What I Made {Orecchiette with Sausage and Toasted Breadcrumbs}

March 31, 2014

Hi friends! Here we are the last day of March and yes, it's snowing!!
 
Not sure how much more of this weather I can take! I feel like that is
 
a recurring theme here!!
 
Today I'm here with my What I Made feature!
 
As I've told you all before Sunday is family day.... It's the one day of the
 
week my husband and I don't work and we spend the day with our children
 
and then my dad and his girlfriend come over for Sunday dinner.
 
I have a special Pinterest board dedicated to just dinners that I know my
 
dad will enjoy.... Being that my dad is a very picky Italian and not fond of
 
chicken or fish, that pretty much guarantees I will be making pasta or
 
steak for Sunday dinner....
 
Pasta dishes are usually the norm! Last night I made one of my mom's
 
favorite pasta dishes, which also happens to be one of the very few she
 
actually wrote down.... I know my Nonna never wrote down any recipes!
 
She would always say with her cute little Italian accent:
 
"I gotta in my head!" Miss her & my mom so much....
 
Ok, no tears! Back to this scrumptious pasta dish which is derived
 
from one of my favorite recipes from Giada De Laurentiis.
 
In this recipe I used Italian sausage in stead if the prosciutto. If  you prefer
 
the prosciutto instead, just add 1/4 lb fresh prosciutto chopped instead of
 
the sausage! Either way this dish is a winner!!
 
 
Orecchiette with Italian Sausage & Toasted Breadcrumbs
 
4 servings
 
     Ingredients
 
1 pound Italian Sausage (I used half hot, half sweet) castings removed
 
1 pound Orecchiette pasta
 
3/4 cup olive oil
 
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
 
1 cup frozen peas
 
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
 
2 tbs fresh chopped parsley
 
Directions
 
 
Spray a large sauté pan with non stick cooking spray.
Cook Italian sausage thoroughly. Remove from pan and set aside.
 
Boil pasta in a non-salted water per package instructions.
Add frozen peas last minute of cooking.
 
In large sauté pan, heat oil until warm.
Add breadcrumbs and stir until breadcrumbs are browned (about 2-3min).
*Be careful not to burn the breadcrumbs!!*
 
Drain Pasta and combine pasta, breadcrumbs, cheese and sausage into
a large serving bowl.
Garnish with parsley.
 
Note: Do not add salt to anything. The sausage and cheese will
provide plenty of flavor!
 
Enjoy!!
 
 
 
This recipe is full of flavor and the best part is that it only takes about
 
thirty minutes from start to finish!!
 
What did you make this weekend?? I'd love to hear from you!!
 
Hope you had a great weekend and I'll be back soon
 
with a master bedroom update!!
 
 

Bathroom Update {before and after}

March 29, 2014

Hi again!!!
 
Today has turned into a complete lazy day. I've prepped the master bedroom
 
and it's ready for paint! So happy I've finally decided on a color!!
 
Since there wasn't much else to do today other than lay around and watch
 
movies I thought I would stop in for a quick before and after of our
 
one and only bathroom!
 
 A while back I repainted and freshened up our mirror with some
 
Anne Sloane chalk paint. If you missed that post you can find it here.
 
Not much has been done since then other than some slight décor changes.
 
I'm still working on finding the perfect window treatment... Once again
 
the procrastinator in me... That being said I never really did a before and
 
after shot. It's amazing what a little paint and a few simple décor changes
 
can do to a space. I'm so much happier with the way it looks today.
 
 
 
The picture on the left was taken just two years ago.
 
I can't believe just how much my décor style has grown....
 
I have really learned a lot about what really inspires me and what I like.
 
My mind set has completely changed since Pinterest we moved in and
 
remodeled our home only six years ago! Ahhhh... If I only knew then what I
 
know now.... I'm actually ok with the fact that my tastes have changed.
 
It just gives me an excellent excuse to have to redo every room of our
 
house! It's like starting fresh!! And there's no rush this time....
 
I'm not afraid to do what I like in my own home. Years ago I always
 
assumed there were "rules" to be followed when decorating, but now
 
thanks to some amazing blogs and of course Pinterest, I have learned
 
how to find a design style all my own and how decorate my home the way
 
I like in a way that reflects who I am and who we are as a family.
 
Your home is YOUR castle and there's no right or wrong way to
 
decorate it.... Others may not agree, but it totally works for me!!
 
 

The Porch {Inspiration Board}

Hi friends!!
 
Hope you had a great week! Not to much going on around here.... I'm
 
slowly making my way into our master bedroom to paint. If you haven't
 
noticed I am a procrastinator in every way, especially when it comes to
 
making over a room. I think it's pretty much summed up to fear of not
 
loving what I'm about to conquer.... This happens to me all the time!!
 
The fear of not loving the end result and the thought of having to start all
 
over just takes over my mind. I can't begin to tell you how many times I
 
have changed my mind on the paint color of our bedroom; mind you we
 
just repainted last spring! It's a problem I must get over if I'm going to get
 
anywhere with all the updates that are needed in our home! So right after
 
I share this post with you I'm headed to the paint store!! Yikes!!!
 
Wish me luck!!
 
Today I am going to share the inspiration board I have put together for our
 
four season porch.... For the last six years this space has been used basically
 
as a storage room. This is the one space in our home that truly gives me
 
anxiety. You see we don't have a garage or shed at the moment so this
 
lovely space houses all our outdoor needs as well as any other items
 
we can't seem to find room for. If I were to snap a picture right now you
 
will find all my outdoor pillows, a couple of bikes, a small 4-wheeler, tons
 
of boxes, a few lacrosse sticks, tons of shoes and probably a partridge in
 
a pear tree!! Haha! just kidding! But seriously lord knows what else is
 
hiding in that adorable little space with some huge potential.
 
Here are a couple of photos that I took of the space right after I had all new
 
windows and the hardwood floor installed.
 

 
Not the best photos, but you get the idea.
 
This space is on the top of my to do list this summer.
 
I envision myself sitting in here with a good book and a nice hot cup
 
of coffee while I watch the kids run about in the yard....
 
Ok... enough of the dreaming.
 
Here is what I put together so far....
 
 
 
The only thing missing is a nice little cozy love seat....
 
What do you think??
 
Do you have a space in your home that's screaming for an update?
 
If so I'd love to hear about it!!
 
Happy Weekend!!
 

Wednesday Wish List {laundry room}

March 26, 2014

Hi friends!
 
Hope your all having a great week!!
 
I'm back with my Wednesday Wish List feature. Each week I will share
 
something that I have on my own personal wish list.... Be it something for
 
me, my home or my children. Basically anything that comes to mind that
 
I currently need in my life....
 
On the wish list today is a laundry room. Now I know what your thinking,
 
and yes I have a washer & dryer and I do tons of laundry almost everyday,
 
but I lack a "room" to actually do the laundry efficiently.
 
You see my "laundry room" is in our basement... in more what I like to
 
call the junk/boiler room where all the stuff we never use and still haven't
 
trashed room, that happens to house our very old, probably vintage, washer
 
and dryer. I guess at this point I should tell you I am grateful to even have
 
a working washer and dryer, but the space that it's in really is undesirable.
 
I would share a photo but I don't want to frighten you. After our tag sale
 
this spring I plan on making that part of the basement over and possibly put
 
in a half bath or at least a sink.... Hence my wish list...
 
So here are some great laundry rooms I have added to my Pinterest board in
 
hopes of some day having a laundry room I can call my own....
 

pottery barn

bhg


source unknown
 
 
 
 
I love the idea of having a space just for the laundry.
 
Eventually I will have a specific room for tackling the laundry....
 
Until then it's officially on the wish list!!
 
Have a great week!!
 
 

Tuesday Inspo {closing thought}

March 25, 2014



Happy Tuesday friends....
 
I'm stopping in with some Tuesday inspiration.
 
Tuesday seems to be the hardest day of the week for me. I'm not sure why,
 
 but I kind of believe it could be all in my head, its just something about
 
the second day of the week that just isn't motivating to me....
 
I found this quote to be inspiring and it is getting me through my Tuesday
 
so I thought I would share....
 
 
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow
 
with another Wednesday wish list....
 
 
 

Kindly Refrain from Whining {what i made}

March 23, 2014

Happy Sunday friends!!
 
I'm here today with a cute sign I made that didn't cost me a dime!
 
I had a little sign in my kitchen that I had put in the corner a while back.
 
I loved the saying when we first got married but six years and two
 
little ones later I wanted to change it up a little bit.
 
Here is a picture of the sign before.
 
 
I love the saying and it still holds true, but I really wasn't feeling
 
the black and red lettering anymore. I decided to paint it and give it
 
a makeover with a new saying that I think is highly appropriate.
 
Here are the steps and finished product.

       I used Martha Stewart craft paint in Gray Wolf for the frame and a
        mix of Americana craft paint in Light Buttermilk & Snow White for
                                          the inside of the frame.
  Then printed out my favorite font is the appropriate size and penciled over
                        the back of the paper as the transfer method.
     Then I traced over the letters with pen and painted them with a black Sharpie paint pen. I used free hand for the word Mom to give it character.
 
 
What do you think? Cute right?
 
This saying goes for all who enter, but I thought I would sweeten it up
 
with a little love from mom in my own signature!!
 
Ok, back to painting.... Still haven't decided on the perfect paint color
 
for the master bedroom so I'm going to finish up the panty door and cross
 
it off my "to do" list!!
 
Enjoy your Sunday!!!
 
 

Kids | Guest Bathroom {inspiration board}

March 22, 2014

Whoo Hoo!!! Spring is here and the sun is shinning!!
 
Happy Saturday friends!
 
 Today I've been thinking about all our summer projects and the next thing
 
 on our home updates "to do" list is the upstairs bathroom.
 
This is going to be a pretty big job since we have to blow out the roof and
 
dormer it out and start from scratch, so it is on the ladder part of our list, but
 
I thought I would put together an inspiration board to get the ball rolling.
 
This bathroom will be the kids and guest bath. We haven't decided if we are
 
going to put in a bathtub, shower or both. It's not a great deal of space but
 
either way I do think we need one or the other....
 
Since this bath with be shared between Gracie & JJ it needs to be gender
 
neutral, so I'm going to try and have the best of both worlds without making
 
it too girly or too boyish. Here is what I have been drooling over so far...
 
 
I adore the dark walls and the pink rug!!
 
Right now I have my heart set on that double utility sink. Since the space is
 
small I don't want to take up so much room with a vanity sink. What about
 
storage you say?? No worries, there we will have plenty of room for a linen
 
closet and those cute baskets from World Market will be perfect for storing
 
towels and toilet paper!!
 
I'm really loving the dark wall color over the stark white tile, but to stay
 
on budget and keep it simple I'm thinking white planked boards instead!
 
Now that I've got all that off my chest it's time to finally pick a paint color
 
for the master bedroom and get painting!!
 
What are you up to this weekend??
 
 

The "Mini" Home Tour {enter here}

March 20, 2014

I'm back!!
 
Two posts in one day!! I'm so excited to show you this before and after
 
that I just could not wait until tomorrow!! I finally finished our other
 
hallway wall today. I am so pleased with this transformation. It took some
 
time for me to figure out what exactly I wanted on this particular wall.... It
 
is the very first wall you see when you walk into our home and I wanted it
 
to be special... I want people to feel welcome and at home when they see it.
 
I didn't want just "any" thing on this wall. It took thousands, ok hundreds of
 
pins on Pinterest for inspiration and I finally decided on the most perfect
 
layout for this wall. Here are two before pictures to give you an idea
 
of exactly what type of wall I was dealing with here.
 
BEFORE:
 

 
That electrical outlet was a real issue for me. Every single time I
 
would look at this wall it was all I would see and it bothered me to no end!
 
The first thing I had to do was change the paint color. The color in the first
 
photo is Wheat Bread by Behr. It's also the color in our dining room and
 
living room... The color is great in our living room, but I just do not love it
 
in our dining room and I hated it on this wall...
 
So, with inspiration from Bre at one of my favorite blogs, Rooms for Rent,
 
I decided to go with Horizon by Benjamin Moore. I love this soft blue, gray
 
color!! I can not wait to paint the dining room in this color!!
 
So.... now that I had the perfect paint color for this wall it was game time!
 
Here is what I decided on and I hope you love it as much as I do!!
 
AFTER:
 






 
What do you think???
 
I love the white frames with the colored photos! I was going to do the
 
photos in black and white, but I really wanted them to stand out... and not
 
to mention the pictures are just breath taking.....
 
Now it's not the electrical outlet my eyes are drawn to, its the brilliant
 
photos and the X & O letters!! I could not be happier with the end result!!
 
Ok, on a whole other note how about my "pink" cabinets??!!
 
That is my first summer project!! Those babies will be painted and I have
 
decided to tackle it myself! I vow they will be white by the end of the
 
summer if not sooner!!!
 
We have so many other things to get done, but here is just a glimpse of what
 
I need to accomplish before I can even think about getting started on the
 
cabinets!! I want all the little things completed first and here are just a few.
 
 
 
And this is just what needs to get accomplished in this little area!!
 
I still have the master bedroom to tackle too!!
 
I thought I would share some more photos of this area of our home....
 
It's the very first room when you enter and it's the most high traffic area.
 
I'm glad it's coming together, but as you can see from the photo above,
 
I still have much more to do!!
 








 
That's about it!! Hope you enjoyed this mini tour of our entry area...
 
I'll be back soon with more updates and photos!!
 
Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!!
 
 

Happy 1st Day of Spring!!!! {spring chalkboard art}

Happy 1st Day of Spring all!!!
 
I am so happy that spring has finally arrived as well as warmer
 
temperatures!! I thought I would pop in and share our spring chalkboard!!
 
I found two great spring chalkboard art prints here and because I adored
 
them both and just couldn't decide on which one to use I decided to
 
combine them both!! Another reason I'm so glad I made this long skinny
 
wall a chalkboard!!
 
 
 
 
I'll be back tomorrow with another gallery wall in our hallway!!
 
Enjoy your first day of spring!!!