Travels.

This weekend I'm travelling back to Charlotte (where I grew up!) for a girl's weekend!

There are several stops I'd like to make... One is a fabulous antique/thrift store that I could spend hours in! The other is a fabulously HUGE fabric store that I could also spend hours in! Considering they are about am hour away from each other I may only be able to visit one... Ahh, the choices we have to make in life!!

More thrifty finds...

Bryan and I received this beautiful PB bowl as a wedding gift... I love it so much that I wanted to use as an everyday home accessory instead of just pulling it out when we entertain. But I just felt like I had to fill it with something ... As Bryan said, 'why do we need anything in it?' But hello, I it would just be PERFECT filled with something great... but what was that 'something'? Well, I came across these grapevine balls on Saturday while mom and I were thrifting... they must have been someone's Christmas decor because they were green and red. I had a can of spray paint (Krylon, Mediterranean) and decided to put it to use! I also had these great white shells that I found on a beach in the Bahamas laying around and thought the aqua with white would be too cute! And I must say I love the result!

HUGE find!

So my mom and I went thrifting on Saturday afternoon in Hampstead, NC... It was too much fun! And we found some great things! But the find of the day was definitely this 1940's (we think!) GE fan... It still has the original paint and much to our surprise is still working!!! I think it's going to find its new home in our office (which we are currently putting finishing touches on)! But I just had to show y'all this morning! I'm in love with it!

Thrifting!

Bryan and I came to Ocean Isle Beach, NC (where my mom and stepdad live) so that Bryan could help my stepdad on some repairs at the store they own... Mom and I decided it would be a perfect time for us to get some QT in... and what a better way to do that than SHOPPING?! So we're on our way to Hampstead, NC (just north of Wilmington) to do some serious thrifting!

Fingers crossed that we find great stuff! If so, there WILL be pictures posted ASAP! Happy Saturday!

"YUMMMM-O"

In the words of Rachael Ray that is! So y'all already know that Giada is one of my favorite ladies... Well Rach is my other favorite lady (besides my mom and stepmom of course!)

So in the gym yesterday, I was watching Rachael Ray (yes, I watch cooking shows while working out) and she was making the most delicious sounding dish: Chicken and Biscuit Sliders with Smoky Chard Slaw! As I said before "YUMMMM-O!"

One of Bryan's favorites is collard greens and who doesn't love fried chicken?! Well, I decided to try a slightly more healthy version of this recipe (after all, bathing suit season is coming up!)... I made oven 'fried' chicken instead.. I did say SLIGHTLY more healthy! The biscuits and bacon just couldn't be removed from this yummy dinner! Oh and I also used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs!

I added a side of sweet potato fries and y'all the results.... AMAZING! This is a MUST try for dinner... And it was so easy!

Loving numbers!

Ok y'all so yesterday as you know I was 'window shopping' online for the latest spring trends in clothing. Well this morning, I started 'window shopping' for the last trends in housewares... Oh my! I was so pleased with what spring and summer had to offer! Lots of numbers and letters!

I've always thought that both of these were the coolest way to decorate... Lots of vintage things with numbers are an awesome way to accessorize your house!

Well given the budget that Bryan and I are on (nonexistant budget that is) I knew I would have to think of THRIFTY ways to use numbers and letters in and around our home! Then it dawned on me... RECYCLING! I know seems like a DUH! kind of answer! My youngest sister is a BIG recycler and has always gotten on Bryan and I for not recycling until finally she broke us down and we started. Well, they don't pick up recycling in our neighborhood (I know, I know... get with it Charleston!) so we have to collect it all, sort it, and then take it to the county recycling center. (ugh.)

So this morning after I finally removed myself from the computer, I decided to dig through our recycling! I found several empty jars, cleaned them up and started painting numbers on them! And let me tell you I'm in love with the results! What a great new centerpiece for my dining room table?!

Speaking of my dining room table... I'm thinking of repainting it... I'm SO tired of the white! Any thoughts? Color suggestions?

Oh spring, where are you?

One of the latest trends this season are rompers and jumpsuits... And I personally LOVE the idea of a grown-up onesie! I am desperate for a romper, however, a new spring wardrobe is not really in our bugdet right now! But a girl can dream right? Well that's what I was doing today... And let me tell you, my dreams started out BIG!

With Trina Turk at Bloomingdales to be exact...


This one is also from Bloomingdale's and was a LITTLE more affordable...


I LOVE this one and I think I could convince the hubster that it's in the budget!It's from Forever 21!


And I've never shopped at Lulu's (Does anyone know what their quality is like?) before but I found this one there... It's called 'Lawn Party'... How cute??

Delicious Chicken

Ok y'all... So if you read my post 'For my Valentine' you know that I was attempting to make a roasted chicken from Cooking Light. Well, even though I was incredibly distracted by the snow, I made the chicken and it was DELICIOUS! I was so proud and Bryan was extremely impressed! What a way to kick off our Valentine's 'staycation'!

So I decided that I should share the recipe with all of you!

Garlic-Rosemary Roasted Chicken

1 (5-6 pound) roasting chicken
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
8 garlic cloves, crushed
8 medium red onions
2 teaspoons olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Remove giblets from chicken; rinse under cold water and pat dry. Starting at the neck cavity, loosen the skin from the chicken breast and drumsticks. Place the chopped rosemary and crushed garlic beneath the skin on the breasts and drumsticks.
3. Place the chicken, breast side up, on a broiler pan. Cut a thin slice fromthe end of each onion. Remove the papery skins from the garlic heads(don't peel or separate cloves). Cut the tops off of the garlic cloves, leaving the root ends intact.
4. Brush the red onions and garlic cloves withthe olive oil. Arrange the onions and garlic cloves around the chicken. Bake the chicken at 450 for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 1 hour and 15 minutes or until meat temperature is 180. Remove skin and discard.
(from The Best of Cooking Light)

Ok so I LOVE garlic and can never have enough... Bryan is not as obsessed as I am, however. The chicken (in my opinion) didn't turn out extremely garlic-ky, but you could definitely taste the garlic! So I think you could probably reduce the crushed cloves if you wanted! As for the garlic that we roasted along with the chicken... I just couldn't let that go to waste! So we used that the next day as an appetizer on crusty french bread! YUMMMMMM!

Hope that enjoy this chicken as much as we did! Oh and FYI, the leftovers make for a DELISH chicken salad!

Pillows!

So for a shower gift, Bryan and I received some pillow covers from Pottery Barn (the inspiration for so much of my home!) well I hadn't put them on the couch yet because I just wasn't sure what I wanted to mix in with them!

I have been going a little stir crazy as of late... of course blaming winter time (and my lack of employment)... so what better time to update some things around the house?!

Well here are my updates! (I would have taken 'before' pictures but it was just too embarassing!)I made the 2 on the left... The yellow is from PB!

The pillow covers are FABULOUS! I got the 'lesson' from All Things Thrifty! These 2 ladies have some GREAT ideas for things and I just love how they can totally makeover pieces that most would never see potential in!

If you get a chance you should definitely stop in and see what these ladies are up to!

Obsessed.

Ok y'all, I've recently become obsessed with embellished tees. So I showed you the one that I used Her Southern Charm's tutorial for... Well check out this CUTE one I did this weekend while Bryan was catching up on some work...



I used some of academichic's ideas and LOVE the results! I have a few more ideas for some shirts that I want to try! And of course, I'll post my 'results' for you to see!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My day started off with homemade blueberry waffles made by my sweet husband! We have a picnic planned for later! Can't wait! Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!

SNOW!!!

So our romantic movie was interrupted last night because it was SNOWING in Charleston! I never thought I would see snow in Charleston, much less see it STICKING to the ground! Although it is already melting, it was so fun to play in last night!

Heading out to ride around and check out snow covered Charleston before it's all gone!

For my valentine

My husband Bryan and I decided that for Valentine's weekend we were going to treat ourselves to a 'staycation'! On tonight's agenda...Dinner, a romantic movie, and of course the fire to keep us warm!

Tonight's menu: roasted garlic and rosemary chicken, roasted broccoli, and mashed red potatoes. Let's hope that my chicken turns out as pretty as this Cooking Light picture!

How cute?!

I told y'all that I was adding this shirt to my to-do list today! How adorable did it turn out?! I love it... Now if it would just warm up so that I could wear it!

Good morning!

Ok y'all.... Her Southern Charm is one of my absolute favorite blogs! She always has the cutest things to say! Yesterday, she posted a tutorial on how to make a CUTE CUTE ruffle tee... You know like the ones that JCrew sells for 40-50 bucks! I know what I'll be adding to my to-do list today....Check it out!

oh Giada...

After all, she was my inspiration to get in the kitchen and put all of my new wedding gifts to use! However, her delicious Italian meals were part of the reason that I decided to put down the pasta and pick up a paintbrush (well that and my fabulous red velvet cupcakes!)

If you haven't yet tried anything of Giada's you should! In fact, I might try her 'elegant dinner' on the hubby for our Valentine's Day date night!