Getting Back on Track and Progress!

I had such a great weekend.  It started by having pizza and beers with my former co-worker – I am the QUEEN of not staying in touch with people I’ve worked with in the past, but I am happy to have a few in my life for the long haul.

While my friends husband and their oldest daughter had a Daddy/Daughter dance, I hung out with Alison and their youngest daughter, who reminds me SO much of Hannah I sometimes have to do a double take when she walks in the room.  My friend texted me the day before asking me if I wanted to come over and pick some apples from their property.  Um, duh.  So I suggested I bring pizza, she picked up beer and that was that.  When Alison told her daughter I was coming over, I am not sure how it happened but somehow she thought it was a pajama sleep over and immediately got out of her clothes and put her footie pajamas on and had them on when I got there.  So cute!

After we picked apples, we had to feed my friends horse – her daughter just put her footie pajamas right into her cowboy boots and out the door she was.  She helped with the hay for the horse – I love, love, this picture of her!

I’ve talked about my no rise pizza a lot in the past, but it also is an amazing dough if you let it sit all day.  I just mixed two cups flour with 1 teaspoon of yeast, 1 teaspoon of salt and one cup of water and left it in a tuppeware container with the lid slightly off.  Just tossed it in some olive oil on my way to my friends house and stuck it in a plastic bag.

And check out the apples I got!  Apparently you can’t eat the skin, but once peeled, they are tart and delicious.

It was such a fun night – thanks for letting me hang out with you guys Alison!

So my other former co-worker came over on Saturday – she is going to be my personal decorator.  Long time readers will know that, um, let’s just say decorating is not my thing. Like at all.  But I equate it this way – my friend sees decorating and possibilities just like I do when I watch FoodTV and recipe develop!  She spent nearly two hours at my house, going over all the rooms and what my thoughts were – I basically told her I hate gold and chrome, but other than that, I really have no ideas.  Well, let’s just say I am happy to have someone like her on my team – not only have I purchased my new couch, but she has budgeted in my original budget for the living room and dining room to redo my bedroom as well.  So I’ve ordered my bed frame too.

I tried to let her know that if I had a sense of style, I guess it would be called comfy casual?  She suggested getting an ottoman instead of a coffee table, and originally suggested this:

We ultimately scrapped that idea because it’s not the same theme as the comfy couch.   We are going with a more casual square/storage ottoman that we can put trays on top for entertaining purposes.  We had a coffee table for 15 years, and other than putting appetizers on it when we had company over, we never really used it – plus I like that I can move the ottomans around or out of the room all together if I needed to.

I bought my new bed frame too.  Let’s just also say that my bed now is on top of a $29 bed frame that came with the mattress set some 5 years ago?

We decided to also paint my bedroom the same grey color as the main walls in the living room and dining room.  She said that it would give a “flow” to the space.  Also I have my bed stuffed in one corner against the wall of my room – she said that you should always put a bedside table text to the wall before your bed to make the room appear to be larger than it really is.  I never would have known that.  So in the course of a weekend, we have the couch purchased, the bed purchased, and she bought the area rug, end tables, pillows, accent pieces, throw rugs, ottomans and I know there is more but I can’t remember now.  Now all I need is floors!

The new flooring guy came by on Saturday morning to measure all the spaces – I’ve decided on the flooring so it’s just a matter of settling on the price and going forward with installation – who knows, with my friends help I may get all this done by Halloween!  THANK YOU so much Whit for all your help – I never could have done this without your help.

Sunday I slept in which was awesome.  Hannah ended up having to work a double because someone didn’t show up – and it was Pepper Fest on the street she works on and it was super busy for a Sunday.  Jacob and I stopped by for a quick hello and checked it out.  I don’t care if I don’t have a three year old, I still love a petting zoo!

They had a wood fired pizza cart (line was way long) a Christmas warehouse (way too expensive!) and a chocolate truck that sold all sorts of goodness, including chocolate covered bacon.  Jacob and I got that and while it was delicious, not sure it was worth the $9 for ONE chocolate covered bacon.  It was nice being outside though and getting in some steps!

Helen, I did think of you though when I saw this sign pointing to the Christmas warehouse and knew you would have corrected the sign immediately.

In fun news, my Mom with her Sing to Live Choir sang the National Anthem at the Bears Game yesterday! It wasn’t televised, but about 38 minutes in they did a quick snap shot of the group on t.v.

There is my Momma again – on the top row on her tippy toes fifth from the left in the back row.  So fun!   It was really cold on the field – even though she was dressed in layers she still got chilled – the wind off the lakefront really brings down the temp by at least 20 degrees on the field.  So cool though!

So in honor of National Taco Day yesterday, and the fact that it’s Hannah’s favorite food, I made last night taco fiesta night.  She loved the idea and was even more happy that I made cilantro lime rice!  I made this dried guajillo salsa from Bon Appetit magazine – the only thing I add is lime juice and cilantro, but this salsa is so smoky, flavorfully delicious.   It sadly was a bit too spicy for Hannah, but Jacob and I loved it.  I am thinking I need to make breakfast tacos this morning just to use more of it!

I am happy to say that I am 99% well!  I coughed all of about three times yesterday and let’s just call the month of September a wash – I haven’t exercised since Labor Day weekend and for some reason when exercise is off the table, I usually don’t give a crap about what I eat, which is insane, but true for me.  I mean I drove 50 miles for fried chicken skins – who does that?!

So I am not declaring anything too drastic – just easing back into the exercise and watching what I put in my mouth each and every day.  I need to nip this in the bud now, otherwise I could easily gain ten pounds by the end of the year at the rate I am going!

Make it a great day!