My Sundays are....

spent combing the sale papers and planning the menu for the week.  I decided that I would start sharing my weekly menus with all of you.  This week was relatively easy as I don't have to plan for Thanksgiving on Thursday or for Saturday as we are having Thanksgiving again then.

Monday we are having:

{ photo borrowed from here}

Kaytucky Chicken (recipe from Kayotic Kitchen)

Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans

I cannot wait to make this chicken!  It combines everything delicious!  

Tuesday we are having:

{photo borrowed from here}

Island Pork Tenderloin (recipe from Little B Cooks)

Cous Cous

Sweet Peas

Salad

Just looking at this picture my mouth is watering!  I can't wait!

Wednesday we are having:

{photo borrowed from here}

Lasagna Style Baked Ziti (recipe from Real Simple)

Salad

Garlic Bread

For my garlic bread I slice a loaf of French or Italian bread and I finely mince the garlic and mix it in with the butter.  Then I smear that on the bread and bake it for about 20 minutes at 350.  Much better than the freezer garlic bread, less preservatives.

Thursday we are having

Thanksgiving Dinner!  Yummy!

Not sure about Friday as of right now.  Maybe just leftovers from Thursday!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We have a beautiful home and lots of love!

Hope you all have the Happiest of Thanksgivings!

Stop by next week to see what I'll be cooking up!!

XOXO

H.

A Day Spent in Springtime!

Since we have moved into our new home we have slowly but surely painted every room.  As of this morning there were 3 left.  Now there are 2!  I tackled the second bathroom upstairs this morning.  I chose a lovely shade of green called Springtime!  Its Lovely!  

This is not the bathroom I painted but once again I forgot to take before pictures!  This is the powder room downstairs!  However the bathroom upstairs was as dull and sad as this.

My sweet kitty, Stella, decided to come check on me and thankfully did not help!  She is so cute so I wouldn't have been able to stay mad as I was cleaning up green kitten paws off the carpet.  Shortly after this photo was taken she had enough and fell asleep on the floor in the hall.

Finished Product!  I am very pleased with how clean and crisp it looks.  Did I mention how hard it is to take decent pictures of a bathroom??

I picked this green because it matched the green in my shower curtain.  I am really liking how it turned out!  I am so excited to know there are only 2 rooms left that are "Barely Grey".

This is taken from the shower.....Yes I was standing in the shower.  I Love the art work I put together for over the commode.  It was from a calendar.  I had the frame in the basement and I just inked the matte so match the butterfly!  The whole project for the art work cost me nothing!

Here is a close up of the art work.  I just Love it!  It feels very "whimsical vintage" to me.  I don't think that is a thing but it is now!  I think I will really enjoy even walking by this room especially with the winter and cold weather quickly approaching!

Happy Election Day Everyone!

XOXO,

H.

   

Happiest of Birthdays to my Love!

So today is a special day.  It is the day my husband was born.  I am so lucky that today I get to spend time crafting him a cake.  I scoured the internet for the perfect cake to craft but I kept coming back to the tried and true southern staple, Red Velvet Cake.  I knew that Bakerella was the woman I needed to trust on this one as I don't have a "Family Recipe"!  You can find the recipe I used here.  I did not remember that I was sharing this until everything was mixed and I broke my Whisk.  I am kind of sad about this as it is the only whisk I had!

{You can see the rouge whisk part there on the left!}

The recipe recommends greasing and flouring the cake rounds but I am not a big fan of  cleaning up the flour that will end up EVERYWHERE.  I use a little cheat thanks to Pam.  They have a baking spray that is the grease and flour combined in a no mess (relative term) spray can.

{Baking Pam Spray smells SO good!!}

After I sprayed the pans I scooped the batter into them as equally as I could.  Then I dropped the pans flat on the counter a few times to make all the air bubbles rise up and out!  Then into the oven they go for 30 minutes.

{See you soon my pretties!}

My house smells so good right now!  I can barely stand it!  I am excited to get to work on the Cream Cheese Frosting!  While I am waiting though for dinner tonight we are having Steak, baked potatoes, garlic bread and a salad!  Hope there will be room for cake!

{Hope it tastes as good as it looks}

I finally got a clean toothpick after 40 minutes. I let them cool completely and I made the frosting in the mean time.  Delicious creamy Cream Cheese Heaven!  Here is the ingredient Line up....Buter, Cream Cheese, Vanilla, and Confectioners Sugar.

{Ingredients for Heaven}

Make sure everything is room temperature.  Cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Add Vanilla.  Then gradually add the sugar.....They mean gradually!

{Let the Dust Storm Begin!}

As you can see I did not believe the gradual part.....I did however quickly learn!  This frosting is so thick and yummy.

{Messy Frost Job}

I always put my cake on the cake stand and then place wax paper under the cake so I can make the biggest mess ever and then once the paper is removed you will never know!

{Cake Concealer}

I spooned the rest of the frosting into a zip loc bag so I could pipe around the base and on the top for the finishing touches!

{Finished Product}

I think it turned out pretty good!  Especially since this is only the second layer cake I have ever made!  Now I have to wait patiently until my love comes home to have a slice!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!!

Happy Birthday John!  I Love You!

XOXO,

H.

Life had me down....

so I took a Leap of Faith!  I put in my two weeks notice and last Friday was my last day at Hertz Equipment Rental.  

I am looking for a new job but in the meantime I am so excited to be a "Domestic Engineer".  Thank you Ms. Gina Morgan for that!  I have so many plans to fill my time!  I am the most excited to blog for you fine people more!

Tomorrow I will be Baking a birthday cake from scratch for my husband's birthday.  Tune in and I'll share it with you!

XOXO,

H

My new Calming Creative Space!

So of course when you move into a new house everything is BLAH contractor white.  I have to tell you from a creative stand point it is not at all inspiring.  So I decided to change that.  I would come into here make a birthday card and end up organizing and looking for stuff.

I didn't take as many before shots as I could have.  I honestly almost didn't take this one.  So it's just a little peak at the boring "barely gray" walls.    Then on to the wonderful transformation.  I feel like I will finally be able to be creative and accomplish something.

I added a new fun dresser from Ikea.  Joan finally has a nice place to hang out.  It is the most perfect and fun color.  It will work really well for concealing the large quantities of stuff that I have.

My work space is now all clutter free because of my new peg board.  It is going to be so nice to have so much space to be able to work.  Maybe I will get more done to share with all of you.

I never in a million years would have imagined that I would have space left over on this board.  Making the board was so much fun.  I love projects that my hubby helps me with.  The miter saw scares me so he came in hand there.  I adore the combination of the red and turquoise, it is so fresh and fun!

My last bit of organization comes in the form of an Ikea bookshelf that I robbed from my hubby.  I think it looks pretty good.  It is so nice to know where everything is and to have everything so accessible.

Now to get off this computer so I can craft the most amazing wall art to finish this room perfectly!  Be on the lookout later this week!

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Oh How time Flies...

Especially when you are having fun!  I have been so busy the past year with....well, with Life! Here is a brief "catch up" of what has been going on since we last were together.

Last October John and I were married in Harrisburg.  I cannot believe that it was already almost 11 months ago!  It was an amazing and beautiful day!  Will re-live that in a post sometime soon!

We waited until February of this year to go on our honeymoon.  We went to Cancun, Mexico.  It was amazing!  I think about being there almost everyday!  Waking up and eating breakfast and then laying in the warm sun all day with people waiting on me hand and foot.......Sorry, daydreaming there for a minute!

I even woke up at sunrise one morning.  Can't beat this shot!  It was the most calming and beautiful moment of the whole trip for me....John was sleeping.  It was me, the ocean, and the sun.  Amazing!

In November of 2011 we signed paperwork and began the building process.  In March of this year we moved into our very first house.  We are both very proud of ourselves.  I can't wait to share the painting, decorating and projects of making this house our home with all of you!!

I hope I still have a few readers out there!  I am back and happier than ever!  I have missed you all!

Baci....

So as some of you know...I have a dog. His name is Baci and he lives at his Grandma's house with the big dogs. Baci is a very spunky little Cairn Terrier. I found this video today while looking for pictures of my best friend Lacey who passed away our Junior year of high school. It was a sad process but this video brightened my day. I miss my friend, and I hope all my classmates have fun at our 10 year reunion this weekend.