mini baked omelets

Practice makes perfect right? Well…I’m still not quite perfect on these yet. Again, while stumbling on the all mighty evil Pinterest I came across omelet “cupcakes”. So after Miles’ birthday party I had some extra veggies on hand so I decided to try these out. I found several recipes that used regular muffin tins and got the cooking times from the recipes I found. One recipe said you could use foil OR paper cupcakes liners. So I opted for paper because that was what I had on hand. Mistake number one. The fillings options I went with were mushrooms, tomatoes, and green peppers. I diced up the veggies and filled the cups.

I mixed up the eggs and added some salt and pepper. The “cupcakes” went into the over for twenty minutes and then I let them cool for...let’s say a while. I kind of forgot about them. So when I went to peel off the paper liners were saturated with water…I’m guessing from the tomatoes. I peeled off the paper (and a bunch of egg) and then put them in a gallon bag and tossed in the freezer. I figure they can be for Miles.

Take two. While talking to a friend I had an epiphany to use foil as the liners. I know, I know just cut the crap and not use a liner but I’ve made eggs in a cupcake pan without any sort of…barrier and it was a complete disaster. I think there are still egg pieces in that damn pan. So anyways, back to the eggs. I decided to use my Texas size muffin tin, I do live in Texas you know, and foil as liners. 

Assembled these guys the same as take one and I believe I baked them for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Again the foil didn’t really come off and took a bunch of egg with it. Also too much water, I’m still thinking those damn tomatoes, but here is what I ended up with.

Who knows, maybe take three will go better.  Any suggestions? Help a sister out.

diy picture frame accent wall

When we bought our house I knew I wanted to paint at least one room in the house before we moved in (the house was a boring builder beige color throughout). I figured we would be spending the most time in our living room so I started there. I’m not sure where my love for gray came from, but this was the first time I used it. Gray is a bitch of a color to choose for paint. There are blue grays, purple grays, brown grays, green grays…sigh. I choose one color gray from the paint chips and bought a gallon. After the paint color went up it looked decidedly blue, but I didn’t feel like repainting so I went with it. See…blue. Oh well.

I found a large painting at World Market and decided to use the blues and greens as accent colors as well as yellow. I found the yellow pot in the dollar section at Target. The glass bottles I stole was gifted from our friend after the garage sale we had together. I picked up the flowers from World Market as well. She also was getting rid of selling a bunch of picture frames. 

Now at this time I had been spending a lot of time on Etsy, because I had not yet discovered Pinterest or it wasn’t really a big deal yet. I found multiple listings for empty colored picture frames for a gallery wall in a variety of coordinating colors, but at a price point that I really wasn’t sold on. So when I saw all of the picture frames I decided to snag a few and make my own gallery/accent wall.

The rest is pretty simple. I took out all the glass and backs because I planned on leaving them empty.  I primed them and then used paint sample size containers of paint that I picked up at Home Depot. One down side of paint samples is that they are not glossy. So I also picked up some spray clear coat. Looking back I should have just bought spray paint but they didn’t have the colors that I wanted and I had yet to totally fall in love with spray paint. I think I ended up putting at least four coats of paint on the yellow ones before calling it a day. Let’s call the yellow ones distressed.

I had my husband put some new hanging hardware on because I changed the orientation of some of the frames. I must have rearranged these frames a million times before I settled on the current (and final) arrangement.

I plan on putting something inside of these frames one day, but I still haven’t decided yet. I have a few key decorations, two antique ones I bought and a key that my husband had 3D printed for me. What do you think? Hit me up in the comments below.

miles' birth story

One year ago (and two days) I gave birth to my son at 8:06 am on a Friday morning. The previous day started out pretty uneventfully. I had been off work for almost one week because I decided to start my maternity leave when I was 38 weeks along (my weeks started on Friday). So that morning stared out with me throwing up shortly after I woke up and then spending some time at home being lazy because I thought I still had two more weeks (at least) until the little man showed up. My OB/GYN had been fairly adamant that I would (at least) make it to my due date of November 3^rd. (Side note: my original due date, as calculated from the date of my last period, was October 25^th, and believe me I knew when this was because we were trying to get pregnant). I spent time at home, maybe ran an errand or two and waited for Chris to get home. After dinner we watched some TV and I went upstairs to go to bed. The Phenergan that I took in the evenings made me pretty tired. I think I didn’t end up falling asleep until around midnight (because it wasn’t like I had somewhere to go the next day).

I can’t even describe the sensation to waking up in the middle of the night and realizing that your water has broken. I ran to the bathroom and sat on the toilet and waited for things to stop. I waited…and waited…and waited some more. I started to freak out. I was not an informed pregnant person. We did not go to a childbirth class. I bought a DVD and read some materials from the hospital. I had assumed anything I needed to know the nurses in the delivery room would tell us. Even looking back I still don’t think I needed a childbirth class and maybe you’ll soon see why.

So there I was, waiting in the bathroom and trying not to freak out. I thought when a pregnant woman’s water broke it was like a whoosh of water and then it stopped. I did not know it could be like opening a hole in a dam. I started to laugh hysterically and call for Chris. He didn’t hear me. Re-commence freaking out. I decided to try a maxi pad to help with my…situation. Yeah…no. I ran out of the bathroom to grab new underwear and wake up my husband. “Hey! It’s time to go to the hospital!” Watching his reaction was rather comical. Also it’s about 2:00 am right now.  I have no idea how long I was initially in the bathroom alternating between freaking out and laughing like a crazy person.

I opted for a hand towel from the bathroom and attempted to shove that in my underwear. Problem kind of solved. While I was getting dressed Chris was gathering all our “hospital” gear and getting the car ready. We drove to the hospital in mostly silence. I believe we arrived at the hospital around 3:00 am. We attempted to go into the main entrance of the hospital (because no one told me you had to use the ER after hours.) So we walked all the way around the hospital to the ER entrance, which really wasn’t that far away. I wasn’t sure if I should start calling/texting family yet, I was fairly certain this was active labor and we would be admitted but it was still only 3:00 am.  I may have texted a few people and gotten some excited texts to keep them posted. Once we found the ER we had to wait while someone came from L&D to get us. That seemed like it took FOREVER!

Our guide finally arrived and wheeled me to L&D. I filled out at least one form and then they took me to a triage room to “confirm” that my water had broken. I may have laughed, because clearly my water had broken and I felt like I was leaking a gallon of water a minute. She finally “confirmed” that my water had indeed broken and hooked me up to all kinds of things and then left us. I started to have contractions fairly regularly. My husband and I began texting the rest of the family. My uncle and my dad were flying from Cleveland, Ohio to Birmingham, Alabama to go to an Alabama game with customers from my dad’s work later that day so I knew they would both be waking up soon. My uncle didn’t believe that I was at the hospital so I sent him a picture of the curtain in our little divider room in the triage area. I was the first one bought into the triage room, very shortly after at least two other women in labor came in. One woman was scheduled for a C-section later that day but went into labor early. She was having some fairly intense contractions and I had to listen to that and was starting to get scared.

My contractions started to become a little more intense, but I didn’t start timing them or anything. I was FINALLY moved into a delivery room around four am. A doctor still hadn’t seen me, I was wondering if I would ever see one. My doctor never recommend that I write a birth plan, but I had seen What to Expect When You’re Expecting so I knew what one was. I didn’t have a plan so much as a list of “wishes”:

            1. no epidural

            2. no drugs

            3. no C-section

            4. my regular OB/GYN to deliver the baby

So now it’s around 4:00 am and I finally end up in a private delivery room and am eventually checked out by the on call doctor. However, I know that my doctor is in the office on Friday’s and she comes on at 8:00 am. I get excited because I figure I have at least eight to ten more hours of labor to go and will definitely have number four on my list happen. By the time the on call doctor comes to check me out I’m dilated six centimeters. The nurses keep asking me if this is my first child, since every thing is happening so fast. The contractions now are fairly regular and beyond painful. I’m beginning to think that my idea of no epidural and no drugs is a pretty dumb idea. I can’t possibly handle six or more hours of this pain. I don’t remember much of the time after the contractions began to get crazy. I spent most of my time with my eyes shut and holding on to my husband’s hand and squeezing like crazy. I started to say out loud that I didn’t think I would be able to do this now. I was thinking of asking for an epidural. The on call doctor came in again and checked me. I was eight centimeters dilated and even I knew that meant I couldn’t get an epidural now.  It’s starting to get close to 8:00 am and I’m hoping that my doctor will be in to see me soon.

Meanwhile, back in Ohio my dad was freaking out about me being in labor and something happening while he was travelling. Apparently he was making himself sick and almost decided to cancel his trip. My sister convinced him to go and told him there was no way that I would have the baby before he landed in Alabama (with a layover in Chicago). Cut back to Texas where 8:00 am is quickly approaching. I’m vastly uncomfortable and the nurse keeps making me stay in an all fours position because when I’m on my side or back the baby’s heart rate starts to drop. My doctor has been in and checks on me one time and then leaves. I start to have the urge to push, I tell the nurse and she tells me to “bear down” when I have that urge, so I do. My doctor comes back fairly soon and checks me again. I’m fully dilated and it’s time to go.

Dr. Collins jokes that she’s never delivered a baby “upside down” so she has be flip to my back. Everything next is really a blur. They tell me to push during the contractions, I push. It HURTS. A lot. I’m really, really starting to regret not getting that epidural. All I can think is that I cannot do this. I start to vocalize that as well. They tell me I can. I don’t believe them. I push several times and feel like I’m going to be ripped apart from the inside out. I later learn that I pushed approximately ten times and for fifteen minutes. Miles decides to make his debut, and it was good he did because the doctor was getting ready to use forceps (something I forgot to put on my list). Chris cut the umbilical cord, which must have been cool for him.

It’s ridiculous how soon the pain stops once the baby comes out. They take Miles to get him cleaned up and bring him back to me. I don’t take him when they offer because I feel too weak but Chris swears that I said “aww baby” when they showed him to me. Chris takes Miles and holds him for a while until I was ready and we tried nursing. I think it went well for two newbies and then I think they took Miles for a bit and put him under the heater thing. Luckily no jaundice for Miles and he had very solid Apgar scores. They got me all squared away and then left us. Alone. With a brand new baby. And no instructions.

Everything felt pretty easy and natural. I wasn’t in an intense amount of pain and was able to get up and walking fairly easily. We made phone calls and texts and then just hung out as a new family. So there you have it. Miles’ birth story. I know it’s not the typical experience of a first time mom, but that’s how it went for us (or at least how I remember it a year later).

freezer meals: pasta lunches

My husband and I always seem to struggle with coming up with ideas for lunches. We often end up opting for something of the Lean Cuisine variety and are always disappointed with the amount of food and how unsatisfying they are. Our second go-to lunch idea usually ends up being sandwiches, ugh, sandwiches for two (or more) weeks in a row is kind of gross. So one day while I was cruising Pinterest I stumbled upon Freezer Cooking:$0.24 Microwavable Pasta Lunch Packets from Frugality Gal and I thought, I could totally do that! So I started looking on Amazon to find some containers and found these. Perfect. Obviously the “start up” cost for these lunches the first time is a going to be higher but as long as I do this more than once the cost will go down.

I opted to make a regular red sauce spaghetti with meatballs lunch and an alfredo option. I thought about cooking up some chicken for the alfredo pasta, but decided to be lazy instead…oh well.  I choose penne as my past because I figured it would freeze the best. I’m assuming a rotini would work equally as well. I decided to put veggies in the two side containers.

My shopping list:

Penne $.89

Spaghetti sauce $.99

Alfredo sauce $1.69

Meatballs (I don’t remember, I’m going to estimate $5.00 for a bag of 30)

Broccoli $.99

Peas $.89

Corn $.89

California Medley  $.99

The lunches were beyond simple to make. The only “cooking” I had to do was to boil the pasta then place on sheet trays in the freezer. Once the pasta was frozen I put approximately one cup of pasta in each large compartment and topped with a quarter cup of sauce (and two meatballs for the red sauce option). The veggie containers held about a half a cup each.

Now time for some crazy math.

Alfredo pasta lunch cost (five meals): $.80/each

half box of penne $.45

sauce $1.69

veggies $1.88 (two bags)

Spaghetti lunch cost: $.99/each

half box of penne $.45

meatballs $1.66 (I used 10 total from the bag of 30)

sauce $.99

veggies $1.88 (two bags)

So there you have it. Way, way less than buying convenience frozen lunches at the grocery store and probably more food as well. From frozen I heat these up for about three minutes, then stir and heat for two more minutes with the lid on but not sealed.

What do you eat for lunch at work? Hit me up in the comments below. Happy reading.

diy dining room furniture makeover: the chairs (a lesson in un-upholstery)

I'm sorry this post has taken so long to get to. To date my first post about the inspiration for this post has had the most views on the blog. That's pretty damn cool. So, here we go. We bought the dining room furniture in 2012…and now it’s 2014 and we are just about done with the project. I never thought about making this project a DIY how-to until now. 


I initially decided to start with the chairs, assuming they would be the most time intensive part of the project and get them out of the way first. I was right, the chairs by far took the most time to complete. But now that everything is done (almost) this project finally seems worth it.
The chairs also had batting and foam to take off (but that was pretty easy). The hardest past was getting all of the staples out of the wood bottoms. That took forever. Several had broken while I was taking off the fabric so I was left with little metal shards. I tried to remember when I had a tetanus shot. We managed to get all of the staples out and then saw how poor of shape the wood was in now. My husband decided to use wood putty to fill in all the holes and reinforce the four corners where the screw attached the legs.

I love the scroll or whatever on the back of these chairs. I HATE the fabric and the color of the wood. I think that I started to take the fabric off before I began looking for new fabric. It took me an entire day off from work to take off the fabric, and I think my husband had to help with the last chair because I was exhausted and my hands were killing me. Five of the chairs had two layers of fabric to take off, a protective plastic and then this ugly fabric. One chairs had four layers. Four. FOUR! 

Once you get down to bare wood you are ready to really get started. First you will need to cut your foam. Scissors kind of, not really work. I purchased an electric knife, you know the kind you use at thanksgiving for turkey…yeah one of those. Have fun, it’s going to look horrible, but the batting will help to smooth everything out. I bought two-inch foam for the chairs. I used spray adhesive to secure the foam to the wood. Then I went nuts with the stapler and the batting. Sorry no picture. As I was getting the batting in place I knew I was going to have a problem with the corners and the weird rounded shape they had. My chairs were now much thicker than where I started. Once you have the foam and batting on you need to start being careful.

Unfortunately for me I picked a pattern for my chairs and one that was made up of lines. I had a hell of a time making sure I cut all the fabric in the right spot so each chair would be identical. After you get your fabric lined up on the chair bottom you will pull as tight as you can and staple in the middle of the top and bottom, leave the sides for now. Once you have the middle of the top and bottom secured you can staple to about once inch from the corner. Next you’ll want to staple the middle of each side and then out until you are an inch or so away from the corner. The next part was hard, at least for me. The corners of these chairs were an absolute bitch. I have no idea how to described what I did, but here is a picture.

Then you know , you’re done. At least with one. Then you have to finish the rest. Sigh.

Celebrate you have completed part one of stage one. Now on to the painting!

next up: diy dining room furniture makeover: the chairs (how to use a paint sprayer)