Weekend Highlights

Wow what a hectic week (and month) this has been.  I am trying to recover from a bad sinus infection that has left my nose so raw it hurts to the touch (just call me Rudolph from now on)!! Not cool......not cool at all!!  I literally stayed in my jammies and did not leave the couch for two days straight last Thursday and Friday. I think everyone I know has gotten some kind of bug within these last few weeks (tis' the season they say)!! Job security for me I guess (HA! I work in a pharmacy).  Over the weekend 2hotty did me a favor and got me out of the house so that I could get some fresh air (I was looking a bit vampire like.....even the Cullen's would've mistaken me as their own) and do a bit of shopping in Madison (retail therapy is my kind of medicine!!)!!   We bought a few things for the house (including a big purchase that I now could scratch off of my January Resolutions list....yippee!!) and a few things for me (the gift cards I got from Christmas were just miserable and feeling too claustrophobic in my wallet so I had to put them out of there misery.  They will be missed! HA!!)  Oh and I also picked up a few (inexpensive) supplies for some Valentines Day decor that I can't wait to share with you.  I'm shooting for sometime before Easter.  HA!! I kid......hopefully sometime later this week (that means I better start them.....like yesterday!) :-)

I'll leave you with some pictures highlighting our weekend (because I don't actually have the time to write about it in full detail right now) and let them do all the talking!! Don't pictures say a thousand words anyway (Isn't that how the saying goes?)?!?!

Here are the weekend highlights:

Road trip to Madison:

Some of the damage:

Cleaning and organizing (although it looks like the opposite of that in these pictures. HA!):

Taking a break to enjoy the white stuff (it isn't so bad after all):

2hotty doing more of this (never ending I tell ya):

Oh and as Whitney would say it: "Crack is Whack ya'll!!!"!! HA!!

***Tomorrow is a big day for my family!! My poor mom goes into surgery tomorrow leaving me a nervous wreck (I don't do good with that stuff)!! I hope everything will be OK and pray for the doctors/nurses strength and talent to help "fix" my mom and pray that they do everything humanly possible to make her feel comfortable the whole entire time. I pray everything goes smoothly and hope for a speedy and easy recovery!! I know she will do GREAT!!!!

Until next time!! Wish us luck.......tomorrow will be a long day!!

xo Joanna

Chicken Gyros

Mmmmm GYROS........just seeing that word makes my mouth water.  Seriously I'm totally drowning in a pool of my own saliva here.  Gross I know, but you would totally understand if you've ever tried em' before!!  Getting good authentic food is one thing I miss about living close to a big city!!  When I lived in Illinois I was literally walking distance from a really great Greek diner.  They had the BEST gyros in town.  Oh how I miss those days. Can someone just burst my reminiscing bubble right now?!?! HA! Sure we have a gyros stand where I live, but I have yet to step foot in there.  I would be too busy comparing if I did!!  It wouldn't taste the same I just know it - plus it's located in a gas station and I barely see anyone ever eating there.  I rest my case. HA!
Anyhoo, the other day I was looking for new recipes to try and came across this recipe from Annie-Eats on how she makes chicken gyros.  I've never had a gyros with chicken before - always just lamb but I was not going to hesitate to find out what it tasted like. 

Here is what you need (I did alter the recipe slightly)

Chicken Gyros

Yield: about 4-6 servings

Ingredients

For the tzatziki: (official word for the "cucumber yogurt stuff")
16 oz. plain yogurt (not nonfat, if possible) *I used Greek yogurt to skip the straining step.  Greek yogurt is thicker in consistency and works just fine in this recipe. 1/2 hothouse cucumber or 1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press (or finely minced)
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken: You'll need to marinade the chicken for at least an hour as well.
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tbsp. plain yogurt
1 tbsp. dried oregano
Salt and pepper
*I also used a bit of cayenne for some spice 1¼ lbs. chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless chicken breast halves)

To assemble:
Pita bread
Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced
Red onion, sliced thin
*Feta Cheese
*Parsley (Cilantro would've been a good choice too)

DIRECTIONS:
To make the tzatziki using plain yogurt: strain the yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl. Let strain for several hours or overnight, if possible, to remove as much moisture as possible.
I skipped this step to save on time and bought plain Greek yogurt at my grocery store instead.  (It tasted just fine to me).

To the yogurt add the following ingredients: cucumber, white wine vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, EVOO, salt and pepper (not pictured).

 If using a cucumber with seeds make sure to cut in half:

peel and take the seeds out with a spoon:

Next shred the cucumber over a clean towel and squeeze to remove as much water as possible:

 

 Mix all of the ingredients listed above and refrigerate until serving (at least 30 minutes):

 * May I add that this EVOO is just AWESOME.  Does anyone know if I could get this stuff in the states?!?!  One of my husbands clients (from the company he works for) sent it from Italy as a Christmas gift.  It does not compare to any of the olive oils I've ever tried here.  Yummy!!!!!  I came home and my 2hotty told me to use this stuff sparingly.  HA!  Want to savor the good stuff as long as we can.

Gather the following ingredients to marinate the chicken with:  Olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, yogurt, oregano, salt and pepper, and I used a bit of cayenne pepper too (not pictured):

Next add to your cut up chicken, cover, and marinade for at least an hour:

Cook the chicken over medium-high heat until chicken is no longer pink inside.  (You may notice some liquid form in the pan from the yogurt.  If so, just strain as much as possible):

Cut up your fixins': I used cherry tomatoes, red onion, and feta cheese.  I also garnished with some fresh parsley (pictured at the end):

Heat the pita bread in the oven for just a few minutes until warmed through (be careful as you don't want to get them too crispy):

I drizzled the top of the pitas with some olive oil for added flavor:

Assemble by adding the chicken to the pita bread, add a few dallops of tzatziki, and your fixins' on top:

ENJOY!!!!

Someone please hand over a virtual mop please!! HA!!

xo Joanna D.

Plum District Magazine Deal

Today Plum District has a sweet deal going on.  For just five dollhairs dollars you can get a one year subscription to Woman's Day magazine (but wait there is more!).

Plum District is an online website that shows deals from around your area.  Kinda like Groupon but geared towards moms.  I'm not a mom but I like a good deal so I signed myself up anyway!! HA! 




 

Plum Steal: $5 for a One-Year Woman's Day Magazine Subscription - a $35 Value

After I made the purchase from Plum District I was able to redeem my subscription at hearstmags.com.  Now here is the kicker (and I love it.....because I am totally a magazine fanatic) after getting a "Thank You" message, the Hearst website allowed me to chose from even MORE magazines. Also at the same price tag of five bucks (the green stuff....not the one mounted to a rednecks wall. HA!)!!!  So today for a whopping fifteen dollars I subscribed to:

Woman's Day:



 Country Living:



and House Beautiful:



A great deal, huh?!?!  House Beautiful magazine alone costs fifteen dollars for a one-year subscription.....so really I just got two other one-year subscriptions for the price of one (or the way I like to see it......for FREE)!! YEEHAW!! So go ahead, save you some money and go get you some magazine subscriptions...........you hear!!!

P.S. Neither plum district nor hearst magazine have any idea who this girl is!!
Just me loving a great deal :-)

xo Joanna D.

Ikea digs for our new digs

I think an Ikea trip is in order in my near future.  I've been making mental notes every time I see something online or in the catalog that I need or like. Then I realize that my mental notes aren't always so great, especially when going to a place like Ikea.  It's like my mind goes blank when I step foot in that place! Does that ever happen to you?!?! I can never go in there and get the stuff that I NEED because those stinkin showrooms always convince me otherwise.  Ikea is so clever when it comes to setting up their model rooms!! The last time we went 'somebody' had Swedish meatballs on the brain the whole time.  Ikea is a drive away from our house (about three hours) so 2hotty and I are both usually starving by the time we get there.  I always try to hold off on eating because I want to get my shopping done first, but clearly that wasn't going to happen with my 2hotty.   Putting him in a store when he's hungry is like telling Snooki to join a convent......AINT HAPPENIN!! Now looking back I guess I should have made an actual (with a pen and paper) list of the things I wanted to get............or perhaps have gave in and eatin first?!?!  HA!

Now to make a long story short I am dedicating this post solely to all the items I want to purchase the next time we make the haul (pun?!?!?!) and this time I will be prepared! Oh yes no starving husbands will ruin my trip and I will come back with boxes this time and not just a tote with random things inside.  All I will have to do is look up this post on my phone and "Wahla" the rest is history!  Now lets just hope my phone does not die on me, then I'll be right back to square one!! The story of my life!

Here are the things I'm diggin for our new digs :-)

A few of these Lack Shelves in White $20

The picture was too awkward to post on here.  They are basically floating shelves that I want to hang up on the wall behind our kitchen table.  I want to be able to display things like dishes and platters that I'm not using at the moment and jazz them up for each season/occasion!! 

Sorta like this:

YOUNG HOUSE LOVE

                                                                                                   
 Sheepskin rug for our guest bedroom: $30

I think these are so fun!! The rug reminds me of Poland.  I bought a real sheep fur rug the last time I visited, which I haven't really found a spot for yet.  I'm thinking this white one from Ikea will look perfect in our guest bedroom downstairs.  We painted the room recently.  It is a bright 'eye-poppin' color so I need some natural elements in the room to balance things out. 

Cowhide Rug: $200
This is a really bad picture that Ikea had on their website (I want the more spotted one. HA!). Its a statement piece and I think I could make it work in a few rooms in our house like our living room, mancave, or future boys nursery (if we ever have a boy that is)?!?!  We'll see......might have to convince the hubs with an actual mood board of some sort.  You know, of how it will actually look in each room.  He needs visuals.....lots and lots of them!! If I tell him an idea, he right away bashes it. Until I show him what it could actually look like and then he's totally on board!  Oh my 2hotty can you just leave all the decorating up to me?!?!  Life would be so much easier that way! HA!

Expedit Shelving Unit: $60 
I want need to make over our coat closet ASAP (I hate to open the closet door for fear of being toppled by "stuff" to death)! Therefore I want need this to hold baskets full of scarves, hats, and basically anything else I shove in there!! Oh and now that I'm thinking of it, make that two of these units.  I'll need one for my closet in the Diva Headquarters as well! :-)

Magazine Files: $3/2pack
I DESPERATELY need these magazine files.  I'm a magazine hoarder collector and I need some to take care of the magazine chaos that is scattered all over my house!! I admit it, I do have a problem.  A magazine hoarding problem.  I think I may need rehab!! :-0

Yup I think that is it for now!! I'm sure Ikea will suck me in and I'll come home with other 'stuff' but these are the necessities for now!! So tell me any sheepskin, cowhide rug owners?!?!  Do you love em'?!?!  Maybe you've purchased the shelf unit and didn't think it functioned so great?!?!  I want need to know!!  Oh and anything I'm missing that you think was a great buy from Ikea lately please let me know?!?!

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Good News & Bad News

Today was a good news and bad news kinda day for me!!
Lets start with the bad news!

BAD NEWS:
As I ended my shift at 5:30 today, I walked out to my car and noticed the back tire on my car had a flat. UGH!! No biggie right?!?!  All I had to do is drive the car to the tire place to have them add some more air into the tire.  Well that is what I thought! NO CAN DO!! My poor tire could not be saved.  It had popped from the side therefore giving me no choice but to buy a new tire.  So I waited an hour and a half in the waiting room. Ya just the thing I wanted to do after a long day at work (being so sarcastic there!!)!

GOOD NEWS: 
I'm glad I didnt attempt to drive home and was able to get it fixed right away. I guess I have to look at it from both perspectives.  Yes it sucked waiting around when I could have been home wearing my comfy jammys and eating some dinner with my hubby.  And yes it sucked shelling out ninety bucks for one lousy tire but it sure as heck beats getting into a car accident.  Besides, I was able to catch up on reading posts from my favorite bloggers.  WIN WIN!!

BAD NEWS:
I broke my diet!!  Yes...BAD GIRL!!  I could not resist!  There was a HUGE snicker bar (my weakness) display in front of the register!!  I couldn't take it anymore, so I walked up to the lady and asked her to throw it on my tab while I waited for my car to get done.  I know.....I know!! Hey if anything else was going to go wrong tonight I might as well have one of my favorite things to eat in the world.  Oh yes chocolate,.....godsend I tell ya!!! I ate it.  Well more like scarfed it down.  And I'm not talking a fun size candy bar either.  I'm talking like the family (MONSTER) size kind.  The kind that has like a million calories in it!!  Oh ya and then I licked the rest of the chocolate off my fingers (and maybe the wrapper).......twice!!  It felt so good......but it felt so wrong (name that song)!!

GOOD NEWS:
I finally made it home to see my sweet hubbys face.  He's not feelin good.......poor thing!!  We had some salad for dinner.  I felt too guilty about the candy bar from before so I had to balance it all out.  The story of my life!!  Wanna know the best part about getting home?!?! 

I ran downstairs to look at this:

The basement paneling I talked about HERE was el finito: 

2hotty finished painting the mancave/entertainment room yesterday!!!! WaaHoo!!! I was able to snap a few pictures this morning and couldn't wait to get home so I could share it with all of you (well just the 2 of you (Hi Iwona and Aunt Lynne) HA)!!

The paint color looks great painted over the paneling.  I love that you can still see the wood grain through the paint!! It gives the wall some texture and that rustic look.....love that!!! It is a mancave after all!!

 

Now for the before and afters:

 It went through 4 stages.  The first pic is what it looked like when we first moved in. Then we decided to hold off on painting the paneling and tackled the walls first and painted them a blue slate color.

Then just last weekend, 2hotty conquered the beast.  He kicked some serious BUTT!!  It looks great!  The pic on the left is in the priming stage and the pic on the right is what it looks like now.  I love it!! I take no credit......2hotty did ALL of the work!! I just picked out the paint colors!!  WIN WIN!!

Again what it looked like before:

and After:

AHHH so much better!!

I can't wait to keep on going and continue to tackle even MORE house projects! I just need to make friends with the energizer bunny!! Any one know him?!?!?! Oh well "one weekend at a time" is my mantra these days!

So that was my day!! Kinda all over the place!! Wanna hear some more bad news?!?!  We are suppose to get up to six inches of snow tonight!! (No more fourty degree weather....WAH!) Wanna hear the good news?!?!  I'm so thankful I dont live in Alaska where they had to dig out of eighteen FEET of snow!! Oh yes........learning to live a little more optimistic these days.  Check that off my New Years resolutions list!!

xo Jo

Lasagna Soup

Every night after dinner I always ask 2hotty what he would like for dinner the next day and almost every time he replies with, "Oh you know just somethin quick and simple, like pizza or mac and cheese or somethin".  Every girls dream right?!?!  For their husband to tell them not to slave over the stove after a long day at work.  How sweet right?!?!  Well I'm not like most girls.   HA! I like a good challenge.  I want him to tell me to make pasta primavera or a filet in a bordelaise sauce or something along those lines.  I want him to come up with something other than mac and cheese........and I'm not talking "make from scratch" mac and cheese.....Oh No.....2hotty loves the "out of the box" kind that comes with the packet of bright orange cheese powder. HA! Cheese powder.......that sounds funny! Don't get me wrong I love me some good ol' Kraft mac and cheese with lil smokies, but not EVERY single night!  So I often suggest other things. 
One of my favorite things to do is scour through cook books and magazines to try/test out new recipes and then rate them on a scale of 1 to 5!!

Today I suggested we try lasagna soup. 

This one actually:


found from this website. <===== click here for the list of ingredients and recipe......you won't be sorry!!

Last night when I asked 2hotty what we should have for dinner.....he gave me the same ol' same ol' answer as I grunted with an "Oh come on....AGAIN......we had pizza two days ago"!! So I suggested we have lasagna soup. First he laughed at me! Then when he realized I was being serious he questioned it. 

Scott: "Really lasagna soup?!?!"  "What's lasagna soup?"
Me:  "Are you serious Scott?!?!"
Scott: "Ok sure lets have lasagna soup!!!

We had it tonight.  It was GREAT!! Doesn't taste like moms lasagna but its definitely delicious none the less.  Its funny.....my mom is Polish but she's famous for her AWESOME lasagna!! HA!  I would probably rate the recipe a 4 (out of 5) and it's definitely repeat worthy (meaning I will be making this recipe some time again)!!

Here is how mine turned out:

If you're going to attempt this recipe I would let it cool a little before serving.  Also the recipe calls for mafalda or fusilli pasta.......well my Walmart does not carry that fancy stuff so I just used no-boil lasagna pasta noodles and broke them into smaller  pieces right into the soup.

 The recipe also calls for fresh chopped basil.  I love using this stuff:

How cool, huh?!?! Herbs that come in a tube.  I can never use all of the fresh herbs I buy without them going bad on me so I buy this stuff in a tube and have it on hand for a few months to come.  Love it!! Changed my life.  Well not really but its really a great idea!!  Wish I would've thought of it first......along with spanx.......yes now that's a product that has DEFINITELY change my life!!  I blame it on my uncontrollable love for food......and my love for eating it!! It's recipes like lasagna soup that make me wear spanx.  Wait why am I talking about spanx?!?!  Allrightythen.....try this recipe and let me know what you think!! Until next time lovies!

xoxo Joanna D.

One almost down.....four more to go!

In my last post I shared with you my New Years resolutions/Goals mainly for the month of January.  It pretty much includes all "house stuff" since the main focus this year is turning our little abode into a loving and "more us" home!!
The basement is for the most part empty.  2hotty is calling it his man cave!!  No doubt about it, it definitely feels like a cave.......and up until recently once smelled like one too!! HA!! I like to consider it our entertaining room (did you read that hunny "OUR entertaining room") since we plan on hanging down there with friends and family to watch movies and play board games (ie. entertaining room)!!! 

The rooms downstairs needed a little bit of TLC when we moved in.  I don't think the previous owners used the space down there a whole lot, so it was a bit dingy to begin with.  We eventually want to use every square inch of this home so prepping and painting (every square inch) is our main focus these days.

The before (after cleaning every nook and cranny):

Right now the room stores Scotts ancient (its a dang FOSSIL) T.V. from his Best Buy days (it use to be the "it" T.V. way back when and I think it ways like two tons!! NO JOKE!!) and some blankets on the floor (before we got our cable hooked up we layed on the floor and watched movies all night.......so much fun.....brings back GREAT memories)!!

I haven't measured the space yet, but it is very narrow (as you can tell from the above pictures)!! The wood paneling doesnt help the situation either.  It really just emphasizes it and makes the room feel like a box......a dark wooden box!!  Ugh!

The paneling is the real stuff too and has a really rough texture.   It was a real treat wiping down the panneling with a wet rag.  It SUCKED........so after like my third splinter I got my vacuum out!!

We didn't want to spend money ripping the paneling down.....too costly.....so we turned to Plan B...........painting it!

But before we did any paneling painting, we decided to paint the walls first!  I invited my pops over (more like I tricked him on coming over)......his name is dad or to most Frank (I like to call him "Frank da Tank")........and when he got to our house I led him down the stairs and handed him the paint bucket and a roller!!! My dad is totally a pro at painting. He takes his time and does a REAL good job.......that's why I trust him to "get er done" under my (high) standards!!!  I'm really picky on who does what with the house!!  Just want everything to be perfection.......can you blame me?!?!

Here it is after "we" painted (we've taken down the tree since.......sigh):

 We went with a bold color for the walls and chose a blue slate color.  I love it.  We wanted something a bit darker for the walls to give it that dark "movie theater" look.  2hotty wished we would have gone a bit darker and a bit more navy but I think it is fine for now.

This past weekend 2hotty started on the panneling and primed it all on Friday! I worked late that day and came home to one stinky house and my (high as a kite. HA!!) husband!! That oil base primer is just NASTY!!! (The primer stunk so much that night that I think I got high during my sleep. I litteraly woke up the next morning craving brownies!! HA! I KID! I KID!).  Lucky for us the weather has been so unusual here in Wisconsin that we were able to open up all the windows to let the room air out without freezing our tushes off!! Who else thinks this weather is just too bizarre......40 degrees in January when we should be having winter snow adviseries and the kids should already have a few snow days from school?!??! I'm not complaining one bit......I secretly kinda like it!! (I say secretly because a lot of people are upset with this "no snow" thing around here!)!

So back to painting the paneling with primer:

The primer makes the walls look imperfect and blotchy.....its OK.....its suppose to do that:

Scotty just used one thin coat on all of the panelling.

 Then we allowed the primer to dry before painting again.  Sorry for the HORRIBLE dark grainy pictures......we do alot of our projects at night!!

We went with a tan color to ofset the "darkness" that we had going on top!! Don't worry if you think it looks a bit top heavy......we will balance that out with our dark sectional and other furniture we plan to put in this room.

We are leaving the trim white to divide the paneling and the wall.  2hotty just started painting the trim today so hopefully by the end of the week we will be done with the room all together (we still need to paint the panneling that comes out past the room into the hallway and touch up where needed!)! Oh and I think the we will wait to paint the trim around the windows later on (maybe spring?!?).  So this is where I will leave you off until next time!

Hence the title of this post "one ALMOST done" and four more things to check off of my January list which include:

1. Paint the trim and paneling downstairs (almost CHECK)
2. Paint the paneling in the kitchen (using left over paint from project above)
3. Replace the two light fixtures in our family room with recessed lights
4. Buy a couch for the family room and move the sectional downstairs
5. Organize my office/beauty room

Phew.  I'm so glad we are almost done with this room!! Painting is definetly time consuming but we have no regrets......it made such a difference with the way this room looks and feels now!! 


Stay tuned as I share with you the finished freshly painted room. Fingers crossed hopefully sometime later on this week.  This time I'll take some pictures during the day :-)  Until then feel free to ask me any questions!!!

xo Joanna D.