Vases and My Love

There is a gorgeous little store near where I live called The Nest Egg.  It's right across the street from LOFT which is the only reason I ever would have found it.  Well, actually my mom found it.  She needed filler for Christmas presents a year or so ago and she thought I would enjoy it, so we went in the next time we went to LOFT annnnnnnnd . . . well let's just say this store is ME.  If I could be a home furnishings and decorating store I would be this one.  There is not one thing in that entire store that I do not love.  Their furniture, their tables, their cake platters, I love them all.  They have a knack for somehow making you walk into the store and know that your life would not be complete unless you have that ottoman (hey, if you had seen it you would have the same thought, so no judging me!  Thank you). 

The store was, I think, started by an interior design lady?  Anyway, there is only one store and their selection of buy online stuff isn't that amazing but they have a pretty neat blog.  It's www.shopthenestegg.blogspot.com.  And even though you can't go to the store and see these awesome things in person (you could see them if you came to visit me!! hint hint wink wink ;) ) you can still get inspiration.  Which is what I do a lot.  Because.  Well because their merchandise is a wee bit, tiny bit . . . expensive.  Their custom upholstered furniture?  Forget about it.  Their Sid Dickens 4"x6" tile blocks for $84 each?  A wee bit steep.  Their marble topped side table in the shape of a clover for $325 that would complete my life?  Needs a place to go before I invest.  Their 24"x24"x17" floor poufs (pillows) for $278 each?  Not going to happen. 

But those floor poufs?  They will happen.  I'm making it happen because I'm making my own!  Honestly its just sewing a cube and stuffing it with fluff.  I'm actually making it right now and I'll post about it soon.  See inspiration is a good thing.  Inspiration also helps me convince the parentals that there is reason to keep the sewing machine upstairs instead of in the basement.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that this expensive store that I love also carries some reasonably priced items as well.  Cake platters and picture frames and candles and things are randomly reasonably priced.  But the gorgeous, drool-worthy vases that are in these pictures?  I got them on sale.  That's right, this store had a sale and I was all over that puppy!  I got all three of these vases for just over $100 and I am SO happy with them.  The white and the pink and the purple could fit with any room in any house I will live in.  Perfect for a mantle or a table centerpiece or a side table or or or anywhere! 

Ah that store makes me smile :)

P.S. now that I have extolled the virtues of this store and showed you their intriguing blog and yet crushed your dreams with the fact that it is only in VA, I'm offering hope.  If you see anything on the blog that you desperately need and fits that perfect niche in your life or someone else's that you never knew you had, let me know.  I can go to the store, price it, purchase it, and ship it to you and have you mail me a check.  I realize this sounds a little extreme but the store my friends does that to people.  It makes them extreme. 

<3 B

Beat KU!

So it's game day people!  And we're playing KU!  The horrible, awful, no good, very bad, (expletive), (expletive), (expletive), team.  Disgust for that team/school runs deep and healthily in every K-State student's veins! 
But since it's game day I wanted to share a few pictures from game days past, including a past KU game :)

A previous KU game when they had a different coach.

Best. Sign. Ever! 

Hey look, we're beating them at this point! 

Friends I sat with at that KU game.  We were cheering our lungs out.

Aw I love the parachuter with the American flag in the stadium. 

Roll clouds at a game.  Wow was that intense weather!

<3 Game Day!  Beat KU!  Go Cats!!!!!!! :)

Has This Ever Happened to You?

Say you're in church and you see a cute guy that you remember from high school and . . .

Ok, this whole "theoretical" situation tense thing is hard to do.  Here's what went down:
I go to a church on the George Mason University campus.  Well, every year after Christmas they don't have services on Sunday until the students come back from Christmas break.  Kinduv like their own little vacation.  Anyway, for about three or four weeks we go to another church in the area.  We tried a new church last Christmas season and I randomly looked over and saw a guy I knew from high school.  He was one year younger than me when we first met in French class (I was a junior, he was a sophomore).  That and the fact that he was pretty popular in his class and I was totally enamored with a senior at the time, meant that I didn't think of him as potential boyfriend material, but he was still a really nice guy to talk to.  I hadn't seen him for 6 years but I definitely recognized him! 1.  He was cute 2.  He'd never been a slacker in school so I assumed he was doing well in college and 3.  He was at church with his mom and dad!  If you can't say "perfect boyfriend material" I don't know when you can!

Anyway, I saw him two Sundays in a row but once school started I never saw him again.  I went back to the church on multiple weeks but never saw him.  Then I thought well maybe he's still in school, but summer came and still no cute guy.  Well last week I decided to try and figure out if I could find any information out on facebook.  I mean maybe he moved down to Texas or something.

Well, I'm pretty sure you all can guess what I found.  Pictures.  His profile picture for one, but lots of pictures as well full of him and a small, blond, thin sorority girl.  Pretty much everything I'm not (sigh).

And I know that I had absolutely no chance of dating him really (ok maybe a 1% chance in real life) but for a split second you almost imagine that you would somehow reconnect and finally have found the guy you'll marry and have beautiful babies with!  Then you see the pictures of the blond petite barbie and this split second dream is dashed.

I'm really trying to not sound stalkerish or anything, I'm just trying to say that this guy checked some of my most important boxes (things I could tell without talking to him lol).
1.  Goes to church
2.  Loves his parents
3.  Is attractive

So far in my life I have met three guys who check these boxes.  All three are confident, smart, religious, and nice guys. 
The first guy on this list, I dated when I was a sophomore.  The timing was never right for us, but I still think of him as the one who got away.  (I sometimes day dream about him moving out to DC and us meeting up again and rekindling a romance, but since he's been dating his current gf for almost two years I'm expecting to hear news of their engagement way before that day dream would come true. Sigh.  If it was meant to be it was, or wasn't, meant to be right?).

I've often thought I should right romantic fiction.  Think it would be a good fit?!  Haha.  Don't answer that.
  
The second guy didn't check all the boxes for me personally, but if any other girl found herself the object of his affection she would be very lucky to have him!  I met him when I went on a trip to Italy back in college.  He was very grounded and funny and smart.  I wish him all the best

And now this guy.

So I know boys like this do exist!  I just haven't found the one who is perfect for me yet.  But I cross my fingers every day.  Here's hoping!

Perfectly Pillows

So I have a confession to make:  I do not know how to sew.  Well I know the basics.  I can thread a needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread and pull it back and forth through fabric.  I can also thread a sewing machine (because the directions are printed on the machine and numbered for you) and sew a straight line.  From watching my mom make Halloween costumes I know that you have to drop the foot on the sewing machine to keep the fabric in place.  Oh and I know that to make the sewing machine go you have to press the foot pedal!  Other than that I didn't and don't know much.  What I'm trying to say is that this tutorial won't be one for the ages and there are still lots of other things that I probably could have done to make these pillows better or faster, but I managed to make pillows none the less!  I had to do a lot of searching on the internet and I had to rip out a bunch of seams but I finished the pillows and I'll show you where I went wrong so you won't have to search the internet like I did!
 

This was the old pillow.  I hate them.  Oh they're not that ugly just the stuffing isn't good anymore, I don't find them comfortable to sleep on, and the colors and pattern just blend in.  Anyway I'm over them.  But I like their size.

 

So I measured the pillow using my trusty craft ruler.  It's served me well.

Then I cut a piece of cardboard about the same size as the pillow.

See about the same size.

Then I took the cardboard piece (Don't worry I made sure the edges were square) and put it on the fabric we picked out.  and traced around it.

Then I knew I needed some extra fabric around the edge for the seams and the piping  So I took an engineering scale and aligned it along the edge of the cardboard square and traced along it's edge (I'm really high tech aren't I).

See, about an inch of seam allowance.  When you're tracing out the pattern you can trace on either side of the fabric.  I like to trace on the back side or the side that won't be seen just in case the pencil I'm using doesn't wash out.  But you can trace on either side just make sure your marking tool is washable or can just rub off.  Chalk pencils work well.

Oh fabric remnants.  I have so many fabric remnants in my life right now.  I hate throwing away good fabric.

Here is my pillow square all cut out!

To make sure that it's square, do the elementary school trick of folding it in half diagonally and trimming any excess.

Then I took a piece of glass (that I knew was square) and double checked that the corner of the fabric was square.

And here's the piping!

I want the piping about and inch from the edge, so I used the ruler to measure one inch away (or you can just pin on the pencil line you drew).  MAKE SURE you pin the piping to the FRONT side of the fabric, the side you will SEE when you have a finished pillow.  You also only have to pin the piping to ONE square, not both.

See one inch away from the edge.

Pin the piping to the fabric.  You'll sew on the red fabric behind the pretty rolled, shiny, piping that you'll see.  That red fabric allows you to attach the piping to the pillow without damaging the look of the piping.  Use one continuous piece of piping for each pillow.  When you get to the point where you have to turn the corner, cut through the red fabric behind the piping but STOP when you get to the piping.  Do NOT cut through the piping itself.  This will allow you to have clean corners.

When you're done pinning the piping you will have a square with piping pinned to it and one square without piping.  This will make one pillow.

I'm making four pillows so I have eight squares.  Four with piping, four without.

Alright, you now have to thread the machine.  Here's where I needed the most help from the internet.  The bobbin is on the left and the bobbin holder thingy is on the right.  The bobbin is wound with red string.

The bobbin fits inside the bobbin holder.

Put the bobbin in the bobbin holder.

Now here's the tricky part.

Take the string and put it in that little line right there.

Pull it up and under the metal flap.

Pull it to the opening.

Now that the thread is coming out of the opening you'll get the correct tension.

Here's the bottom of your sewing machine (mine is a Brother).  Put the bobbin holder with threaded bobbin inside into the slot.  The thread needs to be hanging out.  With the top part of the machine threaded, turn the crank on the side that moves the needle up and down.  This will magically make the top thread go down and catch the bottom thread and bring it through the top where it needs to be.

Alrighty now you're FINALLY ready to start sewing!  (Don't worry it goes really fast from this point on).  I'm using a zipper foot.  This allows you to get the needle right next to the piping.  With the regular foot it would be about a 1/4" away from the piping which means your finished pillows would have piping and a 1/4" of the red fabric which isn't exactly what you want.

It's easier to sew the piping all at once.  You just have to do a couple steps when you have to turn the corner.  Btw, see how the red fabric behind the piping is cut until is reaches just behind the piping?! 

Alright, you have reached a corner.  Lift the foot that presses the fabric to the machine and turn the needle crank so the needle rises up.

Keep the needle and the presser foot up as you rotate the fabric.

Now drop the presser foot.

And crank the needle back into the fabric.  Now you can start sewing again!

When you get to the end where the piping overlaps, make sure the end of the piping is lying on top of the start of the piping.  This makes it easier to sew the piping down so it won't bunch up as you sew across it.

Once the piping is all sewn on, take the other square of fabric and put it face to face with the side you just sewed the piping to.  So the piping is sandwiched inbetween the fabric and the pretty sides are facing each other.  Now since you can't see the piping I used my fingers to press down on either side of the piping so I can sew right next to it again.   

Here's what it will look like.

You'll want to leave a small section un-sewn so you can turn the pillow inside out.  I left about 6-8 inches un-sewn.

To make the corners look prettier, cut the corners off on a diagonal.

Turn the pillow right-side-out.  See here is the hole from the right side.

My pillows are almost done!

I decided to re-use old pillow filling instead of buying new pillow stuffing.  I'm thrifty like that ;)

Once you're done stuffing the pillows, sew the 6 inch opening closed.  You can do this by hand but I just stuck it back on the sewing machine because it was faster.  And here are my pillows all done!  Surprisingly they're a bit smaller than I wanted even though I cut the fabric larger.  Oh well, no worries I'll just make bigger pillows to go behind them and have these be the accent pillows in front.  Although the colors in the pillows match the colors in the couch perfectly, they are still too different and don't blend as well as I'd like.  So now my goal is to make bigger pillows with a very neutral fabric that has the color of the couch and the cream color of the accent pillows so it will tie is all together.  Stay tuned for the update!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

I was CRAVING chocolate chip pumpkin bread this weekend.  It's becoming fall, the leaves are turning color, there is a crisper bite in the air, we burn a harvest scent candle at dinner.  This is the fall I love, the fall that is still summer lol I can still wear flip flops with the temperatures in the 70s.  Anyway I felt like making pumpkin bread so I made it! 
This is a Cooking Light recipe so it's semi-healthy.  There are still a decent amount of calories but it's healthier than it could be.  There are things you could do to lower the calorie amount.  You could replace some of the oil with apple sauce and you could use maple sugar in place of the sugar.  I wouldn't replace the sugar with artificial sweeteners but maybe Stevia could work?  I've never cooked with it though so I don't know.  One of the products I also like for replacing sugar is Whey Low.  It's a natural sweetener (more natural than Stevia) that is made from whey.  I didn't replace anything for this recipe because mom likes all her recipes just regular so they taste the same as what she remembers.  My mother also doesn't gain/lose weight like I do so counting calories for her isn't a big deal.  (Let me tell you, living on your own when you make all the dietary decisions is a lot easier on the waistline).  And of course this recipe has pumpkin so it's definitely healthy ;) All those antioxidants. 

Here are the ingredients needed:  flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, canola oil, eggs, milk, pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling), and chocolate chips.

I've recently started sifting my dry ingredients. I never used to, I thought it was all hokey.  I mean what does it matter if your flour is fluffy, you're just going to mix it all together anyway.  But then I read an Alton Brown book and he essentially said anyone who doesn't sift their flour is getting non-fluffy awesome baked goods.  So I'm trying sifting (he just whirls the dry ingredients in the food processor, I use a strainer) for the time being. 

My mound of sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.  I put the salt in afterwards since I use Kosher salt and it doesn't fit through the strainer.

Next add the sugar, eggs (it called for egg substitute but never buy that stuff so I just used two more eggs in place of the half cup of egg substitute), canola oil, and vanilla (which I added in just for kicks because everything needs vanilla).

Mix them till everything is incorporated.

Then add a can of pumpkin (you can make you own as well) and 2/3 cup of water.  Mix till it looks like orange soup.

This is my favorite picture of the whole bunch.  The colors and the lighting look really good to me.

Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixing just until barely combined.  Lumps are a GOOD thing.

Now dump a bag of chocolate chips in a bowl and add a tablespoon of flour.

Mix them around to coat the chocolate chips with flour.  This helps them float in the batter and not all sink to the bottom.

Add them to the batter and mix them in by hand.

Luciousness :)

Coat two baking pans with crisco (or butter) then dust them with flour.  You could also use parchment paper.

Then evenly divide the batter into the loaf pans and bake for about 50 minutes to an hour until everything is baked though.  Pumpkin is notoriously wet so it takes a long time to bake.  Fyi pumpkin cheesecakes like to tsunami over the edges of the pan. But that's another story for another day.  One that Sarah can tell.

See how the chocolate chips stayed incorporated throughout the whole loaf?  That's what the flour did.  Yummy chocolate :)

And here is a picture of the finished loaf.  The finished half a loaf.  Because we at the other half.  For which I am partly responsible.  I refuse to feel shame!

Here's the recipe!

3 1/3 cup flour
1 tbs baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp all spice
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute (or two eggs)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup low-fat butter milk (or skim milk)
2 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15oz) can of pumpkin
1 bag chocolate chips
1/3 cup pecans (if you want to sprinkle them on top)

1.  Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice) together and then sift them.
2.  Mix sugar, eggs/egg substitute, canola oil, buttermilk/milk, and 1 tsp of vanilla in a mixer until incorporated.
3.  Add water and pumpkin to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated.
4.  Add the sifted dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix till barely incorporated (leaving some lumps).
5.  Toss a bag of chocolate chips in 1 tbs of flour then mix into the batter.
6.  Divide batter evenly between two greased and floured loaf pans.
7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour (or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean).
8.  Once pans are removed from the oven let them sit for about ten minutes, the take the pumpkin bread loaves out and let them cool on a cooling rack.