I won!!!!

I read a lot of blogs.  I love looking at the pretty photos and reading about other creative projects and exciting things happening in lives of perfect strangers out there on the world wide web.  A bunch of the home blogs I read frequently host contests, which I always enter and usually never win.  Until now that is...

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I was shocked and simply giddy to see my name announced as the winner of the One Kings Lane gift certificate on House of Turquoise the other day!  I drool over One Kings Lane on a regular basis, so to think I now have $100 to spend on anything I want is beyond exciting!!!  If you aren't already a member of One Kings Lane (it's free to join but you have to join to see the sales!), click here to sign up and get $15 off your first purchase!

I wonder what I'll buy with my winnings?!  The possibilities are endless...

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Dinner is Served!

Those who know me know that I very rarely cook.  I can count on my own fingers (possibly on one hand) the number of complete meals I've made.  I'm lucky enough to have married a wonderful husband who enjoys cooking and I really don't mind cleaning up (call me crazy but I find dish-washing sort of relaxing) so we make a good team in the kitchen.  Well, tonight I got home first and was starving so I decided to make dinner for a change.  Want to see what I made?

Veggie burger on wheat bread (topped with mustard & bell peppers)

Steamed broccoli

Butternut squash souffle

Baked potato wedges

What do you think?  It's not the most elaborate meal, but it was easy to make, relatively healthy and pretty tasty!  Not too shabby for a Tuesday night dinner if I do say so myself!  ;)

Green Thumb

Spring is in the air and the warm sunny weather had us wanting to add some new greenery to our home, inside and out!  I'm not a great plant caretaker - I sadly once all but killed a coworker's prized plant when he left it with me for several months while he was overseas.  I swore it was the lack of light at my desk but it might have been the sparkling water I was using because the little thing perked right back up soon after I passed it on to another colleague who sat right near me.  In the spirit of "getting back on the horse", I decided to try my hand at plants again.

I got this little parsley plant from my company for Earth Day.  It definitely looks less green now than it does the day I brought it home (boo!), but it's also grown a lot since then (yay!) so I guess I'm not doing that bad  of a job with it...

This is a really cute boot pot we received for our engagement party several years ago (thanks Aunt Beth, Uncle Chick & Maggie!)... now it finally has some fresh dirt and a houseplant in it!

The boot also came with a matching watering can!  We had these cheery items out for display in our old apartment (sans the plant inside) so it's fun to finally see the boot actually fulfilling its plant-holder destiny in our new apartment.  :)  I just love this set, and it looks great on our built-in shelves near the dining room table and balcony door!

But that's not all!  We also planted some marigolds outside in the baskets attached to our balcony:

According to the flower expert: "Marigolds can grow in full sun to partial-shade, but it is preferable to plant them in sunny locations as shading may have an adverse effect on flowering.".  We get very bright morning light, which turns to shade during the latter part of the afternoon as the sun settles behind our building.  Hopefully the morning and early afternoon sun will be enough to keep these little buds blooming!

There you have it... our new little green friends.  Wish us luck keeping them alive and growing!  ;)

Parlez vous francais?

Well, neither do we but that's not stopping us from flying to France to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary this year!  (Gosh, where does the time go?!)

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We're still planning our itinerary, but we'll begin the trip by spending several days eating croissants, sipping wine, visiting cafes, and strolling the romantic streets of Paris while taking in sites like the Louvre and Eiffel Tower (not necessarily in that order) before venturing to Provence and the South of France.

I've been wanting to visit Paris for some time now, so I'm incredibly happy that the time has finally come!  Shep's been to Paris, but many years ago, and, like me, has never been to the French countryside so that will be a new adventure for both of us to share!  Although we're both a tad behind in terms of research to be done and planning left to do before we take off, it's something very exciting to look forward to!  We've both been working super long hours over the past couple months and have spent what little free time we've had unpacking boxes and trying to get our apartment in order, so this will definitely be a nice break and a much-anticipated treat.

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Vive la France!  Here we come!!

Finally Making Progress

Slooooooowly but surely we're making progress settling into our new apartment.  Over the past few weekends we've been serious about attacking our to-do list.  We're definitely walking this race as opposed to running it, but nevertheless we are moving forward in the right direction.  Want to see our most recent milestone?  I spy some fantastically free decor!!...

Last night, we hung our fantastically free "poppies" art above our fireplace.  To the right of the artwork is the great vase that Shep picked out!  Shall we zoom out a little bit so you can get a better look at our new artwork in its new home?

Okay, how about we zoom out a lotta bit so you get the full effect.

Voila!!!  The poppies portrait is actually pretty large, and it fits great above the fireplace.  That area was feeling a bit bland, but now it's looking much more finished!  Some more mantle decor and perhaps a decorative fireplace screen with a chair or bench beside it, and it'll be just perfect!  Although it's a very small area of the apartment, it feels nice to see things start to take shape.

Stay tuned... we have a bunch more updates on the way!

Don't Put It Down, Put It Away!

I recently came across a tip that I'd like to share...

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Seemingly obvious, right?  Except that when life gets busy a straightforward slogan like this may seem next-to-impossible to adhere to.  The ironic thing is that the busier things are, the less time we have to dedicate to organization and housekeeping, which makes it even more important to put things in their rightful place to start with -- yet those harried moments are exactly the times we're tempted to just toss something down as we're running in/out of the door to/from home/work/school/gym/volunteering/events (you get the point)!  In those minutes, the choice to "take care of that later" seems sooooo appealing, and then we later realize that by putting something down instead of away we've spawned a dreaded pile to form and multiply, which typically ends up taking even more time to resolve in the end! Facepalm.

Well, I for one, am tired of piles.  I am going to challenge myself (& Shep!) to adopt this mantra and see how it goes.  Let us know whether you're a believer in this slogan, whether you're going to take the "put it away" challenge with us, or whether you have any other housekeeping advice to share!  We'll take all the help we can get.  ;)

Sugar... not so sweet after all??

I just watched a segment from a recent 60 Minutes episode that I had to share:

Oh how I love sugar!  Life at our home typically includes me eating sugar in some form or another (ice cream, applesauce, fruit chews, peanut butter granola bars).  But after watching this clip I might start thinking twice about my love affair with Nutella.  According to recent research studies:

• Sugar consumption is linked to 75% of preventable obesity, Type II diabetes, hypertension & heart disease.
• Americans consume 130 lbs of sugar per person per year (which is 1/3 lb per day - yikes!!)
• Sugar consumption increases LDL levels and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, after only 2 weeks of consumption.  When you consume too many sweets your liver gets overloaded with fructose so it converts some of the frucstose to fat.  The fat ends up in the blood stream, creates bad LDL, forms blocks in arteries and causes heart attacks.
• Sugar intake may also correlate with cancer development, due to spikes in insulin.  Insulin can serve as a catalyst to fuel certain cancer types.  Nearly 1/3 of some common cancers (incl. breast and colon) have insulin receptors that use glucose to grow.
• The brain responds to sugar in a similar way as it does to cocaine.  Like with drug use, we build up resistance to sugar so we need more and more over time to feel the same effects.
• Regular table sugar (and sugar in foods like bread and peanut butter) can be just as harmful as high fructose corn syrup.

 Now that I'm aware of how toxic sugar may be, I'm going to resurrect my new year's resolution of eating healthier.  Or at least I'll try.  ;)