Trio of bruschetta

**Food shots clearly don't work when taken with hipstamatic but by the time I'd realized that my photo ops were devoured...

Yesterday after work we took a moment to chill on our porch for a snack of bruschettas. We both love Italian food and have amazing memories associated with nibbly meals like this one.

For my bruschetta Trio:

I cut up a beautiful cheesy foccacia that I bought from traders a few days ago and put in on a baking sheet with olive oil drizzled on top. I also broiled 4 slices of prosciutto for some protein and yummy smokey salty flavor.
While that broiled I quickly sauteed some cauliflower in olive oil & butter for about 5 minutes which was just long enough to soften and add that nutty flavor cauliflower gets when almost burnt. Then I tossed it in the food processor with salt, pep and mascarpone. When it was well blended but not fully creamy I smeared it on the grilled bread, topped with a bit of the crispy prosciutto and some grated parm.



I also sauteed some chopped brown button mushrooms in a pan with olive oil, butter, Italian seasoning, salt & pep till they were very golden and plated them on the bread with a bit of the prosciutto and a few sprinkles of basil.



Finally, I quickly mixed together chopped tomatos & fresh mozzarella balls with basil, olive oil, balsamic, salt & pep.


If it had been later in the day a glass of wine would have been lovely to have with this but we sipped espresso instead to get an energy cheat for the projects we had to do like string lights on the balcony! pics soon of that:)

EPICtures....

After last nights blog on our epic decorating weekend I was asked for pictures so here they are but bear in mind these are crappy iPhone pics.

The kitchen trim we painted grey, the cookbook is Sunburst & it's from the hippy commune I was born on (fun fact: we then lived in a teepee for my first 6 months of life):


Having a fireplace was a huge selling point but the design was such an eyesore. It's now one of my favorite decorative points of the house. The picture of Christopher Lloyd was bought at an Obama art fundraiser:


The entry piece. The mirror was a donation from MIL that use to be in our old living room, the shelf was from our old bedroom and the milk glass is vintage and bought for our wedding as center piece and candy vases:


My book nook. The art on the wall I made using a butterfly stencil from Martha Stewarts website and I cut them out of decor & travel magazine covers & framed them into 2 shadow boxes:


Sneaky last min Ikea lounge purchase. The side table I bought off craigers randomly from Veronica who was on the Real World. To compliment the 'book nook, C nicknamed this the laptop lounge:


My old lady hutch filled with flea market finds was found on craigslist a few years ago and I painted it with MIL's help. Pic of our cat Charli was an Xmas gift from MIL:


And this concludes a mini tour of our new little tree house that has brought us so much joy & light.

This weekend is probably the final decor day in which we will finish the outside of the front door, hanging guest room pics, curtains, getting herbs planted etc.

Epic weekend

So this past weekend my mother in law (MIL) came to help us decorate/organize/solve house problems. She arrived at 3pm on Saturday and we literally (said in Rob Lowe's parks & rec voice, LITRALY) didn't stop till Monday when I went to work at 10am. This was, oh I don't know, our 8th or so epic decor weekend and for people who don't do epic decor weekends I will attempt to walk you through the madness.
Oh first let me say that I love decorating but I never use to really do it because it's a lot of problem solving & creative solutioning and it is HARD without the help of a pro. Luckily my MIL is just that. This is her job, like her J.O.B. and we get her help for free! She's helped my mom, bro, sister and us countless times.
The only shitty thing about it is trying to keep up with her but in the 7 years and countless projecting sessions we've done together I've trained myself into shape and can now totes keeps up.
So ok, back to the weekend....

she arrives and we do a walk through of our new place to determine the tasks to be done. We tape off the counter trim in the kitchen because the wood color looks dingy and old next to the tile. By simply painting the wood trim a matching grey we give it a unified & fresh look.

Taping off honestly took longer than the actual painting, which my lovely man helped with, see....
{Sorry but you have to wait for the finish shots which I will post very soon}

Then MIL got me on other painting projects like touching up our hutch that was funked up during the move. Painting a bedroom dresser (that we had got for free), painting an entry shelf (that use to be in our old bedroom).
Noticing a trend? It's called repurposing! It's the leftover 'make a soup out of it' of decorating and we're pro's. Seriously, nothing goes to waste. We buy new paint, new fabric but not new 'stuff' unless totally neccessary.
Ok, so MIL and husb went to Home Depot for about 2 hours to get hardware etc. They love doing this together. It's a very comfortable place for them to go. I happily stayed home with my mom and painted away.
By the time they got home with dins from The Oak Gourmet (DELISH!) it was kinda late and we got into hanging curtains in the guest room / waking up the neighbors.

8am following morning. Coffee in the system. We start placing pictures, mirrors and decor items where we want them hung. We hang some and start working on the fireplace. Sidenote, I'm totally icking myself that I didn't get a before picture because it was pretty awful. Off center and painted a jaring stark white, next to bricks. It was just bad period, so to counter that we painted decorative stripes to make that the new focal point of the room.

We hung the entry piece and got the inside of our front door painted as well. Then MIL and I were off to Ikea. My mom was going to come but decided against it when she figured out the kind of trip she'd be getting herself into. We left C with a LONG list.
At IKEA we bought lighting for the porch, a closet hang system (basically we raped the fabric department), rugs for the book nook, den & bedroom and runners for hall. Bedding, some kitchen goods, candles for fireplace and at the last minute we saw an amazing chaise lounge that became an immediate must have / answer to the question of what to do in the living room. How we got it in the car was a miracle and an uncomfortable ride home but who cares because the epic 3 hour Ikea trip was finally over!!!

At home, we finished the fireplace and were all so happily stunned by how good it looks. Placed the rugs and realized the bedroom rug was the wrong size and material.
Made the bed, C put up the closet cutain system which was a task & a half (thanks baby!) & we hung pics in our bedroom and finally got our decor up. Basically this all goes on until about midnight. Thank god we know how to work and drink because after a day like this wine is a MUST come 10pm.
I convinced MIL to stay the night so we could work that late and in the morning she finished up my guest bathroom.

I still have a list of things to do but it is so amazing what a weekend of 3 people working non stop can produce. I can't wait to share pictures on here in a few days.
In the meantime, I feel so happy when I wake up and so fortunate to have the people in my life that are willing to pitch in and donate their time and talent to us.

Honoring the Mothers...

I'm so looking forward to online journaling and tracking our time spent in the canyon. As of now our times been mostly unpost worthy as we're still unpacking but we've stolen a few moments away to hike, bike, and make a lovely mother's day brunch for the ladies in our life (that gave us life) last Sunday.
Our menu:
Cheese, crackers & grapes
Mimosa & Wine
Sausage, pepper & Mushroom frittata
Grilled asparagus
Stuffed mushrooms
CUPCAKES & Coffee

This was thrown together last minute with a lot of love as it was the first social thing we'd even done in the house. It turned out great and we even popped over to Bronson Canyon after and took C's 80 year old Grandma to our favorite forest swing, sadly she didn't get on it, what a great pic that would've been. The rest of us did though. MANY pics were taken, here's a few of the faves.....

Many more memories like this to come!!

ps, there is a duo of deer that hang out across the street from our home. We have yet to get a clear picture but they are by far the best neighbors we've ever had!

Tea in the canyon

The other night also known as 3rd night in new home and 1st night alone, I came home from work and got busy unpacking my hutch. Of all the things to unpack, this is the one I enjoy the most. Finding new places for old treasures...
Then one of my besties came over and took me out to my new favorite Diner, Cafe 101.
For an after dinner treat I made us some peaceful mind tea. It's our favorite Urth sleepy time blend. I served it in my new favorite lil handmade mugs my brother made from scratch a few weeks ago. As we chatted the night away and nibbled blueberries I felt at home. It was hopefully the first of many good memories made in our lil tree house home.

The happy & sad of it....

Moving is super great except all the work that it takes. I mean 2 hours at Home Depot, putting curtains up AGAIN, unpacking bags upon bags upon boxes and bags. Trying to remember where you threw all those last minute much needed items. Oh then through a husband going to NYC the day after moving and 3 cats into the mix. That being said we have managed to make some yummy meals and have my sis and scoots over. Last night Chadd grilled up Rib Eye steaks and I made cauliflower mashed potatos and a delish salad (my sister is the salad master - her trick is lots of love and salt & peppering the salad in the bowl).
I've been drinking wine and doing laundry, two very enjoyable things to do in ones own home.
Goals for tonight are to work on our closets, unpack my hutch and of course sit on the porch and savor the sounds of NATURE!!!!