Thoughts..STAT!

Please tell me the truth... do I look like an idiot?  And I'm not referring to the idiotic expression on my face, I am talking about the outfit... I need to know (and kind of fast cause I am wearing it Friday night...unless you say that I shouldn't) whether this looks silly or cute.  You wont hurt my feelings... well you might but I need some tough love right about now.  Nothing worse then leaving the house with a false sense of confidence. 


P.S. Yes- Quentin appears to be eating Bentley.    

P.S.S. Between my facial expression in the first picture and my hand in the second picture it is clear that I cannot take a normal looking picture. 
P.S.S.S. Stripes.  I know, I know... Its a daring look for those of us that have heftier portions than others. Whats a girl to do...you know my love of stripes...

What am I doing?  I think I was just getting ready to put my hand on my hip
(you know...a much "cooler" pose...) when Dan snapped the pic... we will blame him..not me.  

So people... which is it? Wear it with confidence or don't be caught dead in it? 


Carolyn

i mean really... target is on a roll

Just another post to express my LOVE for targets really REALLY cheap deals.  Check out what I got for just over $9.00 including tax.... this lovely chair, which I would like to add was originally 35 smackeroos.  So I know its really not THAT amazing... but we needed a chair for our kitchen desk and it will go perfect with my soon-to-be white and black kitchen!


High fives all around!

Could I have cleaned up before taking this picture? yes.  Did I? no

Just in case you think I was pulling your leg

Anyone else find any good deals lately?


Carolyn

gettin my "Martha" on

Look what I just whipped up tonight...

A PLUM CAKE from my good friend Martha! 

I definitely didn't follow the exact directions (does it really matter that I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil??) doubt it cause I thought it tasted pretty delish :)


Here is the recipe I followed:


Open-Faced Plum Cake by Martha Stewart

Makes 2 cakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 9 or 10 large black plums, halved and pitted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, the milk, oil, and egg. Fold into flour mixture.
2. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, and smooth tops. Arrange plums, cut sides up, over batter.
3. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar, and sprinkle over plums. Dot with butter. Bake until tops are dark golden, plums are soft, and a toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool. (Cakes are best the day you make them; leftover cake is great for breakfast the next day.)

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Open-Face Plum Cake - Martha Stewart Recipes 




Off to call my cutest nephew in the whole world-- we are going to get on speaker phone and both play Mario on the wii at the same time.  This is some pretty exciting stuff for a 5 year old and an Auntie that loves her nephew!


Carolyn

makin' it happen

This post contains A LOT of words-- prep yourself! 

I can own up to the fact that I am clearly a slow learner.  Me and the husband have known each other for a total of 10 years (married for 3, dated for 4, friends for 3) anyways...I never really figured him out until about 2 weeks ago. I feel like I just figured out the secret to life.. This is SERIOUS you all... no joking here.

So what did I learn?  Well... I was blessed (sarcasm) with a husband that has opinions about what goes in our home.  I realize that I should count my blessings because I could have a husband that is oblivious to everything and tries to put horrendous lookin' stuff in my pretty home- lucky for me- not my situation.  While I do realize that I am a lucky girl, my husband doesn't always see, what we will call, my "vision".  This is not crazy stuff guys... just a few small ideas to make our home more beautiful.  I am pretty sure that he is afraid to "fix" what is not broken. I have learned over the years that secretly he likes my ideas but he doesn't get on board just in case it comes out sketchy looking he can say "I told you so"  (I know.. what a gem, right:)) 

Anywho- over the past few years I would get a GREAT idea and ask the husband what he thought.  He always thought "NO"  or "I don't think so".  So a few weeks ago I started to just talk about things as if they were already scheduled and going to happen.  For instance- I want to paint our kitchen cabinets white.  I asked Dan about 2 or 3 months ago and he gave an emphatic "NO" to that question and has said no since then.  About 2 weeks ago I just started to tell people about it when Dan was around or I would say things during dinner like "I need to get to Lowe's to figure out what paint to get for the kitchen cabinets" or "thank goodness we have a long weekend coming up- it's probably gonna take me a good 3 days to get the kitchen cabinets done". 

It worked- NO JOKE!  So ladies take note-- don't ask-- just talk about it as if it has already been planned and scheduled.  I'm not sure if they forget that they didn't agree to it or if it wears them down so much that they are too tired to argue anymore.  Regardless, I am getting a WHITE kitchen- whoop whoop!! Anyone wanna help me paint?!?!

Don't these pictures make you happy?  They make me so stinkin' happy I can't take it!


Knight Moves Blog

The Lettered Cottage

  Ahhh!!  LOVE:)

Carolyn

I Heart Target

Seriously- Target has been my ultimate go-to spot for crazy frugal finds over the past few months and I am LOVING it!  Remember I JUST fancied up this lamp BUT I needed a shade for it?

Check out the grey shade that I got for $3.48 on Saturday!!!  I LOVE it! I tried taking the pictures with different settings but the grey color is coming out all funky.  It's a really light grey that is kind of feminine but a little bit rugged- perfect for the ultra girly base. 

In other frugal shopping news I got a super cute dress for $8.00, a cardigan for $5.00, and some frames for $3.50/piece!  I LOVE a good deal! 


P.S. Where are all the pumpkins?  Did I miss something?  I feel like I am not seeing pumpkin patches like I did last year AND the bins at my grocery store are sadly lackluster.  Could it be that there is a pumpkin deficit in the country or is it just me?!?


Carolyn 

channeling my inner girly girl

When I bought this lamp at a yard sale last weekend I thought to myself- this is a no brainer-- this lamp is a diamond in the ruff- a great makeover is in the bag. 

Now that the makeover is partially done-- I think it might be a little too "precious" for my liking.  I am by no means a girly girl-- I keep my hair in a pony tail most of the time and don't really worry about keeping my nails painted (apparently by my standards you are uber girly if you wear your hair down and have nail polish on? i don't know, moving on)...but on the other hand I am not boy-ish... this girl does NOT leave the house with out makeup on.. its just not a pretty sight.   

Anyways... this is what I started with:

I took the entire lamp apart-- I know, right- who do I think I am taking a lamp apart?  I bought one of those lamp kits, so I thought... this will be a piece of cake... I was right taking the lamp apart was a piece of cake... putting it back together, not so much.  


Here are the inner pieces

I spray painted them a metallic silver color and let them dry. Once they were dried I went through the painful task of trying to put the lamp back together.  Luckily I took pictures of it before taking it apart so I figured out where everything went.  So this is the deal-- the lamp is in one piece and if I plug it in and turn it on it does work, however, for whatever reason the lamp isn't "tight" anymore.  Its all loose and it jingles when I move it.  This thing is hanging on by a thread and I'm kind-of scared that it has potential to spark due to my unsure-ness in wiring the thing.  Can that happen?  Do I need to be worried? 

Here she is all put back together and shined up

I'm just not sure what kind of shade to put on it...what do you all think?  Is there a shade out there that would "go" with the lamp but not make it look SO girly? 

Carolyn 

Guess what got a mini makeover?


Give up already?  That would be my crappy hunkofjunk coffee table!


You all remember the before.  Yup, UGLY!

 With a little help from my new mouse I was able to sand away all the cheap laminate

This was a BEAST of a job!  Phew!  My arms felt really weird after vibrating for a good hour and a half. 

Shiny new coat of paint!  The little dot on the bottom left corner would be a tiny little bug that lost its life in my black paint--he never saw it coming.  I tried so hard to save the poor guy but he didn't make it.  It almost put a damper on my painting party...almost.   

Here we are, looking good as new in the family room!

OK- so I know what some of you are thinking... why didn't you paint the legs black?  Do you want the answer that makes me feel better about myself or the honest answer?  


Lets go with the answer that makes me feel better about myself--- I like the black and brown combo...really, I do.  The realistic answer is I didn't want to sand anymore!  Seriously it was draining and I gave up.  But I really do like the mix of black and brown.  


The only downfall to this job is that the top is not uber smooth like it used to be.. its a little rough and "chunky-ish" if that makes sense to anyone.  Can someone PLEASE tell me crunchy and rough furniture is cool right now?!?  Anyone?  


Happy Wednesday!


Carolyn 

a mouse in the house!

It's official... i'm in LOVE!

Check out my brand new B&D MOUSE!  It is the MOST amazing sander in the whole wide world (keep in mind that prior to this little guy I sanded by hand... so my opinion may not be that official:))

Regardless-- I LOVE him!

Stay tuned to see what me and my mouse worked on ALL Sunday evening!

Carolyn