Four More Feet

Our house has four more feet tromping around. 

Our children: Brandi (9lbs, 6 weeks old) & Tanner (80 pounds, 4 years old). 

Taco Lasagna

Our kitchen is always stocked with the necessities for basic Mexican food. Chips and salsa are our milk and eggs. Instead of my usual lazy dinner of nachos, I decided to do layered lasagna inspired dish. I've seen this around on many websites as well, so I just kind of went with my gut (grumbling stomach) and layered away.

It went a little something like this: non-stick spray, tortilla, beans, left-over taco meat, cheese, salsa/Cholula hot sauce for two layers (not repeating the nonstick spray of course!). I also usually warm up the beans with a little bit of water and some seasoning, cumin, cayenne or taco seasoning for extra flavor. The water makes the beans easier to spread.

Of course the final tortilla was topped with salsa and more cheese..

 Baked this baby for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Served with sour cream. Yumyum!

Clearance Couture: "Blogger Style"

I have been wanting to try this head wrap trend for a while now, seems like its the blogger thing to do anyways.. Kind of fun. Especially since I have LOTS of scarves...I usually find them for a dollar or two each so they're pretty much irresistible. I keep saying I will make a blanket or something with them one day. This is the same reasoning I use for buying (almost) every Coca-cola shirt I come across...Oh my poor closet.

By the way, my $20 a month shopping limit? Yeah, it's out the window. Gone, baby gone. There are just way too many good thrift stores in my new neighborhood. Still not spending a whole lot, but definitely spending more than $20...

Scarf: Flea Market

Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack, $16

Floral Tank: Old Navy $4

Jeans: Target $5

Flats: Urban Outfitters, $9.99

Bangles: Flea Market

Nail Polish: Slate by Insta-Dry (my new favorite brand of quick dry polish)

Never Too Many Blankets

I can't refuse a good chunky blanket. I have heard on several design shows the advice to just buy what you love and somehow it will all fit together. And it finally seems to have come together in my throw blankets. The first is from a trip to Mexico, then one from a flea market and last from Happy Dragon thrift store (a new found love). 

Mexico blanket $5

White crochet (?) $7

Multi-color crochet (?) $4

I still have other blankets too, the white one is pretty much permananent since it will go with anything. I am sure seasonal switch-ups are in my future. But I feel pretty accomplished right now! :)

Floating Shelves

This little 'privacy corner' really needed a little something. So thanks to a handy hubby--we now have floating shelves! We had extra wood, its just part of being married to a carpenter, and the previous owners left behind extra paint making this project basically free! We measured the wall and decided a height of about 5 feet and 5 inches would suit quite well. I originally envisioned 3 shelves, but when we marked it out, it would have been a little on the cramped side, visually. 

Since we didn't want to see any hardware, Cody gooped up the shelves with Liquid Nails and we slid the shelves right into place. And then we realized the glue doesn't dry instantly. So I stood on the toilet trying to hold slimy shelves against a slimy wall while he ran to get some nails. He tacked those in place to support the planks while the glue dried. And then we had to fish a few nails out of the toilet too. It was a comical 5 minutes of scrambling and smearing glue everywhere!

But now the glue has dried. Cody sanded the excess away, patched and touched everything up with paint. This 'quickie' project actually took a few weeks of little time windows when other projects and mole/gopher hunting could rest. And these shelves, two weeks after completion are still bare. It's like when you get a great new pair of shoes, and you save them for that perfect day.

Fruit Kabobs

Even though summer is officially over, we Californians get to celebrate the outdoors for a bit longer. BBQ season lasts to nearly Thanksgiving most years. One of my go-to contributions to potluck style grilling gatherings are fruit-kabobs. They're easy to eat while mingling and don't take up too much space on your plate for the important stuff, like the meat ;) 

Skewers make a random hodgepodge of fruits look contained and purposeful. I usually try to get a variety of colors in the fruit I buy. I do always include canned pineapple, because I just love that stuff and I also usually skewer marshmallows too. However, if you're going to use marshmallows, they tend to get soggy with the fruit juice so make those varieties day of your party. And you can get all organized and create a pattern and make a picture with your kabobs (like the American flag or something) if you really want to be fancy!

Lots to say about fruit-kabobs! Do you have a go-to fruit combo for kabobs or fruit salad?

9/11: A Day to be Grateful

As many things as there are to complain about in this country, I have to say I am very blessed to have been born here in the USA. The abundance of volunteers and aide poured out on this tragic day and the days that have followed showed me the glass really is half full.

Couch Swapping

Not to be confused with clothes swapping, although both events are equally exciting! Not to mention I happened to do both on the same day this past weekend. I feel quite lucky to have friends with tastes similar to mine, it makes free upgrades a whole lot easier!

(Moving day! Before the mass of boxes)

Oh and I finally hung my forest art scored at Ross a while back. It definitely needs friends on that wall, one step at a time....(Don't look at the mass of wires hanging from the TV! Those will be hidden soon--I hope!)

I am really loving the footprint of this couch in our family room. More than person can stretch out on the couch at once which means nobody has to sit on the floor anymore! We do have to come up with something to keep the chaise side from slipping away since we have hardwood floors. I suppose a rug would help with that. Buuuut we are sort of hooked on the idea of getting a(nother) puppydog so I'm hesitant to get a rug right now for potty trainings sake. 

Cube Camouflage

I scrambled most of last week (ok mostly on Saturday where it was downtothewire) to get ready for our first house party and BBQ for our family and friends to actually enjoy the house vs. coming over to help us work on the house. One of the last minute additions were these wall cubes, lovingly donated by Katy!

This wall had been a bit of a hurdle with that lovely thermostat so perfectly (?) placed. Your dream dining room accent. I have seen this idea on Pinterest a few times, to make some sort of collage and frame the thermostat and everything will just blend in. So we gave it a try!

I think it totally works! As soon as they were up we walked around the house grabbing nick-nacks and doo-dads. Filling them with my vintage junk definitely made it more me, I was bit nervous about the hard black on white contemporary feel before we accessorized. Some mason jars, depression glass, a photo and magnet induced kissing boxers brought it all home for me!

My Favorite Rock

Five years ago we climbed this giant rock. I got the most beautiful rock. And he still rocks my world today. Too many rocks? Rock on!