Friday!

I’ve really not known what to post about this week . . .  hence the reason only one post on Tuesday, and look at the title! Can you tell I’m feeling uninspired (when it comes to blog posts), but thanks to Melissa’s lovely post this week I have felt inspired to carry on with my decluttering and cleaning – I just don’t have any pictures to share yet!  That desk still needs clearing up but I have also started on kitchen cupboards today, so I promise I’ll take photos over the weekend and post more about it next week.

In the mean time I want to ‘show off’ my lovely award from Kara! Thank you Kara :-)

Kara is a ‘new bloggy friend of mine’, I only just met her a few weeks ago when she left the sweetest comment saying how much she loves my blog.  Some bloggers you just ‘connect’ with on the first visit…. Kara was one of those bloggers ;-) She is an Interior Designer (wish you lived closer to me!) and her work is just amazing. Check out her blog, she has been doing an awesome ‘faux’ grape feature in her kitchen this week – stunning is an understatment!

Anyway, the  rules of this awared are to:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
2. Answer 10 questions
3. Pass it along to 7 blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy
4. Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award

I’ve done a few ‘answer questions about me’ before, but these questions are different, so here goes:

1. Why did you create this blog?

I used to have a family website years ago (before blogs came along) when Kristen was a baby. I would create pages there of outings we’d had and I’d write a weekly newsletter, mainly so my family back in England could read and see what we’d been up to. I met girls online that also had family websites  - before long those friends started creating ‘blogs’ to journal what they were up to and I jumped on the band wagon and did the same. Over the years I’ve always thought of my blog still as mainly for my family and friends to see what we’re up to, but lately I think it’s been more of a place for me to meet and make new friends!

2. What kind of blogs do you follow

Well, I still follow the blogs of those friends I made many years ago, blogs that are about their every day life, but I also like to follow blogs that show off creative hobbies and crafts, and blogs about home decor etc.  A lot of those blogs I find inspiring and motivating when it comes to keeping my own home in order.

3. Favorite make-up brand

Hmm? That would be ‘none’! I don’t have a favorite, every time I need new eyeshadow or lipstick I usually will try a new brand.

4. Favorite clothing brand

Urmmm, that would be ‘Cheap’!!!

5. Indispensable Make-Up Product?

I’d have to say eye-shadow, my eyelids looks so white when I don’t have it on!!!

6. Favorite color

Pink! I always say pink, but I don’t really dress in it. I mainly like the look of it, I’m always drawn to displays with pink in it. If there was just me, I would decorate my bedroom in pink. When I buy slippers I would always pick pink… Kristen wore pink for the first year of her life (just about!)  . . you get the idea ;-)

7. Favorite perfume

I’ve worn ‘Samsara’ by Guerlain for years, but just last year I discovered I absolutely LOVE Coco Chanel Mademoiselle, I got a huge bottle of it off Jason this Christmas :) Both of these are my fav.

8. Favorite film

I have a few, they are all chic flicks: You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Bridget Jones, The Holiday (w/ Cameron Diaz),  The Proposal (w/ Sandra Bullock), Pride and Predjudice (w/ Keira Knightly and more importantly, Matthew Macfadyen!)

9. What country would you like to visit and why?

England! so I can visit my family :-) Seriously, I’ve been to Spain, Italy, France, Canada (3 times!), Scotland, Ireland and Wales . . . And despite the fact I lived in England for over 30 years, I would still love to go back there and visit all the places I didn’t get to see or just revisit the places I love.

10. Would you rather forget to put on mascara on one eye or forget blush on one side of your face?

What kind of question is this? :) I don’t wear much make up so I don’t think I’d notice if I did either one!

Now, as for rule #3! I’m not very good at that one, I never know who to chose, so I won’t ;-) It was fun answering the questions, but I’ll just leave it at that.

Have a great weekend.

Denise

Whassup!

A Mess! That’s Whassup! It’s Whassup Wednesday over at Kara’s place and I was really thinking I had nothing to blog about, but then I decided to show you ‘my mess’ ;-) Nothing like keeping it real right?

So, here it is . . .

My pantry! I can thank Melanie for getting me started on this ;-) Earlier this week she posted pictures of her pantry and other storage cupboards in her new home. You can check out her ‘pantry post’ HERE.

At first glance my pantry doesn’t look too bad (ignore the blue cloth hanging there, I’d already started cleaning when I decided I’d take pics), but my pantry is pretty small and it gets full very easily – so full infact that things start to spill over on to the little desk right next to it . . . .

Yeah, this is the REAL mess I was talking about! It just about drives me crazy!

So, yesterday I got started on trying to clear and organize it all – yet again. I cleared some space in the cupboard above the desk so I can start putting cans in there again.

It’s a work in progress. As of tonight the desk still looks like it does above! The picture below is still a ‘before’ shot too!

Hopefully by posting it here it will motivate me to get it all finished and I can post a few after pictures of it later this week.

Speaking of ‘MESS’, I have more! Remember I mentioned that I want to clear out a spare room and create a craft space for myself this year? This is what I’m dealing with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, seriously! I don’t even know where to start. I keep walking in there . . . . . and then I just walk right back out again – wouldn’t you?!!

Joining Kara for Whassup Wednesday.

Denise

A Healthy Start . . . .

I wanted to start off the week by posting about our healthy meals in the previous week. We’ve been eating really well, getting a ton of fruits and veg in to us, but ya know what? I didn’t take one single picture of the meals I prepared last week!! I shall try to do that this week so next week I can recap again on what we’ve had and if we’re still eating well (doing this might keep me motivated longer to stay on the ‘health kick’).

Last night Kristen and I did eat salmon and I grilled Jason a pork chop (cos he hates anything ‘fish’)

This wasn’t my plate from last night but from a year or so ago. I just thought I’d add it here because I have no other pics yet. Kristen loves salmon , and tilapia when I make it, so I really should try to make fish at least once a week for us. The fact that Jason doesn’t like it at all shouldn’t put me off. I can simply cook him a chicken breast.

I haven’t put my menu plan together yet, so I’m going to sit and do that now.

Kristen and I went out a couple of times last week after school and took Boo with us for a quick walk around the neighborhood. I need to get out more, get back to my daily morning walk, but as I picked up the mail this morning there was a notice pinned up ‘BEWARE’! and it went on to say there is dog on the loose in the neighborhood that is aggressive. He seems to be friendly as you approach him but that he growls and then chases you! It says to call animal control if you see him. WELL, that was enough to put me off going out there today, plus the fact it’s foggy and damp – no,the main reason is that dog!! So I shall have to put a workout dvd on later, because I must get more active. Despite eating really well this past week I’ve hardly lost half a pound – those jeans still don’t fit!! When they do, I’ll be happy again.

Have a great day, hope to do some bloggy visits later.

Cocktail of the Week!

We have a great new cocktail to share with you this week . . . and when I say ‘we’ I mean me and my BFF Cheryl :-)

It was Cheryl that found this one (recommended by a friend) and she made it for me to try just after Christmas. We had one on New Years Eve too . . . I give you

Key Lime Pie Martini!

I was waiting for Cheryl to send me the picture of ours she took, but she’s had a super busy week, so I grabbed this one off the web! I don’t know the full recipe to this (I’ll get it later from Cheryl) but we actually tried it a few ways, one combo being equal parts of Ke Ke Beach Key Lime Liqueur, vanilla vodka and 1/2 + 1/2 cream. What made this cocktail ‘over the top’ good (imo) was the graham cracker crust around the edge! Cheryl dipped our glasses in key lime juice then in to crushed crumbs. As you went to take your first sip, oh my gosh the smell of the lime and graham crackers really made you feel like you were just about to take a bite of Key Lime Pie – it was AMAZINGLY GOOD!

Here’s a recipe I found online if you’d like to try it this weekend. I’ve never heard of Ke Ke Beach Key Lime Cream Liqueur, but you should be able to find it easily at your local liquor store. Give it a try this weekend – such a fun drink. I think we’ll be having another tonight ;-)

Happy Weekend.

Denise

Some decorative changes. . .

I’m sure you’re all wondering where I am! No? Well, I know at least my sister will be wondering, it’s already midweek and I haven’t posted since Sunday! I’ve been busy the last two days taking Christmas decorations down. Yesterday I had to go deposit a check at the bank, so while I was out I took a quick trip to Kirklands to see if I could spend the Christmas money my Mam sent us :-) I haven’t been to Kirklands in months, of course I had no problem spending the money!

I was looking for another table for the hallway. Last year I bought a table from Ikea and it looked like this (below).

But then I decided to move that table, and put it here. . .

This is in the living room and to the right of this wall is the laundry room, powder room and Jason’s office.

It meant that I could put my black buffet back in the hallway. But then I had another idea just recently. I wanted a new table to create a ‘cocktail bar’. I have so many mixers and bottles of liquor now and they were all just sitting on the windowsill in the kitchen! I thought I’d try and buy something with my Mam’s money – then I thought why not use the black buffet for that purpose and put it back in the dining room where the black shelf was! SO, that’s what I did. I found this lovely table on sale in Kirklands yesterday for the hallway . . .

So as of now everything looks like this . . . .

to the right as you walk in the door you can see my new ‘cocktail/wine’ station!

I took all my bottles and glasses and arranged them neatly on here. I love it!

Bought this wine sign at Kirklands too :-)

A view of the buffet and the hallway – loving it!

The shelf holds my wine and martini glasses :-)

What’s your poison :-)

The lamp above is new too, bought that at Kirklands while I was there! And here’s a few more pics of the new table . . .

Taken from the stair case . . notice I changed out the sconces too! (see pic #1)

My Willow Tree collection gets center stage. Top and bottom!

I bought this pitcher and flowers at Kirklands too, ALL on sale, the flowers and greenery are two separate bunches, only $4 each and I intertwined them. They actually hide the socket and wires from the other side, but not from this view as you can see!

So, when are ya’ll comin over for a cocktail? ;-)

Linking to Kara at

A New Look

Time to change the background on here again. Time to change the Christmas look for something fresh and new.  Choice is limited to just background and header but I’m seriously considering getting a totally new look and finding someone to ‘redesign’ my blog look for me. I don’t want to pay too much though! Does anyone have a designer you would recommend? I know there are lots out there that do really good blogs, but if they came recommended that would make my decision easier.

So, along with a new look and of course the start of a New Year, comes the START (again) of my healthy living plan. Melissa did a wonderful blog post this past week about what to eat and what NOT to eat. She truly motivates me with her posts, whether it’s on food and health or home decor, I just LOVE her blog :-)

As always at this time of year I also look at what I eat and how I’m feeling physically. I don’t want to head towards my 50’s (only 3 years away!!) feeling sluggish and slowly gaining a few pounds here and there. You see, your body/mind thinks if you gain weight slowly you might not even notice, and you’ll let yourself keep on eating all those things you know you shouldn’t. I’ve done just that. . . since last summer I’ve packed on over 12lbs! I know, most of you think I look like I haven’t, and that I look fine but I know I have, I feel like I have. My pants don’t fit, I’ve started wearing velvet sweatpants cos my jeans don’t fit! My energy level is a big fat 0. Overall I just don’t feel good about myself, so that has to change.

Today I will get back to making a menu plan. I’ll be eating things like this for breakfast . . .

This is a cooked breakfast I made while following WW points system. Fat free beans (Heinz variety like we have in England, I buy them in the International aisle at my supermarket!), turkey bacon, ‘light’ bread toasted, mushrooms and tomato (0 points). The total points was about 4 I think.

Having spinach salads for lunch.

or soup and salad!

snacking on home made hummus and crudités

  and having dinners like spaghetti squash and Bolognese sauce. Recipe can be found HERE.

Vegetable curry and brown rice (forgot where I got the recipe! will have to start taking notes of these things).

baked ‘fried’ chicken tenders and salad

simple grilled chicken with a fresh salad and light ranch dressing

      turkey burger with salad and our ‘home grown’ green beans!

I d0 have a blog called The Healthy Den, but I think I may just scrap that and post here about my eating habits and exercise… after all it is a big part of my ‘Daily Life’

So, anyone else jumping on the ‘healthy’ band wagon? Let’s keep each other motivated.  Have a wonderful Sunday . . .  see you next week

January 1st, 2011 :-)

Had to make that my title post so I could type 2011 for the first time :-)  Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all had a fun evening last night. Did most of you make it past midnight?

We had a blast with our friends next door – what a fun night. I know you’re all dying to see photos, so here ya go  . . . .

  Do we look cute or what?  Ha ha :-) Jason styled his own hair last night, got the hair dryer out and everything! (I forgot to put my lacy gloves on in this first pic).

Remember Flock of Seagulls! He didn’t wear the bird all night, someone just popped it on his head so I took a picture.

    I crimped my hair but it’s kinda hard to see.

We put Kiki’s hair in a onesided ponytail!  

Me and my BFF – what a fabulous hostess she is :-)

and this here is Mr. Host (Cheryl’s hubby Steve).

We took our Just Dance 2 over, and everyone had a blast playing it. Maan, that is a workout and a half!

Everyone brought a little something. This is only half of it, there were crockpots full of chili and hot tamales behind me. Notice Emily in the corner there…. there was always one kid sitting next to the chocolate fountain :-)  I brought Pioneer Woman’s Stuffed Jalapenos which were a huge hit (but I’ll post about them another time when I get back to recipe posts).

 

It was a fun filled night. I hope yours was too!