Happy New Year!!!

I know it's been forever since I posted here, but I really do hope to be better in the future. Happy New Year! A time for a great, new beginning. I love that. So here goes my attempt to keep up better. So far, so good...

I have written a ton of new year's resolutions. I really want to improve myself, my family and my business. I think goal setting is a great way to keep up with the things you want. Balancing a family and a business is tricky, but I know I can be better. There's always room for improvement, right? Life is surprising, and keeping up can be a challenge. One of my goals is to get super organized. I'm one of those people who really envy people who have that gift of organization. I try sincerely hard, but it does not come naturally to me. For those of you that are, consider yourself blessed. How about sharing your favorite organizing tip? I'm sure the class would love to hear...
On a completely off the subject side note, I just glanced at the tv and saw there is a city with my maiden name on the weather channel(I didn't even know it existed) -weird..
So, anyway, I think I'll go watch the ball drop and kiss and hug everyone. It's a great way to start a new year. Hope you've had a lovely year and a Happy New Year too.

~xo

Trash to Treasure Lamps

(the base isn't attached yet. I just have it sitting on my iron Eiffel tower for the pic)
I inherited these sad lamps from our neighbors while we helped them move. We were taking a load of stuff to Goodwill for them, and they offered for us to keep anything we could use. I really needed some more lighting in my living room, so I decided to take the lamps with the plan of buying new shades. There was nothing wrong with them except the shades. One was a floor lamp with an attached side table. Somehow, they had gotten too hot and the shade itself had shrunk. After several trips to Lowe's and other stores, I could never decide on what look I wanted. I really liked the handmade, boutique style shades I had just seen in Milton while shopping with Bill on our Anniversary. Only problem was, a.) they weren't exactly what I was looking for. They were close, but not quite there. And b.) expensive as all get out!...Fast forward to today, I'm sitting on my couch thinking about how necessity is indeed the mother of invention. I went and dug out my stash of vintage lace my Aunt gave me last year and some silk roses that could easily be replaced. Hmmmmm.... I see the wheels turning faster and faster....Where's my glue gun??!? ...........


What do you think? Should I paint the base? I don't know what color I'd want it though. Suggestions?

So, there you have it! I love them now!! Today was very satisfying. Not only did I get my "Boutique-quality" handmade shades, it didn't cost me a cent! Yep, I'm a happy girl.

hugs!
Lori

Pizza Post!

This is my all-time favorite pizza recipe. My Mom always wants this when they come over. I found it off my favorite "foodie" blog, Food Wishes. I love that guy! Everything he makes turns out fabulous and he does video classes making it so much easier. Now, on to the recipe...

Start with 1 pkg. yeast
1 tsp. honey
3 cups all-purp. flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. evoo (olive oil)
1/2 cup very warm water

Step 1. Put yeast, honey and water(very warm) in a med. bowl and let it dissolve for 10 min.
Step 2. Add salt, olive oil, and another 1/2 cup of really warm water, and 1 cup flour.
Step 3. Stir, then add another cup of flour, stir, then add another cup of flour. (3 total)
Step 4. Turn onto floured board, will be slightly sticky, knead until smooth and fairly firm..
Step 5.Put a little olive oil in bowl, put dough in and cover with cloth. Turn the oven on 250, then TURN OFF, and put the bowl in the oven to rise for 30-40 min.
Step 6. Turn dough out on floured board, make 4 even quarters, and fold sides underneath itself until you have a smooth, round dough ball.
Step. 7 Put the four pizza dough balls on a lightly floured board and let rest, covered, for 20 min.
Step 8. Press with your fingers to flatten to the size you'd like, or use a rolling pin for very thin crust(my fav). This makes 4 small-med. size pizzas. (I usually double the recipe and have 4 large)
Step. 9. Lightly flour a pizza pan or stone with cornmeal,brush with olive oil, then add 2-3 tbsp. sauce and spread around. Add whatever ingredients you prefer.
Step 10. Preheat oven to 450. Place the first pizza on the bottom rack for 5 min. Then, move to top rack for 5 more minutes. I normally keep 2 pizzas cooking at the same time and keep rotating them.

My favorite toppings are kalamato olives, beef sauteed with garlic and italian seasoning, chopped tomatoes, mozzarella,parmesano/romano cheese, pepperoni, fresh basil,(added after it comes out of the oven) pineapple and pepperoni, chicken alfredo and spinach... What are some of your favorite combinations?

Hope you try this homemade pizza if you have never made it before. I promise, it's so much better than delivery, you'll want to make your own from now on. Not to mention all the options you have. We let each one of our kids create their own pizzas. It's a lot of fun in the kitchen together, and everybody gets their favorite.

Have fun and enjoy!

Sugarbelle's Boutique

My little sugar pie and I had a bright idea to start making our own boutique-style hair bows. After countless "where are your hair bows young lady!!???" I got fed up. I figured this is one business venture that will kill two birds with one stone. Not only can we make all the bows we want, we know where we can easily get more if they don't make it home! (not that I'm encouraging that, mind you) I think the straw for me was when I bought a gorgeous, black rose, linen headband, and she lost it the second time she wore it. If I didn't know better, I'd think there was a Bermuda triangle for bows that aimed for her head every time she left the house. So, here we are...Bow makers extraordinaire. Well, not really, but we are going to try some new looks in the near future. For now, we have sweet, little clippy type bows. We'd love it if you'd stop by the blog and drop us a quick note on what you think of them. There will be many more and several new styles soon. Also, we'll be having a giveaway to promote our new venture. Hope to see you there! Click here to jump to the blog.

Hugs~
Lori

Alyssa's Antiques- One of my favorite things..

So I got to go shopping yesterday at Alyssa's. Fun! I found some totally cool things that I'll be using for decor at my shows this year. They need a little fixing up, but they are sooo great! I'll post those when they're ready. Anyway, I highly recommend going to Alyssa's in Milton, Fl. There are 2 shops, one around the corner from the other. The first one is a good size, but the other one is huge! You will find something for sure! The best part is, I got to drag, I mean go with my sweetie! He doesn't care about that sort of thing, but he was a good sport anyway. :) It was a lot of fun.

Oh My! I've finally learned to "FLY"

I'm not going to even start telling you about all my organizing troubles. It would bore you to death as well as embarrass me, so let's just not go there, K? But, I will say, I must have adult ADD or some other problem because I can never seem to finish anything. I go from one thing to the next, leaving the remnants of whatever project I'm working on wondering if I'll ever come back. I do, eventually, but everyone else has had to stare at my project until that finally happens. Needless to say, "if it's not fun for all, it's not fun at all". Well, here's where my story begins. A new chapter is here, and hopefully, will be my forever story as a new inproved, organized freak. Allow me to introduce you to my new best friend, The Fly Lady. You heard it here folks. My friend is a fly. Not really, but she is unique. Fly means "Finally loving yourself." This is because when we are not organized and things are not where they should be, you are unhappy with yourself. Possibly, it's even made you a little depressed and having self-loathing. I know because I did that. Flylady.net is a service (free) that you can join that puts a little routine and daily activities to help you stay focused on what needs to get done. Having such a simple helper has really changed the way I look at things. I'm calmer, and feel much more in control of my day. Check it out and see what you think. By the way, the shoes habit, wearing lace up shoes everyday is never gonna happen for me. I wear flip flops everyday. I live in Florida. It's in our rule book somewhere that we have to wear them. I go to Old Navy and buy them in every color. Love them, love them, don't even try to take them away from me. Besides that, I agree with her 100%.

Happy "FLYing" girls!
Lori

p.s. These are the best things ever invinted! If you've never tried them, you're gonna love them!!! They clean just about everything. I have a huge stash of these.

You keep me in stitches...

Ok, so here's my newest obsession....knitting! It's great, and I really love doing it. I find it's very relaxing, and fun to create something out of otherwise wasted time. My very favorite needles are my bamboo ones. They make no noise and they aren't cold like the metal ones. They really make my hands freeze. Whether or not I'm the only weird one that has that problem, I don't know, but it happens to me. You see the white scarf? It's my first "big" project and has several, shall we say, "issues" wink wink. That's ok though, I'm just a beginner, and I'm sure it's all part of the learning what not to do process. The two washcloths, I'm pretty proud of as they are mistake-free. I plan on making matching ones for each bathroom as well as kitchen towels. Yay! This is fun. So, if you're a knitter, feel free to share what you're working on, any great tips, websites etc. I'd appreciate any knitting info. I do plan on going to Unwind the Yarn Shop in Ft.Walton Beach soon. They have classes and lots of cool projects.

Happy knitting!
Lori

Some really good Valentine reads....

For some reason I'm in a serious book phase. I normally do read, just not so many back to back. I'm actually reading several books at one time right now. Weird. I don't know I've ever done that before. I thought I'd share some pretty good books if you're in the market for something new...

I actually already finished this book. It was so good!

Remember those dollar store sticky notes and tabs? They make the perfect bookmarks. They actually stick, so.. if you happen to have kids that pick your books up, throw them on the floor, and in general don't take care of your stuff, these work great for keeping your place. :)

Hugs & Hershey's kisses...

p.s. Interesting note: Lenora Worth is a distant cousin of mine.

Things you can get for a dollar!

On a recent quick run into our local Dollar Tree, I was so happy to find a few cute surprises...who knew it could be so fun at the dollar store?? I mean,really, how cute is this gelato lip gloss, rose covered sticky notes, and pink sewing kit?..
These are just too cute! I bought one for me and one for sweetie pie. She just freaked when she saw it.



What is it about miniature stuff? I just love it. I had to refrain from buying the sour apple, jolly rancher flavor (also known as "happy farmer" at our house), as well as hershey's kisses lip gloss. I just figured, what's the point of licking my lips, tasting fake chocolate, but not actually getting any? Isn't that some form of torture in some prison somewhere? The guards probably walk back and forth in front of your cell eating tons of hershey's kisses, and then throwing the little balled up pieces of foil at you.....obviously, we skipped that one. Then, we also found round, rectangle and square paper doilies. We plan on using them for our Valentine's decor in some way. That's always fun...
Know what else you can get for a dollar? A chance to win the "True Love" bracelet on my other blog! Every cent that comes in for the raffle will go to Adier. We are hoping to raise 250.00 (the price of one cow). So, if you haven't already, hop on over there, and buy a ticket for heaven's sakes. You know when you're at the dollar store, one more thing in the basket does add up, but it is affordable. That's kinda what we're hoping for here. If a lot of people give just 1.00, it will add up fast. Not to mention the fact that you may win a sterling silver, custom bracelet! If you do head that way, and buy a ticket, let me be the first to say "Thank you!" Your dollar will count!

With gelato flavored kisses & love~

Lori

Fancy breakfast eggs

Ok. I'm going to pretend that I'm some famous "foodie" person, and show you how to make my favorite eggs. This is super easy, but looks like you went to a lot of trouble. I overcooked mine a little, but, here it is anyway...

It has some hoity toity French name, but we'll just go with "Eggs cooked in a water bath" (or) "egg custard." Either way, if you like custardy-style eggs, you'll love these. Just for your info, I never liked under cooked eggs until I had them this way. I prefer it over the ususal way now. So, don't despair. You may love it after you try it.

First step is to have small ramekins.
Then, butter each one making sure to butter the bottom.

Next, crack one egg per ramekin leaving the yolk intact. Try to remove the white piece without breaking the egg yolk.

You'll need eggs (1 per ramekin) half and half (approx. 1.5 tbsp. per egg),any type of grated cheese, salt, pepper, and any additions (I added bacon at the end)
Now, add your cream only on one side, more on that later.

Now, add your cheese, also only on one side.

Now, add your ramekins to a heavy pan filled half way with water. I used cast iron, but you can use any pan that can also go in the oven. (Preheat oven to 375.) Cook eggs on Med. heat & simmer just until you start to see the bottom of your egg start to cook. It will start turning white. This is why you put everything on one side.
Now, make sure you use an oven mitt as the handle will be hot, and place it in the oven to cook for 6-7 more min. The egg should be jiggly when it comes out. I overcooked mine a little bit. It's ok, but not as custard-like.

I like to add the salt and pepper at this point since it seems to do something to the eggs when you add it before cooking. Now, just add whatever you like or eat it like it is. I added peppered bacon crumbled on top. Yowzer. It was good! I like it a little less cooked than I did, but it has a wonderful flavor. The only thing that changes is the texture.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my first ever recipe step-by-step post. You really should try these. If you do, you have to tell me what you thought. Please. I would just be so happy. I should mention this is Julia Child's recipe. I talked like her the entire time I made these the first time as if I was on a cooking show. My poor kids. They were looking at me as if I lost my mind. "Mom, seriously, that's getting annoying" ....me: "ok. I'll stop, but you guys are no fun..."

Bon Appetite!

Anna Banana ~ Eco-chic

I already added this on facebook, so sorry if this is a repeat for all you facebookers! This idea we got from the Pioneer woman's blog (click on her link on the right.} This woman, Ree, is so cool. I secretly want to be her *wink wink* (jk) She seems to have a pretty cool life though, and I think part of my envy is my secret life wish. I always had a secret dream of living out west on a ranch with gorgeous horses running wild through the prairie. Too many western romances I've read/watched, I'm sure, contributed to this secret fantasy. Anyway....she homeschools her kids, makes yummy food, and is really funny. Really. I cry from laughing almost everytime I read her blog. So, one day, we stumbled on this craft project on her website, and my little Anna Banana got her wish. She wants to be a "jewelry designer." Hmmmm, wonder where that thought came from?? She makes her momma proud. We worked on our first necklace, and oila! We loved it!! We now have tons of eco-chic jewelry ideas to go with the recycled theme. Just so you know,(time to confess) I'm no tree-hugger. I simply wanted my daughter to have her own little business she could be proud and excited about. One that was affordable. I figure it's a win-win situation. Mommy can save the planet while making sweetie pie a jewelry designer! Now that's eco-chic! Want to see how they're made? This is all you need! Pick your favorite ribbon, with a needle and thread, sew the first styrofoam piece to the ribbon and tie it off. Now, add til it's the length you want, and sew your last piece of ribbon (6" long) to the end. We used a crystal bead on either end to make it more beautiful. Isn't it adorable?
Anna Banana necklaces are available for 7.50 if you don't want the hassle of making it yourself. We will have several more colors, and styles coming soon as well as a really cute Valentine section on the way....see ya then, cowgirls!

Baby, it's cold outside!

I won't go on and on about how anti-cold I am, but seriously,I'm freeeeeezzzzziiiiinnnnggggg!!! I do have an amazing remedy though! Dulce de leche coffee! All I can say is... DELICIOUS! Seriously, you have to try it. I made it last night after dinner for me and my sweetie to drink by the fire. It'll warm you up in no time. One way it will do that is give you extra padding-ha! (just bein' honest) Anyway...here's the recipe:

4 cups brewed strong, good coffee
6 oz. dulce de leche (bar or liquid form-I found mine at Publix)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
chocolate shavings for garnish

Brew coffee, add dulce de leche and stir til dissolved. Whip the cream with the sugar til stiff. Pour coffee halfway in glass, then dollop on a generous amount of the cream on top. Using a microplane, shave any type choc. over the cream. The recipe was originally on the Pioneer Woman's blog(link button on right.)
I knew something was wrong when my ipod kept randomly choosing workout songs. The signs were everywhere, and I just kept on ignoring them. I think if I make this drink very often, I will have to truly face the music-no pun intended :)

Enjoy!
p.s. Isn't my gigantic Starbucks cup cool? I got it at a garage sale for.25! How bout that for bargains!

Some fun randomness...

While in Kansas City visiting my sister, we went to the coolest antique store I've ever been to. I can't remember the name of it, but I think it was in Prairie Village. It was a three story old building that had tons of character. It had an old, rickety lift for bringing goods up the three floors crammed packed with antiques and vintage finds. It was amazing how much stuff was there. I could have stayed there for days! I'm planning another trip there to shop with my sister sometime soon. We can shop to out heart's content, and not worry about crying 5 yr. old's looking for the bathroom every 10 minutes. Bethany, my niece sweetly took her to the bathroom for me so I could have a few extra, precious minutes to look around. My sister bought me the COOLEST ever vintage green metal, filing box. As soon as it's organized, I'll add pics then. It was perfect!

I also have the most absolutely AMAZING crepe filling recipe that my sister made up!! It should win awards. We embarassed ourselves at how we made it twice in 2 days! It was that good. You start with the crepes which are easy peezy.

Crepes:
2 eggs whisked, then add 1 &1/4 c milk, 1 cup all-purp.flour,2 tbsp. veg. oil and a pinch of salt. Whisk all together til creamy. Should be consistency of heavy cream when you're done. Cover in fridge and let sit for one hour. Cook on non-stick pan(wiped with oil or butter) on med-high heat til bubbly. Make it cover the surface in a very thin layer. Flip, and cook for 20 more seconds.

The Italian filling:

1 pkg (8 oz) mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup brewed coffee
6 egg yokes
1/2 c sugar in the raw
3-4 oz cream cheese (this will give a little body to the filling)

mix together until smooth and creamy. Spread over warm crepes.
Oh me-oh my! Prepare to make this more than once, double the recipe, and find reasons to make it, such as.."first Monday when it's 20 degrees outside" etc..ha!
I'll post pics of this next time I make it, which will probably be tomorrow! Good thing I bought the Biggest Loser workout. I'll probably need it just to maintain, let alone lose weight. Oh well!

Next up will be my cool, green cabinet, and a diy project that I think is so neat! Hope you will like it too. Have a great first week of the New Year!

God bless you all! :)