Weekend Must Have: Lemon Drop Martini!

Last weekend the hubbie had to work both Saturday (and night) as well as Sunday, which meant I had the weekend left to myself to clean, blog, organize and basically do whatever I wanted. So, after a full day Saturday filled with home improvement projects, walks with the dogs, and catching up with the 'rents over the phone, I settled in for some quality DVR time. I don't normally mix drinks at the house as I tend to be more of a wino, but for some reason a martini sounded like a good idea. A few shots of citrus vodka and several cups of lemon juice later and I had one tasty Lemon Drop Martini in my hands! Whether you're enjoying some alone time this weekend or having some girlfriends over, I would highly recommend making this part of your weekend. Enjoy!

Lemon Drop Martini

• 2-3 cups of lemon juice (I have rather large martini glasses)
• Sugar or Splenda to taste (I recommend tasting prior to adding vodka to make sure it's the right level of sweet - I used about 1/3 cup) 
• 2 shots Vodka (plain or citrus flavored)
• 1 curled slice of lemon peel to garnish
• Shake with ice and enjoy in a large martini glass!

Organization & Beautification

Before:

Not so organized, clean, or pretty room

I think I will echo the sentiments of most women when I say that life is not always organized nor pretty. On my way to work this morning, I was thinking about how some weeks I am completely on my A-game. As a result my house, life, and career (and blog) stay 100% caught up and I still manage to both work out and watch TV with the hubbs while also going to bed early. Then there are the weeks when it feels like life is completely out of whack. The clothes that never seem to look right in the morning lay strung all over the house, dinner is never home cooked and never happens before 10 pm, and my husband and I neither watch TV nor go to bed early.  

Let me assure you that I'm by no means a Master at it, but I have learned that attaining some sort of balance in life is as much a mental game as it is anything else. As a result, part of my weekly ritual (usually Sunday nights) is aimed at organizing and beautifying some aspect of our life - laundry, email, finances, our house in general, etc. This week's focus: our bedroom. It's amazing how much a new lamp, a clear floor (sans shoes) and some clean sheets will do for your morale and mental ability to deal with the week ahead. 

*Side Note: the beautiful lamp you see on our bedside table cost me $50 at Tuesday Morning, originally $135! 

After:

Chest & painting from my parents (sans laundry & shoes)

Clean bedding on a freshly made bed

Bedside table with newly purchased lamp

Lampshade beside bed

DIY: Wing Chair

1. Chelsea Wing Chair in Large Scale Ikat, Cobblestone, Williams Sonoma Home
2. Hibiscus Wing Chair, Pier 1
3. Emery Wingback Armchair in Gabrielle Jacquard, Clementine Orange, Pottery Barn
4. Paisley Loveseat, Pier 1
5. Chelsea Wing Chair in Zebra Herringbone, Graphite, Williams Sonoma Home
6. Josef Wingback Chair in Pink Shell, Anthropologie 

Okay, so I'm going to switch gears into domestic mode for a second! You know every now and then I get on a decorating kick... this one resulted in a beautiful green side table! Well, now I'm looking to add some additional seating to our living room and I am in love with the look of a wing chair in funky prints and/or bright colors. Number 4 shown above is particularly great because it could seat 2. In fact, I would be very content with any of the above in my living room, but since I'm not looking to spend $500-$1000 on a chair right now this is going to become a DIY project. Yes, ladies and gents, I'm going to try tackling an upholstery project. My inspiration came this weekend while at my fav local thrift store. I found the perfect wing chair (well, perfect except for the fabric) for $25. Stay tuned to see how it turns out...

Summery Treat

image via Flickr

My apologies for the delayed post. I had some Blogger scheduling issues last week, which resulted in this post (which was scheduled prior to the 4th) getting posted after realizing it was still sitting in my queue as a draft.  

Anyway... 

A few weeks back, I shared some outfit photos that were taken in the kitchen right before preparing dinner. On the dinner menu that night: fresh guacamole. With grilling season among us, I thought it appropriate to share the recipe. Serve with your choice of chips and invite your closest friends and family to join you.  While the margaritas are optional, they are always a great compliment!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

The Essentials

2-3 Avocados

2 drops of lemon juice

3 drops of lime juice

1 diced tomato

salt and pepper to taste

Rerun

jacket, Gap; dress, Brooks Brothers; clogs, Alicia + Olivia for Payless; watch, Fossil

I am still terribly in love with my Alicia + Olivia for Payless clogs that I picked up last weekend.  I know I wore them in the last outfit post, but I just can't get enough!  I like the distressed look of this jacket paired with the edginess of the clogs.  Plus, did I mention they make my legs look a million miles long? Just in case you missed it ;)  As you know, I don't normally take pictures in the kitchen, but I was trying to multi-task blogging and making dinner. The menu: fresh guacamole and Tostitos. The hubbs can't get enough and I've had received a lot of compliments. Look for the recipe in an upcoming post. It's the perfect summer meal?  Nothing beats guac and margaritas on the patio. 

How-To: Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's a little something about me: I am a baked goods fanatic.  Seriously, I could scarf down one of everything behind the Panera counter any day of the week.  So, since my obsession du jour this week has been homemade chocolate chip cookies, I finally caved and satisfied my craving this weekend.  The only thing is that our fridge is pretty bare right now and I realized after pulling all of my ingredients out that I did not have any eggs.  Not to worry! A quick Google search and a few recipe modifications later and I had the perfect recipe for eggless chocolate chip cookies. The substitute: yogurt! The best part is that without even trying, I think I managed to bake the best tasting, healthiest, chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.  Starchy, chocolatey, and healthy? I think I'm in love.

"I Gotta Feelin'...

That tonight's gonna be a good night." 

Happy New Year, dear readers.  I hope you were able to spend last night with the ones that you love and enjoy ringing in 2010.  I think I mentioned earlier in the week that my husband and I were having some family and friends over to our house for New Year's Eve.  What a great evening we had! You know you had a great night when your champagne bottles are dry and your hors d'oeuvre trays are empty.  Here's the run down on the menu and some highlights from the evening. 

For the menu, I opted for appetizers versus a full meal.  Let's face it, it's that time of year when all we do is eat.  So, I opted for a well covered spread that people could graze off of rather than have another sit down meal.  One goodie that I kept recieving compliments on was this tasty little parmesan cracker .  The hint of black pepper and thyme paired with the parmesan was delish!  It was so simple, too!  Just add a little water if you try it.  The recipe doesn't state that, but trust me, it is necessary.

Yep ladies & gentlemen, that's the last one

Okay, so enough with the food... where are the drinks?!  Check out this beer display.  I thought that was a very creative touch from my hubbie.

 

Yes, that is snow in the cooler, chilling the beer :)

And, you must try Sam Adams winter assortment of beer.  It was so tasty!

Good food, good drinks, good friends.  What else could we ask for?  Yep, I got a feelin' that 2010 is gonna be a good year.  I'll leave you with a few more pictures.

Tasty turtles.  So easy - pretzels, Rolos & pecans (YUM!)

I left up some festive decorations from Christmas

A little mood lighting

A little champagne to ring in the new year

A few leftover goodies

And a smooch from my sweetie at midnight!

Happy 2010!!

Domestic Goddess

I've never really been what you would consider saavy when it comes to anything dealing with a kitchen.  I mean, we are talking about a person who not once, not twice, but three (or more) times has left the cardboard on the bottom of a frozen pizza when placing it in the oven.  However, since my husband and I got married almost three months ago we have come to possess A LOT of cool gadgets for the kitchen.  As a result, I find myself wanting to bake, cook and entertain more now than I did previously.  Take for example this very cool Kitchen Aid stand mixer we received as a wedding gift that I LOVE. 

With a cool gismo like this, how could I not help but want to better refine my domestic skills?  So, with Christmas being right around the corner I decided that tonight I would break out my new gadget and try my hand at a little baking.  My first stop was Food Network.com where I found a biscotti recipe that looked too good to pass up.  With a few modifications I whipped up a pretty tasty little treat.  See for yourself!

While the recipe calls only for anise extract, I incorporated a few goodies of my own. In addition to almond slices and semi-sweet chocolate chips I also used a splash of vanilla extract.

And, for my own finishing touch I decided to melt some of the extra chocolate chips and dip the edges of the biscottis into the chocolate.  YUM!

This was so much fun that I'm thinking I could do this more often!  Within no time I will become a domestic goddess for sure ;)