Subject: Inherited Furniture

Hi Kara - TGIF!  

When I met Hubby a few years ago there was a piece of furniture in his parent's house in Florida that I LOVED.  I am not quite sure if we are engaged at the time, but I remember telling them that if they were ever considering getting rid of the piece, I would love to have it.

Well, about two months ago, they said they were hiring a mover to bring some of their South Florida furniture to their Georgia house and ask if I wanted the piece that I loved.  

So, today the étagère was delivered!

Aren't the details so whimsical?  I think it has a little bit of the Anthropologie vibe to it.  And I'm so glad that I don't have to paint the piece!!!!  I just need to wipe it down and figure out what I am going to display.  Any suggestions??  For now it's in the living room, but my mom suggested that it may be sweet in a little girls room one day with all of my Madame Alexander dolls on display.

Do you have any furniture in your house that is inherited?  

Can't wait for my next post.  Tomorrow I'm headed to someplace that's supposedly really cool.   Full report very soon!

Subject: One Year as a Mrs.

Were you curious what that picture was from yesterday??  When I first saw it, I thought it had to be in Europe.  However, the Grove Park Inn is about four hours north of us in Asheville, NC.  Here are a few pictures:

That last picture is part of the spa.  Pretty amazing, right??

Hubby has actually vacationed there with his family when he was younger, and thought it would be the perfect place for our first year anniversary trip.  We still have some time until Memorial Day weekend, but just looking at the pictures is getting me excited.  I need this vacation!!

I thought you would get a kick out of some of the history of the hotel.  It opened in 1913 and has hosted guests including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, George Gershwin, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Ford.  The list of presidents who have stayed at the Inn include William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton and Barack H. Obama.

I also learned from my research that there is a ghost in the hotel, known as the Pink Lady.  In the 1920's a young girl in a pink chiffon dress was said to have fallen or been pushed from one of the balconies.  They claim she is friendly though!

I'll let you know once we are officially booked.  And I've already purchased Hubby's anniversary gift.  Something paper of course.  I like the idea of following tradition!!  Will share what I ended up with AFTER the anniversary. 

Have a wonderful weekend!!  I am going to the COOLEST place tomorrow.  Can't wait to tell you all about it.  Hopefully it is as cool as it's supposed to be otherwise this will just be an exaggeration!

Mel

Update:  The trip has been booked.  Grove Park Inn here we come.  (In May)

Subject: Kara Ketchup

Well, hello!  Figured this was an opportune time to play catch up on all your posts from last week.  Hope you are not still down in the trenches!!  I actually know exactly how it feels to be sitting on the floor with toothbrush in one hand and grout stain in the other.  Definitely not what I would call a fun project.  However, once it's done, it's ALL worth it.  I have to admit though, I never sealed my grout.  Shame on me, I know.  I have only restained two small areas in my house though.  Maybe this weekend I will seal them??


I cannot wait for the reveal of your kitchen.  The one glimpse you texted me was AMAZING!!  A big, "Ha! Ha!" to the readers who have no idea what I am talking about.  (I mean that in the nicest way though.)  Just wait for Kara's reveal, it will be worth it!


So, there are a few things I didn't write you back on:


1.  Your dinner list.  I'm definitely going to be stealing some of those during the week ideas.  You do a lot of chicken for me though.  I really wished I liked it more, but most of the time it totally grosses me out.  I am dying to try the crab cakes.


2.  The Williams-Sonoma soup looks to die for.  Did I tell you I was going to try to make it on Sunday for the Super Bowl, just as you suggested??  Well, you can't buy alchohol in GA on Sundays and then Hubby offered to grill, so basically my plan went downhill.  I'm thinking it could be a delicious option for this Sunday night though.


3.  The mirror and dresser you picked up while thrifting...WOW!!  Can't wait to see how they turn out.  And I am totally jealous because I never feel like I find anything that cool.


I have SO much to share with you, but I need to get back to work.  I will leave you with this gorgeous image, which I will share more information on tomorrow.

Subject: In the Trenches

Helloooooo friend!

I am coming to you from the trenches found between two tiles. Yes, the grout. As you'll remember from the pictures of my kitchen (which is painted, by the way!), my floor is black and white tile, which I have a love/hate relationship with. I've noticed for a long time how dirty and gross the grout is, but thought I just had to keep scrubbing to get it clean. Um, no. That would be impossible. Instead, I've leared of a technique that involves staining the grout. It's a three-step process that involves letting the grout sit with water on it for one hour to start things off. It is seriously the most time-consuming, labor-intensive, meticulous project I have ever done. Nice, right?

But, behold! The results:


Seriously. You cannot even believe how much better it looks! So I think I might fall in love (for the first time) with my tile once the grout is no longer dis-gust-ing. There is a lot of grout, though, so I'm hopeful that I'll be done by this time next year :) But the 'after' is a motivation of its own and I know that I cannot leave one small area with nasty grout when all the rest is sparkling white. Basically, this is a project where you go all or nothing! As I'm staining a section I go back after it has had 24 hours to dry and seal it. And then seal it again. I can't decide if I'm going to seal it two or three times - I don't want to have to do this again! Seriously, people: SEAL YOUR GROUT! It will save you so many headaches later on!

I was not a Gilmore Girls watcher, but I love the picture of those chairs! Is it bad that I was indifferent to the office chair before realizing it was a 'real' style? I don't love them in black - that green is awesome, and I really liked the blue of my MIL's too. I think with the black it's harder to see the bamboo-ish details on the chair. I did not spray paint but instead used a craft brush to apply the paint. Another plus of the craft brush: no brush strokes! It took three coats plus one touch-up coat. I didn't spray because my MIL wanted a specific color of blue, plus the cushion wouldn't come off, so that would have been tricky to spray (not impossible, just tricky). Plus it's super-cold here still so I wouldn't have been able to spray it for awhile.

I just realized I never responded back about your couch ordeal! So annoying, but I'm so glad that it worked out. Way to go hubby! And yes, a bomber jacket is the perfect way to describe the leather. It makes me think of this:

Ahh, the good old days. So glad you are enjoying it now!

Well, that is all for now. My correspondence may be patchy this week...the Internet connection isn't great in the trenches :) Can't wait to send you pictures of the kitchen once it's put back together again - hopefully next week!

Staining away,
Kara

Image courtesy of Obsessed with Film.

Re: Project Progress & Painting

I have no idea why I am up.  But since I am, I've been dying to write to you in regards to your MIL's Chinese Chippendale office chair.  While I didn't know the technical name before, I am no stranger to that chair.  It happens to be a prop in one of my all-time favorite shows - Gilmore Girls!!  Not sure if you are a Lorelai Gilmore fan or not, but the Dragonfly Inn, which she owned with best friend Suki, had a dining room full of these chairs.

The Evidence:

Too bad MIL didn't want to just hand over the chair!!  In any event, you did a great job.  Did you spray paint or hand paint the chair?  I'm still debating with myself which technique is better.  Also, suggestions for online fabric stores?  I need something to cover the seats of my kitchen chairs.  I will be done painting them this week.  (Hopefully!)  I think I'm on coat 977.  OY VEY!

Well, hope you are sleeping!  I'm heading to bed now.  Night!

Subject: Are you ready for some football??

Hey K - I've totally been MIA.  The reason is one word...work!  Promise to write back with all my thoughts on your great e-mails/blog posts from last week, but couldn't resist sending you a quick note on this Super Bowl Sunday.

I think this is the first year that I have not attended some kind of Super Bowl party.  It was my mom's birthday last night (Happy Birthday, Mommy!), so my entire family had dinner together last night.  Which for some reason led to everyone just doing their own thing tonight.  

While you know I love to spend hours in the kitchen, this "holiday" for some reason lends itself to all things greasy and gross.  Hubby and I had a mix of both.  We started off with chips and queso, straight from the jar, and ended with a main dish that I am sure has now become a House of Peach staple!  

Here's the night in pictures...

Hubby at our new BBQ

French Bread + An AMAZING Homemade Tartar Sauce

Add some grilled Tilapia

What you're left with is Paula Deen's Grilled Tilapia Po' Boy!!  YUMMY!

Here's our spread.  My laziness is evident based on the Publix macaroni and potato salad being served out of the original containers!

Hubby did serve the Friday's Potato Skins on our Limoges "R" dish though!

Hope your Super Bowl Sunday dinner was filled with as much delicious and unhealthy food as mine was!  With one quarter left, I think I am going to go shower and wait for Glee to come on.

Have a good night!

Mel 

Subject: Two New Recipes!

Dear Melissa,

So, Project Recipe 2011 is steaming right along! Since 2011 began, I have tried one new recipe a week and a few I have made more than once, so they might make it into my permanent repertoire. My family came into town on Saturday just for the day and then my two uncles and wife/girlfriend came too, so we had nine adults to feed. Of course the whole reason my family was in town was to see Suz, and since she is such a lover of naps, she's not awake that much. I thought instead of wasting her wake-time driving to a restaurant, I decided to make food and have lunch at our house. Plus, my grandmother came over and she is elderly and doesn't get around easily, so I thought staying in might be easier on her. But what to make?

Since there were nine adults, I decided to make a big batch of something. Since it's been so cold, I decided on a soup recipe I'd torn out of Williams-Sonoma over the holidays and then remembered another recipe I'd seen recently when I was organizing my recipes. They were perfect! Of course this weekend the high was in the 60s - not exactly Soup Weather - but it was still fine and everyone loved it. My mom made a salad so it felt like a well-balanced meal. So, without further ado...

Recipe 1: Cheddar-Ale Soup

This seriously tasted like eating a bowl full of fondue. Yum! When I first told Mr. Lass we were having soup, he turned his nose up. (He likes manly-er food.) But when the soup was served, I practically had to tackle him to keep from eating all of it! This recipe makes enough for 6, so I increased the quantities of a few of the ingredients and it was plenty for 9 adults. For example, I did three cups of stock and milk and used a 14-oz. bottle of pale ale. Then we used about 1.5 pounds of cheese instead of 1.25 pounds. Seriously, this was so, so good. We served it with bacon as a garnish but no croutons, since there was so much bread in the other recipe.

Recipe 2: Venetian Rolled Pizza

All I can say is: OMG. I rate a recipe based on the difficulty level and taste. I don't mind a higher difficulty level if the taste rewards me for my hard work. So any time I can find a recipe that is easy and rewards me with amazing taste, I am on board! This is that kind of recipe. Everyone was so impressed and all I could think was, It really wasn't that hard... I give a recipe bonus points if it seems hard but I know it wasn't, so I would rate this recipe 14 out of 10 stars for that reason alone! I made two modifications for this recipe: I added chopped basil to the spinach for extra flavor and I lowered the cooking temperature and the amount of time I baked it. I think I baked it at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, but my oven runs hot so I am always adjusting recipes. Some of the reviews recommend adding other ingredients to the middle - mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives, etc. It's basically like a calzone! I can't wait to try this again with some different fillings. This was served with some jarred tomato sauce on the side for dipping. So easy and good!

Hope you are able to enjoy these recipes too. Wouldn't they be so great for Super Bowl party? Oh my gosh - how fun would it be to have a 'Souper Bowl' party with lots of different bowls of soup? Has that been done before? I just thought of it...maybe next year!

Yums,

Kara

Images from Williams-Sonoma and Food Network, respectively.