Furniture Friday!

I found these pillows on etsy.com. I have been wanting to get new pillows for our sofa downstairs. I have decided that I am going to make my own pillows! This was the inspiration. I am loving the colors. You will have to stay tuned for the final product!

I also found these chairs that I love. The pattern is absolutely beautiful! One day I will be able to buy new furniture and these chairs are something that I can picture in my living room. But until there is a new house I will continue to keep on dreaming.

Ever since I worked with Lane furniture designing model homes I have loved these mirror furniture accent pieces. I am still hoping one day I will be able to have my own pair of these mirrored nightstands. I envision it with an upholstered headboard!

Honduras

Our young adult Sunday school class has taken the opportunity to help out an orphanage in Honduras. The orphanage is run by an 85 year old woman who goes by the name Mama Tara. After seeing these beautiful and sweet faces we are anxious to help them out. We also hope to have the opportunity to visit this orphanage next year. As a class we have decided to match they money we raise at our yard sale. Please keep the yard sale in your prayers and that we are able to raise enough money to really be able to help out the orphans.

Grown up favorites

For lunch on Sunday we had grown up versions of a grilled cheese sandwich and mac-n-cheese.

Grilled cheese recipe as follows:

Sliced roasted garlic oval bread

Thin layer of pesto sauce

Thin layer of marinara sauce

Shredded pepergano romano

Butter outside pieces and place in hot skillet

Fontina Mac-n-cheese recipe as follows:

1 lb. small or medium pasta shells
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded
Salt
Pinch of grated nutmeg
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions just until 1-2 minutes shy of al dente.

Meanwhile, dice 4 tablespoons of the butter and place in a large mixing bowl. Warm the cream in a small saucepan or the microwave. Cover to keep warm.

Once the pasta is cooked, add to the bowl with the butter and toss to coat well. Stir in the warm cream and the Fontina until the cheese starts to melt. Mix in salt to taste, and add the nutmeg.

Pour the mixture into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish. In a small bowl, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Mix in the panko breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan. Toss with a fork to coat evenly with the butter. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the pasta in the baking dish.

Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the topping turns golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

mac and cheese from www.annies-eats.com

Spontaneous Saturday

Scott and I decided last weekend to go to the mountains for the day this weekend. However, we couldn't decided where to go. Since we always go to Boone and Blowing Rock we wanted to try something a little different. Yesterday morning we woke up and decided to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA.

For those of you that know me, you know I am a very type A person. Plans are something that I have grown to live by. Well yesterday there were no plans and it proved to me why I always make them. Our drive on the parkway was beautiful. The trees looked like they were on fire. The leaves ranged from yellow, yellow-orange, red, red-orange, yellow-green, and green. The beauty of the trees reminds me of God's beauty and what he has created for us to enjoy and remember him by.

In the GPS we searched for things to do near VA and Chateau Morrisette Vineyard pulled up. We decided to give it a try, since we love trying new wineries. This is where the planning ahead on my part would have been beneficial. When we pulled up and noticed there was a restaurant and a tasting room in 2 different locations. Which one would you choose first? Well, if you can't guess we chose the tasting room first. They server poured us 12 different wines. Scott and I each got the end of a bottle pour....this means a full glass for the taster.:) Seems like a treat, especially if you like the wine, but without food on the belly, well you get the picture. After the tasting we purchased some wine and ventured over to the restaurant to learn that...they stopped seating 15 minutes ago...Seriously. We were on the parkway with nothing to eat.

We used our trusty GPS which listed a few local restaurants. The first, Christopher's Pizza. When we pulled up, the cooks were on the front porch in rocking chairs. We decided to go down a little further. We ended up in the Meadows of Dan. This really is the town name. Scott and I think it sounds like a horror film. The town had 2 restaurants: One was barbecue and the other country cooking. We struck out at both. There was a food market where we purchased our lunch.

Field Trip Friday

On Friday I took my 2nd level apparel students to a Costume designer in Mooresville, NC. Shawnelle is a costume designer that has recently moved from LA to NC. She has a passion to teach people young and old how to sew, sketch, design, and create.

The days started with Shawnelle explaining to the class what she did when she was a fashion designer. She showed them pictures and examples of her work from when she was designing. Once she left the fashion designing industry she went back to school for costume design. She has been the lead designer for movies and television shows. She talked to the girls about the pressure of working with tight budgets and time constraints. Shawnelle also showed the girls her portfolio she has from all of her movies. The point she made, which thrilled me, was how important sewing skills are when you are in the fashion industry.

After we came back from lunch she allowed to girls to do some of their own sketching. Over half the class said they couldn't draw. Look at what they were able to do. As a teacher I was so proud.

Shawnelle teaching the girls how to draw with croquettes.

Sketches from one of my girls...

and some more.

I thought this picture turned out cool.

My girls laughed at me for taking pictures of thread...but look.

Movie board from Benjamin Button. She didn't

design for this movie, but a very dear friend

of hers did.

Tasty Thursday

After a hilly cycling class with Karen, Scott and I were starved. We had barbecue chicken with a Crazy 'bout butts bbq sauce. Oh soooooo good. We found this sauce at a small vineyard we visited with my sister and Trent. The vineyard is Laurel Grey. They are a small producing wine company. Along with their fabulous wines they also make a tangy barbecue sauce, chocolate cabernet wine sauce, and caramel sauce. None have disappointed.

Thanks to a very dear friend who told us about Trader Joe's. We now go once a week. We haven't been disappointed yet with anything we have purchased. This evenings sides were asparagus risotto and a vegetable medley with tomato sauce. Both easy to cook frozen sides from TJ's. If you live in or near Charlotte it is a must take trip. The food is healthy and organic with low prices.

Pumpk-a-licious

These treats are tasty and so easy.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. melted butter

1 1/2 c. peanut butter (creamy)

1 lb. powdered sugar

red and orange food coloring

1 bag chocolate chips

1. Add food coloring to butter until it is bright orange. Pour into a medium mixing bowl.

2. Add PB and powdered sugar and stir well until combined. Should be stiff dough.

3. Shape dough into small pumpkin-like balls. Use a toothpick or knife to carve the pumpkins.

4. Place pumpkins on waxed paper.

5. Place a chocolate chip on top of each pumpkin for the stem.

6. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1-2 hours.

7. Enjoy

Birthday Boy!

Yesterday we celebrated Scott's 28th birthday at Chima Brazilian Restaurant in Uptown Charlotte. Brazilian steakhouse restaurants are quiet a unique experience. You pay one price and get all of the food you want. If you are picturing a buffet don't, because it isn't at all like a buffet. As my sweet husband tried to explain to his parents it was like a buffet:/

First, you start at the salad bar which has salads, soups, cheeses, antipastos, smoked salmon and anything else you can like of. At your table each diner has a card that says "No, thank you," and "Yes, please." Once you are ready to tackle the meat selection you flip your card over to "yes, please." There are servers walking around with any type of meat you can think of. Each server has their own skewer with a specific type of meat. If they see your orange card then they stop by the table. You have the option to decline the meat if it is not something you want, if you want to try what they offer you they cut you off a piece and add it to your plate. If it is a red meat they will cut you a piece just the way you like it cooked. The food was cooked to perfection and had the most amazing flavor.

Some of the meats we had last night were: flank steak, filet mignon, swordfish, salmon, bbq ribs, chicken, rack of lamb, meatballs, top sirlion, and sausage. At one point Scott had 4 different types of animals on his plate, a carnivores dream come true. At on point we forgot to turn our cards over which meant we had 4 servers at our table offering us 4 different types of meat, we quickly learned we had to flip our card to "No, thank you."

After dinner we came back to the house for birthday cake with Scott's parents. We had a Papa's toasted almond cake from Nona's bakery. If you live in or near Charlotte you must make it to the University area for some of Nona's cakes, cookies, pastries, fudge, or chocolates.

DeLiCiOUs:)

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."

Tastes just as good as it looks.

Fall is here!

Even though it is 80 degrees outside I couldn’t resist putting off decorating for fall any longer. While Scott worked yesterday I shopped for decorations. I didn’t have to feel guilty about wondering thru the store over and over again making sure there wasn’t something I missed the first few times. I started at Pier 1 and found tabletop accessories, then with a family and friends discount at Pottery Barn I did some more shopping, and thanks to Michaels for having their fall stuff already 60% off I didn't feel guilty about the last few floral items I purchased. When Scott came home the house had been transformed into our favorite season. The smell of pumpkin spice fills the air in our home. We are looking forward to mulled apple cider and pumpkin spiced doughnuts.

I have to admit this decorating was very therapeutic for me. I have had the itch to redesign our house lately, but this was a more economical cure for my itch. However, I did realize how much I miss the creativity designing allows me. In less than 2 months our house becomes a canvas again for Christmas!

I have included a few photos from my decorating weekend. By the way Scott was thrilled he didn't have to go shopping with me or help me decorate. I am pretty sure for once he was glad he was working the race.

Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow

A very dear childhood friend was married on September 18, 2010 to a very lucky man. One of the best things about this wedding was that the love they have for one another was clearly evident. This time our hearts were smiling for Meredith and Andrew. Another highlight was getting to spend the whole weekend with very dear friends and their parents. Cambria, Jennifer, Meredith, and I have been best friends for 12 years. We not only share many many memories together we also share many memories with each others parents.

Blessed to have these friends!

Really this is picture says it all.

Mom and Julie dancing.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Love them:)

Jennifer thought she needed to add

a little red to all of the Carolina blue.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow!

First Post

Our Friday night ritual consists of dinner at Bio-M-Bos, where we listen to live music, and unwind from the week with Mexican food and drinks. The band is 4 older gentlemen that sing beach music. Tonight we were seated right in front of the band. Since I love to sing and love beach music I was singing along...and then the drummer stopped in the middle of the song to point out to the restaurant that I was singing along to every song and was too young to remember any of these songs. He invited me up to sing in front of the restaurant but my drink wasn't strong or big enough. My face turned as red as the salsa on the table. Scott thought it was proper to leave them a tip since they successfully embarrassed me in front of the restaurant. What a great way to start off the weekend!