Yard Sale Find!

A wonderfully, useful yard sale find: A glass candle holder turned calligraphy inkwell! 

This "inkwell" is the perfect circumference and depth to hold just the right amount of ink. And, at $.15 it was another yard sale score!

Galvanized Purchases That Would Make Martha Proud

Memorial Day flea markets and yard sales are the best! This weekend we unintentionally found two galvanized items that have the potential to be super cool with some TLC. 

I love how classic the galvanized look is and many major home brands have (of late) been incorporating the look into their wares. (Ahem! Potterybarn...)

Here's what we found:

Needs lots of work, but we were thinking of painting the base of this old wash-bucket a bright fire engine red and using it for parties or as a planter. Can't decide!

Loved this old wooden crate with metal contrast. It is surprisingly heavy and also needs lots of TLC. It will be stained a dark mahogany and cleaned up a bit. 

Photos of the refurbs to come shortly...

June Living

June is here and...Holy Wow! 60+ crowd-pleaser recipes, among other things. This is going to be interesting!


On a side-note, I got this completely awesome glass cookbook holder from Williams Sonoma this weekend after I realized how much I destroyed the pages of the May MS Living. Not only is this a great holder but it also has conversion tables on it. Score!

May Round-up!

Well... The month of May came and went. I can hardly believe it. 


My first month as a "Martha-be" was overall successful. I almost, kind of, feel like a cook now... Well, maybe. Perhaps, I just learned how to follow recipes better, so I'm not sure if that counts. I also made more time for home projects which was completely rewarding. So, wherever you are, thank you Martha!


Since my last post, I completed a few more (but not all!) recipes in the May MS Living - including the Lentil Arugula Salad, which was amazing! I would definitely give it a 9 on the rating scale. 


Additionally, my fiance and I took on a few home projects in the month of May, including the repainting (staining?) of our small-ish back deck and potting some greenery and herbs in our urban concrete jungle. This is now one of my favorite spaces in our city-home, even though when we were painting we absolutely despised the shockingly terracotta paint color. By adding some plants and our furniture, it changed the space significantly and we both love the change. I think Martha would be proud... Enjoy!

Woo hoo! Herb garden :)

Weekend Round-Up

Last weekend was a fairly productive weekend with respect to several home projects. In addition to painting our back deck and potting our urban herb garden, my fiance and I took on a few more Martha recipes. Here is what we tried:

Ricotta w/ Lemon, Basil & Honey Bruschetta
Rating: 8
Comment: Very refreshing bruschetta. Would be great served as miniature appetizers for a summer party.


Prosciutto, Mellon & Balsamic Bruschetta
Rating: 1
Comment: I don't eat meat, so I have to take my very picky fiance's word on this one!

Shaved Asparagus Salad
Rating: 6
Comment: I've never tried raw asparagus before and surprisingly, it wasn't bad. Good recipe if you want to change your asparagus repertoire. 


Gravalax w/ Sweet Mustard Sauce
Rating: 6
Comment: This salmon curing recipe was simple to prepare and enjoyable to try. However, I was slightly skeptical that the salmon was cured enough and I was just eating raw fish. 


Colorful Cows
Rating: 8
Tweaks: Used raspberries to make syrup base.
Comment: Classically good!

Abstract Novice

5' abstract art piece that I created a few years ago after realizing that my oil paints were drying out in their tubes from lack of use. Although this was my first ever foray into the abstract art world, I have truly come to appreciate this form of painting and it has led me to experiment more with different forms of art. 


More to come....

The "Red Bottom" Shoe

No! Not those "red bottoms."

These ones!

My fiance received his much anticipated Ecco Street Premiere golf shoes in the mail on Friday after about a one month wait. These are the very same style shoes worn by Freddie Couples (Yeah! I know. Freddie, who? I included the Wiki link, just in case you are like me and know nothing about golf!) at the Masters and they are (apparently) sold out everywhere until late August. With some solid sleuthing, I was able to score a pair of "red-bottoms" online and it made for a very happy fiance. Woo hoo!


Turns out that he got his first "red-bottoms" before me! I never would have figured... ;)