Katy's Blog of Possibilities

Monday, June 27, 2011

Recipe Post

Those who know me well know that I love to cook. My whole family enjoys it and my brother and sister and I grew up sitting on the kitchen countertop stirring and mixing and cutting things up and "helping" our mom fix dinner. I am super thankful that my mom let us learn to cook at such a young age, despite the fact that I am sure we made big messes. That said, I've decided I should post an occasional recipe. I'll start today and hopefully I will get a good response from you all and I'll keep posting!

We'll start with something super easy. Several friends at the baby shower Saturday asked for the recipe for the coffee punch I served. It's VERY easy and super yummy and it reminds me of a Sonic Java Chiller...which are just about the best things EVER and you should definitely try one if you haven't yet! This punch is good to serve during the holidays or at any kind of party. I'd guess it to serve about 20 people.

Coffee Punch
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons of instant coffee
6 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
3 cups of water
1 quart of milk (whole is best, but you can use whatever)
1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream

Combine the sugar, coffee, syrup and water and bring to a boil. Stir continuously for 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Let the mixture cool for a few hours. (I poured mine into a Gatorade bottle and chilled overnight). Put the ice cream into a punch bowl and let soften for 20 or so minutes. Pour the milk and the coffee mixture over the ice cream and serve. YUMMY!

It really is delicious and so easy.

Last but not least...I have a garden this year. I was a little late starting it and it's being eaten by deer and worms, but I did get a few cherry tomatoes off today. Take a look! Not too exciting for some folks, but growing my own veggies gets me super excited! Too bad that's probably the extent of my tomato crop! I've been doing some research and will try again this fall!

Katy

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Baby Shower!

I hosted a baby shower this weekend for my very bestest friend in the world. We've been friends for years (20 ish years!) and she's expecting her first baby in August. I can't wait to meet baby Olivia and hosting the shower was SO much fun! Here are a few pictures from the shower!

I started a scrapbook for the baby as part of my gift to the new mommy-to-be. Guests made "wishes" on little notecards for Olivia rather than signing a traditional guest book and I will incorporate them into the scrapbook.

close-up of the scrap book and "wish basket"!

My friend Lisa gave me some great decor ideas and let me borrow some great burlap for the table and some bird themed decor (to match the invitations I ordered from Tiny Prints). I also already have quite a bit of bird "stuff" so it worked out great. Here are a couple pictures of the dining room...sneak peak since you haven't "toured" it yet! I made a baby clothesline in the window with lots of little cutie embroidered items.

Here is the mommy-to-be...I promise there is a baby under that tiny dress of hers! She looks stunning and I know baby Olivia will be amazing!

And here is the daddy-to-be...he's pretty dern cute too and has become a great friend as well over the last few years!

And here's my friend and her LOVELY parents...(lovely on the inside and out)...

I love all of these people and it is a JOY to be a part of this exciting time in ALL of their lives!

Katy

Welcome to My Home.....

I promised a tour of the home....so lets start with the exterior! I decided to go with painted brick...there weren't a ton of choices within my brick budget that I liked so I decided to go with mis-matched cheap brick and then paint it. I'm very happy with the way it turned out! I've always loved painted brick and the maintainance isn't nearly as bad as it used to be (or so I've been told). The shutters are a dark stain (jacobean) and the front doors are mahogony with the same dark stain. The grass has enjoyed all this rain we have had the last few days...take a look.

Welcome to My Home!

I wanted the sidewalk to be a winding path to the front door. I think it turned out great. The movers didn't love it, but it sure looks pretty!

This is the view as you drive up to the house...

After moving the fern to a few different places...I finally found the perfect spot. It's doing wonderful here under the covered entry!

Stained front doors with a Pottery Barn "Welcome Home"
mat to welcome guests into my home! You can also catch a glimpse of my
custom made dragon door-knocker in this picture..I love it!

The screened in porch has been great so far...it keeps the bugs off me and it feels like your eating dinner in a tree house! Since it's a basement lot with a pretty steep back yard, the deck and porch are up high and provide a great view of the woods and there's always a good breeze out back.

This is the screened-in porch. You can see my craigslist find...the teak table
and chairs (previous post) with some PB cushions I bought on clearance last year.

I chose a light blue color for the porch ceiling. It's gotten mixed reviews, but I love it and it's something different. LOTS of homes in Charleston, SC have painted blue porch ceilings. It's supposed to keep the "spooks" out and I happen to love the color blue! I also have ceiling mounted speakers outside so I can listen to music while I relax on the porch!

This shows a good view of the baby blue ceiling...

Here's the view from the back...and YES, the yard is a bear to mow! The grass is just beginning to fill in and it will be a lot of work to get it looking good. I've got a landscape company drawing some plans for the back yard now. I asked for a 5 year plan...something I can work on for the next few years...hopefully with a little help from my friends and family and my boyfriend, Eric (future post!). I also hung two swings from the deck - one baby swing for my littliest nephew and one regular swing for the bigger kids.

I hope you like the exterior...next up in the "tour" is the entry and dining room so check back soon!

I'll be posting some pictures from a baby shower next - I hosted it this weekend for my very bestest friend in the world who is due in August with her first baby.

Katy

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Craigslist Find...

I think I told you guys about a pair of hideous chairs I found on craigslist...french style arm chairs that my friend said looked like "hotel" chairs. I think she's right....they may be from some cheap hotel somewhere, but they look awesome after their transformation! I knew they had definite potential and they were cheaper...even after repainting, buying material and recovering, than anything I found on Ballard. I found a lady to paint them in this great finish that I had been trying to figure out how to re-create. She only charged me $100 to do both and by the time I would have sanded and bought paint and done it myself with three different paint colors plus a glaze, it would have cost me at least $50....so I was happy to pay the $100. Here they are when I first bought them -

Before

The finish started out an orangy color...the material is a gross black and tan print. Believe me....if you can't tell it....they were UGLY!

Mid-Way through the transformation

After the paint....you can see the finish is no longer orange...more of a distressed creamy vanilla with some brown underneath. I took the material I planned to recover them in to show the painter and she even added a touch of blue in certain places in the chairs to help coordinate with the fabric. At this stage, the original (hideous) material is still on, but they are starting to look much better...YAY! Here is a close up of some of the detail on the chair -

detail on the chair leg after painting

The next step was to recover. I took them to a lady in Lebanon who charged me about half of what some of the local people charge. The material is a blue/green paisley with some cream and tan in it. The backs were recovered in a chenille cheetah print. I love the way they turned out!! Do you?!? These are in the sitting area in my bedroom.

And btw...sorry I haven't posted lately...been busy MOVING IN and getting things settled. I moved in 4 weeks ago and I am about done arranging and re-arranging. I still have lots to do, but the house is looking good and I can't wait to share. I'll be posting a room by room tour over the next few weeks...so check back.

Happy Weekend!