pepper

-3/4 c. Olive Oil

Here's what you do:

Salad:

-Dish salad onto individual plates

-Chop up focaccia bread into bite-sized pieces. Place them on a baking sheet and cook under broiler until pieces are slightly crispy, but still soft, and golden (roughly 1-2 min). Sprinkle a handful on top of each salad.

-Cut Mozzarella cheese into small bite-sized cubes. Sprinkle a handful on top of each salad.

-Slice grape tomatoes in half. Sprinkle a handful on top of each salad.

-Slice Kalamata olives in half. Sprinkle a handful on top of each salad.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing:

-Combine all ingredients in a container with a lid; salt and pepper to taste.

-Cover container and shake until all ingredients are mixed.

-Drizzle dressing on salad immediately*. 

*Note: The olive oil tends to separate from the rest of the dressing. When serving the dressing again, make sure to shake/mix it well so the dressing stays together.

This salad is a great side dish to almost any meal. I like to eat a big salad all by itself for dinner... it's that good.

Enjoy!

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