From Garbage find to Kitchen centerpiece...

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 When I moved into (ok, so I haven't really moved in yet) my house, I realized i was in 

desparate need of storage AND counter space in my kitchen.  

I didn't want to buy anything cookie cutter in a store before I searched garage sales this past Spring, because I knew i could find something on the cheap and make it my own.  And find it I did!  With a little help from the town-wide garage sale in our beach town, and the day after curb side cleap up.  That's right friends...this little beauty was found in the G-A-R-B-A-G-E.  My mom and sister thought I was nuts because they hated that it was KNOTTY PINE, but I knew this was the perfect piece (which someone else had made homemade) to have both counter height cutting space and storage -OPEN STORAGE! Halleluleah! 

My X5 was not so happy when we stuffed in the back, but we got it home and I decided, yep it was perfect.

So, as you can see below, I got to working - with the help of my amazingly awesome and understanding boyfriend.  I'm still not sure why he thinks me taking on projects like this is OK, but he does and he helps! 

so...I'll keep my mouth shut!

I found some inspiration for creating my own reclaimed kitchen piece here and here.

Here is the process from start to finsih:

  

After taking off the doors and hardware, I started by using liquid sander (above) and sanding the heck out of it with a belt sander until all of the wood was rough and ready for priming.

 

a little Zinsser 1-2-3...to prime (with a foam roller of course, so there were no lines)

 

I used Benjamin Moore Peacock Blue  as my paint color...again with a foam roller

 

some brushed nickle handles and retro cabinet hinges, and viola!

Pinterest Recipe!

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So, I always pin healthy recipes on pinterest, but I rarely make them.  I mean like never.  It is so much easier to make the recipes I know.  Isn't it?

A few weeks ago, I was in the supermarket and wanted something fresh for dinner.  I thought of this recipe from pinterest and decided to spice it up with my own flare (sans tomatoes for Danny's liking).

It was quite simple really, and a different take on green beans.  I loved the feta cheese (of course) as an addition, and never really thought to add other veggies to my green beans. 

All you do is blanch the green beans as you'd normally do - keep them a little crisper to get a great crunch.  Add fresh red peppers that have already been diced, crumbled non-flavored feta, salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste.

Here is the finished result:

Yum!

Fireworks!

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I love Fireworks!  I mean LOVE.  People make fun of me for it.

Yesterday I had the joy of experiencing the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks for the first time in person.  WOW!

Here are some of my favorite shots!

Happy Birthday America!!!

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I love everything July 4th!

I do.

I love fireworks, the desserts, the family get togethers, the time at the beach, the end of school and the start of summer (when i was little), the 08735 of it all.

This is my second 4th of July not being at our beach house, but I will still be celebrating in style - watching the Macy's NYC fireworks for the 1st time ever!  Boy is this girl who loves FIREWORKS and SPARKLERS super excited!!

Here are some of my favorites concepts for your July 4th!

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Happy Independence Day Everyone!

Etsy! What a wonderful thing!

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I have been on hiatus from blogging - it is sure hard to keep up and post every day!  Props to all the hard core bloggers out there ~ YOU MUST BE VERY ORGANIZED!

I was inspired to post today because I accomplished one of my goals, no not one of my 50 things in my bucket list, but another big accomplishment, Danny and my first sale of on Etsy.com

It all started in March/April, when I  was clearing out my bookmarked websites and sent Danny a link to a webpage I had saved for directions on making your own cornholes.  Danny is often not by a computer, so when he responded in .5 seconds, I knew he was stoked about the idea as well.  We got to building that night and had our very own set finished for a concert the next week.  I painted the Giants and Danny painted the Yankees.

We received such rave reviews on our sports themed cornhole set, that our families encouraged us to consider selling them. At first we thought they were nuts, but after thinking about it for some time, we decided it'd be a nice little side project - you know, something to take our mind off the other 18543 projects we had going on - like that lovely linoleum floor under the cornhole set above. ha!

So, we slowly got to it.  Here are our second and third sets:

When we finished these, I decided to post create an etsy store and post them  here to see if we got any interest.  Man o' man, did we!

Long story short, we just sold our first set to a bride-to-be from the Hamptons!  She requested custom colors of mint and white to match her wedding theme.  I am very excited!!  (I think Danny might be too...maybe).

Hurray for Etsy!

Cleansing 101

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So we (Lauren (best friend for life), Tara (sister) and I), started the Catalyst Cleanse yesterday.  Actually, Tara is doing her own juicing, but she is following along with Lauren and I with the 6 juices every two hours.  It was a hard day 1.  I had a headache around 2:30pm, and Lauren and I had to remind ourselves that if we had eaten all the watermelon in the 4th juice, we'd be so full we'd pop.  Alas, Day 1 is done, and now we're on to Day 2.

Here are my thoughts on the different juices:

Juice 1: Cucumber, Celery, Apple, Parsley, Spinach, Lemon, Lime, Ginger

Way too much Cucumber Taste!  It's funny though, Lauren thought it was way too much Celery Taste.  Isn't it crazy how peoples taste-buds act so differently! Otherwise it was a nice green clean way to start the day. A little bitter for me though.

Juice 2: Lemon, Agave, Cayenne

Yuck!  That was my first reaction.  Pure yuck!  It was too sweet.  I actually had to water it down, it was too sweet.  I thought this was going to be lemonade-y, but it wasn't it was more like agave syrup-y!  Once I watered it down, about 3 to 1, water to juice, ratio, I liked it a lot.  It was refreshing and a nice little "snack"

Juice 3: Carrot, Apple, Celery, Lemon, Lime

THANK GOD!  I needed some substance.  Thank goodness for the carrots and apples in this mid-day Juice #3 that came right at lunch time.  I was really needing a juice with some substance. 

Juice 4: Watermelon, Lime

After not being able to open the first bottle of Juice #4, and having to get tomorrow's bottle out of the fridge (can't wait til I have to attempt opening it again), finally sipping this bad boy was worth the struggle.  Yum!  As Lauren said, this one was like a Watermelon Italian Ice.  Just enough sweet to get me passed the afternoon sweet/snack crave, but still refreshing!  Good Job Catalyst Cleanse! 

Juice 5: Cucumber, Celery, Apple, Parsley, Spinach, Lemon, Lime, Ginger

Same thoughts as Juice 1, because they are the same green concoction.

Juice 6:

YUM!!!  It's like dessert.  Thank goodness.  I needed something rewarding after today.  My boyfriend Danny brought Pizza Hut Pizza in the car on the way home and I needed all the willpower I could get not to have a bite.  I resisted!  This was a nice rewarding treat for being so good.  Kinda like ice cream in a bottle, but healthy!

The whole day in general wasn't too bad.  I thought it'd be a lot more difficult.  I did have a headache from hunger after 830pm, but slept it off and was feeling great morning of Day 2!  Onto more juicing!  Horray!

My Last Supper...

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Last night I had my LAST MEAL, before I started my the 3-day Catalyst Cleanse today.  I was cooking for Danny and I (and my sister who only ate the veggies, because she was already juicing), so of course I had to make enough protein and manly food for Danny, while satisfying my need to "ween" myself into the cleanse with some fresh veggies and raw foods.

What did I make?  Chicken with white wine sauce, (recipe to come at a later date - but YUM!), green beans and grilled veggies.  I always love when summer comes, because veggies are so fresh and grilling them brings out their flavor in such a simply way. 

I started with the basics: Eggplant, red pepper, and farmers market local jersey zucchini! 

(love that the farmer's markets are open in new jersey).

 

I kept it simple.  Just cut the veggies into strips (for the pepper) and eggplant and zucchini into circles (is that the right term, no, probably not.  Welcome to Erica's language.)

After they were all cut, I sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Now to the girll.  Just simply place them on the grill, so they start to sear and get the grill stripes.  I kept a small bowl of olive oil, salt and pepper next to the grill with a basting brush to keep the veggies moist as they were on the grill.

Viola!  The finished product.  Yum!  I love summer veggies.  The whole process takes about 20 minutes.