Craving a Little Sunshine...

Today marks day 5 of cooler temps and cloudy grossness. I'm over it for realz.

I need some sunshineeeee on a clouudddy day... you can imagine me singing that and reenacting the scene from My Girl, of course. So to bring a little sun into our lives I wanted to share a few of these sunburst mirrors that I spotted and thought were too good to pass up.

I know this style has been popular for a while, but its nautical vibe it is a great addition to you summer shack. Better yet they are all $80 or less!

 

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Do you remember when I had that perfect little Saturday I had a few weekends back? Well, that included me picking up this vintage beauty for $30

(It is actually a mirror- the flower is just a reflection of my grandma's painting)

 Anyone else craving some summer sun like us here in Boston??

XOXO Katie

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My Little Pony

As you know, I make frequent pit stops at my local thrift store to see if there is anything screaming out for a makeover. I keep an open mind because even if I don't need something for our place, I can always give a piece a new life and then sell it on Craigslist or Ebay.

My project this weekend was clearly not for us to keep. Unless you want to see a 6'2" 180 lb man having a flash back to his lost cowboy dreams. I tried to get Joey to just pretend to ride it...no luck. Too bad- I know a few of his brothers would have paid big bucks to see that! 

Meet my little pony:

At $9.99 I figured it would be a good project for a rainy day (and as I said yesterday we are having plenty of those) and I was excited to makeover something that would be on the more playful and on the girly side.

First, I removed the seat that was just tacked on with nail heads. Luckily the foam was in pretty good shape so I decided to reuse it later.

Time for a light sanding and a quick coat of all purpose primer.

The tail was a little discolored and grimy so that had to go. I felt like a surgeon trying to get the tail to wiggle loose as it was glued and and nailed inside. After a little muscle action I got it to come out.

After the primer was nice and dry I gave it a few coats of standard white semi-gloss paint and the put the foam seat back on with a hot glue gun.

The padding was cushy, but I thought it could use a little more batting to make it a soft ride for a toddler tushy. I simply tacked that on with a staple gun. Needless to say a standard staple gun is child's play compared to the one I used in my upholstery class, but it will have to do for the time being.

After a quick trim of the excess batting, I repeated this step with my fabric, but I stapled close to the bottom edge of the seat so that I could later cover it with my trimming.

And now for some girly action- pom pom trim! I used the hot glue gun to attach that along the bottom of the seat to cover all the visible staples.

I made a quick trip to the Deep (aka Home Depot) for a new tail and new handle bar for this girl. The tail is just industrial rope that they can cut to what ever length you need, and handle bar was a 5/8" dowel that I cut to size.

This pony is finally ready for a ride!

I just hope that the little girl that is lucky enough to take this home will appreciate that any ugly duckling has the potential to become a beautiful swan.

XOXO Katie

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Light Veggie and Chorizo Chowda

This weekend for the Northeast was a bit of a bummer- it rained all day both Saturday and Sunday. A great welcome to June- thanks summer gods. Is it just me or does it seem like if Monday-Friday is 75 degrees and sunny it is almost a guarantee that the weekend is going to poop out?!

So Lame.

Well to pass the time I tried out a new soup recipe that I think will be a great summer treat but won't tack on the pounds. Here in Boston, there is always a corn or clam chowder on a seaside menu. I love cream based soups, but sadly my butt does not. Sorry, but short shorts are not as cute with a muffin top :(

So here is my spin on a chowder what will give you a your daily dose of veggies and still fill your tummy up gooooood.

Light Veggie and Chorizo Chowda

Ingredients:

1 bag cauliflower

1 bag brussel sprouts

2 ears of fresh corm

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups fat free milk

2 Tbs fat free sour cream

3 chicken chorizo sausage links

2 small onions

2 Tbs cumin

1tsp. red pepper flakes

3 Tbs olive oil

salt & pepper

This sounds a little complicated because there is roasting, sauteing, and blending involved, but I swear it was not hard at all. I was able to make this from start to finish in one hour and that was when I could pry myself away from Joey's (ok maybe my) guilty pleasure show Wicked Tuna. Who knew a tuna was HUGE!! Like bigger than a dolphin huge- so insane!

Anyway, the first step is to give the brussel sprouts and cauliflower a very rough chop to get ready for roasting. While you are doing this, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and move the rack to the highest spot.

Put them on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Let those roast for about 15 minutes our until they get a nice color to them.

While those are cooking, chop up the onions and toss those in a pot with tablespoon of olive oil. Saute until soft and then add the cumin powder, red pepper flakes, and a little salt and pepper.

I still had about 5 more minutes before the veggies were done roasting so I diced up my chicken chorizo and put it in a small saute pan to heat up. They are precooked so I really just needed to brown them up a bit. I also took the corn off the cob to put in to the soup towards the end.

Veggies were looking nice and roasted!

Transfer the roasted veggies in the into the pot with the onions and then pour in the chicken stock and milk. Let that simmer for about 10 minutes just so the flavors fuse together.

Now it time to blend! Pour the soup mixture into a blender (you may have to do this in two batches because no one wants a blender volcano) and hit the pulse button until it is smooth.

At this point you can add in a little bit of chicken stock if your soup seems a little thick. I think I added in about another 1/2 cup once it was all blended to thin it a bit. I also added a dollop of fat free sour cream just for the heck of it.

Finally (yes, you are almost there!), put in the fresh corn and the chicken chorizo. You can save a little chorizo for a garnish as well.

At last- time to eat!

This was so tasty and remarkably filling for having almost no fat in it. The blended veggies gave the soup that thickness that cream or even a potato would give without any of the cals! Since it was a healthy alternative I didn't feel bad about serving it with a nice hunk of fresh bread.

This is a great treat for a rainy day and totally satisfies that New England Chowda craving :)

XOXO Katie

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Takin', Fakin' & Makin' : Bold Lampshade

TGIF!! Why is it that a short holiday week seems to last the longest?? Maybe it is the beautiful weather and the sun calling my name, but all I can say is I can't wait for 5pm :) 

I am in the process of trying to add some life to the matching clear lamps that are on the dresser in my bedroom, and I thought that this week's TFM would be a great way to gather some inspiration for the direction that I could go.

There are sooooo many adorable fabric covered lampshades out there at such a wide array of prices- the choices are endless. But the trouble I have is finding the exact one that goes with my color pallet or vibe of the room. I have spotted shades ranging from $10-150 depending on the fabric and quality, but all are great additions to a room in need of a pop of color. Plus, if you have a lamp base that just needs a new identity then swap a blah shade for something fun!

Of course, I am all about the DIYed version since it means the fabric choices are unlimited, but for those of you that don't have the crafty bug then these sources have great options for you.

Anthropologie $88 (Takin')

World Market $12.99 (Fakin')

Design Sponge DIY (Makin')

I am so excited to announce the big winner of the Diggin' Me Some Dorsey Giveaway

Lindsay of LindsayinNYC!!!!

winner generated by random.org

Don't worry, if you weren't the lucky winner this time you can still buy your own origional print from Sarah's Etsy Shop.

XOXO Katie

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