wake up call

I don't know about you, but I'm tired this Monday morning.  

Tired just like Spoon:

Good luck this week!

xoxo

a trip to the beach, before the rain

We actually had the loveliest weather for most of April.  It was warm and sunny, but sometimes chilly.  It's now May and the weather has been less than wonderful - cold and rainy or just some good old hot southern thunderstorms.  Lame.

But before this nasty weather turned, we had a lovely weekend escape to the NC beaches.  A couple of our friends were running the half marathon (!) so we met up to get them pumped up and celebrate post their awesome finish.

One of the things I like about North Carolina is that we can live in the South and drive three hours to be at the beach.  A good combination of the things I love.

So we went to Kitty Hawk and saw the sights, soaked up the sun, and ate our way through town (shocker, I know).  My favorites:

The Wright Memorial, beautiful 

Duck Donuts, where they hand dip your donuts when you order them (absolutely frigging delicious)

The beach house and deck facing the ocean

Seafood delight from the market

The beach, a little chilly in the water but perfect on the sand

Aww...

On the drive back we stopped at Weeping Radish Brewery, the oldest microbrewery in NC!

We also saw this sign for a town called Momeyer, who knew Lorraine had her own town?!

Finally, we had Chinese for dinner at Red Lotus back in town (which is always great) and Jonathan got this ridiculous fortune. Seriously, he doesn't need this kind of encouragement.

I hope you make it to the beach soon! 

xoxo

chalkboard painting

A long time ago I saw this on pinterest (of course) and wanted my very own menu board, for obvious reasons.  I put it on the list of things to do and eventual made my way to home depot and found a piece of wood of about the right width, however it was too long so it became two pieces.  I decided one would be a menu board and the other, a score keeper for games and such.

What you'll need:
--A piece of wood of desired size
--Chalkboard paint
--Chalk
--Craft Vinyl and/or acrylic paint and brush

Step One: Paint

Using your chalkboard paint, apply two coats to the boards, letting it dry in between.  

I used a small roller brush.

Step Two: Design

I planned out what I wanted for the design of each board.  I have a cricut and decided to use it and some craft vinyl because my free hand writing with a paint brush can be a little rough...

I tested out my design with regular paper to get the sizing and placement right.

Step Three: Cut & Place

Then I cut the design out of the vinyl on the Cricut - the pressure, speed, and size dial were all set to 4.

I stuck on the pieces to their appropriate location and smoothed them over a couple of times.

So that it looked like this:

Step Four: Season

I seasoned the chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over it and then wiping it off.

Step Five: Hang Up!

Now it's ready to go and inspire and be cute in kitchen!

*Score Keeper*

For the second board I did the exact same steps but I also used some paint to add polka dots and a tic-tac-toe board.

Ta-Da!

Keep crafting kids

xoxo

food lately: i do love carbs

All from the last monthish:

Caribbean pizza: Jamaican jerk refried black beans, pineapple, roasted sweet potatoes, smoked coconut, and I think some gruyere for good measure

Buffalo Tofu Pizza with carrots, scallions, mozzarella, and ranch

Trader Joe's Japanese Fried Rice jazzed up with tofu, pineapple and egg

Vegetarian goulash made with gardin 'beef' tips, braised cabbage, and potatoes gratin

Pasta with peas and a cream tomato sauce, and crunchy fried onions on top

yup. that's what i've got.

keep eating kids.

xoxo

not your average model

Sometimes, Spoon poses like he's a super model, trying to make his own version of blue steel happen:

Don't worry, I'm sure Calvin Klein will be calling any second now.

Happy Monday!

xoxo

spring sprung

Spring made an appearance for a good chunk of march and april and we took full advantage soaking up the sun after the chills of winter:

Ashley had me over for cocktail hour, but really the point was to use the awesome texas cutting board

we hit up big boss for their monthly tour and the grilled cheese food truck

There was some gouge wrestling of course

Ashley made us ice cream sandwiches (with homemade ice cream!)

Casey came into town and we went bowling, because we love a double date

This adorable mural popped up

Cookout fancy shakes were had -- Jonathan tried to tell me you couldn't mix flavors, but no no, I asked the nice man at the window who told me I could mix as many things as I wanted! Ashley heard they'll put whatever you bring them in a milkshake for you...

Picnics in the park

  

Mini golf - my fav! 

And of course: the sonic

I hope you've gotten to enjoy some lovely spring weather!

xoxo

quilt 2: in progress

I'm starting quilt number two and that's exciting, but it's also a little bittersweet.  

I'm making a t-shirt quilt from all of my wonderful Hendrix t-shirts.  What's Hendrix? Oh, just my super awesome college. It's tiny and in Arkansas, so it's likely you've never heard of it.  But it's great, and I had a pretty perfect college experience there.  

Hendrix is really big on the t-shirt, and making them for every event.  So not surprisingly, I have a pretty large collection -- around 30! 

They are very near and dear to my heart as they remind me of my wonderful time there.  However, they are t-shirts, which means they'll get old and need to be tossed at some point, and that will make me sad.  Also, many of them don't make sense to people outside the bubble and can come off as a little strange... so many just don't get worn at all anymore.  

So, I decided to preserve them in a quilt. 

It sounds great in theory, but it's a bit daunting, as any quilt is really.  

And it also means cutting up these sweet lovely things.  

But I know it's for the best.  

So the cutting has begun:

I'll keep you posted.

xoxo

bread & butter bakery

Bread & Butter is a local bakery steps away from my house. 

I love it.  

Everything is delicious and fresh.  The bread is perfect, and the pastries are dangerous. 

Like the bostock above, the ridiculous cinnamon rolls as big as your face, or brioche that takes me back to paris.  

I want it all when I go there. 

It's probably a bad thing, but I don't care. 

OH and, as the best bakeries do - they have wonderful coffee. 

Really, it's a winner, you should check it out if you are in town!

xoxo

puppy love

not a cat person, here's a dose of chloe to brighten your day then:

Chloe loves a pillow and the sun:

 Sometimes we put her in her hoodie because it's hilarious! And she's such a good sport about it:

 But most of the time, she's just chilling with us, wondering why she isn't outside on a play date. 

But really, this girl has a busy social schedule with 2-4 puppy play dates a day! She's a popular girl.

xoxo

since you've missed me

I know what you are really lacking are some pictures of spoon, so here you go, in full ridiculousness. 

I think four is the max before I turn into one of those ladies...

but don't worry, there are of course, more for later.

Spoon thinks that sitting on my computer is a great idea:

But sometimes maybe not, he's clearly more needed taking up half of Jonathan's desk:

Oh, what's that? Spoon's belly.  It's true, it's a little too big apparently so he's on a diet!

And spoiler alert - not happy about it! 

Here we see Spoon inside the empty food bag, scrounging for any remaining pieces before dinner time:

Poor Spoon.  But really, he's surviving, I promise.

Also, that's Spoon's new food - Chicken Soup for a Cat Lover's Soul (the low-fat variety).  There was a lot of angst recently over his food, because his old brand got recalled! It was a pain and a waste, especially for Ashley who lost two bags to it when they did a second recall! You can read about that here and here fyi. But so far so good with the new brand. 

I hope your cats and dogs are keeping cute!

xoxo

oats and bananas

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I updated this thing.  I don't think I've ever had so few posts in a month. I'm sorry, life has been busy and stressful, an annoying combination to say the least.  But things are getting back to normal, so I'll be good again, I promise.  

Now, on to the important things:

I had a serious craving for bananas not too long ago and wanted to put them in everything -- cookies, sandwiches, anything.  And so, I came up with this recipe for coconut-banana oatmeal, it's (obviously) delicious and it's really great for when you have bananas in different stages of ripeness, since it uses ripe and firm bananas. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup shredded coconut

A 15 oz can of coconut milk
*I used the coconut cream from Trader Joe's, it seems to have more coconut flavor*
*You can also substitute with regular milk if you you aren't into the coconut*

1 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Pinch of nutmeg

1 cup of oats - old fashioned or steel cut please!

2 bananas - 1 sliced, and 1 ripe one mashed

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Step 1: Combine the pecans and coconut and toast lightly, ~2 mins in my toaster oven.  Watch it so it doesn't burn! While you are at it, slice up one banana and set aside. 

Step 2: In a saucepan combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. 

Step 3: Once at a boil, stir in the oats and let it return to a boil.  Then reduce the heat to medium.  Cook for 5 minutes for old fashioned oats, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. (You know, however soupy  you like your oatmeal). 

Step 4: Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla and the mashed banana. 

Step 5: Put some into your bowl and top with some sliced banana, pecans, and coconut and enjoy!

This recipe makes 2-3 servings depending on how much you eat.

More to come soon.

xoxo