Nu and Boo.

So, I had so much fun making wreaths and I tend to sometimes get bored sitting around being a stay-at-home mom...that I decided to try out Etsy.

Go take a look.

Buy something.

Hahah!!

No really...buy something! :)

Here is my shop site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NuandBoo

I only have a few things up there now. I want to start slow and steady.

Enjoy!

Love,
Etsy Shop-Opener Extraordinaire

Weekend Recap. Through Pictures.

Happy Monday! Thank you Florida for blessing us with another gorgeous, soppy, nasty, rainy day. Ugh.

I am so very happy to say that my kitchen and bath is complete. The transformation is incredible! The kitchen is no longer my nemesis. :)  Chris (and Carlos!) did an amazing job. I will have an entire post illustrating the fabulousness that is now my kitchen and guest bath later. I have to organize, paint and clean like a mad woman before the reveal. Sit on pins and needles, people. Pins and needles. Here is a snippet of what went down in my house:

Umm...Yes, please. More to come later!

In an effort to keep my child out of the hair of our house-transforming men (Which is so damn hard, by the way! Try corralling your 17 month old in one room for hours), we played outside a bit:

He is definitely a hoot.

I just love baby hair. It smells so good! You know you sniff your baby's head too.

So, that brown thumb that I was telling you about? Yeah, the shade of brown is moving from a dingy, murky ickiness to a tanish, light green:

My babies sprouted! I am a proud momma once more. Now remember, when you come over to get some herbs...the basil is the cilantro and the cilantro is the basil. Dumb.

We went to my cousin's house for a little SuperBowl get-together last night (did anyone else not give a rats fannie about that game?). That lasted for only about an hour. A teething, tired child is not fun. Can I just tell you how adorable her new place is? Middle of historic San Marco, huge, old, distressed walls and doors everywhere. LOVE. I did not take a picture. I should have. It would have fit in this Weekend Recap. Through Pictures a heck of a lot better. Owell. I texted her when we got home to tell her thank you for having us. I did not hear back. I am assuming that CUP of rum with two tablespoons of diet Dr. Pepper did her in. Am I right, Ash? ;) 

I got the cutest, sparkley new flats this weekend:

Cute, but torture on my heels. Such is life.

Have a wonderful week, ya'll. I will be standing in for Cinderella today with all of this cleaning.

Love,

White Tile Lover, Housekeeper Extraordinaire

Goodbye Formica. Goodbye Forever.

So, we get to say "Sayonara" to the formica that lives on our kitchen and guest bathroom countertops. I cannot tell you how excited I am about all of this!

HOW did I overlook this when we bought the house? I must have been in "I-want-a-house-now-so-I-can-deal-with-that-some-other-time" mode. It has been the bane of my existence for four years now.

I have learned to overlook it, but it always comes back to me and says "Hi, Kristina...I am ugly!"

We are taking care of that. A friend of mine has a remodeling business and he is coming to work on this issue tomorrow. I am not going to reveal what we are replacing it with just yet--you will see pictures when it is done.

For your viewing pleasure and my "Haha..in your face, formica!" pleasure...here is the kitchen now:

Ghastly and mauvvvvve. I know. It's frightening--I am aware.

 

(Pay no mind to the dishes drying. I was way too lazy to put them away for this mere photo-op)

And here is the guest bathroom:

Ummm...can you say YAWN?! What was I thinking?

I will be back to show you the after when it is all done. SO pumped! 

Food blog, really.

I am beginning to feel like this is a food blog with all of this food I have been posting. Food food food. Who dosen't like food though?

I made a really delicious pasta dish last night: Penne with Artichokes and Olives. I kind of went off a recipe, but added twists here and there. If you don't like artichokes or olives, then you are sh*t out of luck.

-1 small onion (I used red)
-2 cloves garlic (minced very very fine)
-2 plum tomatoes--seeded and diced (I only had a big beefsteak one and that was just fine)
-1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives (mouth is watering, just so you know)
-1 can artichoke hearts--drained and roughly chopped
-1/3 cup parmesan cheese
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-1 box penne past
-1 cup chicken broth (I used part vegetable broth, part white wine)

Cook the pasta al-dente.

Add the olive oil and cook with the onion until translucent on medium-high heat. Add the garlic, tomatoes and olives. Cook down for about 10 minutes, add the artichoke hearts and cook for another 5 minutes or so on medium heat. Add about a 1/4 cup of white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) and let that reduce. Then add 3/4 of a cup of the broth and let it reduce slightly. Add the pasta directly into the pan (you will obviously need a larger pan or pot here, people) and toss until combined. Add salt and pepper as desired. Serve and top with parmesan. Mmmm! Delciousness on a plate and not too bad for you either!

(Nevermind the bad, indoor, at night lighting.)

Non-food related. Well, actually it is food related. E eats with a fork now. Such a big boy. I am proud of him.

OK, now definitely non-food related. I had a dream about my 5th grade crush last night. We won't name names...but...Hahah! We were working at a car wash together and had to dodge the alligators. So dumb. So exciting.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Love,
Food Blogger Extraordinaire

Brown thumb.

I have a dingy, brown thumb--not a green one. I wish I had a gorgeous, sparkly, emerald green thumb...but I really dont. Every plant or flower that I have tends to die. I like to think that I did not kill it, per se, but it just passed on naturally; it was it's time to go ;)

Wishful thinking.

I am determined to keep these alive, though:

I picked these up from Target today. I loooove fresh herbs when I cook, but I despise spending $2+ (call me frugal, if you so choose) on a small bunch that I use part of and end up disgarding or forgetting about the un-used in the ziploc bag that I threw in the veggie drawer at the bottom of the fridge last week and now it is brown and Ew. Excuse my run-on sentence.

So, I put the seeds in pots today and my fingers are crossed:

Funny story. Because I pay such close attention, I sprinkled the Cilantro seeds in the Basil pot and Basil seeds in the Cilantro pot. So, if you come to my house and use my herbs....make sure you pay no attention to my labeling. :)

Love,
Herb Garden-Grower Wanna-Be Extraordinaire

Chick pea goodness.

Do you like chick peas? If not, I am not sure that we can be friends.

I love me a good chick pea. I was so super bored with side salads with lunch and dinner, so I scrounged up whatever I thought would go well together and made a new side salad--a chick pea one :)

I really like sweet and spicy/salty/sour foods together, (just not sweet and sour chicken. Ewwness.) so this is so right up my alley. If you do too, make this:

1 can of chick peas

1/4 cup of canned corn

1/3 cup of chooped green bell pepper (red would be yummy in this too!)

1/4 of a small onion diced very very fine
1 stalk of celery, diced

8-10 jalapeno slices from a jar (Less or more depending on your liking for heat)

1/3 cup of Craisins

A loop or two around the bowl with Italian dressing (mayyybe two tablespoons. Not a lot at all)

A dash of pepper

If you are looking for a new, healthy side dish or snack...give this a try!

Have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend, folks!

Love,

Chick pea Enthusiast Extraordinaire

Dream. Well Nightmare.

I had a dream last night that I would place in the nightmare category.

Have you ever seen of or heard of the movie "Village of the Damned?" If not, let me show you:

They are scary demonic, alien, psycho, evil little children that posess the mind and kill you, etc. etc. These scary demonic, alien, psycho, evil little children kidnapped me and took me to their evil digs. Evil digs, as in...moving walls, dolls heads spinning, mind control and no food. This girl needs a sandwich. Somethin'.


They took everything from me. I did, however, manage to sneak my cell phone in, but there was no service in demon-land. All I could think about was how worried Ofir would be about me and how we would have to get in touch with AT&T and let them know of the lack of service.

The girl in the front? Yeah, she's the leader and she is super mean and scary. She told me I was never going to leave and would never go home or see my child or husband again. Biotch dosen't know who she is messing with!

Hopefully they won't capture me tonight too.