I've been talking about starting a blog for quite some time now, but have finally pulled the trigger..or started typing. I decided, this is the only summer I will have off before my Master's comes to a close and I am flung (happily) into the big girl working world. Also, sparking my blogging interest, is the serious amount of DIY/crafts/cooking I have been doing recently. Brent and I just moved into an ENORMOUS apartment that we are still trying to fill with things. Even though my family is weirdly small, we have held on to furniture and some really cool vintage pieces from generations before. On top of that, Brent and I have been browsing Goodwills around the area to find more cool pieces that can be completely transformed to our own digressions. We have managed to score all sorts of deals and have been spending Saturday nights spray painting til odd hours of the night together. I figured this would be the easiest way to share my ideas with people! 

I'll share pictures of our projects along with other crafty things I have taken on. I have had quite a few people ask for recipes as well so I'll post some pictures of the delicious meals I have been serving up and the recipes I found to make them.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed I can keep up with this blog :)

 

These two matching lamps were a goodwill find (North Olmsted). I had picked another lamp out a few days before, but wasn't completely sold. Went bad a few days later and found matching ones! Pays to wait! They got new coats of paint and new lamp shades (for all you smokers out there--even the inside of the old lampshades from these lamps were yellow from smoke--YUCK)

They originally got painted with a green that ended up being too mint colored for us and the scheme we were trying to achieve, so we spray painted over them once again with a periwinkle blue. I'm so happy with the way they turned out. The blanket is a favorite of mine--it is made of baby alpaca and was my favorite thing I brought home with me from Peru. This lamps is currently sitting on a vintage, family, chest. I'm not sure what it was used for and I'm regretting now not taking a picture of the inside--it was horrendous. I just ripped out the pink fabric lining and it is now used to hold our blankets and extra bed sheets! 

 This might be so far my favorite Goodwill find. We found this beauty in Avon Lake which is the tiniest Goodwill I have ever been in. We weren't even going to go inside--I'm happy we did! We are leaving the color of it alone (it is like a bluish-green) to stay consistent with the blue/green theme of the living room.

Speaking of living room--how glorious ENORMOUS is this sectional! 

The two recipes for today include--Cinnamon Banana Bread

My first time ever making bread and my glorious Kitchen Aide made it's debut appearance at the new place. 

Here is the recipe for Cinnamon Banana Bread:

http://www.twinklingtrees.com/2013/05/cinnamon-banana-bread.html#.Ua0SgUCze5K&_pg_pin=548647

 Lastly--Spicy chicken lettuce wraps with avocado salsa
I'm not entirely sure I will be making this again. It was a little too runny for my liking and the cilantro in the avocado salsa was a bit too overpowering. I could always tweak the ingredients, but we didn't love it enough for me to do so. My Tip: If you try it yourself--don't add so much cilantro or lime juice!

Recipe for Spicy chicken lettuce wraps with avocado salsa:  http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-shredded-chicken-lettuce-wrap-tacos.html

For now--xo