Recycling an end table

Many years ago, when I was getting ready to head to grad school with no furniture and no money my mom and I hit up garage sales to find what I needed on the cheap. One of the best finds that we found was an end table for $5. I will admit that I wasn't in love with it but it held a lamp in a the living room and it was good for holding my drinks while I studied or watched TV. Since I was not totally in love with it I knew that it needed a new home here in Dallas.

In the beginning it actually held the cable box since it doesn't fit on the TV stand, oops. I eventually found a different, cuter table so I knew that I was ready to figure out something to do with the old end table. I decided that I would repaint it and leave it outside for an end table when I sit outside and enjoy the weather.

The first thing I did was sand the table down so that the paint would adhere to the table. I used a pretty rough sand paper since the table was so dark and I wanted to see if the stain would come off... yeah that didn't happen.

See how uneven it is

Once the table was sanded and wiped off I spray painted on a primer. This did not go as well as I planned. To be honest, I think I should have just bought a regular primer because it wasn't very even on the actual top of the table. Truthfully, I didn't think this would be a problem until later.

Lily is trying to tell me that I should add more primer

Once I sprayed the primer on the table I went ahead and started painting the pink on. From the very first moment that I put paint on the table I knew that this was exactly what I wanted. I chose Feverish Pink from Sherwin Williams. I got my paint from there because when I went to Home Depot I couldn't find the right color and they were having their 40% off everything sale. It is always a bonus when you get what you want on the cheap.

It is amazing

Once I finished the first coat I started to realize that the unevenness of the primer was going to be a problem. In the end I put three coats of paint on the table. I think with a really even primer coat I might have been able to get away with just two but I wanted the table to be pink and not pink with brown underneath. It might not have been the primer it might have been the fact that the table was so dark. This paint dried pretty quickly so that was nice.

I am loving the table, I can see it from the path when I walk Lily. Most mornings I walk out and look at the table and realize that I am in love with it. It has been a while since a craft did exactly what I thought it would do. This was a great recycle of this table, it needed some updating. And yes I do know that this is not just pink it is hot pink! I love it. Now that it is starting to cool off I am looking forward to sitting out there and having some hot chocolate.

October Garden Update

As you know I started a patio garden in April or May, I can't really remember which month but needless to say it has been pretty slow going for the last several months. It has been super hot here in the Big D so for the most part my plants have gotten bigger but no veggies. I will admit that my herbs are doing great but I often forget to use them. I still have hope for making a pesto with the Basil that I have, since it is out of control.

It is finally starting to cool off around here, that is right gang the highs are only in the 90s not the 100s. Occasionally, the high is in the mid 80s and I almost think that I need a jacket. It seems like fall (or what we call fall here in Texas) is just around the corner! Woo Hoo I am super excited about that. But I tell you that so that you know that it is finally time for the garden to give up the fall crop of yummys.

Tomato plants

The Cherry tomato plant (far left) is doing really great and you can see some small tomatoes coming around. Every time I look to see how they are growing there are more tomatoes! Sweet. Maybe I will have enough at one time to actually make something and not just snack on the one or two that I get at a time.

Cherry tomatoes are coming

The middle plant (unknown tomato variety) looks like a weed. I have high hopes for it to get its act together but who knows. I got this from my Aunt and mostly it just has some stalks but there is still time for it to come around. My patio tomato (far right) seems to be doing OK, it grows slower than the rest so we will have to see if it gets it's act together before the first frost. It looks like it is about to go through another growth spurt.

This is my bell pepper plant (in the center of the green planter). It is actually looking really good right now. I have high hopes to get several more bell peppers and maybe just maybe I will actually remember to use them before they rot. Oops. There are lots of little flowers on the plant so I think that there are several peppers in my future. I am not totally sure when I am supposed to pick them off of the plant but I think this time when they look almost right I am just going to pick them and see what happens!

Bell Peppers are coming!!

Next to Lily you can see the basil that is out of control. I will admit that I use this most of the time but I had to give it a hair cut the other day because it was insane. Who knows, I use basil just enough for it to cover the cost of the plant so all in all I think I win. I will admit that there isn't a close up of this plant because something is eating it and although I have sprayed (yes, I know I am a terrible person but I want my plants to live) it doesn't seem to be leaving. I will have to keep working on that one.

All in all this garden is coming along pretty well I am hopeful for the fall crop of veggies. I think I should get some tomatoes. Last year my Aunt had so many that she was just giving them away. I hope that happens to me or that I have so many I can use them to make a sauce and pop it in the freezer or try my hand at canning. So many fun things for the future. I will keep you updated so you can see the progress!

Mutt's: The Canine Cantina

A few months ago a new dog park opened up in Dallas and I have been pretty excited about giving it a shot. This dog park, Mutt's, serves food and alcoholic beverages. What is not to like about this. I will admit that Lily does not really care for dog parks but I can't turn down food and wine. One of my good friends, Holly, had been a few times and we decided to give it a go on a Friday night. We met right about sun down so it wasn't too hot or too cold, it was nice. 

To be honest, neither of our dogs are great at the dog park and since they are different sizes we would have been in the different parts so we opted for a table. Lily wasn't too excited about the whole experience so I opted not to spend the $5 to get her into the dog park. I think we will give it a shot at some point, hopefully with another big dog so that I will have someone to visit with.

Once we got to the table we ordered the Margarita, which was amazing. I only had one and it was enough. The first food item we ordered was actually for the pups, they have doggie dogs. This was a pretty nice cold hot dog that Lily was apprehensive of at first but once some other dog stole the first bite she was ready and enjoyed it.

While she looks skeptical, you had better believe she ate that all up.

For dinner I got the Jessica Biel dog. This was an andouille sausage dog covered with mustard and peppers and onions. I got it without the mustard because I hate it and I should have had them leave the onions and peppers off. I don't really love them and there were so many in the end I mostly just piled them on the plate. This was a great sausage po-boy. I felt like I was at home having one from the side of the road. In Louisiana for fundraisers they often sell sausage po-boys.

Jessica Biel dog

Mutt's is most definitely a do over. At some point we will check out the dog park portion of it, but it was nice to be able to go to a restaurant and bring the pup. The food and drinks were so good. Also, a huge bonus is that there is actually a parking lot, sometimes in Dallas there is no parking near cool stuff.

Lily said to give this place 3 paws up. Not the full four because there was a giant chocolate poodle that kept chasing her but other than that she had a great time.

FC Dallas: Dallas till I die

Over the last few months I have been trying to try out more of what Dallas has to offer and since it is often hard to figure out what happens in a new city I have been scoping out the GroupOn deals or livingsocial (both tend to have the same thing) to find stuff to try. Several times there have been deals for tickets to the FC Dallas game. This was pretty intriguing since I love soccer and why not give it a shot right. I managed to con one of my friends, Sarah, into going with me. Actually, I think she was pretty excited as she had never been to a game.

I will admit that neither one of us knew what to expect since this is America and we tend to only care about some sports and soccer tends to fall by the wayside. I didn't know if this would be a great experience or if we would be leaving at the half.

It turns out that this was a great way to spend a Saturday night. We both had a wonderful time and it wasn't too hot or too cold at the game. Our cheap seats where at the end of the soccer pitch and that was an interesting view. I think I would buy tickets on the side if I purchased them (I think there would be a better view).

For the majority of the game we had the amazing opportunity to listen to a band. These men appeared to be big fans and often threw lots of confetti in the air. It made it feel more festive and pretty amazing. At the end I will admit that I was ready for them to take a little break but it was kinda fun once you got used to it. These guys were true fans and had songs and cheers and all kinds of good stuff.

Lots of confetti

The band

I had a wonderful time at the game. It was great Dallas beat vancouver 3-0 (maybe 3-1) I don't really remember but I know that it was amazing. A few highlights were that we never had to wait in line for concessions or the bathroom, this is uncommon for sporting events in Texas. Another highlight was that even though the sun was setting we weren't in the sun really at all. Also parking was free so that was a bonus. I would recommend this as a great thing to check out if you are coming to town and have nothing to do (or absolutely love soccer).

Another week?!?!?

I am not quite sure what has happened over the last few months but I have no been diligent about my blogging. Sorry about that. I will admit that much has happened since I went to DC in July but that is no excuse for not sharing the excitement in my life. I have also been having a hard time getting my laptop out at night. Oops. But I am trying again so just hang in there and I think most of this will pan out.

To hold you over as I write all of these blog posts, here are a few things that I have been up to:

I bought a new car, yes there is a great story here.

I look like such a grownup...

I am working on changing this table into something I love.

The paint color is in the corner, yup hot pink.

This is going to be a sweet wall decoration.

What girl doesn't need a wall monogram

And as always here is a pic of sweet Lily.

 I have high hopes that I am going to get back into blogging pretty soon but to be honest sometimes it is hard to write down my thoughts. But I am going to try. I realize that this is a boring blog but for me I really enjoy writing it down and thinking of fun things to try and share.

Taverna

One of my sweet nerd friends from work and I are both pretty new to Dallas, we started within a few weeks of one another so we are still trying to figure this city out. One of the things that we try and do pretty frequently is go out to dinner and we often try new restaurants. Now this is a little risky because it is hard to know what is going to be good and what is going to be gross. Our last adventure was terrible, the place smelled bad and the food was bad. So terrible, I tossed my leftovers in the dumpster on the way to my car. That is saying something.

This time we decided to check out Taverna (restaurant). Taverna is a well respected Italian place that one of her lab members recommended. We had heard that you had to make reservations and that parking and seating were limited. Unfortunately, as a party of two we were told that we would just have to wing it. We arrived just after 630 and found a parking place really easily and walked in and were seated. 

As we walked in, I felt like we had been transported to what I imagine could be somewhere in Italy. It was quiet and decorated with rustic touches. I was pretty impressed with how cute it was. We decided to get the Focaccia bread as a starter and it was really good. It might have been a bit much for just the two of us. I got a glass of wine, I think a Savigoun Blanc.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Pasta with gorgonzola and pears

For dinner I got the Pasta Carbonara. I am not sure where I fell in love with this dish but I do love it. I have made it several times at home and I don't know that mine have ever tasted this good. It was the perfect mix of bacon (or perhaps a prochiutto) and creamy sauce. It was incredible and the leftovers that I had were also really good. This was served with some homemade (or it appeared to be) Italian bread. You could just get this bread and not the Focaccia. Saumya got the fiocchi al gorgonzola e pera which is pasta with gorgonzola and pears. She was really pleased with this one, I didn't try it. 

A great night!

I would definitely go here again, it does get the Hannah Malcolm Seal of Approval. I will admit that the prices were a little steep but the food was worth the money. Also, this would be a great date place (I will be sure to get someone to take me here). Let me know if you give this place a try. 

Kraft Recipe Makers: Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

Look for this in your store...

The other day I was shopping at Target with the coupons that my mom sends me in the mail (she is an amazing woman) I realized that I had one for the Kraft Recipe Makers. I try to be open to trying new recipes and some kits, sometimes the dinner in a box is disgusting. I think this was about $4 and I had a $1 or $1.50 off coupon so I figured what the heck why not give it a try. There were several different choices and I thought this one looked the best and I only needed to add chicken and bow tie pasta noodles.  The recipe was pretty simple to follow and it took me about 30 minutes to prepare dinner (that is always a bonus).

As I made this, I was pretty impressed by the number of dishes needed: 2 pots. I am becoming more of a fan of doing fewer dishes, so the fact that is is pretty much a one pot meal thrilled me. It also made the house smell nice and pretty while it was cooking.

In the skillet

After the 30 minutes I dug in an I was pleasantly surprised by how yummy this was. I will definitely be picking up another one of these for dinner. I hope to actually branch out and try more of them or some of the other recipes that come with these two sauces: a pork one and and shrimp one. I made some broccoli to go along with it and that was good too.

On the plate

I will admit that the only downside is that while the box indicates that it will serve 5 when prepared exactly as described, I think that was a lie. I bet I only get 3 meals out of this. I am fine with that but if I was making this for a crowd I probably would have a salad and maybe some bread to make it go a little further.

Note: this was not supported in any way by Kraft Food. It was supported by me a girl who likes to eat and try new things.  However, if they find this and want to send me stuff to try I would be very happy to try it.