Groupon Fun!

Geh! I did it again, I waited until the end of the week to tell you about my week. My bad. Just bear with me through another long post and I promise to try and break it up for you all next time. I promise to TRY.

Hubby and I had a pretty busy end of the week if I do say so myself. It all started with Thursday... The girls from our small group and I attended a cooking class from a groupon we scored a few months back. It was an interesting place, to say the least... First off, as soon as you walk in, there were literally 100s of witches hanging from the ceiling.

Julie swears this one was giving her the evil eye the entire class.

Julie and I were the first to arrive and we were a tad bit nervous for our well-being.

But as more and more people came in, we started to relax a little and come to find out the cooking teacher, Ursula, was originally from Germany- which explains the witch obsession. Ursula was actually a pretty entertaining teacher and she prepared a full 7 course meal for us!

Chicken w/ Spinach Artichoke topping, water chestnut rice, stir fry green and yellow squash, Mango Salad and Bailey's Irish coffee dessert. Not Pictured: potato corn chowder w/ garlic nuggets and after dinner orange pear cocktail.

The food was... okay. I think I expected a little better from a cooking class! The dessert was a Bailey's Irish Coffee pudding dessert and it was so strong I questioned whether I was safe to drive home after that or not!

Laura's reaction to the potent Bailey's dessert. It was like taking a straight shot of Bailey's- seriously. I may or may not have been hung over the next day.

Overall we had a really fun time. I wouldn't have missed it for anything =)

Friday, Hubby and I cashed in another groupon for a Brazilian steakhouse on Buford Highway with some friends of ours. I had been to a Brazilian steakhouse or a Churrascaria as they call it in Brazil, one other time in Miami back in 2009 and raved about it so much that Hubby was slightly jealous. So when this groupon came about, he jumped on it! Now, you might be asking yourself, what in the world does a vegetarian eat at a Brazilian steakhouse!? Well, if you've ever been to one, you know about their phenomenal salad and side bars. I survived just fine without the meat =) I wish I had pictures to show you, but you'll just have to use your imagination. I did, to everyone's surprise, try some of the filet, roast beef and bacon wrapped filet from Hubby's plate. They were all really good but I couldn't have tolerated a whole plate full. If you've never been to a Brazilian steakhouse and you love food, I highly recommend you try one out.

Saturday after I got off work, Hubby and I headed over to our friends Nick and Darienne's engagement party! We had a TON of fun meeting everyone because if they were friends with Nick and Darienne, then they MUST be cool. We were definitely not let down. They have awesome friends!

Aww we love them! So excited they are finally making it official. Marriage rocks you guys!

We had such a great time! What a fantastic weekend! And thanks for hanging with me and reading this entire post- I know it was obnoxiously long. Like I said, I promise to try and break it up a little next time!
I do have my week's craft project done but I think I'll save that for tomorrow. Give you all something to look forward to =)

Week #3 of 52...

Drum-roll please!! Its the moment you've all been waiting for!!! (And by you all i mean me and maybe the 1 other person who reads my blog) My big reveal of the project that took me two weeks to complete...
Drop cloth stenciled curtains!

I loooove how they turned out! I came across the idea on (of course) pinterest and decided our dining room totally needed a cheap set of curtains. So, Hubby and I made another trip to The Depot and found a drop cloth on the cheap. I took it home, split it and ran it under the sewing machine to hem it and create a sleeve for the rod. Next was the time consuming part- I used a sponge, black paint and a stencil to create that perfect pattern you see going on up there. Yay curtains!

On a side note, I love how pinterest is taking over the blog world. I think every blog i follow has succumbed to the awesomeness of pinterest. It may seem like I have a love affair going on with this amazing website but I really am just pumped that there is some sort of creative outlet for people get inspired by. The world need more art!

On that, I am going to finish watching the UK Wildcats put those GA Dawgs in their place. GO CATS!
-over and out-
Melissa =)

Addendum: As requested i have included a close up of one of the curtains to see the detail =)

Weekend Extravaganza!

So, we've had a pretty nondescript week- work was normal and we stayed home every night. I made a few dinners but nothing fancy. Except for last week I accidentally grabbed Escarole at the grocery store instead of lettuce. It looks exactly the same as romaine lettuce- seriously.

Picture from potomac vegetable farms

And being the economical couple that we are- I decided I was going to try and prepare it into something edible.  If you've never tried escarole, its like endive. Raw, it has a little bit of a bitter taste and you are supposed to prepare it like you would collard greens to get rid of the bitter taste (I think). So I sauteed them in a little olive oil and tossed them with toasted pine nuts and Parmesan cheese and they were DELISH! oh yes i officially conquered those mystery greens. They taste a lot like spinach to me and I love spinach so it was a win-win: healthy and yummy!

We did have a little bit of a Kane scare during the earlier part of the week. After Jason left Kane started to mope around in obvious pain. He had a hard time going down the stairs, having to take a break half way down. He couldn't bring himself to lay down either- it looked like it hurt him too much too lay all the way down! And when Hubby tried to force him down, he yelped in pain!!! As he always does when he's not feeling good, he came straight to me and expected me to fix it for him while looking at me with those pathetic puppy dog eyes like you see in the cartoons. Since he has a history of intestinal issues I immediately thought the worst. Last time that happened I waited too long and he lost a lot of weight and became extremely dehydrated. Not wanting it to get to that point this time, I called a vet the next morning to see if i could get him an appointment. Since we just moved here, we don't really have a vet set up for him. But thank goodness a neighbor had recommended a vet close by and i decided to give them a try. They couldn't find anything wrong with him! But, due to his history they went ahead and gave me something that helps the stomach and intestines move along. I'm not really sure what the problem was, but he is doing great now! Hubby and I think he pulled a muscle in his hips or back somewhere while out playing with Uncle Jason. He is good as new now, sleeping away! =)

Finally, one of my best-est friends from Kentucky came to visit us over the weekend for a G. Love and Special Sauce concert in Little 5 Points. She drove all the way down here only to find out the concert was SOLD OUT and we hadn't bought tickets yet!! Hubby convinced us to go down there anyway and see if we could scalp some tickets at a reasonable price. It didn't look good at first as they were charging double the original prices, but thanks to Hubby's persistence, we scored some tickets for a great deal right before G Love took the stage!!! (Sorry Leila, I know I said I wouldn't post any pictures of you, but they were just way too good!! =))

Waiting outside for tickets

Finally made in, and didn't miss any of the show!!

We were really close! Great venue!

We had such a blast at the show! I highly recommend G. Love if you ever get the change to see him live!

Saturday night, we met up with the small group at one of the best Mexican restaurants in Atlanta, Nuevo Laredo Cantina. Oh oh my gosh, it was AWESOME. Its been named best of Atlanta several years in a row. We highly recommend it! Mom and Dad, we'll definitely be going there next time you all visit! =)

So it turned out to be a great ending to a pretty average week!!

Yikes, sorry this turned into a pretty long post... I'm going to try and post more during the week so I don't write novels at the end!! Sheesh- sorry about that. Thanks for bearing with me through it! Hahah Hope you all had an awesome week too! Stay tuned for this week's craft...  I'll post more about it tomorrow- its totally worth coming back for! I am pretty proud of it! =) Until next time...
xoxo
-Melissa

Week #2 craft project

So, it's week #2 in my 52 Crafts in 52 weeks project and I really wanted to have this super awesome project done by tonight but it's taking a lot longer than I thought and I need a few more days to finish it. I'm going to have to save it for next week's project! So until then, here is a substitute craft I did tonight: Cranberry Lime Infused Vodka!

I got the idea from (pinterest, surprise surprise) this really cool blog that I now follow: Fancy Napkin. After letting it infuse for 2 weeks to 2 months it should be ready to drink! I am pumped! I made one several weeks ago that should be ready to drink now. I'll have to let you know how it is =)
-Melissa

Baby, it's cold outside!

We've had a fun filled weekend! Jason (my brother in-law) has been visiting us since Wednesday which Kane LOVES. He adores his Uncle Jason =)

Now that i think about it though, we don't have a lot to show for our weekend! Just a bunch of chores and errands! But, yesterday we woke up to a freezing COLD house. Seriously, my nose was like ice and my fingernails were blue! Somehow during the night our thermostat had set itself to 60 degrees and we could not get it to budge! We called our landlord to see if we could get the heating and air people over. While we waited, I pulled out the electric heater to try and warm us up a little. Well, Kane is a heater HOG. In the past, every time I've pulled out the heater he would sit directly in front of it- usually on his bed or the rug which usually isn't far away.  To no one's surprise, this time he did the exact same thing he always does, only this time there wasn't a bed directly in front of it for him to lay on.

He was not happy. He desperately wanted to be in front of the heater but he also wanted to lay on his bed. So, he started to moan and cry!!! As soon as I moved his bed in front of the heater he was happy. He immediately laid down and was quiet. Such a spoiled dog!!

Turns out the heating and air guys couldn't fit us in yesterday and with a little more research on Home Depot's website we decided to replace the thermostat ourselves. Since my hubby is super handy, it took us about 15 minutes to have an installed and fully functioning thermostat! I am happy to report, I am warm and toasty this morning! =)
Stay tuned, I'll be posting the results of my craft for week #2 soon! Get excited!!
xoxo
Melissa =)

Ode to Pinterest

I just want to take a minute to tell you how much I love pinterest and how much it has inspired me since it came into my life a few months ago. I've always been a crafty person but pinterest stimulated some hidden DIY side of me that now knows no limits!! Bless my husband, he has been such a great sport about it all. He has been dragged into countless projects since we moved into our new place! He mandated that I start keeping a list of all my project ideas- which is probably a really good move considering the speed that these project ideas spring up!! A few examples of our pinterest-inspired excursions:

Our DIY back splash project. Didn't Hubby do a FANTASTIC job?

UK ribbon wreath i made for my mom

DIY bathroom mirror frame. Makes the bathroom look SO much better!

Chevron Stripe canvas I painted for my sister's bedroom

Spray painted dollar store vases as our holiday centerpiece!

Handmade black-out-lined curtains, custom length, for a FRACTION of the price of store bought ones!

Wicker Trunk turned into covered bench

Homemade wooden headboard- Thank you Hubby! =)

Modpodged Letter holder

Jewelry Holder out of old frame, screen and drawer pulls!

That's not even all of my pinterest inspired projects! I didn't include my kitchen endeavors... The list could seriously go on and on. But i'll spare you =) To reel my now obsession in and keep me on track without getting overwhelmed with project ideas in my queue, I have decided to do one project a week. That's 52 projects this year. My projects could range from making a piece of furniture out of pallets to finishing a scrapbook page. 52 sounds like a lot- we'll see how this goes! To start the year out right, I completed my first project of 2012 for week one:

A wine cork board out of the millions of corks we have! I have been saving for years. Some of these are my grandmother's too- she had been saving as well and then passed them on to me along with this wine cork board kit! Thanks Granny! Now, to figure out what to do with the rest of the corks I have...

What has everyone else done from pinterest in 2011?

xoxo
Melissa =)

Happy New Year!

Yikes! It's been 10 days since I posted! That's pretty bad. But, in my defense, I have worked every single one of those days with no breaks in between. And it has been exhausting! Some of those days I had to be into work by 6 am! This girl is NOT a fan of the 5 am alarm. But, I will finally have a day off from work this Saturday! Yay!

Let's start off with first wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hubby and I had a great new year's eve at a couple's house from small group.

Pictures are worth a thousand words! The next day though, I can't say that was equally as good. I was not feeling great and pretty much crashed and burned after I got home from work. I'm getting old, my body can't handle the partying as well as it used to! haha Oh yeah, and I cut my hair! It actually looks longer in this picture than it actually is. It just hits my shoulders. I like it!

After Christmas, Hubby and  I decided to head to the Botanical Garden light show. Driving around looking at Chistmas lights is one of my favorite holiday past times. My Mother in-law asked us if we were going to start any Christmas traditions now that we're married and have our own family. My vote was for holiday light sight seeing! I LOVE it. Reminds me of back home in the neighborhood I grew up in =) The Botanical Garden did not let us down. There were millions of lights- all of them LED. It was beautiful!

A tree made entirely from Poinsettias!

They even had a miniature village with electric trains going through it!

All in all, we had a wonderful holiday! Now it's back to the real world and I welcome the normalcy! Next week we are looking forward to having my brother in-law stay with us! Should be a fun time =)
xoxo
Melissa =)