Texas heat

The Texas heat has finally fried my brain.

For the majority of the summer we have had temps like this:

And yesterday was even the hottest day of the summer. The "official" temperature was 106 at 3 in the afternoon. Yikes.

And I did not feel a thing. Miss A and I spent the afternoon outside - I even thought yesterday was not even as hot as previous days. It was not until my mom was talking to me about the temperature did I even realize how stinking hot it had been.

We are outside almost every day, so I guess we have just become used to these temps.

Today the high is supposed to be 100. And we have an afternoon play date..... outside!

Adios contractor beige

I have mentioned before my love/hate relationship with color. I love bright vibrant colors, but at the same time I also love the calming whites. This can make for a heck of a fun time in the Home Depot paint section.

We have only painted 2 rooms in our house - the dining room and the nursery. Other than that, everything is a boring contractor beige. I think the previous homeowners painted the entire house the same color before they moved out because I can see hints of sea foam green and red in places. Eek!


I had finally had enough of our living room being the blah beige, so I finally made a color selection.


Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware


I bought a sample can, painted 2 small areas and then slept on it. I still loved it the next day, so we decided to take the leap and paint the living room. Our house is very open and the entire downstairs flows from one area to another - this is great, except when trying to figure out which walls to paint. We left one huge wall blank (only for the time being) because it is about 100 feet tall and I need to either hire a painter or find some scaffolding.

We love it. The pictures do not do it justice.... it is color, without being too in your face. It looks wonderful next to the white trim, white mantle and white built in book shelves.

Now, I just need to pick a color for the game room....and the master bedroom.... and the study.

Like my homemade Martha Stewart paint fan?

**New pictures on Baby M**

Just like Momma

When I was younger, I can remember always wanting to play with my mom's jewelery. (Heck, I still try to wear some of her stuff...) I loved to put her stuff on and wear it around the house and admire the lovely baubles I was wearing. To this day, I still love jewelery. Ever have a question about what I want for my birthday or holiday - jewelery. Can't go wrong.


Well, it looks like Miss A has inherited a love of jewelery from her Momma. She has seen where I keep my jewelery and now she tries to help herself to it. She loves to wear my stuff around the house and I love it! She looks like a miniature version of me, so when she dresses up in my jewelery, it is adorable.


Adorable until I see her try to give Jake one of my earrings or a ring.


I am thinking that if she has her own jewelery box, then she will love to play in that, versus get into my stuff.

I made her her very own jewelery box and even filled with some of momma's jewelery! She loves it and carries it all over the house with her.

I love doing little projects like this... pretty soon the folks at Michael's and Hobby Lobby are going to know me by name.

**pictures of Miss A wearing my jewelery over on Baby M**

Hey Good Lookin, What Ya Got Cookin

Everyone having a good summer? I can hardly believe that it is already August. Lately, time just seems to be flying by and I have to stop and remind myself to take it all in. I feel really old talking like that..... plus, I just bought some stuff from Talbots, so I am definitely an adult. (Talbots is awesome lately. I am in love with their fall collection.... now, I just need to wait for it to go on sale.)

Anyway, when we are experiencing temps of 107, I like to keep the cooking to a minimum and NOT turn on the oven. Last night we had the best summer salad. I have always had this as a side salad, but since I was making it the main dish, I decided to add some grilled chicken to the mix and call it a meal.

I really think the dressing is the kicker... I am sure you could use a store bought vinaigrette, but this is easy to whip up and is delish.

Dressing:

2 tb vinegar

2 tb oil

2 tb honey

1/2 tsp paprika

s/p to taste

Salad:

Mixed greens

Sliced strawberries

Goat cheese

Sliced almonds

Diced purple onion

Grilled chicken

(The dressing recipe makes enough for 2 large salad portions.....)

In Love

Have you ever seen pictures of a house and thought - that is me! I stumbled upon pictures of Suze Yalof Schwartz's NYC apartment and fell in love. (She is the fashion editor at large for Glamour Mag)

The all white kitchen. CHECK.

The all white bathroom. CHECK.

The turquoise glass collection. CHECK.

The color coordinated books. CHECK.

The gallery wall. CHECK.

The occasional pop of color. CHECK.

Here are some of the after pictures of her apartment..... for some of the before, go here.

She recently announced on her blog that she is about to move to LA. Can you imagine completing this wonderful apartment only to have to move?!?!

Access DENIED!

Hello blogworld.

I need some assistance from my more technical minded friends.

Is there any way you can block certain IP addresses from accessing a blog? I have Google Analytics, so I assume I could use that to figure out the exact IP addresses..... But other than that, I need help!

It is the little things....

Here is a little sunshine for your Monday morning..... a pretty little bloom in a cute little glass bottle.

Hey Good Lookin, What Ya Got Cookin

My dad's birthday was last week and I tried out a new recipe for his birthday dinner!

Chicken Tomatillo Enchiladas

I make mexican crock pot chicken all the time, so I used my chicken recipe and then Tyler Florence's recipe for the tomatillo salsa. We all loved it.... this tomatillo salsa is definitely a keeper.

Mexican Crock Pot Chicken

*** these are not exact measurements. I just sort of throw some stuff in there and it always comes out perfect. Adjust amounts based on the amount of chicken. Just make sure the chicken is pretty well covered with the juice and "other stuff."

• Chicken Breasts (I usually use 3 large breasts. They can either be frozen or thawed out.)
• 1 can of chicken broth of chicken stock
• 1 jar of salsa (I usually use medium and it is great. Miss A can eat it, it does not get too spicy)
• Optional - taco seasoning. If I have it, I use it. If not, then oh well.

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot and cover with the rest of the good stuff. Stir together to incorporate everything. Cover and cook! Low for 7-8 hrs. I then shred the chicken with a fork and let it sit in the juices while I am getting the rest of the meal prepared. This is wonderful on top of salads, in tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, etc.

And here is the recipe for the tomatillo salsa.

Yum Yum Yum.

Tomatillos, garlic, onion and jalapeno prior to roasting

Mexican crock pot chicken

Completed tomatillo salsa

The enchilada filling

And in case you were wondering what my sink looks like after I prepare a birthday meal like this: