Here it is! The long-awaited house tour. Are you ready for this?
I’m going to try my best to give a lot of details about each room. We’ve put a lot of work into our house since we bought it in July 2008, but we’re not even close to finishing it. (Maybe we never will be?) There are some big projects I’d love to do but all in time, my friends.
Our front door. (Can you spot someone’s little face? As you will notice, she followed me around on this tour…)
If you would describe my style in just a few words, it would be: inviting, personal, warm, and classic. When I see stuff around our house, I want it to remind me of specific events or people who gave it to use or used it before us. I hope to explain all the little stories as we go.
Formal Dining
The formal dining room is the first room off to the right of our front door. I’m torn about this room… I love that there is a special place to have celebratory dinners marking big events, and I really like having a room to hold our formal china. (I think some people are in a different camp on me about this, but I want our formal china to be used for holidays, birthdays, etc.) But I also wonder if it’s a frivolous space… do we really need a formal dining room? Eventually, I could see this room turning into a home office or something of the like, but for now, I really like the way it is set up.
The table (solid cherry) was a gift from JD’s parents, and it belonged to his grandmother. The sides fold down, and the legs are in different places than normal tables, but I like the character. The chair is a sewing chair from my late grandmother. The seat folds up for extra storage under the cushion. The photo is a historic picture of Ponchatoula from the early 1900s. It was a gift from my dad to JD, and I love it’s large presence in the room. (JD wanted to hang it in his office, but I ”convinced” him that we should put it in our home.) The print in the corner is mine from a printmaking class I took two summers ago. The art, specifically the painting and the sculpture on the wall, are from my mom. (This is a recurring theme throughout the house…. we are so fortunate to have so much free art because my mom stays busy!)
Foyer
You remember this area from earlier, right? This is across the way from the formal dining room.
By the front door… someone loves this spot!
Front Half-Bath
Remember this front half-bath? Mom and I repainted the room (see the before and after here) in October 2008, and it is still one of my favorites. I love the brown, teal, off-white color combinations in here. I made the little pom pom display (tutorial here).
Kitchen
I am so thrilled with our kitchen. It is set up so that it overlooks the living room but has easy access to our kitchen table and formal dining table. It has so many counters, shelves and cabinets, that I still haven’t filled all of them. I’m sure you’re used to this countertop because you see it in so many “Friday Feasts” but I love that I can cook in our kitchen while still being part of the action of the living room. When people visit, they are drawn to hanging out here.
I stuck with a navy hue throughout, with a little dark green and red splashes here and there. My favorite part of the kitchen are the old Ponchatoula strawberry flat labels hanging above the cabinets. Growing up, Mom and Dad had these hanging above their kitchen, and I always loved them. After their kitchen renovation, they didn’t quite fit, and I was thrilled to inherit them.
This little spot is my favorite place in the whole house. It’s a little nook to the right of the refrigerator, and it’s my Grand Central Station: cookbooks, my address book, our homeowners’ association handbook, emergency phone numbers, my Susyjack calendar, and whatever random wines we’ve managed to collect at a given time. This is the first place I go when I get home from work.
The kitchen table is where we do all of our living… lunches, board game playing, some of my crafting. The table was our the first piece of furniture we bought for ourselves (everything else was a gracious hand-me-down or gift). We called it our 2008 Christmas present to each other, and I could not be happier. I love the look of it.
Also, check out the new addition to our home: Rexbo from IKEA! This was JD’s birthday present to me (he ordered it through ModerNash!), and I love it. I don’t know what I’m doing yet on each shelf, but for now, a birthday present from my parents is going on one shelf… an antique camera. So cool.
Living Room
The goal of our living room was comfort. And we definitely found it when we finally ordered our own living room furniture after being married for five years! Our poor old couch had seen so much… it was original my parents’ and it had witnessed the cleanings after coffee, spaghetti, a 9-year-old’s urine (!), and cranberry juice, just to name a few. It was time to purchase a set of our own. We were thrilled with the deal we got from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams when we ordered it during their “Summer of Love” sale. And, because we ordered it on the last day of the month and the rep needed her monthly quota, she waived shipping! We were so thrilled to come out on top considering we just melt into these seats.
The machine on the table behind the couch is actually an old calculator! How cool is that? My dad gave it to me, and we tried to make it work but it doesn’t quite crank. JD’s uncle Fred said that it was called a “comptometer.” Anyway, I am letting it share a shelf with our wedding pictures!
Master Bedroom
Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m only showing you one picture of our master bedroom. It is my least favorite decorated room, mostly because it seems silly to put so much effort into a place that only JD and I see. I’m coming around and starting to make adjustments to it, but for now, not for your eyes. Maybe I’ll show you some before and afters when I get the configuration right. For now, it is the catch-all for things I don’t know where to put: our computer, Lucy’s bed, Mom and Dad’s old Bentwood rocker, our old sofa, my old wicker shelf from college, etc.
One thing I do love about this room is our duvet cover from Crate and Barrel. We bought it on our annivesary trip to Chicago when we decided to go — on a whim – into the four-level store on the Magnificent Mile. We don’t have a C&B in Tennessee (which helped with tax when we ordered this awesome bed spread), and when we came across this pattern, we both agreed that we loved it. It was so striking, different and colorful, and we had to have it! Every time I get under the duvet, I remember the wonderful time we had in Chi-town!
Upstairs
When we first looked at this house, this bridge (that Lucy is sweetly modeling for us — again) is the #1 reason I didn’t want to live here. The long “catwalk” seemed … silly? I don’t know, I didn’t like it. I imagined our college friends wrestling (a common theme in the dorm) on the bridge and falling to their death off the side. (Isn’t that terribly graphic? I know!) But, the more I’m in this house, the more I love it. People who stay upstairs don’t feel disconnected from the happenings of the bottom floor, and it’s uber convenient when doing laundry…. just throw everything off the side into a pile in the living room!
The bridge actually looks really nice at Christmas.
The other rooms upstairs include a bonus room where I do a lot of my crafting and art stuff (it also doubles as an extra guest room), two bedrooms and a bathroom.
The Bonus Room
The drafting table with all my art supplies is from my mommy. The table can tilt and swivel to different angles. It holds all my craft supplies, as does a few cabinets. (Can you tell I’m into everything? Pictured above: spray adhesive, Prismacolors, markers, colored paper, fabic, old photos, printmaking supplies, painters tape and stationery.) The drafting table window looks north and to our very sweet neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. James.
The Guest Room
Remember this room? I took Claire’s old headboard, painted it a hideous Smurf color, and voila! a guest room!
The bed quilt was a wedding gift that I have always loved (thanks, Mom and Dad!). The tapestry over the window is an old college find from Pangaea, a Hillsboro Village staple. Mom suggested I use the pattern on the blue tapestry and stamp it on the headboard to “calm” it down a bit… I might. The painting is mine from when I was very little. Apparently I explained it to my mom as a “rabbit on a coconut under a waterfall.” (Do you see it?) The orange chair is my best friend/old roommate Mary’s that she found at a Goodwill our freshman year of college. It has moved to several of our friends’ homes, and when our friend Krammy was going to get rid of it when he and Della moved, I wouldn’t let him! It brings back so many memories of college. The chair quilt is an old old one from my parents’ house. I don’t remember where they got it, actually.
The Future Nursery
… is actually a junk room. I anticipate this room would be where a future, not-yet-conceived or adopted child will live one day. I’m saving it as a big upcoming project, mostly because I can’t decide what I really want to do to it. Any ideas would be appreciated! It does contain famous, young-JD artwork, though. Look at that overlapping! What talent!
Other Spots
I loooooove our laundry room. Look how much awesome space we have? I want to do some fun random mural or wall decal in here. We’ll see.
This is our first stop when entering our house from the garage. The blue case is an old toy chest from my dad’s old family home, and I put my purse and JD puts his briefcase in there. It’s a perfect way to contain our mess right when we come home. The star hanger is a piece I bought at a cute shop at the Marietta Square that holds our Vanderbilt athletic tickets. (JD insists that we have football, basketball, and baseball season tickets, and since I work for the university, we can manage to afford that.) Currently, it holds our ranked men’s basketball team tickets.
Also, our back yard and garage are awesome (but alas, no fun pictures until spring). Regardless of all the work it takes to maintain a home and a yard, it is so worth it.
Ok, everyone, that’s it! I hope, now that you have an idea with what I’m working with, you can give me suggestions, ideas and encouragement as we continue to decorate and make our house into a home!
Guys! Look at how much snow we got last weekend! It was intense.
I love snow, really, but last weekend was too much, mostly because I had a big adrenaline rush when I couldn’t get up a hill in our neighborhood the day after the storm. So, I’ll clarify: I do love snow… I just don’t like ice.
As my coworker Sarah said, Nashville’s weather forecasters “call wolf” quite often. There is always a frenzy to get to the store and stock up because “the GREAT Snow Storm of 2010 is coming!” So, when I saw the weekend outlook, I said, eh, we’ve got enough in the pantry. False. I truly did not anticipate the fact that I would be making at least 7 meals while stuck inside. I just figured we’d be ok.
Thus, Inclement Weather Friday Feast!
No, this isn’t really a recipe with preparation time, etc., but it was a creative concoction that I am kind of proud of. JD and I made the best out of a no-fun situation, and we came up with some seriously funny combinations. My favorite was on Friday night where we just grabbed a bunch of stuff and made it our meal.
So, above we’ve got (clockwise from bottom left) Publix Premium Margherita Pizza, cucumbers(Mom, see? I got my veggies in!), drinks, a pimento cheese sandwich, oranges and pasta salad leftover from my work event. (Maybe Friday was so fun because it included margaritas and whiskey…!)
Have you ever had to scrounge around to make an interesting meal? Maybe you’ve been tired and not wanted to round something up, or you have tons of little leftovers but not enough individually for a full meal? My friend Kristen told me about how they sometimes have “YOYO” (You’re On Your Own) nights at their house, and they have funny combinations at dinner. Maybe it’s because I’m not a fan of excess, but I love the idea of cleaning out your pantry pre-vacation or pre-grocery trip.
Any future “Inclement Weather” Friday Feast concoctions to add?
I’m a huge birthday fan. I love ‘em. When I was growing up, my parents did a great job making my birthday a “season,” not just a day. (I might have been really really loved.) So, when other people have birthdays, I get very excited. This excitement for my coworkers’ birthdays is translated into a handmade card that everyone in the office signs, and we give the birthday coworker the card and a dessert on that day. This has been going on ever since I started working at my current job, and everyone tells me they love it.
I guess you could say I’m the unofficial card-maker/birthday planner for our department. I actually enjoy it!
Well, my birthday is this Saturday, and my coworkers did something very sweet for me today. Instead of passing around a card and signing it, each person made their own card for me and wrote a special note! Carolyn, the coworker that thought of it, said, “You always make cards for us, so we thought we’d all make one for you.”
Are you crying yet because I was! Isn’t that sweet?? I also got an awesome carrot cake with icing made from scratch! I love my sweet office! And, I’m so impressed with their creativity!!
Other birthday details after the house tour this weekend!
Woo! Did everyone watch Lost last night? My goodness that’s an interesting show. I am excited about the last season and getting answers, but I suspect everything will not be resolved as thoroughly as I hope. Today, I stumbled upon this fun article on Etsy finds that referenced the show in some way. It was neat figuring out the connections.
It also led me to this cool shop by Wendy Anne Crittenden. Here was the piece they used in for the Lost-themed article. “Oil Spill” (See the reference?) 
Even though Wendy’s work is out of my price range, I still love her stark black on the white background. I went peeking around for more black and white images in Etsy and came across some nice pieces.
Boundstaff Press has this nice “Love Grows” Valentines Print ($30).
Love this sweet “Let’s Go Ride Bikes” print ($20) from 1canoe2.
Don’t know why but I heart this “Storm Trooper Calaveras” print by MisNopalesArt. ($10)
Finally, this is a nice black and white collection by Bridget Farmer Prints, especially her crow collagraph.
Thanks for going along with me as I did some searching!
The coolest thing about marriage is when you realize that you barely have to say anything (or anything in English) to communicate with your spouse. Here is a recent G-chat conversation JD and I had when JD discovered one of our favorite Nashville restaurants, The Local Taco, is opening a location in Brentwood, much closer to our house:
JD: dude!
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=308369214771&id=81097247804
Kate: DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JD: that could bankrupt us
Kate: i know
JD: that is so f. convenient
JD: i’m aware
Kate: TWO MONTHS! APRIL !
JD: INORITE?!?!?!?!
my heart leapt into my throat when i peeped that tweet
Kate: Wowie. That is marvelous news.
Brentwizzle is takin care of bizness.
JD: b to the rentwood
Kate: magreed
First of all, thanks, everyone for commenting on my “Adjectives on the Typewriter” post! I will have a house tour very shortly. My plan is to have it up for my birthday on Saturday, February 6, so keep an eye out for it then.
Secondly, I wanted to stray briefly away from highlighting presents that I received for Christmas to one of my favorite gifts that I gave this year. It was a project I put together myself, and I think it brought a lot of joy to my dad and uncle Dickie. I have been excited about it for a while and wanted to show you how I did it.
So, when they were little, my dad and his two brothers went to Mardi Gras, dressed up, and rode on floats of a parade. I don’t remember the parade name or many other details, but we found the costumes that the family wore. They are so cute because they go from head to toe. I found a few of the hats from two of the costumes and took them to keep, not really knowing what I’d do with them.
My mom also gave me all the photo albums that she had found of Maw Maw’s, and I was so excited to go through all the pages and boxes. I realized that several of the albums were of the Mardi Gras fun when Daddy and his brothers were little. I love old pictures regardless, but what can you do with one original that is only 3 inches by 4 inches? So, I decided to enhance and enlarge the old photos, make reprints, and frame them. Then, the lightbulb went on, and I thought to put the hats the corresponded with the pictures inside the frame too.
So, to make the frames for both Daddy and Uncle Dickie, I needed:
- select-a-size frames (I chose black metal from Hobby Lobby)
- gray mats (I just gave Hobby Lobby the sizes I needed, and they cut it for me.)
- glass (from Lowe’s… they’ll cut any size glass you need)
- reprinted pictures from Shutterfly
- old hats (that I hand-washed prior to assembly)
- white acid-free tape
- screwdriver and framing kit
I taped the photos to the back of the frames with the acid-free tape, placed the hats strategically, and assembled the frame around it.
It seems easier to do than what actually occurred, and JD can attest to my frustration and near tears when I mismeasured the mats and, on a different occasion, realized that one of the parts in the framing kit was faulty. But, all the sweat and tears were worth it by the time we opened presents!
I wish I had given myself more time to work on the project, mostly so I could enjoy putting it together rather than rushing through a cool gift when the obstacles arose. But, overall, it was a good idea and a fun way to use old pictures and old keepsakes!
I’m so excited to tell you about this succotash recipe because it’s from my old friend Erin. Erin was one of JD’s oldest friends at Law School (they knew each other in elementary school!), and she and I became close when we took a yoga class together (the beginning of my love of yoga, for sure). Here’s a picture of us at she and JD’s graduation circa 2007:
During our time in Athens, I organized a Thanksgiving party during February (I can’t remember why but it was an excuse to try out the new turkey roaster I got for Christmas). The party was a lot of fun, and Erin brought succotash. And, oh man, it was amazing. She had emailed me the recipe after the party, but I had forgotten about it when the weather got warmer. When I started planning this year’s Christmas dinner with my family, I remembered her succotash and was so excited to make it. It wasn’t as great as Erin’s original dish, but it was so wonderful and flavorful. (And, posting this today was a great excuse to contact Erin, check in with her on how she’s doing, and get her permission to share this awesome recipe!)
Erin’s Succotash
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: at least 30 minutes, preferably longer
Cleanup Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 stick of butter (cut in half)
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic (mashed or minced)
olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (no seeds)
1 tblsp (or less) red pepper flakes
½ tblsp Tabasco
1 tblsp dried basil leaves
1 tblsp dried oregano
½ c vegetable broth
¼ c white wine
6 chopped tomatoes
2 tblsp cumin seed
2 cans white kernel corn
2 cans lima beans
1 pint heavy cream
- On medium heat, in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, start with half of a stick of butter.
- Add one large onion.
- Place the garlic on top of the onion so that it doesn’t burn in the butter, pour roughly a tablespoon of good olive oil over the top to bring out the flavor of the garlic, then let it saute for about a min or so.
- Add two bay leaves (uncrumbled, because you’ll want to remove them later) and give it a toss to mix with the garlic, etc.
- Slice and add one jalapeño pepper.
- Add a tablespoon of red pepper flakes.
- Add 1/2 tablespoon Tabasco.
- Stir, then add some fresh ground pepper and kosher or sea salt (just enough of each to taste)
- Add about a tablespoon of dried basil leaves and a tablespoon of dried oregano.
- Add 1/2 of a cup of broth (I use vegetable) and a 1/4 of a cup of a good white wine or white wine vinegar.
- Stir again; let sauté for another minute.
- Add the 6 chopped tomatoes.
- Add about 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons of cumin seed, giving it that southwest, smoky flavor.
- Add another half of a stick of butter and stir.
- Turn the heat down to LOW and let everything incorporate for about 5 or so minutes.
- Add two cans of white kernel corn and two cans of lima beans.
- Stir everything together and add a pint of heavy cream. Cover with a lid.
- Let it simmer on medium-low heat for AT LEAST a half-hour, even longer if you have time. Taste it every now and again to make sure its seasoned the way you like it – the cream tends to enhance the spiciness, but you may need to add more salt or even more cumin seed if you like. But, once you add the cream, it pretty much cooks itself.
I served this both to my side of the family and then to JD’s side a few days after Christmas, and I think it was even better for the second serving since it had sat in its own juices for a little while. Overall, it’s a great cold-weather recipe perfect for holidays, snowy weekends, and old friends.
I love old typewriters. Did you know that? I think very old ones are so pretty and neat-looking. (I wonder if my kids will think my widescreen computer is “cool” in 2050?) When I helped my dad and uncle clean out my grandmother’s house, we found an old typewriter and an old calculator. I told them how much I loved them, so Daddy found another old typewriter of his. Now, I am proudly displaying two typewriters and a very cool old calculator in our foyer and living room.
For Christmas this year, another favorite present came from my parents, a very cool painting of a typewriter by Amy Dickson. I hung it over the display table in the foyer and it works perfectly with the real machines! I love it and how colorful it is.
I know this is just a brief glimpse of our house, and I’ve yet to show you a full tour. I know this has been in demand from a few of you, and I want to see if it’s really something people want to see! If I get 10 (!) comments from 10 different folks on this post, I’ll work up a house tour for you!
Imagine this. You’ve had a long week. It’s rainy and gross outside. You want to spend time with your husband because you’ve been working a lot lately. You also want to stick to your budget for the month. But you don’t want to spend another Friday night staying in, just watching television and being a couch potato. What do you do?
You organize Stuart Game Tournament 2010!
Ok, let me back up a bit. JD and I love playing board games. Always have. I played a ton of Parcheesi growing up, and JD relished beating his family members at any game he could. While dating, we knew we were made for each other because we’d stay up until the wee hours of the morning in the dorm playing King’s Court. (We even brought Sequence on our honeymoon!) These days, our board game playing is still going strong, even though, after Christmas, we have logged more hours playing Wii Resort and Mario Kart. (Very fun… I think I’m making up for all the years that Mom wouldn’t let me have a Ninentendo or Gameboy.)
So, when JD and I had lunch together on Friday, he asked me, “So what are we doing tonight?” Usually the response has something to do with people staying at our house, chores we have to do, friends we are eating dinner with, or another event already in the works. But, this Friday night, we were completely free. I knew if we didn’t have plans, we’d end up just vegging out on the couch for three hours too long. That’s when the game tournament came to mind, and JD was thrilled. We’re both fairly competitive, so we made it a tournament (“SGT 2010″ for short), with prizes and rules. We chose five games, JD picked the order, I made a sign, and we both spent the rest of the afternoon at work playing out victory strategies in our head.
Here were the terms: five games (Killer Bunnies, Wii Resort 3-Point Basketball Shoot-out, Scrabble, Mario Kart, and Agricola), the winner must win three out of five games, and the victor would get $100 out of next month’s budget to spend however he or she so desired. (Visions of J. Crew tops were dancing in my head!)
We had a pot of coffee and music going. Lucy was happily snoozing on her cushion. It was perfect.
I won the first two games. (I still cannot believe I won the 3-point shoot-out, but, boy, was I ecstatic.) JD, of course, dominated Scrabble and Mario Kart.
We were down to the last game… Agricola (below). But, prior to beginning, I had to find and play this clip on YouTube to get us pumped up for the final showdown.
And, you guessed it…..
Even though JD won Agricola and overall, I had a really fun time. The games distracted us from thinking about work and other looming chores around the house, we were good sports throughout, and it didn’t cost a thing. Best of all, it was quality time for the two of us (and Lucy)! It is so rare that we have a free night, and I’m so glad we used it this way. I’m sure we’ll keep the SGT 2010 scorecard up on the refrigerator for a while, not to prove that JD is better at games than I am (he doesn’t need a sign for me to know that), but to remind us of a very fun time together.
Again, sorry for the lack of posts and delays! I’ve been swamped with work, but I couldn’t let a Friday pass without a Friday Feast!
When my family was over at Christmas, my mom and dad revealed this awesome green bean appetizer/goodness they had tried at a recent holiday party, and it was the hit of the night! And so easy!
Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cleanup Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
fresh, raw green beans
bacon of your choice
brown sugar
- Clean the green beans and cut off the ends.
- Grab a clump of 3-5 beans and wrap a half-slice of bacon around each bundle.
- Sprinkle some brown sugar on top of the bundle, specifically near the bacon.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Check at 30 minutes… it may need more time. (We were a bit distracted that night with cooking all of the other awesome foods!)
Enjoy the delciousness! Plus, they look so pretty!
My super sweet sister-in-law gave me another favorite Christmas gift this year, a red, polka-dotted lunch bag! I was so excited to get it because I desperately needed my own lunch tote (the Publix plastic bag wasn’t cutting it) and it is my favorite color!
I love the interior too! (It also easily fits a sandwich and chips, but, well, I ate them pre-photo shoot.)
I did some research on the brand, Buckhead Betties, and found they are a wholesale group that makes all kind of fun stuff. Check out their store locator link to find a store that sells them near you.
Oops! Another Monday passed and I didn’t update Schmate. This is my busiest month of the work year from mid-January until mid-February, so bear with me, folks! OK, now onward to another favorite Christmas present.
Some backup information: as you probably know, my momma is an artist. She can draw just about anything. Seriously. When she teaches in her art classes, she talks about how everyone can learn to draw, even as an adult, and that when you are little, you stop drawing and never really develop your skill from practice, like, for example, your handwriting develops. She consistently uses my dad’s drawing skills as an example. My dad draws a little stick man with a cowboy hat (which only requires a four-looped movement). It’s pretty cute. When I was little, Mom and I would come home from running errands and see a note Daddy had left, and always at the bottom of the note was a cowboy. When I went away to college, this cowboy continued to reappear in packages sent from home, and it became Daddy’s “brand,” per se. A cute one at that!
So, when mom started offering art adult classes in 2007, she got Daddy to take a few. He didn’t venture to take drawing, but he did take a clay workshop where he made a cool platter. I even have a small bowl he made that we used to put our keys in.
Well, this Christmas, JD and I received a handmade art gift from my dad: a clay toothbrush holder for our wall, with none other than the famous cowboy, basking in the warm glow of the sun!
Check out that cool texturing technique too! He’s quite talented, I’d say. Maybe he should reconsider his day job?
Here we are opening the gift. I was so delighted to get it!
We’re doing a few projects around the house this weekend, and hopefully we can get this holder up in our bathroom. It’s pretty cute, don’t you think?
I love olives… perhaps because I’m part Italian. Regardless, I think they are awesome. So, when I received three olive recipes the day before I took off work for the Christmas break, I knew I had to try at least one. I think I chose the best of the three…
Cheese Olive Balls
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 12-15 minutes
Cleanup time: 3 minutes
Ingredients
1 stick maragarine, melted
1 jar Kraft Old English Cheese (This may seem weird, but I found it in a glass jar next to the unrefrigerated cheese, like Parmesan.)
red pepper
dash of salt
1 cup flour
50 olives drained
- Mix ingredients.
- Roll around olives and freeze.
- Bake at 400 until slightly brown. (This took anywhere from 12-15 minutes, and after 7 minutes or so, I turned them over.)
Be sure to let them cool, but they were just great. My coworker who gave me the recipe said that she keeps a bunch in her freezer and when guests come over, she’ll just pop a few in the oven to serve. Super easy, very tasty, a good recipe to keep!
I have decided to space out some of my favorite Christmas presents for several reasons. One, I am pretty busy at work and at home. Two, I want to elaborate on each one. Three (and the honest answer), I am worried I am going to forget about one of my cool presents after I post about all of them. But, we’re starting off today with my absolute favorite gift given to me by my favorite person!
So… do you remember this post, oh.. back in July? It’s one of my top blog posts and it was based around this feather ring (via SusyJack). I loved this set of stackable rings, including a cool feather.
But I didn’t love it, mostly because it was gold, has a lot of brown elements, and, well, way too pricey.
Then, in early December, I just happened to check the Bona Drag site again, and I found this ring: the silver, less clunky, more inexpensive alternative.
So, what do you do when you find something awesome like that, knowing you just won’t get it for yourself? You tweet about it!
Ok, let me back up a bit. Usually at Christmas, JD and I buy something together for our joint Christmas gift. For example, last year we bought our first set of furniture: a kitchen table set. This year, after Thanksgiving, JD and I decided we wouldn’t do gifts to each other this year. But, then, casually over Google-mail g-chat a week later, JD mentions that he did in fact get me a present, and it may actually be more than $50. Then over the course of the next few weeks, he begins to elaborately throw me off course in my mental guessing game. He even suggested we not go into the Frist Center gift shop during a visit because my gift might be in there. So, I’m thoroughly confused.
After my parents and uncle left from their Christmas visit, JD turns to me (it is December 23rd, mind you) and wants to know if I want my gift. (He can never wait to give me gifts! So cute!) I give in, and we go to the living room. JD promptly reaches down into my stocking, and there is the box with “Bona Drag” etched on top. I’m so surprised, so shocked, and so pleased that I immediately start crying. (I cry often, frequently from being taken aback.) It was in fact that awesome silver stackable ring that I wanted and had completely forgotten about post-tweet. Boy, he is good!
I just love this ring. It’s gorgeous. Good job, hubby!
Also, I want to say too that the customer service at Bona Drag is awesome, specifically Heather. JD ordered a size too big, so I emailed customer service, and they sent a prompt and warm response back within 24 hours. The exchange was easy, and I got the ring within a week. I highly recommend their company just for that reason!
Has anyone else received the new CB2 catalog in the mail recently? I got it over the weekend and really enjoyed looking through the pages. CB2 is a Crate and Barrel sister company, and although some of it is a little modern for the compromise that exists between me and JD in regards to our decorating tastes, I really like certain items that I could see us getting. Here are some of my favorites.
Check out this cool hopscotch rug! Can’t you see a little (or big) person having fun in your entryway? I love fun decor like this.
I instantly cracked up at these appetizer plates when I found them in the catalog. And they’re only $2.95 each!
I dog-eared the page with this twine floor lamp. It screams “classy” to me.
I like dramatic bedding (ours is actually a find from Crate & Barrel in Chicago… a fairly wild but strangely appealing design to both of us), and the same goes for this set. It’s so different… maybe that’s why I like it.
These cirrus bath rugs are wonderful. I’ve never been a fan of conventional, fuzzy rugs, but the texture on these are so inviting.
Finally, these chairs! Ever since our post-Thanksgiving IKEA trip, I have been drawn to these simple, colorful chairs that would be great for many spots in your house.
