Ohh…but much to our dismay La Madeline’s took these off of their menu! We have been searching for years for something as tasty. Heck, even something that could come close - to no avail!

Does anyone else remember these or have any idea how they were made? I was even thinking of trying to find a recipe and try to make our own. *laugh* They were sweet/but not overly. They were rich and creamy, yet the croissant was buttery and flaky. Yes they were sinful, but thats ok for special occasions. :)

No picture for this post becuase I can’t even find a picture of what they looked like. I’ve even emailed La Madeline’s corporate, but they won’t share their recipes! Booo! LOL :) Oh well! Maybe we have to go to Paris sometime to experience this sweet memory again. :)

I’ve been playing with ideas on how to arrange furniture in the back room of the house. We are calling it the Den. It’s a somewhat long and narrow room with two doors and one window and one cutout into the kitchen. So, it’s an awkward space to layout. This is the room where we will have the TV so it needs to be comfy and casual, but yet good looking.

Here are some pictures as it looked in our walk through before we put in the offer. Be warned….it’s a foreclosure so there is stuff everywhere and it needs some help. We plan on painting the built in cabinets/shelves white and adding some molding to dress it up a bit. Also, we will be putting in new dark wood flooring in all the main living areas and keeping carpet in the bedrooms. So here are the pictures of that space: (Sorry the pictures aren’t better - my sister and mom were taking these while we were looking around. Because it’s a foreclosure there was no electricity so everything is really dark!)

Here is looking into the den from the dining area…

So below are room layouts we are considering. Some key points - we really would love a sofa facing the tv so that we can veg together and watch movies and be comfy. This is hard in this tight space. We will be buying or finding the furniture for this room after we decide on the layout we’d like, so we are open to suggestions and ideas!!!

Do you have any ideas or examples of ways that you have organized your small, long, narrow living space? :) Share them please!!!

Ok…..so we put in an offer on this house. We are trying to patiently wait till we hear back from them if they accepted the offer or not. They have until 5 pm on Monday to let us know. We offered full asking price and asked for them to pay closing. Cross your fingers and say some prayers for us please!!!!!! We really want this house! But, we also know that if it falls through then it just wasn’t meant to be. We can’t help but pray that it works out though as we really feel good about this decision. So…….whoever reads this…please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that if this is the right house for us in God’s eyes….that we get it. :D And if not…that we can handle the situation with dignity and not with raw emotions of losing a house we love! *laugh*

Thank you. :)

So I finally finished this project!

A while back I posted a picture of a chalkboard fridge and how much I wanted to do this. Well, an extremely nice person on freecycle was kind enough to not only give us, but deliver to us, a working fridge! It wasn’t beautiful, think old white nondescript fridge. It had some dirt and some rust like areas and just needed a general cleaning…BUT, it worked! :)

So off to the hardware store I went and purchased a pint of Black Chalkboard paint and a small flat surfaces roller and got to work! It took 4 coats of paint on all surfaces of the fridge. We had to take off the doors and I actually painted those inside of the house because it rained for so many days and I was so anxious to get this done!

Then we finally had some nice weather and I was able to finish the large outer shell! :) WOOHOO!

We finally got it inside and while I was about to clean off the top and make it all “picture worthy” I decided to just take a picture as it is, and show you our life and how we really live. :)

My husband was the first one to write on the fridge and isn’t he just a sweetie to leave me such a cute love note? :) The drawings on the front are of the things that are currently in the freezer. *laugh*

Anyways….just wanted to share! :D

EGGPLANT, TOMATO, AND GOAT CHEESE STACKS

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS:

4 vine-ripened tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon shredded basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch slices
8 basil leaves
3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Halve the tomatoes and scoop out the pulp. Arrange tomatoes into baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic, then top with parsley and basil. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and then bake for 40 minutes or until soft.

Brush a second baking tray with olive oil, place eggplant slices on the try, and brush with the remaining olive oil. Place in the oven with the tomatoes and cook until the top is crisp (this took the same amount of time for me as the tomatoes).

Lightly oil four 3/4 cup ramekins. Line each with eggplant, then two basil leaves, a piece of tomato, some goat cheese, another tomato slice, and then the remaining eggplant. Bake for 20 minutes, then let sit for 5 minutes before turning out (upside down) onto a plate.

Enjoy!

But it happened..I turned 30 and decided it was time to go to the eye doctor. Well..he said I COULD get glasses..that they would help, but that I didn’t have too. He said it would def. help with my night time driving vision. Since that’s the main reason I went to him…I figured I might as well get them.

OK…So I picked them up today and WOW. I can see leaves on tree’s half a block away! I swear! Everything is so sharp and crisp!

I’m still getting used to them and might end up just trying to get some contacts or something but for now it’s nice to not have to squint to read the words on the tv’s guide channel. LOL

Here’s me in my new glasses!

I am starting up a Supper Swap with some local Ladies. If you don’t know what a supper swap is…essentially each person in the group makes one meal in bulk and freezes it into 4-6 people meals. Then all members in the group get together and swap their frozen meals. So, each person makes one type of meal, and comes home with LOTS of different types of meals to put in their freezer and pull out to feed their family during the month! :)

Anyways…this is relevant to my chalkboard fridge obsession I promise. :) Because I’m starting this Supper Swap, there isn’t enough room my parents Fridge/Freezer for the frozen meals I will be making and swapping. Sooooo…therefore we are going to get a used Fridge/freezer and I’ve decided that I must paint it with chalkboard paint. :) Actually….we want to use black chalkboard paint and then write on the outside what frozen meals are inside and then obviously erase the meal once we’ve eaten it! LOL I know a little corney or cheesy…but oh so fun. :) Not to mention I could doodle all over it and one day when we have kids they could draw all over it and make it art. :)

So…that’s my latest obsession. :) Now to find a fridge someone wants to give away or one to buy for cheap! :)

I think one of the hard things for me is that I want to share all of my new antique/thrift store finds with you guys, but I don’t have a great place to take pictures of these things. Us living with my parents honestly has been a wonderful experience, but one thing I miss is having lots of space of our own. I can’t exactly take down my mom’s decorating to put up my own to show you guys! For now the things that we purchase (that we just can’t pass up because they are just such great deals!) go into storage until we buy a house. Until then I will try to find places to take pictures of my new items and share them with you guys anyways. :)

So….on another front I’ve been dealing with a lot of health issues. specifically I’ve been dealing with a doctor who isn’t willing to do broader testing to see whats going on with my PCOS, hypothyroidism, and insulin resistance. I’m quite frustrated and am now looking for a new doctor. I’ve also started a new blog to follow my medical and health issues I’m dealing with. I think I’d rather keep this blog more of the fun things I’m doing and the inspiration in my life. :) If you are interested in reading my other blog, drop me an email and I’ll be glad to send you the link to my new medical/health blog. :)

So…thats whats up. :) Whats up with you? :)

Here is a pretty vase of tulips to brighten your spring day! :)

(btw: got this pitcher for $2.95 at the thrift store the other day and picked the tulips up at the grocery store!! I love good deals and beautiful flowers. :) )

If you want to see the flickr album with all of the images that we took of the entire process you can go to this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55463415@N00/sets/72157603706869925/

And here is a video of my parents seeing it for the first time. Now remember, Dad had an idea that we were doing this and some of the details- just not ALL of the details! Mom on the other hand had no clue all that we were doing, just knew that her birthday present was going to entail doing SOMETHING to the hallway with her pictures. :)

(I can’t figure out how to embed the video so to see it you need to click here)

Thanks for all of the support when it comes to getting this project completed! :)