Around The House

Do y'all know my college aged son has been home on Christmas break for five weeks?! That's a long time. :) 

He just went back Today and Tuesday just happens to be my favorite day of the week because it's the one day I try not to do any major chores, etc. 

Pretty much Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I have a few chores I need to do. Laundry on two of those days, grocery shopping once a week, cleaning the house, more laundry, making the grocery list, etc. 

But as I've mentioned before, Tuesdays are golden. :)

But having said that, I still struggle with truly relaxing. I keep looking around the house thinking of things I "need" to do. I'm totally the type of person who just can't relax until all my work is done. I could never enjoy a movie or book knowing there is a sink full of dishes. Not going to happen. Work before play is my motto. Ha!

So on this particular Tuesday, I planned on catching up with my DVR and spending time with my Kindle and a cup of coffee.

Until...I filled my cup with water from the fridge and started thinking about how long it's been since I wiped down the glass shelves in there. But I resisted. It'll still need to be cleaned tomorrow. 

Then I walked over to the pantry to refill my tin with coffee pods and played around with the idea of cleaning it out and organizing it. Nope. It'll just get messed up again. Believe me...the inside doesn't look nearly as pretty as the outside.

I passed by the master bathroom and contemplated throwing a load of towels into the wash...

I "just said no" and walked back out into the bedroom where I DID make the bed. I simply can't go a day without making my bed. It makes me so happy when I walk by and see it all made up and pretty. :)

So, I fixed a cup of coffee and filled it with my favorite creamer (Peppermint Mocha) As you can see, we have SIX bottles of creamer in our fridge. I stocked up on the holiday ones before they disappear until next year. 

And I sat down with my coffee and now I'm enjoying a movie on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. Do y'all have that channel? Hallmark now has two channels, the regular "Hallmark Channel" and the "Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel." This one has lots of cozy mystery shows and movies. They've made several of my favorite books into movies and they're showing them on this channel. 

They've made the first two books in the "Hannah Swensen Mysteries" (by Joanne Fluke) into movies and they just made the first of the "Flower Shop Mysteries" (by Kate Collins) into a movie. My mom told me about the "Garage Sale Mysteries" on this channel too and now I have four of them set to record this Wednesday. 

I used to not have the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel on my current package, but it was only a $5/month add on and it came with several other channels too. Oh, and they gave me three free months to be sure I liked it. What a deal! 

I'm sure as soon as I watch this, I'll throw a load of towels in and clean the shelves in the fridge. Old habits are hard to break. ;)

~Lisa 

Joining the Thoughts of Home Party at Poofing the Pillows

A Touch Of Blue...

As I mentioned earlier, I was on a quest to add some touches of blue to the living room. I found everything I wanted and was able to get it all without ever leaving the house and I didn't shop online. How did I do it, you ask? I used my personal shopper...aka my hubby. ;)

He was doing some shopping the other day and as soon as he left, I started googling pillow covers and decorative plates and before he knew it, I was texting him pics and item numbers of things to pick up for me. Lol!

It's a good thing he loves to shop. :) 

I had him pick up these plates for the mantel at Pier 1 and four blue and white pillow covers at Hobby Lobby. I even texted him my Hobby Lobby coupon. He had to go to two stores to get all four pillow covers, which was kind of a good thing because then he got to use a coupon on two of them.

These pillow covers were only $6.99 before the coupon, (and only $4.19 after the coupon) and they have zippers. 

The back is a plain cream color. 

I love these pops of blue!

Here's a close up of the plates...

They were on clearance at Pier 1 for only $4.98!

I purchased this pretty vase years ago at The Bombay Co. I loved that store and have many furniture pieces from them as well.

Ten points to the person who can spy Holly in the pic below. ;)

I'm so happy with my finds!

 Having a neutral background sure makes it easy (and fun) to change up my decor with just a few pieces. 

P.S. If you couldn't find her, Holly is sleeping on the back of the sofa in the pic. It's her happy place. :)

~Lisa

Joining the Thoughts of Home Party at Poofing the Pillows

My Favorite Brownie Recipe

So, I know I recently shared some of my favorite healthy snack ideas, but sometimes your kids just want you to make dessert. And to be honest, I only ate one of these. :) 

Just look at this yummy pic...

Let me tell you that the house smells so good while these are baking!

Here's the recipe I use:

Baker's One Bowl Brownies

Ingredients:

4 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate 

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350. Line a 13x9 pan with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwave bowl on high 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted.

Stir sugar into chocolate until well blended Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts until well blended. Spread in greased foil lined 13x9 inch baking pan. 

Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool in pan. Cut into squares. 

Notes: I always use their "Cake Like" version (without nuts) The brownie in the pic above is the cake like version. Here's the variation:

For Cake like brownies, Stir in 1/2 cup milk with eggs and vanilla. Increase flour to 1 1/2 cups. I always mix it with a whisk and bake this version for 32 minutes. I also leave mine in the pan and just refrigerate. We cut individual pieces as we want them. 

So good!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Musings

So, how was the first week back to reality after Christmas break? It's usually a long week, but I can't believe how quickly it went by. 

For some reason, our Knockout rose bush is in full bloom right now, so I clipped some flowers to bring inside. 

I love how easy it is to add a pop of color with neutral decor as a background. I'm thinking of adding some new pillow covers in a navy print. I don't think I've ever had navy in this room (besides that vase above) and I think I'd like the change. 

Maybe some navy patterned plates on the mantel?

And a few pops of navy on the rolling cart? Hmm...I'll have to shop the house first, then go in search of pillow covers. 

So, onto another subject...

With it being the start of a new year, I know a lot of us are trying to make healthier food choices and I wanted to share a few favorites of mine.

 Smart Ones chicken enchiladas ~ so good! I've been buying them for years and they really have a lot of flavor. They're only $1.74 at my local grocery store. 

I really like to have a little chocolate in my day and these York peppermint patties hit the spot. One of these (snack size) only has 60 calories and 1.25 fat grams. 

I've talked about Skinny Cow products before and they're still a go-to item for my sweet tooth. These dark chocolate dreamy clusters are my favorite. If you're local, HEB has these on sale, buy one get one free right now with an in-store coupon. They're normally $3.64 a box at my store.

My mom and aunt kept talking about this Skinny Pop popcorn and I finally tried it. It was delicious! Only 43 calories per cup, people! So far, I've only tried white cheddar, but they have a lime and salt version I want to try next. This bag was $2.83.

So, I'm curious, what are your favorite low fat snacks or meals? I'm always looking for new things to try. :) 

~Lisa

Changes in the Dining Room

I hinted at a change in the dining room the other day. Here's what it looked like BEFORE with the leaf removed and just four chairs around the table...

I liked having the extra chairs over by the window, but grew tired of it over time. 

(Notice how the lamp cord was hidden by the slipcovered chair. I'll explain more in a minute.)

So...I put the leaf back in and moved all the chairs back to the table. Here's the new look...

I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the slips and pillows on the end chairs, but I think they'll stay. 

As weird as it sounds, it actually feels like there's more room in there now. 

I wanted to do this for some time, but I also knew I wanted to keep this floor lamp in there. The problem was that without the slipcovered chair next to the lamp, there was no place to hide the cord. And y'all KNOW how I feel about exposed cords. ;)

So, here's what I did. I remembered this table I had in storage. It had a bottom shelf that I could hide the cord under. 

See? No cords in sight!

I taped the cord up one leg and onto the underside of the bottom shelf. :) 

I still want to replace that trio of sunburst mirrors with a single mirror, but haven't found "the one" yet. 

My little photo bomber.

I think I'm going to enjoy having room for six at this table again. 

I have a lot more room under the window now. 

Holly watched me move everything around and she seems pleased with the new arrangement. She keeps hopping from one chair to another and is constantly hiding under one of the slips. If she had opposable thumbs, I'm certain she'd give me a thumbs up. ;) 

We hardly ever use our dining room and I've often thought about turning it into a living room. We'll see...maybe one day. :) 

Thanks for stopping by and y'all have a great day!

~Lisa 

A Fresh Start and a Chick-fil-A Recipe

Happy New Year's Eve! I took down all my Christmas decor yesterday and it feels so good to get a fresh start in the new year. 

I love my Christmas decorations, but I'm always more than happy to get back to my normal decor. I start putting up fall decor in late September or early October, so I always welcome back my regular things with open arms. :) 

After we put up all the Christmas stuff, I quickly cleaned the house, then went around snapping pics of my fresh, clean decor. :) 

Love a squeaky clean kitchen! 

We actually had cold weather the other day. Cold enough to have a fire, which is why my candelabra isn't in the fireplace right now. :) BTW, Miss Holly Joaquin parked herself right there on that pouf for about 5 hours! 

I made a change to my dining room that I'm excited about. If you follow me on Instagram (@texasdecor) you've already seen it, but I'll share it here soon. 

Well hello there, pretty hydrangeas! Haven't seen you for awhile! Surprisingly, they didn't get totally squished while being packed away for months. 

We used to have a blue pendant light in the foyer (my hubby's choice, not mine) and when we changed it out for this one from Ballard Designs, I couldn't believe what a difference it made. (For those of you that are new, my hubby made that stained glass window above the door.) 

I still think painting the entire house this much lighter color (Sherwin Williams "Kilim Beige") made one of the biggest impacts. 

My mom gifted me with her pretty cake stand over Christmas break. She's had it for over 50 years and I was glad to receive it. It brings back memories of my childhood when she'd display our birthday cakes on it. :) 

And last, but not least...did y'all hear Chick -fil -A is taking their coleslaw off the menu this month? I thought they had a brilliant response to all the customers who showed their displeasure...they gave out the recipe!

For some reason, the recipe seemed a little blurry when I transferred it. Here it is:

* 4 teaspoons vinegar

* 1/4 cup sugar

* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1 cup mayo

* 2 bags (10 oz bags) fine shredded cabbage, chopped to 1/8 inch

* 1/4 cup finely chopped carrots

Whisk vinegar, sugar, mustard and salt together until sugar is dissolved. Add mayo and whisk to mix. Add cabbage and carrots. Mix to combine. Refrigerate for 2 hours and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings. 

I'll be back soon to share the dining room changes. Y'all have a great week!

~Lisa