Magazine Layouts

Today I finally dove into my spring magazine to get to work...so while I'm in the designing mood, I thought I would share with you some of my all time favorite magazines for best layout, designs and stories.

Southern Living. 

I must say... SL is my all-time favorite magazine. I read it cover to cover every month and have been on their mailing list for a solid 7 years since I graduated college {thanks momma}. They recently went though a re-design and I do love the new columns/sections and crisp look of the page headers, contents, and layouts. However, the ads are killing me. Every other page is an advertisement and even though one of my besties is in the biz - it's annoying. I don't like that 30 of my 60 pages are ads.... It doesn't make me want to buy your goods. If anything, it makes me not want to because you took away my space. Maybe I should drop them a line. 

The Bourbon Review

Only comes out 4 times a year, but classic. 

Country Living at it's best.  

My new favorite, Garden & Gun just keeps stepping it up. 

The Feb/March issue has outstanding layouts - a designers dream - too bad they made a big ole goof and didn't actually have a story about bloody mary's in the entire magazine. Oops! Can't wait to see the Letters to the Editor in the next issue.

Real Simple

The industry standard. Clean. Crisp. Inviting! White.White.White.

What are your favorites?  I'd love to find new lay-out ideas... send them my way!

Birthday Surprises

Yesterday was my wonderful hubby's 34th birthday! I wanted to do something special for him, so I planned a weekend getaway without him knowing {a feet in itself} to our good friends lake house a few hours away. He figured out where we were going about half way there... But what he didn't know is that we had friends arriving later that night and the next day too.

We've already enjoyed lounge time, a shrimp boil, card games, birthday cake and a sunrise on the lake.  Just wanted to share a few pics to show you our beautiful view ...and some birthday fun!

Right now I'm waiting for a delicious breakfast from the Hollomon's, while enjoying a warm mug o' joe on the porch. Ready to dive into that fruit bowl... More pics later!

Happy Birthday J, I love you SO much!

Drop Cloth Curtains!

One of the items on my March to-do list was to get some new curtains up in our bedroom. I feel like the bedroom is almost always the most neglected/undecorated room in the house... mostly because - how many people really see it? Other than you and your hubs AND it's kinda a catch all for us too. More often than not when we move an item from the kitchen/dining/den/living area it goes to the bedroom... same for pictures, candles, un-wanted furniture, etc. ...you get the picture.  It also doesn't help that we're currently in a tiny 700 sq. ft. rental and our king size bed, beautiful Pottery Barn bedding and monogrammed sheets are also still in their original packing. :( {I just hope I don't change my mind when we finally get  to pull it out} So, we have the "guest room bedding" for now, along with my great-grandparents furniture, which is pretty cool. After looking at it more, I decided it was time to put some effort into our room.  First came the bedding, we picked up a nice gender-neutral coverlet and new white sheets... and I made a couple of burlap pillow cases for our square pillows to match the new lamp and burlap shade.  It was starting to come together, but I really wanted to make a statement with some nice new curtains. After trying out lots of colors and pallets, I decided to try my own drop-cloth curtains. They were a little more than a simple craft project, because of the time involved in the process, but they were worth it!

I purchased two 6 x 9 ft. drop cloths from Lowe's fro $10 each. I also picked up some Rit dye in royal blue from Wally fro $2.95.  Add in a can of salt for 44 cents and you're set.

As I was ready about "Do-It-yourself curtains" I came across Merrypad, and she mentioned some cheap, but cool new curtain clips from where else, but Wally.  I picked up two packs for $2 each. A STEAL!! They may be cheap, but who really gets that close to see them... and they are kinda cute too!

The process took me several days, but I think you could get it done in a day if you had the time to spare.  I started by soaking the cloths in the tub - not sure if this is necessary, but it said to use wet cloth, so I did.  Next, I added the full bottle of dye and a cup of salt to the wash - using the hottest and largest setting you have.  I washed twice, one after the other and then once more with detergent.  {Note to self - if you want dark curtains, use twice the amount of dye. The whole bottle of dark blue dye turned my drop cloths light grey/blue. It turned out very pretty for me, but if you want to go darker, you may want to add more.} After washing I dried them on low heat for an hour. They came out nice and fluffy and a beautiful shade of blue!  Immediately when you remove the cloths from the washer, you'll want to run another load to rinse it. I used a cup of bleach and detergent and it worked great!

Next, I ironed and starched both cloths.  Then I placed them on the ground and cut each into two 3 x 9 ft. sections to give me panels for each side.  After cutting, I used stitch-witchery to hem the sides.  It may have taken longer than sewing, but it made for a nice smooth seem. I left the hemmed sides just as is, but if I time in the future I may finish those off as well for consistency.  I left the bottom long so I can hopefully re-use them in another room later. They look kinda nice long... and you can't even see the ones behind our bed.

Living in a rental, we try not to make too many holes in the wall, or get attached to too many things... but, I convinced the hubs that the curtain rods had to go up at least a foot. Check out the difference it makes to the entire room - AMAZING!

 

I am SO happy with how they turned out. I love snow days when I don't have to work... I get so many projects done. :)  For those of you who also had a snow day, I hope you had a much fun as I did!

Pantry Purge

On Sunday of last week I realized that it was still February {aka - a few days until pay day}, we had spent almost $400 on groceries and house-hold purchases in one month alone. HOW is that possible? I was shocked when I added it up. We must have been very hungry in February. BUT - I also realized that I still did have quite a few groceries in the freezer, fridge and panty. Yes, we were dwindling in the produce, dairy and bread categories... but decided we were going to stick it out for the week eating only what we had in the pantry. So, I wanted to share with you are menu for the week. We actually had some pretty tasty {and healthy} meals!

Pantry List:

1 box whole wheat spaghetti

2 cans of black beans

1 can of corn

1 cup of rice
panko breadcrumbs

2 sweet potatoes

1 onion

Fridge:

1/2 bag spinach

1 tomato
1 cucumber 

1 avocado

1/2 pint of greek yogurt

1/2 can of marinara
Salsa

Deep Freeze:

4 fish filets

1 pd. turkey meat

1 bag lima beans

frozen bell peppers from the garden

The menu for the week:

Day 1: Southwest Sweet Potatoes with Turkey 

We saw this recipe on the biggest loser and had to try it! It was actually really good. We added black beans and avocado and used all regular salsa, no green. Awesome, easy to make dish. This will defiantly go into the rotation. 

Day 2: Spinach Salad with Panko-Crusted Tilapia

This dish was a simple throw-together. We crusted the tilapia in olive oil, parmesan and panko bread crumbs, cooked it on the stove top and served them a top spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons, pecans and sesame sticks.  I just threw in whatever we had in the panty and it was great.  I will recommend a great, cheap salad dressing - Kroger brand Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette. 

Day 3: Turkey Spaghetti & Lima Beans 

Hands down, some of the best spaghetti we have made. I think it was the organic low-sodium marinara from trader Joes that made it so yummy!  We sauteed peppers, onions and garlic before adding the turkey meat, italian seasoning, pepper and garlic. It sauteed for about 15-20 minutes and came out quite yummy. Served over whole-wheat pasta with lima beans on the side. {I know - random} Next time we will try it over Spaghetti Squash! 

Day 4: Burrito Bowls with grilled Tilapia

I forgot to take a picture, but it was super easy to make and you can really add anything from the panty!

• Rice
• 1 Can black beans
• 1 can corn
• Sauteed Bell Peppers & Onions
• Salsa
• Avocado
• Greek Yogurt
• Grilled Tilapia on top {We would have preferred chicken or beef, but not on the pantry plunge week - ha} 

We made several creative recipes over the weekend, using random food from the pantry and deep freeze.  On Sunday I made this apple streusel adding pecans and using spray butter.  For dinner sunday night we tried this old fashioned mac n cheese!  Of course, those we not on the pantry plunge either - but we tried to use some some random items we had left in the freezer & pantry, like phyllo dough, breadcrumbs, butter and cheese.

We've been eating pretty good these days... even without going to the store!  

Any fun recipes you have made lately? 

Oscars Inspired Date Night

YAY for Date Nights!! We've been so busy this past month that we haven't really had a date night {with the exception of our Valentine's date to the Palms} in a while, so I was pretty excited about some time out with the hubs. This night turned into a date weekend - which was even better in my boat.  We made plans to do our date night Friday night and then friends invited us to dinner, so we caved.

But, Inspired by the Oscars... PS- did I mention that my cousin was behind the scenes for the entire show? She was on the production team  - so freakin' cool!  This is a picture of her hanging with Ben & George back stage.... after their Oscar wins.

That's Jeanne making eyes with ol' George in the background!

Jeanne on stage after the show.

Jeanne and I are the same age {yes, she's in Hollywood, walking the red carpet, and I'm here in small town VA - haha} and we grew up together as the two curly head blonde's in the family. {from one of our Aunt's I guess... and not our brunette mothers or fathers, which was always a fun joke.} We started pre-school together, went our separate ways for grade school and in high school we got to play against each other in volleyball. It was pretty fun having a cousin the same age as me. Then Jeanne went to Rhodes and I went to Auburn for college... and we both pledged AOII! {and yes, both our mothers are Phi Mu's - oops!} Needless to say, we've been able to stay close even living cross-country and catching up on my random trips to Cali. Love you cuz.. and I'm so proud of you!

Now, back to date night/weekend.

After watching the Oscars intently on Sunday night waiting for a glimpse of Jeanne, we collected quit the list of movies we have yet to see. Since we haven't been to the movies in forever - we decided it would be a fun date night.

What we had planned to do as "pre-drinks and apps" before the movie turned into dinner with the crew. But we finally got to use a gift cards from our dear friends, the Hollomons. I tested out a new three-cheese tortellini w/ shrimp dish that was excellent..... and we had shrimp wantons, that were amazing! Love me some Southern Inn.

On Saturday we finished the rest of our date night at the State Theater in Lex for a 7pm showing of "Silver Linings Playbook."

It was SO great. I hear the book is even better than the movie... I really wanted to read it first, but I'm still on the wait list at the Rockbridge Regional Library, and we promised no more book purchases for now. {That is mostly for J... I'm really a big fan of the local library. He's catching on!} But, I loved the movie.... and spending quality time with the hubs as well. It was a fun weekend in Lex!!

We had an awesome relaxing weekend at home... brunch at Niko's, a little trip to Lowe's for some spring projects... and even made it to Mass on Sunday!  Weekends make me appreciate the simple things in life... and how blessed we all are. :)

More posts to come on our March list... I can't wait to share my crafts. How was your weekend?  Get any relaxing in?

Weekend steals!

Last weekend I was in Richmond for work, so I made the most of it and stopped by Marshall's for some browsing. I was very happy with my loot, so I wanted to share.

A funny little bunny for Easter!

An Easter dress for my sweet goddaughter, Emi! {it's a really good we don't have children of our own, lord knows I'd but out the store!}

A fun artichoke candleholder for the bedroom.

Cute spring hand towel. {For someone's birthday! }

... And who doesn't need some mustache napkins? I mean.

Hello, March!

Well, hello March...  you certainly did sneak up on me this year. Where in the world did February go?  As you can see from the blog, we have been busy little bees... between J and I we worked 5 regional meetings, two court of honor dinners, helped with 4 sorority recruitment's, said goodbye to a very special friend who is leaving Lex, {I} attended two baby showers, celebrated our 5th Valentine's day, spent a weekend in Mobile for our 3rd Mardi Gras together, kicked off the Lenten season super early this year {I miss my sweets already}, both dove into our spring magazines - yes, mine is still on my desk if you were wondering - and we somehow managed to sleep, eat, workout here and there and get work on time.  

I thought today would be a fun to to look ahead to the 17 things I'm most looking forward to in the month of March.

1. Celebrating my hubby's 34th Birthday!! {and Lynsey's & Matt's 29th} 
2. Taking a weekend trip with good friends.
3. Building a nice little deck for our grill, so we can bring it to our house.  
4. Planting some pretty flowers in my planters.
5. Getting our veggie garden started with cultivating the seeds. 
6. Celebrating St. Pat's in style! {aka, Green}
7. Getting back to A Mango Tree Shop that I have certainly abandoned, with a headdress for a dear friend who is getting married. 
8. Running a 5K with the hubs. 
9. Getting to use our first month of Pure Eats doughnuts for a year! 
10. Actually planting my wheat germ in the planter my hubs build me last year. 
11. Making new curtains for the bedroom. {This will be a post soon - I'm excited to share my idea}
12. March Madness {who's got their bracket ready}
13. Eating sweets on Easter Sunday! 
14. Fulfilling our Lenten promise to attend mass at least twice this month. {maybe this should have been 4, we're doing pretty good this month... 3 down and Easter to go!}
15. Celebrating Pi Day... Yes, I do mean 3.14 
16. Welcoming sweet Baby Jaques into the world! 
17. Finally send a happy to my bestie for her 30th. :) 

What's on your March to-do list?  I'm pretty excited about mine!