craftastic weekend!

First off all, I took Friday off in order to get into the eye doctor. If you've checked out my 2011 bucket list you'd know this was on my list of things to do this year. I haven't been to the eye doctor in over 6 years (oops) and I've been putting it off  since I moved to Chicago. My eye doctor in Texas was a jerk and totally made the experience horrible, plus the air eye puff thing. HATE! However, I am pleased to report that I had an appointment Friday, loved my doctor (she lives at the end of my block!) and picked out some super sassy frames. strike one off the list!
Now, on to the more interesting points of my post... this weekend was pretty craftastic! I've been working on this cork board for the dining room. I have hundreds of wine corks and I've been tossing around different ideas of how to use the corks. The hubs and i picked up a big backless frame from hobby lobby, a piece of backing and a hot glue gun. It was a huge pain in the behind, I removed and reapplied and even had to troubleshoot but I finally finished it today and the man hung it in the dining room.

Last month, as my monthly present to my husband, I bought him Paper White Bulbs. You might be saying "yeah, sure... you bought the bulbs for HIM" but seriously, the man loves plants. He'd turn this place into a jungle if I let him. Oddly, you think this would lead him to buy more flowers for me... but alas that is not so. Anyway, I bought paper white bulbs, which can grow in water and in doors. From what I've read, people use them during winter to get a spring-ish feel but I figured I'd  get them and try them now anyway. I put together the bulbs as instructed and here's what it looks like now:

hopefully in just a few weeks, it'll look more like this:

 photo from younghouselove.com

Lastly, I've been itching for a custom lamp ever since I fell in love with bright colorful lampshade I saw in a local store (and maybe also a little because I hate the lamp we have in the living room, it came with the hubs and isn't my style). I read a lot about recovering lamp shades and making custom lamp shades and thought I'd give it a try. I bought some fabric a few weeks back, but put off the project. 

Today, the man ran to target to get a few things for the house and came back with this:

It's just a plain $15 cheap lamp from Target. Oddly enough, I saw the same lamp on Friday when I was there but decided not to buy it since I was already picking up the panini pan from my last post. Luckily, it caught his eye as well and he brought it home for me to "practice" making a custom lamp. Score!
I found my fabric, spray adhesive and hot glue gun and whined enough that Rodney gave in and ironed my fabric for me (I can't iron to save my life. seriously. can't.) and I got to work. A few minutes of work and VIOLA!

there's my colorful, fun custom lamp! and here it is in it's happy home:

I have to say that I love it. It has inspired some redecorating in the living room. I hope to take on throw pillows for the living room. Hopefully I can find some great fabric in the blue/greens and beige tones that I can tie into the lamp and we'll store the throw pillows that are currently on the couch. Of course this means I either have to 1. learn to sew or 2. bribe a friend who sews. For now I'm thinking the latter is the way to go.  Stay Tuned!

I'm not above sharing

I'm currently trying to come up with a great way to organize all my favorite tried a true recipes. I don't use recipes too often but there are some cases when proportions have to be just right, such as baked goods or I simply need a reminder because it's not something I make to often. So, while I try and figure out the best way to put this together, box? book? who knows!, I decided to add a Recipe Tab with a few of my favorites. I'll be adding to it (and hopefully finding a better way to organize it) from time to time, so check it out.

We're making it a mission to try at least two new recipes a month at home, so hopefully I'll have more yummtastic things to share! And since the man has given me the go ahead to buy wonderful contraption:

image from amazon.com

which, btw, I've been dying to get for months. I already know several ways in which we can use it (grilled cheese, quesadillas, naan, bacon) but rest assured I'll be trying to think of other wonderful things to cook to prove it does deserve a place in our already overcrowded kitchen. Have an idea? send it my way!

nomnomnom

One of my favorite hobbies these days is cooking. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook (and to eat, obviously!). However, I must admit that I am not terribly adventurous when it comes to cooking. I can make some mean southern food, I can rock the basic meat and potatoes and veg and if you want italian food? I gotcha there. but honestly, I don't branch out much from there. I never really learned to make mexican food, because I grew up in Texas and there's a mexican joint on every corner. And honestly, it was cheaper to just buy a taco from the neighborhood place than buy all the ingredients yourself. The thing is, while I love Thai, Indian, Greek, Mediterranean, Spanish food etc etc, I'm just not familiar enough with the ingredients to make dishes myself.
Part of my 2011 bucket list is to make dishes from different cuisines that I don't normally cook and find 3 keepers.
Last night was attempt #1. I made the indian dish Tandoori chicken with white rice and homemade naan.
I admit that i sorta cheated a little, in that I bought a Tandoori spice blend from The Spice House instead of all the individual spices that blend together to make the dish, but despite that, it was still something new I'd never attempted to cook. I am pleased to report that the dish was a huge success! The hubs and a friend both gave it a 7.5 and I gave it a solid 7. We all agreed that the dish could use a little more heat (as it spice). Now that I know that this is a dish that is here to stay, I can justify buying individual spices that made up the blend and can alter the recipe a bit to add a little more heat. I'm pretty excited about this victory and am looking forward to trying additional Indian dishes.
A few photos from last night's table...

Thanks to everyone who sent me messages and FB notes and comments and such regarding the anniversary question. The hubs and I decided on a nice little way to remember the anniversary of our first day, which is today! We plan on cooking up the same dish I made on our first anniversary of dating, Chicken Spaghetti Carbonara, which is freaking rich and luscious and to die for! hopefully I can talk him into a re-shoot of these fine photos from that meal...

Random Questions

To all my married friends, I have a question on how you do things. and to my single friends, I'd like your opinions...

Once you're married... do you still celebrate the anniversary of your first date?

The man and i were discussing this... the anniversary of our first date (03/06/08) is coming up this weekend and we usually do a little something to celebrate. but we're married, so what do we do now?!?!

to me, the anniversary of our first date seems more special. i mean, that's when it all started, right?
i suppose getting married is a pretty big deal too, however if you attended our wedding/one of our "celebrations" you know we didn't go all out and over the top by any means.

obviously, we can celebrate or not however we choose, but i was just curious to find out what y'all think!

Obsession

A couple of months ago the man and I were walking through a local neighborhood after meeting some friends for brunch. The neighborhood is filled with unique shops that I love. On this particular visit, we passed a small furniture/home goods type store and as I glanced in the window I was immediately drawn to a glorious colorful lampshade. yes, folks, a LAMPSHADE. We kept on walking (it was COLD! outside) but I never forgot about the lampshade. I loved the lampshade because it was so different and unique. As I sat at home thinking about it, I couldn't help but look around and think, why isn't our place more different and unique? I've always had rules about the things I hang on my walls. No mass produced art hanging on our walls, no pictures that you can find at a big box store. I've enlarged photos from our travels (well, mostly my travels, but hopefully that will change over time) collaged photos of family/ friends/ etc. I love things that are unique to us, things that might create interest and perhaps even start conversations. Something more interesteing than  "Hey, is that big flower by Georgia O'Keefe?"
In my search to find ideas on personalizing your own space, I turned to the internets... because, obviously. I found some great articles on turning boring unfinished furniture from ikea into something super cute and more personal and lavish, which seemed like a good start. However, while catching up on the blog of one of my favorite authors over at http://www.jennsylvania.com/ I read about some of her own home improvements and followed a link to THIS BLOG with which I have since become obsessed. Kids, I'm talking O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D! I now want to go buy old things so that I can re-paint/stain/cover them. I want to buy paint/primer/spray paint. I want to remodel a bathroom, pick out fixtures and tiles. And if I'm 100% honest here, I want to birth a baby girl so that it can wear a "Little Sister" shirt and Cisco (our dog) can wear a "Big Brother shirt" ala their own baby girl, and family pet. Don't worry though, that birthing urge has passed, but rest assured I'm storing that idea away for later.
Since my obsession began, I've been keeping a list of "projects" that I want to take on and it's growing at a rapid pace. I even added something to my 2011 bucket list! Did I mention that I bought fabric to "re-cover an old lampshade"? Perhaps I should tell you that I do not even own an old lampshade! But maybe one day I will! I've been talking about finding dining chair and recovering then/ re-painting them to go with a new dining table that we have yet to even pick out. (Don't get me started on my recent obsesion with place mats, either. That's a whole other post for another day!)
I'm really not sure if the man is trying to humor me, or maybe he's starting to be on my side, or perhaps has a completely different motivation all together, but he suggested we look up some thrift stores around the city and hit them up this weekend. This whole obsession could truly raise me to domestic godess status... or make me vow to never stray from Ikea again.
Stay Tuned.

how's married life?

It seems like at least once a week someone asks me "how's married life?" and i never really know how to answer this question. i mean, they aren't asking how I am, or about MY life in general but specifically about my married life. I feel like i should either be exclaiming how wonderful it is and how i can't imagine life any other way, or perhaps lamenting and discussing how hard it is. but instead, what i really feel is, married life is the same as non-married life, except now i have a longer name and an extra ring. nothing has really changed and i can't help but wonder, is it supposed to???
I've always wondered why people were in a hurry to get married. I've heard girls utter "i just can't wait to be mrs. *boys name here*" or "i really just want to be married already!" From my experience thus far, and granted i'm only 6 months into this, there's no sense in rushing because nothing magical or amazing happens. don't get me wrong, i love my husband and wouldn't trade him for anything but life isn't mystically better because we have a marriage license.
Actually, i take that back. there is a big difference where taxes are concerned. i never paid much attention when people talk about the tax benefits of being married. WHOA! i honestly was shocked when we did our taxes. i even felt a little guilty for getting such a major tax break just for being married. single people get screwed where taxes are concerned. so, if all those girls were talking about how the couldn't wait to get married for the tax benefits, then i apologize for judging them. 
anyway, point is, i feel as if my answer is always a let down to those asking. people want to hear some great newlywed story of amazing bliss or difficult adjustments,etc. but the truth is, nothing has really changed... and honestly, i wouldn't have it any other way.
 

Last week chicago was hit with a history making blizzard... yay? we got a couple feet of snow and it was blown around by 70mph winds. it was pretty brutal to say the least. when things finally calmed down, i couldn't resist the urge to go out and play:

I made a snow angel, tromped through snow mountains and seriously, burn some calories! trudging through snow is hard work-yo!

the fun was pretty short lived because lotsa snow + car = lots of work shoveling snow. for those of you who have never had to do this. shoveling snow? NOT FUN! it's HARD! seriously, people actually die of heart attacks while shoveling. according to the news there were a few deaths last week from snow shoveling. Rodney and i worked together, but still... it took us 45 minutes and i was sore for 2 days. NOT COOL! anyway, we now have mountains of snow that has hardened and it looks like it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. great.

In other news, I've made some progress on my 2011 list.

i *TRIED* to go sledding, but the conditions weren't right.

i also attempted to hike somewhere new in order to see ice falls in one of the canyons at starved rock, but i almost slid to my death in my crappy kohls snow boots that have zero traction.

BUT, i was successful in a few things:

surprise my hubby with a treat at least once a month- i bought him a silly zombie food shirt from teefury.com. it didn't arrive until this week, but it counts for january cause i bought it then and told him about it then lol

send my babies a package of goodies, once a month- Amber and Tyler recieved their package of goodies a couple weeks ago... cute sets of papers/stickers/envelopes to make your own cards along with tinkerbell accessories (ps the socks in the photo, didn't go. because DUH! look how small those are. i forget amber is EIGHT now! ) and for tyler, some toy story 3 books (he's currently learning to read) and coloring books.

go on a photography adventure once a month- last month we went to starved rock to see the eagles. dozens of bald eagles flock to this island in the middle of the river. it's really kinda cool. it's hard to get good photos. even with our telephoto lense, they were less than stellar. but it was fun and rather interesting

i only wish i had more exciting things to report. but honestly, i'm doing everything i can to not crawl into bed and stay there for the next few months. I've had the worst time this winter. I have gone beyond the winter blahs and have Seasonal Affective Disorder. i've started taking some supplements and am happily surprised that they help. in fact, last night not only did i not have to fight to stay out of bed until 9pm, but i easily stayed up until almost 11pm! that's progress! ha!