Quick (Cinco de Mayo) weekend in review (& pictures) + What I'm Cooking

D's parents came to visit it us for the weekend.  The weather was absolutely perfect despite the Weather Channel making me nervous all week; I couldn't have asked for a better result.  They brought Allen Brother steaks (AMAZING! Like better than Ruth Chris, amazing!)  We grilled asparagus and I made one of my favorite salads, Mixed Greens with Grapefruit and Cranberries (from an earlier post).  This meal was by far the best thing I've eaten in FOREVER!  Sorry, no pictures of our meal.  We were too busy stuffing our faces.

Later that evening the women played the men in euchre (best of 5 games) and we WON! That's 2-0 for the ladies!

Today, D and I focused on putting in some more sweat equity into our backyard.  His parents also brought us a variety of fantastic flowers from their beautiful backyard.  Here are some of the irises that didn't quite make it during transport but are blooming beautifully on my kitchen counter.

We decided to go to Lowe's to find a weeping tree and additional flowers.  While there, we think we finally found a light fixture for above our dining table:

It's perfect!

After 2 trips, we had plenty of bags of soil, a Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry Tree, lilies and additional flowering ground cover.

Our little helper, Luna

It was brutally hot outside but it's not called "Sweat Equity" for nothing.  D and I both got a bit burnt.  Here's some of the progress we made.

Just need new mulch

We originally had a poorly-kept coy pond in that area but decided to take it out and fill it in instead.  I think it was a good decision and will hopefully keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Once we called it a day on the yard work, we decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (a day late).  I made fresh guacamole from scratch.  We added that to grilled, blackened chicken tacos and served that along with grilled Mexican corn on the cob (sweet white Indiana corn on the cob smeared with mayonnaise and drizzled with chili powder and topped off with cilantro.  It usually calls for Cojita cheese or grated Parmesan but I didn't have any on hand.)

Guacamole 

2 large avocados, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 medium white onion, chopped

1 medium jalapeno, diced small

1-1/2 TBSP cilantro, roughly chopped

1 lime, juiced

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and stir.  I like to smash some of the avocado pieces but also leave some chunks.  

D says this is the meal he could eat everyday.  What a wonderful end to a truly fulfilling weekend.  Hope you all enjoyed your Cinco de Mayo weekend!

Some of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my new house

Eventually I will get around to posting pictures of the new house and all it's glory but it's still such a work in progress right now.  Instead, I'm going to preview some lovely discoveries I made over the weekend.

THE GOOD: Beautiful sunrises  

My Blackberry's camera does not do enough justice in capturing this amazing pink and purple sky

This spectacle was seen from my back deck this morning before heading out to work.

THE BAD: Little Miss B went on a giant rampage
My lovely mutt, B, was a bit of a terror all week.  Earlier in the week, upon returning home from work, I would be greeted by Swamp Thing 2 aka my dog drenched and caked in mud.  She has discovered it's fun to hide out under the decks and run a-muck back and forth in our unkempt yard.  After some stern disciplinary actions (immediate baths or cold hose downs) she made some progress and on Wednesday and Thursday, I came home to a clean and excited doggy! I was so excited, I gave her a couple slices of lunch meat.  Then Friday, I decide to meet up with some friends in Broad Ripple and didn't arrive back home until pretty late.  As had been the past 2 days, I went to excitedly greet B for steering clear of the mud while I was away when suddenly I noticed something far more sinister....

This was actually one of the lesser damaged screens

She clawed and completely ripped through all, but 2, of the 7 screens on the windows along the back porch!   I was extremely upset and dreading telling D about it but I promised that I would pay to have them all rescreened.  I suspect that all of the neighborhood fireworks probably startled her and sent her anxiety levels through the roof.  I just wish my dog had a bit more self control.

THE UGLY: ARACHNOPHOBIA 2

Last night before heading upstairs to hit the hay, I noticed a giant black spot on my carpet that from afar looked like dirt.  To my utter surprise and complete fear, this is what I came across:

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I realized it was a gigantic Wood Spider (of which the previous owner had forewarned me about).  This was the first time I had seen one live in our new place.  I quickly took a pic to send to D and ran to grab a cup and do the nice thing by letting it go outside.  But after trying to wrangle it up, it some how eluded capture and scurried somewhere out of sight (I think under the couch).  Now I am completely paranoid to sit on it and the rest of the night I felt like creepy-crawlies were all over the place.  I won't rest easy until I know he's caught next time I won't be so generous in sparing spiders' feelings or lives.

What I'm Cooking: Summer Food!

Here's some of the great meals I've been cooking (or rather, preparing) lately.  I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

I got these fabulous Chipotle Black Bean Burgers by MorningStar Farms from Costco and served it (just like I had sampled it in-store) on a 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin and added my fave Romesco Sauce by Country Mouse City Mouse 's...GENIUS!  I also nibbled on Spicy Red Pepper Hummus with veggies and a serving a Oikos Blueberry Greek Yogurt.

I overendulged and snacked while at work one day so I felt compelled to eat light...yet flavorfully at dinnertime!  Here I have Simply Baked Salmon with a light sprinkling of low-sodium Montreal Steak Seasoning and drizzled with a balsalmic glaze.  It is accompanied by half of a baked sweet potato with a dusting of All Spice and canned greened beans (would've prefered fresh but didn't feel like running to the grocery store).


This meal is super easy-peasy but does involve lots of chopping!  I boiled water and cooked whole wheat penne pasta to al dente.  In the meantime, I took the veggies from Pic 1 (garlic, zuccini, yellow squash, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes) and combined with Ragu Chunky Mushroom Tomato Sauce and diced grilled chicken.  Once everything was cook through, I combined them all together and sprinkled with a bit of crushed red pepper and shredded Italian cheese.  I tossed all the ingredients in Pic 3 (avocado, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and red pepper strips) with a Romaine Lettuce Mix and served a side a Champagne Vinaigrette.  I felt like I was having a dinner affair with myself! So romantic!

What I'm Making: My first official furniture redo!

So I officially can't stand it.  I haven't blogged in over 3 weeks while settling into our new, beautiful home.  Uverse is supposed to be coming out next week to install after originally telling D it wouldn't be until JULY 21st!! So in the meantime, I've surmounted a pile of unfortunate circumstances: (1) Again, no cable or Internet; (2) No working AC [another lovely discovery right when the previous owner was moving out & we were moving in but should be taken care of in the next week or so]; (3) D is out of town on a family vacation until Sunday :(  ; and (D) the absolute cherry on the top of the Crappy Week Cake...my blackberry's track ball is stuck which is preventing me from using most of my apps including Twitter and Facebook [now I have my eye on the new EVO 3D phone].  I feel so lonely and disconnected from the virtual world, unable to blog and tag and IM at my leisure so I've resorted to doing ancient activities, almost unheard of nowadays, like... reading a book!!! One with actual paper pages, and all.  Over the weekend, I read The Reader by Bernhard Schlink which makes me want to rent the movie starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes.   Now I'm on to Night by Elie Wiesel.  Don't ask me why I'm on a WWII/Holocaust era kick but I find the time period fascinatingly bizarre, heart wrenching and dark yet the eyewitnesses and storytellers still retain their humanity.  Night is a short, not necessarily easy, read.  I should be done with it tonight. 

On Sunday, I decided to finally put my money where my mouth is and redo the vanity desk I bought nearly a year ago and was determined to transform.   I was driving down College and at around 30th St. I saw a woman having a yard sale.  And this little gem is what I ended up with:

I have to admit, I walked into this project and, more specifically, Menards rather sheepishly.  I had done a bit of research online and read through the many furniture transformation and home decor blogs.  I felt like I had a grasp of what I needed to do and what tools I needed to buy but once the sliding doors opened up, my anxiety hit the roof.  I eventually made my way over to the back corner of the store and into the sand paper aisle.  I bought a variation of sand paper and sponge-like sanders.  Then I looked at stain stripper.  I decided to choose a brand I was familiar with, Zinsser.  I went back and forth between the rub on and the spray on.  I think next time I'm going to go with the spray.  Stain stripper is a nasty, nasty thing.  I wasn't using my head when I thought I could use cheap, kitchen gloves.  That stuff ate through to my skin immediately.  Luckily, my neighbor had some chemical resistant gloves.

I also grabbed a small tub of vinyl wood filler which serves as a putty to patch the holes.

I had to have a sales associate help me select an slightly off white paint and primer, of which I went with a Rustoleum brand.  Upon a second trip to Menards, I grabbed rollers which made paint application so much easier.  I eventually settled on some hardware that I was okay with because, apparently, 2.5" is not a popular size for drawer-pull hardware.  I didn't feel like spackling up the original holes and remeasuring out new ones so I just went with one of few options that were cheap, black, and 2.5".

Once the table was completely stripped of the original cherry stain (a long, tedious process), it was ready to be patched, sanded and primed. 

Now, I have to be honest, I got lazy about the whole sanding process since I would have to do it by hand.  I eventually want to buy an electric sander.  Once the wood putty dried I tried to sand it down to be flush with the top surface of the table but as you can see, it didn't work out too well.  It doesn't really bother me.  Next, I applied a layer of primer to all surfaces and the insides of the drawers.  I used brushes for the primer layer which took forever and hurt my wrists (total weenie). 

The following day, I tackled the painting.  I used a combo of rollers and small brushes to apply to layers of paint.  I used a large fan to help things move along.  They dried very quickly and smoothly creating a final product I was very happy with.

I stood marveling it for several minutes and, of course, sent a copy of it to D.  I was originally planning to put it in the entry hallway by the front door but it was a little bigger than I thought so I put it near the half-wall that separates the living and dining/sunroom.  Now I just need to find the right stuff to accessorize!

It's amazing what people can do when they tune out, turn off and disconnect from their normal, everyday lives.  I can't wait to tackle the end tables I just bought from my new neighbor who is moving to AZ in the next few weeks.  She even threw in a can of dark stain that she just never got around to doing.

I am experiencing blogging withdrawal...

Uverse is coming by our new house sometime between morning and night  tomorrow to set up cable/internet at our new house!! Trust me, I have lots and lots to catch up on including the latest What I'm Eating, Chow Down Midtown, What I'm Cooking and of course, pictures of the new house.  Once I have access to the WWW, you bet your butt, I'm getting my blog on! 

Oh, and along with Uverse, I have to wait for an HVAC company to come take a look at our broken AC! Starting off rocky but I'm confident we're going to shine through in the end!!