The bestest Christmas... :)

What a truly wonderful Christmas:) We ate yummy food, drank tasty wine, played hilarious games, ate more yummy food, and laughed and laughed and laughed.....a whole lot:)

A sincere thank you to all who read this blog o mine:) Your comments and emails are always so fun to read:) Looking forward to what lies ahead in 2012!

Merry Everything. Happy Always....:)

Merry Christmas! I'm busy and no time to write, and I'm sure you're busy and no time to read! So enjoy these pics of Christmas at me casa:)

And juuust in case you haven't found that perfect little thing for that perfect little someone? Check out these coolest iPhone charger book thingys Rio made! If you want one, and you're local you can pick them up here. At me casa. Because I'm the best mom ever and I do crazy stuff like that for my crazy crafty daughter:) Check out all the others here: chasingrio.com or contact Rio at rio@williamrogersco.com

Merry Christmas! Yes, I say Merry Christmas, and I'll never stop saying Merry Christmas!  Because that's what it is. CHRISTmas!!

Right now I am.....:)

I've seen this going around blogland:) And being that my ideas for blogging are at an all time low- here ya go!

Right now I am...

Watching: Modern Family. The hubby and I are addicted to this show. Particularly Cameron Tucker. You're seriously missing out if you don't watch it!

Eating: Just put this fabulous roast in the oven:) It's Pioneer Woman's recipe. And it's a winner:)

Drinking: Water. Lot's of water:( Other than my one cup o joe in the morning, this is pretty much it. I feel like it helps out with my dry skin? And since the hubby has decided to get all healthy on me, wine is sadly more occasional than I'd like:( Down with fitness! It's silly!!! And boring!!!! 

Wearing: A crocheted headband. Perfect for a gal who is so often hair lazy. And it conveniently covers my roots. Yep. Grey ones. Ewwww!!! I swear I have more than my 75 year old mama!

Avoiding: Wrapping presents for some reason. I love to wrap. What the?

Feeling:  Content:) I'm in a happy place. Spent Saturday with my BF making tamales, house is clean, dinner in the oven, listening to the sound of a snoring bully, hubby coming home soon and kids joining us for dinner. That's my kind of happy:) 


Missing: My fav black leather jacket. Seriously. It's MIA. It was the best plain black jacket. For the first time in my life I was wishing Rio had borrowed something of mine and not returned it. I've looked EVERYWHERE for it. And if you know me, you know what an organized freak I am so it's not like I'm going to find it in a closet or in a box somewhere:( Waaaaaaa!!! 


Thankful: For so many things! Like mascara and salt to name a few. For awesome neighbors who come over when you start a fire and didn't check to see if the flue is open and your smoke detector goes off:) makes up for the crappy neighbors who didn't give a hoot when your last house really did catch on fire! True story:(  

Weather:  Raining as I type! Makes me the happiest. I really think I was meant to live in Oregon or Washington. I LOVE dark, gloomy, cold, rainy days. Weird I know.

Praying:  For hearts to soften. For suffering to end. For conflicts to resolve. And for peace... always.  


Needing:  I really don't need anything.  But if I must... Holy sweet UGGS:)

Thinking:   About how I have a severe case of the Savior Syndrome when it comes to old beauties like this one:( If I had the money, I'd save each and every one:)

Loving:  Grande 4 raw sugar lattes, uggs, my kitchen, my cozy bed, bumble and bumble mending shampoo, soft scarves, the fact that Lidija's coming for Christmas! yay! boot socks, heated seats AND a heated steering wheel!, Christmas scented candles, foot rubs from my hubby, mindless TV like Storage Wars, people who actually take the time to read my silly little blog, aaaaand last but not least...the fact that EVERY day is take your dog to work day:)

and you? what are you up to?

Baked eggs... :)

Breakfast and family. One of my fav combos:) The Sunday after Thanksgiving I thought I'd try out this baked egg recipe I found over at Faithfulness Farm:) Baked Eggs. What a concept! You can cook up a bunch at a time and you don't have to spend your morning head down over the stove, when you can enjoy a mimosa instead!!

What you'll need:)

Eggs

Creme

Green onions

Feta cheese

Spinach

The great thing about this recipe is you can use whatever you have. You can add any chopped meat and use whatever cheese you have... like- chorizo and cotija cheese- or basil, prosciutto and parm?...so easy! so simple! so ME!!

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray as many ramekins as you are going to use with a little oil and line them with chopped spinach. Add 2 eggs to each.

Pour about a TBSP or so of creme over the top:)

Sprinkle with Feta cheese:)

Top with chopped green onions and salt and pepper:)

Stick em on a baking sheet:)

Cook em for 10 minutes:) I cooked mine for maybe 20 because I'm a no runny white stuff in my eggs kinda gal! Just watch them and take them out when they're cooked to your liking:) Again...no rules!!

And here she be. The one and only picture that I got before I devoured the whole thing:)

I served this scrumptiousness with little smokey sausage and toast. Easy, pretty and tasty. Eggsactly what like to cook:) 

Fix it!... For free:)

It's that time of year again!! You know, pull out the ole tree thats been shoved in a box for a year, put it up, fluff it up, and pray to Jesus that all the lights still work? Well every year, I curse the same thing. The hideousness that is.....the tree stand. Really? Someone hasn't figured out how to make a fake tree base that somewhat resembles a real tree trunk??? Ugh!! And I don't care how fabulous of a tree skirt you have, you can always see some of that ugly green metal pole!  

Well enough is enough! I had the hubby grab this old trash can that was literally  sitting in the back yard filled with dirt and bring er in!

He emptied the dirt, filled it with bricks, and used baling wire to secure the tree and voila!! Success:)

This little tree sits in our front guest bedroom, centered on the window. Well that meant playing musical furniture to make room for the tree. I took out the table that usually sits in front of the window, and after placing the tree I thought the room still looked empty. I grabbed this chair that usually sits in my craft room. Yeah, not lovin that fabric. So I did what any gal in a pinch would do...

Remove the slipcovers silly!! I wrapped fabric around the seat because that was the only part that didn't have the cream color upholstery:) Sunday I reopened the pillow factory (as the hubby calls it) and busted out all my Christmas pillows:) 

Here's the room at night. Mmmmm  me loves!

And the best part?

It didn't cost me a thing:) And hey, I'm thinkin about leaving that tree nekkid. I'm liking the simplicity of it:) Your thoughts?

The other side...:)

Saturday morning (whilst still enjoying some shut eye) my hubby leans over and whispers "hey, isn't today that Salvage thing?" I jolted awake for 2 reasons. Number 1- I swore I was sleeping with this guy, because surely my hubby was not saying what I thought he was saying! Number2- I was NOT going to miss Sweet Salvage!!

I wanted to find something for my bathroom. Not sure what, just that thing that would scream TAKE ME-TAKE ME!! :) While you all have seen this pic of my master bathroom, I've never actually shown you...the other side.......

Yep, go ahead and soak it all in (pun totally intended)!! I mean seriously? Who doesn't want to spend hours relaxing in that bore! A broken towel rod, that always chose to fall at the crack of dawn when my hubby would get out of the shower- scaring the *&%#$ out of me! And on it's way down would chip my original 1916 tub. UGH! This room has it's challenges I tell ya! Like those AC vents for one, and the weird ceiling height as well. Yeah, let's move on...FAST.

 

Well look at her now!! The hubby (again, being the Nate that I love) spotted this sweet old mantle in Nancy's area at Sweet Salvage for.....$299!!! Perf:) The topiaries on the toilet, the lantern and topiary on the mantle are from FOUND. I'm a lucky gal to live (literally) around the corner from that fab store!

  After installing the mantle (and realizing that if I could burn that other towel rack I would) the sweetness that is my hubby made me a new towel rack using scrap wood and some hooks that I bought years ago at Domestic Bliss:) Aaaaaah!!

 I love this pic because the sweet little cabinet on the wall by the toilet used to hold the "necessities" in every shape and size.  It's empty now:) I know!!! I hear you all a clappin!! :)

 I just wish I was a bath kinda gal. I'm not:( I get bored before the bathtub gets full!  

It's Little Bully who gets to enjoy it. Every Sunday:) Well almost every Sunday:)

Pumpkin Soup? Yes please! ...:)

So it's finally cooling down here in AZ! And cooler weather always sings soup to me:) My sis in law told me about this soup. A friend of hers made it from a mix she found at World Market. Now normally I steer clear from anything made from a mix, but she made it sound so good and so easy, I thought  I'd give this one a try:) 

All you need for this soup is:

1 pkg. soup mix

5 3/4 cups water

2 3/4 cups heavy cream (yeah, you read that right!)

1- 15 oz. canned pumpkin

Combine soup mix and water in a stock pot and mix to blend. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

While that simmers, warm up some bread. I buy the par baked bread from Trader Joe's. 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven and it's done!

Add pumpkin to your soup and cook for 5 minutes.

Get your hubby to slice your yummy warm bread and slather(yes, slather!) with butter:)

(Want that fab cutting board? It's a fantastic 16x36" long walnut board. The hubby is cutting on the "veggie" side, the other has the drain channel for juices:) You can get them at this really cool place that I happen to work at:)

Finish your quick and fantastically yummy soup off with a big 'ole dollop of what else? Creme Fraiche:)

Sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds, that yes, you could make yourself- orrrr you can grab them off the shelf at Trader Joe's:)

The hubby wasn't messing around with that butter!! But I say who cares! It just joined hands with the heavy creme in the soup and did a happy dance on it's way to my tummy:)

So my opinion of the soup mix- was it good? easy? worth the $3.99? Yes, yes and yes:)

Thanks, I'm in a hurry!...:)

I'm thankful for a lot of things. Red wine, YouTube, and blog tutorials to name a few.  You know, all those things that make life soo much easier:) (I'm not however thankful for my horrible handwriting! Ugh!) Moving right along...

My new obsession? The 5 minute pillow:) You see, I'm a learn by seeing it kind of gal. I mean please, these pillows are by no means difficult, but I just had to see it so I could do it. You gettin me? Anyway, I haven't stopped making them. I make them for my porch furniture out of scraps of whatever I have or I buy remnant pieces of fabric. Because (I swear I have some form of ADD) I get tired easily of the same ole pillows, and then I don't feel so bad if I haven't spent a fortune on the fabric to make them:)

Yeah, they're cute, but they were crying out for something....

So I did what any girl in a pinch would do! Find any fabric flower you have and pin em on!!

Already planning my Christmas pillows. And then Valentine's. And then St. Patrick's Day. And sew on and sew on....