garage sale. almost fail.

My husband said maybe. But who goes to a garage sale with their husband?
So I went on a thursday without him.
To a town-wide garage sale.
That wasn't so wide.
The first place I stopped was the only place I actually got something. Yes, sad.
But they are so very cute.
So I was more than happy to spend money on them.
I can't wait to put them on a wall! but sadly, they got wrapped up and put into a box with other cute things, waiting for their day to shine. somewhere.

I thought they would look good in the bathroom. Maybe opposite of my $2 Goodwill Anne Geddes picture? maybe- the pinks are similar.
Hopefully I wil get to go back out to hit up more garage sales tomorrow!

secret obsession & Chicken with Mango Salsa

So it's not so secret. I love food. I love cooking. and.... I love cooking shows.
I also love experimenting though I usually talk myself out of extreme things. Every once in a while I see something tempting, especially if there's chocolate involved, and I want to try to recreate it. So this is me recreating without chocolate.

Chicken Marinade
1/4 cup of Bourbon
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 packet of Mojito Lime Seasoning minus 1-2 tbsp
1/2 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes

Mix together and add 3-4 chicken breast. Marinate in a shallow pan or a ziploc bag. Cover or seal and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Mango Salsa
1 mango
2 tbsp of vinegar
4 tbsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of chili powder

Dice mango into small chunks. In bowl, mix together other ingredients. Add mango, toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate.

Heat skillet to medium-high on stove. Place chicken in skillet; cook for a few minutes on each side til it turn white with a little brown. Transfer to pan or cast-iron skillet. Rub the chicken with olive oil and then
sprinkle with remaining Lime seasoning. Cover pan with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the chicken was baking I made rice, using half the amount of water called for and replacing the other half with chicken broth. In the last 5 minutes of cooking I added thinly sliced green onion and a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper.
Remove the chicken from oven. Place on bed of rice. Drain excess liquid from Mango Salsa. Spoon chilled mango onto chicken and serve.
It looks amazing and taste amazing.

My heart in Italy.

I think my absolute favorite things about traveling in Europe is the love of color! They are not afraid to use it! The colors are, for the most part, very earthen colors, but they are not neutral sometimes confused with natural.  This color in our room at a bed and breakfast in Verona, Italy, stole my heart.  If this were edible I would eat it! Such a delicious color. I still regret not have one of those paint sample books with me. But seriously, who takes those on vacation? I should.  

I have come to find out I am secretly Italian. Seriously if I were, it would make a lot more sense. I mean I live and breathe pasta and bread. If you want to lose weight- don't come to my house! You will gain it all back plus some! We LOVE food!                                               I was so born in the wrong country. In the wrong century. I was meant for the amazing architecture, the wonderful culture, and the delicious food of days gone by. In Italy.                    

and the brick wall would not fit in my bag. 

hopelessly romantics

I love to travel, and I would sit back and relax and take as long as possible galavanting the countryside. Alas time is not on my side ever.
When my husband and I travel, the mission is get there, and get there soon and relax there. I however want to stop at every antique store along the road.
that doesn't happen ever.

So my hubby and I finally agreed that my sister (one of many) and I could road trip.
together.
just the two of us.
in....
EUROPE!
this won't happen again ever.
So guess who's excited? This chick!
Now my sister is crazy, like me. In fact we are the most alike, out of the 6 girls in our family. But we are so different. My sister is invincible. I'm "invincible" when she's around. My sister is tough, not girly. But she saw Letters to Juliet.
Guess who is road tripping with her sister to Verona, Italy? this chick!
Yes, my sister and I are hopelessly romantic, apparently, because we are going to one of the most romantic cities in the world. Hilariously enough, when I googled romantic cities of the world, it didn't show up in the lists of the first couple results. Venice did- good thing it's on our list!
We must be hopelessly romantic.
Can't wait to share all the amazing places we go!

pumpkin bars

Pumpkin Bars
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 15 oz can pumpkin

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda, 
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon, 
1/2 tsps ginger
1/2 tsp gr. cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp pumpkin spice

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Stir in sugar and oil. Stir in pumpkin. Mix together flour, powder, soda, salt and spices. Stir into pumpkin mixture until well blended. Pour into greased 9x13. (can do 8 in square and 1/2 dozen of pumpkin cupcakes.
Bake 350 25-35 min. Check with tooth pick after 30 min.

Frosting: 
6 oz cream cheese softened
3/4 stick butter softened (not runny)
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar, more or less depending thickness you want
Mix together cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla. slowly beat in powdered sugar.
Frost once the cake has cooled.
Enjoy the sugary goodness!

more treasures...

After the past 2 weeks of endless decorating... I started today with a can of paint, yet again, but this time it was for the wall I've been waiting for. well, a color for that wall. I have a little bit of touching up to do, but it's almost done. If only he could settle on some furniture soon. I would like to take an "after" picture, but it is so not "after" yet.
But I took a breather after the first coat, and found some ridiculously cheap inexpensive finds, at the downtown antique mall, it was refreshing to find items in my price range... not that I have that much difficulty finding them.
I spray painted the candlesticks ($5)- they had a sorry paint job- nothing that a $1 can of spray paint can't fix.
The pitcher was on sale for a whopping $2!!! Thank goodness, ones a little bigger that it around the corner were starting at $7.
I was also the first purchase for a newcomer to the antique mall world. This gal was literally putting the first dozen items up as I walked by... loving the colors ahem- whites and creams - I stopped, of course, and found another much larger candlestick for $7.50. 
Yup, my total for the day $15 and some loose change. LOVE IT! Now I just need to figure out a way to make some more money!!!

treasures

I saw this photo and absolutely fell in love.
Mostly with the table! love, love, love. LOVE!
Since then, I have been on a mission: Find one. Doesn't have to be identical, just drop-leaf and old.








So recently I was wandering through my favorite (local) antique store and spotted this beauty. $80.
I am too cheap. It's worth $80 to me. My hubby, however, would sigh, make a face, and say something along the lines of "you would spend money on that?"
I also found an old kitchen table that was white, no drop leafs, for $45. Closer to my price, but no beloved drop leafs! What to do?

I walked away.





I am not crazy, thank goodness. A friend of my hubby's said he had gone to a little antique store south of town with his mom and grandma once and pointed me in that direction. So GLAD he did. I scored.
A little drop leaf table in the corner, wonderfully accompanied by 2 HIDEOUS chairs for $40.
I asked the little lady up front about it, telling her I was not even interested in the chairs. But how much did she want for just the table?
She looked it over. "$20."
I picked my jaw up off the floor and said, "I'll take it."
And then wrangled it into the truck. 
I wasn't going to tell her that those chairs weren't worth $20. maybe they are to somebody, but $20 is $20.
Next will be a coat of paint, but that's for another day!