nursery gliders

Posted on 6.28.2013 by sarah

When looking at varieties of gliders, I thought I had it nailed down to comfort and design. I set aside a pretty huge chunk of my budget for the nursery to get something nice, classic, and modern. Here were my ideas.

serena & lily – presidio glider

west elm – graham glider

monte – vola wingback glider

dwell – myles glider

That was until I was driving to the grocery store and saw a garage sale! I just had to stop. They had a lot of vintage pieces displayed, including tables and chairs. But it wasn’t until I parked and walked up to the garage sale, that I saw this gem! It had some of the components I wanted; rocking ability, high back for my sleepy head, but also a unique mid-century look. For $15.00, I got this rocking chair… and an ottoman! Double Score! I brought it home and cleaned up the mountain of dust on it, and it looked better already!

It looks pretty nice “as-is” but I had other ideas for this rocker. I wanted more padding in the seat and backrest, as well as have the wood sanded and lightened a bit.

That night, I googled my rocker and found a couple great ideas googling Bentwood Rocking Chairs, that caught my eye.

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And then I found this picture, which completely made my day… one of my favorite arts (That’s Picasso folks!) in a Bentwood rocker! Awesome! It was a sign from the gods, it was meant to be! Ha!

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Luckily for me (well sort of), I’ve been holding on to one of my patient’s business cards; he has been refinishing wood and upholstering furniture from his home. I called him and had him assess the chair. He was on board with my ideas of keeping the wood finish (no crazy paint, here) and adding a better seat/backrest. I was super excited (and nervous) to see his handy work! For $120.00, and $35.00 for the fabric, I think I did rather well! Here’s the final look!

It turned out wonderfully. Well, sort of… besides trying to get the guy off the idea that a one week turn-around meant two months, with no returned phone calls, and a lot of chaos in-between, AND still an imperfect chair … The back he upholstered is already coming off. (tears and frustration.) Plus, I talked to a lot of moms that said having a glider and using minimal energy to rock, is the best thing at 2am, hands down! So, my garage sale find is now in my living room, and we ultimately invested in the West Elm Graham Glider and ottoman because the others would take 8-12 weeks to deliver and I don’t think we have that much time! You win some, you lose some!

nursery closet

Posted on 6.24.2013 by sarah

Since the baby showers, this kid has amassed a bigger wardrobe than both of his parents combined! So, I really wanted to freshen up the closet space in the nursery, simply with a layer of paint.

At first, I wanted to do stripes, but painting when you’re pregnant isn’t that much fun, especially edging in small spaces… So, I kept it simple with one color. Maybe some weekend I’ll get my energy up to do stripes but not now, it’s going to have to do. Here’s my semi-before (a.k.a. Sarah forgot to take a before picture photo.)

I picked Benjamin Moore Wedgewood Gray HC-146 in Natura, no VOC paint, so I don’t disturb the bambino while I paint. It’s a water-based paint and I recommend spending the extra penny to save yourself from the fumes. I loved the color contrast from the actual nursery to the more gender specific color hidden in this space. Plus, a splash of color when you open the closet is always fun!

Painting the closet also helped me organize everything, too! Now, I just have to figure out when to clean all his clothes for his arrival. I’m getting super excited to meet this little guy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

cheese 101

Posted on 5.22.2013 by sarah

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Since I moved to Dallas, I’ve made it a goal of mine to explore different classes, entertainment, and events that the city has to offer. Luckily, I have a couple of friends that feel the same way, and we try to convene monthly, trying new restaurants, classes (cooking, athletic, etc).

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There’s a huge benefit to living in a big city; we have a lot to explore and this cheese class was one of them! Cheese 101 at Scardello addressed much of the different cheese processes and their varieties. They even gave a shout out to my motherland, Wisconsin, as to where cheese curds were made in the total process of cheese production! Most people in the audience didn’t know what squeaky cheese was, but I was proud!

They simplify these cheeses into categories for the average joe:

Fresh – No aging required. The opposite of fresh isn’t spoiled. The opposite of fresh is aged.
Semi-Soft – Bends instead of breaking. Aged 2-6 months.
Soft Ripened – Bloomy rind. Softens from the outside in.
Surface Ripened – Wrinkled “brain-like” exterior. Can be firm or gooey.
Semi-Hard – Firm texture. Aged a couple of moths to a couple of years.
Hard – Hard crumbly texture. Cheese that has lost almost all water content.
Washed-Rind – Orange rind, pungent smell. Can be gooey or semi-soft.
Blue – Blue mold inside the paste or on the exterior.

I highly recommend this cheese class or just starting your own “class” and sampling cheeses in your local market! You can’t go wrong! At any given time, we have about 2-4 blocks of cheese in our crisper, and I love them all!! Happy Cheesing!

kickball & cupcakes

Posted on 5.15.2013 by sarah

For the past two years now, every Wednesday night the hubs and I would venture to downtown Dallas to play a friendly game of kickball with a team built of coworkers, spouses, and significant others. The teammate camaraderie has blossomed into amazing friendships.

Unfortunately, with the bambino’s arrival fast approaching (less than 3 months away!!), the hubs and other team members were a little leery of my ability to tone-down my competitive spirit for these later months. Plus, the ability to hide the bump was getting ever more difficult. That being said, we ending our career in the kickball arena with two championships, two undefeated season, second place a couple of more times and a load of unforgettable memories. Sorry these team photos are so blurry, they were taken with our phones.

After our last game… (We lost in the championship game to some crappy calls, FYI) the hubs and I were presented with some amazing loot for the newest member of the Alcoballics Team 2034. They were ever so generous with a couple of autographed kickballs (above) and sports apparel for the wee-one. The husband and I were overjoyed at the generosity of these folks. Seriously, so sweet and unexpected.

If that wasn’t enough, they bought cupcakes!

So, I introduced them to the world of eating cupcakes, Sarah style. I don’t remember who taught me how to eat cupcakes this way, but it makes me laugh every time people notice. They noted I should make a post about “changing their own world of cupcake eating forever!” So here you go, Dan! :)

Basically unwrap the wrapper on the bottom of your cupcake and break off the cake part about half way… like this

Then just place that bottom on the top! Bite in and enjoy! World changing? I hope so!

The frosting to cake ratio is distributed so much better, and you don’t get frosting all over your fingers! Bonus! Enjoy!

P.S. I eat my bananas from the wrong end, too!

wi baby shower

Posted on 5.13.2013 by sarah

Holy cow, I’m sorry; I’ve been a bad blogger lately. A couple of weekends ago, I was ever so blessed with yet another baby shower. This time it was in my hometown in Wisconsin, hosted by my sweet sister-in-law, Julie!

We had the event at City Grill, this cute venue downtown which actually catered our wedding! Full circle? I think so!

The shower was wonderful and beautiful! I was elated at all who attended and so happy to all be together again!
After a fabulous lunch, we had cake! This cake is from a local baker Sweet Nothings that we’ve used in the family for a while. She does amazing cakes, and the inside is a raspberry filling to die for! I definitely recommend her cakes for the inside, as well as the outside!

After cake, I had a little helper (my niece, Ellie) help with all the presents I had to open! She was such a wonderful lady for the job!

It was one of those weekends I just didn’t want to end. From being able to see friends and family from near and far, to just feeling so blessed that our baby boy is welcomed by so many; it makes my heart happy. A big thank you to everyone, especially my sister-in-law Julie and my Dad for making this such a wonderful event and a memorable experience.

scallops in tomato basil chipotle cream sauce

Posted on 4.26.2013 by sarah

I have to admit something here. I know it looks like I must cook a lot at home, but to be quite honest the husband has been the main cook in our household for a while now. I love to bake more than cook, and I could do cereal for dinner instead of a real meal. I make the fun sporadic meals but he makes the daily ones.

That being said, our local Central Market grocery store always has simple recipes to follow. This time it was scallops, a crustacean I tend to shy away from but the husband loves. Last Friday, I was lucky enough to have the day off and wanted to have dinner ready when he got home! (I’m such a great wife, sometimes.) This recipe was greeted with a warm welcome and a smile! The hubs said it was amazing more than once and even had the leftovers the following day. I too had my fair share and must say it was pretty tasty and super easy to make!!

Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb bay scallops
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp Tomato Basil & Chipotle seasoning, or to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat butter and olive oil together in a sauté pan. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato basil and chipotle seasoning to the pan, stirring to blend and cook for another minute. Add the cream, blending, with the spices and cook at medium-high heat until sauce has been reduced by one third.

Add scallops and cook (turning often) another 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve over pasta. I added sun-dried tomatoes to mine for taste and visual appeal. Enjoy!

nursery art

Posted on 4.24.2013 by sarah

I’ve been thinking about the nursery walls lately but making little progress actually purchasing the wall art, until now!

Have you seen these? I don’t know about you, but I think these prints are adorable! They are handsome but playful. I found them on Etsy and saw them again on Senera & Lily a couple years ago. I’ve had them in my “favorite” section on Etsy since then but never knew quite where to put these creatures until now! All that time has passed, and I cannot think of a better location to put these wonderful animals than the nursery.

Actually last year, I tried to persuade one of my friends to put it in her nursery, but she had other prints in mind for her baby boy. Honestly, I’m glad she didn’t because now I get the chance to use them! I picked out six 5×7 prints (it was hard – there are so many to choose from) which I plan to frame and display on right side of the nursery window as you walk into the room. I already have a faux paper layout of my idea set up in the nursery and am looking forward to putting up the real thing soon!!

I’m so excited about these prints. I tried to pick animals the baby/toddler will be able to relate to and am excited for when he can point to them and give their names and sounds. So fun! I’m happy to see the starting point of my nursery walls and have ideas of a gallery wall above the changing table, a shelf above the rocker and maybe some family photos dispersed throughout. I’ll keep you posted!

stl baby shower

Posted on 4.22.2013 by sarah

This past weekend was spent with extended family in St. Louis. My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law put on a wonderful baby shower for me and our baby boy!

They had everything displayed so nicely, but silly me only got a few pictures of the party. I was obsessed with this tablescape of a big “B” (for baby or boy) and the rhino my sister-in-law found at Target!

They served a delicious meal of chicken sandwich, pasta, and salad with gender specific cupcakes and cake balls for dessert! Aren’t they cute?!

It was an intimate event with lots of laughs and conversation. I was lucky enough to catch up with family and old friends during my visit! It made me miss my time in St. Louis with them, and as always, wish for more time to visit!

I was overjoyed with all the wonderful items baby boy got during the process! He is so blessed and loved already! I just hope everyone there truly knew just how happy and amazed I was at all the thoughtful people in the room. I seriously almost teared up a couple times just thinking about the generosity of these ladies’ time and effort. It was so much fun to have everyone involved. Even my sweet nieces helped out by passing out the gifts. They were such great helpers.

There were a couple gifts that were already trying to influence our baby boy’s future sports teams! I love them! I can’t wait to take them to Lambeau Field and Busch Stadium someday!

We also played a couple games; it couldn’t be called a shower without it! My friend Sarah is also pregnant and she’s waiting to find out the gender at birth! We were trying to figure it out earlier than that with a string test! The pencil will circle for girls and maneuver in a straight line for a boy. I was convinced it was a boy, but after seeing the test… I can’t be quite sure! Ha ha!

All-in-all it was a pleasant trip to St. Louis. The only trouble was finding enough room in our vehicle for all the baby boy’s new stuff! We had to leave the radio flyer in the grandparents’ garage but will pick it up on our next trip up! Thank you to all near and far that participated in this special day!

**A special thanks to my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law for such a special event! I know they worked hard to make it perfect and it was!

i want a subaru

Posted on 4.19.2013 by sarah

The marketing team at Subaru has won my heart with this commercial.

Only in my version, we have blondies (dogs & baby). My version: a yellow lab that has been with me before my husband, a baby boy in the back seat as a blondie, too, and of course, a pug laying next to him. Makes me smile every time.

Happy Friday, Friends.

grandma anne’s chocolate chip cookies

Posted on 4.17.2013 by sarah

Once again Grandma Anne has the perfect recipe for another staple cookie, the chocolate chip! It comes out perfectly fluffy and moist every time. Not too sweet, not to chocolaty, just perfect.

Every time I make this cookie, I’m reminded of when I was younger in her kitchen making these. She wasn’t a fan of samples of the cookie dough, and I laughed at myself, as I always secretly ate the last cookie raw. ;) It’s so yummy, I couldn’t resist! I hope you have the same success with this cookie as I always do! And I encourage dough sampling… Even though Grandma Anne would cringe.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package (4-serving size) Jell-O Brand Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding Pie Filling
2 eggs
1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix flour with baking soda and set aside. Combine butter, the sugars, vanilla and pudding mix in a large mixer bowl; beat until smooth and creamy.

Beat eggs. Gradually add flour mixture.

Then stir in chips and nuts. (Batter will be stiff.) Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonful, about 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 375° for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen. *For chocolate chocolate chip cookies, substitute chocolate flavor Instant pudding.

Enjoy! These are the softest chocolate chips cookies I have had and continue to be my staple recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Thanks Grandma Anne.