Baking, Reading, and DIYs

Baking...

I made a coffee cake!  I used a basic coffee cake recipe and added about 1/2 cup of sour cream to make it more creamy.  It turned out very good and the good thing was that my dad liked it probably more than all of us.  That is surprising because my dad is not one to eat homemade food.  I know, completely opposite from me, but the fact that he liked it says something!

Mixing in the sour cream

Reading...

I am still reading Spoken From The Heart!

DIYs...

#1  I needed to still unpack all of my jewelry from moving back to California.  I had nowhere to put it and it was time to figure something out.  So I found an old cork board in my sister's old closet.  I covered it with some extra white fabric I had and just tacked on the back.  The fabric was actually left over from some curtains I cut from Ikea.  So the fabric on the board matches my curtains.  I used tacks and hung my jewelry throughout the board.  I added a fabric flower I made a couple weeks ago to the corner to add some flair!  THis project only took about 30 minutes.

#2  This next project was a little more involved.  So I wanted a bedside table that would fit in my room really well, was very practical and cheap!  The cheapest one I could find that I liked was from Ikea for $40.00.  I was opposed to spending that much money but I was hoping to find something else.  I went to Micheal's and got some ideas white I was there.  This is what I came up with.
The items...
- 1 sturdy basket which was on sale and was the perfect size to store books but not big enough to get cluttered
- 1 small square piece of wood
- 2 long wood decorative border pieces
- 1 small bottle of white paint
- 1 bottle of light yellow paint
- 1 large fake decorative flower
Here is the finished project with help from my dad!

Painting the square piece

Waiting for the paint to dry

Finished project!

The beautiful flower I couldn't pass up!

Other Fun Things...

#1  Adorable new Tea Pot and matching cup from Cost Plus World Market!  

#2  To go with my new tea pot I bought some tea which should be here in the next few days.  I bought the tea online at Teavana.  I bought Cacao Mint Black Tea and Cocoa Praline Tart Rooibos Tea.  They are both dessert teas which are perfect for me and my sweet tooth!  I will let you know how they are when I get them!

#3  My to dos for the weekend...

-  Get hangers to for the rest of my clothes!  I have no where to put them and my room is too messy.

-  Bake chocolate and pecan scones

-  Wash my car

-  Finish cleaning my room

- Read, exercise, and have fun!!

My mom is in Wisconsin until tuesday and boy do I miss her!  I love her so much  :)

Small Updates

A few things I have been doing lately.....

Finishing invitations for my cousins baby shower that I am throwing for her!

I made some wonderful scones!  I got the recipe HERE!  They are from one of my friends blog.  I used whole wheat flour and dark chocolate chips.  They turned out great!
To make them last longer, I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer.  In the mornings, I would take one out and put it in the microwave to warm in up.  That worked perfectly!

Before they go into the oven

All done and delicious!

I picked some beautiful roses from the garden!

I also noticed that my cat found a new bed in our flower pot!

Other than these things, I have just been working a lot and spending time with family and friends.  I am planning on doing some more baking this week so look for that!
Currently reading:  Spoken from the Heart(still, because it is so long) and Charlotte's Web
New fave website:  pinterest.com

I Heart Home

So some of you may know that I spent this past weekend(long weekend, Thursday morning till tuesday afternoon) at my home in Sacramento.  I originally decided to go because when I left from spring break I didn't think I could spend another 10 full weeks in Seattle with the risk of it raining every day again.  I thought I might have gone crazy!  So my mother booked me a flight home for Easter which was conveniently half way through the quarter.
My time spent at home way so wonderful.  It consisted of bike riding, going on walks with my dog, sitting on the patio drinking ice tea with my mother, spending time planting in the garden, spending time with my beautiful grandparents, and seeing family I don't see very often.  It was all in the SUN as well which I much needed.  Here are a few pictures of my yard which I love so much.  It is so much like a park.

There was a couple of days where I was able to cook dinner with my mom.  I am enjoying cooking dinner more and more every day.  The night we cooked we made homemade whole wheat biscuits which we pair with peas and roasted garlic ravioli.  It was a very good dinner!  The second night I did most of the cooking before my parents got home from work.  I made fresh whole wheat tortillas for tacos.  Of coarse everything turned out great!  With the tacos we have rice.  I only took a couple pictures of the tortillas but I hope they look good.

They are super easy to make.  They only took about 30 minutes to make the dough, roll them out and cook them on the griddle.  I am posting the recipe for these delish tortillas.  I am so happy to have a mom who cooked while we were growing up and has showed us to enjoy home cooking better than fast food or processed foods.  Home cooking with fresh ingredients is the best!!

I am back in Seattle now and back to the grind of school work.  I also begin my new job today(in about 20 minutes).  I am excited and nervous!  The sun is out though(with a few lingering clouds) but that can change any second though, in being Seattle.  I have 5 more weeks and then the feeling of missing home will soon pass because I will be there all of summer!

Whole Wheat Tortillas:

Ingredients -

2.5 Cups of Flour

.5 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1/3 Cup of Olive Oil

1 Cup of warm water

Dash of Salt

Directions - 

Mix together Flour, Whole wheat flour, and salt in a large glass bowl.  Slowing add oil while stirring at the same time.  Add water and finish stirring until the dough has the consistence of bread dough.  Roll out individual tortillas into whatever size you prefer.  Cook on griddle until each size has a brownish tint.  Enjoy!!!