Pots and Pans

Drew is the sweetest. I’m not just saying that because he is sitting right next to me and reading over my shoulder as I’m typing, either. Which he is doing, no matter how much I tell him it annoys me. 😉

Anyway, I mentioned last week to my mom that our stainless steel pots and pans were all discolored and had stains on the bottoms–mainly because Drew’s apartment has an electric stove, so the rings burn everything into the pan bottoms. We have the pots and pans hanging on a rack that is over the bathroom door right next to the kitchen, so their pan butts are in plain view all the time. Not the most attractive with there are brownish splotches all over them. So anyway, I asked my mom if she knew a good way to get the stains off. She said not to worry about them because who cares what the bottoms of the pans look like, but that we could try different combinations of baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, and water and scrub them and see if that worked.

I had completely forgotten about them but then today, I get up from doing my homework and walk over to the kitchen and not only did Drew wash all the dishes, but he had successfully figured out how to get the majority of the stains off our pots and pans! How sweet!

He said that he researched it and the discoloration and staining could build up and eventually affect the cooking quality of the pans. We would like them to last as long as possible, plus it doesn’t hurt if they look better in the process!

Here you can obviously see how discolored the big one was. The one on the right had already been cleaned. You can see that not 100% of the discoloration came off, but the worst spots and the majority of it did. We’ll have to investigate farther to see if we can get the last bit of that off.

Here they are, nice and much cleaner!

Do you have any other tips on how you keep these marks off your pans or what you use to clean them with?

Leave a Comment

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

Daisies

Drew bought me some flowers today. 🙂 He’s cute, I know. Although I’d been saying for a while that I thought we needed some flowers to liven up the house, especially since we were having company. He bought them while I was at school and had them in some glass bottles that they didn’t fit in very well, so I rearranged them into little bouquets. 🙂 I even made him a little bouquet and put a couple in a empty strawberry Abita bottle. 🙂 I should have taken a picture of it.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my Dad today! 🙂

1 Comment

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

Honey We’re Home

Today I stumbled across the blog, Honey We’re Home, and I was so impressed by her house! Her blog illustrates her going through designing, building, and now decorating her new home. You should all check it out!

I really, really love her office!

I also really like the layout of her kitchen. I like that it is open to the living room and breakfast area, but is still its own room.

I think pretty much anyone would agree that this closet is AMAZING!

I’m excited to see how she chooses to decorate the rest of her house!

Leave a Comment

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

Bedside Lamps and Stuffed Chicken

Today, I ended up starting on two of the things on my 20 before 20 list.

3. try cooking new things with new ingredients (I think we might pick at least 1 new recipe a week)

and

16. work on decorating Drew’s apartment so it feels more “homey”

We set out to shop for new sheets for Drew’s bed. He has some gray ones that I bought him last year, but I thought that he needed an extra set. Especially because he always forgets to take the sheets to the laundromat when he washes his clothes.  So we went shopping and found some creamy colored ones that I liked. They are a bit satiny and really soft. They also match his bedspread better than the gray ones did. Plus they weren’t super expensive, but were still Ralph Lauren. While shopping, I saw these two matching bedside table lamps that I really, really liked. I tried to ignore them and walk on past. But they were just so lovely. We didn’t really need bedside table lamps for another year and a half, until we are married and it becomes our bedroom instead of his. However, we are trying to slowly collect things for our house together now, because after paying for a wedding, we aren’t going to have any money to spend on household items. So anyway, I debated and debated about the lamps, but I really wanted them. They weren’t actually as expensive as I thought that they would be and I figured it was better for us to get them now, because you can never find what you are looking for right when you need it. So now we are the happy owners of two matching lamps that look like this:

I’m trying to figure out the perfect mix of my style and his for our future house. He is a big fan of modern. But classic too. My tastes are somewhat similar, although a little less modern. More elegant/classic/country/with a little modern. I don’t really know how to describe it. In my dorm room, I have a lot of bright colors and quite a bit of pink. I’m trying to figure out what styles, colors, and patterns to choose to accommodate a boy. Although Drew isn’t all that picky. I could probably put anything I wanted in our house. But I like these lamps for several reasons. I like their curvy bases. I like the stainless steel. I like that they seem durable. I’m also a big fan of textured lampshades.  To me, I think it is a good balance of classy with a modern feel. Plus, as neutral as they may seem, they gave me inspiration for our bedroom color palette and style. 🙂

Anyway, next we will have to get bedside tables. 🙂

Once we got home and got our lamps set up, I sent Drew to the laundromat to wash the new sheets and I set about cooking dinner. I’ve been wanting to start cooking new things, because we get to where we make the same things that we like over and over. I was looking through one of my cookbooks the other day and saw a recipe for cheese-stuffed chicken breasts that sounded good. I didn’t really follow the recipe because it was for 6 chicken breasts and I definitely wasn’t making that many for just us two. So I sort-of improvised it all, like I usually do, but it turned out great!

I took two chicken breasts and sliced them in half far enough to have room to stuff them. I sliced several small mushrooms and sauteed them in a skillet with a little olive oil. In a small bowl, I mixed together part of a bag of grated cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano, fontina, asiago) and a little muenster cheese we had with some garlic, salt, and herbs. I stuffed the mushrooms and the cheese mixture into the chicken. I put them in a rectangular baking dish with a little olive oil and some fresh green beans to bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes. I also made a little couscous to accompany it. I would have to say though that the green beans cooked a little too long in there with the chicken, so next time I might add those into the oven after the chicken had cooked for a little bit. Other than that, it turned out pretty great! 🙂

I’m happy to have started on my 20 before 20 list. Drew’s apartment is looking a little more “homey” and although I didn’t use new ingredients, I did make something new for dinner this week. 🙂

3 Comments

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

My Life List :)

So I’m sure everyone has one, if not in list form, then in ideas that flow through their heads–a list of things that you would like to accomplish in your lifetime, dreams, goals, etc… I’m sure everyone already knows my dreams of getting married, raising kids, having a happy home, gardening and being creative in my own lovely decorated house somewhere on the Wallace family homestead. I write about that, or at least think about it all the time. But aside from those dreams and the typical dreams of wanting to finish school and figure out exactly what I’m meant to do in life and to work and to travel and to see the world, I have a list of mostly creative objectives that are things that I would like to do before I die. I’m sure that this list will continually change, but as for now, here are some of the things on my life list:

*create my own fabric line

*write and illustrate a children’s book (or books)

*design my own font (or fonts)

*start my own group of creative friends that can meet often to socialize and do crafts, etc… (maybe the Golden Roses?– this is inspired my the Metal Tulips, my fiance’s mom’s crafting group. It is eight women, all best friends, who get together every Wednesday to eat and chat and talk about their latest creative endeavors. They mostly do quilting and embroidery, so they all help each other with ideas and whatnot. Their name was inspired by Steel Magnolias.) I think it is a great thing and I would love to have my own similar group.

*publish a book of my creative non-fiction short stories (following in my grandpa’s footsteps)

*open an “Icing on the Cake” boutique selling handmade things

*learn how to letterpress

*design stationary and wedding invitations

*explore poetry (it is the form of writing that before last semester I was the least familiar with and I am very intrigued by it and I would like to continue to try my hand out at it)

3 Comments

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

My Icing on the Cake

Okay, so I know I keep going on and on about the “icing on the cake” and I don’t want to overuse the saying, but I was thinking the other day about my favorite things in life. So I started writing down the first things that came to my head. I typed them all up and was going to post them the other day, but then I got busy working on other stuff and didn’t have time. I went back to them today and was reading through all the things I wrote, and I don’t know if it is just because I’ve been studying poetry in my creative writing class, but all the words seemed to all connect somehow. I went back through them and linked them all together and I thought it was pretty cool how they all flowed into one big thought. As I was paying attention to the things I wrote, it struck me how lucky I was to have had everything in my life happen in the way it has. Everything that God has given me has meant so much in my life. My family, my hometown, my backyard, my childhood, the traveling I’ve done, the places I’ve been, all the memories I’ve made. They all connect to form the person that I am today, and I thank God for every experience that I’ve been through. As Thanksgiving approaches, I would remind everyone to think about your own lives and all the things that God has given you and everything you are thankful for. It wouldn’t even be a bad idea to write them down.

I know my list isn’t complete, because it will change as I change and grow as I grow, but for right now, here it is:

Icing on the Cake. The best things in life. Writing my own life story, everyday. Writing. Creative non-fiction. Fiction. Poetry. Thoughts. Ramblings. Notes. Lists. Books. Looking at books. The covers of books. Having books on my bookshelf. Flipping through the pages of a book. Picture books. Books where you create your own pictures. Reading books. The pleasure of seeing a book you’ve read and knowing all the secrets it holds inside. Literature. Magazines. Especially home decorating magazines. Decorating. Decorations. Living in a pretty space. Planning the layout of my future house. Planning things. Soft, fluffy pillows. Matelasses. Quilts. Curvy lamps. Curtains. The things that make a house a home. Cute. Cozy. Clean. Organizing. Cleaning. The refreshed and renewed feeling you feel after everything is clean and straightened and organized. Things are tidy and swept and all the laundry is done. It is as if you are cleaning yourself out along with your house. Home. The Art of Homemaking. Fabric. Sewing. Embroidering. Making things. Creating things. Craft rooms. Ribbons. Buttons. Glass. Glass bottles. Paperweights. Ornate frames. Whimsical. Colorful. Color. Art. Paint. Painting. Art Supplies. Designing things. Graphic Design. Drawing. Doodling. Pictures. Looking at pictures. Taking pictures. Capturing memories. Memories. Remembering. People in my past. People in my future. Life. Living. Not being scared to fall in love or take a chance. Happiness. Weddings. Dresses. Dress up. Swirling around when you have a big, fluffy skirt on. Elegance. Classy things. Little black dresses. Pearls. Diamonds. Crystal doorknobs. Chandeliers. Lace. Simplicity. Home. My hometown. The view of the world from right beside my house. Rolling hills. Womble Mountain. Wallace Family Homestead. My backyard. The creek in my backyard. Water. Water under my bare feet. Moss under my bare feet. Being barefoot. Being barefoot outside. Being outside. Trees. The smell of Sweet Olive Trees. Flowers. Growing flowers. Growing vegetables. Gardening. Farms. Barns. Little bridges over tiny creeks. Dirt paths through the woods. Making forts in the woods.  Being outside. Being in the country. Living in the country. Driving on country roads. Driving towards The Round Candy Store with my windows down listening to country music, thanking God for all the wonderful things he created. Beauty. Real Beauty. God. My family. Siblings. Sisters. Hanging out in the kitchen with my family. Cooking. Baking. Cookbooks. Kitchens. Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookies. Hot chocolate. Sorbet. Italian ice. Lemonade. Fruit tart. Vegetables. Soup. Potato Soup. Mashed potatoes. Home-style country cooking. Picnics. New Orleans. Old buildings. Bricks. Antiques. History. The world. Traveling. The Ocean. Lighthouses. Running along the beach. Dancing in the rain. Sunshine. Sunrises. Sunsets. Colors of the sky. Nighttime. Flashlight tag. Stargazing. Living where you can actually see the stars. Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. Leaves falling. Sledding. Boating. Fishing. Porches. Hammocks. Relaxing. Peace. Hugs. Cuddly Hugs. Hugs from my nieces. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child, where everything is good and nothing is bad.


Leave a Comment

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

Pumpkins

I was just talking about my favorite fabric designers and while I was reading Sandi Henderson’s blog, Portopellopixie, I saw her pattern for Shabby Pumpkins, and I think that they are adorable! I know it is not even October yet, so it is a little early to be thinking about Thanksgiving, but I think that these would make the perfect centerpieces in the middle of the table or decorating the kitchen/dining room for the fall holidays! Here are some of the photos from her blog:



5 Comments

Tweet This   Share on Facebook

Glass

I absolutely love glass. I have a ton of colored glass bottles and random things made of glass. I just love the way that glass looks and how it sparkles and shines in the light. I just think that it is so pretty! So anyway I live in a tiny little dorm room and I have at least like seven or so glass bottles. I just moved in and I hadn’t even been here a week before I saw a spot in my room that looked like it needed something pretty and sparkly. So the search began for another glass bottle. I found one and I’m pretty pleased with how it looks:



Today I found another little glass treasure. I had been wanting a pretty paperweight for my desk for a while but I hadn’t found the right one. Today I was in this little shop and I found the prettiest paperweight that I just had to get for my desk. It was probably more expensive than I should have spent, but it is handmade and just so pretty, so it is worth it. 🙂


1 Comment

Tweet This   Share on Facebook