It's here

I can't lie.... This morning it was difficult.

My bed was saying "Bundle up and stay a while" but my head was saying "Time to wakey wakey and start your day".

There is nothing like when the air turns crisp and the first hint of fall shows it's face in the mornings. The mornings in the garden are no longer sunny and warm. They require fleece pants and slippered feet, rather than shorts and flip flops.

The wood was more weathered than usual, or so it seems. All glistening with dew from yet another midnight rain/hail storm. The garden doesn't like the hail but everyone seemed to be doing just fine despite the cold this morning. The geraniums made it through and seem to be quite happy about all this rain!
At the end of the day, the clouds form again. Soon the leaves will change, and the crispness will stay.

Then maybe, I along with my garden, can hibernate for a while. Myself in my bed and all my lovelies in theirs. Fall is here.

Isn't it Thai-riffic!

O.k. that was just silly. I mean Thai-riffic. Just silly. Anyway, I just had to share this recipe with you because it is mmmm-mmm good and so easy peasy that anyone can do it.
My version of Thai-riffic (o.k. it stuck) Chicken Wraps.
I altered a version of Rachel Ray's Thai Chicken Wraps, so I guess It's part hers and part mine, either way, it's DEVINE. Now if you've never had Thai food, don't worry. This is one simple recipe that I dare you to try to mess up. Ya just can't. Plus, it's really just like a stir fry but so super yummy that you'll make it again and again and again. Well, you get the idea.
Alrighty, on to the recipe.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 c. sweet chili sauce
1/3 c. honey
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 lime

Handful of fresh Basil

Dash of red chili flakes (opt.)
1 Iceberg head of lettuce
1 c. cooked brown rice

Now you see green pepper here because when my hubs brought home the red pepper it was moldy! ewwww!
Start up your brown rice now (or really much earlier cuz this only takes about 15 minutes or so).
For this recipe I used a cup of white rice because the hubs brought home a new brand of brown rice and it takes an hour to cook. So we settled for white, I was up for quick and simple not long and nutritional. We still got the nutritional with a tinsey bit of white. Oh well.

Cut the chicken breasts into thin strips. This chicken was cut into strips that were way to big. I don't know who did that but they should have known better.... now salt and pepper the chicken.

Turn on your the stove to medium/medium high and add approx. 1 tsp of Olive Oil. I don't measure but around one turn of a medium sized pan gets you about 1 tsp or so. Add chicken to pan and cook until golden brown on each side.

*Here is my quick tip regarding the chicken. When you first add the chicken to the hot pan let it sit for a few minutes. Let the first side get nice and brown and don't move it around. If you do the chicken will just tear apart and it will be unevenly cooked. I know it's hard to wait and you'll question it but really, don't move it until you see the underside gettin' all nice and toasty. Then turn and continue to turn until all sides are toasty roasty. Then add in red, uh I mean green (the green aren't nearly as good because they aren't as sweet as the red, oh well) bell peppers and cook until peppers are soft. RR says about 3 minutes.

Next, your gonna need that red pepper sauce. You can find this glorious stuff usually on the top shelf of the oriental section of your supermarket. Just look for what says sweet chili sauce and you have a winner. My hubs uses this stuff on everything now. It is tangy sweet deliciousness. Is that a word?

Add to the pan the sweet chili sauce and honey and let it start to bubble. Then turn down to Medium Low and let simmer to reduce sauce to about half. All the while stirring to coat the chicken. Add in rice and stir.

O.k here is another hint but one you might already know. When cutting the Basil, bunch it up like so, and cut it thinly. It really is the easiest way to cut Basil and it will make nice little ribbons. So pretty for garnishing!

Cut the head of lettuce in half and find the best cups.

Fill each cup with just enough chicken mixture. Don't overfill or you can't pick these puppies up with your hands. That's the only way to eat them!

Top each cup with a little Basil and a squeeze of lime juice. Don't skip the lime. It is devine! ;)

My camera died right before the final pic so this is missing the basil and the dash of chili flakes for my hubs but really, Isn't she lovely. Isn't she wonderful. Isn't she precious. Less than one minute old. O.k. pure silliness. Sorry. I'll stop.

Is your stomach grumbling yet? Mine is. Bon Appetit!

Knock? Knock?

It's DIY day over at ASPTL and thank you Kimba for making me get this simple little project done, finally. It's one of those easy ones that you think you'll do one of these days but personally I generally take on the bigger, more time consuming projects first, like new floors or the painted cabinets I'm currently working on. So, getting this done and reaping the benefits of doing something simply but beautifully just makes me giddy. I can't wait to do the next one.

If I'm still alive.

These cabinets might just kill me...No really...They might.


During the summer our front door is open 80% of the time so I stare at this ugly thing day in and day out. How have I put off this project for so long?

Do you like the big red NO SOLICITORS sign? Yep, it was there when we moved in and up until yesterday was still there! You would think that would keep the Comcast and security companies from ringing my door bell, but no. They must not be able to read simple english....
No soliciting at this zoo people!

I got out the tools and pried off that ugly red sign and boy, it wasn't easy but GONE!

Thank goodness...it was about time.

And what do you think of the lovely plaque that is glued, and I mean SUPER DUPER glued, in the center of our front door. I have tried to pry this puppy off but I was always afraid of breaking it and having a big chunk of ceramic just hanging on my door. At least I could cover this up with various Happy Fall or Happy Winter signs since it doesn't always feel like a zoo around here. Not always.

So out came the paint that was leftover from my sisters bathroom DIY project. I can't tell you what color it is because I didn't buy it but it's a nice warm tanish earthy color. I covered the blue up really well and even though I could have gotten away with one coat, why when this project is so simple and fast? 2 coats did it and even covered up the inviting entrance to the zoo!

I painted the trim black and distressed it a bit. I may have distressed it a little too much for my liking but that's an easy fix. I'm going to live with it for a day or two then we'll see. I cut a piece of scrapbooking paper and fit it to the zoo sign. Ahh it already feels so much better!

Luckly, I have this handy dandy little machine

I cut out the all the necessary letters to finish this little project

Nope, you're right... I didn't iron that runner before putting it on my table.

I used transfer tape to lay out the letters and ensure that they are all straight and spaced correctly. Then transfer the letters onto the door. I suggest always using transfer tape. I like things to be straight and this allows you to see your project before that, you can't turn back, stage.

My transfer tape was too short for the whole word so I applied the other letters first then added the E. Again, transfer tape allowed me to make some adjustment to make sure my E wasn't askew. I burnished the letters to the door a little to ensure there were no air bubbles.

Then I just pulled off the transfer tape at a 45 degree angle and voila!

Isn't she gorgeous, all sunshiney and happy.

Now for that pesky zoo sign I added an S for our last name and the year we were married.

I love it! The black goes well with our wrought iron on the front porch and the tanish color blends in nicely with, well everything. Some day I might change that S to a monogram but until then I am so happy to say I will be greeting by this every single day!

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.

~Emily Dickinson

Just a little ditty about TLC

If you haven't heard of the amazingly talented and beautiful (inside and out) Layla Palmer, you MUST go and check out her blog and read about her newest venture.

Not only does Layla, of The Lettered Cottage, have a thriving design consultation business she does commissioned pet portraits, sells her quote and good jars (which I LOVE and have given as a gift), works with her mom on shell boxes, and her and her adorable hubby also have Lettered Cottage Art (which I love as well).

Now if you haven't been over there then you might not know how talented her hubs is too!

Sorry Layla, but I have to share just a little about your adorable and just as talented hubby. Kevin is not only A-dor-able and just as goofy but he is a musician (swoon) and not just any musician. He is the lead in a band, and a band that I really like! How did these two find each other (in a bar, none the less)? So, I guess what I am trying to say is over there at TLC they are all talented, I think even their little pooch Max has talent in his blood!

O.k back to the real reason for this post. Sorry I'm a sucker for both musicians and cutie-patootees, so Kevin had to get a shout out!

This talented little lady is the reason I am blogging. I adore her style, her attitude, her drive and determination, and her real goofy self, which we don't get to see enough of!

Ehm... more instructional videos or fun "day in the life of" videos Layla (and Kevin) PLEASE!

So if you haven't guessed it Layla has been my inspiration and she continues to inspire me each and every day.

Her new venture with her friend Sarah has just begun but I know it will be just one more thing that Layla is great at.

If you haven't been there already please go visit Lettered Cottage Home and give them some love. Once you are there, I know you will just love everything Lettered Cottage like I do! There is a reason that The Lettered Cottage's initials are TLC. Every thing that girl touches receives a little of her TLC!

Good luck Layla and Sarah. I wish you only the best in all that you do!

Cafe Curtain Cover Up

It's Make your Monday at Twice Remembered and I'm sharing this Cafe Curtain Cover Up!
When remodeling our house we took out some old closets and made this bookcase cubby out of a corner of our master bedroom. It sat like this forever.

I can't believe I even shared that mess. Fabric, batting, old sweaters for felting, oh my!
So I needed something simple yet beautiful to cover up this crazy cubby.

I am constantly inspired by Nester to mistreat my home. It was wayyyy past time to do something about this cubby, so mistreatment it is.

I bought a cafe curtain at Wally World for about 3 bucks and the clips at a K-Mart that is going about of business for .75 cents! Whoo hooo! My plan is now in action and for only $3.75. The hubs can't complain about that!

When I found this King Flat sheet at Marshalls (I sing when I say Marshalls because I oh so love them sooo sooo much) on Clearance for $5 (I think). It is the softest material ever, and I am going to make pillows out of what is left of the sheet when I'm done. How about that for coordinating fabrics in the Master Bedroom!

Yes, yes it is Ralph Lauren, which made me love it even more. So classic! (although very wrinkly)

I just measured my cubby and multiplied it by two, to ensure I had enough fabric for my folds. Then I folded over the edge like so....

Very Nester inspired eh? Then started folding material in the middle and worked my way out so that at least the fold in the middle would be centered. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful but I do have a thing about centering stuff, and right angles. I have a thing about right angles...Anyway.....

I made a little box pleat for the front, pretty part of the fold. Then folded approx the same size folds in on each side. Overlapping a little on the back so that when I clip them everything stays put!

Then clip them up. The teeth on these clips make this work really well. It holds all of the fabric in place!

For the ends I made a little box pleat again but just folded the end under and clipped.

Voila! Now the end is kinda poofy like the other pleats. It stands out from the edge of the cubby nicely.

Grab your cafe curtain from where you laid it against the wall.

Screw in your cafe curtain holders. Heh couldn't think of the name of these at the moment so that works, right? I measured my fabric to be about an inch off of the floor but had to put the "holders" a little bit higher to ensure that the fabric covered the cubby holes. That's the point of this right?

Hang the mistreatment on the cafe rod.

And Voila! A perfect little cafe curtain cover up. Much better than the cabinet doors we were originally going to use. And the doors were $40 each. Total for this cute little cover up = $8.75

Does it get any better than that? Well, I'm off to check on everyone else's Make your Monday's.

Have a great week everyone!

Peace

There's this little place I take the pups, that gives me peace. Lately, I kick myself everytime I'm there because it is so green and beautiful yet I never seem to have my camera (which is very unlike me) but yesterday....
No kicking involved. Thank goodness, I was starting to bruise....

This beautiful little trail grounds me, inspires me, fills my lungs with fresh air and appreciation for this wonderful little planet we inhabit.

We've had so much rain which makes everything so earthy green yet the sky is so blue you could swim in it....

The black eyed susans wink at me as I pass by. Their sunshiny smiles bathing in the rays, seemingly enjoying the peace just as much as I am....

I think the pups feel the same way. Even though I make them pose for pictures, at least it was shady in this nature made alcove. Even with hummingbirds wizzing by and squirrels taunting them, they sat like good children and tried not to roll their eyes when I said "Smile"....

I do not want the peace that passeth understanding. I want the understanding which bringeth peace. ~ Helen Keller

Have a peaceful, wonderful weekend in your neck of the woods!

Wow what a Dickens of a weekend!

Whew! What a weekend. Needless to say I didn't have time to finish that Nester inspired Mistreatment but soon, I promise, I'll share. BUT, I found some treasures this weekend and managed to pack in a music festival with some amazing artists, so all in all a productive weekend, I'd say.

My sister, Kelly and I headed out antiquing in a little town about 35 minutes from her house. She was specifically looking for a vintage light fixture for her newly remodeled bedroom. She didn't find what she was looking for but I did....
Check out this old firehouse ladder. I wanted it badly! It was a little too expensive for my budget and the rungs were round which wouldn't work to use as a shelf leaning against my wall. Not perfect so I let it go. :(


I found these posts in the back of a shop somewhat hidden. $35 each and they were huge! Like 12 ft tall! I had visions of cutting them in half and using them on my posts on the back porch as a sort of faux post. Or using one in the front yard with a light on top, as a sort of lamp post. Oh I might have to go back for these now!

How about this chicken coop! It would look fantastic on top of my china hutch! Again, a little pricey at $75 but it was quite huge as well. Plus the tag read "Primitive chicken coop-NO POOP" and that made me laugh out loud!

Now this, I really wanted and it is so much prettier than the picture portrays. An antique barn door table never restored. It was so beat up and beautiful and still had the holes from the hinges. I LOVED IT! But before I could spend too much time drooling over it right behind it was this big beautiful black monstrosity. What could it be, shoved up against the wall and barely showing behind the chairs and dressers (that I promptly moved out of the way)?

My sister is trying to find the price tag (maybe behind it?-as she pulled it away from the wall.) Kelly is all of 5'2" (if she is lying) so you can see how BIG this beauty is. So I casually say "do you want me to see how much it is?" with the response of "yes, it would look great in my entry" Not that she was really going to buy it. It must be expensive, I think to myself.
I cannot explain the detail in this piece and the lighting was horrible for taking pictures but I sure did try to capture the beauty.

At the top each side had a woman carved into it and her carved skirt flowed all the way to the floor.

The umbrella stand had a pristine tin box and I just continued to wonder not only at the condition of this piece but where did it come from?

Well, as I demurely ask if this piece is for sale the owner tells me with a knowing look on her face that it has a very special history. It is from the mid 1800's and was once owned by Charles Dickens! A CHARLES DICKENS PIECE-ON THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI. O.k. anyone who doesn't shop in Colorado doesn't know that it is a true treasure to come across something like this in the little town Florence. We really have to dig for treasures out here! Needless to say, it wasn't for sale which leads to the sad part of this story. A woman in Denver bought this hall tree and Dickens' writing desk at a Sothebys auction many years ago for $15,000(just the hall tree price). For some reason she needed to liquidate some of her assets and choose to keep the desk but sell this lovely piece. She had contracted with a couple of auction houses and Antique shops to sell her wares and during the move, the paperwork that should have been sent with this piece was stolen or lost. Sotheby's is not interested in reproducing the paperwork because if the paperwork was stolen there may be a fake out there with her legitimate paperwork. So here sits this beautiful piece of work just waiting for a home. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous.

After she told me the history, I had to go back and just touch it for a while. I still can't believe behind all those chairs and dressers this beautiful treasure sits, waiting to be of some use to someone again some day. I hope it finds a home. It would break my heart for a little piece of history to be lost at the back of a shop in Florence, CO of all places.

After that insanely exciting day of antiquing, the hubs and I spent the whole next day at the Mile High Music Festival with our good friends Tom and Nancy.

What a day full of music, food, friends, and heat! Boy was it hot but so much fun.

We were introduced to a new band (gotta love music festivals for this) The Black Keys. Wow were they A-MAZ-ING! They have been around awhile I guess, but I am so glad I got to hear them live really they are great! We snuck up to the front row to see this two person band. Only two musicians and you would NEVER know it. Again Amazing.

The whole day we listened to some great music! Everything from Needtobreathe, G-Love, Ben Harper, to Tool, Incubus, and Wide Spread Panic. Interesting selection huh?

After a day of resting on the grass, listening to some tunes, and munching on everything from some delicious chicken and basil dumplings to funnel cake (nice combo eh?) we decided it was time to go. Not before I snapped a few shots to share.

My friend Nancy won't like that I am sharing this pic but I love it. No posing or anything. It's hard to catch this girl off guard but here she is-the real Nancy! And our tired, tanned, blistered and weary feet after a full day of fun!