It's Cold Outside

Pottery Barn Beauties

Pottery Barn finds of the Day.  I am loving these items!

1.  Shayne Kitchen Table

2.  Emma Yellow Dinnerware

3.  Great White Coffee Condiment Set

1.  Shayne Kitchen Table

2.  Emma Dinnerware-Yellow

3.  Great White Coffee Condiment Set

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

Needed Changes

Since starting my job, I have failed to continue with some other important things this summer.  This includes reading, keeping my room and things organized, journaling and spending time with God.  Because I have been really tired when I come home from work, all I am motivated to do it sit on the couch and watch TV.  Friday was a little different.  I was rushed when I came home from work because I had a skype date with a friend from Seattle.  Then I went to the gym for just a little bit.  After that I came home and watched TV because I was very exhausted.
I have noticed a lot thought that the more I watch TV, the more exhausted I am.  I want to try and go to bed early(around 10pm), wake up around 6am and be productive with my days.  I really need to get back into reading and baking and doing other important things rather than wasting time watching TV.  Exercise is a whole other story.  I get unmotivated to exercise the more I am out of shape.  Now that I am pretty out of shape, I need to make my self go to the gym and run because the more I go and do it, the more I enjoy it.  I am really enjoying working at the coffee house!  Because that gives me a little structure in my days, I need to focus on creating structure for the rest of my time.
I am still in the beginnings of reading 2 books, Spoken From the Heart and Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God.  After I finish with these two books, I want to begin reading youth novels and kid's books to prepare for teaching.  I want to begin building my library for when I teach in the next few years!
Lots of things to reshape in my life but they will all improve me as a person which I want!
God Bless and Thank You for Reading!!!

It's A Grind Coffee House

I have been working at It's A Grind for 4 days now and LOVE it!!!  It is a coffee shop, where I belong  :)

I will post more about my first few days later.  I have been so busy!

Substitutions in Baking

Last night I made Mini Pies and they turned out great and wanted to share the recipe and pictures.  Summer has been so much fun and I am learning the more I bake the more I love it!
It was a bit of an adventure regarding ingredients.  I began with the crust which calls for 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 cup sliced butter, and 4 tablespoons of water.  Depending on what I am making, I try and do half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.  So I proceeded to do that with the pie crust.  Although after measuring out the flours I realized that it was not whole wheat flour that I measured but rather wheat bran.  I called my mother and she said to just use what I measured and it would turn out fine.  So that is what I did.  I proceeded to make the crust and then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
While the crust was in the fridge, I made the pie filling.  My original plan was to make apple pie.  But then I saw that we only had one apple so that would not work.  I had a recipe for filling which included raspberries and blueberries which I had but it called for cornstarch which I did not have.  I looked up on the internet and saw that I could use flour instead if I use double the amount.  So for the filling I used 3/4 a bag or frozen raspberries, 1/2 bag of frozen blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 8 tablespoons of flour.  I mixed it all together.
I used mini pie dishes that we had but you could also used cupcake pans.  I rolled the crust out and cut them into the correct size circles.  Then I filled with pie filling and covered them with another circle with a slit in the top.  Right before I put them in the oven, I brushed egg on the tops of them.  I cooked them for 25 minutes on 375 degrees.
They turned out VERY good!  I like using whole wheat flour because it gives a lot more flavor to the baked goods and the wheat bran did the same.  If I made these again I will use the wheat bran again just because they turned out with a lot of added flavor(and fiber!).  We had them with Trader Joe's vanilla ice cream and whip cream.  They were great!
Here are some pictures!!

Cutting out the pie crust

Mini pie pans filled with crust

Pie Filling!

Before the go into the oven

All done and ready to eat!

Experiencing Summer Goodness

So I know it has been a while but I have been enjoying summer so much!  I have been catching up with old friends as well as making new friends.  I have also been applying for lots of jobs, reading lots of books, and doing a lot of thinking about what my future has for me.  I have been thinking a lot about transferring schools.  SPU is getting very expensive and I am just such a California girl I am pretty sure I don't want to go back to Washington.  I have also been contemplating on changing my major.  I may switch from Psychology to Elementary Ed.  I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember.  Then, when I took a psychology class senior year of high school, I loved it and decided to do that!  Now, I am questioning if that is what I want to do with my life.  I would still keep a minor in Psych but be a teacher.  It sounds so great to me!  We shall see.  I hopefully will be taking fall semester off due to transferring so then I will be able to spend some time in a classroom and really be able to observe.  Lots of things going on!

This morning I went to the bike trail and rode my mountain bike 20 miles!  It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect.  I also got a new book to read!  I finished The Case for Christ.  This book was very good.  It gives you a lot of information and the proof of Jesus' existence on earth.  I just got Spoken from the Heart which is the Biography of Laura Bush. I started it last night and just the first chapter had me hooked.  I love reading about people lives and the things they have accomplished as well as their struggles.  I am very excited to continue.  I just love summer and California so much.  It is hard to imagine returning to Washington for any long period of time.  

I also wanted to share with you a recipe I made last night for dinner.  It is from Runners World Magazine and it turned out very delicious.

Pasta Bean Toss

1 pound whole-grain penne

2 medium red onions, thinly sliced

2 large garlic cloves

1 teaspoon olive oil

5 carrots, cut into slices

2 cups raw broccoli

12 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 can red kidney beans

1 can white kidney beans

1/2 grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package.  While pasta is cooking, saute in a large frying pan onions and garlic in oil until tender.  Add remaining vegetables, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and basil.  Simmer for 4 minutes.  Add beans and simmer for another 2 minutes.  Add pasta and cheese and toss.  

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!!!