The Last Stretch

ONE more week! One more week till closing. One more week until we take that next step into adulthood and (in my opinion) complete one of the top 3 things that one should consider official adulthood (including being married and having kids). All in time mom. All in time.

Next weekend Zac and I put on our -100 experience level remodeler/fixer-upper caps and tackle a bunch of projects before I deem the house livable enough.

I get to update these cabinets on little to no budget. Add some hardware and live with the hideous laminate counter tops that look like they belong on the floor instead of in a kitchen.

We have to think of a temporary solution to missing closet doors. From looking online, we are probably going to have to get doors custom made to fit the awkward closet spaces, and it is going to cost too much right now. Why they did not put the doors back on when they stopped renovating is beyond me.

                          

Perhaps a tension rod and some cute curtains for now? I need a sewing machine.....

Tantalizing Trivets

I always read DIY blogs and hate how lucky everyone else is to have cool thrift stores and tons of Goodwill stores around them with awesome stuff. I haven't been so lucky in these parts O'Merryland. There are a couple of thrift stores around (Unique Thrift Store and Value Village) but they kinda suck.. and are, I think, a tad pricey.

*let me just say that the link to Value Village does the one by us justice like you would not believe. The one here is gross. I felt like I should have been wearing a mask to shop, and no one speaks English.*

Anywhoozzle. I DID find 2 trivets that I really liked for about $2.50 a pop. Both were silver and kinda dirty and greasy. I soaked them in bleach and gave them a nice good scrub with a Brillo pad. I did not take any before pictures, but here are the afters.

Candy Apple Red and Midnight Black. <3

 I think they look pretty good! All I did was spray paint them (about 3 coats each) of high gloss spray paint and let them dry for 2 days. I was worried about the hot pots and pans melting the spray paint though.. I considered going back to Home Depot and looking for a can of clear high heat spray paint to seal them with... but I put it off too long then just didn't care anymore. If it peels, I'll sand them and re-spray.

Sorry for the ugly pictures. The lighting in this house is in the most inconvenient places, and the flash always gives too much glare.

But alas, we are moving SOON! So I can put my own lighting in and be happy with it.

So here they are! A butterfly and a clock-thing. I think they're pretty cute. I needed some trivets so this was a nice cheap fix.

Harry Homeowner

The closing date is fast approaching. I'm starting to realize that we are actually buying a house. We are actually committing to this for the rest of our lives.. or until we sell. :) Does this mean I am officially a grown-up now?

I don't wanna be grown up.

The townhouse needs some work. It has good bones and brand new carpet.. as well as a fresh coat of a beigey builders grade paint on all the walls, which we will change eventually. The hardest part is done... I hope.

Here are a list of things we will be working on after closing and before our current lease is up on March 30th and probably dragging them into the next couple of months.

• Refinish/Paint kitchen cabinets 
• install new hardware
• Buy refrigerator, washer and dryer (the washer and dryer in the house are filled with mold. EW!)
• Install awesome Gothic wrought iron light fixture bought on Ebay in dining room
• Replace/repair leaky valves:
• in kitchen
• in upstairs bathroom
• on water heater
• main water valve in basement
• Install closet doors on all but two closets (or curtains temporarily?)
• repair the only two closet doors we DO have
• clean/replace shower liner in basement shower
• remove hideous faux wood paneling in basement
• drywall drop ceiling in basement-or find alternative solution (any ideas?)
• build Zac's bar in basement- AKA "MAN CAVE"
• find nice furniture on Craigslist/at Goodwill to refinish 
• many other things..

Hopefully these won't drive us too nuts or take up too much time.. but I look forward to sharing everything with you!

Caprese Salad

I'd like to make a habit of posting some of my favorite recipes on here to share. I LOVE to cook so hopefully you enjoy these recipes as much as I do!!

Today I am sharing my Caprese Salad recipe. My dad was in the Army when we were growing up, and we had the pleasure of being stationed in Naples, Italy for 3 years. I miss going to a local café and ordering a -DELICIOUS- plate of buffalo mozzarella, ripe delicious tomoatoes and thinly sliced pancetta.

While I have not used pancetta here, you can easily find some in your grocery store deli counter or wherever specialty items are in the deli cases. This is my take on an Italian classic.



INGREDIENTS:
*3-4 Roma Tomatoes -or-2 vine-ripened tomatoes
*2-3 cloves of garlic (adjust to taste)
*1/2- 1lb fresh Mozzarella or non-seasoned mozzarella in juices
*3 fresh Basil leaves (extra for garnish)
*1 tsp fresh oregano
*1/4 tsp fresh rosemary
*1/4 tsp fresh thyme
-OR-
(You can use Italian Seasoning if you don't have fresh herbs. I highly recommend at least using fresh basil)
*Extra virgin Olive Oil

PREPARATION:
Slice tomatoes as thinly or as thick as you would like. I prefer to cut them about 1/4 inch thick (depending on the tomato). Set tomatoes aside and cut Mozzarella into slices comparable to tomatoes. Alternate slices on a plate or serving platter as shown or however looks best to you! Gather fresh herbs, roll into a log, finely chop. Mince garlic. Combine herbs, garlic and about 1/2 cup EVOO in a small bowl and mix well. Pour olive oil mixture over tomatoes and mozzarella, garnish with fresh basil leaves… and allow to sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavor to develop.

Adjust herbs and garlic to your personal taste. My family loooves garlic, so I always add a little extra. :)

Enjoy Caprese Salad as is, or on top of a lightly toasted piece of Italian bread brushed with olive oil.

Work in Progress

I decided to start a new blog... I don't really know why. I have another one (you can visit it here if you want. Although it will not be updated anymore.), but lost interest in updating. I had many blogs to read daily... but always struggled to post things that I thought people would be entertained by.

I guess this is my way of sharing what I want to share now, with whomever wishes to venture into my life.. as boring as it may be.

Maybe the new house will give me plenty to blog about. Closing is March 5th. Zac and I are going out today to look at the roof. It had some dry stains when the inspector came, and we want to look at it now with all this snow to see if there are any wet ones.

More on the house and us later. For now, it is time to personalize the blog. :)