Another quick meal...

I already showed you my Asian salad that I'm obsessed with, but my repertoire of quick and easy meals doesn't stop there. :) Next up is zucchini and rice...which you can make in eight minutes flat. [Yep, I timed it...it takes exactly eight minutes.]

 

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 zucchini
• Spices / seasonings
• A teensy bit of oil / butter
• A serving of microwave rice

Instructions:

• Add a teensy bit of oil or butter to a skillet on high heat.
• Slice the zucchini into thin slices and add to skillet.
• Start the microwave rice [following directions on the package].
• Add spices / seasonings to the zucchini to taste [I use onion powder, garlic powder and seasoning salt].
• The zucchini and rice should be done at about the same time.
• If desired, add a teensy bit of butter to the rice.
• Put the zucchini on top of the rice and enjoy. :)

Is it bad if...

you like something you see on The Mogg Blogg?

Because, I'm not going to lie...if I saw this puzzle floor in a hotel or store, I would probably think it was pretty darn cool. I wouldn't use it in my house, but I do like it. Call me a nerd if you wish, but I really like puzzles. :)

Missing Mr. W | part three...

Mr. W surprised me one afternoon while he was away and had these beautiful flowers delivered. It was so sweet and thoughtful that it just made me miss him even more. :)

Missing Mr. W | part two...

Sometimes, I not only forget to post a photo or two...but I forget to post an entire series of posts. Mega oops! Turns out I forgot to post the rest of the everyday moments when I really, really missed Mr. W when he had to move before me. Now, I have moved also (well, kind of, but that's a story for another day)...but I'm still going to post some more of those times. And, actually, being in the same place again [finally!] reminds me just how much more fun normal, everyday things are when we're together. :)

Okay, now to the actual point...

Mr. W and I are huge baseball fans, but I don't generally share his need to watch every Royals game on TV or watch This Week in Baseball. But after Mr. W moved, I would zoom-zoom [i.e., watch in fast forward] every game. And I couldn't bring myself to delete any of them.

I also usually really like watching America's Got Talent, but it was no fun at all to watch without Mr. W. So, I didn't watch any of the episodes, but didn't want to delete them either. Luckily, I had no problems continuing to watch Design Star. :)

[Speaking of Design Star, I also kind of forgot about doing the majority of my play alongs. Turns out that is somewhat time consuming, especially when I was supposed to be packing our entire house, working extra hours, and studying. If I ever magically get lots of free time, I'll finish that series too though. :)]

DIY monogram tiles...

Using tiles from Home Depot, a laser printed image and mod podge, I made this monogram tile as a wedding gift...

Using the same technique, I made a set of four coordinating coasters...

The project was very simple and turned out great! Many thanks to the great directions via The Hybird Chick and to Carrie for finding the project. :) Also check out the awesome tiles made my friends here and here.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a "magazine holder"...

Every once in a while, I'll notice a folder full of photos that I meant to post here and forgot about....oops! Now they are a bit more random, but I'm still going to share them. :)

A long time ago, I mentioned our "magazine holder" in our office. It is actually a wine rack, but works great! I did have to tell Mr. W that I "read it in a magazine" to convince him the idea wasn't crazy though. :)

I'm a teensy obsessed with wine racks. This one was a wedding gift and even though we already had four others in our house, this little one just had to have a home too. And using a wine rack as a magazine holder is a great reason (as if you need a reason) to have a wine rack in every room of the house. :) [See, I liked the idea so much I even used it in a Design Star play along room.]

Missing Mr. W | part one...

So, I told you about our upcoming big move, but I haven't told you yet that the move is actually well underway. As in, Mr. W has been living and working there for well over a month already. And I have not. Bummer, huh? Luckily, I have been able to see him a few times recently, but I still miss him like crazy. Since he's been gone, I've noticed that there are a few sort of silly times when I really notice how much I miss him, so I thought I'd share those with you....

Every single day at dinner time.

I am a very lucky lady and Mr. W does 95% of our cooking. [My five percent primarily consists of making cookies. :)] Generally when Mr. W is gone and I have to "cook" for myself, I eat cereal or chips and salsa. But now that it has been a while, I've had to expand my meal choices a bit. So, lately I have been making lots of Asian salad. Yum! And super quick and easy - must haves for me.

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of beef (or chicken) flavored ramen noodles
• 1 package of coleslaw salad
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of vinegar
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• Sunflower seeds

Instructions:

• In a small bowl, mix up the sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil and packets of seasoning from the ramen noodles. [When we make it, we actually use a little more vinegar and a little less vegetable oil, but it's all up to what you like best.]
• In a large bowl, pour the liquid mixture over the coleslaw salad.
• Crunch up the ramen noodles and add them to the large bowl.
• Add sunflower seeds to taste.
• Mix everything up.
• Enjoy.

See, I told you it was easy. And, other than the package of coleslaw, we always have the other ingredients on hand which makes it extra easy.

Speaking of the coleslaw salad, I had another "missing Mr. W" moment the other day when it came to buying the coleslaw. See, Mr. W also usually does about 95% of our grocery shopping. So, silly me, when I had to do it myself, I totally bought the wrong thing and came home with "broccoli salad." Who knew that even existed!? But it still tasted good. :)

Two incredible years...

It is hard to believe that two years have already flown by since Mr. W and I said "I do". And what unbelievable years they have been...I passed the CPA exam, we enjoyed fun vacations together, celebrated the weddings of many family and friends, bought our first home, Mr. W finished his Masters degree, we began our first long-distance move, and welcomed our new nephew into the world. I am so lucky to have shared these exciting times with him.

I am also lucky to share the not-so-exciting times with him...the days we get up early, work late, run errands or even clean the house. Every single moment is amazing when you are married to your best friend and the love of your life. :)

We celebrated our anniversary with a wonderful dinner this weekend and exchanged gifts. As the traditional 2nd anniversary gift is cotton, I monogrammed pillowcases for Mr. W's gift. Considering it was the first time I had ever even turned on a sewing machine, I was pretty excited about how they turned out. :)

[P.S. If you'd like to see pictures from the best day of my life (our wedding, of course!), you can check out all of my wedding posts from last year here. :)]

Cutest nephew ever...

It's been a little quiet around here lately because I have spent just about every waking moment with my adorable new little nephew. I could not possibly be a prouder or happier aunt. :) Congrats again to his wonderful parents!

Bright, fun find...

This fun set of furniture just totally caught my eye. Say what you want about Walmart, but I am loving this set. The three piece set includes a desk, printer stand and bookcase for just $99. Aaaaaand, the glass tops come in lots of fun colors. Yep, I love it. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to convince Mr. W that we need it. :)

[I also love the rug, bins and overall styling in these photos.]

Let's take a closer look at this wonderfulness...

[This little table would look great pretty much anywhere...an office, living room, bedroom, etc.]

[This bookshelf is amazing too...kind of looks like the little sister to my CB2 bookcase. :)]

Design Star play along | episode three...

The episode three challenge on Design Star was to design a patio space using musical instruments as the inspiration. It took me a while to figure out what to write about this one, because the only thing I knew is that this without a doubt would have been the week I was sent home if I was really on the show.

There were certainly parts of the men's space that were not my favorite...

HGTV Design Star

But frankly, if I had been on the show, I would have had a panic attack at the very mention of the challenge. And probably would have had a small seizure every time someone said "harmonious."

See, I love listening to music. But I have absolutely no musical talent. Yes, I know, they didn't have to play instruments, just use them as inspiration. But really, it's that bad.

When I was in college, I took an online music class that was, according to everyone I knew, "the easiest class ever." The second assignment was to listen to a musical piece and pick out the instruments playing and describe how they made me feel. I had to drop the class.

Seriously, I could hardly pick out any instruments and everything just made me feel nervous and panicked because I am just not good at that kind of thing. I knew then that my GPA [and mental health] were both going to suffer if I stayed in the class.

Anyways, when I heard this challenge on Design Star, my very first thought was how much of an idiot I would have looked like if I was on the show and couldn't even name the instruments. Ahhhh! I can't even pretend to play along and come up with things I would have done differently, since I know I really just would have freaked out. So, until the next episode, feel free to look back at my ideas for episodes one and two.

Or better yet, check out Trent's awesome portfolio at HGTV or his website.

Relaxing room designed by Trent via HGTV

One week...

My beautiful, smart, incredible, all-around wonderful sister is due in just one week. I could not be more excited for my sister and brother-in-law. And, of course, to meet my new little nephew!

In honor of the occasion, here is a random sister story for you...

When I was in fourth grade, we had an assignment to write about the top ten biggest and most exciting moments of our lives. Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but when I was that age [9 or 10 years old], I really hadn't had that many overly exciting moments. I mean, my life was great, but other than some big family vacations, I didn't have too many thrilling things to write about.

So, my list of ten exciting moments included at least at few that were primarily about my sister. For example, when she got her first driver's license. It made the list because it meant she could drive me places, but mostly because when things are really exciting for her, they are really exciting for me.

However, my teacher disagreed and said that I hadn't done the assignment correctly. To this day, I stand by my list. And in fact, even though the top ten moments of my life have gotten a lot more exciting over the years...I would have to say, my sister having her baby will certainly make the updated list.