bubble up pizza

I've been trying to put my pinterest account to good use, so I whipped up this bubble up pizza the other night:

This was super easy and quick (less than 5 minutes prep!) and you can customize it with whatever ingredients you want.  And it gave me a good excuse to use up some of our homemade pasta sauce from our garden.

Enjoy!

green space!

Who knew this was in Indianapolis, just a few minutes away from our house??

on a grilled cheese quest

There are two foods that I prefer the restaurant to the homemade version.  One is mashed potatoes.  (Love me some KFC mashed potatoes.  Yum.)  The second is grilled cheese.  I could never figure out what restaurants did differently.  I tried different breads, cheeses, you name it.  And then I figured it out.  Or rather, Kraft figured it out for me.

Yup.  I took a picture of my grilled cheese sandwich.

The secret?  It's baked in the oven.  Did everyone else but me know this?

So really, it's not a grilled cheese sandwich so much as it's a baked cheese sandwich.  This recipe also called for Parmesan on the outside.  I'm not entirely sure it made a difference, but it's a nice twist.

It's pretty basic, but if you want the recipe, head on over to Kraft's website for the ultimate crispy grilled cheese sandwich recipe.

who wouldn't love this?

Isn't this the cutest thing you ever saw?

photo challenge: days 15-21

I'm behind again on the 30-day photo challenge...

Day 15 - My shoes:

These are my newest shoes and I'm completely in love with them.

Day 16 - What I ate:

I'll post this one later...

Day 17 - On the shelf:

Our office is mixed up in the whole house rennovation we've got going on now, so this is what our big bookshelf looks like right now...a hot mess.

Day 18 - In my bag:

Wallet, Nook, keys, iPod, lip gloss, eye drops, tweezers, powder, gum, Excedrin, hand lotion, a bag of other stuff I might need (i.e. blister block, sewing kit), and paint samples.

Day 19 - Where I slept:

My side of the bed, where Bridget sets up shop after I'm out for the day.

Day 20 - What I read:

I just started Chains.  Don't ask me for a recommendation, since I only downloaded the free sample and am in the second chapter.

Day 22 - Pretty pattern:

Fabric I purchased for two different projects.  CJ says it looks like something my grandma would have in her house.  Clearly he doesn't know my grandma that well, because she definitely wouldn't have this in her house.

strip quilt: day 2

For those of you playing along, I'm making this strip quilt for my (soon-to-be) nephew.  (If you want to peruse my fabric choices, you can read my first post.)  I've been working on this pretty slowly -- one, because I was kind of busy with school there for ever the past several weeks, and two, because I need blog fodder.

This one is pretty easy so far.  I just cut my strips and then started to sew.

So I was complaining about ironing earlier, thinking that that part was over.  Wrong!  Turns out you have to iron down seams too.

And here's one strip:

I'm sure I'm already boring people with the details, so I'll come back later when I've made more substantial process.  (I'm just hoping it looks right, all said and done.)

pecan sandie or buckwheat flour?

If you know us in real life, you know that we can't sit still.  Long before I graduated, we already started planning our big projects, all to take part -- hopefully -- before CJ starts school back up at the end of this month.

I won't reveal what all we have planned (because it's kind of big), but it does involve repainting the living room, which is going to be a C-H-O-R-E.

So for several weeks, I've been asking whether I prefer pecan sandie (on the left) or buckwheat flour.  In the morning, I like buckwheat flour.  In the evening, I think pecan sandie is better.  CJ, of course, doesn't have an opinion.

Either way, nursing school is creeping back up on us again, so I better make my decision quick, since this is only one small part of the overall redo.  Come back soon to find out what I end up choosing.  It's a real nail-biter, I know.

photo challenge: days 8-14

I'm here to catch up on the 30-day photo challenge, of which I'm about a week behind.  Here goes:

Day 8 - Technology:

I wanted to go with something a little less expected for my technology picture.  So I took a picture of our treadmill, right before I hopped on.  Now that I can't use school as an excuse for being too busy (hey, it was valid), I'm back on the treadmill, with a goal -- for now -- to work out at least three times a week.  Plus, I'm running the Wine at the Line 5K at Mallow Run Winery on October 1st, so I definitely can't afford to avoid it any longer.

Day 9 - A faceless self portrait:

Okay, I froze.  I thought, thought, and thought some more about this one.  And I couldn't come up with anything besides taking pictures of my shoes.  Surely there's more to me than that?

Day 10 - Something I made:

I've been making lots of pasta sauce with all these tomatoes we've sprouted.  It's easy: cut up your tomatoes, put on baking sheet (fill 'er up), drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, and sprinkle with some sugar, salt, & pepper.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Puree with basil.  Freeze.

Day 11 - Something fun:

I felt like I needed something fun to get me into running again.  What's better than pink and orange running shoes?

Day 12 - Close-up:

These are some shells from Fort Myers Beach...and a Polly Pocket mermaid we found one night.

Day 13 - From a distance:

The view from our front door.  The yard doesn't look completely terrible, considering how little rain we've gotten this summer.  And, as much as the geese in the pond annoy me, thank goodness for that pond.  I'm not sure I could stand to have neighbors super close in the back and the front.

Day 14 - Flowers:

These are the flowers my husband sent me for completing my master's degree last week.

If you're not a regular visitor (that's like three of you), check out the photos from days 1 & 2 and days 3 - 7.

showing off the new water feature

When I attended the Flower & Patio Show (March? April?), I came home with a millstone.  It was deeply discounted (or it probably wasn't and I just fell for a "great deal").

In all fairness, I tried to contact CJ several times before I made my purchase.  It was a shift day and he didn't pick up, so I went ahead and bought it...decided to ask for forgiveness later.  Originally he was okay with it, but then he saw it...  My original plan was to gradually purchase the items we needed, since we didn't even have the outdoor plug ready to go.  I also assumed that CJ would have some clue about how to install a water feature.  Yeah, not so much.

(And I wonder why CJ groans every time I say, "So...I have an idea.")

After months of rolling his eyes over the whole thing, CJ decided to surprise me one day and rigged up the water feature on his own.  (Thanks, DIY.)  And I love it!

the two day long pillow

I own the best pillow ever.  It's meant for propping yourself up in bed.  The bottom half of the back of the pillow is filled with beads.  It's awesome.  (Oh, yeah.  I'm not getting paid to promote it.  Although I got it on sale, I definitely paid for it, too.)  Unfortunately, the best pillow ever also came with the most boring pillowcase there ever was:

Forgive me for the crummy picture.  I forgot to take a before picture so I just stuck it up there.  Whatever.  It's boring, so it doesn't matter anyway.

For awhile, our pillow was out of commission (mostly out of laziness).  I couldn't settle on a print.  When I did, I cut without measuring properly.  Then I couldn't settle on a new print.  I finally came up with this fun one:

As if I didn't learn my lesson from not measuring properly, I decided that I was more of a sewing pro now (since I've sewn so much in the past six to nine months) and that I was just going to make some very rough cuts and sew it up.  No problem.

Turns out the thread didn't want to cooperate with me.  I don't even know what caused this problem:

I fixed the problems and got it all done, chuckling to myself that I could boast sewing a big pillow that only took me ten minutes to complete.  (Because, you know, sewing a square is really difficult stuff.)  Then I realized that I left two edges unfinished and that it was several inches too big at the top.

Henry was pretty bored by this whole process:

Learning my lesson (okay, probably not - I'm still going to cut corners), I went back through and made proper cuts, sewed all the edges, and took my time.  And, hours later, I finally had an appropriate pillowcase.

I think I'm in for a long sewing career if I can't learn how to be patient.

more henry treats

I'm not sure why I do this, but I actually call Henry's treats "Henry treats."  And I made him some more Henry treats recently.  I can't remember what these were called, but they were from The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook.  I started to feel ridiculous making our dog treats, but when I thought about it, I was only out less than $5 for a bag of special flour (some of which was leftover).  A typical bag of treats is between $3-$5 and has far fewer treats in it.  So really, this is a good deal.

Maybe it's not the most appealing, but these treats are pretty basic -- just brown rice flour, oatmeal, an egg, honey, and peanut butter.

Henry was patient throughout the entire process.  He's always around whenever anyone is cooking anything.  It's kind of annoying when he gets in the way.  It's not so annoying when I drop some food and he cleans it up for me.

The final product.  Kind of reminds me of chicken nuggets.

For the record, I did taste these.  Even though these have perfectly normal human ingredients in them, everyone can't get past the fact that these are dog treats.

molly weekend wrap-up

Around our house, this weekend was dubbed Molly Weekend.

Okay.  It was just me.  CJ just kept rolling his eyes every time I would say that.

CJ told me that he's been able to play significantly more Madden on the xbox since I started writing my thesis.  So to him, this weekend was the end of All-Madden-All-the-Time.  (Yes, he's sad.)

So anyway, Molly Weekend was all about celebrating me finishing my MBA.  Two years later, life is finally starting to show signs of getting back to normal -- whatever that ever was.  CJ goes back to school at the end of this month, so it's not like we're free and clear.  Life is looking a lot brighter now than it was six months ago, though.

Here's the recap of Molly Weekend, because I know you're all dying to know.

Thursday:
I turned in my paper earlier on Thursday, but still had to go to class Thursday night.  After we wrapped up, I came home so we could dig into this:

Lemon cake with butter cream icing, made by Bake Lore, decoration stole from my Pinterest account.

Saturday:

Cirque du Soleil show.

Sunday:

First, headed to Buck Creek Winery.  Call me crazy, but I like Indiana wine.

Sunday late afternoon, we headed downtown to dine at the Eagle's Nest (thanks, groupon!).  Here are some photos I snapped and toyed with on the instagram app (most with the grainy 1970s finish):

I told him to smile and this was what I got.

We both ordered the Surf & Turf special -- filet, potatoes, shrimp, scallions, & asparagus.

Us afterwards, all squinty.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  Now I just need a plan, since I've got all this free time on my hands again.

photo challenge: days 3 - 7

I'm a little behind posting on the 30-day photo challenge from Oh So Lovely due to finishing up my MBA and celebrating all weekend!  More on that later though.  For now, just some pictures.

Day 3 - Clouds:

Taken just outside of our house around 5 pm

Day 4 - Favorite color:

I love fuchsia.  This W was our cake topper (well, cupcake stand topper, since we didn't do a traditional cake) at our wedding.  It's now on display in my multi-purpose room (guest bedroom/sewing room/place for treadmill).

Day 5 - Someone I love:

I cheated on this one.  CJ was at work during that day's challenge photo, so I snuck this one in while were driving to church this morning.

Day 6 - Childhood memory:

This day's photo was a toss-up.  I almost took a picture of my ice cream maker, because my all-time favorite food is my grandma's homemade ice cream.  The Little House series is a very close second.  Alas, laziness won out -- it was just easier to grab the book.

Day 7 - Something new:

New brown tall boots!  I am so excited for these, even though it's going to be a few more months before I can wear them.  I just threw my old tall brown boots out a few weeks back.  It was a sad day.  I loved those boots and bought them during my very first job.  I think I thought I had them 3 or 4 years, but now that I think about it, I bet they were closer to 5 years old.  Because they were expensive, I just kept paying to fix them, but they'd finally bit the dust.  Anyway.  These came up a few weeks ago at DSW for 50% off and they are almost as perfect as my old ones were.

Can you tell I like shoes??

OH -- a sales girl at DSW let me in on this tip:  She said that whenever they mark down boots, that I should probably buy them when they're on sale.  (I mean, there's always the chance that they won't be there when you go back later, but that's beside the point.)  She said that if they're marked down when the new season's boots come in, that there's a strong chance they'll be pulled off of clearance and priced at the old amount again.

Sorry.

I just love shoes.  A lot.

Want to see more pictures?  Read my post on photo days 1 & 2.  (There's more talk of shoes!)

photo challenge: days 1 & 2

If you're one of my two faithful readers, you read that I'm taking part in the 30-day photo challenge this month.  Since I forgot to take a self-portrait until it was too late, I'm playing catch-up today.  (Oh, and I'm super excited that this gives me a chance to play with Instagram on my iPhone!  Go. Download.)

Day 1 - Self-portrait:

Pretty standard.  Easy way to start.  I'm not artsy enough to come up with a different self-portrait.  Plus, this gave me a chance to show off my new sunglasses.

Day 2 - What I wore:
 

If anyone knows me, they know I love a good pair of shoes.  I'm a big fan of this pair.  They are perfect for summer.  They're cute.  And -- not something I typically look for in a shoe -- they're comfortable.  Love.

If you care, I wore a black skirt, white tank top, and burgundy cardigan.  I wore the same pair of silver studs that I've been wearing since mid-June, the two rings I've been wearing everyday for the past two and a half years, and the same heart thumbprint necklace I've been wearing for the past week.  Understand why I took a picture of the shoes?

To see random pictures from wherever in the world, head on over to Oh So Lovely.

back to school project

It's almost back to school time (not for me though!), so my mom had CJ work on a little project for her classroom.  Each year she takes little wooden apples, writes her kids' names on them, and then decorates her tree.  A few years ago, her tree broke and she had to stop doing it.  Lucky for her, she has a pretty handy son-in-law.

The project wasn't difficult per se, but just a little intricate.  CJ said when he would close his eyes, he'd still see the outline of this tree because he'd been staring at it for so long.  Here's the final product: