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Joining Amanda at SouleMama
in her words... {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, {extra}ordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments below.
Happy Weekend!
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We have been working on a little kitchen remodel around here. Steve and I found this handmade piece at a flea market, and while it had great potential, it was in pretty bad shape. I knew with a little TLC and elbow grease we could transform it into something beautiful, so it came home with us and we've been working on it for the last two months.
Steve spent a long time removing old paint, sanding and installing a shelf on the inside, then turned it over to me. It's amazing what a few fresh coats of paint can do, isn't it? I've fallen in love with this Araucana Teal from Martha stewart. (We bought a full gallon so I'm predicting more pops of this color showing up around the house eventually.)
One of the most challenging pieces of the remodel was figuring out how to represent the two stove top burners. Initially I tried painting on black circles, but quickly discovered that I had neither the patience nor the hand stability to pull off perfect black circles. After more sanding and a fresh coat of white over my mistake I found myself wandering the aisles of our local hardware store (three days before Christmas). The solution came from two cookie tin lids that we spray painted silver. The remodel was completed with a pair of knobs to control the burners, a set of curtains, matching buckets and some new, thrifted and gifted dishes and accessories.
This corner of our dining area has been transformed by this new little kitchen, along with the addition of some new art from dear friends. I absolutely love how it turned out. In fact, I wish I could cook in this kitchen myself.
I can't say that this little project was cheaper (than a store bought kitchen) due to our DIY efforts. But, as with anything we set out to make ourselves, money is not the only motivator. It's the process. The rhythm and meditation of sanding. It's the daydreams that visit as we paint, sew and create along with the anticipation of gifting that motivates and encourages our work.
Seeing Zinnia's eyes light up when she saw her kitchen, tucked under the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree made our efforts so very worth while. As she moved in for a closer look and pulled the curtain back she exclaimed, "Wooooww!" And we knew we'd done good.
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Have I mentioned that I HAVE A NEW CAMERA? A new camera that I love? From a husband that I'm crazy about? Have you read that here yet?
I'm excited. Can you tell? Stevie really pulled off a surpirse with that one. We'd agreed to not really exchange gifts this year - just small stocking stuffers - so that our energy could be focused on Zinnia. I was speechless as I unwrapped the Nikon lens cap that was neatly tucked in my stocking. Wowza. My man did good.
I have a lot to learn about this little Nikon. It's been twenty (ahem...) years since my high school photography class. I've always, always loved taking pictures but I've never really had the proper gear. Well as soon as I refresh myself on all this f-stop-shutter-speed-ISO business I'll be set, I tell you. Set.
In the meantime I'm taking tons of pictures (um, like 1,000 in the last three days), fiddling with the dials and buttons on my little D5100 and finding tutorials online.
Of course, Pinterest is helping immensly. This clever little chart can be found here.
I'm also lucky to have a pretty patient model. There's only been a few times that she has tried to grab the camera from my hands yelling "all done! all done Mama!" while shoving a book in my face.
Okay Zinnia, let's go read Brown bear, brown bear. Again.
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Thankful. Smiling. Laughing. Appreciating. Adoring.
Loving. Holding. Remembering. Sharing.
Here's seven little thingsthat lit me up during Christmas.
:: that look, hugged by aunt Tammy's knits
:: this cat that secretly loves this toddler
:: brown-eyed girls
:: curled up and cozy
:: these two are pure love (have you heard me say that before?)
:: best. husband. ever.
:: notice anything different? I GOT A NEW CAMERA!!!
What simple little things are you loving today?
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On this the longest night, as we celebrate the return of the light, we also give thanks that you are in our lives.
May you all be embraced with love, warmth and light as we celebrate our many gifts, among family and friends.
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Signing off of this space for a few days to be present with all the magic and merry-making, and most importantly, to love-up some family.
Back next week!
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Thankful. Smiling. Laughing. Appreciating. Adoring.
Loving. Holding. Remembering. Sharing.
Here's seven little things that I'm loving today.
:: remembering our excitement in this photo taken Christmas 2009
:: got myself a tree hugger!
:: the backyard winter wonderland
:: a little friend who came to say hello
:: the plug in is pretty rad (more about that soon)
:: this honey from Tennessee. nothing beats a good long-distance barter. thanks again to my friend, Jennifer at Etowah Road Haven!
What simple little things are you loving today?
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It's all starting to come together.
My lists are getting shorter. My sewing/craft/demolition area is cleaned up. Presents are mostly wrapped. Boxes have been mailed to far-away family. I'm even decorating the house a bit.
I never saw the point in putting up Christmas trees when I was in my twenties. I was always traveling to see family for the holidays and didn't have the extra funds to be spending on frivolity. The first tree I had as an adult was because of my mom. She was coming to my house for Christmas one year and upon arriving declared, "You need a tree!" I was a little against it, but with her offer to buy the tree, the stand and lights I couldn't say no. When we arrived at the tree lot I decided that I wanted the tree that no one else would buy. The Charlie Brown tree, so to speak. We asked the tree guy for his cheapest, ugliest tree and he pointed us to an 11 foot beauty (spindly, uneven branches and bare spots all over) in the corner. I was sold and I think we only paid $20 for it. We decorated it with homemade ginger cookies, strung popcorn and cranberries and I absolutely loved it.
I've decorated a few trees in the years since (always of the Charlie Brown variety), but it's not until the last few years that I've really gotten into it. Zinnia has reignited my own childhood excitement for this season. I've been spending hours making homemade garlands, origami stars and decorative swags to hang about the house. Seeing her face light up as she wakes up from a nap to notice a new something hung in the house makes it all worth while.
I even heard Steve singing "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer"
... when Zinnia wasn't in the room.
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Joining Amanda at SouleMama
in her words... {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, {extra}ordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you'd like to to the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments below.
Happy Weekend!
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Do you like broccoli?
Yep, so do I. It's one of my favorite vegetables. It's good cooked almost any way but it's not usually considered the star of a meal. That is, until this recipe.
I don't know what kind of magic is happening in the oven, but this broccoli is seriously the best I've ever had. I've made a variation on this recipe twice now, and it's so good that I wake up the next day thinking about leftovers for lunch....or maybe leftovers for breakfast.
Here's how it comes together.
Super-Awesome Roasted Broccoli
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Gather ::
2 heads of broccoli, cut into small florets (I also sliced the entire stem thinly and used it as well. Try it, you'll be surprised at how good the part we usually throw away tastes. It's best to use broccoli that's not wet so either wash it way ahead of time so that it can dry, or do what I did and just skip the wash altogether. The 425 degree oven should take care of any germ-y germs).
1/2-3/4 cup almonds, chopped (any nut would work here: pine nut, walnut, pecan)
2 cloves garlic, minced
a healthy drizzle of EVOO
1/4 cup feta cheese (or Parmesan, like you see above. The feta was tastier, and will be my go-to for future incarnations of this recipe).
Salt & pepper to taste (I used a coarse ground kosher salt, which really popped).
1-2 Tbs rice wine vinegar or lemon
Now put it all together ::
Place broccoli on a cookie sheet
Drizzle on olive oil, nuts, salt & pepper
Cook for 20 minutes
Remove from oven and add vinegar (or lemon) and cheese
Cook for another 5 minutes
This is a very easy recipe that comes together without much work. We ate it with quinoa and roasted butternut squash slices and it was a beautifully, fulfilling meal.
Zinnia loves it too. She calls it "aukleee teees". Interpretation: broccoli trees.
Enjoy!
Happy and healthy eating to you!
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Oh, and the Prius is super-cute. I haven't driven it yet because Steve drove it home last night, but Zinnia and I will be cruising around in it later.
Fun! Fun!
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We get our free test car today!
We were chosen to participate in a study between Toyota, the University of Colorado and Xcel energy to test drive a 2010 Plug In Hybrid. Go here for all the geeky aspects of the study. The short story is that we drive the vehicle for nine weeks and give feedback on our experience. This Plug-In model, which is just now going on sale in the U.S. as the 2012, will drive about 14 miles on one electric charge, at which point the gas engine kicks in for the rest of the journey. The majority of my driving these days happens within Boulder, and I rarely go more than 15 miles on any one trip, so this should be fun.
Steve is especially excited to see how charging the Prius will effect our PV (Photovoltaic) system a.k.a. our solar system. Currently 100% of our energy is produced on the roof of our house. If we happen to go over, and we need to take energy off the grid, we opt for wind power as our back-up energy source. All of this will be especially interesting and groovy if we can charge the car from our solar array without impacting our energy consumption too much. I'm sure we'll be geeking out over here for the next two months.
We're psyched! And I'll be sharing our journey with you as we go.
We pick up the car at 5PM today! Yay!
(Oh, and here's the legal disclaimers I have to include: (i) the Permitted User received complimentary use of the 2010 Plug In Prius; (ii) the statements made are those of the Permitted User and not of Toyota, and only reflect the Permitted User's experience, which may not be representative of all users' experiences and (iii) Toyota does not warrant the accuracy, completeness and /or applicability of the information to any particular circumstance.)
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