Hot Off the Grill

I know I've been posting a lot on recipes lately, and not much on projects. I still have so many projects in the works right now, so I'm at a point where I can't really post finished ones. Soon, my lovely readers. Soon... Until then, you can enjoy my latest project post, the 30-Minute Vanity Seat Revamp. :)

So, I have two more of our favorite grill recipes to share in this post. (To see my first grill recipe post, click here.) I am still coming off of the high from it being featured. That is always so exciting!!

These two recipes I want to share are very, very simple with minimal ingredients- my kind of cooking!

The first is a favorite that Zach has been cooking up
for a while now...

- Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp -

The title is pretty much self-explanatory, as there is nothing else involved but the shrimp & bacon. You simply take uncooked shrimp, peeled with tails removed, wrap a small piece of bacon around each separate shrimp, then place a toothpick through each to hold them together. Place on a grill and cook until shrimp is done & bacon is browned. These have such an awesome grilled flavor! They taste like a high-priced restaurant meal,
but they're much cheaper and so easy!

Now for a simple veggie recipe...

- Grilled Okra -

This is actually a recipe that I learned from my father-in-law, who is a pretty good cook. He, like most other guys, loves to cook on the grill. I'm thankful that my sweetie does too.

This takes a simple veggie, with only olive oil/butter and salt & pepper added, and gives it a delicious grilled flavor.

Zach has grilled okra on both skewers and on our grated pan...

...and both have turned out great. You simply wash the okra- don't cut, just leave whole- place on either a greased grilling pan or line up on skewers, and place on grill. Brush them occassionally with olive oil or melted butter (both are good, but the olive oil is healthier), add a little salt & pepper- or garlic, if you're a big fan of it like me- and cook until browned.

Easy as pie!

We love cooking on the grill, because it's simple, quick, and healthier than anything fried. It pipes in such a great flavor to the food too.

Hope you enjoy these! I'm going to try a new Pinterest recipe this week, so if it's good, I'll share that soon too!

Photos from the Weekend

I realized I took a good bit of photos over the long weekend- none of us, but of some happenings around here. (FYI, you wouldn't have wanted any pics of me- most of the weekend I had not a stitch of make-up on and I wore comfy clothes or a swimsuit the entire time... and it was AWESOME.) :)

First off, I came home from work on Friday and found this

waiting for me...

...our luggage tags for Disney!! It makes the trip even more real now! We're heading there in September for our 4th anniversary (FOURTH- wow)! We spent our last anniversary there, and it was perfect, so we didn't hesitate to pick it again for this year! (Not to mention, I think Zach & I are in agreement that it's our favorite place on Earth. Hello retirement spot!)

Also on Friday after work, I made a quick stop by my grandmother's house. We are cleaning out her house and organizing things, and I have been going through a lot of it. I want to keep as much as I can. I think this is part of the hoarder in me coming out, and the fact that I really want to keep a part of her house with me- both for me & for my children to have in the future. This next pic shows a small part of the glassware that I brought home with me from her house...

She was obviously an avid (to say the least) collector of Fostoria back in the day. It was unbelievable how much she has! I can't wait to put it to use and enjoy it!

I also repurposed a couple of old silver trays from the thrift store into chalkboards. Here is a sneak peek of one...

 Me & my sweetie spent most of the day Saturday in Birmingham. He played golf that morning (and Monday morning), then we headed out to eat an early dinner at Stix, our favorite. We also shopped a ton! We hit Pottery Barn, and both got
a little something there... 

Here are two pics of a little happy I bought for myself...



 I couldn't pass up these little mercury glass votives! Zach bought a GORGEOUS 9-opening frame that was on sale. We are in the process of picking out new pics to decorate the house with. We haven't updated our frames around the house in a year or so, and we have so many new ones to choose from! We have been on a few great trips in the last few years, all producing so many good pictures. We also have our CD of wedding pics that we need to go through. Zach has been editing away, so we hope to order soon!
I'll share our picks soon, after our "Hanging Up Party." :)

Zach played golf Monday morning, while I cleaned up the house & worked on a few projects (hopefully posts will soon follow- working on the finishing touches this week). Then, we went to Mom's that afternoon. We so enjoyed the day at her house, swimming, sunning & cooking out with friends. This is a cute little guy that landed on me out at Mom's pool (that wording sounds quite interesting,
doesn't it?) :) ...

We got so much rest during the weekend, but were still able to squeeze in some work & fun to balance it out. I am so thankful not just for the quality time we had, but for the real meaning of Memorial Day.

I cannot express how much it means to us. We can't fathom the sacrifice that so many are making, will make, and have made for us. I pray that everyone will always be a patriot at heart. I am blessed that Zach & I are- I cannot watch the Wounded Warrior Project commercials, hear the national anthem, watch 9/11 footage, etc., without bursting into tears. The older I get, the more patriotic I become, and I'm thankful for that.

Sunny "Dais"

Just wanted to share a few pictures of my Daisy girl. :)

A lot of times in the Spring & Summer when Zach is home, he likes to leave the back door to the deck cracked a little so the babies can go in & out as they want. Can I just say that we have really gotten our money's worth on the fence in our back yard?? No matter how much more that thing would have cost, I think we would pay it all over again. It's especially nice to have in the winter when it's too cold for us to go out with the doggies.

When we're both home & the back door is cracked, my girl will go missing a lot of times. I love to go outside & look for her... and nine times out of ten, she will be laying out on the bench or on the deck, basking in the sun...

My girl working on her tan :)

I love this one of her!...

...so, I Instagrammed it (sorry, Zach)...

... I also couldn't resist the black & white...

Oh, and she'll usually bring an assortment of toys outside with her too...

We love our little Daisy girl! Her & Cosmo make our life so much more fun. They are our best buddies. They bring a smile to our faces every single day, and we are really enjoying the time we have with them right now.

I will hopefully be making a Cosmo post soon. We're going to schedule his annual Summer cut in the next week,

so he'll look so cute!!

I hope you all enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend! I am hoping to get a little rest in, a little family time & project time, and a little grilling out & shopping wouldn't hurt either. We are still tossing around ideas on what we'll do with all of our time. And if that ends up being nothing, I'll be happy with that too. :)

Thrift Store Trip #1324345

Surely I haven't been on that many thrift store stops, but it feels like it sometimes. I stopped by last week- actually by accident, because a train had stopped traffic. I didn't want to sit & wait on it, and the store was just right there. :) I scored 5 things for $6.
Oh, I love that!

Here's a quick run-down with pics:

Silver tray for $1- This will go along with my other silver tray I bought a while back. I'm wanting to transform both of them into chalkboards...

Yard flag for $1.50- I already have one of these in black & white, but it is starting to get dirty. This will be the perfect back-up...

Yard flag for $1.50- ...and so will this one. The set of two was $3...I couldn't pass them up.

Two copper pails for $1 each- I love these!! I am planning to use them for an organization project. They would look super cute with chalkboard labels!



This little cutie didn't come home with me (I honestly have nowhere to put it, and I really don't need another painting project right now), but I thought it was cute. It was a little pricey though, I think, for a thrift store. It would be darling in a little girl's room though...

...and it also has storage space, which is a bonus.

Hope you all had a great weekend! We had a restful one, complete with yard saling & dinner with friends!

Now we're just looking forward to our long weekend coming up!!

My FOURTH Feature!!

The picture above just earned me my latest feature. This makes FOUR features for my little blog!! I am beyond excited, because I have even more projects in the works... and pretty awesome ones too, if I do say so myself. Thanks so much to the gals at Natural Nesters for their second time to feature me!! I wanted to include the sweet little note they had in their feature post...

"Ashley @ Keeping Up With the Joneses just gave me the recipe to my son's heart's desire. He LOVES corn. Last weekend was his first time to have a full, grilled corn. I am so excited to try this corn recipe out for him. The pictures she has with the steps make my mouth water.. you should definitely go check it out. She has a lot of other neat ideas on her blog too.. Check her out."

I'll include a link to their entire post here, so you can check out the other features.



This just makes my day! I told Zach we would have to have a celebratory grilled corn-on-the-cob sometime this week. :)

Terry & Sheena's Shindig!- 5/12/12

I just had one of the best weekends I have had in a long time! I got to witness my sweet friend get married to her soulmate, I got to spend time with my sweetie, mom & brother, I enjoyed church, and we got to visit with Zach's mom & sister. I had no time whatsoever to get much done at the house- besides the mandatory laundry that I couldn't escape- but it was so worth it.

We headed out on Friday night, after leaving work early, and traveled to Lake Guntersville where we ran through the wedding rehearsal. We then enjoyed a yummy rehearsal dinner and got the chance to meet & get to know some great people.

The wedding day was wonderful! I am hoping that it was perfect in the bride's eyes, too, because it was to all of us. The rain held off until they were pronounced husband & wife, and I think everyone made it in to the reception in the lodge

before it really started raining.

I had to include some of my favorite shots over the weekend. Cameras were constantly snapping, so I may even post more as the week goes by. I am happy to have gotten to know several of Sheena & Terry's friends- Zach even made a good friend at the rehearsal dinner- and I know they'll have some pics to share. 

The view

The lodge

Me & Sheen at the rehearsal dinner... yes, I'm very pale :)

Me & my sweetie at the rehearsal dinner

Rachel, Lindsey, me & Kerri...new friends!

Me & my momma :)

Me & Zach at the wedding...he is SO handsome!!

LOVE this sign! Sheena made so many of these herself,
and they're all beautiful!

The bride's cake...LOVE!

Terry's (groom's) cake...Love it! That's him sitting in his recliner. :)

Little crafty Sheena made this!

The reception setting was wonderful! Gorgeous flowers everywhere!

First dance as husband and wife :)

Getting the garter

Terry dancing with the precious little flower girl, Nola

I am so honored to have been a part of this special day for Terry & Sheena. It was such a fun weekend, catching up with old friends

& making new ones.

On Sunday after church, we headed to Chatt to take Zach's mom out for Mother's Day. We enjoyed a nice lunch, then visited and laughed with her & Zach's sister. Speaking of, take a moment & say a little prayer for his sister as she is recovering from surgery.

On Monday night, me, Zach & Jon took my mom out for Mother's Day. Our weekend was so jam-packed, we could only fit so much into it. She did go to the wedding, though, so we got to spend some time with her there. I was so glad she got to be there! We enjoyed a great dinner on Monday & a little shopping. FYI, Monday is always a great day to plan a night out- it eases the transition from the weekend into the workweek.

Zach's best friend is in town this week, so we all know where Zach will be. That means I won't see him as much, but I'm so glad he gets to spend time with friends.

Busy days are hectic, but it also means we are blessed to have a lot going on. It means we have jobs to fill our days, and it means we have great families & wonderful friends to fill those nights

& weekends...

Yep, house cleaning can wait. :)

30-Minute Vanity Seat Revamp!

Finally- a project post! I know it's been a while. We've been taking it easy lately around the house. A lot of rest & relaxation, and not much cleaning or project doing. We have cooked a lot though- as you can see by the stream of recipe posts I've had.
But that streak ends here. :)

Just wanted to share with you this vanity seat revamp that I am beyond excited about!

This little vanity chair belonged to my grandmother. I knew I wanted to take it home with me, even before we began cleaning her home. This vanity seat was always in her bathroom. It was rarely ever used, but it is was definitely worn. It had the potential to look cute though- I promise!

Here are a couple of quick Before shots (taken with my iPhone)...

I simply took the chair outside (after it was housed in our garage for a few months), and wiped it down with a Magic Eraser. I then lightly sanded all over, because it had a little rust that made it rough in some places.

I then took a cheap-y bronzey-gold spray paint (from Dollar General, I think), and began spraying one light coat all over. I turned it upside-down first to get the underside...



I think that was the only photo I took during the spray paint process. Oh well. The best is yet to come. :)

Here are a few of the after-paint pics...

Love that bronzey-gold!

Then, I made a trip to Hob Lob & discovered that my local Wal-Mart actually had what I was looking for instead, and at a great price! (Don't get me wrong, I could die happy in a Hob Lob, but I could NOT believe Wal-Mart had more of what I was looking for, and for less money! This also marked probably the first time EVER I was actually excited about heading to Wal-Mart!)

Here is the awesome fabric I found at Wal-mart,

along with the quilt batting...

I only needed 1/2 yard = ~$2. Woohoo!

I was about to ask my granddad for his trusty staple gun, but I realized I could do this small project with glue. Hot glue that is. The seat is so small, and the fabric is not very thick, so it worked out really well. I do have a recover project lined up, though, that will require the help of a staple gun... more on that soon. :)

I also knew that since the seat of the chair was so flattened, I would want some "pouf". So, I grabbed up some high-loft quilt batting while at the "dreaded" Wal-Mart for $4, and I was well on my way.

I unscrewed the seat to the frame easily, then started wrapping & gluing, first with the quilt batting, then the fabric.

Here are more pics, in steps, of the seat recover...

(Daisy girl was my trusty helper.) :)

And now, the final Before & After...

BEFORE...and... AFTER

More After pics that I love...

I'm so happy with it...now I just have to find a place for it, as it is with most of my other projects. :)

Some personal updates: Lots of things have happened since my last post. My best friend Jenn is now a mommy! I cannot wait to meet little Silas Finn!

 Our kids' choir had their end-of-year program, and it was wonderful! Those sweet kids are such a blessing to me. 

I am gearing up this week for Sheena's wedding on Saturday! I cannot wait to share in her special day. The pampering has already started- I got my nails done yesterday, and am getting my hair done Saturday morning. What an awesome reason to pamper yourself, right?!

I guess my next post will be filled with pics of the wedding!

Can't wait!

Linking the project up to...

 

...and many others!