new grill

This blog is about Tszujjing things up, right?  Well, I mentioned a few months back that I got myself a new grill (that would be new teeth for the non-gangsta readers:-)) -- I tszujjed my mouth up big time!  Shame on me for not giving details back in November when my new pearly whites came into my life-- it just didn't happen, but you are in luck today.. here is the story of why a grown woman who has good dental hygiene needed some new teeth. 


You should know that I am lucky and have had the same group of girlfriends for... well, forever really.  These are the friends that you make in elementary school and junior high that are your friends for life-- the ones you cant get rid of even if you wanted to (I kid).  While I think this is fantastic it isn't always so great for those that make a little blunder that allows you to hold something over their head for the REST FOR THEIR LIFE. Confused-- let me explain.  In sixth grade I was playing horse (you know basketball) with a group of friends outside of my house-- it had just finished raining and we were sick of being stuck inside making prank calls-- so basketball it was.  Well-- while we were playing my best friend Beverly (hi!) accidentally (....) pushed me and I fell and cracked my two front teeth.   No joke I had a big triangle out of my teeth and had to get some concrete caps put on them. She has been reminded of this for 20 years! I know- stinks to be her. 

Now, back in the day- this really was not a big deal-- I was young and really didn't care what my teeth looked like.  Lets fast forward to high school and college-- this would be when I found out that fake teeth and blacklights don't mix.  Not only do they not mix, my teeth.. my TWO FRONT TEETH did not show up in a blacklight and lets be real.. blacklights were at EVERY party in college.  I was a legit human jack-o-lantern.


Over time my teeth had become discolored to the point that one of them almost looked slightly brown- so gross but you would be amazed at how costly new teeth are!  About a year ago my dentist told me that it was time to update them-- the material they used 20 years ago wasn't as high quality as it is now and they wouldn't last much longer.  So I went through the 4 week process and had my top four front teeth totally redone. 


Here are some before and after pics.  I don't have lots of good before ones that show the discoloration because, well because they were bad pictures and I tend to delete those.

BEFORELook at my front two teeth (I'm in the middle)-- clearly darker than the others.

AFTERMuch better :-) Isn't my niece cute? :-)

OH!  And guess who's teeth show up in a blacklight now?!?!  I know-- I'm a lucky girl :-) Anyone else have fake teeth that didn't show up in a blacklight?  I'm dying to know I wasn't the only one!

Carolyn

what would YOU do? couch edition

Hi all!  Sorry for the skimpy postings lately-- I promise-- still have my blog zest, I just had a BUSY week at work.  I am actually in Montreal, CANADA right now for a work conference and man alive- its cold here.  Wanna know something else? A heck of a lot of people speak french here.  Now now- before you start thinking I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed- let me clarify... I knew before coming that this is a french province but I just didn't expect it to be SO french- loving my little culture shock:-) 

Anywho onto some home chat.. I need YOUR advice!  Here's the story-- when Dan and I moved into our new house there was sort of a unspoken agreement that the main part of the house was mine to decorate (he has the ability to veto of course) and the basement was his land (I hate to say the word "man cave" cause to be honest- Dan loathes that word... it drives him absolutely nuts when people say it- ha-- probably should start saying it more huh? :-)) 

Long story short- Dan and I are in need of seating in the basement and we both really want a BIG sectional.  Dan has his heart set on a dark brown leather sectional while I want fabric. Even though I don't love the idea of a leather sofa (not b/c of looks-- it just doesn't scream "comfort" to me) I was all in- b/c, well-- this is Dans space and if he wants leather then I think that's what he should get.  So- off I went to find a large dark brown leather sectional that had more modern lines so that we would both be happy with the purchase.  I have since learned that inexpensive, quality, good looks, leather (not plastic pretending to be leather), and sectional are not words that go together.  I found one that I thought might work and when I took Dan to go check it out he laid his eyes on "The One". This was not "the one" I picked out-- that would have been too easy:-)  This thing is a monster- big, chunky, and everything Dan could ever hope for- I am, of course, not in love.  Here is a tiny (really poor quality pic) or you can check out the link. Keep in mind that the stitching is light-- so the pictures make it looked prettier than it is.

So the question is... what would YOU do?  The couch is super comfy-- just not my personal style (please don't take offense if you own this couch or love this couch... there is nothing wrong with it... just not my top choice).  Part of me feels like Dan puts up with my decorating style (even though he doesn't always get it or necessarily like it) but the other part of me, the part inside my head, is screaming "NO!" :-) 

WWYD?

Carolyn

womp womp & some friend's painting projects

Don't you just LOVE when you get inspired to make a BIG change?!?  Well, I certainly do and two of my friends recently got inspired to change up a piece in their home. Dare I say that this little blog of mine is.. gasp.... inspirational?!?!?  Haha... of course I'm kidding. 

I try to persuade Dan on a daily basis that my decorating choices are legit, but he rarely believes me, so imagine how excited I was to tell Dan that I had inspired my friends to do a little painting (their words not mine).  Here is a recap of the conversation...

Me: So did you know that I inspire people?

Dan: Huh?

Me: Yup-- Jess AND Ash both said that I inspired them this week

Dan: Inspired them to what?

Me:  Decorate, duh (yes.. I am 30 and I said "duh")

Dan: Well, if you call painting everything in our house white then sure, your REALLY inspirational.  

Me: Your a jerk

Dan: Kidding... what did they do

Me: Painted some furniture white....  

Enter Dan's laughter and my womp womp sound.  So I am not inspirational BUT my friends certainly did do some major painting last week.  Check out there projects.

This is my friend Ash's (Hi ASH!!) corner hutch.  She decided she wanted to move away from the traditional oak look and move towards something a little more crisp looking.  Check out her beautiful after picture below (P.S. These are camera phone pics so I apologize for the not so fantastic quality). OH!  And also take a little peek into her kitchen-- so jealous of those white cabinets!

And, this table was primed and painted by my friend Jess (Hi Jess!!!) (the original color was similar to Ashley's before picture above).  I am really not sure when Jess found time for this project-- she is a mommy of THREE boys under the age of 2 (two are twins) and still found time for a little painting- phew.. makes me tired just thinking about it!

Don't you just love what a little bit of paint can do? I'm inspired... heading off to see if I can find something to paint!   Thanks for sharing Ash and Jess! 

Carolyn 

rug love

You all remember when I obsessed about getting a striped rug, right?  Well once I got my "I have to have it or I will die rug", I didn't really know what to do with it.  I know- whats that about?  Well let me tell you-- a majority of my house is carpeted and I didn't know how I felt about rug on rug action so I threw it in our office and called it a day.  Fast forward to this past weekend--I was standing and staring at my family room as I do way too often than I should admit and decided to give it the good ol' college try in our family room-- now I want your honest opinion- promise no hurt feelings here!


So let me know-- brilliant move or massive fail?  Here is the before--- sorry the pics are not so fantastic.. but you get the gist.

And here is what it looks like with rug on rug.  What do we think?

Lay it on me please:-)  Dan will love you if you say you hate it and I will love you if you say you love it.  Whose it gonna be?

OH!  Did you all see the cute little blue and white pillow on the couch that I whipped up the other day?  No-- well take a look at the little bugger-- have I said recently how much I heart my sewing machine?  Is it sad that I'm 30 and my favorite toy is a sewing machine?  Is it even sadder that I continue to ask questions as if you can answer me? Yeah I thought so.

Carolyn

O-R-E-O

Does anyone know whats better than a double stuffed Oreo?  Anyone?  I know this sounds like a trick question cause, lets be real, there really isn't anything better than a chocolately, creamy Oreo right?  Well my friends, you would be wrong!  Let me tell show you two things that are, in my book, so much better...

A Oreo Topped with Mallow Fluff and Dipped in Chocolate

AND... a Chocolate Chip Cookie with a Oreo Inside

I know-- insane, right?  I stumbled across a website last week that had similar recipes to these and I went against every "dieting" grain in my body and decided, if I kicked the bucket tomorrow without eating these, I would be really annoyed.  And I mean-- so what if I am a little more plump in the winter... that's what February is for, right.  I will put down the Oreo's in March...maybe. 

So here is how I made these little balls of deliciousness... the Mallow topped Oreo is up first. Here are my ingredients...only four for these two treats-- you cant beat that with a stick! 

Open up your jar of fluff and scoop out a small ball of heavenly fluff using a small ice cream scoop... like so.

Then place the fluff on top of the Oreo and place in the freezer for like 30 minutes or whenever you remember to take it out. 

 Once the mallow is hard-ish then you make some melted chocolate (I cheated and used the microwave kind) and you dip the mallow covered Oreo in the chocolate. Once you have dipped all of them you place them in the freezer for a few more minutes just until the chocolate cools down.

Then you take a BIG FAT BITE!  These were seriously beyond delish!

Here is the most ridiculously easy recipe in the world.  How did I not think of this before?  You take Oreo's and some chocolate chip cookie dough (I think you are supposed to make it from scratch but, really, who has time). 

Scoop a small ball of dough onto the Oreo

Push the top down so the ball covers the top and sides of the Oreo

Then take a little more dough and cover the bottom so that the entire cookie is covered

Then you bake at 350 for about 13-15 minutes

 Now.. I don't know what I did wrong but mine came out flat as a pancake with a little nub at the top... but all the pictures online show them coming out way fluffier-- who knows!  These are seriously so so so good! Definitely my go-to cookie now:-)

Anyone know of any other way to finagle a Oreo?  Ohhh.. or a snickers?  I love me some of those too:)


Hope you all are having a GREAT Saturday!!   


Carolyn

on the up and up

I'm not sure about you all but I am NOT a fan of the winter.  It just stinks. Its cold, I eat a lot of food and feel hefty, I never see the sunshine, I get ghostly pale-- its just not a good look, you know what I mean?  When I started this blog on August 18th I was all suntanned and bursting with some sunshiny happiness-- hence my zest for posting so often.  As the months went on and the days got seemingly shorter and nighttime seemed to come at 5:30 I lost my zest.  I cant pinpoint the exact moment but I feel like November did me in.  Another thing that made it hard is that I often felt like I was endlessly talking to myself-- you feel crazy and a little bit silly, no joke!  I have since decided that crazy and silly are good things and even if I talk to myself sometimes that's OK-- I kind of like me so it works out OK in the end. 

So.. I just wanted to say that since my favorite groundhog predicted a early spring I have felt like tszujjing some things up.  I know I have stunk at posting in the past few months but I am in it to win it people:-) 


In light of my new found excitement I decided to share some stats on this little blog of mine. Ready?  Here we go...


Pageviews by Month (in parenthesis is the number of posts I made each month)
(Keep in mind that even though I asked the stat thingy not to count my posts I think it has been... so half of these are probably me:))


August- 163 (13 posts published)
September- 512 (19 posts published)
October- 978 (20 posts published)
November- 566 (10 posts published)
December- 368 (4 posts published)
January- 312 (5 posts published)

Wow-- so sorry about November, December, and January-- eeash.  I guess this proves the point that the more you post the more readers you will have.  You are a trooper if you stuck with me through December and January- just saying.

Most Popular Posts

1. Passing on my love for folding fabric (really?  This is the most popular?  funny, huh?!?)
2. The Proposal (Aww.. thanks guys.. I love my proposal story too!)
3. Makin it happen (planning for my white kitchen!)
4. A tale of two chairs (wouldn't you know I still don't know what to do with these?)
5. White and Bright (eak!  I LOVE this one too!!  Cant wait to see the end result)

Finally- Pageviews by Country
P.S. Just in case I accidentally said something inappropriate, sorry! I pulled some of the words below from the intranet so you never know what your gonna get!

United States- 2,983 (well thank you to my lovely Americans:))
Netherlands- 31 (THANKS to my lovely friend JESS!!!)
Canada- 29-- Oy Vey! Not sure who this is but thanks for reading! 
Russia- 12 (Zdravstvuj to you!!)
UK- 8 (ello!)
South Korea- 3 (AN-YONG-HASEYO to you)
Slovenia- 3 (Zdravo my slovenia frind)
France- 2 (Bonjour and Salut tout le monde!)
Germany-1 (Hallo, Wie geht's?)

So there you have it!  Random bits of information that serves no real purpose-- do what you will with it.  Here are some tidbits I'm going to take from this post... 1. I am going to be a better blogger- pinkie swear.  2. I should fold more fabric cause, well, you all seem to like it. 3. I should learn another language, cause I may have cursed someone out unintentionally up there. 

Hope its a GREAT Friday for you all!

Carolyn

Poof

be gone!  Ha.. do you all remember that saying from like 8th grade?  Ahh.. memories...

Anywho you guys are not going to believe what a little seamstress I have become!  I mean I said at the beginning of this little blog that things could get crazy here with me and my sewing machine but I have to tell you I didn't really believe it.. until now...

This girl (me) made a poof!!!  What the heck is a poof you ask?  Well my friend, a poof is a pillow type thing that you sit on.  I found this blog last week called Living with Punks and she had the most amazing tutorial for Floor Cushions.  Here is one of her pics.. dont get too excited--- mine doesn't look quite this perfect.

Amazing right?  I decided they were so stinkin' cute that I had to try one myself.. I mean I HAVE a sewing machine.. how hard could it be?  Well people let me tell you--- sewing is hard!  It actually hurts your head- no joke. If you decide to give it a go I would highly suggest following her tutorial-not the randomness I am about to spew out.

So let me walk you through my process... I went to the fabric store and decided that even though I don't have any kids yet I wanted to make a cute "kid-ish" floor pillow for my basement... since I am going to have a little play area down there for my niece and nephew and my friends kids.  SO... cute was the theme.  I looked for like 45 minutes and landed on what I thought at the time was the cutest owl themed fabric.  I NOW think it is the most hideous fabric that looks like odd skeleton owls... 

You all think so too?  So along with my skeletor fabric I also picked up some white cord (for my fabric cording), some pink and blue thread, contrasting pink fabric, some pins and a hot pink tomato pin thing-ama-bob-- didn't really need it but seriously you guys, it is really cute and made me feel super legit. 

So once I had all my materials organized I cut a LONG skinny strip of my hot pink fabric and wrapped it around my white cord.  Once I had it tight I sewed straight down.  Now I know this seems easy but to an untrained individual such as myself it caused a lot of frustration and bad words to flow out of my mouth. 

look at me sewing:)

 Once I got my cord covered I moved onto cutting out the main fabric pieces.  For this project this is what "Living With Punks" suggests: 

 2 of the 17" circles (top and bottom)

1 piece cut at 9"x51.5" (side) **you will have to piece this together if your fabric is 45"**

2 pieces cut at 3" x 12" (handle)

I searched my house high and low for ANYTHING in the shape of a circle... and you know what I discovered?  I live in a circle-less home!  I FINALLY found this lazy susan thing that was 20inches instead of 17 inches so I figured I would just make my poof a little larger. So I started to trace two identical circles and cut them out along with the other pieces mentioned above. 

Here they are... ready to go!

After I patted myself on the back for a job well done I moved onto securing the already made fabric cording to both of the circle pieces and the handle piece. 

TA-DA!  All pinned and ready to go!

The next part was a little tricky and unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it... I know-- what kind of tutorial IS this??!?!  Basically all I did was sewed the cording onto each piece and this is what I ended with... 

Then once all my cording was secured I took the LONG piece of remaining fabric and pinned it around one of the circles like so:

Then I sewed this new piece onto the circle and once my piece was fully attached I flipped the fabric right-side-out and picked a location for my nifty handle.  I sewed a small square and "x" to each side of the handle to secure it in place.  The I flipped it back inside out and pinned the FINAL top piece onto my current piece... this is when I realized the END IS IN SIGHT!!!

Here I am pinning the top piece to the bottom piece.  I sewed the pieces together leaving a 4-5 inch hold so that I could stuff it with fluff!

Right side out!  Looking good!

Stuffing away!  I used three bags of this stuff. 

 TA-DA!!!! She's done (and lovely I might add:))

I hope you all are impressed as I am!  I think this thing is uber cute (well... it *would* be uber cute if it wasn't the land of the dead owls but you know what I mean!).  Now don't get me wrong... this little ball of fluff is covered in some MAJOR imperfections, but for my first go at a puff I am pretty pleased.  Anyone who would like to come over and take her for a spin (or sit) is more than welcome!

Carolyn 

mirror mirror on the wall....

Do you all think my life revolves around benches?  I feel like it kind of does.  Well not really but you would think so after buying two from thrift stores in the past six months.  Check out this sad lookin' bench I got for a measly $5.00.  Nothing some white paint cant fix, I am right?!?

So after some light sanding, primer and spray paint I ended up with this pretty little thing... OH!  Pay no attention to the semi painted legs... I ran out of white spray paint and well... this is what happens when you are not a perfectionist...

Perty right? Well for $5.00 I am going to say it was a bargain!  I was thinking the wall above the bench looked awful lonely so I hit up Homegoods this weekend and found a sunburst mirror that I was in love with for $25.00.  I was SO sure that it would look great but now that its hung I'm not sold.  What do you all think?  

It looks a little high right?  I tried to lower it but then I can only see my double chin in the mirror and lets face it that's not a good look for anyone.

Has anyone else found any good bargains lately?  I am DYING for summer so I can be a crazy yard-sale-er again!

Carolyn