Pie Party

I'm part of a Recipe Club/ Cooking Club through church.  

Each month, we choose a different theme, then meet on a specific evening to share our dishes and to visit.  For August, the theme was "Pie", and we met at my house!  This was good for a number of reasons.  First, I love pie (really, who doesn't?).  Second, I am an introvert, but I like the idea of people gathering at my house.  

Because it was an insanely busy week, I had to plan carefully to get everything done.  I started the pie crust the night before, but didn't *quite* understand how long it would take to get everything done (the freezing and blind baking add tons of time to the process, but were WELL worth it).  I woke up at 5am the day of the party so I could get it all done before school, work, house cleaning, and soccer practice.  I made Peach Hand Pies (on the oval platter above), Chocolate Pudding Pie (on the cake stand), and a Leek, Mushroom, Bacon quiche (not pictured).  

Everything was so good!  We had Taco Pie, 3 kinds of quiche, Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Apple Pie with Pecan Crumb Topping and Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Pudding Pie, Peach Hand Pies, and a Gluten-Free Coconut Cream Pie.  

I used the following recipes: All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough; Chocolate Pudding Pie.

I also used these recipes, but made some changes: Quiche Me Deadly; Bourbon Peach Hand Pies.  

Have you ever had a Pie Party?

The William Morris Project: Living Room

 Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? 

When we bought this house a year ago, this is what the front room and hallway looked like.  

Relatively innocuous.... but not good.  The walls were streaked with dirt where pets had rubbed against them.  The paint was a sad grey-green, which was repeated throughout the house.  And the wallpaper border just screamed "1990's!".  

We don't have furniture for this room, so even though it's been used as a play space, craft room, dumping ground, and storage locker, it hasn't been given any love. 

After 8 months went by, I decided to strip the wallpaper.  The wallpaper in the kitchen had come off in sheets, so I thought this would be no different.  I quickly discovered that the border had been applied over primed drywall..... and I think they used E-6000 instead of wallpaper paste.  After it took me 2+ hours to strip 5 feet, I had to rethink my approach.  

A few more months went by, and I finally rented a wallpaper steamer and got down to business.  2 hours later, the walls were de-papered.  There was so much damage where I had originally stripped the border that I had to skim coat the entire top 2 feet of wall, then prime it, then wipe down the walls to remove some of the nasty dirt.  FINALLY I was ready to paint.  

And now, it's lovely! 

I chose Creamy Mushroom by Behr (hard to tell, but it's a very light tan), and had it mixed in my favorite Behr Premium Plus Ultra in a Satin finish.  I actually had to use 2 gallons, because I painted the inside of the closet too (amazing how much extra space & time that tacks on to a project).   

I know, it's not an exciting color.... more the wall equivalent of khaki pants.... but it's clean, and light, and the newly white trim just glows.  As we do for each room we paint, we also replaced all the light switches and outlets with white toggle switches and white square outlets.

I like how the blue door plays off the brown, and I plan to paint the back of the door a deep chocolate brown for more contrast.  

I'm down to just 3 more painting projects.  I might even be done before Christmas! 

This post is part of The William Morris Project via Pancakes and French Fries.  

Summer, Where Did You Go?

Maybe a better title is "August, Where Did You Go?"  I cannot believe that it is September. And that Autumn will be here in 3 short weeks.  I am more than ready for some cooler weather and snuggly sweaters, aren't you?

Because it has been weeks since I blogged, here is recap of August:

Husband left to work an hour and a half away, for the entire month.  He only had one day off each week, and the first week he actually had my birthday off!  Hooray!  And then he had to trade it for a Saturday off so he could do a team-building activity with the other Residents.  Boo!  But my birthday was still nice - very low key, and I spent some quality time with 2 of my 3 favorite people.

Birthday Roses

Birthday Girl

This is just a silly picture of J, who fell asleep in Panera immediately after finishing his dinner. 

He's only ever done that once before.  

New favorite food: Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Ranch Dressing.  

2Tbs = 45 calories of yumminess.

Find it in the refrigerated salad section of your local Walmart. 

My Mom came to visit for 2 weeks, and I didn't get a single picture!   But the kids had loads of fun spending time with her, and doing crafts together.  We have many new masterpieces in the house.  

J was invited to a Superhero party for his buddy next door.  The party included a sweet backyard obstacle course, which the kids repeated 425 times.  

Check out those muscles!

At the end there was cake AND s'mores.  

Superheroes have to keep up their strength.

After fulfilling her part of our beginning of summer bargain (pass the swim test at the pool & you can get your ears pierced), we visited the mall and had the deed done.  

She was ready, but I think it still hurt a little more than she anticipated. 

And then my girl started 3rd grade!  We were all ready for that to happen. 

"Mom.... I'm getting tired of all the pictures...."

And finally, I found this gem on my phone this morning.  Looks like I need to be a little more careful where I leave it lying around.  

Are you sad to see summer go?  Are you ready for fall?  

The William Morris Project: Stripping!

I FINALLY got off my bum and decided to take on the Super Glue wallpaper border.  

Remember this?

 The wallpaper border that took me 2 hours to strip away 5 feet?

I decided that my time (and shoulder muscles) were more valuable than that, so I caved and rented a wallpaper steamer for $25.

 I think this beauty was first purchased in 1932 by a Hungarian weightlifter named Franz. She weighs about 56lbs. when empty, and is nearly immoveable when filled with 5 gallons of scalding hot water. 

The steamer box (seen in the green bucket) was also missing a perforated cover, so it commenced to shoot skin-melting steam out of a single hole, along with random drips of scalding water. It was so hot, and so heavy that I had to wrap a towel around my left hand so I could grip the hose & heave the entire thing above my head (the metal box plate, not the water tank).  After holding it in place for about 3 minutes, the wallpaper simply peeled away..... taking some of the primer and a smidge of the drywall paper with it.  Can't win them all, can I?

But now it's done!  And all I have to do next is sand it, skim coat it, sand it, and paint it!

I'm actually far more excited than that sentence can begin to convey.

Because when I am done with this room?

I GET TO PAINT MY KITCHEN.  

YAHOO!!!!

This post is part of The William Morris Project via Pancakes and French Fries.

PS: Sorry this is late.... I've been attempting to blog via iPad, and it is not working for me at all.  Any tips?  

PPS: Too bad no one was around to capture photographic evidence that I ripped out the curtain rod with my bare hands.  Yes, that's how frustrated I was - bare hands & bloody fingertips. 

Birthday Love

Yesterday was my birthday.

I always get excited when my birthday nears, but this year it was mixed with trepidation. This is the end of my 30's, and I've been feeling very "I thought that I'd be/ have/do ______ by now.".

Then a few weeks ago it changed. I stopped having those doubts, and started feeling grateful.

All those little things we take for granted - healthy children, steady jobs, strong bodies, comfortable houses- they suddenly loomed large and stopped me in my tracks.  I realized that there is absolutely nothing I Need.   That what I was hung up on were my Wants. And Wants are things that are utterly under my control.

So I spent an uneventful day appreciating what I have.  I went to work, prepared and ate a healthy lunch, did some errands - I even went to the mall and could find nothing I Wanted. Because I already have everything I could possibly Need.

So Happy Birthday to me. It was a happy day indeed.

The William Morris Project: Bright Lights Edition

Remember last week's little teaser?  

Well, here's a hint:

Don't you love the "before"?  I know, we're not quite ready for an "after", but good things come to those who wait, right?  Right.  

PS - I know you're jealous of my wallpaper. 

And a VERY good thing came my way last week. Can you guess what it is?  I know, I hate guessing games too, unless they result in international getaways or diamonds or ice cream.  You really just can't lose with ice cream.  Unless you're lactose intolerant in which case, I'm sorry for you. 

Anyway..... 

A potent combination of web stalking, being ready extra early on a work day (a rarity tantamount to an albino tiger), and luck brought this lovely to my home last Wednesday!  

 The backstory is that I actually pinned this exact chandelier 40 weeks ago.  I liked the modern lines and classic style, and the fact that it was available at my local Big Hardware Store.  But I didn't like the $179 price tag.  So, I continued to live with The Hideous Fan of Grossness while other home projects took precedence.  Then last week I noticed a handful of light fixtures had been marked down online, and while my local store showed there was ONE available, it wouldn't let me purchase it online.  I chalked it up to bad luck and put it out of my mind.  The next morning I woke up still obsessing thinking about it and decided it couldn't hurt to swing by & see if there might be one laying around.  There was!  And it was marked like this:

After I picked myself up off the floor (it was 1/3 the price of what I had seen online), I hightailed it to the checkout counter with my prize in tow.  It WAS a display model, but the staff assured me that I could return it as long as I kept my receipt. 

Return it?  NEVER!

I was a little apprehensive that Hub wouldn't like it, but he was totally on board - especially after seeing the price tag. We did end up spending another $2 for a cross bar to hang it with, $4 for the hook, and $13 for CFL bulbs.  So my lovely chandy ended up costing a grand total of $34.26.   

I know, it's a poorly lit picture, but I just can't look away from its blazing glory.

Good-bye disgusting fan!  I hope you make some Goodwill shopper very happy! 

And then.....

The knob on the garage door fell off.  And it just wouldn't screw back in securely, so of course it was time to make the upgrade (finally!) to brushed nickel... with an actual working key to the lock (up til now, we have only had keys to the back doors).  So, if we're going to do one, we may as well do the front door and rear garage door, too, right?  And choose a lock set that matches so we only need ONE key to get into the house.  What a concept!

Good-bye hideous brassy knobs with no keys.  

Hello beautiful brushed nickel with a working key.  You look lovely against that blue front door.  

And let's end with some irony: My lovely new doorknobs conspired to lock me out of the house this morning.  I thought I'd be "extra safe" last night & lock the door from the house to the garage.  This morning I hustled the kids into the garage, and grabbed a bag of trash to throw into the bin, leaving my purse, keys, phone on the counter.... and not realizing that my fancy new knob would allow me to open the door from the inside without unlocking it - BUT NOT LET ME BACK IN.  One hour, one ruined window screen, one nice neighbor with a phonebook, several clumps of hair on the ground, and $45 later, we were back on track.  

This post is part of The William Morris Project from Pancakes and French Fries.  Be inspired!

Design Help Needed

This is the window in the master bathroom.  It is currently covered by the plastic blinds that came with the house. I've kept them because they were 1 of 2 that were not hideously damaged by pets, and because this window not only looks over our front yard, but is also level with the second story of the house across the street. At 35"w x 46"l, it not exactly a small window.  The towel bars underneath it preclude any sort of actual curtain (I think.  Am I wrong?)

This window also faces East, and the sun blazes through there from about 2pm on. This makes it incredibly hot in the summer.  Because of this, could I use an outdoor fabric?  Or a blackout liner?  I would hesitate to use a less sturdy fabric because I think it would disintegrate after 1 summer. 

I am feeling paralyzed by indecision, but I see the choices as follows:

A.  Replace them with white faux-wood blinds.  This would be fine, but probably the least interesting. 

B. Make a roman shade using a patterned fabric & the existing plastic blinds. I've seen the tutorials all over Pinterest.  It looks pretty easy, but this also means I'd have to choose a fabric, and the options here are few. I had a recent, bad experience with buying fabric online, so I am reluctant to try this. (more on this after I work through the bugs of blogging via iPad.)

C. Cover the window with window film (aka clear contac paper). I don't think I'd feel comfortable with the amount of coverage this would offer.  But, I might try it because a roll of contac paper is under $5. 

So, what do I do here?  Are there options I am not thinking of?  My budget is no more than the cost of cheap, faux wood blinds : about $25 max.  Any suggestions are appreciated.