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This month...
1. Always love a salty sweet combo, so I want this toffee nut snack mix right now.
2. These watercolor flowers with simple stems are so pretty and I think I might actually be able to paint something like them.
3. We have an old ladder left behind from the orginal owners of our house...it's green and wonderfully worn. I have wanted to make into a shelf for awhile. Have to get the laundry room finished first...and find a place for it.
Over the years it's been "Starred" or "Cook//Make//Wish" and it's morphed again. My favorite part of all this Internet stuff is how many ideas there are out there, so I can't resist the chance to share three favorites from Pinterest every once in awhile.
Very recently I had a revelation...truly a ground-breaking discovery in my life.
You feel better when you eat well and exercise.
Amazing, right?
Somehow this has really eluded me for the last couple (maybe several) years. After being sick a couple weeks ago, I realized I would really like to just feel better overall. So I tried to cut back on sugar. I am a scary sugar-holic. I didn't think I could get through the day without having it a few times.
I tried though and it turns out I can. I haven't had relentless cravings like I suspected I would. I also have not denied myself completely, but one small piece of chocolate will satisfy me each day when before it was a couple of servings of dessert.
This change has me feeling much more calm and in control...just better overall. So glad that I might have finally figured this out.
Well Wishes...a homemade card shared on Wednesdays.
This photo is just another example of how I will not be leaving my day job to become a food blogger anytime soon, not that meatloaf is the most photogenic food anyway. It tastes good and that is all that really matters.
These are basically giant meatballs, but they cook up much faster and have more of that delicious meatloaf crust. The very best part though is the sauce. The sauce recipe comes from an old Chicago high school fundraising cookbook my mom has had forever.
Ingredients:
Sauce Ingredients
Instructions:
Mix together all ingredients and roll into large balls. You can get somewhere between 9 and 12 muffins per pound of meat. Place in a muffin tin sprayed well with cooking spray.
Mix together ingredients for sauce. Put half of the sauce aside to use as an additional topping for the cooked meatloaf. Use the remaining sauce to generously brush onto the meatloaf muffins. These are better when made a few hours ahead and the flavors have a little time to meld. Cook in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
I went to a good friend from college's baby shower this past weekend. She is one of my craftiest friends so I wanted to try something a little different when I wrapped her gift. I used fabric to cover each of the three boxes. I safety pinned everything where I would usually use tape with wrapping paper. I topped the gifts with three big yarn pompoms.
I got her a thermometer from her registry and a couple car rattles. Then, to tease her since she is worried about being a mom to a little boy, I filled the top box with plastic bugs and dirt.
Thankfully she thought it was funny.
This past week marked my ninth year of blogging. Those are the blog banners I made throughout the year...it's always one of my favorite details when it comes to all this website stuff.
If we analyzed the situation, it would not be the strongest year of sharing projects, ideas and keeping things new. Starting my college teaching career took up a lot of my time and mental energy...but it has been the key aspect of the best year of my life.
Thankfully my blog isn't really about blogging. It's just life...no matter how it works out. With the best ideas ever or occasionally boring...I am just really grateful to have a place to document some of it.
And I can't thank you enough for reading along.
Our washer stopped working for good back in January after almost fourteen years of relatively dependable service. The dryer was hobbling along too, so it was time to buy a new set. Which meant it was time for a new laundry room, right? Please tell me you follow my logic?
We painted it pink back in 2007. And by "we", I of course mean Sean. He also built shelves and it's pretty much stayed the same since then. Almost seven years before I change my mind and want something new is an awfully long time around here.
But the time to repaint has come and Sean has been working on my new ideas on and off for the last month. I made sure to get before photos (broken washer and all) before he started and can't wait to fully update this little room.
I play this weird game with myself when I get sick, remembering how it felt before my head wants to explode with congestion. I will think to myself, "Remember when I used to be able to breathe through my nose? Gosh that was so nice. Man, I did not appreciate that enough."
Now that I am on the other side of what will hopefully be the only cold or flu this season (knock on wood) I feel like I have a new appreciation. It's so nice to be able to make dinner, or cross stuff off my to-do list, or head out to teach class tonight without worrying about how I'll get through it.
Granted, this will wear off soon, but it's feels good to realize I really like all these tasks.
That was last night's dinner...our favorite garlic noodles and pineapple grilled chicken.
Well Wishes...a homemade card shared on Wednesdays.
I attempted a watercolor painting for Sean as his handmade gift for Valentine's day. He built and painted a wooden box pencil holder for me.
I know my banana shaped crescent moon and wonky stars could easily be beaten by any five-year-old in the artistic ability department, but I asked Sean to think of it as having a "whimsical" style.
Does that make it better? Probably not.
For the second year in a row we had to reschedule Valentine's Day due to sickness. This year it was only me, thankfully, and hopefully it stays that way.The flu totally got me last week. I tried to teach one of my first night time Introduction to Sociology classes with 102 fever. You can only imagine how well that went.
I came back to life on Saturday, so by Sunday evening we had our traditional fondue dinner. I have been using this cheese fondue recipe for years. We tossed everything onto the table and dug in (my mom joined us too) then we laughed over our handmade Valentine gifts for each other. Unlike past years the gifts weren't wrapped (we just closed our eyes), the mantle wasn't decorated, nothing was cute.
We still got to celebrate though...and sometimes it's good to remember that's what is really important.
Well Wishes...a homemade card shared on Wednesdays.
I have an amazing talent for walking into a room, completely forgetting my original purpose and getting three other things done instead. For instance I walked to the end of the hallway to get a container to hold some paperclips...and a half hour later I finally realized I still needed a container to hold some paperclips.
That feels a little like life this week. I have my first evaluation packet due at the state college I teach at. I have heaps of tasks to complete for the cheer team. And my two night classes at the community college start this Wednesday and Thursday. I'll spare you the list of everything else.
We went to a local farmers market that I've wanted to check out for over a year. I didn't buy radishes (I've actually never even tried one), but we did get some amazing hummus, really fresh asparagus, and a couple bunches of flowers.
I may have already changed my mind on the color for the laundry room...after we bought the first color and Sean got a coat up. I am awesome like that.
Mac went to a friend's birthday on Saturday night. I sent him out the door with the obligatory teenager birthday gift cards that I wrapped up in a little fabric pouch. Those Catslife Press sentiment stamps helped make a tag in just a couple minutes.
After seeing the beautiful watercolored pie charts this past weekend, I had to try to make my own. I spoke with the person who painted them and she said she just drew out the lines, painted in between them and then erased the pencil marks.
Those messy lines coming together are my new favorite.
Well Wishes...a homemade card shared on Wednesdays.
As I mentioned yesterday, we spent Saturday afternoon in LA. We headed up there so I could take a floral workshop I couldn't resist signing up for last month.
Sean and Mac dropped me off and went to eat pastries at Bottega Louie. I proceeded to walk into my version of heaven.
It was literally walking into the light. White brick walls with white curtains blowing in the sunny breeze. A room with beautifully arranged tables of food, watercolor pie charts, and hundreds upon hundreds of flowers.
I got to spend the next two hours learning the basics of building an arrangement.
After the workshop we went for a late lunch (and even more desserts) at Milk and a little art supply shopping before heading back home. It was pretty much a dream day...minus the LA traffic.
This past weekend I got to do a little art supply shopping while we spent an afternoon in LA. I walked into Blick looking for colored pencils and towards the front of the store there was an overflowing table of blank stationery. I kind of went by it at first, but then my favorite color, chartreuse, caught my eye. The table was filled with $9.99 packs of 25 envelopes and cards on sale for 99 cents each. I couldn't help but gather up some chartreuse, some kelly green, hot pink, gold and even patterned vellum. Then I received a 20% teacher discount, which meant I purchased $100 of stationery for about $8.
I really need to send some mail now.
And, speaking of mail, I thought I'd share some of this happy pile too. I put together three packets to send out.
Just leave a "pick me" if you would like one and I will email the randomly selected winner by Thursday night.
