The Living Room Remodel

We are off again on another room to remodel, this time it's the living room! There will only be three major rooms after we finish this one. With my husband off this month, this remodel might go fast! We just finished remodeling our bathroom, but I will post those pictures later on in the week. I wanted to first give you a sneak peak at the living room before we start transforming it.

There is a ton of woodwork in this room.
I love the color red with all of the woodwork, so I am thinking about having one red wall and the rest of the walls to be a light brown color.
I would like to transform these lampshades to match the one red wall.
I love the floor to ceiling windows that look over the lake.
Here is the ugly wallpaper in this room, it is very similar to the wallpaper we had in the nursery.
And the ugly light fixture...I have no idea what to replace this with. If you have any ideas for a new light there, please let me know. Well, that is the next room that we are working on. I am hoping to get it finished soon!

~Beth

The Laundry Room Remodel

It is exciting to say that the Laundry Room has been redone! It was probably one of the fastest remodeling projects we have done to date!

On an average day the room looked like this:

The room is right off the garage, so we usually dump a ton of things in it when we get home.
Here is the room before (clean):

I removed the wallpaper and painted the walls. I have been on this quest to remodel on the cheapest budget possible, so the beige color is leftover paint from two rooms combined. The green wall is venetian plaster left over from one of the bathrooms we remodeled. My husband helped me resurface all the cupboards and we switched out the handles to match the rest of the house.
Here are the results of all of our hard work: And a side by side comparison:
And some more photos of the before and after:
I decided to keep my TJ Maxx hooks that I paid only a $1.50 for, but spray painted them antique brass to match the new fixtures on the cupboards.

As for the ugly light fixtures, well they remain. I haven't exactly decided what to do with them yet. I had some suggestions to spray paint them, which I really might end up doing that. However, it's just so cold outside I will wait till the warmer weather to do that. The hooks were hard enough for me to spray paint!

Now for the organization part. I didn't want to go out and buy new baskets for the room so I just hunted around the house and rearranged some things in other closets to find the baskets I needed. They are mis-matched but they do the job.
It really is amazing what you can find around the house that can help you just to become a little more organized.
My favorite part of this whole thing is the junk drawers below:

In my upstairs closet I had the two small drawers for our extra cold medicines and such. I just swapped out the large white one I had in the laundry room previously for these two small drawers and they really helped. Most of the stuff in the cupboards was just random junk that we had laying around. It's really nice to have all the little glue bottles, batteries, and miscellaneous items all tucked away in these neatly organized drawers.

Well that's it! Another room finished. To many of you out there, this room may not look totally organized, but it works for us. I would love to have cute wicker baskets in all of the shelves, but I really didn't want to go out and spend the money on buying them. Who knows, maybe some day I will be walking through a store and find some for a good bargain. Till then, it's nice to have another room done in this house and only four more major rooms to go!

~Beth

Our Top 10 Google Results of 2010!

Picture Source

Since we are still in the first few days of the New Year we thought it would be best to take a look back on popular posts from 2010. You've probably noticed the area on the right of the blog that lists the Top 10 visited posts but like many people we were interested to see how our blog has fared on Google. So without further ado please join us in looking back on our Top 10 Google results of 2010!

10. Decorating on a Dime

In this post Beth featured cute and inexpensive ways in which

she added unique touches to their dining room

9. Quick & Easy Christmas Ornaments (Guest Blog)

The #9 blog was actually our very first "guest blog." Barb had a creative and easy idea and we had to ask her to share it on our blog. We look forward to more guest posts in 2011.

8. The "Adult" Christmas Cookie

Beth and I happen to think that this recipe, although extremely delicious, received a lot of hits because of how so many bloggy ladies interpreted the title! Naughty, naughty! :D I kid, I kid, but really it certainly helped attract extra attention to the recipe.

7. Fashionable Prego Clothes?

This post chronicled Beth's adventures in maintaining comfort and style during the changes from pregnancy. Obviously many ladies in similar situations could relate! :)

6. Christmas Party Outfit Ideas

I love any excuse to dress up so Christmas parties

are a perfect excuse to break out the sparkle!

5. Anne's Easy Taco Dip

This easy and delicious dip comes in at a surprising #6
(considering it is the most popular post on our blog!).
This dish is always a crowd-pleaser.

4. Back to School

This post summarized my decision to go back for my Master's degree and the passion for my job in HR. I have a feeling the title helped propel this post but I kind of named it "Back to School" as an ode to Billy Madison! ;)

3. Easy Fashion/Beauty Updates

Like most girly-girls I love surveying fashion and beauty trends. This post was a compilation of some of my favorite trends and what I viewed as easy ways to spice up your basics.

2. New Year's Eve Outfit Ideas

As I said above I love any excuse to dress up!

This post consisted of a few fun outfit ideas for New Year's Eve.

1. Link Party: Christmas Bark

Mmm delicious! And evidently others thought so too. Perhaps it was the proximity to Christmas Day but this delicious recipe/Holiday link party came in at #1.

We had a fabulous 2010 and can't wait to take on another year! Sincere thanks for stopping by the blog and for all your support and positive feedback. We're already brainstorming lots of other fun posts and series and would appreciate any suggestions you might have as well.

Here's to a fantastic 2011!

~Christi

Losing The Baby Weight Part 2

Well it is official, 2011 has begun and it's time that I start getting serious about losing this baby weight. You might remember my first post about the weight gain I had during pregnancy, I gained a total of 50 pounds. Since that blog it's been almost 20 days and I have managed only to lose 1/2 pound. In my defense though, the last few weeks are some of the biggest eating holidays of the year!

The new year is all about starting new and this year's resolution is to lose this baby weight! Luckily, I won't be fighting this battle alone. My husband has gained 20 pounds since we moved from Texas, which was two years ago, and he too wants to lose his extra weight. So hand in hand, we decided to make it our 2011 goal to lose this weight together. It makes it so much easier when you have both partners working together.

Our strategy: calorie counting and exercise. Many people are not huge fans of calorie counting, but it has worked for me in the past and I am sure it will work again...I mean it's just plain science.

We first start out by determining our calorie intake. I use the Mayo Clinic website, I figure that the Mayo clinic provides the most accurate and healthy number of calories. This number is very important because it determines how many calories you can consume without gaining weight (in theory). If you want to lose weight one pound equals 3,500 calories. To lose one pound you must burn 3,500 more calories than you are consuming or reduce your calorie intake by 3,500 calories. So to aim for weight loss of one pound per week, you would reduce calories by 500 per day. This is going to sound like a repeat because I have blogged about this before.

With the awesome new technology, there are several apps/websites out there that can help you track your calories. We really like myfitnesspal.com, which has a handy little app for the Droids.

We can either record our calorie intake on the website or the app, so it works great for us. MyFitnessPal is free to use and interface is very user-friendly. They have a ton of food listed in their database and you have the option for adding your own recipe to calculate it's calories. And if you want bragging rights, it has all the normal things built in...facebook feeds, message boards, buttons, and even your own blog. (You can read mine here, but I just started it.)

Here's my button:

The key to calorie counting is to plan your meals. I have found in the past, that planning meals is vital for eating healthy. If not, you end up coming home and throwing together some high calorie, pasta dish or worse yet fast food! There are several websites out there that allow you to search for recipes by calories. That is usually the easiest way to narrow down the massive amount of recipes online. I will be posting recipes on this blog as well that are low calorie and delicious.

All of my healthy items will have this lovely little image on them to denote they are healthy.

The other part of the weight loss will be to exercise. This has been the hardest for me since having a baby. Sometimes I just don't have the energy and I have to force myself to workout. I just have to keep reminding myself that it takes a couple weeks of exercising regularly to adjust to it and all of a sudden you will have a ton of energy. It's true! To keep the workout from becoming mundane, I read lots of fitness magazines- self, shape, and fitness. Studies have shown that reading these magazines help keep you more motivated to work out.

Well, that is my strategy or losing the baby weight. I would love any other suggestions readers might have on how they lost the weight, also any motivation would be much welcomed. Wish me luck with the 26 pounds I have to lose in 2011!

~Beth

An Indian New Year!

To ring in 2011, Christi and her husband Nathan decided to come down and visit. We decided to plan a New Year's Day- Indian style...that means Chicken Tikka Masala, Samosas, and Naan. I think it is easy to say that Indian food is a favorite for all of us and honestly can be some of the hardest food to prepare. Ben and I have tried many of Chicken Tikka Masala recipes only to have them turn out bland and just not taste right, but finally we got it right! I updated this post with the BEST Naan recipe that I have found. We have tried about 6 recipes and this one was the winner!



Here is our New Year's Eve Menu:

Chicken Tikka Masala1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut in 1 inch cubes
Marinade1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground red pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 piece minced ginger ( 1-inch" long)
6 bamboo skewers


Sauce2 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapenos, minced
4 teaspoons ground coriander
4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon paprika
6 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Soak bamboo skewers in water.
2. Mix ingredients of marinade
3. Thread chicken on skewers, and marinate in the refrigerator for an hour or so.
4. After an hour, discard marinade.
5. Broil chicken, turning occasionally, to cook through- about 8 minutes.

For sauce,
1. Melt butter on medium heat.
2. Add garlic& jalapeno; cook 1 minute.
3. Stir in coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala& salt.
4. Stir in tomato sauce.
5. Simmer 15 minutes.
6. Stir in cream; simmer to thicken- about 5 minutes.
7. Remove cooked chicken from skewers and add to sauce. Simmer 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with cilantro Serve with basmati rice and naan



Samosas1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked diced potatoes
1 cup cooked diced carrots
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
5 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon water
2 (8 ounce) packages crescent rolls

Honey Dipping Sauce1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 pinch red pepper flakes

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil 5 minutes until onion is soft.
2. Add all other ingredients except crescent rolls.
3. Stir gently over medium heat for several minutes until well incorporated. Set aside and let cool.
4. Heat oven to 375°F.
5. Open cans of crescent rolls and unroll the dough.
6. Take each triangle section and pinch together one side to form a pocket.
7. Stuff each pocket with filling and pinch together to close. It works better when dough is cold, so try to keep it as cold as possible.
8. Bake on cookie sheets sprayed 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
9. While the samosas are baking, mix together sauce ingredients in a pan. Cook until combined and warm.
10. Serve the samosas warm with Honey Dipping Sauce.

Naan
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy.
2. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough.
3. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth.
4. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
5. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic.
6. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
7. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
8. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned.
9. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes.
10. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.
11. Remove from oven and serve hot in a foil-lined basket.

The Skinny: 24 pieces of naan @ 115

~Beth

Remodeling/Reorganizing The Laundry Room

Well, many of you know that we started yet another project of remodeling one of our bathrooms. Right across the hallway is the laundry room, and I thought it would be a great time to just get both rooms remodeled. The laundry room though, has a lot more work to do than the bathroom.

For one, the room is right off our garage and serves for a dumping ground for almost everything we have when walking in the door.

On an average day the room looks like this:

You can now see how messy we keep the room, just no organization whatsoever.

For the before and after pictures I cleaned up the room a little, so you can see what we are dealing with in the room minus the clutter.
Ugly Wallpaper:
Huge washer and dryer that needs to be moved (which btw we are keeping till they die):
The room is very long and narrow. I had my husband install these little hangers on the wall to help keep down the clutter in the room. They aren't the cutest thing but I did only pay $1.50 for each of them at TJ Maxx.
There are ugly light fixtures in the room that are a fake wood grain on a metal fixture:
We would ideally like to keep them, to save money but if anyone out there has any suggestions on how to "dress them up" or what would be nice to replace them with, I would love to hear from you.

And when the cupboard doors are off, you can see where the real need to organize comes from:

Our 2011 goals for this room are:

1. Remove the wallpaper

2. Paint the walls

3. Refinish the cupboards

4. Change up the light fixtures

5. Organize, Organize, Organize

We are hoping to have this finished in the next few weeks. My husband has a month off of work, so with some good luck we might get it to go faster. I would love if some people would comment or send me any suggestion on organizing or just remodeling in this room. I love to hear your ideas!

~Beth

New Year's Eve Outfit Ideas

New Year's Eve is just around the corner. Whether you plan on getting together with a few friends or attending a fancy, schmancy party I hope these looks will provide you with some outfit inspiration or perhaps just some entertainment!

1. Fun Shirt with Jeans

If you're planning on having a casual New Year's Eve at one of your friend's houses the outfit above is a perfect way to add some pizazz without being horribly overdressed. I love to dress up but let's face it; a lot of people simply don't (esp. in my beloved Midwest)! I hate showing up somewhere and feeling completely overdressed. I think adding a fun piece such as the black sequined top above to jeans is the perfect solution. It provides a dressy look without going overboard. Add some fun extras like a ruffled clutch, chandelier earrings, and darling wedge booties. Keep hair soft and natural while polishing off the whole look with some red lip gloss.
Oh and don't forget the champagne of course ;)

2. LBD with Colored Jewels

This look is all about focusing on the accessories to bring out the potential of your LBD. It was actually inspired by one of my friends from high school! We met for lunch the day after Christmas and she showed up with this beautiful statement necklace. I couldn't get that necklace out of my head and it is a perfect way to add some glitz to your basic LBD. A cocktail ring in similar rosy hues combined with pink MAC lipglass will make sure your LBD is anything but "the usual." Wrapping a skinny silver belt around the dress is also a great way to emphasize your figure. Since it's New Year's why not add some dramatic false lashes? If you buy some and they seem like too much simply snip off 1/4 of the strip and apply it to your outer lashes. A chic chignon and silver nail polish provide the finishing touches to your New Year's Eve LBD.

3. Nice Kitty

If you're tired of a basic black or silver New Year's dresses why not hop on the leopard trend for something fun and different? This look combine black tights, a leopard print dress, and merlot-colored velvet heels. I haven't been keen on velvet coming back in style but these shoes are to die for as Rachel Zoe would say. I imagine this look with deep red lips, black and gold jewelry, and a petite gold clutch. Keep the hair fun with big, cascading waves and opt for wine-colored nails to continue the sassy look. Finally, finish the outfit with a dramatic black trench and long black gloves. Rawwwwwwwwr!

4. Snow Queen

When I left my parents' house the day after Christmas I was completely inspired by the frost-covered trees around us. We already had snow but overnight the city was transformed into a winter wonderland! For a look inspired by the bitter but beautiful cold I chose a silver, sequined cocktail dress. When playing with the sequin trend (which I adore - can you tell?) it is important not to go overboard. This is hard for me. When I see the volume of sparkling clothes and accessories I just want to pile it all on! But in the interest of avoiding tackiness this just won't do. I couldn't resist the snowflake earrings and bracelet but to offset all the sparkles I chose a pair of nude pumps. This works well with the blush material of the dress and bonus!: nude heels give the illusion of longer legs. Who doesn't love that? I imagine the ice queen wearing this to rock a fabulous faux fur and some pale blue nails (perhaps reminiscent of Chanel's "Riva").

5. Black and Gold

Okay I know what you're thinking, "Sequins? AGAIN?!!" But I won't apologize! As long as this trend is rampant I will be one of its biggest advocates. To throw together this easy New Year's outfit swipe one of the zillions of sequin skirts available and pair it with a basic black shirt. Black tights will help keep you warm and come in handy with some of the shorter hemlines. I love this look with a cute headband and flats but if you're going for a more sophisticated look heels or boots would look great as well! Play into the color scheme with black and gold smokey eyes and a darling lacy clutch.

I hope these looks have provided you with some inspiration for your own New Year's Eve! If you have any suggestions please comment below.

Have a safe and Happy New Year's!

~Christi