I'm So Lonely... So Lonely...

I am pretty much alone this Memorial weekend. My lucky bastard of a boyfriend is in Colorado until Monday, for a Bachelor Party. UGH! BUT I had the chance to go to Vegas for the Bachelorette party and decided that is not a good idea for me. Literally I would end up in the 4th Hangover movie. Negative on that one.

So I finally have some me time, although it has only been one night, it's been nice and relaxing! Not that I do not miss the crap out of him already but it is nice to have our time apart. I have learned that if you do not have that time apart and spend EVERY WAKING MINUTE with your significant other, it is not healthy! But, that is me and who am I to give relationship advice? I am almost 29 years old and have not found THE ONE yet!

So these next couple of days I am going to try and focus solely on myself. Tanning, teeth whitening, facials, a LITTLE exercise (notice the emphasis on the little), and try to work on my eating habits. Wes is non stop and never relaxes so of course he is super in shape and does not have to worry about what he eats. Now that I am getting closer to 30, I do not have the body I used to. I just do not have the friggin motivation to work out, but Wes does help me out with that. Any who, just wanted to share a healthy, yummy side dish to try! BRUSSEL SPROUTS!!!

First off.... FRESH Brussel Sprouts!

Heat the oven to about 375.

I cut the stem off, take off the first couple of layers of leaves, or any that look yucky or brown.

Then I cut them in half.

Throw them in a bowl of water to soak and wash off. Get all the bugs and such out.

Rinse them off and pat dry.

 I like to add a little olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, Greek seasoning and Parmesan Cheese. But add whatever your heart desires!

 Stir them around so they are nicely coated.

Throw them on a cookie sheet.

And just depending on how you like your sprouts (I like crispy outside and gooshy middle) so I cook mine for about 10 mins flip them over as best you can, (no biggy if they all do not flip over) and cook for another 10 mins.

VOILA! 

This is an old picture when I didn't have olive oil or balsamic vinegar, or Parmesan cheese, or dried cranberries, and just used Raspberry vinaigrette. But it was still delish! This is about the colors you want when you take them out of the oven! And then the chicken, I just bake at 425 for 35, any seasonings you like!

Hope you enjoy!
Rachel

My Shelf!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! My shelf is complete and I am absolutely IN LOVE with it!

First off here is how the whole curtain/shelf process started out. I do not know what to call these hardware pieces but if you or your significant other do, here ya go! And for the rod he used a 1 1/2 metal hollow rod thingy. I believe just to pay for the hardware was $15-20 bucks for all of it, plus the curtains ($50 for both) So I would say this was pretty cheap, minus the curtains.

These are the brackets we used to hold up the shelf and you can kind of see the wood we used.  The white brackets were from my previous blinds that were up and the black one we found in my back yard! The black is the only one you see so I wasn't too worried about those two little ugly ones.

Here is a better look at the wood. Isn't it the coolest!? Exactly what I wanted! And it was free!

And here is my COMPLETED Shelf!!! What do you think? I am obsessed!

These are wide shots of the shelf which was hard to take because of the light outside. Sorry, i just use my phone. I will take better ones of the whole eating area soon!

I still have quite a bit to add to fill this thing up but we found some old deer skulls in the woods and have put them up there as well.

Ok, so enough with the shelf. But let me tell you, Wes built this for me while I was NAPPING on the couch!! Can we say spoiled??

But any who,  I have seen succulents everywhere lately and found these pots in that little clearance section at target for $3 each! Stuck them suckers in there and VOILA! Super cute and easy to take care of. I just need to find a dish to match for the water to run out.

Wes' Gma's land is gorgeous! She has a huge pond with a creek flowing through her land to it. Little bridges everywhere, Woods galore! And some sheds with old wood ;) When we were there the other day I saw these gorgeous wild flowers everywhere and had to pick some. I love them, they add freshness and a pop of color to the area!

And here is a bundle of those purple flowers hanging above my sink. I just love it! Eventually that is what I want to do with the Sage and Lavender I am growing and put it all around the house. But for now, these will work!

More updates and crafts to come next!

XOXO,

Rachel

Get'n $h*t Done Up In Hurr!

Ok, so I left off letting you know I was single!! Yea.... that didn't last long. Hehe I know what you are thinking, moving on a little quickly aren't we? But honestly, I was so unhappy for so long that it doesn't feel like a rebound or anything. It's nice to have someone who you can tell actually cares about you. BUT, I wont continue to gush about him, so I'll get to mi casa!

I got the main areas of my house painted grey and I love it! (eating area, living room, hallways) I am not done painting trim yet but all the trim and doors will be white!  You can see the original color in this post.

 I need a new back door BAD; it's hideous and old and black and loud and ugh......The picture below, I found on Pinterest and have been obsessing over it for a while now. I eventually want to get white french doors put in but I love the idea of curtains and the shelf for the back door instead of those nasty big blinds that always fall off and break.

So here is the start of my back door!!!!! We went to Lowe's and Wes just bought some anchors and screws and who am I kidding?? I have no idea what he bought. I'll take a picture up close to show you how he made this curtain rod for cheap. 

I got these curtains at target for $25 each. I love them, they look like a potato sack close up.

So next we are going to use pallet wood to cover the anchors (or whatever you want to call them) , paint them white and add a shelf on top!

Now on to other $h*t...

First off, I just wanted to show of this old kerosene lantern Wes found on the side of the road and knowing how much I love rustic/primitive decor, brought it over for me! OBSESSED! 

I want everything pallet! While making shelves for my basement out of pallets, and a tub caddie thing (next post) he had this piece left over. Meh..... Why not!?

So we stained it dark walnut, which it came out a little darker than expected but I love it with the dark frames against the grey! EEK!

Here is just a mason jar I fancied up for my friend Vicky. She's always sending me pictures of things she wants me to make and I love crafting so there ya go! 

For this I used fabric tape on the top, and hot glue for the lace and twine. I always put a little dot of glue on the loops of the bow so they will stick up instead of just looking drab.

Sooo, decorating wine bottles is super easy, and quick. 

I use Elmer's glue to place the yarn on the bottles. I just cover a couple inches, starting from the top, and start spinning. Make sure to end each color on the same side as the others and that will be the back. I also used fabric tape in there as you can see!

Ok so I DO NOT have a green thumb whatsoever! I'm terrible at keeping plants alive, BUT I have always wanted to grow lavender. (hence the blog name) I want to dry it out and hang it in bundles around the house. Anywho, as a surprise, Wes bought me lavender and sage seeds to germinate and grow myself; along with all the fix-ins and that hanging plant as well. I am soooo excited! I stare at them everyday. The lavender is taking a while to come up but the sage is BOOMIN!

 I am sooooo happy with how my house is finally getting to where I want it. I honestly could not have done this with out the amazing support I have had these past few months! Thank you everyone!

XOXO,

Rachel