Un blogger terrible

I'm been bad.  Very bad.  I haven't updated you guys on anything.  Our kitchen took over my life, we went on vacation, my parent's business got out of hand, work got busy, all those normal excuses.

After some not so subtle urging from various parties (aka get off your ass and blog because I'm bored at work) I'm going to try to get back to my norm....

Here's what's been going on....

Our remodel is done (for the most part).  I'm still looking for better lights for the kitchen and dining room table, benches for the table (which I got for free on Craigslist - score!), and some more cool plates to hang on the wall.

Here's a before pic for comparison....

They also finished the hardwood in the rest of the house...like our bedroom.  I'm trying to make a point to get some more art for our walls.  Right now they are pretty bare.

Influenster sent me some fun nail polish to review and I really like it.  I've never tried Sinful Colors, but the color is really fun and summery.  I was also pretty impressed with how easy it went on and the lasting power.

I've also had some major scores at the Goodwill recently (still no crystal decanter for KB's office or fun art work for my house).  I got these Lacoste polos for KB for $3 each.  They still had the tags on them.

I also found this Lilly Pulitzer sweater for me.  I'm not a huge Lilly fan and think it's kind of over rated, but this one fit well and the pattern isn't too child like, so I got it.  It was $3 so whatever.  I also got some Ralph Lauren wool sweaters for me and KB for $4 each.

I've been having some weird eczema/dryness stuff going on with my face, so I tried this stuff.  It's okay.  It smells good and makes my skin feel tingly, but it hasn't really done much otherwise.  It was cheap, so whatever.  I'm going to keep trying it and see what happens.

Getting there....

We are one step closer...

It was supposed to be white oak, but apparently it's really red oak.  I thought it looked great, but KB immediately knew it wasn't and was a little ticked.  Oh well...too late now.

Why no posts?

Because this happened...

And I'm currently living down here....

I'm hoping to get out of the basement by the end of this week.  We'll see.

Thoughts on a Thursday/Palmolive Soft Touch Review

I have been a terrible blogger recently.  The reason why....

My parents started a business and I've been helping them out with website, social media, and all that schmoozy marketing stuff.  Everyone go like their Facebook page... quick!

My flowers are finally blooming now that it isn't 15 degrees and raining anymore (it's still raining just not quite as cold).  Look at these lovelies:

Influenster sent me this Palmolive Soft Touch to review.  I absolutely love the Coconut Oil flavored (is that the right word?) one.  It smells really good and makes my hands really soft.  I've ended up using it more for hand soap than for dish soap.  My only complaint is that it kind of makes my dishes a little slippery when washing them.  I also got the Vitamin E version.  I ended up giving that one to my neighbor and she grabbed it right up.  You can stock up on your own at Wal-Mart.

I received these items complimentary from Influenster, but all opinions are my own.

We are getting our kitchen ripped out starting on Tuesday and then getting hardwood floors installed everywhere starting on Wednesday.  I'm a little scared.  I work at home, so I"m going to have to be locked up in our basement with our dogs.  Lucky me.

Happy Day

It's a happy day.

I've been married to KB for 3 years today.

Here's to lots more happy days.

Menu Monday

Here's what we are eating on this week...

Mon: Creamy Portobello Soup

It's a blustery and cold day here today (gross - it's May, seriously?!), so I thought soup would be good.  I've been meaning to make this for a while, but I just never get around to it.  I'm also going to make some garlic bread to go with it.

Tues: Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken

I love balsamic vinegar.  It's so sweet, but tangy and delicious.  This looks really easy and Aldi had all of these veggies majorly on sale, so it was actually a really cheap meal to make.

Wed: Brown Sugar Grilled Salmon with Corn on the Cob

We aren't high class enough to have real salmon, so I'm using some walleye that KB caught and I froze.  Hopefully it'll work out.  If not, we have some really good corn on the cob that KB's mom put up last summer.  We'll just eat a lot of corn.

Thurs: Hawaiian Pizza Salad

This is my favorite type of pizza.  It's so delicious and I think it's all because of the pineapple.  I got a fresh pineapple on sale at the Aldi for 50 cents, so I'm going to use that instead of canned.  I'll probably also use ranch dressing instead of italian.

What are you going to be eating this week???

Basement Redo

We are still in the process of doing some painting and things in our basement, but I couldn't wait to share what we've done so far.  It's not much, but it took me forever.

Before:

After:

I used these Martha Stewart stencils and they were fairly easy to use, but it was kind of a pain to twist myself enough to get down there to actually paint.

Here are a few close ups:

I'm thinking about painting the built ins that turquoise color, but I'm not sure how it will look.  Expect an update!

Menu Monday

After the stomach virus from hell, we are finally eating normally again.  Thank goodness!

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

Mon: Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatos

We have a big bag of leftover BBQ from my in-laws in my freezer that needs to get used up like crazy. I'm not too sure how I feel about this, but it could be good. I like both of these things separately, but I'm not sure how I feel about them together. We'll see.

Tues: Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

I'm going to tweak this a little but, but overall it's a pretty easy recipe. I'm going to sub in ground turkey instead of beef since that's what's in the freezer. I'm also going to make some cheesy garlic bread.

Wed: Parmesan Chicken Bake with Corn

I wanted to make pesto chicken, but KB was sitting next to me when I was making my grocery list and told me that it looked gross. So this was the compromise. I looks pretty easy and I feel like I've made something similar to it before.

Thurs: Chef Salad

I need some greens in my life after a steady diet of Sprite and crackers. Chef salads are so easy to make and taste so good. I'm going to try making my own Ranch without a spice packet too...we'll see how that goes.

What are you cooking up this week???

Happy Summer with a Giveaway!

Since I've been gone for so long I thought I'd reward you all with a fun giveaway!

The nice people at Firmoo not only helped KB overcome his terrible eyesight, but they are also offering up a nice little giveaway.  Who couldn't use some new sunglasses for the summer (or prescription sunglasses if you are into that kind of thing)?

Behind door number 1, here's a little bit about Firmoo....

They're the World's Most Popular Online Eyeglasses Store with 580K+ fans on Facebook. The mission is to offer varieties of unbelievable cheap yet fashionable prescription & Plano eyewear to the consuming public. All of their eyewear is directly from affiliate factory, so their price is 85%~90% lower than that in the traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Behind door number 2, here's what you could win.....

6 winners will win a $20 sunglasses E-voucher each

These are my personal faves.

Behind door number 3, here's how you enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy summer!

Up and Running

I'm finally back.

Work was crazy and blogging took a backseat for a while.

Just when I was ready to get back into it again....we both got the stomach bug and I didn't do anything for 3 days.

Stay tuned for a few product reviews, a basement redo, yard updates and other fun things.

Little Visitor

I saw my first one of these today getting a sip from one of my tulips....

I wasn't stealthy enough to get a picture, so I'm borrowing one from a really awesome website that will tell you all kinds of fun facts about the birds you see at your feeders.

Needless to say my hummingbird feeders are up in full force now.

Menu Monday

Last week was ca-ra-zay at work so ye olde blog took a backseat.


I'm back this week though!

Menu Monday is a little boring this week because KB is gone all week turkey hunting.  The good thing about that is that I can eat all of the things that KB hates that I love.

First up:

I know I could technically drink this anytime, even when KB is here, but it's more fun to drink it when he's not.  This stuff is really good, but it's also a little expensive for my taste, so it's a treat.

Kale Caesar Salad

I'm going to go halfsies on this one and use some romaine too.  I really like Caesar salad, but KB thinks that if it doesn't have meat in it he's not getting enough protein and the world is going to end.

I love these pizzas.  We don't eat a lot of convenience foods when KB is here so they are a treat.  They are also expensive and he can eat a lot of pizza.

I'm also planning on eating lots of salads with crunched up Ramen noodles (it's my new jam) and some egg sandwiches (because the neighbor's chickens have been working overtime).

Sign Me Up

Lana del Rey, Beyonce, Jay Z, Florence & The Machine.

Sign me up!

Confessions...

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Northern Belle today.

I confess...I'm glad KB's plants took off well, but I'm ready for them to be out of my house.  It's been too cold to put them out yet so they are living on my kitchen table, floor, tables in our house...anywhere there is room.

I confess...I just started my job 3 months ago, but I'm ready for a vacation.  It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm so busy now that sometimes I can hardly see straight.  I want a good week somewhere tropical now (not in September).

I confess....I've eaten way too much Easter candy.  My mother in law loves to make Easter baskets even though her children are full grown adults.

I confess...I picked a bunch of flowers from my neighbor's yard when he wasn't home.  He's a bachelor that doesn't take care of his yard at all and has the cutest little grape hyacinths everywhere.....so I took a bunch.

I confess...I have watched Roadhouse 3 times in the past week.  I was around when KB was watching it last weekend, it was on again earlier that week and then we watched it (like sat down and actually paid attention to it) last night.  It's not even that great of a movie.  I mean...Patrick Swayze rips some guy's throat out.  Unbelievable.

Menu Monday

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

Mon: Slow Cooker Chicken Philly Sandwiches



Since it's already almost 2 and I haven't even thought about the Crock Pot, I'll probably just make these on the stove top. I've never actually had a really philly cheese steak, so I'm not sure how these will compare, but they look pretty good.

Tues: Tortilla and Black Bean Pie



I have quite a few random tortillas to use up from recipes I've made recently, so this one looked like a winner. I'm going to mix it up and use corn AND flour tortillas.

Wed: Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake



I've made this quite a few times before because it's easy and it uses up a lot of eggs. Our neighbors were gone for spring break last week, so we got all of the eggs from their chickens. They have almost 20, so there's a lot of eggs up in here. I'm going to add some sausage to this to make it a little bit heartier.

Thurs: Healthy Broccoli Raisin Salad and Regular Salad



I like this salad, but KB is not a huge fan because he hates mayonnaise. This recipe doesn't use mayonnaise and instead uses cashews. I don't have a VitaMix so I'm a little scared that my sauce will be too chunky, but oh well. I'm also going to leave out the raisins because they are really gross. I might put some fresh grapes in there instead.

What are you going to be cooking up this week???

Friday Fives

Here's five random things on this Friday.....

-I have to work today.  Boo.  My company gives us President's day instead of Good Friday.  Yay America.

-KB's grow light operation has been working well....a little too well.  We transplanted the seedlings into bigger pots yesterday because they were starting to die.  Now my house looks like something off of Drugs Inc.  Lots of pots.  Lots of lights.  Lots of water.  Our neighbor actually asked us the other day what he should tell the cops we are growing when they show up.

-I got bitten by a tick 2 weeks ago.  It still itches like crazy and has this really nasty scab on it.  Ticks are seriously so gross and there is snow on the ground.  What was a tick doing out at that time (I sound like its mom)?  Before you go crazy and think that I have some nasty tick borne illness, I don't.  We have extensive background in that (KB is a tick magnet) and I don't have any of the symptoms.  It's time to break out the DEET I guess.

-I'm still going back and forth on paint colors for our house.  At first I wanted something dark and woodsy, but after thinking about it I think that would look kinda weird on our house.  I think I've settled on a sage green color for most of it, a cream trim, and dark red accents.  Now I just need to convince KB to pay someone to do it and not try it himself.



- Everyone should vote for Cheerwine in Garden and Guns bracket of the best southern foods.  North Carolina come on and raise up.

Pinteresting Wednesday...

I haven't linked up in a while, so here goes!  Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are my favorite Pins of the last few weeks...

Source: neverhomemaker.com viaRachel on Pinterest

Source: javiergd.com viaRachel on Pinterest

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com viaRachel on Pinterest

Source: obaz.com viaRachel on Pinterest

Source: tasteofhome.com viaRachel on Pinterest

Source: designinthewoods.blogspot.com viaRachel on Pinterest

Source: tearfuldreams.tumblr.com viaRachel on Pinterest