1 week until...

I am 29!!!

Where does the time go?? 

The great time... the amazing time...

all the years that led me a year from 30?

Let the count down begin...

1 week until my birthday

1 year until I'm 30

1 can't wait to see what's next... life!!

I hear the best years in life are your 30s... is that just what the 30 and over are telling me??

Happy Mohter's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to the woman I aspire to be!!

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my easy recipes. Quick for dinners during the week, great for lunch the next day and an all time favorite of my bf so that works too!! I took the top from one of my moms recipes and the bottom is something easy I came up with but change around every time I make it :)

Recipe Ingredients:

2-3c cooked chicken

veggies (frozen, canned, or fresh)

1 can cream of mushroom (any cream of something will work)

1 can pillsbury crescent rolls

1/2c sour cream

1/2c mayo

2 tablespoons butter

Sliced almonds

handful or two of cheese (mozz or swiss)

non stick cooking spray

I change this recipe up every time I make it. It all depends what I have in my kitchen at the time. This week in the way of veggies I had a bag of frozen veggies, some left over (already steamed the night before) brocc, and a can of potatoes. I had bf cook up some chicken cutlets on the grill while he was cooking dinner the night before so I was ready to go! I gave the brocc, pots and chicken a rough chop and threw them in a bowl with the frozen veggies.

Next, I put the can of cream of whatever (I used mushroom I think) sour cream and mayo into a large soup pot... threw in the bowl of veggies and stirred every once in a while until bubbly. While waiting to bubble and heat threw I added salt and pepper to taste and some rosemary and thyme (you can leave those out or add others if you like... I normally open my spice cabinet and add whatever looks good to me)

Once heated thru for a bit (maybe 5 mins) and bubbly I poured the mixture into a greased 8x10 pyrex casserole dish.

I unrolled the crescent rolls and started to lay them flat to cover the top of the chicken - veggie mixture. 

In a small bowl I microwaved 2 tablespoons of butter until melted, then I threw in a handful of sliced almonds and a handful or two of mozz cheese. Stir to coat the almonds and cheese with the melted butter. Sprinkle on top of the crescent roll crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. We like it with rice... but eat it alone or with anything and it will be perfect!! 

Wednesday Blog Love!!!

Some of my favorite ladies!! Check them out... and love them as much as I do!

Dreamy Nest - http://dreamynest.blogspot.com/

Housewife Bliss - http://housewifebliss.blogspot.com/

I love my house - http://ilovemyhouse-ilovemyhouse.blogspot.com/

A Girls Gotta Eat - http://agirlzgottaeat.blogspot.com/

PaperTrails - http://skirt.com/papertrails

I won the craigslist lottery!

I had been looking on craigslist for a couple of weeks for a new DIY project!! I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for ... maybe a rolling cart for the kitchen, or a piece of art I could spruce up, a great bookcase, or maybe... A CRAFT CABINET!!!

I love love love it!!! It was posted for $20 and I got it for $15. Boyfriend and I had to drive 30 mins to get it... but it was sooo worth it!! It's solid wood and totally naked on the inside!

Now, the real question! What color do I want it to be ??

Baby Room Letters!!

My best friend should be delivering my god son any day now... and with me being crafty and all... I just had to make something super cute for the nursery!!

 craft supplies:

 -Wooden letters from Hobby Lobby

-cute inexpensive fabric from Joann fabrics 

 -a roll of craft paper

-mod podge (I already had)

-glue gun (I already had)

-two rolls of thin white ribbom

My mom and I traced the letters out of the craft paper and cut the paper letters out. 

Next, we used the mod podge to glue the letters to each color of fabric. Once dried... we cut the fabric down leaving about a 1/2inch around the edge of the letters. We cut notches in the fabric all around the edge and began to use mod podge to wrap and glue the notches to the sides and backs of the wooden letters. 

We let everything dry completely. 

After everything was dry we hot glued the craft paper letters onto the back of the letters. We wanted everything to have a clean look. 

To finish up and continue with the clean look... we bought some thin white ribbon to wrap around all the edges of the letters. I use my glue gun and just worked my way around each letter.

Did I mention I borrowed the nursery bedding and matched the fabric that I used for the letters to it :)

 And... I put some of the left over craft paper to good use. 

Pretty cute gift... right??

Mommy-to-be loved the letters and hung them above the changing table!!

Perfect room for any little boy!! 

**Oh and see the diaper cake on the shelf... I made that and will blog about it this week!

Food Fun... or Fun Food!

Some of my favorite random pictures from my kitchen!

Salt Cellar

I love my Salt Cellar!!

It came from Home Goods a year or two ago. Its a mini cast iron pot with a lid. It's really heavy ... very sturdy and I get so many compliments on it. It is the one thing in my kitchen that has taken up the most topics of conversation. Super cute... right??

What do you use for your salt cellar? Did you find something random like I did?

Monday Blog Love!!

Have you seen these blogs? These are some of my favies this week!

Sweet Things - http://sweetthings-toronto.blogspot.com/

How About Orange - http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/

Curbly - http://curbly.com/

Smitten Kitchen - http://smittenkitchen.com/

Paper Cakes Finds - http://papercakesfinds.blogspot.com

Oh Joy - http://www.ohjoy.blogs.com/

You will love them :)

Baby Fever!!

Two of my very best friends are preggo and I am thrilled!!! One is 13-14 weeks along and the other is 34 weeks!! Sooo needless to say we should have a baby here in the next few weeks and not just any baby... my god-baby!! 

A couple of weekends ago i threw my very first baby shower ever!! It was such a great time! I took on a couple of fun projects for the baby and the event over the last few months so this week I will try to share them!!

 Starting with these super cute baby name letters!!

Stay Tuned!!

Chunky Monkey!

I've lost three pounds in the last 3 weeks... I'm trying to eat a little smarter. Less at lunch and better snacks (I normally have candy stashed in my desk) like veggies and fruit. I'm not trying to lose weight ... just trying to make better choices when it comes to what I eat. Oh, now my point...

Last week I was at the an annual festival in Atlanta and my hands were swollen. My ring finger was almost to the point that it was a dark purple-blue color. After a bit of a struggle my rings were off my finger and the blood was moving again... but why did it happen and how did it happen after I had even lost some weight? I know your fingers can swell in summer months, or if you are dehydrated so I didn't think much of it since we were outside in he sun. But it continued to happen this week... so my question now is... do I get my ring resized?

I don't want to jump the gun, but I don't want my ring to not fit all summer either. I'm not really sure how they resize a ring in the first place. Do they thin it out? Do they add gold? And how much exactly is this going to cost?

I know what I'm going to be searching on Google tonight :)

WOW... T-I-R-E-D!!

 
I couldn't sleep at all last night. It was one of those night that you just can't fall asleep and once you do you can't stay asleep kind of nights. I was hot, or couldn't get comfy, or a tiny little light from outside was in my eyes... needless to say I have no energy at all today.

I went to ehow.com to see what I could do to perk up in the energy dept and this is what I found!

http://www.ehow.com/how_3826_maintain-energy-throughout.html

If I am going by this list... I have already broken rules 1-4 (the sugar overload of candy at 10:30am was probably not my smartest move today), 5 and 6 I am working on... #7 is crazy because if I try to take a 10 min break at work with my eyes closed I will be sleeping on my desk, and 8 and 9 are more for at home time.

Now, I know these are more of a get into a routine and feel more energy over all but I was looking for a quick fix. :)

Flower pots and fun colors!!

I just happen to have a sweetheart boyfriend who sends me flowers every once in a while... when I'm good ;) The best part... he understands that I love the flowers but I love love love the pots and vases the flowers come in even more! What can I say I live to repurpose!

This once super cute flower holder now is my bright and bold counter top utensil home!! Sooo great right? I didn't even have to paint this one... I loved the orange and just went with it! I am thrilled that I did!

Gotta love that boyfriend ;)

I love TARGET!!

Check out these retro style steel breadboxes!! I found them at Target ON SALE!! I got them each for $10 and thought they would be super cute in my craft room!!

They are perfect for storing anything! I stacked them on top of each other on my desk and love them!!

I got mine at my local store... but they were still listed on Target.com yesterday! They have matching paper towel holders, canisters and trays too!

I love Target!

My boys and their toys...

I had to cut Riley's tennis ball so it was safe for him to play with and so his little tiny mouth could fit around it.

He looks like a little bear!!

He loves that thing... who knew a tennis ball could be so much fun? 

Bailey's all time favorite toy!

Pom Pom Wreath

I thought of my friend Cat right when I decided to take on this fun project! She is over the top sweet and sooo happy! This colorful wreath was a perfect gift for her.

 Craft Supplies:

Styrofoam wreath

1 large bag of pom poms (multi sizes)

glue gun

paint

short piece of ribbon

I started off with a 10 inch styrofoam wreath. I got mine at hobby lobby... on sale for just a couple bucks. I painted it purple so the back of the wreath would be super cute to match the front.

Next, I broke out the glue gun and started covering the wreath with the pom poms one by one.I started with the largest ones, then the middle sized poms and finished with a couple of the tiny ones.

To make it easy for Cat to hang, I glued a little piece of ribbon on the back so she could slip it over any nail or hook.

Did I mention I love fun colors and polka dots??

Cat loved it!! 

 

Ravioli Lasagna

I am always on the look out for quick and easy recipes for weeknight dinners. I had seen a couple recipes that were similar to this one... so one night with some oh hand ingredients... boyfriend and I decided to give our own version a try. This dish is simple, thrown together quickly... and of course DELICIOUS!!

Ingredients:
- Ravioli (we used refrigerated kind)
- Spaghetti Sauce (we used a jar from the store)
- Shredded Mozzarella
- Left overs (we used onion, tomato and fresh mozz)
- Non-Stick Spray
*Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees

 

       *Store bought refrigerated ravioli that we didn't even thaw them out first!!

*Left over fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and onion that we chopped up and put in a small dish. We left our onions raw because we liked that it gave just a little crunch to the dish. If you don't want your onions still a bit crunchy ... saute them in a little butter and/or olive oil before tossing them in your lasagna.

 * Now, let the fun begin!! Spray a glass baking dish (we used a 7x11 since there were only two of us. But you can use 9x13, an 8x8, a pie plate... whatever you have on hand) Start layering until you run out of ingredients. Sauce, ravioli, mozz-tom-onion, spices (we used italian seasoning and red pepper flakes) and repeat!!

*Once we reached the top we covered the whole thing in shredded mozzarella cheese. We are cheese people but you can just cover in sauce if you want to. Put it in the oven for 45min to an hour. Some people cover with foil and pull the foil off the last 10 mins. We did not cover ours because we like our cheese totally melted and a little crispy brown on top too!

                            *Let stand for about 5 mins!! Enjoy!

Rustic Picture Collage!!

Soooo I started with this super simple rustic frame! I found it for half off at Hobby Lobby!! Super great deal...

 

Some twine... from bed bath and beyond's kitchen section... 

  

And did I mention it was $.97!!!

Throw in my new Staple Gun and some cute pics... maybe a clothes pin or two!

 

Super Easy... here is what I did. 

 

  

I flipped the frame over and stapled the twine to the back of the frame... I just zig-zagged back and forth! Turned it over and this is what I had...

Looked pretty good... 

 

I started to hang pictures. I used clothes pins to keep the pictures in place. I thought it looked good... but boyfriend thought it could use more twine to fill in some of the empty space.

 

Sooo we flipped it back over and stapled some more twine... this time we did a few zig zags going different directions then our first path.

 

With the extra twine I really didn't need the clothes pins to hold up the pictures. You can leave them on if you like them... I decided to leave them off and add more pics. 

We hung our frame in our family room above our TV. This project took 10 mins, was super east and is sooo cute!

I love it!