Around the House....

We've gotten a few small projects done around the house recently.  We're not even close to being done with things, but we're getting a lot of the small stuff our of the way for now before the big stuff gets too crazy.

Here's what we've been up to....

My new dresser I bought off of Craigslist for $50.  The guy we bought it from was cleaning out the old farmhouse on some property he inherited from his grandparents.  I was more than happy to take it off his hands.  I was planning on painting it, but once I got it cleaned up with some lemon oil I ended up liking the really dark wood so I just kept it.  I'm planning on painting my closet room a dark purple, so hopefully the dark finish won't be too dark.  I'm also on the lookout for a new place to keep my jewelry.  I have a ton of jewelry and my little jewelry box won't hold it all.  It also looks kind of weird sticking up in front of the mirror part.

My favorite part are the drawer pulls.  They have these really cool colored glass orbs in them.  The guy said he thought his grandparents put them on in the '20s but he wasn't sure.  I took it with a grain of salt (this guy was a little weird), but once I got them off and researched them I'm pretty sure he was right.  The company that made them went out of business in the depression era, so they can't be much older than that.

We got some new curtains for the living room.  I didn't even really want curtains at all.  The upstairs living room looks out onto the front porch and lets in a ton of light.  While perusing the Wal-Mart clearance aisle, I found these sheet ones for $5.  I figured it was too good to pass up and snagged them.  Disregard the girl on TV clearly having some sort of issue because she didn't win beach volleyball.

I really like the big grommets on them.  For Wal-Mart and $5 they are actually pretty high quality.

I've also done some work turning our nasty gold door knobs from this.....to this....

It's amazing what spray paint will do.  It was actually really simple and it makes them look much more put together.

The same guy that we bought the dresser off of also gave us this painting.  He said he was planning on taking it to Goodwill, so I took it instead.  I've cleaned it up a lot.  When we first got it there was a nice layer of cobwebs and nastiness on it.  The wood and the painting itself is pretty distressed, but I like it.  It's a lovely beach scene.  KB says it looks like bad hotel art, but I kinda like it.  You can also see our new bedroom color in the background.  It's Benjamin Moore Summer Shower.  It's a nice light blue color that's not too blue, but sort of grey.

We still have a TON of stuff to do, but we're getting there!

Menu Monday

It's time for another Menu Monday post - link up with Rachel to play along.

Here's what we'll be eating this week:

Mon: Slow Cooker Ham and White Beans with Cornbread

Source: plainchicken.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I love beans and ham cooked together all day. They taste like heaven. I also really like to take sweet cornbread and crumble it up in there to make this weird bready, beany, hammy stew. Sounds gross....tastes great.

Tues: Pizza Quesadillas

Source: snixykitchen.wordpress.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I was going to make this last week, but we just ended up eating leftover one night so I didn't get to. These look easy and cheesy and delicious.

Wed: Easy Tin Foil Fish and Veggies

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

We've been eating this a lot this summer. It's so easy and quick that it's really no trouble at all to make. It also tastes really good (if you like lemon). I had to buy some tilapia this time though because we're out of trout in the freezer and KB was less than productive on his beach fishing trip.

Thurs: Pesto, Tomato, Bacon and Mozzarella Paninis

Source: threemanycooks.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I splurged and got really good bread for these sandwiches so I have very high hopes! KB is not a huge pesto fan, so I'll probably just make his without it, but I'm planning to pile it on mine. I love pesto.

Bonus Recipe: Lazy Cake Cookies

Source: imalazymom.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I made these yesterday and they are super easy and really good (if you like soft cookies). I made mine with Team USA M&Ms (they were red, white and blue) and they taste like a giant cookie cake. How patriotic.

What goodies will you be eating this week???

Pinteresting Wednesday

I've been a little MIA from Pinteresting Wednesdays recently, so here's a fresh one.

Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are my favorite Pins of the week...

Source: realsimple.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: hgtv.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: amazon.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: hautelook.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: finegardening.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: conspicuousstyle.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: skinnytaste.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week???

Recent Reads

I kind of took a break from reading recently too (what have I been doing?), but I've still read quite a few books recently.

I'm not normally a huge historical fiction book, but this one was a pretty easy and interesting read.  It's set in Italy during WWII and supposedly was based off of a true story.  It follows a young art restorer, her lover, his business partner, and the business partner's wife.  Everything revolves around a painting that the Nazi's want, but no one wants to hand over.  It had a lot of art terms that I didn't really understand, but it was still interesting.

Jessica Hagedorn is supposed to be a really good writer, so I had high hopes for this book, but it ended up just being weird and annoying.  It's told from the viewpoint of lots of different people and it's really hard to keep up with.  It follows an older woman who used to be a famous writer, her lesbian lover, her next door neighbor who she wants to be her lesbian lover and the next door neighbor's teenage daughter.  There are lots of drugs and lots of weird scenarios.  I don't really understand how an old invalid woman that can hardly move can do so much cocaine.  Who is supplying this lady?

I really liked this book.  It reminded me a little bit of "The Lovely Bones", but with a different twist.  The book revolved around the disappearance of a young teenage girl by an older man in the neighbor hood.  It's all about how her best friend, her family and the girl herself cope with the tragedy.  It ends a little strangely, but overall was a really good read.

This book was readable, but wasn't anything too memorable.  It's very "Something Borrowed" and I felt like I had read this book more than a few times.  Basically best friends end up breaking up over a man.  It's all about how they deal with their break up and what happens with their new relationship.  It was pretty blah.

This one goes without saying.  It was pretty cheesy and written pretty poorly, but I'm definitely hooked.  I had to run into Wal-Mart over the weekend and tried to find the other two, but they didn't have them.  I didn't know if it was because it was sold out or because the little town we live in isn't really into that sort of thing.  Needless to say, I'll be scoping them out at Barnes & Noble next.

What books have you read recently???

Menu Monday

It's time for another Menu Monday post - link up with Rachel to play along.

Here's what we'll be eating this week.....

Monday: Baked Ziti and Summer Veggies

Source: rantingchef.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Since we were gone all last week we have tons of produce from our garden that needs to be used up now. This recipe looks pretty simple and light for a baked pasta dish. I don't really like to make things with ricotta cheese because I always have just a little bit left over. What do you do with leftover ricotta cheese? I'm not a huge fan of plain ricotta by itself.

Tuesday: Pizza Quesadillas

Source: snixykitchen.wordpress.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I really like pizza and I really like quesadillas. These are going to be really good and they look really easy. We've eaten some sort of quesadilla at least once a week for the past month. I'm thinking these will be the best.

Wednesday: Baked Reuben Sandwiches

Source: bettycrocker.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I really like reubens, but I hate rye bread. It just tastes nasty to me. This recipe is good because you don't have to have rye bread, it also cooks up into a nice casserole instead of messy sloppy sandwich.

Thursday: Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad

Source: greensnchocolate.com via Rachel on Pinterest

My sister made this and said it was pretty good. I really like chopped salads and spicy southwestern things. I forgot to get the taco seasoning mix at the grocery store, so I'm just going to improvise with some spices that I already have.

What meals will you be making this week???

I'm baaaccckkkk

I took an unexpected blogging hiatus for really no reason.  I got busy restoring old furniture from creepy people on Craigslist, painting my bedroom, lots of stuff at work, two toddler birthday parties, getting a stomach virus, going to the beach for a week and getting a nasty cold.  Yay for me.

Expect normal posting to resume from now on!