Eye Candy

If you love home inspiration photos, prepare to drool.. My Inspiration Photo file is getting pretty full, and I'm completely torn between the new trend of calm, airy colors, and the dramatic ones here and there. I thought I wanted all these dramatic, moody colors in my next home, but now that I see all these serene, totally classy, light-colored rooms I'm having second thoughts. It's not like we're buying a house any time soon, but a girl has to plan for these things, right?? Anyway, feast your eyes, ladies!!
The more bold tones I loved:These pillows are actually from Kmart I believe (go figure!), but I love the colors- they're very similar to the tones we already have in our house.I always thought i wanted a red kitchen, and I love this one- from a lovely lady on the nest- I'm sorry I can't remember who! Oh, and this serves as proof to Z that black furniture is pretty.
I'm loving the Navy & Blue found @ Mrs. Howard Personal Shopper. Check out this Living room:
Honestly, the octopus on the wall freaks me out, but I really like the colors in the rest of the room.Another Mrs. Howard bedroom- I love the black and white!! Throw in a little damask fabric, and I'd be sold (it's a recent obsession).And what's better than black & white?? Black, white, and YELLOW! Not sure I'd paint my walls yellow, but I love the colors. This is from Decor Report.

I think the challenge with bold colors is choosing wisely- too bold and you look like a teeny-bopper! Like the whole Aqua & Orange trend- it just looks juvenile to me (sorry if that offends anyone!) :) So.. I think the light colors are an easy way to play it safe & look really classy at the same time. The only down side I see- light colored furniture/linens = cleaning nightmare. You don't really want a pretty room that you're afraid to spend any time in! :)

Here's some Mrs. Howard faves, again..
And, a little safer with the chocolate furniture:Okay, now here's the last bunch from another fave design blog, Things that Inspire:
Okay, that's it, I promise. I've probably caused you to OD on pictures by now, so I'll end here. But what do you think? Bold? Light? Can you do both in one house and still remain cohesive? I'm hoping so, because I don't think I'll be able to choose. :)

Maybe I'm just challenged, but...

...why on earth can't I comment on some of your blogs?? Seriously, some of my fave girls out there- you have a different format or something. It's the one where you have to scroll down and choose which account to post with- so I choose google reader, then type in my comment. When I hit post, it comes up with the word verification box, and where the word should be it just says loading... and it never loads. So therefore I can never type in a word, and can never comment on your blogs. Seriously- I love some of them, and you'll never know because technology has stumped me once again! Examples of blogs with this format: The view from my shoes & NEWLYWEDS. Can anyone help me out here? Is it me or is it the technology? :( This is how I feel:

Super Easy Chicken

Last night I finally got the time to cook us a good dinner. However, that doesn't mean it took forever. Thanks to someone (wish I could remember who) on the Nest D&R board for sharing this recipe!

Crispy Ranch Chicken

You need:

• Chicken breast (~4)
• 1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 packet of Ranch Dressing Mix
• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups crispy rice cereal (I wasn't feeling the cereal, so I did italian bread crumbs, and crushed Ritz crackers)

What you need to do:

• Mix Parm, Ranch mix, and cereal (or whatever you choose to use) in a bowl
• Dip chicken in egg whites, then in Ranch mix, then place on greased cooking sheet.
  
• Bake for ~30-35 min. on 350 degrees.

Voila! Easy as that! And the flavor was AMAZING! I (being always a little leery of meat), even loved it!

Good News!!

Z's sister & her husband, who I talked about here finally got a baby!! Thank you all so much for your prayers!! Here he is:
The mother is a college student who wanted nothing to do with the baby (her parents didn't know she was pregnant til the baby was born). Sad situation for her, but a huge blessing for J&L!! Now that they have him, we're planning a shower! So, because I'm just overzealous like that, I already whipped this up last night:

I have fallen in love with diaper cakes!

*flutter*

Disclaimer: Sappy, girly post ahead!

So yesterday, I leave work, have a nice little trip to JoAnn Fabrics, and head to the gym. When I went in, my stomach was growling a little bit, but I didn't have any snacks with me, so I hopped on the elliptical for an hour anyway..followed by some Ab work. Apparently, that was a bad idea.

I had plans for a nice baked chicken dinner, but once I got the chicken out, I had to sit down for a second because I was feeling a little queasy. Then, Z gets home from the gym (we work out @ slightly different times after work) and hands me a gorgeous bouquet of orange-yellow roses!! Apparently, Orange means "just because".

[Sidenote: Z doesn't really do holidays. He doesn't like giving gifts when they're expected, or on occasions that can be termed 'Hallmark Holidays'. So we went to dinner for V-day but that was it. No gifts. Needless to say, I was "wooed" all over again when he brought home flowers!]


I hardly had time to smile, thank him, and smell them before I knew we were in for trouble.

Me: "Uhh.. honey? I don't mean to ruin the moment, but I think I might throw up".

So, he wisked me into the bathroom, and there we sat - on the edge of the tub, ready to dive to the toilet - for quite some time. God bless him- he just sat there with me and rubbed my back. That was the first time I've been really sick since we got married. It was the first time anyone other than my parents or myself took care of me when I was sick. A bit embarrassing, but in a strange way, it brought us closer.

Finally, my stomach decided that it wasn't going to erupt just then, so I went and laid on the couch. Z brings me 2 blankets, a trash can (lol) and tells me not to worry about supper or any of the other things I'd wanted to do last night.

I dozed off, and floated in and out of queasy la la land for the next couple hours. When I woke up, I found the roses in a vase of water on the coffee table in front of me, the dishes all taken out of the dishwasher and put away, the dryer running with a load of laundry, and Z asking me how I was doing.

*flutter*

Make fun of me... go ahead. But I "flutter" when he does stuff like this. Z's more into working on stuff in the garage than he is being sensitive and helping around the house, so things like last night are just heaven.. except for the being sick part.

Anyway, I'm feeling much better this morning. But I'm still feeling the warmth of thankfulness that God has blessed me so much with such a great husband. Ladies- they can be frustrating, even downright disgusting sometimes, but they're your gift from God, so remember the nice things they do & don't forget to thank HIM! :)

Happy Thursday & I hope you're all feeling MUCH better than I was last night!!

OH, BTW, new layout/design coming soon! :)