Daily Musings

How gorgeous are these kitchens above? Makes me want to cook a la Barefoot Contessa (if I could lol)

I woke up this morning with a head cold from hell. The feeling of waking up congested does nothing for my motivation today. It's cold and overcast today in Charlotte...as of right now my poor horse Captain is still in his stall and probably waiting for my arrival. As if my head cold wasn't enough I am sitting on the couch and my living room is literally filled with our kitchen cabinet doors that we primed last weekend. If only the weather would give up we might actually get them painted! Until then my living room has now morphed into a kitchen etc.

Although we started this kitchen project as "Let's just paint the cabinets" it was quickly turned into buying all new appliances and granite. OMG. I'm telling myself to breathe. We did end up getting a great deal on the appliances and on the granite- Special Buy of $29sqft at Lowes for granite that is actually pretty- score! (Its called Iberian Sunset for anyone interested)

In other news I am down 10lbs by just eating clean! I'm trying to stay away from anything packaged, sticking to only lean meat, veggies, quinoa, etc. This is great news since I haven't even been able to work out consistently and still managed to drop some weight.

The kitchen...

What have we been up to? Nothing much... you know... just completely renovating our kitchen and eating nothing but microwave food. In all seriousness though we had bought our farmhouse with a nice maple custom cabinet kitchen- great, right? Great if I didn't spend my days lusting after a white kitchen with stainless appliances. I can't wait to show you guys what it looks like when its all finished. We still won't have our gorgeous granite counter tops for awhile since that should set us back a cool $3500. Ugh. I have to keep the faith though- it should be amazing when its done.
Don't you love my chic taste in clothes and accessories? Try hard not to be too jealous.

The hubby putting up bead board on peninsula and island. Have I never mentioned how much I loathe the sound of a nail gun? Scares the living you know what out of me.

Hubby finally talked me into buying a better paint sprayer. $$$ later and I have to admit thank God we had it!
The current state of my living room, except now I have lovely contractor sheets laying over the cabinets.


Do you ever wonder how much crap you actually have in your house? Well take a look.... this was all just from my kitchen. Do I have a problem with glassware and kitchen gadgets? Maybe... the first step is admitting you have a problem, right?
Look at this beauty above! My hubby's high school mug. I can't tell you how many high school and college T-shirts and collectibles he has... and God forbid a T-shirt "happen" to disappear... he may not have worn it in years, but believe me he knows when its missing.

Coming together! More pics to follow!

So I was thinking..

I am thinking of actually taking this blog (or lack of blog or blogging) in a new direction. I am really shooting for a new, healthier me in 2011 and I think I need my blog to reflect that new journey. I think I am going to focus my blog more on clean eating and living a purposeful life with a dash of fashion and home thrown in here and there *because really if I could wake up tomorrow and be Martha I would. I also have been inspired by all the girls who blog so honestly and up front and I feel maybe I never crossed that bridge on this blog.. it was more random musings with not much depth. Time for a change.

Two posts in one day!

I wish I could sleep this hard...

Sometimes its tough being a diva and keeping a svelte figure, but somebody has to do it.

(Lola- my adorable, albeit a bit fatter from all the bones grandma gives her, pitbull/basset hound mix)

A view from my desk

I thought I would do a quick post about where I spend a good portion of my day. Since I work from home I have a corner desk set up in my office. It's lovely- I won't lie and say I don't enjoy working from home... but as you can see after spending hours at a desk you can see what it looks like.....................


Notice the Blackberry, calculator, coffee mug, day old water bottle, pink agenda, lap top and desk top? These things are always on the desk and no matter how many times I clean the desk... like a magnet those items will always return (of course my older than dirt desk top always is there.... sometimes I wish that thing would disappear).

But the great thing about my desk is the window view. No its not a huge, magnificent city that I look out on, however a view of the country landscape is all I need.

They taste like donuts but look like muffins

Oh hell yes! Muffins that taste like donuts? Seriously? Dead. and yes, this recipe is a deadly mix of butter, cinnamon, and sugar. I made them this morning for my hubby before work and he was in love. Everyone needs a little hump day pick me up, right?

• 1-¾ cup Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
• ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
• ⅓ cups Oil
• ¾ cups White Sugar
• 1 whole Egg
• ¾ cups Milk

• FOR THE TOPPING:
• ¼ cups Butter
• ⅓ cups White Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.

Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

P.S. I ran out of the butter and sugar/cinnamon mix with two muffins left to go- I might have been a tad overzealous with my dipping and mixing technique.

The best $1.99 you will spend!

I have to tell you- this.has.changed.my.mornings.forever- the Ikea Milk Frother! For a mere $1.99 every morning your coffee can be just a little more decadent- its like a little mini dessert for the a.m. I absolutely love my Coffee Mate creamer in my coffee, and no diet can take that away from me:) I put 1 1/2 tbsp of creamer (Italian sweet cream or Creme brulee) and one splenda packet, froth my creamer, pour my coffee in and have a sweet treat! The best $1.99 you will spend!