DIY Buffett, WW & A Book Club

As if life isn't busy enough.. I'm adding a couple more projects to my plate. First off, I have this old dresser (yeah, I know what your thinking-stop stalking dressers & turning them into things...), sorry to dissapoint :). This was another "free" find on Craigslist, and coincidentally the guy I bought it from worked at our Paychex Webster Branch. Small world. Originally, I bought it to use as a buffett for our housewarming party. Then, I figured I'd leave it in our dining room to serve the same purpose year-round. I had all the intentions in the world of re-finishing it and having it out for display when people came over. Well, that was mid November. It's now almost January, and it still has the lovely tablecloth on it that I threw on last minute to cover the hideousness.

Well, apparently the last few months have been too busy because as we are taking down our Christmas Decorations and re-organizing the house, it dawns on me, that I still have not completed the project I set out to do. So, out comes the camera (for some before pics) and a quick trip to Home Depot for the paint.

My dining room theme is a sage green/purple color and decorated with a wine and grapes. The dresser currently, is a disgusting shade of white. So basically I was starting with a blank slate. I chose a simple off-white, originally I wanted to go w/ a Sage Green color but decided it may be "too much". My mind may change later though once I finish up my other dining room project.

I took out all of the hardware and threw it out.. see below pic to understand WHY these belonged in the trash.

Then, the madness began. I did sand or prime the dresser beforehand because I personally like the "distressed look". I think it adds character to certain items & it sure goes with our woodland/adirondack theme we've got goin'.

So now for some pics....

Before

After

The only thing missing at the time of the picture were the wooden knobs I purchased. Because I needed 16 matching ones, I had to order them online and they haven't arrived yet. They are the same ones I used on the kitchen island though, just not blue :).

As far as decorating it, I'm in the market for some really fun apothecary jars that I can fill up with random items such as wine corks or whatever I feel looks good!

Another item on my list of things to do, is the book club I've just joined. It's no secret I love to read & I love it when I can get recommendations on things to read. What a fun idea, thanks ladies for starting this up. I am set to purchase the book read for January, which is "I Do, Now What?". This may be suiting, although we haven't tied the knot yet, we have gotten a pretty good look at what "married life" is like. What a joy :). I'll be sure to post on here what my thoughts are on each read.

Also, January marks the start of my weight watchers journey. Yes, it's such a cliche to start a "diet" after the New Year, but let me start by saying this is slightly different folks. For me, it's more of a realistic "starting point". Let's face it, the holidays are a horrible time to start counting points & watching what you eat, so for me, it was my last "splurge" before I head back on the high road. I posted a year or so ago about Weight Watchers, but never really followed through with it. For me, it was the stress of being a new mom, mixed with being a working-mom and just general laziness.

Well, it's come to point where I'm just not happy. I don't feel comfortable with my current body weight, in fact, I have never been at this point before in my life. At first, I chalked it up to just having a baby...and let's be honest, he's turning 2 in May, it's time to stop blaming that. I wont post specifics, or turn this into a Diet-Driven blog, but I will be updating on my progress and my goals. Although I don't wanna broadcast certain details, I will tell you that after putting my information into the system, my goal weight is 45 pounds. I've had good luck in the past with this, my first year of college. Then, I stopped. Well this time, it feels right to me...and I will succeed. :)

Ideas, Ideas.

Happy Thursday (which is technically my "Friday"!)...

Trev and I took down the Christmas decorations last night, the house looks kinda bare but it feels good to have things back to normal. Like I've mentioned, I love the holidays, but it's pretty relieving when it's over :).

We have a fun night planned tomorrow, we are going to have a small New Years get together with some of our friends &some of my cousins. I'm pretty excited, it's fun to go out-but I'd much prefer staying in and drinking my own wine in the comfort of my home (yep, I'm lame).

We've been doing some intense research, tossing around ideas and trying to come up with some general plans for our wedding. I can safely say, we have exhausted all of our resources. I must have called at least 20 places (for the receptions) and either they weren't available, or they were way too pricey for us. So, being the nutcase I am... I threw out an idea.

Have the wedding in the church down the street from our house (it's actually very pretty) and extremely CHEAP (compared to other ceremony sites, churches....). They would marry us, even though Trevor's not Catholic and I am... AND, they have the 25th of June open. Hmm...

Then, for a reception, we would do a backyard "bbq", in our very own yard. STOP, before you panic... let me point out some really important details...

• If we do it this way, we can save ourselves a bunch of money, therefore taking a nicer honeymoon then we originally planned.
• Our backyard is pretty spacious (enough for what we need it to be), & it is cozily fenced in.
  
• There is still room to have a 12 x 12 dance floor, table for food, and the tables we would need for the guests.
• For a "DJ" we would use our I-Pod and a nice set of speakers, and set up some playlists on the deck.
• It could be beautiful with those outdoor lights strung along the fence. Mason jars w/ candles on the tables... let's use our imagination.
  
• For food, we would do it "buffet/picnic style" but more than likely have it catered by either my uncle or another cheap place.
  
• For seating, there is a rental place that is surprisingly cheap and the whole ordeal could potentially cost less than $500, (tables, chairs, tableclothes, dancefloor, etc.)
• For "adult beverages" I have the hookup from my friend Jen, who's mom works for Canandaigua Wine Co. and gets a case (12 bottles) for $40. I believe with a case or 2 of wine, and a keg...We could keep the alcohol under $200.
• Please, please, before you judge (or stare at me in horror)... take a look at these blogs.

A Backyard Wedding

YoungHouseLove-A look back at our Backyard Wedding

Obviously, those are just for "inspiration", we wouldn't be having our ceremony outside.

The biggest downfall I can see of this whole plan, is ... What if it rains?

Technically, that could make things super difficult and could potentially create a much larger expense in having to rent a tent. So, what I'd have to do is have a tent rental on stand-by. Which, as I researched, is a possibility.

So, now you know what's been going on inside of this crazy little head of mine. It's not "Final" persay, but it's an idea that's been thrown out there and was agreeable for Trevor and I. The only thing that we are "sure" of, is that we are going to use the Church in Shortsville, we are meeting with the Priest sometime next month and going from there!

Thoughts? Lemme' Know. PS, I may have found my wedding dress. :)

A day to relax...

All I can say is, thank god Christmas fell on a Saturday this year! If it had been on a Sunday, I don't know how I would have gone to work the next day. As I mentioned, yesterday was wonderful, but exhausting at the same time. Today, we took full advantage of the opportunity to just relax. The only time we even left the house was to run to Wegmans and do a little (much needed) grocery shopping. Other than that, we stayed in. PJ's on, and watched movies, played Kinect and just enjoyed our new stuff.

Hunter was having a ball playing with his new kitchen. He also helped me in the real kitchen while I made some Garlic & herb Italian Rope sausage, with fried green peppers, onions and Home-made Macaroni and Cheese. He was wearing his little apron I found for him @ Michaels so we matched. He had a good time helping out & got to sample the mac & cheese (a tough job, I know).


Mommy's little chef


Takin' a quick break to draw on his chalkboard


Playing with his pretend kitchen



Also, got a lot of reading done today. I finished my book that I got yesterday from Heather, Michael & Nora... Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. Let me start by saying, I LOVED IT. It was such a good book, quite possibly one of his best yet....(I think The Notebook is too much of a classic to bump it down on the list). It was so easy to get into & was a really great story. I'd run to the store and buy this one immediately. You heard me, go.

"Happy" Monday everyone. Thank goodness for another short week...

Merry Christmas!

What a busy but joyful day! I'll start at the beginning, although this could potentially become quite the lengthy post.

We woke up around 7 on Christmas Morning...We actually had to wake our little guy up, as he usually sleeps til 9 if you let him. We had to be at Trevor's Mom's by 9, and it's about a 40 minute drive, so we wanted to leave ourselves enough time to enjoy opening presents. When Hunter walked out into the living room, his expression was just as we hoped, "Awwwww". He loved all the presents and I think he also enjoyed the fact that we didn't say "no no, don't touch" when he went to pick up the gifts. He "opened" a majority of them, but got easily distracted as he saw all the fun new stuff to play with. He got a lot of neat things...some fun toys, a movie, a TON of books, some practical things (big boy cups & a silverware set) and some cutie outfits. I think he enjoyed himself...

After we finished unwrapping, we fired up the Keurig, filled our travel mugs and headed over to Trevor's Mom's (yes, in our Christmas PJ's). When we got there we all hung out, had some breakfast and then opened gifts! Once again, we got spoiled! Hunter got a stand up kitchen from Grandma Cindy, a bunch more clothes, more books including 2 books that are recordable. It's so great because Trevor can record his voice telling the story and I can "read" them to Hunter next year when Trevor's gone. Thanks Cindy & Heather, what a thoughtful gift! Trevor and I got some awesome stuff too, some gift cards, I got my Nicholas Sparks book I wanted (already finished it... ;) ), and some other fun stuff. It was a great morning. We love spending time with everyone, especially around the holidays. It makes us remember how lucky we are...

We headed home after that, and had to get ready to go to my Mom's. After getting dressed and loading up another set of gifts, we made the trip back to Penfield. My mom's side of the family is pretty big on it's own, but add in girlfriends/boyfriends and some friends and it is quite an event. It was great to see my family and to have an excuse to snack and drink some wine. We opened presents and once again, got some really great stuff! By the time Hunter and I got home that night, we were exhausted. Trevor was hungry so we ordered some Chinese and enjoyed that while watching "Easy A", which I've been wanting to see. It was cute, not as funny as I expected though. After Hunter passed out on the floor...


We put him in bed, and then Trevor and I broke in the new Kinect (hmm, who was the lucky boy that got that gift). It was actually a lot of fun. The best part was the random pictures that it took ... Something completely embarrassing to look back on some day. After it kicked our butts, we watched another movie (I forgot the name.. it was THAT good...) and then went to sleep!

It was a great Christmas, we got to see all of our nearby families, and we enjoyed the first Christmas in our house. Although I love the holidays, it is nice to be able to relax.

Now time for some evidence that our day was wonderful...

Look what Santa put out for Mommy & Daddy ... What a nice guy!

A nice little message on the chalkboard...

Excited little boy

Some of Hunter's stocking stuffers

Opening some presents


His new singing Crayola pad


The Leapster Laptop that we got him in hopes that he would resort to this when he got his laptop cravings.



My other happy boy holding his new toys


The pirate ship!



A few pics from my Mom's house...



Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, we sure did!

Is it just me, or do you feel like on December 26th you can take a giant breath again...Aside from feeling ridiculously full from all the little weenies & crab cakes you ate. I love the holidays just as much as the next person, but it is tiring. I can safely say that we had a great Christmas this year. Full of family, new traditions, gifts & lots of food. Let's start at the beginning shall we?

As you recall Christmas Eve I had off, so Hunter and I spent the day doing last minute wrapping, cleaning and organizing his room and some other little things that needed to be done before the big day. When Trevor got home (around 5ish) we headed out to my Grandparent's house to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family. It's usually a fairly small get-together, with my Grandparents, My Dad, Angela & the Girls, My Aunt Chris, Uncle Jeff and their kids Ryan and Jennifer, and Trevor, Hunter and I. We just snacked, played with the babies & opened gifts. It was a good time. We got a lot of great stuff, & so did Hunter. He is a lucky little boy & for that we are very grateful. Now for some pics...

My little cutie pie and I, with his new "cell phone"

My beautiful sisters and I

The Charles man playing with a candy cane, go figure, out of all the presents he got..

After we left my grandparents, we came home and Hunter passed out almost immediately, which was good because we had some last minute wrapping "odds and ends". Also, we had to put Milk, cookies & carrots out for Santa and his reindeer..

A little insider look at Santa's Delivery, don't ask me how I have these connections, I'll never tell.


The tree, considering all but 2 of those are for Hunter, I think he made out "okay" this year...


The stockings!

Good night all! Hope Santa swings by your house...

Home-Made Deer & Bear Ornaments!

Making your own ornaments...What an amazingly crafty gift to give around the holidays! The recipe I used was super easy;

Fun Salt Dough

4 Cups Flour
1 Cup of Salt
1 & 1/2 Cups of Warm Water

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour & salt. Gradually add the warm water and knead the dough until "smooth". Roll out the dough and using a flour-covered cookie cutter (we chose a moose & a beer, go figure) and then cut out the "ornaments". Then, using a straw, punch a hole in the top part of the ornament. Then, in a preheated oven (200 degrees), let them cook for 2 hours, then leave in the oven an additional hour after turning it off. Take out of oven, let cool and paint away!


I chose to paint the deer and bear in a bronze metallic acrylic paint that I got at Michaels. I then signed the back for Hunter and put the year (2010) so we can keep track of them :).


And I love the way they came out! We will definately add this to our list of yearly Christmas traditions! The possibilities are endless...We'll have to find some cute cookie cutters for next year!

The finsihed product! Well, I lied. After I took this picture, I wrapped them up, realized I never painted the "face" on and proceeded to unwrap them, paint a little red nose and blue eyes on them. I was way too lazy to RE-TAKE the picture. After they were dry I re-wrapped them, all set!


Then I put them in a little home-made bag and they are good to go!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Now for a small photo op...

Mommy & Hunter, dough making fools!



Someone's gettin' pretty upset that I wont let him eat our masterpiece.
It's. Not. Food. Hunter.
Children. ;)

Salt Dough Deer, Caramel Popcorn & Reindeer Chow

I have been a busy busy bee the last few days! (Sorry for being behind on posting, I've had them prepared just had to add the pictures). Last night (Wednesday) I had to finish up my gift for Julie *our daycare lady* and my gifts for Rick & Jen (my best work buds).

For Julie, I bought a cute little basket at Michael's and filled it with some homemade caramel popcorn, the reindeer chow (see pic & explanation below) & an ornament that we made out of salt-dough (tutorial & pics to come at a later post-after X-mas if you get my drift). We also gave her a card expressing our heartfelt thanks in having her to watch over Hunter for us when we can't be there. It really is a blessing to have such a wonderful person in ours & Hunter's lives. We love you Julie! (I could kick myself for not getting a pic of the "basket" in it's entirety, boo).

For Rick & Jen's gifts, they each got a tin of the "Reindeer Chow", a bag of Caramel popcorn &
a bottle of wine. We kept it simple this year, as money is tight for everyone. We're going to Pattaya (yessssss') for lunch today to exchange gifts. Also, I'm bookin' outta here @ 3:00 pm (Thanks again Paychex!) and I have a few last minute errands to run as tomorrow is Christmas Eve!! Yay! Hunter and I have a project to work on tomorrow during the day but I will also do some cleaning/straightening up for the holiday weekend. God, where does the time go??

If your wondering how I made the reindeer chow, it is from this recipe. Then I put the "chow" in a Ziploc baggie (to keep it fresh) and put it in a cute little see-through tin I found at Michael's last year after Christmas. Then, I printed out this poem.. (here's a GIANT copy of it in case you want to read it, oops..rookie printing error).

Imagine this poem, but about 1/4 the size, attached to a piece of ribbon. Also, I typed up the ingrediants on a separate card and attached them as well.

The "goods" (Before)

The finished product!

There's Hunter Charles, my little helper. Although none of the recipes called for sprinkles. Hmm. Well, it's the thought that counts right?

Have a Happy Thursday (/FRIDAY) everyone! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!

Bakin' up a storm!

What fun would Christmas be without some delicious home-made treats? I think it is a very personal gift to give around the holidays. I started out by making the Earthquake Cookies I mentioned a few posts ago. They are soo unbelievably easy...and super tasty too! I whipped these up and put them in these cute little Santa & Snowman bags I bought last year after Christmas @ Michael's. All packaged up & ready for the office life.

Tonight we are going to be making this really cute little project I found online. It's called Reindeer Chow (you can Google "puppy chow" & that will give you the accurate recipe as well). A cute idea I found was to package up the "Reindeer Chow" and attach a little note to it.... (I'll post later when I have the finished product!). We needed something cute to give our daycare lady & a few other friends here at work. I thought it would be a creative, fun gift to give from Hunter. We'll see how it goes!

Today at work we have our Holiday Lunch @ Corporate. Yay :). This'll be year # 3 for me & I can safely say it's delicious and worth the excitement. Also, really excited that tomorrow is the last workday before Christmas.. and I get out 2 hours early. And lemme tell you-Having Christmas Eve off this year-a complete blessing. It's the first time in history that I'll be able to actually get ready for Christmas Eve rather than rush home & run all over the world. As I mentioned before, we do Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family so I am super excited to see my little sisters (oh yeah, and the rest of the family). Hope everyone's holidays are Merry & full of family, friends and good times.

...2 days until Christmas Eve!

We interupt this work day to bring you this message...

Score :). Guess who won a Wegman's giftcard? Yours truly. Actually, I usually have the worst luck in the world, so it's surprising that I won. But, it will come in handy for my "Puppy Chow", "Carmel Popcorn" and "Earthquake Cookies" that I will be creating over the next two days for some last minute gifts (Hunter's daycare lady Julie, some co-workers, etc.).

Thanks Paychex!

Cookie-Fest 2010. (& a family Christmas too!)

This past weekend was a fun one! I had my two little cousins over for some cookie-making madness! We started out the night by making by making & then rolling the dough. We decided to make just sugar cookies once we realized the time required to prep, bake & cool them. They came out really well! The kids did a great job decorating & loooved my sprinkle collection (more on that later!). I could kick myself though, I took a couple pictures of the "finished product" but somehow don't have them with me (at work). I will post a pic of the wonderful cookies later tonight! In the meantime... a montage...

We finished up the night by watching "Marmaduke" which was a surprise change-up (Shrek 4 was not available). It turned out to be a cute movie. I love getting to spend time with my two favorite little cousins & Hunter had a blast with his 2 new bff's.

Saturday we headed over to Trevor's Mom's for his extended family Christmas party. It was fun, there was a lot of food! (Must. Learn. Self. Control.) but other then feeling full to the point of bursting, it was a really fun time. Lots of "new" additions to the family so it was fun to visit and dwell in their adorable-ness (if that's a word..). Hunter especially loves his cousin Nora...

I love the holidays, & not just for the decorations, gifts and delicious foods but because it's a time when you put the stresses of "real-life" aside and just enjoy each other and the things that matter most!

5 days 'til Christmas Eve!!