It’s A Beautiful Life

 

I’m amazed at what’s still blooming in my yard.  It’s Beautiful Life Friday over at the Inspired Room. 

Where did you find beauty this week?

Happy Halloween

 

Happy Halloween from Super Serious Secret Serviceman #1 Son and Hippy Dippy M&M.

Monday Menu – Beef Stew

Here’s a great cool weather recipe. It cooks up in the crock pot so it couldn’t be any easier. It’s great served with a crusty French bread and green salad.
Beef Stew
2 pounds beef chuck, or stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups beef broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
4 carrots, cut into chunks
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 onions, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced

1. Place meat in crock pot. Mix flour, salt and pepper and sprinkle over meat. Stir to coat meat with flour mixture.
2. Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaf, paprika, carrots, potatoes, onions and celery.
3. Stir to mix well.
4. Cover and cook on Low 10-12 hours or High 4-5.

Enjoy!

Linking up to Tasty Tuesdays at Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Simple Plate and Crock Pot Wednesdays at Dining with Debbie.

My New Motto

I recently discovered the Graphics Fairy. Karen has the most amazing collection of vintage clip art. And the best part is that she shares it, for FREE! I had seen this graphic before and had actually looked up it’s interesting British WWII origin on Wikipedia. Then, last week, I saw what Kathy at Creative Home Expressions did with it. I hope she knows that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery because hers is beautiful! Here is my version:

I found this frame at Big Lots.

It was coming apart at the corner, so the cashier gave it to me for $1.

A little glue, a little clamping, and it’s good as new!

A couple of coats of my BFF espresso spray paint later:

I used a piece of scrapbook paper to cover the plain white mat that came with the frame. I also edited the color of the graphic.

I hung it over my “Command Center”. In my world, “Command Center” = Place where all paperwork, school work, bills and clutter go to pile up or get lost….

It’s the first thing I see when I walk into the kitchen in the morning. It’s my new motto!

I’ll be linking up to:

Thrifty Thursday and Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous.

Sunday in My City

Today my city is like many suburbs, but it definitely had rural and agricultural roots.  One of the main roads through town is called Hopyard.  Back then, fields and fields of hops were grown and harvested for the beer industry.  Right down the road is a pumpkin farm.

Bins of pumpkins lined up ready to go to market.

M&M and #1 Son walking through a corn maze.

Hope you’re having a festive fall Sunday!

Jump on over to Unknown Mami’s for more Sundays in My City.

Procrastinator’s Party - After

Two weeks ago I linked up to Melissa’s Procrastinator’s Party over at the Inspired Room.  I didn’t quite finish my project, but I am well on my way.  I wanted to redo my dining room chairs, which have bothered me since I bought them second hand 8 years ago.  Take a look at my “before” post here.  The finish was all scratched up, gummy, and nasty.  I’m really happy with the way they look so far.  I’ve sanded, painted, distressed and sealed them.  Here’s a peek.

 

They look SO much better!  The finish is all smooth, with a satin finish.  No more scratches, and sticky gummy finish!  I’m really liking the black color I painted them.  I distressed them a bit around the edges and some of the original brown color shows through the new black paint.

Unfortunately, we’ve had some damp weather and I have three chairs in my garage in various stages of sanding and painting. 

I haven’t had a chance to update the ugly vinyl seat covers yet, but I did buy fabric and I have a plan in mind.  I found this beautiful tan faux suede on super sale at Calico Corners, and the coordinating striped fabric for trim at Wal-Mart. 

Seeing how nice my first chair looks already, I know I will finish up the others!  Thanks for the boost Melissa! 

Now go check out the other great projects over at the Inspired Room!

Monday Menu - Easy Chicken Pozole

I love Autumn because it’s time to start making soups and stews again. Here is a super easy, delicious recipe that goes together quickly. I always keep these ingredients on hand. It’s great served with a simple salad, tortillas or cheese quesadillas.
Easy Chicken Pozole

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 can red salsa/salsa mexicana (7 oz)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can chicken broth (14 oz)
1/2 cup water
1 can white or yellow hominy (29 oz), rinsed and drained

1. In a 4-quart pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions. Cook, stirring often until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the chicken pieces, red chili sauce, oregano, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is fully cooked, about 8 minutes.
3. Add hominy, reheat to simmering, and serve.

Happy eating! Linking up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, and Crock Pot Wednesdays at Dining with Debbie.

3/4/10: Edited to add:

Sunday in My City

Main Street

Sister City

Veteran's Memorial Building was erected in 1933 to honor the veterans of the first world war.




I was actually in Unknown Mami's city today to run the Nike Women's Half Marathon.
Beautiful course, beautiful weather, beautiful friends, beautiful day.

Union Square

Love this logo. I'm glad I run like a girl!

The finisher's medal is actually a Tiffany necklace. Love that.

Pop on over to Unknown Mami's for more.

Hope your Sunday is great where ever you may be.

And the Winner Is!

The winner of my first ever giveaway is.......

Commenter #18: Emi.

Email me with your address and I'll get your book out to right away!
Thanks everyone for entering and for sharing your favorite fall comfort food!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 18 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Good Morning World

I am NOT a morning person. So I don't get to see many of these. But since I've been training for my upcoming half marathon, I've been getting up way early. This makes it so worthwhile. Even if it's so dark outside the dang streetlights are still on.

Sunday I will be running in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. Over the last 6 years, this marathon has raised over $92 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I'll be proud to be there and do my part. I'll be running for my Dad and my Grandma. I know they'll be looking down on me, cheering me on for those 13.1 miles.

Linking up to Beautiful Life Friday at the Inspired Room, because it really is a Beautiful Life!

Easy Window Treatment

My daughter, M&M, who is now all of ten, recently convinced me that she needed a more grown up color scheme for her room. Apparently, pink and purple are much too youthful for her more sophisticated tastes. Thankfully, I was able to steer my headstrong daughter to a beautiful Tiffany box blue color. Unfortunately, she needed a new window treatment for her now painted, but bare window frame.

She loves her new window treatment, and I love just how easy it was. (Please excuse the fish mobile--I should have taken it down before I took these photos!)

I bought a yard of Wal Mart fabric in a high contrast zebra print. (M&M definitely has a flair for the dramatic!) I cut it in half from selvage to selvage and then sewed the two parts together, so I had one long piece approximately 18" x 88". Using hemming tape, I hemmed all four edges.

I attached them to the wall using black upholstery tacks. First I took a level and drew a line on the wall at the approximate height that I wanted to hang it. Then I poked the tacks through the fabric and tapped them into the wall along the line. After getting the ends where I wanted them, I just eyeballed the tacks in the center. I actually think the hemming tape helped the top edge stand out nicely. The whole thing was done in literally 30 minutes and only cost about $7.00. My easiest and cheapest window treatment ever!

Fortunately, I can sew, but unfortunately I tend to get all bogged down with the details of new window treatments. Always have to find the perfect fabric, lining, rod, and mounting hardware. And that's before even beginning the actual sewing on a project. This was fast and fabulous. (And I won't mind replacing it when M&M wants another room décor change!)

Have you ever taken a decorating shortcut and loved the results?

Linking up to Reinvented, Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggeritaville and Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest.