Painting the Guest Room Closet

I had said I was thinking of wallpapering or painting the closet in the guest room.  I looked  at wallpaper books from Sherman Williams, but I wasn't loving anything I saw.  Then I was looking for wallpaper on Etsy and I found some stencils on there that I really liked.  Jen had left a comment on that post that I should try stenciling something instead of wallpapering, so that's what I'm going to do.

Here's the stencil I found on Etsy.

They are a foot wide in length.

Zinnia flowers

I'm painting the closet blue and I'm going to paint the flowers white and gray.

Olympic Forevermore

Here is a picture of how the closet looked before I started painting.

I'm going to buy an armoire to put in the place of where that dresser with the mirror is now.  Then I'm going to move the dresser into the closet so I'll have more storage space for my sheets, quilts, blankets, etc. and I'm going to move that mirror and put it over the mantle on the fireplace.

I know the paint looks really pastel, but it will dry darker. It's still wet and the light is shining on it making it look even lighter.  If you're wondering why I'm using such a tiny roller, well, here's why...  when I painted the library closet, I bought a quart and hoped it would cover the whole thing.  I used one of those big long rollers and the roller itself sucked up half the paint in the can, so I had to go out and buy another quart to finish that closet.  This time I decided to use this small foam brush so it wouldn't waste any of the paint. It worked, too! I did the whole closet with less than a quart of paint and this closet is bigger than the library closet.

So envision that paint drying much darker and the zinnia flowers all over it.  The dresser in there and everything looking all tidy and nice.  :)  Can you see it?

UPDATE:  The guest closet finished.

*This post's comment section closed because of high volumes of spam.

Thai Basil Rolls (Vegetarian)

Tonight I made some Thai Basil Rolls.  I didn't look up a recipe or anything because you can sort of fill these rolls with whatever you would like.  Sometimes grocery stores have them already made that you can buy in the deli section and you can order them at Thai restaurants.  I love avocado, so that was my main ingredient.  I just put some salad leaves, avocado, Thai basil leaves from my garden and that's it.  It takes like 10 minutes to make.  Easier than grabbing takeout from McDonalds!  :)

What I used:

• Organic mixed greens 
• Organic Thai basil from my garden
• Avocado
• Rice paper 
• Organic Peanut Sauce

I boiled some water and poured it in a large plate that would hold the water.  I soaked the rice paper for about 2 minutes.  Put the basil on the rice sheet, then layered the avocados on top of those, then added the salad greens.  I started by folding the rice paper from the bottom, then folded over the sides on top of the filling, then continued to roll it all the way up.  You can probably find tutorials on youtube that show you how to roll them.  I didn't feel like making the peanut sauce from scratch, so I keep some already bottled here for times like this. You can find the rice paper and peanut sauce in the Asian section of your grocery store or an Asian supermarket. Sometimes people add carrots, shrimp, cilantro, bean sprouts, onions, etc., but it's up to you.

How it turned out.

I drank some tea with it, one of my favorite teas is this green tea by Yogi. It's the super-antioxidant one, it has lemongrass in it, which I think is what gives it the amazing flavor.

I also picked a few more things from my garden today.  I have ripe tomatoes now!  This is so fun.

Look at those wonky cayenne peppers! They are so long and wrinkly.

I made a little before bed time snack. 

This is the first time I've ever bought or cooked an artichoke.

I steamed it and dipped the bottom of the leaves in a tad of some Horizon organic butter.

Does this look right?  It sure tasted good.

Parmesan and Potato-Crusted Flounder with Tomato-Cilantro Sauce

 When I lived in Florida, I had a friend who I would meet up with for tennis once a week, then we would go back to her house and make a wonderful dinner.  Since I've moved to NC, we decided we're going to keep having our dinners, so we have decided to make Tuesdays (for now) the night we make the same recipe.  Even with the miles apart, we can still have dinner together! :)  

She picked the recipe this week.  (I think it's from a weight watchers recipe book, I will have to confirm with her for sure.)

Parmesan and Potato-Crusted Flounder with Tomato-Cilantro Sauce

3 tomatoes chopped

1/2 small onion chopped

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped

1 1/2 tablespoon red-wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2/3 cup potato flakes

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 (1/4 pound) flounder fillets

1 tablespoon olive oil

To make sauce, combine the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, vinegar and salt in a serving bowl

Lightly beat the egg in large bowl. Combine potato flakes, parmesan & pepper on sheet of wax paper. Dip each fillet into the egg to coat on both sides, then into potato mixture, pressing lightly to adheres.

Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add flounder and cook until browned or just opaque in center 2-3 minutes on each side. Serve with sauce.     (4 WW points)

I forgot to tell her I don't like my fish or seafood coated with any kind of crusting, but that is ok, I decided to go with it.  I only tweaked it a tad.  I just threw a salad (greens, spinach, mushrooms, deli olives, yellow bell pepper and roasted pepper dressing) together with it and viola. So simple.  It didn't take very long to make at all.

My friend I'm doing the Tuesday night dinners with just started her own blog, Lou Girl Plus Tea.  Thank you for the recipe Lou.  It was delish!

Here's a photo of Lou's dinner with the same recipe.

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Just wanted to show how I rearranged the kitchen.  I pushed the table all the way up against the wall to make more room, this is opposite my sink in the same room.  Remember I had said I was debating on getting an island so I was using the little kitchen cart for now?  I love having one! So I'm in the market now looking for an island.  Since I rearranged my kitchen like this, it leaves plenty of room for one.  I need to do something with this wall that the chalkboard is on.  Would it be crazy for me to paint most of the wall with chalkboard paint and just frame it out with molding?

Here are a few inspiration pics.

Flickr

Flickr

Cottage Living

Guest Room accessories

I'm trying to tweak the guest room a little bit, I had decided I was going to add touches of blue to the room.  Macy's was having a sale so I got this blue throw blanket for it.

Ever since I saw this wall lamp in the PB catalog, I just kept thinking of how nice it would look in the guest room.  After a few weeks of debating, I finally ordered it.  I'm going to put it to the side of the bed like this and put my desk to the other side and just put a silver desk lamp on it.  I decided not to get matching pairs.

I'll put these little galvanized buckets on the desk to hold pencils and such.

Also from PB.

For another splash of blue in the room, I was thinking of wallpapering or painting the inside of the closet similar to this.  I really don't like wallpapering, so I may take the easy way out and just paint it. Still debating here, too.  

I would love to get a Jute rug like this for the bedroom, but my dog sheds a lot and I'm just worried that I wouldn't be able to keep it vacuumed well enough.  It's much easier with no area rugs in the bedrooms so I can just sweep them and be done with  it.  

I will post updated pics of the guest room when the items arrive and when it starts getting a little more pulled together in there.

Patio Update

My Pottery Barn umbrella arrived.  I went and got a cast iron base for it at Kmart. It was on sale for like $34. compared to the one at PB for over $100.  I just hope it can hold it and not fall over.  I finished painting the table, but now have to finish up the bench. I only primed the top of it so far. I don't have a bench for the other side, so I need to buy chairs or find another bench.  I got this green chair this weekend for it, but as you can see, the seat is too low for the table. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Now I have to decide if I want to drill a hole in the picnic table to put the umbrella in it or not.  If I don't, then I won't use the umbrella near the table, I will probably just put some seating or lounge chairs around the umbrella instead.

I have a carport (click on pic to enlarge) and was thinking, maybe I could put the picnic table on my carport so if it rains or is too sunny, then I could still eat outside at the table.  I would put it right there up next to the patio so I would still have room to pull my vehicle in. It's a pretty long carport. This umbrella doesn't really shade the table unless the sun  is directly over you like between 11am and 1pm.  So the umbrella over the table almost seems to defeat the purpose, no?  Oh how I wish my patio had a cover over it.  I have to think this through and figure out what to do about all this.   I can't find any chairs or seating that I really like because I don't have a lot of places to pick from in this little town.

Do you have any ideas you could throw my way?

I have to share my first sunflower.

It bloomed!!

Authentic Salsa Recipe

Here it is, I have been promising pics of the authentic Mexican salsa made from banana peppers.  It's very simple, just use banana peppers, jalapeño peppers if you like it a little spicy, scallions, cilantro and tomatoes. I didn't use that whole big can of tomatoes, I only used half of it. Those banana peppers are all from my garden!

Put all of the ingredients in the blender and chop.

There you have it, delish salsa!

Here is the recipe if you would like to write it down or you can just copy and paste it into Wordpad and print it.

Authentic Mexican Salsa (passed down by MaryAnn)

• 10 Yellow peppers
• 1 or 2 jalapeño peppers (only if you like it hot, otherwise substitute banana peppers)
• 2 or 3 scallions
• 6 to 8 sprigs of cilantro
• 1 can of 16 oz. whole tomatoes
• sea salt (optional)

Slice peppers in half and hollow out the seeds (wear gloves!) and throw everything in the blender.  If you would like it to be more chunky and chopped, don't put the juice from the tomatoes in it. You can also use a food processor instead of a blender.  If you would like a more runny texture, use more of the tomato juice.  You can just play around with it until you get it to the texture and taste that you like.

One time I made it and it almost turned into soup because I blended it too long and used way too much of the juice.  My friend in FL just recently made it and she said it turned out too soupy, too.  So don't use the juice from the tomatoes next time Bec Bec.  :)

I also must say, I can not take the credit for this recipe.  It's from a friend who lives here in NC. She got it from a relative named Maryann and she said it has been passed down from many generations.  It doesn't really have a name, so I just call it authentic salsa.

I made fish tostados for dinner.  This is my own little recipe that I made up.  I guess I should have looked up a recipe, but I like to get creative when I cook and try to come up with my own meals.  When I was in Myrtle Beach this past weekend, we went to a Mexican restaurant and I ordered fish tostados and they brought me shrimp tostados!  I ate them anyway, but I really wanted those fish tostados so I've been craving them ever since.  I finally got my craving satisfied.

I am not sure what kind of fish I'm suppose to use,  I just used some flounder I had here.  (I love fish, I don't eat much other meat, but do try to have fish 2 or 3 times a week.)  I made some pico de gallo yesterday morning for my scrambled eggs and just used the leftovers.  Then I added some of the Authentic Salsa, avocados, and a squirt of lime.

Jolie's Fish Tostados

• Flounder (or whatever fish you want)
• Pico de gallo (You can make your own or buy it already made)
• Salsa
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 lime
• Crunchy Corn Tostado shells (You can buy already made or cook your own soft corn tortillas until they harden)

I cooked the flounder in some olive oil and seasoned.  After the flounder was cooked, I chopped it in the skillet and added some Pico de gallo in the skillet with the fish just long enough to warm it up.  Then I put it on the tostado shells, added salsa and cut up some avocado pieces on top.  It turned out great!

Just in case you're wondering about the Pico de gallo, here is a quick recipe for that, too.

Pico De Gallo

• 2 fresh ripe tomatoes
• 2 or 3 scallions
• 4 sprigs of cilantro 
• 1/2 lime
• 1 clove garlic (or just sprinkle some garlic powder in it)
• 1 jalopeno pepper (optional)
• sea salt (optional)

Chop up all of the ingredients and add together in a bowl.  I try to get as little of the juice from the tomatoes as I can in it.  You can use this on so many things.  Enjoy!

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I love cooking and may start adding a lot more recipes to my blog.  After watching the movie Julie and Julia, I wanted to turn my blog into a food blog! I love watching any kind of movie about food. I just recently watched No Reservations and it was really good.  I even love the cartoon Ratatouille :)   If you know of a good food movie, please let me know. 

A Little About How I Eat:

I try to eat healthy. I don't follow any certain diet or rules. I guess the closest thing you could describe the way I eat to is Clean Eating, but I think even with that, clean eaters don't eat anything from a can or box, which I think is ok to do if there aren't a long list of ingredients or unnecessary sugars, MSG, trans fat, etc. in it.   I do try to stay as close to nature as possible and  not eat a lot of processed foods.   I love veggies, lots of green leafy ones! Kale, spinach, collards, mustards, turnip greens, swiss chard, arugula, I could go on forever.  I was raised on collards.  I also eat a lot of fruit and make a lot of smoothies, one of my favorites is my green smoothie.  Like I said, I don't eat much meat besides fish/seafood.  Other meats sparingly. 

I don't eat white processed sugar, which means I'm not a big sweets eater.  Every now and then I will and I also love dark chocolate.  :)  I don't have a sweet tooth, but if I do want something sweetened, I will substitute a natural sweetener instead.  I don't drink cows milk and eat very little dairy.  I love coconut milk, rice milk, and almond milk! 

Do you have a special way of eating or a certain type of diet you follow?  I never did before I traveled to Thailand, but I got sick a lot through my life and when I was in Thailand I got sick even more.  I promised myself when I got back to the States I was going to try everything I could to get my health taken care of.  I went and bought a bunch of health and nutrition books and taught myself about how food nourishes you and the correct ways to eat and it changed my life. I hardly ever get sick anymore and I feel great and have a ton of energy.  This is one of the reasons I have such a passion for food. Not just any food, but healing foods that add health and strength to my life.

Hope you enjoy these healthy recipes.

About Me

Photo taken 11/30/12

I started this blog a few years ago and a lot has happened in that time, especially in the past year, so I thought I would update my About Me page.  

I originally started the blog to post items of great finds I had bought when I lived in Atlanta because there was some really great shopping there, then I morphed my blog into a house decorating blog when I purchased my first home in 2009. I just sold my house in August of 2012 which was quite unexpected.  Here is the story:

I moved to NC to be close to my parents because my dad was sick, he was diagnosed with cancer in 2007.  In January of 2012 my dad had a bad reaction to the chemo treatment and we all decided we were going to move to Florida to make things easier, not  having to deal with getting snowed in and living an hour away from a hospital and things like that. We were planning on moving this past July of 2012 but my dad suffered from some seizures that sent his health down very quickly. It was unexpected, we found out it was because his body was rejecting the dialysis from his Renal Failure. He passed away August 7th, 2012 and it sent my mom's and my world spinning in all directions.  I never knew what people went through when they lost a very close loved one and it has changed my life. 

I know I started this blog out of consumerism, then a decorating blog, but now the blog seems to be turning in a very different direction.  My dads death has really showed me that material things are not what matter in this life, when he left, he took nothing with him, the only thing in his hands when he left was my moms hand and my hand. The only thing that matter are people. I'm no longer going to focus on things to buy, I want to live with only the very basics, a new simplistic life, as long as I have food, clothes and a roof over my head, I will be fine, I don't have to have a huge closet or a fancy house, I would rather spend my time and energy on people. 

I hope you will continue reading my blog even though I know I have lost a lot of readers since I'm not decorating anymore. I picked back up an old hobby that I use to have a lot of passion for, photography. I am stirring that passion back up again by posting for the Project 365.  I don't know what direction I will end up in, since I lost my job, a best friend who moved away, my home, my dad... time will only tell. I'm not making huge plans, just seeing where each day leads me. I had to close both my business and my dads business down because it wasn't doing well because of the economy. Yes, a lot has happened in a very short time.  My blog will once again morph into something new depending on what I end up doing next, that is life, like the seasons, forever changing. I also have a passion for writing, so I have also just started doing some little essays with my photography posts.  I'll continue to update what comes next as it comes, I love and trust in the Lord and know He has better plans for me that I know fits into a bigger plan that I can not even begin to imagine. 

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More tidbits about me:

I'm a 42 year old single woman.  I've never been married.  I do, however, have the sweetest little dog in the world. His name is Little Foot, he's a Border Collie mix.  I adopted him from a shelter almost 4 yrs ago in Atlanta, GA.  He was an abandoned dog and had a lot of fear issues. After many months of working with him and putting  him in training classes, he has come a long way.  He is a very happy and healthy dog today.

An Island off Thailand with friends.

On a beach in Pattaya, Thailand.

One of the highlights of my life was living in Thailand for 2 years.  I was there teaching English, learning Thai and doing outreach work.  I automatically connected with the Thai people, culture and lifestyle there.  I have never met so many warm friendly people.  Thailand is called the Land of Smiles.  All you have to do is smile at someone and they will befriend you!  I couldn't believe how much I had in common with them, it was very hard for me to leave this place.  Thailand has a HUGE place in my heart and I will go back again one day.  I think sometimes my friends that know me probably get tired of hearing me talk about Thailand all the time  :)   I can't help it, it's part of me.

Mom, Dad and Me

As for the creativity aspect of my decorating, photography, writing, my moms side of the family is very artistic. My mother can draw, paint, sew... she is amazing! My grandfather was very artistic, too. He could also paint beautifully and use to be a sign painter. He painted everything by hand, no fancy technology like they use today.

My dad was quite creative as well, he built on a whole room to the house I grew up in by himself.  I grew up watching him make cabinets and furniture, refinish antiques, building things from nothing.  As a teenager, I would refinish little dressers and fancy them up, just from watching my dad. We never took any classes or read the first book about it.

So I guess I credit it to genes :)

I've moved once a year since I was about 19 years old, I love to travel and experience new places and people.  I have never stayed in one place long enough to put down any roots, and now it looks like I am on the move once again.  

Please don't hesitate to comment or send me an email. 

With Love,
Jolie

New Old Kitchen Cart

I got this cart from that estate sale my friends had and was just able to go get it yesterday.  It is battered and very stained, but you know I can fix that right up :)   A little sanding and sealing and it's good as new.  That is my butcher block cutting board I sat on top of it.  Before I bought this house, I envisioned a little mini island here in front of the sink.  I'm going to keep this here for a little while and see if I like having something there and if it's going to be easy to maneuver around or not.  I won't keep this particular cart there though, I would get something that was more of an actual island.

What do you think?  Would a small island look really out of place in this kitchen?  Too small of an area?

I'm going to put this cart over in the corner of the kitchen on the opposite side once I refinish it.  It doesn't look like it will be too hard to clean up. I don't have any plans to paint it or anything, just sand and seal.  I will like having the extra space to put things on while I'm cooking.  It's sort of the color of my counter tops, I wonder if this wood is oak, too?  I'm happy with my new little purchase.



P.S. I went ahead and bought the Pottery Barn patio umbrella yesterday!

Featured

Just wanted to post a thank you to the

 Better After blog

 for featuring my dresser on their site today.

Click on the button below and take a look at all of the amazing makeovers over there!

Thank you!

Cottage Kitchens

I just spent the last 3 days in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Didn't do much but hang out on the beach.  The pic above is the only picture I even took of the beach while I was there and that isn't  like me. It's from the hotel room.  I did however bring with me a Cottages and Cabins magazine.  I love this magazine because there aren't really any advertisements in it, the whole magazine is nothing but beautiful photos of adorable cottages that you can hardly stop looking at.  I couldn't find the magazine online or anything to show a link for it, but I bought it at my local grocery store.

Here are just a few pictures from it.

This last kitchen is so cozy looking, something about it feels so familiar to me. Love the wallpaper on the ceiling.  There are more than just kitchens in this magazine, but these were the ones I was drawn to the most.  One of the  houses I looked at when I was trying to find my house had red laminate counters just like in this 2nd photo.  Every one cringed at the red counters and I remember thinking  how cute they were and that I thought I could work with them.  I would have probably tried to do something similar.

Ok, back from vacation and time to get back to real life again!  I need to start working on some projects.  I want to paint the cabinets in my kitchen because they are very dirty and dingy.  I'm also going to try to focus on getting my patio area fixed up and revamping my guest room a little since I'm sleeping in the guest room now.  Stay tuned!

Pickin' Peppers!

I just thought I would share with you my first pickins' from the garden!  I finally have peppers big enough to pick.  I thought I would have more banana peppers because I planted so many, but there are still a lot of smaller ones still growing, so I may end up with more than I can handle soon enough.

I just picked banana peppers, jalapeño peppers and habanero peppers.  I love salsa and hot and spicy foods.  My dad raised me eating cayenne peppers from a young age, I think that's why I love hot and spicy things so much.  I will probably pickle some of them, freeze some and use up the rest making lots of salsa and in the dishes I cook .

I know, I didn't wait for the habaneros to turn red, but I couldn't resist! I love the flavor of habanero so much.    Once I get more banana peppers, I will make some salsa with them and post the recipe and pics of it.  I got the recipe from a friend and it's some of the best salsa I've ever had.

If you have any good recipes with peppers or for salsa, please let me know!

Washer & Dryer arrived

I got my washer & dryer yesterday.  I'm not sure what to think of them yet, I've done a couple of loads of laundry and the first thing I noticed was, my clothes were hot when I washed them on cold.  Apparently the guy hooked the hoses up backwards, so I had to get my wrench out and swap them back the right way.  I need to do a few more loads of laundry before I know for sure how much I like them.  I do like that both the washer & dryer beep to let me know the clothes are done.

I have been wanting a clothes rack to go above my washer & dryer for a while now.  I can't decide if I want to break down and purchase the one from Ballard Designs or try to make my own.  I saw on a blog where someone actually made their own knock off of the BD one, you can see it here at My Repurposed Life.

Ballard Designs Drying Rack

Photoshopped picture of the drying rack on my wall.

The reason that Keep Calm and Carry On picture is over to the side like that is because there was a nail already on the wall and I wanted to get the picture out of the way, so I just hung it there for the time being.  Not even sure that picture fits in any place in my home.  I can't think of anywhere I could hang it.  Maybe out in the shed? hmmm

Creating a Nice Deck Area

I seem to be running into more problems trying to work on the outside of my house than I did on the inside.  In the mornings and evenings when it's cooler, the mosquitoes are brutal! Very hard to work on any of my projects. I have to put on jeans and boots and load up with mosquito repellent.  During the days, it  is starting to get up to 100 degrees and more, then when it's not hot, it's raining.  What's a girl to do?

I was able to put a coat of primer on the top of the picnic table, I may end up having to drag this thing in my house to work on it!

Remember the oil spill on the top? Well the oil is seeping through the primer.  I'm wondering if one more coat might help seal it better?  I did try to use the kitty litter to soak it up, but that oil isn't budging.  It does  look very pretty white though.  Now I need to do the legs and put a coat of paint on it.  I had originally thought I was going to drill a hole in the top of it and put an umbrella through it, but I've changed my mind.  I'm going to just get a big umbrella and buy some chairs and bench seating to put around under the umbrella.  I think it will function better that way and look much nicer.

I am debating on getting this umbrella from Pottery Barn.

The only thing is, the stand the umbrella goes in costs about $100.00. I'm wondering if this pole is a regular size pole and would fit in any stand that I can buy somewhere else?  I know the way PB makes their lamps, they have it fixed so you can't buy the lamp shades somewhere else, you have to buy theirs to fit the base and vice versa.  Does anyone have any idea about these PB umbrellas if they will fit in just any stand?


I found this table while I was blog hopping and love how they painted the blue stripe down the middle. I was thinking of doing something similar with my picnic table.  My original plan was to paint it white.

Photo from Elle Decor found on Fresh Nest Design.

I'm not sure about all the bright colors though, I am always so drawn to the calming peacefulness of whites and organic materials like in the photo below.

Photo from Decor Pad.

If you haven't checked out Decor Pad, it's a great site to browse for inspiration.  You can go to the search bar there and from the pull down menu, choose photos, then type in any word or room you're looking for and it gives you so many beautiful decorated spaces to browse.  

This is how I get ideas for my home, I just browse decor sites and blogs and get a feel for what i want. The pic above from Decor Pad gives me a feel of calm when I look at it, so I know I want to create that calm on my deck. I won't copy it, but will create something of my own to elicit that same *feel*.  

Taking design quizzes can also help you nail down your own special style.  This one from Sproost is good.  My answers to the quiz was 40% French Eclectic, 40% Nantucket Style and 20% Rustic Revival. I think that about hits the nail on the head.

Oh and one more thing, here's my next little project.

Fixing up this old table.

What color do you think I'm going to paint it?