The month in review

We've come to the last day of January and the last day of my little blogging experiment.

So what has this month taught me?

Bloggin ain't easy! Posting every day can be difficult sometimes. I almost made my goal of posting every single day this month. The one day I didn't was because I accidentally fell asleep super early. Like 7pm early. Oops. Adulting is hard work!

 The writing part is easy and fun for me, but having to write on top of taking pictures (also fun!), sometimes editing pictures (meh), and having to do all the properties of the pics (boring!) and descriptions requires a lot of time. I hate to say it, but maybe some days it was more of a chore than it was fun.

And I don't want that.

From here on out, I will go back to posting around twice a week. I vote for quality over quantity! It was fun and challenging, but I want to make sure it continues to be fun in the future!

I wish this were my full-time job and I could post every day. Seriously. Full-time writer! That is my dream! But alas, at this point in my life, that is not an option.

The good news is, is that this blog has got me really thinking ahead and planning and organizing all my ideas. I have to pick and choose what projects I can do and when, otherwise I'd go broke.

I've got enough ideas to keep this blog going for years!

  Also, I knew I loved holidays, but I realize now just how much I love them! I have all these awesome and cute things I want to do for every single holiday! I really have to pace myself, but decorating and baking for holidays is so much fun!

I'll see ya when I see ya!

sunday, snowy sunday

I'm not really one for snow, but sometimes it's so pretty that you can't help but love it.

I'd much rather prefer a warm, sunny day on a beach!

This was the scene yesterday afternoon and it sounds like there is more snowy weather to come.

 I guess it's only fitting seeing as how it's still only January, but I am ready for Spring and flowers and warmer weather!

I wonder if the groundhog will see his shadow on Thursday?

grey is the new neutral

My master bedroom is getting a makeover! I am painting it grey!

My husband and I chose the color "Solitary State" by Pittsburgh Paints, which is a very light and airy grey.

 Our room was two different shades of purple. We had an accent wall painted a darker, dusty purple and the other three walls were painted a lighter, more lavenderish purple. This definitely limited things decor/accent wise.  

I really wanted more of a neutral wall color this time. That way, we could change up the accents, such as the comforter or curtains, more easily. Everything goes with grey - the possibilities are endless! Navy blue, pink, coral, turquoise, purple, yellow - just to name a few!

Now that the day is here, I have to admit that I am a little sad to be leaving behind the purples. I mean, I did want those colors at one time, but the room never fully came to fruition the way I had imagined it and I just grew to despise it. 

Let me tell you, nothing transforms a room more than a fresh coat of paint!

 

Edging and fixing some nail pops. It really makes the two purples stand out more than ever! I never really thought there was much of a contrast before.

The new grey! I love it!!! It's so light and bright! I do wish we had white trim, but there are some things you just have to live with!

Next up, new carpet to finally replace this hideous green!

Yummy Raspberry Sauce

My favorite flavor of anything is raspberry! This raspberry sauce/pastry filling is perfect for so many things! You can use it as a filling for a cake. A topping on ice cream. Or, what I am planning on using it for this time around, filling for some chocolate candies I am going to make for Valentine's Day!

Oh yes!

This recipe is easy to make, even for a beginner. 

Take one 6oz box of washed and dried raspberries and put it in a sauce pan.

Add a quarter cup of sugar. You can add more if you need it sweeter, but the joy of raspberries is the sweet/tart taste of them so I didn't want to add too much.

Bring to a boil on low heat, stirring a few times. At this point, add a cornstarch slurry to help thicken the sauce. (A cornstarch slurry is cornstarch mixed with a bit of water so it won't clump up.) Use a rounded 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with just enough water to make it liquidy and stir it into your raspberry mixture.

Cook until the sauce thickens a bit and all bits of fruit are broken down. You can stop right here if you don't mind the seeds, but I cannot stand them so I strain them out. Also, with this going to be for chocolates I really wanted the seeds out.

Let the sauce cool for a few minutes and then pour a small amount of it into a mesh strainer placed over a bowl.

Begin scraping your rubber spatula over the raspberry sauce to push it through the strainer and into the bowl below. Use a fair amount of pressure, but not too much that you break your strainer!

You can see the sauce coming out of the bottom of the strainer here. Seed free!

From time to time, scrape the bottom of the strainer into your bowl. Be sure to use a different spatula for this so you do not get seeds in the bowl because that will defeat the entire purpose of this step. Trust me, I know from experience!

Keep going until you have nothing but seeds left. It will look something like this. Throw the seeds out and repeat the process until finished straining all the sauce. It really doesn't take long at all and it's kinda therapeutic.

Ready to eat, pipe, drizzle, or even use it as jelly for toast! This will keep for at least several days in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

And stay tuned for the chocolates!

Testing 1,2,3

It has begun!

We started painting test swatches on the walls of our master bedroom. 

This is "Solitary State." A light, airy grey.

I think this is the one! First one we picked out!

I highly recommend getting those little tester cans of paint to try before you buy. This is the first time we have done it and it really gives you a sense of what the color will look like "in real life." Last time we painted our bedroom the color was not what we had expected and we ended up having to take it back to the store and get it lightened up. This will (hopefully) prevent that from happening this time!

 

full steam ahead

In retail, we all use steamers to get wrinkles out of clothes. I had been wanting one for my personal use for quite some time and when my iron decided to literally fall apart in my hand, I knew it was finally time to get one!

I came across this Joy mini steamer for about the same price as an iron. You know Joy, Jennifer Lawrence just played her in the movie Joy. She's made all these great household products that she hawks on places like QVC.

I love this thing! It's perfect for quickly getting wrinkles out of anything - shirts, pants, curtains. And the size is perfect too. There was a bigger Joy steamer, but I can get several items (the most I do at a time anyways) with just one fill up. And it heats up in only about one minute!

I'm so happy I got it! I can't stand ironing. I always iron more wrinkles into my clothes than I get out!

Pot Roast for the In-Laws

Cooking for your in-laws is quite possibly the most daunting task you will ever be faced with. 

Let me make it really easy for you.

Make a pot roast.

A pot roast is a surprisingly easy meal, yet it is very elegant (and most importantly, delicious!!!)

Some people will just throw it in the crockpot and that's fine, but I prefer to cook mine in the oven. It browns the meat and that's where the flavor comes in!

A roast does take about four to five hours to cook, so make sure to prepare for that. But, if your mother-in-law is coming over you'll probably be spending the day at home cleaning anyways. Am I right?

 Once you throw a roast in the oven there's nothing else to do to it, so you can fix it and forget it!  

I usually get approximately 1.5 lbs of chuck roast per person. (You'll probably have a little for leftovers.) Then I season it liberally with garlic powder, salt, and pepper on both sides.

I put the roast in my French Corningware casserole dish (you could use a small roasting pan as well) and pour in a can of beef broth, filling up the dish about half way up the roast. (Make sure you spray the dish with cooking spray before placing the roast in it for easier clean up!)

At this point, I add my veggies. I usually include carrots, a giant sweet onion (that's my favorite part!), and potatoes. Today, I used red potatoes.

Just cut the potatoes in half.

I quarter the onions.

Add the onions, taters, and baby carrots to the roast. Start the oven out at 350 degrees for about an hour. Then drop the temp down to 250 degrees and cook for about three to four more hours, until the meat is fork tender and falling apart. Make sure the temp is at least 165 degrees in the middle of the roast.

Dig in!

~ ~ ~

This roast is perfect for Weight Watchers followers too. 3oz of roast are 7 smart points and the potatoes are only 2 points for half a cup! Everything else is zero points!

work it!

After a two year "hiatus", I think I am ready to get back at it!

 

Yeah, I'm a fashion designer now

I once saw a striped shirt with a sparkly heart on it and I fell in love.

I'm not sure where it was or who was wearing it, but it was a celebrity and I'm sure it was out of my price range.

Today, I made my own version of it! 

(And just in time for Valentine's Day!)

I've had this striped shirt laying around for a year or so and I can now finally fit into it.

Then, I found this red, sparkly iron-on heart at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It said "love" underneath it, but I cut it off. I just wanted the heart. 

I put the shirt on and pinned the heart where I wanted it.

Then, I ironed it on!

Looks pretty awesome! I can't wait to wear it! It works for Valentine's Day obviously, but I'd wear any day of the year!

Meet Chunk!

This is Chunk. I named him that because he is one massive squirrel! I think he lives in my neighbor's tree. He is always hanging out in my backyard eating or trying to irritate my dog.

I love squirrels. They are actually one of my favorite animals. I think they are so cute and funny.

Chunk likes to climb up the pole to my little bird feeder swing and eat. It's hilarious to watch. Once he makes it up there, he can be there for hours.  

He also likes to hang out in this tree and eat his corn on the cob. He's quite agile for such a big guy.

Busted!

Spring has sprung?

 

If it's 63 degrees in the middle of January in Indiana, you have to get outside to enjoy it.

 

This was only the fourth day in the last ten years that it hit the 60's in the month of January here in northern Indiana.

 

My neighbor kids were wearing shorts and a t-shirt and riding bikes. I'm not condoning this behavior, I'm just saying this is how people act on a gorgeous winter day like today.

 

I knew that if it wasn't raining I was going to get outside to rake up some leaves that have been bothering me every time I look outside my kitchen window.

 

Mission accomplished.

 

I also cleaned up my bird feeders, took a nice long walk around the yard, and thought about re-working a flower bed that I need to enlarge. I decided to wait on that. 

 

Here are the leaves that we weren't able to get up before winter came, despite raking the leaves several times this fall.

 

After raking today. Looks much better! I feel like I can be at peace now. I didn't want the grass to die!

 

I blew all the leaves out of the muscari in my creekside garden so they could breathe a little.

 

This is my new muscari that I just planted this fall. So glad to see it came up okay, but now I can tell what a crappy job I did getting it close to the brick edge. Oh well, it'll grow!

 

After blowing all the leaves out of my creekside garden, I discovered that a lot of spring flowers were already starting to pop up! I believe these are the new daffodils I planted this past fall. This seems awfully early to see daffodils already. I hope they do okay since it's supposed to get colder again next week. It still makes me really happy to see them though!

 

This mostly dead looking mum has some new growth peeking out. Very strange.

Here are some hyacinths pushing through too! Spring will be here before we know it!

Raspberry Hibiscus Tea!

Oh my gosh! I just discovered the most amazing tea!

I love tea! I drink it every day. Several times a day! I'm a huge fan of Hibiscus Tea and I'm on a total raspberry kick right now so when I saw this Raspberry Hibiscus Tea at Meijer you know I had to give it a try. 

I was not disappointed. It's delicious - floral and fruity at the same time. And very comforting, but still very light. Perfect for these warm winter days we've been having here in northern Indiana! It's supposed to be almost 60 degrees tomorrow! Yeah! Maybe I can do some yard work!