Where Have I Been?

Dear Blog Readers,

My apologies for pulling a Harry Houdini on you. I'm back now with a new attitude, a new house, a new kitten, and a new DIY/baking/decorating obsession.

I know many of you have been wondering where this obsession desire came from. I can narrow it down to two key factors; cable television and our new house.

Until January 2011, I had lived without cable for over a year, and not felt like I was missing out on much. When we moved into our new house, we opted into cable tv, and I haven't been able to pull myself from HGTV. Glorious! As for the new house factor, this one has a much better layout and color scheme than the old one (brown walls and dark purple carpet don't brighten anything up). I could wax poetic about our new place for hours, so, instead, I'll show you a few of my most recent projects that it inspired, from completely from scratch cupcakes to chair reupholstering!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes (2.5 hours to bake & decorate with my new Wilton cake decorator!!)

Brass Spray Painted Geese, adding bit of color to my bookcase (I'm sorry, dear audience members, but I forgot to do a "Before" shot).

Before: Craigslist chairs ($50 for all 5!)

After: Reupholstered and lookin' good. Think I'll leave the wood as-is for now, though. Thoughts?

I have new projects on my To Do list, and will update my blog with them and many of my other life observations as they arise.

Stay Tuned!

**I'm officially on the hunt for new refurb/DIY ideas, so if anyone has something they've repainted, reupholstered, refurbished, handmade, poured their hearts into, I'd love to see it! And any blogs, websites, magazines, etc that can offer inspiration or how-tos pass along my way. One of my current faves is Young House Love. (Thanks to Stacey for sending YHL to me!)

So Happy Together

I have to admit an unhealthy, nay, awesome obsession of mine: chips and salsa. Come to my house anytime of the year and you are guaranteed to find a bag of chips and a jar of salsa. After a quick pantry check, I can officially say that I have two bags and 4 jars (two opened, one unopened, and one that has been sealed with super glue, never to be opened by human hands). Take me out to a restaurant with the bottomless chips and salsa and you'll find the waiter giving me an uncomfortable look as he brings out our fifth serving.

This obsession with chips and salsa came about my senior year at Penn. My roommate and I became unofficial salsa testers in our third floor living room while watching Bones reruns and weeping during PS I Love You. We attempted to branch out and find our favorite salsa. Sadly, the year ended before we could make any official statements to the press on our top picks. The verdict is still out and I’m still testing salsa brands when I’m feeling adventurous. At the moment, my go to brand has been Pace Medium Thick ‘n Chunky, but that could change next week.

From my current salsa preference, you can guess that I prefer the medium spice level. Mild provides no excitement for me. You’re eating the salsa for the flavor and fun, not just to shove boring vegetables atop a crunchy chip down your throat. Anything hotter than medium means I can only eat a few chips without feeling like my mouth is on fire, which hinders my need to eat as many chips as possible in one sitting. That hindrance is unacceptable, so I choose to go with medium to satisfy my tongue and fill my belly.

In case you’re worried that I’m not getting all the nutrients a growing girl needs, I do enjoy branching out to other dip options. Guacamole is delicious, especially when it’s homemade. I also have found that melting down some Velveeta and mixing it together with salsa makes for quick and easy queso. If you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned potato chips and their accompanying dips it is because I just don’t like them. Potato chips are a bit too greasy and the dips have never appealed to me. To put it simply:

Give me tortilla chips and salsa or give me death!